Chapter 254
CHAPTER 254 – A NEW BEGINNING
Within Mercouri’s territory, in the Ispis Plains .
Small lights flickered in the air at night time in that plains .
They look like fireflies from afar, creating a scene that creates a good atmosphere just by looking at it .
「That’s it?」
「Un, it’s called Hemish . They are the ones polluting the water sources around here」
The one who explained the lights beside me was Melissa .
A woman wearing the Solon Church’s clerical garment, the Immortal Saintess Melissa .
Her nickname comes from her unique constitution .
She was once a martyr, surviving seven executions over seven days, a woman who holds what they call a miracle within her .
After surviving that incident, she was proclaimed as a Saint by the Solon Church, and right now, she is a famous person whose name is known to everyone .
By the way, the Solon Church is this world’s largest religion . There believers among the members of the royal family and nobles of each kingdom .
She’s a Saintess from the Solon Church, so one could say that Melissa has a social status comparable to that of the royal families .
However .
「I would think of this every time, but why are you the one taking care of these kinds of monster subjugations?」
「I was asked to, so . And, this is a kind of missionary work too . There are still many people in the world that do not accept Solon Church’s teachings . With the things that I’ve done, I just hope that there would be a little more people who would believe in the teachings of the Solon Church」
Melissa spoke frankly like a neighborhood childhood friend, but used the lines befitting of a Saintess .
「I’m sorry, Kakeru, for making you accompany me like this」
「It’s my woman’s request . Don’t mind it too much」
I said and unsheathed Eleanor .
I left Hikari behind . It’s late at night so it’s time for Hikari to sleep .
「And, what was it again」
「Its color will change . It could only be attacked in the instant it changes to the color red from its current color」
「Its color changes huh」
While raising EleanorーーI looked at white spots called Hemish .
The firefly-like lights that floated in the air . There are around a hundred of them, but there wasn’t a single one that changed its color .
『It’s gonna change . Concentrate』
「What?」
Being told by Eleanor, I concentrated and focused my eyes .
I stared intently, and found out that they are really changing colors .
It only changed within a hundredth of a second . In other words, the lights are basically flickering, with red lights flashing at a fixed interval .
「I see」
「Did you see it?」
「Yeah . I only need to attack when it’s red right? What happens when they are attacked at their normal condition?」
「They’ll regenerate . Although it depends on the strength of the attack, it’s fine to think that they would completely regenerate at the maximum」
「I see」
It means that being able to accurately attack within a hundredth of a second is required huh .
『Can you do it?』
「I should’ve brought Hikari」
『You can show her how awesome you are any time . Just let her sleep』
「I guess so . Melissa, I’ll be going」
「Un! Do your best!」
The Saintess Melissa who is wearing highly ranked clerical clothes, she cheered on me cutely as if she was a girl watching a baseball match .
I turned my back to those cheers and went towards the Hemish .
I stared andーーreleased a slash using Eleanor .
Following a horizontal blade flash, the Hemish popped like a firework .
「I guess that’s enough huh」
『Seems so . And, because of that, they look angry right now』
Just like Eleanor said, after I defeated one of them, the remaining Hemishes charged towards me .
However, that’s all .
I concentrated, focused my vision on the Hemishes that charged, and defeated each of them after matching the hundredth of a second timing .
A cyclone of light was created .
Under the moonlight, the cyclone of light swirled around me .
The near one hundred Hemishes were annihilated within a minute .
They dropped ten lottery tickets, so I picked them up, and put them in my Different Dimension Warehouse .
「Good job!」
「Was that all?」
「Probably . According to the villagers, they are only here」
「i see . To be sure, let’s stay here for a while and check」
「Is it okay?」
「It’s a ship that has sailed after all . But in return」
「In return?」
I pulled Melissa who was tilting her head to an embrace and kissed her .
Being kissed so suddenly, she looked clueless while blushing .
「Accompany me while waiting」
「Un! As long as you want」
I looked at Melissa in my arms . Her face that was lit up by the moonlight looked more beautiful than usual, making me want to give her another kiss .
