The Melancholy of the Demon Army Officer
Translator: Tsukii
Editor: Shizukuku
Read at Watashi wa Sugoi Desu!
Chapter 085 – True King of the Abyss [A]
The first thing to move was his left arm.
It was one of the combat methods that Leonhart had started developing recently, which was to confirm the characteristics of his opponent.
Leonhart put his left hand forward instead of his right, which was wielding his sword, and he shouted along with such a gesture.
“First off, I will need to confirm something! — Fire Arrow!”
A magical flame emerged from the tip of his left hand.
The fist-sized flame followed the law that magic would definitely hit its target, and it flew straight toward Masuzoe.
But the result of that was clearer than looking at the fire.
“…!”
As Masuzoe moved forward, he confirmed the Fire Arrow.
The rudimentary magic flew straight toward his face, and even a majin wouldn’t want to get hit by it.
However,
“…!”
The Fire Arrow landed directly on Masuzoe’s face, however, he kept walking forward without minding that, as if he didn’t feel any heat or impact from the magic.
“…Hah, as I expected…!”
Leonhart let out a brief laugh as he confirmed that. It might be magic that he learned recently,
—But against Masuzoe, it meant nothing.
Or to be more precise, it was nothing to someone of Masuzoe’s original race. Leonhart uttered the name of the race vigorously.
“It seems the hanny characteristic of ‘Absolute Magic Immunity’ is still there after all!”
“Uwaah… so it is there as expected… Well, I guess it’s natural. He was originally a hanny after all…”
The battle between Leonhart and Masuzoe had started right in front of them. Looking at their first clash, Ssulal frowned in disgust.
On the other hand,
“—Ufufu, to think he believed magic would work against Masuzoe-sama… or rather, us hanny. I could only say it is reckless.”
“…Who? Hey—”
Ssulal’s expression turned subtle when a new voice was suddenly heard.
A womanly sounding voice echoed from the shadows in a corner of the so-called Abyss, and three shadows appeared.
“It’s another hanny.”
“And there’s a female one… it’s a haniko, if I’m not wrong. As for what’s behind her—”
As Galtia said that while enjoying the snack, Hunty supplemented his words.
However, although they knew about the pink-colored hanny which was said to be the female of the species, haniko, Hunty had no idea what the two behind the haniko were, so she was at a loss for words.
Perhaps sensing Hunty’s confusion, the haniko proceeded to the front of the group and greeted them with a bow.
“Fufuh, my apologies for the late greetings, Maou-sama. And also a group of majins. I am Haniko. As for the two behind me—”
“Phew- nice to meet you.”
“Dorodoro- nice to meet you.”
As the haniko was about to introduce them, the two spoke up. Their appearances were,
…Ghost hannies?
Ssulal’s knowledge of them was indeterminate. She was looking at the figures of a kind of hanny she had previously only seen in literature.
On the right side of the group, there was a hanny with a reddish-black body floating in the air.
On the left side was a pale colored hanny hovering above the ground. Both of their bodies were cracked and melted in some places, which made them appear somewhat creepy.
And the two hannies were wearing triangular hats and spoke at the same time as they bowed,
“I am the first apostle of Masuzoe-sama, Brad!”
“I am the first apostle of Masuzoe-sama, Pitt!”
“…”
Everyone fell silent as they heard what the two ghost hanny said. As the group processed their surprise at discovering that they were apostles, both hannies turned to face each other,
“Hey Pitt. Are you trying to confuse maou-sama? I’m the first apostle, right?”
“What the hell are you talking about, Brad? I’m the first apostle, right?”
“So which of you is the first apostle?”
Carol tilted her head and asked. Then both hannies pointed at themselves,
“This hanny that is overwhelmingly handsome is the first apostle—”
“This hanny that is overwhelmingly dandy is the first apostle—”
Then they pointed to each other,
“And that ugly hanny is the second apostle.”
“And that foul-faced hanny is the second apostle.”
They stared at each other with those words. Then,
“Break down, Brad!”
“Be crushed, Pitt!”
They started hitting each other. The haniko giggled as she watched them,
“They are always like this, so don’t worry about it.”
“Ah, yes…”
The group nodded with an indescribable mood. Ssulal came up with a silly theory that the reason their bodies were so broken was due to frequent quarreling, but she immediately erased it from her mind. Thinking about something like that was a waste of time.
Rather than that,
“So three of you serve under Masuzoe… can I consider it that way?”
Ssulal asked that while glancing away from the battle. The haniko also turned her body halfway and said,
“It’s something like that. —Oh my, Masuzoe-sama, to think he is frolicing about like that… He is in a good mood today…”
“…Does that Masuzoe talk at all?”
