Mob Kousei No Ore Demo Boukensha Ni
Nareba Riajuu Ni Naremasuka: Chapter #143(A)
Translators: Nyx and Ririi Rain
"..................."
In Fensalir, in a room that
felt a bit too spacious for me to sleep in alone.
I was glaring at the screen of
my Card Gear.
I had realized I couldn't
contact Anna and the others just moments ago, during the morning's scheduled
check-in.
Since we had been separated, I
had made sure to always exchange messages with my parents and Anna's group with
a schedule three times a day—morning, noon, and night.
This was partly for safety
confirmation, but also to share information I'd acquired and to get a calm
analysis from a third party.
But the regular scheduled
communication suddenly stopped this morning. And not just with one, but with
all of them.
At this point, I could only
assume something had happened.
"...Huuuuuuu~,
there's no point just thinking about it here."
I let out a heavy sigh and
forced myself to shift my focus.
For
now, all I can do is to pray for everyone's safety and push forward, aiming to
reunite with them as quickly as possible.
The question
is, which way do I go?
I spread out a handwritten
roadmap on the table.
The roadmap simply showed my
route from Hachioji with lines and text.
The symbols at the ends of the
lines, like C and B, represented the rank of the Gatekeepers. And all the remaining
lines from here were marked with a B.
With a secure base in hand, I
no longer needed to clear out enemies in new areas, allowing us to advance more
efficiently. all C-rank Gatekeepers had already been defeated. All that
remained were B-ranks... and they were all highly dangerous targets like Hydra and Orcus1.
I'd recently been reminded of
how dangerous the B-rank True Skills are in the previous fight with Ose.
I couldn't afford to lose any
cards by rushing.
I needed to choose my opponent
as cautiously as possible.
"Out
of all of them, she's probably the most manageable, huh?"
After careful consideration, the
one I chose was Demeter.
She’s the quintessential Earth
Mother Goddess of Greek mythology, a powerful upper-tier B-rank deity. Still, I
figured she would be better than fighting Hydra, which could be called a
god-slayer, or the Deity possessing the authority over death.
"Let's
go."
Assembling my full team,
including Athena, I directly transferred to Demeter's domain.
The first sensations upon
arrival were the cold wind slicing at my cheeks and the smell of dusty earth.
Demeter's domain was a
desolate wasteland swept by biting cold.
There wasn't a single breath
of life to be found, despite it being under one with the authority over
fertility.
Though Demeter was strongly
associated with the image of a mother goddess who brought abundance, she also
had a fierce and untamable side when enraged.
For instance, when her
daughter Persephone was abducted by Hades, the King of the Underworld, Demeter
brought famine upon the Earth in protest — an event said to be the origin of
winter in Greek mythology.
For the ancient Greeks, winter
was a symbol of Demeter's wrath, and this barren land perfectly reflected her
mood.
I had
hoped to negotiate, but it seems combat will be unavoidable.
With that thought, I headed
toward her temple.
"...A
human. What is your business here?"
Within the ancient Greek-style
temple, gleaming white amidst the wasteland, Demeter lay languidly on her bed.
Her voluptuous form was
covered only by a thin dress, leaving her in a vulnerable appearance. Her
golden hair, reminiscent of ripened wheat, spread across the bed, exuding a
decadent allure.
Slightly flustered by
Demeter's 'wife-like' vibe, an aura none of my cards possessed, I spoke,
"I
wish for permission to pass through this gate. I will, of course, pay the price."
"The
gate, you say. Well, I suppose you would."
Demeter let out a small scoff
and slowly raised herself up.
Her enormous breasts, symbolic
of the Earth Mother, swayed heavily.
As my eyes were involuntarily captivated,
she picked up a great scythe leaning against the bed.
Her gaze sharpened as she
glared down at me haughtily.
"I
refuse. If you wish to pass, you must defeat me."
『I knew it would come to this!』
The moment we assumed our combat
stance, Demeter began summoning her subordinates.
The one that appeared was her
beloved daughter Persephone. Although usually only one should be summoned, they
appeared one after another at a considerable speed.
Moreover, the appearing
Persephones were not C-rank, but clearly exuded the presence of B-rank class
entities.
This was undoubtedly the
influence of the True Skill evolution.
The Persephones further
summoned countless Sirens, and the Sirens, in turn, summoned Harpies.
『Renge!』『Yeah!』
As the enemy subordinates
multiplied rapidly, once a certain number had gathered, we launched our
customary [Mirror Image Divinity: Gentle Spirit of Kishimojin].
Following that was the combo
of [World of Frozen Moonlight] and [Feast of Destruction, Slaughter, and
Victory]
The entire area was plunged
into a moonlit night, and an army of Rakshasas, blessed by the Celtic Trinity
Deities, appeared.
This combination usually sinks
most enemies, but...
"How
impertinent!"
A cold blizzard raged,
centered on the furious Demeter.
It froze the Rakshasas solid,
and shattered them like dust.
