Chapter 365: Crush the Mechanical and Grotesque Puppets! 6
* * *
"Generallllllll!-General Orbooooosーーー!"
Mage Chubos, who should have gone to the front of the plaza to check on the situation, returned to General Orbos, weaving through the full-body armored soldiers.
A broad smile was plastered on his white-painted face... but the intense sounds of battle were still echoing from the front of the plaza.
What's going on?
Just as General Orbos was about to ask Chubos that question...
"Now, look into my eyesーーー!"
Chubos's eyes glowed an eerie green, and his consciousness sank into a warm and comfortable drowsiness.
"Heyーーー, General Orbos... I think a black-haired, black-eyed girl is going to come here soonーーー..."
"Yes..."
"'Defeat her, even at the cost of your life'."
"Yes..."
"Well, if you actually kill her, I'll be in a bit of trouble... butーーー..."
"Yes..."
"It'll probably be fine! She's not someone you can defeat! Fight with all your might, and buy me as much time as possible!"
"Yes..."
"She's a merciless opponent, so you'll probably be killed... but..."
"............"
"Do your best anyway! You're dying on the battlefield, that's what you want, right?"
"...Well..."
"You'll face the strongest enemy and fight to the end without backing down a single step! Isn't that cool?"
"...Yes..."
"You're a warrior of the honorable Tomooou family, right?"
"Yes...!"
"Are you a coward?"
"No...!"
"Then you can't run away, can you?"
"That's right...!"
"You'll fight at the cost of your life, right!? You're a hero, right!?"
"Of course... Of course I am!!"
General Orbos, spurred on by Chubos's words, opened his drowsy eyes wide, his fighting spirit burning, and swung his large sword around!
Chubos nodded with satisfaction, and then, with a theatrical gesture, put on a sad face and lowered his eyebrows.
"But I'm a little sorry! To ask such a dangerous thing of you, General..."
"Guhaha! Don't worry, Chubos-dono! I, too, have no intention of easily falling behind the council faction nobles' lapdogs!"
Zaan!
General Orbos, thrusting his large sword into the cobblestones, laughed boisterously.
"Is thaaat so? But but, as an apology! I'll teach you a special magic spell, General!"
"A special... magic spell...?"
Chubos, grinning, said to General Orbos, who tilted his head.
"Listen carefully, there's a lid on the left shoulder of your armor, see? When the enemy appears, open it, press the protrusion inside, and say this..."
* * *
That conversation happened a few minutes ago.
After telling General Orbos about the 'special magic spell', Chubos headed towards the Duke's mansion, where La Sbos Daychib is waiting.
And shortly after that, General Orbos's "enemy to be defeated at the cost of his life", the black-haired, black-eyed girl, arrived at his location, destroying the Mechanical Soldiers one after another.
General Orbos first unleashed a powerful horizontal slash at the girl.
He's one of the best swordsmen in the country, having mastered the Sword Saint Style, and his skills are high.
Furthermore, with his physical abilities enhanced by the armor, that blow, if it connected, had enough power to easily cleave even steel.
If it connected.
But the girl easily dodged it, ducking low to the ground.
And with a single leap, she escaped General Orbos's range and turned to face him.
General Orbos, swinging his large sword around and intimidating her... clicked his tongue.
He's a man who has done all sorts of shady things for the sake of promotion.
Bribery, covering up military incidents and scandals.
He's done it all.
But on the other hand, he's also a true warrior.
Just from this series of movements, he understood the girl's high combat abilities.
He could also clearly feel the pressure emanating from her, due to her high mana capacity, characteristic of strong individuals.
'She's not someone you can defeat'.
That Chubos, he has a point.
(But I can't just lose easily...!)
But General Orbos didn't falter.
Burning with fighting spirit, he faced the black-haired, black-eyed girl.
He has to defeat this girl, even at the cost of his life.
Because...
............
Because...?
Suddenly, General Orbos's mind clouded over, his heart filled with an unexplainable anxiety.
But he's in the middle of a battle.
This is not the time to be thinking about unnecessary things.
Anyway, fight.
Fight!
"I am Orbos da Tomooou!! Your head... I shall take itーーー!!"
