Hello, all!
I said I wouldn't leave you hanging for too long, didn't I?
Since I'm introducing new monsters, I have set up a gallery to help you in the monsters' looks.
sta dot sh/216tgrre560
As usual, you need to construct the link yourself since this site is bad with links.
Without further ado, here's the next chapter. Cliffhanger is... well... do you consider a 'Next Arc Teaser' ending as a cliffhanger?
[X][X][X]
Carne Village was in danger.
Out of nowhere, a swarm of Darkers, monsters which by their nature corrupted and consumed planets, were charging towards the gates of the village.
One bright side was that the swarm only consisted of one type of Darker. To be exact, it was a swarm of Dagan.
Dagan was the most basic and common type of Darker. It was among the weakest of Darkers, but they always came in swarms. There were a total of three variants of Dagan; regular, El Dagan, and Dagan Nero. The latter two were much rarer than the regular but much more deadly because they were capable of doing attack moves the regular version couldn't do.
Thankfully, as far as Ryu could see, the entire swarm only consisted of regular Dagan. But their amount was massive.
There were a lot of things Ryu was worried about, but right now the most important thing to do was to fend off the swarm.
"That's a lot of monsters"
Alice suddenly spoke right next to him. Ryu then realized that she was floating right outside the watch tower with her Fly spell.
"Whoa! There are so many of them!"
Lily was also already standing next to him at the watch tower.
"Alice-san, Lily, I need you two to help evacuate every villager"
"Alright, Ryu-san!"
"Ryu-san. You seem to know them already. What are those?"
Ryu took a deep breath.
"They are monsters from where I came from"
"Like the fish monsters you talked about?"
"Yes, although these ones are weaker and more commonplace"
"I can already guess your answer but I will ask anyway. What are you going to do?"
"I will hold the line"
Ryu took out his Weddle Park rod and prepared his mind for battle.
"Listen. In case any of them gets past me, their weakness is the glowing core underneath their small body, and they are weak agains fire element"
"Understood"
"Prioritize survival. If you can't take them down, flee with all your might"
Lily and Alice nodded, and then they left the place to evacuate the villagers. Ryu looked at the oncoming swarm, and he could say that there were easily hundreds of them coming this way. It was much less than the undead horde he had ever fought, but depending on the tier of the Dagans this battle would be much more difficult.
Darkers passively absorb and consume the energy of the planet, and they get stronger over time without changing their appearance the more energy they have absorbed. ARKS categorize the power level of the Darkers into four tiers. Tier N being the weakest, followed by tier H, then tier VH, and finally tier SH. Ryu was already more than strong enough to fight SH Darkers, but the size of the coming swarm would easily overwhelm him if they were tier SH.
First thing first, Ryu activated his combat scanner, which came in the form of holographic interface panels in front of him. It allowed him to see the tier level of the Darkers. Soon enough, what he saw was quite a relief for him.
Tier H.
For Ryu, tier H Dagan were just a walk in the park. He could kill most tier H Darkers in one shot, and they wouldn't even be able to inflict any meaningful damage to him. However, for the residents in this planet, it was an entirely different story. Therefore, he had to make sure none of them got past.
Ryu jumped off from the watch tower and landed on top of the wall. He then positioned himself above the gate, immediately charged photon into his weapon, and began his attack.
Rafoie!
Rafoie!
Rafoie!
Explosions occured in the middle of the swarm in quick succession. All Dagan caught in the blast were blasted off and disintegrated.
Ryu knew that Nafoie's fire field would be more effective, but this village was right next to a forest. He would risk causing a forest fire if he used that. Spamming Rafoie was his best option with the current situation.
Tens of explosions later, the swarm showed signs of diminishing. But Ryu ran out of photon energy and could no longer cast anything until it regenerated.
Photon Convert!
Ryu activated a skill from his Techer subclass. It greatly accelerated the rate of photon energy recharge, at the cost of straining the body and causing continuous pain, effectively reducing his max HP. This effect lasts for 30 seconds.
