Chapter 421

But that didn’t mean they were threatening either.

As Ramiya put strength into her left foot again, the ground cracked with a crack sound and caved in. Shooting forward rapidly, she moved smoothly as if sliding. It was unbelievable movement for someone holding a greatsword as tall as herself in both hands. Passing by while grazing the side of the first monster, she then diagonally slashed the neck of the second monster that arrived. At that action, the first one’s body split in two from the side, and the second one collapsed forward just as it was running.

Behind Ramiya, who bisected two monsters in an instant, Ali’s magic helping her flashed from various places.

Taking advantage of that gap, Azar began treating Remberton. Perfect treatment wasn’t possible right away, but he could treat urgent areas before it was too late.

Remberton, having just finished treatment, blinked a few times and got up.

“…Let’s join in.”

“Don’t overdo it. People will come soon.”

Saying so, Azar checked the condition of the other wounded people. He treated those who needed it and deliberately kept those who seemed better off unconscious. He wanted to tell them to carry them and leave this place, but fearing monsters might rush out from the smoke the moment he looked away, he couldn’t readily say so.

“Ali! Can’t you put out this fire?!” Azar shouted and asked Ali.

“Well…! I’ve been trying to put it out since earlier… It’s not working well!”

Even without Azar saying it, Ali knew well what he had to do at this moment from past experience.

Except for the enemies, everyone deployed here was a knight. Unless knights dug up dirt with swords to put out the fire, Ali had to step up.

He had been trying to extinguish the fire for a while now by spraying water with water spirits, throwing dirt with earth spirits, and moving the wind to block the air. But the flames only subsided briefly before burning fiercely again.

Although in a different field, to Ali, who was versed in magic, this fire wasn’t ordinary. It didn’t subside even with spirit magic. Then if not magic, what could it be? Perhaps that dark magic was mixed in?

Around the time Ali let out a troubled groan, on the other side, Remberton, having joined Ramiya, was subduing the dark mages he had missed once.

The reason he got hurt initially was largely due to carelessness. Would even Remberton have imagined an enemy throwing something like a potion bottle in the middle of a fight? Since suffering greatly from the potion poured on him like that, annoyance was rising from deep inside Remberton for various reasons.

What an absurd mistake.

The wretchedness coming from ruining the plan.

The thought that his friends knew, and perhaps the people he least wanted to find out might have seen it, made shame rise from deep within his chest.

Consequently, his actions were becoming bolder. If Nathan hadn’t told them not to kill, he would have…

Dodging the attacks launched by the dark mages by twisting his body, Remberton quickly struck inside.

The weakness of mages remained the same for dark mages. Long preparation time. Vulnerability in close combat. Therefore, Remberton made them shut their mouths by hitting their chins before they could activate magic, hit their solar plexus, or struck the back of their necks with the back of his sword, knocking them out with force.

With Remberton joining, Ramiya could focus solely on Mois.

While prioritizing capturing Mois, Ramiya chased after him, subduing dark mages with somewhat crude methods like blowing off limbs or hitting them with the flat of the sword to knock them out so they couldn’t do anything foolish.

Mois fled, hiding his body using the black smoke as a curtain. But Ramiya persistently chased after him.

Clang-lang!

Ramiya, running while holding a sword as tall as herself, had the tip of the dragging sword scratch the floor and spark. However, as she rampaged, the situation quickly reversed.

“Why don’t you stop now, Arche?” Ramiya demanded. “How about surrendering quietly?”

“Kugh…!” Arche replied.

Ramiya slashed through monsters that emerged from the smoke, as if they were blocking her way. She cornered Mois. Where had the momentum Mois shown just a moment ago disappeared? He was busy running away with the dark mages. It was when Ramiya barely closed the distance with Mois while deflecting magic flying towards her that she noticed a dark mage gathering magic power, as if preparing something.

