Before you start to read the chapter, I want to tell you that we have a poll going around on this for the celebration of 100 Readers! Well it could go down the time this chapter is posted, but it hit 100 so its "lets do it" type of thing!
The poll is about asking you if you want me to create a filler chapter about one of the girls we have in this series, which deepens the retionship between Rui and the girl. Note that this doesn't affect the flow of the story since this is a filler, and in NO CORRELATION to the story's flow at all, hence you can skip reading it.
I'm not really that good when it comes to these things, but I'll do my best when given the chance! Note that the poll only sts for 3 days, and by then, I would upload a chapter depending on the outcome
(TL;DR, I created a poll below that sts for three days in celebration of the series hitting its first 100 readers!) Thanks for reading this bit! :D
...
In the amidst of the battle, no one in the other side try to take a step as I stepped myself in
After killing the guy with bad intentions, I broke the binding spell from Mashiro and Lura
"?!"
"He shouldn't be able to do that...what the hell...?"
"Rui sama..."
"I'm sorry, it took me some time to prepare the stuff that we need for hunting, but I shouldn't have gone back in the first pce"
"L-Leader! Its my fault that this happened! I-I didn't told you what was happening throughout these past few days and-"
"I know"
"H...Huh?"
"Well I specifically don't know the details, but I do know that you're hiding something from me, you had that troubling expression on your face whenever you came back home"
"Ahaha...was I that obvious?"
"Yeah, but I didn't expected this kind of trouble"
I look to where the enemy where, the guy in a red suit flinched as our eyes met each other
"I-I'm sorry! I'll take any punishment you have for me!"
"What? Why would I?"
"What...?"
"As far as I know, you just didn't know at the time if you want me to know this or not, right?"
"..."
"I know that you want to do these things on your own and act on your own, but at least don't let me kept in the dark"
"Its not that I want to deal with these on my own...I just want to ease the burden on you by dealing this with ourselves"
"So Mashiro was also in on it"
"Uh...I-I'm sorry, Rui sama!"
Its not nice to show a soft side in front of the enemy, but I wanted to reassure that I accept Mashiro and Lura's mistakes
"Look, we're together because we're kind of a family now, right? We help each other, we comfort each other, and we take care of each other"
"!"
"As I am counting on your daily routine and stuff, I want you to count on me at least when it comes to these things...after all, I am your caretaker, right?"
"Caretaker...."
Lura said, deep in her thoughts
I patted her heads instinctively as I smiled to them
"Let this be a lesson to you from now on, okay?"
Mashiro and Lura nodded, as they lowered their head. A hint of blushing can be seen on their faces...they must've been reflecting on it too hard...
...But even I can't say that this isn't just some mistake that they can repeat over and over...
...Other humans...
I was once told by Master Shin to not let myself get involve further with them, as there's always a chance that I may get targeted and get exploited...
Yet it had come to this, I really can't just flee, take Mashiro and Lura with me, and left this pce to them with our identities exposed now can we?
...I'm sorry Master Shin, but I'll have to do what it takes to protect what's dearest to you, and mine!
I said to myself, I then turned my back on them as I put a wind barrier around Mashiro and Lura. Its a barrier that can change into any elements depends on the situation, so if they decide to attack them behind my back, my barrier will react to it with the correct element
"This barrier...I can feel its strong..."
"Right?! We're totally safe in here!"
Lura touched the barrier for some reason, confirming something
"...? Why are you going back and forth?"
"Nothing..."
"...?"
"H-HOI! CAIN! W-WHY'S YOUR BINDING SPELL GOT BROKE EASILY?!"
"Tsk! I don't know! Why's your dispel field not working?!"
"DON'T ASK ME YOU DIPSHIT! I don't even know how he's able to cast spells inside the dispel field!"
"? There's a dispel field?"
By dispel...they mean the ones in isekai anime where they remove the effects of the spell, right?
"Y-Yes, That's mostly the reason why I wasn't able to fight back with my illusion spells, Leader"
"I see..."
"Rui sama's so awesome, right Lura? He can even cast spells when we're inside the dispel field!"
"Of course he can! H-He doesn't use mana after all"
The enemy left clueless as they weren't able to hear the st bit of Lura's statement
"Right?!"
"Its not affecting me because of that?"
"Yes. Dispel disrupts and cancels the flow of the applications, methods, techniques, and such of a spell, simply to say that once it knows how you're creating and doing the spell with your mana, the enemy can reverse it and break the flow, leading the spell to a failure...but in your case..."
"I guess that makes sense now that you said it that way"
The problem now is that they know that I can cast inside the Dispel field, that doesn't change the outcome of the battle regardless but...
