Chapter 166: Overrun
Link: https://ncode.syosetu.com/n7583de/
Author: Hirukuma
Translated by Zzonkedd
Edited by Gumihou
“Now then, by your leave, I shall attack first! Roaring Strike!”
Mishael stepped forward and unleashed his signature attack. A fiery slash that raced forward to engulf the first line of enemies in flames.
Monsters touched by the trail of flames not only split in half, but their corpses caught on fire almost immediately, causing damage to the monsters nearby.
While some monsters recognised us as the aggressors, dozens more began to attack their comrades instead. Apparently, Hevoy’s illusions were good enough to perceive their allies as us.
“Hey, just how did you get them to see the bigger and longer creatures like us?” asked Hyurumi.
[1] Ah, I see it. Several smaller monsters had ganged up together to attack the giant snake with many legs. The creature was over five meters, so, just what were they seeing?
“Hmm, I made it look like it was a line of people from our party crawling on all fours with our heads stuck up into the heads of the person in front, forming a continuous chain.”
I tried imagining the creature as explained by Hevoy and… I concluded that this kind of illusion would be useless against a human. Unless you want the person to die from laughter.
Thus far, things appear to be going pretty smoothly, smooth enough for us to be engaging in such frivolous banter.
Monsters that managed to force their way through the wall of fire were shot down by Shui’s arrows and Kuroyata’s sonic attack. This prevents any monsters from getting close to us.
However, that was not the extent of our long-distance attacks. Lately, Ramis and I have been perfecting my favourite new weapon. Plastic bottles filled with pachinko balls. I would supply said weapons and Ramis is in charge of fastballing [2] them towards the monsters. Well, rather than a ‘fastball’, it’s more like a ‘fast-bottle’.
Once the bottle had been launched, I willed the plastic bottle out of existence and the metal pachinko balls, still carrying the momentum from Ramis’ powerful throw would shoot forward like deadly pellets fired from a shotgun.
“This way, we don’t even have to fight them directly, so awesome!”
This is the result of the brilliant cooperation between Ramis and myself.
Even so, we were still shockingly outnumbered. Monsters climbed over their comrades’ corpses to come at us, but all were quickly blown away or crushed by Hevoy and Botan.
Mishael defended his ground by himself, targeting enemies not affected by Hevoy’s absurd illusions. The skill of his attacks combined with the sharpness of his great sword bisected his enemies in a single blow. He was so cool that even men would fall for him. No wonder he’s so popular.
The idea is to keep pushing to our advantage and take out as many of the enemies as we can. Even so, more enemies kept appearing regardless of how many we defeated. It was like they were being regenerated at the same rate we destroyed them.
“As expected, things just can’t go smoothly, can they? If we stick around here too long, they’ll soon notice us…” muttered Hyurumi.
“Indeed, I saw a shadow of a person at the top of the stairs just now. It is possible that the Commander controlling these beasts has already been alerted.”
Did Hevoy enhance his vision to observe the situation around us?
Monsters awaiting commands and a shadowy figure. There is also that report from Kuroyata about the watchman on the upper floor. The chances of the Commander of these monsters and Tasite, the person who sold those shoes, being related were high.
Even so, we can only get the answers once we meet them in person. For now, let’s concentrate on annihilating these monsters.
“Right! Let’s give this weapon a whirl! Hakkon, you better don’t miss the timing!”
Having a go at me, eh? Well, that is to be expected since Ramis had been itching for a chance to fight since we arrived at the desert.
Ramis clenched her fists, crouched forward and ready to charge towards the monster horde.
“Um, I think the bit in the fingertips here… makes these heavier…”
There was really no need to say what you’re thinking, although I think those gloves would activate at a thought.
“Uwaah! It really got heavier. Um, I think this is just right.”
The moment she dashes forward, a giant lizard steps into Ramis’ line of sight, and and fist. The punch smashed into the lizard’s jaw, forcing the head upwards. The impact was so powerful that the skull actually fragmented and blood exploded from its neck even as its entire body flipped neck over tail in the air like some grotesque windmill.
“Yeah, I think I got it!”
Has Ramis’ destructive power increased even further?
The mysterious material not only adjusted its weight, but it could change its hardness level as well. Which meant that the material could withstand superhuman strikes.
As she gradually adjusted to the weighted gloves, her speed and precision improved. Compared to Clearflow Lake, the monsters from this place were clearly more advanced, but even so, she was able to decimate them with relative ease.
For myself, I certainly became much stronger compared to the time I first reincarnated into this world. However, I get the feeling that Ramis was outpacing me in terms of growth.
I think she always did have a knack for combat but was never given the opportunity to properly explore that side of her. It was only recently that she had blossomed in that role.
“That’s amazing, Miss Ramis. As much as it pains me to admit, you are truly fitting to as Master Hakkon’s partner!” Mishael, my ardent admirer, openly praised her even as he swung his large sword around.
“Compared to everyone else, I still have a long way to go!” Ramis replied, even as he fists moved in a flurry, blowing up monsters in every which way.
Compared to everyone else… she had certainly been blessed with quite a favourable environment. The hunters around her were all highly skilled and willing to share their experiences with new hunters.
Perhaps spurred by their advice or even their very existence, she continued to put more effort into her training. If she continued to grow at this pace, it would not be difficult to imagine her as an elite hunter.
I must make sure not to get left too far behind.
With that in mind, I left the immediate area for Ramis to take care of and scanned for prey a little further afield. Spotting a bug-like creature that looked like it was preparing to spit something corrosive, I quickly transformed into a < High-Pressure Washer> and took aim.
When the timing felt right, I blasted the creature with a water jet at maximum pressure.
