Akatsuki Translations

The second loud boom in the Fortress of Canaan was heard right after the intruders entered the “slave room”. A sound reminiscent of a thunderbolt, and a ground-shaking tremor; Gada realized it was the same as when enemies had invaded.

If it’s the same as the time of the invasion, then the reverse could also be true.

“Damn… Hurry up, all of you!” -Gada

Kicking the laggards from behind, Gada approached the hostage room. From the hole in the rotting door, the scent of burnt matter and smoke emanated.

“… What the fuck did they do?” -Gada

His caution heightened. A small group of intruders, if they weren’t lost, must have known about the bandits and come to attack. From their gear, it’s clear they came prepared.

“Hey, skeletons!” -Gada

He pushed forward the accompanying undead soldiers. He had no reason to blindly enter an unknown situation himself. He didn’t like the necromancer, but he intended to use what he could.

『KAKAKAKAKA! 』

The skeletons rattled their bones and eerily shook their heads. Gada grimaced; he found it unsettling.

The undead soldiers provided by the necromancer were made from the bodies of monsters, animals, and even “human corpses”. They were created from the bodies of their victims and even from the “dead bodies of the bandits”.

If he died, that necromancer might turn him into one of these skeletons. The thought was horrifying.

“Go! Kill everyone inside!” -Gada

“But, Boss! The slaves…” -Bandit

“Shut up!” -Gada

Hitting the hesitant fool, Gada urged the undead soldiers forward. As the skeletons stepped forward, pushing open the ragged door, and tried to bite the humans inside,

『KA—-』

They fell straight “down”.

“What?” -Gada

One after another, the undead soldiers fell down. Of course, this slave room wasn’t supposed to have stairs leading underground. Peeking into the “below” where the undead soldiers had fallen,

“…A hole?” -Gada

A large hole, roughly half the size of the room, was open in the floor. It looked as though a massive spell had carved it out, and there were burnt traces of rubble. The hole wasn’t just a hole; it led to the underground dungeon that spread throughout the fortress and the entire mountain.

“Boss! The slaves and those brats aren’t here!” -Bandit

“That means…” -Gada

Gada, the bandits, and the undead soldiers all peered into the hole. If they were nowhere to be found, the only place they could be was this dungeon. Just like when they invaded.

The dungeon had been an oversight for Gada and his crew, or rather, an unavoidable flaw in their hideout. They had always used ruins outside the city. It was only natural for such holes to exist.

However, that didn’t mean they’d easily escape.

“Hah! Those fools. They can’t possibly escape with all those slaves.” -Gada

Gada smirked. He knew the state of the slaves they had toyed with better than anyone. They had been denied proper food and water. Their bodies were weak, but Gada and his men had broken their spirits too. Tormented, verbally abused, and beaten if they talked back. The bandits had shattered them, both physically and mentally.

Take them all and flee? Through a dungeon infested with monsters? Impossible!

“Chase ‘em!!! Those slaves are our shields against the Knights! We can’t let ‘em escape!” -Gada

Gada ordered his men and the undead soldiers. The sight of skeletons and bandits pouring into the dark hole of the dungeon was nightmarish. Alone, Gada reveled in the satisfaction of cornering his enemies and pondered the ways he would torment the rats that had led him on this chase, laughing.

And then,

“Looks like your having fun.”

“Hu-?” -Gada

Before he could react to the voice behind him, a fierce blow struck his face. Hearing the sound of something shattering, Gada’s vision and consciousness, along with his body, plummeted into the darkness of the hole.

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“… Where did those brats go?” -Bandit

The lower-ranking bandits, who descended with the skeletons, quickly realized without even having to search that the place they had descended to was not a dungeon passage, but a small room. There was only one exit.

“What are you waiting for? Hurry up or they’ll escape!” -Bandit

One shouted, dashing towards the exit, and the others followed. They tried to continue, but…

“H-hey, wait a sec…” -Bandit

He tried to stop the front-running comrade but was too late.

“Huh?” -Bandit

In the next instant, “tree roots” extending from the ceiling wrapped around his head like a snake.

“Gaah!?” -Bandit

The Evil Spirit Tree, a monster that nests in this dungeon. It uses its branches like hands to stretch out and attack humans.

