Chapter 242 (1/2)

Death Mage 242 – The plaza where the heroes are

A Giant, whose body was h advanced life-attributefire, let out a roar that sounded like the creaking of a tree Countless arrows, short spears and spells rained down upon it, wounding its vines and tree-trunk-like body, and daround

“Wildwing!” shouted the Ta out the nae Wyvern

He charged towards the Plant Giant's back… or rather, feinted a charge, and changed direction coe Wyvern's tail struck its target with thea fissure in the wooden flesh, and the spear-like, veno into it

But in the next second, new shoots sprouted up, repairing the wounds that had been created on the Plant Giant's body As the e hastily flapped its wings to retreat

“Pointless, pointless! Such attacks are pointless against this Giant, which I have created with the greatest ofWood Giant assault!'” said a human voice from within the Plant Giant

A youngthe monster he had created with his own spell from within

A Plant Giant with a body even larger than a Mountain Giant, and an incredible regenerative ability that caused any shalloounds to heal in an instant And the one controlling it was located inside

It was a truly flawless strategy for battle This was the reason it had been possible for a young e with no ability in close-quarters combat to become a heroic spirit

And yet, there was desperation in the young man's voice despite his boasts

“You've done as you liked for long enough! I'll show you ic now!” he shouted

He and his coe in this battle

“Don't step too far forward! Has the blood rushed up to your head because your first to seventh secret techniques were all defeated?!” the Taainst the ground to prevent the few re away

There were few e Meanwhile, the two heroic spirits weren't even receiving any orders, let alone reinforcements

What's going on? What is this sense of loss that I've been feeling for a while? Could it be that so has happened to Fitun-sama…? No, that's not possible Even if his opponent is the De, it was said that he would have certainly been S-class if he were an adventurer when he was a rown in a greenhouse by Alda! the Taht to herself

“You foolish beasts! You call yourselves the natural ene her whip in co monsters

But their morale was low and their movements were considerably poor

damn it, if only I'd had the tiht

She had not tamed these monsters Even a heroic spirit like herself wouldn't be capable of ta dozens of monsters in an instant

Thein fear of Darcia and the others, and the heroic spirit was si her whip to threaten them and force them into a suicidal attack That in itself was an impressive feat, but as she had not tamed them, even her 'Command' Skill wasn't in effect on thethen Subordinates'

At this rate, we have no chance of winning no matter e do Since we've already used 'Heroic Spirit Transformation,' we only have a few minutes left Should we retreat already? But e do if our retreat causes probleht to herself

She and theforces kept back by Fitun and the rest of the heroic spirits The two of them were the only reinforcements available for the others

If they retreated, ould happen to the plan? The sense of responsibility for that made them hesitate to abandon their vessels and return to their Divine Realms

But even as they did so, the situation on the battlefield was changing

“In other words, you've got an enor du your first to seventh secret techniques all at once, but I don't think it's anything to boast about Though I won't deny your training and talent that e

“To begin with, are secret techniques so that you should have soup at the Plant Giant

The two of thee called his secret techniques… the fireballs that he could control freely, and a swarm of soldiers made of plants

“Y-you da old woe shouted

He had lost all of his co so e in this battle His body was collapsing from the side effects of 'Heroic Spirit Transfor all of his secret techniques overwhelmed

The Plant Giant let out a roar and charged at Basdia and Zadiris, its fla even more fiercely than before

“Don't shout like that It gives away your lack of worth as aa tight-fitting leotard avy frills and a mini-skirt

“Yes, you should take a leaf out of the boy's book,” sighed Zadiris, as actually around three hundred years old despite having the appearance of a girl in her early teens

But the two of theuard down Basdia raised her axe and dashed towards the Plant Giant, while Zadiris cast a Light Princess Magic spell on her

“'Light Princess Clone assault!'” Zadiris shouted, raising her staff into the air

At that moment, Basdia split into seven

“Illusions?! What a boring tactic!” thethe Plant Giant's head towards the seven Basdias

Fro hair ca noises

“Take these burning-hot seeds!” the e shouted

The seeds flew forth and scattered like buckshot, raining down upon the Basdias on the ground But the seeds seemed to be less powerful than they looked; the Basdias continued closing the distance between the down

The e smirked “You're the real one, you damn old woman!”

He pointed one of the Giant's arms at one of the seven Basdias Several vines with sharp, spear-like tips extended fro into her

“Did you think that I would miss that one of those lifeless illusions would an, but his face stiffened in astonishment in the next moment “What?!”

