Can Someone from a Tradition-Ridden Village Pull Off a Narou-Style Story in a Modern Dungeon? ～The Higher Being Behind Me Is Way Too Much of a Final Boss～ - Chapter 120: The Two in Concert
-Thank you DCRangeRange, Dean Dexter and Cannedbread
Follow me on Patreon via Linktree https://linktr.ee/Mnotia-
Countless thin threads raced through the darkness as if to tear it apart.
They'd all been released from the fingertips of Ei, who wore a gray dress.
"Allow me to show you!"
The red lines stretching into the sky looked like they were slicing apart the huge creature known as night.
Aratsuba, by contrast, didn't move, only letting an unpleasant high-pitched sound echo through the area.
It was an absolute command authority built into the Aberrant Entities managed in this ZONE, and it was a signal.
Without any regard for will or characteristics, every nearby individual locked onto Ei and began to move.
Among them were Aberrant Entities of C-rank and B-rank, which normally an Enri Bearer would handle only after making preparations in advance.
『...Aaaah』
The first individual to leap at Ei was an Aberrant Entity that triggered a phenomenon using its own voice.
It distorted the target's cognition by making them hear its voice.
However, it didn't work on Ei for even a second.
"Get out of my way!"
There was no logic to it.
Ei simply held the higher rank.
That alone allowed Ei to ignore the Aberrant Entity's special properties and cut it to shreds with threads.
Togigara no Yome, remodeled, improved, and tampered with by the calamity-lord-class, already stood in a class apart from ordinary Aberrant Entities.
Furthermore, Ei could now fully make that power their own and control it.
As if Ei had become Togigara no Yome, the immensely powerful force was wielded with precision.
"As I thought, Togigara no Yome's power is the right answer here. This way, I can handle the Aberrant Entities while sensing any people who were slow to escape."
The sensation conveyed through the threads brought Ei a wide field of vision, as if granting them a third eye.
The number and placement of the Aberrant Entities, and even the civilians left behind if this were the real thing.
That power, which allowed Ei to grasp all of it from above, could truly be called one of the optimal solutions for the Night Kagura.
"Senano-san, I'll open a path! Please go!"
"...I-I got it!"
Senano, who'd been watching the scene in a daze, was abruptly pulled back to reality.
Hibari gave one short cry into the sky, as if to signal that preparations were complete.
"I'll strike Aratsuba. Please create the footing."
"Yes!"
The threads wove together layer after layer, and a red foothold was completed on the spot.
It stretched toward Aratsuba in an instant, as if waiting for Senano to step onto it like a red carpet.
"Please, Senano-san!"
"Leave it to me."
After a light leap, Senano landed on the foothold and broke into a run.
Her stride and tempo maintained the same perfect rhythm worthy of an offering, and with each step, Hibari's flames grew.
By the time she reached Aratsuba, Hibari had spread its gallant wings and transformed into a great eagle.
"Dance, Hibari. Let's end this pointless battle quickly."
Tearing through the dark night, Hibari closed in on Aratsuba.
The Aberrant Entities that tried to block its path were without exception bound by red threads, and in the next instant they were cut into dice-like cubes.
The crimson wings, having slipped past every obstacle, spread wide, and the incineration syntax struck Aratsuba directly.
Like washi paper soaked in oil, the flames spread in an instant and swallowed Aratsuba's body.
"I am Ara... one of the Five Sealing Families."
Even while falling, Aratsuba continued to mutter the same words over and over like a curse.
But the two didn't have any leeway to care about that.
"Senano-san...!"
"Yes. It seems there's more than one."
The two looked not at the fallen Aratsuba, but continued to gaze up at the sky.
There, a great many Aratsuba that should've burned up and fallen just moments before were floating.
"I am Aratsuba. One of the Five Sealing Families."
The unchanging words were as patched together as ever, and deeply unpleasant.
It was a scene like a nightmare, but Ei glared at them without ever breaking.
"The Five Sealing Families really do allow anything. Then we'll use anything too! Senano-san, let's show them our combination!"
"Got it."
Seeing Senano nod without so much as a change of expression, Ei gently traced their fingertips across the floor.
Then, like the surface of water, ripples appeared one after another from Ei's fingertips and spread across the ground.
As it filled the area red like blood, it entangled the legs of the Aberrant Entities on the ground and eroded their bodies.
The bodies of the Aberrant Entities swallowed up in that way dissolved like thread.
"If there are many of them, we just need to prepare many on our side."
Ei broke down the Aberrant Entities and rebuilt them into their own threads.
The countless threads born in this way stretched up from the pool of blood one after another and wound around each Aratsuba.
"...I am Aratsuba. One of the Five Sealing Families."
"Is that all you can say? ...Hmm, something feels off, but I'll leave the difficult matters to Senano-san!"
Without exception, the red threads wound around all of the Aratsuba and restricted their movements.
Each thread was only able to bind them and could not cut their bodies, but it did create a path.
Everything Ei needed to do was complete.
"Senano-san!"
"...I see. I understand what you want to do."
Just from being called by name, Senano read Ei's intent and began to move.
