Naiz and Meiru nodded in agreement, while Miledi moaned, “Be kinder to your leadeeeeeeer!”
Just then, a massive earthquake rippled across the ruined city. It was as if something massive was trying to push its way out of the ground. The air trembled. Myu squealed as the shockwave caused her to lose her footing, and Meiru reached over to catch her. But before she could, Myu was enveloped in a warm light. That light slowly carried her up into the air.
“Wawawah! Ah, Mister Whale?”
The light whale which had been resting quietly on Myu’s head suddenly enlarged back to its two-meter size and placed Myu on its back.
“Seek out they who can create. Hurry.”
The whale repeated its earlier request. Its voice was strained and trembling as if even saying that much was a struggle for it.
“Wh-What now!?” Miledi screamed in confusion.
Looking in the direction of the castle, she saw that dark clouds were starting to gather above it, and the tower was spewing some unknown black miasma. The black mist that covered the city was growing thicker as well. It felt as if the end of the world was approaching. A second later, multiple streaks of red light shot through the dark clouds. The moment she saw them, Myu’s face lit up.
“Daddy!”
It appeared Myu and the Liberators had been sent to one side of the wall, while Hajime and the others had been flung past the other. From the looks of it, they were fighting something while making their way to the castle.
“Child of the sea. There is... not much time.”
“Okay! I’ll get Daddy right away, don’t worry!”
“M-Myu-chan? Who are you talking to?” Oscar asked.
It appeared only Myu could hear the whale’s voice. Though now wasn’t the time to explain that to everyone. It was obvious the whale was in a hurry.
“The glowing whale! He’s the one who brought you guys here, Oscar-oniisan!”
“That guy?”
Oscar shot the glowing whale a suspicious look, but before he could do anything to it, Miledi held out a hand to stop him. She looked nothing like the pitiful wreck she’d been a few seconds ago.
“Myu-chan. What do we need to do?”
She asked only what was necessary, and Myu replied succinctly, “Go to the castle!”
A second later, the square was filled with malevolent creatures. As if reacting to Myu’s desire and trying to stop it, countless wolves, frogs, and grim reapers oozed out the cracks in the walls and floor. They filled the square and the streets, a veritable wall of monsters. If they couldn’t win in strength, they’d try to win with numbers. To Myu, it seemed like advancing through that overwhelming wall of monsters would be impossible. However—
“Bring it on!” Miledi just grinned fearlessly and slapped a fist against her open palm. Adversity? Hopeless situations? An overwhelming difference in numbers? That was nothing!
“Alright, O-kun, Nacchan, Meru-nee! Our little princess needs help! Let’s show her what ancient magic can do!”
Miledi thrust her hand out and flattened the first wave of flesh-wolves with her gravity magic.
“Might as well, since it looks like helping her’s the best way to find clues for how to get back.”
Oscar shrugged his shoulders, then summoned a giant volley of enchanted swords which he flung against the mass of grotesque frogs.
“What kind of Liberator would refuse a child’s plea?”
Naiz grinned faintly and shattered the space in front of them.
“Myu-chan’s my precious little sister. There’s no way I’d abandon her.”
Meiru resurrected the stream of water she’d used earlier and used it to sweep away a bundle of grim reapers. Within seconds, the monsters had been massacred, leaving the way forward clear. Myu’s eyes were as wide as saucers. Meanwhile, Miledi and the others confidently stepped forward. They were like knights escorting their young princess.
“Alright, let’s go, Myu-chan,” the leader of the Liberators said, looking back at Myu over her shoulder. Myu was touched by Miledi’s kindness.
“We’ve got a few things we wanna talk to your daddy about. How dare he call me the world’s most annoying person!? Don’t you mean the world’s most beautiful person!?”
And a second later, she was completely disillusioned. The Liberators were clearly motivated by personal grudges. Even Meiru was smiling sadistically at the thought of meeting Hajime.
“Th-Thank you.”
Though she thanked them, Myu was secretly thinking, Maybe these guys are useless after all... Also, I’m sorry for bringing these people to you, Daddy.
