Day 511-520/Day 520

Day 520 / 50th day
　The "Harmony Tower of Balance" is more than 500 meters high and looks like a balance with huge scales on both sides. In the morning sunshine, the silvery glow of the tower is almost divine, and you can even see some believers worshipping at the sight of it. 　The entrance was an unusual black color, given the smooth, uneven silver surface. It seemed that you could enter through the swirling flow of it, just as I had been informed.
　After passing through, I realized that the air was distinctly different from the outside.
　The inside was like the corridor of some palace. The walls were solemnly decorated, the ceiling high. The floor is covered with a red carpet, and a comfortable tranquility fills the air. The air is clean and seems to contain a dense magical power. With just one breath, I could clearly feel the magic in the air.
　I felt as if I had come to a tourist attraction where I could enjoy myself by simply looking around at the details, but I switched my mind to the fact that this was a danger zone. Holding the vermillion spear in one hand and the magic rifle in the other, I proceeded, wary of traps and attacks. I was careful not to make any footsteps, and as I proceeded to assimilate my presence into the surroundings, I immediately caught a hint of a dungeon monster.
　I hid in the shadows and observed.
　The dungeon monsters were three angel knights with large white wings sprouting from their backs. The feet of the angel knights were a few inches off the floor, and they were moving as if they were floating at a walking speed. They were clad in silver full-body armor that must have been thick and heavy, with long swords on their hips and short spears in their hands. They were large, about two meters tall, and from the shape of their bodies, two were male and one was probably female. The two male celestial knights walking in front of them are more for the vanguard, while the female celestial knight walking behind them seems to be for the rearguard, as only one of them has a short staff.
　The three heavenly knights were moving in a wary manner, so I moved ahead of their path and hid myself in the high ceiling. A few moments later, the time came. The first thing I did was to fall from the ceiling and use my momentum to stab the female Heavenly Knight behind me with my vermillion spear. The spear easily pierced the helmet that covered the entire head and went through the skull and through the torso. It's not that I don't like it, but it's not that I don't like it. Five shots were fired at each of them. They landed at almost the same time, but unfortunately they were repelled by Helm. The Helm seems to be sturdy enough that magic bullets can't penetrate it, and the supposedly fatal shot ends up turning his head back and creating a small opening. It's just enough to have a little time to close the distance with a single step, grab the metal stake hidden in your forearm in both hands, and slam it into the small gap created around the necks of the two male Heavenly Knights while using 【Electromagnetic Acceleration】.　I'm sure they were wearing protective clothing like chainmail underneath their armor, but the metal stakes reached their flesh and blood, even though they felt hard, and their necks shredded from the strain. The white flesh was exposed, and blue blood spurted out. It seems that the Heavenly Knight's flesh is white and his blood is blue.
　The thought of this was a gap in my consciousness. It was my fault for not stopping it with certainty.
　　The bodies of the male Heavenly Knights whose heads had been blown off stayed on their feet without collapsing, and their wounds regenerated like bubbling flesh. In the blink of an eye, the regenerated head naturally had no helmet, but the face of a young man with the beauty of a stone statue was formed. Both men are breathtakingly beautiful, and their blue eyes glare at me with clear hostility. As I watch, I slam the magic rifle into his head again. This time, the bullet doesn't hit him, but bounces off his eyeball and skull, splattering red pieces of flesh and fresh blue blood all around. Still, the torso stayed in place again, as if it was not completely dead yet. Since it would be troublesome if they resurrected again, I first gouged out the chest of the two male Heavenly Knights with my mechanical arm and grabbed their powerfully beating hearts in my hand. I pulled it out before they could desperately resist, and the body that had run out of energy there slowly collapsed.
　It seemed that the best way to kill it without fail would be to damage it more than a certain amount or destroy its heart and brain.
　In order to confirm this, I pulled out the vermillion spear from the female Heavenly Knight that had been used as a specimen. 
　For the time being, if I wanted to kill the Heavenly Knight, it would be better to destroy its head and heart rather than aiming for the missing parts.
　The first hunt here took an unexpected amount of time. It may have taken us by surprise, but we still had a long way to go. We'll have to be on our guard and make steady progress.
