(Rudeus POV)
I spent the whole night scouting through the sky with Hiryū to spot any other colonies. The only one that there was, was the one Hiryū had already spotted.
Although it certainly didn't make things easier as these monsters are still unpredictable to go loose at any moment.
Worse yet, when we got closer to the hill again, I felt like the number of signals grew a bit. That means there must be something like a queen constantly producing offspring in there.
I think there exists a type of monster that has the lower part of an ant and the upper part of a human. There was also something about it having offsprings that had traits resembling human limbs.
This must mean that there is an even higher mutant out there producing them as we speak.
Next thing you know, the queen produces a king who is developing an interest in board games to the point where he makes it his every second role to beat his friend who is the best at it.
The sun already went up as Hiryū flew me back closer to the city.
I thought about what to do next.
I doubt the higher ups in Sharia would believe me, even if they believe me being the number five of the Seven Great World Powers.
Despite a few quests about insect type monsters having already been listed, a teenager just randomly telling them that there is an entire colony of them hiding under a growing hill is lacking any credibility.
In times like these, I wished there had been better or at least any developments in the electronic development of this world. A recording device with a thermal function built into it would have been perfect for this.
The best I could hope for is some kind of Magic Item or Tool, but that's definitely going to cost a fortune if it even does exist.
Argh. I should really pick up on making Magic Tools myself to finally put these ideas I have in my head into reality.
Suddenly, I sensed a swarm of creatures nearby. No, not just that, they were about to reach above the city. Those monsters must've departed from an area before I could check it.
"*Sigh*... one trip. Can't I have just one trip without things going south that far?"
Complaining won't help now, I have to do something here. Hiryū was already igniting with his Fire Magic for an attack.
After speeding up, he covered his body in his phoenix garment, while I went and stood on the back of his neck to conjure a storm to catch the ones that were flying above the city.
"Hiryū. After this, fly around the city and exterminate any abnormal monster that comes into your detection. Avoid contact with people unless they are in danger."
*Huff*
With his confirming huff, it was easy progress with those flying monsters after Hiryū incinerated them all with one vertical [Flame Slice].
All that remained were the ashes that were descending to the ground.
There were a few more signals coming from the ground, on the west part of the city walls.
The two men who Hiryū dropped the other day were currently fighting those monsters, killing off some of them but struggling slightly due to the number of speedy creatures.
It's unclear to me if those monsters are as strong as the mantis monster or even stronger.
Conjuring another storm, I increased the moisture to turn it into a thundercloud.
Realizing my intentions, Hiryū made sure to position himself directly above the enemy.
With the preparation done, I pulled out my giant shuriken and jumped off him, going through the thundercloud and activating [Raijin-jū], the giant shuriken getting charged too.
The recent discovery that these weapons are not susceptible to breaking even when charged with lightning, has prompted me to ponder on the conductivity of electricity generated by mana.
With other weapons like swords, they would have ended up getting heated to the point of melting or even exploding.
The weapons I had made of the Sea Dragon scales had a bit of metal on them, but didn't seem to get affected by it like the other weapons.
Despite my lack of knowledge in mechanics, I was able to conclude that the lightning needs a part that converts it. In the shuriken and kunai's case, it's the scales.
Perhaps they act like a lightbulb to give the electricity something to convert the energy into. I could use that method for different weapons that have Magic Stone embedded into it.
But such planning is to be set for later.
Once my feet made contact with the ground, they didn't crack it, but a surge of electricity course through it due to my body being effected by the lightning and gravity.
Simultaneously, I activated my thought acceleration and saw that there were five of those mantis monsters here, up in the air from the shockwave I had created.
Wasting no time and effort, I threw and spun my giant shuriken while keeping a grip on it with [Specter Force] and using it as a yo-yo.
Three of them got shredded apart, but the last two escaped my shuriken by striking the flat side with one of their sickles, ultimately sacrificing one of their arms.
The lightning on my shuriken already disappeared. Using this method with this massive weapon requires more mana than I had thought.
Despite my body aching from the electro-stimulation, I pulled out two kunais and held them in a reverse grip.
The blades got extended to a third and lit up in sparkling light blue from getting charged.