After proudly announcing his name, General Orbos opened the lid on the left shoulder of his armor and pressed the switch inside!
He decided to use his trump card... the 'special magic spell' that Chubos told him about!
"'Awaken! Heroic Giant Armor!!'"
It was the moment General Orbos chanted the "magic spell" he was taught.
Suddenly, his armor glowed... and a powerful gravitational force was generated around him!
"!!"
Emi, the black-haired, black-eyed girl, immediately jumped back, creating more distance between herself and General Orbos!
But the full-body armored soldiers... or Mechanical Soldiers, who were near General Orbos, couldn't do the same.
They were pulled by the intense gravity, along with the cobblestones ripped from the ground, and stuck to General Orbos's armor, one after another!
General Orbos's silhouette, already large at nearly 2 meters tall... transformed into something even larger...!
And then...!
"N-Guwaaaaaah!? What is thisーーー!?"
"Hiiiiiih!?"
The 'something with white fur', who had 'been chased by something' and jumped out from the back alley into the Third Plaza, and the 'dirty-looking something clinging to it', were also caught in the gravitational pull and stuck to General Orbos's armor!
"............!!"
A few seconds later.
When the gravitational force from the armor subsided.
Standing before Emi was...
"Oh... this is amazing! Power... surging through me!!"
General Orbos, his armor covered with Mechanical Soldiers and cobblestones, his body enlarged to a height of about 4 meters!
He looked like a distorted giant, made of a mixture of steel and rock!
"With this... I can win! Guhaha... GUHAHAHAHAーーー!!"
For some reason, General Orbos seemed to be able to freely move his thick arms and legs, formed by the attached Mechanical Soldiers and other debris, as if they were his real limbs.
He swung his arms and legs, testing them, and then turned to face Emi, laughing triumphantly.
"Now, prepare to die, Grim Reaper-like girl...!"
And then, General Orbos held up his giant fist towards her.
...But.
"H-Haaaaah!? I-I can't move!?"
"Hiiiih!? What's this? What is thiiisーーー!?"
...At that moment, some commotion could be heard from around General Orbos's enlarged chest.
Wondering what was going on, he looked, and there was a white-furred werewolf with white-rimmed glasses, and a gaunt, emaciated man wearing a robe that looked like rags.
Apparently, he had accidentally caught them when he was pulling in the Mechanical Soldiers earlier.
"Let go of me! Let go of meーーー!!"
"He's coming... he's comingーーー!!"
And these two men, they were really noisy.
They kept shouting incomprehensible things.
He can't fight with these things stuck to him.
It's breaking his concentration.
General Orbos, using his giant right arm, mercilessly tried to crush the two men stuck to his chest.
But... it was at that moment!
ZUGAGAGAGAGA!!
With a tremendous roar, a black, giant shadow... burst out of the narrow back alley, destroying its walls, and into the Third Plaza!!
"M-What!?"
That black, giant something was charging straight towards General Orbos!
General Orbos instinctively tried to dodge it, but he hadn't yet grasped the sensation of his own enlarged body.
So, he couldn't completely avoid it.
His right arm was hit by the black, giant something's charge.
That moment.
His right arm.
BAGAAAAAAAAAAAN!!
With a deafening roar, scattering the remains of Mechanical Soldiers around it.
...It was blown off.
"HAAAAAAAAAAH!?"
It was blown off from the elbow down.
It was a part that had been augmented by the power of the armor, and since it didn't include General Orbos's flesh and blood, there was no pain.
However, the shock of having his right arm destroyed by something unknown, just when he thought he had become invincible, brought back the emotion of fear to General Orbos's heart, which should have been sealed by Chubos's brainwashing!
No matter how terrifying Emi, the monster he's facing, is, he doesn't feel fear.
That's how he's been brainwashed.
But what if it's a monster other than Emi?
The answer is... self-explanatory, if you look at his pale face and the cold sweat dripping from his face!
Thud!!!
Now, that giant something that destroyed General Orbos's right arm stopped flying and landed on the cobblestones of the Third Plaza.
And then, it slowly turned around to face General Orbos.
It was.
A giant beetle with a black, glossy shell and five horns.
A terrifying monster with an extraordinary obsession with honey.
Its name is...
Destroy Bunbun!!!