Chapter 294
"No flying reinforcements have emerged from the vertical shaft. I suppose the aerial battle is reaching its climax."
I muttered this after witnessing Cal cut down a large Hell Beast with his tail. The Hell Beasts of the same type were being overwhelmed by Shio and the others and looked ready to fall at any moment... Ah. One of them has been defeated. At this point, the rest should just be cleanup.
Shiratsuki's main cannon had eliminated all the strong individuals, and there were no flying types among the reinforcements. The strongest individual remaining was being handled easily enough by Cal and Shio's group. The rest of the Hell Beasts had been exposed to merciless gunfire from the Metallica and were in a state of near annihilation.
"The particularly strong individuals are being held in check below the hill by Jigoro and Genzuro. It's fortunate that the Hell Beasts around them are being caught up in the aftermath of their battle. The real problem is the fatigue among the Centaurs."
The residents, or NPCs, felt fatigue just as though they were alive. The realism was nice, but in this situation, having limitless stamina would have been much more convenient.
In any case, the Centaurs who had been repeatedly charging the enemy should retreat to the rear soon and focus on recovering. I took a flare from my inventory, fired it into the air, and sent the Centaurs a signal to temporarily withdraw.
"Now our reliable allies who split up the enemy will be taking a break. This area is about to become the heart of the battle, so stay sharp."
"Then I'll move up, without getting too far ahead. Leave it to me!"
"Then I'll stir things up a little. Don't expect much in the way of results, okay?"
Eiji went to the front with a smile as he lifted his sturdy shield, while Toji swayed her twin swords and disappeared beyond the Undead unit. That left only Wool and me here.
We were not slacking off; we had been providing support from the rear the entire time. Just then, the Centaurs came from behind the hill, while Mikero arrived from the sky riding a flying Golem.
"Did you call for me, Izam-dono?"
"Yes. Mikero, you've arrived at the perfect time as well."
"I am honored by the compliment. Then, let us begin treatment at once."
Mikero said this and began healing the Centaurs with magic and his magic eye. Their injuries, both major and minor, rapidly healed, and they were so pleased that they immediately tried to return to the front. I hurriedly stopped them and told them to take at least a short break.
"Even if your wounds have healed, your magic power hasn't returned, has it? Rest until you've recovered at least a little of it."
"Hmm... If that is the supreme commander's judgment, we shall obey. However, will it not be difficult to hold the front without us?"
Regtus-dono's point was perfectly valid. The Golem and Undead units could fight so steadily precisely because the Centaurs divided and scattered the enemy with their charges and lures.
Thus, letting them rest meant that we would have to face every enemy ourselves. That would certainly be difficult, but it was not impossible.
"Even if it is difficult, we can buy enough time for the Centaurs to get a proper rest. Our most dependable heavy warrior has told us to leave it to him, after all."
When I answered with absolute confidence, Eiji's war cry and the sound of tremendous impacts echoed from ahead.
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"Whoa! There seem to be more of them than I expected!"
Eiji had taken up a position at the very front, and he now understood just how effective the Centaurs' charges had been at reducing their burden. Looking down at the horde of Hell Beasts racing toward him with shrieks, he knew that the forces stationed here alone could not keep holding them back indefinitely.
However, Eiji did not feel overly threatened. It was not because he was overconfident in his own strength, but because he was certain they could hold out for a short time even without the Centaurs' support.
"All right, let's give them a good one... Come and get it! Bwoooooooooooooooooo!"
With his shield raised toward the horde of Hell Beasts surging toward him like a raging torrent, Eiji shouted from the bottom of his stomach to draw their attention. He had used a taunt-type martial technique, one that targeted multiple enemies.
About a third of the Hell Beasts charging up the hill seemed to take the bait. Some opened their huge mouths and bared their fangs, others readied their claws, and still others charged while brandishing tentacles, tails, and other body parts that could serve as weapons.
Even knowing that each one was weaker than him, it would be a lie to say he felt no fear at the sight of so many different enemies leaping at him all at once. His earlier roar had also served to expel the fear he held within.
"Grrraaaaaah!"
"Gishaaaaaah!"
"Guuuuuuooh! This is nothing! Mighty Crushing Shield! Hyaaaaaah!"
The Hell Beasts, without a thought for teamwork, charged the shield Eiji had braced himself behind, each one trying to get there first. They launched such reckless attacks that they did not care if the Hell Beasts in front of them were crushed by those behind.