With the precision of Gravity Magic and my thought acceleration, I severed their heads and remaining limbs from their body, as they tried to block me with even their feet.
Once they were torn apart into pieces, I deactivated my technique as the monsters in the sky already got annihilated by Hiryū.
Healing myself just a little, I shook myself just a little before looking around me.
An awkward silence resonated at the place I stood at. All the guards, including the two men, were staring at me.
Meanwhile, I started to get concerned about my shuriken that flew off after the mana arm I used got cut off. Wait, Hiryū is going after it. Like a dog going after a disk for a round of fetch.
"Excuse me, young lad."
One of the two men suddenly approached me while I was distracted.
He looked to be close to be middle-aged, with slightly long hair and a bit of facial hair. He wore some worn out armor, a bit of it damaged, and a metal rod in his hand.
What surprised me about this person wasn't just the black hair that was supposed to be rare in this world, his eyes had this peculiar demonic red color to them.
Behind him was another man, younger but with the same black hair and red eyes.
He wore lighter armor and what seemed to be an ordinary sword in one hand. It took me a bit to notice that he was actually missing his other hand.
"Pardon me for asking, but might you be the rumored Flourishing Calamity?" The first man asked.
"That depends on who is asking."
My tone may have been a bit blatant, but I should avoid trouble due to the situation we are having right now.
These two look like they are combatant fighters, considering they managed to defeat a few of those monsters on their own before I got here.
"My apologies, I guess I should have introduced myself first. I am North Emperor Sandor. I came here after hearing that there is a monster problem building up in this region."
A sudden feeling stung through me when he stated his name and title. It caught me a bit off guard that my expression dropped a bit.
"Is there something wrong?"
"... Nothing."
I can't explain it, but I think my senses detected him lying to me. Well, he has got to have his reasons if he did.
But there is the other person glaring at Sandor this entire time. They had similar faces, so they might be related to each other.
The younger man pried his eyes away from Sandor and introduced himself next.
"I am North God Kalman III Aleksander Ryback, number seven of the Seven Great World Powers."
As he said that, he was looking down at me as if I were nothing but a low rank warrior. It was the kind of pride that reminded me slightly of Eris during the adventurer days, but without the feisty part that lets her knuckles speak first.
Since he is a Great World Power who is ranked below me, it is probable that he feels degraded by being perceived as less powerful than a teenage child.
I sighed and pinched my eyelids with my index finger and thumb.
"Look, if you're here to challenge me for my spot on the ranking list, could you perhaps wait until after the insect monster colony is dealt with?"
"Huh? There is no way you defeated Randolph on your own. And who do you think you are, telling me that?!" North God exclaimed, making the onlookers at this place afraid that another battle may ensue.
This is precisely what Randolph told me would happen. I can't even be mad about it. Just frustrated to continuously be dealing with this sort of situation.
As I remembered what Randolph told me, I removed my left glove from my hand.
"Before I defeated Randolph, he advised me to take this as proof for my victory against him to people of the Kalman lineage or those who know him personally."
What I showed them was [The Bone Ring of Laxus] currently stuck on my left ring finger.
They both looked at it for a while, but only Sandor seemed to recognize it. There were signals of empathy and recognition coming from him, with a tinge of sorrow showing on his face.
"Did you allow him any last words?" He asked in a curious tone.
"He said something about having made many selfish mistakes that made him lose track and end up becoming dissatisfied, but saying that he was confident that he didn't regret going the path he longed for."
After conveying Randolph's last words, Sandor's expression seems to have softened, as if he understood the meaning and history behind his words.
There must've been some kind of conflict happening for those words to have such a great effect.
"I see then. You did fight the person I knew, and claimed his spot as a Great World Power. My apology for doubting you."
"No, no, Sir Sandor. You were correct to doubt me. I was already warned by him that these things could happen, so he gave me this in case I come across someone like you."
"That is perfectly fine. There was a lot of personal conflict happening. But that is all in the past now, and it's good to know how he felt anyway."
That makes me glad. Letting this message help slightly loosen some of his conflict he had is a great deal of closure to witness of.
It will not provide an excuse for my actions of killing him as my deal with Kagami was; however, it is imperative to exert efforts to mitigate one's regret for own comfort.
