This chapter is the first part of the climax.
At the Adventurer’s Guild, a few dwarves had survived.
I had thought the Guild was easily raided because only low-ranked Adventurers were left, but it turned out that those remaining were Guild staff, and most of the low-ranked Adventurers had already fled.
The staff hadn’t run away partly due to a sense of kinship, but also because Jesha and Jilgun had managed to keep them together. They said that even if the Adventurer’s Guild as an organization disappeared, they would remain as the ‘Hoglos Company’ to protect this town.
Even in this lawless town, some people live with pride. They have their reasons to fight, and I left the Adventurer’s Guild to fulfill my own purpose.
“It’s burning…”
Fires were breaking out in several parts of the town, and seeing the many plumes of smoke rising from afar, I knew that a considerable number of Dark Elves were mixed in. Including the Leesan Syndicate, there must be well over a hundred or two.
Merchants and residents were fleeing in confusion. However, some of the residents were fighting back against the attackers with weapons like hatchets and hammers.
“Gyah!?”
One of the Leesan Syndicate members fighting the residents had his arm slashed by my Pendulum, and he dropped his weapon.
There’s nothing I can do for this town. I can only brush off the sparks that fall on me, but even so, as I ran through the town, I slashed the hands and faces of the Leesan Syndicate and Dark Elves I saw with my Pendulum, and the surrounding residents would swarm them and strike down the attackers.
Seeing that, I felt like I was witnessing the strength of the desert people. They will decide the fate of their town.
I… we will escape this desert.
That’s the only way to save Elena’s life and fulfill her wish at the same time in this situation.
But before that, I’ll do what I can.
Cutlass Town is surrounded by walls like any ordinary town, but part of it had collapsed, leading to a dangerous area where monsters appeared, where orphans and poor people like Chako lived.
I climbed over the crumbling wall and headed for one of the watchtowers nearby.
The watchtowers built around this town aren’t just one. There are crumbling ones like the one we’re using as a base, but I heard that about half of the towers are still active and will sound an alarm to the town if something happens in the ruins.
The fact that there’s nothing coming from the remaining watchtowers means that either the Monster Stampede hasn’t reached a visible position yet, or Jesha and the others are managing to hold them back… or perhaps…
“You, if you come any closer—”
“Get out of my way.”
A throwing Knife pierced the Dark Elf’s brow as he tried to fire an arrow at me.
Dark Elf in black armor… so it was occupied by the Evil Race Army after all. I retrieved the Knife from the dead Dark Elf, slashed the eyes of a Leesan Syndicate member who came rushing out of the tower at the sound with my Slashing Style Pendulum, closed the distance, and thrust the Blade into his heart along with the men behind him.
“E-Enemy attack!!”
The death cry echoed in the tower, and as I leaped inside, several Cruz people came down from the upper floor.
In close combat, if you have similar skills, it’s advantageous to be in a higher position where you can use your weight. But that changes if you have “Magic.”
“—【Phantom Pain】—”
“Gyaah!?”
The last man to come down—the one who was last because he was carrying a heavy weapon and wearing heavy armor—was confused by 【Phantom Pain】 and tumbled down the stairs, taking his comrades with him.
Several men were crushed by the tumbling giant. I ran up the wall of the spiral staircase and kicked the giant’s head, using it as a foothold to crush it.
I finished off the still-breathing enemies and ran up the stairs at full speed.
“—【Stone Shot】—!”
“—【Dark Mist】—”
The moment I reached the top floor, the Dark Elf who was waiting for me and I activated our Magic at the same time.
Magic can target with intent, but it’s not guaranteed to hit. The 【Stone Shot】 fired in a momentary glimpse pierced through the darkness, and I, who had jumped all the way to the ceiling with the momentum of my run, kicked off the ceiling and kicked through the face of the man who widened his eyes in astonishment with my bladed heel.
Even with Rank 3, it would have been dangerous if they had used a ranged attack like 【Water Ball】, but the weakness of the heart that focused on a sure kill rather than low-power Magic determined the outcome.
After clearing out the enemies occupying the tower and turning my gaze towards the ruins, I saw sand dust blurring the scenery in the distance, and a group of black armor wriggling within it.
