Chapter 873: The Second Year of the Great Invasion 9
“I’ll take the lead!”
Almeida moved first. She slammed the iron staff of her gimmick weapon into the skull of one of the hard wolves that had rushed in, crushing it and sinking it in. She then leapt over the staggering, collapsing hard wolf, instantly transforming her spear to slice the horned leopard’s eyes horizontally. With a side flip, she gracefully landed, kicked off the wall, and dodged the wave of monsters with a triangle jump, plunging deep into the gate.
“Hey!”
“Al-chan is worried about the other side of the wall. If she broke through with that kind of momentum, only a fraction of the soldiers made it through. There should still be soldiers buying time to let the rest escape”
“Damn it……Neia, pursue them! Beatrice, don’t push too far forward, focus on intercepting!”
“Understood!”
“Don’t worry, I won’t fall behind against monsters of this caliber!”
Neia blew the monster before her away with a shockwave and followed Almeida into the adjacent battle zone. Beatrice swung her sword with her left hand, enhanced by the Sea King Ring, and with a powerful strike, cleaved a horned leopard the size of a large bear clean in two. Without the Sea King Ring, her strength was apparently only on par with a lower-tier Ace Knight, but with it equipped, she was a formidable power fighter.
“Sharon, I’m leaving Tetes and Naris’s command to you! Here, the senior-most Captain is actually Anzeros, but……”
“Since you’re in the rear, Andy, you give the orders! I’ll focus on supporting Fiona!”
Six frontline fighters remained, excluding Fiona. I entrusted half to Sharon’s command while directing Aurora, Anzeros, and Beatrice. It would be a few minutes before Dianne-san sensed the situation and returned. Her strength was in a league of its own. Commanding while fighting on the front lines was second nature after decades of experience. Honestly, as long as Dianne-san returned, I could just stand around doing nothing and it wouldn’t matter.
“Ho. Shall we join in?”
“Not yet saturated. Hold back. This isn’t a situation to exhaust our reserves immediately”
Laila, Emma, and Leda stay about ten meters behind me from the frontline. Given the monsters’ speed and the girls’ agility, this distance isn’t overly large, but at least they won’t get caught in the knights’ swordplay.
“Aurora, hold back the slash shockwaves and use regular shockwaves! If any allies Almeida and the others rescued are deeper in, you’ll catch them in the blast and kill them!”
“I understand!”
“Naris, cover Tetes too, so she doesn’t get hurt! It’d be disastrous if she got swept up!”
“Actually, shouldn’t we just keep Tetes back!?”
“Don’t worry so much. I’m not weak enough to get taken down by a hard wolf”
Problems piled up beyond just Fiona. That said, their actual fighting didn’t look precarious. Beatrice, with the overwhelming power granted by the Sea King Ring’s blessing, sliced monsters in two with every flash of her blade, turning them into corpses. Aurora pushed back any stragglers threatening to scatter with shockwaves, maintaining the front line. Furthermore, with her dancing dual-blade strikes, she severed the monsters’ legs, crippling their mobility and pinning them down. Targeting the neck required circling around, but legs could be cut from any angle; sever two, and they were rendered useless. Meanwhile, Sharon held back her earth drive, hacking through the monsters with powerful swordplay while letting Naris and the others handle any stragglers. Naris hadn’t yet prepared her new Crash Harken, so she used a regular sword procured in Rennesto. Even so, she was Red Arm after all. While not exactly relaxed, her sword strokes were unwavering as she accurately parried the monsters, leaving the finishing opportunities to Tetes. Tetes then casually thrust her two-handed sword into the monster’s mouth, jabbing it deep into its throat like a lever to kill it. That’s brutal.
“Tetes-chan, please stop killing like that!?”
“Cutting the neck sometimes misses, and stabbing the heart requires going pretty deep, which is dangerous. This is the most reliable method, right?”
“Even so, they’re biting at us, and that horned leopard looks like it could gore us with its horns!?”
