Chapter 175
Chapter 175. “The Heroes”
As the hero lunges forward, he thrusts his shield.
“【Blinding Light!】”
The shield radiates a dazzling light. It’s a simple move, but effective against the night-visioned demon race as a blinding tactic.
——I used to employ that technique often myself. Anticipating the movement of the shield, I concentrated dark magical power into both of my eyes to nullify the blinding light.
“【No Thrusting!】”
I mutter simultaneously, deploying a dense “constraint” limited to the range within my reach.
…Why prohibit thrusting when I’m about to engage in a fight?
Whoosh.
A sharp shock to my head. An arrow from the fortress ricocheted off my helmet. That forest elf was waiting for a chance this whole time. It packed significant magical power, but it wasn’t enough to pierce through my heightened “constraint.”
I dodged both the blinding light and the forest elf’s arrow, deflecting the blade that the hero swung down with my spear.
“…!”
For a moment, our gazes crossed up close. Despite having completely blocked all surprise attacks without a hint of disturbance, the hero seemed shaken instead. Young and inexperienced. His face is tense. If he keeps that up, the enemy will think less of him.
“Haha.”
——That’s why I smile like this.
Taking advantage of the hero’s missed strike, I slam the point of my spear. I don’t even give him the chance to chant “【Fierce――】.” It’s a heavy strike laced with magical power.
“Gu…!”
The hero, clad in holy attributes, barely managed to brace himself with his shield.
Meanwhile, our warriors are on the move around us.
“Ha!!”
Kuvirtar’s “Stone Manipulation Spell.” He stomps down and, as a pivot, the ground erupts. Sharp stone spears shoot up from the ground as if mountains are rising, attacking the soldiers trying to form ranks between their legs.
“Gyaaaaaaa!!”
Soldiers having their groins gouged and their bellies split open writhe in agony as they succumb. I certainly wouldn’t want to experience that myself; no armor can protect against a spear thrust from below, assuming you weren’t prepared for it.
Still, that “Stone Manipulation Spell” is troublesome. Magic that can cause physical phenomena is powerful. While a protective spell can be cast over a group by a single magician, defending against that kind of attack requires appropriate countermeasures—
“【Earth Spirit, cleanse the evil!】”
The elf mage chants as he prays to the ground. Perhaps influenced by the “Holy Great Tree Reenactment,” a large area around us suddenly glows with phosphorescence. This makes Kuvirtar’s earth magic significantly harder to use—however—
“Oi oi!”
“There’s still more coming!!”
The Knight brothers casually bombard the area with cursed fire spheres as if they’re tossing stones. Sticky black flames engulfing soldiers. Furthermore, thunder, wind blades, and curses that sap courage and weaken limbs—
“【Holy Armor of the Hero!!】”
A half-scream chant from the priest of the Holy Church. Silver light envelops the soldiers, beginning to nullify the malicious magic. The priest falls to his knees, panting as if he has exhausted all his strength—casting a high-level defense miracle on such a large number is tough for a human.
Come to think of it—ever since I was reborn, I haven’t gotten fatigued from overusing magic—
“【Gods of Light, protect us!】”
“【Cursed words, be purified by light!】”
“【Malicious curses shall avoid us!】”
Now’s the time, the soldiers begin chanting their protective incantations, banding together to retaliate. At this point, humans are strong; mere beastman or demon soldiers simply cannot hold them back and are swiftly taken down. Once magic is nullified for Kuvirtar and the others, it becomes a physical contest with spears. They may be strong as mid-tier demons, but—
“——Uooooohhh!!”
With the hero’s commanding shout, I once again concentrate on my own fight.
Summoning all my strength, with bursts of silvery light, the hero raises his sword engulfed in holy flames and charges.
I thrust my spear while purposefully creating an opening near my left side, pretending to be distracted by arrows flying in from the fortress.
“——!”
Instinctively, the hero seizes that opening, lunging with his blazing sword—
A textbook move. Clearly well-trained.
So it’s only natural that such a reaction would come out in the heat of the moment.
——Even though “thrusting” is forbidden.
“!?”
The hero’s blade suddenly loses momentum. He’s likely confused about the nature of my magic. Given how the forest elf’s arrows have been blocked, he should have been more cautious, suspecting there’s powerful defensive magic at play.
Yet, having spotted an obvious opening, he couldn’t help but strike. The cunning wasn’t quite there for him. More importantly, he lacked the time to develop that skill—
“You’re too young.”
I deftly evade what seems like a slow thrust, swinging my arm.
The spear, the aged blade of Adamas, arcs beautifully.
——With a light “whoosh,” the hero’s head flies off, his expression frozen in shock—
——No.
Only his eyes roamed to glare at me.
From behind the body that fell, blood spraying everywhere after losing its head—
A young swordsman, poised with a blade, steps in.
——Dimensional acceleration.
…Impossible.
“Great Sword Saint—!?”
In that moment, I instantaneously concentrated all my magical power into my spear. I raised it high. To defend.
In my line of sight, a singular silver light.
With a sharp slice that made a satisfying sound, my right arm was severed with the staff of the spear.
“Dieeeee!!”
Face-to-face with a youthful swordsman. He looks barely into his teens or just past twenty—either way, he’s so young, his bloodshot eyes fixated on me, this unbelievable genius whose mastery over the art of combat has reached unfathomable heights—!?
“Is this really the time to be impressed?!”
Antendeixis screamed.
——The blade, raised once more, sparkled in the moonlight.
