Chapter 94: Black Lion
Chapter 94: Black Lion
◆Black Haired Sage; Chiyuki
Ten days had passed since the encounter with that creepy clown and we'd finally arrived in the center of the blue forest.
The reason why it took so long was that they had to wait for enough freedom fighters to gather in Velos. And since there was a lot of participant, it was bound to have slowed the movement.
Eclas seems to be extremely delighted by it. According to the nobles who made the plan, they planned to gather around a thousand fighters. And yet, they managed to gather more than three times the number they'd planned.
For that reason, the Velos kingdom goverment ended up being forced with two choices, either to screen the warriors or continue forward with the plans.
In the end, they choose the latter.
That's why it took a lot of time to prepare for the march.
There were around four thousand freedom fighters marching towards the blue forest.
It was quite a large army.
We were looking at them from the back of a gryphon and a pegasus who were flying in the air.
The march of such a large number of people was quite a spectacle.
But, this maarch was a mess.
Though freedom fighters were superior in individual combat prowess, they're inferior when it comes to group battles.
When I was looking below, I caught the sight of some of them marching while drinking their liquor.
General Portos, who led the march, was really having the hardest day in his entire career.
「Eh, are you okay, Chiyuki-san?」
Nao, who rode on the hippogriff beside the gryphon, came to ask me.
「Well, I just can't help but feel worried. I'm trying to stop them and yet, they choose to go as is.」
I muttered so.
The place we're heading toward was a dangerous place, even from our perspective.
I felt something really dangerous from that mysterious clown. Thus, I'd proposed to the king to cancel the campaign.
And yet, the freedom fighters opposed it. Reason being they didn't want us to steal their reward and loots.
When they told me so, I couldn't bring myself to try and convince them to stop anymore.
In the first place, we're the ones who were cooperating with them.
Thus, we were matching their speed.
「Hey, are you really sure that Shirone-san's childhood friend will really wait in that place?」
Rino asked with a worried look on her face.
It seems she was recalling that clown.
「Honestly, I'm not sure about this matter either, Rino. And he doesn't seem like he's in that place to either which makes this situation even more confusing.」
Reiji, who was riding on a pegasus in front of us, then spoke while keeping a watch ahead.
Reiji was looking at the place filled with pink mist.
The confectionary castle seems to be right inside that mist.
But, something about Reiji's remark felt amiss.
What did he mean by "Not in there"?
I looked at Nao.
But, Nao also shook her head.
Nao had the sharpest senses amongst us.
Even though Nao couldn't feel that person's presence, what did Reiji feel with his perception?
「Reiji-kun is right. I don't think Kuroki is waiting for us in there. If he's right in there, he might've already shown himself a long time ago.」
Shirone, who was flying at the very front, spoke while glaring at the pink mist.
It seems Shirone was also convinced that her childhood friend wasn't in there.
Since both Shirone and Reiji had the same opinion, that person was definitely not in there.
「I see. Since the two of you say so, you must be right. But, it doesn't mean that there really is nothing in there. We mustn't let our guard down.」
Everyone nodded in agreement.
「It seems you're right... I feel an eerie presence inside that mist. We mustn't jump in carelessly.」
We were looking towards the pink mist again upon hearing Nao's remark.
「Uwaa~. Something with eerie presence is coming. Shall we just ignore that clown and go back?」
Rino offered such a splendid proposal.
「Yeah, I want to go back too. It's not like we have to do as that clown said.」
I added so while looking at Reiji.
「E~H!! NO!! EVEN IF KUROKI ISN'T IN THAT PLACE, THAT GIRL SHOULD BE WAITING IN THERE!! AND WE ABSOLUTELY CANNOT LET GO OF THAT GIRL!!」
Shirone shot down our proposal as if it was natural.
She wanted to take back her childhood friend. It seems she couldn't abandon her childhood friend who was being manipulated by that Silver Witch.
「Yeah. There's no such thing as refusing the invitation of such a beauty.」
Reiji flashed his usual daring smile.
This d*ckhead became a real pain in the a** once he knew that the Dark Knight wasn't in this place.
「Ha~h, fine then. General Portos seems to be starting to prepare the camp. It is safe to assume that the operation will start tomorrow. Let's get down and take a rest too.」
I heaved a sigh as I spoke.
◆Goblin's Prince; Goz
「AAAAAAAAAAAH!! THE HERO AND CO ARE COMING!!」
In the reception hall of confectionary castle, the figure of hero and co were reflected in the image floating in the air inside the spacious hall.
My mother got flustered upon seeing that.
「GOZ!! WHAT ABOUT HEQAT-SAMA!? DID SHE COME BACK ALREADY!?」
Like hell I know about that.
That ugly frog goddess wasn't here right now.
It seems she went somewhere after saying that she had to gather something.
In the first place, why did this mother of mine ask such a question to me who was even more clueless than her?
「Even if you ask me... I'm as clueless as you, mother...」
I said so in order to pacify my mother.
「TCH!! WHAT A USELESS SON YOU ARE!!!」
My mother cursed at me.
I really wish that this ugly goblin would die already. Well, not that I'm gonna said that to her face though.
「Ma~n. Po~or thing, you really have been abandone~d.」
A man in a clown get up said so as if making fun of us while hopping in the air.
Though I couldn't see his face due to the clown mask, I knew that he didn't even pity us.
Nevertheless, can this clown just shut up already?
「KU~UH!! SINCE THAT'S THE CASE!! I'M GONNA USE MY BEAUTY TO CAPTURE THE HERO'S HEART!!」
My mother's body moved eeriely, back and forth.
To be honest, it was soo disgusting to the point that even the other goblins beside me made a face as if they wanted to vomit on the spot.
