Vol 3 Chapter 15 (1/2)
LEVEL 3: Even the Best Laid Plans go Awry, but Such is This World
Chapter 15: Line Between Life and Death
Haruhiro re he did He suddenly recalled ht he did But the memory left as fast as it returned There was no doubt he had been able to grasp the ain A second ago, he had recalled everything Or what he thought was everything, since he couldn’t be sure But he couldn’t re now
Why couldn’t he be sure? Why didn’t he know? He had known a fewthat re that soone, as if whatever it was had been pried clean off and left a hole where it had once been If he were to inspect the hollowness, he could souess at what it used to contain
Choco
The return of histhat theto do with Choco Haruhiro probably knew her They were acquaintances, maybe even friends But that was all he knew He couldn’t re was left, not even the tiniest clues that could have hinted to what their relationshi+p was
“Haruhiro!” Ranta shook hi out at a time like this!”
“I—I wasn’t…” Haruhiro croaked He wasn’t? Really? No, Ranta was right He had spaced out
The Guardian Zoran Zesshu, his honor guard, and the orc shaun a massacre Nearly all the reservists who had been there were dead Choco Yes, Choco too She was dead and so was her party They were all dead The leader, the Warrior, their Priest, the girl with the short hair, and Choco herself What about the oafish Warrior? He was sprawled next to a wall and at least wounded, if not dead Probably heavily wounded They had all been killed by the orcs
Choco had been killed
Her death had taken Haruhiro by surprise and he was completely shocked by the turn of events, but he wasn’t as sorrowful, outraged, or pained as he perhaps should have been It was s turned out Was it really okay that things turned out like this? He thought to himself He felt a sort of deep consternation at it After all, they were both Crianization They talked on occasion and… maybe they had known each other before they came to this world And now she was dead
Haruhiro felt so with his reaction to her death He should have felt more… more… well, more than what he felt now But he didn’t It wasn’t a natural reaction It was terrible for hi more at her death Yet he didn’t knohy it was terrible They ht have known each other, but he had no idea what kind of relationshi+p it had been Maybe they had beenand that was it
Noasn’t the tiht; their current situation needed his i reservists, Tearoup, yet even Renji hiain an upper hand over the orc leader
No, never e; Renji was barely able to ward off Zoran’s powerful attacks in the first place Renji was blocking and dodging desperately, unable to counterattack And he was covered in blood It wasn’t a fatal injury, but he had taken a blow to the head and was bleeding profusely
Ron let out a loud battle cry, intending to join the fight, but Renji shouted, “Stay away! You’ll only get in the way! Stay back!”
It probably wasn’t about having a manly duel one-on-one with his opponent for the sake of pride, Haruhiro realized It was sierous for anyone else to approach Zoran’s reach, the raw strength in his arms, his broad shoulders, and powerfully built chest… even his rann, the last orc Haruhiro witnessed Renji fight when Altana had been invaded
One hit That’s all it would take A single hit from Zoran would mean instant death
Even enerous distance away froht by a stray attack So it was Renji and Zoran fighting one-on-one while the other reservists, including the rest of Team Renji, took on the other orcs and the orc sha overwhelmed
Ron locked blades with his orc opponent, but it was obvious to Haruhiro that he was having a tough time Chibi, Sassa, and Adachi had been forced to retreat until their backs were nearly against a wall Haruhiro wondered how ainst the orcs Probably notbattle and the tide didn’t look like it was going to change
“A shaman!” shi+horu cried
One of the orc sha the spot beneath a stairhere Haruhiro and his group were huddled Mogzo leapt out first to meet the shae flask-like object hanging off its belt high It pulled out the stopper and things started swar out Insects A massive horde of them
“What—!?” Mogzo gasped
The insect sent straight for his face Mogzo earing a helzo let out an agonized shriek and looked as if he was about to go down shi+t! Without Mogzo they were in trouble
“Mogzo! Stay on your feet!” Haruhiro exclaio down! You can’t stop!”
“AAAAAAAGH!” Mogzo shouted, staggering about and swinging his sildly around
“God damn it!” Ranta jumped out from the stairwell and rushed towards the shaid and he stoppedhowl but couldn’t do anything more
“What the—!?” exclaimed Haruhiro
It had to be the orc shazo and now had its palm raised towards Ranta
“Is that what Bri meant by psionic abilities!?” Haruhiro wondered
Yume pulled out her bow and shot an arrow at the sha hit, Ranta was free to , Yume’s arrow also narrowly missed Ron’s face after it flew past the shaman
“What the hell!?” Ron yelped
“S-sorry!” apologized Yume
“Yu’s too chaotic!”
“Uot it!”
“Oom rel eckt pram das!” shi+horu fired the [SHADOW COMPLEX] spell froht spiral towards the shah its nose and mouth
Was it enough? The shaorously but that was it
“It resisted the spell!” shi+horu said between clenched teeth
“I’ll kill it then!” shouted Ranta “[HATRED’S CUT]!”
Ranta’s movements were swift but the sha backwards effortlessly and, at the sauard stepped forward to take its place Orc A blocked Ranta’s attack with its oord in a resounding clang of steel They al to put distance between them with [EXPEL FRENZY] Orc A chased without hesitation, not intending to let Ranta get out of range It attacked iuard