Episode 202: Interlude (A Certain Defense Line)
A swarm of Soul Butterflies approaches.
“Captain, we’ve visually confirmed the target swarm!”
“Good. Commence attack once everything is within range. Don’t jump the gun.”
“Roger!”
Currently, the Forest Country (Lebresta)’s defense force is pulling back its front lines and reorganizing its units.
Soul Butterflies are Monsters, but not a species that actively attacks humans.
Therefore, the reconstruction of the front lines could be carried out relatively slowly.
“Fourteen targets. Moving in a mostly cohesive group. Likely a reproductive group centered around a female.”
“In that case, we need to save the queen for last. Tell the archers, the queen is the main dish.”
“Understood!”
Even as the commander relays the plan, the Soul Butterflies close the distance.
Their target is likely the city’s Hotspot.
The amount of Maso emitted is high, and the range is wide.
It is precisely because of such a place that this region has developed as a central city.
From the Soul Butterflies’ perspective, it’s the perfect spawning ground.
“The lead individual has entered the firing range, likely the queen.”
“Good, they’re clustered together… Looks manageable.”
Finally, the last one enters the firing range.
“Aim, good! Distance, good! Commence attack!”
“Commence attack!”
In appearance, it resembles a massive bow laid on its side. In other words, a Ballista.
The archer carefully takes aim and pulls the trigger.
With the sound of the string snapping, a projectile (bolt) thicker than an arm is launched.
Unbeknownst to them, the shape of the pencil-shaped projectile with stabilizing fins closely resembled a Cannon Shell called an APFSDS.
The accelerated Projectile, following the effects of the imbued Magic Formula, slightly adjusts its course as it flies towards the last Soul Butterfly.
Its speed is nearly that of sound.
The Ballista itself is imbued with a muzzle velocity enhancement formula and a sure-hit formula, while the Projectile possesses a range enhancement formula. Furthermore, a Penetration formula is applied by the archer and support personnel.
Individually, they lack the power to shoot down a Soul Butterfly, but by combining their efforts, they are utilizing it as a defensive weapon.
The Projectile (bolt), flying at near-sonic speed, slightly misses its mark, but still pierces the Soul Butterfly’s torso with enough force to inflict a fatal wound.
Explosion.
The compressed air released internally blows away the Soul Butterfly’s abdomen.
“Hit! Fatal wound!”
“Winding, commence!”
“Winding, commence!”
The wind magic users stationed there direct powerful jets of air at the windmill connected to the Ballista’s winch. The windmill, starting to rotate with a roaring sound, winds the string taut with its rotational force, creaking and groaning.
“Winding, complete!”
“Next round, load! Complete!”
“Aim, good! Distance, good! Commence attack!”
And such scenes were repeated all around the city.
The defensive Ballista is large, heavy, and not something that can be used while carrying it. In the first place, multiple casters are required for a single firing, making continuous operation by a single team difficult.
However, city defense is a different story.
Fixed at defense outposts, multiple teams of firing personnel can be rotated.
Magical Power recovery is fast due to the Hotspot, and above all, a plentiful supply of Magical Power recovery potions can be prepared.
As a Magic Tool, its operational efficiency is high due to the high Maso Density, and the consumption of Magic Stones is gradual.
The Soul Butterfly attraction and extermination operation is progressing smoothly.
At each defense outpost, swarms were being subjugated using similar methods.
◇◇◇◇
“Downburst!”
Along with the shout of the caster in the sky, a powerful Downburst occurs.
Several Soul Butterflies caught in it lose their balance and crash to the ground as if sucked in.
“Nice one! Nuun!!”
A man rushes towards one of the Soul Butterflies slammed to the ground.
Contained within his fist is ultra-compressed rare magic. A tremendous pressure is generated, twisting inward around the point where he struck.
With cracking sounds, the Soul Butterfly’s torso caves in.
“One down!”
Next to him, a woman with a rapier pierces the head of another individual with the tip of her sword.
“Pierce Burn!”
A flash of light runs from the tip of the sword, scattering high-temperature flames inside.
The Soul Butterfly, its brain and central nervous system burned away, dies instantly. Its brittle neck carbonizes in an instant, and the impact of pulling out the rapier causes its head to roll onto the ground.
