13
Chapter 13 Subjugation of the Demonic Beast.
The sun that had climbed to the very top of the sky slowly tilted beyond the mountain ridge. As the sunset began to spread, even the talkative mercenaries fell silent and started to grow tense.
Night is the time of monsters. Especially the enemy they would have to face was a demonic beast that had already annihilated more than a few groups.
"…The mages had better do their part."
"That old man, they say he's a court mage. Doesn't that mean he's insanely strong?"
"Then he'll be strong. We just trust in that and fight. What other choice is there."
The mercenaries ate a generous last supper—one that might truly be their last.
And then the forest night arrived in an instant.
Of all things, clouds had gathered in the sky, so it seemed they would barely have the aid of moonlight. One of the mercenaries looked up at that sky and muttered, Rotten luck, that's what this is.
The knights and mercenaries did not set down their weapons. So that they could fight at any moment, should a demonic beast or monster appear.
The watch rotation was decided, and the mercenaries lay down one by one. This time as well, Yurik did not go straight to sleep. However, tonight instead of reading Adrian's notes, he meditated and organized his magic. Like the mercenaries and knights, Yurik too was preparing so that he could fight at any moment.
He went over the nearly dozens of magic circuits in his mind, one by one. As if pressing a stamp down firmly again and again, he rapidly completed and moved through each entire magic circuit.
While mages would ordinarily recite the countless rune words that make up a spell as if singing them in order to construct the circuit, Yurik drove not rune words but the raw circuits themselves whole into his mind.
Of course, even mages will memorize entire circuits for magic they use frequently and over a long time—but memorizing all dozens of circuits in that fashion is something that borders on the virtually impossible.
Yet Yurik remembered all those circuits as if they were pictures. Because to him, magic was nothing less than a masterwork painting of circuits.
Having finished his preparations, Yurik lay down. Perhaps because of the resentful spirits of those who had died unjustly in this place, the cold seeping up from the ground felt even fiercer than the night before.
Auuu—, a beast's cry echoed anxiously from somewhere far away.
The subjugation party could not fall easily asleep and tossed and turned for a long while.
Yurik's eyes snapped wide open in the middle of the night. The night watchman sitting around the campfire saw the handsome mage slowly raising his upper body and called out, asking if he'd gotten up to take a piss. But Yurik didn't answer and only stared fixedly at something. At that, the amusement in the watchman's face vanished in an instant.
"……Why are you being so unsettling, man."
"Something's there."
And then Yurik said, with a tone of certainty.
"Wake everyone up. It's a monster horde."
This was no words from some half-baked mercenary—it was a mage speaking. On top of that, there was no way he would speak nonsense in a situation like this.
The watchman bit his lip and rang the bell— clang, clang, clang. At that, the entire subjugation party rose to their feet as one, like a lie undone.
"What? What's going on? Is it the demonic beast?"
"A monster horde, apparently!"
Court mage Dunmer, roused by the alarm bell, quickly spread his mana through the surroundings. And then he added his confirmation.
"It's a monster horde. Everyone, prepare yourselves!"
All it took to be combat-ready was to grip their weapons. Subjugation commander Thomas pushed the mages and civilians into the center.
"Protecting the mages is the top priority!"
The moment he shouted the objective, a monster horde came pouring out of the forest.
However, a monster horde of this scale had never yet been reported on this forest road. Dunmer judged that this was, in all likelihood, the doing of the demonic beast.
"There may be a demonic beast nearby!"
When the court mage reported to the subjugation commander, Thomas called out again to the subjugation party.
"There may be a demonic beast! Stay alert to your surroundings at all times!"
And the moment his words ended, the monster horde came charging recklessly toward the subjugation party. Each head bore four bloodshot eyes, and the needle-sharp fur was as black as pitch, making them difficult to distinguish in the dark.
"Don't break formation! Hold!"
The mercenaries and knights each swung their weapons with all their strength at the monsters lunging toward them. The monsters weren't particularly powerful, but their sheer numbers meant stray wounds kept accumulating.
While they fought the monsters, the mages cast their magic and continuously checked the sky. So that the moment the demonic beast appeared, they could drive their spells into it.
And then, at last.
The demonic beast revealed itself in the eastern sky.
"……There!"
The silhouette of the demonic beast flying through the air grew larger and larger. It closed the distance with the subjugation party to a certain degree, then suddenly plunged downward at tremendous speed.
Without waiting for one another, the mages immediately launched their magic. However, it was not easy to hit the demonic beast that adjusted its direction and speed freely as it pleased. The creature descended all the way to the ground and snatched up a carriage.
—!
Then it shot back upward again and hurled the carriage with full force toward the subjugation party.
