Chapter 20: Dragon Cradle, and Then to the Beastmen Village – 27
Sensing that Wahid had summoned Undead, I went out into the street and urged the village residents to evacuate.
As the residents scattered, Beastmen Adventurers emerged from the alleys to take their place. There must have been over fifty of them.
Freynil had already begun concentrating for her True Saint Magic, Ascension, and Lani had finished enchanting her sword with fire-attribute magic.
“Soushi-sama, please leave this to us!”
Maricier’s voice echoed from down the street. Members of the Guidance of Sol were running towards us, but I could see several Magic Circles floating on the ground just before them.
“What in the world is this!?”
“Whoa there, they sure left behind quite the mess!”
Ms. Māri emerged from her house, bow in hand. The axe Mr. Zendar was gripping must have been from Ms. Māri’s house.
Just then, the Magic Circles emitted a strong light, and numerous Undead monsters appeared, seeming to seep out from the ground.
Most of them were Skeletons, skeletal warriors wielding swords and shields, and Baron Phantoms, skeletal mages clad in noble attire. They were the same type that appeared in front of the Cathedral in the Royal Capital.
Just from what I could see, there must have been over 100 of them. Considering this was near the center of the village, this alone could turn into a major disaster. Despite sounding like it wasn’t their true intention, the Netherworld Candlestick didn’t hold back.
Even the gathered Adventurers were momentarily overwhelmed by the sheer number. Skeletons aside, Baron Phantoms are B-Rank monsters. Since the highest rank among the village’s Adventurers was said to be C, this must have seemed like a rather hopeless situation for them.
But well, we had Freynil, who boasts unparalleled strength against Undead.
“Ascension, activating!”
As Freynil held up the Saint’s Prayer, a veil of light large enough to cover the entire village descended from the heavens. It seemed she used Range Expansion, Charge, and even Multiple Magic.
Before that sacred light, both the Skeletons and the Baron Phantoms turned to dust and vanished equally, unable even to utter a sound. It was a similar situation to the one in the Royal Capital, but back then, the monsters had at least vanished while suffering. This showed that Freynil’s power had grown even further.
Witnessing the instantaneous event, Mr. Zendar, still holding his axe, widened his eyes and shouted.
“Hey, hey, what in blazes just happened!? Were those monsters just illusions!?”
“No, that was just Frey’s magic eliminating all the weaker monsters. The main ones should be appearing next. Please be careful.”
“Weaker? Weren’t those B-Rank Baron Phantoms…?”
“Well, well, even Rank A monsters are small fry to us.”
When Lani replied with a twitch of her nose, not only Mr. Zendar but also Ms. Māri were left speechless, muttering, “What incredible Adventurers…”
“Soushi-sama, powerful Undead are appearing. There are… five of them.”
“Got it. Everyone, five more powerful monsters are coming! Stay alert!”
As I shouted, the Magic Circles on the ground lit up again after a slight delay, and five large monsters emerged, rising up from the earth.
“This is… an Undead Dragon!?”
Just as Mr. Zendar yelled, they were indeed dragons made only of bone.
Should I call them Skeleton Dragons? They were about 20 meters long from head to tail tip.
They were Small Dragon class, but naturally, if such large monsters rampaged within the village, the wooden houses would be easily destroyed. In fact, a single tail strike had already demolished half of one house.
“Soushi-sama, activating Divine Halo!”
“Please do. I’ll take one. Lani, draw one away, and once the members regroup, finish it off quickly.”
“Roger that, Soushi! Leave it to me!”
Three of them had appeared down the street, right in front of Maricier and her team. For now, we had no choice but to leave those to them and the Beastmen Adventurers.
There were two in front of us. I stepped forward to draw the attention of one.
Lani moved in front of the other, skillfully luring it away.
Immediately after, the surroundings were enveloped in light – Freynil’s Divine Halo. The Skeleton Dragons’ massive bodies stiffened for a moment, signaling that they had been weakened.
The Skeleton Dragon I had drawn attacked with a tail strike, but when I countered by pushing forward my Immovable Bulwark to block it, the tail bones simply shattered on impact.
“Weaker than I thought. Or maybe the weakening effect is just too strong?”
I slipped into the unbalanced bone dragon’s guard and unleashed a Crushing Wave diagonally upwards. The Skeleton Dragon’s entire upper skeleton shattered into pieces, scattering into the air, while the remaining lower body collapsed into a heap of bones.
As for the Skeleton Dragons the other members were fighting, it seems their battle ended even more easily.
A simultaneous magic barrage from the rear guard instantly pulverized their entire skeletons, making it impossible for them to maintain their form in the blink of an eye. One massive head that fell to the ground still snapped its lower jaw as if trying to bite, but Karma smashed it to pieces with her greatsword. It looked like the Beastmen Adventurers barely had a chance to act.
“Soushi, I can handle this one alone!”
The only one left was the one Lani had lured away. Although it unleashed a combo of tail swipes, claw attacks with its forelegs, and bites, it couldn’t keep up with Lani’s movements at all.
I just realized, it seems Skeleton Dragons can’t breathe fire. If that’s the case, maybe they aren’t such powerful monsters after all. Though saying that out loud would probably just get me exasperated looks again.
Lani moved around as if toying with the giant bone dragon, occasionally using Space Jump—her teleportation Skill—to instantly move to its side or behind it, severing its hind legs and tail. Space Jump doesn’t allow movement through obstacles, but since it was a Skeleton, the gaps allowed her to easily move into its blind spots.
Eventually, once the Skeleton Dragon toppled over, she cut off its head and repeatedly slashed the skull until she claimed victory.
“All bark and no bite, huh? A Dullahan might actually be stronger than this.”
Lani returned, looking unsatisfied.
“Compared to the incidents in the Royal Capital or the Imperial Capital, maybe. But considering the scale of this Beastmen Village, what just happened was definitely a sufficient threat.”
“Ah, well, I guess so. Can’t compare it to the Royal Capital, right? And it doesn’t seem like the Netherworld Candlestick can summon Undead infinitely either.”
“Yeah.”
If they could summon such powerful monsters without any cost, the Netherworld Candlestick could have easily destroyed a country or two by now. The fact they haven’t suggests there must be some kind of restriction on their Summoning. Considering that, it’s possible they’ve already expended a significant amount of power in the previous incidents.
While I was pondering this, the other members of the Guidance of Sol gathered, and the atmosphere shifted to one of temporary resolution.
However, it seemed things wouldn’t settle down just yet.
“Hey, Mr. Soushi! Just like I thought, you and the Guidance of Sol are really something else! Even I didn’t expect Karma to get that strong!”
Mr. Zendar slapped my back heartily and then slung his thick arm around my shoulder.
“By the way, Mr. Soushi, is this incident really over now?”
“Yes, I believe so. Frey, do you sense anything?”
Freynil, who had been watching Mr. Zendar and me curiously, nodded firmly.
“Yes, Soushi-sama. I don’t sense any evil presence at all. Regarding the Netherworld Candlestick, I believe there is nothing more.”
“Thank you. Mr. Zendar, for that reason, I don’t think anything else will happen.”
“Oh, is that so?”
With that, Mr. Zendar tightened the arm he had around my shoulder.
“Well then, guess there’s only one thing to do! A victory feast!”