Chapter 196: An End of a Struggle

At the west gate, Lala was fighting with all her power. Her speed was greater than that of warriors, confusing the ranks of the monsters.

With eye-popping movements, she got herself behind monsters and invoked magic spells right at their backs.

“…Hmm.”

Since mages were usually assigned to the rear guard, Idéa and Midors were taken aback by Lala’s unusual fighting style.

“Seriously? Did she just write her magic formulas ON the Lizard Flies? She sounds bored out of her mind, though… What’s the deal with her?”

“You think she’s faster than even Egd? -Ngh, Fire Arrow!”

As the two were fighting from on top of the wall, Tzar overheard them, and in the corner of his eyes…

“For Lina!”

…He saw Egd shouting, and felt compelled to grumble to himself,

“”Indeed she is. Their standards for comparison are far too low. Still, We cannot deny that Egd has been showing improvements… And now, We are up against an Otyugh – not something We ought to fall to… KAHHHHH!””

Tzar unleashed his Purgatory Breath straight ahead, stopping the approaching corrosive monster in its tracks.

Various collisions took place all over the area, and with each collision, adventurers were injured.

Haruhana, noticing the negative momentum as she went around providing cover to the mages on the wall, asked Midors, who happened to be nearby,

“Midors.”

“Oh?! What is it, Haruhana?”

“May I leave this area to you?”

Although he did not think all that deeply about what that entailed, Midors’ answer had always been set in stone.

And if one were to ask why, it was because he did not feel any irregularity in Haruhana’s words.

“You got it! Doing things your way – that’s what being an adventurer is all about, right?! Ora! Icicle Lance!”

As thanks for Midors’ encouraging words, Haruhana nodded silently, with her mouth firmly shut.

Leaving Lala, Idéa, and Midors as they fought on the wall, she descended to where Tzar and Egd were doing battle – the front of the west gate.

In the chaotic midst of monsters and warriors, she found where Egd was.

And at the same time, she noticed an Ogre Fighter approaching from behind him.

“Egd! Duck!”

“Huh? Yes!”

Following Haruhana’s call, Egd crouched down and dodged the Ogre Fighter’s greatsword right as it swung past.

“…Oh?!”

Egd rolled over and faced up, getting ready to parry the Ogre Fighter as it swung its sword down, but Haruhana beat him to the punch, swiftly slashing at the monster in a horizontal arc.

The Ogre Fighter’s head dropped down at Egd’s feet. Haruhana then proceeded to head towards the Hobgoblins that were approaching from the front.

[She has come because she has judged that there are not enough warriors down here… Hmm. Good decision-making and perception.]

As Tzar observed Haruhana’s course of action, below him, Egd was cracking a slight grin.

“Whew, I’d never thought Miss Haruhana would have eyes on me as well… hah-hah!”

“……”

Tzar was quite irritated, as one would expect, and decided to ignore Egd’s ramblings from this point on.

With eyes of lukewarm mood, he turned back to observe Haruhana. Egd, on the other hand, sent Haruhana a sincere and refreshing yell with words of encouragement and affection… in his own way.

“I dedicate this freshly severed head to you, m’lady! Hah-hah!”

Idéa, hearing that all the way from on top of the wall, got goosebumps all over, she proceeded to shout,

“Bwaaahhh! Of all the lines he could pick, he just went for the worst ones ever!”

Seeing Idéa hold her own arms and shivering, Midors was quite exasperated.

“We’re in battle, damn it! Focus, focus!”

At the same time as Midors’ scolding, Idéa heard voices coming from behind, loud and resonant.

“Wait – did you hear that?!”

Idéa could not turn around since the airborne monsters in front of her were still coming, but she did hear the cheers of those behind her, the adventurers and low-ranking mages, who had gone to provide support inside the town on buildings’ roofs. Approaching from further back from them were countless footsteps… and a unified war cry.

Midors’ expression lightened up upon realizing what that was.

“Reinforcements from the Warrior University! Finally!”

“And Sir Dragan is in the lead – oh, for God’s sake! The big man sure likes to take his sweet time!”