“[—…, here—…]”

The moment an ominous muttering was heard, the sword flew from her hand before she even processed the thought. The greatsword, flying fiercely as if throwing a dagger, lodged itself in the body of the defenselessly standing dark mage. At the same time, Ramiya threw her body forward.

Thud!

“Caught you!”

“…?!”

Thanks to ramming Mois with almost her whole body, the two got tangled and rolled on the ground.

“L-let go of this!” Mois shouted in an angry voice.

However, it was Ramiya who seized the victory. “Think I’ll let you go!” Hehe, smiling wickedly, Ramiya twisted Mois’s arms behind his back and pressed him into the ground.

“Now! Surrender, Arche! No, was it Mois now? Well, whatever! That’s not what’s important…”

Dash!

“Raya!”

Following behind, Azar appeared with Remberton. Seeing Ramiya subdue Mois, Azar was momentarily relieved, but goosebumps rose all over his body. He couldn’t understand why Mois had relaxed his body as if giving up. Mois’s mouth was moving silently.

“Mouth! Raya, block his mouth!”

“Huh?”

But it was too late.

“[—…!]”

While Ramiya paused, the spell Mois was chanting ended.

At that moment, the other two also felt what Azar felt. A chill soared from their toes to the top of their heads. Why did the surrounding air feel excessively cold even though they were in a fire pit? Goosebumps rose all over their bodies involuntarily at the terrible sensation like thousands of bugs crawling on their skin.

At the same time, forcing his creaking neck to move, Mois grinned. “Ha, haha…! Why did you follow me so persistently!”

Still subdued, Mois laughed unpleasantly. It seemed he wasn’t satisfied with just summoning monsters.

Why did Mois keep running away, and where did he end up at the end of his flight?

Ramiya couldn’t think of it as she was distracted chasing him. Even more so because the black smoke blocked her vision.

Excluding Nathan as a special case, Ramiya also knew that magic doesn’t activate just by moving one’s mouth without any preparation. She also knew in advance from hearing Agrian that Mois’s skill wasn’t at that level. So there was a sense that she moved with a somewhat light heart.

…But what on earth is this heavy air felt now?

The moment Mois’s chant ended, the magic power spread in the area began to twist bizarrely.

Crack.

A sound of something splitting came from somewhere.

Looking closely, a crack had formed diagonally in the empty air. The crack gradually widened its area, its shape reminiscent of a spider web.

Suddenly, the place where fine cracks like a spider web had formed shattered, showing what was behind it.

“I prepared this thinking monsters alone would be boring.”

Flinch, everyone there trembled. Knights arriving belatedly also faced the same sight and their bodies stiffened.

“T-this is…”

Visible through the gap was a gigantic eye.

A vertical pupil split like that of a reptile emitted a bewitching light, capturing those standing on the other side in its eye.

“…!”

For a moment, even Azar felt dizzying vertigo.

“Ugh!”

Some individuals who gazed upon its eyes couldn’t withstand the instinctive nausea and vomited. Believing the existence beyond that realm was extraordinary, Azar involuntarily moved his body. The instinct to survive overcame his physiological fear.

At some point, he was running forward. Before he could comprehend it, a Holy Sword was held in his hand.

A giant hand slowly emerged from the gap. Although it was portrayed as a hand, Azar couldn’t be certain if it was truly a hand. It resembled a leg of a cephalopod. Its size was immense. Such a being attempted to force its way out through that narrow gap.

While the majority of people were petrified by magic, only two individuals remained mobile.

***

‘…Strange.’

As the procession continued without incident, Nathan couldn’t stop thinking something was strange somewhere. Was it because they handled it well in advance?

‘Even so, for nothing to happen to this extent?’

It doesn’t make sense. But besides the accident in the East, really no accident had happened yet.

Soon, he could see the Temple of Siana in his view. The distance had closed significantly, and the exterior of the grand Temple was visible. As such, it wouldn’t be strange if something happened already.