High School Hack and Slash Chapter 104 Part 2
「… I wonder if you really are someone who can’t be nice, Touma-kun.」
「I am terribly sorry. For being such a boorish man.」
Staring into the face of Touma, whose expression was unreadable, she nodded in affirmation.
Facing the cruel man who had blocked her escape route, she made a cruel request.
「Touma-kun, I have a favor to ask of you, I suppose… Die for me, please give me such an order.」
Rinko was not strong enough to be able to die for herself.
If she could do that, she would have already taken her life by the time she fell into despair.
What ordinary people used to live on was compromise and momentum, not determination.
Therefore, if they were going to go with that, it had to be given to them by someone else.
「… Die, for me, please.」
「Yes…. Thank you. I’m Sorry.」
And then, saying: I’m going, Rinko stood up.
What she was facing again was the gate leading the『Mirror Image Devil (Doppelganger)』 that had gotten her killed numerous times already.
Even the feelings of the Guild that were cheering on her didn’t reach that place.
Once she stepped into the boundary of the gate, she was thrown out onto a stage that mirrored the place.
No one else was there, no voice could reach there either, but the resolve that Touma gave her alone was there in her heart.
A clown marionette, whose strings were cut off, stood up in the middle of the stage.
The figure of the『Mirror Image Devil (Doppelganger)』 transformed into that of Rinko— Before then drying up and rotting away right then and there.
What manifested in its stead was an Armed Golem sporting a slender humanoid silhouette, 『Aterui』.
Unlike Aterui, which had already been summoned behind Rinko, it was larger, more powerful, and above all, more vivid.
It was a unified life form, surpassing that of an avatar, that had been given birth to by spending all SP to golem creation.
「Silicon life form (Silicon Vita)… So our skills can do that much, huh. No, maybe that’s the culmination of the Armed Golem we should be aiming for originally, I suppose.」
The performance of the Aterui summoned using half of Rinko’s SP and the Aterui manifesting after devoting 100% SP to it was too different.
There was no such a need to board it, as the main body, which was the weak point, didn’t even exist.
There was no physiological weakness necessary for life preservation such as breathing either, and even factors such as aging and lifespan transcended that of human beings.
From the standpoint of a dungeon challenger, these were hard to come by advantages.
If it was a dungeon conquest where they passed through the Rashomon system, their flesh would surely regenerate when they logged out.
However, this end point was originally an irreversible displacement.
「Thank you for your teaching. But we won’t choose that path.」
It was not the path they wished for.
And then, the path beyond that point also allowed not only one possibility, but infinite possibilities.
The proof of this had already been finished by Mikan, who was waiting ahead of her.
From the very beginning, everyone had discussed and devised a way for them, the weak and powerless Craftsman class, to defeat the『Mirror Image Devil (Doppelganger)』.
「Aterui. Spider Shot.」
Aterui, outstretching his hand next to Rinko, shot out a white threaded casting net.
Although it had no direct offensive power, the spider web organ, which sported outstanding versatility, had turned into the standard feature of the girls’ Armed Golems.
Although the golems were lacking in the way of mobility, they could entangle and impede the opponent’s movement with it.
However, if the opponent’s power was superior to their own, it couldn’t even serve as a debuff.
Just as in the previous challenges, Rinko waited head-on for Doppelganger Aterui, who charged at them with power surpassing their own.
Rinko gave an order to Aterui, who got dragged along as he lost in terms of power.
「Dash, hold, lock.」
She knew from the beginning the answer that her weak self could not choose.
It was just that, right now, Touma’s words and the kindness of Mikan, who had been the first to come forward and prove it, were pushing her on the back.
「Soul-body self-destruction (Trigger Destruction).」
◇ ◇ ◇
To be honest, it was painful to hug each of the Senpais and send them off by saying『go and die for me』.
Telling the Senpais to die as they trembled and clung at me tightly, heartbreaking can’t even begin to describe it.
I’d better go and die for each of them instead.
However, if I could give them courage by doing that, I would do it until I managed to grant it to them.
In fact, the Senpais began to clear the trial one after another, so it must have been effective.
As compensation, including Mikan-senpai, who was the first to pass through the trial, all the Senpais who came back from the gate were passing out on the spot.
And then, I catch the body of Hoodzuki-senpai, the last one, who returns from the gate and collapses while showing a look of accomplishment on her face.
「They managed to overcome the trial without missing anyone, didn’t they? I respect the Senpais.」
「Yeah.」
I nod at Shizuka’s words.
I’ve seen and accepted the determination of each and every one of the Senpais.
Inevitably, my heart is inspired and my soul is shivering.
I shall head there too, soon.
「Err, Toma-sama, Shizu-nee-sama, it’s our turn, but….」
「We’re sorry! But we think we’ll withdraw…..」
As if to follow up on Shinobu’s words, Nodoka bows her head vigorously.
That seems to be the same conclusion reached by Serie and Mirin as well.
「Perhaps there is a possibility that we can clear it as well. However, we believed it was a trial that we must not challenge on the basis that we might be able to clear it.」
「Yes. We don’t have the confidence, the determination, or perhaps the qualifications for it yet. Even if we did manage to pass the『New World (Genesis World)』 this way, that’d make us parasites that completely relied on Toma-sama and the others. We want to be proper members of the Adept Orders as well.」
It seems that the four of them had discussed the matter and were of the same opinion.
What is shown on their faces is not fear and trepidation about the trial, but frustration and longing.
Watching the figures of the Senpais, they must have had things to contemplate about.
Isn’t that just great?
「I think you don’t have to think that deeply about it. But if that’s what you’ve decided on your own, it’s fine, isn’t it?」
「Yes. That’s right. I’ll respect that will of yours, as well. If you want to train until you are satisfied with yourself, I will gladly give you a hand.」
「I’ll also help you out anytime, okay! To be able to take care of their cute junior is the privilege of being a senior.」
Is Otoha-senpai doing that, I wonder?
Is she implicitly dissing us that we are not cute juniors?
However, the opinion of Mirin and the others is accepted by everyone.
If that’s the case, that means the only challenger left is me.
「Please go and enjoy it too, Danna-sama.」
「We’re.」
「Cheering on you.」
I stand in front of the『New World (Genesis World)』 gate in my usual natural manner.
A considerable amount of time has already passed, but at the dungeon stratum of this depth, the compressed time difference is also increasing.
There is still enough time left before Rashomon’s closing of gate time.
「At this point, I don’t have anything to say to you, and I won’t be worried about you, either. There’s no need to go and clear everything in one shot, after all. In your case, Touma, prediction is useless since I feel that something outrageous will come out, so just go at it without rushing, okay.」
「What are you, my mommy?」
Going kyakya ufufu and saying tsundere tsundere, Mirin and the others have gone and switched back to their normal mode.
Well, rather than being all serious, I get the feeling that it’s more like them.
There’s no point in dragging it out too much, so let’s just go and clear it quickly.
「Do take care.」
「Yeah.」
Nodding to Shizuka, who sees me off in a simple manner, I push open the door of the realm gate.
RELEASE RATE
High School Hack and Slash
Speed up schedule by 10 hours
Current schedule: Every 70 hours
Tftc