Chapter 57
"Tell me the plan."
Elliott said, keeping his sword ready.
Above us, the Phantom Moth beat its huge wings.
Silvery-white powder drifted down one flake after another.
"First, we'll bring it down to the ground."
"Bring it down?"
"Our swords can't reach it while it's flying, so we'll aim for its wings."
I looked at Noel.
"Can you hit it with your bow?"
"Of course."
Noel took her bow from her back.
"But these aren't ordinary arrows."
"Huh?"
She nocked an arrow.
Mana flowed from Noel's hand into the arrow, and its tip glowed faintly.
"My Skill is Magic Bow. I can coat my arrows in mana to increase their power and speed."
"Then you can hit its wings, too?"
"If I can land a hit."
That was enough.
"Felicia-san, please fire Magic Bullets in wide bursts like you did before."
"You want to scatter the powder?"
"Yes. We don't need to clear it all. Just the area around us and the space between Noel-san and the Phantom Moth."
"Understood."
Elliott looked up at the Phantom Moth.
"Even if we damage its wings, we can't do anything to it from that height."
"We'll get it to come down to us."
"How?"
"It was catching people and putting them in cocoons, right?"
I looked at the cocoons we'd found earlier.
"Then it should come down when it catches its prey."
Elliott thought for a moment.
"You're going to use someone as bait?"
"I'll do it."
"Then I'll go, too."
"Huh?"
"There's no need to do it alone. Allen, draw its attention. I'll target its wings from the side."
"Understood."
"Dario, watch our backs."
"Leave it to me. I won't let it get near them."
Dario raised his greatshield.
That settled everyone's roles.
"Here we go!"
Felicia raised her Silverwood Staff.
Five Magic Bullets appeared in the air around her.
"Magic Bullet!"
Pale blue lights shot out all at once.
One.
Two.
Three.
Each time a Magic Bullet shot through the silvery-white powder at high speed, it disturbed the air around it, scattering the powder to either side.
"It works!"
A patch of air with less powder temporarily opened up in front of us.
"Noel!"
"I see it!"
Her bowstring was drawn taut.
Mana gathered around the arrowhead.
"Magic Bow!"
Whoosh!
It flew at a speed incomparable to an ordinary arrow.
The Phantom Moth tilted its body.
The arrow pierced the edge of its wing.
"Geeee!"
A grating shriek rang out.
"So close!"
"I won't miss next time!"
The Phantom Moth banked sharply.
Silvery-white powder began falling again.
"Felicia-san!"
"Yes!"
Five more Magic Bullets flew out.
The powder scattered to both sides.
But fresh powder immediately fell from above.
"It won't hold for long!"
"I know!"
We had to bring it down quickly.
Noel nocked a second arrow.
At that moment,
The Phantom Moth suddenly changed direction.
"It's coming!"
Elliott shouted.
Its huge body dropped rapidly in altitude.
Its target was—
"Noel!"
The Phantom Moth stretched out its forelegs.
Noel stepped backward.
Dario sprang in front of her.
"I'm here!"
He raised his greatshield.
"Iron Wall!"
Dario's body and shield were enveloped in a dull glow.
The next instant,
Boom!
Its huge foreleg slammed into the shield.
"Guh!"
Dario's body slid across the ground.
But he didn't fall.
"Dario!"
"I'm fine! I can stop something like this!"
The Phantom Moth rose again.
I watched its movements.
"Just as I thought."
"Did you figure something out?"
Felicia asked.
"It comes down quite low when it attacks."
Elliott nodded, too.
"Then we target it there."
"Yes."
I drew the Flame Fang Sword.
"I'll take the front."
"Then I'll go in from the right."
Elliott drew his sword, too.
"Noel-san, aim for the wing we just damaged."
"Got it."
"Felicia-san, please handle the powder."
"Leave it to me."
We took off running.
"Over here!"
I shouted, looking up at the Phantom Moth.
Its red-black compound eyes turned toward me.
Its wings beat powerfully.
It's coming.
"Geeee!"
It dove.
Its huge body hurtled toward us.
Not yet.
Its forelegs reached out.
Not yet.
"Allen!"
Elliott's voice.
It was right in front of me.
Now!
I leaped to the side.
The Phantom Moth's forelegs swept through the spot where I'd been standing.
"Elliott-san!"
"Yeah!"
Elliott charged in from the side.
His figure vanished for an instant.
"Flash Step!"
When he appeared again, he was beside the Phantom Moth.
A Skill that explosively increased his speed for an instant?
"Hah!"
His longsword bit into the base of its wing.
Slash!
"Giiii!"
The wing split wide open.
"Noel!"
"There!"
An arrow strengthened by Magic Bow pierced the spot Elliott had slashed.
And then—
"Magic Bullet!"
Felicia's Magic Bullets struck the same wing one after another.
The tear widened rapidly.
The wing bent sharply.
"It's going down!"
The Phantom Moth could no longer stay airborne.
Its huge body crashed into the trees.
Crack-crack-crack!
It came crashing down, snapping branches along the way.
Boom!
The ground shook.
"We did it!"
