“The Aerial Escort Ship, Creios, is intercepting the Mountain Boar. It might be difficult to defeat it, but we should be able to at least drive it away.”
“T-to put something like that in the sky…”
Something enormous passed overhead.
The girl dispatched from ＜Paraiso＞ casually told them its name.
“They’ve deployed additional forces. We can ensure your safety.”
As the girl said, something was falling from the sky.
With a thunderous roar, they landed one after another on the main street.
“O-oh… Golems from the sky…”
Four Golems joined the caravan evacuating from the Second Settlement, Lalan.
Originally, the caravan already had five escort Golems that moved on wheels, plus two from the village. A total of eleven Golems were now escorting this caravan.
“…”
That being said.
The Golems that fell from the sky had come from the giant ship that had just passed overhead.
It had looked like it dropped something small from its belly, but who would have thought it was the same as the guardian six-legged Golem.
In other words, that ship called Creios was incredibly huge.
“We will also deploy additional forces to the western settlement, Klavin. After that, we plan to attack the Mountain Boar. If we can successfully repel it, the village should be saved.”
“I-I see…”
They had somehow survived.
That’s what they thought, but perhaps the village could also be saved.
Hearing this, the defense officer and the village chief nodded blankly.
They didn’t understand what was being said.
Well, there was nothing more they could do.
They just had to be taken by this caravan and reach a safe city in the rear.
“Speaking of which… is Eighteen-san alright?”
“She’s in a medical pod. She’s injured, but she should be able to move by tomorrow. I apologize for the worry.”
“No, no, not at all! No, I’m relieved to hear that… I was really worried about what might have happened. Again, thank you for protecting us.”
He bowed deeply along with the village chief.
Five Dissector simply nodded slightly in response.
“We are simply doing what we must do. When that Hidden Player appeared, I honestly didn’t think we could protect everything. With your cooperation, we were able to drive it away faster than expected.”
The girl replied calmly. Neither boasting nor regretting, she probably meant it literally.
The defense officer and the village chief bowed again, then sat back down in their chairs.
Currently, they were riding in a transport Golem with many wheels, owned by the caravan. It was a huge Golem, with many sturdy chairs, enough for all the villagers to sit comfortably, despite being called a simple transport.
Snacks were also distributed, and many villagers were sitting with their eyes closed.
They were probably exhausted.
“It might get a little dark, but we’ll reach the city by nightfall. Please leave the escort to us.”
◇◇◇◇
Musso Arms are Monsters that live in groups.
Normally, they don’t come out of their territory, but due to the Stampede, they had moved to this shallow part of the forest.
However, they weren’t a particularly strong type of Monster.
No, they weren’t weak Monsters, but they had no Magic (Fantasy) elements other than their abnormally developed arms, and were treated as targets by the hunters of Forest Country (Lebresta).
“Fire.”
Two Gracilis=Cosmos sprayed bullets with her Assault Rifle.
The Musso Arm used its arms as shields and charged towards Two Gracilis.
“Straight!”
The Musso Arm’s head was shot off from the side.
It was a hunter from the Second Settlement, Klavin.
A Communicator Doll drew attention with an Assault Rifle, and a hunter shot from the side.
They created such cooperation on the spot, and they defeated the Musso Arms one after another.
“Thanks, Two-chan!”
“It’s fine. More are coming.”
She exchanged the magazine and loaded it with a click. With the power of the Assist Suit, she moved smoothly through the rough forest.
Such scenes were unfolding everywhere in the forest.
The Musso Arm group was a threat, but the ＜Paraiso＞ forces were completely protecting the village, and the hunters were able to actively strike out.
In this situation, the Musso Arms, with their high attack power but weak defense, were not so terrifying.
“If it’s just this, we should be able to defend it…”
“We received a message from Lalan next door. Do you know about a Monster called Mountain Boar?”
“Mountain Boar? The one from the bedtime stories?”
The Mountain Boar was moving towards Lalan, and as a result, they were attacked by many Mantis Monsters. They had repelled them, but they couldn’t stop the Mountain Boar, so they were retreating.
“It shouldn’t come here because of the distance, but more Monsters may come as the Mountain Boar moves.”
“If it’s as big as the stories say, it’s as big as a small mountain…”
If such a huge Monster was rampaging, naturally, small Monsters and animals would run away.
“Our additional forces will arrive in about two hours. Can you hold out until then?”
“We can hold out for hours at this rate. You have a way to communicate with distant places.”
The hunters had begun to understand the unique abilities of the ＜Paraiso＞ mercenary girls as they fought alongside them.
Without making a sound, the girls were cooperating.
They seemed to be able to cooperate with the main force, the Multi-legged Tank (Golem), and were sometimes supported by its main Cannon.
Furthermore, from their words and actions, it was clear that they were communicating with other settlements or even their home country.
However, it was a fact that they were risking their lives to protect the village.
Sometimes, they acted as decoys, going ahead of the hunters.
Therefore, they felt more reliable than threatening.
“Two ahead. Observation… Support artillery.”
“Go around to the left.”
“Roger. 3, 2, 1.”
The Multi-legged Tank’s main Cannon fired at the Musso Arm.
This was precision shelling made possible by the presence of a Communicator Doll on the front line.
Shelling was possible even in the forest, but it was difficult to hit the target because it was blocked by trees.
The Communicator Doll’s Sensor measured this, allowing for indirect aiming.
The Cannon Shell, flying at a speed of over 2,000 m/s, blew away the trees and directly hit both of the Musso Arm’s arms.
It would be different if there was a Magic Barrier.
The Musso Arm was a Monster that did not have a Magic Barrier.
The hardness and strength of its arms defied the laws of physics, but they were not enough to repel a Railgun Cannon Shell.
The guard of both arms was blown away like a curtain, and the Musso Arm was blown away. The scary thing about this Monster was that both arms still retained their original shape.
The second one was distracted by the Communicator Doll in front of it, and looked at its suddenly blown-away companion with a startled face, and was shot by an arrow from the side.
The hunters of the Second Settlement were basically good at stealth.
Therefore, they were compatible with the relentlessly noisy ＜Paraiso＞ personnel.
“Clear. Next, target 300m ahead. The number is 3 or 4.”
“Leave it to me.”
◇◇◇◇
The defense force of the Second Settlement, Klavin, received additional Multi-legged Tanks by airdrop from ＜Creios＞, and built an impregnable defense.
The villagers were stunned by the giant ship flying in the sky, but their anxiety seemed to have been dispelled by receiving the Multi-legged Tanks and supplies.
In the end, there were no major problems after that, and the Musso Arm attack ended.
It was fortunate that they did not have to evacuate the entire village like Lalan next door.
The flight of the Soul Butterflies continued, but the large-scale migration of Monsters seemed to have subsided.
However, the distribution of Monsters and animals in the Demon Forest had probably changed significantly.
It would be a long time before they could return to their previous daily lives.