The Otherworld Antique Bookstore is a Life-Risk Chapter 12

 

Chapter 12: Kaien and Yoshua

 

The massive Romusgalhi Empire controls two-thirds of the northern continent, but there are regions in the northeast that remain beyond its rule. These include the three small northern kingdoms - Northern Light, Leen, and Fatal - as well as the Demon Realm ruled by the Demon King at the northeastern edge.

However, since the collapse of the Small Three Kingdom Alliance, the northern kingdoms have fallen to the empire one by one. Even Northern Light, which resisted the longest, lost its power after losing its main knight order in the recent war. Now the small kingdoms nominally exist as imperial allies, but are only allowed to survive as frontline bases and shields against the Demon Realm.

 

* * *

 

At the heart of the fortress network guarding the Demon Realm's borders stands a massive stronghold. This is the castle of Aizu, the female general known as the "Lion King" who commands the Demon Realm's Fourth Army.

This fortress is the key to the central part of the Demon Realm's border. If imperial forces breakthrough here, they could directly strike at Hell's Palace, the Demon King's castle, and Eastern Dome, the capital city below it.

Castle Lord Aizu was originally a leopard beastman, but mutation from the Demon Realm's miasma transformed her into a monster with a large single eye on her face and four tentacles growing from her shoulders.

"Why are our defenses being breached so easily? What on earth is happening?" Aizu demanded.

"We've confirmed the presence of a Hero in the imperial and allied kingdom forces. They're advancing with overwhelming power," reported a subordinate.

"A Hero, you say?" Aizu shouted, but quickly composed herself to avoid unsettling her troops. She began issuing orders to rebuild their shattered defenses.

Between the small kingdoms and the Demon Realm lies an area called the "Demon King's Forest," inhabited by numerous monsters made ferocious by miasma. It's not a place human soldiers can easily penetrate. The Demon Realm has used this forest as a barrier to repel imperial invasions until now.

Aizu knew from reports that the empire had been summoning Heroes with extraordinary power from other worlds for their war against the Demon Realm. She had heard unsettling stories of their might rivaling the Demon King's, of Heroes cleaving earth dragons in two with a single strike.

 

However, while Heroes occasionally appeared in the Demon King's Forest, their blades had never before reached Demon Realm territory beyond it. Each time, the Hero's presence would vanish, only for a new one to be summoned. Aizu had heard this story countless times.

"Should I say 'why now of all times,' or 'they've finally come'?" she mused.

"Three thousand elite troops have assembled in the castle, my lord. We await your orders," reported another subordinate.

"Good," Aizu replied, but she had no certainty that this would be enough to stop a Hero. With so many defenses breached like paper, she had to assume the Hero's power was real.

"To think the day would come when I'd have to use this..." Aizu's gaze fell on the Third Rank grimoire given to her by the Demon King for emergencies.

The grimoire, labeled "Ground Bomb," contained a wide-area annihilation spell that would turn the surrounding land into a dead zone through explosions and intense heat. This magic was so rare and dangerous that it now existed only in grimoire form, with no living casters remaining.

Alarm bells rang throughout the castle.

"What now?" Aizu demanded.

"My lord, look at the sky!"

Aizu rushed to the castle walls and saw a black dragon circling overhead.

"A Black Dragon?"

Suddenly, the dragon's form vanished. Two humans appeared in the castle's central courtyard.

General Aizu hurried down the stairs to find a man and woman standing calmly, surrounded by three thousand elite troops. One was a lean but muscular foreign warrior with black hair, the other a silver-haired girl in a gothic Lolita-style black dress.

"Who are you?" Aizu demanded.

"Greetings, I'm Kaien," the man replied.

"I'm Yoshua," added the girl.

Their friendly responses followed the first rule of Abyss Dungeon business etiquette: "Be gentle, not intimidating." But Aizu was in no mood for pleasantries.

"I don't care about your names. What do you want?"

"We've come to negotiate the purchase of your grimoire, as we notified you by letter recently," the foreign warrior explained.

Indeed, a month ago, Aizu had found a letter from an unknown sender on her desk in her private chambers, where no one should have been able to enter. It offered to buy her Third Rank grimoire for a suitable price, but she had dismissed it as nonsense and burned the letter without a second thought.

Now those people stood before her.

"You mentioned suitable compensation. What have you prepared that's worth this Third Rank grimoire?" Aizu inquired.

The girl answered, muttering something about "Rule Two of Abyss Dungeon business: Be concise and accurate about your purpose."

She stepped forward and produced a wooden tablet imbued with magical power.

"This is an exchange ticket. With it, you can freely access and exchange any of our Third Rank or lower fertility spells, healing spells, or grimoires we've determined to be harmless to this world."

Fertility magic that could transform dead lands into bountiful soil, and high-level healing magic that could cure incurable diseases and plagues would certainly benefit the Demon Realm. However...

"I have no proof you actually possess these things," Aizu pointed out.

"Mm, we hear that a lot," the girl replied.

Deciding the conversation was over, Aizu ordered her three thousand elite troops to dispose of the pair.

