Chapter 10 (1/2)
Volume 1
Volume 2 Chapter 13 . An Onlooker’s Looking Glass — Part 2
「I guess I’d better start getting everything ready . 」
I decided to get on with the plan after confirming that Minnalis had gotten Barkas and his companions prepared for what was to come .
Two different Soul Blades were required for what I intended to do . The first was the 【Magical Beast’s Egg Blade,]and the second the 【Water Sprite’s Droplet Blade . ]
Spare magical energy would always leak from my soul blades during the creation process if I wasn’t careful enough in crafting them . Normally, that would be something that I’d try to prevent . This, however, wasn’t exactly what one could call a normal situation . The overflow of energy was perfect for use in the creation of a scene that would instill an even greater amount of terror into the hearts of Barkas and his companions . Thus, I made sure to emphasize the mana leak, I purposefully formed the blade in a much more reckless manner than usual and caused black particles of light to scatter into my surroundings .
「Strum a tune sung by beasts,『Hellspawn Flower』」
The green, bud-like blade that extended from the sword’s handle began to change as I slowly began channeling my magical energy through it . Veiny lines emerged from within the blade as it darkened into a series of purples and blacks . It pulsed and grew, expanding in all of size, malevolence and impurity . The change was dramatic, and caused Barkas’ group to twitch in anxiety .
「W-What is that…」
「What, this? Oh, you know, just a little something . You’ll find out in due time . 」
Rather than ignoring him, I replied in such a way that left in the dark . There was no fun in spoiling his future experiences ahead of time, especially given how well Minnalis’ poison was working . It had done exactly as planned . The viscous, toxic liquid had completely overwritten its misty predecessor and totally paralyzed everything but their faces . They were capable of speaking and moving their eyes, but they were otherwise unable to move even the slightest bit .
All three party members had no choice but to stare at the【Magical Beast’s Egg Blade]as it continued to change . Their faces mirrored the blade; they began warping in fear and anxiety as I forced them to regard the process . Their hair started standing on end, all three had realized that the blade would ultimately cause harm .
I had purposefully slowed down the flow of my mana, so the blade had taken an extremely long time to reach its final form .
But it had .
The bud had finally blossomed .
『Jyaruuuuraa』
It began producing a sort of inorganic high pitched screech as it did .
「「「Urgh!」」」
Barkas’ group immediately grimaced as they heard it . The sound was awful, it sounded almost exactly like the reverberation of having someone scrape their nails against a blackboard . It was a bit harsh on the ears, but tolerable so long as it wasn’t something that caught you off guard .
「Nghhh, I really don’t like how that thing sounds . 」
I knew what to expect, so I was relatively unaffected, but Minnalis’ hearing was much more sensitive than mine, so it caused her a bit of grief .
「I already told you that I’m fine, Minnalis . You don’t need to cover my ears . 」
I’d told her to cover her own ears to minimize her exposure to the sound in order to reduce discomfort, a decision resulted from the fact that we weren’t able to find any decent earplugs despite having gone around the entire town in search of them . It was something we both agreed on at the time, but she’d ended up ignoring it, as she was currently attached to my back and plugging mine instead .
「Ehehehe . Come on, Goshujin-sama . I’m your slave, so you have to make sure to order me around at times like these if you want me to listen to you . 」
「Come on, get off me already, and stop pressing your chest against me . 」
「What’re you saying? What do you mean by crest?」
Minnalis was suffering from Mana Intoxication, so her actions seemed to have a certain degree of sexyness to them .
「Yeah, yeah, cut it out . 」
「Awwww~ Can’t you reward me a bit? Look how much stuff I did . 」
「Fine, but not right now . Come on, hurry up and just drink one of these . 」
I peeled Minnalis off me and shoved an MP pot in her mouth in an ever so accustomed motion . I made sure to keep cool throughout by telling myself that she was only acting the way she was because she was under the influence . She seemed to be a bit further off the edge than usual, but I figured that it wasn’t an issue, and that she’d probably return to normal once a bit of time elapsed .
「W-What… the hell are they doing?」
「I-I don’t… get them…」
Terry and Dot expressed themselves in a pair of voices that contained both confusion and fear, a mix of emotions only fueled further by the fact that they didn’t understand us or the things that we seemed to be getting ready to do to them .
Barkas, on the other hand, didn’t really seem to mind my sword nor the banter Minnalis and I were exchanging . Instead, he was completely focused on the living thing that’d just so happened to appear right in his line of sight .
