Apparently, one could tell by looking at the creature’s eyes – there was usually some sort of difference to them, such as being glazed over or looking dim.
“Why do these lizards keep standing in my way?! Curse that stupid hero!”
“...Huh?”
I couldn’t help but react when I heard the shrill voice a second time, and I was pretty sure I’d heard it say ‘hero.’ In other words, the reason that small, hooded man had gathered up so many monsters and attacked was because he knew that one of the summoned heroes was here. It was also strange how the charging monsters were worried about letting us advance. Honestly, it made no sense. I thought about going up to the front lines to find out more, but it didn’t seem possible judging by how many warriors kept switching out, and how many wounded ones I had to deal with. Meanwhile, Rulitora’s group continued to defeat monsters until all of a sudden, they had less on their side than we did.
If we’re going to capture that guy, I need to let Rulitora know at once. Then, I heard that annoying voice a third time.
“You ingrates... Fine, have it your way!”
Instantly, a pillar of light rose up from the ground. Rulitora tried swinging his glaive at it, but it was deflected with a loud clang, as if its blade had struck something hard.
“Don’t tell me that’s a ritual barrier...” Clena muttered as she watched beside me.
“A ritual barrier?”
“A barrier used to protect a caster when they’re trying to activate a big spell. He must be trying to summon something huge!”
When I looked back to the light pillar, I saw Rulitora and Dokutora double teaming it. Despite their efforts, they couldn’t seem to break through.
“Get back! A shockwave will burst out when the summoning succeeds!” Clena shouted out.
They did as she said, and dashed away from the light pillar. Immediately afterwards, blue flames poured out over the ground, and warriors screamed. Some of them failed to run away fast enough, and were swallowed up in the fire.
Behind the flames, I saw a large shadow wavering. Something was floating far above even Rulitora’s head.
Once the flames dispersed, I saw a gigantic, bloodshot eyeball floating in the sky. I didn’t bother mentioning this to anyone, but it felt just like a battle scene from a video game. Visually, it looked like a giant bulb with stringy things dangling out from it, like the kind you saw submerged in water cultures. In the center of the orb was a huge eye, while poisonous-looking tendrils, veins, or whatever they were, extended out from the bottom. From below, it looked really creepy, and the eye itself was massive. Rulitora probably couldn’t grab it even if he extended his arms to their limit.
The giant bloodshot eyeball peered down at us. How is a monster like that going to attack us?
“Mwa ha ha ha! You had your fun, lizards, but now it’s time to teach you just how foolish you were to ever defy the great Maius!!” the man named Maius declared, in an arrogant voice. He must have had a lot of confidence in that giant eyeball monster of his.
Perhaps due to the eye, the remaining monsters had all started running off in random directions. Thanks to that, we now had a clear view of Maius, who was standing directly below the eyeball.
Maius took off his hood. His skin wasn’t just pale, it was stark white, and his head was utterly hairless. He had the body of a child’s, and while I couldn’t see his face that clearly, it looked like an old man’s. Maius didn’t look very strong, but considering how he had just summoned that huge eyeball, I assumed his magic power was nothing to scoff at.
The giant eyeball was the real threat here. After a shout from Clena, the warriors all tossed their spears at the eyeball, but all it had to do was shake its tendrils to deflect them. Rulitora’s glaive was the only weapon that seemed to actually slice into the creature, but the damage was insignificant. I had hoped that some of the other spears might end up hitting Maius instead, but unfortunately the tendrils knocked them all away. So that’s why he’s standing below it.
“Clena!” I called out.
Little did I know she was already prepared. “I’m on it! Flame Arrow!”
She fired a dart straight at the eyeball, but once again, the tendrils blocked it. They only looked like tendrils, and weren’t actually plant-based, so they didn’t even burn up. The warriors picked up their spears and got back into position, but were hesitating, since they already knew the weapons wouldn’t work.
