Evil Avalon

Chapter 87-Aurora's Apostle

(TL:By Rafael,valhallatls.blogspot.com)

-- Kuga Kotone's Point of View --

　

　I was not prepared for anything, but the floor boss, the great demon, was summoned. It may be just a prank to Suo, but I can't even escape from here because I don't have any escape items.

　

　The fact that escape items are not something that common people can afford, I guess he decided that if you are not a nobleman, it doesn't matter if you die or not. This is why an anachronistic aristocratic nation is so annoying. However, no amount of whining will change the situation. If there is no way out, we must fight with determination.

　

　I have seen a video of the floor boss on this floor in my home country. It was a demon race called the Lesser Demon, and the recommended minimum force required was 18 combat-trained level 20 fighters. In fact, I recall that even with that strength, the odds of winning were as low as 50-50.

　

　And yet, there were only four of us here: myself, Sota Narumi, Armored Woman, and a saint-like woman. They all seem to have a level of nearly 20, but they are all spoiled little boys and girls. It was almost as if they had been raised through power leveling. It is difficult to consider them as equal in strength to the skilled soldiers of my home country, who have gone through numerous trials and mortal combat and pushed themselves to the limit, even if one looks at them with favor.

　

　Among them, the saint girl, who had been expected to be at the top of the class, also left early. It is only a matter of time before the same aristocrat, Armor Girl, also uses escape items. If that happens, Sota Narumi and I will be the only two people left. I wonder if that man will be able to use his powers skillfully. ......

　

(If I do it right, I might even be able to get it to "going insane" on my own. ...... but that's as far as I'll go.)

　When the HP of a floor boss decreases beyond a certain level, it enters a state called "going insane" and may use powerful skills. When the HP of this demon is reduced to about a quarter, its entire body is enveloped in a blue "aura" and its defense is greatly increased, and it releases a vicious skill with an extraordinary destructive power. If that happens, it would be impossible for me to deal with it alone.

　

　Sota Narumi seems to be doing his part, but I don't think he will be able to keep up with the high-level battle we are about to face. Hopeless - just as these words flashed through my mind, the tide suddenly turned in an unexpected direction.

　

　Inspired by the fact that the armored woman was going up against the demon without using any escape items, Narumi said he would be the tank. Come to think of it, I wondered. I wondered why there was no fear or trepidation in his eyes when the demon was summoned. The reason for this would soon become clear.

　

"Decapitator, over here! 《Illitited Howl!》"

　A roar so loud that this entire vast hall shook. That is a typical skill used by the top-secret job [knight], which exists only in the Holy Empire.

　

　The Holy Empire is located in Eastern Europe and is headed by Saint Aurora. Even within that empire, only the ultra-elite chosen by Saint Aurora can serve as a [knight]. It is said that in the future they will become Kingsguard Knights or Apostles of Aurora, important figures who will have a great influence on national politics. They rarely appear in public, and their information is thoroughly controlled and shrouded in a thick veil. And yet...

　

　And here they are, right in front of me, the state secrets of the empire!

　

　I honestly underestimated Aurora and the power of the apostles. The Holy Empire is a new country with a short history created by a bunch of rag-tag adventurers who were trying to make it look like a terrorist organization, and I wondered what Aurora's chosen talent would prove. However, if I look at the [knight] in front of me, I will be made to understand the abnormality even if I don't want to.

　

　Sota Narumi, with flames in both arms, easily parries or ducks the massive fists that swing down from his four massive arms, and if there is an opening, he dives into the bosom of the opponent and calmly counters. Although his speed of movement was probably lower than mine, he had amazing fighting skills and a tactical eye. If such a talent has been discovered and nurtured, I have no choice but to drastically change my opinion of Aurora and the empire.

　

　But there are a lot of strange things going on.

　

　Narumi's movements are by no means fast. In fact, I and the demons seem to be several steps faster and more powerful than Narumi. And yet, he easily handles a barrage of strikes that even I would barely be able to avoid with a minimum of force and movement, and even moves as if he knows where the next attack will come. As a result, the devil is at Narumi's mercy, unable to respond at all.

