Yarpa & Saeugang of Slayers
And so began the purge of the Cultist Branch.
We crossed a long corridor.
<Step step step step step step step step>
<Hik hik hik hik hik hik>
<Srrk srrk srrk srrk srrk srrk srrk>
Had they sensed intruders?
At the far end of the corridor, chimeras poured in without end.
There was nothing behind us but a dead end, so we had no choice but to collide with them head-on.
Shwaaaak-!
As my scythe swung with full force, writhing tentacles were sliced away in heaps.
<Krrk krrk krrk krrk krrk krrk>
<Gwek gwek gwek gwek gwek>
The chimeras flailed, losing their balance.
Over those monsters, I drove in a pitch-black crescent.
Thud-.
"Activate. Thorn."
Puh-buh-buhk-!
Their bodies burst like blood balloons.
Rotten blood splashed out and soaked the corridor.
Before I could even catch my breath, a shadow fell over my head.
A monster that looked like a spider and centipede mashed together had opened its maw wide.
<Kkirrrggrk>
Swaaaeek-!
After that grotesque cry, it spat out a web.
Dark mana dripped from it; even a light brush looked like it could rot flesh.
But I didn't dodge.
I simply swung my brightly colored sword straight at it.
"Parrying."
Piiik-.
The web hurtling in at full speed suddenly lost direction.
It skidded off and stuck to a random wall.
Thrown off by the unexpected turn, it froze for a moment.
I didn't miss that opening and hurled what I was holding with all my strength.
"Activate. Ball."
The scythe shrank to the size of a ping-pong ball and shot toward the spider.
It slipped right into the giant monster's mouth.
The chimera swallowed the tiny ball before it realized what had happened.
I smirked and saw off its final breath.
"Activate. Thorn."
Puh-eok-!
A low murmur, and the monster shattered to pieces.
Chunks of flesh rained down from above.
"Activate. Umbrella."
Thudududuk-.
In the middle of it all, I calmly stood there with an umbrella open.
As the fishy stench filled my nose, a blue screen appeared before my eyes.
It was the progress tracker I'd been checking this whole time.
[Sub Quest]
-Title: Continued Growth! Continued Balloons!
-Objective: Achieve 3000 uses of Parrying with the Growth-type Weapon 'Balloon Sword+.'
-Failure Penalty: None
-Reward: Growth-type weapon 'Balloon Sword+' grade rises by five tiers -> (Grade B)
<Current Progress>
2986/3000
A quest I'd been grinding for a long time.
By sheer luck, the timing lined up perfectly with this School Trip.
I kept clashing with chimeras and steadily built up the remaining progress.
Piiik-.
Piiik-.
Piiik-.
The monsters were cut down without mercy.
At the same time, the others kept pace with that flow.
"Sir Viktor! I'll support you!"
Thud-!
Ranne thrust her spear, skewering chimeras on its tip.
A radiant mass of light swallowed the monsters.
Her spear seemed to flash brighter than usual.
Ranne gripped it tightly, looked this way, and shouted.
"Amazing! The holy relic's effect seems tremendous...!"
The holy relic she meant was none other than the flag fluttering on my back.
Ding-!
[Unbreakable Flagpole]
-Category: Accessory
-Grade: B+
-Status: Clean
-Description: A flag that flutters powerfully. When activated, it increases the stats of all allies within a 100m radius by 25%. This effect also applies to subordinate units controlled by allies (summons, Spirit Creatures, clones, etc.).
It was the item I got as a reward from Capture the Flag last time.
I activated it as a test, and everyone seemed to feel the boost clearly.
Color flowing from the flag covered the space and shimmered as if empowering the group.
"These things are seriously disgusting!"
"Soldiers! A-all at once, attack...!"
The ones who stood out most were, as expected, Caitlin and Alice.
Both of them were strong in one-versus-many situations.
At Alice's crowned command, Card Soldiers charged at the monsters.
<[
<[
<[
Fragments of nightmares that neither tore nor bent.
They swarmed through the corridor and butchered chimeras one by one.
With the queen's command and the flag's effect stacked together, they were practically flying.
Thud, slash-!
After taking down one huge chimera, they beheaded it and offered the head before Alice.
"Uh, uhh...?"
<[
"Um... g-good job...?"