...If I let them go now, they'll probably make a big thing out of it
...
...Hmm...I wonder if I can break this field?
I looked up, to see a cylindrical shape formed in blue lines...which I deducted as the flow of Mana
According to Master Shin, all elements should form from a Mana source, but in my case, I wasn't using Mana...
If a Dispel field is also formed from a flow of Mana, then doesn't that mean using the spell needs a rge chunk of Mana reserve?
...So that means one of them has to have a rge mana capacity
...If I were to break that person's flow of Mana, how would I do it?
I looked to where the Mana goes through...only to see that its gathering up in the center of the field
...Since I know which to target, perhaps 'that' skill would work?
"...? What's he looking up there?"
Cain, followed by his leader's statement, looked up
"...?! Don't tell me...!"
"? What?"
Focusing at the target I hand, I shouted in my head
"Fatality!"
It was then that an invisible matter shot through the dispel field, breaking the flow of the Mana...
...The dispel field suddenly shattered like a mirror right after
"?! D-Did Leader just..."
"Rui sama broke the dispel!"
"The dispel field...just got dispelled...?"
"You gotta be shitting me!"
I looked at the guy in the red suit, intimidating him further
"Now that's out of the way, how about we start fighting for real?"
"N-No!!!!! I don't want to be a part of this anymore!"
Their healer flees from the scene, leaving the mage and their leader
"What the?! Misa! Come back you dirty slut!"
But it seems like their healer didn't listen
"That bitch! We've fought Hazard Threats and Disaster Threat! Why's she so scared?!"
Hazard Threat? Disaster Threat? Are those reted to what Lura said the other time?
"You don't get it..."
"Huh?!"
"That guy can dispel a dispel you crackhead! He's definitely on another level!"
"WHO YOU CALLING A CRACKHEAD- ACCCKKK!"
The guy in a red suit fell down to his knees, pressured by my heavy aura
"Its disrespectful to not pay attention to your enemy you know"
"ACCCCCK!"
"Oh no you don't!"
The mage then lunged a barrage of earth spikes towards me. I was about to deflect it with my wind barrier, when suddenly Mashiro stepped in to quickly punch the incoming spikes at us
"Mashiro?!"
"HAAAAAAAA!"
I looked to where the barrier I put up, only to see no one was inside
*Sigh*...even Lura went out...
Right after the barrage of spikes ended, the mage was too stunned to move
"W-What the?! She got all of them?!"
Mashiro then looked at me, with her eyes beaming, as she proudly smile at me
But all I felt from that smile was shivers down my spine...I'd really end up as a punching bag one day if I upset this woman!
Mashiro wags her tail and ears while she quietly waits for my response...is she expecting me to praise her...?
...
"*Sigh*...go all out"
"! Understood, Rui sama!"
Without any hesitation, She fsh step through the mage
"?! Too fast-"
Too fast indeed, he wasn't even able to finish his sentence
Mashiro grabbed the mage by his neck as they went further away from us...
...
"So...its just you and me"
I said to the guy in a red suit, trying to stand from the pressure
"HAAAAAAAA!"
A bright yellow aura suddenly enveloped the guy...overcoming the pressure from my aura
"Heh...I never thought I'd fight someone this strong out here in this damn forest!"
"I never thought I would fight a Hero..."
Ending a hero would probably cause some uproar from where he belongs...but I can't just let this guy get out here alive...
...He's clearly strong...but...
"What? Got scared? Don't back down on me now"
"*Sigh*..."
"What's with the sigh?!"
"I always heard that Heroes are strong and all...but is this all that you got?"
"?! WHY YOU!"
He does have an intimidating aura and all, but that's just it...I don't find him as someone who I'll have trouble dealing with
"YOU'LL DEFINITELY EAT THOSE WORDS RIGHT AFTER I HIT YA!"
He says as he close the gap on me and swung his sword
*Cng!*
The ground beneath us shattered on the impact as I parried it with my sword effortlessly
"?!"
"Is that it?"
"!"
He then draw back, maintaining a good distance
"I don't know how you were able to block that but-?!"
I cut him off by casting a earth spike imbued with fire magic. As he sliced through the earth magic, it exploded right at him
"...Oh well, I didn't expect you to get wiped out by that to be honest"
It would be disappointing if it did, considering he's a Hero and all
"*Huff*...*Puff*...Can't...you let me...finish what I'm saying first...?"
He said as he tried to catch his breath
"I really don't have time for this"
"I see...I'm not worth of your time huh? So that's what it is..."
"...?"
