Chapter 109. Air Raid (1)
“Evacuation?”
Before I could even ask what had happened, the guard desperately pointed out the window.
“Magical Beasts are moving from the direction of the mine!”
Magical Beasts are moving.
At those words, a hint of bewilderment crossed the Saintess's face.
“Medical activities are still underway in the city center. We must withdraw those people as well...!”
“The guards will handle that. First, you must evacuate to a safe place in case of emergency!”
Amelia tried to regain her composure, asking the guard back with forced calmness.
“This hotel is on the outskirts, but it's still within the city, isn't it? The mine was definitely outside the city. Where are we evacuating to from here?”
“It's the underground bunker for natural disasters located in the center of the city. You see, among the Magical Beasts that came out of the mine last time─!”
WHOOSH!!
Just then, a strange tearing sound rushed into my ears, who was listening to their conversation.
A heavy and oppressive noise, completely different from just the sound of wind. It was getting closer to me from outside the window.
Simultaneously, I immediately threw myself towards the Saintess.
The large glass window filling the side wall of the hotel lounge shattered into pieces as if struck by something.
“Kyaah!”
The Saintess's small scream rang in my ears.
I held her in my arms, my back hitting the floor as I was pushed back, stopping when my shoulder hit the wall.
The next moment, a burning pain was felt around my waist. I had been grazed. I confirmed it expressionlessly and shifted my gaze forward.
It was immediately clear in the next moment that a human-sized black figure had shattered the window and was rushing towards the Saintess by a hair's breadth.
“E-Enoch!”
I got up, protecting the surprised Amelia with one arm wrapped around her.
Looking forward, I saw a writhing presence on the floor.
Two pairs of thin wings like a bat's. A body made of hard, inorganic-like carapace. I recognized its identity immediately.
[Nictheris]
A flying Magical Beast.
The creature twisted and contorted its body on the floor, folding its wings. Then it immediately righted itself and let out a metallic roar.
-KIRIRIRIRIK!!
The Magical Beast spread its wings wide and charged, slicing through the air towards me like a harpoon.
I watched it expressionlessly.
“Hm, where do you think you're going—!”
Immediately after, coinciding with Sirocco's clear shout and a PAAAANG— sound like air exploding. Sirocco landed after performing a spin.
The Magical Beast bounced off the walls and pillars like a soccer ball, its body intensely crashing, then it disintegrated in mid-air and died, turning into ash.
Fizzle.
I confirmed that Sirocco had just kicked the flying Magical Beast that was hurtling towards me by jumping into the air.
“G-Gasp!!”
Beside me, perhaps completely unaware of the movements that had just occurred, the guard was flinching and frozen stiff.
Sirocco, who glanced at him, turned to look at me.
“Hey, there are flying Magical Beasts here too. If we stay in a flimsy building with lots of windows like this, we'll get attacked.”
“Right.”
I agreed and glanced to the side.
Lien had approached without a sound.
She approached so naturally that I hadn't even noticed her presence, and looked up at me with emotionless eyes.
“What are you going to do?”
I suddenly understood the intention of Lien, who was attached to me like a shadow.
Her priority was not escorting the Saintess.
It was the action of protecting me above all else. Realizing anew the maid's consistent purpose, I smiled faintly.
A maid escorting a Direct Lineage member who is on an escort mission.
At this rate, I don't know who is the one being escorted.
Perhaps I should think of it positively, since I can focus solely on escorting. Shaking off such momentary thoughts, I made a decision.
“It's dangerous here for now. We're going to the bunker.”
Execution was as fast as the judgment.
Protecting the Saintess immediately, I passed through the lobby, opened the hotel's back door, and moved towards the parking lot.
Leaving the hotel, the road was already chaos.
“Kyaaaak! Help me!”
“No! Hurry and run from there, hurry!!”
Looking up, a flock of Nictheris covered the sky in black, circling over the outskirts of the city like crows.
-KIRIRIRIRIK!!
As if mocking the panicking citizens.
They opened their mouths lined with sharp teeth, chasing after people.
Some of them landed on buildings and tried to find those hiding by crushing concrete and rebar with their strong wings and legs.
Quite literally—
They seemed to harbor intense malice towards the living humans.
Healers and citizens tending to the injured at the temporary relief station by the roadside also quickly fled from them, brushing past my group.
