Chapter 675 - First Story: Miana's Training ⑤
"Six people still remain after breaking through the third floor?"
The Dragonewt instructor was surprised.
"How did you manage to deceive those frogs so well?"
"We've gained various experiences, you see."
The scarecrows were apparently made by the Earth Dragon. Actually, they're reinforced with magic, so they can't be easily defeated with iron weapons. Instead, they are covered with blatantly flammable straw, so they burn easily. Of course, they only burn, and their functions themselves don't change. However, it buys time because they start firefighting activities.
When a scarecrow burns, the frogs make a fuss. Reinforcements come. That seems to be the mechanism. We skipped it, but scarecrows and frogs are also placed in the rooms facing the alleys, and the more carefully you search, the deeper you fall into the trap.
"The goal is to break through. You have to break through quickly."
You can't cast Freeze on humans. Riding in the bowl and being able to deceive the frogs with Freeze. Of course, it doesn't have to be the bowl. Anything that covers the body with a large cloth would be fine. However, there are probably few who can do that much.
"That's right. In the third floor, nearly two-thirds were wiped out."
We're probably the only ones who frequently deal with frogs and snakes. No, maybe not.
"By any chance, wasn't the breakthrough rate of the Royal Capital Paratroop Jaegers high?"
"That's right. You know it well."
As I thought. Those guys fought insects along with frogs on the third floor of the Demon Lord's cave.
Now, the fourth floor. If we break through here, we get a silver badge. If we all break through, we'll reach Eleanor-sama's goal of ten. Let's do our best.
"This place is... inside a fortress."
Hmm. Finally infiltrating the destination. Are the enemies scarecrows and frogs? It would be good if we could ride in the bowl.
"It's an intrusion from the sewers. Since it's narrow, the bowl is probably impossible."
Surely it's not rat extermination.
When we opened the door, it was a stone room. From the feel of the furnishings, it's a kitchen-like place. It seems the setting is that we've infiltrated through the back door. There's an entrance without a door, and a stone passage is visible. The passage extends to the left and right. Bonfires are set up, and the floor is illuminated in orange. I don't know how many stories it is, but the intended exit is probably upstairs. We have to find the stairs. Since Beatrix isn't here, we can't use Camouflage and Mute. Since we can't hide ourselves, if we're found, it's a melee. To avoid that as much as possible, I placed Bonnie and Keira in the vanguard and Lyudmila in the rearguard.
The passage outside the exit extends to the left and right. Which way to go? On this point, Beowulf was clear.
"Right."
It's been right twice so far. This time too, it's right.
"The Sertorian Royal Army has decided to go right if they get lost."
"Why?"
"So that those following, or in some cases search parties, can find them easily."
I see. There's such a rule.
"Bonnie. What do you think?"
"Hmm. Right might be difficult."
Oops, the Royal Army scout objected.
"Look at this."
It's the pillar of the entrance. On the lower part of the right side, a small mark like |〇| is carved.
"It means there are enemies on the right side, and they're also coming from behind. Surely, the seniors who challenged this before sent a scout to the right and got pincered."
I see. As expected of a scout. They left information for those following.
"Then, all the more reason to go right."
Uh, Beowulf?
As expected, the croaking of frogs echoed, and scarecrows ran from left to right.
"Alright, let's go."
Beowulf gave the signal. We left the kitchen and chased after the scarecrows. As we ran right down the passage, there were over a dozen scarecrows blocked by a Wind Barrier. Beowulf chose an active interception battle. The mark used was 〇, not ×. She judged we could go. Bonnie also said it was difficult, but she didn't say it was impossible.
When Bonnie fired a silver arrow, it hit the head perfectly, and it turned into wood and straw. Miana fired Flame, turning five or six of them into pillars of fire at once. Bonnie fired silver arrows in quick succession at the scarecrows that had started firefighting. They turned into wood and straw one after another.
"Behind! Newcomers are here!" Keira shouted.
After a short interval, scarecrows came running with a clatter.
"Oryaaaa!"
Beowulf let out a war cry and swung her weapon. Fully utilizing her physique that caught Prince Edward's eye, she mowed down the scarecrows one after another. It's a spear of light. The scarecrows turned into wood and straw with a rattle. This time Beowulf participated with a sword, but since she wanted to coordinate with Bonnie, I made a spear of light. The tip was like a single-edged sword curved back like the spear Prince Roberts holds.
When Miana fired Flame toward the following ones, several pillars of fire were created. As if to follow up, Beowulf swung her spear. Even if they turned into wood and stone, the fire wouldn't go out. Just like that, it became like a barrier of fire and stalled the following scarecrows.
The wall of air has disappeared. The frogs have already stopped croaking. Lyudmila must have delivered the finishing blow.
