Chapter 17
"Are you alright?"
Felix immediately turned his head when he heard that voice coming from behind him.
"I'm fine. But I'm starting to run out of arrows, so I was planning to move up front soon. Are Vierra and the others safe?"
Kuon didn't know what expression to put on when he heard that question. "Well, at least she's far more enthusiastic than we imagined."
At Kuon's answer, Felix could only smile sourly with a small laugh. In his line of sight, Vierra stood with her arms spread wide, while the fire tornado still blazed not far ahead, burning every monster that tried to approach.
She looked like she was doing just fine. Felix breathed a sigh of relief as he aimed once more and shot another monster moving on its own.
"How many more shots can you fire?"
"Twenty, if none of my shots miss. But, given this situation, the margin of error might widen. So at the very least, I want to guarantee fifteen shots."
Kuon nodded, then looked back ahead.
For now, the waves of emerging monsters could be held back well by Vierra and Elie. But the same couldn't be guaranteed once the two of them started running out of Aether. Because of that, Kuon wanted to take the best preventative measures possible.
"Save your arrows for now. Help Vierra and Elie when they start getting cornered after running out of Aether. For now, can you switch to a close-range weapon?"
Felix was highly skilled as a sniper. However, his close-combat capabilities were still inferior to everyone else on the team—except Kanon, who focused her abilities on magic.
Considering that, Felix felt a brief hesitation when asked to move to the front lines right now. Still, perhaps it was the best decision they could make at the moment.
"I'll do my best."
At least, the situation was still far more manageable for now. Until reinforcements arrived, they only needed to hold out.
***
A breath full of despair was exhaled by the people remaining in place to serve as the last line of defense, as they looked toward the rising sun.
After passing a quiet night with minimum rest and mental recovery, fate seemed to mock them the next day.
The sun had just risen, and the sky hadn't yet fully lost its dark purple hue—the remnants of the night that had just sunk away. However, the air felt incredibly heavy with every breath they took.
The local guards, along with the Adepts, witnessed it—a horrifying sight where the black sea stretched from end to end, swallowing the cotton farmlands that had previously given it a beautiful color.
On this morning, the Black Tide had become active once again. However, its spread had been so vast and massive that there were no longer any traces of their battle from yesterday. Everything had truly been mercilessly swallowed by the black mud that served as a womb for the birth of the rampaging monsters.
Kuon froze in his spot when he saw it, and for a moment, he truly didn't know what to do. Their numbers were few, and if monsters started rising from that Black Tide, their numbers would become something absurd.
Kanon beside him didn't say anything either. Even without opening her eyes, the massive amount of dirty Aether was still detected, making her nauseous instantly.
"… You've got to be kidding, even this is a bit too much for us…"
Vierra's hoarse voice broke Kuon's reverie, dragging his consciousness back to the real world. Kuon looked around, and realized that everyone was still petrified.
Now, what should be done? His mind worked several times harder with the help of [Accel], but no matter how much he thought about it, the best solution they could take was to leave this place entirely.
The residents had already evacuated to the evacuation point, waiting for good news from the front lines. Their location was also quite far from this incident site, so the option to evacuate elsewhere remained a valid choice even when considering the time required to handle all the issues.
'But, is that truly the best solution?'
In a rare moment, Kuon doubted his own thoughts.
If everyone retreated entirely from this point, not only would the Black Tide continue to spread massively, but the monsters emerging from it would also scatter in all directions.
Not far from this village, there were still other settlements that would certainly be impacted as well if the monsters started to scatter. Considering all of that, the losses from the evacuation choice would actually turn out far worse, because they wouldn't just be releasing the problem, they'd also be letting it go somewhere else.
"What are you going to do, Kuon?"
As Kuon sank into his thoughts, a voice once again dragged him back to reality. Only then did he realize that everyone had been staring at him for a while.
Kuon drew a long breath, trying to calm his mind, then voiced the only choice he had managed to think of while considering the spread of its negative impacts.
