Chapter 24
1.
Leviathan. One of the few 'named' monsters.
According to the records I'd looked up before, it was a monster that demolished two cities in the ten minutes it took the Sword Saint to arrive, then destroyed a third in its battle with him.
With its innate power, it could raise waves on land and turn its surroundings into a sea at any time—the 'Calamity of the Sea.'
"Something like that... more than a hundred of them appeared?"
"Yes... We need the Heroes' help."
A little over ten Heroes had gathered to stop the Leviathans and destroy their nest. Their opponents were disaster-class monsters, after all. Ordinary Heroes with ordinary abilities wouldn't be of any help.
Everyone here was a battle-hardened veteran, A-rank or higher.
...That was true, but for some reason, I was by myself while everyone else had gathered in groups to talk.
"Is that her?"
"Her pictures are all over the internet."
"Oh~"
...I could guess what they were talking about without even listening. Hah, so this was what it was like to have a boyfriend who was too incredible—becoming the target of jealousy.
I deliberately shut my ears and gazed at the distant horizon.
Even now, dozens of waves were appearing and disappearing along the horizon.
Dojin had already left me here and gone off alone to fight among the Leviathans.
No matter how strong Dojin was, I was worried and had tried to follow him, but he'd told me not to come because I'd only get in the way. I was feeling pretty dejected.
But seeing those nobodies tear into me out of jealousy was almost laughable.
Well, whatever. I could overlook them tearing into me out of the kindness of my heart. Even Dojin wouldn't be too happy if his girlfriend went around causing trouble.
Still, I opened my ears again in case they mentioned Dojin. My mana-enhanced hearing picked up every word of their conversation.
"Esper's the problem, too. He usually treats women like rocks, but he only pays attention to a slut like her."
"Right? I never thought he'd be into women who dress so provocatively and have such sexy bodies."
"He looks so refined—the best-looking Hero, and so popular. I thought he'd have higher standards."
"He's like a horny mutt in heat~"
...They seemed to be taking the conversation too far. Without realizing it, I tightened my grip on my staff.
Dojin had given me this artifact as a present after I'd made him lunchboxes a few times.
It amplified its user's mana, was sturdy, and could transform into a bracelet, so I used it all the time.
Honestly, I didn't think it was a big deal if they insulted me. It would bother me a little, but I wouldn't take it so seriously that I felt the need to say anything.
To be honest, it was more useful to think about what side dishes to make for Dojin's lunchbox than to worry about that sort of thing.
But it was hard to put up with them insulting Dojin.
He was my light and my savior.
"Heyyy~ First time we've met, right?"
Someone tapped my shoulder and spoke to me.
I calmed the mana I'd unconsciously gathered and looked at her.
She was a pretty woman with shoulder-length black hair in a wavy perm. She was a little taller than me—maybe about three centimeters.
Her chest was a bit small, but she had a slender figure that suited her.
"I'm Ribel. A-rank! You're the rookie who just made A-rank, right? Your name was..."
"I'm Lapis Lazuli. Please call me Lapis. It's nice to meet you."
"Pffft, I forgot your name! Sorry!"
Ribel patted my shoulder a few times. What an incredibly cheerful person. Ruby was pretty cheerful, but she couldn't hold a candle to this woman.
"Ms. Ribel... aren't you going to join them?"
I glanced at the group gossiping over there. After all, they were all together, and I was the one being ostracized.
The reason I was being left out was pretty ridiculous, though.
"I don't gossip. Besides, if I left you alone, you'd start a fight."
"Don't make it sound like I'm the one causing trouble."
I'm not the one at fault. If anything, I'm the victim.
"I didn't mean it like that. Don't misunderstand, okay?"
"Yes. You don't seem like the type to beat around the bush, anyway."
Talking to her felt more like talking to a blunt man.
"I hear that a lot. And you're trying to go over there, aren't you?"
This time, Ribel pointed toward the battlefield, where seawater was swirling into multiple tornadoes that reached the sky, while tsunamis rose and vanished.
Dojin was over there. He was fighting several Leviathans.
I wanted to go right away.
I was an ability user who could use my mana more efficiently over the sea, too.
The Leviathans might be monsters capable of destroying several cities on their own, but I could do that much, too.
On top of that, I could get a boost from the staff or necklace Dojin had given me, so I could probably handle two of them without much trouble.
And as I'd learned a new technique called 'Sea-Splitting,' based on what Dojin had shown me, I'd also been thinking about and refining how to use my ability.
To be honest, I think I'd figured out why Iris was so strong.
Iris didn't stop at simply amplifying her own ability.
She amplified even the results of her actions.
She amplified her body, enhanced through amplification, the bodily reinforcement powered by her amplified mana, and even the results of that reinforcement.
That was how I'd interpreted her use of her ability before.
But no matter how much I simulated it, that alone wasn't enough to make me as strong as her.
That's when I figured it out.
She even amplified the 'destructive power of her fists' after enhancing them to that extent.
It was like taking the power of a punch with the force of a bomb blast and amplifying it until it hit with the power of a tank cannon.
By amplifying all those effects with her ability, she made her attacks absurdly powerful.
