Chapter 108
Right Person, Right Place (4)
I proposed two major thods. One was to bring down the Fiendbeast and disable the wall. The other was to attack the wall while dealing with the Fiendbeast at the sa ti.
Rama chose the latter.
“Even if the Fiendbeast disappears, that wall might not disappear with it.”
I thought it was a reasonable point. After hearing my proposal, Rama fell into thought.
“There are fewer variables. I think it’s doable.”
Soloven, who had been quietly listening, added a comnt. Among everything our side could currently do, this was the best option.
Only then did Rama nod and fully settle on a direction.
“Can it really be used?”
“Of course. Winter.”
At Rama’s doubtful question, I called for Winter. Winter awkwardly approached and swung the flags in an X shape.
Space split apart, and a new space appeared within it.
“What~ is this~? Our baby Winter~ can actually use a portal?”
The most shocked one was Canis. Spatial Transfer magic, which had now been lost and unusable.
Her eyes glead at the sight of spatial magic that only the Academy Director, who possessed the related trait, could use.
“Ahem. This is how capable our Whitey is.”
Aro proudly puffed out her shoulders and lightly patted Winter on the head. Winter was the one receiving praise, so I had no idea why Aro looked so proud instead.
“It’s definitely a portal. That’s a precious ability.”
“It’s all thanks to Lady Anaye.”
“……This is driving insane.”
At my following words, Rama shook his head repeatedly.
“Senior. You should prepare yourself.”
“Mm. Right.”
In a situation like this, the more strength we had, the better. I politely approached Aro and spoke, causing everyone else’s expressions to beco strange.
Talking animals were not common, but they also weren’t completely unheard of. That was why no one particularly questioned Aro.
But the mont I addressed Aro as “Senior,” everyone looked at strangely.
“Canis. I’ll leave it to you.”
“Okay~ if it’s for big sis~”
At Aro’s request after taking the clothes I had entrusted to her with, Canis raised her magic power.
Crystal walls rose around Aro and blocked all sides. The transparent changing room instantly turned black when Canis clapped her hands.
―Knock knock.
At the knocking sound from inside the changing room, Canis released the magic. One side of the four walls collapsed, and Aro appeared.
“……So you were a third-year senior.”
A sharp-eyed woman with neatly braided black hair appeared.
Red makeup lined the edges of her eyes, and from directly beneath her eyes downward, she wore a mask that concealed the rest of her face.
Soloven, who recognized her face first, imdiately lowered her head in greeting.
“Mm. Nice to et you. But please don’t co too close. I dislike hot things.”
In human form, Aro was far more cautious than when she was in fox form. For so reason, she showed signs of avoiding Soloven, though she also seed gentler.
Soloven might have found it unfair, but she quietly nodded and widened the distance between herself and Aro.
“What a considerate child. I don’t dislike considerate children all that much.”
Perhaps pleased by Soloven’s consideration, Aro showed a faint smile.
“Senior. What is with those clothes?”
“It’s the traditional attire of my holand. What do you think?”
Feeling puzzled, I pointed out Aro’s outfit. Aro proudly spread out both hands to show off her clothes.
It was a luxurious-looking hanbok with flowing sleeves and fabric. There were no excessive ornants, but it fluttered so much that it didn’t look very practical.
“It looks quite nice. But what I want to ask is, you only took tights from , so where did those clothes co from?”
That was what I truly wanted to know. Even at a glance, the outfit had considerable volu. Yet the only thing Aro had taken with her was the tights I handed over.
“It’s a woman’s secret. Curious?”
Aro continued speaking with a charming smile. I imdiately turned my head and looked at Rama instead.
Startled by the sudden attention directed at him, Rama flinched.
“Let’s begin the operation. Canis is a bit unreliable, but she owes for sothing, so she won’t complain.”
“Mm~ what exactly~ did I do wrong~?”
I instantly ignored Aro and suggested to Rama that we start moving.
When I added that he shouldn’t trust Canis too much, Canis tilted her head and asked playfully.
“Rember within five seconds. Otherwise, I’ll report one of the Ulbushis Family’s amusing little secrets to Her Imperial Highness.”
