Galdorssia had the Holy Protectorates of the Shield, the strongest guardians of the realm, out there on the field. If the rejects were needed, it was probably already game over…
“The country attacking us is located far to the east, right?” said Homura.
Staring off into the distance, toward the east, they could clearly see an enormous cloud of smoke winding toward them along the road. It was long and undulating, like a caterpillar, and seemed to meander all the way from the town of Wodtrim.
“What the heck is that?”
Psycho glared at the smoke, a tense expression on her face.
“Whatever it is, it’s clearly not good.”
“I really can’t see for shit… I wonder if I could use healing magic to fix my eyes.”
Apparently Psycho was extremely shortsighted.
“That smoke is coming this way!” Homura shouted.
Just then, Falmeyr ascended the stairs, her attendant leading her by the hand.
“I’m sorry I’m late.”
Falmeyr was holding the spear that usually sat enshrined in the Sanctuary of the Oracle. She used it to support herself as she moved, like a walking stick.
Although Falmeyr’s eyes were covered by a silver mask, she would sometimes turn her face toward a person while speaking as if to make eye contact, creating the impression that she could actually see. At the moment, however, it did not seem she could see anything that was in front of her.
“The monsters at the front of the formation are emitting some sort of smoke,” one of the soldiers on watch reported as soon as Falmeyr arrived.
“Perhaps there is something they wish to keep hidden. Seigrat, Ieskha, are you prepared?”
Seigrat and Ieskha were the ones who would have to face this oncoming column of smoke. They were both on standby outside the city wall. Seigrat the Dragon Render and Ieskha the Ice Crusher.
The silvery-white armor and helmet Ieskha was wearing were like beautiful works of art, which only served to highlight the savagery of the massive war hammer she carried in her hands. The undersides of her sabatons, meanwhile, sported a profusion of spikes, similar to crampons, that dug into the earth as she walked.
“It’s time.”
Ieskha lifted her war hammer and began walking toward the smoke. Seigrat called after her as she walked away.
“Have fun. After this is all over, if you wanna get dinner together—”
“I’ll pass.”
“You don’t have to be rude about it…”
Despite their banter, Seigrat’s voice sounded completely flat. The column of smoke was steadily drawing nearer. Seigrat waited until Ieskha was sufficiently far away before assuming his own battle stance.
“Here goes nothing!”
Seigrat had donned the same deep-purple armor he had worn while slaying the dragon, but he was not wielding his beloved long spear this time. Instead, he gripped a simply made javelin in a throwing pose. It was barely more than a pole made out of iron.
A gigantic pile of these javelins was stacked up next to him. His long spear had been thrust into the earth, as if it was the one weapon he was not willing to throw.
The fact that Seigrat had so many javelins at the ready must mean that he was expecting to toss quite a few. Seigrat pumped magical power into his weapon. While it wasn’t as bright as the long spear when he had fought the dragon, the javelin began to glow with a crimson light.
Seigrat the warrior, known in Galdorssia as the Dragon Render, fixed his eyes on the column of smoke and hurled the javelin.
“Hyaghh!!”
The magical javelin became a scarlet comet as it sped through the air. It split the sky, leaving a trail of light behind, before embedding itself with perfect accuracy into the monster at the head of the column of smoke. There was a burst of magical energy as it landed, sending everything nearby flying and leaving a crater in the earth.
The sound wave reached Homura and the others a moment later.
“Seigrat sure is strong,” Homura said.
“I know. Can you believe they expect as much from us as well…?” said Jin.
“Tell me about it… I know they keep telling us we have it in us, but I’m not feeling very confident lately…”
Confronted once again with the enormous power of the Holy Protectorates of the Shield, the five girls couldn’t help but question their own potential. While they were still pondering their futures, the smoke began to clear, and they caught sight of what had been hidden.
“Those no-good—” Seigrat’s voice shook with anger.
The smoke steadily dissipated, revealing cages that had been smashed to pieces and the scattered bodies of dead monsters. Their numbers seemed incredible. There was only one explanation.
“They really were turning townspeople into monsters…!” said Homura.
“What did I tell you?” said Jin. “The enemy went and conscripted a bunch of normal, weak citizens into an instant army.”
“That’s so terrible…”
The monsters inside the cages being carried forward on carts resembled ant creatures of some sort with large carapaces. The carts, however, were being pulled by horse-shaped creatures like the ones they had seen in School Village.
“Well, this is a fine joke they’ve played on us,” Psycho said, her voice dripping with sarcasm. Bringing the monsters was a move likely designed to unnerve any humans who knew about the Dark Lord’s curseblood. That included Seigrat, who was currently spearheading the counterattack.
Homura grew angry. She could feel something hot rising up from deep inside. She wanted to dive onto the battlefield, right then and there, and burn the whole sorry sight out of existence. Falmeyr, however, cautioned Homura to stay her hand.
“No, Homura. There is someone else whose anger takes precedence now,” she said, preventing Homura from going berserk. Falmeyr’s voice, though soft, seethed with its own simmering indignation.
Homura was struggling to get her fiery rage under control when a woman’s furious scream exploded across the battlefield.
“You goddamn pieces of shiiit—!!”
Ieskha was always so uptight—it took Homura a moment to figure out that the scream had just come from inside Ieskha’s silvery-white helmet.
As Ieskha screamed, the ground around her began to freeze over, and ice raced outward from her feet. The frost spread in the blink of an eye, immediately creating a massive field of ice.
“Ieskha holds a benediction known as Frostbound Fury, which causes her surroundings to freeze when she grows angry.”
The girls were starting to see why Ieskha was known as the Ice Crusher. Seigrat must have been waiting to attack until Ieskha had gotten far enough away that he wouldn’t be caught up in the vortex.
“But what is the enemy after? Why aren’t the monsters in the cages moving?”
Psycho’s question seemed reasonable enough. The answer, however, was very simple.