Chapter 368 - Chapter 10: Finis Volcano ②
“Jeanne. Please create a barrier with a wall of light so that we don’t get in the way.”
Prompted by Eleanor-sama, I got out of the bowl and created a semi-circular wall with Light.
It was the practical debut of the Wall of Light. After various tests, I found that with my current ability, it has almost the same effect as a combination of Magic Resistance and Wind Barrier. However, its strength is somewhat disappointing, and it’s not as robust as a Wind Barrier. It can’t support a large amount of pressure by moving the wall itself. The difference from a barrier is that while it’s active, you can’t use other magic, and you can clearly fire magic other than holy magic from behind it. It can’t be used for resting, but it’s useful as a defensive wall during combat. It’s also possible to make the wall itself emit light. However, since it can’t provide pinpoint deterrence like Light, it must be used differently depending on the opponent and strategy.
The ground team, except for Gwyn-sama, gathered in the back, and I created a wall of light in front of them.
When Beatrix deactivated the Wind Barrier, one scorpion entered the position. To prevent the second one from entering, Eleanor-sama covered the entrance this time.
“Y-You better win, or else!”
I heard Beatrix’s voice, which had turned shrill.
She had been in a contest of strength with a giant scorpion. She must be exhausted.
“Well then, we’ll be up here.”
I heard Henry-sama’s voice. It seems they’ve returned to aerial surveillance.
The scorpion was quite large, and its left and right pincers were about the size of a human torso. The tip of the tail with the pincers had a lump the size of a human head and was equipped with a dagger-like stinger. It’s apparently poisonous. Although Miana can use Anti-Poison, Gwyn-sama would be fighting while dodging the left and right claws and the stinger above his head. Including the fangs for catching prey, it’s a three-on-one battle in three dimensions.
“Alright! Let’s go!”
Gwyn-sama equipped the silver round shield he was carrying on his back to his left hand, and stood in front of the scorpion with a sword in his right hand. He put his left foot forward, crouched down, and readied his sword.
“Edward. Watch closely.”
When Roberts-sama said that, Edward-sama nodded deeply.
The scorpion approached Gwyn-sama while waving its left and right pincers and swaying the tip of its tail over its body.
Gwyn-sama, who was spinning the sword in his right hand vertically with a gring-gring sound, jumped one step to the left.
The scorpion attacked Gwyn-sama with its right pincer. Just as he stopped it with his shield, the left pincer attacked. It was a combination attack from left and right.
Gwyn-sama moved forward quickly, and as he got inside the left pincer, he cut off the pincer from the joint at the base with the momentum. He then jumped back and readied his shield.
Skillful! He was aiming for the left from the beginning. For the scorpion, it probably reflexively put out its right because he suddenly jumped to its right side. As a result, the left was delayed, and he aimed for that.
With this, the opponent’s attacks were reduced to two locations. It’s two-on-one.
Gwyn-sama now tried to circle around to the scorpion’s left again and again. The scorpion swung its right pincer and tried to eliminate the blind spot of the attack while changing the direction of its body. The swaying tail occasionally aimed from above his head, but each time he dodged it by jumping to the back right.
And again, the right pincer was swung from the outside to the inside. When he added his right hand, which held the sword in a reverse grip, to the shield in his left hand, he caught it with both hands with a gwan sound. His side was wide open. Suddenly, the tail attacked. As he jumped sideways toward the scorpion, he got inside the tail and thrust the sword in his right hand into its head.
It’s Gwyn-sama’s victory. Or so Will taught me.
“Gwyn-dono, magnificent! You controlled the opponent’s movements and struck the opposite.”
Eleanor-sama’s judgment was given, and everyone applauded. Gwyn-sama raised his hands and responded to the audience.
The first strike took the opponent by surprise. The second strike saw through the opponent’s movements by repeating the same movement several times, and he finished it off at once. He toyed with an opponent who excelled in power and won with speed and skill. He is a light infantryman, if anything, but he demonstrated his true worth.
Now, next is Edward-sama, who can only be described as a heavy infantryman. After all, he’s a person who might have six legs if he straddles a horse.
After swinging Roberts-sama’s spear around with a bun-bun sound, he pointed the tip of the spear straight at the scorpion outside the barrier.
The entrance to the Wind Barrier opened, and the scorpion appeared.
Edward-sama raised his spear high overhead. It was a posture to cut it in two with one blow.
“Ooooh! Come on!”
His shout was also quite different from Gwyn-sama’s. It wasn't just that he was full of spirit; he was too loud. The air vibrated with a biri-biri sound. I accidentally covered my ears.
The scorpion also trembled with a biku sound. Perhaps it was terrified, as its movements stopped.
“What’s wrong! Come on!”
He continued to shout, vibrating the air.
To my surprise, the scorpion backed away. It then changed direction.
“Hey, wait! Don’t run! Are you still a monster!”
Even though it’s a monster, it’s D-rank. It would be scared if the opponent is a monster.
By the time Roberts-sama burst out laughing, a quite strange sight unfolded where the scorpion began to flee and Edward-sama chased after it.
