Manowa

Chapter 408 – Let's Set Aside Despair

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A small body flew through the air and swooped down with sharp scissors in its hands.

「Funnu!」

Jinrai avoided the attack and thrust at the older brother puppet.
However, the older brother puppet blocked with its scissors and was sent flying by the momentum; it rotated in the air before landing.
Jinrai stabbed with his other spear and knocked it away.
The older brother puppet rolled across the ground, but promptly stood up.

『Tsuei!』

And the skeleton Dragon Knight Jin Bahar blocked an attack from the younger sister puppet and struck it down.
Jin Bahar stabbed with Gungnir to try and cause a further blow, but the younger sister puppet jumped back to dodge and widened the distance.

『You old guys are strong.』

『Cut it out and die already!』

Jinrai and Jin Bahar.
While keeping their distance from the two, the older brother puppet with scissors and the younger sister puppet with a nata, apparently having taken no damage, said that.
Their emotionless glass eyeballs stared at them, and the dry laughter emitted by the puppets was chilling.

They were probably originally designed to be adorable, but the only feeling caused by the two puppets was creepiness.
Neither Jinrai nor Jin Bahar were delicate enough to be disheartened by that, but their frustration at being unable to defeat them despite hitting with their attacks was increasing.

「Good grief, they're sturdy.」

Jinrai muttered.
Since some time ago, he had been aiming at the joints to try and destroy them, but it wasn't working.
They were sturdy, agile, and unlike Kazane's Tatsuyoshi-kun series, their movements were constantly changing.
Jinrai thought that if the Tatsuyoshi-kuns could move like these puppets, they would certainly become powerful war potential.

Also, Jin Bahar didn't have as much leeway as Jinrai.
He could hit them with a blow, but he couldn't aim for specific parts.

And, somewhere along the way, a slender man started standing behind the puppets.
He looked like he was in the prime of his life, but his skin was white, and his eyes were red.
And the biggest problem was that the man didn't show any openings at all.

Jinrai thought that if he only had to destroy the puppets in front of him, that probably wasn't impossible.
However, if Jinrai went for a powerful attack, the slender man would attack him.
He had keenly felt such a sign since some time ago, so Jinrai couldn't act aggressively.

(While saying that he isn't stalling for time, he's devoted to stalling? What a troublesome opponent.)

Jinrai felt that the man in front of him wouldn't show his trump cards until the last possible moment.

『Rather, why don't you try crushing them with『Unicorn』, master?』

Jin Bahar approached and whispered that question, but Jinrai shook his head in response.

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「No, as soon as I remove『Cindy』, that guy will only aim at『Cindy』.
If that's taken away, we'll be trapped here, and that's the end.」

Jinrai asserted.
No matter how skilled he was, Jinrai's skill was human skill.
He had no means of breaking the barrier.

Therefore, Jinrai understood that whether or not he was allowed to fire『Thunder God Cannon』with prosthetic arm『Cindy』was the true issue of the battle between themselves and the slender man.

『Then what do we do?』

「Wait a little.
I'm nearly able to manage.」

Jinrai replied to Jin Bahar's question.
Jinrai was simply single-mindedly tracking the movements of the puppets.
He was observing to grasp all of their movements.

『Old man, stop talking to Skull-san and play with me!』

『Play!』

Then the puppet siblings attacked Jinrai and Jin Bahar again.
They jumped toward them, and since their weapons were heavier than their bodies, their centers of gravity were easy to shift, so they could make irregular movements even while midair.
When their small sizes were included, it made them truly troublesome opponents.

「Good grief.
Taking care of children at this age?」

『Is that really something a man who has grandchildren should say?』

While saying that, Jinrai and Jin Bahar were about to start fighting the puppets again, but a situation occurred that forced them to temporarily stop.

「What?」

The puppets suddenly stopped in front of Jinrai's group and fell to the ground.
And when Jinrai and Jin Bahar looked at the slender man, a red aura was being emitted from the man's body.
It rose into the sky and looked like it connected to the giant red moon.

「Judgement Bolt? Dammit Marie, you messed up.」

The slender man muttered.
Then the space behind him cracked.

Jinrai and Jin Bahar's eyes opened wide, but it wasn't just the space behind the slender man that cracked.
The entire space around Jinrai and Jin Bahar warped and started cracking.

Then, the world began to collapse.

＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊

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It was a torrent of light.
A huge torrent of light was shining on the polar bear.
It possessed overwhelming heat and burned the body of the polar bear.

「Guruoooooo!!」

The polar bear screamed.
Its entire body was being burned.
The polar bear howled at the pain.
The polar bear sorrowfully cried at the power that exceeded its regenerative ability.

「Gora, do your best.
I'll do my best as well.」

While saying that, the lump of meat Marie used the polar bear『Gora』as a shield against the light.
Though it couldn't protect her completely, so Marie's meat also started burning.

Many tentacles and limbs appeared from Marie's body.
It seemed she was taking some kind of defensive measure.
And the source of the light was on top of the carriage in front of them.
It was the magic『Judgement Bolt』used by the White Party member Louise.

「Kuu!!」

And with her Thunderclap Staff facing forward and emitting Judgement Bolt, Louise read the flow of magical power to understand her enemies' states.

(I can't be fooled by appearances.
As I thought, that one is dangerous)

Louise grasped Marie's condition and concluded.
The white bear was unmistakably a powerful enemy, but the monster Marie was a rank above.

She had probably taken in monsters with various resistances.
And among those, it seemed she selected and used abilities that countered her enemies.

In the first place, even without the added anti-devil damage, Judgement Bolt had the highest level of output among spells.

