Year 7447, Month 12, Day 16
This time we were proceeding through a forest with low visibility so you could say it was fortunate that we weren"t putting as much distance between parties as we were on the 12th floor.
Before it can find us we can hide in the forest off from the path.
It seems that the lightning bolt cage still hasn"t appeared so it might not have specifically been menacing roar because it had found us.
Angela wasn"t influenced by the effects of the roar but she doesn"t seem to understand what in the world happened.
Well, if you don"t know about it then that"s not unreasonable so I scolded the panicking Angela while herding everyone and hiding them in the grove of trees.
Of course, kicking and dragging the ones who are too slow, in any case I put the highest priority on quickly retreating.
They were originally trying to run away because of the overwhelming fear but because their legs stopped working they all couldn"t move.
I guess the only salvation is that because I was treating them roughly it didn"t take all that much time to finish finding them shelter.
However, judging from the {Roar} of that dragon(?) just now and the power of the {Horned Bears} is not even worth comparing.
Even Miduchi and Bel who have a lot of MP were sent trembling in fear in a single blow.
Though they only lost 4 MP.
Although, thanks to that Jesu who"s young on top of having a low MP went straight into mana exhaustion and stopped moving without even trying to escape just threw his spear to the side and held his head while crouching down and sobbing, praying to the G.o.d of Battle Onuwasu.
It seems he p.i.s.sed himself from the fear as well but maybe he should be praised just for not losing consciousness.
Though I think it would have been easier to carry him if he did pa.s.s out.
Angela is the only one who not only didn"t lose any MP but I couldn"t find any abnormalities with her at all.
Her level is 24 so she holds the next highest level after me.
After that Miduchi, Zenom, and Zulu are all lined up at 23 but these three just had their MP reduced by 4 and their faces are stiff as tears come down from the fear.
Everyone else below that was the same.
d.a.m.n it. It"s impossible to bring everyone along and retreat from this place.
..In that case, there"s no choice other than to fight.
Not to mention, I should drag it out to a place a bit of distance away from here so it doesn"t cause any damage to everyone.
"Alright, we"ve already finished hiding everyone right? Angela, you use this sword. I"ll use Gwine"s spear."
I handed Toris"s sword to Angela while I lowered my bayonet and grabbed Gwine"s magic spear.
"No..No way! This is something that Karosutalan-sama takes great care of.."
"Don"t worry about it. If the opponent is a dragon then it"s better to have a magic weapon. It"s not that I can"t use the spell mana enchant but if the battle drags out I don"t know if there will be enough time to recast it..though.."
Going off the abilities I think the sword Miduchi uses would be the highest but neither Angela or I have confidence in skillfully using a scimitar. And taking the reach into consideration the spear is best but Angela"s never used the spear before, her main is also the rifle so it"s better if it"s a sword that won"t get in the way. Even I"m not exactly the best at using a spear but I was taught how to use it when I was a kid and bayonet fighting was originally based on spearmanship after all. Most likely, I don"t think I"ll need any other techniques then thrusting upwards so that much should be plenty.
"Hand me a bullet."
In the bullet bucket that Angela has attached to her waist I cast the spell {Enchant.Weapon} on one row or about 10 bullets.
We haven"t tested it against monsters in live combat yet but I already knew that they would work as a target for the spell {Enchant.Weapon}.
I"m sure it won"t be anything more than a consolation though.
There"s no time so I can"t cast magic on any more bullets than this.
"Alright, I cast magic on the bullets from this row. If you determine that the gun isn"t working then even if you have to throw out the remaining bullets in the cylinder change to these."
I said that while taking several {Arrows.Of.Blindness} from Bel"s quiver and sticking them into the back of my belt.
In the past Basutoral showed live proof that as long as they stab into the target even if you don"t fire them from a bow the effect will work.
"I"m going to cast defensive spells on you now. After I"m finished then we"ll fight as far away from everyone as possible."
"Yes."
I cast all elements of the resist type spells on Angela and myself and then the two of us ran towards the summit of the mountain at our full speed.
................................
The change occurred when we were running through the mountain paths and could see up the mountain.
They"re still far away to the point of just looking like sesame seeds but I could see several flying creatures circling around the mountain top.
For another five minutes we ran up the mountain path at full speed.
On the top of the mountain it seems there"s something like a cave entrance with it"s mouth open.
The flying creatures seem to be jumping out from there.
"...That is..!?"
Angela said from my side while out of breath.
But, they"re still too far so I can"t really see them.
The number is..9, 10..No, they keep increasing.
And...
"Ha...The..they look like humanoids..{Imps}?"
It would be strange for it to be {Imps}.
They seem a bit larger and the shape as well...
