Chapter 536 - The Primordia Wetlands ⑥
When I woke up, it was dim around me.
As I sat up on the bear fur I was using as a bed, the lantern lit on the table cast human shadows.
"Good morning, Bishop Phillips."
"Good morning, Bishop Jeanne. Though the sun has only just set."
He was chuckling.
Oops. I gave my usual morning greeting. My head might not be fully clear yet.
Since it's June, the days are long. If the ghosts come out of the wetlands after the sun goes down, there was plenty of time. After eating an early dinner, the four priests went to sleep to recover their magic control. The humans who were awake should have been having a strategy meeting outside with the ghosts, who don't need to sleep.
Beside me, Sianya was breathing lightly in her sleep. In the daytime battle, she was on the verge of running out of steam. The surroundings are Ultra-High level magic users including me. She fought a great battle, coordinating well with the merged Queen and not letting the enemies from the left get close. I stood up slowly so as not to wake her and went to the table, where Bishop Phillips filled a bowl with water from a pitcher and handed it to me.
"Drink this."
"Thank you."
I sat on the bench, took a sip, and looked out the window. It's gotten quite dark. In half an hour, it might be pitch black and the ghosts might come out of the wetlands and up onto the sandy beach.
"Where is Harrison-san?"
"He woke up just a moment ago and went out to relieve himself."
Even after swinging his staff like that in battle, he's already awake. As expected.
A little later, Sianya woke up. This is typical of a priest.
"Everyone was awake. I'm ashamed that I was the only one sleeping."
It's okay, Princess. If Beatrix were here, she'd be drawing a sketch of your sleeping face, it was that cute.
I heard voices outside, and then the door opened.
"Oh, everyone's awake. As expected of priests."
Henry-sama and the others, humans and ghosts, came in. The border lord and Wilson-san were not there.
"Are they coming soon?"
"My husband is monitoring the wetlands from the air with Wilson-dono. If anything happens, there should be contact."
When I asked the Queen, she replied. I see. The final monitoring is by a Revenant and a ghost. And they are top-class ghosts of the north. They won't miss anything.
"Did you rest enough? We're going to prepare to meet them."
Finally, the night battle. It's the time of day when the opponent shows their true colors. It's roughly seven hours until sunrise. The main bodies might come too, and it'll be a fierce battle.
It's surprisingly bright because of the half-moon. The branches of the pine forest are swaying a bit, perhaps because of the wind.
While waiting with preparations for an ambush, the border lord appeared in the room.
"They've come. They've come up from the wetlands and are moving this way."
Finally. I merge with Fiona. McGuire-san also merged with Bishop Phillips.
"The numbers?"
The Queen asked. Her eyes were sharp. From that look, the outcome of the battle could be predicted.
"About eight hundred."
Eight hundred... Bishop Phillips said we were able to reduce them by twenty percent in the daytime battle, so there must have been a thousand originally.
"The main bodies?"
"There were four. In other words, each one manipulates two hundred clones."
I see. It's the same as with the Revenants. One person manipulates too many, so the orders become simple.
When the Queen heard the report, she turned to us.
"Everyone, it's as you heard. There are eight hundred clones. There are four main bodies giving orders. Besides them, there's at least one more main body. They'll likely raid this place soon. Please hang in there until dawn."
"Oh!" everyone responded, and the border lord merged with Harrison-san, and the Queen merged with Sianya.
The door and windows of the hut are left open, so the outside is visible. The swarm of ghosts approaches a bit faster than a person walks.
(Jeanne. Use Sight for everyone.)
The Queen said.
I've already cast Thought Communication. Since it's High-level, it's enough to reach everyone in the hut.
(Find the ones whose expressions change. Those are the main bodies. They should be toward the back.)
The Queen seems to have already found them. When I cast Sight, human eyes become able to magnify distant objects.
(One on the embankment, one in the pine forest, one on the sandy beach over there, and one on the sandbar connected to this island. Clones are gathered around them, and they are at the center of those groups. Pay attention to where the clones are gathered. There don't seem to be any more than that for now.)
She added detailed explanations of the locations.
I immediately tried magnifying the places she mentioned.
(Ah, found one. He's smirking at the sandbar!)
The scout Bonnie found one early on. That image flowed as words. It's much more accurate than hearing with ears.
(They are certainly there.)
(I found others too.)
(Counting from the front... one, two, three...)
(Then I'll start from the back...)
Everyone started counting at once, and in the end, we were able to identify the locations of all four. They all have expressions. They are laughing in a nasty way.
