Chapter 291
Several hours after beginning our advance, after taking several breaks and enduring several attacks, we finally reached a low hill from which we could see the large vertical shaft in question. The Scars and Centaurs who knew the local geography well had told us about this hill, which offered a good view of the southern sea, and we had designated it our first-choice position for forming up.
Not only could we survey the shaft from above, but the open terrain made it easy to see where the enemy might come from. At the same time, there was nowhere for us to hide—but if there was nowhere to hide, we could simply make somewhere. We had made thorough preparations to do so.
The shaft in question was overwhelmingly larger and had a completely different atmosphere from the one we had entered during the event. It was more than a kilometer in diameter, and rocks jutted up around its raised rim. Those rocks were a mixture of Miasma Black Rock and reddish-brown stone, but for some reason, they were violently belching flames.
I had never seen burning rocks before, but according to the Centaurs' oral tradition, that hole was connected to Hell. Perhaps those were minerals from Hell itself.
"They're swarming everywhere... on the ground and in the air. If we're only counting heads, they outnumber us by far."
"Yeah, brother. With this many around, there're bound to be some tough ones."
The Hell Beasts were clustered around the enormous hole in numbers impossible to count, like an army of ants, while the sky above was filled with them like a swarm of mosquitoes. Defeating every one of them would probably be impossible. If we could drive them back or reduce their numbers before sealing the hole... No, filling a hole of that size would be even more impossible.
While I wrestled with that problem, Jigoro laughed happily and pounded his fists together. Without even needing to squint, I could see large individuals and others whose forms were obviously different mixed in among the countless Hell Beasts.
There was a chance that numbers alone would not be enough to deal with the large ones over there. If so, we would have to defeat them through individual prowess, which meant relying on experts like Jigoro, Genzuro, and Kanna. If there were countless monsters of that caliber... then we would have to devote all our efforts to helping residents like the Scars escape.
"They don't seem to have noticed us yet... but what is that sound, I wonder?"
Just as Genzuro said, the Hell Beasts near the hole showed no sign of having noticed us. If they had, their nature meant that they would have attacked us immediately.
It was fortunate that they had not noticed us reaching this hill. Securing the most advantageous position and being able to prepare for battle was an incredible stroke of luck.
The leaders of the various Races were already moving according to the plan we had established beforehand. Their preparations were mostly complete, and all that remained was to wait for the battle to begin. Incidentally, I had stationed Shiratsuki and our air forces on the far side of the hill from the shaft. We expected that the Hell Beasts would attack if they saw a huge floating battleship approaching.
"That rumbling hasn't stopped, has it? Is it the sound of the wind?"
Ruby voiced her question from Genzuro's shoulder, her surface trembling. Surely everyone in this army had wondered the same thing. The enormous sound had been coming intermittently from inside the shaft.
Was it merely the sound of the wind? Was Hell a noisy place where a sound like that echoed constantly? Or was the place connected to the shaft somehow special? I had no idea which answer was correct, but it would be unwise to jump to conclusions without any evidence.
"Maybe there's some unbelievably huge Hell Beast in there? A monster so enormous it can barely fit through the hole."
"You mean that's its voice? Don't say things like that."
Eiji grinned as he made the joke, and Toji frowned unhappily. That would certainly be awful. We had fought a gigantic enemy during the event not long ago, and its troublesome nature had sunk into our bones. I did not want to fight another opponent like that for a while.
Even as we talked, the sound from the hole continued without pause. Would we have to fight with this noise as our background music? No, once the battle began, we would not have the leisure to pay attention to it.
"Izam-dono, it seems the preparations are complete."
As I was thinking about something so trivial, Regdus-dono, a Centaur, came over and reported to me. I nodded and sent a clan-chat message to Iris, who had remained behind as Shiratsuki's acting captain: Begin the battle.
A few seconds after I sent the message, Shiratsuki's engines came to life and the ship began to rise. At the same time, the flying Golems activated and began circling around it. Cal and Moss-san, Nanako, and the birds Nanako had summoned also took to the open sky as escorts.
"Gyagyugyaaaaa!"
The Hell Beasts saw Shiratsuki appear in the sky and charged it en masse with ear-splitting howls. The same happened on the ground, too, which made the Hell Beasts' belligerent nature abundantly clear.
"It's frightening that they're coming straight at us without any tricks... but that also makes them easier to deal with. I'll leave the first shot to you, Iris."
