It was an army.
Equipped with an array of weaponry, the bold loires marched forward in orderly lines. It was as if a long, massive wall was slowly pressing towards us.
[Litzreich]: “Magnificent, aren’t they?”
[Ashel]: “So those are the enemies.”
Lined up in order…….I’d guess there are about 150 of them. The only one of them that sticks out from the rest is a large sphere floating above the army. The bold loires raised their weapons as if they were aiming to protect that sphere.
[Carol]: “It looks like that floating ball is their queen or something.”
[Litzreich]: “In that case, our main goal should be destroying it. It’s an enemy I’ve never heard of before, but well, I’m sure it’ll work out somehow.”
[Ashel]: “I hope so……”
Litzreich sounded optimistic about the whole affair in stark contrast to Ashel-sama’s more worried demeanor. Carol was standing next to them, nodding her head.
[Carol]: “Well, I’ll stop as many of them as I can, so everyone else should kill them while you can. We don’t know what the big ball thing is, so we should leave it for later. How about everyone moves the way they think best for now?”
It was Carol’s idea to have everyone do their own thing without thinking about it too deeply, but to my surprise, everyone else seemed to agree with her. Certainly, we don’t have the time to hold an in-depth strategy meeting, so I guess having everyone rely on their personal experience might be the natural solution.
[Carol]: “Well, I’m heading out.”
Carol plunged into the front line of the enemy horde with the length of rope she took in hand.
[Saluena]: “Then the rest of us should head in as well.”
150 to 6, in terms of numbers, we are at an overwhelming disadvantage, but Saluena and the others looked neither anxious nor perturbed.
[Toslin]: “Carol will reduce their numbers…….”
[Litzreich]: “Iris, watch me okay! My remodeled magic shell will tear through our enemies!!”
With Carol already in the middle of the bold loire platoon, Saluena, Toslin, and Litzreich charged ahead.
Ashel-sama was the only one to hesitate, sending a worried gaze back to me.
[Iris]: “I’ll be okay Ashel-sama.”
[Ashel]: “Ahaha, am I that obvious?”
[Lapris]: “Did you forget that Iris is a red rank adventurer just like you? She won’t die even if a dragon jumps out.”
No, if a dragon were to suddenly show up, I really don’t think I’d survive on my own…….
[Ashel]: “Yeah, that’s right. In that case, I’ll be going.”
[Iris]: “Yes, do your best♪“
I made the biggest smile I could to encourage Ashel-sama since she was about to head into battle.
[Ashel]: “Y-Yeah!”
She looked a bit surprised at first, but she then quickly nodded before following after Saluena and the others.
[Iris]: “I wanted to smile and see her off…..but wasn’t her reaction a little weird? Ashel-sama almost looked shocked for some reason.”
[Lapris]: “She was scared of your face.”
[Iris]: “Isn’t that cruel?”
Even if Lapris is right, it’s probably because of the way we’re lighting this room causing some scary shadows to form.
I glanced behind me.
Rose-san is still casting her healing miracle. She isn’t just healing a person’s injury this time. Since her patient is a spirit, it’s like she’s having to restore the gnome’s entire state of being, so it will probably take some time.
[Iris]: “Lapris. We’re going to hunker down here. We aren’t going to allow anything to get past us.”
[Lapris]: “Fine. Then, you should hurry up and summon Unicorn to shore up our defense.”
[Iris]: “Mm!”
I gently pressed my lips up against the white porcelain ring on my left pinky finger. It instantly transformed into a grimoire after I poured in my magic power.
[Iris]: “Now……release the bonds of this world!!”
Carol was in front of my eyes. She dashed around and through the knights’ feet so quickly and so erratically that it was hard for me to follow her.
[Iris]: “The Goddess Illya overwrites reason as commanded by Iris Calvafon!”
Litzreich was close by. Her magic shell was about as thick as a bold loire’s, and she was swinging those arms around with reckless abandon. She said she had made improvements, but I can’t tell where or what they are.
What I can see is the tremendous destructive power they are able to exhibit. Each swing looks to have the same explosive effect as an attack from Rose-san’s mace. Every bold loire she hit was flung up into the air, broken apart into a tattered mess.
[Iris]: “Absolute law established in the name of the Almighty. Holy spirit born from an ancient age, virgin guardian, mare clad in sacred water.”
As for Ashel-sama……she seems to be moving separate from everyone else. Both of her hands were firmly grasped around the hilt of her sword, and she moved through the thick crowd of enemies as if she were dancing.
Despite how thin her sword is, it cuts through the stone statues like hot butter. She is the Brave after all, so it’s probably some kind of magic sword.
[Iris]: “Please deliver unto us an age of peace and safety! Fiercely defend us from malice and impurity!”
Saluena and Toslin were standing on either ends of the line, using their bodies to prevent any of the knight statues from advancing further.