Wait a minute, could we just use this visual impact to repel the hero? I mean, even that hero might escape with his tail between his legs once he saw this abomination.
And then, just when I came up with such an idea, a magic circle suddenly appeared in mid-air.
「It seems I made it in time. RibbitRibbitRibbit」
The one who appeared from the magic circle was Heqat, the goddess with three frog heads.
「HEQAT-SAMAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'VE BEEN WAITIIIIIIIIIIING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!」
My mother was clinging to Heqat as she was bawling to her heart's content.
「Good grief, what a useless woman you are. Well, you don't have to worry anymore, I've brought some reinforcements with me.」
After Heqat said so, several magic circles appeared in mid-air.
Several shadows appeared from those magic circles. Some were human-like and some had a grotesque appearance.
Who in the hell are they??
「Uhm, Heqat-sama. These people are?」
My mother asked while tilting her head in confusion.
「They're the male gods who are trying to court goddess Rena and got flat out rejected by her. RibbitRibbitRibbit」
Following Heqat's remark, I looked at the people who just appeared.
Every one of them was unleashing an incredible oppressive air.
「That's something that I can't overlook, Heqat. This great me hasn't gotten rejected. She just can't see how awesome I am. Hero of light? Ptooey, I'm gonna beat that brat who forgot his place.」
The male god with a terrifying face draws closer to Heqat.
「That's right. As if we're gonna let that brat from another world snatch away our heavenly beauty. Don't you agree with me?」
「YES, I'M WITH YOU!!」
「THAT FRIVOLOUS MAN ISN'T SUITED FOR OUR HEAVENLY BEAUTY!!」
「EVEN THOUGH I'VE BEEN COURTING RENA FOR A FEW HUNDREDS OF YEARS!!! LIKE HELL I'M GONNA LET THAT BRAT GET AHEAD OF US!!」
「YESHH!! RENA-CHAN IS MINEEE!!」
「HEY!!? WHERE IS THE BASTARD WHO DARED TO SAY THAT!? SHOW YOUR FACE!! RENA IS MINE, NOT YOURS!!」
「What are you guys talking about? Only I am suitable for that beautiful princess.」
「HOW DARE YOU TO SAY THAT, YOU SNOBBY BAST*RD!!」
Thus, the male gods started quarrelling amongst themselves.
「THAT'S ENOUGH!!!! STOP QUARRELING AMONGST YOURSELVES!!!」
Powerful magical power emitted from Heqat's body.
I almost pissed my pants when I was exposed to such pressure.
All the male gods suddenly turned their attention to Heqat.
「Anyone who manages to kill the hero is the most appropriate man for the heavenly beauty. It's still not too late to quarrel amongst yourselves after that. RibbitRibbitRibbit.」
The male gods exchanged glances amongst each other as they heard Heqat's remark.
「Yeah, you're right...」
「Yeah, let's kill that poser first.」
「Let's set aside our conflict until then.」
「I'll be the one who's gonna kill that b*stard who dared to steal my Rena!!」
They changed so much to the point that their bloodthirsty air from before was a lie.
Their killing intent alone was enough to make this castle creak.
「Well, that's all I wanted to say. Now you lot have to enter the barrier and wait till the hero comes. Don't worry about Rena resenting you since no one aside from me knows who enters the barrier. RibbitRibbitRibbit」
Heqat replied with a laugh.
It seems Heqat was running around all over the place to gather the male gods who resented the hero of light.
She'd put together such a big plan in such a short amount of time.
When I thought so, another magic circle appeared in mid-air.
The one who appeared from the magic circle was a man with head of a black lion. He carried a giant great sword on his back.
「Humph. To think that there are so many people who don't know their place.」
The man with the black lion head muttered so as he looked at the gathering of male gods.
The mouth of the black lion didn't move at all. So that means the black lion head was just a headgear.
「Oh, never thought that you would come too.」
「Humph. It's the old frog, eh. To be honest, I want to beat you to death, but I'll turn a blind eye just this one time. I have to kill that bastard called hero of light first.」
The black lion unleashed his killing intent as he spoke.
And it wasn't just aimed at Heqat. It was aimed at everyone in this place.
Tense air unfolded once again when the male gods were exposed to that powerful killing intent.
That man with black lion head, just who in the world is he?
「He~~. To think that even that person came. Interesting!!! Kuna-sama going to be really amused by this!!」
The clown who was already behind me since who-knows-when muttered so with amused voice.
It seems he knew the identity of that man with the black lion headgear.
「Not even that hero of light can win against this many gods. And I don't see any problem with one or two of them getting injured since they're not even that Modes boy's allies to begin with. RibbitRibbitRibbit」
Heqat's laugh resounded in the hall of the confectionary castle.
◆Heavenly Beauty; Rena
「What's the matter, Totona? It's rare to see you looking for me.」
I greeted Totona who was waiting for me at the entrance of my mansion in Elios.
「Just a minor business. Rena, have you seen my big brother? He doesn't seem to be in Elios.」
「Big brother? Are you talking about Thors? What do you mean by he isn't in Elios?」
Thors's job was to protect Elios. For that reason, he rarely left Elios.
「I don't know. But, there are some traces of an outsider contacting my big brother. And here I thought that my big brother was consulting with you, but I guess I'm wrong. Sorry for the intrusion. I'll go back to my library.」
Totona left after she said so.
Outsiders were contacting Thors... what's the meaning of this?
Thors hated anyone unaffiliated with Elios.
The first person that came to my mind was Trident, the god of sea, but Trident was secluding himself.
So the one who contacted Thors must be someone unaffiliated with Elios.
What was the identity of the other party then? Moreover, Thors didn't seem to refuse the other party either. What's the meaning of this?
For some reason, I got a bad feeling about this.