(We are hiding in a ranch-like wooden fence and a hut made of wood; they are no obstacle to ghosts. They must be certain of victory. Now is the time to catch them off guard.)
It was Eleanor-sama.
(True. A good judgment. Then, everyone, as planned.)
The Queen's instruction came. The start of the second round. Let's do our best.
(Favorable Wind!)
Eleanor-sama unleashed wind magic.
(Light!)
Next, I illuminated one of the main bodies with Light.
At the same time, two arrows with silver arrowheads, carried by the magical wind Eleanor-sama created, flew off. They were fired by Bonnie and McGuire-san, who was merged with Bishop Phillips, through gaps in the logs of the wall. The gaps were intentionally provided, and since Beatrix cast Camouflage, they should look like nothing but a wall from the outside.
Whish!
The fired arrows disappeared into the darkness... and after piercing through several ghosts that had come across the sandbar, both hit the main body! It was the one in the direction I had cast Light for blinding. The ghost's main body, without even time to let out a death cry, instantly turned to ash and crumbled onto the sandy beach.
When the main body is destroyed, the clones cannot maintain their form. The two hundred clones also turned to ash and disappeared, just like the main body.
(We did it!)
(Yes!)
Both of them gave light fist pumps, and everyone cheered loudly.
If there are no reinforcements, six hundred remain.
(They'll get serious now. Be careful.)
At the Queen's words, everyone replied at once.
I can see the expressions of the remaining main bodies change. It's not confusion. They are quite angry that one of their comrades was taken down. They must also be irritated by the cheers we intentionally raised.
The ones on the embankment and in the pine forest seemed to have merged with the one on the sandy beach, and then the movement speed of the clones increased. It's a push by force relying on numbers. Even if I cast Light from inside the hut, it passes through the windows, so blind spots are created. They poked at that.
Bonnie and Bishop Phillips fire arrows continuously. The opponents are ghosts. When an arrow hits, two or three that are vertically overlapping turn into smoke and disappear at the same time. The same goes for the Holy Lances fired by Harrison-san and Sianya, and the lightning fired by the Queen and Fiona. We took them down one after another.
The opponent also saw our attacks and those that were clustered began to scatter. They are not just coming from the sandbar. they even pushed out into the sea to approach. When they are lined up horizontally, we can only take down one clone per attack. They rapidly closed the distance.
I took out one Firefly and threw it out the window. When it stopped rolling, I emitted light in a fan shape centered on the front and turned the output to full.
It's the same as in the daytime. It's to stop the ghosts' movement.
(Here I go!)
(Oh!)
Harrison-san jumped out of the door and ran to the side of the Firefly, and then he began to swing his staff. So as not to get in the way of the shooting team, he stood not in front but slightly to the left.
Occasionally, he's unleashing Holy Lance from his mouth. Since the opponents turn into smoke and disappear, it's not like a 'thwack-thwack' feeling, but he started taking them down one after another.
(Everyone, provide cover!)
At Henry-sama's words, the long-range attack team also starts flying arrows and arts. The arrows aim from the front to the right so as not to hit Harrison-san. Holy is cast as if piercing through Harrison-san's body, and lightning is dropped from above the opponent's head. The side being attacked wouldn't be able to easily avoid it even if they tried to judge for themselves. Not to mention, if they are moving according to simple instructions.
Three clones suddenly appeared inside the hut. The opponent also seemed to have used hidden pieces, and the moment they appeared, I felt a chill. They are the clones that are not the simple version, whose senses are connected to the main body.
The clones' targets are Bonnie and Bishop Phillips, who are firing holy water arrows. They appeared almost behind the two.
Behind Bishop Phillips are Henry-sama and Eleanor-sama, and behind Bonnie are Will and Beatrix. Their role is to assist, such as by handing arrows made by soaking the arrowheads in holy water in a tub to the archers.
The priests are merged with ghosts and are emitting pale blue flames from their bodies, so they are protected from ghost attacks. However, the other five do not have that. The ghosts of the wetlands likely anticipated that from the daytime battle. You could say they poked at a weakness.
However, the ghosts cannot attack despite having taken the archers' rear. Far from it, they were pierced through the torso by the silver swords of Henry-sama and Will and crumbled like ash.
(Now our trick has been exposed. The real thing starts from here.)
After everyone cheered again, the Queen said.
The archers and assistants are inside the High-level holy Evil-Breaking Barrier, Holy Wall, that Bishop Phillips made. What's coming out of the barrier are the tips of the arrows and the tips of the swords. Since it was made over time after the daytime battle, it's more powerful than a simple magic circle. It's not something an ordinary evil spirit can easily invade.