"Sorry, I was lost in thought for a moment. I think we need to start directing the residents to retreat away from the current evacuation point. Along with that, we'll also start pulling back the defense line slowly while ensuring critical locations remain safe. How is that? If you consider this a good plan, I'll explain the details."
Kuon didn't only pose the question to his team members and Humarc, but also to the local guards deployed by the village to assist.
In his own assessment, this wasn't a bad plan. Pulling back the defense line didn't mean they would lose; rather, it was merely stalling for time until reinforcements arrived. Until then, they would retreat slowly while continuing to ensure that the oncoming monster waves didn't stray too far from their main defense line. With that, Kuon's concern about separated monsters reaching other settlements would somewhat dissipate.
When Kuon provided additional explanations, some people appeared to nod in agreement, while others looked hesitant. From what he could see, the majority of those who hesitated were the people deployed as guards by the village, whereas his own team and Humarc's team didn't consider it a bad idea.
At least, that was what Kuon understood from their expressions.
"I suppose that's a good idea. Pulling back the defense line also means we no longer need to focus our defense on a wide area. We can draw the monsters' attention to focus on one point, and thin them out little by little as we retreat."
One of the members from Humarc's team suddenly spoke up, and Kuon's gaze immediately fell on him. It was a young man wearing pilot goggles perched on his head. Kuon didn't know his name yet, but if he wasn't mistaken, the man filled the role of sniper in Humarc's team.
After ensuring Kuon and the others were listening, the man continued speaking, "But, Kuon, have you considered the birth of monsters from the Black Tide? We can handle two or three waves at once, but we can't guarantee the next waves will keep chasing us. There's a possibility they'll scatter from the pack and start going elsewhere."
Kuon fell silent for a moment, turning his head to look back at the pool of black mud that gave him a strange feeling just by staring at it.
Actually, he had already thought of the man's concern. However, he hadn't yet found a definitive solution.
Initially, Kuon had intended to ask for cooperation from those who could use magic to attract the attention of the newly emerging monsters. However, this option wouldn't be optimal in such fierce combat situations.
'We are truly short on people…'
Kuon almost sighed in resignation when he realized the problem, but then remembered the additional unit that had just joined yesterday. They weren't fighters, but rather an additional unit specializing in the medical field, tasked with handling emergency treatment.
Seeing that, an idea flashed in his mind.
The medical team totaled eight women and four young men. If considering only the female members, that was already more than enough to handle the wounded. So, didn't that mean he could allocate the remaining four people for an additional task?
Four Czanktian men—even though they didn't possess special advantages in the form of additional characteristics like other races, at least they would be useful for the job Kuon was envisioning.
After considering it, Kuon voiced his idea. "For every monster we kill in the first wave, can you retrieve the crystals from their bodies?"
The question was posed to everyone who could fight, and their answer was a positive confirmation.
It was indeed rather difficult and time-consuming because they had to be careful not to make direct contact with the Black Tide mud still clinging to the monsters' bodies, but at least they could still do it.
At that moment, Elie jolted and immediately nodded when she understood what Kuon was trying to convey.
"Crystals from a monster's body don't have any practical use, but they can produce an explosion if we inject a certain amount of Aether into them. Are you planning to use those explosions to lure and direct them?"
Kuon nodded immediately, confirming that what Elie said was correct.
"The monsters we've fought so far—if I observe them—are all quite sensitive to explosions, and instinctively will avoid those areas. If we can create constant explosions in directions the monsters shouldn't pass through, then they'll have no choice but to keep advancing toward the defense line we're holding—"
Their discussion wasn't finished, and the plan hadn't reached its final stage either. But a loud howl sounding like a siren emerged, pulling everyone's focus toward the source of the sound.
There, standing on all four legs, was a giant monster with an estimated height reaching five meters. Its rough scales, resembling thorns, looked so hard even without them needing to touch it to confirm. The black mud from the Black Tide covering it kept dripping, giving off an unpleasant atmosphere just by looking at it.
