Chapter 327
Chapter 327 What do you think? Am I right? (1)
As Vanessa raised her magic power, the bracelet she wore on her arm began to shine.
And the magic energy gathered in the magic circle started to be sucked into her.
Tremendous magical energy stacked up, spreading a powerful pressure around.
Many wizards had already steadily gathered magical power in this magic circle. It was several times more than during the Perdium skirmish. It wouldn’t be easy to withstand.
“Ugh!”
Black veins appeared on Vanessa’s body as they did last time, and blood started pouring from her nose.
But with the realization she reached at the 6th Circle, she endured the pain somehow and didn’t lose her focus.
Dudududududu!
The air began to tremble as it could not withstand the pressure of the magic.
“Kkyahhh!”
The Grexes, pushed back by the fortress’s fierce counterattack, began to gather again, turning red once more. With Piote’s blessing gone, the soldiers fell into an even more extreme state of exhaustion.
Vanessa clenched her teeth and extended one arm forward.
“…Chain Lightning.”
For this operation, Penris had scraped together all the runestones remaining in the territory. They were densely buried with spells engraved on them in the open space in front of the fortress.
Crack!
From afar, flashes of light flickered where the pre-engraved runestones were placed in the ground.
The bolts of lightning that emerged connected with other runestones a little further away.
Soon, hundreds of runestones were connected, creating a sea of blue light beams.
A moment later.
Kwahhhzzzz!
Lightning erupted from all over the ground, breaking through the red tide.
“Kkyah?”
In an instant, the Grexes paused at the sudden jolt.
6th Circle magic, Chain Lightning.
It’s a spell that allows you to attack multiple enemies in a chain at once.
However, no matter how much of a 6th Circle mage one is, it’s impossible to attack this many numbers simultaneously. If the magical power runs low, the connecting lightning would disappear.
That’s why Penris had staked everything on this spell, mobilizing all the remaining runestones.
“Kkyaah!”
A multitude of charging Grexes halted as if electrocuted, their bodies trembling.
Soon, the intense blue light began to engulf all of the Grexes.
Kwahhhrrr!
Thunderous sounds erupted from all directions as light flashed. It was as if thunder struck amidst the red clouds.
Kwahhh! Kwahhh! Kwahhh!
“Kkyahhh!”
The Grexes screamed and burst. The blue beams continued to stretch, moving over their bodies.
The lightning swept over not just the Grexes who had gathered in front of the fortress but also those emerging from the forest.
Kwahhh! Phaaargh!
The overwhelming power of magic embedded in the lightning relentlessly attacked and obliterated the Grexes.
The sight of it drew spontaneous cheers from the crowd watching.
“Wow, amazing!”
“Who knew they could catch them like that!”
“That’s incredible!”
The never-ending lightning roasted the Grexes. The newly arriving ones also fell to the blue nets and perished.
A pungent smell wafted up into the air, but no one cared. Just watching made one’s insides feel refreshing.
Ghislaine also watched the spectacle, pleased.
‘Thank goodness for Vanessa.’
They say great deeds are done by mages. Indeed, at times when a powerful strike was needed, the 6th Circle Vanessa shone the brightest.
Just like during the Perdium skirmish, she could have launched a wall of fire. But such large-scale fiery attacks might have caused significant damage on our side as well.
That’s why Ghislaine prepared Vanessa for electric magic. He had seen it work wonders against large-scale foes firsthand.
‘That guy did this pretty well.’
It was a method often used by his magic friend from the previous life to deal with swarming monsters.
As long as there was enough magical power, it would constantly chain outwards to the enemies. It was a truly effective way to attack when they were all bunched up.
Recalling the memory from his past life, Ghislaine prepared a similar spell for Vanessa, which succeeded brilliantly.
If either Vanessa’s extraordinary sensitivity and control or the wizards’ magic power and runestones had been lacking, success would have been difficult.
Kwahkwahkwahkwah!
Gathering the magic power of nearly thirty wizards and amplifying it with runestones was on a completely different level compared to the Perdium skirmish.
Thanks to this tremendous magical power, the lightning continuously spread out, capturing and killing the Grexes.
Ghislaine watched the scene and smiled with delight.
“Nice, they’re already dwindling. Unlike humans, monsters fall for traps so easily; it’s quite convenient.”
