Great Tengu vs. Savage Hihi King

Around the time Sei began pursuing Shentu, there were those attacking Heavenly Spirit Capital. Naturally, they were the Hihi Shentu had ordered to attack. They were an elite unit led by the Savage Hihi King, and if they had been the attacking force in the previous event, the alliance of players and NPCs would have been annihilated in an instant.

"Ugohoooooooooo!!! Charge!!!"

"Ukiiiiiiiiiii!!!"

Following the Savage Hihi King's grand command, the Hihi charged with bloodshot eyes. Even with their judgment impaired by brainwashing, they maintained the bare minimum of coordination, with the front-line types leading the way and the rear-line types providing support with magic and the like. Furthermore, the King's presence had raised their Stats, so they were by no means opponents to be taken lightly.

"Now! Fire!"

The tengu did not remain idle, either. The tengu and oni assigned to defend the city began attacking as well. Powerful tengu magic mowed down the Hihi, while arrows fired from mighty bows that only oni could draw pierced several Hihi at once. The elite defenders easily scattered the Hihi elite, who relied on superior numbers, as though they were mere small fry.

"Uhoooooooooo!"

"Ugoooooooooo!"

There were mighty warriors among the Hihi as well—those who could fight on equal terms with Saburo, who had once cornered Genzuro. They attacked by throwing huge trees sharpened to points like spears and boulders as large as automobiles.

The walls were sturdy, but even they might partially collapse if struck by such enormous masses. Therefore, the tengu had no choice but to counter them with magic.

With the density of attacks from the walls reduced, some Hihi finally reached the walls. If this had been a human army, they would have needed ladders or siege towers.

However, to creatures who normally lived in the treetops, climbing a wall with their bare hands was child's play. Hooking their fingers onto the slightest protrusion was effortless for them. They raced straight upward at the same speed they ran across the ground.

"Hmph!"

"Fall!"

However, reaching the top of the wall alone accomplished nothing. Even with their Stats enhanced by the King, they were physically inferior to the oni. No matter how much stronger they had become, they were no match for the oni on the walls unless they had a substantial number of their own.

Some had their heads crushed immediately after reaching the top, while others were pierced by mighty bows before they could get there and sent tumbling down. Those who tried to climb in groups were targeted relentlessly, and not a single one had yet managed to achieve any meaningful results atop the walls.

"Uhoooooooo! What are you taking so long for?!"

The one who roared that was the Savage Hihi King. He had grown impatient with the Hihi, who were still unable to make headway in their attack.

Under ordinary circumstances, there was no way a city protected by solid walls and well-coordinated defenders could be conquered in an instant. However, the Savage Hihi King did not even possess basic knowledge of warfare, so there was no way he could understand that. All he had was the sense of duty burned into his mind that he 'had to seize this nest as quickly as possible.'

Naturally, Shentu had implanted that feeling in him. Brainwashing someone who was, even if only nominally, a king would ordinarily have been impossible, but two factors had made it possible.

The first was that he had evolved into a king after being brainwashed by Shentu. The second was the amplifying effect of the 'Immortal Peach Seed.' Because powerful brainwashing had already been implanted, he had been unable to escape Shentu's shackles. This coincidence was also one of the reasons that bastard mistakenly believed fate favored him.

Nevertheless, even with Shentu's skill, brainwashing an overwhelmingly superior opponent and making him act according to his commands was extraordinarily difficult. After much trial and error, Shentu discovered that the trick was not to simply issue commands, but to make the target believe that he 'had to do it.'

Putting that aside, the Savage Hihi King released yellow battle aura from his entire body and charged forward, driven by his false sense of duty. The Hihi in front of him hurriedly dodged to either side to open a path. Trampling any individuals who failed to get out of the way in time, he rushed toward the gate like a meteor trailing a yellow tail identical to his battle aura.

"Good grief. Dragging your own brethren into this is hardly commendable."

"Ngh!?"

The charge would have blown the gate away in a single direct hit, but someone who stepped between them brought it to a stop. When the Savage Hihi King looked in surprise at the one who had stopped him, he saw a tengu with a long white beard.

It was none other than the Great Tengu himself. With only the ringed staff in his right hand, he had caught the Savage Hihi King's fist.

"Who are you?! Get out of my way!"

"Even if you tell me to move... if I do, you'll destroy the gate, won't you? That would be a problem, so I suppose I'll have to get in your way."

As he said this, the Great Tengu swung the feather fan in his left hand. Though he had only given it a light wave, a powerful gust arose and blew the Savage Hihi King away.

The Savage Hihi King rose with an expression that seemed to say he could not believe what had happened. Then a sharp pain shot through his entire body. Looking down at himself, he saw fine cuts running all over him.

"Oh ho, even that wasn't enough to kill you."

"Y-you... What did you do?!"

"What did I do? I merely waved my fan at you. Of course, this fan is a special item."

The Great Tengu who ruled Heavenly Spirit Capital possessed several special items. This fan was one of them, and its name was the 'Wind God Black Feather Fan.' It was his own weapon, obtained after overcoming the trial of Horyuse, the 'Goddess of Wind and Exploration.'

One of its functions allowed him to freely control the wind created by fanning it. Thus, even a light wave of the fan could generate a powerful gust containing countless razor-sharp wind blades.

"Uhoooooooooo! Kill! I'll kill you!"

