Ding Ding Ding Ding!
An alarm, installed less than an hour ago, began to ring noisily, cutting through the sound of rain and echoing across the campsite.
Soldiers who had paused to eat their rations hurriedly rushed out of their tents, and the squad leader standing in the center of the camp began loudly explaining the situation.
“A horde of Tauros incoming! Distance approximately 200 meters! A leader has been spotted among them!”
Under the cloudy sky devoid of starlight or moonlight, the forest, blanketed in pitch-black darkness, echoed only with the sounds of soldiers hastily donning their armor and the raindrops hitting that armor.
“Did you say there’s a leader? Any chance you can estimate their numbers?”
“According to reconnaissance reports, the lack of clear visibility has made precise counts difficult. However, because there’s a leader, we expect their numbers to be significant!”
Leader.
This varies by species, but most monsters roam in groups of 30 to 40, aimlessly searching for prey and prioritizing the consumption of whatever meat they come across.
However, a group with a leader is different.
Unlike ordinary monsters that are entirely driven by instinct, leaders possess intelligence comparable to humans and are even capable of limited communication.
They tactically command the monsters under their control, transforming what would otherwise be a chaotic group of beasts into an organized army guided by strategy.
Additionally, the size of a group led by a leader far exceeds that of an ordinary herd. They often consist of 300 to 400 creatures, and it’s not uncommon for more than 1,000 monsters to travel together.
“Damn… We’re in big trouble.”
It wasn’t surprising that sighs of despair erupted from the soldiers.
“All soldiers, complete your combat preparations within one minute! Move!”
Since most soldiers were preparing to rest in the cramped tents, their heavy armor lay discarded. They now scrambled to feel around for it outside in the dark.
“Lantern! Hey, Private! Bring the lantern from inside the tent!”
“Are you serious? Do you think the lantern will light in this downpour, idiot?! Pull yourself together!”
“Hey, hey! That helmet is mine! Look, the size is different, you blockhead!”
Without electricity, and with the moon and stars hidden by the clouds, the night was darker than I could have ever imagined.
It was absolute darkness. There wasn’t a single spot of light in this forest, and the soldiers fumbled, frantically hunting for lanterns and hastily putting on their armor.
“Orb.”
In the midst of the chaos and fear enveloping the dark campsite, Alter softly chanted a spell.
In an instant, it was as if a bright flare had been launched into the sky, and the world was illuminated.
The soldiers, who had been staring blankly at the bright orb soaring high into the heavens, quickly regained their composure and began gathering weapons and armor efficiently.
Now, showing the precise and coordinated movements they normally displayed, the soldiers quickly prepared for battle.
“…I apologize for only causing trouble. I’m embarrassed to be showing such a poor side of myself.”
Sighing at the soldiers’ fumbling efforts, the squad leader offered his thanks to Alter.
“Opponents spotted 50 meters ahead! The count is estimated to be between 500 and 600!”
Even before Alter could brush off the compliment with a light-hearted joke, the reconnaissance soldier screamed out the latest information.
The majestic hoofbeats of the Tauros herd cut through the rain, resonating in the soldiers’ hearts.
These sounds approached to a certain distance before scattering in all directions—it was clear the Tauros had encircled the campsite.
The soldiers carefully raised their blades, ensuring their feet didn’t sink into the muddy ground, and soon the grotesque creatures emerged between the trees.
“…Hmph. It’s you bastards who have been killing my underlings.”
The leader, wielding a spear stained with dried blood and rust, pointed directly at Alter, who stood beneath the bright light.
…Wait, what’s he talking about? Killing his underlings? Alter? When did that happen?
“Alright, this might be a pretty decent opportunity. Master Bin, watch closely.”
Without even glancing at the Tauros leader who had aimed a spear at him, Alter spoke to me.
“From now on, I’ll be using three variations of the same magic. The first: without even reciting the spell’s name. The second: reciting only the spell’s name. The third: reciting both the incantation and the spell’s name.”
To him, whether it was 400 monsters or 4000, they clearly posed no threat.
Of course, given the difference in levels, it was understandable.
“Kill them!”
Realizing that his existence had been ignored, the Tauros leader, overwhelmed by rage and humiliation, roared.
