Manowa

Chapter 395 – Let's Ponder for a Long Time

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◎ Trade City Uumin, Feudal Lord's Mansion, Courtyard, Kazane Cottage

「Haaah」

A heavy sigh leaked.
It was from Kazane.
Naoki's expression also wasn't very good, but likely because he had been in this world longer, he was more accustomed to people dying.
The same was true for the inhabitants of this city.

The day after they defeated the Brutuzas and returned to Uumin.
Since 10 days had passed, Naoki was able to summon Heroic Spirit Fuune, so he performed treatment on the Hirukos.

As a result, about half of the Hirukos who were exposed to『Light from Heaven』successfully turned back into humans.
That was more than Louise initially expected, but conversely, half were dead.

The Hirukos who didn't return to normal retained their black tar-like appearances as they disappeared, so in the end, who died was unknown.
The residents had also been notified that it was difficult to treat the Hirukos who had been preserved by Crystallization, so the people who hadn't been seen since the incident were considered dead for the time being.
All of that follow-up was in place, but as was a matter of course, some people broke down crying when the people they were searching for weren't among the rescued, and both Kazane and Naoki witnessed them.

(…
This is draining)

Kazane thought.
It wasn't Kazane and the others' fault.
Kazane and the others had dealt with the incident so well that it could be asserted that there was nothing more they could have done.
In the first place, if Kazane and the others hadn't been there, the city would have been destroyed.
However, no matter how many details like that were listed in her head, the thorns piercing her heart wouldn't come out.
The feeling of regret continued to remain.

「Nya」

Yuuko-nee licked Kazane's cheek.

「Yeah, thank you.
I know.」

After Yuuko-nee comforted her, Kazane nodded.
Tatsuo also looked worried.
Kazane also understood.
She was doing the best she could.
Blaming herself any further would be conceited.

Above all,『who was most at fault』?

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Everything was caused by『devils』.
Kazane understood that this tragedy happened because of their existence.
But there was also something else she was worried about.

(Since Yuuko-nee extracted Shippuu's soul from me, it's already definite, isn't it?)

They discovered it when making the cocoon of Jinrai's partner Shippuu.
After Yuuko-nee synchronized with Kazane, she noticed the soul of her underling inside Kazane and pulled it out to create Shippuu.

(Players are probably similar to devils.
Or perhaps a devil dwells inside them.)

Kazane tightly squeezed her hand.

The explanation of the level-up mechanism in the game『Zexiaharts』was as follows:

The players who appeared in Zexiaharts were called Foreigners inside the game.
And Foreigners improved their abilities by battling monsters and absorbing their life force when they killed them.
The reason Foreigners had such a power was because a devil dwelled in their bodies, and they offered souls to that devil to gain power.

Kazane talked about that with Yumika when she first came to this world.

If this world was in accordance with that explanation, Kazane and the others had a devil inside their bodies.
Since the soul of Yuuko-nee's underling had been inside Kazane, there was no doubt that she had the ability to absorb the life force of monsters when she killed them.
In that case, it could be inferred that Kazane's ability to acquire Skills when she defeated monsters was related to this soul-stealing specification.

Though everything up to that point was fine.
No, it wasn't fine, but she had heard from Yuuko-nee that there were records of players up until now passing away due to normal lifespan; there were also records of some players reviving after death like Yohan and even people that seemed to be reincarnators later on.

In other words, it seemed their souls wouldn't be stolen by a devil after death.
Also, Yuuko-nee was Level 96 and didn't seem to be having any problems at present.
Since there were also no stories about former players having any such problems, there shouldn't be any difficulties with continuing to fight from now on.

Therefore, Kazane and Yuuko-nee thought there was no problem setting aside the issue of the devils inside players for now.
So then, one problem was…

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(Why did the devils refuse to fight us?)

When she had fallen over due to Age's magic in Uumin, Kazane had certainly heard.

『It's dangerous for devils like us to kill players, and Kazane is especially irregular, don't you think? So I think I'll have this dispose of her for us.』

So Age said.
It was dangerous for a devil to kill a player, so he tried to use Yuuko-nee to dispose of Kazane.
In other words, a devil couldn't directly make a move on players like Kazane and the others.
In the first place, it was strange that they had the chance to kill Yuuko-nee but simply sealed her consciousness and left her alone instead.

(The souls of players surpass devils…
is that what that means? According to Louise-san's words, if a soul eaten by a devil is a higher-ranking soul, the control of the souls inside that devil will be usurped and switched to that soul.
With the examples of Yukito and Age, it may be the case that players usurp devils.)

Kazane thought that if that was the case, a devil wouldn't directly attack Kazane and the others as long as they knew that they were players.
Since killing a player was meaningless if they would be immediately usurped afterwards.
Of course, since there were indirect methods like Age attempted in Uumin, they couldn't be relieved.

However, with all that in mind, another question arose.
If Kazane and the others were killed by a devil, they would be able to usurp the devil.
Conversely, what would happen if Kazane and the others『killed a devil』?

As a matter of fact, Kazane had already repelled Diablo, the Genzo/devil Hiruko, and Gore.
However, in each case, the ways she had killed them couldn't be called normal.

Diablo and Gore were defeated by Kazane's second character, but both were killed by a single-target instant death attack.