Count Desmond had moved cautiously after being caught off guard by a trap during the Perdium battle.
But the simple-minded Grexes had no such knowledge. Thus, it was a natural result that they were caught off guard by a pre-prepared trap.
The soldiers cheered while attacking the remaining Grexes.
“They’ve decreased significantly!”
“Let’s push a little harder!”
“Wowww!”
In an instant, the number of charging Grexes was reduced to less than half.
The stream of lightning weakened as well, but it still continued to move over the Grexes and kill them. No matter how weakened it became, those Grexes couldn’t withstand 6th Circle magic with their bare bodies.
The open area in front of the fortress was practically a magic circle. The arriving Grexes died in droves.
At this point, it would have been enough to withdraw, but Vanessa was feeling a little greedy.
Ziiiing—
Dozens of magic circles appeared in front of her. However, perhaps due to lacking magic power, several began to dim and fade away.
“I’m running low on magic power!”
At Vanessa’s cry, the wizards waiting as reserves burst into tears and rushed onto the magic circles.
Alfoy, who had been resting under the pretense of participating in the operation, stealthily crawled back, hiding himself.
Ziiiing—
As her magic power was replenished, the magic circles regained their appearance. Vanessa trembled and extended her hands forward.
Kwahhh!
From the generated magic circles, enormous bolts of lightning shot out.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Large holes were blown into the red tide, and the remaining Grexes exploded.
The lightning didn’t discriminate against corpses or anything; it just destroyed everything in its path.
And the sight made the soldiers cheer once again.
“Woooah! That’s amazing!”
“Awesome! Awesome!”
“That’s definitely Vanessa for you!”
The morale of the soldiers reached a fever pitch. Everyone was smiling and wielding their weapons.
But the pinnacle of this miracle wasn’t left unscathed. Without utilizing runestones, Vanessa had deployed a powerful spell using only the magic of the wizards. The shock was hardly trivial.
Exhausted of her magic power in an instant, Vanessa couldn’t withstand the backlash and fainted.
Ghislaine, supporting the collapsing Vanessa, said,
“Belinda, take care of Vanessa and the wizards safely.”
“Got it. What about you, Young Master?”
“I have to handle what’s left.”
Ghislaine flashed a smile and turned his head.
The Grexes continued to approach, dying from the streaks of lightning, yet they still advanced. With the magic gradually fading, the remaining ones had to be handled directly.
Still, compared to the beginning, their numbers had significantly dwindled.
“Let’s see… There seem to be about ten thousand left.”
Still many, but this was enough for the soldiers to resolve among themselves.
The Grexes continued to cling to the fortress, but the crisis had already lifted. The Grexes, lacking tactics or intelligence, simply clung to the fortress without a plan.
Ghislaine shouted as he looked around at the knights engaged in battle.
“Let’s go back down and sweep them away quickly!”
“Yes, sir!”
Thanks to Vanessa and the wizards’ work, the knights, now at ease, grabbed their weapons.
Knights wielding specially crafted greatswords from the dwarves gathered around Ghislaine, grinning.
Unless one was incredibly strong, greatswords were best for slaying monsters. Monsters lacked any sort of technique.
The reduced number of Grexes posed no threat. Victory was already assured.
They jumped joyously back outside the fortress.
“Kkyahhh!”
Kwahhh!
The remaining Grexes that charged down towards Ghislaine and the knights were no match anymore.
Countless arrows continued to pour down from the towers, and catapults targeted the furthest Grexes.
Boom! Boom! Bang!
“Kkyah!”
The only reason the Grexes had had the upper hand until now was solely due to their numbers. Ten thousand Grexes couldn’t withstand the bombardment from the fortress and the knights’ assaults.
“Ha……”
At some point, Ghislaine stopped swinging his sword and looked up at the sky.
It was a crimson sunset, just like when he caught the Blood Python.
The ground was littered with red Grex corpses, leaving no space to step. The soldiers, smeared in blood, seemed even redder against the setting sun.
Red sky, red corpses, red people.
It felt like the whole world had been drenched in red.
‘Ah… it’s just like back then.’
The last battle of his previous life.
Back then, too, the world was tainted so crimson.
The most out-of-place presence in that space was Aiden, clad in dazzling white armor, who had beheaded him, followed by knights at his side.