There was no way my mutter could reach her, yet a thick beam of light shot from Shiratsuki's bow as if on cue.
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"I've finished checking the instruments... Hmm, maybe I should check them one more time."
On the bridge of Shiratsuki, Iris, who had been appointed acting captain, finished checking the instruments for perhaps the umpteenth time that day. The reason she was so restless was obvious: she was nervous about the major battle ahead.
"Iris-sama, why not take a short break? You've been repeating the same task for some time now."
"Yeah, yeah. Take it easy."
Towa, who was also on the bridge, urged her to rest with a worried look, while Shiitake laughed merrily, leaned back in their chair, and crossed their short legs. Iris thought Shiitake was taking things a little too easy, but she decided the two of them were right and let her tentacles droop.
"Ugh... I can't settle down unless I'm doing something."
"Those of us with production Jobs aren't very useful in actual combat, after all. I kind of understand how you feel, acting captain."
"But Iris-sama and Shiitake-sama have worked hard to expand our forces."
Shiitake folded their arms and nodded repeatedly. Because Iris and Shiitake were both in production Jobs, they had to be considered the least combat-capable members of the clan.
At the same time, as Towa had pointed out, there was no denying that the two of them had worked the hardest during the preparations. Iris had produced weapons and armor and improved the Tactical Shells, while Shiitake had manufactured the Golem army and stocked up on various medicines. This production effort was only possible thanks to the workshop aboard Shiratsuki, where ancient technology had been brought together, but everyone knew that we had only been able to prepare our current forces through the efforts of those two.
"I know that, and I have confidence in my work. But when the battle actually begins, I feel guilty that all I can do is keep firing the cannons from the safety of Shiratsuki."
"You're so serious, Iris. This Shiitake can barely even operate an avatar, so I'm just relieved they told me I don't need to stand on the battlefield!"
Shiitake laughed away Iris's anxiety, which stemmed from an overly strong sense of responsibility. Seeing this, Iris reflected that she might be better off learning from Shiitake and correcting her habit of taking everything too seriously.
"If I may say so, Iris-sama, we have received a report that the enemy's air forces are far stronger than expected. According to Shiratsuki's calculations, the main cannon should be able to annihilate the majority of them, but the prediction is that the airspace will still become a fierce battlefield."
"Ugh... I didn't need to hear that."
After hearing Towa's prediction, Shiitake's shoulders slumped. Shiratsuki's capabilities were extraordinary, and no halfhearted attack could sink it. Even so, Towa had declared that the battle would be fierce, and Shiratsuki's AI had not contradicted her. Shiitake realized that they would not be able to take it easy, either.
If the battle in the air was going to be fierce as well, the Metallica on the deck and their airborne companions would be thrown into the thick of it. This would not be a simple matter of firing down at the ground from above. Having already seen the enemy's numbers, they understood that and steeled themselves.
"Then the first strike is especially important... Oh. I have a message from Izam."
"What did the boss say?"
"He says to begin the battle. Shiratsuki, launch!"
'Understood.'
Just then, a chat message from Izam arrived announcing that the battle had begun. As Shiratsuki's acting captain, Iris ordered the ship to rise into the air. Shiratsuki gave a brief reply, then revved its engines and floated upward.
Once Shiratsuki rose into the sky, it had nowhere to hide from the ground, and it was immediately spotted. Countless flying Hell Beasts charged straight at it. The Metallica on the deck readied themselves, while those capable of flight spread their wings.
Yet not a single person launched a premature attack. That was because the plan had been communicated to everyone.
"Deploy the main cannon."
When Towa operated the controls on the bridge, Shiratsuki's bow split in two, and four metal rod-like objects extended from within. From the front, the rods appeared to form a square. They began rotating slowly, then gradually accelerated, until after a few seconds they looked like a single cylinder.
This was Shiratsuki's main cannon, its most powerful weapon. The area at the center of the four rods glowed intensely, its brilliance so great that it was difficult to look directly at it.
"Mana fully charged! It's ready to fire anytime!"
"Shiratsuki, aim so that you can engulf as many enemies as possible."
'Lock-on complete.'
"Then... fire!"
Shiitake reported that everything was ready, and Shiratsuki quickly calculated the most effective trajectory. Iris then fired the main cannon, the signal that began the battle. That first blast would later be remembered as the opening salvo of the war known as the Battle of the Hell Hole.