High School Hack and Slash Chapter 69 Part 1
Prayer
「… One more.」
「…time.」
With Miharu remaining holding my right hand and Natsumi holding my left, they’re about to get into deep immersion (trance) again.
「No, it’s okay.」
I was intending to leave it to them until they were both satisfied, but their SP is already depleted and their complexions are pale.
Both of my hands, which have ended up being turned into stone somehow, are rock hard from the fingertips to just before the elbows.
Being unable to hold things is inconvenient, but it doesn’t hurt, it just feels like they’ve gone numb.
I think I can now hammer nails with my bare hands.
When we safely met up at the base, Shizuka and the others caused more panic than I did, so it was a disaster.
Miharu and Natsumi once tried to break the petrification until they fainted due to SP depletion, but for the second time, I decided to stop them before they collapsed.
「But, Touma-san….」
Even as I’d like to pet Shizuka, who seems like she’s about to cry, having my hands turned into stone sure is troubling.
Shizuka has also tried to cure me with her Miko skill, but it seems that『Wish』 is of no use in this case.
It is a parting gift from the existence called God – whose rarity was ridiculously high, and who had a lot of parts I’d like to retort at – or something.
I guess it’s a『curse』 with a considerable strength.
Or rather, I’d like Shizuka to watch over Saki rather than me.
Saki, who is sporting completely still eyes, is still staring fixedly at the direction of the demon face cave through the window.
She has been holding her katana all the time and looks like she might end up charging there at any given moment.
「Saki.」
「Danna-sama…. Please, order me to go cut down that monster.」
The genocide mode is totally on.
If you see Buddha, kill him, like physically.
Not only Saki, but Shizuka and the others are also similarly showing a brooding look on their faces.
If I take my eyes off them, I feel like they’d end up rushing at the enemy on their own.
「Saki.」
「Yes. Danna-sama, at once…」
「Take it off.」
As if unable to understand what is being said, she freezes.
Carrying Miharu and Natsumi, who look like they’ve resolved themselves adorably side by side, in both hands, I invite them to the trampoline bed.
Shizuka-san, who looks at my overhead, pulls Saki’s hand and dives into the bed.
I went and battled relatively with all my might and with everything unleashed, so my GP is at the rock bottom.
Including the significance of restoring our energy, we need to do a lot of preparation.
◇ ◇ ◇
「From what Touma-kun said, it seems to be some kind of God, but… To be honest, I was so scared I couldn’t move my body….」
「I suppose something amazing has come up again.」
Rinko, saw in hand, smiled bitterly at Otoha, who was sitting down and holding her head in her hands.
「It’s no laughing matter, duh. Such a thing, there’s nothing we can do about it.」
「Well, I suppose it’s our, Craftsmen’s job to turn something unworkable into something workable.」
The place was the『Workshop (Factory)』, which was set up on the semi-basement zero floor of the main building tower of the interception base.
What was being dismantled on the workbench, which took up a large space, was the huge God-made guardian deity (Divine Guardian) 『HUWAWA』, which had lost its head.
「If we actually managed to defeat this, then as expected there is no such thing as an invincible being, I suppose.」
The remains of HUWAWA, which was still retaining terrifying intensity even after it ceased working, was being dismantled using craftsman skills, magic items, and equipment made from high-level monster materials.
All the available craftsmen members were working together to perform the dismantling slash analysis of the monster.
Huwawa, who had lost the unanalyzable Divine Gear, Holy Brilliance (Dingil Meram) Series armor, was having its specs revealed in detail.
「Gears and cylinders, fused with biological tissue, right….」
「Could it really operate like this?」
「I think the pectorals and back muscles are metal fiber (bio metal) muscles.」
「The skeleton is probably some unknown metal.」
「The actuator system is similar to our『Armed Golem』… Or rather, maybe it’s exactly the same thing.」
「As opposed to embedding a living creature into a machine, it’s more like forcefully making a machine incarnate, I suppose.」
The specialized genres of each Craftsman member, who in general possessed an enthusiast disposition, were different from each other.
That was why the analysis proceeded from a deep and multifaceted perspective.
「Don’t tell me, are you still intending to fight? The opponent is a God, though.」
「We also have such a joke-like guy on our side, I suppose. At this point, other Gods are uncalled for, and we have no need of them.」
◇ ◇ ◇
Asura, gaunt and thin with her eyes closed, was lying on the bed with her mouth squirming.
Ever since she was carried back to the interception base by Tetsuro, she had remained unconscious all the time.
The autophagy caused by the rampage (overload) of the『Gluttony』 had weakened her body like a car that had run out of gas.
On the lined up beds, the members of Black Honey who hadn’t woken up upon returning from death were lying quietly.
The place was akin to a hospital.
Their small, faint heartbeats and breathing indicated that the vital signs of those girls, who had fallen to a state of suspended animation, were declining to the utmost limit.
Including Asura, the members lying on the bed numbered 18.