In the end, Mary created a wall with Glaciate to block the scorpion’s path, and it changed direction after losing its escape route. However, the scorpion, which seemed to have lost its will to fight, stopped resisting and was driven away by Edward-sama with the butt of his spear, and it fled just like that.
“Edward-dono, magnificent! To make the enemy lose their will to fight and obtain a one-sided victory is the mirror of tactics.”
Eleanor-sama’s judgment was given, and everyone applauded. Edward-sama gave a bow and returned the spear to Roberts-sama.
“No, that was impressive. You’re not just promising; you’re already a brave general.”
“Umu. Primordia will become strong.”
When Gwyn-sama and Eowyn-sama praised him, he said thank you and looked happy.
“He’s a terrifying fellow. You better flatter him while you can.”
At the words of the hero Roberts-sama, everyone burst out laughing.
Edward-sama’s action of driving away the scorpion with his spirit, or rather his aura, became the catalyst for Eleanor of Tactics to decide on the execution of the operation.
“Let’s execute it first rather than thinking about this and that. We’ll go down into the crater and scout.”
The crater exploration team consists of Eleanor-sama, Wilson-san, and me.
Eleanor-sama created a bowl. The three of us got in, and she created a ball with a modest thickness to cover it. I am, of course, the lighting person. We’ll explore while driving away monsters. Dragons like Light, so it should be okay... I want to think so.
Above the crater, the remaining people will act as decoys and attract monsters. In the meantime, we’ll explore as much as we can.
The ground decoy team consists of everyone including Will, and Sianya, Bonnie, and Mary are on the hidden bowl operated by Beatrix as guards. After all, they have the ball given by the King of Finis. If they apply support magic firmly and fire off Overflows repeatedly, it should be okay. Bonnie is in charge of scouting and responding with silver arrows. Even if they are decoys, they are six people—three monsters and three people recognized by those monsters. Nothing disastrous will happen.
“We’ll be back before the support magic runs out.”
Eleanor-sama’s words became the signal, and everyone took their positions.
We headed for the crater in the bowl protected by the ball.
It’s shaped like the top of a mountain has been scooped out. A large hole is open in the back, and smoke is rising from there.
Alex said the mountain was originally a volcano. If so, the crater in front of us should also have a quite deep vertical hole. After all, a huge Fire Dragon is inside. It must be wide enough for it to fly up.
Since the smoke is rising from the middle, we descended slowly along the dark brown cliff. On the way, there was a narrow part, and the front became completely white. Seeing that the surface of the bowl became soaking wet, it might be steam. From the feeling when we entered, the passage was five or six times the size of the bowl tailored for three people and the ball covering it. It should be okay if we descend slowly.
If it had been curved on the way, we would have hit the cliff, but it seems it was surprisingly straight, and we somehow made it through the narrow passage.
Suddenly the width expanded, and a huge space opened up. I leaned against the wall and illuminated the surroundings. The rugged rock surface was not just dark brown, but various colors like black and red. Here and there, stones that sparkled were embedded. It’s suitable for the dwelling of a dragon that likes shiny things. At the same time, it became hot despite double-casting Resist. When I looked at my feet, I saw a red light far beyond the smoke.
“It’s lava. Rocks that have become high temperature for some reason are melting like liquid.”
Are you serious? If we go to a place like that, no matter how I think about it, we’ll die.
I thought it was Eleanor-sama’s usual joke, but it didn't seem to be. She was staring at the lava with a serious expression.
“According to legend, about once every three hundred years, that lava rises for some reason and overflows from the crater. On the continent, there are examples where a large explosion occurred and lava overflowed the surroundings, and a town was completely swallowed and wiped out.”
Once every three hundred years...
“Just in case, I want to ask, when was the last time?”
“It was two hundred and ninety-eight years ago. It’s almost dangerous.”
W-Wouldn't it be better to run away?
“It’s a joke. I heard lava erupted from the crater about a hundred and fifty years ago, so it should be okay for a while.”
This is it... I’m exhausted.
We rose once.
I illuminated the wall and looked for a place to dig a hole to serve as a midway base.
If possible, I want to make it on top of something like a protruding rock.
Unfortunately, there were no such convenient rocks, so we managed to find a place where the slope was not straight but even slightly facing upward, and decided to dig a hole there.
Since the smoke rises from below, Eleanor-sama and I crouched at the bottom of the bowl. Just in case, we covered our noses and mouths with hand towels moistened with water from a canteen. Eleanor-sama also opened the bottom of the bowl, which had been made thick, toward the top just enough for a slight breeze to blow, so it seemed to be okay. After that, we left it to Wilson-san, the Revenant.
When he made a crack in the rock using Curve, he extracted it with Clump Stone.
As expected of an ultra-advanced magic user. He was able to hollow out a hole large enough to build a hut with just two spells.
The extracted rock was just dropped below.
“Won’t the dragon get angry?”
“It saves the trouble of searching.”
“If it’s angry, Jeanne, please soothe it.”
