Chapter 421 - Episode 6: Behemoth Subjugation Operation II
According to Eleanor-sama, firing a volley of magic with both hands is apparently very exhausting unless one is quite accustomed to it. Naturally. Because you have to concentrate on two places simultaneously, it uses more magic control than a double shot. Therefore, normally one would choose a rapid fire with a breath in between. In my case, I was producing many Fireflies and manipulating the adjustment of light intensity and the degree of light diffusion. As a result, I had apparently acquired the knack for firing a volley of magic while suppressing unnecessary exhaustion before I knew it. Of course, having magic control higher than an ultra-high-level single-spell user and firing the mid-level Holy Lance was also one of the reasons. The Priestesses knew that I handled many Fireflies simultaneously. They seemed to have judged that I would be fine.
"What is the maximum number of Fireflies you can produce?"
Eleanor-sama, after being delighted for a while by the Priestesses' explanation, asked.
"If I want to maintain the same light intensity, it's eight."
"In other words, does that mean an eight-fold volley is possible?"
As always, she says unreasonable things. I've only just managed a triple volley with both hands and my mouth. Even if I used my feet, a five-fold volley would be the limit. Where else does she want me to use? A triple volley in three bursts makes nine shots, so please let me off with that.
"Priestesses. What do you think?"
"It should be possible for Jeanne."
"Indeed. If it's Jeanne."
Everyone is laughing, "Hohoho." Even if they are holy magic users, they are witches after all. Well, I'm a witch too.
"Jeanne. Didn't Catherine fire magic from places other than her body?"
Come to think of it, she was firing magic from the tip of her staff. Not only that, during Roberts-sama's training, she seemed to be firing magic from the tip of a weapon called Flame.
"I've never done it."
"It's silver. If it's silver, it conducts magic... no, magic power well. A silver rod, for example. If you had a staff with an eight-pronged rod attached, you could do it."
"............"
As a result of the Priestesses mediating that it wouldn't be in time for the emergency, the eight-fold volley became a future endeavor, and at any rate, it was decided to subjugate the Behemoth with a triple volley.
The next morning, we set out in seven bowls under a grand send-off from the blue-painted villagers, including the village head.
"How are we going to find it?"
The entire area at the foot of the massive mountain is the search range, but the general position has apparently been estimated.
"Until now, it seems they've been luring it by scattering food scraps."
According to Eleanor-sama's story, this Behemoth was first sighted about two months ago. It was discovered by a hunter. Fortunately, the wheat harvest is already over, and it's likely still in the mountains for now. The problem is after winter comes; if food in the mountains becomes scarce, it will undoubtedly attack the villages. They've apparently been scattering food scraps since a week ago. Being Finis, there are probably many boars gathered, but there might be a Behemoth mixed in. The problem is that the battle will be in a forest in a valley with many obstacles—in other words, large magic is hard to use.
"How did they defeat it until now?"
"No matter who the opponent is, a Behemoth never stops a battle once it has begun. It's kill or be killed."
"That means, in other words..."
"Yes. It was in exchange for the lives of many Finis warriors. It's just like a war."
The opponent doesn't run away. Warriors challenge it one after another, and it continues until it's defeated. In one subjugation operation, damage apparently reached from several hundred to as many as four digits. With only thirty-eight people, the local old men are bound to be worried. This time it's magic-centered, and we'll attack from above while hiding. However, the opponent is in the forest. Will we hit it easily?
The mountain range including the target mountain extends roughly east to west. The settlements are on the side facing the great canyon to the north, and damage also occurs on that side. The baiting grounds used as decoys are also set up on the north side.
When we arrived at the target baiting ground, there were mountains of boars.
The baiting ground is at the bottom of a cliff. As I watched, food scraps appearing from halfway up the cliff were raining down on the boars' heads.
While making squealing noises, the boars gathered at the new food.
"What kind of mechanism is that?"
"They apparently carved the cliff to make it flat, drew a Teleportation Circle there, and connected it to the Royal Capital. There would be more food scraps in the Royal Capital too. With that method, it lasts for two weeks without the magic circle being trampled by the boars."