<[
<[
<[
Soldiers kneeling before their queen.
Once she patted their heads and praised them, they all cheered and raised their weapons again.
Alice looked awkward for a second, then encouraged her summons and gave another command.
Seeing them like that, even those summoned dreams felt a little cute.
"Kh...!"
Pajijijik-!
Meanwhile, amid the crawling chimeras, a yellow flash ripped across the corridor.
It moved so fast that for those sluggish monsters, even recognizing it seemed impossible, let alone catching it.
A few seconds later, delayed impact sounds rang out, and the chimeras turned into minced meat.
Puh-buh-buh-buhk-!
"Hoo...!"
Caitlin spat out her breath like she was chewing gum.
Violent current surged around her, burning all the chimeras that brushed near.
"Feels like I have way too much power right now...?"
she muttered.
High-voltage current ran savagely over her bronze skin.
Caitlin took a deep breath, then shot me a side glare.
"Hey, asshole."
"What is it, Sir Saeugang?"
"I stayed quiet because things are urgent, but no matter how I look at this, isn't something seriously weird?"
"What is?"
"How is everyone acting so normal about this...?"
Caitlin pointed around, looking dumbfounded.
The kids had been dragged into this suddenly, but kept fighting without the slightest shake.
"They're way too calm!"
"True."
And each of them had a mask covering their face.
Alice and Carmilla were obvious, but Ranne and Caitlin were covering their faces too.
The moment I entered this space, I handed each of them a mask.
-There is nothing good about getting your face exposed to Cultists.
-Cover your face with a mask, and use aliases too.
-From now on, Miss Ranne is Sir Yarpa, and Miss Caitlin is Sir Saeugang.
New Slayers recruits, just like that.
So our organization was restructured as follows.
[Slayers]
Deputy Commander, Garulik - Viktor
Executive, Manre - Carmilla
Executive, Unnion - Alice
Member, Yarpa - Ranne
Member, Saeugang - Caitlin
The team grew in an instant.
As I smiled in satisfaction, Sir Saeugang snapped at me in disbelief.
"No... forget the masks for a second, everyone is reacting weird! Why is everyone accepting this so naturally?"
"You've been noisy for a while. Be quiet and follow."
"And what is with this woman? She's a vampire, right? Why is a vampire popping out of your front pocket..."
Swaaaeek-!
Card Soldiers sliced past Caitlin.
Behind them stood Alice, wearing a black crown and radiating a chilling aura.
Caitlin looked dumbfounded all over again.
"...What the hell is that now? Isn't she last place in Class E? She was hiding power like that?"
"Secret."
"Ugh...!"
She kept firing off questions, but there wasn't much I could answer right now.
Caitlin finally grumbled and jumped back into the chimera pack.
Once this was over, I'd probably need to explain things properly.
"Hm."
Our breathing scattered.
At that moment, Alice, who had been commanding the soldiers from the rear, staggered.
Maybe she'd overused her power, so I quickly reached out and supported her.
"Alice... no, Sir Unnion? What is wrong?"
"S-sorry. I suddenly feel sick..."
"Are you forcing your dreams too hard?"
"No. It doesn't feel like that... I think my focus just slipped for a second. You don't need to worry about me."
Had she sensed something?
Alice swayed for a moment, then forced herself back into motion.
I only told her not to push herself too hard.
We broke through the corridor at high speed.
'So far, it seems smooth enough.'
Everything was moving like flowing water.
But this was where it really began.
Soon, the star of this quest would appear.
'The boss monster.'
The deep-sea beast, Leviathan (Project Leviathan).
A weapon the Cultists were preparing.
A chimera with a body hundreds of meters long.
In the original story, it was the monster that sank an entire city.
In pure size, it could even fight the Undead Dragon that ruled Purgatory Floor 70.
'If the Cultists release that thing, nearby cities will turn into a complete wasteland...'
We had to stop it.
More precisely, we had to hunt Leviathan.
You might ask how we were supposed to hunt something that ridiculous...
'I had a plan.'
If I wasn't prepared even for this much, the title of transmigrator would be a joke.
I smirked and cut down a few more chimeras in front of me.
About thirty minutes passed as we ran through the corridor.
The wave of monsters rushing us finally lost momentum.
Only then did we catch our breath and cross the center of a wide open area.