Of the remaining two, one was standing stock still there with his teeth clenched, while the other one was still not returning from the dungeon.
A spoonful of porridge was brought to the mouth of Asura, who was sitting upright with a cushion on her back.
Sniffing her nose at the appetizing scent of the salted porridge, which was made full of nourishment, Asura opened her mouth slightly.
Even though she had yet to regain consciousness, Asura’s body, which instinctively tried to recover the energy it had lost, moved her mouth and swallowed as she was being nursed.
Kurumi, who was sitting on the bed feeding her porridge, continued to take care of her, occasionally giving her a sports drink soaked in cotton to suck on.
This was a much more appropriate treatment for Asura than an intravenous drip.
The act of『eating』 was exactly what the current Asura needed.
「Umm… You’re truly a huge help. I don’t know anything about this kind of thing, so I can’t be of any help.」
「I don’t need that kind of self-deprecation. The right man in the right place, right.」
Blowing on the spoon to cool it down, Kurumi fed it to Asura, who opened her mouth like a baby bird.
「I’m not physically strong, and I can’t use magic either, but right now I don’t think I’m useless anymore. Even if there are times when I am useless, it just means that it’s not my turn, and at any given time, I’m sure that there is something I have to do.」
Looking back at Tetsuro, who was just standing still there, Kurumi snorted.
「That’s why, even if you stand there absentmindedly, you’d only be in the way. Just leave this place to us. Resting your body is also important, isn’t it?」
「Yes sir! ….」
Tetsuro, leaving the lodging house as if having been driven out, put his hand on his forehead.
「Everyone’s so damn cool. Damnit… They’re way stronger than me.」
Grabbing the sword at his waist, Tetsuro turned his feet toward the arena he used for morning training.
His steps were heavy, his body was heavy.
Just because he was skillful didn’t necessarily mean he’d got a good head on his shoulders.
His turn, his duty, it was just to swing his sword and cut down their enemies, nothing more nothing less.
In that case, what he, who had lost his power, ought to do right now was to hone the little『power』 he had newly obtained in its stead.
『Your level will be lowered and you will certainly be weakened, but….』
He had bowed his head and begged for guidance.
He had no idea what they were talking about, but even if they were to explain it in detail, there was no doubt that he wouldn’t be able to understand it.
The him up to this point was powerless.
In that case, even if he had to abandon his past self, if he could create a small foothold leading to their realm, then so be it.
From the beginning, the only obsession he had, the only thing he knew was to swing a sword.
『Apprentice』, just fine!
◇ ◇ ◇
Even as time passed midnight in above ground time, the sounds echoing in the workshop continued on.
Further in.
It was a newly built area for Mikan.
An anvil, a vise, pincers, hammers, and other tools were all lined up crowding the place.
And then, a small but bright red『furnace』 was burning with the color of a purified flame.
The furnace, built of fireproof stone freshly harvested from the dungeon, was fueled by flame elemental crystals.
Although it was a primitive facility, it was capable of maintaining a heat output of over 2,000 degrees Celsius, equivalent to a blast furnace used to melting iron.
Opening her eyes, which had been closed, Mikan gazed at the top of the workbench.
There was the remains of a metal rod that had snapped in half, bent and crooked.
『Gaki Lord Rod (Over-Greed Gear)』
Mikan quietly placed her hand on it, which had been entrusted to her by Touma.
「Please… I want to be of help to that man.」
When she was entrusted with it in the past, no matter how much she heated it, no matter how many times she struck it, she was unable to leave even the slightest scratch on it.
Speaking of material, it was just iron［Fe］.
With softness close to a pure iron, almost containing not even any carbon, it by no means had any mysterious material mixed in like the other magic items.
So to speak, it was not even steel, it was just an iron rod.
What made『Innate Armament (Origin Gear)』 an『Innate Armament (Origin Gear)』 was something else.
Therefore, regardless of how much its shape changed, broke, or shattered, it didn’t matter.
Stronger.
Harder.
Sharp enough to pierce through everything.
And above all.
「I’m going to make you look very cool, okay!」
As Mikan, who rolled up her sleeves, stepped on the bellows, white fire sparks danced and crackled.
◇ ◇ ◇
――『Man-Eating Mine』, a singular branch realm of the labyrinth of Perforation Realm, 『YGGDRASILL』――
―― Type『Invasion』, ※ Space-time pressure difference『1:∞』 ――
※※※External Interference Confirmed※※※
―― ※ Option Change 『Decisive Battle Style (Infinity Mode)』 → 『Military Warfare Style (Raid Mode)』Adjustment ――
―― ※ Model Change 『Prison (Cocytus) y』→ 『Purgatory』――
―― ※ Confine 『∞ Time / Forced Return Launch』――
―― ※ Countdown: 00:01:59:59 ――
◇ ◇ ◇
NEXT CHAPTER
RELEASE RATE
High School Hack and Slash
Speed up schedule by 10 hours
Current schedule: Every 70 hours
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