　However, the first thing we should do is to taste the heavenly knights.
　I took out my new dismantling knife - an excellent tool for keeping things fresh for a long time - and started to process the knights. From the looks of it, the structure of the knights is not much different from humans, except for the wings on their backs. However, there are some differences, such as more internal organs, white muscles, blue blood, golden bones, and jewel-like crystals in the brain and heart. I thought that the brain and heart were the vital points, but perhaps the jewel was the vital point. But I don't know now, so I'll have to experiment again. After that, we need to find out if the poison works, what their physical capabilities are, how strong their superior species are, and how well they work together. There was a lot of work to be done, but it also sounded interesting in many ways.
　After dismantling the body, I ate the entire body of course, but I would like to note that I especially enjoyed the well-developed pectoral and back muscles, probably due to flight, and the jewel-like crystals. The meat was well-trained and contained a wealth of magical power. The jewel-like crystals had a thick liquid inside, and it overflowed in my mouth with an explosion of flavor, just like gravy. 　The taste was clearly richer than the others, and the strength that pervaded my entire body was addictive. It is said that the stronger the animal is, the better it tastes, so I guess we can expect a lot from the "Astralium" that reigns at the top of the Heavenly Knights.
　It looks like we'll be climbing up the mountain for the rest of the day, with a few stops along the way, but let's get going.
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PLACE TRANSLATIONS ABOVE THE BAR. THESE ARE THE RAWS, LEAVE THEM HERE. CLICK EXPAND TO VIEW THEM.
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　“五十日目　／　五■二十■目”
　≪天秤の調和塔≫は五百メートルは優に超えるだろう高さがある、左右に巨大な秤が存在する天秤のような形状をしていた。
　朝日に照らされて銀色に輝く様は神々しくすらあり、その姿を見て礼拝している【信者】の姿も近くでは確認できた。
　入り口はツルリと凹凸一つ無い銀の表面からすれば異色の黒。渦を巻くように流動するそこを通れば中に入る事が出来るらしく、それは情報通りだった。
　通り抜けた後、外とは明確に空気が違う事を実感する。
　中はまるでどこかの宮殿の廊下のようだ。厳かな壁の装飾、高い天井。床は赤い絨毯が敷き詰められ、心地良い静謐が満ちる。
　空気は清浄で、濃密な魔力を含んでいるらしい。一呼吸するだけでハッキリと空気中の魔力を感じられた。
