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Translator: Barnnn
“H-hey, could this be…”
Catching up with Pochi and the others, I entered the room… and as I expected, I found a letter.
I picked it up and unfolded it, but then, the earth suddenly quaked.
“–!? What the hell!?”
“I feel a strong arcane energy surge! What is this…!?”
Lina crouched down on the floor and held her own shoulders.
Fuyu and Haruhana did the same.
“Yeah, that’s some dangerous power level. What’re we gonna do, Asley!?”
“We’ll go outside and see what’s going on! The rest of you, connect this plate to T’oued and take the treasure away! C’mon, Pochi, let’s go!”
“AWOOOOOO!!”
Good thing we came here with Lina, Fuyu, and Hornel. With them, we can have three Teleportation Spell Circles connected to T’oued at once.
Once the initial connection is established, the mages over there can then make more connections, making the transportation of treasure much faster.
Hornel can take over as the leader of operations just fine, then Bruce and Haruhana can–
“Aww, yeah! Go, Pochi!”
“Pochi! I’ll help, too!”
“What!?”
“Oh, for the love of…! All right, get on!”
“Wait– hey! Why’d you let them come, Pochi!?”
“Listen, man, Team Silver’s got their own mission here!”
“W-what are you talki– wait, you mean…!?”
“Of course it’s to ensure your safety, Sir Asley!”
You’ve got to be kidding me! Was this Blazer’s order!? Or was it Irene’s, or Warren’s!?
“Well, you’re stronger than us, of course — But hey, a little extra bit of protection won’t hurt!”
From the way Pochi isn’t stopping them… I’d say she already knew what they’d do!
“Damn it, Pochi! Get those two off you! Hey, are you even listening!?”
“I can’t! I’ve already started running — I can’t just stop so suddenly!”
“You little…! What if something happens to them!?”
“What if something happens to YOU, Master!?”
“Ngh…!”
Pochi’s refused to stop running, and even threw some strong words my way.
And for once, she actually sounded serious.
“There’s only one of you, Master — If you die, the rest of us will probably die, too. And right now, we are the only ones able to deal with this arcane energy surge. We have to go! In the worst case, we’ll have to defend you, so make sure you run if things go south!”
“…! You think I can bring myself to do that, you stupid dog!?”
“You HAVE TO! And you two, please prioritize his safety! Please!”
“Hahaha, sure thing! Well, I won’t let them kill you before they kill me. I can promise that much.”
“I doubt I’ll be able to do much… but I’ll see this mission through to the very end.”
Goddammit, why doesn’t anyone listen to anyone else around here!?
Pochi was right, though. We need to hurry.
“……You better look forward to the lecture you’ll get once we’re back home!”
“Yes, of course! I know YOU will get a looong lecture from everyone, Master!”
…This furball sure loves to run her mouth.
“By the way, Master!”
“What now!?”
“Is it just me… or have we been on this mountain before!?”
“What a coincidence! It’s not ‘just you’ at all! Last time, I was even carrying a guy on my back!”
“I knew it! So this must be THAT mountain, right!?”
“Hey, what the hell are you two talking about!? Explain it in a way that we can understand!”
Bruce immediately pressed me for information.
Haruhana, sitting behind him, seems quite curious, too.
“Well, in the past, when we were in Kugg Village… there was an incident. It involved the disappearance of Ferris, Polco Adams’ daughter.”
“Oh yeah, you might’ve talked about that before.”
“If I remember correctly, it involved young master Bright as well, yes? And you went to the Blazing Dragons’ Mountain?”
“Nah, that can’t be right. Even a warrior like me can detect hidden arcane energy, you know. If there’s a mountain full of Dragons up ahead, then I would’ve noticed by now… Wait, no…”
Bruce has started trembling, as apparent from his voice.
And a short moment later, Haruhana also caught on.
“T-that is right… Sir Asley’s story did go beyond that point…”
“The Blazing Dragons were… protect their home, right?”
“Yes! And for better or worse, we were able to destroy it before the Dragons became a threat. It seems that we’re already too late this time, though. This arcane energy…”
“…It’s Goku’ryu — the Blazing Dragons’ Hell Emperor.”
Since I have no arcane energy, I can’t tell how strong the Hell Emperor’s energy surge is.
But the way Pochi speaks of it should be good enough as an indicator.
If it has hatched from its egg just now, though, then there shouldn’t be any problem. All of us have gotten much stronger.
Even if I can’t set up traps like I did back then, we can still fight it.
“Pochi, hurry!!”
“AWOOOOOOOOO!!”
Pochi increased her speed as she dashed straight ahead, busting her way through the trees as she headed for the mountain’s summit.
Being able to do this seems to help Pochi realize how strong she currently is.
In terms of physical strength, her base form is now as powerful as she was back when she had the Holy Warrior-associated title.
In other words, with the use of magic and special techniques, we can achieve the power levels we used to have back in the past.