I see. It's only possible because of Flight Magic. But what will they do with those boars? It doesn't seem like there's a Behemoth.
"Let's leave them alone. We don't want to be detected until the Behemoth is caught."
Saying that, we headed to the next baiting ground.
There were six baiting grounds in total. Unfortunately, they were all misses. Every time we went around one, one bowl left the group. We went back to the third one we had visited and landed on a rock shelf halfway up the cliff along with Gwyn-sama's bowl, the commander.
Seeing that there's a hole with a shape too clean for a cave, it must have been made for monitoring the Behemoth. The baiting ground is visible diagonally below. Since it's halfway up the cliff, we won't be attacked by monsters. We'll hide in the hole and wait for the Behemoth to appear.
It's already September. To be honest, it's cold. At night, we light two bonfires and everyone gathers around them. The hole we're hiding in is the third from the west, but since there are personnel from two bowls, there are many people. Accordingly, the watch, which we take in turns, is easy, if you can call it that. Being an early riser, I joined the early morning watch along with the Priestesses.
Since boars in the mountains and forests basically act during the day, they should be sleeping at night. Food scraps are also supposed to not come out while the sun is down. Since it's still before sunrise, I can't see anything even if I peer into the baiting ground, but the squealing I heard during the day is not audible at all. The boars must still be sleeping.
"Will we know immediately if the Behemoth comes?"
"Yes. Because the boars will make a fuss."
Are they scared after all? Surely they aren't welcoming it.
"Behemoths eat boars."
"Eh?"
Cannibalism... No, strictly speaking, it's mixed with a bull and isn't a pure boar, so is it different?
However, to think that the boars lured by the food scraps are the bait...
"Th-Then, Priestess. The cause of the Behemoth's occurrence is..."
Isn't it the overbreeding of boars? It's the same as the ghost rats.
"I don't know. Normally, cannibalism occurs when there are too many and there's no food, but this year is not that kind of situation. It's said that a creature that suddenly takes a liking to eating boars appears, and while it eats many boars, its appearance becomes similar to a boar."
"Do you know where it occurs?"
As expected, the Priestess shook her head.
"For example, if there were a cave nearby and it made its nest there, it would be easy, but such a place hasn't been found. Though, the possibility that we can't make a judgment because the search range is too vast cannot be denied either."
It's difficult. Even the local people don't know. The entire foot of such a massive mountain is its range of activity. Along with the Hydra, Finis is just too large in scale.
On the third day of being on watch, a report of a Behemoth sighting came in. Since it's below the hole two spots to the west, we rush there at ultra-high speed while hiding our presence. Since the speed also drops if there are many people, Will got into Gwyn-sama's bowl. It was over in an instant, before we could even accelerate after taking off. The distance between holes is two post stations. Since the bowl Gwyn-sama is riding only goes up to high speed, we'll have him come later.
At the scene, a battle between boars and the Behemoth is in full swing. About a dozen boars are surrounding the Behemoth's massive body. Around them lie the carcasses of about the same number of boars. The boars are charging one by one and falling prey to its tusks. It's probably to let their families escape. In fact, I could see boars running through the forest while squealing.
"We're going down."
We descend at Eleanor-sama's instruction. One boar was hooked by the Behemoth's tusks and flew through the air while spraying blood.
"Jeanne. Prepare for the triple volley. Mary, Clump Water."
"Yes."
"Yes."
Henry-sama and Bonnie set silver arrows to their bows.
"I'm deactivating the Camouflage."
As I thought, we are the decoys. Since we're at ultra-high speed, it's natural, in a way.
We appear diagonally above the Behemoth's front. It's breathing out intense breath that makes you think it might spit fireballs. It really is a bull; its nose isn't a pig's nose.
The moment our eyes met, it bellowed, "Gumooooooo!" It's definitely a bull.
Another boar is being slaughtered. The body sizes are completely different. Despite that, they don't flinch at all. Is this exactly what spirit is? Even though I look like this, I'm a member of the Boar Club. I can't lose to them.
We take our position as if chasing away several boars. There's a valley behind us. Since running away is the premise, the Behemoth is in front of us.
