Water Magician

Chapter 692 : The Strange Tale of the Djinn Cult II

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Chapter 0692 The Strange Tale of the Djinn Cult II

Translator: Jay_Forestieri

Editor: Tseirp

The area around the Northwest Garrison Post had turned into a living hell.

Looking at it with an expression of utter displeasure was a blue-haired man with red eyes.

Beside him was a black-haired girl with golden eyes, her hair flowing all the way down her back.

The girl was smiling.

It was a vicious smile that did not suit her age at all.

Because her face was so beautiful, the malevolence stood out even more.

“Kukukuku. I can feel it. The blood of the humans who have fallen to the earth is becoming my flesh and blood.”

Even the way she said it was completely out of place for a ‘girl’.

“Raja-sama, I don’t like picking on the weak.”

The blue-haired man muttered with a sigh.

Raja, the black-haired girl, glared at him and snapped, almost as if she were biting him.

“I know that! That is why I came with you. If I let Dainan take command, it wouldn’t become a massacre. The weak ones would be let go instead of killed!”

“Well, I can’t exactly deny that, but...”

“Deny it dammit! Listen properly to my orders and kill them all! You are my retainer, aren’t you?”

“I won’t deny that.”

“Exactly!”

The blue-haired man... Dainan, a retainer of the Djinn —gave a small shrug, while his black-haired master scowled in irritation.

“Dainan-sama, the outer forts have been secured.”

“Good, then all that remains is the main post. Hmm? Come to think of it, we have not received any report from those attacking the post itself.”

Blue-haired Dainan nodded once at his subordinate’s report.

But then noticed that no report had come in about the Northwest Garrison Post itself.

He looked to the black-haired girl at his side and asked,

“Report has not come in... right?”

“The post itself probably can’t be secured at all. The ‘fragments’ possessed by those fighters are what become the most powerful flesh and blood, and yet none of it is falling to the earth.”

“I see...”

The cultist who had made the report and remained there listening to the conversation still could not understand any of it at all.

They had not been told that the black-haired girl in front of them, Raja, was in fact the very ‘Djinn’ they worshipped.

To the cultists, blue-haired Dainan was the leader guiding them.

“Well, I suppose I’ll...”

“I’m going.”

Raja cut off Dainan’s words.

Dainan’s face immediately became openly unwilling.

“Hey, Dainan, what is that face supposed to mean?!”

The black-haired girl, Raja, angrily pointed at Dainan’s face.

“No, but...”

“Whatever you say, I’m going.”

Saying that, Raja started walking off at once.

With a small shake of his head, Dainan followed behind her.

The Northwest Garrison Post was putting up a stubborn resistance.

All of the ‘outer forts’ defending the perimeter had already fallen, but the main post itself still seemed untouched.

The Djinn Cultists surrounded it, but unlike the outer forts, things were not going nearly so smoothly here.

The cultists had received the protection of the Djinn, and the Djinn’s power flowed into them, making them stronger.

That said, at their core, they were still human.

It was not easy to take by force a place where trained soldiers were entrenched...

And there, their leader, the blue-haired Dainan, arrived.

Beside him was the black-haired girl he had brought with him.

Because the black-haired girl was usually deep inside the ‘headquarters’ and never came to the front lines like this, it was rare for the pair to appear together on a battlefield.

“How many are holed up inside?”

“About two thousand, I believe.”

“Two thousand? There are still more than half of the Northwest Garrison Force left?”

Dainan said this with surprise.

“No wonder my power is not surging.”

Raja muttered. Dainan was the only one who heard it.

“No, it should have grown quite a bit over these three months.”

Dainan muttered under his breath.

“That is because the ‘wall’ of the ‘Corridor’ opened. I do not know who opened it, but thanks to that, the ‘certain power’ of the Central Countries has been flowing in.”

“Power from the leylines, yes. Until then, I kept things going in bits and pieces —sending out Djinn bugs, taking Kumamo Castle, and obtaining ‘fragments’—all so that Raja-sama would not disappear...”

“I know that! Once I am fully revived, I will reward you. You have grown stronger too, as my power has swelled, have you not?”

“Well, I won’t deny that...”

Raja and Dainan were speaking in low voices, and due to the uproar in front of the Northwest Garrison Post, their conversation did not reach the cultists.