Between the two, who'd handled many Aberrant Entities together, many words were no longer necessary.
Senano offered a dance in response, adding further fuel to Hibari's flames.
Receiving its master's command, Hibari spread its wings wide once, then flew straight toward the ground.
Like a meteor falling from the sky, it dove headlong, and just barely before striking the ground, struck its wings once hard against the blood-red surface, then abruptly began a steep ascent.
"If it's the same syntax, Hibari's flames will spread no matter how huge they are. If the flames shift to Togigara no Yome's syntax, then that..."
The flames spread across the ground and then traveled along each thread, burning them.
The pillars of flame rising from the sea of blood up into the heavens looked like the end of the world.
At the destination of the rising flames were, of course, the bound Aratsuba.
They were swallowed by the flames without exception, blazing brightly as if lighting lanterns in the starless night sky.
Amid the falling cinders of what had been Aratsuba and the dancing sparks, Ei looked at Senano and made a peace sign.
"This time, we really won, didn't we?"
"...Yes, that's right."
The world was illuminated by flames, as if blessing their victory.
Ei stood quietly beside Senano, their eyes reflecting a sense of accomplishment and hope.
Senano glanced at him and said, as if carving the fact into memory:
"It's our win."
■
It ain't enough!
Even though I've gotten this strong!
I'll shred the opponent with countless threads, I tell ya!
『Sora, are there any other Five Sealing Families? We can win right now!』
『You're lively, aren't you?』
Of course I am!
Who could remain calm in front of the world of flames spreading before them?
I did this.
I sliced through Aberrant Entities left and right, moved coolly, and even created a highlight for Senano-chan.
This is the reincarnator I've always wanted to be!
Commanding types like I've used before aren't bad, but power is all about wielding it yourself!
You can put your feelings into it!
Against the Five Sealing Families, I unfolded a one-sided battle without letting them do anything.
At this rate, the day I become S-rank is close, gahaha!
『Honestly, Sora, if you'd had this kind of power, you should've said so earlier!』
『Fufufu, there's an order to content as well. ...It's almost time, isn't it?』
『What is?』
『Ei, your body doesn't hurt, does it? Your soul has no discomfort, right?』
『Yeah. Unlike when I controlled Togigara no Yome before, the inside doesn't hurt, and there's no sign of terrible pain coming. Thank you!』
『Mm-hm. So, Ei, what do you want to do now?』
Sora gently asked that.
Good grief. Is that question asked knowing my words and actions up until now?
If I hold this much mighty power, there's only one thing to do!
『I want to marry Senano-chan!』
『＾＾』
『...Wait, what!?』
(TL Note: HUH?)
Before I knew it, I'd shouted something strange from my soul.
Even though I should want to be unmatched with this power, for some reason I suddenly wanted to marry Senano-chan.
Ah, I wanna choose a wedding venue!
『S-Sora...?』
『Yes.』
『This form has no downside, right?』
『Yes, it has none. ＾＾』
『Then what's this feeling!? Hey, I really, really wanna get married! I wanna marry Senano-chan!』
What filled my heart was a desire for marriage.
It wouldn't be right to say I've fallen for Senano-chan or that love is overflowing.
It may be strange, but right now I can't help wanting the act of marriage itself.
『Soramatoi is a technique in which you half-merge with an Aberrant Entity I've given an Osora Custom. If so, it is only natural that you inherit the Aberrant Entity's thoughts and characteristics!』
『That's what's called a downside!』
『? There's no pain and your senses don't disappear. And you can fulfill content too. Far from a downside, isn't it all upsides?』
Ah, pros and cons are measured from a higher being's perspective!
Interpreting the deity's proposal in a way convenient for yourself and getting hurt... Is this a didactic fable?
『By the way, with Harigane there are various merits such as the desire to wound the opponent and leave behind your own existence, and with Aru Kagami the desire to become the same as the opponent.』
『By the way, when will this be released?』
『It'll end once you release Soramatoi.』
Hearing that, I felt relieved.
Even now, I'm enduring the urge to hold a ceremony with Senano-chan beside me, trying not to look at her face as much as possible, so if this continues it'll be extremely troublesome.
If that's the case, I'll just release it... wait, how do I release this?
I was never taught how to take off this wedding dress!
『Sora, how do I take off this wedding dress?』
『? You mean you want to mode change into the swimsuit-type wedding dress?』
『No. I'm asking how to release Soramatoi.』
『Ah, I see! That's up to my mood.』
『Hm?』
『I hold all authority over Soramatoi. ＾＾ Don't worry, enjoy yourself!』
『Eep.』
I-I was tricked!
Soramatoi is just Osora-sama's dress-up game!
『You may explain the merits of this form just as they are. The humans of the present won't take it head-on anyway. Now, let's see the true worth of the lead actress (♂).』
Gripping the hem of the wedding dress, I accepted despair.
Apparently I was a fool after all.
-Thank you DCRangeRange, Dean Dexter and Cannedbread
Follow me on Patreon via Linktree https://linktr.ee/Mnotia-