73 - Episode 17: The Tribulations of the House of Earl Ruste (Part 2)
As for the Three Idiots in question, they were surprisingly struggling────or rather, they were bewildered by Beosteral's unexpected behavior.
"Kuhahahaha! Go! My kin! Slay those wretched Serious Breakers!!"
A vampire using summoning arts to call forth bats and skeletons is a textbook, easy-to-understand move, but the mobility of the summoned kin was abnormal.
They were faster and stronger than ordinary magic beasts, and on top of that, they possessed durability and the ability to regenerate. To make matters worse, just before being defeated, they would self-destruct as if to say "it cannot be helped," taking the opponents with them. The booming sounds echoing from a while ago were their final counterattacks. Faced with these kin whose resolve was completely locked in, even the Three Idiots were pushed back by the sheer volume and decided to move the battle outdoors.
Keeping their distance to avoid self-destructions and chain explosions, the Three Idiots hurried to rethink their strategy.
"Sensei, Sensei! This Beo guy is different from last time!"
"The kin are strangely tough as well! And their regeneration is so fast they recover instantly! Furthermore, what is with this self-destruction? What kind of kamikaze weapon is this!!"
"It's probably because it's night! It's not that he himself has become stronger────!"
Just as he was about to finish, Geoglyph had a sudden realization, took out a pair of sunglasses produced by the Romanet Great Trading Company from his storage magic, and slid them on. Despite it being night.
Then, he solemnly asked the other two.
"Is the moon out?"
"Huh?"
"I asked if the moon is out!"
As the idiot hurriedly took off his sunglasses as if to say "I've got it," Later and Marianne took a deep breath.
"Sensei, you just wanted to say that, didn't you! I accidentally answered you seriously!!"
"Do not go for the gag at a time like this!"
"I definitely wanted to say it! And I did go for the gag! If anything, I'm a little happy that I checked one item off my todo list of lines I wanted to try! That guy is receiving a mana supply! ────from the moon!!"
"W-what did you say!?"
As if mocking the Three Idiots looking up at the sky, Beosteral emerged from the darkness and raised both hands.
"Fufufu... kuhahaha... hahahahahaha! I am────in top form!!"
"This guy is using a dangerous line even though he doesn't know the original source!?"
"Indeed, the night is wonderful. Especially on a full moon night, power overflows...!!"
The Three Idiots trembled at the arrogant phrasing, but Beosteral was truly in top form, as particles of mana so dense they were visible rose from his body.
"As I thought, he seems to be receiving a mana supply from the moon..."
"Is such a thing possible, Sensei?"
"Even when we say mana, there is a quality related to attributes. Moonlight certainly falls into that domain. It would take too long to explain in detail, so I'll skip it, but in terms of the situation, it's like a field effect in a card game. Humans don't really feel the strength or weakness of it, but they get no benefit either..."
"I see, so demi-humans are heavily affected, meaning they become stronger when the conditions are right. How troublesome..."
"Hmm, are vampires demi-humans?"
"By definition, probably. Long ago, beastmen, elves, and dwarves were all lumped together as demons, but nowadays, when people say demons, they refer to what used to be called pure demons, so vampires, who don't fit that, are likely demi-humans."
"Hmph. Such classifications are merely things decided by demons and humans. I am────a True Ancestor vampire!!"
With those words, the kin began to move again, and Later transformed the Rig Veda on his right arm into a sword.
"Tch. Can't be helped────I'll handle the main body! Sensei! Princess! I'm leaving the support and the finishing blow to you!!"
Leaving only that, Later stepped forward and began advancing toward Beosteral while cutting down the kin.
"Marie. I need time. While supporting Ray, protect me for a bit."
"As you wish. Hyakki Yagyou."
Watching him go, Marie, having received her instructions, summoned her army of shadow beasts as usual. She deployed some as guards around the perimeter and sent the rest to support Later. In terms of ability, the shadow beasts were overwhelmingly superior, but perhaps because of the self-destructions and the mana supply from the moonlight, Beosteral produced them almost endlessly, leading to a stalemate.
"So, do you have a plan?"
"Well, yeah. To be honest, my stock is getting dangerously low, so I don't want to use anything large-scale... I'll leave the last attack to you two."
