Chapter 95: Even Falling (1)
Suddenly, the clear image of the water bucket turned into a sandstorm. Perhaps, Ceremonic destroyed the earth snake camera. Still, there was many more earth snakes intact. From a different angle, we could see that Ceremonic began walking further ahead.
Kiriko grabbed the hem of my dress and asked the following question.
「She…She said she was going to avenge the death of her younger sister, right? What does that mean?」
「Maybe Ceremonic had a monster sister that Seiya and I defeated when we first arrived in Exfolia…」
Nevertheless, Seiya defeated only the beast men and the Killing Machines since we’ve arrived. No…Was there a possibility that Seiya killed Ceremonic’s sister during the last time he tried to save Exfolia…!?
Kiriko and I were thinking deeply about Ceremonic’s behavior and words. However, it seemed that Seiya was thinking about something completely different. He had an expression that looked as if he had bored eyes.
「That’s not the biggest problem now. By the way, Lista. Can you see that thing’s status?」
「Eh! Status? 」
After being told to see the enemy’s status, I activated my clairvoyance ability to see the abilities of Ceremonic through one of the earth snakes cameras. However, I couldn’t see any numbers.
「It…It’s no use! I can’t see anything! 」
「I knew it. I tried to see it as well. But, I couldn’t see any of that thing’s abilities. There must be a reason for this. There are several possibilities. It might be because of the distance, since we’re extremely far. It might be because we’re watching through an earth snake monitor instead of seeing it for real. It might be due to the activation of a camouflage skill. Or, it might be because of the cursing aura that comes out of that thing’s body.」
Either way, it was creepy and frightening that we couldn’t know anything about our enemy. In addition, Ceremonic herself looked extremely terrifying. She incited fear upon us. Seeing a womanly monster with two heads walking straight ahead made me feel so scared that I held Kiriko’s hand, who in turn also grabbed my dress tight.
I spoke aloud to encourage Kiriko and myself.
「Bu…But, Ceremonic is just a single enemy! Besides! Seiya! You have a lot of golems around the fortress, am I right?」
「Yeah. There are roughly 2,000 bodies in position. 」
Seiya pointed to one of the earth snakes cameras, which showed the front of the fortress. We could see a huge amount of golems on that reflected image. That number got confirmed. After seeing it, both Kiriko and I were slightly relieved.
Nevertheless, our enemy Ceremonic walked alone without a care in the world through the fortress’ grounds regardless of the golems’ presence. Of the two-heads monster, the one with disturbed hair had a disgusted expression on her face.
「That’s a great number of golems. When did he prepare this much? Just how cautious and coward is this hero?」
「Well, it’s actually an honor for us if you put it in a different perspective. He must think that the Empress Ceremonic is a real threat. However…It’s a pity, but this won’t be much of a fight for us.」
「You’re right. Thousands of obstacles are nothing. 」
Then, the two heads spoke at the same time.
「Stealth Step. 」
Just when I blank my eyes on for moment…Ceremonic had disappeared from the monitor! I tried to look for her in several water buckets! I tried over and over, but I could only see the fortress and the golems!
「…Over there. 」
Seiya was standing at a corner a little bit further away from us. The image of the earth snake camera, taken from the “bird’s-eye view” at the top of the fortress, showed that Ceremonic was standing right at the entrance.
John Dae and I were astonished upon seeing this sight.
「Im…Impossible…!! When did she get there…!? 」
「It can’t be!! How did that monster passed through the golems’ defense unit!?」
The woman with the disturbed hair noticed the location of the earth snake camera at the top of the fortress’ entrance. She spoke directly to the camera.
「*laughs maniacally* Can you see us now? I will cut off your throat and neck with our instant movement!」
「You know, Serena. Why do you have to mention the secret of our ability? 」
「Ahhh, my bad! 」
「I don’t really mind it. I can’t prevent you from talking after all. 」
I freaked out when I heard the conversation between the Ceremonic sisters.
「Instant movement…Then, does that mean that she could teleport herself from that faraway area to this place all of a sudden!?」
At first, I was quite relieved that we had a strong fortress and a powerful backup army in defense. But, suddenly, this situation felt as if a blade pierced my back.
