The Spearmaster and the Black Cat

Chapter 212: Violet-white Crystal Ball

“Shuuya, why are you putting both hands together?” Rebecca was apparently confused after seeing me pray in a buddhistic style.

“…Ah, this is something where you put the wrinkles on both palms together, and say “Happiness~” Like that?”

While messing around a bit with a feeling similar to 『I will walk while looking up～』 1 or 『Happiness～』 while putting my hands together, I intended to dynamically express something like a cipher or India-styled sign language of 『1, 2, 3, Hari Om』.

However, “Eva, it’s a disaster! Shuuya is…!” Rebecca yelled.

“Nn! What’s wrong?” Eva asked.

“Look at Shuuya…” Rebecca pointed at me.

“Nn, you’re right! A hand dance with a weirdo face?” Eva looked at me curiously.

“No, you put your hands together like this in a serious manner…” I explained.

“Nn.”

“Like this?”

Eva and Rebecca imitated me. Placing their elbows on the stone table, they put both hands together, nodded and smiled at each other while having fun. Eva’s elbows caused her abundant chest to depress, visible through her dress.

“No, wrong.” I deliberately said while grabbing her hands and pressing her palms together.

I love Eva’s soft hands. Her boobs are wonderful, too.

“Nn…I’m happy.” Eva-san read my feelings.

She squeezed back while smiling cheerfully, and then placed the back of my hand against her cheek.

“Shuuya, warm.” Eva said.

“Yeah.”

It was a nice flow of events, but suddenly Rebecca made a retort while looking confused, “Umm, what’cha doin’ there? You got a nice mood, but I’m next!” 2

Rebecca forcefully stole my hand from Eva, and held it in a lover’s grip from the side.

The feeling of Rebecca’s palm was lovely and tender. In the next moment, Rebecca pushed it against her own chest. I was really glad when unexpectedly feeling the nut-like, hard touch of her nipple. I wanted to change the direction away from touching with the finger pads towards massaging and holding with the palm, but let’s hold back here――

While looking at Rebecca, “…You confused?” I asked.

Rebecca, whose cheeks were bright red, glowered at me and screamed, “Idiot!”

“Nn, Shuuya, you’re a big boob demon king, and that’s why Rebecca apparently thought that you’d be happy.” Eva explained.

“Wai-! Don’t give him a rundown on my feelings! Uuuh.” Rebecca complained.

“Nn, sorry. But, Shuuya was happy.”

“Eh? Really?”

“Well, of course. I love you, so I’m happy about your feelings.” I said.

“Fufu, thanks――” She pushed out her face as if pestering me for a kiss, but I responded by placing only a fingertip on her lovely, tiny lips.

“Aww, that’s what you do?” Rebecca said keenly.

“It’s what I did, right?”

“Heeeee.”

Rebecca’s palms lightly slapped me in quick succession.

“Nn, fighting is no good.” Eva intervened.

Continuing such exchanges, we made out while enjoying a relaxed time together.

At the time when Rebecca got all bouncy from being covered with kisses, her blond hair swayed intensely.

“Nn――” Seemingly attracted by that swaying, Rollo extended one paw towards her hair, and started to play around with it.

“Jeez, stop it! My hair is no toy, Rollo-chan!” Rebecca shook her head, waving her hair at the same time.

Receiving a chain of extreme attacks by her blond hair caused my partner’s nose to feel itchy, and she sneezed.

“Nn.” She meowed after sneezing, and turned around. She shook her bum while swaying her tail.

Once the tail touched Rebecca, she meowed, “Nya～,” and hit Rebecca’s hand with her tail. As I was watching that pleasant scene, it reminded me of a scene in the Goldiba village.

I wonder how Leifa is doing? Also, master, Raglen, Rabi-san…

I finished the break while remembering the time I spent in the Goldiba village.

Aiming for the mark on the map, I walked through the prairie while distracted. All the girls were smiling during the journey. They were full of liveliness.

I think it’s also an effect of us flirting, but the influence of the meal might be higher than expected. They were slightly worried about poison, but just as I had thought, we were fine even if there should have been poison in it. Though it’s possible that there was no poison in the meat to begin with.

