Assault on Ratstein Island! (4)
I had practiced relentlessly to master holy power and mana. The fruits of that labor were my control over the spirit horn-mice and the ability to share their sight and hearing.
But the holy power now surging through my veins was on an entirely different level.
An overwhelming fullness that felt ready to burst at any moment!
That abundant power made me bold for a moment.
"Hey! You there, lion-head!"
At my taunt, the greater demon's expression twisted into something grotesque. If it had been a human emotion, it would have been pure incredulity.
I seized the opening, leveling my horn spear and crooking a finger at it.
"Come on then. If you lose, I'll shave that fancy mane of yours bald!"
My cold declaration made the manticore's face contort with murderous rage. Not to be outdone, the Great Hornster I was riding raised its dainty front paws to its mouth and let out a series of mocking little chuckles.
"You... How dare you! A worthless little rat like you dares look down on me?!"
That much was crystal clear. It had completely lost its mind.
"I'll tear you to shreds!"
The greater demon's roar. Instantly a massive scorpion tail laden with deadly venom whipped through the air so fast it vanished from sight.
A sonic boom shredded the air!
KRAAAAAANG!
The surroundings exploded into rubble as dust billowed skyward.
"Damn it! Get down!"
Inspector Coldwell and the gendarmes flattened themselves in terror before that overwhelming destructive force.
"You oversized spirit-rat! Not even bones left of you, I wager!"
The manticore was just about to lift its chin in arrogance and unleash a hideous laugh when—
"Squeak? Squeeeeak?"
Where the dust cleared, the Great Hornster stood completely unharmed, not a single hair out of place despite taking a direct hit from the tail.
I glanced down. The creature was simply twitching its overstuffed cheek pouches with a thoroughly bewildered expression.
"Wh-what...!"
The manticore's vertical pupils shook wildly. That round, fluffy exterior of the Great Hornster had never been mere decoration.
"Squeak!"
The Hornster puffed itself up with smug confidence.
Thud! Boom!
The flustered greater demon's follow-up attacks came in a relentless barrage. From its grotesquely tangled arms, iron clubs, whips, axes and every manner of weapon poured forth in flashes of light.
"Die! Just die already, you insolent little rat!"
Thoom! Crack!
But the Hornster's overwhelming fur and body fat perfectly absorbed every physical blow the greater demon could throw. Even the lethal venom was endured like a massive sponge.
Now it was our turn.
I leveled my blessed bowgun with grim resolve.
Thwip!
"Guh!"
The holy strike that slammed into its brow made the manticore flinch as if struck by lightning.
It works!
Yes. There was nothing left to fear. The Hornster, packed tight with the blind prayers of countless faithful and pure holy power, would serve as an invincible shield while I rained attacks from its back.
"Don't you dare underestimate the miracle of this fluff!"
I seized a fistful of the Hornster's soft crown fur and aimed the bowgun at the manticore once more.
Then the perfect setup to shatter its focus.
"Bite it!"
The instant my command left my lips, countless spirit horn-mice bared their razor-sharp front teeth and swarmed the greater demon's massive frame.
"Squeak! Squeak-squeak!"
Gnash! Gnash!
"GRAAAAAAAH!"
Tens of thousands of horn-mice clung to the manticore's lion mane like a tsunami. They gnawed black skin, scrambled up its hideous face, and burrowed madly into its thick hide with frenzied bites!
The manticore thrashed in awful irritation and agony, spewing murky venomous mana in every direction.
Crack-crack-crack!
Hundreds of horn-mice were flung into the air by the greater demon's desperate flailing. But the swarm never retreated. A thousand more immediately scrambled up to fill every empty space with vicious tenacity.
In moments the manticore's enormous torso was completely smothered in a noisy mass of fur.
"UOOOOOOH!"
With its vision blocked and movement sealed, the greater demon let out an irritated howl and stampeded like a mad thing.
"Now! Reform the lines!"
While the Great Hornster and the horn-mice perfectly held the greater demon's aggro, the Crusader Alliance that had been sprawled across the ground rose with renewed fighting spirit.
Camilla and the priests raised their voices.
"Don't spare the holy water or sacred oil! We must completely strip away its mana defenses!"
"No mercy for demons!"
The elite Holy Knights of the Pantheon raised the barrels of their double-barreled shotguns skyward. They pulled sacred oil from their pouches, slathered the thick silver shells liberally, jammed them into the chambers, and racked the actions with rough efficiency.
The gendarmes under Inspector Coldwell and our Rat Rangers did the same.
"All units, load!"
Some coated their rounds in sacred oil; others simply hurled entire bottles of holy water at the greater demon.
Crash! Fwoosh!