Even if it had, they would not have understood it.

“Good. Then I shall personally take the ‘fragment of god’ that flows through humans.”

“Ah...”

Raja declared this with a malevolent smile, and Dainan let out a sigh.

Raja began walking slowly toward the post.

As she walked, she raised a hand into the air.

Then space split open.

She reached into the split space, grasped something, and pulled it out.

What she held was a curved sword as long as her own body.

If Ryo had been there, he would have shouted, “A Japanese sword!”

Though compared with a normal Japanese sword, it was almost twice as long.

“Admittedly, this body is too small to swing ‘Hotaru’... but well, I suppose that is fine.”

Laughing loudly, Raja approached the post.

The enormous Japanese sword seemed to be named ‘Hotaru’.

By the way, Dainan followed about ten steps behind Raja.

He knew what was about to happen.

And he did not want to be close to it.

That said, he also thought being too far away was not ideal.

Of course, he did not think Raja would be injured.

Even if she was still far from fully revived, he knew that no human could possibly harm her.

Outwardly, Raja was unmistakably a girl.

Normally, if such a child approached, someone would surely challenge her.

“Who are you?” or “Don’t come any closer!”...those kinds of voices should have been heard.

But no such voices came from the post.

The Northwest Garrison Force recognized her as an enemy wielding a huge sword.

Dozens of arrows flew toward Raja as she approached step by step.

However, every single one missed.

If there had been a careful observer, they would have noticed that even arrows on a direct-hit course curved away before reaching Raja.

Yes, as though the path the arrows should have flown along had been distorted.

If Ryo had been there, he might have understood that the space itself had been warped.

But the Northwest Garrison Force did not think that way.

They assumed the archers had simply aimed poorly and that if they aimed properly next time, they would hit.

A second volley.

The result was the same.

“What the hell!”

“What is happening?”

Even the garrison troops could not help but become shaken.

Something dangerous was approaching.

They were forced to understand that, whether they liked it or not.

That dangerous being reached the large front gate of the post.

“Hmph.”

It only took a single stroke.

Raja brought her great sword down in a diagonal slash.

With that single blow, the large front gate was cut into two.

Without offering any resistance at all.

After that, it was simply a massacre.

Every time Raja advanced, soldiers’ heads were sent flying.

Blood gushed out.

Raja walked through the red fountains as though enjoying herself.

Dainan, following ten steps behind her as her retainer, did not get splashed with blood.

To be honest, he did not particularly like human blood.

It was sticky, and if it got on his clothes, it would not come out even after washing.

“Raja-sama’s clothes are going to have to be thrown away again...”

Thinking such things, he could not help but sigh.

“That is why I did not want you following me.”

The cultists were human.

They had to be fed.

For that, money was needed... and while they now had a stockpile so vast it could almost be called inexhaustible, it had not always been easy to get to this point.

Dainan was a worrier.

The fountain show ended after about ten minutes.

“That was pleasant.”

Covered head to toe in blood, Raja said this with a smile that was both vicious and alluring.

“Did you gain a little strength as well?”

Dainan asked with a sigh.

“Do you want to know? Then I shall share the power I obtained with you.”

The instant Raja said that...

“Ugh!”

A voice involuntarily escaped from Dainan’s mouth.

It was a groan of agony, but...

“Fuhahahahaha. This is incredible... this is incredible, Raja-sama.”

The Dainan who had looked so troubled a moment ago was gone.

In his place stood a Djinn’s retainer wearing a malevolent smile, exactly as befitted Raja’s follower.

“I can feel my strength surging.”

“As it should, yes?”

Raja nodded with satisfaction at Dainan’s words.

The ‘fragments of god’ possessed by the four thousand soldiers of the Northwest Garrison Force, who had experienced many battles, were in some sense of a higher purity than that of ordinary people.

Both Raja and Dainan, who had lived long lives, knew that.

But this time, the power of the ‘leylines’ flowing in from the Central Countries had combined with it, creating a synergistic effect greater than anything they had experienced before.

“While the Corridor was closed, the leylines must have been building up. For these three months, they have been pouring in at an incredible rate. And on top of that, this gathering of ‘fragments of god’... astonishing.”

“Wouldn’t you say Raja-sama’s full revival is near?”

“Yes, absolutely. Kukukuku.”