As bloodkin of a Light Demon Lucival, they might also have inherited a weaker, simple version of < Super Stomach Absorption >, which possessed unique enteric bacteria that developed something like autophagy where unnecessary or dysfunctional components are removed and cells eat cells, like epigenetics.

I proceeded onward while indulging in such thoughts.

On the way I sensed huge magic sources. Our destination on the map was still some distance away, though.

“We have to be cautious. There are several magic sources and huge magic sources ahead.” I warned my comrades.

“It’s a big help that your enemy detection is as fast as ever, but a huge magic sources, eh…?”

“Nn, curious.”

“Let’s go.”

Our interest in what it might be was piqued. We stopped with the relaxed pace, and quickly ran through the prairie, capitalizing on our physical abilities. And then we got close to the location of the huge magic sources.

――I see them. They are humanoid. Around twenty? A scale of approximately two platoons?

“Nn, goblin subspecies?” Eva murmured.

Are they really goblin subspecies as she said?

Those were some big goblins then. Moreover, they were shouldering a big board similar to a palanquin.

A large crystal ball shining in a violet-white light was placed on that palanquin. They are carrying the crystal ball?

Magicians, who all wore the same attires, were next to the palanquin, too.

It’s a military force at the scale of a company. Are they maybe subordinates of an evil god?

But, they do look like goblins. Their skin color is different to the forces on the evil gods’ side, and they don’t have three eyes either. Their physiques are all over the place. If pushed to say, I’d say they are similar to bandits?

“…Well, on a first glance they look like the goblins inhabiting the Great Savannah of Pelneet, but I have never seen such variations. Those long and narrow faces are a first for me.” Rebecca agreed with Eva’s words.

I guess, for now I will assume that they are goblin subspecies.

“Nn, their armor is extravagant, too. Just one of them holds a rod-shaped battle staff.” Eva said.

Well she does use tonfa, so she seems to be interested in a goblin martial artist who can supposedly use a battle staff.

“There’s sorcerers wearing deep red robes nearby.”

“Seeing as they are holding twisted wands, ranged attacks might rain down on us.”

“Ah, look――” Yui pointed at a place with a pack of huge spider monsters.

The spiders looked like grown versions of tarantulas. The spider monsters began to fight against the goblin group.

It was pure chaos. The tarantulas spit a lot of threads from their mouths, and once the big goblins stopped moving, they released something like light brown gas that seemed to be erosive from their mouths.

The goblins in the range of the gas inhaled it. For an instant I recalled the tongue twister bus gas explosion3, but it was different. Foam came out of their mouths as they donned pained expressions. Then they collapsed while holding their throats.

Next I saw huge flies. I pointed to the left where the flies had appeared.

“A group of huge flies is swarming in as well.” I informed my bloodkin. Those groups of flies and spiders looked as if they were drawn to the crystal ball held by those goblins (temporary)…

“…What are we going to do? Going by this development, I think there’s some secret to the crystal ball, but…are we going to postpone the map?” Rebecca clad her whole body in blue flames as if to show off her motivation.

“Milord, if it’s from here, it will be impossible to surround them from all cardinal directions because of their numbers and the terrain, but I suspect that it might be possible to launch a quick attack from three sides.” Kaldo explained.

A precise assessment. With these members it’s definitely possible.

“Why not. It will allow us to judge if that crystal is a treasure. Let’s intervene. It’s unclear whether the goblins will become our enemies, but move while recognizing them as hostiles. Eva, you’re fine with that as well?” I inquired of Eva.

“Nn, understood.”

“Your Excellency, I will show the spiders on the right my power as the water spirit of everlasting darkness.”

“Sure.”

“I will go for a flashy raid straight from the front then.” Kaldo announced.

“I will make my golem attack as well. Kaldo-san, you can use it as a cover.” Mysty declared.

“Thank you very much.” Kaldo said.

Helme from the right, Kaldo and Mysty from the front, huh?

“I will take the left side then. I will cut the huge flies and spiders with Azelos & Vasage.” Yui stated.

“I will follow up on Yui from behind with Gulphon and blue fireballs.” Rebecca joined Yui’s side.