It was then that high in the sky above a loud bang as if the air was being torn echoed out.
Since it was so far away the sound only faintly entered my ears but judging from the distance away it should have originally been a thunderous roar.
"This is sound is..!"
Just as Angela said, this sound is the one made when the lightning bolt cage appears!
In a hurry I looked around to our sides but all I could see was the outer wall of the 13th floor in the distance and nothing else...
No, I can faintly see something like consecutive lightning coming from the gaps in the net floating above.
The lightning bolt cage on the 12th floor activated!?
At this point?
..I"m sure that"s the case but I noticed the reason right away.
The sesame seeds that were circling around a bove the mountain have become the size of rice.
I guess we should a.s.sume we"ve been discovered.
In other words, those flying insect like things were the floor guardians of the 12th floor!?
That was the case.
The sizes went from sesame seeds to rice and are rapidly increasing in size as they fly over.
"Angela, pull them in until they reach a distance which you"re confident in hitting them then fire away!"
I said that then put some distance between us and used the spell {Audible.Clamor} while climbing further up the mountain path.
Together with Bel I"ve had Angela practice shooting moving targets at every chance possible.
I lower the speed to an appropriate amount and have them fire at spell warheads that have been shaped relatively short in size.
As expected they can only hit {Arbalest Cla.s.s} warheads with a 50/50 chance but {Light Catapult} is better than 50% and they can almost always land hits on {Heavy Catapults}.
If they"re the size of humans and she can quietly take her time to aim then there"s no doubt she"ll hit within 200 meters.
I guess they"re almost about 500 meters away..They"ve entered the range of {Identify}.
..
Female/16/11/7445.Bazu Dragonian
Condition: Normal
Age: 2 Years Old
Level: 17
HP: 155(155) MP: 1(1)
Strength: 33
Speed: 22
Dexterity: 17
Endurance: 30
If it"s just this level then we should be able to manage.
..Hn?
It seems there"s several types of them.
..
Male/14/7/7444.Gabaku Dragonian
Condition: Normal
Age: 3 Years Old
Level: 17
HP: 149(149) MP: 6(6)
Strength: 30
Speed: 24
Dexterity: 17
Endurance: 31
Special Skill: Poison
Is something different?
Ah, poison.
It"s necessary to finish it off before it gets close.
"Angela! After you fire a shot change your position!"
Either way I"ve already been discovered so I have no intention of running or hiding anymore.
Shouting is an important factor if you want to lure over the enemy.
Bang!
When the formation of Dragonians was 200 meters or so away Angela fired the rifle.
Though it was within the forest there was nothing to block the sound so the gunshot spread out pretty far.
A short moment later my {Audible.Clamor} echoed out covering up the gunshot.
One of them started falling from the group of 20 or so.
I couldn"t tell which type it was but I guess it only takes one shot if they"re hit?
Alright, me too!
First off as a test case and in order t reduce their numbers I used the spell {Chain Lightning} on one of the weak looking Bazu types flying at the lead.
The dragonian that was about 150 meters away was. .h.i.t by electricity that tore through the air!
Additionally it split off the same as usual and hit another two, no, I guess just one because of the distance..However, it split off even further from there and hit more, then split again and hit three, then..I guess that was the limit.
After seeing seven of their allies dropped from my spell the dragonains quickly split up out of caution.
But you know...
I immediately cast {Stone Javelin Missile}!
I fire off five {Stone Javelins} with missile attached to them.
Oh, their reactions themselves are pretty fast.
But, there"s a limit to their mobility in the air.
Also, the speed they"re flying at is only just a bit faster than an adult running so about 30~40 km/hour I guess?
I"m sure it"s faster than continuing to run on the surface for a long time but like that Bundo birds are a lot faster.
In the end, the one who shifted their body to try and dodge was chased by my five stone spears and let out a scream as they fell to the ground after being pierced through by them.
When their distance got closer I noticed yet another type mixed in with them.
What"s with this guy!?
There"s only a few but guys like these are mixed into the ground.
It seems they were positioned at the rear of the group so I couldn"t see them from the distance.
Though I might have finished off several of them with the {Chain Lightning} just now.
..
Male/23/6/7443.Vozaggu Dragonian
Condition: Normal
Age: 4 Years Old
Level: 17
HP: 100(100) MP: 22(27)
Strength: 23
Speed: 22
Dexterity: 20
Endurance: 14
Special Skill: Mana Flight
Special Skill: Earth Magic Lv. 2
Special Skill: Water Magic Lv. 2
Special Skill: Void Magic Lv. 3
It doesn"t have the same bat-like wings!
I guess it"s flying use that {Special Skill: Mana Flight}?
..Magic from above might be a bit troublesome.
..
