Beast Tamer Who Got Kicked Out From the Hero’s Party Chapter 179

CHAPTER 179: THE RUINS OF THE CELESTIAL TRIBE

「The remains of the Celestial Tribe……?」

「Yes, that’s right. To be exact, this place is the ruins of the fortress that the Celestial Tribe had built a long, long time ago.」

The word “fortress” was what stuck with me for some odd reason.

The word “fortress” indicates that the structure used to possess strong walls and thick gates, and that there were traps and intricate internal structures that were supposed to prevent the enemy from entering or easily traversing through such a place.

Furthermore, it was supposed to be able to withstand the assault of the enemy’s army, fight back against the siege…… and so on and so forth.

Those were the things that would come to your mind when hearing the word “fortress”, but…… Strangely enough, this place exhibited none of those things.

And yet, the fact that Iris called this place a fortress so readily…… Was there something about this place that I was unable to see? Something hidden from plain sight?

No, wait…… could it be?

Just because I was not aware of it, it didn’t mean that the fortress might not already be showing me its function, working exactly as intended.

And that hidden function would be……

「If this place is indeed a fortress, it has to have some sort of function that it needs to serve, right?」

「Yes, that is exactly right.」

「And what that function could be…… Is it the ability to seal away all magic abilities? As well as severely limiting physical abilities?」

「Fufu, for you to be able to arrive at the correct answer so soon…… You really are a clever individual, Rein-sama.」

Iris smiled brightly as she nodded her head, as if to confirm that my conjecture was correct.

「This place has always served one purpose: to block the intruders’ magic abilities and further suppress their physical abilities to a great extent. That’s the kind of barrier that was developed for the sake of keeping this place safe.」

「What a troublesome little trick that is……」

「Oh, yes, quite. Also, there is literally no sense in trying to dispel the barrier. This entire place itself serves as a mechanism for powering up the barrier. Of course, you can always try to destroy the ruins in their entirety, but by doing so, you run the risk of burying yourself alive under the falling debris and rubble.」

「Believe me, I am nowhere near as suicidal to try something like that. But that being said…… With a function like that added here, won’t it also affect…… No, wait. Could it be that you yourself are not affected by this, Iris?」

「I must say, you really ARE perceptive, Rein-sama……」

Iris genuinely did not seem to have been expecting that question, and her eyes opened wide in surprise.

「Yes, yes, that is exactly right! This fortress is the structure that was built by my people, the Celestial Tribe. Therefore, it is only natural that its negative effect will never work on someone who is of the Celestial Tribe themselves.」

「Blocking your opponents’ magical and physical potential while retaining the full scale of your own powers yourselves…… I see. This is indeed what a true fortress should be.」

「It was the best possible place where I could recuperate from my earlier injuries. But that being said…… Since my injuries are all but healed right now, I can finally get out of this place and take care of those nasty flies that’s been buzzing about the place for a while now.」

Well, this isn’t good.

If the Strike Force is going to swarm this place without realizing its true nature, they will be like rats in a labyrinth. And this will only result in them getting completely annihilated.

And since it’s Iris that we are talking about here, there is no way in hell that she is going to have mercy on them. She is going to kill each and every single member of the Strike Team.

I’m not going to let them take down Iris, but that doesn’t mean that I am okay with her decimating the entire Strike Team just like that.

I would like for my intentions to be able to reach Iris somehow, but……

「I’m afraid that this won’t do, Rein-sama.」

Iris snapped her fingers and……

As if in response, the entrance to the room closed behind my back.

「I won’t let you go away and spoil the fun for the rest of those nasty pests.」

「Well, I already kind of anticipated that something like this was about to happen……」

Of course that there was no way that she would let me do something like that, as it would put her at severe disadvantage.

「Now then, how about we have a little chat for the time being?」

Iris walked over to me and closed the distance between us, her guard completely lowered and herself seemingly unconcerned.

It was probably because she had the overwhelming advantage of being able to wield one hundred percent of her powers, that she was able to act like that.

「What brings you here, Rein-sama?　Apparently, you are separated from your dear companions who are waiting just outside of the ruins, but I assume that you do have some sort of business with me, isn’t that right? Even though it’s something completely different from those nasty flies.」

「Yes, that’s right…… And since it has already come to this, I might as well tell you the truth.」

Let’s be honest with her here and see where that takes me.

「I’m here to seal you away, Iris.」

「…… Hee.」

Iris’s face turns into that of a cold smile.

Iris said on multiple occasions that she had taken a liking to me.

Well, maybe that’s true.

It would surely not reach the levels of her deliberately going easy on me, but at the very least she was not showing any open and direct hostility towards me.

But it would surely be a different story when her own safety would come into question.

You can’t just afford to do the same things that you used to do before.

Iris then gave me a really cold look.