Those who cannot merge with ghosts fight inside the barrier. It's cramped, so movement is restricted, but it's safe. It's a battle that's only possible because Bishop Phillips, who is good at support types, is here.
Suddenly, a roar thundered overhead.
From the sound, it's a lightning art comparable to High-level Thunder Bolt. Since it's a ghost's art, Magic Reflection doesn't work. If it were an ordinary log cabin, not only would a hole be opened in the roof, but a fire might even start.
But that's not going to happen. The wall of Light deployed on the roof must have reflected it; it doesn't budge. Even so, I'm Ultra-High level. They fired two or three shots, but it's perfectly fine.
The wall of Light wasn't used during the day. They shouldn't know what it is. Looking at the one on the sandy beach, as expected, he's surprised. Serves him right.
(Jeanne! Front! Lightning!)
Eleanor-sama's voice echoed in my head.
If the top is no good, then from the front? Did he think we had no more tricks because we're firing arrows one after another and I'm illuminating the front with the Firefly?
The lightning flew horizontally in a zigzag, turning the clones in front of the main body into smoke.
(Naive! Light!)
I make a wall of light in front of the hut with the Light I unleashed from my mouth. The lightning reflected safely and turned the approaching clones into smoke.
The main body, he's twisting his mouth in a strange way and is surprised. I can fire three shots in a row, you know.
(Did you see the expression of the ghost when Jeanne unleashed magic from her mouth?)
(Umu. He was surprised and at the same time, it was like he was looking at something unfortunate.)
Because the old couple is thinking unnecessary things, everyone is bursting out laughing.
Harrison-san was praised, right?
(We're out of arrows.)
(Same here!)
It was Will and Henry-sama. The four quivers are empty. Running out of arrows means the ordinary human group has effectively lost a significant portion of their combat power. After all, clones connected to the main body frequently come. Each time, Henry-sama and Will had been participating in the defense in coordination with the Queen merged with Sianya, but the two who are not merged cannot leave the magic circle, so their attack range is narrow. Of course, I'm not doubting the skill of Henry-sama and Will, but as someone on the side merged with a ghost, I couldn't stand having silver spears swung around inside the hut.
Bishop Phillips threw away his bow, stood up, and left the barrier. McGuire-san, who is merged with him, joined the indoor battle with lightning magic. I gave up on manipulating the Firefly outside and left one hand to Fiona to have her participate in the indoor battle.
In any case, it's painful that we can no longer take down enemies outside with arrows.
Harrison-san had been very active, but he was overwhelmed by numbers and gradually pushed back. He must have fired dozens of Holy Lances. He's close to running out. It's not just Harrison-san. Sianya and Fiona are the same. Finally, they retreated into the hut. Now the outside of the hut is full of ghosts. Clones connected to the main body still appear three at a time.
It's almost the limit.
(Everyone, gather!)
Matching the Queen's voice, I temporarily deactivated the wall of Light. The four people merged with ghosts gathered in the center of the hut and crouched down at once. Pale blue flames flared up from the four of them more than ever. With that momentum, they blew away the ghosts that tried to enter the hut. The ghosts became unable to enter the hut, but to that extent, they overflowed inside the fence of the hut.
(The main body has come!)
The Queen shouted. It was a ghost wrapped in pale blue flames. He was wearing something like a white tunic. From the size of the flames, Medium-level might not be effective. In other words, Fiona cannot counter him. He entered the fence while pushing aside his fellow ghosts. Since I deactivated the Light, he must have thought my mana was exhausted. Did he come to settle it all at once?
(Light! It's done!)
I put out a new wall of Light. I make a triangular pyramid to surround the four of us.
(Distract Formation!)
It's an Evil-Breaking Array that attacks the evil within the barrier and significantly reduces its power. Harrison-san activated it at Morandine, but this time it's Bishop Phillips. The two of them had prepared in advance and placed magic circles at the corners of the pentagonal fence.
White pillars of light rose from the five stone slabs, and a wall of light to confine the evil spirits was created as if connecting those pillars. Light intersected within the wall, and a pitch-white light that bore a slight heat filled the surroundings.
Its power was absolute, and the ghosts overflowing within the fence were instantly turned into smoke. The scream of what must have been the main body mixed in is heard. However, that too was temporary. When the pale blue flames withered away before my eyes, they disappeared as if being extinguished.
When the holy evil-breaking light disappeared and darkness returned, all the ghosts had vanished.