John Dae pulled the sword out of his sheath. Kiriko and I looked at our surroundings because we were too frightened. Ceremonic could appear right at our side in a blink of an eye.
However, Seiya was the only one that remained calm.
「Don’t fret. It may be teleportation, but that doesn’t mean that she can go whenever she wants. If that was possible, why didn’t she appear right next to Lista and me when we were in Tarmine? In the first place, she wouldn’t cross the sea with a boat to reach this continent if she really had a teleportation skill. There’s gotta be some limit to her mobility.」
「Limit? 」
「It’s just my assumption. Either she can only move on a continuous direction…or she can move to a location that where she must see it first…Well, the countermeasures differ depending on whether you are jumping over the space or moving at a speed close to the speed of light.」
Seiya moved his nose with his arms folded.
「Either way, it’s a feasible hypothesis. So, I don’t see any problem at all. 」
John Dae, Kiriko and I looked at each other. After a while, John Dae relaxed his mouth, laughed a little bit 「Ah, ah. 」, and put the sword back on its sheath. The heavy air loosened a bit.
…Ceremonic had a creepy and perturbing appearance and behavior. She could use a teleportation skill as well. Normally, it wouldn’t be too abnormal to feel panic. Yet, Seiya didn’t look upset.
We heard that we shouldn’t underestimate the cursed Empress Ceremonic. Even so, this hero wasn’t that concerned nor did he lose his sense.
「That thing just flew right into the middle of “fire”. I will let her taste the power of my strong fortress to her heart’s content.」
I was so relieved to witness Seiya’s confident posture as if he were a true boss.
…Tha…That’s right! Any enemy wouldn’t stand a chance against Seiya! And, if by any chance the enemy was too powerful, Seiya would defeat it with his State Berserk Phase 2.7! There was absolutely nothing to fear!
On this moment.
*bangggggg*
Abruptly I heard a violent sound.
When I looked at that sound’s direction, I realized that Seiya plunged his face in the bucket of an earth snake camera.
「…Ah? 」
I was speechless. Seiya kept his face completely in the water bucket and didn’t make even a slight movement. It was like a goofy scene of a comedic act.
「He…Hey…What the hell is wrong with him? Is he joking around? 」
「Uh…What are you doing, Seiya? 」
Neither John Dae nor I were able to understand the situation. Kiriko rushed to Seiya’s direction and shook his body.
「Mister Seiya! Mister Seiya! Please, hang in there! 」
「No, no, no. Kiri, you have the wrong idea. There’s no way that Seiya would fall unconscious like this.」
Kiriko pushed Seiya’s body to her side, and we saw that Seiya’s eyes were closed. It was as if he collapsed after losing all of his strength. Kiriko put Seiya on the ground with both of her hands, and with her face, she touched Seiya’s chest.
「He is breathing! There is also a heartbeat! But, he’s not conscious! 」
I laughed at Kiriko, who was feeling quite desperate.
「It’s okay, it’s okay! He’s acting again! Just like the same way as he did with Oxelio! 」
「Hmm. But, we don’t know anything about the hero’s intention for doing this….How about we wake him up?」
But, Seiya kept his eyes closed. Kiriko pulled the hem of my dress hurryingly.
「Miss Lista! Miss Lista! Hurry up and check Mister Seiya’s status! 」
I activated my clairvoyance ability because Kiriko told me urgently to do it…
Ryuguuin Seiya
Profession – Magic Warrior (Earth Attribute)
Level – 99 (MAX)
HP – 321960
MP – 88155
Attack – 293412
Defense – 287644
Agility – 268875
Magic – 58751
Potential – 999 (MAX) …
「See? There’s no reason to fret. His HP is full… 」
I realized something odd as soon as I spoke those words.
No…No. Wait a second!! How could I see through Seiya’s status when he always hid it with his camouflage skills!? In…In other words, this meant that…!!
「It can’t be!! Seiya!? 」
I finally realized the seriousness of this situation. I rapidly approached Seiya and embraced him.
「Why!? Just why!? This has never happened before!! 」
Next to me, I noticed that John Dae’s face became “blue”.
「Do…Don’t tell me that this was Ceremonic’s curse!? The hero said that a curse could activate if one looked directly at Ceremonic’s appearance, right!?」
「Curse!? But, if that’s true, why are we okay!? 」
Both John Dae and I were confused and started panicking…
「…Maybe it wasn’t a curse. 」
Kiriko’s calm voice echoed around. After I took a deep breath, I asked Kiriko the following question.