Toslin would smash the legs of the nearest bold loire with her sword in one swing before then smashing its head with the second.
Saluena’s fighting style was as insane as it was during the battle with the ents. Her sword swept through multiple statues’ legs, and with a single sword stroke, their helmets shattered and scattered across the ground.
Ashel-sama’s way of fighting is wonderfully elegant, but Saluena is on a different level.
[Iris]: “My life, my name as a step, come forth. Unicorn!”
Blue letters floated over glimmering white pages. Following along, I finished my chant.
Emitting the same light as my grimoire, Plushie Unicorn grew and morphed, changing into the familiar Unicorn.
[Iris]: “Make a powerful shield that cannot be broken.”
I immediately cast my spell afterwards, and Unicorn’s mane shined white. Twenty defensive barriers materialized around us.
One of these shields was able to perfectly deflect an ent’s attack, but it’s still unclear how well they will do against a bold loire’s attack.
[Iris]: “Hm?”
[Lapris]: “What’s wrong Iris?”
I glanced down to my ring after forming my barriers, and Lapris looked towards me curiously. By the way, as soon as Unicorn was summoned, Lapris flew over and jumped into her usual spot in Unicorn’s mane.
[Iris]: “No, it’s nothing.”
[Lapris]: “Okay? Then hurry up and get on. Unicorn’s not going to be able to do anything unless you stay close.”
[Iris]: “Ah, right.”
Unicorn took the trouble to kneel down to let me climb on her back.
[Iris]: “Thank you Unicorn. It’s good to see you again.”
As I stroked her mane, she released a powerful neigh.
[Iris]: “It feels like they’re totally locked down.”
In a large dome-shaped room, 5 girls are going toe to toe with over a hundred golems.
The mysterious sphere wasn’t doing anything besides floating there in the back. It did occasionally flash a kind of light, but it didn’t look like it was any kind of attack.
[Lapris]: “I wonder about that. Right now they’re concentrating on those five, but if they were to shift their attention here……..ah, look. Some of them are heading this way.”
[Toslin]: “Carol!!”
[Carol]: “On it!”
The enemies began to move, so Carol and Toslin responded.
Carol took a page from our last adventure and tied off one end of the rope she had grabbed onto Goldmund. It was actually that quartz laden rope mixed with spider silk that is supposed to be impossible to snap.
Meanwhile Toslin was holding on to the other end of the rope.
[Carol]: “Then, fight on.”
Carol patted Goldmund’s back and gave him a thumbs up.
[Goldmund]: “GUOOOOOーーーーーーーーーーーー!!”
Then with a mighty roar comparable to a dragon, Goldmund ran away from the golems. At the same time, Toslin pulled on her end of the rope, causing it to go taut.
Carol had managed to pull down the first bold loire we encountered in much the same way, but this time…….
[Carol]: “Ahahahaha!! Big catch!!”
Carol had been running through the bold loires’ legs with that very rope.
Nearly twenty of them had their legs tripped up and collapsed onto the ground. The knight statues who had started towards me were included in that group and inevitably had their advance stopped. Their arms were unable to support their weight and cracked from the impact while a few of them had their entire bodies splinter apart as well.
[Lapris]: “Hey, I…….Goldmund makes sense. He’s always been tough, and now………he’s like level 18 right? And I get that that idiot is an orange rank and has the strength to back it up. But. It’s still strange right? She’s an elf, right? Elves are supposed to be the race that never lifts up anything heavier than a knife, right?”
Goldmund had managed to pull down 20 knight statues with his rope. What stood out to Lapris though was that despite the characterization of her race, Toslin had managed to hold her ground and put enough force into the rope to act as a counterweight.
[Lapris]: “Hey, you think it’s weird too right?”
[Iris]: “Eh, huh? No, I……besides…….”
Please don’t ask me any questions I would prefer to not answer. Toslin’s ears are longer than a hyurians and were sharper as a result. She would hear whatever I say.
[Litzreich]: “Tosrillon, Carotayle!! Incoming magic!!”
Eh, magic?
Of everyone here, Litzreich and I are the only two people you could consider witches. So does that mean Litzreich is going to cast a spell?
[Carol]: “Geh!? Oh man, please no!! This rope is all wrapped around these things! It was really expensive!!”
But I was wrong.
The mysterious sphere the bold loires were protecting was lighting up brighter than it was before.
The ground in front of us suddenly began to glow red and slowly melted into magma. The molten liquid spurted upwards, landing on the knight statues and the rope tying them down.
[Litzreich]: “Take care!! The next one is probably going to be aimed at us!!”
(Somebody has to do something……right?)
So the mysterious sphere is capable of using magic. Then I should be more than qualified to solve this problem.
(I won’t let you release another shot!!)
