Jujutsushi 66
Chapter 66: Enter the Hero
White. The light was a blinding white.
That intense white light blew away all the insects around me like a storm. Pawn Ants, despite being human-sized, were blasted off, swarm and all. Burned by the light, chopped up, their legs and body sections became individual pieces. The horde of insects literally disintegrated into ash from the white light.
The torrent of light further raged forwards as a gigantic shining sword and gouged into the ground. It split the ant horde and even slashed through the castles of gray, the Rook Spiders, like tofu in a split second.
The two spiders fell and the mantises and ants were reduced to half their numbers. Overpowered. Now this, this felt like real magic.
No, not quite –– this was the power of the Hero.
“I’m here for you, Sakura”
Behind flowing locks of black hair, the light of determination could be seen from the eyes of the handsome and strong boy who stood there, his glimmering sword drawn.
It was the hero. It was, Souma Yuuto.
Shiramine Academy’s most perfect male student. The man most suitable for the title of Hero.
“Nii-san!”
“Thank God you’re safe, Sakura. Everyone too. But, it’s dangerous here, we have to get out quickly!”
As he shouted, he brandished his sword of light again. Then the white light, like a tornado, revolved around his blade, getting bigger and bigger.
There was no technique needed to accomplish his task. Before the destructive power of his light, the relentless ants, and even the mantis Natsukawa-san was dealing with, evaporated.
“Let’s move people! Yuuto-kun has cleared the way!”
Everyone’s reaction was quick, they’d moved even before Class Rep had spoken. Except for me, I was still slightly dumbfounded.
I mean, hell! Souma-kun’s power was way too overwhelming. It made our previous struggles look like child’s play.
Haha, fucking idiot Yokomichi. This here’s the real cheat!
“Let’s go, Kotori!”
“Mm, Asuna-chan!”
Kenzaki-san came to pick up Takanashi-san, easily dealing with the mantis and ants still frozen due to words of rejection. I was completely ignored, She grabbed onto the small girl’s hand and started running.
“Kotarou-kun!”
“I’m okay, handle those ants please”
The only one thinking of me, was of course, Mei-chan. I was so thankful for that, I could cry. But, I didn’t need her to grab my hand like Takanashi-san. Since there were still so many ants, I had to work Mei-chan just a little longer so that the path Souma-kun had cleared out wouldn’t be over run.
“Guys! Over here!”
Souma-kun, though not as intensely as the first time, was still waving around his sword, curb-stomping the horde of ants. Behind him, a huge hole had opened up, one we couldn’t find in our initial search.
So, the passage was actually buried? I see. Souma-kun had come from the other side, he’d broken the wall and created this hole.
Finally finding the exit, I dashed to it with all the speed my legs could muster and somehow managed to slide through.
“I’m the last one! Close it now!”
“Got it, get back a little, Momokawa”
I tumbled to the side to avoid getting in the way of Souma-kun’s attack. Turning around, I saw a scene of countless ants coming at us like a black tsunami.
“HAA!!”
With that shout, came another flash of light. Aiming at the entrance plus any ants there, the sword of light cut –– causing the once open hole to be buried under a pile of earth and rubble.
“....Haaa”
That’s when I could finally sigh in relief.
“Ahh, nii-san, thank god, thank god...”
“I’m sorry Sakura, making you worried and all...”
“.....Haa”
Then I sighed in exasperation. Sure you could say it was a heartfelt reunion between siblings, but I couldn’t give one shit.
“Alright everyone, I know you’re tired, but we should get moving quickly. There’s a transfer circle not too far from here. We should use that to leave this insect cave ASAP”
Everyone raised a cheer. Of course, we all wanted to escape from this giant insect hell.
Even if we stayed, considering the ability of those ants, they could probably clear out the collapsed wall pretty quickly. You really can’t afford to relax anywhere in this place.
With dead tired bodies, we moved along the cave, Souma-kun leading.
“ ––Seriously, it’s great we could all reunite again”
“Even so, how did you know where we were?”