「So, how are you feeling, Slucky?」[1]
「Kyupiii!」
Slucky, the slime that appeared alongside the ear-piercing screech, responded with a cry so cute it seemed out of place . The Crest of Subordination engraved on its body allowed me to understand that it’d been attempting to convey that it was in perfect form .
The blooming【Magical Beast’s Egg Blade,]on the other hand, had withered and returned back to its usual bud-like state .
「I-Isn’t that just a slime?」
Barkas questioned me in an overly confused manner .
「It is . It isn’t a variant, nor a higher order subspecies . It’s just your everyday average slime . 」
I responded to him with the truth . Slucky was the splitting image of your average slime . He didn’t have any eyes or mouths; he was just a translucent, blue blob made out of a jelly-like substance . The only difference between Slucky and a “perfectly average” slime would be that Slucky was a slight bit smaller than average . He was only only about the size of a small balance ball . He wasn’t too small though, he was still within range for one to call him average . There was, of course, also the Crest of Subordination he had engraved onto him, but that was honestly all there was to it .
Slucky continued making his cute cries as he wiggled back and forth on the spot . Seeing him act like that once again made me ask a question that’d yet to be answered .
How the hell is it making those noises?
「I’m going to have to ask you do something a little bit on the more difficult size . You ready?」
「Kyupii kyuupi!」
I lightly pat Slucky over the head(?) after hearing him respond affirmatively . I was actually rather confused as to exactly where I’d been petting him, as I couldn’t tell precisely where his head was located . All I knew for sure was that I’d petted him somewhere on the upper half of his body . Either way, the sensation I felt from doing so was one that reminded me of how it felt to press my hand against a cooled down piece of soft, springy dough .
I dispelled the【Magical Beast’s Egg Blade]and instead summoned the【Water Sprite’s Droplet Blade . ]Unlike the former, the latter sword didn’t have a blade at all . It was composed solely of three pieces, a handle, a diminutive swordguard, and a piece of ultramarine cloth . The last of the three components was wrapped around the first .
「It’s all you, Slucky . 」
「Kyuupiiii! Uuuu… kyu!」
Slucky responded as if ready before seemingly exerting himself and splitting into two .
I approached one of the two newly divided halves and pressed my sword against it . The corresponding portion of Slucky’s body was immediately reduced to a tenth its prior volume as it forged itself into a blade .
「W-What the hell are you doing?」
「You tell me . What do you think he’s doing?」
Minnalis, who was aware of what was to come, giggled as she teased Barkas with a smile .
「You’ll find out soon enough . Everything’s ready now, and it’ll be pretty hard for me to keep the sword’s blade in tact for an extent period of time given the amount of mana I have right now, so I won’t keep you waiting much longer . 」
I walked over to Barkas and swung the newly formed blade as my lips twisted into a wide grin .
「W-wait… Please… h-hold…」
「Don’t worry . I won’t do as anything as boring as just killing you . 」
I smiled briefly as I regarded Barkas’ decapitated, terror struck face before attacking his his two companions in much the same manner; I swung my blade in an arc and tore their heads off their bodies .
☆
「Don’t worry . I won’t do as anything as boring as just killing you . 」
The man whose face I was staring up at was one dyed in a sort of mad ecstasy . His smile only seemed to widen as he swung the sword that’d been lying around at the edge of my sightline and beheaded me .
（Shit… Why’d I have to get done in by a brat like him…?）
I wasn’t able to feel pain because of the stuff his slave had forced me to drink, but I could still tell that my severed head ended up rolling after it fell from my body .
I managed to remain conscious despite the fact that I’d lost my head . I could see, and saw both Terry and Dot ending up the same way I had .
I’ve heard that beheaded criminals would still open their mouths and blink for a few moments after their supposed deaths . Having now experienced it myself, I came to understand that it was the truth . But that too would soon come to end . That was just how things were . My consciousness would only remain for another few seconds at best . I would soon be taken into the darkness . With that in mind, I turned my eyes towards my companions, the men who had my back for the last few years, and watched as they too moved towards the light . The lack of pain made the last few moments I experienced almost seem surreal, but I sat put and awaited my death reg-
「W-What… . What the hell is going on!?」
Time ticked by . One, two, three seconds passed, but my consciousness hadn’t even began to fade .
I immediately began questioning whether or not I’d really been beheaded .
「T-The hell’s going on!? Did I not actually get beheaded?」
「What’s going on? Wasn’t I supposed to have my head cut off?」
I heard both Dot and Terry voice their confusion in that order .
I moved my gaze as far as it would go, and examined their severed heads, only to realize that there was something attached to the bottom of their necks .