Chapter 535 - The Primordia Wetlands ⑤
Of course, Sianya didn't turn into a charred mess. The practice, which continued until night, ended safely. The next morning, we were seen off by the King of Primordia, who for some reason had dark circles under his eyes. The transport and escort were handled by the Henry Party, with Beatrix added.
We arrived in the bowls. The vanguard was Wilson-san's medium bowl, which everyone rode in. The rearguard was Eleanor-sama's large bowl, loaded with various tools. There was food, water, lumber, rolls of fur, and even large tubs—I wondered what they were for. Beatrix rode in the rearguard bowl. Her role was to create a lid with Wind Barrier so the piled-up luggage wouldn't fall off. We weren't at ultra-high speed and took lunch at a rest stop, so it took time, but we arrived while it was still light.
We dismantled the bowls by the stone monument and stepped down onto the embankment.
Henry-sama, Eleanor-sama, Beatrix, Will, and Bonnie went to the island connected by the sandy beach to set up a place to stay using the simple barriers Bishop Phillips made and the luggage we brought.
Wilson-san provided rear support for the merged priest group. To be precise, he was in charge of moving over the wetlands in a bowl. Since he's a Revenant, he won't be possessed by ghosts. On the other hand, he's weak against holy magic, so he protected himself with magic defense equipment developed by Eleanor-sama and Magic Reflection.
"Hmm. There certainly are a lot of ghosts."
It was the Queen of the border, merged with Sianya. Already, the priests' bodies were all covered in pale blue flames.
(Hey, dear. What do you think?)
The Queen's thoughts echoed in my head. Since Thought Communication was active, everyone's thoughts were instantly shared.
(These are mostly clones made from spirit bodies. They can be made in large numbers and have no emotions. In other words, they can't be made to ascend. We have to fight.)
The one who answered was the border lord, merged with Harrison-san.
Simple clones are something between an illusion and a clone, and they aren't connected to the main body. However, since they are spirit bodies themselves, unlike illusions, they can be damaged and exterminated with holy magic. Of course, since the manipulator can make them disappear, that's assuming the magic hits. That's why they didn't reply and had no expressions. But if they're clones, the main body must be somewhere.
(Just as I thought. But it's quite clever.)
(Umu. A user of quite sophisticated arts.)
The fact that they've placed this many ghosts in the wetlands, even if they're clones, means the main body itself is either multiple or there's an incredibly powerful ghost. Fiona told me this.
(First, a little test. Each one isn't that strong. Let's take down as many as we can.)
Saying that, the Queen began to fly boards made of hardened embankment soil and stack them in the wetlands. The soil boards were made by Eleanor-sama. We brought them in the rearguard bowl. Since we couldn't fight in an unstable place like the embankment, they were for footing. They were squares five paces long and wide; the first one sank as if swallowed by the wetlands, but when we stacked two or three, they became stable. We stacked five, so it should be okay to jump onto them.
The ghosts couldn't avoid the soil boards flying toward them, so they passed through their bodies, but once the footing was made, they came out from there and returned to the water's surface in the wetlands.
(Alright, shall we give them a little taste? Harrison-dono, let's go.)
(I comply!)
Harrison-san, holding his staff, stepped forward and went down near the footing.
Sianya and I followed. Sianya was behind Harrison-san to the left. My position was right behind him. The bowl with Bishop Phillips and Wilson-san was floating above the embankment behind us. Their role was to convey the situation while watching the whole thing. It was the formation we had decided on from the start.
When Harrison-san stepped onto the footing and stood in the middle, the ghosts that had temporarily retreated moved forward to surround him.
(Jeanne, please.)
The Queen's instruction came.
(Yes. Alright, Fiona, let's do this.)
(Yes. Anytime.)
Battle start.
"Light!"
I illuminated with Ultra-High level. I cast it from the tip of the staff I held in my left hand. Bishop Phillips was deploying Magic Reflection in front of the bowl. This would protect Wilson-san. No need for restraint. The ghosts around the footing were all blown away. It was enough for a preemptive strike.
(Ho-ho, Ultra-High level right from the start. You know your stuff.)
(And she's reflecting all the light that went backward to the front. Splendid.)
(Umu. She's worthy of having fought us as equals.)
(Next time, I might lose. Tee-hee.)
Agh! Too much noise!
