Monster no Goshujin-sama - Volume 16 - Chapter 11

Chapter 11: Clearing a World

The exploration team let out a war cry as we charged into the black sphere. On the other side of the Dimension Door was a rocky mountain. Looking up, a cloudy sky hung over us, while whitish pebbles scattered about beneath our feet.

“You’re kidding me...” a boy muttered not too far away from me.

It was Kubota Yousuke, nicknamed the Multiplex. I’d met him during that meeting in the capital. He looked dumbfounded by the scenery. I felt the same way. We had been transported to somewhere strange, unfamiliar. That said, we hadn’t experienced the unique sensation of teleportation. The door had simply led to a different place—a different world.

This was a fabricated world. I was surprised by how different it was from the one we’d been teleported to the other day, but it looked like this was definitely where our target had gone. The exploration team was shocked by the sight too—and in the next instant, they all raised their voices in excitement.

“Oooh! It’s my first time feeling like I’m in another world in a good while!”

“We’ve gotten used to magic and all, so this is really refreshing.”

“This really hypes me up!”

It was like there was no tension among them. They looked as though they could easily handle anything while still seeming unreliable. Either way, the one leading the group was extremely capable. No matter how easily carried away they were, there was no problem so long as he properly led them. Even though there was curiosity in his eyes when faced with this unknown world, Nakajima retained his composure.

“Things are going smoothly so far,” he said to me. “Think you can grasp this world?”

“I’ll try,” I said.

Still mounted on Berta, I focused my senses on the Misty Lodge. As expected, connecting my senses to this world went very well. My ability to encroach on, interfere with, and take control of other worlds had definitely improved.

“I can feel and understand it,” I said. “I’m fairly certain I can guide us.”

“Sounds good.”

Nakajima gave me a ferocious smile. Even after coming to this inexplicable world, he possessed the strength to remain unwavering.

“Hm? What’s up?” he asked as I stared at him.

“It’s nothing serious...”

“That just makes me more curious.”

“I just thought it’d be nice if I could become a leader like you.”

To always have composure, to not need to worry about anything, to be capable of solving any problems, and have the power to save everyone in sight. In a sense, that type of leader was an ideal. I’d aspired to such heights before too. But his next words caught me off guard.

“Is that so? I’m the one who’s jealous of you, though.”

“Huh?”

“Didn’t I tell you before? I’m your fan.” Nakajima looked sincere. “Besides, you say that, but you’re not actually jealous, right? Well, I’m sure you envy me, but you’re also fine with who you are. Am I wrong?”

“That’s...”

He did have a point. I didn’t have the strength or charisma to protect everyone on my own. Still, I had companions who accepted me for who I was. That was more than enough for me to be satisfied. That said, if I were as strong as Nakajima, I’d be able to protect my companions no matter what, so it was still true that I envied him.

“Leader,” Kubota said. “Leave the chitchat at that.”

“Fine, fine. So, Majima? How dangerous does it look? What should we be keeping an eye out for?”

I also changed gears. Naturally, even during our conversation, I’d been obtaining a greater comprehension of the fabricated world.

“It looks like there’s another Dimension Door inside this world,” I said. “Once we make it through three of them, we’ll be at our destination. Normally, you’d use a Dimensional Cornerstone to find the trail to the door...but I already have an idea of the layout here. We’ll take the shortest route. I’ve also neutralized the traps.”

Nakajima gave me a serious look, then burst into laughter.

“Ha ha! Oh man, and you said you’re jealous of me, but here you are practically clearing this world solo!”

In the sense of removing the majority of obstacles, he was largely correct. I hadn’t removed them all, though.

“I can’t neutralize the guardian giants,” I added. “They’re not part of the world itself. Sorry.”

“You don’t gotta apologize,” Kubota said. “We can’t just sit on our asses and have you do all the work.”

“Speed is of the utmost importance,” I said. “Please take care of any battles on the way. First, we’ll follow this path. I’ll let you know which way to go whenever we reach a fork.”

“Got it.” Nakajima nodded, then turned to the other members of the exploration team. “Okay then, we’re charging with Majima at the center of our formation. Yousuke, you guard Majima. You’re the best at protecting people. Tetsuo, you’re in the front with me. It’s gonna be a long run, so bear with it, okay? The rest of you, I’ll leave it to your own judgment. Asahi, you guys handle the rear just as you have been.”

