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Chapter 142: The Unchaining

 

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Translator: “Pink Tea” Editor: ”Weasalopes”

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I gathered Emma, Luna-san, and Layla-san. I feel a bit guilty about calling them so early in the morning of a workday.

Laura-san is incredibly strong, but she lacks in battle experience.

And most of all, she doesn’t like fighting, so I didn’t call her.

As the townsfolk were hurrying to work, I laid out the gist of the things to the three.

「……Can we win by ourselves?」

Since Emma already fought her, she is well aware of how dangerous is Fake Olivia.

Relying on the guild is an option as well, but there is a problem with who our opponent is. Anyone below A rank would easily have the tables turned on them.

And as for A and S, they often are on expeditions, so for the most part they aren’t in the town.

「For starters I’d like to try with this team. We will fight with me as at the core, so please give me your support. If it turns out that we can’t deal with, we then will ask the guild master for help.」

「I shall use my magic gun for Noir-dono’s sake. 」

「Me too, I’m pretty indebted to Noir-kun. I will repay that.」

Luna-san put in front of herself the hand with the gun, on top of which Layla-san then put her fist.

Both of them were not only beautiful but also gallant, for which they have my respect.

As if she finally shook off her hesitation, Emma also put her dagger there.

「I will do my best as well. Let’s win for certain.」

「We absolutely will take down Fake Olivia!」

Lastly, I put my sword there, declaring my resolution.

Comrades one can trust is the greatest fortune.

This is what I thought from the very bottom of my heart.

Confirming her location with Great Sage, the four of us then hurry there.

Fake Olivia was at quite some distance away from our current location.

A bridge upstream on the river that went through the town. Sitting on a handrail she was eating an apple, seemingly enjoying it.

『This time you brought comrades. I wonder if you can win, with such numbers.』

「What is your goal? Why have you come to the town?」

『Olivia’s role is eliminating trespassers while teasing them with hope. But you know, I couldn’t care less about that. 』

She is talking about the 15th floor.

After she revealed the staircase it probably would’ve turned into – you can pass if you can defeat me.

But since even the personality of Master was copied she became too uninhibited.

Even now, she doesn’t seem to be fixated on defeating us.

「Is it possible to release the real Master, I mean, Olivia?」

『Nope, no way. And if you try to force it she will die. Why do you even want to save her?』

「Spending 200 hundred years in such a place is way too harsh. I want my Master to be free. Isn’t it only natural?」

『Not only she is captive, but she is also suffering from immense pain. By giving her pain from time to time I’m getting information from her response.』

「As I thought……」

『Want to save her? How cute! But can you defeat me?』

「I will!」

I shoot 【Stone Bullet】. Using only the strength of her arms, Fake Olivia flew into the air from the handrail.

And then made a perfect landing on the bridge. Luckily there are no passersby. It’s not a bad place for a fight.

I go all out right from the start. Sacrificing the three step skills I activate 【Sacrifice】.

Instantly closing the distance I get into a sword fight.

『Oh my, didn’t you become quite strong all of a sudden?』

Last time I was completely beaten, but now I’m not losing in power.

I can maintain this state for five minutes. I want a fast victory.

Fake Olivia keeps mumbling something while fending off my attacks. So she still has a lot of composure.

Is she using 【Appraisal】? She seems to be puzzled by the lack of change in my skill composition.

『Oh noes, I’m going to lose!』

As my sword pushes away hers at quite a distance, she heavily bends back. This is a clear chance for a victory, so I go for it.

「Noir, it’s a trap! Beware of her sword!」

Emma’s voice startled me. The enemy’s sword was clad in lightning. Must be【Thunder Blade】.

I promptly step back.

Since I now had no【Backstep Enhancement】, her sword grazed my gut.

An intense pain ran through my body, and the next moment, I lost the ability to move, paralyzed. I had 【Paralysis Resistance C】, but the opponent’s skills clearly surpassed it.