“Nn, thrust in from the front.” Eva was apparently going to charge at the front line for a change.

“I will crush the flies and spiders from the front while watching the goblins then.” I added.

“N, nyao.”

My partner changed into her divine beast form.

“Rollo, no fire breaths.” I warned her.

“Nya.”

I suppose there’s no need for the Burning Knights.

“Let’s start the crystal ball stealing operation――” I summoned the Magic Halberd into my right hand, and hoisted it high into the air as if to demonstrate my military power.

“”――Okay.””

While listening to the confirmation of my < Head Servant Leaders > and my < Servant Leader >, I kicked off the soft prairie ground, barging into the battle which had developed into a battle royale.

The one who got the first shot in was Rollodeen. She extended two big, black tentacles from her torso.

“Nyago――”

Does she intend to strike with the tentacles? No sooner than the two big, black tentacles combined in a spiral into one, creating a single, even bigger tentacle ― a huge, flamberge-like bone sword appeared out of the new tentacle.

A sword, huh? My partner’s large flamberge seized the torso of a spider, cutting it apart as if the spider had suddenly exploded.

She became peerless with her flamberge and kept chopping up spiders and flies. She hit them with the flamberge while making sure to crush their heads underfoot. The spiders were squashed whereas the flies crashed after being cut in three pieces.

――Same old with her as divine beast.

I admired while running, but I instantly switched my thinking to what was in front of me. I turned my eyes towards the place where the goblins were defending the crystal ball.

“Even though we stole it at great pains! You damned spiders, we won’t allow you to steal the deidans’ treasure! Protect it! We will bring it back to the den for the king’s sake!” A goblin with a big build but an uncharacteristically handsome face for a goblin said.

His nose bridge was high and the cheekbones thick. He possessed oblong ears and a dark green skin. He wore a bone chain mail with conspicuous, grim horn decorations on both shoulders.

Going by his nice equipment and the way he was commanding his surroundings, I guessed that he was the leader of the goblin group.

But, stole? The violet-white crystal ball is the treasure?

Two largely-built goblins, who heard his orders, carefully lowered the crystal ball from its palanquin and were about to carry it away while heaving under its weight.

“――Garul! First big spiders and big flies, and now it looks like there are also pursuers of the Ragni!,” said a goblin with a ghastly face who was clanging wooden clapper-styled cylinders.

He addressed the goblin with the handsome face, calling him Garul.

“Guh! Those guys should be still confronting that big monster! Chios, we will cut our way through. Protect Deidan.” Garul shouted with his veins popping out at his temples out of tense irritation.

He put his hand around to the back, and pulled something like a bone sword out of an elegant scabbard.

However, what’s that Ragni race?”

“…I know. For the sake of hastening the king’s evolution…I shall use my staff techniques.”

“Garul-sama, there’s a lot of soterogua(Big Spiders)!”

“…It seems the spider god also desires Deidan.”

They talked amongst each other with uneasiness written all over their faces.

Anyway, I will head in the center later on…first comes the place where the goblins and spiders are fighting.

The spiders’ name seems to be soterogua, but…to me they only look like big tarantulas.

While considering so, I shot < Chain >. The chain cut through the air with a speed similar to that of a bullet shot by a pistol. The teardrop-shaped chain’s tip, that caused a whistling sound, penetrated through the abdomen of a spider. Then it stabbed through the torso of a goblin, only stopping after it pierced into the prairie’s ground.

I reeled in that chain towards the < Chain Factor > on my left wrist. Using the recoil of bringing it in, I let my body be carried forward with a Tarzan maneuver, and as the bodies of the pierced spider and goblin approached in front of my eyes, I unleashed a kick while swinging my Magic Halberd, too. I cut the spider’s body and blew away the goblin’s body with the right and left foot’s instep.

――While grasping that < Chain > has contracted into the < Chain Factor >, I jumped towards the area in front.

I summoned Beet into my left hand on the spot, and while placing its middle part on my left shoulder, I focused on the goblins, spiders, and flies which were still in the middle of their battle royale.

I guess I will target a goblin next.