The Basdia that had been pierced by the hardened vine spears had vanished like an illusion

Thesix Basdias, but he was already too late

“'Great Ogre Axe Blade Burst Slash!+'” shouted Basdia, who had reached the Plant Giant's feet

She swung her ical Death Iron axe, which had been te of the Plant Giant was easily thicker than a tree that was thousands of years old, she severed it with a single blow

“Th-this secret technique of e stammered

Indeed, the branching shoots i and the part of the leg that it had been severed from

But Basdia used her martial skill once more

“'Surpass Lire Axe Blade Burst Slash!+'”

This ti

Even the regenerative ability that he was so proud of could not take effect if the other leg was severed as well before the first leg had finished regenerating The newly-sprouting shoots snapped under the weight of the Plant Giant, and the e shouted in alarm as it lost its balance

He immediately tried to extend vines and branches to attack Basdia, but the other five Basdias repelled them

“They actually had physical fore shouted in disbelief “W-wait, stop –”

“For the third tire Axe Blade Burst Slash!+'” Basdia roared

Now that the Plant Giant's upper half had lowered close to the ground, Basdia struck it with her martial skill The Plant Giant's head split vertically in two, and Basdia turned to look at her defeated foe, sweat on her forehead and a victorious expression on her face

“Little boy, groomen don't flinch at a pea shooter with a little heat,” she said

“And you should at least be able to co spell then make one of them pretend to protect itself Remember that, you brat,” Zadiris added

It was unclear as to whether their words reached his ears, but he soon revealed hi blood from within a tear in the Plant Giant's body

“Th-there's no way there can be women like that!” he shouted “But even froht away and –”

The ferocious cries of rats interrupted him, and four shadows leapt at him

Suruga the Steel Rat led the charge, forcing the e to block her body-slareater than it looked; with the ar around in an unstable position, it was deflected far away

There were two more fierce squeaks as the Snow Rat Uru hair with her cold air and Blazing Rat Mae to squeeze out the last of his re Mana to block her

“And I'll finish the job!” shouted Natania, as running across thetransformed her liquid-metal artificial limbs to a beast's limbs rather than those of a human

The runted in pain as the Death Iron blade attached to Natania's tail cut a deep wound in the side of his body as she dashed past

The hed blood once more and looked up at the sky “N-no way… I, the 'titan User,' defeated not by the De himself, but these filthy Ghouls and Beast-kin – ?!”

But the dying words of the young e with the 'titan User' title were cut short as a hand axe thrown by Basdia split his head open

“Don't name yourself as you die It is too inal owner of that body,” Basdiabut a corpse

“D-daer in her voice “So, I've been left onhere!”

She had already sensed that the plan had failed She had sensed it, but even if she were to retreat, it was clear that there was no future for her Even if she were to return to her Divine Real her was to be impaled by Alda's Stakes of Law

With that being the case, her only choice was to struggle as much as she could

“You're first, dog! Sub, who had been busy finishi+ng off one of the few re its windpipe out

She was atte's sense of fear and dominate him with that fear, just like she had done with the other monsters

But despite the wo showed no fear for her whip Not only that, he even let out a roar and counterattacked with a fireball shot from his mouth

The flames themselves were no major threat to the Ta's response

“Ie hellhound? Is this the extent of the De's control over his monsters?!” she uttered in shock

“Don't say such terrible things about hi just loves Vandalieu a lot,” said a voice

An arro out fro's enormous body

“What?! Go forth!” the Ta bull covered in scales – that she had been keeping by her side

Thinking that it had finally been released, the Scale Bull leapt forward, but the arrow pierced straight through its body and sailed by the Tamer woman's side

“My aio… My teachers would scold me for this,” said Darcia, who had transfor

She earing liquid metal clothes that clearly defined the shape of her body despite the decorative frills and ribbons attached to them

“damn it, the monsters have been wiped out!” the Tarimace

Behind Darcia, she could see the knights and adventurers trying to catch their breath and theat their feet

As a Tareatest weapon, and they had all been exterminated

“But don't you think that I' withoutyour head back with ive up

She brandished her whip and activated 'Transcend Liic Whip' Her body, already close to collapsing, drew even closer to its fate But she didn't care

“I don't thinkthat will be taken so easily,” said Darcia, rapidly casting layers upon layers of enchantic' and the 'Chant Revocation' Skill

Returning her staff to its original form, she dashed towards the Tamer woman

“Is that so? Take this! 'God-binding Instant Whip!'” the Ta in on Darcia so quickly that it couldn't be seen by the naked eye

Darcia immediately attempted to repel it with her staff, but the whip avoided it as if it had a mind of its own, and wrapped itself around her body

Darcia let out a groan

The Tahed “You will never escapeeven the Gods! I'll crush your bones and organs!”

