Chapter 34: The Cave
Before he had a chance to continue discussing "interesting things" with Raffaelo, Hikigaya heard a sudden roar.
The lung capacity was impressive; sitting in the small inner room, Hikigaya could hear it crystal clear. This definitely wasn't the sound of a stray little animal, nor was it likely to be some bored human practicing high notes—with over twenty Great Knights stationed here, the range of people or animals capable of causing trouble was extremely limited.
Hikigaya stepped out of the room and followed the sound all the way to the castle gates, where he saw the source.
It was a creature that could, for the sake of description, be called a dinosaur. It had dark skin, stood about eight or nine meters tall, and its overall vibe could be summarized in three words: Extremely. Fierce. Look.
A Divine Beast. No wonder twenty-odd Great Knights hadn't stopped it from warming up its vocal cords. In fact, the several Great Knights currently gathered at the gate were all fully armed, but the tension and fear in their eyes betrayed their true state—they were terrified.
When Hikigaya walked out the door, he happened to be standing not far from the "ultra-fierce" dinosaur Divine Beast. Sensing the aura of a God-slayer, the dinosaur roared once more, leaped violently from the ground, and latched onto the castle's outer wall. Its sharp claws pierced easily into the stone masonry as it began to scramble upward.
Its movements were remarkably agile.
"If it climbs a few more times, this castle is going to collapse, right?" Hikigaya asked Raffaelo and the others beside him. The Divine Beast's movements were heavy; with every lunge, shattered stones came clattering down.
"That should be the prey Salvatore was looking for," Raffaelo said, her expression showing she was itching for a fight. "Excellency, please do not intervene if possible. If a Campione steps in, it will be over in an instant, and we won't be able to find Salvatore's whereabouts through it."
Having said that, the Latin beauty leaped onto the wall in a few bounds, blocking the Divine Beast's path. Simultaneously, she used magecraft to change her attire, summoning a shawl nicknamed the "Banner" and a two-handed greatsword.
The handsome middle-aged man offered a quick apology and lightly leaped up as well, summoning a shield and a barbed assault spear.
The dinosaur, its path blocked, grew angry. It opened its maw and roared, spitting out bolts of lightning that struck Raffaelo. A purple radiance immediately flared from her body to defend, but the lightning from the dinosaur's mouth was endless, leaving Raffaelo standing there glowing like a lightbulb.
Seeing this, the handsome uncle raised his shield and went for a "shield bash" to the face. However, while the bash was successful, he hadn't expected that the dinosaur couldn't just discharge electricity from its mouth—it could also breathe fire from its eyes. In the next moment, he and Raffaelo (who was charging in again) were hit by a "barbecue heat ray" and were stared right back down by the Divine Beast as a pair.
From the gateway, Hikigaya watched the two humans and the one beast above as if they were in an infinite-turn battle, trading blows back and forth for a long time. He realized he had been wrong before; if this castle collapsed, it wouldn't be because the Divine Beast climbed it—the two Great Knights up there deserved the most credit for the demolition.
After waiting a bit longer, Hikigaya finally lost his patience.
In the next instant, he cut between the Divine Beast and the two Great Knights with Godspeed. With a gentle push of both hands, he forced Raffaelo and the uncle back, then took the full brunt of the lightning and flames the Divine Beast launched from behind.
The beast's attacks failed to harm Hikigaya in the slightest; both the lightning and the flames vanished the moment they touched him.
The Divine Beast, already enraged by the Great Knights, pounced forward, opening its bloody maw to bite Hikigaya. It really should have looked closer at who it was biting.
Hikigaya sidestepped the pounce, then turned and plunged his hand into its neck. Before it could even cry out in pain, Hikigaya "walked" a circle around its throat.
Its head was sliced clean off.
GAME OVER.
The dying Divine Beast first emitted light, then vanished into green smoke within the radiance. Hikigaya was reminded of Voban's wolves; he felt the two were quite similar.
But there were more important matters at hand. While killing this Divine Beast, he had "seen" Doni's location. It was a vast, desolate mountainous area with rolling peaks and valleys, all covered in deep snow, not far from here.
Hikigaya didn't stay to explain things to Raffaelo and the others. He decided to find Doni first. He leaped into the wind and vanished from everyone's sight in a heartbeat.
When he reappeared, he was deep in the forest. He moved like the wind across the snowy ground until he reached a plain where a river flowed.
He saw Doni. He also saw a perfectly round black hole on the opposite side of the river. That cursed power was unmistakably a Campione's Authority.
The so-called "cave leading to another world" looked like a pitch-black circular entrance appearing out of thin air. Not only was there no light inside, but any external light that entered
was completely swallowed without reflection. It was impossible to observe what was inside with the naked eye.
Doni was holding his sword, standing by the entrance and observing. However, the moment Hikigaya arrived, Doni's attention shifted. He waved happily at Hikigaya.
Hikigaya walked near the "cave." Even right in front of him, it was absolute, total darkness.
"How about it? Want to go on an adventure to another world with me? Seizing someone else's country, starting a war... it feels like it would be a lot of fun."
The King of Swords' tone could truly be called a "sincere invitation." Hikigaya had to admit that while the format differed from what he had expected, Doni was indeed paying back the favor properly.
But should he enter or not? Hikigaya wasn't naturally that reckless; he hesitated. "Another world" was too broad a term—who knew what the standards of a "different world" were?
"Did that dinosaur run out from here?" he asked.
"Yeah, it did!" Doni replied in a relaxed tone.
Hikigaya's heart settled halfway. Since it was a two-way path, it was okay. Although a dinosaur had come through, even if the other side was the Jurassic period, Hikigaya felt it was no big deal—especially since that was just a Divine Beast that looked like a dinosaur.
"Alright, let's go in and play for a bit," he agreed.
"Haha! I knew you'd agree! Let's adventure together!"
Laughing loudly, the King of Swords was the first to dive into the "cave."
New Fanfiction!
You call this a projection?
What is a sword?
After Shirou Emiya awakened the memories of his past life and obtained a system that allowed him to travel to other worlds, his horizons were broadened by witnessing the wonders of those realms, and he suddenly reached a moment of enlightenment.
"Only swords... how could it be such a limit!"
Shirou Emiya: "Trace on!"
"False Magician's Red"
Consequently, by the time the Holy Grail War officially began...
Rin Tohsaka exclaimed in agitation:
"This isn't Projection at all!"
Crossover with Jojo's Bizarre Adventure, Jujitsu Kaisen and others.
Read ahead (60 chapters) by supporting me on buymeacoffee com/varietl or ko-fi edwriting