Some nodded, some yelled, and some raised a hand to answer. They all agreed with his plan. Even as that went on, the guardian giants scattered throughout this world began converging on us. Watching this unfold, Nakajima raised his voice.

“Let’s break through!”

◆ ◆ ◆

The world bared its fangs at any who entered improperly. Of course, it would be a problem to make it completely impossible to get through. If the proper means to enter this world was ever lost, nobody would be able to access the Dimensional Cornerstones. That would cause trouble of its own. Thus, the first savior had likely adjusted the difficulty of getting through here very intentionally. To be specific, it was set up so that a savior accompanied by many knights would be able to fight their way through. It wasn’t impossible, just an imposing challenge. It could be done so long as a visitor cooperated with local forces. However, the first savior hadn’t predicted this situation.

“Ha ha! Eat this!”

“Erk! You stole mine!”

“Heh heh! That’s three! Aren’t I in the lead now?”

“Our leader’s got that spot.”

“He doesn’t count. Hup, that’s three for me too.”

Trails zigged and zagged through the rocky mountains. The path wasn’t all that wide and there were boulders blocking our sight all over the place. The guardian giants protecting this world made use of the geography to get in our way, suddenly appearing from the shadows to attack us. Normally, anyone coming through there would have to do so very carefully. However, this group didn’t care about that at all. They routed the giants attacking us one after the other. Protected in the center of the formation, I couldn’t help but gulp at the extent of their strength.

Warriors all possessed the same enhanced strength and preternatural physical aptitude. They lacked versatility and diversity in their skill set. However, in contrast, when it came to combat, their ability was extremely applicable. For example, they could use any weapon without training. They couldn’t reach the level of a true master—there weren’t many who would bother with tough training when they were capable of fighting without putting in the effort—but in this situation, that strength was put on full display.

To defeat the guardian giants, the Holy Church had provided us with large heavy weapons capable of breaking through their tough bodies efficiently. Almost nobody here had used such weapons before, but as warriors, they were all capable of using them without any particular problems. Greatswords howled through the air, warhammers crashed down, and giant axes mowed all in their paths. This wasn’t really much of a fight. They were just trampling everything in view. The group remained on the move without stopping, maintaining a fixed speed the whole time.

“We sure don’t have anything to do.”

“Seems so.”

Lily and Shiran exchanged a short quip. Hearing that, Kubota, the one who’d been entrusted with guarding us, let out a hearty laugh.

“Ha ha! Of course not! You’ve got us with you!”

Strangely enough, there were two of him. If my eyes weren’t playing tricks on me, this wasn’t a twin or anything. One person had really become two. Kubota Yousuke’s nickname was the Multiplex. Judging by the phenomenon I was witnessing, he had the ability to create a shadow or fake, but that wasn’t quite right. There really were two Kubotas.

In his words, his “collision hitbox is halved and everything is rounded down.” To put it very simply, if both of him weren’t injured at the same time, he couldn’t suffer damage. That made it seem like it’d be a problem on the offense, but also according to him, his “collision hurtbox is halved and everything is rounded up.” What’s more, there were only two of him now, but he could create up to five.

It made sense why he was a nicknamed cheater of the exploration team. That ability was total nonsense. It did come with the drawback of being unable to go too far away from his other selves, but in the sense of being difficult to hurt, let alone kill, the Multiplex excelled. He was strong when it came to a fight, but when it came to protecting others without having to worry about any damage to himself, he was as reassuring as an escort could get.

“Just kick back and relax. I’m not gonna let anything lay a single finger on you two.”

Kubota clenched his fist tight in a show for Lily and Shiran. He didn’t seem to have any ulterior motives, but he did seem to be the type to want to act cool in front of girls. His approach was a little wrong in this case, though.

“No, you don’t really have to bother with us,” Lily said.

“Please be sure to protect Takahiro,” Shiran added.

“R-Right...”

Lily and Shiran were both capable of fighting a warrior by themselves. They didn’t need guards. The one being protected here was, at most, me. In this respect, declaring he would properly accomplish his job would’ve gotten him more points with them.

