Leo shrugged Aki and Elias’s arms off and staggered toward the others.
Sparing no effort for his companions was one of the amazing things about Leo, but it became problematic when he forgot to take care of himself in the process.
Leo tends to push himself to the brink, so we have to stop him before he goes too far!
Aki smacked Leo on the back of the head as he argued with Elias to let him pass. “Stop that, Leo! Your work ethic is extremely attractive, but I’m not fond of the way you make us worry by overexerting yourself.”
“Not fond of…me…?”
Taking secret delight in the shock that flashed across his face, Aki doubled down on him. “That’s right. We have a party to make sure no single person has to bear the burden alone. And our party isn’t just here to help Elias—we support each other equally. So this is the part where you leave the rest to Johann, Louis, and Sutcliff, and recover your energy. If you help out and end up passing out, you’ll make me feel like I failed you as a friend. Get it?”
Leo’s cheeks turned pink as he looked away from her smile and nodded once.
Seeing Leo suddenly behave, Elias scratched his cheek and muttered, “Neither of us is any match for Aki…”
“Hello, everyone,” Johann addressed the Adventurers crowded around the gate. “I am Johann Clarence, a Priest with Hero Elias’s Party. I am about to repair the Goddess Barrier, so please keep your eyes peeled for any new monsters that might infiltrate before I’m finished. Mina, I’m counting on you.”
“Roger that. I’m your girl for the job!” Mina replied and glided over to Elias and Aki. “Would you two mind helping me fend off any monsters that might come while the boys are casting the spell? Having another short-range attacker like Elias and a long-range Archer like Aki will increase the odds in our favor. Take care of what you can!” She winked at them.
Although Leo had wiped out all the monsters on the Field, there was a high chance of more spawning and attacking before the barrier was finished.
Aki and Elias shared a look and nodded.
“Sure! Elias, go with Mina. I’ve got Leo. I can fight from here.” Aki pointed to the bow and quiver resting on her shoulder. She could shoot down monsters from well behind Johann.
“Sounds like a plan! You’re with me then, Elias!” Mina waved Elias over and dashed out through the gate and into the open plains. They were going to fight off the monsters before they could get near the city.
Aki had but one job: taking out the aerial enemies. Pumped for a fight, her view was filled with her friends defending the outer gate and those chanting inside the walls. Just their presence changed the battlefield; such was the Hero Party.
Johann held his cross-shaped staff horizontally, signaling he was starting. Silence immediately fell over them, and the Goddess’s splendor dominated the space. He began to weave the first words of the spell in a crystal clear, dignified voice.
“O Creation Goddess.”
At the same time that Johann’s voice, which still had some boyish charm, shook the air, a magic circle fanned open on the ground beneath him. It spread like wildfire, forming a huge magic circle that spanned the entire city.
Louis and Sutcliff spread their legs about the width of their shoulders and extended their hands forward to support his spell.
A torrent of silver light flowed into the lines of the circle as if someone was carefully pouring a bucket of water onto it. It spread to every corner in the blink of an eye. The dazzling silver light emitting from their feet enveloped the houses, vegetation, and people without distinction.
“So pretty…” Aki murmured.
“Solar Magic is the prettiest hands down,” Leo said, looking up at the sky with her. “Once you learn Lunar Magic there’s no learning Solar, so I always have to look on with envy.”
He stared at the silver light piercing the sky with yearning.
Oh yeah, you have to choose either Lunar or Solar Magic. You can’t learn both.
To Aki, Leo’s Lunar spells were gorgeous enough, but just like how the grass always looks greener on the other side, perhaps so too did magic you couldn’t use.
Aki returned her attention out the open gate. Flashes of silver glinted in the distance as monsters let out death cries. Elias and Mina were fighting off a new wave of monsters.
Now’s the time for my notebook to come in handy!
She pulled the notebook from her pocket and flipped it open. Knowing what she wanted, the blank pages turned into a map revealing where the monsters were. Several dozen red dots quickly appeared on the page, and on closer inspection, several of them were closing in on the city from above.
My turn!
Ready for battle, Aki helped Leo sit on the ground and removed her arm from his shoulder.
“I’m going to provide aerial support. Check out my archery skills!” She hopped to her feet and slid the bow off her shoulder.
“Can you do it?” He looked at her with one eyebrow raised. Then he grinned and let her show off what she was made of without another word.
Aki held the bow in front of her, pulled her leg back, drew an arrow from the quiver on her back, and nocked it. Then she aimed in the direction she saw the monsters on the map.
Hit them!
When she loosed the arrow with that prayer, it became a thin beam of light that cut through the sky in a straight line, separated in the air, and transformed into several balls of light. It flew with precision toward the monsters in the sky and mercilessly pierced their torsos.
Several agonized shrieks shook the air before their corpses plummeted upside down.
Woohoo! It worked!
Aki heard Leo whistling behind her as she wiped the sweat from her brow.
“That was awesome, Aki! You’re now capable of wide-area attacks. Pretty good skill coming from a klutz like you!”
“You should have left out that last comment! Though I think the wide-area attack doesn’t do as much damage.”
She sensed her damage output decrease whenever she targeted several monsters at once.
The way she saw it, if her overall damage output was ten, then she did ten damage to a single target, and that number decreased with each additional target. In short, she would only do one damage if she targeted ten monsters with the same arrow.
Guess I have to increase my level if I want to do more damage. The stronger I get, the more useful I will be.
Just as Elias, Mina, and Aki finished defeating their respective enemies, Johann twirled his staff and thrust it powerfully into the ground as he continued chanting. He raised his face to the heavens as if imploring the Goddess for aid.
“Please wrap us in your protective embrace, for that is where it is safest!”
At the same time as his voice sublimated, Louis and Sutcliff swept their hands in the air to release the magic they built up. A flash of silver burst from the magic circle covering the city.
Aki caught sight of Elias and Mina jumping inside the closing barrier just as she was shutting her eyes against the blinding light. They had timed their return with the barrier’s reactivation.
The light was so bright it seemed to burn right through her tightly shut eyelids. Aki threw her arm over her eyes until the intensity weakened and the stinging stopped. Then she cautiously squinted at the jaw-dropping, divine scene unfolding around her.
Walls of light rose from the outer rim of the multifaceted magic circle and arched over the city like a dome. The translucent barrier was reminiscent of what the surface of a lake looked like from underwater.
The glassy barrier flashed once to signal its completion before the light abated and it became invisible to the naked eye. At the same time, the glowing mist dispersed, and the magic circle taking up the entirety of the square disappeared.
“…Success,” Leo exclaimed behind Aki as Johann thrust his staff into the ground and turned back to face them.
“Thank you all for your assistance. The Goddess Barrier has been fully repaired.”
Delighted cheers and cries rose from the raid party as Johann inflamed them with a glowing smile.
“We did it!”
“Hurray!”
“Thank the Goddess!”
Adventurers and guards alike high-fived, jumped with joy, broke down crying, and boasted. As everyone expressed their joy in different ways, Elias watched with a gallant smile, Mina stretched and grinned, Louis fixed his hair, Sutcliff smirked with his hand on his hip, and Johann shrugged with a look of relief.
“Ups-a-daisy,” Leo said with vigor as he shoved to his feet and put his hand on Aki’s shoulder. “Let’s join them, Aki.” He flashed a roguish grin and staggered toward Johann, waving.
It’s finally over! A sense of accomplishment and relief filled her as she watched his broad back go toward a waving Elias. She dashed over to them, beaming.
“You all did great!”