Part V
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The day before the departure to Minra.
Hiroto explained how to deal with the enemy summoner and the spiritual power user as well as the future strategy.
“Before I explain, ……, Shitenji-san, Marion-san, can you come closer to me for a moment?”
“Eh?”
Mizuho and Marion blushed for some reason as they approached Hiroto.
“Oh, no, you don’t have to get that close. ……”
“Huh~”
At first, the two approached Hiroto normally, but when Marion took a step forward, Mizuho also took a step forward, and then when Mizuho took a step forward, Marion also stepped forward, causing the two to get closer than necessary.
“Marion, what are you doing ……?”
“Mizuho-san also ……”
“Well, let’s move on, shall we? You should be feeling my spiritual power right now. ……”
“Yeah, this is …… denser than I imagined. I looked it over in the paperwork, but it’s ……”
“Yes, and this is …… an awful lot.”
“Umm, I have a peculiar condition that causes it. It’s almost uncontrollable.”
“So what does this have to do with coordination with the enemy?”
“It’s about the enemy’s spiritual power fog, but you said that the two of you showed no signs of being controlled at all, right? I think it’s different from the quality of my spiritual power here. …… How about it? Isn’t there some resemblance?”
“Yeah, definitely! It’s much thinner than this, but I think this uncontrolled drifting feeling is similar!”
After listening to Marion’s impression, Hiroto nodded.
“Then observe the way this spiritual power spreads.”
Mizuho noticed a circle of three meters around Hiroto.
“Circle? It’s spreading around…… umm? No, it’s a sphere.”
Hiroto nodded again.
“That’s right. When you let out your spiritual power, you naturally control it as you complete the technique, so you probably didn’t pay attention to it, but if you spread your spiritual power without controlling it, it will look like this ……. Originally, when you practice this, the range of drifting will also expand depending on the amount of spiritual power you have. Marion-san, can you do it?”
“Yes, um, I’ll try. Is it like this? I’ve never done it before, so I’m not used to it. ……”
Mizuho’s eyes widened as Marion said that.
“Yeah, it is similar! Marion’s a bit darker ……, but there’s this uncontrolled, drifting feeling …….”
“Umm, Marion-san is probably suppressing her spiritual power a lot right now. So the range is only about this room, maybe? However, the spiritual power ability user is working with the enemy summoner to produce a considerable amount of spiritual power and drift to a wide area. Ah, Marion-san, you can stop now.”
Marion stops generating spiritual power and looks at Hiroto.
“Hiroto-san, the magic power-based enemy summoner enhances his sensing ability in this spiritual power mist and controls a large number of demons from a distance, right? But …… if that’s the case, the enemy summoner will continue to take damage, albeit slight, as long as he continues to use his magical power to sense the summoned demons. Then will the summoner’s lifeline, his concentration, hold out?”
What Marion said was a reasonable question. Mizuho also had a similar feeling.
“That’s true ……, but I think these enemies are the ones who made it possible. It’s hard to explain the events that occurred otherwise. It’s certainly not out of the realms of expectation yet. But I think it’s not unlikely. So I think it’s worthwhile to use this as a premise against the enemy.”
Mizuho and Marion remembered that the enemy summoner so far had not been caught by our search at all. Indeed, the two thought it was worthwhile to take advantage of this possibility for now.
“All right, Domori Hiroto. And now, continue with the explanation of the previous strategy.”
As Mizuho urged, Hiroto nodded.
“Umm, first of all, now that you know how uncontrolled spiritual power spreads, you can use it to your advantage.”
“That …… how do we do that?”
“Well, it’s simple, the enemy’s spiritual power is spread out in a spherical shape. If the enemy’s coordination is correct in this assumption, then the enemy is sure to include us and the enemy summoner within the range of the spiritual power they are expanding.”
Mizuho and Marion looked pleased with Hiroto’s explanation.
“I see, the enemy summoner is within it. Then we can narrow down the enemy’s location to a large extent. So how do we identify the summoner’s location?”
Mizuho asked enthusiastically, but Hiroto shook his head.
“No, we’re not looking for the enemy summoner, you see?”
“What?”
“Eh?”
Mizuho and Marion both looked dumbfounded at Hiroto’s words.
“What do you mean, Domori Hiroto! Then what the hell was the conversation we were having till now!”
Hiroto calmly appeased Mizuho, who was angry.
