Chapter 36 – True Intentions, Divine Power, Wrath (Part 1)
Cherry Blossom Dungeon City – Dungeon #336 [Eternal Darkness] 8th Floor
The next day, we left early in the morning and headed for the tenth floor.
Since Jupiter hasn’t taken the second checkpoint, we of course start from the fifth floor.
“Even the checkpoints are registered by party, not individually. It would be nice if they did it that way,”
“Can’t be helped. If they did it that way, it would be cheating madness,”
“But you know…,”
Haruka trailed off, glancing back even further behind me as we walked through the misty swamp with sparkling planetary rings.
“Because of this annoying system, Jupiter is totally exhausted, right?”
“Here we go again…,”
I quickly looked back to check our rear for the first time in a while.
Haa…haa…, her breathing sounded like she would pass out any second.
Her limbs were trembling like a fawn’s.
“Sorry, Haruka. Let’s stop for a bit. I’ll go get her,”
I said, moving to help the silver twin-tailed girl.
“Hey Jupiter, let’s take another break,” I called gently.
Jupiter then shook her silver hair vigorously and forced a cheerful tone that was clearly just bravado.
“…I’m fine!”
“You’re clearly not fine at all!”
I mentally scolded her for not just admitting it outright.
“It can’t be helped if I’m out of breath as the rear guard,” she justified weakly.
Alright, I scooped up the little princess and sat her down on a relatively smooth purple rocky area nearby.
Making eye contact with Haruka ahead of us, Haruka gave me an “ok” hand sign and bounced back here.
“There, Jupiter. Take a nice long rest together with Haruka,” I said brightly.
“Rest is part of the adventure, you know?”
Haruka took an oral rehydration solution out of her outdoor backpack and gently brought it to Jupiter’s mouth.
She’s pretty composed in times like this, even though she’s usually so eccentric.
“…sorry, for the trouble,” Jupiter murmured softly.
“Don’t worry about it! It’s thanks to you Jupiter that we can advance safely,” Haruka reassured.
“That’s right. Everyone has strengths and weaknesses. You tells us what to do, Jupiter, and we take action. That’s called division of labor!” I added.
“That’s right!” Haruka laughed cheerfully.
Seeing our lively spirits, the mid-boss of the Grand Root quietly muttered…
“You two are so tough…I’m jealous.”
Leaning back against the purple rocks, Jupiter gazed at us longingly, seemingly from the bottom of her heart.
Is that how it seems? To me, Jupiter with her kilometer range is way more amazing than some random mob like me.
“With some training, you can move like us Jupiter! Let’s run together next time!” H
“…I dislike exercise,”
“Totally shot down!?”
Haruka cried dramatically.
Uhh, I get you Jupiter, not wanting to exercise, but you can’t improve your physical abilities without going through it.
It’s unreasonable to think you can power up without things like wearing weights of several dozen kilos while running a full marathon, or swinging your sword through 10,000 forms with different stances and muscles each time. I’m not telling you to suddenly take on crazy training like that.
First is simple stretching, then gradually increasing the intensity…The key isn’t quality or quantity, but consistency.
Unless there are extenuating circumstances forcing you to build up your muscle fortress in a year, you can start exercising at whatever level you can manage.
If you understand that, the rest will fall into place…
READ THE ORIGINAL TRANSLATION AT GADGETIZEDPANDA.COM
“Oh wait.”
“What is it, Kyoichiro?”
“I just got a good idea.”
I explained my brilliant plan to Haruka.
In response, Haruka smiled brightly and agreed.
Now I just need the approval of the person herself.
“Hey, Jupiter. I thought of a way you can relax while greatly shortening your travel time. Want to hear it?”
“I’d love to.”
Yes, got her attention. I concisely explained the gist with gestures.
My ingenious good idea is…
“How is it, valued customer? Much more comfortable now, right!”
“I admit it’s easier…but this feeling of utter defeat,”
came the reluctant voice from my back.
That’s right, my back!
Currently loaded on my back are silver twin-tails and her luggage.
Don’t underestimate this piggyback ride.