　細部を見て回るだけで十分楽しめるだろう観光名所に来たような感覚はあるが、ここは危険地帯だと意識を切り替える。
　朱槍を片手に持ち、片手にマジックライフルを構え、罠や襲撃を警戒しながら進んでいく。
　足音を出さないように気をつけ、気配を周囲と同化させるように進んでいくと、早速ダンジョンモンスターの気配を捉えた。
　一先ず物陰に隠れ、観察する。
　ダンジョンモンスターは白く大きな翼が背中から生えた、三体の天使の騎士達だった。
　天騎士達の足は床から十数センチほど離れ、歩くような速度で浮遊するように移動していた。
　分厚く重いだろう銀色の全身鎧を身に纏い、長剣を腰に下げて手には短槍を持っている。
　身の丈は二メートルほどと大柄で、体型から二体は雄、一体は雌だろうか。
　前を歩く二体の雄型天騎士はより前衛向けで、その後ろを進む雌型天騎士は一体だけ短杖を持っているので後衛向けらしい。
　そんな三体の天騎士達は周囲を警戒するように移動しているので、進路に先回りして高い天井に身を隠す。
　暫くして、時は来た。
　まずは天井から落下し、その勢いのまま後方にいた雌型天騎士を朱槍で突き刺す。朱槍は頭部全体を覆うヘルムを容易く穿ち、頭蓋を通って胴体を突き抜ける。
　朱槍の穂先は雌型天騎士を突き抜けて床まで達し、串刺しになった雌型天騎士はまるで歪な標本のようだ。
　ただそれをゆっくり見るより前に、異常を感じて瞬時に振り返った雄型天騎士達の顔面をマジックライフルで銃撃する。
　それぞれに五連射。ほぼ同時に着弾したが、それは残念ながらヘルムによって弾かれた。
　魔弾が通じない程度にはヘルムは頑丈らしく、致命的なはずの銃撃は頭を仰け反らし、僅かな隙を作るに終わる。
　ただ僅かな時間があれば十分で、一足で距離を詰め、前腕に隠していた金属杭を両手に掴み、【電磁加速】させながら二体の雄型天騎士達の首元に出来た僅かな隙間に叩き込む。
　鎧の下にも鎖帷子のような防護服を着ていたのだろう、硬い感触はありつつも金属杭は生身にまで到達し、耐えかねて首が千切れ飛ぶ。
　白い肉がその姿を晒し、噴出するのは青い鮮血。どうやら天騎士の肉は白く、血は青いらしい。
　そんな事を思ったのが意識の隙だった。確実な止めをしなかった俺の落ち度だ。
　頭部が吹き飛んだ雄型天騎士達の胴体は倒れる事なく踏み留まり、傷口から肉が泡立つように再生していく。
　瞬く間に再生した頭部には当然ヘルムはなく、石像のような美貌の青年の顔が出来上がる。どちらも息を飲むほどの美男子で、青い双眸が明確な敵意を持って俺を睨む。
　それを見ながら、再びマジックライフルによる銃撃を頭部に叩き込む。今度は弾かれる事なく眼球や頭蓋を弾き飛ばし、赤い肉片と青い鮮血が周囲に散った。
　それでもまだ完全に死んでいないのだろう、胴体は再び踏み留まっている。
　また復活されても面倒なので、一先ず機械腕で二体の雄型天騎士の胸部を抉り、力強く拍動する心臓を手に掴む。
　必死に抵抗される前に引き抜くと、そこで力尽きた胴体はゆっくりと倒れていった。
　どうやら確実に仕留めるには一定以上の損傷を与えるか、心臓や脳を破壊するのが良さそうだ。
　その確認も兼ね、標本となっていた雌型天騎士の方は朱槍を引き抜く。引き抜く際に多少動かして脳は掻き混ぜ、心臓も抉るようにしたのだが、再生せずそのまま仕留める事が出来た。
　とりあえず天騎士を仕留めるなら、部位欠損を狙うより頭部と心臓を壊す方が良さそうだ。
　ここでの最初の狩りは思いのほか時間がかかってしまった。
　不意を打ったのでそれでも呆気なかったかもしれないが、先はまだまだ長い。油断せず、確実に進んでいく事にしよう。
　ただ、まずは天騎士達の味見が先決か。
　新調した解体包丁――鮮度を長く保つ優れ物――を取り出し、天騎士達を捌いていく。
　見たところ、背中の翼以外はヒトと大差ない構造らしい。
　ただ内臓が増えていたり、筋肉は白く血液は青、骨は黄金に輝き、宝石のような結晶が脳と心臓にあったりと差違はある。
　脳と心臓が急所かと思ったが、もしかしたらこの宝石こそが急所なのかもしれない。
　ただ今は分からないので、その辺りはまた実験あるのみだ。
　後は毒が効くのか、身体能力はどの程度なのか、上位種の強さはどれほどなのか、連携はどれほどなのか、など実戦で調べる必要がある。
　やる事は多く、しかし色々と面白そうな事でもあった。
　解体後はもちろん全身全て喰ったが、個人的には飛行のためか発達した胸筋と背筋、それから宝石のような結晶が特に美味かったと記しておこう。
　よく鍛えられた肉で、豊富な魔力を秘めている。
　それに宝石結晶は中にドロリとした液体が入っていたのだが、口内で溢れたそれは肉汁のように旨味の爆発を伴っていた。
　他よりも明らかに味が濃く、全身に漲る力強さは癖になる。
　強い個体程旨くなるらしいので、天騎士達の頂点に君臨する“アストラキウム”はかなり期待してもいいのではないだろうか。
　今日一日は寄り道しながらだが登り続ける事になりそうだが、張り切って登って行くとしようか。
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Category:Novel
Category:Re:Monster ~ The Dark Continent ~ Vol. 3