「Is that really true, Rein-sama? Or is it another one of your poor bluffs?」

「I’m afraid that it’s true. Surely you don’t think that I would be able to fool someone with the same lie for the second time, do you?」

「So then, if you don’t mind me asking, how exactly are you going to seal me away?」

「The process is going to be largely the same as it was the last time. Sora and Luna will be using their power of the Spirit Tribe to seal you away with the help of a Legendary Class Item that was granted to us to serve as the seal’s vessel.」

「……………」

「They have both mastered the Sealing Magic that we are going to use, and we have the item suitable to be the vessel on our hands. We are all ready to go and to carry this plan out.」

「Well, I guess that’s a shame.」

Iris then took some distance from me.

With her back turned on me, I couldn’t see her expression all that well.

However, judging from the tone of her voice, I had a feeling that her expression must have been quite lonely.

「I am going to repeat myself here, but please allow me to indulge myself: I really happened to take a liking to you, Rein-sama. Yes, you are a human, but even so, there is something about you that made me unable to hate you from the bottom of my heart. Not to mention that I enjoyed your company and conversing with you to a great extent……」

「I feel the same way. Iris, you might have done a whole lot of things, but I can’t bring myself to hate you for it. Maybe I am just feeling pity for you, but I want to help you, no matter what.」

「And you would seal me away because of that desire to help me of yours?」

「Yes. And that is precisely because I cannot bring myself to hate you, Iris.」

If we allow this to go on, there will be no future for Iris…… No, it is going to be lost for good……

So, for now, I have to do everything that I can to prevent that from happening. Even if it means sealing her away……

「By sealing you away, I can save you. That’s the answer that I have come up with.」

「…… I see.」

Iris looked back at me.

Her face was……..expressionless.

I couldn’t see any shred of emotion in it at all.

It was almost a doll-like expression. And it was actually frightening.

「I understand how you feel, Rain-sama. I really do. But…… I don’t want that to happen. If no one can simply blow out those flames of hatred burning inside of me, then I guess that I do not deserve to be alive anymore.」

「Iris! You don’t have to……」

「So, if you are going to try and get in the way of my revenge, I won’t show you any mercy. Yes, even if it is you, Rein-sama……」

There was a pure and unadulterated killing intent in Iris’ eyes.

The mere fact that he stared at me with those eyes made me feel like my body was going to collapse at any moment now.

I touched on Iris’s hatred when we fought last time, but now……

That was only the tip of the iceberg.

Today, for the first time, I felt like I had been exposed to the essence of the darkness that Iris was carrying inside of her heart.

I didn’t think she would be carrying this much hatred inside of her……

I almost felt like I was about to faint on the spot, but I had to stand my ground here.

If I was to retreat here, I would never be able to stand in front of Iris ever again.

I will not be eligible for something as cowardly as that.

That is why.

I.

Will not run away from here.

「This is going to be my last warning…… No, my last piece of advice to you, Rein-sama: will you please cease this nonsense of yours? If you do, I promise to let you go from here unharmed.」

「Thank you for your kind offer, but I’m afraid that I have to refuse. I have already made up my mind here.」

「……………」

「I’m going to seal you away, Iris. And I won’t let the people outside of this place get hurt by you. This is the path that I have chosen.」

「…… I understand.」

Iris said ruefully.

But the look of pure sorrow only lasted on her face for but a moment.

It quickly switched to an expression that was as cold as ice.

「Then…… I guess that this cannot really be helped. Even if it is you, Rein-sama, I won’t show you any mercy as long as you choose to interfere with me. Will you seriously die for something as trivial and nonsensical as that?」

「No, that won’t be happening here. I am going to save you, Iris, even if you end up hating me because of it.」

「So, are you still saying that you are going to seal me away?」

「If I don’t do that, there is no way that you are going to stop, right?」

「Yes. Of course I am. I have no intention of stopping. I have sworn to avenge my fallen brethren with my body, my soul, and everything I have left.」

「…… I refuse to believe that there are creatures in this world who live solely for the purpose of revenge.」

Those words seemed to have irritated Iris, and her face twitched hard.

「So in the end, I guess that you are only a human being, Rein-sama…… You talk to me as if you know the contents of my heart, and you give me your boring sympathy while looking down on me…… That, I cannot forgive you.」

「So then, what is it that you want to do now?」

「Of course, I am going to kill you for doing that.」

「Then let’s get right to it, shall we?」

I pulled out Kamui from behind my belt and assumed a battle-ready stance with it.

Iris held her hands out to the left and right, also assuming a battle-ready position.

「We are going to settle this dispute once and for all here.」

「No. I’m not going to let it end here. Either for me, or for you, Iris. The only thing that is going to end tonight…… Is that stupid revenge of yours!」

And then we collided with one another.