Chapter 34: Dark Swamp The interval between demon encounters shortened as we continued walking. When I looked around, I could see that everyone"s expressions had changed and they were more tensed now.
We were heading into the deepest part of the West Forest.
The other groups took different routes but our destination was the same.
The closer we got to the deepest part, the stronger the demons became.
I heard this at the preliminary meeting. The information was correct, but that wasn"t all.
The battles which were quickly finished until now were getting longer now that we"ve progressed further into the forest. We encountered demons one by one before but now we were encountering them in groups. Furthermore, new demons appeared as soon as we finished defeating one group.
The injured people increased and I, who was bored, had to cast『HEAL』and provide support more. It was probably thanks to the Head Magician"s special training that I was able to move continuously like this.
The knights and Captain were protecting me so I could support from behind without receiving damage. I was able to act calmly without panicking thanks to them.
It was a little scary though.
"They suddenly increased. Was it like this in the last subjugation as well?" The Head Magician said while fighting, he was different from usual, no, he looked as if he had found something interesting.
"Yeah. It gets worse the further we go." The Captain, who had finished the next battle, answered this question.
"Oh." The Head Magician narrowed his eyes, licked his lips and smiled amusingly.
I felt like we switched a switched that shouldn"t have been switched.
Magic flew at me continuously and hit the demon that was coming my way as soon as I thought that. The offender was the Head Magician. I"ve never seen him activate magic continuously at such a speed before.
Was this how fast magic could be casted once one mastered magic manipulation?
I was a little surprised.
"It looks like something"s happening at the back."
"Yeah. The Knight Order also concluded this so we decided that we"d go to the deepest part this time."
"Is that so? I wonder what"s happening there."
The mages looked like they had already given up when they saw the Head Magician laugh amusingly.
Ah, we switched the switch that wasn"t supposed to be switched on.
That was the same look he had when we were talking about my magic power.
According to the mages, he couldn"t be stopped when he got like this.
I understood this and followed silently after the knights.
"『REFLECTION』."
We continued on as we defeated demons.
We got into several battles and then I casted 『REFLECTION』, a barrier with a reflection effect, to avoid the attack of the demons that were approaching the knights.
The demon"s attack was blocked by the barrier and the damage was reflected back at them.
Then the knights finished the demons off when they were flinching.
I activated it at a good time.
"That was a really good timing." The Head Magician called out to me while I was happy with myself.
"Thank you." I was a little pleased with being praised. I could only be pleased for a second because we started moving again.
Demons would attack us again if we stayed in the same place.
The intervals between starting and ending a battle grew considerably short because we were getting closer to the deepest part of the forest.
The air around us grew stagnated. I could feel unpleasant sweat on my back and my clothes was sticking to my skin.
According to the Captain, this disgusting air was caused by thickened miasma.
So this was miasma.
The miasma got thicker the further we went in.
I heard the vanguard knight mutter, "What the?" when we reached the deepest part of the forest.
Other people also heard this mutter. The Captain and the Head Magician headed to the front. I followed them from behind.
The place called the deepest part of the forest was a basin, and we stood above it and looked down.
There was something that looked like a black swamp in the deepest part of the forest. The problem was that demons were gushing out from the swamp, one by one.
"What is that?"
"Well then, what is it?"
The Captain and the Head Magician looked at the swamp with grim expressions on their faces.
The demons gushing out from the swamp still hadn"t noticed us yet because we were far away. But they would notice us if we talked in loud voices so the two whispered.
I also hid my breath and looked at the swamp from behind them.
The demons that gushed from the swamp didn"t move straight away, they stood around the swamp for a while. A lot of demons crowded around the swamp in great density.
If a single one noticed us, then they would all rush at us and attack, wouldn"t they?
I want to stop for a bit.
No matter how strong the Captain and the Head Magician were, it would be hard to take on these many.
My body instinctively trembled when I imagined that scenario.
Yup, we"d definitely die.
But the more I looked, the ghastly it got.
I felt gloomy and uncomfortable when I looked at the black muddy swamp.
The colour and the demons gushing out from within, no matter how I looked at it, it wasn"t a normal swamp.
It was the first time the Captain and the Head Magician had seen a swamp like this so they didn"t know what it was.
Well.
The miasma got thicker the deeper we went, so don"t tell me that swamp was made from the miasma!
The two people in front of me turned back while I was thinking about the swamp.
The Captain and the Head Magician, who were looking at the swamp while talking, had finished talking.
They instructed everyone to step back by using gestures.
They gave the instructions in silence because some of the demons around the swamp were headed this way.
I also quietly moved back, trying to make as little noise as possible.
It happened right after I heard a scream coming from the direction we were moving in.
I looked in front and saw a faint orange light.
What the heck is that?
The moment I thought this, I saw a flame swallow the knights in front of me.
Hey, isn"t that dangerous?!
"It"s coming!!!"
I was fl.u.s.tered, not knowing what to do and then I heard the Captain scream from behind.
When I turned around I saw the demons around the swamp coming this way.
Were we noticed because of the uproar in the front?