I made eye contact with the nearest boar. It has a scar on its right cheek. It must be a veteran warrior. It stayed behind to buy time for its family to escape.
Leave it to me! I thrust out my right fist and gave a thumbs-up. I was completely ignored, but the point is the feeling.
First is Light. I'll catch it off guard by aiming for a blind.
I chant with all my might and narrow the light. I aim for the right eye.
"Gumooooooo!"
It seems angry. After shaking its head, it faced this way. Its snorting is rough. It lowered its head and is scratching the ground with its right front leg. It took the bait!
"Here I go. Holy Lance!"
I fire a triple volley with all my might. Henry-sama and Bonnie fired silver arrows at the same time. Mary is pummeling it with the masses of water she was manipulating. Furthermore, a log-sized Holy Lance flew past from the front of our bowl to the rear. It must be Gwyn-sama's bowl.
"Gumooooooo!"
Everything hit, and the Behemoth leaped at us. Apparently, it's unfazed.
The bowl retreats, and I fire another triple volley.
"We're running! Jeanne, continue attacking to draw the opponent in."
"Understood!"
We run through the forest. The baiting ground seems to have been made with an escape route in mind, and we soon came out to a mountain stream. We fly over it, flying while attacking the one chasing us. Every shot hits the Behemoth, which is now in the position of chasing through a narrow passage for its massive body. It seems to be trying hard to dodge, but the passage is narrow. On top of that, Mary is hitting the Behemoth's face with the water from the stream using Clump Water. Furthermore, since she's producing three at once, at least one is hitting. Also, it seems allies have gradually gathered ahead, and the number of log-sized Holys and arrows fired immediately after the triple volley has increased. I'm illuminating it with Light immediately after the triple volley. There's probably no way to dodge.
"Jeanne. Can you concentrate your aim on the right front leg?"
"I'll try."
When Bonnie waved her hand, small flags indicating the positions of allies gathered nearby.
"Please aim for the right front leg!"
"Got it!"
It's immediately transmitted to the allies.
Since I'm not aiming with all my might, I can make some trajectory corrections. And it doesn't matter if they don't all hit. I decided to aim for the front with my mouth, which is difficult to change aim with, and aim around the right front leg with the two shots from both hands.
While doing this, the Behemoth also seemed to have seen through our intention and started jumping high to dodge. If I aimed from behind, it would be a hundred percent hit, but I have to attack while running and always keep its attention forward. While the marker flags were flying above us, I started lowering my hands except when firing magic so that the timing of the simultaneous volley from all bowls would match. We come to a place where the stream meanders greatly. Since we enter the straight line first, we aim for the moment it comes out.
I wait with both hands raised. The moment the Behemoth turned and entered the straight line, I chant Light with my right hand.
The Behemoth jumped high.
It took the bait! It mistook it for Holy.
In the air, it can't easily change its posture. I aim for the landing point.
We are already flying at a low altitude, just barely above the ground. We aimed for the right front leg all at once from a low position. The aim was perfect, and everyone hit! The Behemoth's right leg couldn't withstand the impact of the landing and it stumbled... but it's still running energetically!
"It's not that easy, is it. As expected, the Behemoth uses magic."
"Magic?"
"Yes. It can't be defeated with Megiddo Fire. It wasn't deploying magic defense. Despite that, it has considerably high magic defensive power. It must use some powerful magic."
In other words, does that mean the attacks until now were almost meaningless?
"They were meaningful. See how the Behemoth's fur is peeling off in places? It's because we're dealing damage."
The fur... it doesn't seem to mean much...
"That's not true. For a magic beast, that hide is its armor. We've given that armor a flaw. It's because we're dealing corresponding damage. In other words, we're breaking through the Behemoth's magic defense."
Hmm. If a log-sized Holy can deal damage, that means the opponent is just barely ultra-high-level. That means the magic it uses is also ultra-high-level... What kind of magic is it...
Wait a minute.
"Um, the Behemoth destroyed a stone fortress with a body slam, right?"
"Yes. That's why we prepared something like that."
Where she was pointing, there's a stone wall blocking the valley. There are people on top of it.
"It's the final point of this retreat operation."
