My Instant Death Ability is So Overpowered, No One in This Other World Stands a Chance Against Me! - Volume 9 - Chapter 8

Chapter 8 — My Skin Is Quite Smooth, and I Possess a Floral Aroma!

Haruto Ootori had, at Zakuro’s instruction, been searching for a being known as the Overlord with no knowledge of what it looked like. He had traveled around the world, searching for the remains of settlements with ancient histories, ruins from ages long past, and places with signs that powerful gods had once inhabited them. But all of that had been essentially pointless. There would be no sign of the Overlord until the seal holding it was released.

That seal hadn’t been released by Haruto or even by Zakuro himself. It had come undone all of its own accord. It made all their desperate searching seem like a fool’s errand, like wasted effort.

“Who the hell are you?!” the taller woman barked from her spot on the ground. She seemed rather coarse, but the fact that she was still in the city trying to defend it meant she was likely a person of some authority. The other, smaller girl was still facedown on the floor.

“Haruto Ootori.”

“What?!”

“I’m just answering your question. I may have killed your friend here, but if you cooperate, I won’t hurt you.”

With the appearance of the Overlord, Haruto had answered Zakuro’s summons. When he had made it to the sky above Ent, he was given explicit orders. Following those instructions, he had wiped out the angelic beings descending on the capital and killed the one attacking the Overlord from within the palace.

“Like hell! What do you think you’re doing, attacking us out of nowhere?!”

“I could tell he was using some sort of ability.” Haruto held up the head in his hand. “If there was some way to disable it, I would have, but I didn’t know how, so I just killed him. I needed to stop him pretty quickly. But I have no intention of harming anyone else. So what will you do?”

“The Overlord is receiving a kind of mental attack, so go deal with it.” That was the only instruction Haruto had received. He had no intention of killing anyone besides the source of that attack.

“Are you related to the beast?”

“Seems that way. I don’t know the details, though.” He had only arrived after the Overlord was reborn. He hadn’t even met Zakuro yet, so he didn’t know anything about the situation.

“What does it want?”

“I have no idea. I’m still waiting for an explanation myself.” He was discussing things with the woman here in hopes that she wouldn’t get desperate and attack him. He could have just attacked her first, but he wanted to avoid unnecessary fighting.

“‘I don’t know!’ ‘No idea!’ Are you screwing with me?!”

“Sorry, but I’m just a pawn here.”

“You asked what we’d do? So you plan on letting us go?”

“I’ve already done what I was told to do. I never heard anything about you.”

He wasn’t just a child running errands, so it may have been best for him to use his own judgment and act as the situation dictated. But Haruto had no idea what was going on or what he was being made to do. He had no idea what the smart choice was in this situation. If he killed them now, it was just as likely he’d be told later that he shouldn’t have. So he wanted to avoid doing anything outside his direct orders.

The palace shook. The monster had begun moving again. Haruto understood that it was the Overlord, the higher god Zakuro had been looking for. He had been given the ability to detect its presence. It was an absolutely necessary skill if he was to help in Zakuro’s search.

The Overlord was heading towards the castle. At this rate, the building would be reduced to rubble.

“Okay, I’m leaving now. Do you want to come with me?”

“Luna!” the taller woman called out to her companion.

Haruto had a bad feeling. This “Luna” was trying to do something, so he immediately flew off. He didn’t want to fight, but that didn’t mean he’d sit there and let them attack him. After getting far enough away, he turned back to look at the palace. It looked strange, like a square had been cut out of the middle of it.

“I see. So she can erase an area in a cube.”

His mission complete, he had only talked with his apparent enemies out of curiosity. He had no intention of continuing his conversation with them if they were going to attack him.

Haruto landed at the entrance to the city. He was fast. He could reach anywhere he could see in an instant.

“Thanks. Normally, a mental attack like that wouldn’t work on it, but it’s already in a state of confusion. That must have made things worse.” Standing atop a pile of rubble was Zakuro and a woman. Haruto had never seen her before.

“So, what exactly have I been doing this whole time?”

“I didn’t know what state the Overlord was in or if it was even in this world at all,” Zakuro replied, unfazed by Haruto’s grumbling.

Zakuro’s only clue that the Overlord was in this world was that the version of Battlesong, the system that gave the people of this world their skills, used by the locals could be dated to the time of the Overlord’s disappearance. It was flimsy evidence at best.

“Who is this?”

“Her name is Euphemia. She bears an old curse made by the Overlord. To put it in terms you would understand, she’s a kind of vampire.”

Euphemia bowed her head. He didn’t know exactly what her situation was, but it seemed she was in a similar predicament to Haruto.