“Yeah, I’ll protect Majima,” he said in a fluster, perhaps realizing this.

“Thank you,” I said.

There was no point in dealing a blow to his pride. It seemed like it would be best to change the topic while we were at it. Fortunately, we had the leisure to chat.

“Anyway, they really are amazing,” I commented. “Especially those two.”

Everyone in the exploration team was strong, but two people in particular stood out at the very front—Nakajima and Ishida.

“Hmph!”

Ishida swung a huge hammer and sent a giant flying away. The giant appeared to shatter in midair; if it was lucky, all its limbs had broken and it was out of the fight. Setting aside his hearty offense, he didn’t look like he specialized in defending himself. He took hits every now and then. I’d mistakenly thought that he was bad at defense, but that wasn’t the case. He simply had no need to defend himself.

“Mrgh...”

Ishida showed no signs of blocking or dodging as a giant’s arm slammed into his face. Even a cheater’s sturdy body couldn’t get away from such an attack unscathed. Blood spurted out while flesh and muscle tore open. It wouldn’t be strange for his skull to be cracked. Regardless, Ishida ignored it entirely and swung his hammer.

“Ooooooh!”

Struck by the counterattack, the giant flew off high into the sky. Ishida then continued forward as if nothing had happened. With each step, his wounds vanished, and after crudely wiping away the blood, there were no traces that any damage had been dealt. It was a bizarre sight. This was the Indomitable Will’s power. It gave him durability in a completely different way from Kubota’s Multiplex.

Ishida’s body was sturdy while also possessing regenerative abilities that surpassed those of monsters. I’d heard he could even regrow a limb if one was torn off. That didn’t mean he felt no pain, though. The willpower and nerve to maintain his composure after taking an attack head-on was natural to him.

“Ha ha! This is nowhere near enough to stop me!”

Nakajima was also terrifying. Carrying his namesake Sword of Light in one hand in the form of a shortsword, he cut down the giants standing in his path one after the other. Even without the tremendous destructive power of unleashing his swords, he was among the best of the best in hand-to-hand combat too. Unlike the warriors, this was because he’d acquired the proper skills for this. I’d heard he’d served as the president of the kendo club back in our world, but as a spectator, it looked entirely different. Even when faced with the particularly difficult-to-handle heat rays the guardian giants used, Nakajima had a practically perfect read on them.

“They’re overwhelming, aren’t they?” I commented.

“Ha ha, sure are,” Kubota happily agreed as if he was being praised too. “Ishida’s pretty crazy in his own way, but our leader’s on a totally different level. He’s just, like, different from us.”

“Different how?” I asked.

“Like he lived in a different world,” he answered without hesitation.

“Even the exploration team sees him that way?” I asked, finding myself staring at Kubota.

Kubota was a nicknamed cheater, much like Nakajima. It felt like this shouldn’t have applied to him, but he still spoke without hesitation.

“Oh yeah, totally different. There ain’t no point comparing us. I mean, that guy was different before we even came to this world. Grades, sports, whatever, he could do anything. I mean, school stuff is way too small to measure the full extent of what he can do. It’s like he lives in an entirely different world. You get me?”

As a fellow third year, this was something he could say having observed Nakajima from nearby.

“Ever since coming here,” Kubota continued, “after getting that crazy power that’s way stronger than anyone else’s, nobody questioned it for a second. If that guy doesn’t get power, then who the hell else will? That’s what we all thought. He was pretty amazing back then too.”

“Back then?”

“Right after teleporting to this world, I mean. Those fucking monsters surged out of the woodwork to kill us. The home team never saw it, so I guess you don’t got a feel for what it was like. It was seriously scary. Having the strength to fight and actually fighting are different, yeah? Like hell did anyone actually have fighting experience, so when we were faced with an army of monsters where fighting was a matter of life and death, everyone was shitting their pants. Aah, well, Iino and Todoroki managed just fine, but they’re weird exceptions in their own way.”

I didn’t know about Todoroki Miya, but in Iino’s case, this somewhat made sense. That girl would’ve suppressed her fear in her first battle, using her sense of justice to stand her ground and fight.

