TN: Please read my translations only on my website since I never give my permission to any site to host my translations. And if you like my translations, please support this site on Ko-fi and Patreon to read several chapters ahead!
Sponsored chapter by our Patreon. Enjoy~
TL: ALT
Chapter 85 – Attacks and Defense Involving Hostages
I’m not trying to be cool by saying I was late.
I really was late.
It is true that I flew in as soon as I realized the danger Clovis was in, but by then, it was too late, just in time.
Haruka-san had been taken hostage.
Clovis was astride a griffon-like creature covered in lightning, holding Haruka-san in front of him, looking down at us from high in the sky.
The villain taking a hostage is a promised development in fiction.
But when it happens in real life, it is incredibly difficult to deal with.
It can take dozens of hours for the police to get a holed-up criminal to surrender.
This is especially true if the trapped person is a terrorist.
There have been countless cases of Japanese citizens being kidnapped and killed abroad after the government failed to negotiate with the kidnappers.
If only Clovis were on the ground.
I could have used Short Teleport to get behind him and bring Haruka-san back by force.
But even that would be dangerous.
What secret moves could this guy be hiding?
He also has a very dangerous skill called Human Objectification.
Skill──────────────────
Human Objectification
Race: Able to treat humans, beastmen, and demihumans as objects instead of people.
The effect requires the target to be completely deprived of their freedom.
(Shortcut)
The target of this skill can be stored in the Item Box.
The target in the Item Box automatically loses MP.
The target in the slot is placed in a state of suspended animation.
(Shortcut)
Ability Value Correction:
The owner of Human Objectification always receives the following corrections to each of their ability stats.
HP -10%.
MP +40
Magic Power +40%.
Mental Strength +40%.
Luck -40%.
Humans are currently being objectified:
Akari Shiina Lv1352
Fuzuki Yumeno Lv1024
Naoya Nose Lv1144
Shunsuke Ishigami Lv1223
Karen Kanbayashi Lv1538
Han Ji-won Lv1100
Louise Nothstein Lv1297
Kazuki Minazawa Lv1791
────────────────────
Since it says, “The effect requires complete deprivation of the target’s freedom,” it seems like he can’t suddenly turn someone he’s facing into an object.
But what happens if I move to get Haruka-san back and am held back and “completely deprived” of my freedom?
Clovis would immediately use Human Objectification.
And that’s not all.
As some of you may have noticed, the list of people Clovis has already objectified is problematic.
The last name I have direct knowledge of is Kazuki Minazawa.
He’s the association inspector who showed up to take back the explorer who tried to attack Honoka-chan in the Black Swan Forest Water Park dungeon.
Afterward, Serika and I had a talk with him at the headquarters of the Explorers’ Association.
Before the boss battle in the Kururi Castle dungeon, Serika told me that Minazawa-san was missing.
He must have been captured by Clovis while he was on his way to suppress the Flood.
It seems safe to assume that other explorers besides Minazawa-san were captured in the same way.
And―one more thing.
It’s something that can’t be conveyed by text alone, but Clovis’ status had one feature that immediately caught my attention.
Clovis Erdland.
This guy’s name was in red letters.
In other words, Clovis is a red name.
That means he killed people in the dungeon.
“Hmph, what’s this, the human explorer from the other day?”
I don’t answer.
If I said, “Return Haruka-san to me,” he would have been carried away.
“Level 3241, huh? That’s pretty impressive for a human, but you don’t think you can compete with me, do you?”
“You used to be a pretty good actor. I thought you were just a vain, self-centered elf with a lot of pride. Oh, that hasn’t changed, has it?”
“Hmph, that is a cheap provocation. I have not forgotten the humiliation of being forced to play that pathetic role to hide my true identity.”
“Why don’t you come at me? Get down on the ground.”
“You fool! God is sending his hand from above!”
Just when I thought he was calling himself the king of the elves, he finally elevated himself to the rank of God.
“O spirit of thunder! Strike down that arrogant man!”
Don’t say that! I’d like to say that, but that’s not the point.
The lightning that was aimed at me was blocked by the Magic Barrier.
I could have avoided it even if it hadn’t, but Honoka and the mountain priest were behind me.
Especially the mountain priest is badly burned.
“Honoka-chan, give him this!”
I took an elixir from my Item Box and threw it behind me.
“Don’t move from behind me!”
“I understand!”
I really want them to run away when the man recovers, but I don’t think that man with a broken personality would let go of this shackle.
“I thought Spirit Magic could only be used by those who are loved by spirits?”
“Kuhahaha! I’m a born ruler! It’s no big deal to bind spirits with curses and make them obey me!”
“How dare you! Have you no pride as an elf?”
Haruka reproaches him, still restrained.
“I am proud of what I am. That’s enough! Pride as an elf? I have no reason to be loyal to such a useless thing!”
“Yuto-san! Don’t worry about me; just stop this man! This man will surely bring disaster to the world! As a fellow elf, I can’t just overlook him!”
Haruka-san said this with determination, but I couldn’t just agree.
I took a longbow from my Item Box and readied it.
I aimed at the target with Lock-On and released Rapid-Fire, a sub-skill of Archery.
“Oops, that’s not going to happen!”
Clovis kicked the gryphon in the stomach, sending it flying in a zigzag pattern, making it impossible to aim.
The lock-on tracking works, but the gryphon draws my arrow to the limit and then evades it.
“Tsk…!”
I had both Bow Technique and Archery at level 5, and I even used Lock-On, but I didn’t think it would narrow down the target.
I guess, being an elf, he must be used to archery.
However, I didn’t see any Bow Technique or Archery in his stats.
Under the circumstances, it was difficult to shoot Clovis without hitting the hostage, Haruka-san.
But it seems that I was not the only one who was impatient.
“A human being acting so arrogantly as to prevent the judgment of God! It’s a pity I can’t kill you, but… I have no choice.”
Clovis spat in disgust and let the gryphon gain more altitude.
“Are you trying to escape?”
“Escape? Hmph, I don’t have time for you.”
It was true that Clovis’ original target was Haruka-san.
There was no point in fighting me now that he had captured Haruka-san.
Seeing that I stopped his magic earlier, he must have decided that he couldn’t defeat me right away.
If he escapes from the sky, there’s no way for me to go after Clovis―at least, that’s what he thought.
The only skill I have against that height is that.
Summon Phantom Beast.
But how could Kudave be skilled enough to defeat Clovis and the gryphon without harming the hostage, Haruka-san?
And that wasn’t the only problem.
In fact, it was impossible to defeat―or rather “kill”―Clovis in his current state.
It is the problem of the objectified explorers who remain trapped in Clovis’s Item Box.
Normally, when an explorer dies, the contents of that explorer’s Item Box are seemingly inaccessible.
There are theories that the contents remain in the same form in some unknown space, or that the space itself disappears with the death of the skill user.
In any case, there is no way to retrieve the contents of a dead explorer’s Item Box.
If Clovis dies, what will happen to those who were transformed into objects by Clovis and stored in the Item Box?
Whether they cannot be retrieved forever or disappear as they are, it is practically the same as dying.
In short, not only Haruka-san but also the explorers trapped in the Item Box are hostages.
But Clovis must not have known that I had read his status with Fathom.
So he doesn’t know that I’m also considering rescuing the objectified explorers.
If he finds out that I’m concerned about hostages other than Haruka-san, it will encourage him even more.
Even if he doesn’t, I’ll still fight to protect Honoka-chan and the mountain priest.
However, it is not completely out of the question.
First of all, there was this.
“Come, Kudave!”