Evil Avalon
Dodging the long spear’s high-speed, multi-thrust attack that gouged in deeply with a backstep, I then slipped my body into the gap between slashes coming from both sides, aiming for a counter. But my strike was deflected by another guy, and to make matters worse, they even launched a counterattack at me instead.
Individually, this group of adventurers doesn’t reach my current level. Their magic power and equipment aren’t anything special either—everything is within expectations. But perhaps because of their extensive experience in fighting people and in group combat, they’re quickly adapting even to my irregular movements. Because of that, I’m being forced onto the defensive more often.
(Man… if I were alone, this would’ve been a tough fight.)
If I had charged in recklessly by myself, driven by anger, who knows what would have happened. I do have a trump card, and I think I could win if I used it—but against a group of adventurers like this, the risk of something going wrong would inevitably be high. It’s doubtful the odds of victory would even be fifty-fifty. Of course, that’s only if I were alone.
When I glanced to the rear, I saw a pure white spider Arachne wrapped in violet lightning. While blocking slashes with four of its eight legs, it was using threads spit from its mouth to entangle several people at once, swinging them around wildly. He looked seriously enraged, radiating killing intent strong enough to actually kill them at any moment. I should probably remind him again.
“Arthur! Don’t kill them, no matter what!”
“I know! Damn it—even if it’s for Akira-chan’s sake, these bastards…!”
When I told him Tenma-san was injured, Arthur had sent multiple furious replies like, “Tell me where right now! I’ll kill them all!” Back in our original world, he even led her fan club. There’s probably something there I can’t fully understand—but still, that’s a bad move.
If the enemy were like the Holy Empire—people you can’t reason with—that’d be one thing. But these guys clearly show signs of wanting to negotiate. As proof, none of the Black Butlers have died—only been injured. If we start killing first, we’ll destroy any chance of negotiation, and it’ll only increase the danger for Tenma-san and Kurosaki-san, who’ve been captured.
Our top priority is rescuing our comrades safely. At the very least, we should avoid killing until we drag out their boss and learn their true intentions. With your strength, Arthur, that should be possible.
While checking the distance from the pursuing adventurers out of the corner of my eye, I dodged incoming weapon skills with explosive sounds by leaping sideways, all while observing my rival Arthur’s fighting style. Using his long legs and human upper body to their fullest, he was sending people flying with blows fueled by frustration. I’m just glad he’s properly holding back from killing.
Still, being able to handle such a peculiar body like an Arachne—with so many limbs—so skillfully is honestly impressive. The sense of balance must be completely different. I’m curious what it feels like, but for now, I just want him to keep reducing the number of enemies like this.
Of course, I intend to avoid killing too—but I’ll at least break a few bones. I ducked to avoid a slash aimed at my back, then turned at key moments to strike with the blunt edge, knocking them unconscious one by one.
Everything seemed to be going smoothly—
Or so I thought. Problems tend to come from unexpected directions.
(Why the hell are you here too?!)
From afar, I had confirmed that Chi-chan had distanced herself from the adventurers at incredible speed and shifted to magic combat—but before I knew it, right beside her was my younger sister—wearing a mask, but unmistakably her—running alongside.
There were also two other girls with their faces hidden joining the fight. I couldn’t be certain, but one had a large staff and twin braids, so I guessed it was Satsuki. Arthur must’ve contacted them.
So they joined up with Chi-chan to fight together… or so I thought. But that was only at first. Before I knew it, Kano and Chi-chan kicked up clouds of dust and ran off together at insane speed in a completely different direction. Instead of fighting or drawing enemies away, they were just running around the hill side by side. Maybe they’re drawing some kind of massive magic circle I don’t know about.
But because of that, Satsuki and the other girl were left behind and ended up being chased by the adventurers. Worried, I kept glancing over—when suddenly, a slash aimed at the back of my head nearly hit me. I hastily pulled my head back and barely avoided it. At this level, a direct hit would easily take my head off—this isn’t something you can just shrug off.
Losing my balance, I instinctively rolled into the grasslands, but immediately, slashes came flying in from multiple directions. I was forced entirely on the defensive, not even having time to wipe the cold sweat streaming down—but I couldn’t just abandon Satsuki and the others. It would be pointless if Satsuki died while we came to rescue Tenma-san. That must never happen.
Seizing a brief opening, I abruptly turned. Feinting a sharp right-angle turn, I sprinted at full speed to shake them off and looked toward Satsuki. The other girl beside her seemed slower, practically being dragged along. At this rate, it was only a matter of time before they were caught.
