Four Guys’ Subjugation Journey ③
When I returned, Hoss and Rell were fighting back more effectively than I expected.
They were doing well for just the two of them against a mid-tier Gold Rank opponent.
Though, they were currently hiding behind a rock.
‘Vuoooooooohhhhhhhh!!!’
The Great Magic Sword Rhino was enraged.
The surrounding area was a terrible mess, littered with fragments of the wall that had been sliced apart and fallen away, and cracks scarring the ground.
Looks like it went on quite the rampage.
Making sure I wasn’t spotted, I approached the two hiding behind the rock.
“Hoss. Rell. You okay? You alright?”
“Took ya long enough! And yeah, somehow managed.”
“Somehow alright. What about Agaro?”
“Ah, he’s perfectly fine. But, he has a little plan. Until then, we need to buy some time.”
When I told them, they both gave wry smiles.
“Bet it’s Ax’s idea.”
“Got it. But we’re out of Shock Arrows.”
“Definitely in the red now, huh.”
“About that, Mr. Agaro lent me this.”
I showed them the Storage Pouch.
“He said we could freely use any Legacy or Legendary items inside.”
“It’s mostly booze. Anything useful in there?”
“He did mention there should be Explosion Arrows.”
Concentrating on ‘arrows,’ I reached into the pouch.
My hand closed around several arrows. Pulling them out, I saw red arrowheads, yellow arrowheads, and… what’s this pitch-black one?
I had obtained three arrows each with rod-like tips.
Rell narrowed his eyes.
“Fire Arrows, Thunder Arrows, and Explosion Arrows. Nice find.”
“Anything else in there?”
‘Vumomomomomoooooooohhhhhhhhhhh’
The Great Magic Sword Rhino let out a tremendous scream, followed by the sound of something collapsing.
The wall? If so, that’s bad. Rell, sensing this, grabbed all the arrows and said,
“I’ll go out first. Cover me in the meantime.”
“Yeah, got it.”
Rell emerged from behind the rock.
Quickly, Hoss reached into the pouch.
He pulled out just two stones. Two white stone spheres.
“Only two Impact Stones?”
They were Legacy stones that generated an impact when thrown.
‘Vumomomomomomomoooooooohhhhhhhh’
After the Great Magic Sword Rhino roared, the sound of lightning crackled.
“Alright. Let’s go.”
Hoss and I emerged from behind the rock. Just then, Rell’s arrow struck the Great Magic Sword Rhino’s Great Magic Sword.
Sparks of lightning burst forth.
“Rell!”
Rell was perched atop some relatively high rubble.
“Perfect timing. Only Explosion Arrows left.”
“Then slam one into it!”
“Alright. I’ll hit it just like my eighth sister would.”
Rell drew his bow and released an arrow tipped with a black rod.
The arrow struck the Great Magic Sword and exploded. Even the formidable Great Magic Sword Rhino staggered.
But it only staggered. The horn, the Great Magic Sword, was slightly blackened.
“It’s unbelievably tough.”
“But blades work, right?”
“Can we cut it? Hmm?”
What’s this? The Great Magic Sword Rhino is strangely quiet.
‘…………―――’
I thought this might be our chance, but in terms of buying time, it was convenient.
Still, I had a bad feeling.
‘Vumomomomomoooooo――――――――’
With a strangely high-pitched cry, something emerged, seeming to float up from the ground.
They were small Magic Sword Rhinos.
About the size of horses, and a quick count revealed ten of them.
“Summoning!?”
“They’re comin’!”
The Lesser Magic Sword Rhinos charged us. Their horns were long and slender compared to the Great Magic Sword.
I immediately clashed swords with a nearby Lesser Magic Sword Rhino.
Its horn, the Lesser Magic Sword, ignited. A Relic?
But… is that all? I quickly cut down that first one.
“Eat this!”
Hoss threw an Impact Stone. It caught several of them, knocking them down, and he finished them off with his Halberd.
