Chapter 45 - Paul's Strategy ①
"Are you ready? Let's go!"
Paul-san, standing at the three-way junction in the cave, looked back at us. Everyone nodded in unison.
Behind Paul-san, Priest Williams was casting Sense Living. Following them were Angus-san and three other hunters. Behind them were McBurn-san and Marcelo-san. Then came Beatrix and, for some reason, me. Beowulf brought up the rear.
The 'Invincible Paul Formation.' Or so he called it. Setting aside the naming and the rear guard, the vanguard was composed of seasoned veterans. Paul-san let out a spirited grunt and thrust his right hand forward.
"Clump Sand!"
Soil was excavated from the wall and sent flying toward the cave on the right—the one where we had fought the spiders. On the left side, three guards and two hunters stood ready for a surprise attack from the left cave. This was because there was a possibility that Revenants, which cannot be detected by Sense Living, might appear.
As Paul-san continued to dig deeper, Priest Williams was making fine adjustments to Paul-san's orientation from behind to ensure they didn't veer off course.
The objective was the enemy's main force. Paul-san's strategy was to dig a direct path and take them down in one fell swoop. Apparently, while the magic is active, a magical force field is created, making the possibility of a cave-in very low.
Certainly, it was far safer than advancing while being worn down by ambushes or having the ceiling collapsed on us, but charging straight into the enemy's main force was bold to the point of recklessness. Furthermore, after the excavated soil was tossed into the passage, the hunters were busy hauling it further back, going "Heave-ho, heave-ho." Even if it was to block an enemy advance from the right, this felt less like monster extermination and more like civil engineering.
I had many things I wanted to point out, but he was indeed a high-level mage. With Priest Williams's support, he was digging a hole rapidly while moving forward. The direct path being dug was just high enough for an adult to reach the ceiling with their hands raised. The width was just enough to reach both walls with arms outstretched. In other words, it was a size that could be defended as long as frontal attacks were blocked, and it was perfect for our side's attacks, which were primarily bow-based.
"Everyone, the enemy's main force is close!"
Priest Williams called out from the depths of the hole. The hunters led by Angus-san stood up. All three had fire arrows notched in their bows.
"Here we go."
Marcelo-san spoke to me. Was he smiling to help ease our tension? Finally, the assault. I swallowed hard instinctively. From here on, it would be a high-speed battle where time was of the essence.
"We're through!"
I heard Paul-san's voice.
Angus-san and the others fired their fire arrows all at once. Three volleys, a total of nine fire arrows. Paul-san and Priest Williams, who were ahead, must have been flat on the ground. Otherwise, it would have been friendly fire.
Once they finished firing the fire arrows, Angus-san and the others also flattened themselves against the ground to clear the line of sight for those behind them. I could see the flames of the fire arrows flickering at the end of the hole. It was further than I thought...
"Teleport!"
Just as I thought Marcelo-san had grabbed the shoulder of McBurn-san in front of him, they vanished. He had teleported toward the fire arrows. Having done that, he returned alone in the next instant.
Next, he vanished again, taking Beatrix with him, who had finished her incantation and was waiting with both hands thrust upward. In the depths of the hole, a fireball was born, which then split and flew in four directions. Even from a distance, I could tell the depths of the hole had brightened all at once.
Marcelo-san returned with a limp Beatrix. Normally, she just creates and fires a single fireball. She had split it and diffused it to act as a light source. It must have been quite exhausting. Mabel-san and Lowry-san supported her from both sides and led her out of the hole.
"Let's go!"
The guards who had been waiting on the left started running. Angus-san and the three hunters followed with their bows still notched. I ran too.
Securing the junction was left to the hunters who had been carrying soil. Outside the hole, Mabel-san and the others were keeping watch. Inside, McBurn-san should be fighting hard alone. We had to hurry. If he was injured, I had to heal him. Marcelo-san had used Teleport many times and would likely use it again. I was the one in charge of healing.
I ran desperately through the dark hole toward the flames. Perhaps due to the tension, I was out of breath. The intended battlefield was further than I had expected.
I managed to reach the edge of the hole. It seemed there were no casualties so far. The goblin nest, illuminated by the fire arrows and Beatrix's magical flames, was quite spacious and had plenty of height. It was about the size of a small church. I hadn't expected a nest for a hundred goblins to be this large.
There were numerous holes halfway up the walls, which were about two stories high, and the goblins poking their heads out were shouting something. They were firing arrows and throwing stones and other things, but everything was being deflected in mid-air.
I went over to Priest Williams, who was crouching near the exit of the dug hole, and crouched down in the same way. Beowulf stood in front of us to protect us.
A very short tornado was chasing the goblins around; that must be Paul-san's magic. On the diagonal from the tornado, McBurn-san was using a silver knife borrowed from Marcelo-san and an ordinary dagger in both hands, slaughtering goblins one after another as if he were spinning. His movements were so fast and it was so dim that I couldn't see well, but it was like there was another tornado.
The guard squad held up their shields to protect us, preventing the goblins from jumping in, and then stabbed them to death with their swords. Angus-san and the others were firing arrows to shoot down the goblins.
Priest Williams was swirling wind magic above his head to deflect the arrows and stones flying from the holes in the walls. While doing so, he was shouting out the positions of the hidden goblins to everyone. When Paul-san moved his small tornado so as not to break the arrow-deflecting magic overhead, the hidden goblins scrambled away in a panic.
McBurn-san moved to the diagonal of the tornado, and Angus-san and the others aimed their bows at the goblins in the wall holes behind the tornado. It seemed the arrow-deflecting magic was being shifted to protect McBurn-san's head.
We were already overwhelmingly pushing them back.
In the depths of the hole, a man was holding a sword and shouting something. He appeared to be human. He was likely the boss.
Seeing that most of the goblins had been dealt with, McBurn-san headed toward the man. Based on Priest Williams's advice, the policy had been decided to avoid killing humans as much as possible. He intended to capture him.
The man held his sword in a high overhead guard. When McBurn-san approached, the man stepped in and swung his sword down alternately from left to right. When McBurn-san backed away, the opponent also stepped back, and when McBurn-san stepped in, the man would swing his sword. They were repeating this.
Even to me, who has never held a blade other than a kitchen knife, it looked like a novice's repetitive sword style. It seemed like he could be easily defeated, but surprisingly, he was tough enough that McBurn-san couldn't get close. Since it wasn't a very long sword, it seemed he could keep it up.
I heard from Beowulf later that the sword speed itself was quite impressive. Since he had his back to a hollow in the wall, they couldn't surround him. Because the battle was in a narrow cave, the fact that they had only brought swords also had an impact.
Fortunately, the opponent didn't charge in. They began to surround him while keeping a cautious distance. Was there no choice but to wait for this to become a battle of attrition until the opponent ran out of breath...
As if losing patience, Beowulf called Paul-san over and was talking about something. Then, she called one of the guards and asked them to lend her a shield. I wondered what she was going to do...
"Wind Barrier!"
It was Paul-san's magic that settled it. With the power of releasing a wall of air, he made Beowulf leap from a distance in one go. Beowulf, holding shields in both hands, charged straight into the opponent as if performing a body slam and collided with him.
A breakthrough... I wonder if that's the right word for it... She seemed to have flown quite a distance...
The man, blown away, was slammed violently against the back wall and then collapsed onto the ground, motionless. He might have hit a bad spot. Beowulf immediately pinned him down.
It seemed to be over, but it was reckless. I'm starting to worry if Beowulf is being strangely influenced by Paul-san. However, regardless of that, the boss was defeated. The goblins would likely flee.