After correctly guessing Al’s request, he waved goodbye to them.
“The best of luck, Your Majesty,” he said before departing.
Al waved back at him and returned his well-wishes. “I’m praying for your success.”
“Rahh! Come at me if you want to get a beating!”
Toshisaka provoked the enemy on the other side of the harbor. He made for a successful decoy, just as he’d expected. His shout stole the enemy’s attention as he cut off the legs of the incoming abominations, completely immobilizing them. He used their bodies as obstacles and shields, successfully fending off the attacks coming from every direction. All the while, Al was thanking every deity he knew that he didn’t have to go to war against such talented warriors.
“I’ll have to win him over once this mission is complete,” Al whispered to himself while hiding behind the ruins of a wall, even though Feena’s spell masked their appearance.
“Al, we’ll talk about your homoerotic desires later. Focus on the task at hand.”
Feena had totally misunderstood the meaning behind Al’s smile. But she was right nonetheless: they needed to focus on their mission.
“We’re nearly there. Are you okay, Feena?”
She nodded silently. Thanks to Toshisaka’s diversion, they’d managed to sneak near the ship without drawing any suspicion. He should have bought enough time for them to reapply the spell and sneak on board.
“Okay, we’ll move with the next—”
He was interrupted by a sharp scream. “Ahhhh!”
“Gwrahhhhhhh!”
Al turned his head toward the disturbing scream, only to see an abomination in the form of a wolf standing on two legs, ready to deal a finishing blow to Toshisaka.
“Tch, we were so close!” he said begrudgingly, but there was no delay in his movements.
“Toshisaka, get down!” Al said as he aimed his arm at the abomination.
“Come forth, power of the Demon King!” he shouted, even though his words had no bearing; they were neither chants nor curses.
Regardless, black flames spewed forth from Al’s palm, blasting the abomination out of the way.
With that, Feena’s illusion was dispelled. “Hey! More intruders over there!”
The Empire’s soldiers quickly rushed out onto the deck and formed a defensive line. After Toshisaka spotted Al, he began rushing toward him while fending off countless attacks from the surrounding abominations.
“Geez, Al... But I can’t be mad at you. I would’ve filed for divorce if you hadn’t helped him!” Feena said while conjuring up a fireball.
“My sincerest apologies, Your Majesty. I have failed my mission.”
“We have to push through! Let’s go!”
Their plan had failed, but they didn’t have time to lament. The three of them began forcing their way onto the ship, but...
“Gwrahhhhhhh!”
Dozens of abominations appeared in front of them.
“Out of the way!”
Al swung his scythe at the abominations.
“Fireball. Frozen Orb. Lightning Strike.”
Feena’s spells blew a couple of abominations out of the way.
“Watch out! They’re not the only threat here!”
Toshisaka followed their attacks with a deadly slash, but their joint attack didn’t amount to much in front of the countless abominations forming a wall between the ship and them.
“Al, the ship is departing!”
Even before Feena made her comment, Al could see the huge ship hurriedly trying to set sail.
“Feena! Aim for the sail!”
Their ship was a generic sailing vessel. Without the sail, it couldn’t go anywhere.
“I will try... No, I will do it!”
“Toshisaka, you cover Feena!”
“Understood!”
Al and Toshisaka warded off the attacks aimed at Feena’s back.
“Fireball!”
Feena launched a fireball. Its target: the sail.
Fwoosh!
The sail caught on fire in a mere moment. Thanks to that, they’d gained a bit of time. At least, they should have, but their hopes were swiftly crushed. The ship showed no sign of slowing down. Suddenly, dozens of oars appeared on either side of the ship.
“It was a galley all along?!” Al shouted in frustration, but...
Al showed no sign of giving up either. “Feena, you handle the right side! I’ll take care of the left!”
“Got it!”
They each prepared spells to destroy the oars, but...
“Gwahh!”
A giant ape-like abomination hurled itself in front of Feena’s fireball. Despite the flames eating away at its flesh, it stood its ground, blocking Feena’s line of sight.
“Crap! Leave it to me!”
Al’s dark spell hit the abomination and blasted it out of the way. But then...
“Tch, there’s no end to them!”
Toshisaka’s katana had gotten stuck in an abomination’s shoulder.
“Urahhh!”
But the abomination didn’t even flinch; instead, it swung its tree trunk-like arms directly at him.
“Uhh... Gahhh!”
Toshisaka somehow managed to block the attack, but he wasn’t able to stand his ground. He was blown back all the way to Feena.
The abominations had gained the upper hand. They began flooding through the gap Toshisaka had left. Feena could see the boat, but she still couldn’t aim for it.
“Al, next to me!”
Holding Toshisaka by his nape, Feena began focusing her mana. Then, the moment Al jumped close to her...
“Crimson Waltz: Burst Rondo!”
Normally, this would be a simple spell that caused a tiny explosion around the caster. It was widely used for creating a curtain of dust. However, due to Feena’s magical affinity, the spell tore boulders out of the ground, making them rain down on the abominations.
“It’s not over. Bam!” she said in a teasing manner, but the scope of her spell widened the moment those words left her mouth.
It was pure chaos. Al caught a glimpse of an unlucky abomination, struck directly in the jaw by a boulder. Several others were blasted away with the ground. Their numbers decreased by the second.
“Amazing! Is this the power of Subdera’s Diva?!”
“This is no time to stand in awe! Cover Feena, I’ll take care of the... ship...”
As the cloud of dust settled, Al realized that the ship had already gotten a few hundred meters away from the docks.
“We didn’t make it...” Feena said, shocked.