CH 67

Chapter 67

When Peaceful Times Cease To Exist : In The Beginner's Dungeon, Part 15 — Evil Spirit of Zea

Translated by KaiesV

Edited by KaiesV

＊＊＊

Man Eater is left alone in the Abandoned City of Zea, The Beginner’s. Dungeon around midnight, Lifeless returned with a transfer magic.

「…Hmm? … Don’t tell me they did escape…?」

「Yeah… I’m sorry…」

Man Eater fidgets awkwardly, but shows no sign of blaming from Lifeless.

「…I have no right to be angry with you… But to take you, a sturdy being, this far… How did they do it…?」

「Erm, you see, a male person blew at me with a sword, then whoosh–whoosh, and that’s what happened.」

「…I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have asked… And the magic sword doesn’t seem to be there either… Hmm, this is going to piss Titania off…」

「…Is it my fault?」

「…No, I guess this time we don’t have much choice… I didn’t think that so many Magic Swords were sleeping at the same time, it wasn’t in the information… But we could have gotten more than that…」

「Umm, umm, where’s Doom?」

「…Ahh, he must be going through a tough time right now… I can take you where he is…」

And then the two disappear into the darkness. All that remained were the collapsed ruins and the regret of those who were left underneath.

＊＊＊

Shortly before that. What were Doom and Lifeless doing after they escaped from the ruins——

「…How about this village…?」

「The population is something like four hundred people, well, doesn’t mean much. It’s isolated and doesn’t seem to have any contact with other villages or towns.」

「…It was really a candidate for another case, but it had to be done, and you’ll have to apologize to Anomaly later, won’t you?」

「I know that well!」

Doom happily descends into the village from his airborne transition. At first, the villagers screamed and ran for cover, wondering what was going on as a boy descended from the sky, but they were also intrigued, so they kept a reasonable distance and looked for Doom in the shadows and from the windows of their houses. If there had been even one person here who knew anything about magic, he or she would have seen the grudge entangling Doom and would have run for cover.

「This is good, I’m going to break the seal.」

As Doom muttered something, the lid of the vial fully opened and the contents began to gush out, along with the resentment that had been entwined in Doom. Doom throws the bottle into the central fountain, which has become a famous landmark in the village, and disappears once there. Doom then disappears from the fountain to avoid being caught in the middle of the action. As the villagers approached the fountain, wondering what it was, they noticed something unusual.

The spring water, which was supposed to be famous for its beauty and delicious taste, had turned black and was overflowing from the fountain at a tremendous rate. Like a small tsunami, the black water rushes in one after another. The villagers reflexively tried to escape from the fountain, but several delayed and dipped their feet in the water. Thereupon—

「Gi–gyaahhh!!」

「I–I’m melting!!」

「H–Help me!!」

Villagers begin to melt as smoke rises. Then, when the water seemed to take the shape of a hand, it tangled around those who could not escape in time and dragged them all into the fountain at once. More people are taken in than should fit in a small fountain.

Then out of the fountain, a mixture of black and red, came a girl just Doom’s age, dressed in a bright red robe. Her jet-black hair was as long as it would grow, and her well-toned white face was expressionless, as if a Noh mask had been glued on it.

The girl slowly looked around as she exited the fountain and stopped to look at the young woman closest to her. Then, as the girl slid along the ground, the woman sat up and froze in a heap of fear. Then the girl slowly stroked the woman’s head and face as if she were touching her beloved, and whispered with a smile that was so very, very pretty.

「Hey, do you want play with me?」

At that moment, the woman’s body jerked and convulsed violently, and she fell down with blood pouring out of every hole in her body, including her eyes, mouth, and ears. As if on cue, the village was covered in darkness, even though it was not night. And from the central fountain, a reddish-black haze was coming out, obscuring the view, the animals were howling and roaring like mad, and some villagers had lost their minds and begun to attack their neighbors. The humans, who were close to the exit of the village, try to leave the village, but they run into some invisible wall and cannot move forward. Still, as they pounded on the wall to do something about it, their hands began to melt into mush, and the villagers screamed. Doom and Lifeless watch over the village from above.