Thud thud thud thud!!
And desperately covering them, the guards were deploying magic towards the Magical Beasts that were pouring in like a tide from the sky and ground.
Perhaps because the situation was urgent, they were shouting loudly and exchanging communications.
“3rd squad, all casualties severe! Relief!”
“Support with anti-air magic up here! Two went down during withdrawal, hurry and help!!”
“Alex!! This, you damn bastards!!!”
The city center, which had just recovered from injuries through treatment, was being destroyed again. The Saintess's eyes, witnessing that sight, narrowed faintly as if in lament.
“Ah...”
However, there was no time to be distracted. I confirmed that the road was traversable by vehicle and immediately moved to the hotel's underground parking lot.
I threw the spare car key to the accompanying guard and pushed the Saintess into the back seat.
As soon as I got in, I knocked on the driver's seat to signal departure. The vehicle roared with the engine and launched furiously.
“Enoch, Sir. Your injury.”
As I put my hand to my waist, I felt a slick texture and saw blood. I felt Lien's gaze, glancing at it from beside me, turn cold.
Still, it wasn't so bad, considering I had rescued the Saintess from the Magical Beast attack in a hurry.
‘The attack of the [Nictheris] is a simple type, crashing into or biting enemies by flying through the air with their solid bodies.’
However, because of that, they possessed power capable of being fatal if hit head-on.
If a vital spot like the head were hit, the possibility of instant death could not be ignored.
‘And in fact, it was a good thing.’
I looked at my injury with an expressionless face.
It was something I needed to 'directly' confirm with the Saintess at some point anyway.
“While protecting me...”
Amelia's calm voice trembled slightly. She whispered with a pale complexion.
“I will stop the bleeding quickly.”
As expected. The Saintess placed her hand on the bleeding area.
As the Mana aura condensed, I felt the pain subside to some extent.
‘...’
To my inner surprise, the wound healed completely in an instant. I offered a brief gesture of thanks and nodded inwardly.
“Thank you.”
As expected, healing seemed to be possible without problems.
From receiving treatment from Lily during the last joint mission, there was a limit to healing a body that had developed some resistance to magic with ordinary healing magic.
Furthermore, since I had increased my Magic Resistance in Rhodes after that, it was clear that I was even more resistant to magic than before.
As my resistance increased from now on, it would become difficult to expect the effects of healing magic.
‘The way to solve that is the Saintess.’
That's why I absolutely had to recruit the Saintess as a Follower Family member.
Naturally, her healing ability was indispensable for preparing for future events.
‘From the start, the healing power of Saintess Amelia in the original work easily surpassed the resistance from the Magic Resistance Reagent.’
And now that I had confirmed that it was the same in reality.
My goal became even clearer.
‘I learned from the experience in the outer district before.’
Combat is an act of risking one's life.
There was no guarantee that future battles would be completed without fatal injuries, just like until now.
From the start, among all the healers who appeared in the original work, when comparing only pure healing magic skills, none could match the Saintess.
As long as the primary goal was to survive and prepare for the original plot that would come in the future.
Saintess Amelia was an incredibly attractive card.
“Uwaaaah!”
Just then.
Cutting off my thoughts, a scream suddenly came from the driver's side. A bad feeling washed over me.
A flying Magical Beast was rapidly approaching from the front of the vehicle. The guard, seeing it, gasped in horror and immediately swerved the steering wheel.
That was the scene I witnessed.
Screech!
The vehicle lost control in an instant.
The guard in the driver's seat was not impaled by the Magical Beast, but instead, the Magical Beast pierced through the limousine's hood and chassis like a skewer.
Sensing the vibrating vehicle and the smell of something burning from the chassis, I quickly signaled to Sirocco in the passenger seat.
“Kick the door open!!”
Immediately, Sirocco, with her ears pricked, kicked the door open with all her might and sent it flying. And as I grabbed the guard from the driver's seat, who was in a panic, by the collar and pulled him out.
CRASH!
The vehicle, pierced through the fuel tank with sparks flying from the Magical Beast's fierce impact, immediately was engulfed in flames. Acrid smoke billowed into the sky.
It was a close call that sent chills down my spine.
However, what I saw when I got out of the car was a flock of dozens of flying Magical Beasts circling in the sky.