“No, that’s impossible.”
I complained, but I was ignored. I was told to just keep watch below.
Fortunately, no angry dragon appeared, and we dug a hole that was slightly downhill after dropping four rocks. We placed a simple teleportation magic circle, and it was done. I wanted to put a lid on the entrance, but there were no materials to make such a convenient lid. We decided to dig a slightly smaller rock and leave it there.
When I looked at the candle in the lantern, an hour and a half had passed. We have to return before the decoy team’s support magic runs out. On the way back, Wilson-san created a wind to blow away the smoke and soared to the sky above the crater all at once.
A fierce battle was going on above.
It must be Mary. There are several icebergs on the mountainside. Inside them, several monsters are trapped. Some with several arrows stuck in their heads or necks are also rolling around. It must be Bonnie.
Around the circular position made of ice, there are an enormous number of corpses of flying monsters that have fallen, perhaps from how many Overflows were fired. Some have one wing frozen. It’s the same inside the position. Around the six vanguards, a bank has been formed with corpses. Moreover, those that reached the inside of the position are all C-ranks like Wyrms, Orthrus, and Cerberus. The D-ranks were probably mostly defeated by the aerial team.
“The twenty-fourth group is coming! Four Cerberus from the foothills!”
Suddenly, I heard Bonnie’s voice. I’ve cast Sight on Bonnie. Since she’s a scout, her eyes are good, and her power is several times greater with the power of magic. I’ve also cast it, but I can only tell they are monsters.
Just like before entering the crater, several monsters of the same type seemed to have attacked in order. The number of one group would be about three to six. However, by the twenty-fourth group, there are probably over a hundred. Moreover, if things go poorly, Mary is almost out of magic.
“I’ll take care of three, so I leave the rest to you!”
When I heard Beatrix’s voice, the five vanguards raised their respective spoils high and gave a war cry.
“Let’s watch for a bit. I’m interested in how they are fighting.”
Eleanor-sama said and went up into the sky.
Watching them, they are fighting quite cleverly.
They are continuing to make surprise attacks using the moving speed of the bowl and the fact that they are invisible.
The four Cerberus are distracted by the vanguards standing on the frozen soil bank of the defensive position and raising their voices. Edward-sama, who has a large body and a loud voice, is particularly conspicuous.
Taking advantage of that opening, they are launching attacks from the side, the back, and even directly above.
The four Cerberus are still trying to disperse and surround them.
First, they stopped the movement of the one entering from the right end with an Overflow imbued in the ball from close range. It seems they aimed with a silver arrow at the same time. Cerberus number one, which took an arrow in the middle of its back, collapsed forward and is twitching. It must have been crushed by the bowl, as it suddenly became beshan. Furthermore, it must be Sianya; a Holy Lance was fired as a finishing blow.
“They have quite a lot of power. Aren't they putting rocks or something inside the bowl and ramming it?”
It’s Wilson-san’s analysis. During the sea snake extermination, we attacked with a bowl filled with sand. If you make the diameter small and deep, put stones in it, and fill the gaps with soil, it will be stable. You can deliver a finishing blow after attacking with magic or silver arrows, or vice versa.
The Cerberus, whose comrade was defeated, barked toward the vicinity of the comrade’s corpse. Some are spitting fireballs.
The Cerberus’s advance stopped, but the one that was at the opposite end, number two, was attacked. The middle one of the three heads was suddenly frozen. The two heads on the left and right are looking at the middle head that suddenly dropped with a gakun sound as if they were frozen. Overflow there. As expected, silver arrows seemed to have been fired at the same time, and they pierced one of the mouths that was left open. The frozen head still revived by breaking the ice, but a silver arrow pierced the top of its head, and this time it really stopped moving. With two heads defeated, it collapsed with a dosari sound. The follow-up is crushing. A silver arrow pierced the back of the head of the last head that gave a gyain cry, and they defeated the second one.
With the damage of two, the opponent is not just surprised. It must have realized that something was on top of the crushed comrade. The remaining two fired fireballs. It’s a simultaneous attack of six shots since they have three heads. However, the bowl seems to have already moved, and there’s no sign of them hitting. It seems they proceeded toward number three, and it was about to be knocked over by being hit in the side, so it hurriedly jumped and fled with a kyan-kyan sound. When an Overflow exploded there, it was blown away and ended up lying on its back. Its soft belly is wide open. When silver arrows pierced it one after another, it ended up dying while blowing blood bubbles from its three heads.
Only one remains.
It’s already in a state of fleeing, but it seems they got behind it, as it suddenly hit an invisible wall and collapsed forward with a gyain sound. It’s being pushed toward the position just like that. It became kyain-kyain and weak-kneed, and finally started running away. The vanguards are ahead of it.
It must be Sianya; basic Holy magic was fired as if chasing the fleeing Cerberus. Now the Cerberus is desperate to escape. Finally, it tried to run up the ice wall and slipped and fell over. It immediately got up and jumped in after running up a part that wasn't frozen, only to be cut in two by Henry-sama who was directly below the front.