Part 39:
The Princess Holds a Shovelive
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Deep within a prison surrounded by boiling magma was a red-haired girl in chains with no clothes to speak of.
“Kuro…”
She was the head of the resistance, Odessa. Her body was caked in blood from countless whippings and every one of her nails was horrifically cracked. This was the end result of torture. In the demons’ search for Kuronono, they had subjected Odessa to the most brutal of interrogations.
A clump of blood rose in her throat. Had Kuronono managed to see the light of day? She could think of nothing else.
The only thing left in this country was despair. If nothing else, Odessa wanted the tiny princess to see the light of the outside world. That had been her sole desire as she helped the girl flee. The whole thing about “delivering a message to the outside world” had been nothing more than a ruse to convince Kuronono to leave her comrades.
The kingdoms of man stood no chance against these terrifying demons. Even a thousand soldiers would be instantly massacred by a single higher demon, and the sad fact was that over three hundred thousand of those very creatures now occupied the Kingdom of Darkness. Humanity was finished.
“Argh…”
Odessa’s heart was already broken, but she somehow clung to consciousness by calling out Kuronono’s name.
“Nono…”
“It’s time. Get up.”
A demon dragged Odessa upright. She was to be subjected to yet another round of endless agony. Sharp claw tips pierced her head, flooding her with intense heat. The inside of her brain was being toyed with. Her tears wouldn’t stop—tears not of pain, but of powerlessness.
The demon’s voice and her own internal voice overlapped.
The revolution failed. Why? Because you weren’t strong enough.
Odessa knew she was far from strong enough. She wanted more strength. Needed it, needed power…power a human could never hope to possess.
“The thirst is strong in this one. She will make for a good seedbed.”
With all the brainwashing, Odessa couldn’t tell the demon was smiling. The desire for power had been implanted within her so she could become the best possible seedbed.
Her consciousness was fading, along with her life as a thinking human. At the end of it all, she called out a single name. “Kuronono…”
Gods above, I beg of you. At least allow her to see the light.
In that moment, for some reason Odessa’s vision blurred. A vision of Kuronono appeared before her.
I must be dreaming… She’s smiling… She must’ve made it, then… I’m so glad… I can see her so clearly… She’s wearing a pink micro bikini… She looks so embarrassed, the way she’s holding that shovel between her thighs… Wait a second.
“WHY IS SHE IN A BIKINI, AND WHAT’S WITH THE SHOVEL?!”
The second Odessa snapped to her senses and cried out, she could hear Kuronono’s voice accompanied by an explosion of some kind. The demon standing before Odessa had been blown to fine particulate matter, and from behind it appeared the princess alongside a man Odessa did not recognize. The princess was wearing an outrageously inappropriate bikini, and she looked unspeakably shy about it.
As soon as Kuronono saw Odessa, she trotted over. “Odessa! Odessa! Hang in there!”
“Argh… Is it really you, Kuronono?! Why are you dressed like that?!”
“Huh!?! U-um, a lot has happened since I left!”
That really didn’t explain anything. Odessa wanted to say as much, but she realized now wasn’t the time. “Kuronono, why did you come back?! You must flee this place at once!”
The princess and the man accompanying her had managed to take out one of the torturers by a stroke of luck. The torturers were nothing compared to the true demon knights, however.
“Enemy attack! Enemy attack! Teleportation Alert!”
The eerie clanging of an enormous bell echoed throughout the underground. The open plaza in front of the cells soon flooded with a horde of demons over a hundred strong. They howled into the dark air as they charged Odessa’s cell.
This is bad! They’ve already been found!
“Ah! Sir Alan, the enemy’s coming!” Kuronono cried.
“Perfect. Just do exactly as I said.”
“R-right!” Clad in her bikini, Kuronono raised her small shovel above her head.
“You bastard! What are you making her do?!” snarled Odessa.
“Shovel,” said the man.
A beam of light blue energy fired from Kuronono’s shovel, completely obliterating three demons who had dared approach Odessa’s cell.
“I-I did it, Sir Alan!” Kuronono exclaimed as she clutched her shovel and struck a cute pose. Th-this is awkward, but it’s my responsibility now!
As for why Alan had taught Kuronono Shovel Combat? Well, on the way to the prison, Kuronono spoke to Lithisia about this very matter. She took Lithisia’s sagely words to heart; the truth was clear to her now.
