Chapter 302
"Goboooooooooo!!!"
The first move made by the fused giant-and-elephant Hell Beast was more troublesome than I had expected. It sprayed bodily fluid from its trunk while igniting it with magic, scattering flames like a flamethrower.
I had thought it might explode from the inside by following the bodily fluid, as the smaller individuals did, but it seemed to have that under control. It could not only spray flames continuously, but also launch flaming blobs of bodily fluid like cannon shells.
Since they were not mere fireballs but masses of fuel-like bodily fluid, they were extremely difficult to extinguish after impact, much like napalm. The shells were aimed at the aerial unit, burning several airborne Golems to nothing, and Shiratsuki had been hit as well. Fortunately, Shiratsuki's armor, being made with ancient technology, was sturdy enough that it had no trouble flying. Still, it was troublesome that the enemy had gained a means of attacking at that altitude.
"Nngh... Knowing when to retreat is crucial."
"We have to start from scratch!? You damn piece of shit!"
With the area once again turned into a sea of fire, Genzuro reluctantly retreated, while Jigorou, who had been thrown off when the fusion occurred, cursed. Just when we had finally managed to reach a point where we could fight the giant Hell Beast, everything had returned to square one in an instant. It was only natural that Jigorou would let out a curse or two.
But cursing would not win the battle. Jigorou charged forward again, while Genzuro seemed to have no choice but to switch to taking potshots from a distance.
"Hey, you lot! Put this fire out already!"
"Aye, Boss!"
The pirates moved quickly when faced with the sea of fire. About ten of those capable of using magic began fighting the flames. The Hell Beast sprayed bodily fluid and fire over the areas they had extinguished, but they put them out again in an instant. They looked more like firefighters than pirates.
However, the fused Hell Beast did not stubbornly continue setting fires. It seemed confident in its control of flames, but apparently took care from the beginning to keep the flames from reaching itself. That was only natural, since it might otherwise burn itself.
In fact, setting fires had apparently only been a way to buy time. While Jigorou and the others struggled to attack, it tore off all the elephant heads covering its body with its newly grown arms, then began hurling them into the distance.
Strengthened elephant Hell Beasts came crashing down in the forest where the Dark Elves were, along the Centaurs' route of advance, and right in front of us. Some of those thrown were also individuals that flew using their ears, and they began engaging the aerial unit as well.
Even though they had been strengthened, the elephant Hell Beasts that were thrown at us could not be called formidable opponents for those of us who knew how to deal with them. There was no doubt that the scales had increased their defensive power, but they covered only the elephant heads. Their torsos remained soft.
"At this rate, there will be no end to them."
"We need to gather our forces, even if we have to force it, and take that Hell Beast down. I want to, but..."
"Can't we just do it?"
"Because I can't be sure that will be the end."
Although we defeated the elephant Hell Beasts without losing any soldiers despite taking damage, the fused Hell Beast continued throwing elephant heads at us one after another. I did not know how long this would continue, but we could not win by engaging in this war of attrition forever. That only made me more determined to take down the source, even if we had to push ourselves.
But we did not know whether this was the last of the Hell Beasts emerging from the vertical shaft. What if an even more powerful Hell Beast was waiting behind it? Could we defeat it with the forces we had depleted by overexerting ourselves? There was simply too much uncertain information to make a decision.
"The end has been out of sight from the beginning, and isn't this a little late to worry about that? I think we should take it down all at once."
"You think so too, Toji? But ignoring enemies coming at this pace is..."
"You lot! Drag it down!"
"Heave-ho! Heave-ho!"
While I hesitated, the pirates apparently took action. When I looked over to see what was happening, I found that all of them had thrown grappling hooks around the fused Hell Beast's right leg and were pulling together.
Dozens of burly men and women of the sea flexed their muscles as they pulled, and the Hell Beast's leg was dragged along little by little. But the Hell Beast understood how dangerous it would be to fall, so it braced its leg with all its might and endured.
"Now, old man!"
"I'll join you!"
Jigorou and Genzuro took advantage of the opening created by the pirates. Jigorou charged through the wall of flames and delivered a full-power flying kick around the knee, while Genzuro, who had circled around near the pirates where the flames had been extinguished, deeply slashed its ankle. Fine fragments of scales and bright-red bodily fluid flew through the air, and the Hell Beast's balance wavered.
Even so, the Hell Beast endured. It placed the tip of its long trunk on the ground and used it as a third leg—a forceful method, but one that prevented the worst outcome of falling over. It only had to reshape its injured right leg. That was probably what the fused Hell Beast thought.
"That's checkmate!"
"Gbaaaah!?"
At that moment, the pirate who had been called Boss moved. She had somehow approached the Hell Beast without my noticing, and used the swords in both hands to slash its trunk into a cross. The fused Hell Beast finally lost its balance and fell backward onto its rear.
"Now! Press the attack!"
"You bastard! How dare you!?"
"You lot! Don't fall behind!"
Once things reached this point, we could do whatever we wanted. Jigorou punched down the giant Hell Beast, whose lower body was buried in an elephant head, Genzuro severed its left arm and left leg together, and the pirates swarmed around it and smashed the small elephant heads to pieces.
