Chapter 348: Battle of the bandit hideout, infiltration group battle
Chapter 348: Battle of the bandit hideout, infiltration group battle
After confirming that Mangetsu-sans group and Rook's group had begun their attack, Mel and I entered through a hidden passageway.
Mels group succeeded in breaking into the hidden passageway thanks to the efforts of Hokages group.
"Hokages group are very fast and effective at blocking out the presence of others"
"Because I am a ninja, degozaru! If I can't do this, I can't call myself Hokage, degozaru. Besides, the numbing needle that Takuto-san sold me is working very well, degozaru"
"Ahaha...that's good"
As for Mel, she is worried about Takuto, who is using assassination weapons with impunity. Then, Chiffon raised a question.
"Umm! Isn't it strange? It's a hidden passageway and there are no guards"
"I guess you could say that...that is"
Before Miranda can respond with her thoughts, a woman's voice echoes.
"Good answer. It's a trap"
Dark Mercenary?
? ? ?
Enemies appear from the front and rear and pincer them. Mel immediately gives instructions.
We and Hokage-sans group are in the front! Chiffon-chans group, you take the rear!"
Roger that!
The dark mercenaries lick their tongues as Mel and the others respond immediately.
"Ah~...good. A pretty face and a resolute attitude...that's the kind of woman I like to wait for. Come on, let's kill each other!"
"...Can someone please take over for that guy?"
I'll leave it to you
Risa pops up while Mel looks heartily disgusted.
"Leave my older sister alone! Seiken!"
Another enemy NPC appears in response to Risa's attack.
Dark Fight Instructor?
? ? ?
The enemy catches Risa's attack with his bare hand.
"Sweet. Haa!"
"Kuu! Kya!"
Risa guards against a kick from the enemy, but is knocked away.
"I'll deal with you"
"Jo, that's great! I'll never lose!"
Each of the other dark mercenaries appears. Other than the dark mercenaries, Hokages group and Mirai's enemies were different.
Dark Assassine?
? ? ?
Destruction Monk?
? ? ?
Mirai protests at the sight of the muscular Destruction Monk.
"...It's just me, they're definitely the wrong guy!"
"Gahaha! Don't be like that! Let's have some fun!"
"...There's no element of enjoyment at all!"
Mels group began a fierce battle.
At that time, I was about to enter with Tesshin-sans group.
"Nu!?"
"E, Enemy!"
"You're late..."
As Tesshin-san sheathes his katana, an enemy NPC is cut down and falls. Wow!
But we can't lose either. Ix takes aim at the enemy waiting in the hidden passageway.
Koihi cut them down when they came out. But it's an ambush...I'm trying to communicate with Mels group, but I can't connect with them...well, I guess it's all right.
Now, if they are ambushing us, we will do whatever it takes.
"Cinth...can you do it?"
"Yes. I'm on it"
"Sephone, too"
"Leave it to me"
In times like this, this is where Cinth would come in. The shadow summoning of Sephone should also be effective. Now all that's left is to find someone to stop them.
"Nowa, please"
"...N"
Cinth disappears into the darkness and Nowa and Sephonet disappear into the shadows. In the meantime, I ask Ix to get information about the hideout. There is a large space in the center and all entrances seem to lead to it. And as luck would have it, the room where the slaves were likely to be was accessible through a hidden passageway.
Come to think of it, why not build a prison in a normal passageway? They would find them and release them right away. Well, it's about time.
"It's time to move on"
All the enemies we encountered in the cave were sleeping. It was Cinth. I handed over the stop to Tesshin-sans group. Then came a synchro communication.
...Father, you can't go any further
...N. There are strong people. They are aware of Nowa and Sephone
Gununu...you're being cheeky, but we're going to have to pull back here
Well, they have a jail and they won't let us go easily.
I understand. Thank you. I'll join you
Understood
I talked to Tesshin-sans group.
"It seems we have a strong enemy"
"Then we'll deal with them"
"Please"
We meet up with Cinth and Nowa and encounter the enemy.
"...Here they come. Looks like we're in for quite a fight"
"I don't want to fight...hmm?"
Before us was a man in black robes and a dark summoner I'd met before.
"Haha! Sir! I changed my mind! I'll kill that summoner myself"
"Do I know you?"
He doesn't know? Then I'll tell him.
"You look familiar. The dark summoner who ran away from me. You've been hiding out here, haven't you?"
"Haha! Haa~...I'll kill you!"
