Kamisama Shop de Cheat no Kaori

Chapter 138. Three Companion And The Blooming

“To save me, the elf became a decoy and went ahead!”

The direction pointed to by the traveler, Yutis, was unfortunately directly leading to the mine.

“…! Dwarf! Get ready!”

Yaralai, who was shouting with his head out of the driver’s side window, was met with a dwarven iron fist.

“What the hell?!”

With a dull thud, Yaralai, the elf who had fallen from the car roof, spat a mix of blood and saliva on the ground and then slapped his own face.

“Sorry, I lost my composure.”

“Hmph. I’ll acknowledge that you can apologize, but do you understand why you were hit?”

“Yeah, in that direction, we’ll be surrounded if we go by car.”

“That’s right. And if we don’t start running in a different direction immediately, we’ll meet the same fate.”

“…Ah.”

Even while responding, he gritted his teeth and bled.

“We have two options. Akira, decide in 20 seconds.”

“What are they?”

“One: continue with the plan and resume the extermination with that woman on board. The other is…”

Hagg glanced at Faf, who merely laughed softly. After a sigh, Hagg continued.

“You… will go save the elf.”

“Me?! Alone?!”

“Yes. We will try to lure and lead them away as much as possible. If you can join up with the elf, escape towards the town. If you’re lucky, we might be able to pick you up.”

“What about you guys?”

“We’ll have no choice but to escape in a direction different from the town after reducing their numbers to the limit.”

“I see…”

“Sorry, but there’s no time to think. Decide quickly.”

“…I’ll go. The rest is up to you.”

“Akira-san?!”

It was Yutis who shouted.

“It’s dangerous! That way leads to the nest!”

“I know. I’ve thoroughly scouted it. …There’s no time now. Just leave the rest to me.”

I jumped out of the car, lifted Yutis, and threw her into the passenger seat. There was no time for debate.

“Are you sure about the direction?”

“Yes, that’s certain… but…”

“That’s enough.”

I checked the direction and looked for a landmark. There was a dead tree similar to where we were now, so I aimed for that.

“Akira!”

Turning at Yaralai’s call, I received a handgun and a magazine.

“I have a lightsaber.”

“Even if you’re exhausted, it’s usable.”

“…Yeah, you’re right.”

It felt like we were pushed to the point of no return, but I gratefully accepted the offer.

“Well then, I’m off. See you in town.”

“…Akira. Thanks.”

“Yeah.”

As I crouched down, the camper van shot off like it was exploding. Once we had gained some distance, I intentionally pressed the accelerator to make the engine roar. A large number of goblins were attracted by the louder sound. The thought of being swarmed by so many sent chills down my spine.

Even with the adrenaline pumping, I didn’t feel fear and hurried towards the nest while crouched. Fortunately, there were no goblins on my route. Hagg’s diversion and Yaralai’s sniping were working well. Yaralai, sniping goblins on my route until they were out of sight, seemed a bit excessive.

Then, a single dumb-looking goblin appeared, either straying from its group or slacking off. The distance was about 70 meters.

Should I go around it? No, it might still be in the way on another route.

I lay down on the ground and carefully observed the stray goblin. I checked for other goblins around and made up my mind.

I took out the lightsaber component from my US military jacket pocket and aimed it at the goblin.

There was only one enemy.

To kill it without making a sound, it’s best to blow its head off with one shot. Since the lightsaber’s bullets are conspicuous, I wanted to avoid rapid firing. I created a minimal-sized bullet that could surely blow off its head, and aimed to make the bullet drop to the ground immediately after impact to avoid detection by surrounding enemies.

I visualized it.

A bullet of light made to be between the size of “Vulcan Phalanx” and “Machine Gun Lightsaber.” It would pierce through the goblin’s head at high speed while directing the vector toward the ground.

Perfect.

Go!

“Lightning Javelin!”

I called out the technique name I quickly thought of in a whisper. I trusted Faf’s words that naming it would solidify the image. Right now, I wanted to cling to anything, even a straw.

The light spear perfectly annihilated the goblin’s head and then, as if pulled by someone, pierced the ground and vanished as light dust.

Despite its head being gone, the green body staggered a few steps before collapsing. After confirming that, I started moving again in a crouch.

The abandoned mine, the dwelling of the pests, wasn’t clearly visible, but there were traces of relatively recent movement. As I followed the tracks, noisy voices came from the front. Excited goblins were running around chaotically, seemingly searching for something.

Of course, I knew what that was. I tried to approach as closely as possible while trying to spot the target before the pests did, but it was a case of too many enemies. I heard a roar from a location far from where I was scouting. They had found it first.

At the same time, there was a high-pitched voice. A woman’s voice. No doubt about it. The elf who had become the decoy was there.

I readied the lightsaber component and stood up, enveloped in waves of energy.

Don’t panic. Wrap your whole body in spirals.

The power bubbling up from the depths of my abdomen wrapped around my muscles, blood, and nerves, transforming my body.

“Uoooooooh!!!!”

With a scream that struck the heavens, the waves of energy exploded within me, enveloping my body.

The goblins, startled by the sudden scream, rushed at me in panic. It was a foolish move.

There was no need to use the lightsaber. I took the Tornado Martial Arts stance and closed the distance to the nearest goblin in an instant.

“Gya?!”

“Too slow.”

A twisting right straight punched into the pest’s face, blowing its head off with barely any resistance. Before the blood spray could even rise, I pulled back my arm and sidestepped. Thanks to the waves of energy, I managed to take it down without getting a drop of blood on me.

A shiver.

Something cold and hot crawled up my back.

Kill more, kill more.

What is this? Is it my will?

More, more. I need to kill more!

Six goblins blocked my path. This time they were armed. I would have been terrified by that alone a while ago.

But oddly enough, now I was rather thrilled.

Enemies must be killed!

Whether it was my voice or my inner voice, or someone else’s… I didn’t know.

Before I could think, I had already charged into the group of goblins.

In the brief time it takes for a home run ball to be hit and swallowed by the stands, I had created six chunks of meat. One of them, clad in a poor leather armor, had a gaping hole in its chest, sadly showing that the modest armor had been useless.

Even though I had taken seven lives directly with my own hands, the voice rising from deep inside me wouldn’t stop.

“Alright, I don’t care who you are, I’ll deal with you.”

I ran straight towards the direction of the woman’s voice, fully unleashing my waves of energy.