Chapter 6: Never Say Die. ⑤
Pulmy, who had taken on the daunting task of managing thirty out of over a hundred dangerous individuals, earnestly pleaded for hours, “Let’s get along!” As a result, her heartfelt sincerity bore fruit, successfully opening the hearts of all of them.
Having made friends with the troublemakers, reports came in that, thanks to the laziness of some, the Fog had proliferated into a red zone. However, by sending a large number of personnel, they managed to reduce the numbers somewhat—just as Pulmy was finally able to breathe a sigh of relief, she found herself at another crossroads.
“Ah, not again! Where is it this time?!”
The voices of Pulmy and her companions echoed in a room within Skruld’s Guild, the upper echelons of the Virtuous Front. This was a large-scale request for reinforcements from a different area than the one they had just dealt with.
The current situation in Virtuous was akin to a sinking ship.
Even if they patched one leak, another would spring up immediately. Fix that one, and yet another would appear. In the meantime, the ship’s durability was compromised, and manpower was dwindling. As a result, the burden on each crew member grew heavier, placing immense strain on both their minds and bodies.
Pulmy shook her head at this thought. This wouldn’t do. She needed to switch her mindset somehow.
That’s right. This was beyond her control. Therefore, she had to accept that as a premise. The key was to trust that Omi and Ichiro would destroy the Sealed Labyrinth and to maintain the situation for as long as possible until then.
She understood this. She truly did. However, the constant stream of reports brought about a sense of urgency. So, what could she do in this current situation? Wasn’t it to swallow all the hardships and not show any signs of anxiety to those around her?
As she reminded herself of this, Pulmy slipped her hand into her pocket and tightly grasped a certain charm.
Pulmy’s party, which had gathered the troublemakers deemed ineffective just days prior, responded to the request for reinforcements. While it served as a trial run for the party’s functionality, Pulmy had an unsettling premonition about this request. If that premonition turned out to be true and a very difficult trouble arose, she felt she could somehow manage it—yet she also feared that if they encountered a region completely overrun by Fog, it would surely lead to a repeat of the previous Sealed Domain disaster. Thus, it made sense for her to take the lead in this situation.
Upon arriving at the area that had sent the request for reinforcements, Pulmy’s party was forced into a very tight battle under her leadership.
The Fog was already visible throughout the plains, even without any means of detection.
The problem now was how to eliminate them faster than the Fog could multiply. Pulmy immediately divided her party into five groups and managed to have a brief discussion with the leaders of the parties that had originally been responsible for the area in question.
During that time, Pulmy distributed the vast number of potions and mana recovery potions she had stockpiled, proposing strategies to efficiently eliminate the Fog, including her own party.
It wasn’t anything complicated. With a larger group, they could create parties that could rest efficiently even during battle. The idea was to coordinate even more closely than before for the upcoming fights.
To put it simply, her proposal was accepted. This allowed for parties to rest on a regular schedule once again, enabling them to eliminate the Fog more efficiently than ever before.
One might think that her proposal to “coordinate even more closely” had hit the mark splendidly and yielded extraordinary results, but the truth was a bit different.
In fact, Pulmy had more than one proposal. Rather, her second proposal was the main point.
“If anyone feels sleepy, just have a healer cast a wake-up healing magic on you. You can cut down on your sleep time significantly. If you’re injured or tired, drink as many potions as you need. If you’re consuming a lot of mana, drink mana potions. If you’re worried about running out of potions, you don’t need to. I brought an absurd amount. Drink as much as you want. Don’t hold back. In fact, drink up. Chug it down.”
The personnel from the area in question were struck by Pulmy’s heartfelt plea disguised as another proposal. They were practically turned into Swiss cheese by a Gatling gun of enthusiasm. Of course, there were leaders who resisted, saying, “There’s no way we can accept such a proposal!” But soon enough, thanks to Pulmy’s earnest insistence, they became her allies within an hour.
Pulmy’s strategy bore fruit. Gradually, the speed at which Pulmy and her team eliminated the Fog began to surpass its regeneration rate. However, they did not let up at all, engaging in battle without resting through the night.
And then, on the seventh day—the very day Yamada and the others escaped from the Sealed Labyrinth.
As dawn broke, the number of Fog had significantly decreased, and Pulmy let out a sigh of relief. If things continued like this, she thought they could send many personnel back by evening and dispatch them to other locations.
“Pulmy-sama! Did you see this?!”
Klein turned to Pulmy with pure, sparkling eyes like a Beagle puppy. He was a completely different person now.
“Wow, amazing! You really did it!”
At her praise, Klein let out a joyful “Ahh!” and flushed with excitement.
“Sister! Forget about that guy, look at my magic!!”
This was Shizuku, the noblewoman who had become Pulmy’s second friend. She too turned to Pulmy with pure, glistening eyes, transformed into someone entirely new.
“I’m watching. That Flame Pillar you used earlier was quite impressive.”
At Pulmy’s compliment, she trembled with delight.
It was around noon when the unexpected happened. The extermination of the Fog progressed faster than planned. Having fought tirelessly, Pulmy sat down in a makeshift hut set up at their base. The tension among those present eased, and a relaxed atmosphere filled the air. Conversations about lunch and long-awaited alcohol buzzed around. However, Pulmy sensed something was off.
“This shouldn’t be going this smoothly…”
The rapid decrease in the Fog, far exceeding expectations, could only mean there was some other cause behind their success. At least, that was how Pulmy understood it. Just then, a loud, rude sound echoed as a door was flung open.
“Pulmy-sama!!”
It was a scout from a party currently engaged in battle.
“A monster has appeared!! Hurry!! Please help my comrades!!”
He shouted, collapsing to his knees from exhaustion. Though he should have been given a chance to rest, it was best to take him along to reach the location of his report as quickly as possible.
“Those who can, follow me. You two, hurry back to Skruld and report the current situation. Split up and inform Nelly, Honest, the Order of Knights, the Rebellion, and the leaders of Eden’s Garden that we are entering combat with an unidentified monster. If there are any personnel available, tell them to come here as soon as they are ready. We’ll relay the details to those holding the Communication Orb.”
With that, Pulmy and her companions rushed towards the monster alongside the scouts.
What Pulmy saw upon arrival was a three-headed dragon.
In the end, no one would ever know, but this dragon was the embodiment of Holy Knight Ashley’s fears. It was the very monster that had led her to be called Ashley the Devourer—now a super-enhanced version.
Its body was composed of a murky liquid, and despite many having cast spells against it, it seemed utterly unaffected.
Then, the mouths of the three heads began to glow. Pulmy felt an immense energy concentrating within them.
A roar that shook the atmosphere—along with it, energy orbs were unleashed as beams from each mouth.
One pierced the sky, another blasted through the mountain behind them, and one engulfed Pulmy and her companions.