Reincarnated in a Shounen Manga - Chapter 257

Chapter 257 - War, What is it Good For?

As Carpy flew toward where he sensed a fierce battle among many demons, distant explosions reached his ears before he even caught a whiff of smoke or sight of a battlefield.

However, when he and his army arrived, they were met with a cacophony of bestial roars, the cries of madness, and a raging sea of flames. Even from this distance, the acrid scent of ash and blood assaulted Carpy's senses, leaving a disgusting taste on his tongue.

Above the chaos, the Gardens of Babylon, a golden palace, hovered as demons took flight from it, dropping strange small rocks across the battlefield.

Yet, there were also flying demons from the opposing side, engaging in a battle to eliminate as many demons from the Gardens of Babylon as possible.

Although referring to the creatures from the Gardens of Babylon as demons might be an oversimplification. They resembled less demons and more like grotesque, nightmarish experiments gone awry. It was as if they had stepped out of a horror movie.

The small rocks dropped by these creatures exploded upon impact, and tens of thousands of those stones were used, creating a field of fiery devastation reminiscent of a carpet bombing.

During this onslaught, the ground troops from the opposing side remained active, firing spikes, beams, feathered blades, and any available projectiles at the airborne attackers, albeit with limited success. The Gardens of Babylon appeared to have an unending supply of these nightmarish creatures.

"Wow, that looks terrifying," remarked the mermaid, her voice trembling. She squinted at the chaotic scene and let out a sigh. "It seems like whatever you're involved in here, it won't end without some deaths and a new river of blood."

Carpy turned to her and asked, "Are you scared?"

The mermaid's face lit up, and she covered her mouth with her hands, giggling like a schoolgirl. "Ah, you finally responded!"

Carpy shot her a stern look, a dangerous glint in his eyes, causing the mermaid to blush even stronger. She cleared her throat, regaining her composure. "Sorry about that. But to answer your question... No, I am not scared. I am kind of excited for when all of this will be over!"

"Then you better be careful. The ground troops have many ultimate class demons," Carpy cautioned.

Once more, the mermaid's face flushed red. "Aya, Lord Dragon, don't say such indecent things! Otherwise, I will have a hard time holding myself back!"

Indecent things? Holding herself back? What the hell is wrong with this woman?

Carpy reflected on his recent conversation with her and realized he hadn't uttered a single indecent word! Mermaids, he concluded, were indeed confusing creatures.

Nonetheless, Carpy had little time to dwell on such matters. The ultimate-class demons on the ground had begun gathering their energy, launching air blades, clumps of darkness, arrows of light, cursed flames, and an array of other projectiles at the sky. This time, their target was not the carpet-bombing creatures but The Gardens of Babylon themselves.

Despite the relentless onslaught from the ultimate-class demons, the Gardens of Babylon flickered and teleported swiftly, effortlessly dodging all incoming attacks.

Even as it teleported about, the Gardens of Babylon continued releasing swarms of flying demons that hurled explosive rocks down upon the ground. The carpet bombing had decimated most of the weaker demons, leaving only the ultimate-class and strong high-class demons alive.

Carpy narrowed his eyes, identifying the leaders on both sides: a green-haired man and a naked silver-haired woman. It appeared the woman had made a critical error by pulling all the demons of Avalon Island out of their natural habitats, weakening them quite a lot.

While she might have more ultimate-class demons on her side, most of them had been severely weakened by the change in environment. Also, judging by the anger etched on the silver-haired woman's face, she didn't look like the kind to have a detailed and well-thought-out plan.

Carpy found himself puzzled by the battle between the Gardens of Babylon and what appeared to be Avalon's ruler, controlling all the contracted demons.

Why were these two even fighting?

Unlike Carpy, who attacked the Gardens of Babylon due to Master Kon's death, the motives of the others remained unclear. Nevertheless, Carpy chose his side and gathered his power, forming a blazing blast that he hurled toward the Gardens of Babylon.

He had a reason for attacking them since the creators of the Gardens of Babylon were responsible for Master Kon's death...

Naturally, the Gardens of Babylon swiftly evaded the blast. Yet, this attack served as a signal for Carpy's troops to know their target.

In such a chaotic situation, Carpy's memories of Master Kon proved invaluable, offering insight into how to deal with a teleporting castle.

All he had to do was wrap himself around the flying palace and fire a point-blank beam at it. Like every power that seemed perfect, once someone figured out the rules then it would be easier to deal with them.

