Ankoku Kishi Monogatari ~Yuusha wo Taosu Tameni Maou ni Shoukansaremashita~

Chapter 178: Battle in The Forest III

◆Sword Maiden; Shirone

「Be careful, Shirone. That woman is strong.」

Kuna, the Silver-Haired Girl, warned me.

I owed my life to Kuna. If it hadn’t been for her conjuring a magic shield in time, I would’ve been done for.

「Never expected you’d save me…」

I looked up at the sky.

A woman in a crimson red dress hovered above me.

The Princess of Fresh Blood, Zaffrada.

I had heard about her once from Chiyuki-san. She was known to be one of the strongest among the Reaper's children.

Her eyes locked onto Kuna.

「Why are you here, Silver Witch?」

「To become a stumbling block for your plan, of course. That’s why I went so far as to save someone like Shirone. Because just Kuna alone won’t be able to beat you.」

Kuna gave a sly smile as she spoke.

I quickly realized that she hadn’t saved me out of kindness—she did it because I was needed.

She must have known Zaffrada was among our enemies.

It was probably why she decided that we had to work together, even if it was with me.

I had seen firsthand how powerful Kuna was from our past fights.

Even so, Kuna was cautious around Zaffrada.

It was clear that Zaffrada was stronger.

「I see! Don’t think I’ll let my guard down like last time! I’m going all out from the start!」

Suddenly, nine new eyes appeared across Zaffrada’s face, scattered across her skin.

Then, enormous bat wings unfurled from her back.

Her mouth stretched wide, nearly to her ears, revealing long fangs.

Several long, red tongues slithered from her open mouth.

Her true monstrosity was finally visible.

「Humph! Still as ugly as ever, huh, Zaffrada!」

「HOW DARE YOU! SEE HOW I MINCE THAT FACE OF YOURS UNTIL IT'S EVEN UGLIER THAN MINE WITH THESE CLAWS!」

Zaffrada roared, unleashing her claws.

Each one was as long as my sword.

「HERE I COME! YOU WILL DIE AFTER I TEAR UP THAT FACE OF YOURS!」

Zaffrada charged at us, swinging her claws with deadly intent.

Kuna and I raised our weapons to block the strike.

「EH?! SO HEAVY!」

The force behind her strike sent me flying backward. It was a casual swing, yet she generated enough power to throw me off balance.

Kuna was sent reeling by the blow as well.

Zaffrada closed in on her, clearly making Kuna her primary target.

Kuna quickly deployed several magic shields, using them to block Zaffrada's claws while retreating to gain some distance.

「DON’T IGNORE ME!」

I regained my footing and charged at Zaffrada, my sword raised.

But my attack was effortlessly blocked by her massive bat wings.

Her wings were incredibly tough—so strong they could deflect my sword with ease. It was as if she had eyes on her back, anticipating every move.

「FOOL! TAKE THIS! EVIL BLOOD MIST!」

A thick red mist poured from Zaffrada’s body, spreading rapidly.

I immediately pulled back, realizing the danger.

The mist expanded quickly, withering everything it touched, turning the forest into a dying wasteland.

「OH NO, THE FOREST IS WITHERING! WIND SPIRIT!」

I summoned Sylph, a low-ranking wind spirit, to help disperse the toxic mist.

「IN YOUR DREAM, RED FLASH!」

Without warning, Zaffrada fired a powerful crimson beam of light.

I brought my sword up to block the attack, but the beam’s power exceeded my expectations.

「KYAAAAAAAAA!」

The impact sent me flying back, and before I could recover, Zaffrada closed in on me with terrifying speed.

She was too fast. I couldn’t react in time.

「DIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE–WHAT THE?!」

Just as Zaffrada’s claws appeared right before my eyes, shining butterflies appeared and wrapped around me. In the next instant, I found myself already at Kuna’s side, with Zaffrada a fair distance away from us.

It seemed Kuna had just saved my life.

「Kuh. Have you, by any chance, gotten stronger, Zaffrada?」

「Humph, I just gave it my all from the very start, so I wouldn't be defeated by someone like you.」

Kuna looked frustrated as she watched Zaffrada reply with a triumphant smile on her face.

「Change of plan! Shirone, let’s team up!」

「Right. We won’t be able to beat her unless we cooperate.」

I turned my gaze toward the forest.

