Vending Machine – 113 – Main & Support

Chapter 113: Main & Support

Link: https://ncode.syosetu.com/n7583de/

Author: Hirukuma

Translated by Zzonkedd

Edited by Gumihou

 

“Chei, yaa, tooou!”

Oh, the green demons are being blown away left and right. They fly off so easily that I vaguely wonder if they were cotton-stuffed toys…

Every time Ramis swings her fist, the enemy is eliminated with tremendous force. However, it did not feel like the enemies were decreasing at all. While she is clearly slaying them by the dozens, we still cannot move forward.

We are basically isolated in the middle of the enemy camp. However, I am not too worried yet. The enemies were so densely packed that they could not move around well either.

I block all attacks from the rear with <Barrier> or repel them with plastic bottles filled with pachinko balls. I refuse to let them touch Ramis, let alone hurt her.

In a normal battle, this would be enough to annihilate them. However, the enemies just keep respawning endlessly. There seemed to be no end in sight. If we don’t do something soon, our side would be too exhausted to fight and be wiped out eventually.

Killing them only caused them to respawn. In that case, we have no choice but to render them ‘incapable of fighting’.

The only thing that comes to me is… pachinko balls. The idea was to flood the floor with pachinko balls and reduce their ability to move around. However, it was less effective than I thought. The ground is too rocky and uneven, causing the balls to roll into crevices and thus, only a few green demons slipped on them.

What if I coat the pachinko balls with kerosene to make them more slippery? Oh, but there’s a risk of causing a fire. If I start a fire here, the enemy would just respawn again.

What other slippery products are there…

A completely unrelated memory from my past suddenly crosses my mind.

Yes, it happened when I was in my previous life. I was driving through the countryside in search of rare vending machines in my capacity as a vending machine maniac.

That was when I discovered a suspicious-looking building on the side of a deserted mountain road.

It was a blue prefabricated building with its name in bold lettering at the storefront. Below the name were the words: 24 hours, misc, toys, books, videos, as well as some random images.

My rare vending machine sensor began to tingle, so I parked my car and proceeded to invade that suspicious building.

It was beyond what I had imagined. It was a vending machine packed full of adult products. That’s right adult ‘fun’ products. In fact, there were many products I had never seen before. I would like to emphasise here that I studied these products due to my curiosity as a vending machine maniac. I had no ulterior motives at all.

Surprisingly, some of the products were pretty cutting edge and the variety of adult goods was quite varied.

Anyway, that sudden memory from the past is not important. What is truly important is that I have lubricant in my arsenal of products. That’s right, this super slippery product is the best when it comes to causing a slip-and-fall accident.

I had seen it being used on variety shows, and I do believe that most people have seen or encountered this product in one form or another, but let me emphasise once more just how extraordinarily slippery this thing is.

[1] I already had the plastic bottles full of pachinko balls ready, all I had to do next was pop open some lubricant and pour it into the plastic bottles. Then, after shaking it vigorously, I launched it out with my <Barrier>.

[2] As the opened bottle flies out over the horde of green demons, lubricant-coated pachinko balls are scattered all over the place.

As for the result? Well, there are now green demons flailing and slipping all over the place rather hilariously. Those that had fallen could not get up and started flailing their limbs about and dragging down their surrounding fellow demons.

Oh, this is pretty fun. Let’s add to the chaos.

I respond to the enemy’s attacks with <Barrier> and <Telekinesis>, diligently manufacturing plastic bottles of lubricated pachinko balls and launching them into the horde.

Oho, the enemies are flailing and falling, like a bunch of children trying to ice skate for the first time. However, I may have been overdoing it a bit.

There was not a single person standing next to Ramis and I. Green demons rushing to attack us all slipped and joined their flailing brethren on the ground.

“Hakkon, where’s that Commander guy anyway?”

Although there are plenty of green demons flailing on the floor as far as I could see, they all looked like ordinary soldier types. Not a single one of them looked the least bit commander-like.

I did suspect that the Commander might be among the flailing green demons, but according to Hyurumi’s analysis:

“Certain individual green demons may have developed enough intelligence to use magic, but they are generally incapable of complex thoughts. It is unlikely that green demons have enough intelligence to scheme or be entrusted to carry out anything but direct orders from the Ruler of the Netherworld.”

So, in other words. I should be looking for a human or some other high-intelligence species person.

I look around, but there are only green demons. I guess I have no choice but to strike at enemies in the distance to see what would happen.

“Hakko-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o!”

A powerful cry and– is that Mikene slipping and sliding towards us? He is zipping towards us at full speed, surfing the floor on his stomach with his head thrust forward.

“Mikene? Ei!”

Ramis bent down and easily scooped up Mikene. Although the racoon dog had built up quite the momentum, Ramis’s arm power was strong enough to grab hold of him with just one hand. Not to mention, with me adding several hundreds of kilos in mass, she did not even flinch from the impact.

“Uwaahh, it’s slimy. What the heck? What the heck?”