“Tch... These fuckers are so persistent.”
Hajime clicked his tongue in irritation. He was using his gatling gun to mow down the hordes of monsters that kept popping up. But no matter how much he fired, their numbers didn’t seem to thin. For each one that fell, another one showed up. Monsters were flooding out of the castle in droves. Hajime glanced to the side and saw his comrades, whom he’d rendezvoused with a few minutes earlier, fighting on the nearby rooftops.
Kaori was a little ways behind the others, maintaining a barrier to protect Remia. Shea was serving as her bodyguard, keeping the enemies away. Meanwhile, Yue and Tio were using their draconic thunder and breath respectively to mow down the hordes of enemies. No one felt very threatened by the oncoming wave. All the monsters had on their side was numbers. Sure, Kaori was half in tears because of how disgusting they looked, but no one was worried they might actually do any harm. However—
“Gah!”
One of the grim reaper’s scythes grazed Hajime’s flank, and blood spurted from the wound.
“Hajime!”
“Hajime-kun!”
Yue’s expression grew murderous and she directed her lightning dragon to turn the reaper into ash. At the same time, Kaori cast a ray of healing magic on Hajime, closing his wound instantly. Since monsters had started pouring out of the castle, Hajime had suffered numerous small wounds like this. Normally, he wouldn’t even have broken a sweat against enemies of this caliber.
“Damnit. Myu, where are you...?”
However, his worry for Myu was causing him to get impatient. He was controlling twelve different Ornises at once while fighting, which was distracting him. Even using Riftwalk, remotely controlling that many objects was pushing the limits of what Hajime was capable of. Since the bulk of his attention was focused on searching, he wasn’t fighting at even close to full strength.
“Get out of my way— Asura.”
Yue sent out a pulse of gravity magic that crushed everything in a five-hundred meter radius in front of her. Naturally, that included all the monsters, too. She was pissed now.
“Hajime... get inside Kaori’s barrier! Focus on searching for Myu!”
“These monster hordes are endless! Let Yue and I take care of them while you secure Myu!”
“...Fine. I’m counting on you two!”
Hajime gave the castle in front of him a hateful glare. I wish I could just blow that thing to pieces. Unfortunately, he couldn’t do that just yet.
It was obvious the castle was an integral part of whatever crazy situation they’d found themselves in. If he destroyed it, he might end up destroying their only means back home. Of course, it was possible destroying it was how they got back home, but then what if Myu got left behind? Hajime nodded to Yue and Tio, and the two of them switched from fighting offensively to defensively. He then leaped back to the safety of Kaori’s barrier.
“Kaori. I’m gonna use Limit Break. The moment its effects end, use restoration magic on me.”
“You got it!”
Kaori nodded firmly while Remia gave Hajime a scared look.
“Hajime-san... what if Myu...?”
“Believe in her.”
He’d find her, no matter what it took. And when he did, he knew he’d find her safe and sound. It wouldn’t do Remia any good to get heartbroken when they still didn’t know anything for certain. She understood that was wh
at Hajime was trying to tell her as well. She clasped her hands in front of her chest and replied, “Alright.”
A second later, another earthquake rocked the city. Like the last, it seemed to originate from the castle.
“Eek!” Kaori screamed and stumbled backward. Her Hallowed Ground was riddled with cracks. Even though it was the strongest barrier spell in existence, the earthquake had been enough to nearly shatter it.
“Ngh. I felt that one,” Shea groaned. She was standing in front of the barrier, her warhammer held in front of her like a shield. It seemed she’d protected Kaori’s barrier with her own body. Kaori quickly healed her and her barrier.
Up in the sky, Yue coughed up a lungful of blood while Tio staggered backward. Fortunately, Yue’s automatic regeneration kicked in to heal all her injuries, while Tio’s naturally high endurance kept her from taking too much damage. But they weren’t out of the woods just yet.
“Holy shit, are you kidding me?”
Hajime’s expression was stiff as a board. Yue and the others looked just as stunned. The tower that stuck out of the center of the castle was suddenly riddled with cracks. Furthermore, the sky above the tower was beginning to warp. It looked like it was twisting around itself. Or like someone was trying to twist it apart.