Beside me, the guard, who had been half-dragged out by the collar, saw that and seemed to feel the end was near, muttering slowly with a face turned blue.
“Ah. I'm going to die...”
And just in the very next moment after he mumbled blankly like that.
In the sky, a huge explosion occurred.
WHOOOOSH─!
With a roar, artillery fire swept through the sky one after another.
An explosive sound that could tear eardrums spread.
Scarlet explosive magic, exploding in the shape of giant spheres, bloomed one after another like flowers. The intense explosions occurring consecutively in the sky dyed everything in a dazzling flash.
The heat from the explosion's aftermath brushed against my cheek.
All the flying Magical Beasts that had filled the city's sky and were flying in were completely destroyed, torn to pieces, or exploded after being caught in the blast.
It was a truly exhilarating bombardment that swept the sky clean.
“Almost late, weren't we?”
Following that, a familiar voice was heard from in front of me.
On the road. Along with the white smoke of gunpowder filling the ground, Equistelle walked through its center.
In her hand was a massive [Artillery Lance].
A weapon of a size unimaginable for a slender woman to hold with just one hand.
“As the Guard Foreman of the mining city. I almost neglected my duty to protect the distinguished guests who were formally invited.”
CLANG!!
As Equistelle, walking towards me, lifted the long lance once, the sharp sound of a bolt recoiling echoed.
Immediately, the Artillery Lance's closed bolt opened, and with a chiiiik vaporizing sound, it ejected a series of large-caliber high-explosive cartridges.
I realized anew the reason why she was called 「Cavalry of Breakthrough」 in the original work.
That was because, facing that kind of absurd firepower head-on, nothing would remain.
It was the destructive power fitting of someone described as 10th Tier.
I gave her a light nod.
“Thank you. You helped me out.”
“...Huhu. You're a more polite boy than I thought?”
Equistelle looked at me and smiled faintly.
“The bunker is ahead this way. I'll guide you.”
***
We arrived at the center of the city, guided and protected by the guards led by Equistelle.
There, indeed, was a bunker leading underground.
Most of the residents were heading inside the door, which looked like a large air-raid shelter. It seemed the city's citizens were evacuating here.
In front of the bunker, a large number of people were positioned, clutching long Unique Magic Gear. They were the city's guards.
Equistelle approached them and said.
“The Elder has been evacuated in advance.”
“Foreman! You're here!”
“Report on the situation of the outer guards.”
“About that, they said there was a vibration coming from inside the closed mine since last night. They said it was the same as the premonition of the last Magical Beast attack.”
One of the guards reported in an anxious voice. Equistelle tilted her head.
“That's strange. Last night? I didn't receive a report.”
“The personnel on duty guarding that area are missing. We only received word after today's incident occurred.”
“Ha, things are getting complicated. There's no way to know what kind of trouble is happening at the mine, is there?”
Equistelle slowly nodded.
“Understood for now. I will also complete my evacuation soon and take out troops from the bunker to head towards the outskirts of the city. Initial handling of the flying Magical Beasts that can go directly to the city center is the priority.”
“Deployment?”
“Deploy the guards who specialize in ranged combat to the rooftop points first. The same for the city center.”
“Understood. I will contact them via communication.”
As one of her subordinates said that and left, Equistelle briefly put her hand on her chin, as if in thought. And then she quietly mumbled to another subordinate.
“Still, it's strange.”
“That's right. There weren't originally that many Magical Beasts in this area. It's strange, isn't it!”
I, who was listening to the conversation, also silently agreed.
If there had been that many Magical Beasts inside the mine, they wouldn't have failed to notice them sooner.
Common sense dictated that these Magical Beasts were so malicious and troublesome. If they had been present near the city normally, such a lax response would not have occurred.
And above all...
‘Antenor and the escort officers are nowhere to be seen.’
My eyes narrowed.
Last night. I had entrusted Antenor with investigating the Magical Beasts that came out of the mine.
If he had truly gone to investigate the mine in person, it was impossible that someone like him wouldn't have sensed the abnormality before the Magical Beasts appeared.
Furthermore, the disappearance of the guards on duty at the mine border.
...Something was strange.
And very much so.
Putting together the fragmented situation in my mind and organizing it, I quickly reached a conclusion.
I needed to investigate it myself.