But it wasn't over yet.
"Get back!"
Felicia shouted.
The Phantom Moth beat its wings violently on the ground.
A huge cloud of silvery-white powder billowed up.
"Magic Bullet!"
Felicia fired Magic Bullets one after another.
The powder scattered.
Even so, there was too much of it.
"I can't scatter it all!"
"That's enough!"
Now that it was on the ground, our swords could reach it.
"Let's go!"
Elliott and I charged at the same time.
The Phantom Moth swung its forelegs.
Elliott dodged to the side.
I circled around in the opposite direction.
"Giiii!"
This time, one of its forelegs reached for me.
Just as I was about to dodge,
"Brother."
"…!"
Kyle was standing right in front of me.
He was holding a sword.
He shouldn't have been here.
I knew that.
Even so, he looked exactly like the real thing.
"Allen!"
Elliott's voice.
Its foreleg was closing in.
I leaped to the side.
That was close.
"Are you all right?"
"Yes!"
I looked at Kyle.
He was still there.
But—
Mana Detection.
I couldn't sense anything from Kyle.
No mana signature.
On the other hand, I could sense powerful mana beyond him.
The Phantom Moth.
"That one's fake."
I ignored the illusion of Kyle.
"Allen!"
This time, I heard Father's voice.
I ignored that, too.
I poured mana into the Flame Fang Sword.
Red flames spread wide.
Mana Control.
I drew the flames together along the blade.
Thin.
Sharp.
The center of the flames turned white.
"Dario!"
Elliott shouted.
"I know!"
Dario charged in.
He thrust his greatshield toward the Phantom Moth's foreleg.
"Iron Wall!"
Thud!
The shield caught it.
"Now!"
"Noel!"
"Leave it to me!"
An arrow wreathed in mana shot through the air.
It pierced the base of the remaining wing.
"Giiii!"
The Phantom Moth arched its body backward.
Elliott used Flash Step and closed in at once.
"I'll keep this one occupied!"
He slashed at its foreleg with his longsword.
The Phantom Moth's attention turned to Elliott.
This was my chance.
I kicked off the ground.
Its body was right in front of me.
"Allen-san!"
Felicia's voice.
This time, it was the real thing.
"Yes!"
I raised the Flame Fang Sword.
"Haaah!"
I drove the white-flamed blade into the Phantom Moth's torso.
Slash!
The blade sank deep.
I cut all the way through in one swift motion.
"Geeeeee!"
The Phantom Moth beat its wings violently.
Silvery-white powder swirled through the air.
Even so, it could no longer fly.
Its huge body lurched to one side.
Thump!
It stopped moving.
The forest fell silent.
A display appeared in my field of vision.
【You acquired 6,000P】
【You have: 46,935P】
【Total P acquired: 99,145P】
"Six thousand..."
More than the King Ogre.
No wonder they'd said it would be difficult without an A-Rank party.
"We defeated it...?"
Noel lowered her bow.
"Yeah."
Elliott lowered his sword, too.
"We really did it."
Dario set his greatshield on the ground.
"And we're all B-Rank."
"There were five of us."
When I said that, Elliott laughed.
"Still, that's a huge achievement."
"It is, isn't it?"
Felicia laughed, too.
But Elliott's expression soon turned serious again.
"We can celebrate later. Our quest wasn't to defeat this thing."
"Right."
We needed to rescue the missing people.
That had been our real objective.
"Let's save them all."
"Yeah."
We headed for the cocoons.
Felicia checked the man we'd rescued first.
"He's fine. He's still breathing."
"Let's hurry and check on the others."
Noel and Dario checked the cocoons.
Elliott and I cut the threads, careful not to hurt the people inside.
One.
Two.
Three.
A merchant.
A traveler.
A B-Rank adventurer.
We continued rescuing them from the cocoons one after another.
After a while, one of the adventurers slowly opened his eyes.
"...Where... am I...?"
Felicia immediately leaned in to look at his face.
"It's all right. The Adventurers' Guild came to rescue you."
"The Guild...?"
"Yes."
The man looked around.
The fallen Phantom Moth.
His rescued companions.
And us.
"Am I... saved?"
"Yes."
Felicia smiled.
"You're safe now."
Many of the others still hadn't regained consciousness.
There were more than ten of them.
I couldn't put living people in my Storage.
"There's no way the five of us can carry everyone."
Elliott said.
"What should we do?"
"This place seems safe now. A few of us will stay and guard the rescued people. Once more of them can move, they can help."
Elliott looked at Noel.
"Noel, can you go back to the Old North Road and call for reinforcements?"
"Leave it to me."
"Isn't it dangerous for you to go alone?"
I asked.
"Then Dario, go with her. Allen, Felicia, and I will guard this place."
"All right."
Dario readjusted the shield on his back.
"We'll be back soon."
Noel and Dario headed back the way we'd come.
I looked at the people we'd rescued.
They were all alive.
This quest hadn't been about defeating a monster.
It was about rescuing people and making it back alive.
It wasn't over yet.
But now that we'd come this far, I felt like everything would be all right.
Total P acquired: 99,145P