The dark summoner disappears. It's not like that time, man. You will taste hell.
The dark summoner appears and is shot with an energy gun with unmatched accuracy.
"Na!? Kuu!"
The dark summoner sees through it and ducks, but a tail energy gun snatches him in the face. Ix missed it on purpose.
"I'm copying master"
Don't imitate that part. I feel like everyone is under my influence these days.
"Hou...looks like you're not lying"
Tesshin-san tried to slash at him, but his opponent stopped the attack with his sword. He easily stops Tesshin-san's attack...he is clearly stronger than the dark summoner.
"Hmph!"
The man in the black robe pushes Tesshin-san down by force. Feeling it, Tesshin-san moves away.
"...He is strong..."
"It's rare to meet a samurai...interesting"
"Then, I guess we'll just have to go on then"
I go on ahead.
"You! Enough! !!?"
An energy gun is fired at the dark summoner who tries to attack me.
"I am your opponent"
Good luck with Ix at best. I can't imagine Ix losing at all!
I follow the instructions of the tracking weathervane and run. It looks like Ix has a bingo at the spot where she found them. So I call out to Wako worried.
"Are you all right? Wako"
"I'm fine...we have Takuto-han, Koihi...everyone is here. We need to hurry"
Wako is strong.
"Ah! Let's hurry!"
I kicked out the guards and reached the prison. He was sober and strong.
"Ah! Strong brother!"
"Aah~! That's Takuto, isn't it! I'm here! Help me!"
Caro's daughter and Aladdin were there. I unlocked the prison with the wooden key to unlock the lock and used the emancipation device that Einstein-san gave me.
Then electricity ran from the slave collars of those who were caught and the slave collars came off one after another.
Amazing. It's Einstein-san. At first, people didn't understand what happened, but when they realized that they were freed from their collars, they started to cheer.
"I, It came off...big brother! That's great!"
"You're the man I knew I could count on! I think you might be able to defeat that monster"
Hmm? Monster?
"Aladdin, what monster?"
"Haven't you seen it yet? There's a monster that's bigger than Jin in serious mode"
W, Wait a minute...Jin in serious mode was pretty big. Don't tell me that the big one is the last boss?
"He said something about us being food for this monster? Big brother"
Bait...what the hell do you think life is! But now we know why they kidnapped the children. Then comes the synchro from Ix.
Enemy, one escaped with an item. He said if you want to kill him, come to the back
That's the one. You can't win by yourself, so you use the last boss.
You don't need to go too deep. How about Tesshin-san?
He's struggling. Would you like me to intervene?
...No need. We succeeded in freeing everyone. The warp gate doesn't seem to be working, so we'll join up and get everyone out
It would be tactless to interfere with the battle, you know.
Yes, Master
I'll take them all and we'll go outside. Probably the big hall is the boss's room, so there's no other way out. Then we'll have to go back the way we came, knowing we'll be in the way...then Ix and Tesshin-san and the others come.
"No~...I'm sorry. I let one escape"
"The moment he realized Master had freed the slaves, he fled"
They read that I wasn't going to the boss's room and chose to retreat...they called me a master or something and an enemy that even Tesshin-san can't defeat...not to be underestimated.
"He called himself Bloody Wars or something like that before he withdrew"
Blood war, that's a war monger. It makes sense, though, since this time it's actually aimed at war.
"Right now our priority is to get everyone out"
"That's right...we'll lead the way"
"Please. We'll go around back"
We ran down the corridor and just as we saw the exit, Koihi shouted.
"It's a trap! Please stop!"
"!!? Everybody stop!"
Tesshin-san stops everyone. The top of the exit was blasted and debris rained down.
Thanks to Koihi's warning, we were not trapped under the debris.
"Danger"
"It's not fancy. This"
"I'm so glad everyone is safe~"
Waifu-san, you can afford it...
"Thank God...now, what do we do..."
The entrance was completely blocked. I can't summon Kurogane or Rukiya in such a narrow passage...and I'm in trouble. Ah...by any chance?
"Tesshin-san, can't you cut it?"
"Don't be absurd"
Not good...but backup is coming.
"Ah, but there are scenes in anime and manga where they cut you in half, right? Isn't there a chance?"
Right? I too remember a scene from an old anime where a samurai slices a giant rock in half.
"...It's not a skill or technique, so there's no way he could have done it, right?"
"But this rubble has durability, right? Dad"
Backup from two kids. What do we do? Tesshin-san.
"Haaaaa!"