“Heh heh heh... Now do you realize just how powerful I am?!” I wanted to correct him and say it was the power of his eyeball, not his power, but I figured now wasn’t the time. In any case, Maius seemed very proud that he’d managed to deflect all our attacks. “Now to give you a taste of my true power!”
With that, Maius raised a finger toward the sky – and the eyeball above him. Soon, I saw a powerful light burning within the pupil. I heard a growl, and assumed it was coming from the eyeball. But Clena and the defenders were looking around, wondering where the sound was coming from.
Since it sounded like a growl, they probably never imagined that it’d be coming from the mouthless eyeball. Rulitora’s group also looked unsettled, especially since they had no way of attacking.
“Sir Touya, I’m scared...”
It seemed like Roni was the only one who’d caught on to the impending doom we were facing, and her ears were both drooping. It also seemed like more light had gathered into the center of the massive eye that gazed down on us. Just what was that light going to do? Maius was the only one who knew. I had a pretty good guess, though, based on all the games and stuff I’d been exposed to.
“Everyone, run to the sides! Now!” Once they heard my voice, the warriors all began to move. Clena and Roni fell behind by a second, so I grabbed their hands and yanked them away.
“Fiiiire!”
In the next moment, the eyeball fired a beam that opened up a massive hole where we had just been standing.
Now that I understood the attack, I let out a shout. “Are you kidding me?! Doesn’t that guy have any respect for the fantasy genre?!”
That’s right, it was a beam. The eyeball had just fired a massive laser beam at us.
The beam sent fear into even the Torano’o tribe warriors, who all panicked and moved back. In response, the eyeball mercilessly fired another beam and cut open another gaping hole in the ground. The edges of the hole were burned, and the smell pricked my nose. If any of us got hit by that, we probably won’t live to regret it.
“Mwa ha ha ha! You can’t keep running forever!”
The eyeball fired a third beam, which landed smack dab at the spot where I’d just been standing. It appeared the eyeball was aiming for me, which confirmed that Maius knew I was a Hero of the Goddess.
Suddenly, I remembered how Cosmos the Hero had been attacked by demons. Maius must have been the owner of the eyes Rulitora felt on us when we departed. They must have followed us here from Jupiter, then ran into Clena and Roni by coincidence and started chasing them instead.
“What’s wrong? Can’t even fight back, can you? C’mon, I wanna see you get even more scared! Grovel to me! Bow down before me and admit your defeat!”
Since we had yet to counterattack, Maius was acting like he’d already won, but I ignored him for the time being. I had more important matters to focus on. Luckily, the eyeball couldn’t keep firing beams in succession. Once it fired one, it needed some time to recharge. Additionally, once it finished charging, it couldn’t change direction, which meant that we’d always have a chance to evade. That meant we wouldn’t have to keep running around forever, and I could also keep other people out of the line of fire.
“Everyone, get away from wherever the eyeball’s looking! It fires the beam whenever it stops moving!” I shouted in a loud voice, so everyone could hear me.
“O-okay!” Once they heard me, Rulitora’s group removed themselves from the eyeball’s line of sight. This left them with no time to attack, but since that beam was an instant kill, we really had
no other choice. Clena left with the defenders, while Roni continued to run around with me out of worry.
“Tch! Very clever!” Maius had been cackling only moments ago, but now he seemed much less confident, and surprised that we’d easily figured out how the beam worked.
Still, it didn’t mean this battle had become any easier for our side. Running around was sapping our stamina, and we were still in the process of being cornered.
We need to think of something, otherwise he’ll just keep whittling our stamina down until he can nab us – and that’s only moments away, unfortunately. I’d almost been zapped numerous times, and had only narrowly escaped thanks to Roni pulling my hand.
“...I know!” Suddenly, an idea hit me. I didn’t know if it would really do anything, but it was worth a try. “Roni, give me a hand!”
“Um, okay!”
“And everyone else, just keep running around to buy time!”
“Hey, you could at least explain yourself!” Clena called out from behind, but I didn’t have time to engage her.