I twisted my waist, using < Throwing > on the Magic Halberd in my right hand.

――The halberd plunged straight forward while rotating.

It easily penetrated through the back and chest of the goblin, who wore a black armor. Corresponding to its large build, the goblin, who now had a big hole in its torso, threw its arms high up in the air while collapsing. And then I was able to see the halberd which had penetrated him. It was stuck in a rock that protruded out of the prairie. Its violet, metallic staff part was vibrating, and the Magic Dragon Gem at the butt end glittered as it reflected the sunlight.

Now then, I had used < Throwing >, but now I had to recover the halberd. I charged in a forward-bent posture towards the rock. On the way I slew a fly that was fluttering about on my left with Beet.

Next I aimed at the many legs of a tarantula that shot out its spider thread. I swung my right hand, invoking 《Ice Blade》. The magic ice swords, which appeared in a 180 degree semi circle around me, flew downwards, mowing down several of the spider’s legs.

I changed my mind. Let’s crush that guy first.

I powerfully kicked the ground with Magic Combat Step, each time changing the course at a right angle. As if I had become a sharp blade, I ran in a zigzag course with an explosive speed. It was a charge towards the spider that had lost its legs.

Given that the spider was tilting as it had lost its balance, it couldn’t react. I slipped beneath the belly of the tarantula with its head being at a lower position exactly because it was a spider.

From a lowered stance as if amassing my power, “Nuooraaaa――,” I unleashed a mana-filled vertical kick as if pushing up my foot towards the sky, capitalizing on the spring power of my enhanced body while yelling out my fighting spirit.

My foot dug into its abdomen, causing a severe, thick sound. Its big belly caved in, and it was hurled up into the sky.

A smashing sound reached my ears from the airborne spider.

I was worried about its magic stone, but for now I ignored it and proceeded onward. I grabbed the staff part of the Magic Halberd, which I should call my pal, with my right hand as it was still stuck in the rock.

――I retrieved Magic Halberd Baldok.

While I made it rotate with a buzzing sound so as to gain a feel for its hold, I erased Beet from my left hand. I readied the halberd in a seigan stance while checking my vicinity. Immediately following, I found Eva rotating around nearby while swinging her tonfa.

The tonfa clashed with the longsword of a goblin, scattering sparks into the air. I feel like it’s been a while since I last saw her use her tonfa.

I thought about assisting Eva, but another spider extended its blade-like leg at me. I guess it’s aiming for my abdomen――

I rotated the halberd while shifting my hold of the handle. I repelled that blade leg with the upper part of the halberd’s handle.

Time for a counterattack. While twisting my waist in one move, I kicked the ground with my right foot, using a force as if to crush the prairie, and advanced. Meanwhile I dug my left foot into the ground.

With the physical strength of my body that was based on my foot trampling on the ground with a force as if really biting into the ground, and with the gist of making all of my arms’ muscles that were clad in Magic Combat Style directly connect with the Magic Halberd, I powerfully swung Baldok. It violently seized the spider’s chin and the mouth, including its fangs, with the Magic Dragon Gem, and destroyed them. As if a water bottle had been broken from upside-down, the spider’s chin and head was smashed with the hit directly connecting.

――The Magic Dragon Gem was like a huge, blue hammer.

――In other words, a powerful hammer attack.

I used the recoil of having swung the halberd through, rotated, and brandished the halberd once more as if drawing a crimson moon from below with the red ax blade. The ax slash left a crimson streamline behind, and widely tore open the abdomen of the spider which had its head crushed.

Black blood gushed out of the cut wound. A mushy, evaporation sound assailed my ears. This corpse is in the way――

On the spot, without breaking my motion, I delivered a roundhouse kick against it while rotating like a spinning top, kicking the corpse away to the side.

On that occasion the large magic stone was expelled out of the spider’s body.

Uh oh, I gotta pick that one up――

While swapping the halberd into my left hand as if performing a knife trick with it, I activated < Magic Hand guided by Thought >. Creating a foothold with the crooked mana hand, I leaped high up into the air in one go.

Just like that I extended my empty right hand, and grabbed the large magic stone.

