171 To the Swamp, Part 9 - Swampman

Alpha Reese and the others have already left Schteem behind. Alphilis mumbled "I want to fight," but when I told him that Nia was not doing so well, that I couldn't afford the number of horses, and that Lifeless was chasing him, I was convinced that he was going to the swamps all the time.

Later, speaking of things that have changed,

"Is Uty coming with us?

"Of course I do! What's everybody gonna do without me?

Uty breasts Lisa's line, but

"Nothing. Hi?

"Whether you're here or not, hey?

"That's the difference between having one less pot utensil."

"That's what I'm talking about!

and as much as the utility was plugged. Of course it's everyone's joke, but this is just the right thing for Utility to do right now.

And the line goes to the swamps, but it's been quite a while since I left Steam. It's already night, so the surroundings are naturally dark, but the darkness is deep nonetheless. The light of the pine light doesn't light up much around either, and I'm sure that's not just the fault of the night. The scaffolding gradually begins to muddle, and the trees are gradually distorting into distorted and creepy shapes, presenting the appearance that has entered the wetlands. The marshland without returning is close.

"How are you?"

"Maybe we should pull a horse and walk from here."

"Yeah, the horse's gonna slip your leg."

Seeing that the horse can no longer speed as he thinks, each one gets off the horse and pulls the reins. I left Nia on the horse because it seemed better not to let her walk just yet and let her rest.

"Do you want me to explain Miranda's story?

Aerial asks questions. When it comes to Aerial, the protector of the prairie, the marshlands that do not return are out of jurisdiction. Ever since the days of the Phalanx, I've been taught not to go in there. It's also creepy as land, and the residents here have special abilities, and their location is unknown. In addition, there have been stories of strangely powerful demons coming out these days, making it an inviolable realm.

It was also something I was interested in Aerial about how I could get out of a place like that.

"There's nothing else going on. A long time ago, our church was on an expedition to the marshes, and that's when we lost the barbarians here. In the past, this swamp dweller was an aggressive invader of other lands. Because of that, it is on record that the supreme bishop of the time succeeded. He made them promise not to invade other lands at that time and not to lay their hands on Arnelian Church officials no matter what. That's right."

Of course Miriazal succeeded. Then Miriazal and his line through the marshes from north to south helped Falanx, but while Miranda could somehow imagine the matter, he lay low. Lisa's the only one who knows about Miriazal.

"Heh, when, by the way?

"Records say it was about 570 years ago."

Miranda answers the question, somewhat annoyingly, like a little mockery of Alphilis, but everyone looks anxious when they hear the answer.

"Is that promise still alive?

"... when the Arnelian Church was involved in the marshes 200 years ago, it's on record that the promise was still alive. I don't know after that."

"So, what's the address of a witch like Fairtoose?

"Probably as good as in the swamp. I don't know the exact location, either."

"There's nothing to talk about. It's like catching a cloud."

"What do you want me to do?"

Miranda can't hide her frustration from the Alphilis line. Lisa was unwittingly embarrassed, but Alphilis complained with her eyes that if it wasn't so much talk, don't wrap me around, I would have been better off fighting lifeless.

"The swamps are huge. If we don't talk to the barbarians, we're done, right?

"I know! Atashi will negotiate."

Miranda dresses up for Arnelian Sister. You thought that if it wasn't appropriate, you wouldn't be trusted to be an Arnelian church official.

Until now, the destination of the journey had been relatively determined, or a journey with guidance. But this time it's a precarious journey to walk on thin ice. That doesn't mean everyone can hide their anxiety. In the meantime, Lisa utters more words.

"More than that, I've heard of marshland demons and 'marshmen' who draw humans into the marshes and eat them."

"I think it's a fact. Even when they actually conquered it, that's why they did it."

Hear Miranda's answer and Lisa makes her expression strong. Marshmen in the marshes are only famous for their names even in the Middle Plains as barbarians. In the past, as one of the few people to give to the Demon King, he was abhorred. I'm not sure if it solves the most human language, and I'm even suspicious if it's really human from where they say it eats humans. They rarely see themselves anymore after the war season, but I still hear stories about sometimes taking young people, so I guess they exist. It is in the closest state to legend.

"If it doesn't make sense"

"... about my arm is good. Prioritize everyone's safety."

Did Nia wake up, or have you been asking? It still seems a little hard to talk about, but it was a desperate look for me to get my feet together.

"Still, why are you feeling so ill? The Beast Man is vitally powerful, and I did travel quite a long distance about first aid after my arm was cut, but it can't be this bad."

"The magic of the wind that cut Nia's arm contained the attributes of darkness. Because the attributes of darkness are poisonous to humans and beasts"

Alphilis answers Uty's question. It was a little utility to the word.

"If you realize that, why didn't you tell me sooner!?

"There's nothing you can do about it, is there? Poisons by witchcraft can only be wiped out by witchcraft, and dark attributes cannot be wiped out without darkness or light. Me or Miranda can't use healing magic, and Uty is water, right? I don't talk about anything I can't do about it. It's my personality."

"So!

When Uti is about to say something, Alphilis grabs that body.

"Muggle!

"Shh."

Alphilis took control of everyone. Hi. I think I detected something wrong with the air.

"Lisa, any sign?

"No, nothing..."