Stopping for several seconds during the combat is the same as asking an enemy to kill you.

『It’s my win~.』

Her sword goes for my head.

「AAaaAaaAAh!?」

Emma interfered, ready to take a hit for that. Using her short sword, she blocked the lightning-clad sword.

To save me, even though she has no electricity or paralysis resistance……

「UUuaah!」

I make a jab at Fake Olivia’s side, that seemed unguarded.

Though she escaped, Emma was freed from the electric shock.

Since Luna-san and Layla-san moved to cover for us, I caught in my hands falling Emma, so she wouldn’t get hurt.

「……No-ir, are you okay?」

「You should be worrying about yourself, rather than me. I’ll have Luna-san come right away.」

「Thank… You. Don’t push yourself too hard.」

「You too, I narrowly escaped death thanks to you. Sorry for making you go through this.」

If only I could fight better. Emma lost consciousness, but both her breath and pulse remained stable. Luckily, the wound doesn’t seem too serious.

Layla-san also seems to be having a hard time, being unable to come close to that lightning sword. I guess rather than raising my own resistances, it would be better to weaken the enemy.

Looking into it with【Edit】, it seems that destroying 【Thunder Blade】 would take only 400 LP.

Most likely the sword itself is about to give in. That is a mediocre sword she took from a mercenary. Not a piece that can withstand the use of a special skill for a long time.

The sword might break by itself even if I won’t do anything.

Even so, I destroyed the skill. I still have 6000 LP left, so I can continue to fight.

『Why?』

「Looking away is fatal!」

With the sword turning to an ordinary one, Fake Olivia showed an opening, and Layla-san went on the offensive.

Judging that aiming for the person would only lead to her evading with her high physical ability, she went to destroy the sword with【Magic Fist】.

With an attack from the fist charged with powerful magic the sword easily broke. I also took advantage of this opportunity.

「Luna-san, please let Emma recover at a safe place!」

「Roger.」

I buy time for her to escape with Emma. As Fake Olivia’s gaze shifted to them, I move right in front of her, blocking her line of sight.

『So that person is dear to you. I might get jealous.』

「Take this!」

「It’s over!」

The coordinated attack with my sword and Layla’s fists still doesn’t manage to hit. Though we are putting a lot of spirit into it, she is fluttering, dancing like a butterfly, evading all of the attacks.

Then, making an outrageous leap, Fake Olivia escaped our pincer attack.

『Let me respond to those passionate feelings.』

【Dragon Blaze】?! Once again manifesting that terrifying fire drake she sent it our way.

Making the full use of the spacious bridge we run away from it. That is all we can do for now. Despite Fake Olivia being an enemy, I can’t help but admire her masterful manipulation of fire drake.

She isn’t just chasing one of us, but assessing the timing, switches targets.

By doing this she prevents any possibility of attacking her.

Destroying the skill would take too much LP, so it’s not possible. However, checking it with【Edit】I understood that the flame has a time limit.

Moreover, the flame grows weaker with time. If we manage to avoid it for a bit more there would be a chance for a counterattackーー

「Layla-san?!」

Something was wrong, she appeared unsteady on her feet. She also didn’t react to my voice.

Even though the flame drake is coming right at her, why is she making no attempts to run away?

Pulling out Champion’s Shield I jump in front of her. The fire drake hits.

Though barely, but I made it in time. The impact was great, but with【Fire Resistance A】the flames were weakened, so we managed to escape the worst.

『Aaah, and here goes another crowd. I hate troublesome stuff, so I’m leaving.』

「Don’t run away!」

I want to chase after her, but Layla-san’s state is strange. I can’t just leave her here.

「Are you unwell?」

「All of a sudden I felt feverish.」

HOT! Touching Layla-san’s forehead I felt a clearly abnormal temperature. Though I thought that it’s just a cold, I still appraised her just in case…… and was shocked.

