Ch.311Trusted NPCs. (2)

-KWAAANG!!!

Black demonic energy collided with a black muzzle, sending all the surrounding trees and ground flying.

“Kugh?!!”

“Miho!! Luxuria!!”

“Riese?!”

“I’m fine!!!”

“This bastard, learning nothing but sneak attacks.”

Though the muzzle was torn apart by the demonic energy explosion, scattering black flesh chunks everywhere, Luxuria shouted to the group as if this wasn’t the end.

“I don’t know if this is the main body or not. But what’s certain is that this creature entangled in my power is definitely the source of the power that swallowed us. So don’t let your guard down!!”

“It’s absurd hearing that from the person who was the most relaxed until just now.”

Chikuyo created and gripped a sword, perking up her ears beside Miho and Luxuria, while Miho had already completed her beast transformation and was sniffing the air with twitching nostrils.

“Riese, give us your holy magic.”

“Yes!! I’ll cast combat holy magic on everyone! For Luxuria…”

“It would only hurt me if you cast it on me, so don’t bother.”

“Understood!!”

In an instant, Riese activated her divine power, causing Chikuyo’s and Green Doll’s swords to glow golden, and Miho’s claws to shine with the same golden light. As the group finished their battle preparations and remained tense…

[Who? You’re not Lust (Luxuria).]

The scattered flesh chunks began to gather, producing a heavy voice as if flesh had been added to its throat.

“What are you talking about? If I’m not Lust, then who is?”

[Lust, not strong like you. Lust, too stupid to be greedy, so weak.]

“Haa? What are you saying, you pig bastard.”

-PAANG!!

Luxuria craftily concealed that she was the previous Lust and fired another demonic energy bullet at the flesh mass. However…

-KWAJIJIK!!

“Tch. As expected, the compatibility is bad.”

“Did it eat the demonic energy bullet?”

[Chomp, chomp. Smack, gulp!! Yeah, you’re definitely not Lust. Who? Why are you in that demon’s body?]

The flesh mass, now returned to a giant muzzle, wobbled as if tilting its head, and Luxuria immediately spread her wings and flew into the sky.

“Listen well. Greed basically eats demonic energy and magical power. Naturally, all attacks derived from them are just ‘food.’ And what it eats…”

[Don’t ignore me.]

-PAANG!! KWANG!!!

“…it can use immediately like that.”

The muzzle of Greed fired an attack identical to the demonic energy bullet Luxuria had thrown. She countered it with an identical demonic energy bullet of her own and clicked her tongue briefly.

“…That just now.”

“Yeah. Luxuria is slightly weaker.”

As Miho and Chikuyo seemed to notice, Green Doll was the first to charge forward with his sword raised.

“I wonder how physical attacks will fare.”

[Elf. Delicious, I’ll eat you.]

-KWAJIK!!

“?!!”

“Elder?!!”

“Green Doll!!!”

Just before Green Doll’s blade could cut the flesh mass, it vanished as if torn from empty space. Green Doll immediately twisted his body and jumped sideways. The space he fled from seemed to have been waiting, tearing and swallowing his coat tails.

“This means physical attacks will also be quite troubleso—”

[UWEEEEEK!! Tastes bad!!!]

However, the muzzle that had swallowed Green Doll’s sword suddenly retched and spat out his blade. Seeing this, the group…

“…Aha?”

“As expected, physical attacks won’t work easily on that pig either. But…”

“So it can’t eat my divine power.”

Looking at the creature that had vomited out the blade imbued with Riese’s holy magic as if it disagreed with its stomach, Chikuyo curled up her lips into a smile, plucked a handful of her tail fur, and threw it into the air.

“Elder! Take whatever you can!! Riese!!!”

“I’ll borrow it!!”

“I can’t enchant all of them!!!”

As her scarlet tail fur scattered around the flesh mass instantly transformed into swords, the saint immediately used her holy magic on them. Though she said she couldn’t enchant them all, nearly 80% of the swords glowed golden.

“Fox Spirit Phantom Swords!!!”

[Huh?!!]

-PUPUPUPUPUPUK!!!

[KUWEEEEEEK?!!!]

“Wind Riding Form 1!!”

-PHIT!!!

[Ekkek…?!!]

The glowing swords turned the flesh mass into a porcupine, and in that opening, Green Doll’s sword bisected the creature’s body. And then…

“The previous one was quite hurt by this, I wonder how you’ll fare?”

Black demonic energy condensed into a black burning form and fell onto the collapsed flesh mass, creating a tremendous roar. Literally, demonic energy like black flames began to burn the massive flesh mass.

“…Surely this isn’t the end, right?”

“Of course not. I’ve seen them hurt by this before, but I’ve never killed one with it.”

When Miho, hiding between the black forest trees, asked Luxuria, she shrugged as if it were obvious and nodded toward the sluggishly reviving flesh mass.

“Since you fight with claws and fists, observe the situation as much as possible. As far as I know, martial arts have the worst compatibility with that thing. Or did Jack tell you anything?”

“…Yeah. He only told Saint Riese, maybe he didn’t think we would fight.”

