Chapter 181: Choral Magic

Sorry for all the waiting, I’ve been lacking motivation lately.
Also, some of the dialogue labels may be wrong… it’s hard to tell who’s speaking so I made it up.

Choral Magic

“Count, are you alright?” (rato)
“Do I look like I’m alright?” (naofumi)

My whole body ached….
Damn, it only succeeded at a time like this.
My luck is too extreme. This is harassment.
I’m not one of those inherently unlucky protagonists who appear in Light Novels. [T/N: But you are actually…]

“Zweite Heal” (naofumi)

I cast recovery magic along with Rato.
As expected of a fantasy world, my wounds healed before my eyes and the pain faded.
The injury I suffered was big, but the enemy had also been weakened.
Our average level was still low. I wanted to lower another rank.

“Okay, next is to lower the Rarity!” (naofumi)

Should I attempt SR -> SR+?
I ignore the warning message and spam the button.
But for some reason, I had a bad sense of foreboding.

“H-he’s growing into a somewhat vicious figure again.” (rato?)
“Dammnnnnn!” (naofumi)

When my luck is bad, everything escalates. What was with this chain of successes!
I didn’t see how many times it succeeded. If this was the Soul Eater Shield, it’d probably have been so much easier!
I was blown away when I saw the letters LR.
Not again! This probably had a success rate lower than +11 or thereabouts!
Behind me were my allies, I couldn’t avoid it any further and took the attack as it was.

“Ugh!” (naofumi)

With his Rarity upgraded, Gaerion hit me with all his strength.
That hurt….I want to go home.
His offensive power rose to an impossible level just from absorbing Firo’s abilities, but now even his Rarity has risen. How far will my misfortune go.
It’s because lately everything has been progressing smoothly. It might be the backlash from that.
Will there be another situation similar to before?
No kidding. I need to hurry up and fail the Rarity enhancement so that Gaerion will weaken.

Enhancement to AF failed!

In an instant, the rank fell to C and Gaerion visibly weakened.
The lustre of his scales disappeared and his physical strength also dropped. At this rate, we should be able to break through his defence if we persevere.

“I’m done. How about you guys?” (naofumi)
<Earth of the Curse, flow of that cursed dragon pulse, for the sake of spitting out the congested blood, let us….>

When I looked, Melty, Sadina and Taniko was chanting magic, their voices merging together.
I saw glittering, firefly-like lights gathering in our surroundings.

“GURUUUUUUU….” (gaerion)

Gaerion inhaled deeply in order to use his Breath, as if trying to stop us.
I went out front and held out my shield in order to protect Melty’s group.
Gaerion leapt up high, faced this way and opened him mouth.
It’s coming!

“Meteor Shield! Air Strike Shield!” (naofumi)

I used the shield projected by Air Strike Shield as a foothold and protected Melty’s group from the Breath.
Gu…. My whole body was roasted and I was scorched by the flames.
I was already weakened from the curse, the cursed flames added to it and caused me pain.
Gaerion leaned forward in pursuit and thrust out with his claw. At this rate, he’ll probably snap at us.

<Oh Dragon Pulse. Please grant our wishes. I, who is worthy of the origin of strength, implore you. I’ve read and understood the truth once again, grant us the power to overcome this evil!>

The light intensified, and I understood that the three had turned their attention this way.
It’s hard because the defence role has to wait for this.
…The me who is protecting everyone is cool; large-scale magic is the best!
Those thoughts passed through my mind for a moment.
It was thanks to the stress you’d expect from the pain caused by the flames, but it was more or less normal.

“It might be surprising at first, but compose yourself. It’ll definitely be fine, believe in big sis! Now, Melty-chan!” (sadina)
“Choral Magic!” (melty)
“Deep Sea!” (sadina)
“”Zee Vier!”” (all) [T/N: ゼー・ヴィレ… it’s slightly different to how it’s pronounced but oh well]

Was it just my imagination that it felt like each one of them cast a different magic?
Water suddenly appeared from the midst of Melty’s group and surrounded us. It was as if we were in a giant water tank.
I can’t breathe….
*Splash* Gaerion painfully tried to escape from the water tank by swimming.

“Naofumi-chan, are you alright?” (sadina)

I held my breath to prevent it leaking out but Sadina just came walking naturally and talked normally.

