Chapter 687 - Chapter 6: The Cave Where the Demon Lord Resurrects (Engrio) ③
As a result of the Megiddo Fire exploding, hot steam rose up in clouds, and it became just like a hot spring town. It was hot... or rather, the steam was so hot I couldn't stand it, so we withdrew just like that. All the ice walls will melt too, but it can't be helped. It's better than being drenched in sweat. I mean, I'd collapse from the heat.
The two heads were unexpected, and we have to think of a way to conquer it. By the captain's judgment, it became a total withdrawal, including the ground units.
"What on earth happened?"
King Seldic was standing at the exit of the tower connecting to the first floor, looking out. After the attribute mages fired Blizzard repeatedly to cool down the heat and also to support the ground team, he called out to us when we returned.
Even though there was distance, we had let loose Megiddo Fire and caused a mysterious explosion. Anyone would be curious.
"Since a monster thought to be B-rank was lurking, we used Megiddo Fire as an emergency measure. We need to rebuild the strategy."
The response was from Eleanor-sama. The captain was with her too.
Henry-sama is outside the tower. He's with the scouts who are illuminating the pond with floodlights. The attribute mages are behind them.
"B-rank? Here?"
"Yes. It's the Amphisbaena that was mentioned by Northern Gram at last year's Council of Lords."
"The one that is said to inhabit the wetlands associated with the Demon Race in large numbers?"
"That's the one. It's a snake with two heads and uses Maelstrom. Since it uses the water of the pond to block holy magic, we had no choice but to use Megiddo Fire."
"I see. That must have been difficult. Casualties?"
Eleanor-sama looked at the captain.
"One Wind Barrier of Flight Magic was shot down by thrown water. As a result, two people were injured, but they have already recovered. One priest has fainted. So far there seems to be nothing else wrong, but we are having them rest just in case. That is all."
"I see. Good work. It was wise to have all units retreat once."
"That was Eleanor-sama's proposal."
"You were caught off guard by a B-rank. You quickly adopted a wise judgment and kept the damage to a minimum. And since they recovered, there's effectively no loss. Well done."
"Thank you very much."
Heh, she settled it perfectly. She listened calmly, without changing her expression which contained a smile throughout. And when she praised, she smiled properly. The captain also seemed relaxed from the start, so I wonder if it's always like that. If so, his subordinates might be able to speak without hesitation.
After that, it became a temporary withdrawal for the entire army, leaving scouts on watch. The opponent is what it is. If we don't attack carefully, casualties will occur.
"How was it defeated before?"
At the strategy meeting in the fortress, it was naturally asked. However, she probably can't tell everything.
"It was Megiddo Fire. We somehow broke through their defense with Maelstrom."
That was only possible because it was Wilson-san, the Revenant. Normally, one wouldn't be able to maintain Prominence for that long.
"Could you not finish it off with the one you fired this time?"
"I don't know. However, although Jeanne strengthened it, a direct hit was impossible. It would be good if we could have subjugated it, but if we haven't, we'll probably struggle considerably from now on."
"How about Cocytus? Among the attribute mages, there are ultra-high-level mages. They are the ones who participated as the main force from our country in the previous Demon Lord subjugation battle. They are not inferior to heroes."
"Even if we froze the entire pond, I don't think they would die, but..."
After all, those guys are resistant to cold despite their habit of hibernating. Since they lurk inside geysers, they probably wouldn't die even if boiled.
Wait? They're sleeping inside the ice. Isn't that a chance?
The next day, the operation to subjugate the two heads... though it hasn't been confirmed yet... was launched.
"Alright, let's go!"
The bowl unit advances. I rode in Beatrix's bowl along with the captain and became the person in charge of illumination.
Besides Beatrix, there's another high-level mage on board, so the bowl is being cooled sufficiently by applying Freeze repeatedly. I mean, she's applying it so much that the inside of the bowl is almost all ice. Because it's heavy, Beatrix is struggling. It has become a quite sluggish movement. It might be bad if we're targeted. However, the pond where the two heads are thought to be lurking this time is located in a corner. Two sides are walls. It's easy to corner them. Our bowl is on one of the remaining two sides, and the other bowls... which are of course being cooled... are gathered in another direction. No matter how you think about it, we're decoys, but since the captain is with us too, I stopped thinking about it seriously. The mage and the two scouts on board are terrified, but well, that can't be helped.
