Chapter 44: Pluto's Black Star (3)

༺ Pluto's Black Star (3) ༻

"Here are her footprints... She couldn't have gone too far, hurry up!"

"Hak, Heu, Ha... I-I'm coming but..."

Hoo... I was panting and my breath was coarse from fatigue. Although I didn't know any swordsmanship or martial arts I was at least confident in my running ability.

My self-confidence waned a little after today.

Hippolyte was effortlessly running as though she was floating on the ground. She was kicking the ground with her two legs like a fucking cheetah. Holy fuck, I don't think she'd lose in speed to a cheetah at all. How the fuck is she so fast?

Even though I recently got a bit stronger, it was still merely at the level of a fairly robust man. Since my growth was fairly limited, by the standards of this barbaric world. I could barely follow Hippolyte's footsteps.

Hippolyte would sometimes look behind, trying to see if I was keeping up with her.

"Hurry up!"

"Geuuh..."

Instead of falling at the hands of the Necromancer, I might just drop dead here from exhaustion while following Hippolyte.

"Fucking... tired... Ah, damn it..."

"Fucking, damn it..."

All of a sudden...

I suddenly felt my body kick off from the ground and hover in the air. Hippolyte actually picked me up and carried me on her shoulders like I was a piece of luggage.

The way she casually picked me up, like casually picking up a lunch box from the ground, after briefly stopping was fucking amazing. What was more amazing was my flipped view of the back of her legs moving rapidly on the ground.

Shake- Shake- Shake-

Wow, it felt really similar to riding a two-wheeler. I felt like I was sent back to my world for a few moments.

"Wow, you're so fast, this is no joke. Do you even need a carriage at this point?"

"You'll bite your tongue if you speak! Don't open your mouth."

"Umm."

I immediately closed my mouth, hearing her warning words.

I kept my mouth shut until Hippolyte, who had been running around with her drizzling brown hair like a horse's fluttering mane, suddenly stopped in her tracks and began looking around with a vigilant gait.

Having her untidy hair cover up my face wasn't what I could really call comfortable, but she might just throw me away if I made any comments so I kept it all in.

Sliding-

Due to her sudden stop, her body which was moving at high speeds left a long trace on the ground as though she had been sliding on a snow-covered path.

From her shoulders, I could see the rare sight of her smooth thighs expanding like they were the brakes of a car.

Hippolyte soon groaned, interrupting my thoughtless indulgence in this weird yet beautiful sight.

"We caught up. Get down."

I quickly stepped down from her shoulders and took a good look at our surroundings. It didn't look any different from the previous plains we were previously in, at least to me

"There's nothing here though..."

"I can feel the eerie mana. That wizard can actually use concealment magic? I can't believe she can use such a large-scale concealment as this. Is she perhaps from Corinthe's Ivory Tower?"

She could actually feel mana? Wow! The plebian that was me, however, could only feel the hot air and sweat drops falling down my back under this scorching hot sun. Damn, it was fucking hot!

Whenever I heard something like this, I'd feel uncomfortable at the clear differences between the humans of this world and those of my original world.

"There..."

Hippolyte lifted her blade up in the air. And the same sharp yet invisible wind blades that cut the skeleton dragon were produced once again; it began tearing through the air and was probably targeting a specific spot.

Whoosh-

Not only was she actually cutting through the air ahead, but I was made to witness the bizarre sight of blood starting to spray from somewhere along the wind blade's path.

Fwooh-

At the same time, our surroundings began fading out like paint being peeled off from the walls of a house.

The wilderness disappeared, replaced by dark passages, and cold and mossy stone walls suddenly surrounded us from all sides.

Damn, is this shit for real? I was probably even more surprised than Sima Yi after he had discovered an empty fort. 1The Empty Fort Strategy is the 32nd of the Chinese Thirty-Six Stratagems. The strategy involves using reverse psychology (and luck) to deceive the enemy into thinking that an empty location is full of traps and ambushes, and therefore induce the enemy to retreat. It was featured in "Romance of The Three Kingdoms".

Hippolyte lifted her mouth and calmly spoke while seeing the dilapidated walls...

"This feeling... It's pluto's ruins. How long have we been inside? Did an entrance to the depths appear in the Acheron swamps too"

Her eyes were directed at a corpse wearing black robes. He had collapsed after being hit by the invisible blade and subsequently died after falling on the cold floor of the ruins.

"To think you'd see through Golos' concealment magic... You have great senses... But it's too late... This is our home turf... A place full of the aura of death... The aura here fuels our magic to unsurmountable heights..."

Soon after that, a group of people, wearing black cloaks, appeared from the dark depths of the dilapidated ruins and blocked our road ahead.

I didn't know what to do and could only tremble in fright. Fuck, I shouldn't have followed her! Just when I started regretting my choices.

The necromancer with the pointy necklace, probably the psychopath from earlier who was called Koma by Hippolyte, spoke in a sinister voice.

"Warrioress... Your skills and strength have indeed reached the level of the heroes...

Spark- Spark-

I could see black sparks and lightning crackling out from Koma's necklace, encircling her shadowy form.