After dodging the umpteenth beam, I quickly opened the door to the Unlimited Bath and jumped inside.
“Hurry up and close the door!”
“O-okay!” After jumping in with me, Roni frantically closed the door, upon which we could no longer hear the growling charge noise.
It was impossible for anything to reach the Unlimited Bath from the outside, which meant that we could make preparations here in peace. If we took too long, though, it could put Clena and the others in danger, so we needed to hurry.
“Roni, here’s what comes next...”
“Okay! Let’s hurry!” And so, Roni helped me prepare a certain something.
After a few minutes, our plans were complete. I picked up our special weapon, while Roni cracked open the door and took a peek at what was going on outside.
“The eye isn’t moving,” she said. “And the demon is still below it.”
“Okay, we’ll jump out after it fires its next beam.”
“...Beam? You mean that light?”
“...Yeah, that thing.” It appeared that the word ‘beam’ didn’t mean anything to people in this world. Focus! You can’t miss this chance. I pushed all unnecessary thoughts out of my mind and concentrated.
“It fired the beam!” Roni shouted. “Now!”
“Let’s go!” Roni opened the door, and I leapt out.
The giant eyeball was floating in the same spot, with sparks flying around its pupil. It looked as if it had just finished firing a beam. Underneath it stood Maius, protected by the tendrils. He wasn’t moving either.
After glancing around, I saw that there were new holes, but no fallen lizardmen on the ground. Clena was also in fine condition, which meant that everyone had been able to keep dodging without any problems. I can’t waste this chance. I quickly pulled out my secret weapon – the hose – and aimed it a little upwards toward the eyeball.
“Now, Roni!” I shouted, and I felt vibrations rock through the arm that was holding the hose. Right after Roni opened the door, she’d dashed back into the Unlimited Bath. “Take this, eyeball!”
Water erupted out from the hose, creating a wide arc, and assaulted the floating eyeball. When Roni heard the signal, she’d opened the faucet that the hose was attached to. The eyeball tried to protect itself with its tendrils, but unlike spears, which only had to be deflected once, the tendrils were powerless against liquid. And since I’d aimed the hose up a little, the water spilled mercilessly all over the eyeball.
“Mwa ha ha ha! You fools! Of all the things to try... You really think that’s going to stop my–?!” Maius’ voice was cut off by an ear-shattering screech that exploded out from the eyeball. By this point, I was really curious as to where that voice was coming from. “Impossible! How could it get damaged by mere water?!”
“Who said that was mere water?!” The water I’d fired was much more than that – because I’d poured an entire bottle of shampoo down the hose.
Water mixed with shampoo was now splashing all over the eye. I hadn’t been sure whether it would work or not, but if that eye was anything like a human eye, then it was worth a try.
“Don’t tell me this is the hero’s power... Blergh?!”
Maius was cut off once more – this time, by the eyeball itself. Unable to bear all the pain, the eyeball had fallen straight down, crushing Maius beneath. There was no way he’d make it out unscathed.
Realizing this was our chance, I quickly called out to Rulitora. “Rulitora! Finish him off!”
“Yes, sir!”
Rulitora was standing closer to the eyeball than the other warriors, probably so he could act as a decoy, which allowed him to immediately begin a forward-bent charge with his glaive. He reached the eyeball in the blink of an eye, then raised his glaive high and brought it down with a thundering swoosh. That attack sliced the eyeball right in two.
At long last, the wriggling tendrils came to a dead stop. It looked as if we’d won. Once they saw the tendrils stop, the other warriors sat down in exhaustion. I imagined they were tired from running around so much. Still steady on his feet, Dokutora moved up to the eyeball, then plucked up Maius, who at this point looked like a dirty, beat-up rag. I’d wanted to hear what he had to say, but it looked like that wasn’t possible anymore. Oh well. I should just feel happy that we managed to win this one.
“Well, gather up, everyone who’s wounded... I’ll just have to heal you one by one!” After I get a little rest, that is.
