High School Hack and Slash Chapter 144 Part 1
The Gates of The Abyss
A number of axes were swung down, turning into a wall.
There was no hesitation in their killing intent.
There was no wavering in their pressing gaits.
In order to fulfill their role, they swung their weapons, surrendering themselves to killing intent.
They had no other way but to surrender themselves to it.
In the lore of Hercules, the champion from Greek mythology, there was a trial (quest) to obtain the belt possessed by the Amazon queen.
The Amazonesses, an all-female hunting tribe, were said to have been excellent warriors.
The belt possessed by Hippolyte, their queen, was a sign of the authority of a ruler bestowed upon her by the gods.
Hercules, accompanied by his comrades, crossed the sea to reach the land ruled by the queen.
They devised a plan to capture Melanippe, the queen’s sister, and took her captive.
Using Melanippe as a hostage, Hercules and his party conquered the land of the Amazons.
Complementing the scene was the narrators’ imagination.
They turned it into an amusing comedy or tragedy.
That was just how entertainment stories that were handed down from generation to generation were.
Hercules and his men, who had received a warm welcome, set out for their home after having the queen’s belt handed over to them.
However, due to the wiles of the gods, who were displeased with Hercules, the amazonesses challenged the party into a decisive battle, only to end up having the tables turned on them and slaughtered.
Thus, Hercules and his men overcame the trial and made their triumphant return with the queen’s belt as well as the surviving amazonesses as their spoils of war.
It was such an epic.
In Greek mythology, such stories of free-spirited gods and champions were a lot in number.
They were not lofty beings, but had a human-like rawness, such as being mired with desire, betrayal, deception, suffering and craving.
Therefore, due to the lack of contradiction with that world, it was easy to establish them as a lore-type other world.
「— Valorous graciousness, thee sure art a foolish and simple sir, art thee not? Nay, if ‘t be true we showeth thee coequal a dram charm, thee shall beest did bind to us. I guesseth men art ultimately yond kind of creatures, huh.」
The sound of the metals clashing and the cries of war.
「Thee has’t madeth a mistaketh. Thee has’t gone and given us pleasure, as well as desire. Yond wast a misprision. F’r as much as thee has’t did gain, thee shall suff’r the teen of loss. Thee has’t gone and given us so much happiness yond we feeleth we cannot beareth t. Thee shouldst has’t did treat us as a tool (doll) f’r nothing but venting thy sexual desires. Just liketh all the men who is’t has’t cometh bef’re thee. And thus, thee endeth up being did betray liketh this.」
With a battle-axe imbued with immense power in her hand, the queen Hippolyte monologued.
「I shall not alloweth thee leaveth. Aye, I shall nev’r alloweth thee leaveth. I shall nev’r alloweth thee wend. I shall nev’r f’rgive thee! Thee shall stayeth with us and becometh our lov’r (doll) to comf’rt us of our ennui f’r et’rnity.」
She repeated the words to Touma, who had been beaten into a pulp.
「Cometh anon! If ‘t be true thee wanteth to leaveth this oth’r w’rld, thee has’t nay choice but to slaught’r us all! Doth giveth up on coming home and falleth prostrate!」
◇ ◇ ◇
The queen’s voice is urging me on.
Talk about reverse encouragement.
Go slaughter us, she says.
She’s telling me that’s the sole condition to conquer the raid.
「… Don’t you fuck with me.」
But, I guess most of what she says must also be true.
With both hands, I deal with the ax blows that are repeatedly launched from all directions.
There is no room to escape.
It’s just like when I was surrounded on the beach on the first day.
But…
「Hyaaa!」
I catch the hatchet that is swung down.
The one who comes charging at me, as if throwing her body at me, as it is, is the amazoness girl with slender antelope-like legs.
Her kick was much heavier and sharper than this toy-like ax.
「I beg you… Kill me, please. My beloved one.」
「Shut up.」
I hug her to seal her movement and don’t let her go.
「It is our wish, Her Majesty’s wish.」
「I can’t hear you.」
「Sooner or later, I will return to Hades. I will simply lose my feeling (qualia) once again….」
I parry the ax barrages that are swung down at me without minding their comrade with a hand-sword.
There’s no killing spirit in them.
They’re like automation swung down by a machine.
「Looks like it’s going nowhere! We’re going to personally put an end to this.」
「…..」
The ones who step forward as they push the wall of people aside are the two captains.
They’re the duo of a spoiled big sister and a spoiled taciturn.
The other amazonesses maintain a distance as they follow their commands.
The higher the status, the greater the freedom of action will be, I guess the same is true even in real life.
「I won’t take it easy on you, okay… I’ll have you stay in this world, Master. I earnestly wish so.」
「But I refuse.」
「That’s cold of you. You should’ve at least given an ear to what I want to say. I mean, I can’t really call it a compensation, but I’ll tell you a secret trick.」
The captain duo, splitting into left and right, move around to take their positions with me as the center.
The double-bladed battle-ax and the hilt-equipped pole-ax shine with a dull light.
「Her Highness of those of us who hold executive status are a no go, but… You can take small fry like these guys home as spoils of war, you know? There must be some girls with nice conditions you’ve taken a liking to, no? If you beat us, yes, let’s see… Go and take a couple of them as a reward. If it’s only that many, I bet it’ll be overlooked, after all.」
Good graciousness, I can’t stand to listen to this.
They, too, are birds of a feather with the queen.
At least, give our comrades some chance, so they say, they’ve even told me the limit of the number of people I could take.
「Now, prepare yourself! I’m serious here.」
As blades are launched from my left and right sides at the same time, as it is, I grab them with my bare hands.
Then, I crush the hard masses of iron, along with the blade parts.
「It’s futile.」
In such heavy miasma, in the state of being exposed to an air filled with that much hostility, there’s no way that a mere blade metal would be able to cause even a single scratch on me.
Though, perhaps it would be a different story if it were the battle-ax in the queen’s hand.
「…I didst bethink thee w’re inhuman, but to bethink t wouldst beest to such an extent. Thou art already…」
「Hell if I know.」
As I simply take steps forward, the encirclement of the amazonesses crumbles down.
I stand in front of the queen, who doesn’t even lift the ax that is stuck to the ground.
As I wrap my arms around her waist and embrace her, I hear her moan: Aah.
「As long as I’m in this other world (raid), I’m your what?」
「… Aah, mine own husband. Mine own belov’d muko-dono. Aah, muko-dono, what a truly t’rrible knave thou art.」
Tears trickle down from her closed eyes.
The amazonesses, including the queen, have harbored not even the slightest amount of killing intent from the beginning.
In that case.
If that’s the case, the source of this profound hostility lies somewhere else.
There is a source of malice that is peeking out from the deep and swirling abyss.
NEXT CHAPTER
RELEASE RATE
High School Hack and Slash
Speed up schedule by 10 hours
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Tftc