Kanon, who had been quiet and trying to keep her eyes closed, seemed provoked by that loud howl, and almost opened her eyes. Fortunately, before she managed to do so, Kuon had already covered Kanon's eyes with his own hand.
"Don't be provoked. We still need your strength, it would be bad if you lost consciousness now."
"… Sorry, thank you."
After ensuring Kanon had returned to her senses, Kuon removed his hand, which had stayed on her face to cover her eyes.
"There's no more time to discuss the plan. We'll do it my way. Are you willing?"
There were no issues from the fighter unit's side, and Kuon directed his gaze to the four people from the medical team tasked with luring the monsters with those crystals.
Even though fear was still visible in their eyes, the four of them nodded firmly.
***
Because of the situation, and also because of the concentration of corrupt Aether, Kuon still couldn't deploy Kanon to help.
Instead, he himself was forced to fill the position Kanon had left behind.
Ice magic was something simple for Kuon. The calculations required weren't that complicated, and he could do everything instantly if he used [Accel]. But, that was if he could still use natural magic. The problem was, he had to use miracle manipulation even if it was only for small-scale magic.
'Miracle manipulation drains too much Aether. I can't keep using it.'
Kuon frowned in frustration as he checked his remaining Aether.
He still had to save some Aether to use his other magic, especially for emergency repairs. So, Kuon made a decision.
With the final use of his ice magic, he created several additional weapons, then switched to close combat—which was his forte.
Not far from him, Vierra and Elie were still using the same strategy they had employed yesterday. It was quite good as it managed to wipe out large crowds of monsters at once. However, due to Aether issues, they couldn't maintain it for too long or send their magic too far.
In other words, the giant monster standing on four legs in the middle of the black mud remained untouched until now.
"Why hasn't it moved from its spot yet?!"
Vierra's complaint was clearly heard by everyone at the location. Indeed, it had been a few hours since they started fighting. And although it hadn't yet reached midday, this was already taking too long. Yet, the monster itself remained stationary in its place, occasionally howling loudly into the sky.
Its howls generated shockwaves and were even capable of blasting away mystic energy like Aether from it. With that defense, almost no magic could hit it because the Aether that served as the fuel for magic would simply be dispersed by it.
"I truly feel like that creature is the one calling all these monsters," Humarc muttered as he swung his axe and cleaved a monster's neck like butter. Even though the axe itself had already shown damage from Black Tide contact, its sharpness was still impressive.
"We still don't know if that's true or not. Honestly, I've never heard anything about that monster."
Hearing Humarc's murmur, the sniper from his team replied with a brief analysis. The short conversation was clearly heard by Kuon.
Indeed, even Kuon himself didn't know anything about such a monster. However, he had a rough suspicion. "Could it be a Tyrant?"
The sniper from Humarc's team nodded faintly, as if harboring the same suspicion. "I'm thinking the same. But, there's never been a case where a Tyrant went out of their Denied Space territory. Besides, no Denied Space has been created around here."
'That's only if everything happens naturally.'
While plucking the crystal from the body of the monster he had just killed with a single spear thrust, Kuon thought so. After all, it was highly unlikely that the incident in this place was truly happening naturally, especially if they recalled the presence of the robed figure the village chief had mentioned.
There was a high possibility this was all happening due to their involvement.
'But, it's true, the presence of that giant monster is suspicious.'
If possible, Kuon wanted to finish it off right now. However, he didn't have any attacks that could reach where the monster was standing.
The shockwaves from its howl would simply destroy any magic that came close, and since it stood right in the middle of the Black Tide area, close-range attacks were also impossible.
Actually, Kuon had briefly asked Felix if his Light Way Gift could reach that monster or not, and even though Felix nodded, the path they needed to take to achieve that result could be considered impossible not only for Felix, but for everyone present there.
Specifically, the guidance provided by Light Way required Felix to shoot from the air and from a fairly close distance to his target. That was quite easy to achieve because they could launch Felix in the required direction. The problem was his landing. From that position, he would definitely land right in the Black Tide puddle.