The pair, their backs against the other’s, shouted as they swatted the airborne monsters away with their staves.

Idéa looked back at the town for a moment, perhaps feeling somewhat relaxed by the long-awaited arrival of reinforcements. She could clearly hear the rumbling of their march. Seeing the ones in the lead from on top of the wall, one was sure to feel at least some peace of mind.

It was but a brief moment – but that brief moment was all a random Wyvern needed to take Idéa by surprise, biting her staff and holding it down.

“Ngh-!”

The first to notice that happening was Lala. Idéa was crouching down and facing away from the Wyvern, her eyes opened wide. Lala started to run toward the Wyvern as it terrorized the former, but then Midors rushed straight at it, throwing his massive body at the monster.

“NWOHHHH! -Gah?!”

Although he got his shoulder bitten into by the Wyvern’s razor-sharp fangs, he managed to pin it down.

“Wh-what the- Midors?!”

“You ain’t touching her, you damn flying lizard!”

Although Midors was a Mage, he was also physically fit enough to even fight on the front lines.

But then again, not many would be willing to throw themselves straight at C-ranked monsters like these Wyverns. He had even thrown aside his staff, considered to be a Mage’s lifeline, to shield Idéa and help her out of her predicament.

The Wyvern, thanks to its base strength of the Dragon archetype, managed to fix its posture and tried to fly up into the sky.

But then Midors, in a desperate move, grabbed onto its upper and lower jaws, and glared at it, looking for an opening to land a damaging blow.

Seeing her friends in danger, Lala used the gaps in the walls as platforms to hop all the way up – up higher than even the Wyvern.

“Ryyyseee! Lala Bladeeee!”

As she swung her right hand, a root-like plant extended from it, wrapping around her arm and taking the shape of a sword.

Midors, seeing that Lala had proceeded to swing it right down, shouted in a panic,

“Whwhwhwh-whoa?!”

In one slash, the Wyvern got a long cut from the back of its head all the way to the tip of its tail. It was now robbed of the strength to even fly.

Midors barely managed to land on the wall safely. Idéa approached him, worried about his injuries.

“Midors! A-are you all right?”

“Y-yeah… C’mon, just focus on the battle!”

Idéa nodded as if to remind herself to do just that, but then she noticed that Midors was now bleeding from a place other than his shoulder.

“Uh… You sure you’re alright there?”

Idéa pointed at Midors.

“Oh?”

Midors noticed blood dripping from the tip of his nose, so he traced it up… and realized exactly where it was coming from.

There was a shallow cut on his forehead.

Lala, seeing that, wiped a drop of cold sweat from her face, looked briefly at the Lala Blade on her arm, then muttered to herself,

“Whoops….. I messed up…”

As if to escape the scene, she proceeded to throw herself back into the fray. At around the same time, Dragan hopped from building to building, crushing their roof tiles before eventually reaching the top of the town wall.

Taking a mere instant to assess the situation, he looked at Egd, who was currently fighting in the very front.

“Freshmen and Sophomores, defend the west gate! Juniors, assist the adventurers! Seniors, run along the wall, head to the south gate!”

“”Yes, sir!””

Dragan instructed the Warrior University students below to draw their weapons and prepare for battle, and as soon as he heard a clear response, he plunged into the fray.

Idéa and Midors, though surprised by the change in the offensive momentum after Dragan’s appearance, were now convinced that victory was near. They proceeded to start drawing their Spell Circles again.

◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆

While the former inhabitants of Faltown – Reid, Ryan, Adolf, and Reyna – were struggling to defend the south gate, reinforcements reached them in the form of Magic University students, led by none other than Lina.

“Lina!”

“Chief! It’s good to see you safe!”

“Mm – we’re having trouble dealing with these airborne monsters. Quite a lot of them have already invaded the city.”

“There’s no need to worry. We’ve set up a simple formation of parties led by Senior students to operate around the south gate. Baladd and Miss Irene’s Familiar Hawk are defending the sky, too.”

Ryan nodded in acknowledgment of Lina’s explanation and at the same time, Anri and Claris ran up to them from behind.