“So, what is the Overlord doing?” Haruto asked. The conglomeration of various animal parts was tearing a path through the city, the ground shaking with each step it took. It seemed to be looking for something, but Haruto had no idea what.

“No idea,” Zakuro answered plainly.

“You don’t know?”

“If the Overlord wants to go in that direction, there is nothing for us to do but assist it.”

“You said it was in a state of confusion earlier. Shouldn’t we prioritize bringing it back to its senses?”

“Hmm. Though that idea is not without merit, it would involve stepping into the Overlord’s mind. That would be rather rude.”

“So we leave it alone until it calms down?”

“That’s right. For now, we just watch.”

As they spoke, the monster reached the palace. At some point, the residents of the city had stopped fighting back. Either they had realized their attempts were futile, or they had all been killed.

With a tremendous sound, the monster suddenly vanished.

“What...”

Haruto thought it was an attack from Luna, but he could still detect the Overlord nearby. Zakuro didn’t seem particularly concerned either, so there was likely nothing to worry about.

Haruto flew up into the sky to get a better look. “Looks like it fell.”

The area around the palace had collapsed. A large, dark hole had taken its place, dropping everything nearby, including the Overlord, underground.

“Hmm. There appears to be something over there. I guess we will have to go take a look.”

As Zakuro and Euphemia began walking, Haruto landed alongside them. “Can you not fly or teleport freely, Lord Zakuro?”

“If I was going to do that, what would be the point of taking the form of a human?”

“Is that what it is?”

The three of them walked through the rubble of the city.

◇ ◇ ◇

Yogiri’s group headed for the port town. They were flying using Luu’s powers of telekinesis.

“Uh, the hydra disappeared!”

“Huh? What happened?” Yogiri had thought they were done talking about the monster, but at Hanakawa’s words he turned around. Just as Hanakawa had said, the monster was nowhere to be seen.

“Perhaps while we were not watching, Sir Takatou thought, ‘Good grief, I have to do something after all,’ and slew the creature?!”

“Why would I do that? Using my power is tiring. I wouldn’t do it for no reason.”

“Ohh? That is the first I have heard about that. Is there perhaps a chance that if you use it too much, you will be unable to move?”

“Yeah, I get really sleepy.”

“In that case, if you were subjected to the effects of that parasite that lulls you into a deep sleep, afflicting you with total paralysis, could even the all-powerful Sir Takatou be defeated?”

“No, if something like that happened, I’d wake up.”

“Then you are just plain invincible! What is with you?!”

“Hanakawa, Takatou is just like that.” Tomochika seemed to fully agree with him.

“So the monster’s gone. If things calm down, then we have nothing to worry about, right?”

“Hmm. It looks like the attacks stopped too. Did they beat it?” Tomochika looked out over the city. At this distance, the capital just looked like a shadow to Yogiri, but Tomochika could see it clearly.

“Yoshifumi’s subordinates were in the capital, so they probably did something to the creature, right?” Yogiri suggested.

“Those angel things disappeared at some point too.”

“Yes, shortly before the hydra vanished, they all fell from the sky,” Hanakawa explained.

“I see. Seems like there’s a lot going on.”

“Is that all you have to say?! There is without a doubt some intense drama happening in that city! Are you sure you do not wish to go see it?!”

“If you want to see it so badly, you can just go,” Yogiri said with a sigh.

“No! I will no longer separate myself from you! This is clearly the safest place!”

“It may be safe, but you’ll probably get wrapped up in some weird stuff if you stick with us,” Tomochika warned him.

“Even taking that into consideration, staying with you is my greatest chance of surviving! That is what I have decided!”

“Well, if you’re fine with it, then okay,” Tomochika said, recoiling slightly at Hanakawa’s fervent declaration.

“Dropping in from the sky would probably stand out too much, so let’s land outside the city,” Yogiri instructed Luu as they approached the port town.

She brought them down in the forest nearby.

“This city seems to be in a bit of an uproar too. Do you think they’ll still have ships going?” asked Tomochika.

“It does not appear this town has received any damage, so it should be okay. I suppose any ships will be flooded with refugees from the capital shortly, though. We should make haste, otherwise that may slow us down considerably,” Mokomoko answered.

The port town was a considerable distance from the capital, but a large portion of those fleeing the city would likely end up there. If a lot of people were trying to escape, the port would quickly be overwhelmed.

“Even at such a distance, with the capital under siege, this town will no doubt feel the effects of it,” Hanakawa commented.

“I’m tired...” Luu announced, dropping to the ground.

“I guess getting across the ocean that way is not going to happen, then,” said Yogiri.

Being able to carry them a few kilometers to reach this place was impressive in its own right, but it didn’t seem like Luu would be able to get them all the way across the ocean.

“I can’t do it now, so you should look for more parts of my body, daddy.”