Recalling that memory, Ghislaine bared his white teeth and smiled.
“You’ll show up again someday.”
Yes, that guy would have to show his face even quicker than in his previous life.
As this thought coursed through him, a thrilling sensation enveloped his body. He wanted to meet that guy soon.
Before the emotions that suddenly surged were settled, cheers erupted from the fortress.
“Woooooah!”
Knights and soldiers, elves and dwarves, priests and laborers alike.
Everyone was shouting as one.
“We’ve won!”
*
Not a single Grex remained.
Since Queen Grex had been captured here in the first place, they kept attacking without cessation.
Only Queen Grex remained.
“Kkyahhh!”
At first, Queen Grex screamed and flailed helplessly. But at some point, realizing there were no more Grexes, she stopped struggling and simply wheezed heavily.
The Forest of Monsters had creatures that ate each other to survive. For the losers, merciless death awaited.
Recognizing that she had lost, the slightly intelligent Queen Grex admitted her defeat.
Skaak!
As soon as Ghislaine killed the last Grex, he approached and swiftly beheaded Queen Grex.
Until her head fell, she stared at only one person with the multitude of eyes on her head.
Receiving that fiery gaze, Alfoy said with an arrogant expression,
“I lured them here.”
Clap, clap, clap.
The people offered lifeless applause. True, they had accomplished a great feat, but others had overshadowed them with their immense contributions.
“Hoo……”
Ghislaine looked at the corpse of Queen Grex with tired eyes.
He had dealt with the most dangerous monster on the journey toward his objective. The remaining path would be much easier.
It was simply because Queen Grex’s territory was vast.
“I’m glad we dealt with her this time.”
To retrieve only the runestones, one could have gone far and wide to avoid Queen Grex’s domain.
But that wouldn’t do. Monsters in this forest would attack intruders without fail.
Eventually, even if they sought the runestones by going far away from Queen Grex’s territory, they would inevitably be attacked by her army. Rather than that, it was better to properly subdue her and expand the territory.
And this time, there was more to gain than just the runestones.
Ghislaine congratulated the cheering soldiers and immediately began tidying up the battlefield.
“Let’s pause advancement for a while and clean up the surroundings. Gather as many laborers as possible from Perdium. Tell them the pay will be doubled.”
The area around the fortress, after the battle, was filled with the corpses of Grexes.
All these incredible numbers of corpses needed to be buried. The more people there were, the faster it could be done.
Digging the earth was no problem at all, with professional mages and dwarves on the construction team.
“Dig.”
As mages chanted spells, the ground caved in, burying the Grexes in chunks. They dug very deep to prevent any potential contagion or accidents.
Then, laborers would come in to pack the earth tightly and level it.
With everyone joining in, the numerous Grex corpses had been buried within three days.
Of course, just burying the corpses wasn’t the end. The grex flesh and blood stains clinging to the fortress needed to be cleaned up, and military weapons had to be checked again.
But those tasks could be left to the laborers. Ghislaine moved ahead with half the troops and knights.
“There isn’t much left.”
The soldiers who had fought and emerged victorious over the massive number of Grexes followed Ghislaine without showing signs of fatigue, laughing and joking.
It was different from when they had first entered the forest. Back then, they had been laid-back, but now they were filled with confidence and pride.
Since it was Queen Grex’s territory, they saw no other monsters. Ghislaine easily headed toward his desired location.
Upon reaching the destination, the people gasped in surprise.
“Wow! Wh-what is all this?”
“Could it be…?”
“It’s the Blessing of the Fairies! This is definitely the Blessing of the Fairies!”
On one side of Queen Grex’s territory lay an expansive flower field.
The Blessing of the Fairies. A pricey flower reputed to rival or sometimes exceed gold in value.
It was a material Ghislaine had used when healing Rachel, Ghislaine’s daughter, and was also a valuable ingredient for premium potions, growing here like weeds.
Belinda swallowed her saliva and asked,
“Weren’t we coming to find runestones?”
Ghislaine grinned and replied.
“This is a bonus. We’ll cultivate the Blessing of the Fairies here. Let’s build a defensive wall right away.”
“What about the runestones?”
“The runestones? We just need to go a bit further. We initially came to get the runestones, so of course, we’ll take those too. There are much more than we took before.”
At those words, the people got dizzy.