And thus, the Northwest Garrison Post was reduced to ashes.

The news of the annihilation of the Northwest Garrison Force reached Farafao Village at noon the next day.

A man from Juraju City had come to bring the news.

When the villagers heard the report, not a single one could say a word.

In the middle of that silence, the first to speak was Ronja.

“Is Juraju City... safe?”

“Yes, the city is untouched. Those Djinn cult bastards attacked only the post and slaughtered the soldiers there. Someone else should have already run to report it to Count Fanran.”

“Count Fanran... you mean the lord who holds territory to the east? That is quite far away.”

“Well, yeah. But someone has to be informed somewhere...”

Both Ronja, who asked, and the messenger who answered understood that it would take several days for the report to arrive.

It was that far away.

That was precisely why the Northwest Garrison Force—four thousand troops, huge for a frontier outpost—had been stationed there.

And yet it had been destroyed in a single night.

“Abel, the ones who attacked the Northwest Garrison Force were probably related to the Djinn, right?”

“Probably.”

A little apart from Ronja and the others, Ryo asked, and Abel answered.

Abel answered, but his expression suggested he was thinking about something else.

“Abel, is something bothering you?”

“Yeah. Those guys attacked the garrison post, but they didn’t touch Juraju City right next door, did they?”

“Apparently not. I wonder why. Maybe they ran out of time attacking the post and will attack the city tonight?”

“No, I don’t think they will attack it...”

Abel shook his head slightly.

“I think they target not ordinary civilians, but people who fight—adventurers and soldiers.”

“Ohhh. Could it be that the Djinn who appeared in the Kingdom... what was it called? Did the same too?”

“Yeah, Garwin. At first, we did not even understand that their target was so clear. But after being sent to the Eastern Countries, I kept thinking about it, and I believe they seek the lives of those who fight for some reason.”

Abel spoke while thinking.

The conclusion Abel reached was correct, but there was no information here to confirm it.

During the process of revival, a Djinn requires ‘fragments of god’.

Those who possess many of them are humans...more specifically, soldiers who have marched across battlefields, or adventurers who have survived the edge of death.

When they die, the ‘fragments of god’ they held within their bodies flow into the earth together with their blood.

That becomes the power for the Djinn’s revival.

If only Abel knew the term ‘fragments of god’, perhaps it would have connected with the knowledge of ‘fragments of god’ that Ryo had gained in the Western Countries...

“If even Abel is certain...”

Ryo looked at Abel with a suspicious, doubtful expression.

This was the reverse of the usual situation.

“Hey, what is that look supposed to mean?”

“Abel always looks at me like this.”

“R-Really? No, now that you mention it, I feel like I do...”

“Then enjoy the feeling of being looked at like this!”

“Even if you say that...”

Abel gave a wry smile.

Then he continued.

“In the first place, that prediction earlier was something Viscount Debuo had once mentioned as a hypothesis.”

“Viscount Rashata Debuo? The temple’s folklore officer, right?”

Ryo remembered meeting him in connection with the Djinn bug incident.

He was exceptionally skilled when it came to lore, and the temple had even gone so far as to make an exception just to keep him within the temple’s faction.

“At the time, even the viscount was not especially certain. But now, we have to consider that he was right.”

“If Rashata-san says it, then it must be true!”

“So me saying it isn’t believable?”

“Of course! Your record and credibility are different.”

Ryo declared this with a strangely haughty, condescending air.

For the record, Abel was the king, while Ryo was the premier duke.

In other words, Abel could be said to be Ryo’s direct superior.

And yet Ryo was the one acting superior.

“Speaking of Rashata-san, he helped us in Kona Village. That time, it was Djinn bugs, I think...”

“Djinn bugs?”

Abel tilted his head at Ryo’s words.

At that moment, Ronja happened to come over.

So Ryo decided to ask him.

“Excuse me, Ronja-san.”

“Yes?”

“Did you ever see, around here in the past, a bug about the size of a little fingernail, with ten legs... one that, if crushed, would ooze red fluid like blood?”

When Ryo asked that, Ronja’s eyes widened.

“Yes, yes, there were. We called them blood worms. This area has always had a lot of blood worms... They were around all year long, but now that you mention it, I have not seen them recently.”

“Recently?”

“Yes... perhaps for about three months? Strange, isn’t it?”