And the attributes of Judgement Bolt were『Light』and『Lightning』, but it seemed Marie was sending the『Lightning』energy into the ground with her tentacles and was absorbing the『Light』energy with a rainbow-colored orb.
Furthermore, she was using the polar bear as a shield to protect herself.

(At this rate, I won't be able to defeat them? But if that's the case, then…)

「I'll simply destroy the barrier!」

Louise radiated Judgement Bolt diagonally downward from the carriage.
The ground that had been burning along with the polar bear and Marie was already on the verge of collapse.
The magical structure that formed this virtual space had begun to warp.
Louise understood that it was possible to break the barrier with the power of Judgement Bolt.

「Do iiit!」

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Then, Judgement Bolt pierced the distorted ground.
The world trembled, and the boundaries of the space started disappearing.
Would it be good or bad fortune?

Fissures starting from the ground directly below Marie and the white bear spread through the world, and it collapsed.

＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊

Until just now, Yumika had surely been below cliffs.
However, because of the light of Judgement Bolt, the surrounding space cracked like glass and was destroyed, and when she noticed, she was standing in the wasteland where she had been running with the Indestructible Carriage at the beginning.

The red moon in the sky looked somewhat distorted.

And before her eyes were the Indestructible Carriage and crystal horses.
Emily was sitting in the coachman's seat, and Louise was standing on the roof of the carriage with her back to Yumika.
Also, Tiara and Mefirus were inside the carriage, and Shippuu was next to the carriage with Lyle on his back.
It looked like Jinrai and Jin Bahar were also present in a place a little further away.

「Tch, hindrances have come?」

Seeing that, Ijika said that with annoyance.
However, that was the extent of his cursing.
Yumika's spear was imminently plunging toward him.

Ijika barely avoided that thrust and stabbed his sword at the wolf woman in front of him.
However, such a half-hearted attack naturally didn't reach Yumika.

「Damn, it's a reunion with your friends.
Is it really fine to keep going like that?」

『If I can join them, then pest extermination becomes even more important, right?』

This wasn't a sweet story like they were playing house; just because she could now join her companions didn't mean she could get a fresh start.
Ijika showed an opening, so she simply stabbed.

『Shirokiba, you guys help Louise-san and the others!』

「Won」「Won」

The two-headed large silver wolf shouted and moved away from its master.
By the way, the two silver wolves were respectively named Shiro and Kiba, so Yumika called the two-headed fusion Shirokiba.

「Ah, is that so?」

Ijika smiled wryly at her sweetness.

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「So, what are you going to do? Can you kill me alone, young lady?」

『If necessary!』

The silver female warrior with a wolf face shouted and once again clashed with the blade incarnation.

(My Complete Wolf Transformation has 2 minutes remaining? I have no choice but to do it!)

While looking at the time limit displayed in the Window, Yumika swung her spear.
Whether or not she could beat the man in front of her by the time her transformation came undone; that was the problem for Yumika.

Name: Yuihama Kazane

Occupation: Summoning Fighter

Title: Ogre Killer, Dragon Slayer, High Beast Summoner, Rea King, Liberator, Guardian

Equipment: Staff 『White Blaze』, Draghorn Tonfa x2, Dragon Eating Ogre Army Armor (True), Indestructible Cloak, Mysterious Pouch, Crimson Saint Coffin, Heroic Spirit Summoning Ring, Circlet of Wisdom, Aim Bracelet, White Magic Accumulator (Revised) ×2, Rainbow Necklace, Rainbow Dragon Ring, Angel Bracelet

Level : 40

Health: 156+20

Magic Power: 378+520

Strength: 81+45

Agility: 83+39

Endurance: 45+20

Wisdom : 75

Dexterity : 53

Spell : 『Fly』『Torch』『Fire』『Heal』『Firestorm』『Healer Ray』『High Heal』『Golden Dusk「Dragon Exclusive」』『Mirror Shield』『Rabbit Speed』『Flare Mirage』

Skill : 『Kick Devil』『Kick Decapitation Wave』『Warrior's Memory: Lv2』『Night Vision』『Crushing Blow』『Dog's Sense of Smell: Lv2』『Golem Maker: Lv4』『Aegis Shield』『Fire Principle: Third Chapter』『Healing Principle: Fourth Chapter』『Air Jump: Lv2』『Killing Leg: Lv3』『Fear Voice』『Invisible』『Tiger Eye』『Wall Walking』『Intuition: Lv2』『Cheat Death』『Nimble』『Charge』『Material Shield: Lv2』『Information Link: Lv2』『Optical Camouflage』『High Dash』『Bloodsucking Blade』『Dragonization: Lv3「Dragon」』『Regenerate』『Soul Breaking Blade』『Stealthy Hand Placement』『Thunder Chariot: Lv2』『Sturdier Teeth: Lv2「Dragon」』『Crystallization: Lv2「Dragon」』『Devil King's Intimidation』『Stone Minotaur: Lv2』『Mega Beam: Lv2』『Space Expansion』『Pseudo-Silver Creation』『Poison Claw』『Fireball「Dragon」』『Cuticle「Dragon」』『Arms Creation: Black Flame』『Ingredient Connoisseur: Lv3』『Dragon Pheromone「Dragon」』『Boost』『Monkey's Strong Arm』『Two-sword Style』『Boobies Plus』『Living Armor』『Alarm』『Six-sword Style』『Mental Attack Complete Protection』『Spider Web』『Wire Cutter』『Flexible』『Magic Power Absorption』『Red Body Transformation』『Friendship Tag-team』

Kazane:「I don't know why, but I can't help but feel like we won't have any time to shine.」

Naoki:「You mustn't give up until the end, Aneki.」