Gakiiinnn!
The rubble is unaffected by Tesshin-san's full force blow.
No good
"I told you from the beginning it was impossible!?"
But if there is no doubt that it can be destroyed, it must be destroyed.
"Ix, can you break it?"
"With the energy blaster's limiter release, it is possible"
Dismissed. Breaking the energy blaster is too painful. But a big move of that class means there's a chance it could be broken.
Few of our members can do that except for the trump card. It would be only a blow of Est Oracion, a breath such as Dragon Breath, or a wave technique.
"I wonder if it would be possible to do a dragon breath and a wave technique"
"With the dragon breath, it would be possible to destroy it with a single shot. With the wave technique, we can afford it if we use the power of Est Oracion. If we don't use both of them, it seems possible to destroy it with a simultaneous attack by Lily, Ion and myself"
If Ix says so, we'll be fine. I think she was suggesting a quick limiter release and the attack power of dragon breath, but I know it's super powerful. So I call Lily and Ion and explain the situation.
They agree and the three of them weaponize their weapons against the huge rock.
"Energy charge complete"
"I'm going! Light Wave Motion"
"Blue Wave Motion!"
"Energy Blaster fired"
Three rays of light hit the giant boulder and as I look at it, the durability is reduced and it is destroyed. Unbeknownst to us, the guys who had been waiting for us at the exit were also obliterated by the aftermath.
"That's some serious firepower"
"I like the energy blaster~. I'd like to shoot one myself"
I understand that feeling, as much as it pains me.
"...How could a hero hold something like that"
You're cool, Shizuku-chan. Then cheers echoed from the people in the back.
"A, Amazing! All that debris in an instant!"
"Outside...we can go outside!"
"I can go home to my mom and dad...thank you!"
Thank you
It's nice of you to thank me, but I haven't saved the day yet. Then a man came down from the sky. I control the wary Tesshin-san and the others with my hand.
"It's all right. He's on our side"
Lamp Demon Jin says to me.
"I'm not on your side. But I do owe you a debt. Because of some weak little fish"
"Eh? Who are you talking about?"
Aladdin falls in love and a streak appears on Jin's face.
"...I hear you have a death wish"
"Wait, wait! It's a joke! It's because I'm weak! I'm sorry!"
Jin who clucked his tongue when he sees Aladdin on his knees...he doesn't get angry, does he? This demon god. I still think he and Aladdin make a good team. Jin says to me.
"I'm going to return Aladdin to the town. I'll send the other people back home too"
That would be helpful. If Najum-chan returns to Caro-san's place, the quest will be complete.
"Please"
"I'll take care of it. But not the subhumans"
"I'll take care of that. I've already spoken to the Beastmaster's Guild"
"...I don't know. Takuto and Jin are getting along well, aren't they? A little bit of jealousy"
Aladdin is hit by Jin's fistbone.
"Don't be silly, let's get on with it"
"Hahi...bit my tongue..."
When Jin deployed the magic circle, there was no one left except the subhumans. I have to take the subhumans with me too. To do that, I have to get Spica and Hix back.
Then I could learn about the current war situation. It looks like it's melee everywhere. It seems that some of the enemy NPCs are strong.
"I'm going back. Tesshin-san and the others, please help out the struggling Mangetsu-san and the others"
"Are you sure about the summoner?"
"We are outnumbered and our summoners are excellent, so we should be fine...probably"
I retrieved Hix and Spica, registered this place as a transition stone and flew to Freetia by warp gate with the subhumans.
I left the recovery of Lily and the others to Ruin-sans group and took the subhumans to the Beastmasters Guild. There, I completed the quest.
Request Quest Free the slaves captured by the banditshas been completed
Request Quest Rescue the caravan leader's daughterhas been completed
It looks like I managed to clear both. But even now, Mel and the others are still fighting. I have to hurry back.
"Good work. You're a master at this"
"Thank you very much. But we're still fighting, so I'll be right back"
"Is that so...how's your guess?"
"It looks like I was right. The people who were captured have confirmed the monster. And it seems that they are feeding on human lives to raise the monster"
I felt anger in Cain-san's eyes.
"That's...unforgivable. All right...hurry back to your people. I'll take responsibility for them"
"Please"
I took a recovered Lily, Ion, Setia, Koihi and Ix back to the hideout. We tried to join the fight somewhere, but apparently, if we didn't make the last boss appear, the enemies could boil endlessly, so we set our sights on the last boss's room.