Chapter 347: The Effect of the Preemptive Strike
The scene continued for about ten minutes. The monsters were being ruthlessly trampled, unable to do anything but scatter their lives in the chaos. Occasionally, a monster would break through the bombing zone, but whether it was luck or not, the bombardment did not pursue them. While there were some that slipped through, it was not a problem since the goal was to reduce their numbers.
“Is that all?”
The area of effect attack that reached even the Forest of Enchantment had further rugged the already uneven terrain of the forest. The power had been kept in check, so the landscape hadn’t changed drastically, but several paths leading into the Forest of Enchantment might now be unusable.
Countless monster corpses lay scattered about, and the few surviving monsters seemed confused, scattering in all directions.
“It’s over now.”
When I turned around, everyone remained silent, seemingly unable to find their words. They stared blankly, mouths agape, gazing across the wall. However, if we left things as they were, some of the monsters that had scattered might reach the second outer wall.
“Please handle the monsters that slipped through over there.”
“—Huh? Oh, right.”
As I approached my superior and patted him on the shoulder, he finally seemed to snap back to reality, turning his face toward me, though his gaze kept flickering back to the Forest of Enchantment.
“Alright, the preemptive strike by the S Rank Adventurers is complete! Let not a single monster pass!”
“Whoa-oh-ohhh!”
“That was amazing!”
“So this is what it means to be S Rank…?”
“Wow, the monsters are like trash now…”
With my superior’s shout, the surrounding adventurers finally seemed to regain their senses, and cheers erupted from all around. Perhaps due to the spectacle, most of the voices were filled with surprise, awe, and fear, indicating that our mission had been accomplished.
“That was incredibly helpful. With this, our casualties should be minimal. Now, we’ll take it from here.”
“Then we’ll leave the rest to you.”
“Yeah, it’s in your hands.”
In the end, it had all gone rather smoothly. My magic power was at about thirty percent. I was glad we managed to clean up the monsters that had emerged from the forest before running out. Now, it was time to deploy the TYPE Series all at once and put an end to this stampede.
“Everything here went without a hitch!”
“Same here!”
“Got it. I’ll head back over now.”
“Okay!”
After confirming with Rio, it seemed everything was fine on her end as well, with no particular troubles. I leaped down from the second outer wall and made my way toward the western side, where the adventurers were stationed.
As I approached the gap in the outer wall, I could see a line of soldiers standing in front of a two-meter-wide opening. They were likely a unit tasked with hunting down the monsters that had slipped through.
“Man, this is crazy.”
“Yeah, that was intense. Is S Rank really like that?”
Voices came from someone who had stepped out of the line. Seeing them head toward the city, they were probably onlookers drawn by today’s events. This area was supposed to be off-limits to civilians, but they might have been off-duty soldiers.
“I thought it was foolish to pull the entire army back for just two people, but…”
“Anyone in that area could have been taken out by a stray shot.”
“Yeah… that was nothing short of terrifying. Pulling back the entire army was the right call.”
“S Rank is insane.”
“What kind of attack was that? Does magic really have that kind of range?”
“No, the power was off the charts too. I have no idea what kind of magic it was, but the destructive force upon impact was unreal.”
“Yeah, and they were casting it simultaneously in the thousands, or even tens of thousands.”
“S Rank is a monster.”
“…Come to think of it, there was an S Rank Adventurer in this country a few years back.”
As if recalling something, one soldier murmured, causing the face of the soldier next to him to gradually pale.
“Oh… right, there was.”
“I wonder if that adventurer was as incredible as the one we saw today.”
“…I don’t know. I’m not that familiar with it.”
“…I’m glad we weren’t retaliated against.”
“Absolutely…”
The two of them walked in silence for a while, but then one suddenly stopped.
“Huh? What’s wrong?”
The other noticed and turned back, tilting his head at the man who had halted.
“By the way, today’s S Rank Adventurer was declared a criminal by the country, right?”
“Oh.”
“…”
At the words of the man who had stopped, the other one let out a short exclamation. They remained silent for a while, not moving.
“Last time, the adventurer got fed up and left…”
“But it doesn’t mean that will happen this time.”
With a look of certainty, they nodded at each other, their faces twisting as if they had seen something horrifying.
“I… I’m quitting the military once this stampede is over.”
The man trembled as he spoke, and the other one looked up, eyes wide in shock.
“R-Really? If you quit, that’s fine, right?”
Perhaps he had seen a glimmer of hope amidst despair. His expression regained a bit of life, but confusion lingered, as if unsure whether that would solve everything.
“With that kind of threat, no amount of lives would be enough.”
“Exactly. If a capture order is issued, life as we know it is over.”
After that, both fell silent and continued walking away. Perhaps unable to contain their anxious feelings, they began to quicken their pace, and soon both were running.
“Let’s hurry! We need to submit our resignations as quickly as possible!”
“Yeah! If we take our time, we’ll miss our chance to quit!”
Watching them, I couldn’t help but feel as if I were witnessing a comedy duo, and I continued to watch until they disappeared from sight.
“Those two were entertaining.”