Ssulal asked the haniko, who seemed to be able to communicate with Masuzoe. It was because Ssulal felt Masuzoe had a weak sense of self.
In response to her question, haniko moved her neck — or rather, her whole body down a bit,
“He doesn’t talk at all, but somehow I can always understand what he wants to say. Other hannies didn’t seem to be able to feel it, but… it seems he is happiest when we’re together, you know?”
“I-I see…”
Perhaps even hanny had features of men and women. Ssulal had no interest in that whatsoever though.
Besides, Ssulal couldn’t see anything to indicate that Masuzoe was in a good mood. She also couldn’t sense his bad mood. He was a hard-to-grasp majin, but his strength was,
…Hanny are troublesome. Magic doesn’t work against them after all…
The strength of Masuzoe the hanny majin should be in the upper tier among majins, such was Ssulal’s judgment.
Especially against those who fought mainly using magic, it would be very hard for them to put up a decent fight against him. That characteristic of the hanny, the “Absolute Magic Immunity” made any kind of magic, regardless of strength, completely useless.
Therefore, they were the nemesis of magic users as one could only rely on physical attacks to defeat one. However,
…Since that one is also a majin, it will be far more troublesome.
Of course, a maou like Ssulal or an upper tier majin like Leonhart could make do with just their physical ability.
If only Masuzoe gained nothing else from his transformation into a majin, that was—
“Ah, Masuzoe-sama is moving on to attack.”
“!”
After the haniko said that, Masuzoe certainly lowered his body and exerted his power toward Leonhart who had just finished discovering that magic was ineffective against him. As Masuzoe raised himself up from the lowered posture, the light in Masuzoe’s body expanded.
It was the most famous and staple attack of the hanny species. That was,
“Hanny Flash…!”
“Ufu, it’s not Hanny Flash, Maou-sama. It’s Masuzoe Flash. It possesses similar features to the Hanny Flash in that it will definitely hit its target, but the number of times it can be launched—”
As Ssulal spoke, the haniko proceeded to correct her words. And at the same time, in front of them,
“And its power is incomparable to the normal Hanny Flash.”
At that moment.
From Masuzoe’s mouth, an M-shaped light turned into a shockwave and launched.
The underground space known as the Abyss.
Leonhart the human majin was fighting against Masuzoe the hanny majin.
Leonhart responded to the M-shaped shockwave of light.
…! Now that I think about it, Hanny Flash is similar to magic…!
Just like magic, it would definitely hit its target. But not only that, Hanny Flash was well known to pierce through any defense and would definitely inflict damage even to the toughest opponent.
But even such an attack wasn’t a big deal for a majin. If they faced a normal hanny, they could just tank the damage, and most of the time, they could defeat the hanny before it was launched.
But the one in front of him was something created from a majin’s power. Obviously, its power was incomparable to a normal one but,
“—Very well! I will take it!!”
It was unavoidable. Like a magic attack, Leonhart could neither parry it nor cut it down.
In that case, he had no choice but to prepare to take it. Damage was to be expected.
However, Leonhart swung his sword there,
“But I’ll have you eat my attack as well…!”
“…!”
Leonhart said that and swung his sword horizontally.
It was a slash. It cut the wind and flew in the air. The flying, invisible blade intersected the shockwave of light.
At that moment.
“Guh…!”
“…!”
Both of them took the other’s attack and were blown away.
“It’s as merciless as usual… What would you do if the other party got cut in two?”
Galtia confirmed the action taken by Leonhart while eating a hard-baked rice cracker.
It was simple and clear.
The moment Leonhart understood that the attack was unavoidable and was definitely going to reach him, he didn’t prepare a defense, but instead chose to attack while taking the hit. Perhaps he judged that it would be better than just attacking the attack.
Galtia could understand that. He was also a warrior after all. It was a decision he would also make if he judged it was necessary.
However, to do so against an unknown attack in that moment,
…It must be because he is a battle maniac.
Exactly because Galtia was also a warrior, he could understand the difficulty of Leonhart’s choice, and also the anomaly of it.
Normally, battle was all about killing one’s opponent while avoiding getting killed. One’s way of fighting would change depending on various conditions and one’s own power, but ultimately, that was the basic requirement of battle.
Therefore, defense was important. Not getting attacked by an opponent, as well as avoiding their attacks, would indirectly lead to victory.
After all, the longer one fought, the more physical strength would be consumed, and if one was injured, it would be easier for their concentration to be interrupted, which would put them in a more disadvantageous situation.