“The target of our strategy is the …… enemy ability user with spiritual power.”
“……!”
“Honestly, even if we can narrow down the summoner’s location, it’s impossible to identify him completely. The range of spiritual power drifting around is quite wide if you ask me. I’m sure he’s the furthest away from us in the spiritual power range. But it’s still quite uncertain.”
Hiroto continued.
“But if we can confirm the three points at the edges using the characteristics of the spiritual power that spreads in a spherical shape, we can determine the location of the enemy ability user who is radiating spiritual power. So, the first thing to do is to hit the enemy ability user who uses spiritual power. If we do so, this troublesome coordination will be broken and the enemy summoner’s freedom will be greatly reduced. This is a huge advantage for us as escorts.”
“That’s ……, ah, I see!”
Marion’s eyes widened as she raised her voice.
“In other words, Hiroto-san can determine the center of the sphere by identifying the three coordinates through which the outer surface of the sphere passes, …… where the enemy spirit ability user is located.”
“Is that true!? It’s amazing, Domori Hiroto.”
When the two praised him ……, he replied a little awkwardly.
“Umm, that’s …… exactly it! That is what I want to say, but actually, that calculation is very difficult and I can’t solve it. And I don’t know how to make such a calculation.”
“Eh? Then it’s meaningless. My praise was wasted.”
Mizuho was disappointed as she put herself aside.
“A-And the calculation is certainly not easy to do. Let alone that we don’t even know where they will attack us, and now we have to find a way to input the exact coordinates and program an accurate map. ……”
“Ahaha, …… that’s right.”
“This is not the time to be laughing. So what are we going to do, Domori Hiroto?”
“Umm, about that. …… I am going to look for three points at the same elevation. All manually.”
“That’s …….”
“Ah, you’re smart, Hiroto-san! If you do that, you’ll get …….”
“Correct! That way, we can make it a simple circular calculation.”
Mizuho was already getting tired of …… this pattern and was getting annoyed.
“Domori Hiroto, that’s enough, explain everything to me.”
“U-Umm, okay. First off, I guess that the enemy spirit ability user is probably in the …… sky.”
“Eh?”
“!?”
“It’s because the mountains are in the way of getting the spiritual power to drift evenly over the terrain. If there are too many obstructions, the spread of spiritual power will be distorted. For instance, just now you have confirmed that the spiritual power spreads in a spherical shape, and anything between you and me can be …….”
Hiroto said so and then lifted a shelf in the room and brought it to the center of the room. Then he placed it between himself and the others.
“I believe my spiritual power is having a hard time reaching that side now, what do you think?”
“Ah!”
“It’s true! It’s a little harder to feel.”
“Yes, I’m sure you’ve all felt this before, but spiritual power doesn’t pass through obstructions 100% of the time. I think it’s even more so when it’s just a thin layer of spiritual energy floating around. When you think about it, the enemy can’t be at the same height as us. It would be too inefficient. We’re surrounded by mountains big and small, full of obstructions.”
Hiroto continued as he put the shelf back.
“In fact, I would like to determine the exact location of the spiritual power enemy user, but that is difficult to calculate. So, I will check the outer surface where the fog of spiritual power breaks at the same elevation …… of the same height. I want to identify the spread of this spiritual power not as a sphere but as a surface. That way, we can see its center point …….”
Marion nodded vigorously at this point. Mizuho also revealed a grim smile.
“The enemy will be right above it!”
Hiroto also returned with a powerful nod.
“But there are prerequisites for this. First, we need to make sure that the spiritual power enemy user does not move in that location. There is a high possibility that the enemy will try to optimize the location of us and the enemy summoner depending on the battle situation. That’s why we mustn’t move from the location where the attack took place.”
“I see. ……”
“So even if the pressure of the enemy attack increases, I want you two to hold your ground. In the meantime, I’m going to find three points where the spiritual power cuts off. I’ll be using GPS, but I’ll be doing the calculations manually, so there will be some discrepancies. I don’t know how much of a discrepancy it will be, but ……”
“That’s not a problem. I only need to apply the technique to a large area. If you grab one of them, I’ll prepare something that will make them pay.”
Mizuho’s line made Hiroto smile.
After that, the three of them looked at each other and nodded when they finished talking about their roles and what they would do if the situation changed.