After answering that, Ronja was called away by another villager and left.

“Ryo, could that blood worm... did you call it a Djinn bug? Is that...”

“Yes. It seems to be the first stage of a Djinn gathering power. It apparently also appeared in Kona Village. Though there, it did not last very long... probably because the vampire’s power was taken.”

“I remember seeing that in the report. The vampire whose power was taken was Count Haskill Kallinikos, was it?”

“That’s the one. That vampire said his power had been stolen. Normally, it would likely keep gathering power for a long time, like those blood worms around here.”

“He said they had not been seen for about three months. That was exactly around the time the Corridor’s ‘wall’ opened...”

“Yes, there must be a connection. Because of it, the Djinn’s retainer may have gained power.”

Both Abel and Ryo shook their heads slightly.

“Between Oranj in Garwin’s case and this blue-haired one now, are the retainers all good with swords?”

“Garwin was the Djinn we fought in the kingdom, right? Was that retainer good with the sword too?”

“Yeah, very good.”

“According to the red-robed Merlin-san, even if you say ‘Djinn’ as a broad category, their traits or specialties seem to be different in various ways.”

“And yet all their retainers are good with swords?”

“Maybe so. What a pain.”

Once again, Abel and Ryo both shook their heads slightly.

At a certain ‘headquarters’—

“Hmm...”

The black-haired girl tilted her head.

“Do you think you can awaken, Raja-sama?”

Blue-haired Dainan asked.

“Almost. I am almost there, but... is there not a human somewhere carrying many ‘fragments of god’...?”

“Hm, I do have a thought.”

Raja muttered it without much expectation, but Dainan said he had thought of someone.

“You do?”

Raja asked back with a furrowed brow.

There was very much a sense in her expression that she did not believe him.

And yet, if such a human truly existed, there was also a little bit of hope shining through... quite a complicated feeling.

“Some time ago, I believe I reported that the cultists fought with the people of Farafao Village...”

“Mm, I remember. The ones led by the leader... Ronja, was it? They were wiped out by those three, right? You’re referring to that Ronja?”

“No, actually, after that I attacked them myself...”

“What!? I have not heard anything about that!”

Raja’s brows shot up, and she snapped back at Dainan with an angry expression.

“Sorry. It was a little hard to mention.”

“Why was it hard to mention?”

“Well, the truth is, my strike... no, even the follow-up attacks after that were completely blocked...”

“What? Is this Ronja person really that strong?”

“No, the opponent was not Ronja. It was a swordsman who had newly joined Farafao Village and wielded a Magic Sword.”

“Even looking like that, you are my retainer, are you not? And your power should have increased as well... yet every one of those follow-up attacks was blocked?”

“What do you mean, ‘looking like that’...”

Raja looked shocked, while Dainan feigned a wounded expression.

“Well, whatever. That fellow sounds quite promising. But... why did you find it hard to say?”

“If I told you... you would want to fight him, wouldn’t you?”

“Hm, true.”

“That’s why.”

“Hm?”

“That Magic Sword user is my prey!”

For once, Dainan made a direct request of Raja.

Raja was surprised by this.

They had been together for a long, truly long time as master and retainer, but Dainan seldom made requests in such a forceful tone.

“Well, I suppose... if that Magic Sword user dies, I can recover the ‘fragments of god,’ so I can leave it to you.”

“Thank you.”

“Watching from the sidelines is boring, though. Should I take on that Ronja person?”

“Ah, come to think of it, there was a magician who seemed to be the Magic Sword user’s partner.”

“Oh?”

“I think he’s also quite strong...”

“Hm, so you’re assigning that one to me.”

Raja shrugged.

Then she opened her mouth.

“Fine. I’ll deal with that magician. Still, I shall watch over your battle.”

“Huh? Raja-sama isn’t going to interfere, right?”

“Enough! I said I will not interfere.”

“And you’ll only be watching...? Really?”

Dainan’s eyes were those of someone looking at something highly suspicious.

He did not seem able to believe that Raja would simply watch without interfering.

“Isn’t this a battle against a Magic Sword user you are so obsessed with? It is not something you get to see every day, is it? Sounds interesting.”

Raja said that and laughed heartily.

“Then let us go at once.”

Thus, a sudden attack by a Djinn and her retainer was carried out.

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