If I'd figured that much out, the results of my simulations were pretty impressive.
"I'm going. I'm not likely to hear anything nice if I stay here. I haven't done anything wrong, either."
I sighed and disparaged the group gossiping behind my back. I wasn't at fault. They were the ones in the wrong.
That was simply a fact. I really hadn't done anything wrong. They called me a slut, but it's not like I'd chosen to be dressed this way.
"The Association can't properly keep us under control, so we tend to fight however we want. But I do value my life, and it'd be nice to have a safety net, right?"
Ribel said with a broad grin.
"Be my safety net. If you're there, Esper will take better care to protect us, right?"
"...If that's how you're approaching me, I'd rather pass."
I was a little taken aback by how calculating she was. Normally, no one comes up to you saying, 'I'm going to use you.'
People like that were usually busy presenting themselves as if they had no such intentions at all.
"So, are you going or not?"
"...Yes. I'm going."
Ribel laughed with a little snort.
"Then let's go together! Nano Suit, deploy!"
With a loud Chwoooang!, blue light crackled around her body and enveloped her.
Once the light had covered her from head to toe, she was clad in a blue mechanical suit.
"Come on, let's go!"
Wings appeared behind her with a metallic clatter.
2.
"Heaven-Splitting. Three in a row."
Dojin unleashed a slash at a Leviathan charging at him while riding the wave it had raised. It was his most powerful slash, 'Heaven-Splitting.'
Since it was merely a copy—a slash created with telekinesis—it couldn't match the original's power.
But no A-rank Hero could deny its power.
With a crunching rip, the slash tore into the Leviathan. But as one of the few A-rank monsters, it was over twenty meters long.
Having its skin ripped to shreds wasn't enough to kill it.
Though Dojin hadn't meant for the attack to kill it, either.
Something exploded from the Leviathan's mouth as it let out a roar.
"Telekinetic Explosion!"
It was a technique that made a tightly condensed mass of telekinetic force explode and shoot out in every direction.
Since the technique had exploded inside its mouth, the Leviathan's jaws were torn apart in every direction.
KRAAAAH!
Before he knew it, another Leviathan had come with a tsunami, throwing itself into the wave and swallowing Dojin.
Less than a second later, that Leviathan exploded, scattering chunks of flesh in every direction.
"Phew."
No matter how strong Dojin was, fighting so many enormous, durable monsters at once was exhausting.
More importantly, to take down a Leviathan in one blow, he had to put considerable care into each attack.
Dojin wiped the beads of sweat on his forehead with his right sleeve.
By then, a dozen or so pairs of eyes were glowing beneath his feet.
FWOOSH!!
Before long, more than a dozen streams of water shot toward him from the surface. The water cannons fired by Leviathans were famous for piercing even superalloy plates over thirty centimeters thick.
"Ghk!"
Dojin quickly raised a barrier that could cover him from all the incoming water cannons. But it wasn't enough to hold off more than a dozen streams with such overwhelming force.
Even after the barrier was pierced, another bubble-like barrier, like Lapis's, remained constantly active around Dojin.
It was sturdy enough to stop missiles, but the water cannons' kinetic force sent Dojin soaring into the air like a pinball.
Dojin gritted his teeth and escaped the streams. Thankfully, he managed to get clear at an altitude of around five hundred meters.
- Hahahahahaha!!
At the same time, laughter rang out across the sky,
- You worms aren't even fit to be dragons!
A beam of golden light cleaved through the sea.
Seawater soared high into the sky, and Leviathans whose bodies had been burned by the beam and who had lost more than half their bodies floated to the surface like dead fish.
- This Dragon will take you on! Gwaaaaah!!
As the Dragon roared, lightning began to strike over the sea beneath the previously clear sky.
Dojin, who'd been sent up to an altitude of five hundred meters, descended with a sigh.
"What a flashy entrance."
"You handled things well on your own."
The Sword Saint, standing atop the Dragon's head, drew his sword.
He closed his eyes for a moment, then opened them and said,
"Secret Technique: Heaven-Splitting."
Judging by the movement, it was a simple vertical slash.
But the result was different.
The moment he swung his sword, the sea parted before them.
On the exposed seabed, the mark of his sword remained as proof that he'd swung it.
Even though the distance from the sea's surface to the seabed was over ten kilometers, his sword had reached all the way down.
Before long, more than a dozen Leviathans floated up to the surface, cut in half, and the sea began to turn dark red with blood gushing endlessly from their bodies.
"Did you find the nest?"
"I did. It's over fifty kilometers below the surface."
Dojin pinpointed the nest with his golden-shining Clairvoyant Eye, one of his mystic eyes.
They'd found its location, but they were far too poorly equipped to descend more than fifty kilometers into the deep sea.
Usually, depths of around twenty kilometers were called the deep sea, and reaching fifty kilometers was impossible with ordinary equipment.
Someone with telekinesis as powerful as Dojin's could make the descent, but going alone into the dark, lightless depths was suicide.
"Tell me where it is. 'I'll pierce through and destroy it.'"
The Sword Saint said, adjusting his grip on his sword.