“Two down!”
The third individual is dealt with by a man holding a round shield about 1 meter in diameter.
“…”
The man, silently, charges at the Soul Butterfly while further inflating his massive body.
A tremendous impact sound.
Just how much force was contained within?
The Soul Butterfly is killed instantly by that charge alone. Its torso is bent, its Legs are torn off, and its neck rolls away as well.
“Whirlwind!”
The last individual is one that escaped the Downburst. A powerful whirlwind unleashed by the caster in the sky tears apart its joints, scattering it into the sky as if it had been dismembered by a slash.
“Alright!! That’s all for today! Alysia, come down!”
The man who slaughtered the giant Monster with his fist shouts.
Hearing this, the wind magic user in the sky controls the wind magic and begins to descend.
“Today’s score is 13! That’s enough, right!”
“After this, we just need to scout around this area, and if we find another swarm, we’ll return to report it.”
“Haa, I’m tired… It’s still good because we can rest in Colorque City, but if it’s like this every day, my Magical Power won’t last…”
This party was hired by the defense force as valuable mobile units capable of subjugating swarms of Soul Butterflies.
The attraction and extermination in Colorque City is progressing smoothly, but inevitably, individuals or small swarms stray from it.
The mobile units were given the role of hunting down these strays.
“You’re getting priority for Magical Power recovery meals, so it’s fine, isn’t it?”
“But, those aren’t bad, but they’re bland…”
“Hahaha! Just be glad you can eat! I heard that further east, they don’t even have that luxury, and they just hand out Magical Power recovery potions!”
“Ugh… Those are so bitter that I can’t even drink them…”
The group chatted lively as they continued their patrol.
They seem friendly, but they don’t neglect their aerial vigilance.
However, their visibility is not very good, as they are obscured by the dense trees.
Nevertheless, their role is being fulfilled adequately.
They are able to subjugate more than 10 Soul Butterflies with a single party. As mobile units, they were exceptionally skilled.
◇◇◇◇
“Well, the situation on the northern and eastern fronts seems better than expected.”
“It’s thanks to those girls. We’ve been able to allocate more personnel and supplies than anticipated.”
“It seems we’ve been able to import equipment and food as well. I won’t be able to look them in the eye for a while.”
“New types of bows and a large number of arrows. If we ask, they’ll even provide bolts for the Ballista. What do you think?”
“At the very least, it means they can operate weapons equivalent to ours without any issues.”
“Judging by that Golem, it’s probably more than that.”
“That’s an outrageous piece of equipment. It reminded me of the Magic Kingdom that my grandfather told me about.”
“By grandfather, do you mean the Council of Elders (Le Elphia) before the previous one? How many years ago was that?”
“Who knows. I don’t know if it was 500 or 1,000 years ago…”
“But, is that a Golem? I’ve heard that on a distant continent, there’s a civilization that develops with machines instead of using magic.”
“That’s probably just hearsay. The envoy is just exaggerating. In fact, they came on a normal sailing ship.”
“Speaking of mechanical civilization, I haven’t seen it recently, but there was something called a ‘Repuytari’ that came out just the other day.”
“Paddle Steamer, huh? If you can travel the sea with that, it would be reassuring. It seems they aren’t as skilled in wind magic as we are.”
“We have been away from conflict for a long time. Dealing with ambitious countries has become quite difficult again, hasn’t it?”
“Teariadar (she) seems to be doing quite well.”
“Wasn’t the dispatch to the Afrasia United Kingdom originally to secure Fire Magic Stones? But she brought back something even more outrageous. Ho ho ho.”
“It’s a mixed bag. Well, that’s fine. It’s turning out for the best. More importantly…”
“Over that way is that religious nation, huh?”
“Can’t even talk to those guys. Reminds me of that Goddess-worshipping country from back in the day.”
“Hoh. You mean the one we wiped out back then?”
“There’s nothing more troublesome than a blind zealot. Well, even so, it seems that lass is reaching out her hand.”
“What? Is she still connected to Reputari?”
“Only the bare minimum, the bare minimum. Our birds fly well, you see.”