“…………”
Jesha and the others failed… That’s what it means that the Evil Race Army is approaching this far. There’s a possibility that they’re retreating and surviving, but given Jesha and Jilgun’s personalities, they’ll either fight to the death, or if they’re alive, they won’t be unscathed.
Still, the fact that I can’t see many monsters in the Stampede is probably thanks to the Adventurers. But with the defeat of the Hoglos Company’s Adventurers, the fate of this town is almost sealed.
Visually, the number of the Evil Race Army is about two thousand. It’s not a large number compared to the armies of great nations, but the true value of the Evil Race Army lies not in numbers but in “quality.”
The soldiers of human nations are around Rank 1 or 2, and skilled soldiers and knights are around Rank 3, but in large-scale battles, conscripted militia with hardly any Combat Skills make up the majority.
However, there are no weak soldiers in the Evil Race Army. Most of them are warriors and Magicians of Rank 2 or higher, and their high fighting spirit prevents them from even retreating, making them feared by humans like demons.
“This is bad…”
Seeing their direction of advance, a bead of sweat ran down my cheek. At this rate… the Evil Race Army will pass near the tower that we’re using as a base.
I looked around and found what I was looking for in a basket in the back.
What I was looking for was a means of communication with the town. It’s inefficient to send people every time. That’s why I searched, thinking there must be something, and found a large amount of dried succulent plant fibers and several ceramic bottles.
Without hesitation, I threw the bundle of fibers into a fireplace-like place and lit it with Utility Magic. When I dumped the contents of the bottles on it, a reddish-black smoke began to rise as expected.
This is probably something like a signal fire. The reason I came here was to see if I could convey this situation to Camille, who might not be in town. If Ron at the base notices, he should understand the situation in town.
Also, if the townspeople realize that there’s an attack from the outside, they can evacuate—
“—!?”
I felt a sudden chill and turned my eyes to the outside of the tower. From behind the advancing Evil Race Army… a ground-shaking rumble echoed, and as if to blow away the sand dust, a giant fireball was launched towards this watchtower.
At that moment, I leaped into the air from the window of the watchtower, which was tens of meters high.
Immediately after, the top floor of the watchtower where I had been was burned by the flying fireball, and I kicked off the outer wall to avoid the shattered fragments with a roar, using my cloak to slow down as I landed on the desert sand. I rolled on the sand several times to kill the momentum and impact, and finally raised my face after moving several tens of meters away.
“…………”
The tower, which was just a pile of rocks, couldn’t withstand the impact and the upper half was about to collapse.
I would have died if I had chosen to go down the stairs. It was by chance that I was able to decelerate well, and I would have been seriously injured if I hadn’t landed on the soft sand.
That attack… it was probably the breath of an Earth Dragon.
I had heard that the dragons in the ancient ruins were lower-ranked Earth Dragons, but if it’s spewing fireballs for anti-air attacks, then it’s about to become a ground-attribute Ore Dragon that doesn’t fly.
That dragon’s flame was released from behind the Evil Race Army…? It didn’t look like they were being chased by the dragon. If that’s the case, then that dragon is being controlled by the Evil Race Army…
“—【High Heal】—”
I spat out the sand-mixed saliva in my mouth and healed the damage I had taken from the fall with 【High Heal】.
【Aria (Alicia)】【Race: Human Female】【Rank 4】
【Mana Capacity: 178/330】【HP: 195/260】
【Overall Combat Strength: 1497 (Body Enhancement in progress: 1853)】
My remaining Mana is about 60%… Even if I rely on natural recovery from now on, it should only recover to about 70%.
The effects of any more Mana Recovery Potions would be minimal, and they’d only get in the way when it really mattered. I crushed a nutritional supplement pill from my waist pouch, straightened my cloak, tattered with arrow wounds and splattered with blood, and started running across the desert again.
If the Evil Race Army had such long-range attacks, escaping into the sky would be dangerous. Neutralizing that would be ideal, but I couldn’t misplace my priorities.
If I was going to escape, I had to start immediately, or I wouldn’t make it.
And if that required it… I’d already decided what I had to do.
I didn’t even need to climb to a high place anymore; I could see the dust cloud of the Evil Race Army in the distance.
A quarter of an hour after I started running, I finally made it back to the watchtower that served as our base.
“Aria!”