If I were to put it in RPG terms, I was the cleric, or the healer of the party. Now, I had to go back and use Healing Light to properly heal everyone whose bleeding I’d temporarily stopped. I started healing the most heavily wounded first, but I only got to half before I collapsed. It felt like using any more MP would render me completely immobilized. Only the lightly wounded were left, so we decided to heal them all tomorrow and headed back to the settlement. The rest of the lizardmen had been busy collecting meat and fur from the monsters while I worked on the healing, and according to Dokutora, it’d been their greatest haul yet. Now that our battle with the massive monster horde was over, it felt like it had all just been one big hunt.
Incidentally, they weren’t able to salvage anything from the big eyeball. I remembered how tuna eyes were often eaten, so I thought it might be edible, but unfortunately, no one rose to the challenge – including myself. Left with no other choice, I asked Clena to dispose of it along with Maius’ corpse.
As I watched the flames rise high, I put my hands together. I needed to do this first and foremost to level up, but I also couldn’t ignore the feeling that this was a good time for some prayer. The lizardmen caught on that I was praying, even if they didn’t understand exactly what it was for, so they followed suit and offered up prayers in their own way.
That evening, we had a grand banquet. The lizardmen planned to tan the hides and smoke the meat they’d gathered from the battle, but they also cooked part of the meat for dinner. Due to how much there was, only cooking a bit of it created enough for a full-scale banquet. Roni was also kind enough to add some flavoring to our meat.
Next to us, Rulitora and Dokutora were engaged in a heated discussion, and since the children who had become fond of me were instead absorbed in the meat, I was alone with Clena and Roni. They seemed tired from all the running they’d done, especially Clena, who spoke to me in a languid tone.
“Hey Touya, what are you going to do from here on out?”
“Well, first I need to fill up the reservoir...”
“And after that?”
“After that... I still haven’t thought about it.” When I said that, she stared deeply into my face.
I had a feeling I knew what she wanted to say. Their goal was to find the desert kingdom, which existed somewhere in the desert at the center of the void. The desert kingdom used to belong to the demon lord, and since I was summoned as a hero to fight the demon lord, I couldn’t act like this had nothing to do with me.
Clena stared beyond the settlement to the wasteland as she spoke. “Apparently 500 years ago, before the desert kingdom was destroyed, this area was still full of greenery.”
“Did something happen in the battle between the first sacred king and the demon lord?” I asked, and Clena shook her head.
“Well, something happened that was big enough to create those reservoirs, but I don’t know the details. That’s why I wanted to go to the desert kingdom – so we could find out.”
“I see...”
I pondered this for a moment. Clena and Roni were staring at me with eyes full of anticipation, but I was more interested in this story than they knew. After all, the entire reason I was summoned was so I could do something about the demon lord, who was supposedly about to break out of his seal – yet I had no details on the demon lord himself. Since people kept talking about stopping the demon lord, it seemed strange that no one knew where he had come from or what exactly he was... But if all that history had simply been erased, then it made sense. Perhaps the key to unlock the mysteries behind that lost history lay within the desert kingdom.
Honestly, I didn’t really want to fight the demon lord, and wanted to avoid it if at all possible. At the same time, I knew I couldn’t just stand by and run away if something happened. With that in mind, perhaps it would be helpful to investigate the land where the demon lord and the demons were born.
“I thought the sand lizardmen might know something about it...” Clena said, as she looked away from me.
I followed her eyes to the elder. From the word ‘elder,’ many people might imagine a small old person with a bent back, but that didn’t apply to the Torano’o tribe. Here, elders ascended from warrior chiefs, and the elder who stood in front of us now was no smaller than Rulitora or Dokutora. It was difficult to tell if a lizardman was old, young, or male or female at first glance, but their scales got harder when they got older, and this elder’s scraggy scales with their faded shade of amber told me just how ancient he was.
Mixed Bathing in Another Dimension: The Hero of the Unlimited Bath Page 18