To make one’s own attack land while making sure the opponent’s attack doesn’t land. That was the basis of the battle.
However, for a battle maniac like Leonhart, that basic condition would be a little off. After all, for a person like him, the battle and his wounds were,
…They would be the fun itself and spice that would enhance the fun… I guess it’s something like that.
As he considered that, Galtia laughed. He is a pervert as usual, he thought.
Normally, one would hate being wounded. If there was an unknown attack, even if they knew they couldn’t avoid it, they would either try to defend against it to lessen the damage they took, or take a prepared stance to immediately resume the battle after the attack. If there were a person who could immediately come to terms with taking an attack and prioritize wounding their opponent over defense, they would be nothing but a pervert. One could consider it to be a rational decision, but it would be hard for a normal person to actually execute it in practice.
People usually prioritize survival after all, thought Galtia in understanding. That was also a correct decision.
After all, a normal person would die if they received the attack. If not dead, they would be so wounded that they were defeated either way.
But for fellow like Leonhart who only thought about combat, he chose to attack back while understanding what the consequences of his actions would be, and by the end of it,
…He will survive it and still manage to win somehow…
Galtia thought that was the reason he was known as a battle maniac. Therefore, people who weren’t one would have a hard time winning against him in combat. They had different values and had spent a different amount of time fighting.
Leonhart also tried to increase his hobbies and become immersed in his work, but the core of his being which loved combat didn’t change.
…Well then, Leonhart seems to be at advantage no matter how I think about it, but—
Seeing the two majins get blown away and face each other again, Galtia continued eating his snack. I guess I’m completely in spectator mode now, and as Galtia thought of that,
“If we want to stop them, I think earlier would be better…”
He muttered in worry as he kept watching the battle.
After Leonhart got blown away, he saw his opponent quickly getting back to his feet after colliding with the wall.
He felt a dull pain on his abdomen. It was the result of receiving the hit from that light. Moreover, he took three hits instead of one.
Isn’t it cheating if you are able to shoot several times at once? Thought Leonhart,
“In that case, I’ll just do the same!”
“…!”
As the smoke cleared, Masuzoe, who had some slash wounds on his chest, rushed toward Leonhart. So he can still fight after all, thought Leonhart in bliss,
“Can you endure my attacks?”
Leonhart swung his sword. Although there was only a single motion, two slashes were simultaneously produced. The two attacks took form at the exact same time; it was such a miraculous slash.
With the two slashes stacked together, Leonhart swung his sword.
“…?!”
Masuzoe had an aura of surprise about him. His expression didn’t move and he didn’t make any sound, but the atmosphere around him reflected it.
Even as Masuzoe successfully blocked the first slash with his spiral spear, he couldn’t block the second slash. Therefore, the best thing he could do was to twist his body and try to minimize the damage but,
“Hahah, what’s wrong! Is running away all you can do?!”
Since Masuzoe went defensive, Leonhart chose to continue his attacks.
He kept swinging his sword, and slashes rained down from all directions.
“…!”
“Ora ora, what’s wrong! At least try to fight back, will you?!”
Masuzoe managed to block some of Leonhart’s attacks with his spear, but those that didn’t get blocked produced more wounds on his body. As Leonhart saw that,
…That guy’s body is unexpectedly sturdy…!
The sensation relayed from the tip of his sword felt a little dull and there was a sense of resistance.
A normal hanny’s body felt like pottery clay, elastic yet fragile.
However, the sensation Leonhart felt was several times harder, with greater elasticity. Perhaps this was to be expected of a majin. Even if blunt force was known to be a hanny weakness, it would still be difficult to wound Masuzoe with that.
But Leonhart was a swordsman. He mainly attacked using slashes, which wasn’t incompatible with Masuzoe’s body.
Well, not that it matters, though, thought Leonhart as he kept slashing at Masuzoe.
“Ora, I’ll be going at it again…!”
“…!”
The moment Leonhart showed signs of movement, his opponent also moved.
A light, one that was different from the light of the Hanny Flash, came from Masuzoe’s left hand.
And suddenly,
“?!”
Leonhart felt his body become heavy and his hand stopped swinging his sword.
…What is this?!
Leonhart couldn’t use his simultaneous slashes. To be more precise, in his current state, he couldn’t even try.
Something incomprehensible had been done to Leonhart. The moment Leonhart realized that,
“…!”
He sensed movement in front of him
Using the gap where Leonhart couldn’t swing his sword, Masuzoe swung down his right hand which wielded the spear.
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