With the skill activated, Ryu resumed spamming his explosion tech. The swarm diminished further, and it would be just a matter of minutes until all of the Dagan were killed.
However, a flying creature appeared behind the swarm and quickly zoomed to Ryu.
It was an El Ahda, a three meter tall flying Darker. Its body was somewhat humanoid with the exception of having no legs at all. In place of legs, it had a single long stinger like a wasp, and at the back of each of its arms there were a blade protruding, which it could use to slash its foes. Its wings protruded from its shoulders, and its head had a pair of long antenna similar to what roaches had. Like the Dagan, it has a glowing core as its weak point, located below its stomach right at the root of its stinger.
Oh shit!
Rafoie!
Ryu quickly aimed at the El Ahda and casted the same explosion tech at it. However, his aim missed and the explosion occured somewhere else.
The El Ahda zoomed past him narrowly and continued flying into the village, out of his tech range.
At this point, Ryu was in a conundrum. An El Ahda had broken into the village, but he still needed some time to exterminate the swarm of remaining Dagan. Moreover, the distraction caused by the El Ahda gave enough time for the Dagan swarm to approach the gate and start hacking on it with their clawed leg. Using Rafoie would blow up the gate and open it wide, so Ryu had to change his method.
He sheathed his Weddle Park rod and took his Seimei Kikami talis out. He threw the talis and stopped it when it was right above the Dagan group hacking at the gate.
Ramegid!
A dark cloud formed at the talis' position and rained dark purple energy spheres. All the Dagan hit by the spheres disintegrated.
I can't leave my post now. Alice, Lily, please hold out until I can come.
[X][X][X]
"Quickly!"
"Forget your belongings. Save your lives"
Lily and Alice gathered all the villagers, most of them were just awake since it was quite early morning, into the village square. Enri and the goblins were doing a head count to make sure nobody would be left behind.
"Why aren't we fighting? We have been training for this kind of event!"
One of the villagers asked. A number of others agreed with him. But one of the goblins, seemingly the one in charge, replied.
"The monsters attacking are something none of us has ever seen! We can't risk fighting something we know nothing of!"
The villagers calmed down, but a feeling of unrest still lingered among them.
"Jugem-san. Do you think the monsters are dangerous?"
A villager lady asked. She looked very worried.
"As we speak, a high rank magic caster adventurer is holding the line by himself"
Jugem looked towards the direction where the gate was located. Everyone could see the distant figure of a man standing above the gate and series of explosions happening.
"Look at that power. If those monsters could get past him, I can't guarantee our chances of winning"
All the villagers just stood in silence while the head count progressed.
"Everyone's here!"
Hearing the news, Jugem raised his sword and shouted.
"Alright! Let's go! Evacuate to the woods!"
However, before they all could begin advancing, one of the villagers shouted.
"A flying monster! Incoming!"
Just like the villager said, a flying monster zoomed fast towards the crowd. If nothing stopped it, it would crash through the crowd and harm everyone caught in the way.
Lily quickly dashed to position herself between the coming monster and the villagers. She raised her shielded gauntlet, preparing to receive the force of the coming monster.
[Heavy Weight]
Lily suddenly felt her body becoming very heavy right before the monster crashed to her. But thanks to the additional weight her body remained firmly on the ground and the monster's charge stopped. It then distanced itself from Lily, seemingly trying to observe her while hovering a short distance off the ground.
"Sorry about that. Had no time to explain"
Alice said that with a magic circle on her hand pointed to Lily. She then dispelled the magic circle, and Lily felt her body weight returning to normal.
"That saved me, so I thank you"
While keeping a close look at the monster and maintaining her battle stance, Lily shouted at the villagers and goblins behind her.
"Get away while I hold this thing back!"
"No! We will fight with you!"
Jugem spoke out with great confidence. Immediately, another goblin continued for him.
"Yes, we are here to protect not only Ane-san, but her village as well! We can't stand the thought of abandoning the place Ane-san loves! Do you agree with me guys!?"