Furthermore, the newly
summoned subordinates by Mea and the others were also frozen and turned to dust
as soon as they appeared.
『This is...! A Subordinate
Sealing skill, just like that of the Trinity of Moon Goddesses’!』
To be
able to activate a special skill that requires three goddesses by herself...!
And what’s more.
『Kuh...!』『Ugh, my stomach...』
My cards groaned, clutching
their abdomens in pain.
Through the Link, I could feel
their vitality being drained.
Simultaneously, an intense
sense of hunger was transmitted to me.
A starvation severe enough to
cause an ordinary person to starve to death in moments was gnawing away at my
cards' life force.
Renge immediately activated
[Rain of Amrita], temporarily healing their vitality and easing their hunger.
Yet, the starvation quickly returned.
A
continuous debuff, then. In that case!
『Suzuka!』 『Got it!』
Centered on Suzuka, a stream
of pure water burst forth, washing over the entire area.
Simultaneously, everyone's
hunger completely vanished.
[Purification Water Ablution].
A skill of Seoritsu-hime that cleanses all defilement from the area and forms a
space that nullifies status ailments for a certain period.
This
is actually the first time I'm using it in a real fight.
...I'll
keep it a secret that I briefly thought the effect looked a bit like a flushing
toilet.
『Well... that brings us back to
square one.』
The hunger was cured, and both
sides’ subordinate summoning was sealed, returning us to the state before the
fight.
However, the advantage was on
our side.
The opponent had already
showed and lost several cards, while we still had plenty of cards to play.
We surpassed her in both
combat power and numbers.
Does
she have any trump card left to overturn this situation...?
『Well, even if she did, I'm not
going to let her use it. ELIZA!』
Catching my intent, Eliza instantly
teleported behind Demeter and swung her great scythe down.
With both sides' subordinates
sealed, there was no longer any concern about the damage being taken by a
subordinate like what happened with Ose.
Demeter instinctively tried to
turn and block the descending blade with her own great scythe— ――――
"Gah...!?"
―――― But her body was sliced
in two, scythe and all.
"...How,
could this..."
Cleaved in two from the head,
Demeter fell with a thud, eyes wide in stunned horror.
"...As
expected, no Absolute Defense or Absolute Attack."
I watched her without letting
my guard down until her whole body vanish. I finally breathed a sigh of
relief――at that exact moment,
『Master!』 『Huh!?』
A meteor shower from the void
rained down upon me.
Just before it struck me,
Eliza, who had instantly teleported, activated her [Immortal Shield] and protected
me.
『Eliza, you saved me. As
expected of you. But...』
What
on earth just happened!?
"Tch...!"
Demeter, who should have
vanished, clicked her tongue and got back up. There was not a single scratch on
her body.
Was it
an illusion? Or a dummy? No, her dress was definitely slashed, and there was
blood.
That
skill, also possessed by Phoenix and the likes, enabled a single-use
resurrection.
Unlike [Knowledge of
Survival], its distinguishing feature is the ability to revive directly from
Lost state itself, rather than merely preventing it.
While a regular Demeter
naturally wouldn't possess such a skill, she must have acquired it through the
True Skill evolution, as is the pattern.
Using it, she feigned her own
death to launch a surprise attack.
『...For a so-called Mother of
the Gods, that's a pretty cheap thing to do.』
But
Resurrection skills are usually one-time only.
Since
she already played that one-off trump card, I can assume she has no further
aces up her sleeve.
My prediction was proved
correct. After all my cards concentrated their barrage, Demeter finally sank to
the ground for good this time.
What remained was the great
scythe she had wielded.
Eliza retrieved it for me, and
I took it to examine.
Demeter
doesn't have a symbolic item like Athena's Aegis.
What
kind of effect does this scythe have...?
"Well,
I can investigate that later."
For
now, I must hurry onward.
I cardified the scythe, stored
it in my Card Holder, and headed toward the gate.
When
I
touched the gate, the door began to open with a low, heavy rumble.
Before it was fully open, a
gap large enough for a person appeared, and we all slipped through.
And then, *BAM!* The gate
slammed shut behind us... at that very moment.
――――Bzzzzzzzzzz!
My Card Gear began to vibrate.
I gasped, immediately answering
it.
『Senpai, are you alright!?』
Anna's voice rang out the
moment I picked up.
Her voice sounded well and
full of energy. I felt a wave of relief wash over me and replied,
"Yeah,
I'm fine. Are you guys okay?"
When I asked, Anna somehow
sounded confused,
『...Eh, yes, we're fine, but
didn't something happen on your end?』
"No,
nothing, but... you didn't answer the scheduled check-in."
I tilted my head, feeling like
our conversation was slightly out of sync.
『Scheduled check-in... ? Didn't
we just do that? Did you forget to tell me something?』
"...What?"
It was then that I finally
realized there was a huge discrepancy between us.
"H-hang
on... our scheduled check-in? Like, with me? Which?"
『Which? It's the night one.』
Night...?