【Body Temperature + 5 Degrees】

Two or three degrees will already have an effect on the organism. And here it’s five……

Fake Olivia managed to plant such a thing without anyone noticing. How crafty.

I immediately nullified it. It didn’t take much LP.

「She attached a skill to you. I destroyed it, but you should rest until your temperature goes down. I will go after her.」

「I will follow as soon as I get better.」

Leaving Layla-san to rest on the bridge I chase Fake Olivia. It didn’t take long before I caught sight of her.

She moved by skipping after all. That’s to be expected, I guess. Currently, there is no reason for her to run.

『Hurry, hurry, you are it.』

「You say that, and yet you stopped.」

『There are no people nearby after all. A good place to beat you up.』

It’s a wide and flat road, so it indeed might be a good place for a fight.

Just in case, I check my own abilities. It would be a problem if she gave or destroyed skills without my knowledge.

There is one that I especially can’t allow to be destroyed.

『What do I do if she destroys Create, is that what you thought?』

「No-no, I don’t.」

『Ahahaha, that reaction tells that you did! Relax. I have no intentions of destroying it, or rather, the required LP is so high that I couldn’t even if I wanted.』

The present from the master, as expected, it’s not cheap at all. From the bottom of my heart, I’m relieved to hear that.

That’s because【Create】is the essence of our abilities.

Now, since she had no weapon, I’d like to get into close combat, but I had some problems of my own as well. The effect of【Sacrifice】expired.

Should I remake the three skills and sacrifice them again, or go all out and offer more high ranked skills.

It’s hard to decide.

And after I blinked, Fake Olivia disappeared from my sight.

「Eh? Where?」

I can’t see her anywhere. There is no place where an adult person can hide.

Above! A mass of fire was falling from far above. It’s 【Flaming Sphere】with all sorts of improvements made to it.

So she jumped to cast it from above? Blocking them with the shield doesn’t sound like much of a good idea, so I evade them by running away.

I evade the first one. And the second one, barely. There, I notice something strange.

But I had no time to stop, so I keep running. Even so, my movements were clearly sluggish, and even though the third one didn’t hit me directly, it still touched my clothes.

As the flames promptly began to spread I fall to the ground and roll, somehow extinguishing them.

「This is weird……」

I found the reason. She attached【Slowness】to me.

Immediately getting rid of it I sent 【Stone Bullet】at Fake Olivia who was about to land from her long jump.

The released projectile curved in a way I’ve never seen before and like a boomerang return to me.

「GUh?!」

Unable to respond in time, I receive my own attack.

It hurts, I don’t get what is going on, and inside my head is a panic. It didn’t look like she did something. In other words, is there something wrong with the skill itself?

【Stone Bullet】

〈Consuming magic power creates and shoots a stone of 10 to 100 centimeters in size. After that, the stone returns to the user.〉

It’s ruinedーー!

『You noticed? You used it on the bridge. You seemed to be very familiar with it, so I thought you will eventually use it again.』

Fake Olivia had good judgment and outstanding battle sense.

It’s probably somewhat related to having memories of some of Master’s battles.

But what is really frustrating is that she is much better at using skills than me.

『How about giving up, this way you can survive. It would be miserable though.』

『I’m not that scared of living miserably. The third son of a baronet is bound to have way more miserable experiences than even a commoner. My reason to defeat you has no relation to that.」

『You want to save your Master, huh.』

「She was all alone in that cold, lonesome room. And all of the time suffered because of the cursed chains of death.」

『She had a weakness, and it was exploited by someone stronger, that’s all.』

Master is not weak at all.

「She changed my life. I will definitely save Master!」

Dropping useless concerns I go with Litorine’s strategy.

I decided to sacrifice 【Archery S】. Let’s not think about how it cost 3500 LP.

It’s only one skill so the effect will last for a mere minute.

However, the strength of the buff is nowhere near the time I sacrificed steps.

I let【Purple Lightning】rampage from my fingertip. The distance has probably doubled. It easily reached Fake Olivia.