In other words, we're going to confirm the legend? At the very end, actual humans appeared as decoys. They must be Finis warriors, and they must be prepared for death.
"Jeanne. Please illuminate the Behemoth with mid-level Light. Use the triple volley in rapid fire. You can do it until it falls."
It's not fine at all, but I have to do it. I fire the triple volley intermittently in rapid fire.
Is the bowl slowing down? The distance between us and the Behemoth is gradually closing. As if this were the moment, Henry-sama and Bonnie also fire silver arrows in rapid succession. Since the Behemoth is running while jumping left and right and shaking its head up and down, some arrows are deflected.
Gwyn-sama and the others' bowls also started a simultaneous volley. The distance is closing here too, but before I knew it, they seemed to have lined up in a horizontal row diagonally above. Log-sized Holys and silver arrows are fired at the Behemoth from both the left and right wings.
There are arrows stuck in it, but I don't think they are deep wounds. They're falling out due to the vibration of running. Its defensive fur and its triangular head, which isn't a pig's nose but is like a boar's, must be working in its favor. The angle of the arrows is shallow.
On the other hand, the log-sized Holys seem to be having an effect, and the places without fur have gradually increased. Because everyone's aim has moved to its head, it's balding in patches. If the Behemoth saw a mirror, it would surely be angry.
I must have fired seventeen or eighteen triple volleys while running; I'm nearing my limit. If I include the Light spells I fired in between, it's over sixty shots. I'm only holding out because I'm leaving gaps in between; otherwise, I would have fainted long ago.
"Just a little more. Until we fly over the two walls."
Two?
When I looked back, the stone walls are doubled with a distance between them. To be precise, they are stone ramparts made by piling up many large stones that could be called rocks rather than stone walls. The people on the ramparts don't move while holding their bows. Looking closely, they are straw dolls. It seems they don't use living humans when they know the walls will be destroyed.
"Light!"
I fire a volley just before flying over the first wall.
"Gumooooooo!"
The Behemoth roared! As I thought.
Dokan! A sound like gunpowder exploding was heard, and the wall was blown away. The Behemoth, having completely demolished the wall, is charging while scattering stone fragments. It's just a little more to the second wall.
One more time, eh?
I'm nearing my limit. I can feel sweat running down both my temples. I can tell sweat is dripping from my chin. My knees are also shaking.
"Eii! Light!"
The moment I fired it, I felt like I was going to lose consciousness.
We fly over the wall. This is the last one.
The Behemoth bellows. The roar echoed again.
Just as I thought the wall would be crushed, the Behemoth disappeared...
"We did it! It took the bait!"
The bowl makes a sharp turn. Unable to withstand the G-force, I fell over just like that.
"Jeanne! Are you okay?"
Bonnie helped me up.
"Thank you. It's better than having fainted."
"Not at all, it's not over yet. Now it's Holy. We're going to deliver the finishing blow."
Um, the Behemoth is...
"Over there. It seems to be unconscious, so please deliver the finishing blow with a triple volley of Holy Lance."
When we returned to the wall, the Behemoth was lying on its back. It has a massive lump on its forehead. The wall is half-collapsed in the middle. The large rock in the front is cleanly split in two.
"Magic Reflection?"
"Yes. I suspect you noticed too, didn't you? What the magic the Behemoth uses is."
"Is it Cocytus?"
"Exactly. You figured it out well."
The Behemoth is a monster. Of course, it doesn't use holy magic. It probably has nothing to do with the first king series or Forbidden Magic. There are no ultra-high-level spells in the status-change or movement systems. It didn't attack the bowls flying in the air with magic. It's a magic of an attribute that cannot attack enemies in the air. If it can use ultra-high-level magic, it can only be the earth-attribute Cocytus or Colossus Collapse. It must have fired Cocytus to wreck the first stone rampart made of piled rocks and then demolished it with its specialty body slam. For the second one, we reflected that Cocytus back with Magic Reflection. That's why it collided head-on with a solid large rock and lost consciousness.
"Now, please deliver the finishing blow."
Eleanor-sama, whose devised trap had worked perfectly, was pointing at the Behemoth with a broad smile.
Aren't you trying to make me faint rather than deliver the finishing blow?