It was an army.
Equipped with an array of weaponry, the bold loires marched forward in orderly lines. It was as if a long, massive wall was slowly pressing towards us.
[Litzreich]: “Magnificent, aren’t they?”
[Ashel]: “So those are the enemies.”
Lined up in order…….I’d guess there are about 150 of them. The only one of them that sticks out from the rest is a large sphere floating above the army. The bold loires raised their weapons as if they were aiming to protect that sphere.
[Carol]: “It looks like that floating ball is their queen or something.”
[Litzreich]: “In that case, our main goal should be destroying it. It’s an enemy I’ve never heard of before, but well, I’m sure it’ll work out somehow.”
[Ashel]: “I hope so……”
Litzreich sounded optimistic about the whole affair in stark contrast to Ashel-sama’s more worried demeanor. Carol was standing next to them, nodding her head.
[Carol]: “Well, I’ll stop as many of them as I can, so everyone else should kill them while you can. We don’t know what the big ball thing is, so we should leave it for later. How about everyone moves the way they think best for now?”
It was Carol’s idea to have everyone do their own thing without thinking about it too deeply, but to my surprise, everyone else seemed to agree with her. Certainly, we don’t have the time to hold an in-depth strategy meeting, so I guess having everyone rely on their personal experience might be the natural solution.
[Carol]: “Well, I’m heading out.”
Carol plunged into the front line of the enemy horde with the length of rope she took in hand.
[Saluena]: “Then the rest of us should head in as well.”
150 to 6, in terms of numbers, we are at an overwhelming disadvantage, but Saluena and the others looked neither anxious nor perturbed.
[Toslin]: “Carol will reduce their numbers…….”
[Litzreich]: “Iris, watch me okay! My remodeled magic shell will tear through our enemies!!”
With Carol already in the middle of the bold loire platoon, Saluena, Toslin, and Litzreich charged ahead.
Ashel-sama was the only one to hesitate, sending a worried gaze back to me.
[Iris]: “I’ll be okay Ashel-sama.”
[Ashel]: “Ahaha, am I that obvious?”
[Lapris]: “Did you forget that Iris is a red rank adventurer just like you? She won’t die even if a dragon jumps out.”
No, if a dragon were to suddenly show up, I really don’t think I’d survive on my own…….
[Ashel]: “Yeah, that’s right. In that case, I’ll be going.”
[Iris]: “Yes, do your best♪“
I made the biggest smile I could to encourage Ashel-sama since she was about to head into battle.
[Ashel]: “Y-Yeah!”
She looked a bit surprised at first, but she then quickly nodded before following after Saluena and the others.
[Iris]: “I wanted to smile and see her off…..but wasn’t her reaction a little weird? Ashel-sama almost looked shocked for some reason.”
[Lapris]: “She was scared of your face.”
[Iris]: “Isn’t that cruel?”
Even if Lapris is right, it’s probably because of the way we’re lighting this room causing some scary shadows to form.
I glanced behind me.
Rose-san is still casting her healing miracle. She isn’t just healing a person’s injury this time. Since her patient is a spirit, it’s like she’s having to restore the gnome’s entire state of being, so it will probably take some time.
[Iris]: “Lapris. We’re going to hunker down here. We aren’t going to allow anything to get past us.”
[Lapris]: “Fine. Then, you should hurry up and summon Unicorn to shore up our defense.”
[Iris]: “Mm!”
I gently pressed my lips up against the white porcelain ring on my left pinky finger. It instantly transformed into a grimoire after I poured in my magic power.
[Iris]: “Now……release the bonds of this world!!”
Carol was in front of my eyes. She dashed around and through the knights’ feet so quickly and so erratically that it was hard for me to follow her.
[Iris]: “The Goddess Illya overwrites reason as commanded by Iris Calvafon!”
Litzreich was close by. Her magic shell was about as thick as a bold loire’s, and she was swinging those arms around with reckless abandon. She said she had made improvements, but I can’t tell where or what they are.
What I can see is the tremendous destructive power they are able to exhibit. Each swing looks to have the same explosive effect as an attack from Rose-san’s mace. Every bold loire she hit was flung up into the air, broken apart into a tattered mess.
[Iris]: “Absolute law established in the name of the Almighty. Holy spirit born from an ancient age, virgin guardian, mare clad in sacred water.”
As for Ashel-sama……she seems to be moving separate from everyone else. Both of her hands were firmly grasped around the hilt of her sword, and she moved through the thick crowd of enemies as if she were dancing.
Despite how thin her sword is, it cuts through the stone statues like hot butter. She is the Brave after all, so it’s probably some kind of magic sword.
[Iris]: “Please deliver unto us an age of peace and safety! Fiercely defend us from malice and impurity!”
Saluena and Toslin were standing on either ends of the line, using their bodies to prevent any of the knight statues from advancing further.