After the preemptive strike, I switched to High-level Light (with reflectors). Since blowing them away wasn't the goal. The ghosts bathed in light didn't scatter and flee; rather, they came toward us. No, to be precise, they tried to come toward us. As if walking against a gale, they moved one foot forward and leaned their bodies to advance. Their bodies were blurring into shapes like flames blown by the wind. Despite that, they were expressionless. It was scary in a different way.
Even without being strengthened, the fact that I felt considerable resistance meant they certainly had power.
(The expressionless ghosts are just clones. Priests other than Jeanne, please take them down with silver weapons and holy magic. They'll hit because their movement is stopped. Since there are many, Medium-level Holy is fine.)
The Queen's instruction came.
Sianya unleashed Holy Lance with her right hand and horizontal lightning from her left. She must be leaving her non-dominant left hand to the Queen. She was aiming at a different ghost. The two ghosts hit by the Holy Lance and lightning arts disappeared while turning into smoke.
(Harrison-dono. Is it really alright to use both hands?)
The border lord's voice echoed. Harrison-san was swinging his staff with both hands, turning ghosts into smoke.
(No need for concern. Behold. Holy Lance!)
When Harrison-san unleashed Holy Lance from his mouth, a ghost out of reach of his staff turned into smoke.
(Oh! Splendid!)
(I was blessed with a good teacher, after all.)
I'm being praised. When I do it, I get weird looks.
(Jeanne! Lend me your right hand.)
(Sure. Use it!)
(Thanks. Alright, here I go! Lightning!)
My right hand moved on its own, and lightning came out of my palm. It was Fiona.
(Yay! I got one!)
(Another one's coming!)
(Yes! Lightning!)
A direct hit on the second one too.
While the two of us were rejoicing, saying "We did it, we did it," I heard the sound of cutting wind overhead.
Involuntarily turning around, I saw Bishop Phillips drawing a bow and firing an arrow. The arrow pierced through the ghost's body and, incredibly, three of them turned into smoke and disappeared at once. Was the arrowhead silver or silver-plated? It might have been a holy water arrow. The butler must be manipulating it. As expected of a former light infantryman.
The ghosts really seemed to have no emotions, as they struggled to get onto the footing one after another with expressionless faces, only to turn into smoke and disappear. Perhaps because they were being manipulated, their movements weren't that fast, and since they were only trying to get onto the footing, we could take them down one by one, but there were just so many. Dozens wouldn't cover it. There might be over a thousand.
Since I was controlling the intensity of the light, stopping or allowing their movement, the ghosts were also having trouble advancing. I'd weaken it, then strengthen it when they got close. When I did that, the ghosts' movement would stop as if they'd hit a wall. We'd aim and take them down with magic and silver weapons there, but there was no end to it.
I was worried about whether everyone's breath would hold. For a moment, I increased the output. The ghosts leaning forward recoiled just a bit. When Harrison-san stepped in and swung his staff, three of them turned into smoke at once. Not to be outdone, the Queen deployed a wall of spiritual flames and turned several ghosts into smoke together.
"?"
For a moment, my back felt cold.
(Jeanne? Is something wrong?)
(Eh? No, it's nothing.)
Fiona didn't seem to feel anything. Was it my imagination?
Ghosts were welling up one after another around the footing. Everyone began to stick to efficient fighting.
Harrison-san was letting the ghosts get to point-blank range and then mowing them down all at once by swinging his staff. Sianya began to focus on stopping their movement by unleashing Basic-level Holy. The Queen was delivering the finishing blows. Fiona also began to put intervals between each shot. The arrows flying overhead seemed to have run out, and lightning arts began to fly. Bishop Phillips, who had become able to use his dominant hand freely and gained momentum, was deploying Magic Reflection in places where ghosts were gathered. The ghosts, caught off guard, would have their feet stop for a moment because a wall suddenly appeared in front of them. In that way, he was trying to stop the feet especially on the sides of Sianya and Fiona, who were starting to run out of breath. Occasionally, the ghosts near the footing were blown away; Wilson-san must have been momentarily releasing the Wind Barrier he had deployed. Fiona also said that there are times when you get blown away by a sudden gust.
Everyone was fighting while resting in their own way. But at this rate, we'd be overwhelmed by numbers. The limit was near...
(Shall we withdraw once soon?)