Chills ran down my spine.
"Looks like there"s a Salamander there."
"What?"
The Head Magician, who had come next to me unnoticed, muttered.
A Salamander had appeared at the front.
The fire from before was blown by this Salamander.
A white light shone from the front and I saw the mages casting recovery magic.
The Head Magician, who was next to me, attacked the demons coming from behind with magic.
That"s right, this isn"t the time for me to s.p.a.ce out.
I looked at the front and saw that a mage had approached the knights, who were coiled in fire before, and started casting recovery magic on them.
The knights immediately put up their shields. They were injured but still alive.
I also casted 『HEAL』when there was a lack of healing.
I could tell he was healed when I heard a shout of joy.
I continued to cast 『HEAL』on the other knights, one after the other.
I didn"t forget to give support to the back.
We walked towards the deepest part and encountered a Salamander while looking around, so the mages gathered around at the front.
Therefore, there were only a few mages at the back and less people who could heal.
The Head Magician was casting recovery magic between his offensive magic but it was probably more effective for me to be in charge of healing.
The stalemate continued for a while.
They were still having trouble with the Salamander in front.
Demons were being defeated one after another because people with high attack power like the Captain and Head Magician were at the back.
But the demons gushed out endlessly from the swamp.
I didn"t have to worry about my MP running out as long as I had potions in my hand, but if things continued like this, then the situation would only get worse.
It wasn"t just me who felt this way, everyone else did as well.
I sometimes heard the always polite Head Magician say, "s.h.i.t". This was proof that he was getting impatient.
It started to hurt around my stomach.
At that time, I heard a voice from behind, "Watch out!!"
When I turned around, I saw a fireball released from the Salamander heading straight at me.
Wait a minute!
There was no time to cast magic and the Head Magician, who was next to me, had his hands full with the demons from behind so he couldn"t help me.
I heard the Captain shout from afar, "Sei!"
Everything was in slow motion for a moment and I felt as if my life flashed before my eyes.
A gentle cold wave drifted in the air in an instant and a wall of ice taller than my back stood right before my eyes.
I instantly raised my hands and covered my face but the fire was stopped by the ice wall.
Water vapourised into the air.
I lost my tension and collapsed. The Head Magician grabbed onto my arm.
"We"re not done yet. Stand up."
"Y-yes."
"It seems like the magic on your hair ornament activated."
"Hair ornament?"
"The hair ornament you"re using now is bestowed with magic, isn"t it?"
I remembered when he told me.
The hair ornament that I was wearing now was something I received from the Captain.
And like he said, it was bestowed with magic.
It had such an effect……!
I was saved thanks to the Captain, wasn"t I?
My chest got warm and I gently placed my hand on top of it.
I managed to stand up somehow and straighten my posture. The Head Magician released my arm.
He decided that I would be fine even without his support.
The Head Magician immediately returned to battle.
The situation was still unpredictable.
Even so, there was no end to it.
The demons were still continuously gushing out from the swamp.
The situation won"t change unless they did something about the swamp.
On the contrary, someone might just die!!!
If this was at the beginning then a knight would have blocked the fire from just now and it wouldn"t have reached me.
The body could be healed with recovery magic but mental fatigue couldn"t.
Everyone"s concentration gradually fell and they were getting injured more often.
What should I do?
Is casting recovery magic the only thing I could do?
Such thoughts pa.s.sed through my mind as I provided support.
I want to do something about that swamp.
If I don"t……
"Captain!" The knight"s voice startled me.
I looked towards the voice and saw the Captain shake and sway when he was attacked by a demon that looked like a black wolf.
The Captain immediately held his ground but then another black wolf attacked him.
No, stop!
Something flowed from within me.
What flowed from within me was the golden magic I saw at the research inst.i.tute.
That magic power quickly reached to where the Captain was.
The black wolf that had sprung on the Captain turned to smoke when it touched my magic power; then it was swallowed by a golden torrent and disappeared.
The Captain, who was dumbfounded, looked over here.
It wasn"t just the Captain, but everyone else as well.
I was also surprised.
What is that?
Isn"t that just going overboard?
The magic power from within me didn"t stop even though I was stunned.
The golden magic power spread around the area without slowing down.
It happened abruptly again, but in this condition, maybe……
I put my hands together in front of my chest like I did at the research inst.i.tute, and prayed.
Please get rid of the swamp and demons somehow.
The speed at which the magic power spread increased further.
The golden haze spread on the ground and got larger; it swallowed up the Salamander, the demons around the swamp and even the swamp.
The technique activated when it covered the whole swamp and the light burst.
All the demons in the area and the swamp had disappeared by the time the sparkling gold particles fell from the sky, and what was left was only a forest.
"Is it finished……?"
"It looks like it." The Head Magician replied to the Captain"s mutter and the knights, who were frozen, were still comprehending the situation.
"Wooow", the shouts of joy resounded through the place.
Translator: Blushy
Just four more chapters till we catch up to the light novel o/
A kind reader has made PDFs for the web novel chapters for those who like to read offline ^^ ~