First Battle (2)
War Armor Ogthor.
Among the mana lifeforms created by Magic Legion Commander Arcel, it was the one universally regarded as the most perfect.
Unlike the others, each of which had some glaring shortcoming, Ogthor was flawless both offensively and defensively. The armor fused to its body like a second skin could become, depending on how Ogthor applied it, a blade sharp enough to cut anything, an impenetrable shell, or even a thruster that let it move faster than the eye could follow.
It was a complete, hexagonal being with no weak points—capable of handling anything. That was why even the Magic Legion Commander ranked Ogthor not as the strongest, but as the most versatile of all his creations.
The source of that power was, of course, the armor that was one with its body. Because it never left the flesh, it could not be forcibly stripped away. And destroying it was equally impossible; the armor was as hard as orichalcum, the hardest metal known.
When Ogthor itself called the armor invincible, it was not empty boasting. It was nearly the truth.
And yet, astonishingly, that same armor could no longer even hold its shape. It looked as though it were being dragged toward the man’s mana.
That alone was strange and shocking enough, but Ogthor still did not feel defeated. It still had cards left to play—the powerful magics the Magic Legion Commander had taught it.
However…
“What…?”
Ogthor stared at the man before it with eyes full of bewilderment.
“…It actually worked?”
The man himself seemed just as baffled that it had succeeded.
The crimson spears that had been rising around Ogthor vanished in an instant. The magic itself stopped mid-activation and was dismantled not merely at the force level but circle by circle. Even those tiny residual circles could not hold; they reverted to raw mana and evaporated as if they had never existed.
KWAANG! KWAJIK!!
Then the attackers who had struck from front and rear left deep wounds on Ogthor. Before it could be completely overwhelmed, it forced distance and retreated, scrambling to understand what had just happened.
“…Dispel?”
As a lifeform that had inherited the Magic Legion Commander’s knowledge, Ogthor knew of Dispel. Yet the phenomenon it had just witnessed was different from the Dispel it understood in many crucial ways.
“You claim to have understood my magic?”
The foundation of Dispel was comprehension of the target spell. Only by understanding a magic could one reverse its construction process and dismantle it.
And yet…
“What the hell are you talking about?”
This man was different. He clearly had not understood the magic Ogthor had just used at all.
That reaction only deepened Ogthor’s confusion. It would have been far easier to accept if the man had been a magical genius who had instantly grasped the spell.
But this man did not know. No one who had truly understood the Magic Legion Commander’s teachings could wear such a blank, stupid expression.
Then how had he erased Ogthor’s magic with Dispel?
As that thought formed, Ogthor looked at its armor, which was beginning to regain shape now that distance had been created. And because its intellect was excellent, it quickly realized the truth.
“…You.”
The realization was so absurd it only made the situation more shocking.
“You devour mana.”
Exactly like a mana-eating monster—a Mana Eater.
Before a Mana Eater, everything that relied on mana became useless. It consumed mana itself, and even high-tier spells could be swallowed whole in a single gulp. It was the natural enemy of mages and mana lifeforms alike.
This man seemed capable of filling that same role. If so, this was no longer Ogthor’s battlefield. A lifeform whose very existence—from its armor outward—was built on mana could not fight a Mana Eater.
I should have left this place to those dolls.
Perhaps the Murder Dolls would have been the better match. Most of Ogthor’s power came from its armor and its magic; if both were neutralized, it could not continue the fight.
Preparing to withdraw, Ogthor voiced one last question.
“You are not human, are you?”
“Who are you calling not human?”
The man answered as if the idea were ridiculous, then looked at Ogthor again.
“But…”
He trailed off, deliberately stalling. Sensing the delay, Ogthor instinctively scanned its surroundings.
Yet none of the enemies had moved. The man, the dragon, and the dark elf all remained exactly where they had been.
Reassured for a brief moment, Ogthor let its guard slip.
“Looks like you’ve got time to look away.”
“…?”
