Departure
Departure
With the newly added attachments and even Magic Power infused, the thrown axe demonstrated a destructive power beyond anything I'd imagined and flew at the half-breed.
Of the two Demonfolk who tried to block the axe, one had its arm severed, and the bastard who threw himself forward had his helmeted crown torn like paper. Confirming that, I had no time to marvel at the amazing performance before I retrieved the needle and drew my sword, advancing.
The moment with even a few more bow-wielding enemies was, as clear as day, the most comfortable moment I'd get, so there was no time to hesitate. In that time, I needed to incapacitate at least one more to raise my chances of escaping safely.
Thinking that, I cut off the arm of a pitiful Demonfolk who tried to swing even a bow staff at me, grabbed him by the scruff, and held him up like a shield as I ran.
"Gukk!"
"Goddammit! Protect the mages! If you swing wildly, the siege magic will come crashing in! I'll handle the bastard! Fall back!"
Even as I held and swung him around, beyond the Demonfolk shield who stared at his two severed arms as if in disbelief, I could hear the commander's unfazed voice and the sounds of other bastards dying.
He dodged that? I'd been fairly confident in that throw. Disappointing.
If he gave the order to block the siege ram unit like this, it'd all be for nothing, so I hurled the Demonfolk shield I was holding with all my strength and used Magic Power to retrieve the thrown axe.
"That goddamn side gate... Fuck!"
I definitely felt heavier resistance than with the needle, but fortunately, without it getting stuck anywhere, the axe came back quickly and narrowly grazed the side of the half-breed who was barking orders.
Even in that tight situation, the Demonfolk who stared at the axe back in my hand with dazed expressions were toppled by the Demonfolk shield I'd thrown, and the half-breed who'd even stopped giving orders and was about to charge hesitated because of those collapsed Demonfolk, buying me about three seconds.
It was but an instant, yet enough time to sever the Magic Power directed at the spellcasters. I couldn't cover the entire massive wall, but my immediate area was doable.
"M-Magic?!"
"Ah, no, no!!"
Just roughly severing the visible Magic Power flows made the eyes of the Demonfolk mages bulge as if they'd tear, and the half-breed who'd been charging at me stared at me swinging my sword at thin air with a strange look before turning his gaze to the screams erupting from all directions, his eyes now filled with rational suspicion.
"What're you looking at."
I threw the axe at that bastard once again, and no sooner did I leap onto the nearest building's rooftop than our side's magic rained down on the wall.
"...!!"
I thought I heard a shout from above, but it was swallowed by the explosions and the sounds of bursting.
With the slight comfort that even my ears nearby couldn't hear it, so any order to the side gate unit wouldn't have been delivered, I attempted to decelerate with the great needle. No sooner did I land on the sloped roof than the Demon King's Army waiting below began reacting and shouting.
But no attacks followed. They only showed a reaction as if wondering what on earth was happening.
After confirming their reaction, instead of taking a stance and stopping, I jumped from the roof again and launched all my needles except the great needle toward the most densely packed area of soldiers.
-Piiiik!
It was just a shotgun-like scattering attack, but enough to make the soldiers hesitate. Delaying the formation of an encirclement was a bonus.
"Khuk!"
"M-Magic tool!"
Every time my actions increased the enemies' time to deliberate, my own time to assess and deliberate increased. The Demon King's Army just standing there slack-jawed, unable to react even as the axe flew back down toward my hand from above, was proof of that.
They'd apparently anticipated preparing for a surprise attack in response to the commotion up top, but it was plain to see that they hadn't anticipated it would be just one person, so their reaction was delayed.
"Sh-Shield..."
The one who happened to make the most rational and quick judgment became the sacrifice of my axe swing as I landed. Was there a gap between the troops defending the castle and the ones breaking through the front lines? Even compared to the Demonfolk who'd blocked my attack while riding a wyvern, there was a considerable difference.
"What the..."
I considered what thoughts the bastards were having as they watched me trample over their comrade who'd been turned into mush in an instant and charge. First they'd be bewildered, then dismayed; if they had camaraderie, they'd be furious, wouldn't they? If they'd been veterans, they'd have swung their weapons immediately, but thankfully none seemed to be around me now, so maybe that was it.
