Vol. 2 - Ch. 0.3 - Prologue: The Three Great Powers (3)
Suzuki is cute even in a savage worldThis chapter is broken. Please report this on discord.
Notes
TL Note: Zhaviest did a 3 stage laugh… is that boss music what I'm hearing?
ED Note: ......
This chapter is broken. Please report this on discord.
TL Note: Zhaviest did a 3 stage laugh… is that boss music what I'm hearing?
ED Note: ......
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After the clandestine meeting, the two individuals with the face of Leelou walked through the virgin forest.
Leelou could release her technique of transformation from her attendant, but the attendant wanted to fulfill her duty as a body double until they arrived at their base.
"As expected, Tartanin and Marguerite are dangerous."
The attendant's disgusted tone made Leelou chuckle a little.
"Uh-huh. They are like a powerful concoction. Depending on how they moved, they could be medicine or poison. "
Tartanin was steadily advancing his plan to retake the Imperial Capital. However, Leelou thought he should wait until another year to have a more solid footing and more troops before proceeding with the campaign.
Tartanin, who had been conferred as the heavenly sword bearer, continued to gather more and more supporters. Tartanin's army was now formed by the last of mankind's forces. If they were to be defeated, mankind would have been brought down twice by the Demon Lord's army. If that happened, a comeback would be completely impossible.
To prevent that from happening, if the Heavenly Power and the Heavenly Sword joined forces and increased their military forces to the point where they could besiege the Imperial Capital, then they would have favorable odds of winning—— Today, Leelou was planning to advise Tartanin to do so, but…
(The results were as poor as I predicted.)
Although the clandestine meeting was a failure by all accounts, she managed to grasp Tartanin's current situation and witness Zhaviest's Heavenly Power up close. She could consider it to have been worthwhile in its own way.
(Well, as always, Tartanin needs to be monitored.)
Tartanin's straightforward nature made his behavior easy to read. Rather uncanny was…
Zhaviest's facade-like smile flashed through her mind. And also, the children with the same unnatural smile.——
(Heavenly Power… that is, probably…)
A power of a different kind from the healing power of a High Priest.
Remembering the terrifying waves of dread that Zhaviest's body emitted when he had activated it, Leelou shook her head.
To save the world, God had bestowed the Heavenly Sword and the Heavenly Power to Tartanin and Zhaviest, two vessels. In reality, however, things are not likely to turn out the way God envisioned.
(Can they truly be the saviours of the world? Which of them is the "Impostor Hero"?)
As she walked along, Leelou suddenly remembered. She wondered what happened to the three monsters they saw fighting on their way to the clandestine meeting.
(It was somewhere around there, I think.)
As she wandered off the path and looked into the woods—— Leelou's slit eyes widened.
"What the…!"
The battling Slime, One-Horned Rabbit, and the Matango——all of them had collapsed and had perished.
Leelou herself had predicted that slime would have the highest probability of survival. Of course, she considered many other possibilities as well. But…
(I never expected all three of them to simultaneously strike each other into a draw, causing complete annihilation…)
......
Listening to the sound of the squeaking rudder as the attendant maneuvered the small boat, Leelou quietly closed her eyes. Then she thought back to the rare sighting she had just witnessed in the woods just a few moments ago.
The fight between those monsters may have been an omen. The Heavenly Sword, The Heavenly Power, and the Demon Lord's Army. When powerful forces clash with each other, even such terrible outcomes are possible.
Leelou continued to reminisce—about the boy who came from a world different from hers.
After disembarking from the boat, Leelou walked on without speaking a single word to her attendant. At the fork in the road leading to Tartanin's base, Leelou stopped for a moment—
"…Lady Leelou?"
(As I thought, this world needs that power.)
"What is the matter, Lady Leelou?"
Leelou then realized she was being addressed by her attendant. After making up her mind, Leelou turned her stern eyes onto her attendant.
"I will continue to monitor Tartanin's movements. You go to Leirune."
