Chapter 150 : Suzaku and Vermilion Bird

TL:SummerPeanut

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20 Dec 2030.

In 10 more days we can leave from this West Rimurgarde.

In the past two weeks, apparently four A-rank parties, including Ice Emperor and Morning Star, have headed to Rimurgarde.

The reason they seem to have headed there was all told to us by the scouts who keep an eye on the area around this city.

In November and December, there were replacement battles and promotion exams for A-rank adventurers, and a number of those who won came to Rimurgarde.

Apparently there is a definite ranking for A-rank adventurers: the bottom 20 of A-rank adventurers, i.e. up to 80th place, have to accept application for replacement battle from B-rank adventurers.

Immediately after the A-rank party went to Rimurgarde, there was no appearance of magic beasts, but about two days after the A-rank party passed by, the magic beasts continued to attack West Rimurgarde again.

Perhaps they were too busy dealing with the magic beasts in Rimulgarde to pay much attention to us...

Ike has become much stronger because of this.

Name: Ike Bryant

Title: -

Status: Human race, heir to the Count Bryant

Condition: Good

Age: 13 years old

Level: 32

HP: 91/91

MP: 1123/1123

Strength: 71

Agility: 61

Magic: 40

Dexterity: 41

Durability: 65

Luck: 10

Special Ability: Swordsmanship (Lv6/C)

Special Ability: Spearmanship (Lv8/B)

Special Ability: Fire Magic (Lv6/C)

Special Ability: Wind magic (Lv2/G)

Equipment: Salamander Lance

Equipment: Ifrit’s Mail

Equipment: Flame Bracelet

Equipment: Ring of Protection

He is at least stronger than a level 42 Luck.

Ike also seems satisfied with the fact that he has been able to level up considerably in such a short period of time for the first time in a long time.

Me? Unfortunately, I didn't level up. Even though I focused on defeating death knights...

Today, when I was training outside the city with Ike again, there were six of them coming towards us from the north. They usually come towards us from the west, but this time they were from the north. Are they from the Lister Confederacy?

The party coming from the north also recognized me and Ike, and they all came to us.

“By any chance, are you Mars? That one is definitely Ike.”

One of the members of the group talked to us. They already know Ike apparently. And he doesn't know my face, but he knows my name...

“Yes...that’s right but... I'm sorry, who are you?”

Ike said to the crimson-haired man. Apparently, Ike does not know this man either. The color of this man's hair...and facial features...maybe he is...

“Oh sorry. I didn't expect to see you here. My name is Suzaku Lionel. I'm Karen's brother from the Lister Imperial School. I've heard about you from my father and Recca. That Mars won against Recca. That's why father recognized you."

I knew it! I thought he looked a lot like Duke Fresvald.

“Nice to meet you! I'm Ike Bryant!”

Ike greeted me with a nervous look on his face and I followed suit.

“Nice to meet you. I am Mars Bryant. What brings Lord Suzaku to a place like this?”

“There was a direct request from Balkus Kingdom. In exchange for certain conditions, we decided to dispatch an A-rank party to Rimurgarde. It was just right since it doesn’t suit me if I keep staying in the ever peaceful territory of Fresvald."

The royalty of the Kingdom of Balkus must have a very thick skin to ask for reinforcements from someone they've been pestering a lot.

“I have a request. May I appraise Suzaku-sama? Also, may I accompany you to the vicinity of Rimurgarde? I’ll return on my own so please do not worry"

“Appraise? Are you a Magic Eyes holder? The answer is yes to both. Let's go to Rimurgarde while we talk.”

I thanked Suzaku for his words and immediately appraised him.

Name: Suzaku Lionel

Title: Fire King

Status: Human race, head of the Fresvald Marquis Household

Condition: Good

Age: 25

Level: 55

HP: 152/152

MP: 588/588

Strength: 82

Agility: 90

Magic: 132

Dexterity: 120

Durability: 72

Luck: 1

Special Ability: Knifemanship (Lv8/C)

Special Ability: Fire Magic (Lv10/A)

Special Ability: Earth Magic (Lv5/D)

Equipment: Million Dagger

Equipment: Vestments of Vermillion Bird 

Equipment: Flame Bracelet

Equipment: Ring of Protection

To be honest, his stats is higher than Guster's. His magic power of 132 is the highest value I've ever seen. He has A talent for Fire magic and at level 10. And his dexterity is also high. ...what kind of attacks does this guy do? Come to think of it, I heard there's some sort of ranking for A-rank adventurers.

“Lord Suzaku, what rank are you as an A-rank adventurer?”

“67th. I don't care what rank I'm in as long as I'm in the top 80. I'd like to aim for top 10 if I can, but it's not possible yet. I'll give it a go in another five years or so."

With this status on 67th place... Not to mention the other members with Suzaku are also quite strong. At least they were stronger than yesterday's Luck, except one. All of them had a status that made them more like magicians but also still capable of solid physical attacks. However, only the Holy magician had a high level but a low status. He must have been doing a lot of power levelling...

