Trails with Cuddle-Cuddle Osbon
Translator: Tsukii
Editor: Helen
Read at Watashi wa Sugoi Desu!
Author Note:
Happy New Year.
Please take care of me this year as well.
This was a bit of a rushed job, so it’s a fairly quick and short conclusion.
Thank you for typo reports as always.
Chapter 052 – Fufufu, Son. It’s the June Field Study⑩
“Gohoh, gahah!”
The pain of spitting out the water that had gotten into his mouth brought Rean back to consciousness.
As he shook his body, something hit him on the back.
It was a spherical space.
Contrary to Rean’s sub-conscious thoughts, his body moved of its own accord, and he began manipulating the board-like object placed in front of him.
Then the surrounding space was filled with light, and the mysterious array of data eventually projected a scene of the ocean in front of him.
“T-This is…………”
“It’s inside Valimar the Ashen Knight. Haah, you finally piloted the Divine Knight properly, as an Awakener should.”
“Celine.”
Looking to the side, Rean saw Celine sitting on a small pedestal, and Duvalie sleeping soundly behind her.
Rean tried to wake Duvalie up to make sure she was still alive, to which she just muttered a “munyaa……”
She didn’t wake up, but Rean was relieved to see that she was still breathing.
{“Fufu, I don’t know to say that it finally happened or it happened without meaning.”}
“Valimar?! You’re fine!”
Rean could hear Valimar’s voice, which he couldn’t hear when he sank beneath the sea.
Rean was worried that it might have been wiped out by the monster, so his voice was filled with joy.
{“I also thought I had been taken out by the monster. However, as I felt myself sinking into the bottom of the pitch black water, I suddenly heard Rean’s voice. The moment I responded to your call, I returned to my main body.”}
[“Fufufu, son, Vali-kun. It’s not that I’m not feeling touched by the bonds of you two…… but it seems we won’t have time to relax.”]
As if responding to Osbon’s words, the monster appeared out at sea.
Valimar didn’t sink because he leapt into the air by exploding its spiritual power, but the difference between the ecology of the monster and Valimar would eventually become apparent in their energy consumptions.
If they didn’t defeat the monster before exhausting their energy, Rean’s group would only end up in an iron coffin, delaying their deaths.
[“What we have to do is simple. We just have to defeat it and go home! How are you feeling?”]
“…………It looks like I can move. Unlike remote control, I think I’ll get used to direct control quickly.”
[“That’s a reliable thing to say, even though it’s an aerial battle.”]
Rean felt a little embarrassed by Osbon’s words.
The feeling of constantly flying in the air was new, but since being sent flying in the air was something he did often, Rean was able to get used to it quickly.
There was no problem with the semicircular canals either.
With a single swing of the giant tachi held by the Divine Knight, Rean fixed his gaze on the monster before him.
Perhaps wary of Valimar’s appearance, it showed no signs of attacking.
In that case, thought Rean as he set off with Valimar.
“Flame, gather around me…… Crimson Chain Slash!”
Rean wrapped the tachi in flames and used the acceleration of the vernier that was fired, closing in on the monster in an instant, unleashing a series of Crimson Slashes that crossed the path of the monster as they passed each other.
Based on the experience gained from linking with Duvalie, it anticipated the increase in power of the attack when stacked.
The water coat offset the flame blade, and the evaporated water created steam.
Once the steam dispersed, the water vapor spread out like a thick fog.
The hot steam clung to the surface of the Divine Knight and the monster, causing both of their bodies to heat up red.
Ignoring the monster writhing in pain, Rean was worried about Valimar’s body.
“Valimar, are you okay?”
{“It’s okay, there’s no problem.”}
“Then——”
Rean couldn’t continue speaking.
The monster had sunk into the ocean, disappearing so far it became difficult to detect.
“Damn, we dealt some effective hits, but it’s diving like this……”
{“Rean, I have an idea.”}
“Tell me.”
Rean replied immediately and listened to Valimar’s idea.
Rean nodded at the idea, but Celine, who also heard it, blurted out an anxious concern.
“Are you serious?”
{“I was able to do it once. Besides, it will help to achieve Rean’s goal.”}
“I feel the same way, Celine.”
“Honestly, what happened back then should have been nothing more than a coincidence…… but are you sure? If it goes against your predictions, the two of you will…… No, before that, can you even fulfill the prerequisites……?”
{“Don’t worry, Celine. I am sure.”}
“You’re sure……”
[“Fufufu, Miss Celine. I think you should believe in them this time. Either way, our current situation is like trying to excavate gold in the desert. Since there are no other alternatives, we have no choice but to go along with Vali-kun’s idea.”]
“The fact that the situation just keeps getting worse doesn’t change, huh…… Aah, geez. I get it already!”
Celine began to cast magic in a fit of desperation.
Rean once again tried to wake Duvalie up.
“Wake up, Duvalie-san. It’s time to fight.”
“…………Fuah?”
Duvalie’s eyes were dazed and sleepy, but eventually, her pupils seemed to come into focus and the glow returned.
