Chapter 40 (1/2)

RAW:

TL: MbypobjzfSisjnq

ED: Emifttbo

I fss… epo'a lopw wiba ap tby jo aijt pddbttjpo…

Eokpy aif dibqafs!

We've reached the entrance to the throne room, but the luxuriously extravagant door was protected by the vines.

「Do we really have to go through all of these vines to open this door?」

We, the 3 men of our group, tried to cut them off, but their regenerative properties were too strong. The nearby trees reproduced the vines infinitely and blocked the door. Thankfully, Haruka sprinkled her herbicide and the vines withered away quickly.

As expected from the farmer.

She's really strong against plants.

We got rid of those vines and opened the heavy door. What greeted us inside was a scene similar to a jungle.

After pus.h.i.+ng and cutting some vegetation away, we spotted a gigantic tree in the distance.

At the base of the tree, there was a girl with a bright red rose blooming from her chest.

「Fuiria!!」

I grabbed Tatsuma's neck collar before he could go another step.

「Why are yー」

Suddenly a huge wooden stake pierced the s.p.a.ce right in front of Tatsuma.

If I hadn't stopped him, he would be……

「There's a reaction from the base of the tree. I can understand that you're impatient, but we have to be careful. Especially after coming this far… right?」

「I…… umm… yes… sorry……」

As a skilled player, he must have realized it himself that it was important to move cautiously especially during a time like this. If I had anyone important in my life being held like that, I would have also jumped the gun and rushed to save them. Even though I just warned Tatsuma, the same warning applied to me.

「………Oi, stop hiding behind the shadow. You there, behind the pillar. And you, behind that thick tree. Also you guys behind the foliage. All 5 of you, get your a.s.ses out here」

5 men slowly appeared behind the place that I pointed at. Every single one of them was fully armed, but their equipment had different quality compared to Barry. Their equipment was on the same cla.s.s as what Prince Leon would wear during battles.

Were these guys the members of the royal guards?

「Brilliant. Magnificent, if I must say. I must give you a compliment. You deserve at least that much.

You must be Masaki, I a.s.sume.

To think that you hold this much strength and abilities, I really must kill you as soon as possible.

However, I truly am grateful to you. After all, it is all thanks to you that I was able to become the Emperor」

「Marquis Iro, you b.a.s.t.a.r.d! Are you the one behind all of this mess?」(Tatsuma)

「Technically, I am not the mastermind behind this masterpiece. But it is correct that I did everything to make all of this happen.

Aaaah…

It's been too long…

I was just a simple civil worker back then. When I saw the princess, I knew that she will grow into a beautiful woman. That's when I know that I must get her. I struggled, bribed, and schemed all the way to the top. Even I'm surprised at my own progress.

But you, Tatsuma… YOU! You and your G.o.dd.a.m.n otherworlders… I will take care of every single one of you and become the emperor of this whole continent!」

There was no doubt that he has done several questionable things to get the woman of his dream.

But this person wanted to be the emperor but……

「A king who slaughtered his own people? You are just sitting on an empty throne. I'm pretty sure nothing's shabbier than a lonely emperor. In that regard, the previous grandpa emperor is way better than you. Really, I can't even feel any shred of dignity from you. That power of yours is borrowed, just like Barry. A third-rate sc.u.m」

「You!? You dare calling me a third-rate sc.u.m!!」

「Sorry. My bad. Calling you a third-rate sc.u.m is an insult to every third-rate sc.u.m. You are a fourth-rate sc.u.m」

Iro's face was burning from my provocation.

I could see tentacles behind him, just like an octopus.

Tatsuma and Prince Leon were, of course, surprise to see my sudden agitation. I shot them a big grin to make sure they got my message.

「A fourth-rate sc.u.m? I'm pretty sure a fourth-rate sc.u.m would make a better emperor than him」

「You have a point there.

Emperor Aldebaran was an enemy, but he's still an excellent ruler and loved by his people. A king without people to rule, now that's unheard of.

Are you sure you didn't mistake a king with a scarecrow? 」(TL: Literal = You're only a king of scarecrows)

Ooh.

They fanned him even further. Nice.

Meanwhile, Iro's shoulder was already trembling in rage.

「Grrrr!!! I'll kill you! I'll kill EACH and every SINGLE one of you! Come, my servants!!」

Iro yelled a command furiously, though that wasn't exactly a concrete command.  We could clearly see that he didn't actually have a concrete plan to fight us. The only thing left was to defeat these 4 henchmen. However, Haruka wasn't exactly fit for combat. It was a little disadvantageous, but we still had the experience from fighting Barry.

「GAAAA!!!」

All 4 of them attacked at once.

Prince Leon was protecting Haruka, so he was fighting 2 monsters at once, but Haruka's true merit was as support. I don't need to worry about them. Tatsuma was strong as well, so there's no need to even think about his safety.

The soldier waved his sword around while shouting in bizarre voices, but after my fight with Barry, my eyes were pretty used to his movements. I could dodge it easily at this level. I blocked the sword diagonally with the Seven Arthur and put one hand on the soldier's chest.

「Tri-Bunker Impact!!」

Receiving direct hit from my skill, the soldier was blown away into the woods.

Even though Mars' Intuition helped in melee combat, it couldn't defeat this kind of opponent with bare hands. Blowing them away was the most it could do.

But really. I'm glad I didn't kill it in one blow.

If they could be killed just by that, it would be… troubling…

I jumped into the woods and followed in pursuit.

***

「Guuuuuu!!!」

「HAAAAA!!」

As Masaki vanished into the woods, Leon was dealing with 2 enemies at once, locking swords with one of them.

At a glance, it might look like he was in trouble, but on the contrary, Leon was leading the fight from the start.

Even though Iro took away their mind, the soldiers didn't lose their swords skills. A skill that they had developed after training every single day during their conscious life. They swung their swords again and again. However, Leon simply activated a dragon knight skill the moment he received their attacks.

「Dragon Force!!」

Leon exuded dragon-like aura that strengthened his entire body. This skill was one of the dragon knights' secret skill that added the flying dragon's power onto the user. The recoil was quite severe, but the effect was devastating if used in short-term battles.

Instead of being knocked back from receiving 2 swords at once, Leon gained more power and knocked them back instead. But not only that, Haruka, who was smiling behind Leon, also activated her skill.

Haruka took the environment into her advantage and planted some seed near Leon's feet. The seed grew fast due to Haruka's Light of Bountiful Harvest, but it still took some time to grow them on st.u.r.dy marble floors.