Groot's Sword (2)
Thok.
The moment the commander's hand rose, every soldier froze in place.
"Tch."
A pack of orcs was filing along the trail. Because the path was so narrow, their formation had stretched into a long, thin column.
The soldiers waited in the undergrowth on the left side of the trail.
"They're walking right past without a clue."
"Today's the day you die."
The men waited for the commander's hand to move.
Thok.
The commander opened his clenched fist. At once the soldiers nocked arrows to their bows.
Zzzzt.
Even with the strings drawn taut, the bows did not so much as tremble. The commander's hand dropped.
Whiiish.
Thud.
With a sharp whistle of air, an arrow punched straight through an orc's skull. While the rest of the pack reeled in confusion, the soldiers loosed several more volleys, then stowed their bows and drew their swords.
Shing.
"You thought you were so clever ambushing us in the Bacoro Forest!"
"An ambush, from a pack of monsters? Getting ambushed suits you a whole lot better."
"When you get to hell, apologize to every last one of the men you killed that day."
In a single rush the soldiers split the orcs' long, straggling line clean down the middle. Any that broke free of the column found themselves surrounded and carved to pieces.
The fight was over almost before it began. These were the hardened veterans of Kenipra, tempered by countless real battles—and they had landed the first blow. Even berserk orcs stood no chance.
"KRAAAAH!"
Just as they were finishing the fight and about to collect the corpses, a roar that threatened to split their eardrums rolled through the mountains.
Thud. Thud.
Two hulking figures, each standing a full three meters tall, came into view. Gray hide, a reek of rancid meat—trolls.
Both of them swung crude-looking hand axes. Crude or not, the sheer mass behind those swings made them anything but harmless.
BOOM.
At the commander's order the soldiers scattered as one, and no one was hit.
Enormous size, crushing strength, and above all a regenerative power that defied all reason. Any unit that blundered into trolls in the open field without preparation would pay a terrible price.
Yet the Kenipra soldiers showed not the slightest trace of worry. If anything, they looked almost eager.
"Magic Stone Swords to the front."
The commander drew the blade at his hip as he spoke. Several other soldiers produced identical swords.
"Looks like we finally get to put Lord Veritati's swords to the test."
"I talked to the men who used them last time. They said the things are ridiculous."
They formed a horizontal line and blocked the trolls' path.
"Grrr!"
The trolls could scarcely believe these insolent little humans would dare stand in their way. Anything lower on the food chain usually turned and fled the moment it saw them. These ones, instead, were drawing steel and looking for a fight.
Vrrrrm.
The soldiers' blades began to quiver with a fine, high-frequency tremor. It had nothing to do with nerves. It was simply the preparation stage.
Whoosh.
One of the trolls raised its hand axe high overhead.
"All units—activate Magic Stone Swords!"
The commander's order cracked out at the same instant. The soldiers pressed the Magic Stones set into the hilts of their blades.
Wheeeeeen.
A blue radiance bloomed inside each Magic Stone and flowed along the edge of the steel.
"I've never seen a Magic Stone Sword in action before."
"It looks just like a real knight's aura blade."
The soldiers farther back murmured in awe. They were right—the way the blue light clung to the edges made the swords look exactly like the aura blades only knights could wield.
"Duration is short. Finish them in a single exchange."
"Yes, sir!"
Dash.
BOOM.
The soldiers scattered, slipping past the sweeping hand axe. One of them slashed at a troll's arm.
Severing sound.
Hide so tough that ordinary steel could barely scratch it parted like paper.
Grrk?
The troll froze, stunned by the sudden pain. In that heartbeat several more flashes of light streaked past, and the creature fell apart in pieces. Its companion was reduced to so much butchered meat just as quickly.
"This thing is insane."
"I didn't even feel the cut."
Staring at blades that had already lost their blue glow, the soldiers muttered under their breath. It still didn't seem real that the trolls lying on the ground were their own handiwork.
"With one of these, even a knight wouldn't be anything special."
One soldier clenched his sword tight, his face flushed with excitement.
"The sword's great, sure—but the charge-up takes forever, the active window is tiny, and it's a one-shot deal. Worked fine on dumb brutes like trolls. Against a person you'd be dead before you ever got to use it."
There was always one wet blanket in every unit. The excited soldier's face fell again.
"Did you see those swords? Ordinary soldiers swinging aura."
"Rumor has it Lord Veritati made them to raise survival rates in the great monster wars."
"He really is something else."
The rest of the men were just as fascinated by the new weapon.
"Enough chatter—police the field! We've still got plenty of packs left to clear."
"Yes, sir!"
"Apologies!"
At the commander's bark even the rear ranks scrambled forward to clean up the battlefield.
"I've got quite a bit to report today."
Gavin stood holding a thick sheaf of papers.
"The more information, the better."
