CH 135

Chapter 135

When Peaceful Times Cease To Exist : A Name That Calls Death, Part 7 — Results Of One's Training

Translated by KaiesV

Edited by KaiesV

「…Now then… I’d be happy to play with you, but I have something to show you… If I can successfully take them down, I’ll deal with you all myself… That’s correct…」

Lifeless spins around and turns toward Fenna.

「…Before… Do you remember the story I told you…?」

「Eh?」

Lifeless grimaces.

「…I told you that if you came with me, I would take you to see your people, didn’t I…?」

「…So, what?」

「…They got numb because you didn’t show up… so I brought them in… Fufu…」

「What are you saying…」

At that moment, a huge creature appeared, knocking down the trees that were burning around it. The bipedal creature was much larger than Gigantes, standing over 4 meters long. Its hands are unusually long, probably longer than its body if it spread them out. It has no head, but a large mouth on the part where the head should be, from which anemone-like tentacles crawl out, spraying drool. Oddly enough, the eyes were nowhere to be found. I don’t know how the demon recognized Alfiris’ group, but when it set Alfiris and the others in front of it, it screamed in a high-pitched voice that cracked its head open.

「Kyyyaaaaaahhhh!!!」

「Guh!?」

「My head… it’s cracking.」

「…He said their name is Dantalion… I’m not into naming Archfiends, but… some people like to do that…」

「Archfiend, you say?」

「What dou you mean?」

Alfiris and the others looked up at the monster in front of them with a look of astonishment rather than horror.

「…You really didn’t know…? We’re the ones who were creating the Archfiends…」

「How did you!?」

「Creating… Archfiends?」

「…Yes… But these guys aren’t like the Archfiends that swept the continent before… The Archfiends that existed on the continent before were purely fiends and magical beasts that gained power and formed a clique… These are Chimeras that we created… We forced them to make contracts with orcs, goblins, and other fiends and turned them into Archfiend… That’s what I mean…」

「You talk a lot, don’t you? Are you sure you want to talk like that to us?」

Miranda looks doubtful. But it is a fair question.

「…I don’t care… they are already producing these guys too fast for my liking… No one can stop it now… production is entering its next phase…」

「Don’t tell me there are dozens of these things out there?」

「…No, beastkin girl… not dozens, but thousands…」

「!!?」

Lifeless’s words upset everyone. The story was so large in scale that for a moment Alfiris and the others couldn’t catch up with their thoughts.

「…Sooner or later, they will run across the land… will the humans really be able to stop the Archfiend’s hordes…? Even Miliazar wouldn’t be able to deal with thousands of Archfiends at the same time…」

「There’s no way!」

「I’ll stop them!」

Alfiris steps forward. Lifeless scoffs at the sight of her.

「…Stop them…? A vulnerable human being like you…? How funny for you to say that…」

「I will stop you! Right here, right now, I will take you down!!」

「…That’s an interesting joke… try it…」

Lifeless snapped his fingers and Dantalion resumed its advance.

「…Dantalion… Basically, take them alive… especially the tall dark-haired woman at the front and the one with the giant mace… the rest you can dispose of in the worst case…」

「Girurururu!」

Dantalion takes a step forward, drooling all over the place. Not to be outdone by Dantalion, Alfiris also takes a step forward.

「You come directly to me, Lifeless!」

「…Not so fast… The boss always have its turn later…」

「Alfie, focus on this guy for now!」

At a word from Miranda, everyone re-positions themselves at Dantalion. It appears that the Lifeless are going to stay on the sidelines. Alfiris and the others were angry, but they didn’t lack composure. Even Alfiris, who had provoked him, was relieved that he didn’t come at her. If you are going to fight, fight one at a time. It must be easier that way.

Alfiris and the others were about to scatter as Dantalion approached, but from a considerable distance Dantalion swung its log-like arm.

「Impossible!」

「Everyone, jump!」

With a single word from Lisa, everyone leaps. Nia and Aerial are physically fit, but Miranda uses her mace to pole vault. Alfiris used a short spell of wind to aid her leap. Underneath, Dantalion’s arm reaped the entire ground.

「What a blow.」

Nia unintentionally shouts in astonishment. Dantalion’s blow had gouged the ground and reaped the trees. And when it sees Alfiris and the others stuck in the air, the mouths of Dantalion’s bodies open up in various places.

「Wha—!?」

「Oh, shoot!」

Just as Dantalion is about to spit something out, something is thrown into one of its mouths, causing an explosion at the same time.

「I’ve seen that guy before in the last Archfiend. I’m no fool not to remember that!」

「Nice one, Miranda!」

As soon as Dantalion opened his mouth, Miranda threw in a bomb. She had read the Archfiend’s pattern of behavior and was prepared.

And as soon as they landed, Aerial and Alfiris cut in.

「Haaagghh!!」

「Take this!」

Alfiris slashes Dantalion with her sword, and Aerial thrusts Dantalion in a straight line with her spear. Aerial’s blow, which also added rotation with wind magic, cut away Dantalion’s flesh and body, but Alfiris’ sword was blocked by Dantalion’s thick muscles. However,

「Magic-Added—— Bomb!」

「Gyyooohhhh!!!」

Alfiris’ sword is covered in flames and gouges out Dantalion’s body. Dantalion screams as fresh blood splatters along with pieces of flesh.

This is the result of Alfiris’ training under Phalanx. In terms of physical strength, humans are limited. According to Phalanx, if one can manipulate『chi』one can display more power than normal, but it takes many days of training, and the strength of the original body is also important, so there is a limit to how much a woman, Alfiris, can learn about how to handle chi.

Therefore, Phalanx presented the idea of using magic addition to improve combat ability. As with the leaping mentioned earlier, this method is very applicable to Alfiris, who can use multiple systems of magic. Movement can be aided by the wind system, and strength can be aided by the earth and gold systems. Fire and ice can also be used to increase killing power. Why she hadn’t thought of this method, when she usually reinforced her arrows and other items with wind magic, was rather more of a mystery to Alfiris.

But of course there are drawbacks and caveats. It doesn’t reinforce the body itself, so if you use wind magic to move at high speed, for example, your body is not designed to move at that speed, so you put more strain on it than necessary. Also, although the explosion accelerates the sword’s movement, the strain on the arm is considerable, and of course the sword itself is severely damaged. For Alfiris who cannot use recovery magic, it’s also a dangerous method that can render her incapable of fighting if she make a mistake.

However, the effect is just as great. In fact, Dantalion was heavily damaged.

「Great, Fenna, now!」

「Got it!」

Fenna starts chanting. At the very moment when Fenna was about to activate《Earth Wave》which is her specialty,

「F–Fenna…」

「!?」

The voice calling Fenna out of nowhere stopped everyone’s movement. Fenna also looked at the situation with her magic just before activating it.