The foreign warrior remained still with his arms folded, while only the girl in front took action.

Black wings sprouted from the girl's back as she rose into the air. Her mouth began to glow intensely.

A beam of light shot forth, sweeping away the surrounding soldiers. In an instant, nearly two-thirds of the Demon Realm's Fourth Army elites were annihilated.

The remaining soldiers crumpled to the ground, losing all will to fight as they met the girl's eerily glowing eyes. General Aizu barely withstood the pressure, but it took all her strength just to remain standing.

Suddenly, a violent thunderclap echoed as the fortress's supposedly impregnable iron gate was blown away.

"Aizu, the Hero Fujikage has come for your head!"

"No, no, I, the Hero Hayate, will be the one to claim it!"

Two young men in resplendent armor appeared, both calling themselves Heroes.

"More Heroes? And two of them?!" Aizu screamed, finally losing her composure at this turn of events.

The two Heroes seemed to notice the unusual situation inside the fortress.

"Hm? Looks like something's going on here."

"Internal strife? Well, it doesn't matter if we take them all down."

The two Heroes confidently strode forward, while the foreign warrior and the black-clad girl stepped aside to let them pass. Ignoring the pair, the Heroes finally stood before Aizu.

The remaining elite troops had already lost their will to fight. It was hopeless. Aizu was certain of her own death.

In this situation, she could use the grimoire and perish along with the Heroes. But would that truly kill them?

As Aizu's mind raced through her options, she decided to take a gamble.

"You two," she addressed the foreign pair. "If you can defeat these Heroes, I'll give you my grimoire as payment."

"Mm, deal accepted," the black-clad girl replied, stepping between Aizu and the Heroes.

"I'll go," said the Hero who called himself Hayate, stepping forward. Behind him, the Hero Fujikage extended his hand and shouted, "Appraisal!"

"Hayate, that woman's a dragon. The details are garbled, but her level is higher than ours. Her status is around 4000."

"4000, huh? Pretty strong."

A beam of light shot from the girl's mouth. Hero Hayate deflected it with his greatsword, bending its trajectory. The redirected beam pierced through part of the fortress wall, shattering it to pieces.

Hayate pressed forward with a sword strike, but the black-clad girl's glowing arm blocked it. They exchanged blows for a while before separating.

Hero Hayate grinned inappropriately, while the black-clad girl had sustained several wounds, which hissed and smoked.

"As expected of a Hero, your abilities are like cheating," Aizu couldn't help but exclaim.

"What exactly is this 'status' you speak of?" she asked.

"Fujikage's appraisal ability is special. It quantifies everything we call experience and innate talent. We call those numbers 'status'," Hayate explained.

"Quantifying experience and innate talent..." Aizu mused.

"Sorry to interrupt, but it's my turn now," the foreign warrior interjected.

"Mm, I leave it to you," the girl replied, stepping back as the foreign warrior took her place before Hero Hayate.

General Aizu could only watch as events unfolded.

Kaien faced the Hero, drawing not his beloved sword "Death Sentence" from his back, but a mithril blade at his waist.

This wasn't out of disrespect for the Hero. Rather, it was to avoid instilling fear in onlookers that might arise from using "Death Sentence" with its soul-eating curse. Today's goal was business, not spreading terror and death. The motto "Always be gentle" guided this choice.

"How does he look, Fujikage?" Hayate asked.

"Haha, he's putting on airs, but this guy's a zombie!"

"A zombie? The weakest type of undead? Don't get cocky, you small fry!"

With that shout, Hero Hayate raised his greatsword.

"Wait, Hayate! Something's off-" Hero Fujikage's warning came too late.

Kaien's blade flashed, cutting down Hero Hayate in an instant.

"How could I..." Hero Hayate collapsed with an expression of disbelief.

"Apologies, I forgot to introduce myself properly. My name is Kaien," he said, turning to face Hero Fujikage.

"I know that appearance. You're a Japanese samurai. You're also a summoned being, aren't you? What were you given? What's your power?"

"Oh, just a trifling wish," Kaien replied casually.

"Damn it, Appraisal. I can't see. Appraisal!" Fujikage repeated the incantation, but beyond Kaien's name and race, everything else appeared as garbled text, unreadable.

He had been able to read nearly half the information for the dragon girl earlier. But this guy...

Hero Fujikage's "Appraisal" ability could even convert experience points into levels. The fact that he couldn't see Kaien's information meant that Kaien was not only higher level than the dragon girl, but the difference between him and Fujikage was overwhelming.

However, even through the garbled text, Fujikage could tell that the numbers representing Kaien's physical abilities were four digits. Straining his eyes, he could just make out that the thousands digit was 1. This meant Kaien's physical abilities were only around 1000.

"For a human, 1000 is on par with S-class adventurers. It's impressive for a zombie to have that strength, but..."

In terms of physical abilities, Fujikage was overwhelmingly superior. He himself only had the strength of a C-rank adventurer, but the Hero's bonus added 5000 to each of his physical stats. As the dragon girl Yoshua had said, it was like cheating.