“I wouldn’t make a mistake like that~♪”
Watching fearless young kids like this is scary enough for me.
“Over here! You’ll be safe behind us!”
Emma calls out to the soldiers who’ve managed to escape and gathers them together. They’re scattered, running separately to avoid being caught by the monsters, so leaving them alone would be dangerous.
“Ah, who are you guys?”
“Reinforcements. You can move further back”
“But, these girls……ah, wait, there’s Knight Chief Sharon and Naris-san too”
Seems this soldier recognized them. Or rather, Naris really is well-liked.
“Even those without gauntlets are mostly skilled fighters. You can retreat safely”
Urged by Emma, the soldiers hesitantly fell back. Watching them, I kept my crossbow ready without letting my guard down. The dragons were reserve forces prepared for sudden shifts in the battle, but whether I was there or not, I was just the ranged weapons guy, it wouldn’t change much either way. Alone, and unable to fire rapidly, I couldn’t significantly alter the situation even if a critical moment arose suddenly. So I’d shoot at least one.
“I’ll take that one……”
One of the hard wolves lunged in. Ideally, I’d aim for the heart, but its body was at an awkward angle. Its front legs blocked the heart. It would be easier if it turned its side defenselessly, but that rarely happens. So, the eyes it is. Their heads move too much, making them tricky targets, I muttered inwardly as I fired. Hit. At this range, the bolt would easily pierce the eyeball and reach the brain. The hard wolf staggered, collapsed, and stopped moving.
“Alright”
“Even though it was running, you hit it without a second thought……”
“Lantz and Keiron are even better, you know. I should sharpen my skills more often”
As I lowered my crossbow to pull the string with the pulley, Leda reached out from the side and pulled the string for me. This was faster, but it was a task only an ogre could normally perform. One more shot……that one’s for Beatrice to handle, Aurora can take care of this one……right, maybe I’ll finish off the one Aurora’s incapacitated by cutting its legs. As I idly considered this, several soldiers, covered in wounds, were being helped along by Almeida and the others as they retreated, leaning on each other’s shoulders. A horned leopard noticed them and turned around. We were about to run into it. With the crossbow……damn, the line of fire just won’t clear. If that horned leopard attacks those wounded soldiers now, one or two will definitely die. Before they’re wiped out, the line of fire might open up. I couldn’t finish it off, but I could at least hit it hard enough to stagger it…….
“……Not that one!”
I shouted at the top of my lungs, hoping for the best. Simultaneously, I released my 「Presence」 to draw its attention. This was originally a bluff meant for humans. It only had meaning in a mental exchange between minds, and I doubted it would affect monsters……. Yet, for a split second, the monsters’ movements slowed. They looked my way, as if noticing something invisible before. Wait, monsters can sense something too? I was surprised myself.
Then again, all the girls here possess the aura of strength, so showing a little spirit from me would just get lost in the crowd, I thought. And then, right there.
“Ii……yaaaaaaaa!!”
With a thud that shook the ground, Fiona delivered a powerful stomp and swung her heavy wooden sword down from high above. The head of the horned leopard that had turned around exploded in one blow. ……Splitting that huge head clean through like a melon, with a wooden sword.
“Good job, Fiona! Backstep!”
Anzeros barked the command instantly, and Fiona reflexively leapt backward. She had plunged into the center of the enemy cluster and vanished in an instant. Brilliant mobility.
“KKu……haaa……haaa……!!”
“Well done! Rest a bit!”
Anzeros leapt into the monsters’ midst in her place. She swung her back-swinging palm inward, generating a shockwave. Then, she flipped her hand into a karate chop and swung outward, generating two consecutive shockwaves on both sides, blasting the monsters skyward. Before they hit the ground, a shadow flying in from the central fortress area kicked one monster after another. Using the recoil as leverage, it used each fallen monster as a stepping stone to kick the next, performing incredible feats to push the monsters, now corpses, down in all directions. The one who landed was Dianne-san.
“Sorry to keep you waiting. ……Everyone’s okay, right?”