The jet of water transformed into a powerful Water Cutter Attack that pierced through the monster’s hide. While this kind of attack loses power with distance, it was still quite effective against monsters within medium range. Good enough to wipe out stragglers beyond Ramis’ attack range.
The wave of monsters felt endless, but just as abruptly as it had begun, the attacks suddenly stopped. That’s because all the monsters had been chopped down or pulverised.
The ground floor of the Desert Pillar was littered with monster carcasses. Had we truly exterminated hundreds of monsters in such a short time?
Hevoy had played a pivotal role, bravely plunging himself into enemy lines to renew his illusions on the enemies as we fought.
Mishael had no problem resisting the illusions, but there was a moment of confusion when Ramis suddenly saw the monsters as allies and could not bring herself to attack them. Thankfully, Hevoy quickly noticed this and promptly dispelled the illusion on Ramis, so that was all water under the bridge.
The power to manipulate illusion is devastatingly effective against weak but numerous enemies. Especially, since it could drive enemies to fight against each other to reduce their overwhelming numbers.
“That worked out somehow, unexpectedly,” said Hevoy with a deep sigh as he surveyed the piles of monster corpses.
“I’m pretty beat… haahhhh…” Even Ramis, who was usually brimming with energy appeared to have exerted herself quite a lot this time. She was leaning with her back against me, looking as though she could barely keep herself upright.
“I’ve been out of arrows [3] way back, got to collect some of them at least,” said Shui.
Partway through the attack, despite using arrows in the most efficient way possible, it was inevitable that they ran out. She had resorted to throwing knives and sneaking around the periphery of the battle to collect her arrows.
“Thank you for your hard work, Kuroyata, Botan.”
Kikoyu had remained close to the entrance even as she commanded the two animals, making sure to stay out of the way even as she supervised them. Kuroyata did a splendid job of confusing the enemies with sonic attacks from the air, while occasionally playing the role of a decoy. Botan easily ploughed away all approaching enemies, engaging in hit-and-run tactics, and sending monsters flying all over the place.
“While I’d like to take on the second floor now, it’s best to take a bit of a breather. Our stamina had taken quite the hit.”
Hyurumi, who had stayed in the far back like a battle strategist, had stamina to spare. However, like a good general, she recognised her comrades’ condition and suggested we all take a rest.
A corpse-filled area brimming saturated with the stench of blood may not be the best place to rest, but Kikoyu was soon cleaning up the place by placing a ball of soil on [1] some of the corpse pieces.
“Looks like Mister Field would gather up quite a lot of strength from this,” she said happily.
Her goal was the revival of this Mister Field and it looks like she is ready to endure any number of hardships to provide power for the fragment and eventually reunite it with Mister Field’s main body, which was located quite far away.
Kuroyata and Botan appear to have the same goal. Well, they were Mister Field’s precious comrades after all.
When I first heard of Mister Field’s story, I felt a twinge of envy for this unknown person who had reincarnated as a field, but then…
“’sup, Hakkon? What are you thinking about?” asked Ramis.
“Oi, if you have any worries, you should share them. We’re friends, aren’t we?” said Hyurumi.
“That’s right, there should be no secrets among friends-su,” said Shui.
“Is Master Hakkon worried? If it’s for Master, I shall accompany you even into a dragon’s den!” Mishael cried.
“You’re quite popular, Mister Hakkon. Mister Field was the same. Should you need any help, please let us know,” said Kikuyo.
I have my own group of such amazing friends, it would be wrong to be envious of someone else. Could there be a second vending machine as blessed as I am? No, I can confidently say that no such thing exists.
For now, I can do my job as a vending machine and provide my precious comrades with delicious food and drinks. Just like any other day.
Even though everyone ate and drank in a lively manner, no one actually fully let their guard down. We stayed by the wall just next to the entrance, just in case.
Everyone appeared to have an ear strained towards the stairs leading to the second floor. Now and then, someone would cast a glance in that direction.
“The real problem starts now. Assuming that our targets are lurking on the second floor, they should have noticed what happened on this floor,” said Hyurumi.
“It was quite the spectacular rampage. I even noticed a few figures peering down at us a few times,” said Hevoy.
In other words, it is possible that we heard nothing from them because they were preparing a welcome party for us on the second floor.
“Given the situation, caution should be practised. We should be wary of ambushes and traps. No matter what, the person leading the charge would be in the most danger. The question now is who should take the lead.”
“We’re going!” cried Ramis.
“We go”
No matter how I look at it, Ramis and I make the best charging lead. With [1] Ramis’ speed and power plus my <Barrier> we could take on whatever they throw at us. Ramis appeared to agree as well.
“That’s right, Hakkon’s <Barrier> could withstand most threats, but it’s best not to let your guard down,” said Hyurumi.
“Ye-es ye-es”
No matter what, I would not let Ramis get hurt. When I am with her, we develop this synergistic effect that enhances each other’s strength many times over. So long as we are together, we can take on nearly anything.
“Um, so… sorry to interrupt, but can I have more food? I’m hungry…” Shui muttered as she held out one of her tickets to redeem more vending machine food.
For now, let’s resume my work as a vending machine.
[Gumihou: This is actually a pretty fun chapter]
[1] Added details for smoother action paragraphs
[2] The original word was 投球―投ペットボトル or ‘pitch’ and ‘bottle-throw’
The ‘pitch’ here is used like a verb and the second character ‘ball’ could be easily replaced with ‘bottle’. Here, I used ‘fast-ball’ to show the baseball talk.
[3] Shui’s 30 arrows can’t have lasted her long. Put in a little more detail on this
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