"I'm the strongest. No one can defy me. I can even conquer the world. I'll defeat the Demon King quickly and live an easy, winning life. I won't let anyone get in my way!"

Ignoring Hero Fujikage's outburst, Kaien assumed a center guard stance with his sword.

 

* * *

In Japan's Warring States period...

The air was filled with war cries, rising flames, and the choking scent of blood smoke.

This castle had withstood a month-long siege, but its fall was imminent.

Kamiizumi Kaien, the samurai general serving the Harumiya family, prepared for a final stand with his few remaining troops before the main keep's gate, which was on the verge of being breached.

Lord Harumiya Daizen emerged from the keep's palace with his young princess to witness their last battle.

"My lord, this is farewell. Goodbye!" Kamiizumi Kaien shouted his parting words to his master, expressing gratitude for years of service.

Daizen nodded. As Kaien turned back toward the gate, a child's voice rang out belatedly.

"Kaien, fight well. Fight well!"

Princess Chiji's words strengthened Kaien's grip on his spear.

"Jihaichi, don't slack off," he called.

"Yes, sir!" Yoto Jihaichi, a retainer of the Kamiizumi family, climbed up to the tower with his bow.

At last, the final gate was breached. Kaien and his men fought on fearlessly against the countless enemy soldiers pouring in.

No matter how many they cut down, more enemies kept coming. Kaien's allies dwindled in number. Having lost his spear, Kaien himself now fought enemy warriors with a broken sword.

"My lord!" Jihaichi fell from the tower, his body riddled with countless arrows like a porcupine.

Kaien felt multiple spears pierce his body. Finally, Kamiizumi Kaien's strength gave out.

When he regained awareness, he found himself in an empty space surrounded by mist. A gentle voice echoed in his mind, asking him a question...

It seemed he had died, but was being offered a chance to live again in a different world. With that in mind, he answered the questions posed to him.

"The sword is everything to me. I wish for a world where I can rise to the top with just a sword while remaining human," he expressed his desire.

But the questioning continued, asking if he had any more wishes.

Suddenly, he heard voices around him. There were humanoid figures nearby.

"It's definitely cheating, you know, cheating."

"Yeah, becoming the strongest and dominating everything, right?"

He didn't understand most of the words, but "dominating" probably meant being peerless under heaven. Was he being offered such power?

He thought it unreasonable. Such things should be obtained through relentless effort.

In the new world he would be born into, he was willing to wield his sword and accept defeat from those with superior skill. But he couldn't tolerate the idea of bowing to someone who gained supreme power through divine intervention.

"I wish for the power to nullify these 'cheats'," Kamiizumi Kaien requested.

That was all he desired.

 

* * *

 

"If you won't come, then I'll come to you," Kaien declared, raising his sword to a high stance as he charged forward. Hero Fujikage had only just begun to draw his sword, his movements clearly too slow.

Once they had exchanged names, the duel had already begun. Fujikage was careless, wasting time with idle chatter without even drawing his weapon.

Kaien's blade sliced through Fujikage's armor and bit into his shoulder before the Hero had even drawn half of his sword from its scabbard.

"Impossible. How could I, the strongest, die in a place like this?" Hero Fujikage cursed as he fell to the ground, but soon fell silent.

"Mm, fake Heroes rely too much on divine power. Without honing their base abilities, they can't match Kaien," Yoshua commented coldly, looking down at the Heroes' lifeless bodies.

General Aizu, the "Lion King" of the Demon Realm's Fourth Army, could hardly believe what she had just witnessed.

She had hoped the mysterious pair and the Heroes might take each other out, but instead, the foreign warrior calling himself Kaien had dispatched both Heroes with ease.

"Mm, we'll be taking this," Yoshua, the black-clad girl, said as she snatched the Third Rank grimoire from Aizu's hands. She spread her wings and gave a small wave.

A messenger soldier rushed into the fortress, delivering urgent news to Aizu.

"An army of ten thousand Imperial and Allied Kingdom forces is marching towards this fortress!"

They had defeated the Heroes, but the enemy army was still largely intact. Meanwhile, the fortress had hardly any combat-ready forces left.

Aizu glared at Yoshua as if to say "This is your fault," but the girl averted her gaze.

"Lady Yoshua, what was that phrase again? The last rule of business etiquette Lady Viola taught us, that difficult word about improving customer satisfaction," Kaien inquired.

Yoshua tilted her head, thinking. "Mm, Rule Three of Abyss Dungeon business: Don't forget after-sales service?"

Kaien nodded, satisfied with the answer.

Yoshua transformed into a massive dragon, and Kaien climbed onto her back as she took to the sky.

Three dazzling beams of light were fired towards the area outside the fortress, causing tremendous explosions and fires.

On this day, the Imperial and Allied Kingdom army of ten thousand, along with Heroes Hayate and Fujikage, lost the majority of their forces and fled in defeat. The Demon Realm's Fourth Army, despite losing most of General Aizu's elite troops, narrowly succeeded in defending the Demon Realm's border.

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