“Is Lord Suzaku party all magician types? Are there any vanguards?"

When I asked what I was wondering, Suzaku replied.

“Yes, there are no vanguards in the A-rank party ‘Vermillion Bird’. The Vermilion Bird Knights Order do, though.”

So there are also glass cannon parties like this... Well, just because they are more magician-like doesn't mean that their strength and agility are that low.

When we were talking as we headed towards Rimurgarde, around 100 magic beasts including death knights were coming towards us. Apparently, these guys are planning to attack West Rimurgarde?

“Ike. Mars. Can I ask you to cover me? I don't want to exhaust my MP too much here.”

If Suzaku fights, it’s likely that he'll be able to beat them easily with just a dagger. Maybe he’s trying to show to see how good we are... Ike might have noticed that too.

“I understand, Lord Suzaku. Please watch us defeat the enemies on our own. If you don't mind, we'd be happy if you would give some advice after you watch the battle...”

“Thank you. I'll take your word for it.”

When I defeated Death Knight and Ike with the rest as usual, Suzaku was not too surprised, but the other members were.

"As expected. It might even be more than the talk of mouth. To defeat a monster with a threat level of B at that age. I can’t think of any advice even though you're not fighting seriously."

Suzaku told us with a laugh. We had sporadic encounters with magic beasts after that, but Ike and I defeated them all.

It was almost noon when we reached a position where we could see the castle town of Rimurgarde.

What the... This place...is completely different from...four years ago... There is a black fog. So we have to go through here to get to Rimurgarde Castle Town, but ...

“Just as I've heard...this is a tricky problem... so that’s why the others can't finish the attack either...”

Suzaku is talking to a member of Vermilion Bird about something. And he said to the two of us, me and Ike.

“You two should go back from here now. A threat level A magic beast called the Impure King will appear here. It may be more troublesome than a threat level S magic beast. We don't have the means to defeat it. Or rather, I don't think any other party has it either.

Unless we defeat the Impure King, death knights will spring up endlessly. Well, maybe we should think of it as a simplified version of the Forest of Death. We're going to run all the way through here to Rimurgarde Castle Town."

More troublesome than threat level S? And that naming of Impure King is unpleasant to hear...

“How do we defeat the Impure King?”

I asked Suzaku, and he appeared a little scared.

“Basically, physical and magical attacks don't work very well. You might be able to inflict some damage, but it will recover quickly. And physical attacks towards it can cause your equipment you used to rot, so it's probably best not to attack with your swords and spears by mistake.

There shouldn’t be a problem with my Million Dagger but... You have to defeat it with Holy Magic. There is a Holy magic user in our party, but as expected, he is not saint nor saintess who can learn Holy..."

Huh? Since I'm a saint, can I use magic called Holy?

“What kind of magic is Holy?”

“I've never seen it myself, so I don't know all the details. It is said to be the only offensive magic of Holy magic but... it might just be some dubious tale. Anyway, if you come across the Impure King, you should run away. His attacks is fast, but the Impure King himself moves slowly, so you two should be able to outrun him.

Death knights spring up around the Impure King on their own, so it's actually a good way to raise your level, but be careful, because if you get attacked, you'll get poison, paralysis, and other abnormal conditions. Then we'll be going now. I've given you my advice."

Saying this, the members of Vermilion Bird ran through the black fog towards Rimurgarde Castle Town.

“Mars. Do you by any chance have the title saint?”

I nodded as Ike asked me.

“I want to defeat the Impure King... If I do that, the order to convene the B-rank adventurers in West Rimurgarde will be rescinded...”

Suzaku looked at this black fog and seemed convinced that the Impure King is here... perhaps somewhere in this black fog lies the Impure King...

“For now…let’s see if the Impure King is here or not. ...Lord Suzaku did say that we should be able to make our escape from it.”

Ike seemed to agree with me. We walked cautiously towards the thicker black fog.

I had noticed a faint smell before entering the black fog, but this fog smells... It got worse as we proceeded deeper towards the thicker black fog.

S-smelly… I might lose my determination before even fighting the Impure King... I am currently fully using the Search magic, Mana Eyes, and Vision. I'm ready for anything to happen at any time.

But perhaps Search is meaningless here. If there is the Impure King in this black fog, I should definitely have detected him via Search already. If I try to clear the fog with Wind magic, more will quickly cover the gap.

After walking for a couple of minutes, we reached the center of the black fog... but I couldn't stand it any longer.

“Brother Ike! Let's go back once! We can't do this without taking countermeasures against the smell…ughhkhh."

I was vomiting as I talked to Ike and Ike was vomiting as well. Ike nodded at my words with tears in his eyes and Ike, who was in front of me, turned on his heel even before me. And at that moment, a black, sludgy, humanoid monster came up from the ground behind Ike.

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Author’s note:

The Impure King...feels weird even when writing it...

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