Chapter 203

Yusei had insisted that the obstacles to their goals were the Wicked God Slayer, the Crimson Vampire Princess, and Observatory. Getting rid of two of them at once would be superbly efficient. “What do you say, Rakshasa?” A giant black mass crouched next to her. An accumulation of sadness willpower. Rakshasa—the ultimate Varmint, created by Yusei’s Core Implosion. It could only roar like a beast, but Tremolo understood this to mean, “Not yet the time.” “I see. Yes, mining for the Dark Core is the priority. A draining job, but it’s our job. Let’s do this.” Cloing. Cloing. The fleeting sounds of the biwa echoed through Star Cave. Tremolo gripped her ax and swung it against the wall again and again. She had to help look for the Dark Core in exchange for borrowing Star Cave’s Varmints. I wonder what Nefty is up to right about now. There were no Correspondence Crystals in the Netherworld. One couldn’t keep in constant contact. Eh, probably gobbling down pizza in her office. She only had to focus on her job. The rainbow mana triggered the ceiling’s collapse. Rubble rained down with an uncanny snapping echo. The tentacles restraining Fuyao were torn off one after the other. I stomped on their remains like they were writhing lizard tails and shouted a war cry. “You better be ready for this!!” I could not possibly look less intimidating. Any rational person would think I was about to get swatted like a fly. But now I had confirmation: When I sucked Lingzi’s blood, I became impossibly lucky. “Bweh!” I tripped, dodging the tentacle rushing at me like a whip out of sheer coincidence. “Amazingly lame!” Spica laughed. Shaddup! You fight, too! “Watch out!” An exhilarating fwsh! sounded as Lingzi sliced the tentacle coming from ahead with her iron fan. I didn’t have the time to say thanks before the Varmint, contorted under the rubble, launched more and more tentacles to attack me. Just as I thought I was a goner, I began to float. “Wha—? Wh-whaaaa—?!” “Hold on tight. A fall might kill you…” “Lingzi, you can fly?! I thought we couldn’t use magic in the Netherworld!” “Immortals are a flying race to begin with. We can do it as naturally as moving our arms and legs.” The world sure is full of wonders, huh? The barrage of tentacles chased after us. The moment I began giving up on life, Lingzi sped up and dodged the Varmint’s attacks in the air. Right, left, up, down, loop the loop. She was like an acrobat. I heard a fwm! with her every sudden change of course, and at the same time, I felt something crawling up my stomach. “L-Lingzi, slow down…” “Sorry! But I can’t stop!” “What is up with your semicircular canals…?” A boom thundered as the tentacles crashed into the wall behind us. I clung to Lingzi, trying to combat my dizziness. I’ll die if I fall. I might die even if I don’t fall. I already feel my life slipping away. Oh? What’s that glow I see? A field full of flowers? Ha-ha, and are those the footsteps of the reaper? “Good job, Lingzi Ailan!” I heard Fuyao’s ecstatic voice. Even as my consciousness kept fading away, I did my best to look down at the ground. There, I witnessed the moment Fuyao struck the Varmint. It had given her an opening for a lethal attack by shifting its focus to us. The beast’s thunderous roar of pain shook the air. Fuyao unleashed another katana slash at the Varmint’s torso. Miasma spurted from its wound like blood. Fuyao kept attacking with a flat look on her face and the vehemence of the devil. The black beast’s body was split like tofu. “It’s no use… It keeps regenerating…!” Lingzi mumbled in despair. She was right. No matter how quickly Fuyao struck, the miasma kept re-forming, like a scab covering its wounds. That was no normal creature. It seemed to feel pain, but physical attacks proved to be useless against it. “What do we do…? How long are we gonna keep flying…? I’m already at my limit…” “Wah?! Stay with me, Komari!” “Easy! These kinda foes aways have a core of some sort!” Spica cheered. She was sitting on a chair by the rest area, licking her dang lollipop. The freaking nerve. “I’ve been watching closely, and I can tell you, there’s a core somewhere inside that shadow! A huge Mandala mineral! Varmints must be Mandala minerals imbued with willpower!” Just then I realized there was a slight glow in the Varmint’s forehead. That had to be the source of its power Spica was talking about. “Fuyao! Smash its forehead to pieces!” “You don’t have to tell me.” Fuyao sliced the tentacles away while moving over to its head, then hacked at it relentlessly. She repeatedly slashed through the black miasma spurting from the creature’s gouged skin. The Varmint screeched and rolled over. Fuyao took this window of opportunity to leap and deliver a powerful stab. From within the beast’s forehead, a purple glowing mineral revealed itself. That was the Mandala mineral. “Prepare to meet your—” She must’ve let her guard down at the last moment. As Fuyao tried to finish her line, a tentacle crept around from behind and restrained her right hand. “Wha…?!” Her weapon was incapacitated, and her ankles were next. She fell over. “Pay attention, girl!!” Spica fumed. Yelling at her won’t solve anything. I gotta go help her… But I was at my limit. I tasted sourness in my mouth. “Uph…” “Huh? Komari— EEEK?!” I threw up the tomato juice from earlier, right on Lingzi’s chest. I’m sorry. I’ll wash it out later. But the tragedy did not end there. Lingzi loosened her grip in surprise. Needless to say, I didn’t have enough strength left myself to cling to her. My barf and I went into free fall. Lingzi screamed my name. Spica cackled her butt off. Fuyao looked up at me in total confusion. Mmm…? Free fall? It was then that I realized—I was on a collision course with the Varmint and Fuyao. “Terakomari! Break your fall!” Fuyao shouted. I hadn’t the slightest idea how to do that. I plummeted toward the ground as naturally as an apple dropping from a tree. Clank!! A tremendous blow to my head. “Ow?!” A ghastly howl thundered next to me. The Varmint. I hadn’t fallen on the ground. I’d fallen on the Varmint. Now I was guaranteed to end up at the mercy of its tentacles. I gotta get away. Now… But my consciousness was already fading. I heard Lingzi shout “Komari! Komari!” from overhead. I used my last drop of energy to reach out, and then bam!! The black miasma dispersed. I had no idea what could have possibly happened. I started falling again, and right as I bid farewell to my dear life, a familiar rainbow mana spread from my body. My Blood Curse had reached its course. “…You’re nothing if not lucky.” The next thing I knew, I was in Fuyao’s arms. She looked as fed up as she was relieved. Circumstantial evidence suggested she’d caught me. I had to thank her. I parted my lips, but the words wouldn’t come out. Maybe I’d hit my head too hard. I heard Lingzi’s voice as I blacked out.