Chapter 100 – Renia Gate (10)
“Th-the enemies are coming!”
“Run now! Further away!”
The village designated as an emergency shelter was already crowded with refugees, but they could not feel at ease.
This was because a horde of monsters, composed of orcs and goblins, was beginning to swarm from right behind them.
For the people living in this land, which had regained peace since the establishment of the Beastman Federation, this was an event comparable to a catastrophic disaster that one might only experience once in a lifetime.
“Quickly arm everyone who can fight…”
“But that’s not enough! We won’t hold out long; they’ll break through, and people will be slaughtered. We need to evacuate faster!”
The reactions among the refugees and the upper echelon, who were supposed to lead them, were divided. Some insisted that they must wait and fight while calling for reinforcements, while others argued they needed to flee to a safer distance even now.
“Do you not understand the situation!? Many of the refugees are already exhausted! If we run any further from here, the weak will lag behind first, like children and the elderly. Surely, you aren’t suggesting we use them as bait while the rest escape!?”
“…It’s unavoidable. So what can we do to ensure everyone survives? Is it either everyone dies or some live? We are faced with no other choice!”
“What the hell are you saying!?”
As tensions rose, more people began to grab each other by the collars, ready to fight. The mayor, Armu, who was nominally in command of them, could only bite his lip in silence.
“Mayor, the number of approaching enemies is almost one thousand. In contrast, we have only three hundred exhausted and injured soldiers and a little over a hundred adventurers. I believe it would be wise to retreat as much as we can.”
His aide, the advisor Hess, also spoke, his ears and tail bristling with tension.
“…No, we cannot abandon the refugees.”
Ultimately, he made his decision. In line with what those around him had somewhat anticipated, he chose to fight and protect the city rather than abandon the elderly and weak.
His reasoning was not purely out of compassion or a sense of duty.
“Those terrible monsters are rampaging. From the testimonies we’ve received, they are charging in without needing captives or anything, simply killing and slashing at anyone they see. Even if we abandon the city and flee, they will catch up to us in no time.”
His words silenced everyone. Realizing they agreed with his sentiment, he clenched his teeth and issued his final command.
“Hehe, if we are caught by those monsters in the plains, it will be a slaughter. But if we hold out using the city as a shield, we can resist! Move to your positions and secure the main roads. Reinforcements will definitely come!”
This was a command for their final stand. Although the cities of the Beastman Federation were mostly open territories without decently fortified walls, they could hold out well enough if they made good use of the sturdy stone buildings.
‘Yes, reinforcements will surely come. The higher-ups must have foreseen this situation. Otherwise, how could they have stocked such intricate protocols at such a critical moment?’
As he watched the people disperse according to his orders, he donned his armor as well.
The Beast Tribe had swiftly accepted the action protocol from Renia, responding quickly to the sudden gate outbreak.
That alone brought a glimmer of hope.
“Hope…”
He thought it existed.
*
“—! –!”
“Already!?”
I thought we had come as quickly as possible, but the city ahead was already under attack from the enemies.
Startled by the wind spirit’s urgent words, I ignored the protests from those around me and climbed up onto the carriage.
Although I couldn’t see clearly, my heightened communication with the wind spirit allowed me to grasp a sense of what was happening there.
“Damn it, are they really trying to kill everyone in such a mindless fashion?”
When speaking of the apocalypse, the rampaging corrupted monsters felt superficial, as if they had a deeper scheme at play.
Natural disasters that are mundane or common epidemics.
However, that wasn’t it. It seemed that the will of the apocalypse was genuinely resolved to eliminate this world by unleashing monsters to capture and slaughter all humans.
“Iriliana!”
“If this keeps up, it’ll be too late. I need to go ahead again!”
In such an urgent situation, I couldn’t afford to dawdle, so I decided to rush ahead on my own once more.
Spirits tend to exaggerate and make a fuss, but even accounting for that, the news from the wind spirit was terrifying.
The Beastfolk’s defenses were on the brink of collapse, and many were already bleeding and collapsing. I began to slide across the ground and dashed straight ahead, ignoring the terrain.
‘I didn’t want to level up like this.’
The more battles I repeated and the more I connected with the spirits, the more it would become my gain. My power to absorb nature’s energy and my communication with spirits were strengthening in real time.
This was also the very beginning of why I disguised myself as an adventurer.
But even knowing it was necessary, I absolutely did not want to absorb experience points like this.
“—!”
“We can’t help those who have already entered.”
At last, I spotted the city in the middle of the plains from a distance.
Under the clear sky of North America, without a cloud in sight, a horde of monstrous creatures was gathering at the entrance, raising clouds of dust as they aimed to enter the city.
Within the city, fierce combat was already underway. Ignoring those monsters outside while capturing those who had entered would lead to utter defeat.
“Guys, we need to do that.”
I made the best judgment I could in the current situation. Even if I collapsed here from exhaustion, I could potentially sweep away the multitude of distracted enemies with one strike.
It was a kind of special move I had prepared with the spirits. The spirits seemed to understand my resolve, fading away into the sky and ground with serious expressions.
“Heh.”
At that moment, a massive amount of mana was drawn out from my body all at once.
Utilizing that mana, the water spirit was the first to start preparing, gathering as much water vapor as it could from the atmosphere to create clouds in the sky.
‘The wind…’
Next came the wind spirit. The flow of air twisted, and a powerful wind began to whip up in an artificial direction.
If captured by an airplane or satellite now, one could observe a tiny localized flow rapidly forming in an area.
“A tornado in North America.”
On one knee with my leg bent, I couldn’t help but chuckle at the massive natural disaster I had just created alongside the spirits.
Suddenly, a strong gust of wind blew in with the dark clouds gathering in the sky, quickly turning into a tornado that descended right into the midst of the gathered enemies.
“–…?”
“Go all the way!”
I could see the monsters, confused by the tornado that suddenly appeared and began sweeping them away.
Though I was still unaccustomed to such large-scale spirit magic, it didn’t display the capacity to devour vehicles; it was enough to instantly suck in small goblins and make even larger orcs stagger about, unable to control themselves.
Sharp stone fragments created by the earth spirit began to swirl into that fierce wind.
Thus, the stones scattered in all directions with the tornado became projectiles, indiscriminately battering the enemies surrounding us.
A direct hit would be fatal, and even a glancing blow would crush or pierce through armor.
‘If I could mix in the fire spirit…’
As bolts of lightning struck down wildly, created by the collaboration of the water and wind spirits, it reminded me of the enormous tornado in the videos I had seen online that could engulf lightning and flames.
If I were to obtain the fire spirit, I could summon something akin to that tornado depicted in those videos. At that point, I would not tire from merely summoning a tornado of this size.
But while I had taken the time to gently explain things to the playful spirits and practiced just a little, the results were quite satisfactory.
Through our bond, I also realized that the spirits enjoyed creating this massive tornado very much.
I quickly pushed aside the thought of what would happen if I let them indulge and suddenly started asking for this every time, and stood up, observing the tornado slowly receding and the hundreds of lifeless corpses strewn beneath.
Fortunately, I still had enough stamina left to walk to the scene. That was the fruit of practice.
“The reinforcements have arrived? Yes, I can see them too.”
Ahead of me, our allies surged forward, attacking the surviving remnants and rescuing those who had been fighting within the city.
This was a good turn of events. By the time I reached there, all the troublesome matters would likely be resolved.