“This is bad, Lina! The enemies are all flying monsters, so there are not enough people on the ground level!”

“Please give your instructions to me and Anri, Lina.”

“All right. Anri and Claris, take the remaining Senior students and head downstairs. The Juniors and I will take care of defending the wall.”

Ryan, hearing that, felt happy for how much Lina had improved, but did not refrain from providing a suggestion,

“I ought to go as well, to keep them safe.”

“…Thank you, Chief.”

“Don’t mention it. This gate is far from being breached, we shouldn’t need Sir Asley to keep it secure.”

Ryan thought back to when he had defended Faltown’s gate, and how Asley had bailed him out of a fatal predicament.

He took a moment to chuckle dryly, then flipped his mantle and leaped down the wall.

Looking on as Ryan went on his way, Lina looked to be puzzled by his statement.

“Hmm? What was that about Sir Asley…?”

Once Ryan landed, he walked past in between Anri and Claris to get to the front.

“Provide us with backup, you two.”

Anri and Claris looked at each other, nodded, and replied firmly without a moment’s hesitation,

“”Yes, sir!””

Reid, Adolf, and Reyna did their best battling on the wall, fending off enemies and guarding Lina.

While Reid fought, he also kept an eye on Adolf, since the latter was still the least experienced of the group.

“Everyone, I understand that you may be worried about the other gates, but we are defending a vital position. Don’t forget to watch each other’s backs!”

Lina’s warnings resonated well with all of those who were in battle, but the loudest response to it did not come from the Magic University students.

Rather, it came from those of the Adventurers’ Guild.

Lina had frequently shown up at the Guild, and made her true abilities known to many with her hunting achievements, whether it be alone, with Asley, or with Hornel. It had made her well-known among the people of Beilanea.

As Lina’s voice resounded through the vicinity, the Warriors and Mages of the Adventurers’ Guild felt a boost in their morale.

Down on ground level, Anri muttered to herself as she finished firing off her Swift Magic,

“You know, she might surpass the Black Emperor one day… at least in some aspects.”

“Heh heh, Sir Warren has never shown up at the Adventurers’ Guild, after all.”

Claris said as she applied her Giving Magic spell onto Ryan, who stood on the ready in front of her.

“Kah-! Lightning Blade!”

Streams of blue lightning ran through the ground and struck the monsters as they landed.

Ryan, having adored Lina as if she were his own daughter, was quite delighted to see how much she had achieved.

However, he reminded himself that he must not let such emotions show, especially for her to see, in the middle of a battle.

Lina, on the other hand, actually was worried about Ryan as she observed him from the top of the wall. Noticing that, Reyna offered her some words to ease her fears as she fought off the monsters around her.

“It’s all right. Knowing Chief, he won’t have to hold back now that he doesn’t have to worry for the safety of those behind him!”

“That’s right, Lina – fighting like this, Chief is invincible.”

Lina nodded to Reyna and Reid, reassured by their words.

“Then I can’t let myself fall behind! Hell Inferno!”

She then swung her Blazing Dragon Staff, one she had received as a gift from Gaston, and fired off a spell with Swift Magic.

Balls of hellish fire consumed the monsters, burning them to ashes. The crimson flames danced along the wall, dropping rows and rows of monsters that were clinging onto it.

At the same time, the mages who saw what Lina had just done could not believe their eyes.

“Did I see that right?! A large-scale spell with Swift Magic?!”

“Is it a special spell?! I haven’t seen anything about it in the papers I’ve read!”

They would have shown an even stronger reaction if not for the fact that they had to be careful of the monsters in front of them.

Witnessing such a shocking display of Swift Magic, even the underclassmen of the Magic University were utterly amazed.

The method of converting large-scale spells to Swift Magic had been taught to Lina by none other than Asley.

Naturally, Hornel and other close friends had also known of its existence, but the rest of the populace had yet to be informed.

Although this meant it was the very first public showcase of the method, Lina had no regrets in doing so.

[…It’s fine. Sir Asley would have used it in times like this. Wait, no, I HAD to use it… He would’ve been angry at me if I didn’t… right?]

