Awakening to a Special-Grade Explorer
Vol. 4 - Ch. 211 - The end of their war

"Alright, I guess that's enough rambling from this old woman. Err...Flame Demon-san was it? Sorry for the interruption."

"No, of course not. It was an interesting tale."

Flame Demon appeared beside the two as he said. He had been quietly concealing his presence to not interrupt their discussion all this while.

Flame Demon was holding on to an ice-box like thing, made of stacking translucent ice shields from all the four directions plus top and bottom. Inside, a white monster was caught up, thrashing around here and there in an attempt to break the box.

Tenji seriously wondered if the shields of the Snow Demon were as hard as the prison's wall and looked up at Flame Demon.

"Is that the last monster?"

"Hmm~...yes."

Seeing that Flame Demon was back to his usual 'hmm~' tone, a chuckle escaped out of Tenji's lips.

Limey, too, changed her expression and asked the lazy Flame Demon in a surprising tone.

"I see, we can finally put our weapons down once this monster is defeated as well."

"Hmm~...exactly. Now, My King, if you can honour us."

"Haa, I really have to do it huh? Snow Demon, make sure to hold my shoulders properly. I will seriously trip otherwise."

"Yes, leave it to me."

Tenji, who had been leaning on Snow Demon, slowly stood up while borrowing support of Snow Demon and picked up the Ibuki Douji's Hell King Blade, placed in front of him.

Flame Demon put the ice box on the ground as Tenji walked toward himself and turned his gaze toward the Snow Demon who had imprisoned the last variant.

"May thy be freed from the shackle of Hell Snow Sutra."

As Snow Demon, receiving his cue, chanted, the ice prison surrounding the monster disappeared in thin air.

Monster saw this as a chance and worked on its legs to escape immediately. But, there couldn't have been any more futile act than this. Flame Demon immediately acted and was about to catch the monster when President Limey's light rope immediately coiled around it, turning its final resistance for naught as the monster helplessly tumbled on the ground.

"Thank you, President Limey."

"Now, don't stand on ceremony and put an end to this disaster."

"Yes."

Tenji replied while firmly holding on to his consciousness, he felt he would faint immediately if he didn't do that.

He took his stance and held the Hell King Blade, feeling more heavier than ever, in reverse grip style while fixing his gaze at the final monster.

"Grrrr......."

"This is the end. It's our victory."

Tenji held his hand up and stabbed the head of the monster with the pointed end of blade. As it came face to face with its final moment, the chalk-like white monster put up no resistance, quietly closing its eyelids, letting the blade put itself into eternal sleep.

The white was soon engulfed into the hell flames, refusing to leave behind its mana ore. As it could be expected, the monster was cremated by the hell fire, sending it into the journey of afterlife.

And thus, after an eventful battle, the figure of a king disappeared from the world forever.

　†　†　†

"Hey, where did those guys disappear to?"

After concluding that the ending was nigh, Shao Pao sat on a big boulder, placed into the centre of the battlefield, and exhaled out a puff of smoke while smoking. For him, soaking into the aftermath of the battle was akin to a dip in hot water that unbinds the mental strain accumulated from battle.

Beside him, the explorer with detection calling laid on the ground as the pressure of war finally left his fragile body.

"If you mean white monsters, those monsters had cleared them out in a flash. But what the heck were those? Where did they come from?"

"Like hell I know, dumbass. That's what I want to know myself. Heck, you confused me. Which monster are you talking about?"

"...............Well, mysterious and dangerous monsters---doesn't this apply for both?"

Shao Pao momentarily lost his words at the witty retort of his comrade. But then, as if in agreement with his comrades' words, Shao Pao chuckled as he put on an inexplicable smile.

"True enough, this can indeed apply to both."

Haaa

They sighed at the same time.

"Karschal, did you confirm the number of monsters between?"

"Yes, I somehow managed to."

'Somehow?' Shao Pao was slightly surprised by Karschal's ambiguous words, something he never expected. He was by far one of the best in his forte in China, and Shao Pao could count on his one hand how many times Karschal had been so hesitant.

Shao Pao suddenly stood up and exhaled the puff of smoke at Karschal, who hurriedly flailed his hand to disperse it while feeling tongue-tied at the unexpected behaviour of his leader.

"What happened, did they somehow happen to have a counter to your technique? Hesitation is quite rare from an explorer of your standing."

"No, it's not that."

"Hmm, then what is it? It hardly explains anything."

Karschal's eyes darted here and there, seemingly unsure on how to explain, but seeing that there was no way out from his leader's gaze, he continued while dispersing the smoke.

"I remember explaining to the leader that I can see everyone's colour in the battlefield, do you still remember it?"

"Oh, yeah. We did talk about it once. It was like...the dots when you splash water colour on the white paper? And that allies are portrayed with names? I recall when I heard about it, it reminded me of that mischievous map from the fantasy movie."

"Yes, so you remember. Typically, it doesn't matter how many dots there are in white canvas, it's impossible to cover it up completely. But...the same canvas was completely dyed in white ever since those devilish monsters appeared on the battlefield. Was it because there were too many of them... or because each one's representative dot was too big that they overlapped? I have no way to confirm this. Maybe, the reason can also be both."

"Oh? Interesting. If you ask me, the answer would be......both reasons."

Karschal was slightly surprised by his otherwise always confident leader's words. However, he was also curious how his leader reached that conclusion and with an hesitant expression, asked back.

"Can I ask...why do you think so, leader?"

"Because that red-haired devil was stronger than me, even in normal state."

Karschale audibly gasped. He had faintly expected this to be the answer, but when put into words concretely, it still managed to astonish him.

Shao Pao's prowess had garnered fame world-wide, not just in china. If anything, he was often known as someone who held a flame calling on par with Honnou Itagaki from japan, a major power in the dungeon.

Karschale, as his friend and as a comrade, deeply understood the prowess of his leader. But if even that leader of him was extolling those demons as strongest, then how strong those demons would have to be?

Maybe, those demons had already stepped into the domain that mankind had even yet to be aware of. Especially whenever he recalls the existence of those two demons with tremendous presence. Their aura alone was enough to put him to his knees, as if saying you're not even comparable to a water flea by comparison.

"I wonder where they came from?"

"............Sheesh, you're so slow. Isn't this supposed to be your forte? Anyway, I guess it should be that guy."

"That guy? Who exactly?"

"That brat Limey brought herself with, idiot."

Shao Pao had just said when changes started to appear in the battlefield.

Particles of lights waltz in the air, falling down from the sky like fine snow.

Karschal gasped unwittingly as he looked up at the sky at the abrupt illusion like scenery. It wasn't just him, each of the explorers were following the same pattern.

"W-What's happening?"

"Oh, yeah. You're still quite young in your exploration career huh."

"Geez, it's four full years now though."

"Yeah, yeah, it still isn't enough. This Is the final toast of the Witch, the healing light Limey grace everyone with at the end of battle. Don't tell me you skipped your classes?"

"Ah......I think I remember it now."

The snow of light swarmed toward an exhausted Shao Pao and Karschal, as if sensing their injury. In the blink of an eye, their wounds come to close. Although the pain still lingers, the wounds were otherwise completely closed.

"Well, this is our cue. It's time to pack up, guys."

After confirming that everyone's wounds were healed, Shao Pao urged his heavy legs to move as he stood up, and called out to his comrades, who were lying on the ground with tired expressions.

At the end, he exhaled a new puff of smoke and out at Karschal, sparking a kindle from fingertip.

"Phew......behold, this is the special smoke, the smoke of victory."

Shao Pao chuckled.

But before Karschal could make any remark, Shao Pao saw---a fragment of sky falling down.