At my words, Canis laughed as though she found it ridiculous.
“Mmm~ what kind of secret could our Dabi possibly know?”
“Broom Catacomb.”
I also looked at Canis as though she were ridiculous and spat out a single phrase. The worst atrocity the Ulbushis Family had committed in the past.
“Aro~ introducing big sis to you was my mistake~ sorry~ the five seconds aren’t up yet, right?”
“I’ll let it slide this ti.”
Canis accepted reality with astonishing speed. She imdiately tucked her tail between her legs.
“Wait. What do you an introducing was a mistake? What’s that supposed to an?”
Only Aro, who had suddenly heard sothing strange, looked flustered and asked back, but no one answered her question.
***
“Have you learned anything about the lightning?”
“So far, all we know is that it was a technique used by a single individual.”
Hallok, the Magus mage, frowned. Without getting angry any further, he dismissed his subordinate.
“Lightning, huh.”
The Desert Alliance Army’s constant pestering had annoyed him, so he planned to finish things in one blow.
The Enhanced Soldiers created using the power of the Fiendbeast that absorbed the desert’s vitality had beco useless against the massive lightning strike.
“Co to think of it…….”
During the Academy assault, Coco, a fellow mage, had died.
Finding it strange that re students had killed a mage at the sa level as him, Magus secretly stole away Coco’s corpse.
‘There were burn marks from electrocution.’
He had discovered nurous traces of electrocution on Coco’s body.
It would have been nice to inspect the Fiendbeast’s corpse as well, but because of the Academy’s fierce surveillance, he could not go that far.
―Boom.
Hallok frowned at the sudden vibration. Straightening his appearance, he left the room assigned to him.
“Do they never get tired of this?”
The Desert Alliance Army was loudly shouting battle cries while setting up formation. It was laughable how they kept hamring away without even securing a decisive advantage.
There was a saying that no tree remained standing after being struck ten tis, but to the extrely rational Hallok, that was no different from nonsense.
“Ah. Mage.”
A soldier greeted Hallok as he headed toward the Fiendbeast’s dwelling while already outside. Hallok simply nodded in response.
“How is the Fiendbeast’s condition?”
“It’s progressing smoothly. Even after excluding the resources used to create the Enhanced Soldiers, we should still be able to et the planned schedule.”
“Good. Keep up the work.”
“Yes, sir!”
Leaving the soldier’s booming response behind, Hallok headed toward the place where battle would soon erupt.
After witnessing half of the Enhanced Soldiers being destroyed by the powerful lightning, Hallok had imdiately used the Fiendbeast to create a temporary wall.
Standing atop that wall, he looked down at the Desert Alliance Army lined up below.
“Mage. The battle will begin soon.”
Hallok gave a heavy nod. Watching them move solely for their own safety without understanding the greater cause naturally made him click his tongue.
“Shall we deploy the Enhanced Soldiers?”
“No. We’ll drag this into a war of attrition. We only need to hold out for three days anyway.”
“Understood.”
Since the Kargula general, the most capable talent in Kargula, was present, there did not seem to be any major issue.
―Charge!
Starting with Rama’s voice, which he had grown sick of hearing, the Desert Alliance Army finally began moving first.
Since they had never made the first move recently, Hallok stayed in place with suspicion. If things were unfolding differently than before, then they must have so hidden trick.
“Prepare for siege defense!”
Calling it siege defense was laughable when all they had was a tiny wall, but the situation had changed now.
What had originally been infantry fighting infantry had now turned into a crude siege battle. In warfare, those defending behind walls overwhelmingly held the advantage over attackers.
“Do you see the one who used the lightning?”
“I do not.”
At the Kargula general’s words, whose eyesight was far superior, Hallok frowned. The only real variable was that lightning.
They had managed to identify so of the appearance details of the one believed to have used it. A girl in black priest robes carrying a flag, and a man with sea-colored hair wearing priest robes.
“How strange.”
“What is?”
“Soloven is staying in the rear.”
“Soloven?”
At the general’s words as he carefully observed the battlefield, Hallok’s eyes shifted.
