Chapter 473

Bear-san, Defeats The Orochi

The fight was over. The torso was all that was left, but we’ve destroyed all the heads, so it’s over.

Without a head, no organism can continue to operate.

(Spirit-san: But translator, did you know that roaches……………………….)

(*slapped by Attattin*)

However, even if we destroyed a part of Orochi’s head, it would still regenerate. So the possibility of regeneration remains. But all the magic stones that were inside Orochi’s many heads, which were the source of the magic power needed for regeneration, had been stored in the bear box.

Well, I won’t find the answer by simply thinking about it. The only way to find out was to talk to Mumroot-san and Kagali-san. I rode on Hugging Bear with Sakura and headed to where Mumroot-san and Kagali-san were.

“Ruimin-san, are you alright? Are you hurt or anything?” (Sakura)

Sakura asked Ruimin, who was riding on Swaying Bear next to us.

“Swaying Bear-chan protected me, so I’m fine.” (Ruimin)

Ruimin reached out in front and pet Swaying Bear’s head.

`Ku~u ~ n’

Swaying Bear cried happily.

“Hugging Bear-sama protected me too.” (Sakura)

`Ku~u ~ n’

Hugging Bear also cried happily.

Swaying Bear and Hugging Bear seemed to have protected them well.

“Thank you, both of you.” (Yuna)

“Ku~u ~ n”

“But Ruimin, Sakura. Both of you overdid it. If you knew you were in danger, you just had to run away.” (Yuna)

The story was like this. After Kagali-san defeated the wind-type snakehead, I headed for the nearest sealed building. But, there was no building in sight. Seeing such a scene, even I would panic.

I rushed in and was relieved when I saw Ruimin and Swaying Bear in the basement of the ruined building, but I wondered what they were doing continuing to be in that ruin.

“Because Kagali-san is also fighting out there, I thought I shouldn’t run away.” (Ruimin)

Wind Orochi head’s wind-based attacks blew away the original building.

Thanks to the strong winds, the debris from the building did not fall into the basement where Ruimin and Swaying Bear were located. Thus Ruimin did not escape and continued to reinforce the seal. The wind kept blowing, but Swaying Bear continued to protect Ruimin.

I tried to scold Swaying Bear when I heard this story, but Ruimin said, “I asked for a little more time. So, Swaying Bear is not to blame.” Ruimin defended Swaying Bear, so I couldn’t bring myself to reprimand Swaying Bear in the end.

So, I instead pulled Ruimin’s cheeks from both sides, scolded her lightly, then finally said, “Good job”.

Then I told Swaying Bear, “Thank you for protecting Ruimin.”

The building had collapsed, and the seal had reached its limits.

Ruimin’s magic had reached its limit as well. When Ruimin let go of her hand, the ground began to shake, and the Earth Orochi head resurfaced.

So after defeating the Earth Orochi head, I headed straight for the building where Sakura was.

When I came to Sakura, I found that she was nearly drained of magic power. She gave her all for it.

Let’s value life a little more, shall we?

“By the way, Yuna-sama. I don’t see Kagali-sama.” (Sakura)

Sakura, listening quietly to Ruimin’s story, looked at me, riding in the back.

“That’s……” (Yuna)

I looked away from Sakura.

I don’t know if it’s okay to talk about the great fox or even the fact that she forcefully transformed into a little girl after using her ultimate move.

Ruimin saw the great fox, so I explained it to her, but Sakura didn’t see it. I don’t know what she would think if she knew Kagali-san could change into a great fox.

She might think it’s just another monster. But still, I have to explain that she became a little girl.

I don’t know how much I can tell her.

When I kept being silent, Sakura shouted.

“Is, is it possible that something bad had happened to Kagali-sama!?” (Sakura)

“I’m sorry, I don’t know what to tell you.” (Yuna)

When I responded, tears began to form in Sakura’s eyes.

“Eh? What’s wrong?” (Yuna)

I was surprised to see Sakura suddenly start sobbing.

Why did she start crying?