“It was a coincidence really. But when I got close enough to Sakura, the lux elemental showed me the way”
“Eh? Nii-san, you can also use Summon Lux Elemental?”
“Well, when I noticed, I’d learned it already. But unlike yours, it’s more blue-ish”
Like this, he said as he put out his finger, manifesting a light blue phosphorescent light. It flew around like a firefly, then disappeared.
“I never thought, it could work for searching”
“You got it, maybe because you also use elementals? The others don’t look like they understand”
And, after going over some details on how he happened to rushed over, Souma-kun turned towards me.
“By the way, that’s Momokawa, and the person next to him...”
Before this, Souma-kun was already partied up with her sister, meeting the others along the way. Mei-chan and I were certainly the new faces here. Well I guess he needs a greeting?
“I’m a Shaman. And this is Futaba-san, she’s a Berserker”
I told the truth. We couldn’t exactly lie anymore since Takanashi-san possessed a skill to see others’ calling and skills. So there was no longer a point in hiding Mei-chan’s calling.
“Is it your calling that made you so, slim”
“I, I guess... Uhm, hello”
Souma-kun looked a little, no, quite bewildered actually.
Well, it’s no surprise, when any classmates saw the current Mei-chan, they had a similar reaction. Since it’s a totally dramatic before and after effect, like the ones you see in those fishy dieting advertisements.
“You really saved us back there, Souma-kun. Thank you”
In front of the school’s no.1 "Ikemen", Souma-kun, Mei-chan wasn’t shy or nervous. She expressed thanks and showed a genuine smile. I wonder if it’s because she’s been accustomed to battle, that she could act so brazen?
Maybe she’d already fallen for Souma-kun who appeared super cool from the earlier rescue.
Women are said to be realistic creatures. It wouldn’t be strange if she abandoned a weak shaman like me for a braver, more reliable and cool hero.
She might be interacting with me normally now, but soon enough, she’d start to subtly take distance and.... Fuck, it’s depressing just thinking about it.
“There’s the room we want”
Apparently, we’d arrived at our destination. The place he pointed to was, I see, it was another one of those places where the cave bits end and stone dungeon starts.
As we entered, we were on a path leading straight to the boss room. Similar to the one in the Orthus’ room, I could see a faintly glowing magic circle engraved on a platform.
“Ah, I just remembered, we didn’t collect the cores from the Rook Spiders”
“Don’t worry about it class rep. Since I already defeated the monster that was already in this room, we can use its core”
“I’m impressed, Yuuto-kun”
“It was weaker than the Cerberus, so maybe that’s why I could solo it. Anyway, let’s quickly get inside. If this works the same as the previous ones, then we should be able to teleport to a fairy square”
We were in dire need of some rest, so his suggestion was welcome. We’ll be humbly making use of the core Souma-kun had.
Everyone entered the circle in practiced movements. Finally, Souma-kun, who held the soft ball sized red crystal, the core, spoke,
“Okay, I’ll start it up”
The core reacted immediately, letting out an ample volume of light. As if melting into the light, the core began to slowly crumble. At the same time, the magic circle below began it’s own flickering. When that light got intense enough to blind us of our surroundings, that’s when we’d get teleported.
So basically, we’re out of here in less than 10 sec ––
“ –– Wah!”
Suddenly, I felt a force on my body. I was pushed. From the back, strongly.
I yelled like an idiot as the hard stone floor made its way to me, all I could manage to do was pull up my hands so that I wouldn’t land face first.
“Ouch!?”
It was falling damage. I’d pitched forward and fallen to the floor. I was just standing normally, how come I suddenly fell?
The reason was obvious. I was pushed –– but by who?
“Ke-Kenzaki-san… ”
I turned around to find, Kenzaki Asuna, with both her hands stuck out, she’d stiffened up in that posture. Her expression could be described as stupefied, or perhaps blank, herself not understanding what she’d just done.
That, was the last I saw of them.
“Kotarou-kun!?”
“No, Futaba-san! It’s dangerous to jump out now!”