Currently, the Desert Alliance Army’s most critical figure was Soloven.
She was such a key figure that the front line either held or collapsed because of her alone. Yet she was not at the front, but in the rear?
“What are they planning?”
Hallok narrowed his eyes and glared at Rama. He had heard the enemy commander suffered from illness, yet for so reason he now appeared completely recovered.
Things had beco troubleso because they had neglected proper managent after listening only to the foolish eldest son of Kargula. Rama had not displayed any extraordinary martial prowess, but his military command was fairly competent.
“With the barrier in place, shouldn’t everything be fine?”
At the general’s words, Hallok nodded. The barrier he had deployed truly was remarkable.
It was an incredible defensive shield that could not be broken through by diocre physical force. If there had been a powerful mage, things might have been different, but mages were extrely rare in the desert.
“……Though there is a mage.”
Sothing began forming above the Desert Alliance Army. Transparent crystals gathered together and started shaping sothing elongated.
“It looks like a battering ram.”
“A battering ram, huh. It seems to be crystal magic. A mage from the Ulbushis Family perhaps.”
Seeing the battering ram made of crystal, Hallok scoffed.
No matter if it was an Ulbushis mage, there was no way they could destroy this barrier with sothing like that. Considering its considerable size, the power would probably be significant, but it would not be possible to fire it many tis.
―Kugugugung.
“Kyaaaah!”
Before the battering ram could be launched, a massive noise erupted from the villa. Everyone’s attention snapped toward it at the violent tremor accompanying the sound.
“The Earth Dragon!”
What burst upward after smashing apart part of the villa was the desert tribe’s Earth Dragon.
They had clearly seen it enter like that before, so traps had already been placed underground in advance. The general calmly assessed the situation and deployed the Enhanced Soldiers.
“Enhanced Soldiers, deal with the Earth Dragon! We must kill it this ti!”
Iron barricades made of steel spikes had been laid across the ground. Yet the Earth Dragon ignored them all and forced its way upward.
Nurous wounds could be seen all over the Earth Dragon’s body. They had been startled by how excessively tough it was, but poison had also been applied just in case, so this ti the Earth Dragon would certainly die.
―Kiiiiing.
Just as he was about to turn his head away, a strange noise reached Hallok’s ears. Hastily turning back, he saw that sa dazzling lightning from before.
“Did they move through the Earth Dragon?!”
A blue-haired young man erged from the Earth Dragon’s mouth and summoned lightning. Wearing a laurel crown on his head, the young man grinned ferociously as he amplified the lightning.
“Stop him at once!”
The lightning instantly grew to nearly ten ters in size. The general, having realized where the blue-haired young man was aiming, shouted desperately.
The blue-haired young man’s target was the Fiendbeast. Hallok ground his teeth.
“General! Go to the Fiendbeast! I’ll handle the battlefield!”
“Yes, sir!”
After sending the general toward the Fiendbeast, Hallok turned his gaze back to confront the unknown mage.
“Wh… what is this.”
Then his mouth fell open at the bizarre sight before him. The battering ram, which had definitely been only the size of a single train car earlier, had sohow multiplied into six.
“When did that happen? There wasn’t even any flow of mana!”
When it had first been created, there had clearly been mana flow. But during the brief mont Hallok looked away, the battering rams had increased without any mana fluctuation at all.
“Waaaaah! Charge!”
“It’s Soloven of Rahorakti! Follow behind !”
Hallok felt like he was losing his mind. The blue-haired young man who erged from the Earth Dragon’s mouth and the six battering rams before his eyes both threw him into confusion.
And now, troops from the Desert Alliance Army had suddenly appeared around the Earth Dragon.
“Po……rtal?”
At last, Hallok’s jaw completely dropped open. The flag-bearing girl in black priest robes who had been with the blue-haired young man.
Behind that girl was an X-shaped tear in space, and from it, Desert Alliance Army soldiers continuously poured out.
“So that’s why Soloven…….”
Only now did Hallok realize the reason Soloven had stayed in the rear, and he let out a deep sigh.
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