Ellen was staying at Hugo's estate, digging into the Black Society.
"The internal cleanup operation in the Kenipra region is proceeding smoothly. With soldiers this experienced, it's going almost too easily."
Hugo had committed half the troops stationed at the Kenipra Gate to the cleanup. Ellen's presence was what made that temporary gap possible.
"Mid-tier monsters like trolls do turn up from time to time, but the Magic Stone Swords Groot built are doing heavy work."
Ellen's expression brightened.
Groot's swords let ordinary soldiers wield something equivalent to an aura blade. They were still unfinished, mass production was impossible, and numbers remained limited. The constraints were many—but for killing monsters they were perfect.
"I gathered everything I could on the Black Society, but I couldn't turn up anything solid. I'm sorry."
Seeing Gavin's dejected face, Ellen clapped him on the shoulder.
"It's fine. Once black magic was banned, every scrap of related information vanished with it."
When the Magic Tower officially outlawed black magic, every record had been destroyed. Hunting down any surviving texts had become a nearly impossible task.
Ah. There is still one place that holds more information than anywhere else.
Ellen recalled the single location where black-magic materials still remained.
"Gavin. Go to Enis."
"Enis—the penal colony for mages? Even for me, getting inside that place is…"
Enis held black mages from countless different schools. Some among them might know something about the Black Society.
"That's right. And there's a way in. Take this and go to Vin. Walk the market district long enough and they'll find you."
Ellen handed Gavin the token he used whenever he needed to contact Enis.
"Also—the monsters in the Peer Mountains are moving strangely."
"Has something gone wrong with the ones you're linked to?"
Gavin immediately set his pen to paper, ready to take notes.
Ellen had applied the same method he once used on the hobgoblins to other monsters throughout the Peer Mountains, hoping to smoke out the Black Society's agents. Just as expected, Black Society mages carrying crystal orbs had appeared. They controlled the monsters the same way that earlier man had.
Weeks of observation had confirmed that the Black Society used the Peer Mountains as their base and had given Ellen a rough outline of their organization.
"More importantly, the monsters' movements are starting to take on a clear direction."
"Direction?"
Gavin looked up from his furious note-taking.
"Originally each group stayed inside its own territory. Lately, though, they've all begun streaming toward a single point."
Gavin's expression hardened the moment he followed Ellen's pointing finger.
"Kenipra."
"Exactly. For whatever reason, they're aiming at the Kenipra Gate."
Resolve settled in Ellen's eyes. Looking back on this event from his previous life, no offensive of this scale had ever happened—because the earlier waves alone had already smashed through both gates.
Kenipra's strength alone will never be enough to hold them.
Even so, knowing the problem in advance didn't mean he could simply sit and take the blow. He had to find a solution somehow.
If I can get royal support… would that be enough?
The central army's combat power far outstripped any provincial force. And then there were the kingdom's pride—the mages. With their help, even a horde this size could be stopped.
I can persuade His Majesty. The nobles, though… they'll oppose it on principle.
Opposition for the sake of opposition. They would reject the request simply because it came from Ellen. On top of that, the reinforcements needed here were no mere single legion. At minimum he would need a third of the central army, including a large contingent of the Magic Tower's combat mages.
Emptying the capital of that many troops on the word of a mere baron was an extremely dangerous proposition. The nobles would have every excuse they needed to object.
Someone has to override their backlash and send the reinforcements anyway.
Ellen wrote out a formal request for support and addressed it to Alberto.
"Gavin. Have a courier take this to Harryford."
"Yes, sir! Understood."
Deep in the Peer Mountains, figures in black robes and deep hoods had gathered in one place. Even the air around them seemed to grow heavier and more foul.
"Have all the monsters been gathered?"
"Forgive me. They're scattered so widely that we still need more time to collect every last one."
A man answered the leader's question.
"We don't march until the summoning is complete anyway. Just have them ready by then."
"Lord Arturo—the summoning itself is nearly finished. All that remains is the blood we need as a catalyst."
Arturo bared a set of yellowed teeth in a satisfied smile. The face that showed beneath the hood was hideous: a massive scar and clouded black pupils that made the entire eye look white.
"Plenty of villages nearby to bleed dry. Only a matter of time. Still…"
Arturo's thoughts drifted to a certain young man.
So that one used black magic, did he?
He had watched Ellen's fight through a crystal orb. In that battle Ellen had employed black magic—yet the distinctive black mana that always accompanied it had never appeared.
And the way he cast was strange beyond belief…
What had truly astonished him was the complete absence of any chant. Arturo had never seen, never even heard of, chantless casting.
Because of that one alone, we'd best accelerate the Prode offensive.
An existence like that was far too likely to become an obstacle to the Black Society's rise.
"When enough blood has been collected, inform me at once. We will begin the summoning ritual immediately. That day will be the day the Black Society steps into the open world."