Where the glass shattered and holy water sprayed, the ranger girls leveled their bowguns as one.
"Aim! Target the places the horn-mice have gnawed through the shell and the wounds doused in holy water!"
"Fire! For the Lord of the Hamster Wheel!"
Merciless crossfire poured in from every direction. Holy buckshot blasted from the knights' shotguns. Heavy musket balls from the gendarmes. And the steel bolts of our rangers!
They hammered the manticore's chest and flanks without pity while the horn-mice held it pinned.
"GRAAAAAH! You filthy vermin!"
Overwhelming physical firepower caked in holy water and sacred oil. Under that merciless baptism the manticore's grotesque carapace and mana barrier began cracking open with sharp reports like a turtle shell.
"Just a little more! Its armor is breaking!"
Amid the hail of gunfire and bestial screams, I gripped the Hornster's fluffy fur as if it were reins.
"Push in, Hornster!"
"Squeak!"
Heavy hamster punches flew in rapid succession, slamming into the manticore's face. In the openings my bowgun went berserk, hammering its head and chest.
Was it the goddess's blessing? Even without reloading bolts one by one, every pull of the trigger unleashed an endless stream of holy light arrows.
Flesh torn by tens of thousands of mice, battered by crossfire from every side, and now the finishing blows of a divine beast and its Apostle—truly a hell of total encirclement.
"Apostle! Now is the moment! Sever its life in a single stroke!"
Rodentia's voice rang from the air like a thunderclap.
"Go, Hornster! Full-body tackle!"
"Squeeeeeak!"
Ruuuumble!
The Great Hornster kicked off the ground with its short, chubby hind legs and charged with terrifying force. A hamster the size of a house shook the earth as it barreled straight into the manticore's embrace.
Thuck!
The magnificent golden horn rising from the Hornster's forehead punched clean through the manticore's now-unguarded chest.
"GRAAAAAAAAAH!"
The manticore's scream of pure agony tore the night sky. But a greater demon's vitality was tenacious. Enraged, it raised its tangle of forelimbs and drew weapons once more.
"You insolent little rat...!"
Mana-charged blades began hammering the Hornster's belly in a frenzied storm.
Crunch! Thud-thud-thud!
"Squeak! Squeeeeak!"
Even fur that bordered on absolute defense could not casually shrug off a greater demon's close-range, desperate onslaught. The Hornster staggered with a cry of pain.
As I thought. Dragging this out into a war of attrition against a monster like this is too dangerous!
The decision took less than a second. I planted a foot on the Hornster's head and launched myself high into the air. The Hornster's massive body was driven back with a pained cry. From the torn wounds, instead of red blood, luminous golden holy power flowed slowly.
"I only let my guard down for a moment! I'll burn you all to ash!"
The instant the manticore filled its maw with searing blue flame—
"Eyes on me!"
Its hideous gaze snapped reflexively upward. Using the recoil of the Hornster being driven back by the massive impact as a springboard, I soared dizzyingly high into the night sky.
Moonlight at my back as I fell. In both hands I held the horn-mouse spear reversed, pure white holy power blazing from it in dazzling radiance.
"Squeeeeeak!"
Right on cue, tens of thousands of horn-mice surged in again like a wave. This time their target was the demon's massive legs and ankles.
"N-no...!"
Bound by the swarm and momentarily unable to move, the manticore jerked its head up in horror.
Crunch!
"KROOOOOOH!"
I put gravity and my full body weight behind it. The sacred spearpoint, condensed with every scrap of holy power from the Hamster Wheel faith, punched mercilessly through the exact center of the greater demon's brow and buried itself deep.
"G-GRAAAAAAH!"
The greater demon thrashed madly, swinging its massive forelimbs in a desperate bid to tear me off like a leech.
"This ends it!"
I clung for dear life to its hide. Once, twice, three times! Gritting my teeth, I drove my weight onto the spear shaft and plunged it deeper still.
In that instant—
FWOOOOSH!
Blinding light exploded from both of the manticore's eyes. With the spear still lodged in its brow, its massive body crashed onto the marble floor as radiant golden flames began to rise over it.
"Ugh!"
The creature's thrashing vibrations tore the horn spear from my grip and sent me tumbling across the ground.
"Kh..."
I managed to shake off the dust and lift my head. Filling my vision was the purifying flame that had blossomed of its own accord. The demon's flesh burned helplessly away.
"GROOOOOH!"
The manticore, wreathed in fire and fading into nothing, suddenly snapped its eyes open amid the agony and glared up at Rodentia and the Great Hornster with pure resentment.
"GRAAAH! Y-yes! Now I remember clearly! This unbearably sacred aura... this nauseatingly tenacious power!"