Rell’s ordinary arrow pierced the head of a distant Lesser Magic Sword Rhino.
I, too, slashed open the abdomen of a Lesser Magic Sword Rhino wreathed in wind, felling it.
I had been wary, but they weren’t much of an opponent.
The Relics they used were elemental. And they only manifested in the magic swords on their heads.
They were the type classified as low-tier Silver Rank just because they could use Relics.
Even weak monsters could become Silver Rank if they could use Relics.
‘Vumomoooooohhhhhh!!’
Once about half of them were defeated, the Great Magic Sword Rhino started moving again.
Compared to the lesser ones, this guy was in a league of its own.
It barely flinched from explosions or impacts, and while blades could penetrate slightly, it was incredibly hard. Too hard.
It probably had some kind of [Enhancement] or [Hardening] Relic.
The Lesser Magic Sword Rhinos were extremely annoying, and the Great Magic Sword Rhino was truly troublesome.
Our only option was to somehow defeat the lesser ones while keeping the great one occupied.
Hoss threw his last Impact Stone, halting the remaining two lesser ones.
Just as he moved to finish them off.
‘Vumomomooohhoooohhhhhh!!’
The Great Magic Sword Rhino leaped repeatedly with its massive body, firing off flying slashes indiscriminately.
Each time it landed, the ground shook, stopping us in our tracks.
A flying slash zipped past beside us. Unfortunately, one of the Lesser Magic Sword Rhinos was sliced in two.
Just as I thought, ‘How pitiful,’ tragedy struck.
Rell was cut down.
“Rell!!”
“Rell!?”
Hoss and I rushed over and carried him behind a nearby rock.
“Hang in there!”
“Where’d it get ya?!”
“Hah… hah… Who knows…”
It seemed the slash had grazed him. His side was soaked with blood.
The wound was deep. Rell’s face grew pale.
“Wh-what do we do, Ax! Rell’s gonna die if we don’t do something!”
I pulled an Extra Potion from the Storage Pouch.
This stuff was the pinnacle of Potions.
I poured it onto Rell’s wound. But it had no effect. It didn’t even staunch the bleeding.
“Even this doesn’t work!?”
“Hah, hah… Tell my sisters… to live freely…”
“Your sisters are already livin’ freely! Too freely, even!”
“…Is that so… Yeah… you’re right…”
“Hey! Rell! Don’t close your eyes!!”
“Rell!!? Ax, isn’t there anything else?! Anything, anything at all!!!”
“…Anything else… besides the Extra… something… something… Come to think of it.”
Suddenly, as if my mind had gone blank, I remembered vividly.
I took a small vial from my own pouch.
This was something Wof had given me when she saw us off before the subjugation.
If anything should happen, don’t hesitate to use this, she had said as she handed it over.
“Wof. I’m using it.”
Without hesitation, I dripped the contents of the vial onto Rell’s wound. Just a single drop.
The thick, shimmering liquid touched Rell’s wound.
Then, like a lie, the wound vanished.
It was truly, unbelievably erased.
“Wh-what the…”
“…What the heck.”
“Rell!!”
“Rell!?”
Rell’s eyes opened. Hoss instinctively hugged him.
Rell blinked rapidly.
“What…”
“Don’t scare us like that, ya sis-con Elf!”
“I am not a sis-con.”
“Are you okay physically?”
“Yeah, strangely enough, I feel completely fine. More than that, I feel power welling up. Hey. I should have died. What happened?”
“You didn’t die. You were just about to.”
“That was—“
‘Bumoooooooohhhhhhooooohhhhhh’
The Great Magic Sword Rhino let out a great Roar.
In that instant, I… I glanced at the vial, tucked it into my pouch, and stood up.
“What is it, Ax?”
“What’s wrong, Ax?”
“Hey, that thing. It’s really pissing me off, isn’t it?”
I muttered.
The moment I heard that scream, I became unreasonably furious.
Furious about all sorts of things.