Without enjoying the outlook of the boundless sky, I landed on the ground while putting the magic stone into my bag. As I finished doing that, I discovered Eva fighting nearby.

Eva deployed her violet mana, wrapping up herself and her magic wheelchair.

I thought that she might send out her metal swarm once again, but I was wrong. Eva, who had been rotating sideways while still seated, drove her black tonfa into a goblin. It was a splendid display of bojutsu.

Once she crushed the goblin’s head, she made the wheelchair swoop down, crushing the goblin to death with it as she landed.

So you can also use it as a tank…

I approached Eva who had fought fiercely with a nonchalant air.

“Yo, you’re doing well, aren’t you?” I addressed her.

“――Nn, fight together!,” escaped Eva’s duck-mouthed lips that had some innocence left.

Once she closed her mouth, she operated her wheelchair, transforming it into its Mk-1 mode.

She smoothly slid across the prairie in a forward-bent posture, approaching a big fly that had released venom at a goblin.

Once again she used her tonfa which were equipped on her slender arms. She swung them with a level trajectory from the left and right, smashing the big fly’s head in-between. I thought that using her chakram-like metal weapons, which she could release from her wheelchair as a ranged attack, would be easier for her, but…this time she chose the Mk-1 mode.

She probably considered combat using her metallic legs as important as well. She wielded the tonfa while rotating as if cleanly executing a turn pick. 4 Each time she defeated a fly, her black hair, which was glossy due to her using a conditioner every day, fluttered. Well, she did wash them regularly during our breaks…it’s beautiful black hair. I guess I will support her.

I got all hyped, and using the terrain, I powerfully kicked off a rock with one leg and jumped while twisting my body, approaching a fly that was high up in the air.

I swung my halberd vertically downward, bisecting the fly’s head with the red ax blade just as it tried to spit venom. While cleaving the ground with the ax blade, I forcefully landed on both legs.

――Eva covered my back.

“Nn, Shuuya, thanks for following up.”

“No problem.” Once I turned around towards her, I was met with an angelic smile. I smiled back while feeling healed by hers.

“Yep, standing at the front line together is fun as well.” Eva said.

“That’s for sure.”

Naturally it developed into a fly swatting date with Eva. Slay Evil Immediately5 thrusts through a swarm of big flies. We stabbed the flies torso, plucked off their wings, and bisected their torsos alongside their slender beaks. Eva crushed their compound eyes with her tonfa.

“That one’s mine――” I announced.

“Nn, got it.”

While hearing Eva’s voice, I quickly closed the combat distance towards the last remaining fly. I tread along the prairie’s ground with such a force that I left footprints behind.

I unleashed a < Thrust > with the Magic Halberd while twisting my right hand. The red spear, which gained a spiral motion seemingly causing a wind, tore the fly’s beak to shreds and drilled into its torso. At that moment, the red ax blade, which was at the side of the red spear, cut up even its wings, obviously turning them into a mess.

I was in a posture of stretching out my right arm that appeared to have unified with the Magic Halberd. Then I adopted a stance similar to a martial arts pose, and stopped moving.

Plenty of the fly’s body fluids, which were clinging to the halberd, dripped down. It will leave stains behind, won’t it?

I rearranged my posture while charging mana into the halberd, and then rotated it around several times while producing a whooshing sound.

I checked the vicinity while straightening myself.

At the moment I smelled the scent of fresh verdure tickling my nose, my sight was enveloped by a light brown smoke. The toxic gas released by a big spider?

“Nn, the scent of leaves?” Eva moved high into the air to break away from the smoke while cladding her body with violet mana.

I glared at the likely origin of the toxic gas. The spider was a bit away, but I retrieved a dagger from my bandolier, and threw it as restraint. The Ancient Dragon Dagger, which I threw with the power of my wrist, pierced the spider’s compound eyes.

“Shuuaaaa――” Probably because of the pain, the spider released a strange voice while throwing its head back.

It held its head with its many legs, trying to shake off the dagger. What a skillful spider. It curled its body up.

I shot a series of four < Chain Spear of the Ray System > at that big spider. The light spears soundly stabbed into the torso of the spider. The rear parts of those light spears split apart, and transformed into light nets as usual, while seizing the spider by covering its entire body.