Geoglyph had already devised a plan. He had been politely told the trick. Now he just had to seal it, so the task itself wasn't difficult. However, it required consuming magic formulas to realize, and he was depressed that his stock, which had been depleted during the previous battle with the Harvester, would decrease further.
Just then.
"Geo!"
"Oh, you guys came too."
The three girls, Dakoda, and the soldiers directly under Earl Ruste appeared from behind. It seemed they felt something was wrong due to the series of self-destruction sounds and came to rescue them.
However, the path to the conclusion was already visible. There was another more concerning matter. Around the time Beosteral became serious, or rather, entered top form, the other forces────Stogan and his men had disappeared. It wasn't hard to imagine that they had taken advantage of the chaos to go fulfill their objective.
"Sorry, but you can leave this to us. Instead, the other bandits have gone to loot while the house is on fire, so please handle that. Their goal is the Ruste family heirloom. Dakoda-san, please guide them."
"The Moonlight Pearl!? Understood! You three! This way!!"
"Got it! Kazuha! Lilitia! Let's go!"
"Good luck!"
"Ah, wait! I'm with Big Sister────"
About one person tried to prioritize personal feelings, but.
"Lilitia."
"Yes!"
"If you do a good job, I will consider giving you a reward (date)."
"────What are you people doing! Let's go!!"
Having been skillfully manipulated by Marianne, she began leading the way enthusiastically.
"Her handling is getting better..."
"I am only considering it. I didn't say I would actually do it."
"You're going to get stabbed one day."
As Marianne chuckled, covering her mouth with her folding fan, Geoglyph worried for his bad friend's future, thinking she might actually end up on the side of sorrow.
Well, regardless of that.
"Stack────Decode."
"Mist...? Ah, I see."
Geoglyph decoded the magic formula, and mist began to blanket the surroundings. Marianne roughly guessed what he was trying to do.
"Now then, it's about time────"
And then.
"────The farce is over."
The Demon King's lips twisted like a crescent moon.
●
Against a background of loud, booming explosions, a group in black clothing crept out of the mansion's back door, trying not to make a sound.
"The plan changed a bit, but thanks to the boss, it's become easier."
One of them────Stogan, toyed with the necklace in his hand, a smile playing on his lips.
Around the time Beosteral began his grand spectacle against the intruders, the Three Idiots, Stogan immediately changed the plan. He guessed that they were adventurers hired by the Earl, so he assumed their circumstances were already known. Since Beosteral was making such a scene, he took advantage of the chaos to break in and steal.
When he headed to the treasury, there were no guards, and he finished the job more easily than originally planned.
"Let's get out of here quickly. Boss, this way."
"Yeah. Sorry to the master, but this is just the way of the world."
Guided by his subordinate, just as he was about to retreat while abandoning Beosteral.
"Lily of the Valley Cage."
"Ow!?"
"W-what? Suddenly I can't move...!"
As a girl's voice echoed, the bandits became flustered, blocked by an invisible wall of thorns.
"A barrier────no, a ward!? Gafu!?"
"I won't let you escape."
As if taking advantage of the confusion, bolts of magical light flew from somewhere, shooting down the bandits one after another.
"Who the hell are you! Show yourselves!!"
When Stogan finally shouted, a breeze blew and laughter echoed. That voice was very────.
"Fu, fufufu... you finally listened, didn't you? Then I shall answer you!!"
She was excited. She was giddy. She looked incredibly happy.
Then, using lighting magic specifically, they appeared.
"The moonlight that nestles beside the King of the Night Sky. My name is Latia. Latia Fa Swin!"
"U-um... a-a fox-beastman ward specialist, Kazuha...!"
"Date... date... date with Big Sister..."
About one saint was excited in a different sense, holding a spiked mace in one hand.
"Honestly. What a girl with no sense of cooperation... And the strongest and most evil runaway saint of the current era, Lilitia Harvard!"
Latia reluctantly introduced Lilitia on her behalf and announced their names.
"We are the Serious Breakers!"
"Your heads are the exchange tickets for a date...!!"
Immediately after, the runaway saint, who still wouldn't coordinate, charged at the trapped bandits without reading the room.
"Hiee!?"