She is not an opponent that would take such a naive attack straight from the front. I used it to buy time to close the distance.

One leap with my currently enhanced physique granted that wish.

『How fastーーーIs what you thought I’d say?』

Two fingers were coming at my eyes, about to poke them out.

【Willow Ward】

Putting the flat of the sword to Fake Olivia’s hand I turn it aside.

With her stance being greatly broken, Fake Olivia looked at me with panic on her face. The moment our eyes met I was already in the next motion.

【Strong Slash】

A large swing in which I put the strength of my whole body soundly cut down Fake Olivia.

『KYAAAAAA?!』

The sensation wasn’t that of cutting a human. It was like cutting something way harder.

Both of Fake Olivia’s hands turn into chains. Her screams of agony weren’t mimicking the Master but were words full of hatred which belonged to the cursed chains itself.

『I curse youーー』

I have no desire to listen to it until the end.

The finishing blow literally cut the cursed chains with all of its resentment.

What previously mimicked Master changed in shape to rusted chains and lifelessly fell to the ground.

「Feel free to curse me all you want. I have friends that would lift that curse for me.」

Turning to where the hidden dungeon was located I think what lies there.

◇ ◆ ◇

The second floor of the hidden dungeon. Standing in front of the door I take a deep breath.

Before coming here I didn’t encounter Master.

That fact made me uneasy. After all, she now was free, she could go outside if she wanted.

Resolving myself I step inside and see the Master, standing in the middle of the room.

Chains that were hanging from the walls, now feebly sunk to the floor.

This one isn’t fake, the real Olivia Servant looked at me with a smile.

『ーーNoir-kun, I’m free now.』

I wonder, why is it that our conversation from the time when we first meet goes through my head.

Feelings overcome me, and before I even noticed, I was crying.

「Master!」

Overcome with an impulse, I jump into the embrace of Master, who stood there with her hands open.

A firm hug, despite the soft and tender sensation of her body.

『Thank you, you worked hard.』

Since I was sobbing, I couldn’t give a proper reply.

Master’s tone is the same as always, but it doesn’t sound directly in my head, gently coming through my ears instead.

This way she felt a lot more real and close.

「……You were suffering all this time. Why didn’t you tell me. Is that because I’m unreliable?」

『It’s because you are kind. I didn’t want you to do anything rash. But you were a lot stronger and more reliable than I thought. I might fall for you.』

Master gently brushed my hair.

And she still treats me like a child. So she is giving me lip service because I’m being difficult.

「Let’s leave the hidden dungeon together!」

『Yahoo! Freedom, after two hundred years.』

Along with Master I return to the first floor.

Slimes, as if they were waiting for this moment all this time, jump at us.

Master annihilated them with some magic that I’ve never seen before.

「Aren’t you too strong? You are like a demon king that awakened after two hundred years.」

『I have many skills that I made using create. If it’s someone of Noir-kun’s level I can annihilate them instantly, kya.』

「P-please, stop with such jokes.」

『Nyahahahahan, then you should heed the words of the demon king. First, treat me to food once we reach the town.』

「Yes, my master.」

Let’s feed her a whole bunch of mother’s cooking.

A clear blue sky was awaiting us outside the dungeon. It’s been a long time since the weather was this good. Perhaps the world itself was anticipating the master’s return.

Taking detours here and there we get back to the town.

But things won’t go as easy as just go back home and get to the table. That was because the gatekeeper called many comrades. That’s all because Fake Olivia rampaged as it pleased.

Well, I explained the situation beforehand, so we were able to avoid jail.

『Aren’t you a capable man.』

「I went through a lot of training. Now, we have arrived.」

We finally came to my house.

It seems like Master had nowhere else to go anyway, so I thought it would be fine to let her stay at my home for a while.

「Welcome, to Stalgia’s house.」

『Pardon the intrusion!』

Opening the door before I could, Master stepped inside the house.

Yup, that’s just like her.

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