The Black Fog that Devours - CH 122

(Kurokiri POV for the whole chapter)

A few days after Chirito and the others departed.

Buuuuuuuuuuuu!

The ringing of an alarm that signals the presence of an intruder, which I have not heard for some time, reaches my ears while I am in my private room, sleep ━ in the middle of analyzing my work.

“Chirito ~ Ah, wait, he’s not here now.”

As a habitual practice, I inadvertently ask Chirito for an analysis of the intruder, only to realize immediately that he is not present.

Well, how should I say this, it seems that I have been relying on Chirito for quite some time now.

It can’t be helped since this is the type of thing you won’t notice until they’re gone.

“Let me open the monitor for now.”

“Excuse me.” “I’m coming in, Kurokiri.”

Before my eyes, I draw out a monitor that projects the view of each of the monsters.

Simultaneously, Ichiko and Ryo enter the room, perhaps having heard the alarm.

“They are here. So these are the intruders?”

At the entrance of the second level, six figures appear in the sight of the Mud Puppets.

“What kind of people are they?”

“Hmm. Let’s see…”

Ichiko asks while leaning against the monitor.

And then the battle between the intruders and the Mud Puppets breaks out.

The intruders consisted of a fighter (male), two heavy fighters (gender unknown), a one-handed swordsman (male), a healer (male), and a wizard (male).

Yup. All of them will be slain except for the heavy fighters provided that they are girls. In particular, the fighter’s muscles look awful. They are so shiny and bulky that even through the monitor, it looks sickening.

“Even so, why did these guys venture into the second level of the ‘White Fog and Black Swamp Forest’? The third and fifth levels are ideal for leveling, and with the state of reconstruction following the Octopus King’s raid, there’s no point in stepping into the second level, right?”

“No, I received word from an old informant that the reconstruction work has been completed just a few days ago.”

“Moreover, these people are probably here for revenge.”

The two reply to my words.

Nonetheless, vengeance, huh? Certainly, they have been abnormally thorough in putting an end to the Mud Puppets. The fighter guy is continuously beating them until their cores are pulverized into tiny pieces.

“However, I’m baffled as to why vengeance is being exacted.”

“There are too many reasons, you know.”

“There are just too many to list, such as a whole village having inexplicably disappeared, humans being massacred, an individual’s resentment towards someone who killed their friends, sexual relationships with women, and so on.”

After listing all these things over again, I feel like a magnificent Demon King myself. Wouldn’t I end up in hell if I died and was interrogated by Yama about all of my past sins?

Ah, but the world we live in now is abandoned by God, isn’t it? It is doubtful if Yama even exists. He seems to be a god, too.

“Let’s have the shadows in the outer town investigate for now.”

[Guh!]

The healer man is shot through the abdomen by Mystic’s surprise attack ≪Mistbolt≫ from the upper duct to the lower labyrinth section, which is a characteristic of the second level. Without Ryo’s level of healing ability, he would not be able to survive.

In this light, I glance at Ryo, who nods her head as if she agrees.

[Damn it! How dare you do that to Mashima!] [Get a grip!] [Goddammit… I can’t be healed… everyone… please take care of the rest…]

[[[Mashimaaaaa!!]]]

And so, you leave them with a cliched last will.

Ah, but you guys didn’t overlook the Mystic who killed your friend and brought her to an end.

“So, do you have any idea what these guys’ skills are or anything?”

“From what I can discern, it’s a slightly rearranged version of the standard configuration. They are particularly strong in terms of firepower, and one of the two heavy warriors has abandoned hate control[i] and is specializing in the offense.”

Oh, as one would expect from the leader of a mercenary group. You are very knowledgeable about the skill composition used by humans.

“Their level is likewise high, roughly 6, based on their movements. Their coordination is also a little sloppy, so they may be a spontaneous party.”

Wow. Ichiko’s observational capability is also very advanced which is befitting of a high-level half-Demon King.

Well, according to Chirito, she has a higher status sensing than I do.

[Damn, what do we do? Should we proceed at this rate?]

[Isn’t that obvious! Are you planning to let Mashima’s death be in vain!]

[Our only goal is only one. To get the Demon King’s head. For that, I am willing to make any sacrifice.]

[I see. Then I am… gyahhh!!]

A second fatality appears to have occurred as they are discussing this. The one-handed swordsman was slashed in the back by the Minotamist’s axe as he was attempting to flee and subsequently perished.

Soon after, the magical user’s attack also wipes out the Minotamist.

“This man was probably also a detection specialist. An attack at that timing would typically split him in half.”

“But since he couldn’t fully avoid it, he’s just a sub-scout, after all.”

“That’s right.”

The three of us nonchalantly evaluate each of the intruders based on their behavior.

[Run, run! If you stand idly by, there will be more and more enemies coming in!]

[Aah!]

And all the while, the intruders relentlessly advance in the face of death.

Oh, one of the heavy warriors, the one who did the hate control, fell and the helmet came off. She is a woman and a lovely one at that. Her age is 17 or 18, and she has dark circles under her eyes, probably from exhaustion caused by revenge. Her chest is large, even if it is masked by her armor, and she seems to be the sort of person who suffers from stiff shoulders!

Let’s capture her!

[Help… Argh…!]

A Disarray Devil’s Darning Needle emerges from the duct at my command and drags away the female heavy warrior, rendering her powerless to perform any action through the sound of its wings.

Phew. Good job. For now, I am going to spend the rest of the day doing…

“Kurokiri?”

From behind me, a hand with a metal gauntlet wraps around my neck. I notice a slight fog as if the ≪Fog Magic Grant≫ had been activated.

“What are you doing?”

At the same time, a hand with ≪Mist Slap≫ executes a stranglehold on me that clutches my face and presses me down.

Huh? I feel like I’ve experienced something like this before.

Anyway, there it is.

“Uh… please go easy on me.”

[[We will not!]]

A screech from the bottom of my heart reverberates through the fourth level.

T/N:

[i] In a game (MMORPG) with this structure, enemy attacks are ferocious, and characters who are weak will be knocked down quickly. Therefore, it is necessary to have a strategy in which the weak characters act in such a way that their hate value is reduced, whereas the strong characters increase their hate value to concentrate the enemy’s attacks on them. This is called “hate control,” and the attacked recipient is called a tank.