"This place... is truly strange. To think a space this vast was hidden beneath the deep sea."
"R-right... the ceiling is so high you can't even see it, and the corridors twist like a maze..."
"What even is this place? Fuck, there's a Cultist Branch somewhere like this?"
"Shh! I think something is coming!"
The kids walked while scanning the area.
Then suddenly, the entire corridor began to shake.
Kugugugugung-!
"W-wait...!"
"Is this whole place shaking?!"
When we stared at the far end of the corridor, some shape was coming toward us.
Its silhouette was so huge it filled the broad corridor.
The kids froze and looked up at it.
"That is..."
A mass of pale blue writhing tentacles.
Countless teeth lined the gaps between them.
The tentacles tangled together and stretched like sea serpents.
But for a living creature, it looked oddly unfinished.
"Holy shit, that thing is alive, right?"
"It's insanely huge..."
Skin was peeled off in patches, and intestines hung out in strands.
A fishy stench stabbed into our noses.
It looked half-made.
As if it were swimming through the sea, it drifted through the air toward us.
[Name: Project Leviathan-Failed]
-Race: Chimera
-Category: Boss Monster
-Description: The failed result of a certain project.
Creeeak-.
It opened its mouth wide.
Inside that tentacle-made mouth, more tentacles wriggled and braided together.
"That thing... it's coming at us."
Caitlin muttered.
The next moment, it spat out a tentacle woven like a spear.
Dark mana coated it so thickly that black heat haze rose from it.
Swaaaeek-!
A spear hurtling down the corridor.
If it even grazed one person, it'd be fatal.
And the spear itself was massive, easily dozens of meters long.
"Everyone, get behind me...!"
I shouted and swung my brightly colored Balloon Sword.
With my other hand, I pressed the pocket watch button.
Click-.
A quiet friction sound, and the world played in slow motion.
The spear had already reached my nose, and I shaved it off lightly.
Piiik, kuuuung-!
Perfect timing.
The cleanly landed Parrying bounced the tentacle in the exact opposite direction.
The giant spear reversed course and pierced back into the monster's body.
<Kkiieeeeeek-!!!>
A scream loud enough to tear eardrums.
It twisted and writhed, then charged at us again.
'This should be enough.'
I did not dodge.
I only gave a signal.
"Pikachu! One Million Volts!"
"The fuck is Pikachu, I said...!"
Pajik, pajijik-!
On my cue, Caitlin launched herself forward.
Bright yellow lightning flooded the corridor.
She wasn't the only one.
While I blocked the first strike, everyone else had already prepared heavy blows.
"I'll go too...!"
"Get out of the way up front!"
"Soldiers! Keep that monster from getting any closer!"
Current, light, blood, dream.
Four attributes dyed the corridor in every color.
-Lettuce-Style Lightning Magic, Eleventh Form-
'Field of Thunderbolts'
-Kihano-Style Spearmanship, Eighth Form-
'Falling Star'
-Blandir-Style Blood Manipulation, Tenth Form-
'Blood Blizzard'
Ding-!
[Effect of item 'Unbreakable Flagpole (B+)' has been applied.]
[All allies' attack power is increased by 25%.]
Kwa-gwa-gwa-gwak-!
Pajijijik-!
A brutal explosion swallowed the corridor.
The attributes tangled and detonated, and the monster stayed buried in light for a long time.
Only after the blazing flash finally faded did it spit out what it had been chewing.
Kuuuuung-.
The body that had been swimming through the air slammed into the floor.
The monster burned up without leaving even a death cry.
Reduced to literal rags, the corpse just sagged there.
"Hoo..."
A perfect Parrying.
Then perfect timing between teammates right after.
I clenched my stinging hand and stared at the screen floating in front of me.
Ding-!
[Sub Quest Cleared!]
-Title: Continued Growth! Continued Balloons!
-Objective: Achieve 3000 uses of Parrying with the Growth-type Weapon 'Balloon Sword+.'
<Current Progress>
3000/3000
[Through incredible persistence, you have met the condition!]
-As a reward, this weapon's grade will rise.
-As a reward, a special function will be added to this weapon.
[This weapon moves closer to the conditions of a 'Holy Sword'!]
'Success.'
Fwaaaaaak-!
The next moment,
brilliant light burst out from the Absolute Balloon Sword.
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