Chapter 631 - Chapter 1: Exterminating Ants in Engrio ⑧
Wilson-san increased the bowl's speed. At the same time, he lowered the altitude so we could see the forests on both sides from directly beside us.
"We're almost at the place where we found those guys earlier."
"They're probably decoys. The main force should be further ahead."
Looking into the forest, there were several of them lounging near the riverbank. They were obviously decoys. There were no big ones, and no Ogres. Just about twenty Orcs.
We flew past, ignoring them. We accelerated even more.
"Where did the Orc swarm cross the river?"
Will said while looking at the diagram Lyudmila had drawn. The inner and outer hills extend far past the fortress to the east. The outer hill range is particularly long and curves inward halfway. West of that tip is considered the Demon Realm. The fortress is built quite far into it, about a third of the way into the west of the entire Demon Realm. A single highway passes by the fortress, connecting to the outside of the Demon Realm. The area around the highway is wasteland with scattered rocks and some undulations.
"They likely intend to block the rear."
The ants attack the fortress, and the Orc swarm, along with the Demon Race member, intends to cut off the retreat?
"Of the two rivers, north and south, flowing between the hills, the northern river turns sharply south at the edge of the Demon Realm and connects to the southern river. Then, it flows southeast as it is and reaches the sea. This Demon Realm is partitioned by rivers."
In other words, the entire Demon Realm is protected by rivers.
"If they intend to cut off our retreat, they'll occupy the crossing point. Most likely, the Orc swarm will be there."
The crossing point is located where the northern river flows south, and it's apparently crossed by ferry. Over the long distance of flowing through the hill range, it has become a river of considerable width.
"Could it be that while we thought we were attacking the fortress, it's actually the other way around?"
"Yes. Now we are the defenders. That Demon Race member is quite capable. She's completely outwitted us."
The exchange between Harris-sama and Wilson-san revealed that the opponent was no ordinary foe. Eleanor of Tactics had been outwitted... That's not something that happens often.
"What's the situation at the crossing point?"
"There are small fortresses on both banks. There should have been a garrison of about several dozen men."
"Then that's the enemy's target."
"Most likely. The enemy's aim is likely to target that crossing point at the timing when our side has allocated combat power to base defense due to the ant attack."
"That's why Eleanor-sama conveyed to attack the Orcs, not to rescue the base attacked by ants."
"Exactly. The Demon Race member is surely at the crossing point. We'll leave the ants to Engrio and defeat them ourselves."
This has become a serious matter.
Judging that the Orc swarm consisted only of decoys, Wilson-san flew at high speed while transforming the bowl into something between a small and medium size, or rather, elongated it vertically.
"We're going at high speed."
"U-Understood."
Harris-sama, who is afraid of heights, closed his eyes and began chanting the Chant of Exorcism. Lately, he seems to have gotten quite used to normal low-altitude flight, but when it comes to high speed or above, he still hasn't overcome it.
"Ugh."
We accelerated to high speed along with Harris-sama's groan. Since the bowl itself was small, everyone was pushed to the back. It was fine for me since Will supported me, but Harris-sama at the very back was coughing.
"A-Are you okay?"
"No, ugh, th-this might be better since I don't feel the fear. Blegh!"
I felt like there was a different kind of fear, but well, let's have him do his best.
Thanks to Harris-sama's efforts, we safely reached the fortress at the crossing point. Or more accurately, we caught up to the swarm of monsters running along the river toward the fortress.
There were quite a lot. Close to four digits, perhaps.
Fenrirs, Orcs, Ogres, Cyclopes, Trolls—they were all there. The ones leading the pack were the Fenrirs. The Orcs and Ogres were armed. They had already come about half the distance. Honestly, we might not have made it in time if not for the high speed.
At the fortress, they were ringing bells to signal the emergency. Several boats were coming from across the river. Reinforcements. Even so, since they were far from a hundred, the disadvantage remained unchanged.
"Forgive me, it'll be a bit rough."
As soon as Wilson-san said that, he transformed the bowl from elongated to normal and made a sharp turn. Everyone tumbled. Since we were facing almost sideways, it felt like we were about to fall.
"Eeeh!"
We returned to normal after the sharp turn, but then we stopped suddenly and tumbled again.
"What were you thinking—wait, is this okay?"
Harris-sama, let's do our best there!
"Geez! That hurt!"
When I got up and complained, I realized we were directly above the front of the monsters. Along with Harris-sama, I fired several Holy Lances.
"Sorry, everything was in a rush."
The monsters stopped running and were shouting. They started walking, perhaps being cautious. Although temporary, we succeeded in stalling them.
"I've deactivated Mute and Camouflage. The opponent can see us too."