Male/11/4/7439.Seibaku Dragonian
Condition: Normal
Age: 8 Years Old
Level: 18
HP: 143(143) MP: 36(36)
Strength: 33
Speed: 25
Dexterity: 20
Endurance: 24
Special Skill: Clone Body
Special Skill: Earth Magic Lv. 3
Special Skill: Water Magic Lv. 3
Special Skill: Fire Magic Lv. 3
Special Skill: Void Magic Lv. 5
This one properly has wings.
It"s body is the biggest and it"s magic levels are high so is it the boss?
It also has a special skill like {Clone Body}.
However, this one is quite...
..
Female/19/3/7435.Worakku Dragonian
Condition: Normal
Age: 12 Years Old
Level: 20
HP: 146(146) MP: 53(58)
Strength: 31
Speed: 27
Dexterity: 20
Endurance: 25
Special Skill: Mana Flight
Special Skill: Earth Magic Lv. 5
Special Skill: Water Magic Lv. 5
Special Skill: Fire Magic Lv. 5
Special Skill: Wind Magic Lv. 5
Special Skill: Void Magic Lv. 6
..There"s no mistake!
This one is the boss!
It"s level is high and it can use magic at a considerably high level.
Additionally mentioning it and the other ones have a tail that stands out quite a bit but this one either doesn"t or it should be pretty small so it doesn"t stand out.
However, now that they"ve approached this close I can finally tell what they look like.
Every single one of them is almost like a lizard, no, almost like a dragon shaped into a humanoid.
I"ve never seen something like a dragon before so I don"t really know though.
But, they look quite a bit more ferocious and threatening than a lizard.
The Bazu.Dragonian is covered in bra.s.s colored scales with almost no glaze to them.
The Gabaku.Dragonian has old looking copper color scales, the Vozaggu.Dragonian looks bronze colored but with green rust mixed in, the Seibaku.Dragonian has dark grey scales, and the Worakku.Dragonian has dull gold color scales.
It seems like they also have equipment on them but they"re just wearing clothes like worn-out cloth and holding what appear to be clubs.
We were able to finish off two more before the group was able to reach a distance where they can fire attack magic.
Since my magic levels are high my attack range is a lot farther after all.
One of them was. .h.i.t by my attack spell and the other was sniped by Angela after she changed positions.
Angela didn"t miss her mark. Great!
"Hmph"
Several of the dragonians started firing attack spells aimed at me.
I was surprised they can use magic while in flight but you"re too far away.
If you don"t accelerate the speed of something like attack spells then they just fly at the speed you can throw a ball.
Just by shifting my position a bit all of the spells missed.
I immediately fired off spells in counter attack and shot down one more dragonian.
Nuhhawwa, shooting birds from seven sides is it?
And just as I thought that the enemies aren"t just targets, the Worakku.Dragonian fired an attack spell with missile attached!
I had to give up on controlling my missile and offset it with an {Anti-Magic Field}.
I should have carried along a shield, s.h.i.t.
But, it"s big that we were able to bring down 11 of the dragonians up to here.
Only half remain.
First off it would be best to get rid of that Worakku.Dragonian that"s using missile.
"Start with that gold colored one! I"ll act as the decoy!"
After ordering Angela I ran off in a way that stands out.
"Go~~ga~~!!!!!"
Once again what seems to be the roar of a dragon echoed around.
It might just be my imagination but it sounds a bit more irritated now.
The dragonians flew into the air after the first roar so I was already able to guess it wouldn"t have an effect on them.
Due to that, I didn"t have any strange hopes.
However, I can feel something like impatience from the dragonians after the roar sounded out.
This is, something"s happened...
I don"t know what kind of relationship there is between the dragon(?) and the dragonians but it seems there is one.
If that wasn"t the case what seems to be the guardians of the 12th floor the dragonians wouldn"t be on the 13th floor.
The dragonians have arrived several tens of meters away from before starting to descend.
I guess since they can"t make quick movements in the air they"re planning to try finishing me off in a ground battle.
It seems Angela"s shooting didn"t make it in time.
However, if it"s a ground battle then I"m all for it.
Around the path I used earth magic to create several dirt piles.
Using these dirt piles as bunkers, first off is a shooting match.
The reason I didn"t make them the shape of a wall is to prevent it from being harder to flee if I get surrounded.
Though I say that, the dragonians are about the same size as people or maybe a bit larger depending on the individual.
It might have been a mistake to leave behind my bayonet.
A gunshot echoed out.
One of the ones that was in the middle of descent let out a dull scream before falling at the edge of my sight.
Sorry, Angela.
It seems I underestimated you.
So they wouldn"t try to focus on Angela"s gunshot I used {Audible.Clamor} several times again.
Look over here!