「The…Then, Kiri. What do you think that made Seiya this way? 」
「His heart was suffering. That’s why he fell down. 」
「Su…Suffering? Seiya, you say? 」
「Yes…That’s correct… 」
Kiriko gently stroked Seiya’s glossy black hair.
「I think he has been enduring everything on his own. Mister Seiya…I had that feeling since we came back from the heavenly world and saw the human bones in the Baracuda continent…No. Actually, I felt Seiya’s hardships and loneliness since the very moment I’ve met him…」
「Kiri. You…!? 」
How did a machine like Kiriko managed to feel something as deep as that…While I was immersed on my own thoughts, I heard a combination of two loud voices.
「Grudge Hand! 」
These voices came simultaneously out of the earth snake camera! When I looked at it, I saw that Ceremonic touched a golem with her right palm! Once she touched it, the golem turned into sand immediately! On that instant, three golems tried to attack Ceremonic! But, it was in vain because all of them turned into sand upon touching the hands of Ceremonic! When the golems, which were protecting the entrance of the fortress, were wiped out, Ceremonic began to laugh as a mad woman!
「This fight was too boring. It would be far more interesting if it were a human instead. I would love to see some limbs fall apart and lose lots of blood spilled everywhere.」
「Don’t worry, Serena. You’ll see it soon. You’ll enjoy the moment where the hero and his fellow comrades will beg pitifully for their lives as they die slowly and painfully…」
Ugh! What a horrible and creepy enemy we’ve got here! There was no way that we could overcome this perilous situation without Seiya!
「I’m going to summon the portal! We should take Seiya with us and retreat to the God’s realm! John Dae! Please, hold Seiya for now!」
「Yeah! 」
I invoked the portal to the God’s realm. When I hurryingly opened the door…I was utterly shocked. A white wall blocked the portal’s door.
「Thi…This is…the power of the Cursed Sphere…!! 」
My brain freaked out without knowing what to do…
Chapter 95: Even Falling (1)
Suddenly, the clear image of the water bucket turned into a sandstorm. Perhaps, Ceremonic destroyed the earth snake camera. Still, there was many more earth snakes intact. From a different angle, we could see that Ceremonic began walking further ahead.
Kiriko grabbed the hem of my dress and asked the following question.
「She…She said she was going to avenge the death of her younger sister, right? What does that mean?」
「Maybe Ceremonic had a monster sister that Seiya and I defeated when we first arrived in Exfolia…」
Nevertheless, Seiya defeated only the beast men and the Killing Machines since we’ve arrived. No…Was there a possibility that Seiya killed Ceremonic’s sister during the last time he tried to save Exfolia…!?
Kiriko and I were thinking deeply about Ceremonic’s behavior and words. However, it seemed that Seiya was thinking about something completely different. He had an expression that looked as if he had bored eyes.
「That’s not the biggest problem now. By the way, Lista. Can you see that thing’s status?」
「Eh! Status? 」
After being told to see the enemy’s status, I activated my clairvoyance ability to see the abilities of Ceremonic through one of the earth snakes cameras. However, I couldn’t see any numbers.
「It…It’s no use! I can’t see anything! 」
「I knew it. I tried to see it as well. But, I couldn’t see any of that thing’s abilities. There must be a reason for this. There are several possibilities. It might be because of the distance, since we’re extremely far. It might be because we’re watching through an earth snake monitor instead of seeing it for real. It might be due to the activation of a camouflage skill. Or, it might be because of the cursing aura that comes out of that thing’s body.」
Either way, it was creepy and frightening that we couldn’t know anything about our enemy. In addition, Ceremonic herself looked extremely terrifying. She incited fear upon us. Seeing a womanly monster with two heads walking straight ahead made me feel so scared that I held Kiriko’s hand, who in turn also grabbed my dress tight.
I spoke aloud to encourage Kiriko and myself.