"OOOOOH!"
All of the goblins cheered, agreeing with him.
"You guys are hopeless..."
Alice said that with a straight tone and her usual sleepyhead face.
"Alright guys! Half of you come with me, while the remaining stay with the villagers and guard them as they retreat!"
Jugem spoke out. The goblins quickly separated themselves into two groups. The villagers slowly stepped away from the monster, trying not to make sudden movement that might agitate it.
"Don't crowd on the monster! Spread and surround it! Ready your bows in case it flies!"
One of the groups dispersed, positioning themselves at a distance around the monster, which had been doing nothing other than observing.
[X][X][X]
Back in the crowd of villagers, Nfirea, who had been standing next to Enri and her sister, stepped forward.
"I will help them"
"-Idiot! Run with me!"
"It can fly! If we don't kill it right here and now, it will catch up to us no matter what!"
Nfirea smiled, trying to assure Enri.
"I will be just supporting from behind. It likely won't attack me. Plus..."
Nfirea was silent for a few seconds.
"I want to protect the woman I love"
Without waiting for Enri's reply, Nfirea dashed forward. One of the goblins nearby laughed a little, looking delighted.
"Nicely done, Ani-san"
[X][X][X]
[Reinforce Armor]
Lily's body let out a green glow, and she felt herself getting tougher. The goblins around the monster also let out the same glow, and she noticed one guy with a strange haircut casting the spell. She smiled in gratitude.
"Here I go!"
Lily dashed to the monster and slashed, aiming at the glowing core located at its lower body. While the monster was different, Lily assumed that the same principle Ryu had told her also applied here.
However, the monster blocked the strike with its arm blade and counter-slashed with the other arm. Thankfully, Lily raised her shield just in time to block it.
[Fire Javelin]
Alice casted a spell, and an energy bolt of fire was launched towards the monster. It was a direct hit to the glowing core, and the monster staggered. It then immediately looked at Alice.
"What are you looking at!?"
One goblin at the other side shouted and charged with a wooden club, and then he smacked at the monster's back. At the same time, Lily charged again and slashed at the core. This time, she hit it and the monster staggered again.
Suddenly, the monster turned around, reared a bit, and then shot a red laser from its stinger to the goblin who had just smacked it. The goblin tried to evade, but the unexpected attack still hit his wooden mace and right arm.
"Aaaargh!"
The goblin screamed in pain as the wooden mace, and also his right lower arm, disintegrated into liquid substance. The disintegration creeped up beyond his elbow and continued towards his shoulder.
"Tch!"
Jugem dashed to the poor goblin.
"I'm sorry about this!"
He slashed with his sword and amputated the right arm of the poor goblin near the shoulders. The cut off arm fell down to the ground and wholly melted into red liquid substance.
[Boost Maximize Magic: Minor Cure Wounds]
Alice casted a spell, and the poor goblin's right arm regenerated back. However, he could not move it at all.
"It will take a few days until you can move it again. Better retreat"
"Go back and live to fight another day!"
Jugem reinforced Alice's speech, and the poor goblin ran away from the battle.
While all those were happening, Lily had been clinging on the monster's back, trying to weight it down and stop it from moving. The monster slashed left and right trying to dislodge Lily, but Lily didn't let go at all.
"Liz-san! Again!"
[Heavy Weight]
Once again, Lily became much heavier than normal. The monster definitely felt that, and it dropped to the ground. Its core was wide open to attacks.
"Now!"
Lily shouted from underneath the monster's massive body. Without wasting any more time, Alice casted her attack spell.
[Triplet Maximize Magic: Fire Javelin]
Three bolts of fire energy emerged from Alice and struck the core of the monster. Then the surrounding goblins piled up on the monster and they all struck the core repeatedly.
"Get back, boys!"
Jugem commanded the goblins to disperse, which they did, and then he stabbed his sword into the core of the monster.