A second later, death descended upon the mortal realm. More specifically, a supergiant grim reaper that looked like the amalgamation of all human pain and suffering appeared from the distortion in the sky. After it followed a three-headed flesh wolf who had blood vessels that writhed like tentacles running all over its hairless body. And after that came a giant frog covered in noxious slime. Hundreds of bloodshot human eyes were set into its skin, which was dappled with patterns of screaming human faces. Finally, there came a dragon that had rotting human hands and feet growing out of its scaled body. It was wrapped in a corrosive mist that looked like a dark thundercloud.
All of the creatures looked like they’d been specifically designed to make anyone who looked at them go insane. They were all radiating an overpowering aura of bloodlust as well.
“So all the guys up till now were small fry? What a joke,” Hajime said with a smile.
“Th-Th-Th-This isn’t the time to be s-s-s-miling!” Kaori whimpered, her sanity already at its limits. She stood with her legs pressed together, doing her best not to wet herself in front of the boy she loved. Hajime knew the giant creatures had already noticed them. They may not have looked in Hajime’s direction, but it was obvious the monsters’ bloodlust was directed at him and his friends.
Worse, all of them were powerful enough to make even Hajime, the man who’d crawled out of the depths of the abyss, tremble. Not only that, it looked like they still hadn’t reached the peak of their strength, since their presence continued to grow stronger.
“Yue, Tio! Buy me five, no, three minutes! Please!”
“Mmm... Leave it to me!”
“I swear by my title as a guardian of the people that I will not let them lay a finger on you!”
“Shea, keep the small fry at bay! Show them what an overpowered rabbit can do!”
“Aye aye, sir!”
“Kaori, keep it together!”
“I-I’ll do my best!”
Hajime smiled fearlessly. As long as the comrades he trusted were still willing to fight, not even the proverbial end of the world could scare him. For her part, Remia didn’t even scream when she saw what was coming. She just continued praying for Myu’s safety. Hajime grasped her hand, and she squeezed back with more force than he thought dagons had in them. Just as Yue and Tio were about to launch themselves toward the grim reaper, and just as Hajime was about to activate his Limit Break to more effectively control his Ornises—
“Asura.”
A powerful wave of gravity crushed everything around Hajime and the others, while neatly avoiding them. At the same time—
“Ability nine, Thunderlord’s Judgment.”
“Serpent Vortex!”
“Void Fissure!”
Powerful bolts of lightning and a swirling vortex of water that looked like an industrial excavator slammed into the grim reaper, while a spatial fissure that looked strong enough to rend the heavens themselves struck the other three giant creatures. Hajime and the others looked on in speechless amazement. Some of those spells had included gravity and spatial magic. Hajime glanced questioningly at Yue, and she dumbly shook her head.
That makes sense, it didn’t sound like her voice anyway... But then, why does it feel familiar...? In the midst of his confusion, Hajime heard the voice of the person he’d been searching tirelessly for.
“Mommy! Daddy!”
“Myu!?”
As the miasma was blasted away, Myu came flying from across the other side of the wall. While Hajime had believed she was strong enough to pull through, he’d still been worried she might have gotten hurt or traumatized or something. But it turned out Myu was perfectly fine.
“What the hell’s with that glowing whale!?”
“He’s my friend!”
“Are you sure you’re okay!?”
“I’m fine! Oh, and I brought really strong reinforcements!”
So she’s fine AND she brought help? Hajime’s jaw dropped open. The whale shot straight toward Hajime, and once it was close enough, Myu hopped off, knowing that Hajime would catch her for sure. Kaori hurriedly dispelled her barrier, and Hajime caught her. Myu gave Hajime a lovable grin, and his dumbfounded expression turned into a wry smile.
“Remia, I think your daughter’s gonna grow up into one hell of a woman.”
“Good grief! Do you have any idea how worried I was!? Just, good grief!”
