Abilities Suited for Cleaning Up Hordes
From the top of the walls of Borderzard, adventurers fired arrows and spells at the approaching monsters.
「Second volley, hurry up!」
「d.a.m.n it! It doesn"t look like their numbers are decreasing.」
「Stop complaining! We"ll just have to do what we can!」
Dark Night Wolves slipped through the rain of arrows. Forest Barbarians extinguished the fireb.a.l.l.s with a swing of their arms. The adventurers" attacks didn"t seem to be working. But there was nothing else they could do.
「Hang in there! We have to hold this place until dawn!」
The sun was slowly going down. In the evening glow, the citizens of Borderzard were beginning to evacuate. The adventurers" task was to buy time for that. A lot of the residents preferred to stay, fixated on their properties. As a matter of fact, only half of the population agreed to evacuate. Even then, moving two thousand people overnight was a huge task. Right now, the other gate — the side facing away from the forest — was jammed with people.
「They"re climbing up!」
The first Green Wolf had finally climbed over the dry moat and slipped through the fences, its forelegs now on the wall.
「O-O-Over here too! Ahh!」
A Forest Barbarian destroyed the fences.
「It"s over…」
The plan was to reduce their numbers while they were still far away with long-range attacks. Adventurers would then take to the field to clean up the rest. But if they could manage to do that, they wouldn"t have had to retreat in the first place. If these were ordinary, weak monsters, the case would"ve long been closed inside the forest — they wouldn"t be in this mess right now.
It wasn"t as though they didn"t plan things thoroughly. But it was the only strategy they could come up with given their limited resources. They lacked time to prepare as well. After all, never before had swarms of monsters rushed out of the forest like this.
「F-Fall back!」
Then just when the front lines were crumbling, a Mage appeared out of nowhere, standing on top of the wall. The girl, with her hood pulled over her eyes, started chanting.
「O" Spirit, heed my call. A raging fire is what I desire. Fire to burn down all living things, all creation, even the laws of the universe!」
No one seemed to have noticed where she came from.
「Dance, Spirit!」
For a moment, the monsters stopped moving, perplexed by the swelling ma.s.s of mana.
「I offer you my mana, so sing, Spirit!」
An incredibly huge magic circle appeared in the air. From it, red raging flames, brighter than the setting sun, emerged.
「Take back our once pure world and burn everything down to ashes.」
An ordinary Mage would collapse after expending such enormous amount of mana. They might not even finish the spell. Yet the girl continued her chant, her sonorous voice resounding through the battlefield.
「Flame Gospel!」
With a sound like gla.s.s breaking, the magic circle shattered to pieces. The heat from the raging ball of flame was so intense that it stung the cheeks of the gaping adventurers watching the scene at a distance. The fireball dropped in the middle of a group of ten Forest Barbarians. The moment it hit, the ground trembled, and a hot, gust of wind swept across the field.
「Waaaahhh?!」
「Oh, c.r.a.p!」
「Wh-What"s going on?!」
The flames formed a vortex, burning monsters within its reach — humanoids, beasts, plant-type — every single kind set ablaze. When the flames died, a hint of fear resided in the eyes of the monsters.
「N-Now"s our chance! Attack!」
The first to come to his senses was Borderzard"s guildmaster.
「Attack now while they"re still in shock! Anyone close to the Mage, protect them! After using that much mana, they should be—」
Everyone started moving, following the guildmaster"s instructions. But they froze in awe… and dread.
「O" Spirit, heed my call. A raging fire is what I desire. Fire to burn down all living things, all creation, even the laws of the universe!」
The Mage began chanting her second shot. A huge magic circle emerged above her.
「Sh-She can still fire another one?」
「Who cares how many times they can shoot?!」An adventurer answered the guildmaster"s question.「Let"s just let her do her thing! Anyone nearby should move right away! We need to drive away the monsters that made it to the wall!」
A young lady with rich, l.u.s.trous hair in pigtails gave the order. The first to recognize her were the adventurers from Ponsonia.
「It"s the Four Stars of the East! Rank B adventurers! We have a chance to win now!」
Life returned to the adventurers" faces upon hearing the words "rank B". But the black-haired girl, Selica Tanoue, frowned.
「Move! Now! We lose if even one of these things enter the town!」
The adventurers responded quickly. In the meantime, the second Flame Gospel was being lobbed to a cl.u.s.ter of monsters.
Who is that girl? Even I can"t use a spell that powerful!
Selica glanced at the mysterious Mage. With the hood pulled over their head, she couldn"t see their face. And for some strange reason, whenever she lost focus for a bit, when the Mage wasn"t using their spell, it felt like she would lose sight of the girl — despite the fact that she just stood there on top of the wall.
She must have a magic item that blocks perception! Selica guessed. I have to talk to her after this. Selica then searched for a place with few monsters so she could use her own spells as well.
Her party leader, Selyse Lande, had already jumped down from the wall and charged straight into the horde of monsters. Supporting her was Sarah, shooting arrows at monsters in Selyse"s blindspot. Her skill with the bow was as splendid as always.
The last member of the Four Stars of the East, Sophie Bloomfield, was in town to treat the wounded.
「I won"t be bested!」
With the appearance of these key characters, the tide of battle was beginning to turn.
Nation of Jarazack, Forestia. Around the same time.
Claude Zahard Kirihal and Luka Lordgrad Ludancia were at the biggest manor located in a town that was formerly a metropolis. The manor itself was once a castle. Accompanying them were Mikhail and Ivan.
A huge door stood before them. Slowly, it opened.
「Guests from Scholarzard have arrived.」a servant announced.
Claude scanned the room, which was once an audience chamber. Soft carpet covered the floor, and a large, yet plain chair sat at the center. Facing it were four chairs, where they would most likely be seated. The master of the manor was already sitting on the big chair.
「Mikhail! Long time no see! Ivan too! You"ve grown bigger!」
「Lord Alexis. I apologize I can"t visit often as I"m busy teaching.」
「I"m not a kid anymore, Boss. I won"t grow any bigger.」
Alexei grinned, probably happy to hear himself referred to as "Boss". His rugged features gave him a villainous look.
Whoa… Professor Mikhail is just as strong as this guy? Yeah, right. This isn"t what I expected at all! Claude thought.
Alexei stood up and embraced Mikhail and Ivan. The man was over two meters tall, his chest wide. As expected from the nation of martial arts, I guess.
The most terrifying part was his face.
He looks like he eats kids for breakfast!
The man turned his attention towards Claude.
「I see. So this is the man you talked about, Ivan.」
「Yes.」
Ivan looked like an underling in Alexei"s gang. Claude gulped.
No matter. I will do what I came here to do.
Claude glanced at his fiancé standing by his side. Luka too looked at him.
「My name is Claude Zahard Kirihal. I came here to ask you, the strongest man in Jarazack, a favor.」
Mustering all his courage, Claude walked forward. About a meter away from Alexei, he stopped and fixed his gaze on the face of the boss.
「We"ll have to see if you"re worthy enough to ask me a favor.」
「I understand.」
「Claude is strong. Right now, out of ten matches, I could barely win one fight.」Mikhail said.
「Wow!」the boss exclaimed, looking even happier.「Ever since you left, Mikhail, I trained even harder. As a result, no one in Jarazack could defeat me anymore. There"s no way you can beat me now!」he told the professor.
「I can sense the aura around you has changed.」Mikhail said.「Brace yourself, Claude. He"s not the Lord Alexei I know anymore.」
Claude gulped once more.
This really isn"t what I was expecting!