From the moment Gordiana and Hao were caught off guard, time rewound slightly. Hazama Shemhazai, one of the Three Authorities of Authority and the perpetrator of the surprise attack, had confronted Dorothy even earlier than them, initiating the first battle on the continent.
“Kakhakhakha! What a strange woman! I never expected you to follow me underground!”
“And you yourself are the one digging through the earth while laughing aloud. I don’t imitate you, but I am impressed.”
No, it might be an exaggeration to say they started fighting. Looking at the current situation, it wasn’t a state where they could be described as being locked in a fierce battle.
Let’s organize the situation. At their first encounter, Hazama had been hit by Dorothy’s attack, which sent him to the underworld and created a large hole in his chest. However, he regenerated the decaying flesh as if nothing had happened and engaged Dorothy in conversation, provoking her. Furthermore, he extended unsettling fleshy tentacles from beneath his robe, creating a tense atmosphere that suggested an imminent battle.
But, for reasons unknown at this point, Hazama turned his back on Dorothy, burrowed into the ground, and disappeared. Dorothy initially braced herself, thinking he intended to launch a surprise attack from underground. However, no matter how long she waited, Hazama did not emerge from the ground, nor did any apparent attack come. Furrowing her brow, Dorothy naturally thought:
(…Did he run away?)
A warrior counted among the Ten Authorities, furthermore one of the Three Authorities of Authority, had run away? Dorothy doubted the thought that crossed her mind. Yet, Hazama still did nothing. Moreover, his presence was continuously moving further away from Dorothy. In that case—her doubt turned into certainty. Hazama had actually run away from the fight with Dorothy, without hesitation, and with great confidence.
“Is it a trap, or are you unbelievably cowardly?”
Dorothy remained expressionless, but she seemed slightly irritated. Her words carried a subtle pressure.
“Kaka! Fighting you seems troublesome. I’ll leave the opponent to Eld and go defeat someone weaker!”
“…Well, either way, I have no intention of letting you go. Be prepared.”
At that moment, several invisible bows and arrows materialized around her. The tips of these arrows were directed downwards, towards Hazama.
“Severing into the underworld.”
Along with her voice, bundles of corrosive arrows were unleashed. The arrows, which had burrowed into the White Wing Land’s ground, tracked Hazama’s fleeing presence underground without losing any of their power. They rapidly closed the distance, this time intending to obliterate his entire being, not just a part of his body. …But.
“…His presence has split?”
Just before the arrows hit, Hazama’s presence split. And it wasn’t just splitting into two. The number of presences easily exceeded a hundred, and continued to increase. Furthermore, each of them exuded the exact same presence as Hazama, with no discernible difference. Dorothy had no idea which one was the real one.
“… ”
Though Dorothy had never met Hazama before and had yet to see his face, for some reason, she could picture his mocking smile. Hazama, that god, was irrevocably twisted in personality. Dorothy seemed to have concluded this. While she might be prone to assumptions, in reality, her deduction was spot on.
“—Target reacquired on the firing line with maximum efficiency, reloading next shot along with pursuit.”
Dorothy’s magical control flexibility after completing the Divine Might Ritual was beyond comparison to when she fought Kelvin in the versus match. The arrows that had been aimed at a single target now scattered in different directions with a single word from her, pursuing relentlessly like a hunter to take down more targets. While she couldn’t defeat all of Hazama’s multiplying presences, the number of defeated decoys and the number of multiplying ones were in a stalemate. Or rather, as the next volleys of arrows were being fired one after another, the total number of fakes was steadily decreasing.
“Hoh, so you’re crushing the decoys with brute force. However, to use such powerful magic on this scale… Strange, wasn’t it the ‘Grim Reaper’ who possessed bottomless magic power? Honestly, the Fallen Angels’ reports are unreliable. Kakhakhakha!”
“Is that so? Then why don’t you experience it for yourself?”