For an instant Ogthor failed to grasp the man’s meaning. Had it still been its usual composed self, it might have understood and reacted in time.
But the man had already planted so many shocks that, for a critical heartbeat, Ogthor could not take the words at face value.
That tiny gap—that slight tremor in its thoughts—was all the trap needed.
Thief Clara activates [Regret Hex: Shadow Assassination]
The dark elf Ogthor had been watching vanished, and the real one appeared from behind its own shadow.
What…
The dark elf it had been staring at had been nothing more than a shadow given form—a decoy.
“You should have stayed focused until the end.”
The twin blades, undulating like twin waves, flashed with cold light. In that instant Ogthor’s vision flipped.
Seogeok!!
Following the deep-blue trajectories of the crossing daggers, Ogthor’s body was sliced apart and sent flying.
The problem was not merely that its body had been cut.
The exact point where the two daggers crossed had severed the mana core that served as Ogthor’s heart.
No matter how sharp one’s senses or how sensitive one was to mana, locating a mana lifeform’s core that quickly should have been impossible.
And yet this dark elf had cut it with perfect precision…
The dragon…!
A race whose life source was nearly pure mana, just like a mana lifeform—the dragon had pinpointed the core.
Ogthor bitterly regretted its choices. It should have made certain to take the spirit mage’s life at least.
It had never imagined there would be a human who was essentially a Mana Eater, a dragon that could locate a mana core with perfect accuracy, and an assassin who could strike that core in a single stroke…
“…My luck was simply too rotten.”
There had been no way to foresee any of it.
You have slain a Demon King’s Army executive-class monster!
The Demon King’s Army heightens its vigilance toward the Hero’s Party and your achievements.
Your name begins to spread within the Demon King’s Army!
The subjugation success message floated up. Because Ogthor was a mana lifeform, the moment it died its body left not even a scrap of corpse; it scattered like dust and its very existence vanished.
The instant I saw that, I shouted to Clara and Caesius.
“You two were amazing!!”
Damn it, I knew I could count on them.
The plan had looked a little reckless on paper: Caesius the dragon would locate the mana lifeform’s core, and Clara, with her outstanding target-acquisition ability, would cut it down in one stroke.
If we had spoken it aloud the enemy would have heard, so I used a special method to convey the plan—telepathy, the private channel that exists between a dragon and its contractor.
Strictly speaking, any contracted pair can do it, not just dragons. Spirit mages and their spirits can communicate the same way. But because Caesius was a dragon overflowing with mana, the transmission was far faster.
Caesius heard the words delivered straight into her mind and gave Clara a subtle signal with her fingers, pointing out the location of the mana core.
And Clara understood perfectly. Maybe it was a thief thing—her instincts were sharp.
“…It was thanks to Allen.”
“I didn’t do anything.”
All I did was raise some mana and cast Dispel once.
“…No. I was too weak to pierce the armor. Allen fixed that.”
She had just sliced Ogthor’s body in half with one stroke and still called herself weak. Unbelievable.
“You’re not weak… If you’d just found the core, you two could’ve handled it alone.”
But Caesius gave a small shake of her head.
“Without your power we might have lost.”
“Huh?”
“Until that armor was neutralized, I could barely keep up with its attacks, and Clara’s strikes were completely blocked by its defense.”
Caesius continued.
“It was a formidable opponent. Even the magic you dismantled looked powerful to me, and I am a dragon.”
“…Ah.”
“…Yeah. We won because of Allen.”
Clara sheathed her daggers and stepped closer.
“…You were a huge help.”
“Really?”
“…Really.”
I blinked once, then looked at the empty spot where Ogthor’s body had vanished. This was basically my first real battle, and they were already saying I’d been useful…
“…I’m glad.”
It felt genuinely good. This was the real taste of adventuring, wasn’t it?
“…I’m happy Allen got stronger too.”
“You’re laying it on a little thick, aren’t you?”
“Without that power we might have ended up like the woman in your arms. The praise is deserved.”