All around me was already white. Beyond that, there was Mei-chan’s desparate voice calling to me, and also Souma-kun’s voice trying to stop her.
“A-Ahh –– ”
Before I could return any words, there was only silence. After that, I could see again.
There was only the faintly glowing magic circle.
No one else, nothing else.
“No, noo… ”
In other words, I’d been left behind.
Editor here. This chapters ends Momokawa's perspective for 3 more chapters, after which this arc, lion mask called it 'Cannibalizer', ends. Don't worry, the next arc ends worse. Also, next weeks chapters may be late.
Saw it coming (as it was mentioned in latest chapters), but still, what a bitch.
ReplyDeleteThanks 4 the chapter!
ReplyDeleteWhere's that warrior pride now? She pushed a guy weaker than her. The "Hero" party are a bunch of hypocrite.
Hey when you get the shut beat out of you really fuck you up
Deleteits just her reflect to have 'revenge' who bully her
DeleteBut the berserker (Mei) was the one who beat the shit out of her
Deletethanks for this part..
ReplyDeletei thinks mei still can jump out if not because hero...
nice NTR :v #just.kidding
It won't be ntr cause we all know what would happend if futaba got angry
DeleteWow, never saw that coming
ReplyDeletedamn that kenzaki is making the name ASUNA look bad
ReplyDeletewhat a total bitch....
Before jumping on the Kenzaki hate train, I’d implore all of you to look at the right-in-your-face excuse paragraph that describes her as not understanding why she pushed our beloved MC. There’re only three plausible reasons she would look confused:
ReplyDelete1. She acted on impulse/for revenge (from the current comments, I take this is the most widespread belief): This is unlikely. Despite her trauma, it was mentioned in chapter 60 that her fearful attitude was aimed at Futaba, not Momokawa. Her obedience to the pair was borne through this fear, in conjunction with her pride (to uphold her promise of obeying the stronger individual). Her distrust/dislike of Momokawa is quite insignificant in comparison to her fear of Futaba - it certainly isn’t enough to permit an act that would put her at risk of an even harsher, more violent beating at least. No. I don’t think Kenzaki would do such a thing of her own free will (which is reflected in the aforementioned paragraph).
2. A rule with the summoning circle permitted only 5 + Hero to teleport: Considering the fact that the final summoning circle has a ‘party limit’ (I believe that was noted in one of the earlier chapters), it’s possible that a similar restriction is in place for all other circles as well (excluding the Hero, who has the almighty Plot Armor - or perhaps the limit is actually 6). It would make sense that Momokawa, being the last to step on the circle, and far enough from the centre to be pushed off without resistance, would be ejected in this case. The method of ejection, however suspicious, cannot be discounted... Although, it also cannot be verified, given the fact we’re given no specifics on the nature of the magic circles. That being the case, consider this final possibility:
3. Kenzaki was controlled by someone else: It may sound like a bit of a long-shot, but hear me out. Kenzaki is in a state of mental fatigue (first from losing to Futaba and then, immediately afterwards, facing two do-or-die encounters, the latter of which would have been hopeless if not for Yuuto) as well as physical. Even for a warrior of her prowess, being saved just before being overrun by monsters would leave her vulnerable. Vulnerable to an individual who has the power to force others to act against their will, albeit only physically. Yes, I speak of Takanashi’s Sacred Tongue. Our resident Oppai Loli even has the motives to do so: the desire to remove Momokawa from the party (this is, hopefully, a minor incentive at best, although I can it being higher in priority if she was requested to do so if an opportunity presented itself by Sakura) and remove two possible rivals in love (this is a big contender). Kenzaki will surely be questioned after the teleportation is completed, staining her reputation in the eyes of Yuuto. After all, why would she doom him without a second thought? How heartless... One down. Futuba will undoubtedly react violently in response to her actions, likely needing to be restrained by said Yuuto as well. This, Takanashi might hope, would paint Futuba as a violent woman (which isn’t technically wrong). That’s 2/4 (or 2/3 if she neglects Sakura) rivals taken care of. And heck, even if she gets caught she can easily spin up a story to defame Momokawa and take the ‘it was for your own good Futuba, he was controlling you!’ route. She has nothing to lose and everything to gain (or so she would think), so I’d consider this scenario quite likely.