　

(Why can he move like that? ......?)

　It is not that he sees it and then ducks. Just by making a preliminary movement to unleash a fist, Narumi has already shifted his center of gravity and moved to evade. Then was it because he predicted the move? That would be different.

　

　It is not possible to make that move just because you predicted the attack. If there is even the slightest deviation in the prediction of the trajectory of the punch that Lesser Demon will unleash, it could be knocked down with a single blow. Therefore, to a certain extent, the evasive maneuvering from the prediction would have to be a big move with some insurance.

　

　However, Narumi's movement shows no sign of hesitation at all. He is too efficient in his movements to avoid lethal attacks with a single stroke of the paper and to aim for a counter.

(How well do you know the Lesser Demon ......?)

　

　He has repeatedly made moves that would be impossible without a deep knowledge of the Lesser Demon monster. This guess was confirmed when it unleashed a four-armed barrage of skills.

　Before the demon made the slashing motion, Narumi had moved his center of gravity to put his body in a safe place and was in the motion of launching the one-handed sword skill, even though he had not yet swung his fist and no gap had been created. He even avoided the attack without seeing it, and even did the acrobatic trick of placing the skill in the trajectory of his arm in advance and cutting it off. It was so perfect it was creepy.

　

　It is a feat that can only be accomplished by knowing what attack will come next and where the opening will be, by covering every possible attack pattern, and even by grasping the thought routine. To be able to do this, it is impossible to just watch a video. It would require tremendous experience in actual combat, dozens, if not hundreds of times. Is it really possible?

　

(How many devil's books does it take to do that?)

　

　In order to summon Lesser Demons, one needs the Book of Demons. However, in order to obtain it, you need to defeat stronger monsters, and the procedure and process to get there is complicated. It takes a tremendous amount of manpower and time to get the right number. I wonder if they were systematically collected using dungeons in the empire.

　

　I thought the method of obtaining the book was classified information only in the U.S., but if even Suo knew about it, it is not surprising that even the empire would know about it. But I also wonder what they were doing collecting so many devil's books.

　

　Information about the empire is rarely revealed to the public, and countries around the world send agents to probe for information. Some of my colleagues from the same period have also entered and conducted intelligence activities, but no one has yet been able to reach the heart of the organization. In this sense, the connection with Sota Narumi, an apostle of Aurora, is equivalent to a lump of mithril.

　

　Can't I somehow entangle him and extract confidential information from him? I am sure that something surprising would come out of it. Should I be more sociable in order to shorten the distance between us?

　

"Kuga-san, when this guy's HP drops below 25%, I want you to monitor him with "Appraisal"!"

'...... how do you know I have that skill?'

"I'll get to that later. Anyway, he'll  be going insane with 20% of your strength remaining. When I give you the signal, both of you step away once."

"I understand, Narumi!"

　I'll definitely have to ask him about it after ......, even though I kept the "appraisal". Anyway, this guy would be able to keep tanking until he went insane without any problem. But after he goes insane, Lesser demon will use skills that are as powerful as those of the deepest floor bosses, and I don't think Narumi can handle it alone without special equipment.

　

　

　Is there some unexpected way? Or will he show us further secrets of the empire? This is all very interesting, but first, let me ask him something.

　

"Sota Narumi. What are you going to do?"

"I'm going to avoid the going insane skill, and when I'm done, you can use your weapon skill to resume your attack. After he goes insane, your normal attacks won't go through."

　What do you mean by "avoid"? If you have seen this demon go insane even once, you would know that such a thing is utterly impossible. But I have seen Narumi Sota so far, he might really be able to avoid him. He is a man who is utterly unobtainable.

　

"...... is now at 26% HP."

"He's going to use something as bad as "Rich's" insane, right?"

"Oh, yeah. He's going to shoot a thousand magic bullets at us."

"A thousand magic bullets? Will you be fine?"

"Twenty-three percent."

　As the HP at which the going insane is triggered approaches, the devil, who had been struggling and looking reluctant, regains his cruel smile again. It looks like it's thinking, "Now I can finally give him a miserable death."

"Twenty-one percent."

'It's coming, get away from me, both of you!"