Eiji gritted his teeth and endured the pressure created by that very recklessness. Not only that, using a martial technique, he shoved with his shield and sent both the Hell Beast pressing against it and those behind it flying. The lower-level individuals died from that alone, while the survivors were trampled by the creatures behind them.
"Roaring Axe Shockwave! Blow away!"
Eiji slammed his axe into the ground, sending the Hell Beasts in the rear flying. The martial technique transmitted a shockwave across a wide area in front of the point where he brought down his axe, turning every individual unable to withstand its power into dust.
Eiji had certainly grown stronger, but even against opponents weaker than him, he should not have been able to overwhelm them to this extent. The reason he had been brought up to this level was the equipment Iris had newly crafted for him. She really was one of the finest player artisans, Eiji thought with a smug grin.
"Ahaha! Against small fry, this cuts through them like butter!"
Behind Eiji, Toji was slicing apart the Hell Beasts that had not been drawn to him and were fighting the Golems. She wore an alluring smile as she wielded golden twin swords wreathed in flame. They were also among the weapons Iris had newly crafted, and Toji could not help but look enraptured by their sharpness.
She was not the sort of person who went out of her way to flaunt her strength. However, she could not deny that she took pleasure in scattering enemies with overwhelming power.
"Gyuboboh!"
"Oh? That's dangerous... Unlike Iris's, those tentacles are such an ugly color."
Despite being struck by Toji's slash, the deer-like Hell Beast not only remained standing but even counterattacked. However, what grew from its head were not antlers, but writhing tentacles. They were a muddy, murky brown, and Toji's refined features tightened into a frown when she saw them.
Even while making light of it, she acknowledged that the enemy was fairly tough. She had certainly felt her blade cut deeply into its vital neck, yet the creature was still alive. That meant it had a considerable amount of health.
Moreover, the wound she had inflicted had vanished completely, suggesting that it also possessed a high regeneration ability. What a pain, she cursed inwardly.
"So you're the type that's a natural counter to someone like me, whose attacks lack power? Then all I need to do is increase the number of attacks."
Saying this, she began performing a sword dance on the spot. A mirage appeared around her, and then translucent duplicates emerged to her left and right, moving in exactly the same way as she did.
The duplicates moved in perfect sync with Toji, their original, and despite being mere copies, their twin swords cut into the enemy. They were not mere mirages.
"Gyoboh!? Gyobwaaaaaah!!!"
With Toji's number of attacks suddenly tripled, the deer-like Hell Beast was torn apart in an instant. The flames wreathing her swords then burned it to ashes. Even its considerable health could not withstand such a fierce onslaught.
At the same time as the Hell Beast vanished, her duplicates also dissolved into the air. These clones were a martial technique of the Skill 【Twin Sword Dance】. They could be maintained for only a few seconds, and she could not make them move differently from her real body. However, the technique required little magic power and tripled her number of attacks for those few seconds, so Toji liked using it.
"I use magic, too, you know... There!"
She used 【Enchantment】, whose effect was about to expire, to wreathe her swords in flame once more, then slipped between the enemies as though dancing and cut them apart. It was as graceful as a perfectly choreographed scene from an action movie, as if her movements had been decided from the beginning.
"I'll do my best toooo. Meee-eh!"
"Giiiiii!?"
"Aaaaaaaah!?"
Until now, Wool had strengthened everyone with just one mouth. However, while the Centaurs focused on recovering, he decided that he should join the attack as well and began crying out with his second mouth. The enemies who heard his cry immediately began suffering and crouched down, only to be trampled by the waves of Hell Beasts pouring in from behind.
Wool deliberately chose cries that interfered with the enemy's movements instead of directly dealing damage for a reason. He was convinced that his primary role was to strengthen his allies through his cries.
Of course, he could attack with a wide-area shockwave produced by his voice. However, he judged that it would be better to conserve his magic power and keep the strengthening effects of his cries active rather than waste it on attacks.
"Meee-eh. Ooh, yeah, let's leave the attacking to Izam after all."
As Wool continued crying out while conserving his magic power, an enormous pitch-black sphere formed before his eyes and began sucking in and crushing the Hell Beasts across a wide area. He knew that this was Izam's magic, Black Hole. Thinking that he should prioritize support over attacking, Wool cried out once more.