He struck down his sword to the ground
"Special Skill: Tenfold!"
Like a beam of light, it struck down on the Hero, his aura suddenly expanded and became more intimidating than before...
...after a few seconds, the atmosphere around him changed
"HEHEHE! LETS SEE IF YOU CAN STILL HOLD YOUR GROUND!"
"..."
Sure he did get stronger than earlier...
"THIS WILL SURE ENTERTAIN YOU!"
*Cng!*
...
He did get stronger...but nowhere near to the point where he can have a chance against me
"?! WHAT?!"
"Nice strike, too bad you weren't able to nd it perfectly"
He backs off once again
"IMPOSSIBLE! MY STAT SHOULD BE TEN TIMES HIGHER! HOW ARE YOU STILL STRONGER THAN ME?!"
That was ten times multiplier stat boost? It felt to me he just improved like 10% though...
"THERE'S JUST NO WAY! I WON'T ACCEPT IT!"
He then puts his big sword behind him, charging up for his probably his most powerful attack
"..."
"A FAIR WARNING TO YOU, NOBODY HAS EVER SURVIVED FROM THIS SO YOU MIGHT AS WELL GROVEL NOW AND SAY SO-"
"Yeah yeah, I get it, can you hurry up now?"
"?! HUH?!"
"I have a lot of things to do now here, and I have to cook dinner on the way back"
Its almost time for that so I really have to wrap this up...
...but then again, this is also a good opportunity to use 'that'
"YOU! YOU'LL REGRET THIS!"
"..."
"HAAAAAAA!"
Right as he was able to come up to me, he swung his sword at me one st time...
...
...Only for it to not take any effect whatsoever
"?! A WIND BARRIER?! ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!"
"Its not just some wind barrier, its a multi-yered wind barrier infused with dispel magic"
"?! D-Dispel Magic?! YOU SCUMBAG! YOU WERE ALSO A HERO THE WHOLE TIME?!"
"Huh? Where did you even get that idea? I got inspiration from you, dumbass"
"!"
He's clearly the one who cast that dispel field earlier, as he's the only one that I can feel who has the rge capacity of mana reserve earlier
The only thing that I did to my wind barrier, is to infuse it with Fatality skill, and target at the weakest point of the sword's mana flow
His strike did have strength, but most of that strength came from his mana
As if realization struck to him, he finally fell down to his knees once more
"Ha...hahaha...a multi-yered barrier...infused with a dispel spell that you just copied...? hahaha..."
He really had a meltdown from what just happened huh?
"Just...who are you...?"
"...You don't need to know that"
He then ughs hysterically
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"
"...?"
"YOU'RE RIGHT! WHY DO I EVEN NEED TO KNOW?! I DON'T NEED TO KNOW!"
"..."
"I CAN'T ACCEPT IT, IMPOSSIBLE! THERE'S NO WAY! I WILL DEFEAT YOU!"
"*Sigh*..."
"EVEN IF MY ALMIGHTY POWERFUL ATTACK DIDN'T WORK, I KNOW THAT IF I TRY OVER AND OVER AGAIN, I WILL DEFEAT YOU!"
He definitely lost his mind now...
"HAAAAAAAA!"
Even with an utter defeat in front of him, he swung his sword in desperation
"...I admit that you're brave..."
"-?!"
He then spat out a lot of blood, making him unable to swing further
"...But don't pair your bravery with such tomfoolery"
"Damn...you..."
...
And just like that, the hero completely falls ft to the ground
"...Even if you're a hero, you're still a human"
Since I know where the heart of a human is located, it wasn't too hard to target it with my Fatality skill...
...
I've been using Fatality a lot, but if its for the sake of protecting them, then I don't have any regrets on using it more than I should...
Still, I really have to clean up this pce now...
Broken branches from trees, shattered ground...lifeless bodies...
...lifeless bodies...
Since when did I became so heartless when it comes to seeing dead bodies? I didn't even react right after I killed the guy...
Am I somewhat of a psychopath? Or did I really got accustomed from killing so much creatures?
...
"Rui sama!"
Mashiro came back with a satisfied look on her face
"Were you able to do it?"
"Mmm! Blow him up to pieces!"
"E-Eh? By Blow up, you mean-"
"I pyed a little bit with him, and then ended him with one punch! all that was left was his feet!"
That statement alone sent shivers down my spine
"Rui sama...?"
"N-Nothing"
She tilted her head in confusion, but was able to change her attention to something else
"? Where's Lura?"
"Oh...about that..."
She probably went and acted on her own again, which she probably wanted to do to make it up...