“Seeing the two of them steel themselves like that, I managed to fight too,” Kubota continued. “Some other guys did too. I won’t deny that I had cold feet, though. It’s pathetic, but I was seriously scared. I thought it was the end. And right before I gave up...our leader appeared.”

Kubota made a face like he was remembering something very important.

“The situation flipped on its head in a flash,” he said. “It really was like something out of a dream. I thought to myself: that’s a hero.”

“A hero...?”

“Yeah, yeah, I know. It sounds corny. But it’s true, so whatever. Anyone who saw him would think the same. I’m sure we all felt that way. At the very least, all of the initial exploration team members who were there did. That’s why the ones still following him are mostly the guys who were there for it.”

It was very clear from Kubota’s tone that he was being serious. Despite being embarrassed, he felt no shame admitting it. That was how important those events were to him. And that same event had also had a great influence on the formation of the exploration team. Thinking back on it, the fact that the exploration team had come together at all was pretty much a miracle.

After all, many of the exploration team members were very egoistic. Pretty much all of them had acquired power based on the conviction that they had to be special because they’d been sent to another world. Simply gathering a bunch of them together using charisma would have things falling apart in no time. The fact that they’d stayed together somehow or other was because, despite considering themselves the main character, they’d found more value in being beneath someone else. Nakajima proving that he had the qualities to fulfill that role in that initial ordeal had worked wonders in that regard.

“No matter what happens, I’m gonna follow that guy. I’ve already decided,” Kubota muttered as he stared at Nakajima opening a path for the group at the front. He then turned to me. “That’s why, seeing as he’s recognized you, I’m sure you’ve gotta be an impressive guy yourself.”

I didn’t know what to say.

“I mean, you have in fact pretty much cleared this world solo,” Kubota added. Seeing that I was too embarrassed to say anything back, he smiled. “Relax. It’s our leader’s command. I guarantee I’ll keep you safe. Seriously.” He then looked a little embarrassed but proud as he added, “By the name our leader gave me, the Multiplex, I swear it.”

Around this time, a cave on the other side of the mountains came into sight. This was the door that continued to the next world.

◆ ◆ ◆

Charging into the cave that served as a door, we found ourselves deep inside a forest. Judging by the mana in here, this was the Woodlands.

“No way, you’re kidding me,” Kubota said, repeating what he’d said when we entered the last world. He seemed awfully gloomy this time, though. “I got sick of this place after the Colony and the expedition.”

The same seemed to go for the other exploration team members. Many were grimacing. I understood how they felt. Actually, I’d spent the longest time in the Woodlands among us. I’d lived there after escaping the Colony, and Aker’s reclamation villages were also inside the Woodlands. The reason I didn’t feel dispirited by the sight was because I’d gotten past being fed up with it. It actually felt more like a part of my everyday life.

“Majima,” Nakajima said, coming back from the vanguard. He looked up at me, seeing how I was still seated atop Berta. “Think we’ll catch up with Tomoya’s group soon? If you can tell, then please let me know.”

“Jinguuji’s current location, you mean,” I replied. “Please wait a moment. We passed through the door, so I should be able to grasp the layout of this world too. I’ll take a look and find a path while I’m at it.”

“Got it. We’ll take a short breather, then.”

Given the time to act, I shifted my focus to connecting to this world. The resistance here was stronger than that of the last world. It took a bit to accomplish, but I succeeded in getting the information I needed. There were no paths through this forest. This wasn’t much of a problem considering the exploration team’s physical capabilities. I confirmed the optimal route to use and located all the traps on the way, neutralizing every last one. And as my consciousness approached the faraway door to the third world...

“Found him.”

For the first time on our chase, I found another human ahead of us. It was Jinguuji and his friends. I didn’t know what they looked like, but there was nobody else it could be. Above all else, they were with a dragon. That had to be the Dragon Jinguuji Tomoya.

They were pretty close to the door to the next world, so we couldn’t slow down. Still, we’d finally caught up to the point that our targets could be confirmed. Conveniently for us, Jinguuji and his friends had gotten torn apart by the traps and giants in here. They were scattered in small groups. At this rate, it’d be possible for us to catch up before they got to the next world.

“Huh...?”

After figuring all that out, I made a slight noise. I’d found someone else on the move aside from them.

“Kudou?”

Hearing me mutter, the wolf beneath me stiffened.