“Course it’s pissin’ me off.”
“Yeah, it’s infuriating.”
Hoss and Rell stood up too. They were angry as well.
Yes, we were enraged. We lined up and stepped out from behind the rock.
We walked towards it—towards the Great Magic Sword, then broke into a run.
The Great Magic Sword Rhino noticed us immediately, and incidentally, the last remaining lesser one was in the way, so I cut it down.
‘Vumomomomomooooooohhhhhh!!!!’
The Great Magic Sword Rhino roared at us.
“Uooooooooooohhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!”
“Ooooooooooohhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!”
“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!”
We roared back. Roaring just as loud, no, even louder.
Screaming, running, I swung my sword back and leaped.
Hoss lowered his Halberd and charged, while Rell stopped and drew his bow.
‘Vumomoooh!!’
The Great Magic Sword Rhino made the Great Magic Sword on its forehead blur and glow. I was right in front of it.
“Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhh!!”
Hoss’s full-power charge and Halberd strike made the Great Magic Sword Rhino sway slightly.
“How dare you. In the name of Tasan, I will strike you down.”
Rell said something and released an arrow. It struck the Great Magic Sword, shifting it slightly again.
It shifted little by little. But that was more than enough.
There was a crack in the Great Magic Sword. A crack made by Mr. Agaro’s attack.
It was just a tiny crack, but it had appeared right before me.
“Go, Ax!”
“Do it, Ax!”
That crack appeared thanks to Hoss and Rell’s attacks.
Alright, I’ll do it.
“Daaaaaaaariiiiieeeeeeyayayayayaaaaaaaaahhhhh!!”
I swung my sword down at the crack with all my might. The tip of my sword struck the fissure, and from there, I put every ounce of strength I had into the downward swing.
“Don’t underestimate the Fang of Thunder! Hoooooooooooooohhhhh!”
There was a loud cracking sound.
Vvvvvmooomomoooooooohhhhhhooooooooohhhhhhhhhhh!!
The Great Magic Sword Rhino let out a greater scream than ever before.
I knew what had happened. The symbolic Great Magic Sword had broken.
I did it. I felt completely satisfied. I’d accomplished it.
And then, finally. As I fell, I looked up at the top of the wall.
Agaro was there.
“Whoa, you actually did it! That’s amazing! Didn’t think you’d go that far!”
Agaro made Flame Tongue burn pitch black. It looked just like wings of Black Flame.
“I’m pleased. So, I’ll show you guys. Ruinblade—the origin of its name.”
Flame Tongue swelled and extended as if the wings of Black Flame were flapping.
It stretched taller than Agaro himself. Agaro leaped high into the air and began to fall.
The Great Magic Sword Rhino was in a frenzy. No, it was just a mere monster, Rhino, having lost its Great Magic Sword.
And I was the one who shattered it.
Agaro swung Flame Tongue.
The annihilation flames of Ruinblade incinerated and severed the Great Magic Sword Rhino.
“……”
That once-sturdy Great Magic Sword Rhino was easily sliced in two, like cutting through melted butter.
So this is Ruinblade…
Agaro landed and sheathed Flame Tongue.
Then he gave us a wry smile.
“Sorry, sorry. I managed to climb the wall quickly, but part of it had collapsed, and I got lost on the way.”
“Was Ax’s plan a surprise attack from atop the wall, then?”
“I see. From up there.”
“Yeah, I saw a spot that looked climbable, so I thought it’d work.”
“Climbing it was fine, but the fog was thick, I got lost, and I almost ended up where Mistranda was.”
“That’s no joke.”
Wait, does that thing actually exist?
Agaro-san picked up a fragment of the Great Magic Sword.
“Still, you guys did great. Never thought you’d actually shatter it.”
“It’s thanks to you putting that crack in it first, Agaro-san,” I said, handing back the Storage Pouch.
Agaro took it and pulled out some alcohol.
“Even so, shattering it is incredible. Alright! When we get back, it’s my treat! Drink as much as you want!”