The demon's ripping death scream rang eerily across the plaza.
"That forgotten little rat of the Pantheon! You finally, finally returned to the mortal world! Don't tell me you...!!"
With that final scream of shock and terror, the manticore's enormous body left not even a handful of ash behind, completely purified and annihilated within the golden flames.
Suffocating silence settled over the plaza.
"I-is it dead...?"
I muttered blankly. A trembling priest of the Heresy Inquisition who had drawn near answered.
"Goddess of the Hearth, merciful heavens! It is annihilated. The demon's presence has been completely severed!"
"Ooooh...!"
Priests and holy knights dropped to their knees, making the sign of the cross toward the empty air and bowing their heads in reverence.
The moment the greater demon vanished, the heavy fog that had blanketed the entire island washed away as if it had never been. The massive altar was smashed beyond recognition. The ominous crimson light of the magic circle carved into the earth completely faded.
"N-no... Adlerheim's glory! The next evolution of the great elves...!"
A gloomy muttering made me turn my head. In a corner of the empty clearing, a white-haired old man sat trembling violently.
"Who's that?"
His face was a mass of wrinkles, yet the clothing looked somehow familiar.
"Go look for that damned glory in hell, Baron."
A thoroughly battered Inspector Coldwell strode over, seized the old man's ornate collar with brutal force, and clamped iron manacles on him.
"L-let me go!"
Only then did I realize the wretched old man thrashing before me was Baron Schwarzenstein himself. How had an elf who lived near-immortal years aged so completely overnight?
Hilde, who was helping me to my feet, clicked her tongue and explained.
"When the greater-demon summoning ritual shattered, he took the full backlash of that enormous mana and aged on the spot."
Karmic retribution.
We had stopped the ritual, but mountains of work remained. Fearing remnants or hidden threats, our party and the gendarmes combed the mansion and the entire island.
We were deep into the cleanup when—
"How dare you! Unhand me at once...!"
A sudden shout erupted from a corner of the mansion terrace. I approached to find a spectacle.
Some of the nobles had survived. Apparently they had only fainted after having a little of their life force drained as offerings to the greater demon. And of all people, a royal of the Winster Kingdom had woken late and was thrashing now that the situation was under control.
"I am a high duke of Winster! Do you think you lowborn scum can clap manacles on my noble person and walk away unpunished?! I shall send word to His Majesty at once and see every last gendarme who set foot on this island hang from the gallows...!"
Even with both hands cuffed he still failed to grasp reality and kept spouting arrogance. Sudden fury flared in me.
Innocent girls died for trash like this?
I could not stand it another second. I strode straight toward him. In my right hand I already held an interesting little item I had picked up in the forest hunting grounds—the battered frying pan once clutched by a young girl who had been reduced to prey.
"G-get away from me! How dare a filthy little rat look me in the eye!"
The duke pointed an insolent finger at me. Instead of answering I twisted my hips hard and swung the frying pan in a full, beautiful baseball-bat swing.
CLAAAAANG!
"Gueh...!"
A spine-chillingly cheerful impact. The solid base of the pan smashed the duke's arrogant jaw with pure satisfaction. Several bloodied teeth sprayed into the air. Eyes rolled white, the duke could not even scream properly before he sprawled out cold on the marble floor.
Ahhh. That felt amazing.
"Royalty, my ass!"
I casually tossed the bloodstained frying pan onto the unconscious duke's bulging belly and muttered coldly.
"How's the taste of that 'fair fight' frying pan you threw them?"
Camilla and the gendarmes watching simply let out disbelieving little laughs instead of stopping me.
"Let's go."
Beyond the lake the morning sun was already rising red. Warm dawn light gently embraced the blood-stained garden of the Ratstein mansion.
The bound baron and the corrupt nobles were dragged out like cargo by the gendarmes and Heresy Inquisition troops. The many beastman victims rescued from the basement and forest clung to one another and wept freely.
"We're alive! We're really alive!"
"Long live the Rat Rangers!"
The rescued children rushed over and threw their arms around me and the rangers. Some pressed their cheeks into the fluffy fur of the Great Hornster, who was still catching its breath with soft huffs, and cheered with all their hearts.
Floating in the air, Rodentia looked down on that warm scene and cried out in a voice thick with emotion.
"Squeak! You truly did splendidly, Apostle Loti! For you have realized the glory and justice of the Hamster Wheel!"
For long years this Ratstein Island had been stained with the blood and tears of beastmen unjustly abducted. How many nameless little mouse beastman girls had died lonely deaths in this hell?
A heavy ache settled in a corner of my chest.
But.
That long, terrible blood-soaked nightmare was finally over.