Elena rushed toward me as soon as I entered the tower, as if she’d been waiting for me.
She leaped at me with such force that she seemed about to hug me, then hesitated, remembering her position, and stopped.
“I’m back.”
“Welcome… home.”
When I said that aloud, Elena’s voice caught in her throat, and she looked up at my slightly taller face.
No matter how close our hearts might be, there was a wall of status between Elena and me. Even if we ran side by side, our paths would never intersect.
Even in this harsh situation… no, precisely because of it, she prioritized her duty as a Princess, and it was because she was like that that I risked my life and swung my blade.
“…”
Unable to voice the words in our hearts, we gazed into each other’s eyes.
She’s gotten a little thinner…
Her lustrous, radiant golden hair and white skin were stained with sand and dust.
Unable to fully recover from physical and mental exhaustion, in an environment where she couldn’t even get a good night’s sleep, there were faint but undeniable dark circles under her eyes.
That was only natural, coming from the royal palace. Her battlefield wasn’t here. Even so, Elena had been bravely putting on a strong face in this slum-like environment for the past two months, without uttering a single complaint.
I cupped Elena’s cheek with my right hand and wiped the sand from under her eyes, where the dark circles were, with my thumb.
Elena’s eyes welled up at my unexpected gesture, and her left hand was placed over mine.
“――――――!!”
“!”
We both looked up at the same time at the roar-like tremor that came from outside.
“What about Ron and Chako?”
“They’re upstairs. The children are already in the hot air balloon basket. …What about Camille?”
“I couldn’t find him. I lit signal fires from the other towers, so hopefully, he’ll see them.”
“We noticed. Ron is preparing to depart after seeing it. It seems the Fire Magic Stones are still barely enough.”
“Then I’ve secured a few more. What’s the situation?”
“Yes, I understand. Long-range line of fire… probably a Dragon’s Breath. To think such a thing really exists…”
“…Let’s hurry.”
“Yes.”
There was no trace of weakness in Elena’s eyes anymore. Even so, I felt again that I wanted to protect her, who was probably pushing herself too hard.
“Aria!”
“Aria-san!”
Ron and Chako called out when they saw me as I climbed to the upper floor of the tower. I tossed the Magic Stones I took out of my Shadow Storage to Ron and patted Chako, who looked pale, on the shoulder.
“What about the children?”
“Y-yes, they’re already in the basket, but…”
The hot air balloon basket was large enough to hold five or six adults, including equipment and food. The food we had gathered over the past month was already loaded, and water wouldn’t be a problem with Elena.
Inside the basket, Noi, the oldest, was hugging Lana and Nal, who were trembling. Perhaps they had heard the Dragon’s Roar even from a distance. Dragon’s Roar made the weak cower. Chako seemed to be frightened as well, but she touched the shoulder I had patted, and her cheeks seemed to regain some color as she felt relieved.
“Aria. What about Camille?”
“I haven’t found him. Will he come back if he sees the signal fires?”
“I don’t know. But… I don’t think he’ll be killed by the Evil Race.”
“I see…”
“――――――!!”
The tremor resounded again, and Chako and the children screamed.
It must be quite close by now. If it passed near here, it was unlikely that the Evil Race Army would overlook this tower. If they got close enough, they would realize that humans had been here.
If that happened, as I had initially feared, even if we escaped here, we would lose our means of escaping from the desert.
“Hurry and leave this place! I’ll heat up the balloon, so Rena and Aria, help me!”
“Yes!”
“Understood.”
Ron had already started heating the balloon, but he tried to speed up the process by adding more heat with the Magic Stones I had given him. Elena and I pulled on the ropes of the balloon, which was starting to inflate, and spread it out to make it easier to inflate.
“How strong is the balloon?”
When I asked about something I was concerned about, Ron shook his head while working.
“There are still some parts where the glue hasn’t completely dried. But it should be fine for a few days. Rena, get on soon. Aria, watch the situation and cut the fixed ropes.”
“Got it.”
Elena got into the balloon, looking back worriedly, and I cut the ropes so that the balloon, which had begun to float, wouldn’t touch the interior walls.
“We’re taking off. Get on, Aria!”
I cut the last rope and grabbed onto the edge of the basket.