"That's for his arm"
Jugem pulled his sword off and stepped back. The monster was motionless for ten seconds. Everyone was still cautious and Lily still didn't let go of the monster.
Suddenly the monster leaped up, throwing Lily away. Alice dispelled the [Heavy Weight] just in time so she didn't take much damage from the fall.
[Triplet Maximize Magic: Fireball]
Three fireballs appeared and were launched towards the monster. They hit and the impact created an explosion which made the monster disappear from view. As soon as the smoke dispersed, the monster was visible again. It was swaying and seemed heavily injured, but it was still alive.
"This is bad. I am out of mana"
"I will do it!"
The guy who had been casting defensive spell said that, and he immediately casted a spell.
[Acid Arrow]
A bolt of caustic acid struck the monster's core. The monster once again staggered in pain, and then it looked at the one who had casted the spell.
The monster, seeming to be in a desperate attempt, zoomed fast to the guy with its arm ready to slash. It was so fast nobody could react to its action.
However, at the last second the monster suddenly stopped, and just two seconds later its core shattered and it dropped dead.
Everyone there was stunned on what they had just seen, and nobody knew what had happened. However, they got their answer soon.
"That was close"
Everyone looked up in the sky, where the voice had come from, and all villagers cheered in delight.
It was their savior, Ainz Ooal Gown.
Lily was a bit confused seeing her father wearing a weird mask and covered his arms in metal gauntlets, but she quickly understood that they were probably for hiding his undead nature.
[X][X][X]
Good thing Grasp Heart worked.
Ainz could have used any better suited spell, but at that moment the monster was too close to Nfirea, whom he wanted to keep alive.
Good grief, I already had a lot of things to do, and suddenly this happens.
Ainz had been busy trying to scout the entire Forest of Tob for the new unknown enemy, and so far he had found nothing. It was just this morning that the Kashin Koji spy had used a Message scroll to report to him about the thing happening at this village.
Ainz actually had been there since the beginning of the monster attack, lurking around and observing the battle while concealing himself with [Perfect Unknowable]. He wanted to gauge the strength of the monsters compared to Ryu and this world's combatants, but he had to step in because otherwise Nfirea, an important person to keep alive, would have been killed.
Ainz slowly descended down to the ground. The villagers cheered on him , but he raised his hand to signal them to quiet down, and they did so. He then approached the corpse of the monster to take a closer look.
So this is one of the planet-eating monsters which Ryu's army regularly fight?
But before he could take a further look, suddenly three small dark cloud appeared near the corpse and shot dark lasers on it. The corpse immediately disintegrated into smoke.
Ainz knew very well who did that, and the person immediately came running.
"Is everyone alright? Ah, Ainz-dono. Thank you for your assistance"
"Ryu. I expect that you have a good reason for destroying the corpse of the monster"
"Yes. Their corpse if left alone would begin spreading their essence like spores, and they do nasty effects"
"Oh, so what should be done against that matter?"
"If killed with certain method, they will disintegrate, leaving no corpse. Or the corpse can be destroyed with the same method"
Ainz pondered about what Ryu just said. The bunch of monsters he had killed before had disintegrated upon death, which meant he had used the correct method. However, the one he had killed with [Grasp Heart] didn't disintegrate, so it was not the correct method.
So what is the correct method exactly?
Ainz felt that he needed to collect more information about the monsters. Since this time Ryu was the only one knowledgeable about them, he would need to ask him directly.
If only Mel Rose is here as well. But then again, she is quite a loose cannon compared to Ryu. Might not be better in that case.
[X][X][X]
This planet is targeted by Darkers. That one is now confirmed.
On the bright side, ARKS would eventually come as well, and Ryu knew would be able to go home. However, since this planet was now on the list, he would eventually had to come back here from time to time as well.
The thing is, how should he spread the news in the meantime? Or should he just keep quiet?
This planet's civilization clearly was too low to accept the concept of interstellar travel and all that. Trying to spread it plainly would just make him look like a crazy delusional man. He could cover things up the same way he had been doing, but how long would it last? How much would he have to stack the lies?