When I detect with Sense Living, there's a familiar reaction. Moreover, there were two of them. Probably a pair. I found out by trying to detect, but the pond seems unexpectedly deep.
I applied Magic Reflection to the tip of my staff to make it a reflector and illuminated the pond with full power from the eight-shot Light. Since I set the angle of the reflector to wide-angle, I was able to illuminate a quite wide range.
Because an extreme Megiddo Fire was let loose, I thought the water in the pond would have decreased drastically, but it's connected to the other two ponds by wetlands. Especially the pond in the central part is wide. Water must have flowed in from the other ponds. Looking at it, it wasn't much different from before it was boiled.
"Commencing operation."
The captain's order was given, and one fire arrow was shot by his own hand.
At the same time, Cocytus was fired all at once from the ultra-high-level mages riding in the other bowls. Almost simultaneously, log-class Holy Lances were fired toward the ice pillars flying through the air. The ice pillars, which were flying while emitting something like mist illuminated by Light, plunged into the pond one after another with splashes of water and froze it solid.
After that, we leave it alone and mow the grass. In short, it's fine as long as we don't drive them to the vicinity of the wetlands or ponds, so we mowed the other places. Looking at the map, the ponds are in two of the four corners—the front left and the far right from the viewpoint of the base tower—and in the center. The largest one is the pond in the central part; the ponds are connected to each other by wetlands. The entrance to the tower leading down to the third floor is on the shore of the far right pond, so we have to cross the wetland to get there. Currently, we were mowing the grass around the tower connecting to the first floor, which we're using as a base, and from there toward the pond on the left.
On the opposite side, there are no ponds, wetlands, or mountains, so we just have to mow the grass and crush rocks. As for the snakes, we'll just drive them toward the far right and then corner them in the front right corner.
In two days, we roughly achieved the goal. We defeated those trying hard to crawl up the walls one after another with Holy. There were quite a few, so it must have been a good profit. Incidentally, the reward is a participation reward, so there's no share of the profit. This kind of thing is the same everywhere.
Up to this point, it seems to be roughly one-fifth of the total area. Though, mountains aside, for the ponds and wetlands, it'll probably be fine as long as we defeat the two heads.
Regarding the countermeasures for those two heads, on the third day, it was decided to defeat the pair that had been left frozen in the pond on the left.
We set out in Eleanor-sama's medium-sized bowl. Those who boarded were Henry-sama, King Seldic, the captain, two Sense Living users, one Engrio ultra-high-level mage, and then holy mages who use ultra-high-level magic, including me.
We advance to directly above the frozen pond. To be honest, that alone is cold. I don't know how low the temperature became, but not only the water in the pond but also the shores, the edges of the wetlands connected to the pond, and even the cave walls are frozen solid. It's quite cold, so I applied double Warm to everyone.
And then, I detect with Sense Living. It's the same as last time. There are two of them. The fact that I can detect them means they are alive. They probably aren't moving.
"Then, let's begin."
Since it was confirmed they were alive, the captain gave the signal to start.
We land on the ice. There is one hole in the bottom of the bowl. While detecting with Sense Living, we identify the position of the head and adjust so that the hole comes directly above the head.
"Light!"
I make a spear of Light. Since I tried to make it as long as possible, it got stuck on the ceiling. It couldn't be helped, so I bent it halfway. The ones handling the spear are the captain and Will, who are wearing iron gauntlets. As the second pair, Henry-sama and the fortress captain are also wearing iron gauntlets.
I strengthen the tip of the spear with Defend and Holy Lance. As a result of all the priests firing, it was sufficiently strengthened and began to carry heat, and eventually, just by looking at it from nearby, it became like a baked iron rod, and that heat began to hit my face. Since it must be hard for those holding it too, they handle the spear in pairs of two.
When the tip of the spear is pressed against the ice, partly because it's carrying heat, it slowly entered into the ice.
"It really went in!"
Everyone is surprised. I bet, I bet. I myself was half-doubting until I confirmed it with Henry-sama. It's the tip of a spear of Light even sharper than the Silver Spear. Moreover, users of ultra-high-level holy magic are strengthening it with many shots of Holy. Furthermore, the heat lasts for two hours as long as I am controlling it. Ice melts with heat. It can be thrust into the ice more easily than the Silver Spear.