Gradually, we moved away from the top floor, where the ceiling had collapsed and become the rooftop, and in the time it took to rise at a frustratingly slow pace, everyone’s eyes were shining with anxiety and hope about leaving this town.
But—
The moment we passed through the crumbling outer wall, my eyes, which had been fixed on the edge, noticed that among the Evil Race Army, which was approaching within a few hundred meters, an Earth Dragon was opening its jaws and gathering flames.
“Everyone, hold on!!”
—Boom—!
“Kyaaah!?”
The ball of fire fired by the Dragon hit the outer wall of the top floor, and fragments of the shattered outer wall hit the balloon, causing Chako and the children to scream.
“We’ve been noticed! Ron, the balloon!?”
“I don’t know! But it’s rising too slowly!”
The balloon part was made of monster leather to counter sky monsters. But perhaps because of the impact just now, or because a pebble had hit it, air might be leaking from somewhere.
“…”
I kept my eyes on the Dragon while holding onto the edge of the basket.
So, it wouldn’t let us get away after all… But I also realized something from the attack just now.
I had heard that Dragon’s Breath wasn’t caused by an organ that spewed flames inside its body, but was one of the Dragon Magic spells.
The Dragon flying through the sky with that huge body, and unleashing its breath, was using magic with Dragon’s Roar, just like humans used Spirit Language.
But to my eyes, the breath just now felt like a single-syllable Non-Attribute Magic Combat Art.
If so, there should be a “gap,” just like when humans used Combat Arts. Combat Arts couldn’t be used continuously. How long would it take for the heat to cool down? Tens of seconds? Or minutes? If so… I knew what I had to do.
“Aria, wait!!”
Sensing something, Elena screamed and grabbed my hand, which was holding the edge, tightly.
“What are you thinking?!”
Her scream and question were filled with anguish, as if she already knew the answer.
“Let go…”
“No… no! Why you?”
Elena’s hand gripped mine with such force that it turned white as I tried to shake it off.
“If this goes on, everyone will die.”
“So, why!? Why does it have to be you alone who does something like that…”
“Understand.”
“I don’t understand! Why Aria!?”
Elena really knew it too.
Now that the enemy had noticed us, the chances of surviving if we stayed here were extremely low. Even if we could take off, whether we could survive the Dragon’s Breath would depend on luck.
If we were to survive, someone had to stay behind and stall for time. If anyone could do that before the Dragon breathed again, it would be me, the one with the highest combat ability.
“Then I’ll stay behind too! You are my—”
Elena swallowed the words she was about to say.
It was something she shouldn’t say. Something she shouldn’t say as a Princess.
Because it was that day when we were young… even though our paths were different, we vowed that we would never abandon the thorny path we had decided to take, it was a “promise” we made together.
“Elena.”
“—!”
Elena raised her tear-stained face to me when I called her by her real name instead of her alias.
“I want Elena to live.”
“I, I too—”
“I’d hate it if Elena died. I want Elena to fulfill her dreams. I want to help Elena fulfill everything she believes in.”
“Why… would you say something like that…”
Elena’s eyes widened at my sudden change in tone and monologue, and I placed my other hand on hers, which was still holding mine.
“Because. Elena is my best friend.”
In those wide-open blue eyes, I saw the innocent smile I used to wear as a child, the one I thought I had forgotten.
“――――っ”
For a moment, I released Elena’s hand from mine, my strength leaving me, and floated away from the balloon’s basket.
Elena leaned out after me, her white hand grasping at the air, trying to catch my departing hand.
“—Aria… Ariaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!”
I won’t say goodbye.
I narrowed my eyes at Elena one last time as I drifted away, offering her a smile, then leaned back and turned a sharp gaze towards the Evil Race and the dragon.
“—Iron Rose—”
My pinkish-gold hair transformed, burning into a scorched, iron-like gray-black.
Scattering light remnants spread like silver wings, trailing like a comet as I kicked off the outer wall, running down it as if descending, then leaping and landing on the parched earth with one hand, glaring at the approaching Evil Race Army.
“I’ll show you my fight.”
Next time, the second half.
The wounded, solitary tiger is finally unleashed.
Even split into two parts, it’s 7000 characters…
This story is the climax I had decided on from the beginning.
I think there are some frustrating parts, but please bear with me for a little longer in the second chapter.
Thank you for your feedback and typo reports.