Amidst the subterranean barrage of corrosive arrows, a delicate voice, seemingly out of place, was heard. The owner of that voice was, of course, Dorothy, who was supposed to be indiscriminately firing attacks on the surface. It shouldn’t have been audible here. However. Whether it was a dream or an illusion, when Hazama turned around, Dorothy was indeed there. Her lower body had transformed into that of a mermaid, and she was ferociously swimming through the earth.
“Hey, hey, what is this?! You look completely different from before! Kakhakhakha, and so fast!”
In this form, Dorothy was able to use the Unique Skill ‘World Swimming’ of the Divine Pillar, the Divine Whale Zephal, with whom she had fused during the Divine Might Ritual. The power to swim through the world meant she could travel at the same speed as if she were in water, regardless of the location. Of course, there was no issue with breathing.
Although it shared similarities with the skill ‘Earth Diving’ for burrowing into the ground, this ability was a complete superior version, as it could achieve maximum speed by swimming. Hazama, who advanced frighteningly fast by skillfully parting the earth with his disgusting tentacles, was nonetheless greatly outpaced by the mermaid-like Dorothy.
“By the way, how did you know where the real me was? My seeds, scattered as decoys, should have emitted the same presence as me, shouldn’t they?”
“I don’t have enough free time to tell you every little detail. Stop those disgusting legs and get yourself killed already.”
Dorothy never revealed her hand. Explaining that she had discerned the battle situation underground from all the invisible arrows she had unleashed would offer her no benefit. Confirming if enemies hit were eliminated, observing if any individuals were acting suspiciously compared to others, and sensing various other elements through the arrows—as a result, she had succeeded in locating the real Hazama.
To ensure his certain demise, Dorothy had come herself. However, the situation from here on would become even more challenging. No matter how much of his body Dorothy damaged with an attack, Hazama would regenerate it almost instantly. The target should be the complete vaporization of his body, or weak points of the human body like the head or heart, but whether these would be effective means remained a mystery.
“Severing into the underworld.”
From the invisible bow she had deployed (which, like her, could be used underground), Dorothy unleashed several arrows. The arrows struck Hazama’s head and what appeared to be his heart, and she repeatedly shot him, intending to annihilate his entire body.
“—Kaka! You truly are a merciless girl! You move around so much, prickling me! If it were anyone else, they would be dead, you know? Huh?”
However, even his rotten head and heart were instantly regenerated by Hazama, who swelled his flesh and restored himself in an instant. His robe was in tatters, but as long as even a single piece of flesh remained, Hazama could regenerate himself instantly from any state.
“…It seems you possess a more interesting body than I imagined.”
“Kaka, I don’t want to hear that from you!”
Since then, the chase between Dorothy and Hazama has continued until now. Dorothy’s magic shows no signs of depletion, nor does Hazama’s stamina. And neither of them shows any sign of giving up. It almost seems like they would continue this endless chase indefinitely.
There is a method of stopping time with the S-Rank Time Magic [Fall Completely] and finishing him off without question. However, with both Dorothy and her opponent currently underground, this is also difficult. This is because, while the world’s time is stopped, Dorothy is unable to move freely. Her current ability, ‘World Swimming,’ would also cease to function, and in that situation, the surrounding earth would become a hindrance. In that regard, ‘Time Magic’ and ‘World Swimming,’ which stops time, are not always omnipotent and sometimes do not mesh well.
“Well, I’m getting tired of running, too. Let’s turn things around now.”
The final episode of the anime adaptation of ‘Black Summoner’ will finally be broadcast starting today.
The author was extremely satisfied with the wonderful anime adaptation…!
Also, currently ‘Black Summoner’ is updated on Saturdays, and ‘The Black sisters’ Camp Meal’ was updated every three days. However, from the next update, we will reverse this.
Although it’s a liberty, thanks to ‘Black Summoner’ being adapted into novels and catching up to the original, we need to build up a stock. Well, that’s how it is.
Both works have many interconnected settings, but we look forward to your continued support.