“I loved Kagali-sama like a sister or even as my mother, but…” (Sakura)

“You’re misunderstanding, I guess? Kagali-san is alive.” (Yuna)

Sakura raised her face as if she was surprised at my words.

“Really!? Then Kagali-sama is alive!?” (Sakura)

Sakura wiped away her tears and looked relieved.

“Because Yuna-sama, you said you can’t say it.” (Sakura)

“You thought she was dead?” (Yuna)

“……Yes” (Sakura)

“She’s fine. She wasn’t seriously hurt.” (Yuna)

She just morphed into a little girl, though.

“I’m glad. Then why can’t you tell me that?” (Sakura)

“Sorry, you just have to see it for yourself.” (Yuna)

“……Okay, I understand.” (Sakura)

Sakura looked like she wanted to ask about it, but she obediently nodded instead.

=====

We arrived at the place where Mumroot-san was guarding the seal. When the building came into view, we saw a little girl standing there.

“Yuna-san, there’s a little girl over there.” (Ruimin)

“A little girl? Here? How did she get to the island?” (Sakura)

Ruimin and Sakura were tilting their heads at the little girl, Kagali-san.

We got off of Swaying Bear and Hugging Bear and went to the little girl, Kagali-san’s side.

“Bear Missy. You’ve done well.” (Kagali)

The little girl, Kagali-san, ran up to me. It feels weird when a little girl calls me Missy. Her clothes were still loose and baggy. Well, I guess they don’t have clothes for little girls lying around, so I can’t blame her.

“It looks like Sakura and Ruimin are safe too. I’m glad.” (Kagali)

The little girl, Kagali-san, examined the bodies of the two.

Both of them were visibly confused about the actions of such a little girl.

After all, Sakura had never seen Kagali-san in this state before.

“Etto, Are you perhaps, Kagali-sama?” (Sakura)

Kagali-san looks at herself again.

“There is a reason why I look like this.” (Kagali)

“I’m just glad you’re okay.” (Sakura)

Sakura hugs Kagali-san.

“I’m glad you’re okay, too.” (Kagali)

Kagali-san put her hands behind Sakura’s back and also hugged her. If Kagali-san were in her adult form, the scene would be lighthearted, like a parent and child, but it felt like a slightly different atmosphere because of her child form. But I guess it doesn’t matter to both of them.

“Well then, let’s go and check on Mumroot.” (Kagali)

Kagali-san looked like she was having trouble walking, so I put her on Swaying Bear. We entered the building and headed to Mumroot-san in the basement. Mumroot-san had his hand on the magic circle and poured his magic power, just like everyone else.

“Grandpa!” (Ruimin)

Ruimin called out and ran up to him. That’s when he noticed us.

“Did you defeat them all, Missy? Orochi’s reaction has weakened.” (Mumroot)

“Thanks to the hard work of Ruimin and Sakura, we were able to beat them.” (Yuna)

“It was the same with the Sacred Tree, but you are amazing, Missy. The wards that would be used to seal it would be meaningless now, though.” (Mumroot)

Apparently, he had also prepared a stronger ward to seal it away permanently.

“Ano, Yuna-sama defeated the heads of the giant serpent. This is the end, isn’t it?” (Sakura)

Sakura asked Mumroot-san, who still hadn’t taken his hand off the magic circle.

“It’s not exactly over yet.” (Mumroot)

Sakura was surprised by his words.

“There are two options. One is to seal Orochi as it is.” (Mumroot)

“But Yuna-sama has defeated all of Orochi’s heads.” (Sakura)

“Ah, Missy only has defeated the heads of the serpent. But the main body is still alive. If we break the seal, there is a chance it will move.” (Mumroot)

I thought I had beaten it because I destroyed its heads, but it seems it wasn’t as easy. But still, I hoped it would die because we destroyed all of Orochi’s heads.

“And? What’s the other option?” (Yuna)

“Obviously, break the seal and destroy the main body.” (Mumroot)

I know, right? The most obvious choice is destroying the main body to end the problem.

“Sure, why not.” (Yuna)

“Yuna-sama !?” (Sakura)

When I chose to engage the main body, Sakura looked at me surprisedly.

