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High School Hack and Slash Chapter 144 Part 2

「You said there was only one way out of this raid, didn’t you?」

「Nay. Thee wilt not, Muko-dono. Yond is, yond one high-lone is ….」

「In that case, offer me a path that leads elsewhere.」

I trace my fingers on one of the sources, the queen’s belt.

「Thee might not but nev’r waketh mine own fath’r! Coequal if ‘t be true t is thee, muko-dono, t is not an opponent thee can doth aught ‘gainst.」

Smoothly untied, it falls into my hand.

The symbol of the queen’s authority, 『The Belt of the Mad God of War (Ares)』, is in my hand.

「Aah, aah… Muko-dono, what mann’r of thing … has’t thee done.」

With the raging sea serving as the background, a huge black monolith appears on the wharf.

The relief on which it’s carved is that of the figure of a beautiful and indomitable god of war.

The decoration on its back is of ash leaves, and the sacred beasts at its feet seem to be a wolf and a boar.

Interface-san never cuts corners with its work.

「I shall nev’r alloweth wend of thee, Muko….」

「Leave it, to me.」

I release the queen from my arms, as she becomes drained of strength upon having her mouth sealed.

I have a feeling that this is a trial designed specifically for me.

I’m sorry, but I won’t let you get in my way.

「Farewell. I’ve been in your care.」

In front of the faintly glowing monolith, I look back once.

I would probably never visit here again.

In the middle of the amazons group that are saluting at me, Queen Hippolyte, hands clasped in front of her chest, is offering up a prayer.

「With all our prayeth’rs and allegiance… May thee has’t the most wondrous of f’rtune, Muko-dono.」

「… Yeah. My name is Funasaka Touma. Let’s meet again somewhere sometime later.」

When I touch the monolith with my hand, I feel the space distorts, as if it was creaking, sucking me into a deeper and deeper place.

◇ ◇ ◇

―― the peripheral world 『BIBLIOTHECA』, the glazed myth 『＊＊＊＊』――

――『Poem of Champion Reaching the Realm of God』, 『Heavenly Sky Gate』 domain ――

「Huh? … Uh, oooh!」

*Plop* Seiichi, having been ejected from the domain, fell.

Reflexively taking an ukemi stance, he rolled around on the stage.

「Ah, it’s you, Seiichi! Welcome back~.」

「Y, yeah. I guess you’re fine, too, huh, Mai. I mean, wh, what the hell is this?」

Seiichi’s voice broke into a falsetto at the sight of the scene that had completely changed.

In the center of the stage, the rampaging Hercules was raiding a war cry.

The shadows of his inexhaustible stamina and super-regenerative abilities were nowhere to be seen.

If his SP and GP bar memories were not visible, he would most likely look like nothing but an immortal monster.

And then, the supply from the『Pucelles』, which had continued on until now, had ceased due to Seiichi conquering the『Daughters of the Evening (Hesperides)』.

「Seiichi-kun. That place is the combat setting domain (battle area), so this way, this way!」

「Huh? Mikan, senpai….」

Mikan, leaning out from one of the trenches set up to surround the center of the stage, waved her hand to Seiichi.

Mimicking the Adept Orders, the other groups had also begun to build up their own encampments, albeit provisionally.

「The other guys are starting to move out, so let’s temporarily retreat too!」

「Ok, Mai-chan! Peperon, we’re withdrawing at the same time as you shoot a breath.」

「Geko!」

The dragon breath spat out by the invisible dragon seared and scorched Hercules’ body.

A clear tinge of pain was mixed in Hercules’ scream.

The『Colorless Swallowing Dragon (Chameleon Gulper)』, freed from the stratum’s control value (level cap) that had subdued its growth, had achieved an even further evolution upon absorbing EXP in the dungeon’s deep stratums as well as from the high difficulty raids.

Peperon, who had turned into a『Giant Dragon of Myriad Colors (Midgardsormr)』, had surpassed the level of stratum guardians and had stepped into the realm where it could form a『Royalty Other World (Diadem Raid)』.

Though, in addition to its stealth performance, which had grown even more refined, its growth had been passed off even by its contractor Otoha with a brief remark of: you’ve grown big, huh; so no one had noticed.

As it got hurt by Shizuka’s heartless words: He’s grown even fatter, huh; it assumed its smallest size when it took a stroll around the perimeters of Asagi-sou, so all the more so.

「Oraaaaah! Move aside, move aside, I don’t care if you get caught in it, okay!」

「Charge complete, ready to be activated any time.」

「We’re keeping Hercules in place. Don’t you dare to miss it, okay?!」

As if switching places with Mai’s group, another group was closing in on Hercules.

From behind the vanguard, who was charging head-on into Hercules with their shield at the ready, the high-level skills of the rear guard, which had gathered their strength, were activated.

A roulette-like lathe of light took shape, and spears of light were shot one after another.

「Ooraaaaaa! Don’t you look down on S-rankers. Drop your rare drops!」

「Gooaaaah!!」

The roaring Hercules intercepted the great sword that was struck at him past the blast.

They were not members belonging to the same club.

They were a temporary party that joined forces on this occasion.

Of course, there were no shreds of gentlemanship there, such as they were there to protect the students who were unable to fight against the tyranny of Hercules.

They were simply there for the selfish reason of eyeing and couldn’t afford to pass up the rare drop items dropped by the boss that looked like they could beat.

Rights would be provided in accordance to one’s merits.

Enough prospects of victory had been born to counterbalance the risk.

「Get out of the way, you’re in the way! This time, for sure, I’m going to cut him down!」

「No, I’ll be the one to cut him down!」

「Hahaha! Step back, you small fry. Or I’ll end up crushing you all together, otherwise.」

「Sei, seiyaaaah! More, let me go at it even more intensely. Hercules!」

As one group threw their all-out attack at Hercules, another group attacked him before they bore any damage, rinse and repeat.

Result-wise, the rotation was turning smoothly, taking the form of a large army coordination.

「… Ha, hahaha… I see. So this is what you wanted to do, huh. Himecchi.」

Seiichi, who squinted his eyes as if he saw staring at something dazzling, covered his face with one hand.

「Wh, what’s wrong, Seiichi-kun? Does your stomach hurt?」

「Where is Touma-san? I thought you two were together, though.」

Shizuka was leaning out from behind the flustered Mikan.

「Geez! Hercules is way too tough.」

「His regenerative ability is on par with that of Prez-squeak. I think the conquest method is also probably the same-squeak.」

「… wait for the gas to run out as we whittle it down … it’s just that, the efficiency seems to be better on the opposite side …」

Any damage was instantly subjected to super recovery.

That was the authority that Hercules possessed.

He was a raid boss with mix-maxing on toughness specialized in hand-to-hand combat.

However, the muscles that rapidly recovered each time the regeneration was repeated strengthened Hercules’ body bit by bit.

The vanguard that received the club blow upfront was grandly blown away along with the shield they had set at the ready.

The one who managed to take on that blow was a huge man who exuded the same pressure of flesh as Hercules.

「Guhahaha. You guys are lacking in training. Before you start putting on airs with the likes of skills and magic, you see… If you’re a man, go and work on your muscles!」

A group of men clad in leather jackets with studs, chains wrapped around them, and mysterious face paint formed a formation.

They were a group of people that were clearly of a different genre from the other students, and looked as if they would snatch away seed chaff without mercy.

「We’re going to hit him hard! You guys!」

「Hyahha!」