She immediately came to her senses, and when her eyes met with Rean’s at close range, she tried to move away—— only to fall off the cockpit base.
“Hyaah!”
“Oops!”
Rean instinctively stretched out his hand and grabbed Duvalie’s leg, preventing her from falling.
Since they were inside the Divine Knight, she would only hit her head a little even if she fell, but it would be unpleasant to feel the pain.
Duvalie quickly used her abdominal muscle to lean her body back and grabbed Rean’s hand that was holding onto her leg.
“W-What is this place?!”
“We are inside Valimar. We have retrieved Duvalie-san, who was swallowed by the tsunami. Now we’re boarding Valimar and setting off for a major reversal.”
Duvalie was unable to come up with a counterargument to his unhesitant words.
As Rean looked directly at her, Duvalie blushed slightly and looked away.
“D-Do you have any plans?”
“Of course, that’s why I woke Duvalie-san up.”
“Is there anything I can do in this situation?”
“Yes, first, please activate Sparkling Star Formation and connect the link.”
“I see, so the Divine Knight will use the same combo we used before we were swallowed?”
“That’s right, but that’s not what I want you to do.”
“Huh?”
Duvalie looked at Rean in confusion.
If it wasn’t for strengthening the Divine Knight, then what on earth would be the purpose of her using the Sparkling Star Formation?
“What I want Duvalie-san to do is——”
Her doubt was answered with an oversized bombshell.
“I-Is that even possible……?”
“It is. If there’s any problem, it is about how much Duvalie-san can increase your attack power.”
That last line was a challenge to Duvalie.
Duvalie almost got annoyed at Rean’s arrogant remark, but she held back.
It was very, extremely frustrating, but they had decided that working together to escape was their top priority, and her determination to return to her master prevailed.
“…………I have a method for that.”
“Really?”
“Yes. If there’s any problem, it is about how much you can increase your attack power.”
Duvalie showed off a smug look on her face, as if to say “I’ll give your words right back.”
Rean gave her a wry smile, but told her to leave it to him.
＊
Rean’s group held a strategy meeting inside Valimar that floated in the sky.
They predicted the monster was healing its body, which was injured by Crimson Slash, and the next time the water pillar rose would be their chance.
As a result, Valimar maintained a low altitude as she flew.
Their prediction was correct, and a huge column of water rose up, just like when the temple collapsed.
Rean continued to avoid them with skillful movements that made it hard to believe that it was his first time piloting the Divine Knight.
But the monster increased the number of water pillars, gradually narrowing down the area in which they could avoid.
Eventually, Valimar had no leisure to dodge and stopped moving, then the monster aimed at its spot by extending its tentacle wings.
The tentacle grabbed Valimar’s leg and dragged it into the sea.
However, that was exactly what Rean’s group had been aiming for since the beginning.
“That’s the first requirement……!”
Valimar’s feet remained unchanged as it got dragged along.
In the face of the monster’s special ability to turn anything it touched into water, the Zemurian alloy covering Valimar’s body brilliantly defended against it.
“”“Got it!”””
Rean’s group erupted in unanimous cheers inside Valimar.
Rean gave Duvalie a quick wink.
Duvalie nodded.
In an instant, Rean unleashed his power of ogre.
“You’re in the way!”
Valimar was filled with the power of ogre, so despite being underwater, its movement didn’t slow down as it forcefully pulled the tentacle off.
“Let’s go, Valimar!”
Believing in Valimar’s words, Rean poured the power of ogre that opened its abyss into the tachi.
By imitating the way the Jaeger King refined his black fighting spirit, the tachi forged in the Witch Village turned jet black.
Furthermore, Valimar prepared to use a certain Craft.
The foundation was now completed.
Rean made up his mind and carried out the plan.
“Let’s go, Duvalie-san!”
Rean said that and let go of the control stick. Taking his place in the cockpit was none other than Duvalie the Swift herself.
“Don’t miss the timing, Schwarzer!”
The two shouted and Valimar activated its Craft.
“Piece of Power.”
It was a craft used by Loa Valimar to create a clone.
In its Divine Knight state, it manifested Power of Ashen, Loa Valimar, in a jet of power, its black shade deeper than a shadow, with the power of ogre as its foundation.
The teleportation function used to board and disembark from the Divine Knight was activated there.
Rean’s destination was inside the jet black clone created with Piece of Power. It was a short distance teleportation technique Rean had learned from the Jaeger King.
The clone was an alter ego with an entity, and once it received damage, it would disappear, but that wasn’t the case if it didn’t receive an attack.
In other words, it could be used for attacks too.
Rean teleported into the pitch-black Loa Valimar and boarded it, from which he created a spiritual blade and unleashed Supreme Crimson Slash.
The Craft from his demonic blade was unleashed toward Valimar, controlled by Duvalie.
The image that came to her mind was the strongest swordsman excluding her master.
It was the trails of humiliation that left Duvalie crawling on the ground during the training with the enforcer known as the Bladelord, and it was a blow that was achieved through cooperation with Rean.