I leaned to her face when I was thinking of that, but .
「Hya!」
「What’s the matter?」
「T-That thing」
Melissa suddenly raised a scream and pointed to a certain direction .
I thought that more Hemish appeared and looked there .
「That is……Opis?」
「O-Opis?」
「Yeah」
I nodded .
What appeared was not Hemish, but Opis .
It’s the white snake that I saw when I went to the past using the ticket I won from the lottery .
That one snake appeared in front of us .
「This is the first time I saw a monster like that, does Kakeru know what it is?」
「It’s a monster that’s troublesome . Although strength is just decent, when it is chopped by a Demon Sword, it would divide into two or even more while retaining its strength」
「Retaining its strength?」
「It could be called as a natural enemy of Demon Swords」
『It’s not strong enough to be called as a natural enemy』
Eleanor seemed a bit disgruntled .
It looks like she was annoyed that a creature in that level would be described as her natural enemy .
「The Demon Sword’s natural enemy……that’s why Kakeru knows」
It’s not because of that, but I didn’t correct her as well .
「Then, I’ll do something about it」
「Melissa will?」
「Un . It’s just decently strong right?」
「Yeah, it’s just as strong as its huge body looks」
Although it’s not that strong, it isn’t weaker than it looks .
「If so, then I’ll take care of it」
「What are you going to do?」
「If there is only one with ordinary strength, if it is mutual destructionーー」
「Denied」
I denied Melissa’s suggestion without letting her finish .
The Immortal Saintess Melissa . It might be a good strategy to aim for mutual destruction when there is only one monster .
It might be, but I won’t let her .
「But」
「Melissa should just stay put . Although it’s troublesome, although it’s troublesome」
I left Melissa behind and moved forward holding Eleanor .
「Let’s do it」
『Umu』
I charged together with Eleanor and chopped the white snakeーーOpis .
Feeling the touch of the blade when I chopped it hundreds of times in the past era, I chopped .
The Opis immediately regenerated after being chopped into two, and just like in the past, it turned into two white snakes that look exactly the same .
「That’s amazing, to think that a monster like that exists」
While listening to Melissa’s muttering, I continued to chop with Eleanor .
Although the snake that divided and it is as strong as it was, its endurance, its so-called HP decreased .
If there is one that has 10 HP, after I dealt 1 damage, then there would be two snakes with 9 HP .
When I attacked the snake with 9 HP, then this time, it would divide into two snakes with 8 HP, and after that is two snakes with 7 HP, and so on .
In the end, if its HP reaches zero, it would be defeated, unable to divide any longer . That’s what the monster called Opis is .
That’s why, I only need to think that when one appears, I need to defeat hundreds of them .
I raised my gear of slashing .
「Mu!」
『……this is』
I felt something wrong, and it wasn’t just me .
Eleanor also reacted . Since she did, there’s no doubt that it’s not just my imagination .
「What’s the matter, Kakeru?」
While I felt that, I stopped swinging Eleanor around, so Melissa asked worriedly .
「It’s nothing」
I said, and continued to chop the Opis .
I chopped and let it divide, then chopped those that divided .
I chopped, chopped, choppedーー
「I-It increased so much! What are you going to do with this?」
Melissa who saw it for the first time was confused, but I didn’t mind and continued to chop .
The Opis continued to multiply . Its number explosively rose but quickly reached its peak . It stopped dividing and quickly reduced its numbers .
And just like that, after I defeated all the Opis .
「Amazing……the Kakeru I saw today might be the most amazing I’ve seen so far」
While saying that, Melissa looked surprised .
On the other hand, Eleanor and I found out the reason why it felt somewhat strange .
『After you chopped them, they did not simply multiply . They multiplied in numbers while slightly increasing their strength』
「Yeah」
That’s right . Unlike the Opis in the past, the more I chopped the white snakes, the more they became stronger .
And for the last Opis’s, they were so tough that I felt that I could not split them into twos if I do not use my full strength .
「There’s nothing wrongーー」
『ーーis what an idiot would think in this situation』
Eleanor and I had the same opinion .