CH 291.1

The World Tree is reflected on the surface of the lake at night, emitting a faint rainbow-colored light. The elves’ B-class Knights were hovering on the surface, stirring it up.

(I’ll get shot!)

I saw the elves’ B-class Knights fix the tip of their rifle toward me, and prepared myself.

Just as the offensive magic was about to be released from multiple rifles, water bombs flew from around the turtle.

It’s not a single shot, but a barrage.

『Fierce anti-aircraft fire.』

That’s probably the closest description to what it looks like.

The armor of the Knights was dented partially as if it had been hit by a rain of rocks. Looks like it doesn’t have a destructive power because of the large number of bullets.

It seems they judged that they couldn’t continue to attack and approach, so they retreated to escape the range while crossing their arms to protect their faces.

The following Knights also split off to the left and right to keep their distance.

(When he said he was going to concentrate on the defense, I thought he was going to build a wall of water or something.)

I was a bit surprised and looked at the turtle, which was submerged underwater except for the part that the Old Lady was on.

I didn’t expect he was going to shoot a barrage of offensive magic as a defense, quite a gap from his usual mild-mannered atmosphere. It seems that the wave of my thought has reached him, and Zaratan replied.

『I have no such magic』

He didn’t need to learn it because he had a hard shell. According to the explanation that followed, the dung beetle general might have it.

Hearing this, I thought of what happened right after the dung beetle came to my garden.

(I asked him about his special powers, and he just curled up.)

My only thought was, 『Well, he’s a dung beetle, alright』 but Imosuke was strangely impressed. He must have activated some kind of magic or something at that moment.

(Let’s ask him again when we return, with an explanation this time.)

But in order to do that, firstly, we have to deal with the Spirit Cannon here. I turned my attention back to the elves’ B-class Knights in front of me and the turtles that were trying to keep them away.

The elves don’t seem to realize that the foundation on which the Old Lady is lying is the Great Spirit Beast Zaratan, the guardian of the Spirit Lake.

Even though the World Tree was glowing, it was still nighttime. It was probably because it was only a short distance above the water and the surroundings were dark.

(Our range is now even huh)

Zaratan stopped shooting and the elves’ Knights also held their rifle but did not fire. They probably want to get a little closer.

I, on the other hand, can only wait for the magic circle for the Light Arrow to activate.

(Here they come)

A B-class Knight, who seemed to be the captain’s Knight with a crystal horn on its forehead, made a hand gesture. They immediately split into two groups and hovered from both sides to charge in.

Their quick, unified movements showed a high level of skill.

Zaratan, however, did not even change direction, but fired anti-aircraft fire in a fan shape and directed it at each of the split groups.

(What a crafty guy)

The storm of water bombs follows the B-classes as they hover around, matching their speed. When they split into three groups, the turtles increase the number of barrages by three.

Perhaps growing impatient, they shot something that seemed like Thunder Arrow, but none of it even came close to us. On the contrary, the elves are getting hit every time they step into range, albeit little by little.

(It seems we can handle it somehow)

More Knights arrive, but the wave that came from Zaratan remains calm. I guess he still has a leeway.

I was relieved to see the turtle’s solid defense system and squinted at the rifle that had begun to emit a dazzling white light.

***

A mysterious Knight that appeared in the middle of the Spirit Lake, and a group of elven Knights intercept him. A C-class Knight was watching the battle from the lakeside.

The Knight is stationed at the water intake tower, and its pilot is a woman with long hair. She was one of the elves guarding the place who noticed the Old Lady.

She was staying here because the C-class Knight was unable to move on the water by hovering.

(What the hell is that Knight?)

The enemy was a single Knight, fighting against more than ten Elven B-class Knights. However, the barrage did not allow the Elven B-class Knights to get within his range.

She had never heard of something like this before, and she couldn’t believe it even though she was seeing it with her own eyes.

Incidentally, the reason she ruled out a single turtle is because the turtle has most of its body submerged in water. Thus she could only see it as a Knight lying on a rock or something similar.

