Chapter 374: The Great Wave

Chapter 374: The Great Wave

Roars and footsteps echoed endlessly as the tidal wave of creatures S and SS-ranked in strength closed in on the Resistance forces.

Irene the Invincible Sprout, formerly one of the Six Archmages, stood in the lead of the Resistance.

“Apologies for taking so long, Miss Irene!”

The first group Warren sent from the hideout was led by Barun the Scale Tipper, formerly one of the Six Braves, and his Familiar Ricky.

Barun had not even a hint of his usual carefree attitude on his face.

“Good thing the hideout was shielded beforehand, otherwise none of you would’ve been able to mobilize!”

Indeed, Asley had cast a Magic Shield over the Resistance’s hideout beforehand. This was Warren and Irene’s idea in case of an emergency, out of consideration of past events.

“Make sure you have one Giving Magic Circle under each foot! Leave the enhancements to me! Rise, A-rise, A-rise! All Up: Count 10 & Remote Control!”

Irene cast enhancement spells for the Team Silver members in the vanguard. Thanks to using the Limit Breakthrough, Irene’s magical power had increased dramatically — and the same went for the members of the Resistance.

Despite Warren’s leadership and training setting a high standard for the Resistance, however, there were naturally some among them who had yet to reach level 100.

“Levels 110 or higher, to the front! The rest, support in the rear!”

And so the ranks of the force were assigned according to this instruction.

“110 or higher? Man, I think 200 or lover should stay behind too, though!”

“Oh, Brother... Then we would barely have anyone actually fighting, you know!”

Bruce was lacking his usual bravado. The same was true for his sister Betty.

Their hands were sweaty, overwhelmed by the sheer pressure from the threat in front of them.

“Hello there!”

“It’s an honor to fight alongside you, Sir Barun.”

“No need for formalities, Sir Blazer. If you’d only accepted that invitation, you would’ve been one of the Six Braves instead of me, you know.”

“The title was too much for me to accept.”

“Yeah, I had quite a hard time managing my job back then, too. Still, I never thought things would escalate to this scale...”

Looking up, one would see the hulking walls that were the creatures called Beta... And looking down, a tidal wave of threatening creatures called Alpha.

Even for eligible warriors, standing on the front lines to face them was nothing short of reckless.

“I’m going in... I gotta go... C’mon... C’mon! Let’s go...!”

Bruce muttered to himself... but his legs refused to move.

It was the same for almost everyone else — which was why a certain man, one who Asley had recognized as one of the most charismatic he had ever met, took the initiative.

“HAAAAAAAHHHH!! I’ll be the one who draws first blood, Dallas!”

Ryan, the former Chief of Faltown, charged onward while activating his physical enhancement abilities.

「何を! 私に勝てると思うな、ライアン(Ryan)!」

“So you think you can outshine me, Ryan!?”

And following him was Dallas the Scarlet Blade.

“God damn it! Okay, I’m going in! OOOOOOHHHHHH!!”

And so Bruce, Captain of the Silver Special Forces, went off right behind those two.

Blazer, seeing that, gave out his order.

“Move and act in groups of three! Reid and Adolf, come with me! Betty, Reyna, and Mana! Make sure our forces are evenly distributed! Haruhana, you go with Sir Barun and Ricky! Everyone, don’t hold back — you’ll need every bit of power you can get!!”

“”YEAH!!””

“And now... ENGAGE!”

“Reid! You’re not supposed to say that!”

Reid and Adolf started cracking jokes even amidst this situation, perhaps due to Bruce’s influence on them.

Still, this was all they could do. If they stopped talking, their faces were sure to shudder with fear.

The walls of creatures were thick and high. Billy’s and Cleath’s smiles in the distance add to the oppressiveness of the atmosphere.

[If only Pochi and Miss Lylia were here...!]

Eventually, one of Blazer’s worse fears came to past.

The currently available forces of Team Silver and other warriors could stop only the central section of the enemy’s formation.

The Alphas and Betas spread out to attack both flanks, and the mages were not effective enough to keep them all at bay.

The Alphas ran around Blazer’s groups, preserving their strength as they went for the mages.

The Beats shook the earth with every step, their pressuring auras and breath attacks pushing back their attackers in every direction.

If not handled properly, their Zenith Breaths were sure to burn the entirety of Eddo to the ground.

The unit of mages led by Trace separated from Irene ad defended against the attacks.

“Don’t worry! We can make it through if we all work together! Now!”

“”Rise, A-rise! Magic Shield!””

For now, Trace was able to prevent damage to Eddo with her precise instructions... but it was only a matter of time until things got ugly.

“AAANNNDDD... here’s my time to shine!”

The one leading the rear guard was Melchi.

She stood in front of her subordinates and faced the approaching Alphas head-on.

“TOH!!”

One of the Alphas jumped at her, and she simply pushed it back. In doing so, the creature exploded into countless pieces, each hitting and harming the other Alphas.

“What!? Melchi, how did you–!?”

“Oh, y’know... I used Team Silver General’s Teleportation Spell Circle to go to the Resistance’s hideout, then I used the Limit Breakthrough! What, you only noticed that just now? Nahahahahahaha!”

Irene was more relieved than dismayed, as Melchi’s hidden fighting prowess was a blessing in disguise for her today.

“Kept you waiting, huh?”

The next arrival was Jennifer, known as either the Bone Fist or Black Fist.

And by now, many mages from the Resistance’s hideout had arrived under Warren’s command.

“Damn, perfect time for the warriors to come in! That Warren dude really knows what he’s doing!”

Melchi instantly recognized Warren’s capacity as a leader.

He had sent Barun out first, then had the mages maximize the thickness of the barriers out in front to defend against repeated breath attacks. And now, by sending his sister Jennifer, he was quite effectively reinforcing the warriors in the rear guard.

If Jennifer had not been sent here now, she would have fought her way too deep into the enemy ranks — which was something Warren would not want.

“Man, I was wondering why my li’l bro had my hands tied behind my back at the start... So this is what he had in mind, huh?”

“So you’re Jennifer the Black Fist? I’m a punching kind of girl too, so let’s be friends!”

“...Rise! House! Maïga, go!”

“...Rise! House! C’mon, Shiny!”

“Hell yeah! I’m going, too!”

Hornel and Natsu summoned their Familiars, and Midors joined them. The other mages followed, making the rear guard a mixture of Familiars, mages, and warriors.

“Rise, A-rise, A-rise! All Up: Count 10 & Remote Control! Remember, this location is critical! Hold the line at all costs!”

With each passing moment, the unstoppable tidal wave of creatures inched ever closer.