Translator: Reizenchuu

  Editor: Kenny Stryker

  Rouga appeared as if she chose the perfect timing . She acted like some story protagonist . I wonder whom she resembles in this regard . After she annihilated the entire army of ogres, she rushed towards me with her mouth dripping with blood .

  “Well done, Rouga . ”


  “They don’t taste good . ”


  spitting blood from her mouth, she complained . If only she didn’t say that with her current blood-stained appearance . A bitter smile reached my face as I watched her washing off the stains of blood from her fur . I wonder why she started looking like a brave hero for me in this battle .

  “Are you done with the ogres?”


  “Yes! They were so weak!”


  She answered with a child voice brimming with confidence . Souki was bewildered by Rouga sudden entrance, causing the formation of the ogres to lose its order . This is a good time to attack .

  “I will leave the small fries to you . ”


  “Okay!”


  She replied to my request with an energetic voice and went back to strike the ogres army again .

  “.…… UnForGiVABle . ”


  Out of nowhere, Souki grabbed an ogre near him by its head .

  “Give……”


  “Gi…… Gi……!”


  The small ogres let out a shriek of anguish and gradually faded away . It was like it was getting absorbed by Souki .

  “What was that?”


  “It vanished~”


  Rouga and I watched Souki with confused expressions . It looked like he betrayed his subordinate . The ogre he was absorbing was the abnormally fast type . Its robust legs were its trait . We kept watching over the small ogre fading away until it completely disappeared . What is he doing? As far as I can see, Souki didn’t change after absorbing the ogre . Before I was able to reach an answer, Souki turned to me .

  “.…… DiE . ”


  Again, he charged forward in my direction . I took my defensive stance thinking that it would be the same attack, but a few moments later, I widened my eyes from an unpleasant surprise . His speed was in an entirely different level from earlier .

  “!!?”


  I got taken aback by his unexpected speed and ended up receiving his punch and drawing back . My legs got half buried underground and a massive shock ran down my arms . Luckily, I guarded with both of my arms to reduce the shock . When I lifted my sight back to him, he was no longer in his place .

  “Chief! Right!”


  Following Rouga’s remark, I promptly jumped back and immediately saw a black fist coming from the right, missing its aim . I wanted to take a distance from him to take back my initial stance, but Souki wasn’t intending to miss his chance and followed me .

  I was taken by surprise earlier, but once I get the grasp of his location I should manage to deal with him . I kept dodging his closing fists and chose the right time to kick him away . Seriously, what just happened? I can’t seem to get a grasp of the situation . Why did he become this fast all of a sudden? Is it really because he absorbed that fast-legged ogre? I see . Finally, I linked all the puzzle pieces and guessed what he did . So Souki’s true ability is to absorb the abilities of his surroundings .

  “Rouga, hurry up and defeat those ogres!”


  “Okay!”


  I ordered Rouga to eliminate the ogres in the area, but at that time, Souki had already grabbed another one . It was the type that can use magic . The ogre that got grabbed by its head was wearing a weird black headgear and a kimono . It gradually faded away until it got completely absorbed and disappeared . This guy; just when I looked away he already went to absorb another of his subordinates .

  “.…… DiE huMaN . ”


  After finishing absorbing the second ogre, he turned towards me again . I took a step back to take some distance from him, but I abruptly bumped against something hard . Turning around, I saw a wall made of ground that wasn’t there until now .

  “This is bad!”


  He already started using his magic and because of that, he made me lose my concentration for an instant . When I turned back, the first thing I saw was his fist drawing near my face . I reflexively crouched down and dodged it . I heard the loud sound of the ground wall crumbling and instantly teleported to Souki’s side and tried to land a hit on him .

  It should reach . I instinctively judged that my punch would land a direct strike on his ribs, but I immediately realized that I was wrong as my fist got blocked by his second hand . He read my move before I even teleported . The moment he caught my hand, I saw a faint light arising out of it .

  “!!?!?”


  A sinister dark light appeared out of blue . My mind instinctively sensed the direness of the situation and I teleported away from that place . Unfortunately, it was already too late . Something like a carved seal was already stamped on my hand .

  “What is this?”


  <>

  It looked like a Chinese character, except it was moving . I had no clue of what it was, but surely it wasn’t something of pleasant . Confirming that the moving seal was carved in my hand, Souki raised his arm horizontally .

  “cRaSH . ”


  Just by moving down his index finger, the seal started shining with a sinister light and I got violently crushed down in the ground .

  “Uooo!?”


  My hand suddenly started feeling heavy and I almost lost my balance . What is this? My arm is feeling so heavy . It felt like I was made to lift several hundreds of kilograms of lead with a single hand .

  “What is this! Too heavy!!”


  So it was a spell to restrict my field of motion . I composed myself and used【Erasure Magic】to erase the spell .

  “Go away . ”


  I chanted a short spell while bearing with the massive pressure on my hand . However, nothing happened

  You’re kidding, right? Don’t tell me……

  I rechanted the spell a few times persistently, but the seal didn’t show a sign of disappearing . Does this seal have resistance against magic? I kept complaining because my【Erasure Magic】didn’t work on the seal, though, I had a bigger problem to deal with at that time . Souki who achieved his plan of restraining me used his abnormal speed to draw near me in the blink of an eye then struck my abdomen with his sturdy fist .

  “Die……”


  His fist of malice landed a direct hit on my abdomen, blowing me away without being able to defend myself . Even the power of his punches is stronger than earlier because he absorbed the ability of that small ogre . Ah! He was able to make me fly away despite the heavy weight casted on my arm . I distorted my expression from the immense pain of his strong punch and Souki followed me to make his next hit . I teleported to the sky before he drew close enough to me, but……

  “!? No way!? I’m falling!?”


  My hand was too heavy that I couldn’t float . My wind magic wasn’t enough to lift the weight casted on my arm and I slowly fell down . Ah, this is no good . When I was about to give up on floating and land down, I sensed something warm supporting me from behind .

  “Are you safe, Yato-sama?”


  Ouka, in her original form of a fox, carried me on her back . The warmth and fluffiness of her fur almost made fall into a comfortable slumber, forgetting everything else .

  “Chief! Are you alright!?”


  As I kept relishing the comfortable sensation of Ouka’s fur, Rouga appeared out of somewhere to ensure my safety . This means that she already defeated the ogres in this area . I ambiguously replied to the both of them telling them that I was somehow, still alright .

  “Rather, Ouka, am I not too heavy for you?”


  “Not at all . ”


  “Even though my hand is this heavy?”


  Swinging my heavy arm, I asked her .

  “A curse mark is effective only on the targeted person . ”


  “A curse mark?”


  “A curse mark is often used for torturing and arresting individuals . The target under the curse feels exactly how the user wants them to feel . Moreover, it could only be undone by the one who cast it . The only way to get rid of that curse mark is by defeating Souki, the one who is behind it . ”


  So, what Ouka is saying is that there isn’t really any physical effect for a curse mark . It just makes me feel the way Souki wants . And the only way to reverse it is through defeating him . This is getting more troublesome than what I thought . I couldn’t help but frown while looking at my heavy arm . So, what should I do now? Luckily, I can still use magic although I can’t move freely . But using it while moving is nearly impossible . Then there’s one left choice .

  “Ouka, Rouga . Sorry, but I’m going to ask for your help . It’s about time for that lump of hatred to rest in peace . ”


  “Yes . ”


  “Okay~”


  Ouka and Rouga replied to me with an eager voice . If one human isn’t enough to defeat him, then surely one human and two monsters would be . While enjoying the fluffy sensation of Ouka’s fur, we started preparing for our last attack .

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