As a result, she obtained a Skill from destroying the highest-ranking soul inside those devils.
However, the devils themselves hadn't perished, but had changed into dormant states as Heart Shell Walls.

Therefore, Kazane had only actually finished off a devil using the Skill『Soul Breaking Blade』she copied from Genzo's katana.

She had only destroyed devils after she obtained the Skill created from Genzo's final request to be dealt with.
And that soul-breaking Skill likely dispersed the devil without allowing absorption.
Therefore, Kazane didn't know what would happen if a devil was killed normally.

However, if the Foreigner settings were followed, there was the possibility that all the souls inside the devil would be absorbed.
Not monster souls, but human souls, and a large amount of them.
At that time, would a player be able to remain a human? Or would they become devils like Age and Yukito? With that concern, Kazane had consulted with Yuuko-nee.

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With that possibility, Kazane had asked Yuuko-nee to search for examples of current and past players.

And to cope with that, Kazane and the others planned to stick to a policy of not letting Naoki and Yumika fight devils and having either a non-player like Jinrai or someone who can use the Skill『Soul Breaking Blade』kill them.

「Alright!」

「Aneki?」

In front of Naoki, who suddenly saw his older sister stand up, Kazane slapped her own cheeks with both hands.

「Even if I think about it, there's nothing I can do, so today, let's eat!」

Kazane acted enthusiastically.
After this, there would be a party to comfort the former Hirukos who had been rescued and those who had lost people in the previous attack.
Kazane decided to eat and make merry to try and change her feelings.

When that was over, they would return to Kazane Magic Hot Spring Town by the end of the day.
Tomorrow, she would build houses again, and the coronation ceremony would happen the day after tomorrow.
The days would pass by like that.
That would by no means cause the painful feelings to disappear, but they would become buried by the passage of time.

Then Kazane and the others finished the party in Uumin, and at night, they jumped to Kazane Magic Hot Spring Town with the『Return Stake』as scheduled.

However, a problem occurred immediately after that.

Immediately after they arrived at the feudal lord mansion in Kazane Magic Hot Spring Town, Kazane and Naoki received an urgent email from Yumika.
It was an email reporting that they were under attack by Ghouls.

Name: Yuihama Kazane

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Occupation: Summoning Fighter

Title: Ogre Killer, Dragon Slayer, High Beast Summoner, Rea King, Liberator, Guardian

Equipment: Staff 『White Blaze』, Draghorn Tonfa x2, Dragon Eating Ogre Army Armor (True), Indestructible Cloak, Mysterious Pouch, Crimson Saint Coffin, Heroic Spirit Summoning Ring, Circlet of Wisdom, Aim Bracelet, White Magic Accumulator (Revised) ×2, Rainbow Necklace, Rainbow Dragon Ring, Angel Bracelet

Level : 39

Health: 155+20

Magic Power: 363+520

Strength: 78+45

Agility: 80+39

Endurance: 44+20

Wisdom : 75

Dexterity : 53

Spell : 『Fly』『Torch』『Fire』『Heal』『Firestorm』『Healer Ray』『High Heal』『Golden Dusk「Dragon Exclusive」』『Mirror Shield』『Rabbit Speed』『Flare Mirage』

Skill : 『Kick Devil』『Kick Decapitation Wave』『Warrior's Memory: Lv2』『Night Vision』『Crushing Blow』『Dog's Sense of Smell: Lv2』『Golem Maker: Lv4』『Aegis Shield』『Fire Principle: Third Chapter』『Healing Principle: Fourth Chapter』『Air Jump: Lv2』『Killing Leg: Lv3』『Fear Voice』『Invisible』『Tiger Eye』『Wall Walking』『Intuition: Lv2』『Cheat Death』『Nimble』『Charge』『Material Shield: Lv2』『Information Link: Lv2』『Optical Camouflage』『High Dash』『Bloodsucking Blade』『Dragonization: Lv2「Dragon」』『Regenerate』『Soul Breaking Blade』『Stealthy Hand Placement』『Thunder Chariot: Lv2』『Sturdier Teeth: Lv2「Dragon」』『Crystallization: Lv2「Dragon」』『Devil King's Intimidation』『Stone Minotaur: Lv2』『Mega Beam: Lv2』『Space Expansion』『Pseudo-Silver Creation』『Poison Claw』『Fireball「Dragon」』『Cuticle「Dragon」』『Arms Creation: Black Flame』『Ingredient Connoisseur: Lv3』『Dragon Pheromone「Dragon」』『Boost』『Monkey's Strong Arm』『Two-sword Style』『Boobies Plus』『Living Armor』『Alarm』『Six-sword Style』『Mental Attack Complete Protection』『Spider Web』『Wire Cutter』『Flexible』『Magic Power Absorption』『Red Body Transformation』

Kazane:「It's an exposition chapter.
Putting it simply, at the present point, it's simply a matter of remembering that when fighting against devils, there will be no problems if the Skill『Soul Breaking Blade』is used or it's left to someone who isn't a player.」

Naoki:「Aneki, that's too simple.
Or rather, isn't the urgent email dangerous?」

Kazane:「It's dangerous, but…
we don't have a means to immediately go and help.」

Naoki:「…
Ah!」