The spider was sewn to the prairie’s ground, and the light nets sunk into its body. The surface of the spider turned into a mango fruit that had been cut into slices with a kitchen knife. I guess even those light nets still couldn’t cut it completely into pieces.

However, I wonder why the black parts look delicious. Well, whatever.

At that point I turned my eyes towards the central area. The leader-like goblin who was commanding the others had positioned himself so as to protect the violet-white crystal ball. His entire body was drenched in black blood, but the large goblin called Garul was still alive.

I approached him.

The goblin with the ghastly face, who seemed to be his aide, had died together with a big spider next to the bloodstained Garul. All the goblin mages had fallen after fiercely fighting against the monsters. Once I got close to Garul without minding all that, he thrust out his bone sword towards me without any questions asked.

“――I won’t hand over this treasure!” He executed a sharp sword thrust while shouting so.

He had survived precisely because it was considerably sharp, but, “――Don’t care.” I bent my head slightly as if doing a head slip, avoiding his thrust.

I felt blood flowing out of the cut line on my cheek, but my halberd’s red spear had pierced into Garul’s chest after I had unleashed it as a cross counter.

“Guaa…” Garul dropped his bone sword, and grasped at empty air with his trembling hand. While showing a fleeting expression as if he wanted to say something, he died with the words, “King…”

As he fell, the crystal ball rolled behind him. Once I looked at it with Magic Observation, I grasped that it contained a tremendous amount of mana.

A treasure, eh?

Ignoring Garul’s corpse, I moved next to the treasure as if drawn by the crystal ball which was releasing a beautiful white light. The large goblins had fought in order to protect this.

It didn’t seem as if I would get cursed from touching it. As I held it…it was quite heavy. Within the crystal ball, a distinct, black mist was spilling out from deeper inside? Small silver and gold glitters sparkled, dancing just like in a snow dome.

I could feel mana as well, but it might be nice even as an object of art. The small silver and gold confetti were really pretty. Maybe the inside of this ball was another world inhabited by intelligent micro life forms…

*Stare*…

As I tried to peek into the abyss of this crystal ball, suddenly an eye peered back at me―

Whooaaa! I almost dropped the crystal ball out of reflex.

That was a surprise. The biggest one today. I certainly didn’t expect for a pupil tinged with a silver light, a huge eye to appear inside the crystal ball…

It was one eye, possessing a peculiar iris that had a thin, silver border. As if the eye had a separate consciousness, it was blinking slowly…

When looking into the abyss, the abyss will look back at you…that’s the kind of development here?

When I moved my face to the side, that eye followed me with its stare. Is it an item with a consciousness?

“Can you hear me?” I addressed the ball with its conspicuous eye, but was only met with silence.

…It’s a mystery. Should I try poking it as a test?

I’m gonna poke-poke it with my index finger after charging it with mana while imagining myself as Ara〇e-chan.

I held the heavy ball in my left hand with a fighting spirit, and extended my mana-laden index finger towards the surface reflecting the eye in the crystal ball. The instant my finger was about to touch the surface――

A dark mist gushed out from the eye. How shady…since I had a bad premonition, I decided to stop.

As I continued observing the crystal ball, Eva rushed over with her Mk-1.

“――Nn, that’s the treasure?” Eva asked while peeking at the crystal ball in my hand.

“It looks like it, but it’s mysterious.”

The intense battle royale that took place in a depressed area of the prairie had apparently ended. Following Eva, I saw my chosen bloodkin and Rollodeen(Black Panther) running up to me across the prairie which was littered with countless fly, spider, and goblin corpses.

Note:

1. A reference to a song from the 60s … Imagine it a bit like Gene Kelly’s Singing in the Rain

2. Hataka dialect for some reason

3. basu gasu baku hatsu

4. It’s a Gundam term, it seems. Here’s what I found about it on wikipedia: A part of the ATs (Armored Troopers) possesses a “Turn Pick” that’s driven into the ground during high speed rotations at the heels, but you can regard this as a leg version of a pile bunker.

5. Rurouni Kenshin reference