Hajime handed Myu over to Remia, who was repeating ‘good grief’ over and over like a broken record. She hugged her daughter with tears in her eyes. But then, a second later, a new wave of bloodlust assailed Hajime and the others. The grim reapers had returned, and it looked like their four bosses had already revived. Donner was enough to take out the smaller reapers, but it lacked the firepower to do any real damage to the supergiant reaper. It bore down on Hajime, swinging its massive scythe.
Kaori had dropped her barrier when Myu had arrived. So instead, Hajime summoned his shield and used it to guard. But it turned out there was no need to guard at all, as Myu’s “reinforcements” took care of it.
“That weapon uses blastrock and electricity to shoot out pellets at high speed, huh? And is that a Treasure Trove? Man, you’ve got some pretty cool artifacts.”
Oscar flung his black coat back as he used his umbrella to block the giant reaper’s scythe. He turned back to look at Hajime, who instantly recognized the bespectacled face.
“Oscar Orcus? No way...”
“I see... So just as Myu-chan said, you really do know about us.”
Oscar adjusted his glasses. He gave Hajime a curious look while he muttered, “Ability two, Wall Burst.”
His umbrella glowed gold, and a second later, the reaper’s scythe had been pushed back. Naturally, Hajime didn’t let the opening Oscar created go to waste. He stood back-to-back with his fellow Synergist and pulled Schlagen out of his Treasure Trove. He then turned around and blasted the giant reaper with his rifle.
Meanwhile, the revived frog was being slowly shaved to bits by a powerful vortex of water shaped like a giant snake. There was an arch of water a short distance away from the stream, and sitting upon that arch was a familiar dagon woman. Hajime also recognized the grim-looking man who’d just teleported right next to Oscar.
“Meiru Melusine and Naiz Gruen, too? Wait, please don’t tell me that—”
Unfortunately, Hajime’s prediction was spot-on.
“Whenever the world is in danger, I’ll be there to save it!”
A girl whose voice Hajime knew all too well fell from the sky right in front of him.
“The world’s beloved, prettiest, most beautiful mage...”
Miledi lifted a leg, put her left hand on her hips, and made a peace sign with her right hand
. She gave Hajime a perfectly choreographed wink and finished, “Miledi-chan is heeeeeeeeere!”
She also used magic to create a rainbow of multicolored smoke behind her. This wasn’t Miledi the golem. She wasn’t wearing a smiley-face mask. This was the blonde-haired, blue-eyed Miledi the human.
Hajime was completely stunned. He hadn’t expected Miledi to actually look so beautiful. Truly, it was an absolute waste of good looks. Of course, the fact that Miledi brought attention to it herself just pissed him off. So, naturally—
“Die, Milediiiiiiiiiiii!”
“Huh? Nyowaaah!?”
Hajime fired at Miledi with Donner, while Shea swung Drucken at her and Yue used gravity magic to try and crush her. Her perfect introduction was ruined by the grudge the three of them held against her after experiencing her labyrinth. Unfortunately, she somehow managed to dodge all of their attacks perfectly.
“Hey, calm down!”
“Ngh, let me go, Oscar! Do you have any idea how much that woman toyed with us!? Even if this is an illusion or if she’s fake or something, I won’t be satisfied until I’ve blown at least one hole into her body!”
“She’ll die if you do that! I realize your anger’s probably justified but— Hang on, are you breaking through my metamorph chains with just brute strength!? Are you some kinda monster!?”
Oscar had instantly restrained Hajime with his prized Metamorph Chains the moment Hajime had attacked Miledi, but he was prying them apart using his bare hands.
“You calm down too, little bunny. I realize Miledi-chan is possibly the most annoying person in the world, but— Hang on, are you really a rabbitman!? How’re you so strong!?”
“Do you have any idea how many times she drenched me in that disgusting liquid!? I need to give her at least one good punch!”
“Miledi-chan, what did you do to these people!?”
Meiru tried to contain Shea inside a water prison, but Shea smashed through it with one swing of her warhammer. Meanwhile—
“I-Impossible. You can use spatial magic!? Just who are you!?”
Arifureta: From Commonplace to World’s Strongest: Short Stories (Premium) Page 21