Chapter 17 : Chapter 17

Chapter 17: Dorman Defense Battle (3)

“Collie, nothing on that side?”

Meanwhile, Gerard was searching for something.

“Nothing. Not at all.”

Collie beside him sighed and shook his head.

“Where on earth did he go! The party leader who said not to scatter disappeared first!”

Artier, who had been advancing little by little while swinging his sword, had vanished from Gerard’s sight while he looked away briefly.

Gerard frowned and placed his finger to his ear.

He tried sending a communication, but as expected, there was no response.

“Collie, is there no way to find Artier?”

“Well…… it’s not impossible if I track the mana traces. Since communication is being sent, it means the other party is in this area.”

Collie made a troubled expression.

“But it’ll take time. Just distinguishing the mana used in communication will take quite a while.”

“That’s fine. Please.”

In the end, Gerard opened his grimoire and looked ahead again.

“For now, we can only hope he comes back on his own.”

The sword slicing through Hellmorph muscles bent, and arrows failed to pierce their hides.

Many mercenaries met horrific ends.

Boom!

At that moment, an explosion occurred far away.

The Magica Mercenary Corps had begun attacking in earnest.

“I’ll show you real magic. Everyone, load Fire Ball!”

The presumed leader of the Magica Mercenary Corps raised his staff and shouted, and all members of the corps raised their staffs.

“Fire!”

Soon, hundreds of fireballs flew into the battlefield sky.

The Hellmorphs, having grasped the insignificant power of ordinary mana bullets, ignored them and charged, but this time the result was different.

Boom! Boom!

“Kieeeek!”

Explosions occurred the moment the fireballs hit the ground.

Those directly hit literally turned to ash, and the Hellmorphs caught in the aftermath fell as well.

“Impressive, using the low-level skill Fire Ball with such power.”

Gerard looked at the flames covering half the battlefield.

With just a brief exertion from the Magica Mercenary Corps, the disadvantaged battlefield was regaining stability.

“It doesn’t seem like ordinary Fire Balls.”

“They’ve probably loaded them with mana-enhancing accessories and auxiliary magic.”

In a world where everyone could use magic, making it a profession meant having skills others couldn’t follow.

And among them, the Magica Mercenary Corps was composed of skilled individuals.

“Flames aren’t a weakness. Everyone, prepare Lightning Strike!”

Kwakwakwang!

With the leader’s single command, lightning struck the battlefield, the ground overturned, and sword winds swept through.

“Krooo!”

As the low-level Hellmorphs were massacred, the mid-sized Hellmorphs far away began to move.

“The siege soldiers are moving!”

As soon as Collie’s words ended, one of the siege soldiers started approaching where Gerard was.

Damn! Everyone gather! Siege soldier incoming!

Simultaneously sending communication to the party, Gerard fired all the mana bullets he could.

He knew it was meaningless, but it was all he could do.

“Collie! Have you located Artier?”

“……It seems like the forefront where the Derth Mercenary Corps is.”

“Tell me as soon as you confirm!”

The first to run over was Jeina. Covered in Hellmorph blood, she smiled while breathing heavily and asked.

“What do I do?”

“Normal methods can’t stop a siege soldier. We have no choice but to push it back with great force before it destroys the barrier. Support fire would be good…….”

Gerard shifted his gaze to where the Magica Mercenary Corps was.

However, the Magica Mercenary Corps paid no attention to the area where Gerard was.

“Concentrate firepower! Burn that guy!”

“Woooh!”

The Magica Mercenary Corps seemed to have decided to focus on killing the ones in front rather than dispersing firepower to push back the siege soldiers.

“Fools……!”

Thus, the siege soldier approaching Gerard could reach the barrier without any damage.

Whoosh!

“E-everyone, dodge!”

As the massive siege soldier lifted its leg, the mercenaries near the barrier freaked out and started running.

“Ugh, uwaah! We have to run too!”

“Captain! Give me all the skills!”

“What? Jeina!”

While others retreated, Jeina charged forward.

She recklessly took position in front of the barrier the siege soldier was about to stomp.

“Get back, Jeina! You can’t block that!”

The siege soldier was almost the size of two elephants combined.

It didn’t even notice the small ant that appeared before it.

“Damn, Collie! Support Jeina!”

“Me too?!”

Gerard poured all his mana to cast Shield on Jeina.

At the same time, the siege soldier’s foot stomped down.

Crunch!

With a horrific sound, cracks began spreading all over the shield immediately.

“Uwaaaaah!”

Jeina let out a battle cry inside the shield and repeatedly swung her axe.

Her forearms, enhanced by Wild Roar, twitched continuously.

Crack!

As cracks formed in the shield, the siege soldier began applying more force to its leg.

“Heuk!”

Then, the shield turned to dust in an instant, and Gerard’s face drained of color.

‘No. If the magic is released here, Jeina will die!’

When he desperately held his trembling hand and continued pouring mana, Collie stepped forward.