"Now, back to what you said a minute ago. You said something about a colony of insect monsters?" Sandor asked away, changing the subject to the urgent matter.
"Oh right. There is an entire colony of those monsters you just fought out there. Fortunately, I was able to locate the only one within a considerable distance. However, upon revisiting the area, I observed that the number and size of the aforementioned were increasing rapidly, indicating that we have limited time remaining."
"Do you mean you searched the surrounding area on your own for days?"
"Actually, just the whole night. And I wasn't exactly alone."
He looked a bit skeptical at me, but then seemed to remember something.
"So that feathered Red Dragon really is yours. I had my suspicions when I saw the symbol on its eyepatch. It did seem odd to me when it was defending us from that giant caterpillar."
Phew. Definitely a good idea to put that eyepatch on. Also, good job, Hiryū.
"My apologies, but could we discuss this with my party? I told them I would be gone for a short while, but it ended up being the whole night."
"Uhm, sure thing."
With their approval, I guided them to where I knew Soldat and the others should be.
But on the way, I noticed North God missing his right hand and remembered what Hiryū had last night.
"Sir North God, are perhaps missing a weapon of yours?"
"Hm? Yeah, I lost it while- HEY, wait a minute!"
North God then proceeded to stomp towards me and grab me and pulled up slightly.
"You better hand over the King Dragon Sword, or I will- huh?"
While he was busy getting angered, I prepared a King class Healing Spell and pulled out the sword, which he called the King Dragon Sword.
As he got his right hand healed back, he inevitably looked to his right, where I held the greatsword with my [Specter Force].
He took it in his newly healed hand and looked at the area it came out of for a few seconds.
Both men looked puzzled and astonished at my display of magic I just casually showed. A sight to behold. These dumbfounded faces barely get any old for me.
"May I be let go now?"
Snapping back to it, North God let go of me and then put the sword on the strap on his back.
"So you really are a King Class Healer." Sandor commented.
Looks like that rumor spread until Sharia too. Oh well, it was only a matter of time, since such people are more of a rarity than most high-classed Attack Magic Magicians.
"Wait, if you had it hidden away like that, why did you give it back to me? It's the strongest sword in the world." North God asked.
"It is? No, even so, that sword is yours. Given the dangers that lurk out there, we need to be at our best. Besides, as the wielder of such a powerful weapon, you must've been trained to use its power to the best."
He looked flattered for a moment but was then feeling somewhat annoyed. He must still be looking at me from a perspective of an elder getting told by a youngster what is best. Well, nothing that can change in an instance like Sandor did.
Before we went inside the city, the guards told us they would take care of the rest and intended to use the sliced up monster part for research purposes at the magician guild should there be any environmental indications showing on them.
I advised them to be careful as these types of monsters could end up having poison within them.
After a few minor questions having been discussed, Sandor, North God and I went to meet with my party.
On the way, I thought about using one of the presents Nanahoshi had given me before she made me empower her Magic Circles.
Having two Great World Powers may not be enough for now, but with the membrane of Magic Stones within it, I could very well proceed to make myself a proper staff.
It could perhaps surpass [Aqua Heartia] by a far if I balance out the stones for equivalent boosting.
And if there are spare ones, I can make some of them into gloves for smaller casting if I can't hold on to a staff for a moment.
But two people alone won't be enough for this. Notifying the city of the upcoming events should be a priority, should they have made preparations for the abnormal monsters appearing these days.
I looked at North God for a short second and thought about an idea for convincing purposes. He may be better off than me in terms of believability.
But I have to be careful around these two. Randolph said that a relative of his was tricked by Hitogami once.
And since Sandor knows Randolph personally, he may also know about him too. He could end up going against me if I don't explain myself quick enough. Otherwise, I may end up having to fight a stronger swordsman as I have anticipated.
Argh. Dealing with that piece of shit of a god requires so much brain power. How does Orsted handle all of this on his own?
The thought about joining him turned increasingly into a desire than anything, yet I can't shake the feeling that it's getting too uncomfortable.
Hopefully, North God and Sandor have a less clouded judgement than him. I don't want to kill another Great World Power.
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