Episode 36: Attack Magic
Morning.
After three shifts of watch duty, I figure I got about six hours of sleep in total? That’s the feeling, anyway.
Not in 100% perfect condition, but a Strider knows how to rest their body effectively to avoid losing condition.
No, rather, if you don’t know that, you can’t be recognized as a Strider.
I fed my companions bottled corn soup, stir-fried boar meat from yesterday, and homemade yeast bread sandwiches with vegetables for breakfast, then gave instructions.
“We’ll reach Lake Purlan in the morning, and hunt Fortress Crabs in the afternoon. The Fortress Crabs release about a dozen Soldier Crabs, their children, to act as guards. Dealing with them is our job.”
“Aye, aye, aye, aye, aye!”
“Margot will take down the Fortress Crabs with Lightning Magic.”
“Mm, leave it to me.”
“Alright, let’s move out!”
And just like that.
After walking for about two hours, we arrived at Lake Purlan.
A crescent lake… in other words, a lake shaped like a crescent moon, just as the name suggests.
A curved part of the river was somehow dammed up, separated from the main stream, branched off, and became a lake.
This Lake Purlan is a poisonous lake.
Melted metal from nearby metal strata mixes with the water, giving it a reddish hue.
The smell is also like rusty iron.
“Ah, I’ll say this now, that water is poisonous, okay? Don’t drink it, and don’t touch it, alright? Getting too close isn’t good either.”
“Well… even a dimwit like me can figure that out, ya know.”
“Yeah, it smells dangerous. It’s obviously poison.”
Hanako and Shio said, laughing.
If they understand, then there’s no problem.
And then, there’s a huge crab slurping up that rusty iron water…
“Oh, they’re here. Get ready!”
It’s a Fortress Crab!
It looks like a giant gazami crab. When it raises its pincers, it’s gotta be over five meters tall, right?
Even though it’s drinking this rusty water, its body’s carapace armor is a black, shiny superalloy style. Is it being refined inside its body? It’s using magical power for that.
“Kishaaaaaa!!!!”
The Fortress Crab roars! …Do crabs even roar? Well, whatever, it’s roaring!
Then, small crabs about one meter in size gather around, drinking water and eating moss…
These are the Soldier Crabs that the Fortress Crab commands.
Don’t underestimate them just because they’re only a little over a meter tall.
They’re proper Monsters, so they use Magical Power to boost their physical abilities, and approach with bizarre speed!
“Yaaaaah!!!”
Shio swings down her extra-large sword.
Boom. An incredible sound of cutting wind.
It’s not just cutting the wind, it’s like the wind is being crushed and screaming.
Shio’s Magic Skill, Adamantine Strength, is honed to perfection, and even if a brown bear were to take this sword strike head-on, its skull would be crushed all the way to the middle of its spine. It was an outrageous blow.
“Gyugih?!”
“Ugh! So hard…!”
But the Soldier Crab withstands it.
Of course, it’s not unscathed.
The pincer it raised above its head to receive the blow is severed, the torso that received the slash is distorted, and cream-colored fluid is overflowing from the cut…
But at the very least, it was clear that it could take another one of Shio’s full-power strikes with ease.
“Gih!” “Gyugyi…” “Gih!”
“W-waah!”
…Monsters are far more intelligent than animals.
Shio, being such a noteworthy presence, was immediately surrounded, pinned down so that she couldn’t unleash another full-power strike with accumulated power.
“Uah!”
Hanako is the same.
The blow from Hanako’s inhumanly strong club is a step below Shio’s, but if she does it right, she can beat a Soldier Crab to death in two or three attacks.
So Hanako was also being clung to by multiple Soldier Crabs.
“Yaah!” “Eiyah!”
Roa and Xiaolin are guarding Margot together.
In terms of combat ability, they’re both still only half-baked.
So, the judgment is that the two of them together make one full person.
Roa swings around a large glaive, and Xiaolin wields two Seiryuto blades.
And me…
“Here, take this!”
“Gih?!!”
I accurately crush the eyeballs extending from the Soldier Crab’s head!
By doing this, the Soldier Crab loses its sight and becomes unable to fight.
Even without killing them, it’s easy to neutralize them.
I, Shio, and Hanako each draw about five Soldier Crabs, Roa and Xiaolin deal with about five while protecting Margot…
And then, the big boss Fortress Crab, impatient and approaching…
“Do it! Margot!”
“חֲדִירָה(Penetrate) רַעַם(Thunder)!!!”
Margot’s lightning is released…
Unlike discharging and spreading like radiated electricity, the Lightning Flash, which flew as a single arrow of light, a ray of light…
Opens a hole about the size of a human head in the Fortress Crab’s torso.
Not only that, but the internal organs are torn to shreds and burned out by the electricity flowing from the wound…
“Fu, shwoo…o…ooo…”
It inflicted tremendous damage on the Fortress Crab…
This is “Magic”…
The mystical art used in this world.