“All our people are safe. Fiona even scored her first kill”
Anzeros saluted with a fist to her chest, and Dianne nodded.
“Looks like Lord Buster’s message got through. 『Don’t overdo it』. Shall we stir things up a bit more?”
“Roger that”
Together with Dianne, the entire group advanced once more into the adjacent battle zone. Almeida and Neia had reclaimed the zone with just the two of them, proving their exceptional skill once again.
Before sunset, we left the Ghibli Fortress. On the way back in the 『Sexroom』, Princess Ran commended Fiona.
“That was splendid, Fiona. ……My proud knight”
“……Haa. Thanks to this sword and that man”
Fiona showed off her heavy wooden sword carefully, then looked at me. ……Eh? Me?
“……I didn’t really do much this time, though”
After all, even after joining forces with Dianne, I only took down about three with my crossbow. Compared to Naris, who didn’t swing her sword very aggressively either, my contribution was smaller. In contrast, Fiona, though her first strike was too tense, gradually got the hang of it and ended up beating seven monsters to death with her heavy wooden sword. Her brutally straightforward style suits monster battles well. Monsters never back down, nor do they ever get used to Fiona’s attacks. Her 『Full-force hit-and-run』 tactic charging explosively forward, delivering a straight heavy strike, then immediately retreating straight back without hesitation consistently yielded the maximum results. Any psychological hesitation I’d feared (if it existed at all) didn’t show. Fiona’s debut in the continent’s fiercest battleground could be called a perfect success.
“……He too is a fine soldier, a fine warrior. Seeing him prove that to me has strengthened my resolve once more”
“You doubted me……well, I suppose it can’t be helped……”
I hadn’t really shown much of that side of myself, had I? My sword skills are weaker than a sake shop or steamed bun shop owner’s son. Perhaps that’s precisely why seeing me fight properly on this battlefield, even if in the rear guard, sparked his competitive spirit. How could I, a knight, stand trembling here while he wasn’t being swallowed by this battlefield?
“I’m starting to think……those who hail that man as a hero aren’t entirely mistaken or speaking by chance”
“Fiona, that’s disrespectful. Toward the Dragon Rider”
“Regardless of how he’s called or treated, it’s true he doesn’t usually give off that kind of feeling”
Even as the other women’s gazes turned cold, Fiona asserted herself boldly. But then again, she hasn’t shown that kind of fighting spirit in Polka or the Hot Spring Labyrinth, so it’s understandable. Like the other Polka townspeople, it’s only natural I’d be seen as the unremarkable blacksmith’s son who somehow gets all the attention. And that perception is starting to change……well, I suppose that’s a good trend?
“……Whether it was good or bad that we weren’t needed, I suppose”
“It was their battle. We have our own battles to fight, Laila-dono”
“Hoho. Well, we have our own work to do, I see. Tonight it’s your turn, so do your duty well”
Everyone else returned to Rennesto for dinner, baths, and bed, but after eating, I immediately set out to attack the area around Catalina. Yesterday was Laila and Maia, so today it’s Emma and Leda. Neither of them has ever stayed overnight in Catalina, so I guess I’ll have to skip going into town. Introductions would be complicated too.
“……Umm”
“……Ah, Charlotte. ……Were you watching?”
“Y, Yes”
I remembered then that I’d brought her along.
“You……can do amazing things, huh?”
“Amazing things?”
“…………Umm, like, whoosh……you startled the monsters……”
“……Ah”
I was a bit surprised myself. I actually did that. Maybe someone like Dianne or Lord Bonaparte could also, if they showed a little determination, make those around them tremble like that. ……They probably could. Somehow, that made sense.
“……So this is the hero of the forest……of the Elven territory”
The gaze from behind her bangs felt……slightly heated. Keeping her constantly by my side to avoid losing her had ended up feeling like I was parading her around to show off. ……It was kind of awkward. I hadn’t brought her out of the forest because I wanted her admiration or anything.