Come to think of it, Letisia still hadn’t opened her eyes. She really had lost a lot of blood…
“I should take her to Freya. We need to hurry.”
I was about to check her condition when Clara spoke.
“…I don’t think you need to rush.”
“Huh? She still hasn’t opened her eyes.”
“…She just woke up.”
“What?”
She woke up?
Only then did I notice something: the tips of Letisia’s ears, nestled against me, had turned faintly pink.
“…Letisia?”
“…Um.”
Letisia cracked her eyes open, looked at me with an expression of pure embarrassment, then dropped her gaze and looked away.
“P-please don’t misunderstand. I simply felt it wasn’t the right moment to wake up, so I kept my eyes closed… I absolutely was not trying to stay in your arms. Why would I do something like that?”
That last part was true enough, but the excuse was so long it sounded suspicious.
“What do you mean, ‘the right moment’?”
“You were all praising each other, so it felt awkward to interrupt. So I just…”
Speaking in an extremely awkward tone, Letisia shook her head slightly when she saw I still looked unconvinced.
“…Just please don’t misunderstand.”
Still, I was surprised she was already awake. She had bled quite a bit earlier.
“Are your wounds okay?”
“Yes, something of this level… will heal quickly once we reach Freya. You can put me down now.”
“Uh…”
Even for a member of the Hero’s Party, was she really fine?
And sure enough, the moment I let go, Letisia’s body swayed. Startled, I caught her again.
“Ah.”
“You’re not fine at all.”
“That’s…”
My worry hadn’t been baseless. She had bled enough to soak the ground; of course she wasn’t okay.
I scooped her up again the way I had before. Letisia’s strength had completely left her, so she came into my arms without resistance.
“Kyah, Allen…”
“I’ll take you to Freya.”
“Th-that doesn’t mean you have to carry me like this.”
She seemed embarrassed to be carried this way, but it was still faster than supporting her as she walked. Piggyback was another option, I supposed.
“Want me to carry you on my back instead?”
“That’s not the issue, if you do this…”
“…It’s fine. Erinn will understand.”
Clara, standing beside us, said that.
Why was Erinn suddenly part of the conversation?
Maybe she meant Erinn would understand that Letisia had been caught off guard and ended up like this?
That actually made sense. If the party’s long-range firepower had let her guard down and gotten hit… as party leader, Erinn would definitely have to scold her for it.
“…Letisia, it happens. Like Clara said, she’ll understand.”
“It happens? A-Allen, are you okay with this?”
“Huh? Of course.”
What wouldn’t be okay about it?
When I answered so casually, Letisia’s eyes widened a little in surprise, then she lowered her head slightly.
“…Then I’ll be a little rude for a while.”
“Sure. And talk less. You’re just wasting strength.”
Letisia gave a small nod. I turned to Clara.
“Clara, grab her hat for me.”
“…Okay.”
Clara picked up the wizard hat that had been lying on the ground and settled it gently on Letisia’s head.
“Thank you, Clara.”
Hat secured, it was time to take Letisia to Freya and check in with Erinn’s group.
“Caesius, you stay here. Guard Ophelia inside the building.”
“Will that be all right?”
“Clara’s with me. And if we don’t protect that woman, who’s going to hold our money?”
I made the order crystal clear.
“Protect her no matter what. You understand this is a command, right?”
“I understand.”
Caesius entered the building as ordered. From now on, most enemies would be handled at her level.
Ophelia’s safety was secured. Time to move.
I asked Clara,
“Clara, is there a shortcut I can take too?”
“…Yeah. I can find one.”
“Good. Let’s go.”
Clara nodded and leapt lightly. In an instant she was scaling the building wall, then called down,
“…Follow from below, Allen.”
“Got it.”
She meant for me to follow the path she could see from the rooftops. I looked at Letisia.
“I’m going to run, so hold on tight.”
“…Yes.”
Letisia gripped my collar with a little more strength. Reassured, I started running hard after Clara.