"Too late... The spell has been performed... You're an experienced warrior... You must know how difficult it is to face a wizard who has successfully performed their spell..."

A wizard who finished performing his spell?

I could instinctively feel how bad that sounded. From my little involvement with magic, I knew that this spelled nothing good for us.

"Come behind me, Samaritan! A big one is flying our way!"

Damn, how reliable!

I didn't refuse her words and immediately hid behind her back. My heart was overflowing with unknown emotions at the sight of her fluttering and reassuring cape. Damn, she was really charismatic, worthy of being called a hero.

"Ideos... Koperu..."

The necromancer suddenly shouted in that weird language of hers and even more sparks burst out from her necklace. Giant black lightning bolts as thick as my thighs were coming our way.

Spark- Spark-

The black streaks of lightning were flying like an arrow while bouncing off the stone walls; it then flew straight towards Hippolyte's body which was firmly standing in front of me, protecting me behind her.

"If I cut it like this then..."

Seeing Hippolyte accurately swinging her sword on the swift-moving black lightning was again an amazing sight.

Swoosh-

Unfortunately, Hippolyte's sword simply moved through the air without having any effects on the lightning. As a result, Hippolyte was directly struck by the thick black thunderbolt and fell down with a grotesque "Argh!" sound. It was particularly jarring to the ears and made my heart almost leap out of my throat from fright.

"Ugh- Huuh..."

Now that the wall defending me was thoroughly smashed, it was my own responsibility to protect my life from these black-robed cultists.

"Spiritual Severance... Great Beginning of the Heavens, the power of Chaos... You will survive this even if you have the blood of Jupiter... One more is left... Die, you barbarian..." (Hippolyte is saying she's the daughter of Mars, and Mars is the son of Jupiter/Zeus)

Thus, the necromancer grabbed her necklace again and seemed to be gathering mana for one last deadly attack aimed at me. If I don't do something I'll get turned into charred crisps by the black thunderbolt from earlier.

"What the... fucking damn it all!"

I chose to pull out my sword and charged forward with a fierce howl.

"W-What?"

Maybe because they never expected that I'd attack them so fiercely, the people in black robes looked very flustered.

Wasn't it common sense to attack wizards when they were busy casting their spells? Were they retards or what?

"S-Stop him!"

Koma shouted loudly at her, seemingly hesitating, comrades. Although flustered, the robe-clad cultists quickly tried to block my path, but my sword was much faster and cut through their bodies like a knife through butter.

Whoosh-

My long sword that had previously cut through the frail goblins and crocodile skin was now cutting the other person's shoulders and arms with a fountain of blood in its wake. At the same time, I could feel the black-robed cultists falter under my berserk hits.

It was then that I realized.

They're pretty damn weak, aren't they? I can fearlessly deal with these weaklings.

Swoosh- Swish-

I would hear "Argh!" or "Gyagh" every time I swung my sword in the narrow hallways of the moss-covered ruins. Some of the black-robed scums even pulled out daggers and tried to counterattack using their weak bodies.

Still, even with daggers in hand, their reach was nothing compared to my long sword. I began cutting off their dagger-holding wrists before they could even come close to me.

Sniff-

Although the stench of blood was very unpleasant to the nose, I had no time to worry about that right now. My life was on the line, damn it!

"What are you doing...?! Use your spells to subdue him...!"

"W-We're trying to but it's not working...! Our spirit-scattering spells are not working...!"

"I heard Samaritans had great mental fortitude. Isn't what we're doing practically meaningless?"

"Damn, what are you guys even useful for...! Foolish bastards!"

I had no clue what they were talking about. The black-robed cultists began shouting at each other, clearly, they weren't as united as I was told they were.

Infighting while the enemy is in front of you? Isn't this the same as declaring defeat? They really were retards, weren't they?

I continued to cut off the arms and shoulders of all the bastards blocking my way and knocked them directly to the ground.

In a world where welfare for the disabled was nonexistent, this was the same as killing them, maybe even worse.

"I-I did it! Ideos... Koperu..."

The lofty necromancer shouted after seemingly completing her spell casting. Soon after that, black sparks started buzzing out of her necklace and a black thunderbolt was shot out of it with immense speed.

This black thunderbolt was enough to knock down an inhumanely powerful warrioress of the silver tier. I couldn't help but feel scared out of my wits as I was sure a mere weakling like me stood no chance against it.

It was impossible for a human to avoid the clasps of lightning. Eventually, I was hit by the black thunderbolt and helplessly screamed before my inevitable demise.

"Damn it! Gyaagh!"

"I-I did it! F-Fucking idiot... V-Very good... I've got some nice bodies... A warrioress of Mars and a Samaritan. You're gonna be my henchmen now... V-Very good...! Ah, I-I thought I was going to wet my pants for a second there... Fucking lunatic almost scared me silly... But he's finally down, no one can stop me now.... Hahahahaha.....!"

Only the terrifying laughter of the necromancer could be heard in the dark hallways. Something was off, however. I was still alive...

When I was struck by the lightning I reflexively screamed, waiting for the unbearable pain to assault me. But, for some reason, I actually wasn't feeling pain or anything like that.

