19 - Chapter 15: The Three Idiots Descend
The comedy rush begins.
The serious side is already in tatters!
Along with a voice, a dull-colored great spear rained down, piercing the head of the lead Earth Dragon and pinning it to the ground. It was an instant kill. No matter how vigorous the life force of the dragon race was, they were not beings so contrary to providence that they could survive the destruction of their brain. With their comrade suddenly killed in an instant, the Earth Dragons were shaken.
Additionally, because an Earth Dragon had been suddenly slaughtered, the Imperial soldiers who were just about to charge were also shaken.
It was not that he was aiming for that opening, but a red-haired boy appeared before Kazuha's eyes. If she was not mistaken, he had fallen from above. In truth, it was a breakthrough using Geoglyph's wind magic, a Human Cannonball.
"Step back. We'll take it from here."
That red-haired boy, Later, told her this while keeping his back turned to Kazuha, but Kazuha was also one of the combatants. She could not simply nod in agreement.
"B-but..."
"Your knees are shaking, aren't they? Well, you did your best, kid."
"Ah..."
However, Later turned a beaming smile toward Kazuha and patted her head.
"Leave the rest to us."
"Y-yes..."
Turning his back on her as she nodded in a half-daze, Later raised his right hand, and the great spear piercing the Earth Dragon melted like a liquid, then flew through the air and returned to his hand. Then, it became a great sword, and with that Rig Veda in hand, he began to charge alone into the enemy ranks.
Now, from an onlooker's perspective, Later had made a very heroic entrance, pulling off a Protagonist Move against a beautiful fox-beastgirl, Kazuha, whom he had just met for the first time, but...
M-M-Miss Fox is so fluffy! Ah, so fluffy! The beast-level is low, but she's so fluffy!! Let me brush that fluffy tail later!? Ahh, my heart is pounding!!
This was the inner state of the kemoner who was slaughtering Earth Dragons with a great sword and a wonderful smile.
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Meanwhile, Geoglyph had planned to bomb from the sky, but he spotted an unexpected person behind the Imperial soldiers and ended up descending.
An elf!? It's an elf!!
It was Latia, an elf.
Capable of using spirit magic and healing magic, and with a bow as her main weapon, she was perfect for the rear and had been assigned the role of flank guard. Geoglyph, who landed softly in front of her, thought.
Calm down... calm down, me... Humans are supposed to be viewed with caution. I know this from numerous readings in fantasy. To demi-humans, humans are targets of caution or contempt. It is dangerous to approach casually from the start. First, be gentlemanly, yes, gentle. Geoglyph, you must become gentle...!
From the perspective of Latia, who had seen Later suddenly barge into the battle and start dominating, she was slightly wary, wondering if this person was also his comrade. Since she did not know his identity, she could not be happy without reservation.
Therefore, in order to strive for gentlemanly behavior, he flourished his cloak with a swish and spoke to her slowly.
"Are you safe, young elf?"
Rather than a gentleman, a chuunibyou was there. This man had encountered romance and lost his identity.
"Eh...? Yes... you are..."
"I am late in introducing myself. I am Geoglyph Triad. A Black Iron-rank adventurer. I was commissioned to investigate the pioneer village, but..."
"D-dangerous!"
Geoglyph was introducing himself to the bewildered Latia, but an Earth Dragon, as if saying it didn't care about that, bypassed Later and charged in from the side.
"Decode. Honestly, how boorish. A mere low-life should not interrupt our conversation."
"Eh...?"
However, with just a single word, he deployed magic, and a great lightning spear the same size as the Earth Dragon materialized instantly and was fired, blowing the creature away in the next moment. It literally became dust and dissolved into the wind. Latia was speechless at Geoglyph, who had executed high-level magic that would normally require several minutes of chanting if not shortened, with a single word.
But the man himself was muttering, "Oops, I blew it away when I wanted it for meat. Well, whatever, there are plenty of others. More importantly, Miss Elf, Miss Elf."
"So, we, who were commissioned to investigate the pioneer village where contact had been lost, found your traces and followed them. I did not expect it to have become such a situation... Decode."
And as Geoglyph straightened his posture to begin his explanation again, an air-oblivious Earth Dragon charged in and was slaughtered with a single word of Decode.
"Hmph, how persistent. Do you not understand the difference in our abilities? Even if you are a dragon species, you are no different from a beast. At this rate, I cannot even have a pleasant conversation with the young lady elf. It cannot be helped... Decode."
Geoglyph, who had become irritated by the interference, deployed hundreds of spells in the sky with a single word. His glaring eyes cast a shadow over his face, and the smile he wore became a crescent. It had already transformed into a Glasgow smile, and he declared loudly as if singing.
"You shall not tremble, but like straws... die quickly."
This was the birth of the personality later called the Demon King (Black History Production) mode.
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As for Marianne, she had descended toward the refugees. Her gaze was directed at the young beastgirl, Sakura.
Ah, looking at her like this, beastgirls are quite wonderful... How adorable...
Was it because of the memories of her previous life that this was simply a matter of a beastgirl child being cute, rather than sexual desire? After all, in modern Japan, if a single middle-aged man approached a young girl, even if it were a righteous act, it would immediately be an incident. It was a harsh world where one could be suspected even if they were a relative, depending on the situation. The worse one's appearance, the faster the report was made, so severe was the lookism. Yet, if one turned a blind eye or abandoned a troubled child or woman, they were bashed as the lowest of the low. How truly heartless. When she was 'I', she often thought about how the trend of being however harsh toward middle-aged men was questionable.
However, the current Marianne was a woman. Approaching is legal. It is legal.
In other words, she can adore young girls without being reported...! I think one-loli is the best!! While thinking this inwardly, Marianne wore a smile to reassure them. Because it was the smile of a beautiful girl in appearance, the quality was even worse.
"It is all right now. The ugly brutes will handle the rest... oh?"
"Hie!"
Just then, one air-oblivious Earth Dragon charged toward the refugees.
"Dispose of it, Saleos."
With a single word from Marianne, a giant crocodile leaped out from her shadow with its jaws wide open and swallowed the Earth Dragon with a gulp. It had swallowed an Earth Dragon the size of a hut whole. Whether it was crushing it in its throat, strange sounds of cracking and snapping echoed. It was no longer clear which one was the dragon.
The refugees were stunned by this. However, without looking at them, Marianne raised her voice in protest to Geoglyph and Later.
"Honestly! Geo! Ray! Spillage is not permitted!? Clean up those lizards quickly!"
"The princess is being unfair! I want to frolic with the fluffy ones too!"
"Isn't it cruel for only one person not to work! You should fight as well! Hurry, hurry!!"
"Good grief, what a bunch of guys who are rough with beautiful girls..."
However, since the protest returned was perfectly reasonable, Marianne had no choice but to join the battle.
"Hyakki Yagyou."
Immediately after the chant, seventy-two shadow beasts emerged from beneath her feet. Their types were diverse, from palm-sized rats to crocodiles that could swallow an Earth Dragon in one bite.
"It is mealtime. Go."
It was beyond noisy with screams, barks, and meows, and since the visuals were such that one could not tell who the villain was, the refugees screamed and froze, but she gave instructions without seeming to care.
"Ah, make sure to leave the materials, okay?"
"Yes," the shadow beasts replied in their own ways and charged toward the herd of Earth Dragons.