Chapter 90: A Bandit Army and Hero Hunting (Part 1)

Author’s Note: Another short story on April 1st this year? I already wrote it. It will be a 3-parter this time. Please rest assured that I won’t go changing things in it once April 2nd comes like last year.

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And thus, the trampling due to an overwhelming power difference between us has begun.

“Now then, time to hunt some bandits.”

I muttered as I launched myself into the gap opened up by ‘Flying Slash’ with ‘Flash Step’.

Naturally, what awaited me as I rushed towards the centre of the Eludian Army was a torrent of fierce blows. A literal army of adventurers was bearing down on me from all directions. Normally, you wouldn’t be able to handle attacks coming from behind you, but with the ‘Map’s help, that wasn’t really an issue. It does grant me a bird’s-eye view after all.

I blocked and avoided the downpour of blades, cutting down adventurers around me as I went. Since this was a melee, I didn’t have to worry about any magic coming my way. Not that I’m weak enough for it to have harmed me even if it did, mind you, but still, the power of the newly enhanced ‘Heroic Soul Blade – Incomplete’ is amazing. It cuts through heavily-armoured warriors, shields and all, like tofu.

“Haa!”

I swung my sword while spinning on the spot. With that alone, most of the adventurers around me lost their upper halves. Seeing this, the surviving ones stopped in their tracks.

“What’s wrong, bandits? Are you done already?”

I provoked them, trying to goad them into coming at me again. Incidentally, there were few dead bodies lying around, as I made sure to periodically collect them into my ‘Inventory’. It’s a hindrance to fighting when you keep tripping over dead enemies, you know. I also use ‘Clean’ regularly to save myself from being covered in blood.

“W-who are you calling bandits!? You’re the one wearing a weird mask!”

“Guh…”

One of the bandits retorted from a distance. To think that the first bit of damage I’d take during this battle would actually come from being called out on that… Shut up. I’m not wearing it because I want to.

“T-that’s right! We’re only here to bring judgement on this country, that’s getting in the way of heroes!”

“It’s the people of this country who are bandits!”

“So don’t get in our way and obediently get killed!”

“That’s right, that’s right!”

“You lot should die!”

“Die, you masked freak!”

One after another, the surrounding adventurers jeered at me selfishly. Not a single one of them doubted that heroes were in the right here, nor questioned what they were doing. Even heroes are human beings, you know. They were just high school students in the other world. What makes you think they wouldn’t make mistakes?

And, obviously, I make them too. That’s why I don’t just blindly assume that I’m right all the time. And it’s the same thing this time around. But even if I am in the wrong here, I have already decided to follow my heart, just so you know.

“I knew it would be a waste of time talking to Eludians… Enough with this pointless quibble. Come at me, small fry.”

“G-Get him! He won’t be able to handle all of us if we attack at the same time! We have 20,000 people, including heroes! There’s no way we can lose!”

“T-That’s right! Raaaaaahhh!”

A slightly-important-looking adventurer took me up on my challenge and encouraged the fellow adventurers around him. As he said, there were more of them around me than before… That said, it’s not like it really changed much. If anything, it just meant that more of them were getting killed each minute now. My DPS is shooting up. Yay! (ED: DPS – amount of Damage dealt Per Second)

Within five minutes, most of the 3000 or so adventurers around me turned into corpses resting silently in my ‘Inventory’. With the forward adventurer unit half destroyed, I thought it was finally time to deal with the main body of the Eludian army, but some heroes were coming towards me instead, the surrounding knights and adventurers making way for them.

“Hey hey, what are you lot doing, failing so hard against just four people? This is why adventurers are useless.”

“That’s right. We even had to come out and help.”

“What do you mean? They are only here to boost our numbers to begin with. Why would you ever expect them to be of any use in actual battle?”

The three high school students who came out saying that were two boys and a girl. The first boy, spouting the line ridiculing the adventurers, was wearing a nostalgic school uniform, however, it was really worn out, making him look rather irritable. The second boy was about two metres tall, with a bulky physique, while his face, in contrast, looked relatively mild-mannered. Finally, the girl was all dressed up, with heavy makeup and a lot of accessories, which, to put it bluntly, made her look rather gaudy. It’s a shame since she’s not really bad looking.

“Wearing such a weird mask, you probably don’t get it, but the adventurer unit aside, do you really think you can get away scot-free after messing with the Eludian army?”

“Be careful, Reito. This guy alone killed 3000 adventurers. He might even be as powerful as a hero.”

“Ha! You worry too much, Itsuki! There’s no way we can lose to this weird-looking masked guy!”

“Mika is right. Let’s hurry up and kill this guy, and go back to playing poker.”

Wow, they’re raising flags all over the place. How refreshing. Let’s see, what kind of blessings do these guys have? …Oh, and I don’t care about their statuses, by the way.

<Jet-Black Sword [Darkbringer]>
Able to create an indestructible sword of darkness.

<Unsung Hero [Heavy Lifter]>
The body becomes sturdy, and muscular strength is greatly enhanced.

<Sacred Light Arts [Holy Light]>
Allows the use of a light magic-based special attack with no MP consumption.

Hm… Subtle.

“So yeah, hurry up and die!”

The irritable male student conjured a black sword in his hand, and came at me, aiming to cut me down. I don’t know if it’s because of his high status, or if it’s the effect of the black sword, but he was clearly moving faster than the adventurers I’ve fought so far. I swung my ‘Heroic Soul Blade – Unfinished’ at him running towards me, making him try to block it with his own sword.