「Bu…But, Ceremonic is just a single enemy! Besides! Seiya! You have a lot of golems around the fortress, am I right?」
「Yeah. There are roughly 2,000 bodies in position. 」
Seiya pointed to one of the earth snakes cameras, which showed the front of the fortress. We could see a huge amount of golems on that reflected image. That number got confirmed. After seeing it, both Kiriko and I were slightly relieved.
Nevertheless, our enemy Ceremonic walked alone without a care in the world through the fortress’ grounds regardless of the golems’ presence. Of the two-heads monster, the one with disturbed hair had a disgusted expression on her face.
「That’s a great number of golems. When did he prepare this much? Just how cautious and coward is this hero?」
「Well, it’s actually an honor for us if you put it in a different perspective. He must think that the Empress Ceremonic is a real threat. However…It’s a pity, but this won’t be much of a fight for us.」
「You’re right. Thousands of obstacles are nothing. 」
Then, the two heads spoke at the same time.
「Stealth Step. 」
Just when I blank my eyes on for moment…Ceremonic had disappeared from the monitor! I tried to look for her in several water buckets! I tried over and over, but I could only see the fortress and the golems!
「…Over there. 」
Seiya was standing at a corner a little bit further away from us. The image of the earth snake camera, taken from the “bird’s-eye view” at the top of the fortress, showed that Ceremonic was standing right at the entrance.
John Dae and I were astonished upon seeing this sight.
「Im…Impossible…!! When did she get there…!? 」
「It can’t be!! How did that monster passed through the golems’ defense unit!?」
The woman with the disturbed hair noticed the location of the earth snake camera at the top of the fortress’ entrance. She spoke directly to the camera.
「*laughs maniacally* Can you see us now? I will cut off your throat and neck with our instant movement!」
「You know, Serena. Why do you have to mention the secret of our ability? 」
「Ahhh, my bad! 」
「I don’t really mind it. I can’t prevent you from talking after all. 」
I freaked out when I heard the conversation between the Ceremonic sisters.
「Instant movement…Then, does that mean that she could teleport herself from that faraway area to this place all of a sudden!?」
At first, I was quite relieved that we had a strong fortress and a powerful backup army in defense. But, suddenly, this situation felt as if a blade pierced my back.
John Dae pulled the sword out of his sheath. Kiriko and I looked at our surroundings because we were too frightened. Ceremonic could appear right at our side in a blink of an eye.
However, Seiya was the only one that remained calm.
「Don’t fret. It may be teleportation, but that doesn’t mean that she can go whenever she wants. If that was possible, why didn’t she appear right next to Lista and me when we were in Tarmine? In the first place, she wouldn’t cross the sea with a boat to reach this continent if she really had a teleportation skill. There’s gotta be some limit to her mobility.」
「Limit? 」
「It’s just my assumption. Either she can only move on a continuous direction…or she can move to a location that where she must see it first…Well, the countermeasures differ depending on whether you are jumping over the space or moving at a speed close to the speed of light.」
Seiya moved his nose with his arms folded.
「Either way, it’s a feasible hypothesis. So, I don’t see any problem at all. 」
John Dae, Kiriko and I looked at each other. After a while, John Dae relaxed his mouth, laughed a little bit 「Ah, ah. 」, and put the sword back on its sheath. The heavy air loosened a bit.
…Ceremonic had a creepy and perturbing appearance and behavior. She could use a teleportation skill as well. Normally, it wouldn’t be too abnormal to feel panic. Yet, Seiya didn’t look upset.
We heard that we shouldn’t underestimate the cursed Empress Ceremonic. Even so, this hero wasn’t that concerned nor did he lose his sense.
「That thing just flew right into the middle of “fire”. I will let her taste the power of my strong fortress to her heart’s content.」
I was so relieved to witness Seiya’s confident posture as if he were a true boss.
…Tha…That’s right! Any enemy wouldn’t stand a chance against Seiya! And, if by any chance the enemy was too powerful, Seiya would defeat it with his State Berserk Phase 2.7! There was absolutely nothing to fear!
On this moment.
*bangggggg*
Abruptly I heard a violent sound.
When I looked at that sound’s direction, I realized that Seiya plunged his face in the bucket of an earth snake camera.
「…Ah? 」
I was speechless. Seiya kept his face completely in the water bucket and didn’t make even a slight movement. It was like a goofy scene of a comedic act.