Hearing Miho’s slightly dejected voice, Luxuria smiled slightly before immediately creating demonic energy bullets and beginning to bombard the revived muzzle. While doing so, she spoke again to Miho who was still hiding.

“That’s not it. I’m sure he thought we would come here too, which is why he cut down the enemy forces a few days ago. Hmm, that’s right. It seems Riese heard about how that fight went…”

“Weren’t you asleep and missed that?”

“Ah, that? Actually, little girl, I woke up earlier when we kissed. But now my vital energy and demonic energy are full, so I’d say I have the upper hand now. Anyway, let’s focus.”

-KWAAANG!!!

-PIPIPIPIT!!!

The demonic energy bombardment flies toward the revived muzzle, followed by Chikuyo’s and Green Doll’s swords. It seemed like they could win easily if they continued to wear it down like this. But…

“…Is that thing really getting hit?”

From Miho’s perspective, hiding a step away, it looked different. As if deliberately dying multiple times, or exaggeratedly screaming, being torn apart, or exploding as if holy power were its weakness—it all looked like a street performer acting. And above all…

“Strange. There’s no way its attack pattern could be this simple. Hup!!”

-KWAAANG!!!

When it first tore and ate the Elder’s sword, and after swallowing Luxuria’s attack and returning an identical one, it showed that mysterious space-tearing ability, but it hasn’t appeared agai—

[Why aren’t you attacking?]

“!!”

-KWAJIJIK!!!

“Argh?!!”

“Huh?”

“Miho!!”

She had been perfectly hidden. Suppressing her presence as much as possible while observing the enemy. The voice that came from behind her completely pierced through her presence-concealing technique that normally only Jack could detect. She reflexively threw herself forward, and the tip of her tail was slightly torn off.

“I’m fine!! Only the tip of my tail was caught!!!”

“What?!! Wait, then the one in front of us is…!!”

[It hurts, it hurts! IT HURTS!! IT HUUURTS!!! They told me to go to the battlefield for the empire?!! Why!! IT HUUURTS!!!]

The screams of the creature burning in Luxuria’s demonic energy definitely changed. Until now they had been cutting it down before it could recover, so the screams weren’t clear, but this…

“Uwup?!!”

“Riese…?!!”

“Tch, even as a fellow demon, I find this disgusting.”

[Who are you? You’re not Lust. Why are you killing me? Why do you have the power of the Seven Deadly Sins? Where did Luxuria go?]

-KWAJIJIK!!!

“Ugh?!!”

This time Riese retched, and the space where Luxuria’s wings were suddenly tore open, causing her to fall to the ground. Moreover, below her…

[Eat, I’m going to eat you.]

“As if I’d let you eat me!!”

“Spirit Sword!!!”

Another giant muzzle opened wide as if to devour her, and without mercy, Luxuria’s demonic explosion attack combined with Chikuyo’s attack turned it into fragments again. But…

“…This is.”

“Riese, what’s wrong? Riese!”

“T-That, that. All those mouths…”

-KWADUK!! KWADUK!! KWADUK!! KWADUDUK!! KWADUDUDUDUDUK!!!!

“Ugh?!!”

The surrounding forest, the ground, the space itself tears open. The presence of something enormous approaching us makes a sound like chewing hard wood, and as Riese regains her composure and immediately stands up to shoot a glowing holy spell into the sky…

[You’re not Luxuria.] [Please save me!!] [Mother?!!] [I enlisted in the army, why?!!] [For the empire!!!] [It hurts!! IT HURTS!!! Don’t chew!!! IT HUUURTS!!!] [What, a demon?! Why a demon!! Why am I a demooon?!!!]

Flesh masses the same size as the giant muzzle they had been fighting approach, emitting the voices of many different people. And seeing this, the blonde saint…

“Ugh!! They’re all… people…!!”

“What? Those are people?”

Clutching the arm of Green Doll who was supporting her, she glares at the muzzles with a gaze full of rage, as if she had seen something that shouldn’t exist in this world. Receiving her gaze, the muzzle…

[Divine power, now delicious. Give me more.]

“!!!”

Uttering something it had never said before, it opens its maw along with the other muzzles and begins to create a massive orb of light.

“Wow, if I get hit by that, I’m done for?”

“””……”””

Luxuria, who had lost the option of flying away, shakes her demonic eyes and utters a hopeless voice, while Green Doll and Chikuyo, who had thought their attacks were working until now, open their mouths in dismay. The number of giant muzzles that suddenly appeared is about 20. The size of the divine power masses gathering in all those muzzles is at least the size of an adult man. If hit directly by something like that, there’s no way anyone would come out unscathed…

-TATATATA!!!

“Hnngh!!!”

Flying straight toward the monsters holding those ominous golden spheres illuminating the black forest was a tiger shining like a silver moon in the night sky.

“Ancestral technique!! First Strike Jaw Breaker!!!”

-BBEOEOK!!!! KWAJIJIK.

The silver trajectory drew a clean downward curve and forcibly closed the muzzle at the front, and…

[Kua?]

-KIIIIIING!!!! KWA⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯!!!

The golden sphere that couldn’t be fired exploded inside the muzzle, creating a massive flash of light.