Glancing to the other side, Kuon saw that the four people from the medical unit were still busy throwing Aether crystals—set to explode shortly—to designated points. The results proved effective, as the oncoming monster waves would truly avoid those areas and switch to swarming their main defense line.
However, because of that as well, they ended up having to face the endless swarming of monster waves.
Felix was still in a safe spot, consistently delivering fatal strikes to the monsters he deemed most dangerous.
At least, the situation on Felix's side was still far better than expected. Kuon then switched to the other side.
"Vierra! Stop using large-scale magic for a moment. Recover your Aether while switching to close combat! Humarc, can you go guard the position Elie left?"
"No problem," Humarc answered calmly as he charged forward with a battle axe in each hand.
At the same time, Vierra stopped using her magic and switched to grabbing the two daggers strapped to her thighs. She quickly leapt away from her spot while throwing one of the daggers there as soon as she realized a monster was approaching her.
The dagger landed and stabbed firmly right into the monster's eye area, making it shudder for a moment, but not fully dead. That wasn't a problem. The next second, the dagger stuck in the monster exploded, destroying the monster's head along with it.
"You embedded a monster crystal into your dagger, huh? Quite a good idea."
Without being able to smile, Vierra only nodded as she responded to Kuon's praise. "Yes, it's quite effective, but our weapons are limited. Could you tell Felix to apply that to his arrows?"
"I already did just now," Kuon answered briefly while catching the head of a monster lunging at him.
With a single grip from his left hand, the monster's head let out an unpleasant sound, and shattered instantly under the pressure of superhuman physical strength.
Vierra, who saw that, could only swallow nervously while trying to speak, "… I've been thinking about it since yesterday, but please never grab my head. I'm afraid you'll explode it."
"What a shame, because I just wanted to praise you by patting your head."
"… Please do that only after you take off those gloves of yours."
The combat gloves Kuon used in every fight had different shapes on both his hands. The right one was Glans, a black glove with blade-like claws extending up to thirty centimeters, while the left one was still unnamed, but it was a glove with short claws that he could use to deliver a powerful grip to his target.
"Does that mean you want to be praised that way?"
Vierra smiled sourly without much changing her expression. "I was just curious. Kanon and Felix looked happy when you praised them."
While finishing off the monsters around them, they kept talking to each other.
This was the best way to relieve the tension that could potentially mess up their formation.
However, this maintained calm wouldn't last long either.
The monster's howl grew even stronger—so strong that it was capable of damaging eardrums.
And in fact, that was exactly what happened.
"Vierra!"
Sacrificing the spear in his left hand, Kuon finished off all the monsters around him, then caught Vierra's body, which instantly fell after that howl rang out.
For a Strigim with very sharp hearing, that howl must have been a highly lethal weapon used against her.
Her eyes were still open, but they trembled uncontrollably. Kuon tried to prevent her from losing consciousness by any means he could think of, including slapping her cheeks gently multiple times.
"Kuon! Is Vierra alright?!"
Felix came with a panicked look on his face, but then Kuon asked him not to get too close and to focus on his surroundings. "Her eyes are stable, but she probably still can't hear us. I'll carry her back. Focus on the battle, Felix."
"Alright, take care of Vierra."
Felix nodded and raised his weapon once more. In his eyes, the lines of light from Light Way stretched out to many directions at once, giving him various best choices to escape this situation. However, what he wanted to do was to hold this defense line while Kuon and Vierra were temporarily absent. After thinking that, the lines of light began to change their direction, giving Felix several harder choices to execute. But, this was still better than before.
Besides, he wasn't alone here either.
"Where should I shoot next?"
"E-eleven o'clock direction, three monsters running and approaching Milia. Shoot them from an angle slightly tilted to the right from your current position," Felix answered the sniper from Humarc's team who had been helping him.
Instructions continued to be given, and fortunately, the sniper from Humarc's team possessed extraordinarily good skill with bow and arrow weapons, so none of his attacks missed or violated Felix's instructions.