Just as subjugation commander Thomas was deliberating whether he should shout for everyone to dodge, court mage Dunmer fired a mana bolt at the carriage. It exploded in midair, scattering debris.
"That damned bastard!"
The demonic beast circled broadly above the subjugation party, throwing their vision into disarray, then plunged sharply downward at tremendous speed.
The mages fired mana bolts again at the demonic beast dropping toward them, but it twisted its body and evaded. And at that very moment, above Yurik's head a dazzling magic circle rose, and a white arrow shaped like a feather was shot forth.
…!
By instinct, the demonic beast sensed that this was no ordinary magic and banked sharply. However, unlike a regular mana bolt, the white arrow traced a graceful arc and gave chase.
The demonic beast rocketed high into the sky and put as much distance as it could between them. The white arrow then slowly grew faint and vanished.
'…The distance was too great. The power was also slightly lacking….'
Yurik closed his eyes and opened them again; his air shifted completely.
But next time he would not miss.
He fixed his gaze on the demonic beast and overlapped both palms at a slant. Then he compressed and twisted the mana in his palms, and spread them upward as if scattering snow.
Powerful magic circles began to appear in an instant, one after another. The refined mana cycling through Yurik's body rushed out in a surge, rapidly seeping into the magic circles he had drawn.
Brighter and more vivid than before, white arrows shot through the magic circles one after another.
One, two, three, four. Four arrows shot upward into the sky like beams of light.
—!
The white arrows trailing sparkling afterimages spun round and round in a spiral shape. The four arrows grew more and more compressed and rotated ever faster. Then the arrows transformed into something like a great spear and flew toward the demonic beast in a trajectory too fast to follow with the eye.
The demonic beast hastily picked up speed and banked away, but it could not shake off the great white arrow. It soon struck the demonic beast and triggered a massive explosion.
Ah.
The subjugation party found it hard to look away from that overwhelming aerial battle. Some were so transfixed they suffered serious wounds from the monsters.
"Stop standing there in a daze! Take out the monsters first!"
The demonic beast, with one wing completely destroyed it seemed, could no longer fly and came crashing down. The creature fell into the forest, sending up a great crash and a cloud of dust.
Only then did the influence over the monsters appear to vanish; the monster horde that had been lunging madly at the subjugation party slowly retreated and fled.
However, it was still too soon to cheer in victory.
"The demonic beast likely hasn't died yet."
At Yurik's words, the subjugation commander nodded as well. He too had no intention of ending the battle until he had seen the demonic beast's corpse.
"We move to where it fell!"
Of course, it was impossible to take all the laborers and coachmen and the wounded with them into the forest, so the commander left part of the subjugation party behind and led the rest.
The court mage spread mana detection over a wide area and pinpointed where the demonic beast had fallen. The subjugation party crossed through the dim forest, keeping careful watch of their surroundings.
"Don't let your guard down to the end! Keep watching around you at all times!"
Perhaps having tasted blood, everyone was in an agitated state, breathing in rough gasps. After pushing forward for quite some time like that, they finally found the fallen demonic beast.
As expected, its life had not yet been snuffed out. No—not merely not snuffed out, it was still remarkably vigorous.
Having lost one wing and enraged, the demonic beast let out a strange screech and charged at the subjugation party. And it lashed out wildly with its sharp claws.
The creature wasn't quite as fast as when it had been flying, but it was still at a level that could not be ignored.
"Spread out!"
Subjugation commander Thomas ordered them to scatter. While they drew its attention, the mages chanted their magic. Naturally, the one who stood out most was still the handsome mage, Yurik.
'Here is where I snuff out its life.'
The creature was an evil living thing that had claimed countless victims. There was not the slightest room for mercy.
The moment the mages fired their mana bolts at it, Yurik spread both arms and formed a magic circle.
In this place full of obstacles, using mana arrows ran the risk of going astray. If luck ran worse, it could harm allies.
Then there was only one method.
Yurik brought his index and middle fingers together, pointed upward at the sky, and looked up.
A night sky dark as pitch. A magic circle formed there, and a club-shaped mass of mana emerged.
And the moment Yurik pointed his two fingers downward, it dropped instantly onto the demonic beast's head. Before the creature even had time to react.
Kwaaang—.
Together with an enormous crash, the demonic beast's body was crushed.
Fortunately, the creature's hide was far softer than the Black Serpent that had been in Eldrover Forest. That monster had endured the Mass Magic three times. In the end it died on the fourth, body bursting apart.
The subjugation party stared blankly as the demonic beast that had been raging madly until just moments ago had its torso crushed in a single hammer blow.
…And those gazes slowly shifted to the owner of the magic.
Handsome mage, Yurik.
Through this battle, they had come to understand with perfect clarity just how terrifying a formidable mage truly is.