A chill ran down my spine.
No
way... no, that can't be...
『We had our regular check-in just
a moment ago, but then I’m getting a ton of incoming calls and messages, so I
was wondering what was going on.』
"...Sorry!
I have to hang up!"
『Eh? Wait!』
Ignoring Anna's flustered
voice, I ended the call. Immediately, a call from my dad came through,
replacing the previous one.
『Utamaro! Are you safe!? What
happened!?』
"I'm
fine. Are you okay, Dad?"
『Huh? Y-yeah... I'm fine, but
what about you?』
Hearing the confusion in my
dad's voice only deepened my certainty. I asked,
"Dad,
what time is it there right now? When did we have the last scheduled check-in?"
『What time? It's nine o’clock at
night... we just had the scheduled check-in a moment ago, didn't we?』
This...
this is...!
"...I
see. Okay. Thanks, Dad. Nothing's wrong on my end, so please don't worry."
『Ah, alright, got it.』
I ended the call with my dad.
The moment I did, a deluge of
call logs and messages began flooding my Card Gear, as if a dam had broken.
Most of them were from Ai and
Victor-san.
There's
no mistake about it now!
"――――Phase
5! The flow of time is different in each area!"
While I had spent a night on
the island and fought Demeter, barely any time had passed for my dad and Anna’s
group.
The
fact that they couldn't even reply to a single message or call from me means
that the difference in the flow of time has to be considerable.
The
flow of time might be hundreds... no, thousands of times faster!
"This
is bad...! How many seconds have passed since I arrived here!?"
Assuming
the flow of time is different 3600x between the island and here, spending one
second here would mean one hour has passed on the island.
Twenty-four
seconds means one day, and just four minutes means ten days...!
『Eliza! Transfer now』
『Yes, Master!』
I watched Eliza play the Flute
anxiously and with growing impatience.
This was the first time the
one-minute performance required for Transfer felt so agonizingly long.
Just as the performance was
finally coming to an end, I froze.
"!?
The gate!?"
The gate behind us slowly began
to move.
We hadn't touched the gate.
There would be only one reason
for the door to open despite that: someone was trying to pass through from the
other side.
And the one who appeared was――――
"!
Onii-chan!"
"Oh,
there he is, there he is!"
"Ai!?
Reina-san!?"
The ones who appeared were Ai
and Reina, both clad in body armor.
"Ai?!
Why are you two here!?"
No,
more importantly, how did they get here...?! They should have had to
cross several gates to get from the island to this area!
"Why,
you say? Because Onii-chan hasn't come back for days, so we got worried and
came to get you!"
Oblivious to my confusion, Ai
rushed to hug me, tears welling up in her eyes.
She
looks exactly like the real Ai.
I glanced sidelong at Suzuka, and
she nodded silently.
...She's
the real one.
But
then, how did they...? I'm the only one who knows the route to this point. Without
a cheat-like transfer ability like the Hamelin's Flute, they shouldn't have
been able to get here so easily.
Even
with the time difference and the presence of the professional adventurer
Reina-san, this is still too strange.
"Ne,
Onii-chan, let's go back together?"
"...Yeah,
okay."
There
are a lot of things bothering me, but for now, let's just go back to the
island.
Ai took my hand, and I walked
through the still-open gate.
Perhaps because the Gatekeeper
had changed, the area on the other side had transformed from a barren wasteland
into a solemn, church-like field.
"――――It
seems you were able to reunite with your older brother safely."
"!"
Someone suddenly spoke this
way from the side. I turned to see a beautiful woman dressed entirely in white
standing there.
White hair, white skin, a
white nun's uniform, and the only splash of color being her red pupils.
The
Saintess of the Star Mother Association—why is she here!?
Overlooking my shock-induced
stiffness, Ai's voice bounced with joy as she smiled at the Saintess,
"Saintess-sama!
Thank you so much! It's all thanks to you that I was able to reunite with my
onii-chan!"
"Fufufu,
no, no, don't worry about it."
The Saintess flashed a sweet,
seemingly kind smile.
...What
does this mean? Reunited thanks to the Saintess?
Somehow, I got an intensely
bad feeling.
Could
this not be a Gatekeeper's domain? Could it be a shelter of the Star Mother
Association...? No, that can't be, right? If not, then what in the world is
this gate...?
Unable to grasp the situation,
I was frozen in place. The Saintess smiled warmly at me,
"Utamaro
Kitagawa-san. Would you be willing to talk with me for a little while? I've
been wanting to speak with you for quite some time."
"...I
apologize, but I'm a little busy right now."
As I tried to decline, the
Saintess preemptively spoke,
"――――Don't
you want to reunite with your friends and family?"
My body stopped dead in its
tracks.
"
Ai-san told me. That you are having a great deal of trouble being separated
from your family. How about it? We, the Star Mother Association, believe we can assist
you with that."
"...I
understand."
I had no choice but to accept.
***
Notes:
1 They were mentioned in ch. 135↩
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