Before I knew it, we had even revealed our forms. Ogres fired Fire Balls and Fenrirs fired lightning, but we reflected them with Magic Reflection. The arrows fired by the Orcs also only made clanging sounds as they hit the bowl. When Lyudmila and Beatrix took off the heads of Orcs with Wind Cutters, they stopped completely.
"You kept Magic Reflection?"
"I did. It's not like I was the one who cast it."
Come to think of it, I was the one who cast it. That should be convenient in its own way.
"Wilhelmina. Hoist the Sertoria national flag!"
"Understood!"
Will took out a pitch-black cloth from her storage bag. The Black Dragon Flag... the flag with the black dragon designed by the first king. It wasn't that large. Will tied it to the tip of a spear and let it flutter in front of the bowl.
"Will. Do you always carry something like that?"
"It's Henry-sama's instruction. He said to use it at times like this."
Should I call it being well-prepared, or just meticulous...
"The allies at the fortress will have their courage increased a hundredfold."
After Harris-sama said that, he began chanting the Chant of Exorcism.
While everyone chanted along with Harris-sama, we headed toward the fortress. Since I fired Holy backward, we should be able to stall them a bit more.
When we entered inside the stone walls, there were about twenty-some people with twitching faces. I'm impressed they didn't run away.
"Everyone! Reinforcements have arrived! Let us drive away the monster swarm together!"
When Wilson-san shouted in a loud voice, cheers went up. They must know that reinforcements have come from Sertoria and Regnentes—though since it's only Bishop Harrison, there's no Regnentes national flag.
When Harris-sama stood up and chanted the Chant of Exorcism, everyone chanted along loudly.
"Bishop Harris. Could you descend to this fortress and cast Magic Reflection on everyone?"
"As a countermeasure against Charm?"
"Yes. And maintain everyone's morale by chanting the Chant of Exorcism."
"It can't be helped. Understood. Jeanne, for the time being, you'll be the only holy mage. Do your best."
"Yes. You take care too, Harris-sama."
Harris-sama took the Black Dragon Flag that Will had removed from the spear and descended to the fortress.
"I am Harris, from the Sertoria Royal Capital Cathedral. I will now cast Magic Reflection to counter the Demon Race, so please gather around."
He had descended specifically to the enemy's attack target. Some soldiers were even kneeling. We can leave things here to him.
After seeing off Harris-sama, we landed at the northern end of the fortress and dismantled the bowl.
"What are you going to do?"
I thought it would be better to attack from the sky, though.
"I'll try to stall them."
Saying so, Wilson-san chanted and fired Glaciate. An ice wall was formed. He ran as he was and made defensive walls on the front and south sides as well. Since it's summer now, the surface will likely melt immediately and become slippery. The height was a bit taller than a person—about Edward-sama's height—so Fenrirs with jumping power or large Cyclopes and Trolls might be able to cross it, but Orcs and Ogres likely won't. Since it's lower than the outer wall, arrows can also be used. Cheers went up from the fortress soldiers.
Furthermore, when we boarded the bowl, he gave instructions to Lyudmila to dig a moat outside the ice wall with Clump Sand.
Cheers went up from the fortress again.
When Harris-sama chanted the Chant of Exorcism, they were chanting along at the top of their lungs. They might have been forcing it out, but even so, their morale was high.
"We're attacking. It's just a matter of enduring until Henry-sama and the others arrive. Don't be stingy with your mana."
Once the defensive preparations were done, it was time for the offensive.
Lyudmila began chanting. Will notched a silver arrow to her bow, and I gripped my staff.
"We're charging in!"
No sooner had he said it than he dropped the altitude to just above the ground and charged head-on into the monster swarm.
"Jeanne, eight-shot. Front!"
"Yes!"
I held up the tip of my staff. A Fenrir howled. It deployed a magic defense. But that's naive.
As we charged in, we decelerated for a split second. We broke through the magic defense. Even though they were right in front of me, I adjusted my aim.
"Holy Overflow!"
It was an ultra-high-level eight-shot reflector. It blew away the ones right in front and mowed down the Orcs ahead as if making a path in the direction of travel.
At the same time, Will aimed at an Ogre with a silver arrow, and Lyudmila fired a Tornado Wind to blow them away.
We couldn't just charge straight through. The path was blocked by new Orcs standing in our way from the left and right. Even if we collided as we were, we would exert sufficient attack power, but the speed would drop. Wilson-san changed the altitude to disengage once.
When we ascended all at once, we made a large turn. Fenrirs' lightning shot up, but there was no way it would hit. Although he wasn't using high speed, Wilson-san was occasionally changing the trajectory as if sliding momentarily to the left and right.
