Volume 2 - CH 438

10-24. Retreat

A sound was left behind.

The body floats in the air without understanding anything.

The pillars of earth around collapse, crumble into pieces with the pressure of the wind, and turn into sand and dust.

The ground is torn apart, water that covered it bursts and splashes, the barrier shatters into pieces.

How much air was accumulated at this point?

This is no longer an explosion in the dimension of rupture.

It is an annihilation.

I have no idea how many explosives it would take to cause a similar explosion.

How much damage did that small sphere cause?

There is no way to confirm it now.

Reizen and I, who witnessed the explosion from an extremely close distance, are easily blown away.

Or so it should have been.

“Uggh?! Gha! Hurd! It hurt it hurt it hurt!!”

“Ouchouchouch!! Yo! It doesn’t really affect me, but it still hurts!”

Bouncing off the ground a few times, I roll around with a rumble.

It seems Reizen managed to take a good fall position, but I don’t have such skills, so I just wait to come to a stop.

It hurts.

Then, someone supports my back, and finally, the momentum stops.

It felt gentler than I expected, so I didn’t understand what it was, but when I looked up, Uchikage was there.

It seems he saved me.

“Are you both safe, Ouren-sama and Rerizen-dono?”

“Uchikage! We’re saved!”

“I’m sorry for the rough way of helping… Since it was impossible to escape while carrying you from that explosion, I threw you away midway…”

“It’s better than a direct hit! Thank you!”

No, I’m really grateful.

I thought we could make it with that, though…

…I guess not. Is it useless even with that?

Damn it, this area is outside the range of the wide-area heal I set up.

Of course, it is.

For now, I should heal myself.

“What… What happened to everyone else?”

“Tenda is taking care of them. The devils seemed to have escaped in an instant, so they’re safe. I confirmed it with my own eyes.”

“That’s a relief…”

But Tenda can’t move as fast as Uchikage, right?

I wonder how he managed to protect everyone.

It’s not like he punched the air or anything like that, right?

…Oh, wait, that shouldn’t be possible, right?

I mean, he might be capable of doing something like that, but…

Doshahh!!

As I’m looking towards the direction of the explosion, it seems someone has fallen nearby.

Surprised, I look over there, and it turns out to be Dacia and Mana, both in a sorry state.

“Hey! Are you okay?”

“Gah… Can you… heal us, please?”

“Of course! Drink this!”

First, I hand them the Recovery Water, and at the same time, I use Great Heal to treat them.

These two must have jumped up when the explosion occurred.

With that range, if they didn’t get high enough, they would have been damaged by the blast…

After healing both of them, they start to catch their breath.

They should also be recovering from fatigue thanks to the Recovery Water… Well, it’s hard to catch your breath after something like that.

“We’re saved… It was a miracle that we managed to glide here…”

“Damn it… Even though I touched him…! He… was able to dealing with it…”

“Wasn’t Mana’s skill effective?”

It seems they were able to touch the voice of heaven just before the explosion.

But their skills didn’t activate and were ineffective.

There seems to be a way to deal with all skills…

Or rather, can’t I really use my ultimate technique?

“…【 Ouryuu’s Decision】 “

“”!?””

…Kill the four voices.

…Or seal them.

…But, there was no announcement, so I don’t know if it works.

Then, Dacia shouted.

“What are you doing, Ouren?!”

“Holy shi- You startled me damn it! What’s wrong?”

“That is Hiwa’s secret technique! With it, he erases the memories of anyone other than devils and thwarts those who attempt to revive them! It’s a powerful skill… no, a skill that rivals the power of the gods! What did you use it for?”

“I… I couldn’t use it… When he flicked my forehead, he placed a restriction on this skill. It seems I can’t use it against the voices, but I wondered if I really could… Just a little.”

“Whew… I see, that’s good.”

Dacia breathed a sigh of relief, visibly relieved. Mana, who had been silently observing the conversation behind her, was one of them.

Does this have such a severe cost…?

During the Seiryuu’s Judgment, it was more gentle… I should be careful about when I use it.

But even if I can’t use it against them, it’s pointless.

Damn it…

“By the way, there are things we need to discuss with you.”

“I understand as well. When we have time, let’s talk.”

“If we have time…”

Nyuhh.

Theik’s head appeared in the empty space.

“Oh, there you are.”

“”UWAAAAA-?! Theik?!””

“Chill man. It’s my skill.”

Theik released Karna and Tenda from his storage skill.

He also jumped up and managed to catch his breath outside.

“Phew, you guys are safe!”

“That was close! Well, if the Oni-nii-chan didn’t save us, it would’ve been impossible.”

“Haha… Thanks to Theik-dono, it was easier to regroup.”

“Hey hey… Please stop using honorifics with me. Oni-nii-chan doesn’t suit honorifics…”

For the time being, everyone is safe, which is the most important thing.

But we lost sight of them…

Even if we search from here, we can’t see through the smoke, so all we can do for now is wait.

But I’m sure they’ll show up again, I’m confident in that.

“Anyway… What should we do about this? We don’t stand a chance… Also, the devils bro! Where are the reinforcements?”

“…They’re not coming.”

“Why not?”

“…They seem to be fighting the voices of land. Those bastards… they intend to exterminate our brethren…”

“I see! So they didn’t run away after all!”

Each of them is going to eliminate the devils that are causing them trouble… that’s my guess.

The devils must hold a grudge since they’ve been continuously trying to prevent the voice’s revival…

I want to do something, but if we can’t even win against the voice of heaven, there’s nothing we can do.

What’s with that compressed air?

I’ve never made anything like that before!

I was thrown outside the range of the wide-area heal, wasted my magical power, and failed to seal the explosion.

Even with the seal, the damage was that severe…

If Reizen hadn’t come, it would have been even worse.

“…Ouren-sama.”

Tenda comes in front of me.

He kneels down and bows his head.

What now…?

“I have something I want to try.”

“What…? Is it something that requires such formality?”

“Yes.”

Everyone, who doesn’t understand, looks at Tenda with suspicion.

There’s a dangerous premonition.

Looking at Dacia, who seems to understand everything, he nods slightly.

I don’t know what it’s about, but I don’t understand what Tenda is trying to do in the first place.

Let’s start by listening to him.

“…What do you want to try?”

“I want to become Akki.”