One side has already come to swamps enough to fill the toes. It's not that deep, but it's hard to walk. But as the marshes deepen, strangely, there are gradually more trees. Ordinary wetlands should make your chi a dead tree and reduce the number of copies, but on the contrary, the trees grew and there were many black like leaves that didn't give you a sense of life. The shape of the tree also became distorted, as if it had strayed into the legendary cursed forest as well. The humidity is high and I'm not sure if it's because of the mud, it has some rotten unpleasant odor in it.

"... I'm here."

"Lisa doesn't feel anything..."

"It's an unusable sensor. Under the swamp!

As Alphilis screamed, everyone's body suddenly sank to their hips in the swamp. At the same time, a warcraft the size of a serpent appears to surround the Alphilis, with a carcass as muddy as a giant hill from the swamp and a gutted tooth.

"Wow!

"What is it, what are you?

"Swamp Hill? Even so, it's too big!

"Damn, I can't move!! All of a sudden the swamp's getting heavy, huh?

"Naturally. It's magic, this."

Alphilis answers all the time. Only Alphilis had his body not sunk in the swamp.

"I see, the combined magic of water, soil and trees? I know it's a way to catch the target, but this works. It's hard to decurse. It also seems to prevent sensors. I thought you were just a barbarian pulling into such a shady land, but why would you do that?"

"Alfie, don't say anything swallowing, do something about it. Yo!

"... you're so loud. You don't have to tell me. I'll do something."

Alphilis replied to Miranda's anger, sighing. Marsh Hill looms in front of you.

"Mixed fish!

But when Alphilis rattled his fingers with his pussy, Hill, who had more than 10, flew in unison. Alphilis put up a line of defense with an electric shock in front of him, but it just seemed like Hill flew away to other humans too early in the day.

And even more from the swamp, the big man shows up. It is a giant, violet-like organism with six eyes attached side by side. But his head is strangely large for his body, and he stands up with his feet and tail cleverly. But when Alphilis caught sight of it, the creature also stopped moving forward, solidifying in fright.

"That's no big deal. That's it!?

Alphilis screams around. Then people floated out of the swamp this time. Surprisingly, the man's body was gray. You don't just have mud on your body, you really have a gray body. The man is only wearing a crude hipster roll, he has a munch in his hand made of wax, and he is desperate to munch in an earlier wax. However, he still looks at Alphilis and doesn't even move with Pickle. Am I right to say I can't move?

More humans come out of the swamp one after the other. Now he had various weapons in his hands, spears, bows dominated. In addition, some people wear masks made of some kind of bone on their faces. When they join hands, the swamp swells, and the body of Alphilis sprinkles with mud that has become like a serpent. But even that, when Alphilis gripped one of them, everything just went back to mud. See how it goes, and the upset runs on the swamp guy just like that.

"Ha! It hurts one stomach to try all this magic on me. This swamp is gonna get fat!

Alphilis creates a thunderball in his hand. The swamps panicked to see how it was, but Alphilis, already awakened to the joy of battle, had no mercy on the swamps trying to escape either.

"I'm not dying!

"No!!

Miranda jumps and stops the Alphilis sorcery. The thunderball of Alphilis, whose aim was because of it, exploded with a direct hit to a tree far above it. Trees blow up around it, and the day points to the swamps that should have been dark. Soon, the night was dawning. It was late two nights ago when I fought Lifeless, and it was even more nighttime when I arrived at Steam, so they almost stopped traveling for the whole two days.

The light you shoot illuminates Alphilis and Miranda.

"Miranda, what do you do?

"Don't kill me! That's where we lose our hitters."

"You defied me, these guys!?

"Still! Be patient!

Control Alphilis with a sword screen where Miranda won't pull a step. Alphilis compromised in a stare that lasted awhile.

"... okay, I'll pull you off. But there's no next time."

"... yes"

Alphilis pulled with a tongue punch and Aerial, who had escaped the swamp earlier, neither pulled Lisa or the horse off nor tried to help.

And the remaining Miranda raises her voice.

"Can anyone talk!? Atashi is a priest of the Arnelian Church, Miranda!

Then, an upset runs among the swamps. Eventually, from behind, a slightly older looking man emerged. But when he looked closely at his face, many of the marshmen had bad eyes, and his eyes were white and cloudy, and his eyelids were swollen. I could imagine that the identity would be revealed by the amount of decoration, from where people whose age was hard to tell from the appearance, but who had a lot of body decoration, would discuss it somewhat.

Eventually the one with the most decorations will stand before Miranda.

"Arnelian Church... and what's the proof?

"I got dirty, but I have this robe and my ID. But it may not be what you know from your time."

"White hood and robe, blonde hair... yes, fine. I'll admit you to the Arnelian Church."

"Hey, can I just admit it that easy?

Miranda stares at the man slightly suspiciously. But the man didn't seem to care.

"Or I don't mind. Well, we don't know what the details are. However, the woman with the white hood, robes and blonde hair sees and decides to miss it. Well, that's the deal."

"Otherwise?

"Oh, take me back inside us... guffaw"

"Uh, no. Don't tell me."

The man smiled invincibly, so Miranda somehow knew beyond that. No way. I didn't think it was a proper promise. Perhaps I can't remember the most detailed promises to this swamp man. Still, it's been protected for nearly 600 years, so it must be a big deal. Maybe that's all Miriazal was thoroughly rammed up. Miranda thinks a little about what she did, and she shivers imagining Miriazal when she's a demon. When I thought about the unforgiving cage, I even felt a little sorry for the swamps.

"(It's called Faranx, it's called Swampman... you're really out everywhere, that Baba)"

The swamps talk to Miranda, who is half impressed and half frightened.

Continued