Seeing this, Fang, the knights and adventurers behind him, and Simon all ran forth to try and help her But at the same time, they realized that they would not make it in time

We won't make it on time if we just run over! daht in panic

Sile artificial liround with the speed that Natania was capable of

Naturally, he was also unable to extend his spirit forue, or cast spells, like his master Vandalieu

Even so, he continued to look for so that he could do, and then he re a piece of spirit form that he had cut off from himself And Vandalieu had told Si the same

Can I do the sa as Master? … No, I have to! Believe in Master and the expectations that he held for me! he told himself

Siht arm in the air

In his ined a thrust from his oords' and 'Unar Technique' The liquid e and changed shape

“'Surpass Limits!' 'CHARGING THRUST!'” he shouted

With his hand now in the shape of a sword, his forearm detached from his elbow and flew forth

That projectile closed in on the Tauards

With her whip binding Darcia, the Tae ht; she avoided most of the arrows But to her astonishment, Simon's arm continued to pursue her even after she evaded it

Even then, she should have been able to continue dodging it… but she was overworking the body that she had borrowed All of the strength left her in an instant, and her body felt as heavy as lead

The Tauess this is my limit…”

Siht shoulder, and her hand released her whip

And as if waiting for thather to pieces, freeing herself The Ta all opened their eyes wide in shock as they saw the broken pieces of the whip flying in all directions

With another spirited cry, Darcia took a step that dug a crater into the ground beneath her foot like the footstep of a Giant, and closed the distance between herself and her foe in the blink of an eye At the sa through the Tamer woman's chest

“I to her knees with her eyes still open wide in shock

Siht arm (or to be more precise, simply extended his spirit form to thrust it forward), stared at Darcia from behind

She would have been fine without ht

But Darcia removed her staff frouards “Thanks for helping me, everyone! I'm very impressed, Simon-san I'm sure my son would be very proud to hear about what you did!”

“I-is that so?” Simon stammered

“Yes, of course! But before that… Everyone, we are victorious!” Darcia declared

Though their celebration was a ht with their lives on the line to protect the city of Morksi let out a cry of triumph

Upon receiving the news that the e had been repelled, the city's inhabitants who had been preparing to evacuate cheered Preparations for a celebration in the city began immediately

They had resigned themselves to an escape in the middle of a winter that they did not know if they would survive, with their husbands, fathers and friends facing a battle that they would not return from alive Despite that situation, the city was safe, and although there had been injuries, none had died Everyone was overwhel that news

If the city had been destroyed, Earl Morksi's family would have lost the majority of their property, and it was possible that they would have been forced to relinquish their court rank The faht have been left wandering in the wild

The sadom was not as prosperous as modern-day japan on Earth; it was difficult to say that refugees were provided with sufficient support They would be lucky to have unreliable tents, thin blankets and small rations in the cold of winter

Those with enough savings or faions would be fine, but the others would face cold days filled with suffering

Even those with jobs had no guarantee that they would be able to find work in new cities and villages If there were many workers in the same trade in the cities they moved to, there would be an oversupply of newcomers

As a result, they would become the poor of the cities they fled to and many would be forced to live in slum districts

As they had avoided this dark future, it was only natural to hold a festival in the city to celebrate

But even then, the majority of the city's inhabitants were unaware that the city's future was not only not dark, but possibly very bright

One part of that bright future was the materials of the monsters that had been defeated

Thetheons and Mountain Giants It was the kind of threat that a city of thirty thousand would expect to be destroyed by

But now that they were dead and their , they were a mountain of treasures

A single Ogre would provide a Magic Stone, ans; if all of these were used, they orth a considerable suons and Mountain Giants were each worth enough to fill one's entire bathtub with gold coins and still have some left over

According to coenerated by the sale of theseall who had joined the battle

Many city guards, knights and adventurers had gathered at the front gate, but even so, each of theuards, it was several years' worth of pay

The money they spent would trickle into the city's stores and red-light district The city of Morksi would likely prosper for some time

However, the guards, mercenaries and adventurers were currently still in the process of disasse them of the materials, and the Adventurers' Guild did not have the cash required to immediately purchase them, so this would possibly take up to ten days

But there was a small problem

“This store is out of stock as well?” a customer asked

“Sorry, we are,” the store's owner replied “The merchants that supply us all ran away, so…”

A sudden shortage in goods

Knowing that a horde ofthe city, not everyone had caluards' orders A considerable nu merchants, caravans, mercenaries and adventurers had fled the city before all of the gates were closed

Doing that would lose them the trust of the city's people, but they had considered protecting their own livesthe trust of a city bound for destruction

Even a the merchants that had just arrived in the city today, there were sos and left Thus, sooods

There was no shortage in food, however It was currently winter, but food had been co into the city as nor rains like wheat and their heavy alcoholic drinks

“That puts me in a bind The secret flavor behind our store's le piece of it?” a customer asked

“The Birgitt Duchy's cheese is essential for our store's ive me what you have I don't care if it's expensive Can't you help me out here?” asked another

The ones inconvenienced by this shortage were people wanting subtle seasonings for dishes and faoods from other duchies With the entire city in the mood for a festival to celebrate the fact that everyone had survived, the strings of customers' purses would certainly be looser But with stores unable to offer their specialty dishes, the customers would be disappointed

“I' to hold out on you I really don't have the things you need,” the store owner said

The faces of the custoredients fell with disappointment Norredients, but they were of no use now, right after the city had avoided its doom

But new information soon found its way to their ears

“Hey, a traveling merchant by the name of Edmond has opened his business in the city'sthose itt Duchy's cheese and a whole lot of other stuff!” shouted one of the customers' acquaintances in the same business

“Really?! I owe you one!”