Sir Alan likes girls in bikinis who fight with shovels!
In a short time, her shovel corruption had grown to an absurd level.
“Huh…?” Odessa’s eyes rolled back in her head in bewilderment.
“Heh, all I did was give you a nudge, and you’ve already developed these skills?” said Alan. “Your potential is second only to Catria’s, Kuronono.”
“R-really?!”
“Yes, even your shovel form was youthful and energetic. Oh, and your quads in particular have room for further growth.”
“Ah, um, er, eeek.” Kuronono fidgeted.
Odessa, on the other hand, was still unable to move in addition to being deeply appalled. However, she also saw the incoming legion of demons and yelled at Alan. “Get out of here! Just because you managed to defeat a few demons…”
“Now then, Kuronono. Watch and learn.” In the next moment, Alan’s Shovel Power exploded into the air. “DIG!”
KA-CHOOOOOOOOM!
Shotgun Wave Motion Shovel Blast. A dozen currents of light blue energy swallowed the demons whole, disintegrating the lot of them.
Kuronono couldn’t help but raise her voice, impressed by the sight before her. “Oh my gosh! Sir Alan’s shovel is amazing!”
“All right, let me unlock your chains,” Alan said to Odessa as he posed with his shovel. (Note: It was a mind-bogglingly cool pose.)
The chains on Odessa’s wrists and ankles fell to the floor with a clank, and her cell door popped open. All locks had keyholes, and if the keyhole was destroyed, so too was the lock. That was why the almighty shovel, ruler over all holes, could destroy them at will. It was simple logic.
Alan reached his hand out to Odessa, who was still more or less petrified. “You’re the head of the resistance, Odessa? I’m here to save you.”
The mysterious man with a shovel and the bikini-clad shovel girl Kuronono who followed his orders… Odessa stared at the two of them and thought to herself, How did all of this happen?
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Upon saving Odessa, Alan and Kuronono fled with her to a grand dining hall within the underground.
At present, Catria and Lithisia were acting as a separate squad and using the underground battleship SS Scoop to free another mountain in the kingdom. Catria’s shovel power was already impressive, and when she teamed up with Lithisia, the two of them could easily take down some two hundred demons all on their own, the only problem of course being that Catria’s eyes would look dead the whole time. Oh well!
Here, meanwhile, Odessa and Kuronono were reunited in the dimly lit room, which pulsed with the unholy glow of a nearby magma river. Odessa, the red-haired girl, huddled in a chair. Though she had been naked in her cell, she was now attempting to cover up with a spare cape she had found.
“Odessa! I’m so glad you’re okay! I…I…!” Kuronono hugged her with tears in her eyes.
“W-wait just a second, Kuronono. I’m not sure I understand what’s going on.”
In particular, Odessa couldn’t wrap her head around the dubiously tiny pink micro bikini the princess was wearing.
Kuronono waved away Odessa’s fears and explained everything in a way she thought above reproof, but her tale of Wave Motion Shovel Blasts, underground Shovel Ships, and “shoveling” with miners only left Odessa with her head in her hands.
That didn’t answer anything! Now I just have more questions!
Quite frankly, Kuronono’s words were harder to deal with than the demons’ brainwashing.
“Kuronono, why don’t you stop there for now,” said Alan. “We have to let Odessa rest.”
“Yeah… I feel more exhausted than I did after getting tortured…” Odessa slumped out of her chair to curl up on her side right on the unforgiving stone floor. Just then, she realized her sizable breasts were completely visible. Ah, that’s right. They took my clothes.
This strange miner was still in the room, but Odessa didn’t have the energy to cover up. Kuronono hurriedly stood and threw Odessa’s cape over her.
“I-I’m sorry, Odessa. I forgot you still have no clothes. Ah! That’s right! I have an extra set.” Kuronono rummaged through the paper bag beside her. The first thing she pulled out was a white string of some kind. It was attached to a thin piece of fabric with a ribbon.
In other words, it was another micro bikini.
“…”
Kuronono bowed her head apologetically. “It’s small, but it should stretch! I-I know it’s a little much, but it’s better than being naked!”
I’d rather be naked, Odessa said in her mind before at last falling unconscious.