“Alright! Cidre Tavern, it is!”
“Cidre Tavern, yeah.”
“Got to be Cidre Tavern.”
“Sounds good. Cidre Tavern it is.”
Well, yeah. It’s the place we use most in Hydrangea, after all.
“Alright. Let’s head back. Oh, right. Take a fragment of the Great Magic Sword. It’ll make good material.”
“Or rather, it’s the subjugation proof, ain’t it?”
“Is it okay? I smashed it into so many pieces.”
“Ah, now that you mention it, yeah.”
“Sorry I broke it.”
I apologized without thinking. Agaro took a drink and laughed.
“Gahahahahahahah! Don’t worry about it. The biggest fragment should be enough, right?”
“Will it be, y’know?”
“Who knows.”
“Beats me. That casual attitude… you’re just like my third older sister, who insisted it didn’t matter whether it was high-class soup or rotten meat soup.”
“Callin’ that rough is pretty rough itself, y’know.”
“You think so?”
“Yeah.”
And so, we left the Mazan Mountain Range Area behind us.
Later.
Hydrangea. Cidre Tavern.
“Wof. Thanks.”
Saying that, I placed a small vial on the table.
Wof looked up briefly from his large serving of Butter Rice—my treat—and noticed it was empty.
“You used it, then.”
“Yeah, thanks to that, Rell was saved.”
“Rell-san? Did something happen?”
“I almost died. But the contents of the vial you gave me saved me.”
“…I’m truly glad to hear that…”
“Wof. I won’t ask what that stuff was. Because you saved me. Hoss feels the same. We kept it quiet from Rell.”
It pains me to keep it secret from our companion, Rell.
But if the liquid that saved him is what I think it is, I can’t possibly tell him.
“…I’m sorry.”
He looked apologetic. I laughed.
“It’s fine. Here, eat up. You can have seconds too.”
“Thank you very much.”
Then, once Wof had finished his large portion, I placed a white fragment on the table.
“Wof. I want you to have this.”
What I put down was a fragment of the Great Magic Sword from the Great Magic Sword Rhino.
Wof’s eyes widened.
“Is this, perhaps…”
“Yeah, it’s a fragment of the Great Magic Sword. Take it.”
“Are you sure?”
“Rell was saved thanks to you. And we owe you for a lot of other things before that, too.”
Meeting Wof is what made us who we are today. I can’t thank him enough.
“Thank you very much. But what should I use it for? A knife, maybe?”
“How about making some armor? You don’t have any armor, right?”
“Yes. I’ve been thinking about it, but… it’s just a bit heavy for me.”
“I see. Leather armor is certainly heavy for someone Wof’s age.”
“Yes. I do want armor, though.”
“In that case, how about a gauntlet?”
“…A gauntlet?”
“Agaro-san mentioned it. Apparently, this material can make a light and sturdy gauntlet.”
“A gauntlet… But I don’t know any blacksmiths.”
“Ah, sorry. The ones I know are exclusively for Seekers.”
“I see…”
“Ask your big sis.”
The sudden interjection came from Agaro beside us.
Looking over, I saw a man passed out drunk at the other table. Ah, he won again and came over here, huh?
I heard the only one he hasn’t beaten is Megadia the Black-Drinker. Megadia must be incredible to have won.
“Arifa-san?”
“Your big sis should know someone who can make that into a gauntlet.”
“Okay. I’ll ask her.”
“By the way, Wof. How’s that knife?”
“Yes. It’s very easy to use and has been really helpful.”
“I see. Take good care of it.”
“Yes!”
“See ya.”
“Take care, Agaro-san.”
Agaro staggered out of the tavern.
I wore an indescribable smile.
“If only he didn’t have that…”
“Ax-san.”
“Hm? What is it?”
“Please tell me about the Mazan Mountain Range Area!”
Wof asked excitedly, his eyes sparkling.
I smiled and began to recount what had happened.