There was the corpse of a rabbit in the place where Zaffrada passed by.

It seems that the rabbit had gotten killed by the miasma she had released.

We had to drive her out of the forest.

Though I was unwilling to do this, I had no choice but to cooperate with Kuna.

◆Battle Maiden, Nier

The battle in the sky had finally begun.

Our vanguard was led by the holy knight, Alphos-sama.

The enemy’s vanguard was commanded by Dahark, the Serpent Prince, who rode atop a winged mushusshu.

Though Alphos-sama had the upper hand for now, I found myself at a loss for how to continue the fight.

「Captain Nier, we’re lucky the Fresh Blood Princess withdrew… It would have been a great trouble if she had come for us. And fortunately, the Elios gods don’t have to fight.」

My fellow battle maiden, Sogun, reported to me.

Zaffrada’s strength was the real deal.

Many warriors had already been injured.

Had she continued to attack, some of the Elios gods might have gotten killed by her.

「Yeah. We're lucky that the Elios gods don't have to fight.」

I glanced at the Elios gods.

The young male gods of Elios were in the midst of frolicking with the beautiful human women they had brought aboard their skyship.

They were by no means in any state to fight.

They just wanted to watch the battlefield.

Well, since the Fresh Blood Princess had withdrawn, the only formidable enemy left was the Serpent Prince.

And since the Serpent Prince was occupied with fighting Alphos, there shouldn’t be any issue.

That meant there was no real problem, even if the Elios gods were just playing around on the battlefield.

However, it seemed the same couldn’t be said for Rena-sama.

Because it was the holy knights, led by Alphos-sama, who were doing the fighting.

By the way, Thors-sama had fought until recently, but he’d been beaten black and blue by the Serpent Prince.

Now, he was withdrawing from the front lines, escorted by Amazona-sama.

I looked down at the ground.

The elves and dwarves seemed capable of holding back the orcs.

Chiyuki and the others were heading toward the goblins.

The Fresh Blood Princess’s decision to descend to the ground might have been influenced by Chiyuki and her group.

So, I decided to assist them.

「Don’t let your guard down, Sogun. Those people are aiming to revive the Wicked Beast. Their plans to target the Heavenly Palace and the Elven Capital are just diversions.」

「I see, so their true target is likely the dwarf village. But the defense there is strong.」

Just as Sogun said, the defense of the dwarf village was formidable.

Even if they lent their golem to the elves, the dwarves still had plenty of golems left in the village.

They would have no trouble, even with the entire orc and goblin army surrounding them.

Though their defense wasn’t enough to withstand the Serpent Prince or the Fresh Blood Princess, had the enemies truly targeted the dwarf village, God King-sama might have made his move.

The reason God King-sama had yet to act was simply to anticipate our opponent’s trump card.

As it stood, there was no formidable enemy heading toward the dwarves’ village.

The wolves seemed to be targeting it, but their numbers were so far inferior to those of the orcs and goblins that they posed no real threat.

In this situation, there was nothing to worry about.

And yet, something about their actions stunk.

Honestly, what were they really trying to do?

An indescribable anxiety gnawed at my chest.

◆Black Haired Sage; Chiyuki

I fought against the lamia named Botis.

「Not bad, black-haired woman Chiyuki.」

「Right back at you.」

I responded to Botis.

Botis was strong, but she was ill-suited for combat.

In fact, I was stronger than her.

The only reason she appeared before us was because we were an unexpected factor in her plan.

「Well, from the way you’re acting, you don’t seem to know my true aim. What a relief.」

「Heh, I’m curious what kind of aim that is.」

「Fufufu. You’ll find out soon enough. I’ve confirmed that the Hero isn’t coming.」

Botis laughed joyfully.

Surely, Reiji hadn’t come to this forest.

「Well then, it’s time to invoke my magic. Lo and behold.」

The moment Botis spoke, I felt waves of intense magical power.

I turned toward the source of those waves.

「Barrier magic?!」

A massive barrier, glowing with purple light, was raised.

And it was coming from the direction of the dwarven village.

「That’s right, Black-Haired Sage Chiyuki. With this, no one can enter that village for a while.」

「What do you mean?」

「The poison has already been injected. All that’s left is to wait for the Wicked Beast’s revival.」

Botis declared this with utter confidence in her victory.

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