Duvalie was now imitating that here and now.
“Shadow Skill——Demonic Flame Slash!”
With Duvalie in control, Valimar rotated its body like a spiral, approached the monster and swung its tachi, which had turned into a black flame.
Now, through the link between her and Rean, established through Valimar’s mediation, she was able to temporarily control the Divine Knight.
It was a bold move that led Valimar’s main body to recognize her as a sub awakener.
“Union Slash – Bottomless Demonic Flame!”
The Combo Craft, with its power multiplied by that of the Divine Knight, evaporated the monster’s watery garment without losing momentum even while it was underwater.
Duvalie then used Valimar to grab the monster that was stripped of its watery garment, lifting it out of the sea.
Naturally, it tried to distract the flying Valimar, but the power of the reaper’s scythe was weakened by Rean’s supporting Supreme Crimson Slash, reducing the damage done to Valimar’s main body.
Eventually, they approached the water surface and Valimar, as well as the monster, emerged from the sea, sending up a huge splash.
At that moment, Rean raised his voice.
“Celine!”
“Seriously, you are just……!”
The jet black clone didn’t have all of Valimar’s functions.
Therefore, Rean was teleported back with Celine’s intervention.
His destination was—— the sky above the monster restrained by Valimar.
What came to Rean’s mind was Valimar’s idea.
{“——That monster has the presence of a spirit.”}
[“——Spirit?”]
{——It’s in a state similar to that of Loa Valimar.”}
[“——Fufufu, son. This is what Vali-kun wanted to say. That monster is like a variant of Loa Valimar, that is, it resembles the Power of Gray.”]
[“——In that case……”]
{“——That’s right, Rean, let’s absorb that——”}
The result of that plan was now coming to fruition.
Rean fell with gravity as he recalled the event on the Gray Battlefield.
The tachi he carried contained the power of ogre that seemed to condense every drop of power into it.
And that power was now unleashed.
“Termination Slash – Dusk!”
The jet black blade approached, just as it was when it was swung at Loa Erebonius in the past.
But the monster, ready to offer some resistance, ran its scissor-like wings over Rean.
Duvalie was unable to make it away in time with her control, and the reaper’s scythe approached faster than Rean’s tachi, intending to cut Rean in half—— but suddenly it was deflected as if it had collided with something.
“Oi, oi, you’re so reckless, Rean.”
It was a deep, mellow voice that was different from Osbon’s.
Glancing sideways, Rean saw the Palatinate Knight, Zector—— it was Rutger Claussel, the commander of Zephyr who tormented him the other day.
Rean put aside his question of why he was here and slammed the tachi into the monster’s head with all his might, but the weapon couldn’t withstand the force and broke apart. However, the broken tip of the blade was embedded in the monster’s head.
However, that was still not enough. Therefore, his comrade who fought together with him pushed in.
“Just get defeated quietly, desuwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!”
Duvalie put all her energy into controlling Valimar, and the tachi she swung went from the top of the monster’s head through its groin —— and at the same time, a crack appeared in the world.
As the world crumbled, Rean was transported back inside Valimar and once again took over the piloting from Duvalie, then glared at Zector in the sky.
It seemed the communication was connected, and Rutger’s face appeared on the monitor in front of Valimar.
Even though he had a cynical smile on his face, he seemed somewhat impressed.
“I was going to fight it, but it seems you guys managed to defeat it on your own. What an interesting bunch.”
“Rutger-san……”
“T-That is the Jaeger King?”
“Yes. But why are you here?”
“North Ambria is the hometown of a person who had helped me out before. I thought I would quietly solve this spiriting away incident, but it seems that wasn’t necessary.”
With that, Zector was enveloped in light.
Rean intuitively realized it was a signal for teleportation.
“Wait a minute, you should talk to Fie……!”
“That is a reward she should strive to get. Also, the girl next to you——”
The moment Rean was about to launch Valimar off to give chase, Zector appeared before them.
The Jaeger King wasn’t naïve enough to miss an opportunity when his opponent had frozen up due to a sudden action.
“To think I saw you bring another woman after you embraced Fie, take on the anger of a father!”
“That hug was your fault, wasn’t iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiitttttt?!”
“I-I don’t feel anything about it in particular, okay?!”
“Why are you guys making a fuss in this situation?!”
Valimar was hit in the face by his fist and sent flying, and the voices of the two humans and a cat screaming inside Valimar were soon gone as the singularity collapsed.
Author Note:
The conversation of two entities and a cat who were with them.
Valimar:
{“This is shuraba･･････”}
Osbon:
[“Fufufu, it’s exactly it.”]
Celine:
[“Like hell it is!”]
It’s the chapter about Duvalie-chan becoming a Sub-Awakener.
Although I did put a tag of Deus Ex Machina, I was a little puzzled by the fact the resolution of the conflict was left to others, so this is the setup for that.
Well, this author is also confused. It turned out to be Duvalie at first…
Anyway, the next one is the result chapter.
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