“Ugh! I don’t know! I’ll try something!”

[Collie is using a skill.]

Regeneration (Lv.1): Slowly regenerates the target’s health and heals wounds.

A refreshing green energy enveloped Jeina, and energy returned to her arms that had been losing strength.

Thanks to that, Jeina could continue swinging her axe with all her might.

“If you take that with your body, you’ll die instantly without time to save! You have to escape before the shield breaks!”

Confirming the regeneration magic on Jeina, Collie grabbed Gerard’s hand and poured mana.

The boy’s voice was trembling anxiously.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The siege soldier began roughly trampling Jeina.

As shield fragments started scattering everywhere, Collie began screaming beside Gerard.

“Is this the end……?”

When he had exhausted all his mana, the blood-vomiting Gerard muttered in a fading voice.

Whoosh!

At that moment, something rapidly approached from behind the siege soldier.

The being quickly climbed the siege soldier’s back, spun once in the air, and immediately slashed its shoulder.

“Artier?”

“I almost arrived late.”

Gerard belatedly realized the being landing on the ground was Artier.

Artier, covered in Hellmorph blood, was hard to recognize.

“Where on earth…….”

Gerard started to ask but shut his mouth.

From Artier’s coldly hardened expression, he felt a fierce aura different from usual.

“The situation is urgent, so let’s talk later.”

With those words, Artier kicked off the ground.

It was the moment the shield protecting Jeina finally shattered.

Shugak!

Artier’s sword swung rapidly.

In the blink of an eye, he was behind the siege soldier, and belatedly, its ankle split with a crack, spurting blood.

‘What was that sword strike……. What happened in the meantime?’

Gerard could only blankly watch the scene.

Artier was climbing the siege soldier’s body at an unbelievable speed, creating wounds with every step, cornering it.

[Burn inflicted.]

Flames erupted from the wounds where Artier’s sword passed, hindering the siege soldier’s recovery and creating tremendous pain.

“Kuaaaah!”

The siege soldier shook its body and dropped Artier.

And with an angry expression, it looked at the being that caused it pain.

Pook!

But in the brief moment it paused, two arrows flew from behind.

The arrows, swimming through the air as if alive, precisely pierced the siege soldier’s two eyes.

“Kuaaaak!”

“Bow!”

“No matter how tough, eyes are weak.”

How many arrows had he shot? Only five arrows remained in the quiver.

Bow hooked all five arrows on his fingers. And released the string without hesitation.

Pying!

The arrows, riding the wind and curving, mercilessly pummeled the siege soldier’s head.

“Go.”

Almost simultaneously with Bow’s small mutter, Artier was flying through the air.

“Kueer!”

Even amid that, the siege soldier sensed the flying Artier and swung its massive arm.

There seemed no way for the airborne Artier to avoid the arm.

[Perfect Counter activates!]

Kwagagak!

The swiftly swung sword wrapped around the siege soldier’s arm like a snake.

Artier burst out between the falling flesh and looked at the siege soldier shedding blood tears.

Slash!

And with a chilling sound, the siege soldier’s neck fell off.

Leaving the corpse collapsing with a dust cloud, Artier vigorously shook his sword and looked ahead.

“Uwaaa!”

“Drive out the enemies!”

The retreating mercenaries began advancing past Artier into the battlefield again.

With the appearance of one person, the pushed-back front line was regaining stability.

***

The time when light receded and darkness descended.

The Hellmorphs eventually ceased their attack.

Seeing the Hellmorphs disappear into the distant forest, the mercenaries could sigh in relief and lower their weapons.

“Where on earth were you?”

As the party members gathered in the inn’s dining hall, Gerard looked at Artier and asked.

“Why didn’t you respond to communications.”

“Sorry. I was fighting at the forefront and couldn’t answer.”

Artier turned his gaze with a subtle expression.

‘I can’t say I went alone into the Hellmorph den to hunt.’

It wasn’t a statement to cause worry.

It could raise suspicions about whether he was human.

At this point, there were few humans who could confront Hellmorph one-on-one.

“Going to the forefront alone without a word, do you even realize you’re the party leader?”

Gerard’s sharp gaze was directed at Artier.

“Hey, but in the end, we caught it, right? Stop now and…….”

“Jeina, you didn’t do particularly well either. If Collie hadn’t helped, you would have been trampled to death.”

Where are you going? You’re guilty too.

As Gerard was about to nag Jeina as well, Bow, who was sipping tea, spoke.

“Result-wise, that action maintained the front line.”

“It was reckless, just lucky.”

“If luck was bad, it would be reckless. If good, it’s the best judgment.”

Even with the best strategy, variables always come.

And the battlefield was a place where a moment’s mistake could cost a life.

“I’m more curious about something else now.”

Bow set down his teacup and looked at Artier.

“How exactly did you handle the siege soldier?”

Tip: Tap/click the left or right side of the screen to go to previous/next chapter.