“More Philosopher’s Stones, huh? The idea of more stones making Luu more useful is interesting, but we wanted to go across the ocean to find them in the first place.”

Yoshifumi was the only Sage on this island, Yogiri had heard. They had no need to remain on Ent any longer.

“Speaking of which, I feel that Luu referring to Sir Takatou as ‘daddy’ is being somewhat ignored here,” Hanakawa interrupted.

“If that’s what she wants to call me, I don’t mind.” Though he’d been a bit hesitant at first, it wasn’t enough that Yogiri would try to make her stop.

“If we just need money, both we and Hanakawa have plenty, so getting a boat to the mainland should be easy enough.”

“Ohh! So now my wealth is a target!”

“If you’re going to stick with us, you can at least pay your way.”

“Then you intend to acquire a VIP ticket to leave this country whose future is in jeopardy, using bundles of cash to wipe the sweat from your brow!”

“You make us sound terrible!”

“Anyway, let’s get going. We can’t stick around here forever.”

“Daddy, carry me!”

“No.” Though he didn’t mind if she called him ‘daddy,’ he wasn’t planning on indulging her any more than that. Even if she looked like a young girl, she was nothing more to him than the grotesque result of the Philosopher’s Stones’ transformation.

“Why?! You carried me before!”

“That was because you were a baby. You can walk now, so walk.”

“After she brought you this far, you treat her so coldly? I suppose there is nothing that can be done. I will have to—”

“No! Not you!”

“Why not?!”

“You look slimy.”

“I am not in the least! I assure you my skin is quite smooth, and I possess a floral aroma!”

“Uh, that’s somehow still bad.”

“You too, Tomochika?!”

“Stop complaining and let’s go.” Yogiri started walking. Since they had come in from the sky, they knew the general direction of the town.

Emerging from the forest, the port town was immediately visible. The others followed quickly behind him. Luu was walking, pouting all the way.

Like most inhabited places in this world, the capital was protected by a wall. The large gates were letting almost everyone through. There were guards on duty, but they didn’t seem to be checking everyone who passed. Things weren’t jammed up with refugees from the capital yet, so it seemed they could get in without issue.

As Yogiri thought that, a guard stepped in his way. He assumed they were just inspecting people at random as he looked at the guards gathering around him.

“You! Are you Yogiri Takatou?!”

“Yeah?”

“Then die!”

The guards surged towards him. But the next moment, they were all blown away.

“Leave daddy alone!”

Luu had protected him. If she had been even slightly slower, Yogiri would have killed them all.

“It’s him... Yogiri Takatou...”

“And that’s Tomochika Dannoura beside him...”

“The enemies of God...”

“We need to do something...anything...”

Even the ordinary passersby began to glare at them.

“Huh? Why are they looking at us like that?!” Tomochika demanded.

“Uhh, do you not recall?” Hanakawa answered. “With the way you have nonchalantly slain all those who stood in your path on your way here, I believe it is quite obvious why these people might glare at you.”

“I mean...true, but we’ve never even been here!” Tomochika protested. Yogiri had earned the ire of plenty of people, but they hadn’t done anything on the east side of Ent yet.

“Do they already know about Yoshifumi’s death?” Mokomoko muttered. Putting aside whether the people liked the Sage, it wouldn’t be strange for them to respond with hostility to someone who was responsible for their emperor’s death.

“Luu, I know you’re tired, but can you get us out of here?”

“Yeah!”

As she replied, they found themselves floating up into the air, flying a considerable distance backward. Before long, they were in the forest again.

“This is a little bad,” Yogiri remarked.

“There’s nothing little about it!” Hanakawa shouted in reply. “This is no time to be speaking of taking a cruise to another land!”

“But what do we do? We’re in a pretty rough spot, aren’t we?”

“That’s right. This is pretty bad. I was totally surprised too.”

Yogiri turned at the sound of a voice from outside their group and found a familiar face. Carol S. Lane and Ryouko Ninomiya stood behind them. Ryouko was holding Risley, making their group a trio.

“What? Why are you here, Carol?” Tomochika asked.

“We followed you.”

“How?!”

“I think we can talk about that later. For now, this is the problem.” Carol stepped closer, handing them two pieces of paper. Fairly accurate pictures of Yogiri and Tomochika were printed on them.

“Huh? What’s this?” Tomochika had no idea what she was looking at.

“These are posted all over the city.”

“What?!”

“You’re all wanted by the Malnarilna sect. Apparently all of their believers have been told to kill you on sight.”

“Excuse me?”

“Them again?” Yogiri sighed. Malna and Rilna. They were similar enough that he didn’t know which was which, but he had definitely killed one of them. He couldn’t help but agree that killing one of their gods was a good reason for the people to hate him.