"This way! We can go ahead!" Lyudmila's voice called out. We ran past the charred scarecrows that were smoldering.
Eh? Charred scarecrows?
"Uwaa!"
Beowulf, at the very back, fell over. Her right leg was grabbed by a charred scarecrow.
Oh no. We were fooled by them playing dead. Unless they turn into wood and stone, they aren't defeated, but we were careless.
The scarecrows that had finished firefighting pounced on Beowulf. Three, then four of them piled on top of her.
"Go ahead! Jeanne, I'm counting on you for the rest!"
"Beowulf. I'm sorry."
"Just go quickly!"
Damn! One dropout!
"This way, this way!"
I went in the direction Lyudmila was calling. When I illuminated it with Light, Lyudmila was beyond the upper half of a frozen frog. It seems the frog was in a water-filled moat like a tank set up to divide the passage. After fulfilling its role of calling the scarecrows, it tried to come out for firefighting, but was hit by an Ice Cube along with the tank and turned into a block of ice. Lyudmila was moving while creating Wind Barrier walls in front and behind. Both the frogs and scarecrows were blocked by those walls.
We proceeded slowly so as not to slip on the ice and somehow crossed the moat.
"What about Beowulf?"
"She got caught by the scarecrows. She's out."
"I see. It can't be helped."
Lyudmila said that and fired several Ice Cubes, creating ice walls around the frogs. It should be some kind of hindrance.
"There are stairs over there. It might be a dead end, but let's try going up."
If possible, I'd like to break through just like this, but it probably won't be that easy.
Speaking of fortresses, it's spiral staircases. Looking up from the open space in the middle, bright spots can be seen here and there. They must be bonfires. When I counted, there were three in total. If one is one floor, it would be three floors. I wonder if the third floor connects somewhere.
Since the open space is narrow, five people can't go up simultaneously. At most three. Keira and Bonnie walked up. Watching from below, they passed one, then two bonfires, and stopped before the third. After both checked the situation, they slowly went up. They disappeared from sight, probably where a landing is.
After a while, Bonnie's hand reached out and beckoned us. When we ascended on Lyudmila's Wind Barrier disk, there was a signal to stop halfway. When I went from a crouching to a half-standing position, the exit was visible. A parapet extended, and a large building could be seen on the other side.
(Bonnie: There's one patrolling scarecrow.)
(Jeanne: What should we do?)
(Bonnie: Let's lure it here and defeat it. The path ahead turns right and seems to connect to a large building. It looks like we'll be okay if we crawl there.)
So, we moved from the disk to the spiral staircase. Everyone went up to the landing. The landing was quite wide, and everyone could split left and right to hide in the shadows of the walls.
Looking out, the parapet extends diagonally right from the exit and turns left halfway. There's a bonfire at that protrusion, and a scarecrow too. If the protruding side is the outside, then the left hand would be the interior of the fortress. It must be the courtyard. If we had gone left on the road in front of the kitchen, we might have come out into the courtyard. There's a parapet on the other side too, and a scarecrow is standing there as well. Not only that, the parapet over there is not the type you can go up on, but a type with steps on the wall, and it's in full view from the main tower. The patrolling scarecrow seems to be looking at the courtyard, so we would have been found if we had gone that way.
(Jeanne: Hey, I wonder if there are scarecrows beyond that door.)
There's a door where the parapet connects. It's the main tower. There should be many guards.
(Bonnie: Probably.)
(Jeanne: Why don't we just lure them out?)
It's narrow here. In other words, the difference in combat power due to numbers can be obscured. I think it's easier to defeat as many as we can here. Besides, it's strange that the soldiers on the parapet haven't changed their positions even though a fire commotion occurred. It was the same on the third floor. Surely, the opponents have clearly defined areas of responsibility. This might be the limit of puppets. If so, it's easier to set up an interception and meet them.
After thinking for a bit, Bonnie agreed. The other three also agreed, and we moved to execute.
The preparations for interception were finished, and the operation began.
Bonnie tapped the floor with a knife. After Keira stood up and waved both hands, she quickly ducked back. Immediately, the patrolling scarecrow let out a shout, and the sound of footsteps could be heard.
The scarecrow that came running tripped halfway and tumbled down the spiral staircase. After falling while shouting, there was a thud.
(Bonnie: It turned into wood and straw. We got it!)
Alright, success.
With a bang, reinforcements from the main tower came running while shouting. Multiple. No, many. Simultaneously, shouts were heard from below, and they came running up the spiral staircase.