The sound of flesh being struck echoed in the night sky, and against a background of a splatter scene that could hardly be shown, though she said she would cast recovery magic later, Latia hopped around excitedly.
"I've always wanted to try that! An introductory speech! But as expected, compared to Geo, the depth of the setting and the coordination are lacking! I have to think of something cool and practice again...!"
"Um, Latia-sama... this is normally just embarrassing...!"
"DAAAAATE!!"
These three girls might have become a disjointed bunch under the influence of the Three Idiots.
Furthermore, Dakoda and the soldiers who arrived late saw this sight, and it is said that they couldn't swallow their food for a while due to the sheer tragedy.
●
The benefit of mana supply from moonlight is often received by races associated with the night, such as vampires and werewolf-beastmen.
Vampires, in particular, receive an extraordinary amount of this benefit, and the difference in strength is so great that one might mistake them for a different race depending on whether it is present or not. After all, vampires are basically inefficient beings. Because they are non-humans who possess out-of-bounds strength and immortality, the mana resources required to maintain that are too high. Therefore, ordinary vampires sleep when they cannot bathe in moonlight to avoid waste, or supplement their mana through the blood of humans and demi-humans.
For some reason, Beosteral substitutes this with tomatoes and remains active during the day, but regardless, he is also a vampire. Therefore, through the mana contained in the moonlight, he can receive an inexhaustible supply, albeit for a limited time during the moonlit night.
The benefit is tremendous, enhancing his kin to the point where they can fight on equal terms with Marianne's shadow beasts, who should originally be far superior, and his own physical abilities and the power of the magic he executes are increased exponentially through mana boosting.
That said.
"Yop. Hop. Top."
Against that, Later was taking evasive actions without any particular tension.
"Eei, you! Stop being so nimble and cunning!!"
Beosteral, who had created a sword using his own blood, responded to the duel out of respect for Later, who had charged in alone. However, no matter how much he swung the blood sword, he couldn't even graze Later. Naturally, since his physical abilities were enhanced by mana, the sword speed of the slashes he unleashed was extraordinary, and an ordinary swordsman would have been cut down without lasting a single exchange.
But the one he was facing was a furry fan who had a previous life and was trained in fighting games.
No matter the speed, he has a human shape. The range of motion is limited regardless, and for that reason, it is difficult even for a skilled warrior to erase the start-up of an action. A sword swung relying only on specs, no matter how sharp, is meaningless if it can be read.
Later's physical abilities were also enhanced by mana, and furthermore, especially during interpersonal combat, he often allocates more to his optic nerves than his body. In other words, he raises his reflexes to enable super-reactions.
To put it simply, he is embodying the real-life version of "easy Shoryuken after seeing a low kick."
"Hmph. Even if your physical abilities went up, you don't have much technique, do you?"
"What!?────gobu!?"
"Your recovery is insane, but you still feel pain. I don't even need the Rig Veda for this."
Slipping under the swinging blood sword, he delivered a Liver Blow with his left fist. Beosteral's body bent into a V-shape, and Later became certain. In fighting game terms, he was like a beginner using a top-tier character. Well, since his stamina is practically unlimited, it's cheat-level, but he left the finishing touch to Geoglyph and the others. Later only needed to buy time.
If so, Later pushed his physical enhancement to the maximum and dove into Beosteral's space. Then, he grabbed the left arm of the faltering Beosteral, moved behind him, and────.
"I'll show you the throw combo devised by Masked Jaguar...!!"
He proceeded to slam him with a Cobra Clutch, Cobra Twist, Vertical Drop Reverse DDT, Reverse Gory Special Bomb, Cannonball Buster, Manhattan Drop, Doctor Bomb, and Muscle Buster one after another. Furthermore, he changed the Rig Veda into a mock microphone and pointed in a random direction for a victory pose, leaving no stone unturned in the reproduction.
"Gube!? Y-you! Throwing and trapping a noble True Ancestor like me... does your conscience not ache!?"
"I wonder what this feeling of smallness is..."
"H-hmph! But this is nothing! As long as tonight's moon exists, I will regenerate infinitely... hm? The healing has slowed down?"
