“We need to figure out how many more bone folks are around here,” I told the group. “Even though we’re elite, there’s not that many of us. We need to find where that Wedge is soon and secure it.”
We were still in the White Room, and with Mia gone, the responsibility of leading the meeting fell to me and Rushia. To emerge victorious, we knew we would have to swiftly reach the main middle school building, locate the Wedge, and overcome any adversaries by isolating and defeating them. We carefully considered our strategy from various angles, and then…
“So, we’ve wrapped up our discussion… right, Kazu-san?” Tamaki cooed, even as Arisu and Rushia came in closer.
“Um, what’s going on here?” I asked suspiciously.
“Rushia mentioned it’s unfair if it’s just me and Arisu,” Tamaki explained.
“Ah, I see,” I realized.
It was then that I noticed Rushia wasn’t looking at me; her eyes were downcast and shy. Without even realizing it, I glanced around the room for someone who couldn’t possibly be here. It was a reflex—she would have been the first to tease us in a moment like that, but that teasing might never come again.
The three girls were looking at me with concern in their eyes.
“Ah, yeah, sure. So, Rushia, would you… comfort me as well?” I asked.
“Yes, gladly.”
I took her hand and pulled her close for a hug.
It felt like we had spent quite a bit of time enjoying ourselves… maybe it was our version of escapism. There was definitely a part of me that wished we could stay in that room forever. But we couldn’t. We were only in this battle because we’d taken full advantage of the opportunity Mia had created for us. With Azagralith gone and the remaining Four Kings embroiled in conflict, a gap emerged in the once-unbeatable Demon Lord’s army.
We had to seize this chance; how else would we be able to face her?
Someday… I’m not sure when, maybe a long time from now… she’ll be back. And when that happens, I want to look her in the eye. I can only do that if we go back now. We have to keep fighting. And the girls have given me the energy I need to do that.
“Shall we go?” I asked. After nodding to each other and making one last check, the four of us left the White Room.
✦ ✦ ✦
Back on the battlefield, Arisu and the others quickly annihilated the remaining enemies. In addition to the High Wizard, there were four Skeletal Champions. Upon defeating these, both Rushia and I leveled up.
Following our ears to the battlefront, we faced a series of attacks from the undead army. While those encounters were mostly straightforward for us, a few bizarre monsters did appear among them, like skeletons of two-headed giants and horses with human arms.
“Collectively, these are known as Chimera Skeletons,” Rushia informed us.
Though some moved swiftly or possessed formidable strength, they were no match for Arisu and Tamaki, which meant we didn’t have an accurate sense of how powerful they were supposed to be.
Aside from those, there were swarms of Veteran Skeletons and Knight Skeletons, led by Skeletal Champions. We swiftly eliminated them all, doing our best to move forward quickly. During this time, Arisu leveled up twice, while the rest of us advanced by one level.
“Yes! I can finally use a derivative skill!” Arisu announced excitedly.
Arisu had finally reached Level 48. Naturally, the derivative skill she chose was the Holy Spear Technique, a combination of spear technique and healing magic. It’s primarily a skill for fighting by imbuing various types of magic into a spear.
Just because it was a derivative skill involving healing magic didn’t mean it let her… well, stab someone with a spear to heal them—I mean, such an ability did exist, but let’s just say it was unnecessary. However, there were abilities to enhance healing magic. There were also abilities specifically effective against the undead, which definitely seemed like they could help with our current battle. However, abilities tailored for the undead were, by nature, somewhat limited in scope. Annoyingly, they offered absolutely no advantage against non-undead. There were also holy attack abilities effective against more than just undead. And there was an ability for enhancing one’s own power with a spear; its effect was similar to Enhanced Summoning, easily increasing the spear technique skill’s performance by a rank of 0.5.
“Kazu-san, why don’t you pick?” Arisu asked. “I’ll be happy with anything that can help you.”