Lub was sticking to his entire body, making the racoon dog look extremely sorry and disgusting. He stuck out his tongue to lick his fur, but hesitated.

“What is it Mikene? You were shouting really loudly just now.”

“Oh, that’s right. I heard something like a human screaming over there,” said Mikene as he pointed at a place where a bunch of the green demons had piled up into a small hill.

Now that I had time to look at it calmly, I could tell that the ‘hill’ looked quite unnatural. Even as I watched, green demons were approaching the hill as though drawn to it, but nearly all of them fell and ended up crashing into the base of the hill. Some managed to climb up, but that only added to the hill.

As a result, the base of the hill continued to expand.

“I think I heard faint groaning coming from the middle of the mass,” said Mikene as he wiped off the worst of the lubricant and listened with his ears cocked.

If I happened to be stuck in the middle of that thing, I’d probably try to call for my green demon comrades to help me, not knowing what was happening outside.

If this truly is the enemy’s location, it is clear what I have to do next.

I transformed into the <Higher Pressure Washer> version and unleashed the maximum water output. Clearing a path between us and where the Commander appeared to be. I also conveniently cleared away all the demons that were flailing about on the ground.

This serves to not only remove the lubricant from the floor, but also show Ramis my intentions.

“He’s over there. Alright, let’s go!”

She rotated her arms enthusiastically, ready to punch people out of the way.

There is no need to hold back anymore, Let’s go and kick them away!

“Le-t’s-go!”

I blew away the enemies and lubricant with the high-pressure washer, leaving clean floors for Ramis to run on. Mikene followed from behind.

The demons that managed to get to their feet tried to stop us, but I just sprayed them with lubricant. Just sit there quietly for a moment, yeah?

At the base of the slimy green demon hill, Ramis sank into a deep stance.

“Suuuuuu…”

As her right arm was pulled back as far as it could go, she breathed in deeply…

Suddenly, her left foot slammed into the ground, shattering the rocky floor. Ramis exhales and like the release of a powerful spring, her entire momentum rushed to her arm and she thrust her fist into the dense hill of green demons.

“Ha!!”

The sudden burst of energy ripped forward like a shockwave, causing green demons to scatter like dry leaves in a storm. The wave of energy alone was enough to cast the green demons away, sending them crashing into the walls.

I scan over monsters stuck on the wall, looking for irregularities and… there it is!

Among the green demons stuck to the wall, there is one being that stood out. A woman in her mid-thirties dressed in a black robe. Her hood is off, revealing a fairly unremarkable, human-ish face. Her eyes were vacant, she must have been knocked out by the impact.

Ramis did not appear to have noticed her. So I shot a jet of water at the woman, just as she was slipping down the wall.

“Oh, there’s someone. That’s the Commander!”

Understanding my actions immediately, Ramis rushes to the woman’s location. However, green monsters loitering outside the lubricant covered area jumped in to interfere.

“Get out of the way!”

Even though the impact of her punches had diminished due to her running, she easily blows away the various green demons that got in her path.

That blow to the green demon hill was magnificent. I could feel that Ramis’ strength has increased, or does it seem that way because she had more control over her power and could thus exercise her strength more efficiently?

While I was preoccupied with these random thoughts, Ramis dashed over to catch the falling woman, saving her from bashing her head against the ground. I looked at her face.

The woman is unconscious, we could only see the whites of her eyes. Is this enough to stop the never-ending spawning?

“Against unstoppable waves of opponents, one should destroy the ring, right?”

Ramis grabs the woman’s right hand, removes the skull ring from it and crushes the ring to powder with her fingers.

As a means of dealing with resistance or giving power over others, this ring was given to his underlings by the Ruler of the Netherworld. Therefore, once the ring was destroyed, the mind-controlled monsters would regain their autonomy and stop following orders.

We managed to retrieve this information from that man caught at Clearflow Lake Level.

What’s more, the ring appears to be some sort of device related to the monsters of this level. Once it is destroyed, the dungeon should revert back to its original form.

“We can finally take a break.”

I want to say ‘yes’ to an innocently smiling Ramis, but I can’t.

If the dungeon and monsters on this level revert to their original state, that means the green demons around us would return to their original monstrous state as well.

“Le-t’s ge-t o-ut”

Sure enough, monsters that had regained their consciousness are now glaring at us with raising killing intent.

That’s right, we still have to deal with close to a hundred monsters. All the while protecting this human woman who is most likely a subordinate of the Ruler of the Netherworld.

Even so, I guess we don’t really have to be so careful anymore?

“Master Hakkon!! Come this way!!”

Mishael is striding through the sea of green demons, his weapon slashing through the enemies as he mowed his way through.

The fighting spirit of the demons, which had been reviving after the destruction of the ring, began to wane under a rediscovered feeling of fear. Looks like our victory in this battle is almost certain.

 

[Gumihou: Woah, go Mishael!]

 

[1] Adjust sentence

 

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