As Beosteral recovered with steam rising from him even after being slammed with all those throws, Later made a comment while feeling exhausted, but suddenly noticed the surroundings had grown dark.
"T-the moon!?"
"Ah, Sensei. I see, he created clouds with water vapor. No wonder I thought it felt steamy."
Looking up at the sky, dark clouds had gathered before he knew it, and the moonlight could no longer reach them.
The cause was Geoglyph. By combining water, fire, and wind magic, he created and manipulated water vapor. He created cumulonimbus clouds to shade the moon. As mentioned before, Beosteral's mana supply depends on the moonlight, not the night itself. Therefore, if the moonlight reaching his body is restricted, he will naturally be weakened.
"Y-you manipulated the weather!? Curse you, Serious Breakers! Such a cunning trick!!"
"Nobody uses the word 'cunning trick' these days."
As Beosteral panicked because the premise for his superiority had collapsed, Later made a comment while smiling wryly, thinking that his phrasing was so like an evil executive that he couldn't hate him.
"Ray! Look, pass! It's a pass!!"
Then, Marianne called out. When he looked, she was shouting and pointing at the sky.
"Hmm? Ah, I see... alright."
With just that, Later guessed what she was trying to do, channeled mana into the Rig Veda, and changed it again. ────into a metal bat.
"Now then, the batter winds up big────"
"Wha...!?"
Then, he unleashed his physical enhancement to the fullest. Approaching Beosteral at a speed that created afterimages.
"Kakkinn!!"
"Nuguwaa!?"
He launched him high into the sky with a One-legged Strike.
"Download! Me in...!"
Then, confirming Beosteral flying through the air, Marianne chanted.
"Glasya-Labolas!!"
Along with the activation formula, the shadow dog Downloaded into Marianne. Growing dog ears and a tail and changing into a cheongsam costume, Marianne used the shadow beast Sarios, a crocodile she had summoned, as a stepping stone to jump high.
"Howataaa! I say!!"
"Giinyaaaaa!!"
She delivered a flying kick to the defenseless Beosteral, blowing him away. He flew through the dark clouds, becoming a tiny speck and eventually disappearing completely.
"Oh. The practice paid off. Still, I saw a terrible collision accident. Better than being minced, though."
"Marie was eager because she said it's easier to blow him away and make him exit since he's strangely stubborn even without the mana supply... hmm, a flying kick that looked like something I've seen somewhere."
"Living for love, dying for love... I say."
The Three Idiots each murmured their impressions, and then looked back.
"Well now..."
"What are we going to do about this mess?"
What spread before them was a wretched combat result. Due to the self-destructions of the kin summoned by Beosteral, the garden was full of holes, and part of the mansion was destroyed. I wouldn't call it total destruction, but about a quarter of the house had been blown away, and that part alone was in a state of damage that could be called a ruined house without hesitation.
"L-let's just blame it all on the bandits."
Furthermore, when explaining to Earl Ruste, they tried to shift the blame and make excuses, but halfway through they became too ashamed and ended up volunteering to pay for the repairs────but that is another story.
●
And then, the following day.
"Hey, rookie! Hurry up and finish the prep!"
"Y-you... who do you think I am...!"
Beosteral was being made to help with the food prep at the Formula Blue Sky Cafeteria.
"You'll be working for free until you earn enough to pay for the repairs of the stall you broke! There's no time to cry!"
"Gu, gunu... t-this is just the onions stinging my eyes! I am by no means lamenting my circumstances!!"
Yes, Beosteral, who had been defeated by the Three Idiots and blown high into the sky, landed head-first in the Formula Blue Sky Cafeteria caravan. Thanks to the moonlight, he didn't die, but he was surrounded by angry employees whose stall he had destroyed, and they demanded payment.
Naturally, having no money of his own and having cooperated with bandits, he had no such ability to pay, and thus he ended up paying back with his body.
"I don't care, just hurry up! Look, customers are coming!! Also, for the lunch staff meal, grilled cheese tomato is fine, right!?"
"Yes, with pleasure! ────Curse you, Serious Breakers...! I won't forgive you! I won't forgive you...!!"
While chanting curses toward the Three Idiots, Beosteral increased the speed of his knife with surprisingly skillful movements.
A new arc will begin from the next chapter.