"Are you alright?"
The ones who have it hard are the four holders. They are wearing iron gauntlets over leather gloves, but they'll get hot quickly. The reason for making them pairs of two is to thrust the spear in turns and cool the gauntlets of those waiting with Freeze.
The Sense Living detection result was that the depth to the head of the two heads was about the height of a three-story building. It's quite long, but anyway, it's light. Henry-sama also said that if it's that length, it's worth a try.
The hands of the four handling the spear have become quite damaged. When they took off their leather gloves during the switch, they were bright red and almost in a state of being burned. Since there are many priests, they are applying Heal, but it's painful to watch.
"Shouldn't it be reaching soon?"
King Seldic looks at the remaining part of the spear after receiving recovery. It has become shorter by the amount thrust into the ice. If it's a height equivalent to a two-story building, it should reach soon.
"Mu. The response has changed."
That's the captain. He's also making eye contact with Will. Did it reach?
"Then, I'll make it thicker."
"Umu. Shall we switch?"
The holders changed to Henry-sama and King Seldic.
"It's good."
Receiving King Seldic's words, I change the thickness of the spear. Water from the melted ice overflowed. It's not quite boiling water, but steam is rising.
"Then, we'll begin."
The Engrio Bishops gathered. They are scattering salt here and there.
"Let me help."
The captain and Will, who had switched and finished recovery, joined the spear holders. Now the spear of Light has become a pillar of Light. Four people are supporting it. To be honest, it's quite tough. I was doing it at a normal base, and when making it thicker, I changed it to full power, and eventually, I changed it to something like eight-shot, but this is tougher than I imagined. I did practice too, but it took more time than I thought to maintain it while making it thicker while melting the ice and draining the water. Far from being drenched in sweat, both my hands and knees began to tremble. The four spear holders are grinding it as if stirring it while simultaneously performing the task of cooling their gauntlets. They are drenched in sweat too. My consciousness began to fade. It'll be over in a little more, so I have to work hard.
"The consecration is finished. It should be fine now."
The moment I heard the voice of the priest who was pressing their fingertips, which had turned bright red from touching the water that must be quite hot to turn it into holy water, against the ice, I lost consciousness.
When I woke up, I saw the flames of a bonfire.
Let's see, I was definitely making a hole in the ice of the pond, right? That's right. I was trying to turn the water from the hole into holy water and burn one of the heads of the two heads.
"Are you alright?"
Eleanor-sama is there.
"Ah, yes. Thank you very much."
It's almost becoming the usual sight.
"We successfully crushed one head of one Amphisbaena. There are three more left."
Am I going to faint three more times? I want to do something about it. Shall we divide the work into about two times? I wonder if it'll be fine even if I don't make it thick.
"Is it alright for her to faint like that?"
Even King Seldic is here. Moreover, he's worried.
"Since I'm immature, I can't produce results unless I go this far."
Is that so? He's asking Eleanor-sama.
"This girl is an exception. If others... especially attribute mages... imitate her, they will fall into darkness. Even if they are priests, it's better not to imitate her lightly."
Is that so? For someone like Price-sama, fainting was a premise.
"To work hard so as not to become like that, and yet still cross the line and faint. That is precisely the aesthetic of a priest who strives to discipline themselves."
Um, isn't that a bit bad? You sound like a dangerous person.
"I see. If it weren't so, she wouldn't have that kind of face... no, that was rude to a lady. My apologies. Please forget what I just said."
Wait a moment! King Seldic! Just what kind of face was I making?
Since King Seldic went toward the scene as if running away, I didn't know what kind of face I had while I was fainted. After all, it's something during the time I'm unconscious. I can't confirm it. Was I wearing an expression of agony or something?
"It's no different from usual."
Eleanor-sama, who is at my bedside with quite a high frequency when I faint, says so. In other words, am I always making an expression that surprises King Seldic? This is a serious situation.
"Probably, it was the first time King Seldic saw someone faint."
Well, isn't it fine, she dodged the question.
From now on, Camouflage... no, it's Illusion. It might be better to challenge the battle after making a beautiful makeup-style face with an Illusion scroll.