Now that we’re facing the threats of Gaspard and the Devil King, it’s great that we have managed to increase our strength this much.
Next, I’ll have to find a way to get my arcane energy back… then we should be able to rescue Leon!
“Annnddd we’re at the summit!”
Pochi sounded somewhat relaxed as she leaped high above the mountain’s summit.
The rest of us jumped off Pochi’s back and landed near the crater.
A moment later, Pochi landed as well, and then she started running around.
“Where!? Where is it, sir!?”
“I can’t tell where the energy surge is coming from!”
“It’s… below us! Haruhana, can you tell!?”
“Yes, Sir Bruce! It is indeed below us!”
“”Which means…””
We nervously looked down the crater and saw a sea of lava.
Suddenly, a blinding beam of light streaked across our sights.
“It’s flying up!”
A long serpentine creature soared into the sky, its golden eyes and metallic red scales radiating under the sun. Lava ran down its body’s surface and dripped down — and that’s not a result of it having just come out of the crater. Rather, as biologically illogical as it sounds, the lava seems to be a secretion from its body.
This thing is bound to cause a great deal of damage just by flying over a city.
It’s still immature, being only fifteen meters long, but the strength it holds within is real.
“That’s the Blazing Dragons’ Emperor…”
“Goku’ryu…”
Bruce and Haruhana are also disturbed by its abnormality.
They’re already sweating from the nervousness. Even though it’s a newborn, it’s still a powerful monster that they’re facing.
That’s why Pochi and I must do something…
“Master, we can’t reach it from down here! What should we do!?”
“Let’s see…”
Since I can’t use stuff like Magic Table and Levitation spells now, I have no means of attacking the Hell Emperor.
And even Irene still can’t use the Magic Table very well yet.
Maybe our situation would be quite different if only we had Shi’shichou with us.
“…! Damn it, that thing knows we’re here! Haruhana!”
“Yes!”
As soon as Bruce called her, Haruhana positioned herself directly in front of me.
“Hey! I can fight it!”
“Nah, man, just stay there! Try to rely on us a bit more! Hmph!”
The Hell Emperor descended.
Bruce, after enhancing his physical capabilities with special techniques, caught its charge head-on.
“KAAAAAAHHHHHH!!”
Damn, that’s amazing — I know it’s still immature, but he just caught the Hell Emperor’s attack!
“AWWWWW YEAHHHHHH!!”
“Whoa! You actually knocked it back!?”
“That’s awesome, Bruce!!”
He really lives up to his position as the ‘Special Forces Captain’ of Team Silver — the team that has become an equal of Silver General.
It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that Team Silver contributed the most to that battle we just went through, even.
Considering how far Bruce has come, it’s quite understandable that the team has achieved so much.
Still, he’s up against the Hell Emperor — a creature more powerful than even SS-ranked monsters.
And it’s got its power boosted in this era thanks to the Devil King’s resurrection. It must be much stronger than last time.
…Yeah, it’s apparent from how there’s not even a scratch on it.
“You don’t even think about butting in, Asley.”
“Yeah, sure, I won’t.”
If Haruhana were to make mistakes here, she might get hurt unnecessarily.
Which means… it’s Pochi’s time to shine!
I sent Pochi a signal with my eyes, and once she caught on, she proceeded to jump up.
“Air Claw!!”
“Ah!? Damn it, Pochi!!”
Pochi’s sharp wind blasts tore through the air and flew accurately at the Hell Emperor’s abdomen.
As much as I’d like Bruce to have his moment, it’s better to end this fight as quickly as possible.
With that speed and power, the blast is sure to deal damage to the Hell Emperor.
But just as I thought that…
“”…!?””
Pochi’s air claw suddenly changed direction, flying straight up into the sky and fading away.
“Huh!? How’d that happen!? I didn’t do anything, you know!?”
Even Pochi herself is confused.
But really, how? Even the Hell Emperor doesn’t seem to understand what just happened.
While everyone was already tense, what happened next would freeze us over completely.
“That was dangerous.”
“”…!?””
A voice I recognized echoed in the air.
Despite what had been said, the voice sounded perfectly calm and relaxed.
Pochi and Bruce jumped back, and together with Haruhana, they positioned themselves so that they could cover for me.
Everyone looked at the same spot: directly in front of the Hell Emperor’s abdomen. At a glance, there was nothing there, but…
“The air there seems… somewhat distorted…”
Thanks to Haruhana’s comment, I was able to tell that there was in fact a person there, hiding with the effect of Invisible Illusion.
“Come on out, whoever you are!”
Bruce unleashed a sonic boom with a slash of his sword.
Perhaps due to it not being lethal, it was not deflected, unlike the Air Claw before it.
“Well, well… I did not expect for us to meet here.”
And with the Invisible Illusion disengaged, the figure of the person in question was revealed.
“G-Gaspard…!”
What the hell is he even doing here…!?
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