This time it would be from the south. He adjusted the position so as to enter into the sun once and dazzle the monsters' eyes.
He dived rapidly and proceeded straight from just above the ground again.
Then, the bowl momentarily slid significantly to the right. Being suddenly jerked sideways, I bumped into the edge of the bowl. Everyone tumbled.
"DOGAAN!"
A massive lightning bolt struck where we had been just a moment ago. If it had hit, we might have momentarily lost control and the bottom would have caught on the ground. At worst, we might have overturned and been thrown out.
"She came this way!"
That lightning was from the Demon Race member.
"DOGAAN! DOGAAN! DOGAAN!"
Furthermore, they were chasing us.
Persistent!
Because Wilson-san was the one steering the bowl, we were able to dodge, but if it had been an ordinary bowl user, it would have hit! And the Orcs are cheering!
If it's come to this, it's a direct confrontation. Just in case, I cast Magic Reflection on everyone.
Once we ascended and moved away from the swarm, the Demon Race woman appeared right in front of us. The bowl stopped, and we faced off against the Demon Race woman in mid-air.
The Demon Race woman, slowly flapping her pitch-black wings, held a black sword in her right hand and a pitch-black round shield in her left.
"You're not half bad!"
She called out to us happily.
"I didn't think you'd come this way."
Wilson-san was responding without backing down. He was originally going to serve the Demon Lord, after all. He had nerves of steel.
"Over there, my cute subordinates are doing their best."
"Cute subordinates? You mean the ants and bees..."
"That's right. I am the Queen of this land."
Queen... What on earth is that?
"Sorry, but Charm won't work. Queen."
"I know that. And dark magic itself might not work on you either."
She saw through Wilson-san's true identity.
"There are other strange ones too. Some have the protection of spirits."
Calling me strange is rude! I'm a proper Bishop, you know!
"Tornado Wind!"
Lyudmila suddenly let it rip. Flying types are weak against wind magic. But, as expected, she vanished in an instant.
Wilson-san immediately started the bowl.
"DOGAAN!"
As expected, lightning struck.
"Behind!"
"Tornado Wind!"
Lyudmila fired as she turned around.
The Demon Race member appeared right beside us and thrust her sword. Will responded with her silver spear.
"Light!"
I fired magic from my mouth. I couldn't do it at full power from my mouth. Moreover, I couldn't fire it from the front.
"Tch!"
Since she turned her face away, it still served as a temporary dazzle. Will thrust her spear, but the Demon Race member vanished a split second faster.
"Troublesome."
Wilson-san said while making the bowl ascend rapidly.
In a contest of bowl versus Teleport, there's no chance of winning. It was ultra-high speed during the time with the Fire Dragon, but in the end, we lost.
In that case.
"Let's just charge into the monster swarm at low altitude."
At least attacks from below will cease. And they won't commit friendly fire.
"Understood. Wilhelmina, keep watch for the Demon Race member."
"Yes."
We descended to just above the ground.
I deactivated the Light wall on the ceiling. Wilson-san also removed the second wall. With my staff thrust forward, I started the attack again. It's all or nothing; if we can't win by defending, Lyudmila and I will just attack to our hearts' content.
"Wind Cutter!"
"Holy Lance!"
I lowered the level of the spells to prepare for mana depletion. The targets were the big ones like Cyclopes and Trolls. While flying around just above the monsters' heads, we defeated them one by one. Perhaps thinking that firing lightning would hit her allies, even the Fenrirs didn't make a move. Since the movement speed was fast, neither arrows nor the Ogres' Fire Balls were scary. It's unlike me to engage in a war of attrition against monsters, but it can't be helped. I don't know where the Demon Race woman went, but she hasn't attacked.
While we were doing that, we managed to defeat the big ones. It's about time.
"Wilson-san."
"Understood. It can't be helped. We'll just bluff and say we used a scroll."
It's a secret that Wilson-san can use ultra-high-level magic, but it can't be helped. We have to use one big shot.
He landed the bowl right in the middle of the monster swarm.
He dismantled it all at once, blowing away the surrounding Orcs.
"Light!"
I covered everyone with a triangular pyramid. Since I had narrowed the output for a decoy, the monsters approached cautiously.
Wilson-san began chanting.
Orc arrows hit, but we could bounce those back. Ogres' Fire Balls and Fenrirs' lightning were also fine. I was afraid of the big ones' clubs, but we had already defeated them. Now the monsters were shouting and surrounding us, attacking as they pleased.
"Cumulonimbus!"
The magic was completed. Clouds surged around the triangular pyramid. The monster swarm was also inside the clouds. Small yellow streaks of light ran in several lines... and a roar echoed that made me think my eardrums would burst.