Then at least until their reaction turned to fury, I had the advantage. With that judgment, I threw the axe toward the distant side gate and ran after it.
"S-Stop him! He's aiming for the gate!!"
That alone heightened the chaos: the brave ones came at me, the others instinctively backed away. Someone who regained his wits quickly shouted, but to them, I wasn't just an enemy who'd crossed the wall into the interior; I was 'an enemy who'd not only crossed the wall by unknown means but also jumped down after devastating one side of the wall with similarly unknown methods.'
Even if the Demonfolk deployed for special operations were weaker than frontline Demonfolk in terms of strength, they could be assigned to secret missions because of their superior loyalty. There was no way every single Demon King's soldier possessed the guts and sense of duty to charge a madman who had succeeded in a feat they wouldn't even dare attempt.
If they did, the Human Race would have been pushed to the ends of the earth long ago.
"H-How are we supposed to stop that!"
As I'd expected, out of the thirty Demonfolk spread around, fewer than eight charged at me. Even those had Magic Power levels that weren't very threatening. Without even having to counterattack, just by attempting double acceleration, I could slip through the flimsy encirclement and head for the side gate.
Just as I was about to launch a needle at the side gate unit, who were still floundering and unable to reach a decision, to keep them in check—
A deep-throated roar of the Demonfolk commander rang out from above.
"Eldmiaaaaa!!!"
What flashed through my mind in that instant was the terrifyingly accurate javelin skill that bastard had.
The thought extended to the fact that a bastard with such precision wouldn't leap down without some plan, and my head naturally lifted as my legs stopped to respond to his attack.
"That guy's pretty damn crazy too."
There, against the backdrop of the wall still spewing flames and the sky, was the half-breed, leaping down with a massive chunk of stone and glaring at me.
◈
Whatever trick he'd pulled, Eldmia had disrupted the mages' spell interference. Quicker than he could confirm it, the Human Race mages' magical attack hammered the wall.
There was no time to get his bearings. The commander, who'd briefly lost consciousness in the explosion and then came to, could think only of stopping Eldmia. Raising his Magic Power with desperate resolve and grabbing a chunk of debris as big as himself was an instinctive action, his mind fixated on 'stopping' him.
Tinnitus ringing, his balance gone, he forced his unsteady body to look down, and in that brief time the city had become a wreck.
If this continued, that devilish bastard would reach the gate. As he thought that, the commander leaped from the wall.
"Eldmiaaaaa!!"
His shout, laden with fury at the bastard who had appeared and ruined everything, self-reproach for not having stopped him properly, and irritation at his men cowering and failing to deal with him, made the guy stop his sprint and raise his head. Realizing that the look in his eyes was filled with the sentiment of 'look at this crazy bastard,' the commander scowled without restraint and swung the wall fragment he held.
"You goddamn son of a bitch!!"
If only he'd been crushed and killed, but Eldmia easily dodged the fragment he'd thrown. He didn't even just barely avoid it; he threw himself toward the area with the fewest soldiers and swung his sword with meticulous precision.
Because he'd jumped without any plan, a terrible shock shot through his joints as soon as he hit the ground, but the commander didn't regret his decision.
"You won't reach the gate!"
If he reached the gate, there'd be a problem. He didn't know exactly how, but it would definitely happen. The commander forced his body, feeling like it would shatter, upright and faced Eldmia, drawing the sword at his waist.
But Eldmia himself just tilted his head, giving him an odd look as if he'd seen some strange creature.
"...You, you understood why I was trying to reach the gate, right?"
"What are you..."
Well, obviously, opening the gate or preventing the siege ram unit from moving...
The commander, wavering between the aftereffects of the explosion and the pain rising through his lower body, had a belated realization and urgently shouted, whipping his head around.
"O-Open the side gate! The siege ram is coming!"
Of the two options—Eldmia smashing the gate himself, or supporting the siege ram to destroy the gate by neutralizing the side gate unit—the latter was obviously the more likely, yet the cost of having so naturally forgotten that fact was immense.
The moment the shield-bearing warriors opened the side gate to go out, the siege ram broke through the first wooden gate and revealed itself.
And as soon as the siege ram struck the second gate, made of iron bars, a massive explosion erupted.