With that, they all hurried to Edmond's store

A large crowd of custo products one after another

“Welcome! We have fruit wine, cheese and a plentiful supply of every product you could need! Please co

The Edmond Company's store was the only one with customers in the deserted marketplace

The oas Ed the foruez, and he was also the merchant who had tried to convince Darcia to open a brothel disguised as a Church of Vida with Ghoul women as sacred prostitutes

I've won My gaht to himself

He had ordered Rodriguez to join the battle at the front gate and re business

He had called out to his competition – the oods, at a discount, putting on an act of being a good-natured, honest young man

Thoseto exchange their heavy goods for his light cash, even at a discount of more than half

“This is high-quality cheese that has been brought here all the way froitt Duchy! This amount would have a market price of a thousand Baums But today is the day of the feast to celebrate the safety of the city and its people! I will offer it at a special price of five hundred Bauitt-Duchy-produced cheese is half price at my store!” Edmond announced to the crowd

There was a large commotion as the customers scraht the cheese from the merchants who had transported it here for even less than half price – he was stillplenty of profit

“Give me a discount on this oil as well!” one customer shouted

“Very well Today, I will be selling these ninety-Baum bottles at two-thirds of the price, at sixty Baums!” Edmond said

Each time a customer called out to him, Edmond repeatedly told them that his prices were 'today only' The fact that these prices were especially low today was imprinted upon the customers' minds

This was a trick to oods today, and to make sure they didn't ask for lowered prices when Edain later

It orth believing in Rodriguez and betting my life on this With this, the Edained the people's trust Even if the other traveling merchants try to find fault with e and fled for their lives in a tiency, and I'll be the one who stayed behind and offered goods at discounted prices There's no need to even think about who the city's people will side with, Ederous

He had heard stories froht at the front gate According to them, Darcia and the Ghoul wouez hiainst any of them

To propose using such Ghoul women in a brothel… It made Edmond sith anxiety as he realized how out of his mind he had been

If I'd followed her around and tried to force the issue, I ht have ended up as a corpse in a back alley so business I shouldn't try to get into other businesses so carelessly, Edo with Rodriguez and greet her with a present, apologize for what I did back then, and express my wish that we can do business in the future

Though Ed uez to threaten her into agreeing, there was still no denying that she and her son were in a valuable business He did not intend to distance hi closer to them

Vandalieu and Darcia, the heroes who had defended the city, were surrounded by people in the city's plaza… as the business owner and salesperson of a skewered meat cart

“Thunder Dragon organ skewers have the special price of ten Baums each today,” Vandalieu said to the crowd “Freshly-harvested Dragon heart and liver, and the delicious sauce has Dragon blood in it as well”

“Holy lady of victory! Five skewers, please!” a customer called out

“Okay!” Darcia replied “Vandalieu, five skewers”

“Yes, Mom… By the hy are you still transformed?” Vandalieu asked

“Because I leftbefore I transformed are all in pieces, too”

Darcia, as well as Basdia and Zadiris, had put on aprons and orking to sell skewers, still in the saate

“You can wipe not only dust, but blood and fat as well, off this costume with just a cloth It's very convenient,” said Basdia

“And it's popular a that it is a little too popular”

“Zadiris-chan! Three skewers over here!” another customer called out

“Don't add '-chan' to er than you!”

The three wo the city's people

“… You can go back and get changed, you know,” said Vandalieu

“It does nother head with sorrow in her eyes “Working like this is better to distract myself”

As a result of her defeating the heroic spirits, she had achieved the Rank increase that she had longed for… froh Princess to a race called 'Ghoul Moon Wizard Princess' She had not been able to remove the word 'princess'

To add insult to injury, her daughter Basdia's Rank had also increased, and she was now a Ghoul Aht Queen

That was the reason for Zadiris's sorrow

“Surrounding myself in this noise means that I have no time to be depressed,” Zadiris told Vandalieu “Now then, if you will please get me the skewers?”

Incidentally, she would change her Job after this, but all of the titles and she would be forced to weep as she chose fro them

While Zadiris was taking some time off a short distance away from the cart, some new customers came

“Over there!” one of the holy lady, the transforirl!”