Chapter 40 – The Old Man’s Party Versus the Necromancer
Translator: Ranzan
「That’s the one behind all this! Al, we got to get him! Get him!」
「Cruz, calm down.」
「O…okay.」
I stopped Cruz from jumping at the guy.
He wanted to say something, so let him talk.
If we know the reason why, it makes things easier later.
「So, who were you going to lure out to fight you again?」
「The sub boss of the Demon Lord…Vi-Vi, of course.」
I looked at Vi-Vi.
「You know him, Vi-Vi?」
「Nooo…I don’t know this old guy.」
Vi-Vi looked surprised, but shook her head.
「Bitch! Are you mocking ME?!」
「He seems kind of pissed. Are you sure you don’t know him?」
「No…never met him before.」
If Vi-Vi says so, then I get she never had.
However, this had made the magician quite angry.
「You crushed our dreams of attacking with a zombie dragon! You shameless devil! And I won’t forgive you for killing my beautiful hydra either!」
「Oh, now I get it.」
I finally understood what was going on.
Cruz said that they captured a necromancer that created the zombie dragon.
However, it seems that the necromancer wasn’t the only one involved.
「For a sub boss of the Demon Lord like you to crush the recreation of the Demon Army…you TRAITOR! I, one of the 12 demon disciples of the Demon Army, Curtis, will purge you from this world!」
「12…demon disciples?」
I don’t remember anything about those fellows.
Never remember fighting them. We may have just bulldozed them and never noticed.
「Well, even though there’s supposed to be 12…there’s really only 10.」
Whoever is the accountant for the Demon Army needs to get their payroll in order.
「Oh, I remember! You were those idiots that were always trying to take over the sub-bosses positions! I thought you looked like those guys…I guess I do know you…somehow.」
Vi-Vi said with a questioning look.
「Or maybe that was a different guy.」
「I’M THE SAME GUY!」
The disciple shouted loudly.
「You weakling, shrimpy sub-bosses…mocking a great man like me!」
「You lost to the sub-bosses though…」
I replied, and Curtis flipped his lid.
「Don’t you mock me, buster! Damn Wizard! My strength is far above those sub-bosses!」
「I don’t remember you ever getting strong enough to match our power.」
Even though Vi-Vi was kind of weak herself, she didn’t seem to notice.
「Are you two done? Are you finished? Let’s kill the guy.」
Cruz was itching to fight.
We all knew it was time too, so,
「We probably need to take this disciple guy hostage too.」
「Got it!」
Cruz shouted while rushing in at him.
「Eeeek!」
Curtis squealed when he saw how unnaturally fast Cruz was barrelling towards him.
「H…hey, monsters, KILL THEM!」
Curtis screamed while about 20 basilisks and hydras silently turned towards us.
The basilisk’s eyes shone in petrifying glares.
「Wah! Too bright!」
Cruz said while she cut off the basilisk’s head.
So resistant it was almost cheating. No sign of her being petrified. She tore off the beast’s poison tail with her left hand.
「I can’t fight like Cruz can.」
Luka avoided looking at a different basilisk while she cut off its poison tail. She dodged a spurt of poison.
I just let some fire magic fly. I had to make sure that Luka and Cruz’ backs were covered.
It was hard trying to judge where Cruz and Luka would attack and then clear the ground behind them.
In order to dodge the attacks they zigzagged randomly. And they were fast. It was very hard to follow them.
「Even so, I can’t lose this battle.」
Analyze the whole battlefield, and let the girls do what they wanted while defending their behinds. That was a wizard’s job.
I also had to keep the hydras from regenerating like yesterday.
While I defended the girls’ rears, I burned away whatever heads they chopped off.
But,
「These things are still regenerating!」
Cruz screamed as she lopped another head of a hydra off.
A head sprung through the burned neck that I had used fire on.
「These hydras are a special variety! They’re my immortal soldiers!」
Curtis screamed while laughing.
「I see…zombies…」
Zombies were living dead bodies.
Though they had their own will, they couldn’t move freely.
That’s why there was no need to keep them from fleeing from this monster farm.
「So yesterday’s hydra wasn’t zombified.」
That’s why its regeneration was a little less. Also it was able to run away as it wasn’t controlled.
「What do we do now?!」
Cruz asked as she cut off head after head of hydra. As soon as she did, within seconds a new one would grow back.
She was getting tired from attacking.
「Just do all you can to cut their heads off!」
「Got it!」
「Al, don’t ask the impossible!」
While saying this, Luka cut a basilisk’s tail and head off.
I know what impossible is. But I still had to trust that Cruz could do it.
「Femm, let me ride you!」
「Rawf!」
「Run through the hydras, straight to Curtis.」
「Bark!」
As I rode on Femm, we blew right through the hydras.
I threw multiple fireballs here and there, supporting Cruz and Luka while beginning to chat.
「…Ice Queen reigning on the stairs to heaven. Commander of the vast abyss.
Holder of the key to Hades, Open the door to the void.
The void. The darkness.
With divine retribution, cleanse the evil with ice.
For my name is Alfred Lint!」
In an instant all the hydras around me were frozen.
Unlike fire magic, ice magic wouldn’t start a forest fire.
「WHOA!」
「HEY!」
Cruz and Luka jumped to dodge the flood of ice.
Either way, I had adjusted the chant so that Cruz and Luka were untouched.
However, power is power. And that includes ice spells. You couldn’t be sure that they could avoid everything.
「Sorry. Take care of the rest for me.」
After that apology, I raced towards Curtis.
「Eeeep!」
Curtis was in complete panic mode.
His feet were frozen. I hadn’t even attacked him…it was just an after-effect.
Sad for him to get caught up in all this.
「12 disciple Curtis or whomever. Zombies are forbidden. The king will see to it that you are punished.」
「I thought there was something weird about all this. There was no way that a sub-boss like Vi-Vi could beat out zombie dragon!」
Then Curtis looked at me.
「You were the one that did it!」
「It wasn’t JUST me.」
I had nothing to hide, so I spoke truthfully.
「Using two magics at once, and ice magic with that power…are you even human?」
「Instead of asking me that, you should ask HER.」
I pointed at Cruz, who was now cutting blocks off the frozen hydras behind me.
Even though I bound Curtis, he didn’t resist.
He knew that he was beaten, so there was no reason to fight on.
「My loss. However, I still must avenge myself against the traitor.」
I suddenly felt hostility radiate from Curtis.
Then I yelled,
「Vi-Vi!!」
One hydra suddenly rose up behind Vi-Vi, who was drawing a magic circle.
It must have been concealed, hiding.
「Don’t think you can beat me!」
Vi-Vi touched the magic circle without turning around.
Ivy sprung from the magic circle and grabbed onto the hydra.
The ivy completely surrounded the hydra, that now lay on the ground, twitching.
Cruz suddenly sprung in front of Vi-Vi. She approached the hydra and slashed it to bits.
Luka was fine chopping all the other frozen hydra up.
I felt relieved.
「12th disciple. Anything else you want to try?」
Curtis sighed and then slumped.
I wrapped Curtis up in a magic net.
I gagged him and tied his wrists and ankles. It was a basic magic bond.
「Vi-Vi. You did a good job with that ivy of yours.」
I thought she’d only use basic magics like fire, water, and thunder.
If you were going into battle, those were your basic options.
「It’s something that I use just in case I have to fight. And even if I do, it will stop anything from moving, so you all can finish it off for me.」
Vi-Vi said with a smile.
「That’s why I always prepare a magic to stop one thing at least from fighting.」
「Good job.」
I scruffed Vi-Vi’s hair up in thanks.
「STOP IT!」
She said, while blushing.