Well, my muscles were a little bit numb but it was nothing extreme. Damn, what is this? Did she miss or something? How was I fine when even the mighty Hippolyte had been knocked cold by that terrifying attack?

Anyway, she just missed her finisher which took a long time to cast. No fucking way I was gonna let this golden opportunity go through my hands. Not waiting for a single additional instant, I raised my sword as high as I could and swung down with all my strength.

The necromancer whose laughter was resounding all across the stone walls suddenly flinched and was left bewildered at my sudden momentum.

"W-What?! The black star's spiritual severance spell isn't working? I-It can't be!"

She seemed bewildered as she was touching her necklace in utter doubt as though she couldn't fathom this turn of events. Seeing another opening, I slashed her shoulders as hard as I could. Her arm fell to the floor and rolled over with a thudding noise. Blood sprayed everywhere from her wound.

"M-My arm! My aaaarm!"

"It's not your arm anymore bitch."

"Geuh, W-What?! I don't get it! Lord P-Pluto! G-Give me your strength...! Help meeeeee......"

The necromancer held out her injured shoulder, with the severed arm, and began staggering back in retreat. I didn't get why I was unaffected too, but if there was something I was sure of, it was that I was the predator here.

"Praying is of no use. I'm the only God here now damn witch."

"D-Damn it...!"

"You should have chosen your class wisely, stupid witch!"

"W-What even is that...!"

Swing- Swing-

I then cut off her remaining arm with another swing of my blade. She then fell to the ground with both arms severed and struggled hard until she bled out and lost consciousness, probably from blood loss.

"Whoa..."

Once the situation was over, and the effects of adrenaline had thoroughly faded out, I finally grew fully aware of what situation I was in.

My legs lost all strength and were on the verge of giving in, and my hand that was holding the sword was shaking like an old man with late-stage Parkinson's disease. Fuck fuck fuck... I can't believe I just beat those wizards!

"Geuh, Huugh..."

I let out a sigh of absolute relief as my excitement after winning this tough battle faded out a little. Only then did I remember that Hippolyte had taken a hit in my stead and was injured because of it.

"Ughh..."

Hippolyte continued to groan in pain while lying on the ground as if she had a severe fever. It doesn't look life-threatening but it might be risky to just leave her like this.

Damn, what kind of first aid should be given to a victim of an electrocution spell?

Should I do CPR? I ended up putting my finger on her wrist after cringing at my stupid idea.

Ding-

[Stats] Name: Hippolyte Heavensinger

Level: ??

Condition: Blood Curse > Moonlight Enervation> Severe Menstrual Pain > Partially Blocked Airway > ????>

As expected, what I could see now was different than the last time. Blocked airway? Was she perhaps having trouble breathing?

I then laid Hippolyte flat on the ground and lifted her chin slightly to not obstruct her airways from their natural flow.

"Geuh..."

But her breathing was showing no signs of improvement. Shit, is there any spot that I could press on that could help remedy her breathing difficulties?

Fuck, I can't see shit. Still, I need to do something... her chest!

Compressing her chest would surely help in removing the block. Swiftly, I took off the iron plate armor covering her chest area.

Cling- Clong- Clang-

The knots on her backside were very tight. I was fortunately very dexterous due to my ability and could easily unravel them. A very thin piece of black fabric appeared in my sight, something resembling a sports bra or maybe a tank top.

Shock-

I lost focus for a few moments at her chest, which had bulged out after removing her armor, which was bigger than I imagined it to be.

Wow, Holy Fuck...!

I didn't notice before because it was covered with the iron plate but damn, of course, you'd have difficulties breathing if you were forced to press something so massive with stuffy chest armor like that.

"Well, Miss Hippolyte. This is... This is an act of rescue. It's nothing weird. Please don't think of it as sexual harassment"

I put my palms on her chest after declaring so, trying to alleviate my troubled conscience.

Jiggle-

The softness of her chest was transmitted from my palm through my spinal cord and directly to my brain. How could something be so soft? Fuck...

Damn, I'll just touch it one more time.

Jiggle- Jiggle-

Just when I felt the smooth surface and soft sensation once again, almost started to get addicted to that feel...

"Euuh, Euuh, Euuuh. W-What a cowardly trick... Cough, Euuh..."

Hippolyte finally woke up while coughing. I was so happy to see her, who was seemingly about to die, suddenly wake up that I began shouting in excitement and joy. My benefactor was alive!

"M-Miss Hippolyte! Are you alright?"

"Whoa... W-What's wrong with me? Wait!!! W-Why are you touching my chest!?"

"Holy shit!"

I knew it... I'm fucked... Again...

Wanna unlock all premium chapters? Check the Membership Chapters will seamlessly unlock no need to bother buying coins anymore.

Footnotes:

1The Empty Fort Strategy is the 32nd of the Chinese Thirty-Six Stratagems. The strategy involves using reverse psychology (and luck) to deceive the enemy into thinking that an empty location is full of traps and ambushes, and therefore induce the enemy to retreat. It was featured in "Romance of The Three Kingdoms".