「He…Hey…What the hell is wrong with him? Is he joking around? 」
「Uh…What are you doing, Seiya? 」
Neither John Dae nor I were able to understand the situation. Kiriko rushed to Seiya’s direction and shook his body.
「Mister Seiya! Mister Seiya! Please, hang in there! 」
「No, no, no. Kiri, you have the wrong idea. There’s no way that Seiya would fall unconscious like this.」
Kiriko pushed Seiya’s body to her side, and we saw that Seiya’s eyes were closed. It was as if he collapsed after losing all of his strength. Kiriko put Seiya on the ground with both of her hands, and with her face, she touched Seiya’s chest.
「He is breathing! There is also a heartbeat! But, he’s not conscious! 」
I laughed at Kiriko, who was feeling quite desperate.
「It’s okay, it’s okay! He’s acting again! Just like the same way as he did with Oxelio! 」
「Hmm. But, we don’t know anything about the hero’s intention for doing this….How about we wake him up?」
But, Seiya kept his eyes closed. Kiriko pulled the hem of my dress hurryingly.
「Miss Lista! Miss Lista! Hurry up and check Mister Seiya’s status! 」
I activated my clairvoyance ability because Kiriko told me urgently to do it…
Ryuguuin Seiya
Profession – Magic Warrior (Earth Attribute)
Level – 99 (MAX)
HP – 321960
MP – 88155
Attack – 293412
Defense – 287644
Agility – 268875
Magic – 58751
Potential – 999 (MAX) …
「See? There’s no reason to fret. His HP is full… 」
I realized something odd as soon as I spoke those words.
No…No. Wait a second!! How could I see through Seiya’s status when he always hid it with his camouflage skills!? In…In other words, this meant that…!!
「It can’t be!! Seiya!? 」
I finally realized the seriousness of this situation. I rapidly approached Seiya and embraced him.
「Why!? Just why!? This has never happened before!! 」
Next to me, I noticed that John Dae’s face became “blue”.
「Do…Don’t tell me that this was Ceremonic’s curse!? The hero said that a curse could activate if one looked directly at Ceremonic’s appearance, right!?」
「Curse!? But, if that’s true, why are we okay!? 」
Both John Dae and I were confused and started panicking…
「…Maybe it wasn’t a curse. 」
Kiriko’s calm voice echoed around. After I took a deep breath, I asked Kiriko the following question.
「The…Then, Kiri. What do you think that made Seiya this way? 」
「His heart was suffering. That’s why he fell down. 」
「Su…Suffering? Seiya, you say? 」
「Yes…That’s correct… 」
Kiriko gently stroked Seiya’s glossy black hair.
「I think he has been enduring everything on his own. Mister Seiya…I had that feeling since we came back from the heavenly world and saw the human bones in the Baracuda continent…No. Actually, I felt Seiya’s hardships and loneliness since the very moment I’ve met him…」
「Kiri. You…!? 」
How did a machine like Kiriko managed to feel something as deep as that…While I was immersed on my own thoughts, I heard a combination of two loud voices.
「Grudge Hand! 」
These voices came simultaneously out of the earth snake camera! When I looked at it, I saw that Ceremonic touched a golem with her right palm! Once she touched it, the golem turned into sand immediately! On that instant, three golems tried to attack Ceremonic! But, it was in vain because all of them turned into sand upon touching the hands of Ceremonic! When the golems, which were protecting the entrance of the fortress, were wiped out, Ceremonic began to laugh as a mad woman!
「This fight was too boring. It would be far more interesting if it were a human instead. I would love to see some limbs fall apart and lose lots of blood spilled everywhere.」
「Don’t worry, Serena. You’ll see it soon. You’ll enjoy the moment where the hero and his fellow comrades will beg pitifully for their lives as they die slowly and painfully…」
Ugh! What a horrible and creepy enemy we’ve got here! There was no way that we could overcome this perilous situation without Seiya!
「I’m going to summon the portal! We should take Seiya with us and retreat to the God’s realm! John Dae! Please, hold Seiya for now!」
「Yeah! 」
I invoked the portal to the God’s realm. When I hurryingly opened the door…I was utterly shocked. A white wall blocked the portal’s door.
「Thi…This is…the power of the Cursed Sphere…!! 」
My brain freaked out without knowing what to do…