Without even time to catch my breath, I forced my legs to move faster. I leapt at the adventurers chasing Satsuki from behind, punching one away and kicking another beside him. Then I gathered what little magic I had left and released it, drawing their attention toward me.
I beckoned at them with my finger as if to say “Come on”—and they took the bait instantly. Nearly ten adventurers charged at me with furious expressions.
“You bastard!!”
“Die already!!”
Of course, I wasn’t going to face them head-on. I desperately ran, adjusting distance to avoid being surrounded—when suddenly, their attacks became easier to see, and strength and stamina began surging through me. Looks like Satsuki cast a buff spell.
“Haah… thank goodness! Kano-chan suddenly ran off somewhere—”
“…carry… me…”
Panting heavily, the two girls staggered behind me. According to Satsuki, they had been searching for a gate with classmates when Kano suddenly contacted them about Tenma-san being attacked, so they rushed over together. Lisa stayed behind to supervise the class.
But midway, Kano and Chi-chan suddenly started arguing about who was faster—and ran off somewhere. Seeing them racing around the hill at ridiculous speed… seriously? A footrace at a time like this? And Chi-chan is supposed to be smart—why does she become so useless whenever she’s with Kano?
Suppressing the exhaustion threatening to overwhelm me, I pretended to unleash a weapon skill—only to freeze the movements of multiple enemies in front of me. At the same time, I calmly deflected slashes from behind, striking with the blunt edge and taking them down one by one with great effort.
I’d used up quite a bit of stamina, but only one remained.
Keeping his distance, the swordsman tilted his weapon horizontally, maintaining a defensive stance while throwing what little magic he had at me. Despite the overwhelming gap in our strength, his fighting spirit hadn’t faded—that’s impressive. But he’s being too cautious. That makes him easy to fool.
Mixing deceptive magic control with skill motions, I closed the distance and manipulated his movements as I pleased. After throwing off his balance, I passed by him and drove a body blow into him. His eyes rolled back instantly, and he collapsed.
Confirming no enemies were nearby, I steadied my breathing and looked at the smaller girl…
To my surprise, she wasn’t human—but a fairy with wings on her back. She tossed aside the mask she’d been wearing, stuck out her tongue lazily, and plopped down on the spot.
A dark fairy…? Why is one here…?
But upon closer inspection, her vivid golden eyes and black flower dress triggered an intense sense of déjà vu—and a chill ran down my spine.
“Satsuki! Get away from her!”
“Huh? What’s wrong?”
In a panic, I pulled Satsuki behind my back and took out an anti-status ailment item from my pocket—[Demon Arthur’s Horn]—gripping it tightly. Don’t be fooled by its cute appearance. This isn’t just any fairy—it’s an extremely dangerous monster that, before you even realize it, drains your mental strength and magic completely, leaving you to die of exhaustion: the Dark Lily Fairy, Shadow Lily. It’s one of the monsters I had been wary of.
However, this rare species normally only inhabits places where dark magic stagnates—so why is it here…? No, wait. Something’s off. Since earlier, while staring at me, it’s been chanting something like a prayer: 〖…carry… me…〗. A mind-control type spell, perhaps?
Satsuki behind me is saying something incomprehensible like, “This girl is really reliable!”, so there’s also a chance her mind has already been affected. If that’s the case, recovery would be difficult and take time.
As I racked my brain in this tense situation, trying to break the stalemate and figure out how to heal Satsuki’s damage, that troublesome duo came back.
“Doryaaaahhh—We wooooon!!”
“Ahhh, I was so close!!”
It seems Chi-chan won the footrace by a narrow margin. She puffed out her chest proudly while looking down at Kano, who stomped the ground in frustration. Kano, being a sore loser, protested, “That’s only because of your speed-boost item!”, to which Chi-chan responded even more smugly, “Equipment is part of one’s ability.” That immediately sparked a pointless argument of “That’s unfair!” and “It’s not unfair!”.
But both of them slammed on the brakes so hard they gouged into the ground, kicking up a huge cloud of dust—and the Shadow Lily fairy inhaled it, coughing violently and rolling around.
I could only struggle to keep up with the rapidly changing situation—
“Big bro! Do you have—like—some item or skill that makes you faster—agh!”
In the end, she even came crying to me, so I smacked her on the head with a fist. While I was drenched in sweat, desperately fighting and worrying about everything, what the hell were they doing? When I asked, they said that fairy over there asked, 〖Which one… is faster?〗, and that somehow turned into a race… But just what exactly is that fairy? I’ll need to hear more.
