The Rising of Tanaka – 68 part 2
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Pasifista
The demon side’s intentions had crumbled, as the top of the small mountain had turned into a battlefield as of now. This meant that for the kingdom side, the battle had turned into a group battle as they had planned, but the battle situation was unexpectedly at a stalemate. No, to the Kingdom soldiers who were actually participating in the fight, they felt as though they were gradually being pushed back instead.
The reason for this was the intervention of the hero Mikoto and the great sage Merlin. Because of this, the kingdom army’s greatest weapon, the hero party, was completely suppressed.
Another resounding problem was the route toward the high ground to reinforce their forces turned out to be much narrower than they had expected. Therefore, they could not take the means of deploying their forces all at once. The Kingdom army’s greatest advantage, their overwhelming number, couldn’t be utilized yet.
「What an unsightly battle….」
The beautiful face of Kaltovich was distorted in humiliation.
This independent unit was supposed to be the elite of the elite whose goal was to subjugate the Demon Lord. And then, the seemingly refugee-like group of demons they happened to discover. Given the scale, it might be too much for the defense unit to handle, so in exchange for some miscellaneous matters, they decided to lend them a hand, but things turned out this way. It was no wonder that she was so displeased.
「Geez…, what in the world is the commander doing?」
The kingdom soldiers were currently acting on their own judgment. It was not strange for her to hope the situation would turn a bit better if the commander were to take command there. Moreover, if he could see this stalemate up close, he might be able to come up with a way to overcome it. Even if it didn’t come to that, if the commander were there, his presence should be able to considerably raise the morale of the kingdom army.
However, given how severe the current situation was, let alone the commander rushing to the scene, even the following unit had somehow ceased appearing before they knew it. Kaltovich, thinking about expressing her dissatisfaction toward the kingdom soldiers, glared at below.
「… Huh?」
What she saw there was a scene she hadn’t ever expected to see.
The first thing she saw was a huge object. A gigantic creature that even from a distance she could tell that it was way larger than a dragon. This huge creature that she had never seen before was trampling down the crowding kingdom soldiers. The tentacles that were creeping out of its whole body were capturing the kingdom soldiers and swallowing them into its gigantic body one after another.
「Just what…, what is that….」
These were the words that she unintentionally spilled out. It was a question that she never expected an answer to. However, there was someone who answered that question.
「That is my masterpiece. No, right now, it may be more accurate to call it my alter ego.」
「Wha?!」
Surprised at the voice that suddenly echoed next to her, Kaltovich reflexively turned her head— but at the same time, an impact ran through her abdomen. Right after letting out a voice of anguish, she vomited blood.
「Y, you are… Cassius…..」
A former upper echelon who was once well known as a magic tool researcher in Purinism. A loser who later on, after losing his position upon his failure in a certain expedition, was demoted to the prison city of Ketavanagh-O. And then, a man who was involved in the army disappearance incident that occurred at that demotion place, and was supposed to be missing in action.
That man was standing in front of Kaltovich with a creepy smile on his face.
「Why are you…!」
The continuation of the words did not come out. Kaltovich fell to her knees due to the pain of the thing that had pierced through her abdomen being pulled out. What was being pulled out was a tree root-like tentacle. Its source was the area where Cassius’ arm was supposed to be there.
「I came because I smelled something seemingly tasty here, but quite an interesting thing you’re doing here. Hmm? Maybe I just did something quite wasteful, huh.」
While enjoyably licking the blood that was dripping at the tip of the tentacle, at the end of his sight— Kaltovich was dying her white robe red on the abdomen, before spreading to dye even the ground.
「KAAAALT!」
Kamui’s cry echoed through the area. Forgetting even his battle against Mikoto, Kamui rushed toward Cassius.
「Wha! Wait, Kamui!」
And then, similarly forgetting that they were currently enemies, Mikoto called out to Kamui. That showed how much abnormality she sensed from the man who appeared out of nowhere.
It was not just Mikoto, all of the first rate fighters in the area showed the same reaction. The moment they caught a glimpse of Cassius, the top most alarm rang in their heads, and they reflexively raised their guard up.
「You bastard! How dare you do that to Kalt!」
Kamui, who was so angry that he lost control of himself, unleashed an attack with all his might to cut Cassius in two. However, the attack only slightly dug into Cassius’ neck before stopping.
「Wha!」
Due to such an abnormal resistance, Kamui came to his senses and promptly jumped back. However, the counterattack that Kamui had feared did not come. As Cassius merely turned his head in leisure to adjust it.
「Kukuku…, as expected of a Hero. That was quite an attack.」
To Cassius who spoke to him in a seemingly happy expression, Kamui was beset with unknown fear.
「Looks like there are even more fresh preys lying around here.」
He looked at Mikoto, Curryman, and Tetsujin as if he were evaluating them. And he then turned his gaze toward Merlin, and the three demon siblings.
「Looks like it was the right decision to come here. I’ve come to a very good prey field…. Oops, I almost forgot.」
Cassius mumbled as such and turned to Kaltovich, who was crouched beside him. And then, madness dyed those eyes of his.
「I better eat it soon, it’ll ruin this rare feast otherwise.」
Cassius’ tentacle, which was extending instead of his arm, instantly changed shape. Into a huge shape that seemingly could easily cover Kaltovich. It moved like a huge creature that was trying to swallow Kaltovich in one gulp.
「Hiii!」
Fangs popped out densely on its whole surface right in front of her eyes. That was the last scene Kaltovich saw.
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