How many gold-badge soldiers would it take to even stand a chance against these opponents, who had already given the Holy Protectorates a run for their money? Even if they did manage to stop the large ant creatures, the smaller ones were still going to reach the wall.
“I could try doing something…but…”
Homura wasn’t sure what she should do. She wasn’t sure how or why it happened, but there were times when she suddenly displayed immense power, far beyond what she could usually muster. It was as if there was some great force that welled up inside her, in a way that was different from when she just lost control.
But it was clear that her body wouldn’t be able to withstand the flames long enough to destroy the army. The ant-men’s numbers were just too overwhelming. Even getting rid of a tenth of them was probably more than she could manage.
Homura clung to one last, desperate hope, that someone would show up out of the blue to save them from all this. Little did she know who was about to answer those prayers.
“Wait… It’s Seigrat and Ieskha…!”
They were back on their feet again. The curse had eaten away at their bodies and souls, and they were both coughing up blood, but the Holy Protectorates of the Shield were standing.
“Not…sooo…faaassst—!!”
Ieskha focused every last drop of rage she had, the ice surging in a sudden rush. The glacial mass suddenly grew so large that they could feel the chill all the way from the city walls. The ice formed a wall in front of Ieskha, a towering edifice that cut through the majority of the army, obstructing their passage. None of the creatures caught inside the ice showed any signs of movement now. Not even the massive Hammer Hands.
The ant creatures who were trapped on the other side began to senselessly pound at the wall of ice, but the wall was as strong as Ieskha’s will.
In an instant, Ieskha had divided their ranks. She teetered in place and then collapsed to the dirt. She had risked her life for this towering wall of ice to stop the invading army.
Unfortunately, a fairly large number of ants had already made their way past Ieskha before she could deploy the wall. Along with Long Legs, a horde of smaller ants was now surging toward Seigrat.
“A Holy Protectorate doesn’t go down so easily…”
Broken and battered, Seigrat forced himself to his feet. Despite being on the verge of collapse, he brandished his beloved long spear in defiance.
He suddenly dashed forward, driven solely by his sense of duty, ignoring the pain that exploded throughout his body. He slashed through the smaller ants, one after another, but there were just too many. It truly was a horde. Seigrat’s movements began to slow, but Long Legs was still waiting.
Each time Seigrat used his magic, pain coursed through his already curse-riddled body. He could barely move at this point. Long Legs had been dragging him all over the battlefield.
As Seigrat’s momentum began to run out, he knew what he had to do.
“Until the end…!”
The intense pain threatened to render Seigrat unconscious at any moment, but he used his own life force as fuel to leap into the air, high above the winged ants. He soared up and up, as if he intended to go above the very sky.
“One last gift to remember me by…!”
Seigrat pumped every last bit of magic he could into his spear and then hurled it straight down, toward the earth.
Several crimson spears of magical energy flared into being, spreading outward from Seigrat’s long spear and raining down like a storm upon the surface below. The spears of light pierced through the flying ants before colliding with the ground in a barrage of explosions.
The intense light was blinding. A moment later a booming shock wave reached the watchers’ ears, sending tremors across their skins.
“Agh!”
Homura instinctively shut her eyes and crouched for cover. Seigrat’s strike was like a carpet-bombing. He reduced all the small ants in a vast area to dust. Not even Long Legs managed to escape.
As Seigrat fell exhausted, like a star to the earth, his mind ran to thoughts of Homura and the other girls.
“I guess I won’t be able to train them after all…”
Seigrat crashed into the massive blast crater below.
Homura timidly opened her eyes. Seigrat and Ieskha were not moving. However, the ants that had managed to avoid both the ice wall and Seigrat’s bombing continued to march toward Galdorssia.
“The protectorates…”
Homura’s chest throbbed with grief as she imagined the worst. Falmeyr seemed to realize what Homura was thinking, however, and kindly reassured her.
“It’s all right… They’re still alive, just barely…,” Falmeyr said, her face twisted up in pain. “I can still sense their life forces…”
“For real? Still, at this rate…”
Homura was relieved Seigrat and Ieskha were still alive, but they were out of the frying pan now and into the fire. It wasn’t even that Seigrat and Ieskha had failed to stop the monsters. They had stopped more than their share. But there were just too many. The seething army ants continued to draw nearer. And there were even more waiting on the other side of Ieskha’s ice wall.
As worried as Homura was about Seigrat and Ieskha, all of Galdorssia was in the same boat right now.
The ants were finally close enough to be targeted by the archers and magic users atop the wall. Many, however, managed to slip through the volley—the airmen, in particular. Ants had already started to reach the wall.
“No, the monsters are getting in!”
Just then, Falmeyr gave the signal to her attendant.
“Serena, it’s time.”
“As you wish,” Serena answered shortly, and began chanting a spell. “Wall of light, obstruct the wicked.”
Serena cast her magic barrier as easily as if she were casting a beginner spell. The barrier deployed outward, following the city’s wall. Before long, it had become a massive barricade encompassing the entire city.
“Serena… Wait, you mean Rhiann’s sister?!”
Homura remembered Rhiann telling her about an older sister, one who was responsible for protecting the city. The monsters were repelled as they crashed into the massive barrier, but they threw themselves at it over and over again in an attempt to destroy it. Meanwhile, the soldiers atop the wall continued to shoot the monsters down.
“There’s a reason they call her Serena the Bastion,” Falmeyr said. Despite the state Falmeyr was in, she beamed with pride for Serena.
Falmeyr’s personal attendant, Rhiann’s older sister, and a Holy Protectorate of the Shield who was vital to Galdorssia’s defense. A white, shield-shaped badge, previously hidden by her cloak, glittered upon Serena’s breast.