At the center of the hill, adventurers clashed chaotically, weapon skills with explosive force flying everywhere. At the center of it all, of course, was Arthur the Arachne. Even though attacks were coming simultaneously from blind spots, it was as if he could see everything—he calmly crossed his upper arms while deflecting every skill effortlessly with just his white front legs.
That impenetrable defense couldn’t be broken even by dozens of people, and one after another, they were captured in his threads. Countless adventurers lay wrapped up like bundles at his feet, and fewer than ten were still standing. It was only a matter of time before total suppression.
Meanwhile, the butlers—bound and unable to move—were shouting toward us, “Hurry up and untie us!” I understand their fury after their master Tenma-san was harmed, but I’ll ignore them for now. If they rush in recklessly and someone dies, things will spiral out of control—and as for fighting power, Arthur alone is more than enough. Even if we free them, I’d rather first determine who the enemy is and what they want.
A short distance away stood a dome-shaped tent. Inside should be Tenma-san, the maid, and the so-called “boss.” Most of the nuisances have already been dealt with—so let’s go pay them a visit.
As I checked the types of potions I took out from my pocket, I noticed the golden-eyed fairy receiving healing magic from Satsuki. It seems to have extremely low stamina—it was still lying flat on its back, gasping for breath. According to Kano, it’s really an ally.
“—So this is that Dark Pixie that evolved?”
“Yes, her name is Lily-chan.”
The Dark Pixie that was summoned at the Tokyo clan party to detect magic circles—apparently, after feeding it a high-grade magic stone, it turned into this. Chi-chan explained this with a bright smile. But something doesn’t add up.
Dark Pixies have several evolution paths, but normally they become Dark Fairies. On the other hand, evolving into a Shadow Lily requires extremely strict conditions and effort—it’s not something that just happens by chance. Yet here it is before me… so there’s no point overthinking it.
Still, this is a wicked monster that has drained the blood of countless adventurers in Explorer. Just being near it makes me uneasy.
“Big bro! I want a girl like Lily-chan too—can I make a contract with one?”
“Don’t. Contracting with a spirit is more trouble than it’s worth.”
Seeing the fairy sprawled lazily, Kano said she wanted one too. But the attachment—no, obsession—that comes from contracted spirits is incredibly heavy. Worse, the stronger the spirit, the greater the amount of magic connected to it, requiring an even stronger contract. I haven’t confirmed it, but if Chi-chan really contracted something like a Shadow Lily, there should be a deep, tattoo-like contract mark engraved somewhere on her body.
If you ignore or betray a spirit’s wishes, the contract magic turns into a curse—and it comes back as terrifying retribution that feels like your body is being burned alive. With risks like that, it’s better not to contract one in the first place—that’s my belief.
“But ever since I made a contract with Lily-chan, it feels like my magic power has increased tremendously.”
When I pointed out the drawbacks, Chi-chan interrupted, saying it wasn’t a big deal. Yes—one advantage of contracting a spirit is increased magical power. On top of that, if you contract a powerful spirit, you might even gain rare skills without using skill slots. Maybe Chi-chan gained something like that too.
But spirits may look human, yet their thinking and values are completely different. Even Tenma-san has suffered for a long time due to conflicts with a spirit. Walking alongside such beings requires serious resolve. I’ll have to make sure Chi-chan understands that properly.
But before that, there’s something else to do.
Arthur wrapped up the last remaining enemy in threads and tossed him aside with clear boredom. With skin tough enough to withstand weapon skills and a magical body that doesn’t lead to death even when damaged—combined with overwhelming combat experience and level—it’s impossible for him to lose.
At this point, there was no need for me to struggle so desperately—I can’t deny it feels like I exhausted myself for nothing… but for now, we’ve safely cleared the first hurdle. Time to prepare for the next step—so I’ll leave things here to my best friend.
“Satsuki, I’m going to head to that tent with Arthur. After a bit, can you release the butlers and Kuga-san?”
“Okay, leave it to me. Blessing of Instant Vision—grant sight to everyone—”
Satsuki immediately accepted and raised her staff, casting both healing and buff magic on me before sending me off. Including how she rushed here risking her life for Tenma-san, who will become a new ally—she’s someone I can trust completely to have my back.
And of course, Kano and Chi-chan tried to follow me—as well as the fairy—but that’s obviously not happening. Even when I told them the enemy could be strong and dangerous, they refused to listen, saying things like “It’s my duty to witness this,” “I’m absolutely coming with you!”, and 〖…you… unreliable…〗.
So, I decided to ask Arthur to wrap them all up instead.
Comments
Post a Comment