'I believe you! Narumi!"

"I'm on it!"

　The two of us quickly retreat to a corner of the hall with the armored woman. The Lesser Demon's madness skill can wreak havoc over a wide area. We must keep a sufficient distance.

"Gushaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!　Sinu gai dai dai dai!""

　With 20% remaining, my vision is filled with blue light. With a low-frequency, earth-shaking cry, the demon's reddish-black body is enveloped in blue flames, and the square is filled with a heavy "aura".

　

　Once in this state, even this magic weapon will not be able to pass normal attacks, and damage can only be inflicted by skills with attack power compensation. The problem, however, is not the aura, but rather the skill to be fired immediately after the aura.

　　When the demon raised its four arms, a circle magic circle of about three meters in diameter appeared above its head. It was covered with intricate patterns, and black, muddy magic power was overflowing from places like the letters. Even from this far away, the density of the terrifying magic power is so terrifying that it makes my skin tingle.

　

　The Lesser Demon's madness skill is to summon powerful magic bullets from that magic circle and release them in rapid succession. Even a single shot is powerful enough to shatter buildings, so a direct hit to the body is enough to kill a person unless he or she is heavily armed.

　

　There are two countermeasures. The first is to activate a number of "anti-missile" magic tools to form wards, and to put up a number of pure mithril shields, which are resistant to magical attacks, to withstand the impact. This is the safest tactic for the home country to take, but the magic tools are very expensive, and the pure mithril that catches too many magic bullets becomes useless and has to be disposed of, so a huge amount of money is lost just by doing this tactic once. The biggest disadvantage is that the battle is not that profitable in spite of this.

　

　The other method is to run away from the damage. Although it is cheaper and does not require anything, it has the fatal disadvantage that the damage is completely unpredictable. If magic bullets are scattered without fixing the target, they will land almost anywhere, even in such a large space. If it is not done properly, it could result in total annihilation. This is the method taken by the general strategy clan, but it is clearly a gamble.

(You're saying you won't take either of those options?)

　Right now, the sights of the magic circle are locked on the man in front of him, and an extremely large magic bullet is about to be released. And yet, Narumi does not appear to be using any special item, nor does he seem to be running away, but rather, he is standing still and not moving. I'm worried about that smirk on his face, but I'll just have to wait and see.

　The magic circle glows brightly for a moment, and dozens of blue balls of light are simultaneously shot out at high speed, landing in a line of light in the area where Narumi was. At the same time, the sound of explosions rings out, and the stone floor, which had been neatly laid out, rises up, sending up a cloud of dust with great force. Not even a second later, the same number of photoballs are summoned, and they are fired without a pause. The summoning of more photoballs continued. The firepower is clearly excessive, as if they are trying to control the entire area.

　The bombing range continues to expand. The number of light balls being summoned increased, and they continued to rain down like a hail of bullets. There was no safe place for Narumi to be, including the surrounding area. The hall of the cathedral, which used to have a solemn atmosphere, is now covered with craters and has become a sight to behold.

　It was the first time for me to actually see the going insane skills of the lesser demons with my own eyes, but what I saw on the video was nothing like what I saw in person. The devastation spreading out before my eyes filled me with helpless fear. The armored woman next to me took only one step backward, but she stayed her ground and cheered him on, waving her axe and saying, "Hang in there." It's a healthy thing to say, but if you are bombed that much without much equipment, even Narumi, who has superhuman sense, won't survive. ......

(But the biggest problem has been solved.)

　That "aura" that raises defenses is still alive and well, so it will be a long battle from here on out, but it is safe to assume that we have a chance to win. We must change our minds, thinking that we only had to sacrifice one person. We will have to rely on the firepower of the armored women.

(TL:I  kinda pity Narumi now)

"Armor Girl...... you must harden your heart for Narumi is dea--"

"Narumi!"

"Then both of you--"

　When the dust cleared, there was a man standing there as if nothing had happened. He is gingerly brushing the dirt off his clothes. Did he really lose that storm of extremely large magic bullets?

 

"Let's fight back."(Narumi)

TL Note- Damn good fight.

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