“It’s useless! This sword is unbreakable! As long as it’s here, no attack will ever reach me-”

-supan-

The male student didn’t get to finish his line, as he got split in half. Obviously. Even if it doesn’t break, there’s an overwhelming difference in our strength. And if you’re able to push away your opponent’s sword, of course you’ll be able to cut them.

“”Reito!””

The two remaining students became startled after seeing me kill the irritable one. I immediately shoved his corpse and the ‘Garbage’ into the ‘Inventory’. It would have been a bother if it boosted one of these guys instead after all.

“How dare you!? To Reito!”

“Mika, wait! Don’t act carelessly!”

The female student ignored the muscled student’s attempt at stopping her, and fired a special attack using her ‘Holy Light’ blessing. It seems to be a skill that emits a really thick beam of light, as a huge torrent of it shot out of her palm trying to swallow me whole. Should I avoid it? …Nah, that’s no good. If I do, the adventurers behind me will get obliterated. That’s just a waste of good experience and status points!

“Ha!”

I slashed at the incoming attack, making it vanish, absorbed by my blade. …I mean, ‘Heroic Soul Blade – Incomplete’ has a magic absorption effect, so of course it did.

“”Huh!?””

I suppose It’s only natural for them to become dumbfounded since the powerful-looking magic attack disappeared all of a sudden, but what do you think will happen if you act so carelessly in the middle of a battlefield? See? I took that opportunity to get close enough to reach you with my sword. And so, I mercilessly cut down on the female student.

“Eek!”

“Mika, look out!”

However, the male student took my slash to protect her.

“Gaah!?”

“Gufu!?”

…But the slash was so powerful that it penetrated through both of them. The big male student… He didn’t get a chance to show off at all. …Okay, let’s put these two corpses into the ‘Inventory’ as well.

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After defeating the three hard to understand people, the fierce battle continued. 

“HAHAHAHA! I am the invincible superhero! No attack can harm me! You villain who killed a hero, come face my BURNING FIST OF JUSTICE!”

A muscular (for a Japanese person) male student with a cleft jaw and a deeply chiselled face was in possession of the ‘Man of Steel [Invincible Superhero]’ blessing. I see, so that’s why he’s wearing blue-coloured full-body tights.

“HAHAHAHA…Three minutes have passed… My powers don’t work… OH MY GOD!”

I killed the hero who had not been able to land a single hit on me for the entire three-minute duration of his blessing.

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“I have no direct grudges against you, but as a descendant of the Fuuma clan, I cannot show mercy to an adversary. I’m sorry!”

The one in possession of the ‘Shadow Clone [Remnant Alter Ego]’ blessing was, surprisingly, a female student dressed in a ninja costume. Is she a kunoichi? I guess it fits, given how she’s from the Fuuma clan, and has the ‘Ninjutsu’ skill. …Well, the possibility of her being just a high school girl who likes to larp is also not zero… Her name is Kazama Shinobu (15 years old), by the way. (ED: Kunoichi – female ninja, trained in seduction as well as espionage; Fuuma – historical Japanese ninja clan; Larp – ‘live action role-playing’, think: role-play plus cosplay; Shinobi – ninja)

“How… can you tell… where…  I am?”

Of course, whether she cloned herself, or disappeared with a ‘don’ and attacked from behind, I could instantly figure it out with the ‘Map’s help, so both her blessing and the ‘Ninjutsu’ skill were completely neutralised. The only thing that even had a chance of working on me would probably be the ‘Bedroom Arts’ I spotted in her skills column. Yep, she’s a kunoichi all right.

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“Kneel down before the power of my champions. This is ‘tactics’. This is my power, friend.”

An intellectual looking male student with glasses commanded a group of knights using his ‘Tactical Force [Command Boost]’ blessing. He’s even propping up his glasses like an anime character would. Ugh. You call this tactics…? That’s just ordering pawns to assault while under the effect of a support buff…

“My knights were wiped out, out, out…”

This isn’t a battle that can be overturned with one or two buffs, you know. Not to mention, the knights aren’t yours to begin with. I put in the extra effort to thoroughly annihilate the surrounding knights, and properly break his heart before finishing him off. Normally, you’d go straight for the leader in that situation though, so I pretty much did it backwards this time.

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“Ahh! My masked beloved! Let me at least end your life with my own hands! And I pray that we may be united in our next life!”

‘Cosplay [Masked Ball]’ was owned by Yamada Yoshiko (19 years old), class 3C, head of the drama club. She seemed to have been inspired by the fact that we were both wearing masks, as she started talking in theatrical phrases. According to her setting, she and I knew each other from a previous life, we were lovers even, but enemies in this life.

“Aah, my life ends here. Please live on, and I will see you again in the next one…”

She was wearing the clothes of a past great magician, so I stripped them off of her. Her breasts were surprisingly big. And I’m sorry, I guess, but you’re going into the ‘Inventory’, so you won’t be able to reincarnate for a while.

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“Fufu. You don’t really think you can make it out alive after facing me, do you?”

The one who came firing a barrage of magic spells using ‘Library Out [Magic Library]’ blessing was Himegami Ayumu (male), about 150cm tall, wearing a schoolgirl’s uniform. I thought he was just a tomboy at first, but he was actually a cross-dresser, huh? Seeing him, I thought ‘girl’, so when I heard him speak, I just thought tomboy, and his name confirmed it, so his gender still surprised me. (ED: In order: dressed as a girl, spoke using a male pronoun, female name, sex listed as ‘male’ in ‘status’)

“When I’m reborn… I want… to be a girl…”

Needless to say there’s no way level 3 magic would be enough, right? Also, is that seriously the last thing he wanted to say on his deathbed? Or, was it a serious issue for him, maybe?