3 bar menu

Last Embryo Volume 7 Chapter 6 Part 4

When Asuka was finally done dealing with the natives and the last of them got returned to their original form, she straightened her back and glared daggers at Al-chan, as she ran her hand through her hair.

「Now then, it looks like you are the only enemy remaining, so release Alma from your spell and apologize for those slanderous words you have spoken before!」

「I refuse, you damn bitch. Why should Al-chan do it when Al-chan is a peerless, beautiful girl and the very incarnation of freedom? Rather than apologizing for my own action, I am much fonder of making others apologize just before I kill them. Under any other circumstances I would have killed you too already, but this time Al-chan is going to forgive you and let you off the hook because of her foolish and cute master. So goodbye to you!」

Al-chan disappeared after saluting and waving Asuka goodbye. What that girl did was just so outrageous that she couldn’t help it but to continuously close her mouth and then open it again due to the lack of words. That girl just showed up out of nowhere, did whatever the hell she felt like doing and then simply ran away without having a decisive battle with them.

And since the battle ended in such an anticlimactic way, what was she even supposed to do with all of this unspeakable anger that pent up inside of her?

「Ah…. I… Wh… What the hell was wrong with that wretched midget?! Why was she even here?! What was her deal anyway?!」

「Uhm… Asuka-san? I understand how you feel, but right now instead of worrying about her, we should simply be grateful that we managed to get out of this battle alive. In all honesty, I am actually relieved that things didn’t escalate to the point of us having to fight her in a regular battle. We are still alive, so let’s cherish our lives, okay?」

Misha tried her best to soothe Asuka’s still burning anger with a wry smile on her face while patting her on the shoulders. Despite her best efforts, Asuka’s anger didn’t subside as she continued to have her entire body tremble all over, but she had to agreed that Misha was right with everything that she said just now.

The fight is over, so calming herself down is the best thing that she can do.

「… Yes, you’re right. However, there is no way that I am going to let such an insult go. You can be sure that I am going to pass divine punishment onto the wretch with my own hands, including that wretched master of hers! mark my words!」

Asuka put her katana away in an attempt to suppress her anger. And then, when she turned back to face the other two, she showed them her usual dazzling smile.

「Putting that unpleasant matter aside from now… it might be a little bit too late to say it, but I’ll do it anyway: thank you for saving me back there. Are you absolutely sure that neither of you are hurt anywhere, Misha-san, Connla-san?」

「OK OK, we are both fine, so you don’t have to worry about us. And you know what they say, right? That even a chance encounter can ultimately lead to the formation of a lasting bond? And since we are together already, then we might as well continue to work together for the time being. Isn’t that right, Connla?」

「I don’t really care about that, so just do whatever the hell you want to do and pretend to be best buddies with her if you so wish. I think I am going to stay here and slay some more giants for a bit, but if you two go now, you might be able to advance pretty quickly.」

Connla made an indifferent comment and then disappeared without even waiting for Misha to respond. There was a number of things that Asuka wanted to ask him about, but now that he made his exit, she guessed that they don’t have much of a choice but to do what he said and proceed further.

After they helped Alma pick herself up from the ground, Asuka and Misha started to run towards the center of the fortress.

On the other hand, in a different place, at about the same time…

「Haaaaaah!!! ………… eat this and die….!!!!」

With just a single strike, another Player was reducing the giants into nothing but dust en masse.
With a power that could be said to be equal to that of a Demon God, Sakamaki Izayoi was destroying the giants that happened to pop up in front of him now that his recent wounds have fully healed and his physical condition was back at its peak. Despite being in the middle of a battlefield where the fierce battle was taking place, Izayoi seemed like he was having a lot fun as he rampaged without a care in the world.

As Asterios was watching him from the side, the corners of his lips began to twitch.

「As… as expected of you, Izayoi. I was worried about your injuries, but it looks like such concerns are not going to be necessary.」

「Yeah, you bet that’s not necessary, I feel as fit as a fiddle. Sure, some of those giants looked like they were pretty powerful, but I don’t care how big or powerful they are or how many of them will come at me. Right now, I feel like I am on a roll!」

Izayoi laughed with his usual 「Yahaha!」 and moved his arms around. However, even as he was laughing and smiling, his eyes were calmly observing his surroundings in search of any incoming danger, focusing on one thing in particular.

(… A giant fortress covered in crystals and tree roots, huh? If it turns out that these roots belong to the tree from which the 「Star Fruit」 sprouted, then we might be dealing with an outrageously huge tree.)

The roots of the tree were still visibly moving, which means that they were still alive. And that, in turn, means that the seal placed on Demon Lord Typhon is still working as intended as well.

Whether the roots of the tree are going to be able to hold down the moving continent of Atlantis and for how long they’re going to be able to do it were another matter entirely, but for the time being the only thing that Izayoi could do was to put his faith in them and believe in the powers of the mysterious 「Star Fruit」tree.

The group that followed Sakamaki Izayoi and Asterios’ leadership reached the corridor that presumably led straight to the fortress’s throne room shortly afterwards, which proved that the tactic of dividing their forces instead of charging in together was the correct one after all. If they had chosen to go together with Heracles and Asuka, then all of them would end up running into a formidable enemy whose appearance none of them could have ever expected.

As they were making their way through a series of corridors that resembled destroyed ruins more than anything else, head priestess Lalah pointed outside of the fortress with her finger and exclaimed:

「Everyone, look!! The number of the giant dragon’s heads has increased to four!」

The number of huge shadows with long, sickle-like neck has really doubled, just like Lalah said. The entire sky over Atlantis was burning with a bright shade of red as a result of the ongoing clash between 「The Youngest Child of Gaia」and Kasukabe You and her Primordial Dragon companion.

However, now that the number of head went beyond what he could deal with by himself and it was surrounded on all sides, the only remaining way for the Primordial Dragon to maintain any semblance of combat capability was for him to continuously fly high into the air to move out of the dragon head’s range before descending upon them and flying back to high altitudes over and over again.

At this rate, everyone could clearly see that it was only a matter of time, before You and her companion are going to get overwhelmed and cornered.

(Damn, the speed of resurrection of those bastards is faster than I thought! Was fighting it impossible for Kasukabe alone after all?)

The disgruntled Izayoi clicked his tongue in frustration and shifted his gaze towards the large tree and its roots that were entwined all around the giant fortress.

When he was looking at it not that long ago it seemed that the roots were still full of power and nothing seemed to be wrong with them, but now that Izayoi looked at them again, they were all starting to dry up and wither away at an alarming rate. For whatever reason, they were losing their power, and fast.