And so, with 1 being ruled out, your hate would be better spent directed at Lore or Takanashi (possibly with Sakura as a behind-the-scenes instigator).
Thank you for the chapter.
No kenzaki gay
Deleteeven without pushing momokawa out of the circle i already hate her lol
DeleteI agree with 1, it's not so much a reason but setting the stage. 2 is baseless assumptions. There's no hint of limited people in normal teleports. 3 is quite interesting actually, evil genius loli would be a very good twist. Plus kotori is the closest to Asuna right from when hero arrived. You could write it off as friendship, but with your theory in mind, I'm thinking that Asuna might have been under light mind control from before the two met hero and gang. Also, let's not forget that kotori has the information advantage almost all the time. And there's no reason for her to tell everyone about the full extent of her powers. Here's a bit of my speculation, can an actual dumb crybaby really be worthy of the job of sage? Since we know that jobs are really wishy washy, and can change to reflect the current self, we can also assume that someone's job is where they can show their true potential. Kotori is described as having allies to protect her from bullies. Which you can interpret as her being able to turn relations from neutral to good, but not bad to neutral. In other words, she's been able to manipulate good hearted people for a while now, even without rpg powers. Basically, I think kotori could be a last boss ish character.
DeleteI'm just going to say Asuna is screwed. Because Mei will most likely go berzerk since she is basically relayent on/in love with (I'm honestly not sure which one or if it's a mix of both) the MC and let's all remember 3 facts.
ReplyDelete1. She is a BERSERKER.
2. After she goes berserk she will only listen to the MC because of her skill "One who hears. (The effect is )hear the voice(MC's voise) from afar. Regect not, rampage not, listen to it with certainty." (Basicly even in bersek mode she will still listen to the MC and he can forcefully stop her bersek state). From chapter 27.
3. Unless it's the MC (due to her skill) only someone with equal or greater streagth can stop her.(but the plot armored "hero" will most likely stop her because he is a stereotypical hero but it would be nice Mei beat the shit out of him anyway)
Thank you for the chapter!
ReplyDeleteWell If our MC could go the easy way out, we would't be reading this author work. Now I hope Mei chan can give some other violence sandwish to the swordwoman, that was low, not matter what.
ReplyDeleteLolololol this was one of the scenarios i thought of but i expected this the least ik the mc would split up now but i didnt think futaba wouldnt be with him please futaba rampage and kill the others
ReplyDeleteI hope it goes in fitaba pov then when she in trouble later mc pops up and saves the day
ReplyDeleteKenzaki is so dead right now... but honeslty, i really wonder how Momokawa will be alone. If the hate is not much, maybe he can cast Rem again, but otherwise, he'll have to be on his own until Futaba go back for him.
ReplyDeleteAnyways, how is the dungeon works? At first i tought it was some kind of "go depper, and defeat the bosses to reach another level", but that's mean that Yuuto get rid of the totem trio, defeated a boss and got to the next level, and defeated another without using the core, and finally, he made to the group and saved them. It's so convenient and so... weird?
Now that the Yuusha sama is back with his cheat powers, there's no way Futaba's berserk powers are gonna work. His harem is now perfectly safe thanks to the OP Hero. Futaba's Yandere powers aren't gonna work either.
ReplyDeleteI thought it was suspicious that the Sage held him in front of the Ant before instead of using her Word or Rejection. I was the perfect time to get him killed while Futaba was busy and without suffering from the Pain Return skill we now know she knew about. She was quiet after that and a lot happened so you could have forgotten and maybe I'm just paranoid... Although she used her skill this time even though she was more shook up than before but maybe she did just reflect on her actions and resolve to do better. MC should have held on to Futaba-san when they got to the circle.
ReplyDelete