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Chapter 58 : Ant Sweep Operation
🕑 Added 2022-07-10 07:27:58 +0000 UTCTL:SummerPeanut
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After discussing it with Barnes, I went home and reported to Zeke.
"So that's how it is...this is difficult. I'm against revealing Mars being able to use Holy magic. Maybe Lord Barnes is thinking the same thing as I am.
If the lion named Ellie is the most important person to him, he would choose her over Almeria. It is easy to imagine how he would treat Mars for Ellie’s sake. In the end, there is no other choice but to choose urban warfare...”
"I see. The most important thing to keep in mind is the timing to retreat from the labyrinth for urban warfare. If we can stay in the labyrinth even for a little longer, the lower the possibility Almeria’s City will be damaged in the process...”
"Yeah. I would like to make the call if possible. Especially since most of the participants are from Irgusia. I don’t really want to entrust the lives of Irgusia’s citizens to others…
However, the decision to withdraw will probably be made by Margrave Carmel or Ralph in the end but I'll see what I can do to interject a little. There’s one thing I would like to confirm with you too, Mars, what threat level of magic beasts can you defeat?”
"Hmmm…… If it's just me, I can beat an enemy with a threat level of B- depending on our compatibility…… I think I am better at dealing with a large number of small foes than a single strong enemy. And I suspect Lord Barnes is probably the opposite of me."
"B- huh……How strong do you think the enemy is?"
"I think even the weakest ant has a threat level of D. Thinking in terms of goblins, the weakest goblin is a threat level G, and the strongest is a C+. Using that as a reference, it will be minimally above C+. Personally, I would say it’s above threat level B.”
"Then...... we will need Lord Barnes huh? ...okay. Let's have dinner for now.”
We all ate dinner together, following Zeke's lead.
"Why don't we do a little labyrinth diving for tomorrow’s prep?"
Zeke said to us.
"Yes. I don't mind, but...... now?”
"Yeah, now. The three Black Tri-Stars should stay at home in preparation for tomorrow.”
Zeke said that and we dove into the labyrinth.
"I wanted to see exactly what you guys were capable of."
Zeke looked at me, Ike and Clarice and said so.
"How should we do that?”
Ike asked and Zeke…
"I want you guys to show me your maximum firepower.”
"Okay, I understand. Well then, can we start with me? I don't have the least in terms of firepower of all of us.”
With that said, Clarice held her magic bow at maximum power against the rock lizard in the aisle, and the arrow pierced through the scales of the rock lizard. The rock lizard was still alive, but if the hit had been good, it would have been killed instantly.
“So much firepower from just a bow, huh? That's amazing."
“Only, I'm putting all my magic power into this thing so I can't fire many shots.”
"Then I'll do the next one. Let's start with the magic first."
Ike said so and shouted "Flare" to the crowd of rock lizards and sent a mass of red and white flames.
It takes quite a while for the magic to activate but it was quite powerful and the rock lizards were scorched wholly in a couple of seconds.
"The flames don't spread as well with me, probably because of my low magic power. If my magic power was as high as Mars, I might have been able to burn the ants to death with Flare....... The spear is next."
Ike advanced a little and found another group of rock lizards. He enchanted his Flame Lance with Fire magic and stabbed the rock lizards one after another.
Zeke and Maria that saw the piercing thrusts that penetrate even above the rock lizard's scales.
“The attack power is higher compared to before but more than that his movements are sharper than before, aren't they?”
"Yeah, I've never seen a spear user like him before."
Ike returned, looking at me.
"Now let's see what Mars is really made of. I haven't seen Mars's real strength yet after all."
He looked a little expectant. So I told them.
"My real strength… I have a magic that I haven't shown everyone yet. It's something I can't handle yet and it's very dangerous.”
"You've learned to use the highest level of Wind magic!?”
"No...... it's not Wind. Of course, I am good at Wind magic but there is a magic that is even more powerful than that.”
"What!? Is it Fire, Water, or Earth?"
Zeke asked with a loud shout. Maria and Ike were also looking at me with surprised faces.
"It's not Fire, Water, Earth, or Wind. It is Lightning magic.”
Everyone except Clarice was speechless. A few moments of silence pass, and then…
"L-lightning magic…… I've never heard of it before…… Is there really such magic?”
"Yes. I was able to use it when I first met Lord Barnes.”
"O-oh, I see. Let's see it then.”
"Yes, I do. May I see if you have the resistance first? I still can't control Lightning magic. If everyone has the resistance like Clarice, I could release Lightning magic without hesitation during an emergency.”