“Ah, right,” I replied. I consulted with Rushia, and we ended up choosing the Enhanced Spear Technique and the Spear Shield Technique. The latter let the user infuse MP into the spear, creating a shield similar to Deflection. It came in up to Rank 3, where it could reflect attacks back at the attacker, essentially becoming a complete Deflection. Despite consuming the MP of our healer, it was indeed powerful, and it suited Arisu’s sense and judgment perfectly.
“With this, I can be even more helpful,” Arisu said, beaming happily. She reminded me of a dog wagging its tail in sheer delight—irresistibly adorable.
My Enhanced Summoning reached Rank 5, and my abilities were upgraded to Familiar Enhancement 5 and Familiar Sustain Magic Reduction 2. This allowed me to treat Phantom Wolf King Sha-Lau and other familiars as Rank 9.5 entities, summonable with 97% reduced MP consumption.
✦ ✦ ✦
As soon as I’d upgraded my Enhanced Summoning, I sent Nahan back and then resummoned him. Now that he was effectively at Rank 9.5, the already diverse range of magic he could use expanded even further. We turned invisible again and moved forward. Despite some delays, we finally caught sight of the middle school main building through the bushes—along with a massive number of skeletons descending from the sky.
Giant bird skeletons circled overhead, dropping skeleton troops from their backs. Those had to be Roc bird skeletons. The skeletons falling from the sky fluttered like leaves—there must have been a mage among them, using some kind of soft-landing magic. Every second we watched, the enemy forces were increasing.
“Looks like searching for the Wedge at a leisurely pace won’t be feasible,” I remarked.
“Support is coming,” Coeurl informed us.
Ah, Algrafth is sending reinforcements. How considerate.
As we spoke, the Roc birds above us were bombarded by a series of lightning strikes which seemed to be coming from some creature at the base of the mountain.
“What kind of monster launched those attacks?” I asked, curious.
Coeurl remained silent.
Oh well, no harm in asking, I thought. “Anyway, tell them thanks for us.”
“There’s no need for thanks. We’re allies in this fight,” Coeurl replied.
“That’s true, but still…”
At least one thing was clear: Coeurl was somehow in constant communication with his comrades, even at this very moment. Depending on how you look at it, he could be a watchdog or a spy… Well, for now, he’s a valuable ally.
“How close do we need to get to the underground to scout it out, Nahan?” I asked.
“The closer, the better. If possible, I’d like to use magic inside that steel fortress,” Nahan suggested.
So apparently, he did have magic capable of scouting the underground… which made sense, I guess. The Heavenly Turtle wasn’t limited to just the four elemental magics; he had learned a variety of useful spells.
“Sure. Let’s circle around through the forest and see if we can get closer to the middle school building,” I decided.
Our recent encounter had proven that invisibility wasn’t absolute. Taking a bit longer but using the trees as cover to get close to the building seemed safer.
As we hurried through the forest, I was thinking to myself that the longer way round was often the safest, when all of a sudden, the ground began to shake violently.
“Get down!” Coeurl shouted urgently, and all of us dropped to the ground instantly.
It was the sixth day since we’d been stranded in this other world. Our bodies had learned to react before our minds—and it was this instinct that had kept us alive. This time, our reflexes saved us again. We ducked and rolled to the ground as a gust of wind passed over us, accompanied by the sound of trees breaking…
Light shone down on us. Looking up, I saw the clear blue sky.
And that was the problem.
“Those trees just got mowed down,” I observed in shock.
“No, Kazu,” Rushia corrected me, standing up with a stunned expression. “They were all harvested… by them.”
Following her gaze, I saw three giant skeletons, each wielding a huge scythe, dancing in the air. Each one stood at least ten meters tall, and they all had skeletal wings on their backs.
They weren’t just large; they seemed divine.
As soon as I had the thought, I knew it was true. These guys were of the divine soldier class.
“Gevshar Helix…” Rushia murmured.