A moment later, Adolf, having finished killing the monsters in front of him, looked ahead… and was promptly shocked by the other thing he saw.

“E-emergency! Monster reinforcements incoming!”

He focused his eyes at the approaching shadows, and saw that they were monsters marching to their north, towards the south gate up ahead.

“Damn it! We already got our hands full here, and they’re still bringing MORE?!”

Reid, having detected non-flying monsters in the midst of the reinforcements, headed downstairs to provide his assistance to Ryan’s group.

Lina alternated between healing her allies and unleashing large-scale magic spells, but her arcane energy consumption rate was too high to be canceled out with Giving Magic, and her stamina was quickly draining.

As everyone faced the newly-arrived monster reinforcements, their fatigue grew and their injuries only increased.

Lina, despite almost running out of shots she could fire, unleashed another Hell Inferno onto an area straight ahead.

That resulted in a momentary standstill. Then the monsters resumed moving forward, their fighting spirit and bloodthirst further fueled by the death of their own kind.

The crimson, flickering flames were trampled over by the wave of monsters. Shortly after they were completely extinguished, the south gate was thrown open, complete with a loud bang.

“Would you look at that… You’ve become able to use some decent flames yourself.”

A low and hoarse, yet eloquent voice murmured behind Lina.

“Huh?”

Just as Lina was about to turn around, a magic spell formula flashed across her field of vision.

Her attention shifted instead to the formula, tracing its path toward the monster army. Right then, all of those near the south gate had their eyes filled with an explosion of brilliant red.

“Heaven’s… Vermilion.”

The raging flames ripped through the earth, engulfing the monsters of the surface.

But the breathtaking display of the finest magic was short-lived. The voice behind Lina wasted no time to proceed to address those on the ground level.

“Viola, get ‘it’ set up.”

“All units! Forward!”

Then the sound of countless footsteps suddenly emerged from nowhere.

Lina traced them to their origin, which led her eyes to the inner side of the wall, at which she saw a familiar glowing light.

-The light of a Teleportation Spell Circle.

Magic Guardians were walking out of it, one after another.

Magic Guardians, full of confidence and pride, sporting the uniform that any Magic University student would yearn for, marching under perfect command.

“You all have done well to defend your position…”

Lina heard the voice from behind her again.

This time she turned around, and what she saw were two familiar faces among a row of other stern-looking strangers.

“Sir Gaston! And Fuyu!”

Lina’s face was filled with joy. Gaston, as if to suppress her emotions, pointed his staff forward.

“Do not look back. Face forward, Lina.”

“Yes, sir!”

Lina turned back again, holding her staff up to face the advancing enemies.

Fuyu stood next to her and started giving out instructions to the Magic Guardians as they came up to the wall.

“We will now coordinate with the adventurers and Magic University students. Move in groups of three and fill in the blind spots as you fight and support them.”

“”HOOAH!””

Their collective enthusiasm was ear-piercing.

Gaston stared intensely straight ahead and muttered a few words,

“Overrun them.”

And as if in response to those words, Viola passed her command to those down below.

“All units, advance!”

“”OOOOOOOHHHHHHHH!!””

The other combatants also raised a war cry, as if to match up with the Magic Guardians.

All this was thanks to the unexpected reinforcements and Gaston’s presence.

Lina, too, put up an act of enthusiasm and gritted her teeth tightly, as if to brush off her fatigue.

[It’s all right… we can do this!]

Seeing how Lina was putting up a brave front, Gaston raised an eyebrow.

[Hmm, still plenty of room for improvement. But then again, she’s achieved this much before even turning twenty… One would consider this to be an extraordinary showcase of talent. The young man sure has an impressive apprentice under his wing…]

Gaston slightly raised the corners of his mouth as he jumped out of the wall-top’s narrow space.

“Now, Lina, follow my lead!”

“Yes, sir!”

Later, as the continuous rain started to subside, as the glow of dusk tapered to a thin line and the veil of night covered the sky, the last of today’s monsters dropped dead on the ground.

This monster attack on Beilanea had plunged the people of the War Demon nation into fear and insecurity.

The times truly were headed toward a dark era.