Before the necromancer arrived, these bandits were troubled by it. But since the necromancer’s arrival, they had let their guard down, and now they were once again reminded of its terror.

『SIIIIIIIIIIIII… 』

“G-gaahhhh!!! Stop! Let g-!”-Bandit

Screams, shouts, and the sound of something breaking. Then, suddenly, the screaming stopped. Blood and torn flesh fell to the ground, sucked up by the roots of the Evil Spirit Tree. The remaining roots squirmed, searching for more prey.

“Shit! We need to run!! Now!” -Bandit

“Skeletons! Destroy the tree! Wuh, AHHHH!!!” -Bandit

Screams echoed throughout the dungeon. Those who intended to chase the intruders were reminded of their vulnerability outside the city.

『GUKAKAKA!! GOGA! 』

“Damn it! We need to get back to the hideout before we run out of skeletons!” -Bandit

They intended to return to their hideout from the hole they came from, but getting back up proved difficult. They had jumped down with momentum, but this hole, forcibly created by destruction, had neither ladders nor stairs.

Yet with their enhanced bodies, thanks to killing many monsters, they should have been able to overcome this. However…

“…What is that?” -Bandit

The bandits who went back to the bottom of the hole noticed that “something” was tumbling down from where there had been nothing just moments ago. It fell with limp limbs and a wobbly head.

“…B-Boss?” -Bandit

It was the boss’s corpse.

And it wasn’t just that.

“Wha-!?” -Bandit

“What! Somethin’s falling? GUGA?!” -Bandit

From above the hole, one thing after another began to fall. Or rather, they were being thrown. Massive chunks of rock, filled with clear murderous intent, directly hit the bandits’ heads. Some merely bled, while others were killed instantly, their heads buried in their necks.

They remembered this method of attack. That meant…

“Those brats! They’re up there! They were hiding!” -Bandit

They had made a hole, pretending to flee through it, but in reality, they hid, watching the bandits fall into their trap. And when all had descended, they began their attack.

They intended to trap them all.

“Damn it! This is bad! We need to climb up! Now!” -Bandit

“Shut up! You go first!” -Bandit

With their leader dead and being cornered, the bandits were in chaos. Even if they weren’t in chaos, they had no way to defend against the encroaching roots of the Evil Spirit Tree from behind and the relentless rocks being thrown from above.

Yet, even in such circumstances, relying on sheer numbers and using the undead soldiers as shields, a few of them managed to make their way up. If they could just halt the barrage of stones, perhaps the others could follow suit. However,

“Aaaaaaaahhhhh!” -Bandit

Accompanied by a scream that resembled a howl, a club came crashing down onto the head of one of the bandits who had somehow managed to expose his face. The dull thud reverberated within the confines of the narrow hole.

“Gyahh!” -Bandit

He instinctively clutched his head in intense pain and, at the same time, released the hand he had been using to support himself on the edge of the hole, causing him to plummet once again. His nearby companion, who had been guarding against the stone projectiles, witnessed what had just occurred.

“That person’s…! Vengeance…!!” -Hostage Woman

It was a woman who had been mistreated as a captive, enslaved by them during their time on the Island-Eating Turtle, now in a tattered state. She clenched the club tightly, her bloodshot eyes darting around, and looked down upon the bandits who were trying to crawl out of the hole.

And then they realized she was not alone.

Eyes reflecting the eerie glow of magical lanterns peered at them from various angles, encircling the hole. Eyes brimming with hatred bore into the bandits, as if they were about to shoot them down.

“…Wh-” -Bandit

Awareness dawned upon them. They were all hostages. Those who had been abducted, tormented, and relentlessly subjected to violence were now slaves. The ones who should have had the light extinguished from their eyes were now glaring with fiery rage and hatred, baring their teeth as they fixed their gaze upon us. Each of them clutched whatever they could find in their surroundings – bits of wood, small stones, things that couldn’t even be called weapons.

Individually, they couldn’t match the physical prowess of the bandits. After all, they had been living comfortably in the city. But with the advantage of terrain stripped away and surrounded so tightly by this group, this situation was by no means easy.

However, what truly struck fear into the hearts of the bandits was the palpable hostility and animosity that seemed to pour forth from their eyes. It was inexplicable why these people, who should have had their spirits broken, were now approaching us with such unbridled enmity and fearlessness.