“【No Cutting!】”
From the depths of my being, an immense wave of magical power surged and struck the young sword saint directly. He, covered in the silver light of an accompanying ward, couldn’t help but halt in his tracks.
In that one moment.
My severed arm floated through the air, the gauntlet portion of it extending and connecting back to my elbow.
With a snap, I rejoined the wound—
My rich, dark magical power entwined tightly around the sword saint from close range.
“【Reposition!】”
——The sensation returned to my right hand.
Simultaneously, the young sword saint’s right arm fell off, sword and all.
“Eh?”
From the elegantly severed surface, blood gushed forth, a beat later. The sword saint displayed a face that seemed utterly dazed, as if he had forgotten all anger and hatred.
His painfully youthful persona was brought into stark relief—
“——!”
Through gritted teeth, I drove Adamas into that unguarded neck.
This prodigious talent, this hope of humanity, was snuffed out by my hands.
“Whaaat?!”
“The hero…!”
“The Great Sword Saint!!!”
Despair erupted from the soldiers. The priest, exhausted, displayed an expression as if the end of the world had arrived, while the elf mage grimaced in agony. From the upper fortress, a forest elf archer finally voiced his outrage, “You bastard!!”
【Holy Armor of the Hero】——the silver light enveloping the soldiers began to weaken.
With the hero and sword saint slain in quick succession, and the prince of demon race, who dealt those attacks, still unscathed, well…
We’re crushed, aren’t we?
And once the heart falters—
An opening appears for evil curses to seep in.
“——【No Cooperation!】”
With a loud crack, something shattered.
The protective wards surrounding the soldiers flickered feebly—
“【Wither Arms!】”
“【Shrink!】”
“【Flee and Scatter!】”
The demon race’s curses surged like a torrent.
“Ah… Ahhhhhh!!”
Someone screamed as panic began to spread among the troops. Although many stood firm, still holding their spirits, they couldn’t fight alone; everyone needed to unite to defeat the demon race.
As they attempted to gather, the spell of “constraint” interfered, even over their protective wards—they couldn’t move smoothly like usual—
“【Purity—guh!”
The elf mage, in the process of casting a ward, has a long blade suddenly thrust into his chest.
It’s a spear with a sword tip.
The elf mage was pinned to the wall behind him, like a specimen mounted for display.
“Oops, hit!”
At my side, Albar, having swung his arm, commented.
“You threw… it!?”
Dumbfounded, the elf mage bled out and fell, his life extinguished. Unconventional and thinking outside the box, that was the essence of the “free-spirited” Albar Aoril——
“Uh… Aaaaah!”
“It’s over!!”
“Ah! Wait! Don’t give up!!”
The shine of the 【Holy Armor】 had nearly faded. With chaos in their ranks as some tried to flee and others stood their ground, a jam occurred—
In that chaos, more spells from the demon race attacked. Murky fireballs, thunder, wind blades, stone projectiles—almost none resisted, claiming the courageous and the weak alike, summarily slaughtered. Invigorated demon soldiers and beastmen climbed over walls, expanding the carnage—
“Ah… ah…”
The priest, now silent, merely visibly sagged. I approached him in silence.
“…God… why are we…”
To spare him further lamentations, I beheaded him.
“Apologies, Your Highness. I got involved.”
Albar, sheepishly, pulled out the spear that had skewered the elf mage along with the wall.
“No worries,”
I replied in a flat voice. I hadn’t been concerned about such things at this point.
“Now, let’s pursue.”
“No, Your Highness. We have something to address first.”
Kuvirtar grabbed my shoulder as I tried to chase after the fleeing soldiers.
“We need to deal with that.”
He pointed towards——the gigantic tree of light looming in the night sky.
†††
It seemed that those heroes were indeed the fort’s highest combatants, and within were merely inferior priests and old soldiers left behind.
The forest elves aside from the mage struck down by Albar were missing, including the archer. They must have retreated, either surrendering or rushing for aid to another fortress. Even though it’s hard to believe they have the surplus to send reinforcements to another fortress—
“We should hurry.”
Kuvirtar muttered, quickly spearing the sentry soldiers.
“If we destroy that great tree before the others do——it’ll surely become an evident contribution of yours, Your Highness.”
Kuvirtar smiled warmly at me.
“…Ah.”
I see, for my sake.
Thus, we arrived at the central area of the fortress, the prayer chamber.
The stone pavement was cracked, exposing the ground, where the glowing branches of the tree pulsated rhythmically.
That must be——the source of “myth reenactment,” the branch of the holy great tree.
Standing so close, even we dark figures felt overwhelmed by its divine aura. It seemed the words of the forest elves, that the light gods’ miracles were left here, bore no falsehood…
“I’ve never seen it before. Intriguing, but…”
Kuvirtar gestured for me to go ahead.
I nodded silently, approaching the holy great tree’s branch.
Up close, it appeared far too delicate, beautiful—
…I’m sorry. Truly, I am.
Wielding Adamas wrapped in dark magical power——I brought it down with a single swing.
†††
The night sky, illuminated by the 【Holy Great Tree】, dimmed.
“What…!”
Barbala, the “Unicorn,” gazed at the sky in shock.
“No way…”
Hessel, the “Frontline Equalizer,” groaned in disbelief.
“Impressive, Prince.”
Veteranos, who had been watching from the frontline base, expressed his admiration.
“…”
Charlotte, who had been praying in the city, wore a stern expression.
——One of the fortifications critical for the defense of the Capital of Evaroti had fallen.
The collapse was far too swift.
In contrast, humanity’s dawn seemed an endless distance away…
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