The ones from the main tower tripped grandly. That's because Miana fired Freeze and froze the floor. There's no way they can stop suddenly after running. The scarecrows that slipped just kept sliding toward the spiral staircase and fell. After hitting the ice wall Lyudmila made with Ice Cubes, they fell into the open space. By the way, the stairs are also made into an ice slope halfway, so it's impossible to run up. Since I cast Magic Reflection on the frozen slope, they shouldn't be able to deactivate it either.
"They've stopped coming out."
The scarecrows in the main tower seem to have run out. Miana deactivated Freeze, and after Keira and Bonnie checked the surroundings, they ran along the parapet toward the door. Neither of them made a sound. I can understand Keira since she's in demon form, but Bonnie must be skill. Scouts are amazing.
Since the "no problem" hand signal was given, the remaining five of us also ran. Unfortunately, there was a clattering sound. It's Miana and me. Eventually, this might become a fatal flaw.
There seems to be no one on at least the third floor of the main tower. We invaded just like that. Since there's a wide passage, we moved all at once on Lyudmila's disk. There were stairs going down halfway. If we go down, there might be scarecrows in charge of the second floor.
"Let's try going to the back for now."
The main tower was four stories tall. There should be stairs going up somewhere.
I thought so... but that was a mistake. We went because we could see a recessed area in the back, but there was a tank on the landing of the upward stairs, and a frog with only its eyes and the tip of its nose out.
As a matter of course, it croaked. Scarecrows came down from above all at once.
"Holy Lance!"
"Flame!"
I delivered the finishing blow to the frog, and Miana fired magic to burn the scarecrows running down the stairs, but this time the scarecrows didn't burn. They were made of stone or something.
Lyudmila moved the disk, but it was too late. Keira's and Bonnie's legs were grabbed by the scarecrows that pounced on them. They were dragged down and pinned just like that. In this state, they can't even fire magic.
"Go quickly!"
"Avenge us!"
Two people dropped out here.
"I'm sorry!"
While apologizing to the two who were completely pinned, we aimed for the stairs below. I didn't realize the upward stairs themselves were a trap. I mean, don't just use frogs all the time!
Scarecrows came from the stairs below too. I fired Holy Lance, but as expected, it had no effect.
There's no escape anymore. Because we chose to move with Wind Barrier, Lyudmila can't use ice magic.
"Fine, let's just go while mowing them down with the bowl."
When the three of us crouched and huddled together, the edge of the disk rose and became a sphere. We rammed into the scarecrows and forced our way down to the second floor while mowing them down. Since there was a window in front of the landing, we crashed through it.
The scarecrows in the courtyard began to make a fuss. More and more scarecrows came out from everywhere.
"Lyudmila! Up! Let's go from the outside!"
Just like that, we went up along the wall, broke through a window of appropriate size to invade inside, and came out into the passage. It's full of scarecrows on both the right and left. We're completely surrounded. On the left, the upper part of what looks like a door is visible. On the right is like a wall.
"Light!"
I created walls of Light on the left and right. This should hold them off a bit.
"Lyudmila! Deactivate the bowl. It's all or nothing. Break the door with Tempest!"
This is no time to fight one by one. I'll settle this all at once.
"U-Understood! Then, here I go."
She began the incantation. I shone the Light as much as possible, but it seems to have no effect on puppets, and the walls began to be pushed bit by bit. I spread both hands to the left and right, but they were gradually pushed back. Miana supported me by holding both my wrists, but we were outnumbered. I mean, my wrists hurt!
Simultaneously with the end of the incantation, I deactivated the left wall.
"Tempest!"
A storm raged and blew away the scarecrows. Hundreds of heavy infantry would be blown away. There's no way scarecrows could resist, unlike Golems. As expected, the scarecrows flew with enough force to smash through the door. They turned into stone one after another.
"Lyudmila, one more, please!"
"Understood. Tempest!"
The door was blown away with the second shot. Alright, we can go!
"Run!"
"Yeah!"
The three of us are going beyond the door!
"Probably the stairs landing on the right, and two doors on the left!" Lyudmila shouted.
Three more places. If we break through there...
There was a surviving scarecrow on the stairs landing on the right. However, it was already expected. Lyudmila is blocking it with a Wind Barrier.
The door of the first room on the left opened, and a scarecrow's hand reached out. Since Miana was about to be grabbed, I used the cat stone to accelerate and slid in feet-first. I delivered a leg sweep and knocked it over. But the following scarecrows piled on top of me. Being made of stone, they were heavy. I couldn't move.
"Jeanne!"
"Go! If Miana enters the door, it's a win!"
"Understood. I'm sorry!"
Lyudmila and Miana ran on just like that.
Lyudmila rammed and pushed back the one that came out of the other door. Miana slipped past its side and jumped into the broken door in front.
We did it!
Unfortunately, Lyudmila was pinned there, but Miana should be able to get the silver badge.