Chapter 141
We finally found the place where the cliff breaks in between .
When I made Eve and the others wait earlier, me and Slei went back and checked out where it could lead a bit further from that .
[It seems that itâs good to go . ]
I informed them so after I returned back .
It looks like there wouldnât be any problems .
Perhaps, we could avoid making a large detour through this path .
I was also able to avoid a large deviation from my plans .
The whole area looks like a swamp .
However, it still wasnât muddy enough that our feet would be stuck in the mud .
There were small puddles scattered around the place .
Those puddles were clouded in mud .
Surrounding us were the dense trees that havenât changed even when we entered this area . ?
Speaking of change, most of the trees in this place were conifers huh .
I looked up towards the sky .
The sky was being covered by thick clouds .
The air is also beginning to become more humid .
Seras and Eve mentioned it a while ago, but it looks like itâll rain .
[Weâve finally arrived here huh . ]
Seras said .
âUmu . â Eve nodded .
She then turned her head towards Liz .
[You also did your best, Liz . As for Touka and Seras... How could I thank you? We wouldnât have been able to reach until this place if it were just Liz and I . ]
[Big Sister . ]
[Hmm?]
[What about Pi-chan and Suu-chan?]
Liz told Eve to reflect .
[Mhmm, youâre right . We thank you from the bottom of our hearts, Pigimaru and Slei... Weâre saved that both of you were going along our journey . ]
Eve faithfully nodded .
[Well, we also needed Eveâs map after all . Didnât I say it before? We didnât help you with just good intentions in our minds . ]
A chuckle spilled out as Seras smiled .
[âThatâs why, donât worry about it . â or so, heâs trying to sayâ Youâre really kind, Touka-dono . ]
[Well, yeah . ]
âMouu...â Seras eyebrows furrowed as she wryly smiled .
I wouldnât be particularly bashful now even if she called me kind .
Itâs indeed the truth that it wasnât just good intentions .
Seras who could tell if someone lies could understand if someoneâs just being humble .
Thatâs the reason for her wry smile .
Conversing with Seras Ashrain who had the ability to detect lies .
This is a little conversation training .
Eve then looked in a distance .
Yearning .
I could feel that from what I see .
[Even a small house is fine... I would live quietly in that peaceful land together with Liz, where we wouldnât be connected with fighting again... The moment that I thought I could reach that after my days as a Blood Champion is about to end, only for that dream to suddenly disappear... However, Iâve finally found hope for this dream again . At last... My wish may come true . ]
Eveâs expression softened .
Now, her leopard eyes were tenderly looking at Liz .
[The two of us had been talking about it, that when everything was done, we would then try raising some crops... That wish of ours may not be so distant anymore, Liz . ]
[Unn... Youâre right, Big Sister . ]
Liz was a little moved .
There were some tears on the corners of her eyes .
[âââââââEve . ]
Seras unconsciously called out to her .
Above Eve .
It was so sudden that it appeared .
You could even say that it suddenly appeared out of our recognition .
It appeared .
Neither sound nor presence .
Without any of those, it suddenly appeared .
It was floating in the air .
That thing has a strange shape .
If I were to express it, itâs a creature that looks like a humanâs face from everything below its nose .
Itâs a monster that just consists of a lower jaw and its mouth .
Two of its front teeth were slightly longer than the others and they had a golden color .
Those areâ its eyes huh .
Its size is about two meter wide .
Those golden front teeth were swaying about like tentacles .
Looking at it, Liz turned pale .
[Big Sistââ]
[ââââ]
What is that?
That monster...
[Kuh... . !]
The dumbfounded Seras regained her consciousness and brought her hands towards her sword .
Howeverâ Even faster than her, with movements as fluid as flowing water, Eve unsheathed her sword .
With the momentum of unsheathing her sword, she brandished her sword like sheâs drawing an arc over her head .
Her actions kind of resemble that iai Iâve seen somewhere .
With a beautiful speed, she slashed at the monsterâs body .
(T/N: Iai â A sword art that emphasizes being aware and capable of quickly drawing the sword and responding to a sudden attack . )
[!]
Thatâs when I noticed...
[Eve, waiâ-]
Slaaaassshhh!
[Gyoooeeeehhh!]
Raising out a hoarse shriek, blood spouted out of the monster .
The monster then fell and crashed on the ground .
Blue blood began spreading near Eveâs feet .
Swinging her sword, Eve looks confused .
[W... Whatâs the matter, Touka? It seemed to me like you tried stopping me from attack earlierâ]
[âââ ,... . . Do you think itâs still breathing?]
[No, it seems that itâs about to die . Itâs just twitching about now . ]
[......Letâs step away from that for the time being . ]
[U- Understood . ]
[.................. . ]
Eveâs decision earlier isnât wrong .
It suddenly approached us before we even knew it .
Thereâs also the fact that itâs really close to us .
If weâre thinking about our safety, thatâs definitely the best course of action .
However...