Was the teleportation only activated after a projectile was shot toward it? There seemed to be no barrier around the Gardens of Babylon; this could be one of the risks they had to take for the teleportation to work.

A foreign part of Carpy was excited at the thought of fighting, outsmarting, and figuring out how special abilities worked. But he ignored that for now, even though he couldn't stop himself from showing his sharp teeth, in a rough smile that probably looked terrifying.

Carpy shook his head and tried to concentrate. Unlike Master Kon, this excitement during battle didn’t sharpen his mind; it only made him feel like a battle maniac. Which had the opposite effect that it had on Master Kon and just turned his senses duller.

Carpy didn't concentrate on figuring out exactly how the ability worked. But he knew one thing for sure: teleportation takes a monstrous amount of Ord. Even short-range teleportation exhausted him when used frequently.

As he got closer, Carpy sensed attacks coming straight toward him. He looked down and saw a silver-haired woman pointing at him as the demons around her made him their target.

"Fall down, you dumb dragon!" she yelled.

Carpy frowned at her choice of language. Truth be told, while he was helping them, he didn't really need their help to win this battle.

He gathered Ord in his throat and felt the heat as he unleashed his fiery beam. It crushed all the other blasts almost instantly, and he swung his head to the side. The attack created a wall of fiery rage that shook the island, killing over half of the ultimate class demons under the silver-haired woman's control.

But as the flames died down, she still wore a smile. Some of her demons had used their bodies to shield her, but she seemed to not care about their lives. Instead, she gloated, "Dumb dragon, that was the last mistake you will ever make! I knew someone like you would just throw their power around. One of those ultimate class demons you killed had a special ability that activates only once they're killed. Get cursed you dumb fuck!"

Carpy felt the effects almost immediately. His body clenched, and his muscles tightened. Even though he was much stronger than the average ultimate class demon. Cursing abilities were still dangerous, especially when they required the user's death for activation.

However, dragons were known for their resistance against curses. They weren't considered some of the strongest ultimate class creatures for nothing. So, the process of the curse taking hold was slow.

The curse started from his tail, slowly turning it into stone. Carpy tried to stop the curse from spreading, but it was futile as it crawled up his body.

He looked at the silver-haired woman, and she had a deep frown.  "Dragons and their damn resistances to everything, from elements to fucking curses! This curse cost the life of an ultimate class demon and it's still not an instant effect?"

Carpy felt a sense of numbness spreading through the rest of his body, his flight deactivated, and he started plummeting toward the ground.

{Perfect Me}

Whether it was a curse, a boost, a special ability, or even Yamata no Orochi's poison, when it had supernatural effects, something that defied common physics, it always had something to do with Ord. This curse was no different.

So, with Perfect Me diagnosing his body, Carpy located the foreign Ord inside him, fueling the curse. He immediately put Perfect Me to work to handle the curse.

Slowly, Carpy also lost his sense of smell as he crashed to the ground, creating a crater.

His sense of sight was the first to go away, and the last thing he saw was the mermaid demon's worried face. Projectiles rained down on him, and she created a water barrier that protected them both.

Carpy's body slowly turned to stone, and he lost all his senses, sinking into endless darkness. He couldn't see, hear, feel, or sense anything other than his own Ord and the curse Perfect Me was working on.

***

Uriel observed the gleeful expression on Merlin's face as the dragon plummeted. He didn't know how to feel about that as there were a lot more important things than dealing with the dragon.

After all, that same dragon had been attacking their enemy. It would have been wiser to let the dragon and the green-haired man exhaust themselves before attacking whoever was left alive.

Moreover, that dragon's fiery breath had annihilated their army, rendering this battle nearly unwinnable..

In an unexpected turn, a powerful surge of water cut through the flames, quenching the molten rocks that the dragon had created. The controller of this water was an imposing whale-like demon with crab-like legs.

The demon bowed as best it could and declared, "My Lady, you have defeated the tyrannical dragon. We are here to offer your services."

Merlin's joyful expression faded as she turned toward them, pointing at the whale demon and his contingent of several dozen demons. "I hate dragons," she remarked coldly, "but I loathe traitors even more. Uriel, kill these weaklings."

"Of course," Uriel nodded. His cursed flames burned the water demons and their feeble attempts at creating watery barriers.

It was generally a bad idea for water demons to venture onto land.