“Everyone.” -Shizuku

And at the epicenter of this hatred and enmity, a woman’s voice resounded.

“Please, do not strain yourselves. If you are in pain, speak up immediately.” -Shizuku

The voice belonged to a woman who became immediately apparent. In the midst of the hostages, a strikingly beautiful silver-haired woman spoke with a strangely resonating “voice.” It enveloped the heart with a soothing sensation, as if held gently by large, kind hands.

“I will certainly heal your physical pain, your wounds. I will free you all from suffering.” -Shizuku

But that compassion was not directed towards the bandits in any way.

With each word she uttered, the light in the eyes of those who had once been slaves grew stronger. Their hatred and animosity intensified. Faced with the murderous intent of those who should have been much weaker than themselves, the bandits began to retreat.

“However… the wounds of the heart can only be healed by each of you. The grievances of those unjustly taken can only be avenged by you yourselves. I can only offer assistance.” -Shizuku

Therefore,

“Retaliation. To those who deserve it. Retribution.” -Shizuku

The sound of weapons being grasped echoed through the air. Figures could be seen raising shattered rubble as weapons, and behind the bandits, the roots of a sinister tree crept closer, inch by inch, slithering toward them.

And finally, they realized. They were in deep trouble.

Roaring anger, screams, the repetitive sounds of blows, stabs, shattering, and the discordant symphony of discomfort all reverberated through the slave quarters.

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Ur’s group’s strategy was incredibly simple.

Create a passage to the underground dungeon using the Dragon Fang Spear. However, instead of going down into the dungeon, Shizuku would set up an “Barrier of Invisibility” at the back of the room. They would hide in a corner of the small room with the hostages, waiting for the bandits to mistakenly believe they had fled downward. Once the bandits descended into the dungeon, they would launch their counterattack.

That was it.

The plan was simple, but they were able to execute it efficiently and quickly because they had previously discussed with Diz what to do “in case the hostages were used against them.” They had thought of various patterns: what to do if they were taken hostage directly, how to rescue the hostages after successfully finding them, and how to fight the bandits while protecting the hostages.

However, that was as far as their planned strategy went.

“… Is she some sort of instigator?”-Male Hostage

“Well, it seems like it… probably.” -Ur

While holding his weapon, Ur ambiguously answered the question posed by a man who had been a hostage.

The scene unfolding before them was gruesome. The women who had been taken hostage were throwing anything they could find at the bandits below, and if any approached, they were beaten with clubs. They were overpowering the bandits, who couldn’t all climb up at once, using sheer numbers.

This situation was Shizuku’s doing.

While they were hidden behind the barrier, Ur was always focused on the bandits, ready to launch a surprise attack if they were discovered. Meanwhile, Shizuku, instead of using magic, used healing potions to treat the hostages. She healed injuries, provided first aid, and encouraged the hostages with her dedication and kindness.

And this was the result. One had to wonder how she had encouraged them.

“The way her words resonate with the soul… those who listened to her quickly regained their spirits. Turning hostages into rioters, she’s a fearsome woman.” -Male Hostage

A man, possibly hurt by the bandits, looked at Shizuku with interest. Even now, Shizuku was still talking to some of the hostages, treating their injuries, and smiling kindly at them. Her demeanor was truly saint-like.

However, whether it was right to use the rejuvenated hostages as combat forces was questionable.

“…Well, if they’ve become spirited, that’s a good thing.” -Ur

Ur decided not to think too deeply about it. It was uncertain whether they alone could protect all the hostages, who numbered more than ten. It was a relief that they could move on their own to some extent, especially since there were not only bandits but also undead soldiers.

“For now, our goal is to protect the hostages while maintaining our position, huh, but…” -Ur

Having scattered the bandits and undead soldiers, the diversion was complete, and the hostages were secured. Everything was going exceedingly well. However, Rose, who was their main concern, wasn’t in this room with the hostages. The fact that the undead soldiers were still active meant that the necromancer controlling them was also still around.

Therefore, Rose was likely with the necromancer.

Diz, Akane, I’m counting on you.

Without voicing it aloud, Ur prayed for the safety of the two who were acting separately.