Mizuho, clenched her right fist with her left hand, with a face full of energy.
” Alright, enough with the details. The point is that I have to hit the enemy with a big move, that’s all!”
Thus, the plan was decided.
This time, they were not attacking for the enemy’s convenience. Rather, it was to wait for the enemy to use their coordination to cast a trap and strike down one of the enemy strategists.
◆
“Mizgard! Can you hear me?”
“……? Niezbeck? Neizbeck?”
“Mizgard, get away from there! There’s a good chance your location’s been compromised.”
“Who’s coming? That little girl? The little girl is coming? So happy~, so happy~, coming from that way~. Me, hold her? Hihihi……
“Tsk!”
( This chump has been …… over-enhanced. …… )
“No, Mizgard ……. It’s a man that comes in there. A Rank D inferior ability user from the Agency is on his way to bully you.”
“…… a man?”
“Yes, a man.”
“Oh, I hate men! I hate him~! They’re hard and they don’t taste good! Mizgard will kill him!”
“Wait, don’t worry about them. You’re going to change places right there. That’s all you need to do, hurry up. Just hurry up, or those little girls won’t be yours.”
“……. …….”
“You got it? Mizgard. If you want the girls, you move out of there now!”
“Mizgard wants the girl. All right, ……, I’m moving. Move to where?”
“I don’t care where! Hurry up, they might be there already.”
When the telepathy breaks down there, Niezbeck mutters to himself as if to throw up.
“Tsk, scum ……. this Mizgarde is almost ready to be replaced. ……. But the next replacement has not yet been completed. Even that scum can’t be lost yet.”
Niezbeck didn’t care about the Rank D incompetent who came as reinforcements.
But now, he felt that the picture they had in their minds was slowly being distorted by this mere rank D kid. And to add insult to injury, even the tactics devised by his master, Rokiarum, had been detected and countered.”
“Abominable rank D boy, …… did you say?”
Mizgardo has no special abilities other than the ability to produce spiritual power and the ability to hide his appearance.
Therefore, when it comes to combat abilities, he is far inferior to Niezbeck.
(No, I don’t care about the lucky punch of a clever little boy. Our true purpose is different. With the help of Rokiarum-sama, we have obtained that land ……, that miraculous magical land. All we need now is to summon the Demon God, and the …… world will not ignore us!)
Niezbeck switched his perspective and let out an ugly smile when he thought about it.
“Huh, ……, as I said, this is just a side thing! Mathew and the ability users from the agency, you can all die here! Curse your bad luck for standing in front of us.”
But …… it was at this point that Niezbeck actually began to realize that this rank D boy was dangerous. An ability user is excellent at that kind of intuition.
But his emotions would not allow him to admit it.
He couldn’t admit it.
There was no way that an inferior Rank D boy could be a danger to the Sword of Surtr.
Niezbeck had this strong sense of emotional rejection.
He didn’t realize that this was being converted into a sense of urgency to defeat Hiroto and the others here.
If you have other important objectives, there is no need to stick to fighting here. He could have retreated. However, this impatience born in the depths of his mind had deprived Niezbeck of flexible thinking.
As a result, his instructions to Mizgard were half-hearted.
This slight mistake. It caused the worst thing to happen to Mizgard.
Hiroto and Mizuho’s actions were slightly ahead of Mizgard’s movements.
Now, Hiroto and Mizuho were trying to capture Mizgard, the main source of this drifting spiritual mist.
Hiroto and the others looked up into the sky, where the enemy might be. Since they could not see the enemy, they had no choice but to trust it. They looked at each other and nodded at the same time.
“Mizuho-san, just so you know, there is a certain amount of deviation in the location of the enemy!”
“I know that. Such an error is within the range of my technique!”
Mizuho then jumped out onto the grassy field in front of her.
“Haaah! Let’s goooo!”
She carried the spirits that she had accumulated all the way here with her.
This alone shows Mizuho’s outstanding ability as a spirit user.
When the vast number of spirits were released, they made a tremendous swell and began to revolve around Mizuho.
“Air and Flame! Dance, dance! Flame of the south, gale of the west, your encounter shall be here!”
Spirit users don’t have to chant. This is a Shitenji-style chant to enhance the connection with the spirits.
When the chanting begins, Hiroto is astonished at the scale of the technique and can’t help but shout out when Mizuho’s ability manifests.