「This—— did this girl just formed a『castle?』」

「…The scope would be quite limited and the effect would be temporary… Well, it’s a powerful ward, almost like a castle… No wonder Zea perished without warning… No one can get out of this…」

「That’s great. So she’s a being with power similar to that of the Great Archfiends, right?」

「…I can’t speak to that much, but… She must have had quite strong magical and psychic powers even before she was born… And then after she died, she became an evil spirit and became like that… You know more about that area than I do, don’t you…?」

「I think I remember that if you have the qualities of a sorcerer before birth, you are more likely to become a strong evil spirit. It’s also resistant to magic, and it’s probably already as powerful as the fourth rung. Within this ward, both humans and animals go insane, then melt and are taken in from those that are not resistant to magic. It’s only a matter of time before they are all wiped out～」

Their conversation far up in the air above the village was quite fluent, but below them, a tragedy was unfolding that no sane person could bear to watch.

「Ohh, wow! Look at that! She’s forcing people to eat rocks baked in a kiln, right? Yikes.」

「…Hmph…」

「This time, another man stabbed his young lover in the leg! Then… ohh! I would do such a thing beside that, you devil.」

「……」

「Over here, dogs and horses are taking young ladies… Those were already dead. Especially against horses, people can’t last. This is the first time I’ve seen it live. It’s not good for my education.」

「…But you seem to be really enjoying yourself… Even I’m not comfortable with this…」

「Not really, it’s refreshing to see no mercy whatsoever so far! Well, for her, it’s just like playing make-believe. And you getting chest pains, that’s a bad joke. How can you say that after making something like that out of a Seeker you snatched?」

「…It’s Anomaly’s hobby… I didn’t make it…」

「You’re still the one who’s going to use it, right? You said you wanted a pawn.」

They argued, but Doom is aware of it and Lifeless is just not aware of it, and both can be put away with one word,『crazy,』if they ask any sane person.

「…It’s going to take a while, so I’m going to run some errands first… I’ll retrieve Man Eater and give Titania the killing sword… Even if it wasn’t, it would have been some kind of magic sword…」

「Then I’ll just relax and observe. Sometimes I have to learn how to play from others. How’s that for modesty? Ahahaha!」

「…I’ll be back later…」

Lifeless then went to pick up Man Eater.

＊＊＊

And time returns to the present. Lifeless return with Man Eater in tow. Doom rolled his eyes when he saw the returning Man Eater’s body.

「Ohh, Man Eater, did you lose your body?」

「…I’m sorry.」

「What are you apologizing for? You’ll get another body, isn’t that right??」

「Okay…!」

「…It’s not you who does that, and I hope you’ll give me some credit for picking her up…」

Lifeless complains, but whether he realizes it or not, Doom puts Man Eater on his lap and pats her head.

「…So, what’s going on…?」

「They’ll be wiped out soon.」

Looking down below, he saw piles and piles of corpses. He doesn’t even want to imagine how they died, that they were all damaged and died with their faces contorted with fear.

「…Four hundred people would take less than half a day… that’s terrible…」

「It wouldn’t have taken more than half a minute to wipe them out, but she’s good at playing. That variety of kills was helpful over here too. I’m already falling in love with that girl!」

「Fall in love? What’s that? Is it tasty?」

「…You don’t have to know, Man Eater…」

Doom mimics hugging and kissing a girl. Man Eater watches and wags her finger, and Lifeless gives up. At that time, the『castle』that had been set up in the village was unraveled.

「Oops, it’s already done. I guess that’s my cue.」

「…Are you going to take that thing under your command…? Can you do that…?」

「They’re not under my command, they’re my friends. Man Eater asked me for it.」

Doom leaves Man Eater with Lifeless and dismounts. Then, as if in response, a girl appeared in front of him, and Doom bowed to her as he would to a lady.

「Nice to meet you, young lady. Will you play with me?」

「?」

The girl tilted her head, as if she was not used to being invited to play. But Doom made his next move without a moment’s pause.

「I guess silence means yes.」

Doom suddenly held up his hand and flipped the girl’s head one hundred and eighty degrees with a dull thud. Lifeless was stunned.

「…I’ll kill you, what are you going to do…?」

「Oh, no! I’m not gonna die from this.」

Doom was right, and the girl held up her hand the same way Doom did, with her head inverted, and this time Doom’s right hand twisted with a dull sound.

「You’re doing great!」

Doom confronts her with his right hand and the girl twists her head back. At that moment, Doom shouts to Lifeless.

「Hey–hey, can I go wild enough to blow up this whole area?」

「…Let’s try to put up a muffling and cognitive blocking ward over as wide an area as possible…」

「I think a radius of 4,000 steps should be enough, thank you～」

「…Good grief… Get it done as soon as possible…」

「Doom, it looks like fun.」

Doom and the girl release their power at full throttle. Despite Lifeless’ concerns, their battle would last three days and three nights.