After saying this, Leelou brought out a parcel from their luggage and handed it to her attendant.
"I want you to deliver this to Suzuki. And... I want you to become my apprentice's strength."
"Acknowledged."
Kneeling down and accepting the parcel, the attendant returned from her altered Leelou form to her original appearance.
A lustrous garment with a slit below the waist. Hair arranged in two buns. A youthful, beautifully formed face with lovely features.
"Lady Leelou. Please take care."
"You too."
They both parted and walked down two different paths.
TL Note: Harem member number 5 incoming? Or is it 6? Maybe 7? Does Uhouguru and Serphiano count?
◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇
EXCESSIVE SWEARING WARNING!
"I had no idea she had transformed space itself! Ultra-high level illusion! Grand Tactician indeed!"
After Leelou, Tartanin, and the rest of the Salvation Crusaders have left. Zhaviest smiled and muttered to himself—— while he was striking the wall with his fist with all his might.
"I mean, come on…"
The sound of bones cracking, "mesha," was heard, and a crack also appeared in the stone wall. Zhaviest's nose twitched, and the smile he had been trying to maintain broke down. Instead, his face distorted enough to look like a monster.
"I went to the trouble of coming all the way to this remote area! And I even healed her arm! Those fucking youngsters—!"
There was a sharp contrast in his tone of voice between the time of the clandestine meeting and the current moment of punching the wall while yelling. Zhaviest continued swearing, recalling Tartanin's pretentious attitude.
"You made a wrong move! You're getting carried away, you piece of shit! AH— I'm so pissed off!"
He pounded his fists against the wall again. The wall became stained red with Zhaviest's own blood, and the bones of his knuckles were showing because of the excessive force of the strikes. Even so, the children accompanying him were still smiling with a dreamy face as ever.
"I don't give a damn anymore. Tartanin, if I murder you, is it possible I'd die too? No, won't it be more painful to kill Marguerite? Those guys are capable of that. That's right, that's right, isn't it?…"
With bloodshot eyes, he looked back with determination. But, at that moment—
"…Ouch—"
Noticing the pain in his knuckles, Zhaviest regained his senses.
(Calm down, calm down! It would be foolish to use our abilities on those assholes!)
"That's RIGHT, Yes, indeed! Why would I have to die for THAT fucking asshole!? Kakaka! Kaka kakakakaka!"
He laughed loudly. After laughing for a while, Zhaviest wiped his tears and started to walk away.
Before realizing it, Zhaviest's injured fist had healed. And under Zhaviest's feet, a dying child, unable to even cough anymore, collapsed on the floor, breathing raggedly and repeatedly gasping for air.
Zhaviest looked down at the fallen child with icy eyes.
"I have healed him continuously. Oh well, nothing to be done. Maybe you'll see your mama in heaven, right?"
Removing his burdensome priestly robes, he assumed the form of a mercenary in light armor. Both of Zhaviest's exposed arms were tattooed with a flower that does not exist in this world, the "Tree Peony".
No, tattooed was not quite accurate. When Zhaviest received the Tengen Aura from God and invoked his Heavenly Power, the flower imprints naturally appeared on his arms.
"Healing magic, was it? Idiots! Who knows who may end up as my enemy? I'm not going to reveal my true power in front of that man! You've got it all wrong! And, slowly getting ready to retake the Imperial capital? You're wasting your fucking time—!"
Without looking back at the child whose breath was gone, Zhaviest started to walk away.
"What are you doing!? Let's go, brats!"
The smiling children followed Zhaviest. He pulled a bottle of liquor out of his pocket, removed the cork with his teeth, and then slurped the contents down his throat.
"There are no two kings in heaven, ya know—! The true world saviour, is the honorable Heavenly Power Herald, this Zhaviest!"
Zhaviest's aggressive personality, which had been present since he could remember, had grown stronger and darker since he received his heavenly power.
In Zhaviest's mind, another person's self whispered to him. Zhaviest's voice echoed that whisper.
"I'll fucking murder—— any asshole that gets in my way!"