The moment the leader’s command reached the group, hoofbeats began resonating from every direction.
“All soldiers! Protect the mages as your top priority!”
While mages can unleash powerful magic with wide-ranging effects, they lack the survivability to face enemies directly.
Most mages aren’t strong enough to block incoming weapons with a shield or agile enough to evade attacks.
Thus, on most battlefields, soldiers are required to also protect the mages.
However, the mage standing right under this light and smiling warmly at me was none other than a high-tier mage who had reached the 8th Tier.
“Normal” is a word that doesn’t apply to a clearly extraordinary being.
“Roarrrr!”
Soldiers began swinging their swords toward the charging Tauros herd, shouting battle cries from all directions. They guarded the three of us—me, Alter, and Lir—with determination.
Meanwhile, Alter stood still under the falling rain.
At the center of the now chaotic battlefield, he slowly raised a finger…
Whoosh—
And immediately released a piercing blue light into the fray.
“That was a bolt, cast without even reciting its name.”
The falling rain turned into a mist. The drenched trees caught on fire, and a hole was punched into the encircling formation of hundreds of Tauros.
“…Hmm.”
The Tauros leader, seemingly realizing something had gone wrong, started retreating, making a hoofbeat sound.
“Bolt.”
Without giving the opponent time to fully grasp the situation, Alter unleashed a massive mass of crackling electricity from his fingertips.
Bang!
A colossal energy blast tore through the air, creating a huge gap in the encircling formation behind the herd.
In the midst of the explosion, over 60 Tauros were turned into ashes.
The Tauros surrounding this pile of ashes were electrocuted by the spreading current and met their end almost instantly.
With two simple bolts, over 100 Tauros were obliterated.
“…Retreat! We retreat!”
The leader finally realized they had picked the wrong prey, yelling to his underlings and spinning around, kicking up powerful hoofbeats as he fled.
The Tauros group, which had just started to engage in combat, followed their leader with no hesitation, despite the sudden retreat command.
“That was casting the spell by reciting only its name. And…”
The scattered hoofbeats converged to a single point. Alter raised his finger toward the spot where the sounds had gathered and slowly began the incantation.
“One point. Deprivation. Unity and Compression.”
Crackle…!
Electric currents surged around him, and the falling rain began to boil.
“Bolt.”
With a roar, a compressed sphere of electricity shot out from Alter’s wrinkled fingertip.
Light.
A colossal light, far surpassing the small orb floating above us, enveloped the rain-soaked forest. Heat radiated everywhere, and the rain turned into mist, descending onto the battlefield.
Nothing remained in the direction Alter’s finger pointed to.
“As previously explained, while the process of reciting a spell slows down the casting, it exponentially increases the power.”
With a flick of his finger, not only the fleeing Tauros and their leader, but also the trees densely packed in the forest and even the very ground on which they stood turned into a pile of ash before the massive surge of electricity.
“That’s simply how it is.”
I exhaled softly while gazing at the battlefield, now empty of everything, and the mist filling the air.
I had never even imagined that a ‘bolt’ could possess such power.
“…If only I’d known this, I would have chosen to be a bolt mage.”
A fleeting, meaningless regret crossed my mind.
Of course, I mustn’t forget that Alter is an 8th Tier high-tier mage, and that the Tauros, no matter how they were led, were only mid-20s to 30s level monsters.
Still, the power of the bolt he just demonstrated was enough to captivate me.
“You… by any chance, do you know the incantation for awakening? I understand that one must develop their own, but I figure referencing yours could help me with my own development.”
If I were to add an incantation when using awakening, wouldn’t it make it much stronger? My eyes lit up with the unexpected opportunity, and I turned to look at Alter.
“I’m sorry, but the awakening spell is something our school of mages stopped studying long ago. You might find what incantations were once used by looking into ancient texts, but…”
Adjusting his disheveled beard, damaged by static electricity, Alter continued.
“You see, it’s often best for each individual to develop their own incantations. No two humans have the exact same thought process or computational structure. In fact, perhaps it’s better not to be influenced by others’ incantations. Even the spell I just recited was something I developed myself at the age of twenty-one…”
“Hah…”
“Wow, we’ve really been accompanying mages far beyond our league.”