Toslin would smash the legs of the nearest bold loire with her sword in one swing before then smashing its head with the second.
Saluena’s fighting style was as insane as it was during the battle with the ents. Her sword swept through multiple statues’ legs, and with a single sword stroke, their helmets shattered and scattered across the ground.
Ashel-sama’s way of fighting is wonderfully elegant, but Saluena is on a different level.
[Iris]: “My life, my name as a step, come forth. Unicorn!”
Blue letters floated over glimmering white pages. Following along, I finished my chant.
Emitting the same light as my grimoire, Plushie Unicorn grew and morphed, changing into the familiar Unicorn.
[Iris]: “Make a powerful shield that cannot be broken.”
I immediately cast my spell afterwards, and Unicorn’s mane shined white. Twenty defensive barriers materialized around us.
One of these shields was able to perfectly deflect an ent’s attack, but it’s still unclear how well they will do against a bold loire’s attack.
[Iris]: “Hm?”
[Lapris]: “What’s wrong Iris?”
I glanced down to my ring after forming my barriers, and Lapris looked towards me curiously. By the way, as soon as Unicorn was summoned, Lapris flew over and jumped into her usual spot in Unicorn’s mane.
[Iris]: “No, it’s nothing.”
[Lapris]: “Okay? Then hurry up and get on. Unicorn’s not going to be able to do anything unless you stay close.”
[Iris]: “Ah, right.”
Unicorn took the trouble to kneel down to let me climb on her back.
[Iris]: “Thank you Unicorn. It’s good to see you again.”
As I stroked her mane, she released a powerful neigh.
[Iris]: “It feels like they’re totally locked down.”
In a large dome-shaped room, 5 girls are going toe to toe with over a hundred golems.
The mysterious sphere wasn’t doing anything besides floating there in the back. It did occasionally flash a kind of light, but it didn’t look like it was any kind of attack.
[Lapris]: “I wonder about that. Right now they’re concentrating on those five, but if they were to shift their attention here……..ah, look. Some of them are heading this way.”
[Toslin]: “Carol!!”
[Carol]: “On it!”
The enemies began to move, so Carol and Toslin responded.
Carol took a page from our last adventure and tied off one end of the rope she had grabbed onto Goldmund. It was actually that quartz laden rope mixed with spider silk that is supposed to be impossible to snap.
Meanwhile Toslin was holding on to the other end of the rope.
[Carol]: “Then, fight on.”
Carol patted Goldmund’s back and gave him a thumbs up.
[Goldmund]: “GUOOOOOーーーーーーーーーーーー!!”
Then with a mighty roar comparable to a dragon, Goldmund ran away from the golems. At the same time, Toslin pulled on her end of the rope, causing it to go taut.
Carol had managed to pull down the first bold loire we encountered in much the same way, but this time…….
[Carol]: “Ahahahaha!! Big catch!!”
Carol had been running through the bold loires’ legs with that very rope.
Nearly twenty of them had their legs tripped up and collapsed onto the ground. The knight statues who had started towards me were included in that group and inevitably had their advance stopped. Their arms were unable to support their weight and cracked from the impact while a few of them had their entire bodies splinter apart as well.
[Lapris]: “Hey, I…….Goldmund makes sense. He’s always been tough, and now………he’s like level 18 right? And I get that that idiot is an orange rank and has the strength to back it up. But. It’s still strange right? She’s an elf, right? Elves are supposed to be the race that never lifts up anything heavier than a knife, right?”
Goldmund had managed to pull down 20 knight statues with his rope. What stood out to Lapris though was that despite the characterization of her race, Toslin had managed to hold her ground and put enough force into the rope to act as a counterweight.
[Lapris]: “Hey, you think it’s weird too right?”
[Iris]: “Eh, huh? No, I……besides…….”
Please don’t ask me any questions I would prefer to not answer. Toslin’s ears are longer than a hyurians and were sharper as a result. She would hear whatever I say.
[Litzreich]: “Tosrillon, Carotayle!! Incoming magic!!”
Eh, magic?
Of everyone here, Litzreich and I are the only two people you could consider witches. So does that mean Litzreich is going to cast a spell?
[Carol]: “Geh!? Oh man, please no!! This rope is all wrapped around these things! It was really expensive!!”
But I was wrong.
The mysterious sphere the bold loires were protecting was lighting up brighter than it was before.
The ground in front of us suddenly began to glow red and slowly melted into magma. The molten liquid spurted upwards, landing on the knight statues and the rope tying them down.
[Litzreich]: “Take care!! The next one is probably going to be aimed at us!!”
(Somebody has to do something……right?)
So the mysterious sphere is capable of using magic. Then I should be more than qualified to solve this problem.
(I won’t let you release another shot!!)