My head hurts thinking about it. Ah well, maybe I should contact Mel Rose first.
Ryu activated his communication device to contact Mel Rose, but it didn't go through.
Strange. I could have sworn last night I still could pick her up if I wanted to.
With no contact attempt going through, Mel Rose was pretty much the same as Missing in Action for Ryu. He hoped that she was actually all right and she would eventually meet him again. He always could use extra help for fighting the Darkers.
[X][X][X]
Somewhere, in a distant unknown location.
A figure of a man wearing a long dark overcoat was standing still with his arms folded. His eyes were closed, as if he was concentrating on something. His short, rather spiky, magenta colored hair waved with the breezing wind.
A few seconds later, he opened his eyes. The irises were of bright red color, and their sharpness clearly signified a determined look over his pale dark skinned face.
"Wiped out... Hmph... Figures"
He smiled. He was not upset despite what had just happened to the minions he had commanded. Instead, he was intrigued to the interesting thing he had found.
"That one puny ARKS knows someone of formidable power. Interesting"
He chuckled, which continued to a rather delighted laugh.
"I'm still not even close to his power, but that won't be for long. This planet is teeming with energy I can absorb, and soon I will be strong enough to challenge him, and beat him to submission"
He laughed again, being very excited.
"I will then absorb his energy. Only then, I will be able to return to my true body, and every single being on this planet will behold the true power of me! Dark Falz Elder!"
The man's sinister laugh echoed through the surroundings, but there was nothing to hear him other than the barren, foggy field.
[X][X][X]
Far eastward from E-Rantel, a wagon pulled by two horses was striding along the road. Its destination was Rothar, a city within the territory of Baharuth Empire located to the southwest of the empire's capital, Arwintar.
For any passerby, the wagon looked like any ordinary wagon with curved roof covered by plain cloth. The front and back openings were covered with cloth curtain, so nobody could see the cargo inside without moving the curtain aside.
The wagon was guarded by eight men; four at the front and four following behind the wagon. All the men were armed with either standard swords or spears, and they were all armored with either medium or light armor. They all sported a stern look on their face.
The rather scary face were there simply to deter any passerby from looking, because the contents of the cargo were illegal stuffs. To be more precise, the contents were a number of girls who had been kidnapped. These men were a group of human traffickers seeking to kidnap attractive girls and sell them to the black market within Rothar.
Inside the wagon, there were a total of five girls sitting on the seats built in at the inner sides of the wagon. All of them were restrained from moving anywhere. Their arms were tied up behind their back, and their legs were tied up at their ankles and knees. Their mouth were sealed with leather cloth and the same applied to their eyes, so they only could hear things happening.
There was a conversation going between the two men at the very front of the group.
"Can't believe we caught that many pretty girls today, eh boss?"
"Yep. Today we got an unexpectedly ripe harvest. I'm sure they will fetch a good price"
"Especially that one"
"Indeed. Once we find which noble family she belongs to, we will ransom her and get rich"
"It shouldn't be hard to track a noble family which has a lost daughter with long red hair and green eyes. Our network is very reliable when it comes to that"
The men laughed after that. Today was a very lucky day for them.
[X][X][X]
Afterword:
With this, volume 8 is caught up. Next in line is Volume 5 equivalent, but since it is mainly about an internal conflict within Nazarick most of it will probably be "offscreen"
Pre-emptive Q&A:
Q: What do the names of the Darker tiers mean?
A: Normal, Hard, Very Hard, Super Hard. I merely made the game's difficulty level into my headcanon material.
Q: How strong are the Darkers of each tier compared to New World?
A:
N ~ Platinum Rank Adventurer
H ~ Orichalcum/Adamantite Rank Adventurer
VH ~ Slightly weaker than Evil Eye
SH ~ Narberal
Those are comparisons for regular mob Darkers. For larger, boss-level Darkers, about 10-15 levels should be added to the equivalent counterpart.
See you later