“This expedition was effortless from start to finish.”
“Who’d survive that kind of magic, right? There’s no point confirming—it’s total annihilation.”
From behind where Alter was still explaining, bursts of hollow laughter escaped from the soldiers.
It was understandable. The magic Alter had just performed was nothing short of superhuman.
With a few simple words, the Tauros herd had been wiped out entirely, the ground had split, and the rain had turned into mist—a scene that would be etched into their memories forever.
“…Unbelievable.”
Even the squad leader, like the soldiers, stared blankly at the area where Alter’s bolt had passed, wearing a similar stunned expression. He then gave another order for rest, and the soldiers immediately sheathed their swords, started to undress their armors and laid them aside, responding to his command.
“…What do you think you’re doing? Isn’t it too early to clock out? The area isn’t completely secured, is it?”
The 8th Tier high-tier mage, Alter Heinzel, who had just brought calm to the battlefield, spoke with an expression of disbelief to the soldiers now stripping off their armor and heading back to their tents.
Relaxation and complacency—
Under normal circumstances, well-trained elite soldiers wouldn’t so simply wrap up a battle. They would usually need to check if the mage had left behind any monsters to clear the area and ensure full security.
But they didn’t do any of that this time.
They had drawn such hasty conclusions because they faced such an unreasonably powerful and devastating blow.
And then, it happened.
Clop.
Faint hoofbeats emerged against the sound of the rain.
“Hmm?”
The Tauros leader had certainly turned into a heap of white ashes after being struck by Alter’s bolt, as his finger had pointed directly at its back.
It was an undeniable conclusion.
And it was also certain that most of the Tauros under its command would have met the same end upon being electrocuted by the massive bolt.
But could it really be that not even one Tauros survived among that vast number of monsters?
No matter how powerful the bolt was, believing that it eradicated over 600 monsters perfectly, without leaving a single survivor, with just three shots…
That was sheer optimism.
“Manifestation.”
As I realized this, my mouth instinctively reacted. Yellowish-red powders emerged from my skin, forming in the vicinity of my shoulder blades.
Clop.
The faint hoofbeats carried again, so faint that one might mistake it for a figment of their overactive imagination.
Clop.
Clop!
The sound grew increasingly clear.
“!”
The squad leader finally snapped back to reality, drawing a sword from his hip and rushing towards us.
“What are you all doing?! The leader’s dead, prepare for an ambush!”
The leader issued a ‘retreat’ command right before its demise at the hands of Alter’s bolt.
Without their leader, the herd of monsters reverted to their instinctive selves. The ‘command’ that once governed their ‘instincts’ was gone, and now these instincts took full control over their bodies.
These instincts dictated one thing only: attack the humans, no matter how strong or capable they may be, no matter how devastating the attack they had witnessed.
Fear was a word that simply did not exist in the lexicon of monsters.
Whoosh!
As if to vindicate my concerns, a massive Tauros body emerged through the burning trees.
Most of the soldiers were either retreating to their tents or taking off their armor again, leaving their formation scattered.
Nothing stood between the monstrous creature and us mages.
This charred creature didn’t look like it had much life left.
Yet, showing no signs of pain, it thundered toward where Lir and I stood.
Upon seeing this, the infantrymen belatedly began rushing in our direction.
However, even if the soldiers ran as fast as they could, they couldn’t match the speed of a Tauros with the lower body of a horse.
It happened in the blink of an eye.
The time it took for the Tauros to emerge from the forest and thrust its charred spear at us.
It had targeted Lir.
Leaderless monsters chose their prey randomly. Lir became the target of this remaining Tauros simply due to bad luck.
“!”
Lir quickly raised her palm, gathering electricity.
Though a remarkably agile reaction, typical of an elf, there wasn’t enough time for the magical energy within her body to convert into electric currents and then into fully potent magic.
The monstrous spear was already at her throat.
At the moment the word “death” was engraved in the eyes of Lir, a genius mage who had reached the Tier 4 at the age of twenty-one…
Click!
A mechanical sound emanated from the yellowish-red crystal orb floating above my shoulder.