"Don't worry, she'll be fine"
"O-Okay? -Ah! What about the Metarouts?!"
I quickly looked to where the Metarouts were earlier
"...They're gone"
All that we can see was Trollfishes that are happily doing their own thing on the Lake. They probably hid the moment we started to fight...
"We'll get them some other time"
"Metarouts...uuu..."
Mashiro said as her stomach growled
"Oh right, its almost time for dinner as well...but we have to clean this pce up first"
Especially this pce doesn't suit the word 'Dreams' from the looks of it
"Mmm! I can still go on before I die!"
"I don't think you'll die that fast..."
"But what should we do with the dead body?"
"We'll bury them somewhere of course, we can't leave them rotting in here"
Mashiro look at me surprised
"What? We're not that heartless. Sure they did some despicable things to you earlier, but we still have to pay respects for the dead"
"N-Not that, its just..."
"...?"
"I never thought that you would just bury them"
"What do you mean?"
"In my past, people from that pce burn the dead bodies and only bury the reputable ones"
"Huh? Cremation?"
" 'Cremation' ? Is that what they call for those who burn dead bodies?"
"I see, that term isn't known in this world..."
"Why don't we just 'cremation' them?"
"That would be the easier option"
"Right-"
"But that really isn't something I would do"
"I-I see..."
I know that's weird coming from me, from someone who just killed the guy, but it just feels wrong with me to cremate the dead person's body than bury them on the ground...
"Take the person you just dealt with in here as well, we don't want to leave any bad traces here"
"Understood, Rui sama!"
She says as she happily wags her tail and ears
"...I hope we don't have to deal anymore with these kinds of things next time..."
I said, as I started to clean up the mess we made before the sun sets...
...
...
...
"*Huff*...*Puff*...*Huff*...*Puff*..."
A woman in distress can be seen running around the forest
"I shouldn't have agreed to this in the first pce! Why did we have to get blinded by the reward?!"
She says, as she ran around in every direction
"That guy...he dispelled the dispel magic! He's bad news! No one has ever done that before! I have to get back alive to deliver this info!"
She said, as she thought of something wicked
"And maybe if I even got lucky...that hero might get sughtered by him! I'll be able to get the rewards myself!"
Even in the mist of excitement, her body couldn't stop shaking from the fear she just witnessed
Suddenly, a three pathway stopped her from her tracks
"Call me a scaredy cat, but this cat definitely did the right choice!"
She said as she chose a path...over and over...
...and over...
...and over...
and over...
Until she finally realized
"...? Am I going around in circles...?"
It then struck to her
"?! Crap! Crap! Crap! Crap! Crap!"
With all her might, she started to run in every direction once more
"Is she after my life?!"
Suddenly, she hit her head through an invisible wall, causing her to fall
Thereon shows a familiar figure in front of her
"Y-You're!"
"Oh? You remembered me?"
"W-Why are you after me?!"
Lura smiled mischievously
"Because I have to make it up to him"
"W-What...?"
the healer, Misa, tried to take a step back, but another invisible wall stopped her
"Leader...even though I messed up big time, he still forgave me and even patted my head...Leader reminds me of my previous caretaker...whom I truly cared for..."
"...?"
"He...He's so kind...so kind that I feel guilty that I wasn't able to ease the burden for him...I failed where he needed me the most..."
"What...are you talking about...?"
"I don't want to see that side of smile anymore...I will not fail for the second time..."
"H-Huh..."
"So for that reason, you can go now"
"?! W-What?"
"You heard me, you can go now"
"J-Just like that? Are you kidding me?"
"Did I stutter?"
"..."
Misa then stood up, taking Lura's words to heart
"T-Thankyou for showing mercy to me..."
As she nod her head towards Lura, a path towards the exit showed up in front of her
"I can finally escape...!"
Right before she was able to, her vision suddenly darkened
"?!"
"Let this be a lesson to you to never trust Lurachnids"
Lura said, as she plucked out Misa's eyes, then every part of her organ, and then dismembering her body...
...until it was reduced to pieces
"Sorry to take it out on you...but I have to steel my resolve"
Lura then removed the illusion, showing Misa with her body intact, but completely dead. She carried the dead body after
"I'll do whatever it takes for the person that accepted my fws..."
She said with a hint of blush on her cheek
"Even if you're a friend or a foe..."
Within the rge vicinity of the pce, Lura pced a more powerful illusion spell than before. She was sure of its effectiveness to lure out intruders even better
And using Fsh Step, she decided to head back to where her Leader and Mashiro was, to bring back some good news
...It was then that peace and silence came back in the Waterfall of Dreams once more
...