“It doesn’t have any effect on enemies and those you don’t acknowledge so it’s fine” (sadina) [T/N: Talking about the breathing underwater thing…]
“Eh? Ah…” (naofumi)

Just like in an anime or manga, I could move underwater and breathe normally.
I thought so before, but magic is really amazing.
If you think about it, we’ve been following the law of nature until now, or I should say, our battles have been rather simple.
I’ve been summoning my shields, we used concealing magic and Firo attacked with her claws.
We each had our own magic which would have made it more flashy~

…what flashiness. There was no need to excessively worry about outward appearances.
What’s important was the practicality and efficiency.
It looked like that has been absorbed substantially.
Let’s be a little more conscious. Otherwise my brain will turn crazy.

“Haa….Haa….no more.” (melty)
“Yeah…” (taniko)

Melty and Taniko sat down tiredly and breathed heavily. I took out Mana Potions from the shield and passed the potions to the two of them.

“Well, that’s right…. then big sis shall do her best.” (sadina)

With a *pop*, Sadina rose to the surface of the magical water tank and swam to the escaping Gaerion.
She was very fast.
Well, it was expected from one who had been levelling up in the ocean.
Wasn’t she fairly strong in water?

“As expected from the Ruka species, you’re like a fish in water when it’s your own field.” (rato)
[T/N: Oh how punny…]
“Sadina’s species?” (naofumi)
“Yes, they’re famous for being the strongest in the Aquatic species and a rare species. It’s been said that even Hakuko would flee when opposing them in the sea.” (rato)

Amazing. So she’s the strongest in the right conditions. Well, orca was written as the tiger of fish. [T/N: Orca = 鯱. 魚 = fish, 虎 = tiger]
Gaerion tried to spit flames but before his eyes, Sadina leapt out onto the water’s surface, encased in water.
That form was a dragon made from water.

“Enraged Dragon’s Twin Blades!” (sadina) [T/N: 激龍双刃?]

With a splash, Gaerion fell into the water tank again.
He looked to have received damage and blood trickled from his abdomen.

“Gaerion…..” (taniko)

Taniko murmured quietly and stood up.

“Gaerio-n!” (taniko)
“One more time! Reverse Prong Attack!” (sadina) [T/N: 逆叉撃 ?]

The water current Sadina was clad in, formed a tail and hit Gaerion in the stomach.

“….so tough.” (sadina)

The tired Sadina descended and took some quick breaths. Gaerion spit out black flames in the water.
The encasing water was eroded by Gaerion’s black flames and disappeared.

“Ah….this is tough.” (sadina)

Sadina’s fatal technique only did this much. What a tough opponent.
The Wrath Shield’s enhancements couldn’t lower any more than this and it would be difficult for Melty and Taniko to fight.

……What should we do.
We could retreat to safety for a moment. We should be able to beat an enemy of this level if Raphtalia was here.
However, if we took too long, Firo would be in danger.
If we fell back now, we’d veer off in a bad direction…

The options remaining are…. there’s Rato.
If we use the drug or anaesthetic that stopped Firo before, we might be able to win.

“Rato, can you shoot your medicine?” (naofumi)
“Understood. I’ll have a try.” (rato)

Rato threw the syringe at Gaerion with a dark ability.
It hit the area Sadina had injured and seemed to have stuck.
However, Gaerion’s movements showed no sign of stopping.

“GYAOOOOOO!” (gaerion)

Gaerion recovered from the shock received by Sadina’s attack and cried out.
Then, he glared at us in irritation.

“Gaerion!” (taniko)

Taniko called out many times.

“Please! Come back!” (taniko)
“Hey! Wait!” (naofumi)

Taniko shook me off and ran in front of Gaerion.
It’s not that I don’t understand your feelings but think about the situation.

“GURUUUU…..” (gaerion)
“Gaerion….” (taniko)

With both arms spread out, Taniko glared as she couldn’t go any further.

“Hey! I’m begging you, return to normal!” (taniko)

Taniko’s words resounded in the vicinity.
However, I felt that it didn’t enter Gaerion’s ears.
I quickly started running, and tried to head to the front in order to help Taniko.
However, Gaerion opened his mouth wide and snapped at Taniko before I could do so.

“Air Str――” (naofumi)

I immediately called up the Air Strike Shield.
But, before that―

“…..Father! Stop it already!” (taniko)

Taniko raised her voice and shouted.