“T-This is …… amazing! There are very few people in the Demon world who can handle the use of multi-elements! And I only know of one person who can control it on this scale!”
He had heard that Mizuho was a genius during the rookie examinations and that she would be the next generation of the prestigious Shitenji family. However, Hiroto had never imagined that she would be this good.
When he saw Mizuho’s current appearance, he remembered what the Spirit Master he had met in the demon world had said.
“How do spirit users improve their abilities? Are you nuts? Hiroto. Because you measure a spirit wielder by the strength of his grip on the spirit, you’re missing the point when you talk about improving abilities. The weapon of a spirit user is how much the spirit loves them. It’s not about wanting to be strong, it’s about wanting to know the spirit and wanting the spirit to know you, and doing this naturally is what makes a great spirit user. If you are as good as me, the spirits will get jealous and fight for me. Oh, it hurts! The fire and wind spirits are especially rambunctious. …… The heat of the moment, you guys stop!”
(In Surure-san’s case, it seems that the spirits were angry with him for his bad behavior. …… But that’s also proof that the spirits loved him. Looks like Mizuho-san is also quite loved.)
Hiroto remembered that when Shurure, the spirit master of the demon world, was attacked by enemies, the spirits voluntarily protected him.
Hirohito looked at Mizuho and swore something to himself.
(Never anger this person.)
At this moment, Mizuho’s technique came into play.
“Fuu ……, go Spirits. Please relieve me of my sorrows!”
As soon as she did, a powerful updraft centered on Mizuho began to roll upward at a high rate of speed.
Hiroto also followed with his eyes the updraft that seemed to expand the bottom of the cone into the sky.
It was still only a guess as to whether the enemy was there or not. Hiroto stared at the sky as he prayed.
Then …… an impossible thing happens in the sky right above Mizuho.
A crack appeared in the supposedly empty blue sky.
It made a deafening sound as if a huge mirror covering the sky had broken.
Immediately afterward, a silhouette of a fat person like a balloon is seen inside the crack in the sky.
“T-That’s …… nice! Mizuho, there’s the enemy! Okay, I will take care of it when it falls!”
When Hiroto saw the enemy, he jumped out from behind the tree. He definitely did not want to miss this enemy.
Hiroto pulled out his beloved sword, Ihaku, from its sheath.
Right now, there is an enemy ability user in the vicinity of 100 meters above Mizuho. When the enemy was restrained by Mizuho’s wind spirit art, the enemy groaned in pain and looked down at them.
(I’ll definitely beat him here!)
Hiroto gushed out his SenKi. It was, of course, in order to strike the enemy as he fell.
He had to make sure that the enemy was crippled.[TN: get it? cause cultivation novels really like this cripple thingy]
However, at that moment, …… Mizuho smiled.
“Fufufu …… Hiroto, my technique has not yet been activated, you know?”
“……Eh? But now it’s activated,…….”
(No, Mizuho-san was in control of two different types of spirits. That one is still just wind,…….)
Hiroto shifted his gaze to Mizuho,……, and a chill ran down his spine.
Because Mizuho’s right half of the body was on fire with fire spirit.
Then it was accumulated, condensed, and further compressed, and gathered in Mizuho’s right hand.
Hiroto didn’t know any of the details of Spiritual Art.
But he can tell that Mizuho’s is very dangerous.
“Hiroto, you can go to Marion now.”
“B-but! The enemy is still …….”
“–!!”
From the sky above, he heard the enemy ability user …… Mizgard’s scream. When Hiroto looked up at the sky, he saw that Mizgard had been enveloped by a storm and that its five parts had been forcibly attached to the sky. And the updraft that restrained Mizgard gradually narrowed and gradually converged like a single ascending dragon.
Now, Mizgard had completely lost his freedom inside the wind dragon.
Just before he started to move from this place, he was suddenly attacked by a huge gale from below, and although he tried to fight it, he was unable to act due to the strong wind pressure and vortex that wrapped around his body.
In addition, he was gradually dragged down to the ground against his will.
Mizgard was upside down with countless cuts and bruises, staring downward with a grimace.
Then Mizuho entered his field of vision.
“Agagagaaa!! L-Little girl! Little girl~! You, I’m embracing you~, my little girl~.”
When Mizuho met Mizgard’s gaze, she flicked back her own glossy black hair as if she were brushing away something dirty.