If the Savage Hihi King had not been brainwashed, he would have grown wary the moment his first attack was stopped. After witnessing the abnormal phenomena caused by the Great Tengu, he might even have realized the difference in strength and retreated.

However, his mind now contained nothing but the thought that he had to seize the city as soon as possible. There was not the slightest room for him to consider observing the situation or making a temporary retreat. He merely fought on, foolishly and stubbornly, without even understanding how reckless he was being.

The Savage Hihi King released an even denser mass of battle aura, which took the shape of a majestic giant. Containing energy that dwarfed Saburo's, the giant drew back a massive fist suited to its size and struck.

"You seem to have strength, but... that's all."

"What did you say?!"

The punch of battle aura was intended to smash both the Great Tengu and the gate, but the Great Tengu split the battle-aura giant itself in two with a single swing of his ringed staff. The clear shalan of the rings attached to the staff's head echoed across the battlefield, despite the surrounding din.

Faced with something beyond his comprehension, the Savage Hihi King's face finally filled with panic and fear, as though even in his brainwashed state he had begun to understand the difference in strength. However, because the capture of the city was the foundation of his every action, he could not issue an order to retreat. Unable to decide what to do, he came to a complete stop.

"Now, now, this is no time to stand there dazed."

"Gueh...!"

The Great Tengu thrust the head of his staff into the Savage Hihi King's unprotected throat. The instant it pierced him, a dazzling flash erupted, punching a hole straight through his throat.

The impact knocked the Savage Hihi King onto his back, where he writhed pathetically on the ground. There was not the slightest trace of a king's dignity left in him. He would ordinarily have screamed from the pain, but with his throat crushed, he could only produce muffled sounds.

"Your bulk and level may be impressive, but your fighting technique is lacking. Still, I have no mercy to spare for you."

The Great Tengu floated in the air and looked down at the Savage Hihi King with emotionless eyes. The Hihi might have had their reasons, but he had no mercy to offer an enemy who had attacked his city.

"Ooh... Vgoooooooooo!!!"

"You choose battle, boy. So be it. Take this with you to the afterlife: you were slain by Fukei, the Great Tengu."

Several minutes later, the Savage Hihi King was slain after a futile struggle by the Great Tengu Fukei, who had not even fought seriously. Even after losing their king, the brainwashed Hihi did not stop charging blindly into the city. In the end, the battle for Heavenly Spirit Capital continued until the last Hihi ran out of strength.

◆◇◆◇◆◇

"Yo, we're back~"

"Oh, you're back."

While I was working inside the Floating Battleship, Jigoro and the others returned. I had given them Base Teleport talismans, so they could return to the base whenever they wanted.

It seemed Jigoro and the others had been caught up in a conflict over there, but things had been hectic here as well. I had been gathering junk parts for the battleship and completing requests from Almardelx-sama and the Dragonnewts.

"Feels like it's been a while, brother~"

"It has been a while. I'm glad the three of you look well."

"Indeed. It seems you also came through unscathed."

"It was tough, but we got plenty of loot!"

"Same here, Izam-san."

Genzuro, Shichiko, and Sei all seemed to have had fruitful expeditions. I would have them tell me all about what they had accomplished later.

"More importantly, where are the newcomers? They're here, aren't they?"

"Yes. Iris is helping them choose their equipment right now."

The two newcomers had somehow overcome the trial imposed by Langhort-sama and joined us. The trial was to defeat the Spartoi made from her fangs.

As expected, the Spartoi created from the fangs of Langhort-sama, the Ancient Light Dragon Lord, was a monster far removed from an ordinary Spartoi. The two had been hard-pressed by a warrior clad in golden armor who wielded a silver sword and shield with consummate skill.

Even so, their teamwork had prevailed, and they had succeeded in defeating it despite being covered in wounds. Langhort-sama was in high spirits as well, saying that they had 'fulfilled their role as guardians.' She had been using McFarlane, but it seemed she had really wanted to give them the trial herself. I had thought she was cool and aloof, but apparently she had a cute side too.

"Oh! Speaking of Iris, I saw the event results. We must celebrate!"

"Yeah! She missed out on the grand prize, but Iris-han won the Highest Price Award, and Shiitake-han won the Idea Award! It's a huge victory!"

As Genzuro and Shichiko had said, Iris and Shiitake had won the Highest Price Award and the Idea Award, respectively, at the event. The grand prize for the event as a whole had gone to the resplendent armor made by a Dwarf player, but the fact that our companions had won awards was still cause for celebration.

Incidentally, Iris had kept her player name hidden when she submitted her item to the event. Since the system tracked both the auction proceeds and the award, she had received her Zel and Title without any problems.

However, perhaps because she had kept her name hidden, several people had apparently appeared claiming that they were the ones who had won the Highest Price Award. They would be found out soon enough, so it was best to leave them alone.

Shiitake, on the other hand, had made their player name public, so players seeking high-quality potions were apparently searching desperately for Shiitake. Finding Shiitake would be extremely difficult, but good luck to them.

"Izam-san, is this ship ready to move?"

"Yes. We've already completed test runs of all its functions. It should sail without any problems."

"Which means..."

"As soon as everyone is here, we'll set sail for the unknown continent of Timbrica!"

At my declaration, the four of them grinned. They had heard about our next destination in chat, so they seemed to have been eagerly looking forward to it. We would be leaving Vetus Floating Island, which had supported us for so long, but I would not be lonely. We could always fly back whenever we wanted!