(To think that an enemy will come to the Spirit Lake… If Zaratan were here, he wouldn’t let something like this happen)

Zaratan, the Great Spirit Beast, the guardian of the Spirit Lake and the protector of the elves, was able to protect them just by his presence alone. The lake was his territory, and he would not tolerate any harmful intruders.

The fact that he had disappeared was truly regrettable.

The perspective shifted from the female elven C-class Knight pilot at the lakeside to the elven male B-class Knight pilot fighting on the lake.

『It’s no use, Captain! Even if we split into three or four groups, we can’t escape the enemy’s magic.』

They surrounded him and tried to get close to him from all sides, but a barrage of water attacked all their Knights. They were still not close enough to attack him, but even when they were still trying to get close, the enemy’s Knight’s rifle kept glowing brighter and brighter.

Soon, the same incredibly powerful Light Arrow will hit the world tree as before.

The captain B-class Knight furrowed his eyebrows and pointed down at one of his subordinate’s Knights.

(Approach him from under the water, is it? Roger that, sir.)

The young man immediately understood and turned off the hover movement and submerged into the water. Then he switched from hovering using wind magic to water magic.

(It should be harder to bring out water bullets’ effectiveness underwater)

He wasn’t so sure, but it was true that at this point, there weren’t any attacks coming at him.

A little further on, the young man noticed something. He squinted his eyes quizzically and gazed into the dark lake.

(What the hell is that Knight riding? There shouldn’t be any island in here)

There was not enough light to see clearly ahead. But even so, he could tell that there was something massive under the water.

As the young man continued to move forward with his eyes fixed on the object, the sound of something moving at high speed through the water reached his ears.

(What is that?)

A chill ran down his spine. The high sensitivity to magic power that the elves possessed made them sense a dangerous presence.

It was much heavier than a water bullet flying over the surface of the water.

(This is bad!)

Letting his instincts guide him, the young man released the hover on full throttle. He jumped onto the surface of the lake and escaped from the water.

Naturally, the B-class Knight was hit by anti-aircraft fire at full force from close range.

『It huurrtts!』

The young man screamed through the external sound system as the other watched several dents appearing in the armor of his Knight.

There is no way that a pilot of a knight order would mindlessly jump into a barrage. Knowing this, the captain asked with a loud voice from outside the range of the water bullets.

『What happened!?』

But before he could answer, the young man’s B-class Knight, which he had lost control of, sank back into the water.

Because of his high level of magic manipulation, he is in sync with his Knight, including the sense of pain. The armor can reduce the pain to some extent, but there is a limit.

It is likely that the pain was so intense that he could not keep the Knight in the lake.

『Wha–!?』

This was the voice that came out of the captain’s external sound system. A moment later, a column of water rose high above the submerged position.

Although it quickly receded, what was left behind were fragments of various sizes that would have made up a single Knight.

While reflecting the light from the World Tree and the Light Arrow fired by the enemy Knight’s rifle, they sink to the bottom of the lake.

(Did he get attacked from underwater?)

The captain looked at the surface of the water and made a prediction. And it seems to be much more powerful than the water bullets flying through the air.

(We can’t approach him from the surface and underwater. Just what should we do?)

The captain bites his lip and frowns. An overwhelming white light illuminates the Knight.

When he turned around, he saw a huge pillar of light extending toward the World Tree.

Right after that, the light scatters as if it was hitting a wall. However, he could see from the momentary glow that there was a large crack running through the invisible wall.

(Kuh!)

It was a short time after he felt relieved that the wall did not shatter. The energy turned into a wind that pushed the Knights from behind, and some of them were knocked over and fell.

They were targeted by another attack when they were submerged, but they barely dodged by resurfacing.

The captain’s Knight regained his position just in time but was hit by a bullet because he was too far forward.

(Please hurry, sir commander!)

After hurriedly retreating, he shouted in his heart while hovering around the enemy.

An old man who was as skinny as a dead tree, and a prickly green-black colored A-class Knight. Their image flashed through his mind.