I activated the minimum power Lighting Cloak and touched Ike's hand.
‘BASHIIIIINNNNNN’
As Ike's hand and mine were about to touch, the golden lightning that had been clad on me struck him.
"GUAh-!”
Clarice immediately healed Ike's damage. However, the electrocution was not cured.
"The damage is healed but I still can't feel my hands... Is this the minimum output?”
"Yes, this is the minimum output for now. Or at least I think so because I am only suppressing the output with just feeling…”
"Is Clarice okay with being exposed to this magic?”
When Zeke asked Clarice, I touched Clarice’s hand while being enwrapped with Lightning Cloak. Then part of Clarice's hand that was touched glowed gold.
"I'm not sure if it's called resistance or...what should this be termed as. It's not so much that it is being repelled but rather more like it enters my body...I can't say for sure but at least it doesn't seem to harm me."
"What shall we do? The magic called Lightning Cloak now is more of defensive magic, so to speak. The other one is Lightning magic called ‘Lightning’ but it is easy to control it so in the worst case, you never know where it will fly. So I can only use Lightning magic in front of Clarice now..."
"I see so that's why Mars was diving into the labyrinth alone with Clarice... I thought for sure you two were on a date....... I'm sorry, Mars."
Ike said his piece. As expected, even Ike knows...
“No, I was going to report it to brother Ike when I could control it a little more… I'm sorry too for not telling you.”
"It’s fine. Anyway Mars. How can this lack of sensation be cured?"
Ike said as he held out his electrocuted hand.
I undid the Lightning Cloak and touched Ike's hand and the golden light came back to my hand.
Ike opened his mouth while opening and closing his palms repeatedly it up to check the sensation.
"…This is……amazing……So this is Lightning magic…”
Zeke who was watching..
"So the problem is that there are only so many occasions to use this.......”
"Let's all go home now. Tomorrow is the big day. We need to get some rest.”
Maria said and we went home to prepare for tomorrow.
☆☆☆
Almeria labyrinth, the day of the ant cleanup operation. I went to Barnes as he told me to.
Zeke, Maria, Ike, Azure Fang, Red Wings, and Black Tri-Stars are to go to the labyrinth first.
They are to leave one of the enemies in the deepest part of the first floor beforehand so that we could proceed and fight as soon as I joined them.
Only Clarice is waiting in front of the slaver with Margrave Carmel so as to enter the labyrinth together with me.
Incidentally, Zeke said that he could not afford to protect Margrave Carmel, so he requested the margrave to refrain from following them.
We also asked Ralph, the guild master, to standby outside the labyrinth with the adventurers from this city in order to prevent them from entering the labyrinth and in case of an urban war.
This was the move that Zeke had devised to obtain the right to decide the retreat timing.
Without Margrave Carmel and Ralph, the decision to retreat would inevitably be made by Zeke.
I go over to Barnes’s place, and as soon as I do, Barnes is already there.
"Hey, you assess this girl.”
He said that and brought a lion called Ellie.
I said, "Okay" and appraised her.
Name: Ellie Leo
Title: -
Status: Beastman (lion race), slave
Condition: Cursed
Age: 6 years old
Level: 1
HP: 18/18
MP: 6/6
Strength: 5
Agility: 6
Magic: 2
Dexterity: 1
Durability: 5
Luck: 10
Unique Ability: Sound Magic (Lv0/C)
Special Ability: Martial Art (Lv1/B)
W-what's this person...
Can non-reincarnated people also possess Unique Abilities? Or is this person someone who reincarnated too?
And her condition is under a curse.......
And her eyes condition looks bad too… not to mention that’s her max HP too…
"I've finished assessing her.”
"What about it? Ellie’s condition. What do you know?"
"I found out that she was cursed but nothing else......."
I hid the fact that Ellie had a talent for Sound Magic. I don’t know what would happen if Barnes found out the fact that I noticed that after all.
"Oh, I get it. And about this labyrinth thing, I'm still not going.”
"I…see...”
"But I will actively defend the city. In exchange, I'm going to ask you to keep this Ellie in a safe place and within my sight. Is that clear?"
"I don't have the authority to make a decision. Margrave Carmel is nearby, so I will ask him."
Saying so, I called Margrave Carmel outside to talk about Barnes’s condition, and the margrave granted Barnes’s request as a matter of course.
Since Barnes was willing to wait outside the labyrinth, the odds seemed pretty good.
I headed for the labyrinth where Zeke and the others were waiting with Clarice.
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