“Hah! Sorry, not my taste! But I’ll give you something …… you should embrace instead.”
Mizuho then brought the small light in her right palm to her mouth.
And …….
The lump of fire spirits that were super densely packed in the palm of her right hand, she blew gently on it.[TN: She gave a flying kiss]
“Repent of your sins and be burned in the fires of hell. Ah, at that time, compare which is more painful, the fires of hell or my fires ……!”
The small flame that had left Mizuho’s hand joined the rising current that was slowly blowing up.
Immediately, the flames released a dazzling flash of light and rushed up to the heavens.
“Whoa!”
Hiroto quickly shielded his eyes with his arms and was blinded by the flames that rushed up into the sky. It was as if the wind dragon was being replaced by the fire dragon.
At last, the wind dragon was replaced by the fire dragon.
“Hee! You! You! Yo….. bwaaaaa!”
Mizgard was swallowed by the …… fire dragon’s great flames from the head of his upside-down body.”
The high purity of the oxygen gathered by the wind spirit and the ultra-high firepower of the fire spirit wrapped him in a quantity of heat that was tens of times greater than the original combustion. An infinite supply of Oxygen was supplied, and the high-purity flames, which did not exist in nature, spent it unsparingly.
Mizgard released the spiritual mist and focused his spiritual power on his own defense. However, the defensive barrier is easily eaten away by the dragon.
It is no longer a situation in which a …… creature can exist.
Mizgard’s body falls as it burns. The only thing that kept Mizgard from instantly turning into charcoal was the protection of his spiritual power and his own fat reserves.
His limbs were charred, and he crashed to the ground in front of Hiroto’s group, his limbs shattering into pieces.
“Fuuuuu!”
Mizuho released her strongest attack technique against the individual and let out a big breath.
Next to her, Hiroto could not hide his surprise at this super-grade attack technique.
“W-What a technique …… “
Mizuho laughs fearlessly with a slightly pale complexion at Hiroto’s muttering.
“Are you surprised? Hiroto. This is …… my secret weapon. I don’t have a name for it because …… it’s my original. Well, the downside is that it takes a long time to activate the technique.”
“This is great, Mizuho-san. As you had said in the beginning, the decision to buy time for your ultimate technique was the correct one. If it’s this powerful, …… straightforward, but if it’s not an unusual enemy like this one, it’s a powerful strategy that can be used in almost any situation!”
“Hiroto ……, who do you think I am?”
As she said this, her knees gave up their strength.
“Mizuho-san!”
Hiroto rushed over and held Mizuho’s arm to support her body. Looking at Mizuho’s exhausted complexion, Hiroto realized that it was clearly a symptom of her spiritual power depletion.
However, Mizuho immediately stood up on her own, not needing Hiroto’s support.
Her eyes hadn’t lost their power, and they seemed to be glowing even brighter.
“I’m Shitenji Mizuho! I’m an A ranker as designated by the Ability User Agency! And in the near future, I will be the one to reach SS rank!”
“……!”
Hiroto could see the spirit filled with confidence and pride from Mizuho who should be feeling weak.
“So, Hiroto, don’t worry about me, hurry up and go to Marion’s place! If we defeat the big demon that Marion is holding back, we will win this battle. We have to complete this operation you’ve set up!”
In response to Mizuho’s sharp gaze,……, Hiroto nodded quietly.
” …… I understand. I’m going to support Marion-san right away!”
Hiroto then turned around and headed for Marion.
Mizuho watched as Hiroto walked away, and again dropped to one knee, …… laughing.
“Fufufu, Hiroto, I now understand something about you. You …… are strong, aren’t you? Because the spirits have been telling me for a while now. You can rest now. Because you are here, it …… will be fine. This is the first time I’ve heard this kind of voice since my coming of age ceremony.”
“Ni, ni, ……z…… beck~…….”
“!”
Mizuho’s expression stiffened when she suddenly heard a …… groan from a smoking lump of coal.
“Niez…… Beck…… Roki…… a……rum…… xama.”
But …… soon the voice ceased and did not move a muscle.
Mizuho stood in front of the charred Mizgard, fighting the fatigue that enveloped her entire body,…….
(Niezbeck? Roki …… what? Roki …… rum?
Mizuho frowned as looked down at the Mizgard, which was now just a lump of charcoal.
—-part V end—-
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