I looked towards the monsterâs corpse lying there facing up (?) in the air .
[That thing, it feels like...]
It felt like itâs one of âthoseâ who doesnât have any obsession with living .
However, I could certainly feel its aggressiveness .
Yes, itâs as ifâ-
Itâs as if this thing is inviting us to kill it .
Twitchâ
The monster movedâ I could see it .
In the next moment, the monster began emitting light .
[SHHHHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIâââââ]
I immediately called out .
[Everyone, get away from here!]
[Igggiiiiiieeeeeeehhhiiiiinnnnneeeeerrrorororororororoiiiiiihhiiiiiiiiiiiieeeeehhhhhhhâââ!]
Its shrill, loud voice feels like it would pierce my ears .
Covering both of my ears, I tried blocking away its sharp, loud voice .
â-Donât tell me, this guy...
Something suddenly crossed in my mind .
It was that man who had bandages all over his body who was together with the Five Dragon Warriors .
That rune magic that activates after death .
The rune magic that notifies Civit about the existence of a formidable enemy .
I had a bad premonition .
I think my thoughts were spot on .
No, should I rather call it intuition rather than premonition?
The voice stopped .
The light also subsided .
Eve then removed her hand from her ears .
[W- What in the world was that just now...]
[It looks like it already used up all of its strengths but... is it this guyâs final cry of agony?]
[However, it still have that loudnessâ]
The first one to notice âthatâ is the one with sharpest ears, Eve Speed .
[ââ-That is...]
ââââstomp, stomp, stomp, stomp, stomp, stomp, stompâââââ
Theyâre approaching...
From all directions...
Theyâre coming towards here .
Sitting on my knees and closing my eyes, I concentrated on the presences around me .
I propped up my fingertip on the ground .
Multiple ear-piercing roars repeatedly rang out one after another .
Continuous tremors shook the ground from a long distance .
Just like savages appearing with torture tools in hand .
Just like ink painting murky, black evil intent from all directions .
Sadistic feelings as muddy as coal tar .
[......I see . ]
âTsk . â I clicked my tongue .
Theyâre mixed along with them as well .
[Bunches of Human-Faced . ]
I think I could already feel some thirst in my mouth .
Gulping down the saliva in my mouth, I took the composure off my body .
I certainly did subjugate a Human-Faced in the Demon Zone just the other dayâ-
[This isâ-]
âââââââââââââââ-just way too much .
Although it took some time when the next publication was released, thanks to that, two volumes of âI Became the Strongest With The Failure FrameãAbnormal State SkillãAs I Devastated Everythingâ will be released on 12/25 (Tue) . Even so, there may be some places where the stores were already being lined up in... .
It was a very difficult task, but we checked it all out and made some minor revisions, corrections, and modifications in the novel . Also, we have additional scenes . Would the main additions be the two scenes for Seras, one scene for Civit, or Toukaâs monologue in the prologue?
I was also very impressed with KWKM-samaâs frontpiece illustration, that also includes his other illustrations, and they were able to exceed all of the expectations that I have... . Anyway, I can only say that these illustrations are wonderful .
In addition to the wonderful illustration of Seras wiping her body in the room in an inn in the extra scene and lying on her bed in thin clothes, Serasâs illustrations in the other scenes are also really high quality . Sometimes I feel like I want to grab the paperback book and flip through the pages again (in which, I actually did) . I feel now that the intention of including additional scenes and âmaking this book centered around Serasâ has been reflected well .
However... Putting aside Seras being more wonderful than I imagined, Civit having a strong sense of strength, most of all ... Touka is really cool . Iâm glad that male characters also make this work attractive . In fact, I also designed Nyantan ... but the illustration has become that scene of the goddess doing that (I might be a bit too radical though) . In his work, they beautifully featured the reproduction of the appearance and clothing that were mentioned in the work like âCat-likeâ and âHighly Exposedâ . In addition to these works, I received illustrations that would make the work more appealing, such as illustrations by the incredibly powerful goddess (on the contrary though, it looked quite cool), and illustrations that introduced characters using Takaoâs sister bathhouse scenes . There is an illustration that shows the image in my head as it is, and I really cannot thank KWKM-sama enough .
And I didnât know how to put the image up to now, but this time itâs a beautiful cover illustration, so Iâll put it on for a show ... (Sweat)
The Web version emphasizes the basic tempo and focuses on spotlighting the Toukaâs story, but the book version may become more intense, such as the story of Touka & Seras .
...This was a long (too long) book . (It also affects the reading style of the book, so Iâm going to erase it later or shorten it . ) Readers of the Web may think that the book version should be like a collectorâs item . I would like to recommend this for those who say, âIâd like to have something with KWKM-samaâs illustrations and additional scenes!â
In any case, thanks to all of you, I was able to publish these books and the continuation of this book . As usual, I would like to thank you for taking this opportunity . I hope that I will be able to greet all of you again around the end of the year, including my thanks by the end of the holidays .