CH 12

Chapter 12 – Be Careful of Monsters, Beasts, and Mages

The giant red cheek fox, which took us half a day to fish from the forest to the plains, hits me with its tail but I parry it upward with my shield.

Perhaps it is due to the fact that my left arm that’s holding my shield is already broken that I wasn’t able to parry it that much.

If I have to say something about myself, I’ll say that I’ve become very good at parrying attacks these days.

I can even get through a sword fight with street thugs unscathed with just the scales of my left hand.

I had a hard time before I became able to parry the attacks from giant beasts but I think the experience of spending a whole day with only my shield against a raging bird dragon is paying off now.

「Mince-san! Get ready!」

Pickles a horsekin, responded to the tail whip.

I held down the red check fox’ claws using my shield and sewed it to the ground with a spear.

Step! Step! I feel energetic footsteps approaching me from behind.

「Now!!」

With Pickles’ signal, I rolled away from the red cheek fox to the side. Pickles, on the other hand, charged and plunged a spear to the red cheek fox.

It quickly got up and readjusted its stance.

Screeeeeeeechhhhh!

A deafening, high-pitched screech rang out.

The red cheek fox, with a spear in its belly, glared at us with hatred.

Just when I was about to pull my short sword from my back, something came down from the sky.

Buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz.

A dry, popping sound.

The red check fox noticed it and immediately dashed to the forest. However, it is already too late.

A huge shadow descended from the sky and held the red check fox completely in its embrace.

“It”, which boasted a gigantic body that almost covered the giant red cheek fox, is a symbol of fear for adventurers.

It is one of the enemies that inhabit this area that we can never defeat.

It was a giant compound-eyed insect with an iron-hard shell that reflects sunlight.

「Oooooooi!! Light the fireworks!!」

A breath later, the leader of a party I had seen before came running from the rocky area south of the plain.

I think he is called Narense, a great axeman.

He’s the one who brought it here!

Roast pointed her spear at him and denounced him.

「How can you bring something outrageous here!! You son of a b*tch!! You’re a plague god!」

「Seema was the one who had the fireworks and he was eaten! Rashin too! And even Keema!」

「Sh*t…..! Vongo! Fireworks!!」

As Roast ordered, Vongo landed on the ground and took out the fireworks she had been carrying in her backpack.

Those fireworks were a signal to call the knights from the city in case there was an enemy the adventurers could not defeat.

The knights are completely different from the army I was part of. They are elite of the elite that only mages can join.

「Light up the fireworks!! Cover your ears!!」

As soon as I give the order, Vongo pulls the string of the fireworks on the ground.

With a trailing sound, a ball soared into the sky and exploded. It fills the sky with rainbow color light while it shakes the ground from shock.

Giti giti giti giti giti giti.

After biting off the head of the red cheek fox with its sharp jaws that were as big as me, the armored hair cutter seemed to have set its target on these puny people.

「Throw a flashbang! Then, smoke screen!」

「Cover your eyes!」

Vongo, under Roast and I’s direction, throws the special flashbang to the armored hair cutter.

2……..1……flash!

A blinding light was emitted. It burned my eyes even though my eyelids were closed.

That’s a magic tool that master gave us and it is many times more expensive than me.

The smoke ball was thrown in front of the black and white compound eyes of the armored hair cutter, which had stopped moving. A black plume of smoke covered the area.

There was nothing to do but to run away.

Even if I was three times as tall as I am now, I wouldn't be able to reach its antennae.

It has long, sharp jaws that are said to be capable of tearing three armored warriors at the same time.

And that mighty, unmatched shell that even a castle ballista could not scratch!

This is definitely an opponent that only a mage could defeat.

(Retreat toward the city.)

I gave the signal to the other and they all began to move slowly, and then, it happened.

Gichi gichi gichi gichi gichi gichi

The gigantic body of the armored hair cutter emerged from the smoke.

A weak beast would be incapacitated with the flashbang alone but it’s useless to this monster…..

「……the….re….!」

At that moment, Vongo pointed toward the city.

「What color!!」

「………whi….te…..!」

「Sca…..!」

“tter”. I wasn’t able to complete that word.

Something ripped my left arm off, including my shield. After a moment’s delay, an impact from an explosion came from our side.

I was blown away and rolled several times. I held my left arm that was spurting blood with my right hand. And with a wobbly head, I looked at the armored hair cutter.

It had been scraped clean from its head to its back and was silent. It is also oozing with reddish-purple bodily fluids….

In the sky, on the other side, there was the figure of the fastest white dragon knight(dragoon) “Stardust”. They were circling from the direction of the city, drawing a cloud of blood smoke.

「………..!...........!」

「Ah………?」

Roast was saying something while running to me but I couldn’t hear her because my left eardrum seemed to have been damaged.

She wraps the base of my arm with a hemp thread and she’s awfully familiar with what to do.

This is good since my party is alive and my limbs can regrow later.

Roast spoke to me from my right ear as I pointed to my right ear.

「…….ha!」

「Sorry, a little louder.」

「Who was that!?」

「A white dragon knight(dragoon) from the chivalry….Arcelica the “stardust”.」

「Stardust! I’ve heard of stardust in a bard’s song! No wonder he’s so fast!」

「Is everyone alright?」

「Narense the axeman, all that is left from him is an ankle!」

Roast pointed to a shoe and a puddle of blood.

「I see…..」

Mages are powerful after all.

Too powerful.

The world they live in is different from ours.

We can only be used by mages like that as their toys….

I stared at the pool of blood with my hazy vision and thought of the “too gentle” mage waiting for us at home.

AN: OP legendary mages.

Mince-san went home afterwards, grew her limb back, and went back to hunting a week later.