With the long range sensory Jupiter focused as our radar, Haruka and her Spirit Veil up front and around us, and my axe at the ready in case enemies appear within our formation, this is a three stage setup!
The fruits of that insane special training, running marathons with a demon lord on my back, are finally being put to use here. Mwahahaha!
“Pffft, hahahaha!”
“What’s so funny, Kyoichiro? Am I heavy?”
“Not at all. Compared to that gluttonous Demon lord, you’re light as a feather.”
Gritting my teeth as I recalled the days of hellish training, I walked along the muddy road.
One day, I’ll make that demon cry uncle with a single whack. One day!
Dungeon City Sakura – Dungeon #336 [Eternal Darkness] 10th Floor
“Stop it, don’t hurt me!”
“Diced tomatoes!”
My [Fourth-Dimensional Defense] and Haruka’s chopping combined to send the undead chuuni mummy back to the afterlife.
“Nice, now Jupiter got her checkpoint too.”
“Good work. Let’s go meet the jiggly guys.”
Chatting casually with Haruka, we headed for the transfer gate leading to the second checkpoint.
“……”
Hm?
I don’t hear footsteps behind me anymore.
Glancing back, the silver-haired girl was standing stock still.
“What’s wrong, Jupiter? Tired?”
“She must be. Come on, carry her Kyo!” Haruka urged me on.
Prodded by Haruka, I rushed over to Jupiter.
Honestly, just say so if you want a piggyback ride. I don’t mind lending my back.
With each step, Jupiter’s figure in my vision grew larger.
She really does have a delicate body, huh.
Compared to other girls her age, she’s a bit too slender.
Moreover, there’s like a black lightning sparking around her…
“Huh?”
Black lightning?
Why? There shouldn’t be any enemies left…
In that instant, a gigantic bolt of lightning fell towards the space in front of me.
“Wha!?”
I hurriedly readied my axe and assessed the situation.
Pitch black lightning, striking the same coordinates at regular intervals.
The silver-haired girl standing vacantly.
Her crimson eyes were hollow, as if devoid of life.
Clearly not in her right mind.
But approaching carelessly would be far too dangerous.
“Hey, Jupiter! Get a grip!”
“You okay, Jupiter!?”
With no other options, Haruka and I desperately called out to her.
Continually trying to reassure her that no enemies were here and to relax,
after about a minute, light finally returned to Jupiter’s eyes and the black lightning phenomenon vanished like smoke.
“Oh, I…I…”
Realizing the change in circumstances,
the color drained from Jupiter’s face.
“I…I…”
“It’s okay! Jupiter, you’re okay!”
Haruka rushed to support the girl who looked ready to collapse at any moment.
“That’s right. We won’t start disliking or hating you over something like this. Everyone here is on your side! No one will force you to do anything or get mad at you. So don’t be scared, alright?”
I carefully chose my words to reassure Jupiter.
At the same time, I pondered over analyzing the situation.
I don’t know the details without asking her directly, but she probably lost control for some reason.
When Jupiter says “I can’t control it,” she doesn’t mean she has difficulty manipulating spells.
After all, we’ve clearly witnessed with our own eyes her accurately shooting down enemies. Right?
Therefore, Jupiter’s “can’t” doesn’t refer to controlling techniques.
What she can’t control is at the very root, the innermost part.
The Special Modified Transcendent Divine Armament System [Keraunos], in other words, -her contracted spirit –
Also check out my friend Localizermeerkat for more LN translations!
BUY THE SOURCE MATERIAL TO SUPPORT THE AUTHOR !!!
Kindly click on the green button above and contribute to filling the green bar if you’re interested in having another LN from the request page translated.
Also, every donation is being used to purchase the source material and to fund more English translations.
Please consider joining my Ko-Fi membership. By becoming a member, you’ll also gain access to 2-10 additional chapters of all of the novels from this site translated into English. Last but not least your support will also assist me in upholding the translation quality and speed. For more information, please follow the link.
Donation for faster release is always welcome
Additionally, I am now accepting translation requests.