“Yuna-sama. Are you still going to fight it?” (Sakura)

“If I defeat it, the people of this country will feel at ease, and Mumroot-san will be able to return to his village without worries.” (Yuna)

Mumroot-san came here for that reason. But he seemed to have forgotten about it until I told him. I’m not mentioning that, though.

“True, but I don’t want to make you fight any more than this, Yuna-sama……” (Sakura)

“I’ll be fine. Besides, I don’t want to leave things half done.” (Yuna)

At this point, I might as well finish the job and be done with it.

“Then, we’re going to break the seal on Orochi’s main body. Are you okay with that?” (Mumroot)

Mumroot-san looked at us as if to confirm.

“I, who cannot fight, cannot decide on that.” (Kagali)

“I’ll leave it to Yuna-san’s judgment.” (Ruimin)

“…Yuna-sama, we’ll be counting on you.” (Sakura)

I decided to put a stop to the giant snake.

“Missy, do you need a break? I can keep this up for a while longer so you can get some rest.” (Mumroot)

Unlike Ruimin and Sakura, he seemed to have quite an enormous capacity for magic.

“I’m fine. Let’s just get this over with so we can all go home.” (Yuna)

Besides, it would be troublesome if we stayed too long and others arrived. Since we’ve come this far, I should quickly dispose of it.

“What about you, Kagali, and little Sakura? If you want to get off the island, you still have time.” (Mumroot)

“How could I run away after coming this far? I will stay here with Bear Missy.” (Kagali)

“I’m staying, too. I will see it through to the end.” (Sakura)

“Of course, I’m staying, too.” (Ruimin)

The three answered Mumroot-san’s question.

“Since all three of you can’t fight, you absolutely must not leave Swaying Bear and Hugging Bear.” (Yuna)

I reminded them, just in case.

Ruimin got on Swaying Bear, then Sakura and Kagali-san got on Hugging Bear.

“Now then, I’ll let go of it.” (Mumroot)

When Mumroot-san removed his hand from the carpet on which he drew the magic circle, the magic circle of the ward began to flash red and black.

“I don’t know how much time we have, but we gotta get out of here fast.” (Mumroot)

We left the building and moved further away. After a while, the ground shook continuously.

The ground cracked, and a large, serpent-like body rose from the ground. The body of a large coiled snake began to move.

Then, when I looked up, I saw that Orochi had restored the four heads.

“This must be a lie. I thought Yuna-sama already defeated those……” (Sakura)

Sakura looked at the serpent with a face of despair. The magic stone in the main body. That’s the only one I can think of. I didn’t know it would regenerate all of its four heads. But the difference now was that Orochi did not imbue each head with any specific elemental attribute magic. It looks like I did the right thing to remove the magic stones.

This seems to be okay.

“Well, I’m off then.” (Yuna)

“I’ll go with you.” (Mumroot)

“Mumroot-san, stay here together with these three. You’ve exhausted a considerate amount of your magical power, haven’t you?” (Yuna)

“Weren’t you in the same boat then?” (Mumroot)

“Not really. Besides, I can handle that oversized snake all by myself.” (Yuna)

I rushed in. I used the body of the coiled Orochi as steps to run upwards. There were no flames, no wind or water around it. It’s just a regular oversized snake with many heads at this point. I jumped up near Orochi’s four heads and all four of them turned towards me.

If you want to eat a bear so badly, I shall feed it to you. I created an army of flame bears and matched the movement of the snake’s maws. Then, the flame bears entered the maws.

The flame bear army charged through the snake’s body, which looked like a winding maze.

Orochi began to suffer. Nevertheless, the flame bear army continued to move through Orochi’s body. As the flame bear army passed through, it can be seen from the outside that parts of the snake’s body were shining bright red.

It might regenerate, so I shoot two to three flame bears into each maw. The four headed giant snake continued to wriggle in suffering. Its body slammed into the ground repeatedly.Perhaps its regeneration can’t keep up, and Orochi gradually stopped moving.

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