Vol 5: Chapter 19
★ Lev Magic Empire – Red Gate Frontline ★
「The bangle-shaped Heroic Gear worn by my father, Reflective Mirror, has the effect of repelling all impact without any attenuation.」Non explained.
「What!? Then you should be able to beat any kind of enemy!」Lark exclaimed, her eyes widening.
「But the nature of the balls used as fuel is unknown. More than 1 ball should have been consumed from that one usage.」
「How many more balls are left!?」
「Should be 3 or 4.」
Lark looked up at the sky. She was almost feeling relieved that there was a way to defeat the giant monster. But after hearing that–
「It used to have 15 balls, but those were used to experiment how to use the Heroic Gear.」
「Isn’t it useless then?!」Lark said, almost sounding angry.
「…Still, it is enough to warn that giant monster.」Non said, raising an eyebrow at Lark’s tone.
End Fang didn’t know what had happened. It carefully observed Dante while licking its blood-soaked forefoot. Dante firmly stood his ground and did not move.
Dante said he will buy some time. And that was exactly what he was doing.
「So there is no other way but for me to settle things, huh.」Lark said.
Non, who was continuously using【Healing Magic】, exhaled and smiled.
「No, we don’t know that yet. Because we found more than one Heroic Gear.」
Although End Fang’s sense of smell was particularly sharp, it did not help much with detection in this city where the rotting stench of monsters and human corpses drifted.
Which was why End Fang relied on its eyes instead, but still it couldn’t find the small figure from earlier.
It wasn’t simply because the figure was small. The figure seemed to have melted into the very space itself, and it was impossible to detect their presence while they were not moving.
End Fang has lived for a long time, but it was a technology that it had never seen before—Reiji would have called it “An optical camouflage!”.
(Just a little closer now.)
The cloak that barely covered Mimino’s small body was another Heroic Gear that has the effect of optical camouflage; an armor named “Twilight Cloak”. Unfortunately, it was too small to hide adults, but it did not consume fuel and could be used semi-permanently—for now.
After confirming that Dante reflected End Fang’s attack, Mimino donned “Twilight Cloak” and ran through the back alleys. She moved to End Fang’s rear.
(So huge…)
Mimino got goosebumps as she looked up at the towering End Fang from up close. However, she didn’t allow the fear to deter her.
(I have to do my best for Reiji-kun!)
The magic tool which was used to confirm Reiji’s survival was broken in Abba’s tent. She didn’t have enough time to investigate what it signified. However, she understood something significant must have happened.
And considering the situation of Red Gate at the moment, it was not likely to be something positive. The worst case scenario started creeping into her mind – Reiji’s death.
Mimino kept pushing herself from one battlefield to another to shake off those thoughts. When escaping from the Empire’s pursuit, instead of simply escaping, she insisted on regaining the Heroic Gears. She was the one who chose to take down the guards at the place where they found the Heroic Gear and also proposed to use the recovered Heroic Gears to deal with End Fang.
And now she was trying to take the lead in confronting End Fang.
If she didn’t keep moving from one thing to another, she felt as if the last string connecting her and Reiji would snap. She absolutely didn’t want to face that fact.
She used being an “adventurer” as an excuse and continuously braved dangers.
(This distance should be good.)
Mimino took out a metal magic tool with a scale engraved on a disk and a handle that could be firmly gripped. If Reiji saw it, he would have exclaimed, “A hand dynamometer used in P.E. class?!”. The Heroic Gear was a dull gold colour.
(Show me your power, Heroic Gear!)
At that moment, perhaps Mimino was straining herself—or just a simple hunch, End Fang looked over its shoulder. Its three remaining eyes caught Mimino’s body protruding out from “Twilight Cloak”.
『————』
End Fang opened its huge jaws wide. Right before it could roar–
「You’re too late!!」
Mimino threw out several ivy from her pocket and cast【Flower Magic】on them. It grew at a tremendous speed and became entangled around End Fang’s left hindfoot—but it was too thin for a giant. For a human, it would be like a few strands of hair coiled around their leg.
Even End Fang looked puzzled for a second.
However, that was good for Mimino. She squeezed the grip lever on the Heroic Gear in one go.
The third Heroic Gear – the last Heroic Gear they had, “Quagmire How Tough” was activated.
The scale glowed and started rotating.
A high-pitched sound that pierced the ear echoed in the direction the disk was pointed at. End Fang was taken aback by the noise, but that obviously wasn’t the magic tool’s primary function.
『!?』
End Fang noticed the ivy wrapped around its hind leg turn black — and suddenly, its body lost balance and it collapsed.
『GURURUAAAAAAAAAAAA!!』
Mimino’s small body was blown away by the impact of the giant’s fall and its roaring—but a man appeared at that moment and caught her.
「…What a mysterious technique. Is it a Halfling secret technique?」
A large man about 2 meters long – the general of the Saint Knight Kingdom, Friedrich Berger, appeared.
Mimino instinctively realised that this was an opportunity.
「Please attack now! The restraint effect only lasts for 512 seconds!!」
Friedrich lowered Mimino while nodding. He received a huge sword from the knight who was by his side – even Mimino’s eyes widened at the sight of it. It was about 1.5 times bigger than the sword Dante used in the past.
「Leave it to me.」
Friedrich answered in a deep voice, and started running. He was headed for the giant tiger.
At the same time, Mimino heard cries from troops coming from the other side. It was the Keith Gran Federation’s troops.
Of course, the former Holy King, Grenjido and his troops also picked up their weapons and commenced a Kamikaze attack on End Fang.
And then, Lark pushed away Non’s hands as she was casting【Healing Magic】and said, “There’s not gonna be a better chance”. She wiped away the blood on her mouth, and started running towards End Fang. And Dante joined in as well.
A completely hopeless battle against End Fang at the start had turned into a mass attack right now. This opportunity came about solely due to the “Heroic Gears” obtained by Silver Balance.