The Light I'd been casting continuously since switching to High-level was also at its limit. It was about time.
If we weren't going to retreat, just surrounding the footing with a wall of Light and taking a break would be fine.
(True. McDonnell, the signal! Everyone, please hang in there just a little longer!)
McDonnell seemed to be the butler's name. I learned it for the first time.
When I looked at Bishop Phillips, with whom McDonnell was merged, he was aiming a bow at the sky. The arrow he notched had fire... a fire arrow. What on earth was he going to do?
Whish! The fire arrow shot up.
(Jeanne, please maintain the current state just a little longer! Wilson-dono! Put the lid on the bowl!)
Lid on the bowl? What on earth was he going to do?
Before I could think. The Queen's strategy flowed into my head.
(Everyone! Crouch!)
Holding the staff overhead and maintaining the Light, I hurriedly crouched down, and then rain like a waterfall fell. No, the drops were too large to be called rain. It was like having the bowl's water thrown at me, and it hurt a bit. If I'd been standing, I might have fallen from the impact of being hit.
While keeping my eyes squinted to see where the water falling in thuds was going, the ghosts I'd been stopping around the footing turned into smoke all at once. They were hit by the holy water Eleanor-sama had sent flying.
(Withdrawing!)
The bowl dived down. It had already changed into the shape of a plate.
As soon as we all jumped on, the rim rose while ascending, and it became a medium bowl. We immediately ascended and retreated to the sky above the sandy beach.
The ghosts, having lost their target, were looking this way while floating fluffily around the footing.
I thought we'd reduced them quite a bit, but not really. At most thirty percent.
(Good work, everyone. I think we were able to reduce them by twenty percent.)
At Bishop Phillips's words from above, I slumped my shoulders in disappointment.
When we went to the setup team, they had built a fortress. The grass on the island's plain had been mowed, and it was surrounded by a wooden fence. It was a pentagon with no entrance or exit. It was quite wide. It could probably hold two or three hundred people. There was a hut in the middle, and a large tub beside it. The fact that it was already full meant a Teleportation Circle was drawn on the bottom of the tub, and holy water was being teleported from the Western Church.
When we descended into the fortress, everyone thanked us for our hard work and showed us into the hut. Henry-sama, Will, and Bonnie were on the roof keeping watch. All three had several talismans hanging from their bodies. I didn't know if those who couldn't see ghosts could keep watch, but it was a gesture to put us at ease. "Good work," I called out to them.
When I opened the door and went inside, there was a large table and four benches surrounding it. The ghosts unmerged and became eight people sitting on the benches.
I drank the restorative wine Eleanor-sama and Beatrix handed out to everyone. I finally caught my breath.
"How was it?"
When everyone's breath returned, Eleanor-sama asked.
"There are many. There's no end to it. If we take days, the opponent might be able to replenish them one after another, so we have to do it all at once. It'll be a battle of endurance."
An endurance match, huh. Unfortunately, I haven't yet met a spirit who gives me a stone with the effect of increasing endurance.
"But there were several main bodies a little distance away. Did you notice?"
At the Queen's words, the lord nodded. He seemed to have noticed.
Fiona and McDonnell didn't notice. They were shaking their heads. The human side was the same.
"Jeanne, they've got their eye on you. Didn't you notice?"
The Queen and the lord looked at me.
"Come to think of it..."
I remembered my back feeling cold in the middle of the battle. When I mentioned it, they said that was it.
"In the next battle, they'll definitely aim for Jeanne."
In other words, I'm the decoy again. It's the usual thing, I suppose.
"We need to change how we fight."
The border lord said that the first time was a defensive battle where Fiona and I, merged, and Bishop Phillips and McDonnell, merged, protected, while Harrison-san and the lord, merged, and Sianya and the Queen, merged, counterattacked.
"We can't just keep defending forever. We must go on the offensive and attack the main bodies manipulating the wetland clone ghosts."
Going on the offensive against those numbers means feints and surprise attacks. Drawing the enemy in with a decoy and then a surprise attack from the flank or rear. The problem is how to draw the enemy in with the decoy. They know there are four of us. If even one is missing, they'll be wary. That means we'll have to do a deceptive retreat to make the opponent let their guard down and lure them into a trap. In any case, Fiona and I will be the decoy. I have to fire myself up.