10-49. A Tale from the Past 11: Sealing
“Hey, what’s that you’ve got there?”
“Huh? This? You know, I could grow fiery wings, but that would make my movements predictable! So, I went for a jet boot-like design!”
“Creating some absurd thing…”
As the two landed on the ground, they exchanged a few words before getting ready once again.
Amaka held an iron rod, while Hiwa unsheathed a katana.
Urushima heaved a sigh of relief as the reinforcements finally arrived.
Though the time they bought was short, it seemed sufficient.
Dacia surveyed the surroundings.
It appeared that monsters were converging from all directions, and the demons were currently halting their advance.
The situation was dire.
They urgently needed to defeat The Voice, Roku.
But it didn’t seem like it would be that easy.
Their most powerful attack had been shrugged off without a scratch.
There might be some unknown trick involved, but it was certain that the entity emerged from that black smoke and even shattered the pneumatic barrier that withstood explosions.
It was reasonable to think he possessed that level of power.
Their grip on their weapons tightened involuntarily.
A wrong move might easily cost them their lives.
That’s when The Voice, Roku raised his hand.
He was about to execute something.
Hiwa and Amaka immediately dashed forward, closing in.
“Divine heavens. Lend me thy power. 【 Air Pressure Sword. 】 “
He summoned a translucent sword made of air and threw it.
It passed through the space between them without needing to be dodged, but in the next instant, it detonated with a loud bang.
GBHAAAAAM!!
The impact hit them, slamming them to the ground.
“Ugh!”
“Darn! …Curse you…”
“Tch, an exploding weapon… What a hassle!”
“Just be cautious of his thrown weapons. If he doesn’t throw them, you’ll get caught in the explosion.”
“…Doesn’t sound like such an easy task.”
“…Indeed.”
Countless air pressure swords appeared around Roku, the voice.
If they all charged forward with intent, avoiding being hit would likely be impossible.
The tips aimed toward the four of them.
Just as they began to move, the swords vanished with a sudden poof.
Dacia tilted her head, wondering if this was also an attack, but it seemed like Roku, the voice was surprised. It didn’t seem to be an attack.
“Hueeeheehee… Is it my turn now?”
“Huh!!? Ah, Atrak-sama!”
“Y’all know, even though that there guy is ayy god, at least ay could faheet it” (You know, even though that guy is a god, at least I could fight it)
After scratching his head and relaxing his expression, Atrak stared intently.
A black miasma overflowed from his body and dropped onto the ground, evaporating with an audible sound.
He seemed quite infuriated.
Dacia stepped back a few paces, careful not to touch the miasma.
Atrak, having caught the miasma that spilled and scattered, absorbed it.
Mixing a confident grin with an expression of anger, he began to speak with an abnormally wide, torn mouth.
“wHaT KiNd oF ThInKiNg lEd yOu tO BlOw aWaY My bEnEfAcToR LiKe tHaT, eH?”
“!!?”
Appearing right next to Roku the voice in an instant, Atrak delivered a powerful kick that sent him flying.
He soared beyond the Oni Village, rolling while dragging demonic monsters along, breaking numerous large trees, and finally crashed into a cliff, coming to a halt.
It was an incredibly potent strike, but Roku the voice got back up and rotated his shoulders.
It seemed he hadn’t sustained significant damage.
“Should deal with the nuisance by sealing it first.”
Meanwhile, something unusual was happening to Atrak’s body.
His arms trembled as if rattling, and his legs shook just the same, rendering him unable to stand.
Trying to find the cause, he felt trembling, but couldn’t determine the reason at all.
His strength had drained when he tried to attack.
That wasn’t all.
“Dh-dhiz izh…!”
“Atrak-sama!! Are you alright!?”
“Dh-dha- Dacia, attack him with weapons, …… never ever dir- direct hit him…..”
“U-understood.”
Uttering halting words, he was unable to articulate much else.
In reality, most of his skills had been sealed off, rendering them unusable.
Although he wished they could explain this, his tongue wouldn’t cooperate.
Dacia promptly shared this information with the group.
While Urushima might not be well-matched, there was no issue since most of them had long-range skills.
“Here it comes.”
“Yeah! If we go wild here, we might wreck the surroundings!”
Hiwa, Amaka, Urushima, and Dacia moved to face Roku the voice.
Chasing after the path left by the forceful blow, they swiftly located the target, but once again, he was unharmed.
They thought it was a bad joke, but they had no choice but to try again.
Along the way, Urushima explained what he had realized to the others.
Having understood the situation, they all tightened their grips on their weapons, determined to defeat Roku the voice.
“Hmm, having a physical body is a bit inconvenient.”
“Can we defeat him…?”
“I don’t know. But this is the root cause we brought with us. We can’t just not fight.”
“That’s true.”
“Inhale… Mitaki-ryuu…” (Three Waterfall stance)
Hiwa readying stance against the strong wind.
Lowering his waist a bit, he braced his feet and coiled up his strength.
The blade was aimed upwards, targeting the opponent’s footing.
SLASH SLASH!!
With two quick slashes, Roku’s body was sliced.
“Hahe Shizuku* … 【 Tenwari 】 go forth.” (*Splashing drop stance)
“E- …eww!? …You gotta be kidding me.”
The wound closed up immediately.
Roku’s regeneration ability was remarkable.
If attacking proved futile, their arsenal of attack methods would be limited.
That’s when Roku brought his hands together.
From this distance, they couldn’t intervene.
They maintained their vigilance, prepared for anything, but it proved futile.
“Welken. I shall borrow thy power.”
Paaan.
With that sound as the last thing they heard, the consciousness of everyone present was severed.
They had no idea how long they had been unconscious.
But Dacia was the first to regain her senses.
Shaking her head to awaken her still-unstable vision, she managed to stand up.
And there stood Hinata, Engetsu, and Shisui, armed and guarding the other three.
“W-what happened?”
“That… that thing.”
“That thing?”
Shisui pointed.
Shisui points his finger.
There was a figure of Remma who continued to overwhelm Riku the voice.
.