Though the difference in size was like that between a human and an ant, it was as if those ants possessed deadly poisonous stingers. The fused Hell Beast was reduced to a state worse than a rag in no time at all.
"Gubooo... Gubaoooooooooon!!!"
"Damn, you're loud! Shut up and die already!"
The Hell Beast, reduced to its last breath, let out an ear-piercing scream just before dying. Jigorou, who had been listening from point-blank range, kicked the giant's head to pieces and finished it off.
Perhaps because the source had fallen, the elephant heads fighting us melted into sludge. At the same time, the area that had become a field of caltrops tormenting the Centaurs returned to normal. It seemed we really had defeated it. Once I had breathed a sigh of relief, I called the Golems and Undead back to us and had them reform the ranks in preparation for what came next.
"The casualty report from each unit is... The Centaurs and Scars have suffered fatalities. With a battle this large, even the most thorough preparations can't prevent casualties."
I had expected the Centaurs, who had made repeated charges, and the Scars, who were poor at direct combat, to be the ones to suffer deaths. We had made every preparation possible to minimize casualties, but perfection had apparently been impossible from the start. It was painful, but regardless of the battle's outcome, we would have to mourn the dead.
No new Hell Beast emerged immediately after we slew the fused Hell Beast. However, the environment around the vertical shaft had changed. The rumbling sound we had heard before the battle began had stopped. Could we... declare victory?
"Byaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!"
What shattered that hopeful prediction was a cry that surpassed even the fused Hell Beast's scream. The strange sound shook the brain directly like a howling noise, and those closer to the vertical shaft seemed to be affected more severely. Jigorou, Genzuro, and the pirates were writhing on the ground with their hands clamped over their ears.
The source of the cry slid out of the hole. It was a snake-like monster with the heads of various creatures linked together like prayer beads. However, every single head was as large as Karu. Its mouths cackled eerily. I had seen countless Hell Beasts by now, but this was the first one I had seen that was so hideous!
"U, uhh..."
"What... is this..."
"This is bad..."
"Wool? Eiji, Toji too!?"
My companions collapsed one after another with groans. When I hurried over to them, it seemed they had all been afflicted with multiple status ailments. I looked around the battlefield with a bad feeling, and found almost everyone falling over in turn. The only ones still standing were me, the Golems, and the Undead... No way!
"It can spread status ailments across the entire battlefield with its voice alone...!?"
Damn it! At this point, a big shot had appeared that could dominate the entire battlefield with nothing but its voice! What kind of cheat was this!? I could not accept the appearance of such an absurdly unfair enemy, one that seemed to deny all the effort we had put in so far!
I clenched my staff and scythe, opened my grimoire, and took off into the sky. Flying at full speed, I cast the strongest spell at my disposal on the worst enemy, which had ravaged the battlefield with a single cry.
"Activate Grand Magic Formation! Spell Adjustment! I'll show you the strongest attack I can unleash after throwing in every magic stone I have! Hngh!"
I activated the magic formation and strengthened it with the intention of squeezing out all my magical power, used the functions of my staff, then crushed the attack talismans I had on hand and used them on myself. When my health rapidly fell to the brink of death, a sinister aura radiated from my body. 【Dragon Factor】 had activated.
Perhaps because of that, the magic formation floating in the air grew substantially larger and began crackling with black sparks. Perhaps it had judged that this attack possessed too much power to ignore, because the grotesque Hell Beast began shouting something.
It might have been trying to inflict a status ailment on me, but status ailments did not work on me. I would erase that filthy voice that was only making a meaningless racket. At the same time as I activated my spell, I would use Dragon Breath, my trump card when 【Dragon Factor】 was active!
"Take this! Black Hole! And then... Gaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!!"
"…!"
The strongest spell I could use crushed the Hell Beast's long body, while my strongest trump card, the sinister Dragon Breath, swallowed even its death throes and turned them to dust. The Hell Beast that had transformed the battlefield had appeared terrifying, but its health and defenses were apparently nowhere near those of the giant and elephant Hell Beasts.
"Hah... hah... This is ove..."
"Byabyabyabyabyaaa!"
Ah, so this was what despair felt like. Hell Beasts of the same kind as the one I had defeated emerged from the vertical shaft again. There were ten of them. I could no longer use Dragon Breath, and even if I used magic through the Grand Magic Formation, I could not produce the same level of power.
But that did not mean giving up was an option. We had no choice but to begin a desperate retreat with our lives on the line. Besides, even if we died, we would simply wake up in bed. It was nothing to worry about.
'...Annoying.'
That was when I heard a tiny whisper in my ear, just as I steeled myself and clenched my staff. The voice resounded as though ignoring every other noise. It was truly quiet, but I could clearly sense the irritation in it.
I unconsciously put even more distance between myself and the vertical shaft. My instincts told me that I must not approach it now. It had been a split-second decision, but it was the right one. Something pink extended from the bottom of the vertical shaft, as though trying to ensnare the grotesque Hell Beasts.
"Eek!? Eeeeeeeeeeeeeek..."
The long, slime-covered thing wrapped around the grotesque Hell Beasts and dragged them back into the depths of the earth. They seemed to try resisting, but their efforts were futile, and they fell while letting out pitiful screams.