The Calm Before the Storm
It was ominous.
Although the amount of **Magi** currently tightening around my body was small compared to what I felt on the battlefield.
I knew that even that alone would easily overwhelm most mages and be a disaster for ordinary soldiers alike.
And the fact that demons had appeared in this place. Meaning that a **Monster** had appeared on the battlefield.
It was a summon.
There were differences among each demon's individual entity, but every demon could summon **Monsters**.
The ominous flood of **Magi** was felt from the top floor of that magic tower. At the same time, a lingering stench of **Magi** mixed with the foul odor drifted over, and the **Monsters** came bursting out.
"S-Save meeee!!"
"Stay calm!! This is why researchers···!!"
Some mages, without showing fear, began to respond calmly.
Each one spread their arms and pulled up their magic power, and the mages who had been on the top floor gathered one by one, starting to confront the **Monsters**.
But the **Monsters** pouring down from the top floor were more than unprepared mages could handle.
Not dozens, but hundreds. On top of that, golems were smashing through the tower from below and climbing up.
This was hunting.
Unprepared mages were, in the worst case, just ordinary people.
From below, swift golems, and from above, countless **Monsters** simultaneously closed in on this side and hunted the people.
We who were trapped inside the magic tower were being hunted one after another.
"Maintain the formation! If this line breaks, everyone will die···!!"
The mage who had shouted those words from the upper floor had his face directly swallowed by the **Monster**'s maw, and bright red blood burst out.
From that moment, the hastily formed defensive formations of the mages collapsed, and they hurriedly jumped down and ran.
The situation on the lower floors was also bad. The moment the mages spread their hands, the golems charged at blinding speeds, and they could do nothing but be chased upward without even being able to attack once.
"This can't be. How did something like this happen."
Melklen, the vice master of the **Magic Tower**, beside me gripped his face with both hands and screamed.
Annoyed by Melklen's posture of sitting there in despair, I grabbed his collar and lifted him up.
"What are you doing!! If you provoked this situation, at least face the responsibility···."
Why are you sitting there? If you've done something wrong, at least try to face it and resolve it!
But, whether I grabbed Melklen's collar or not, Melklen's face was submerged in despair. Nothing seemed possible.
"···Tch, done. You're crushed."
Incompetent.
Powerless in this situation and not even having prepared a countermeasure for it. It was infuriating.
Rising anger made me raise my fist, but using strength and time on such things in this situation was a waste.
In the end, I threw him straight toward the wall like a spear. He flew and crashed into the wall, and Melklen rolled along the ground while still trembling with fear as if unable to believe it.
Who was this vice master of the **Magic Tower**? Grinding my teeth, I glared at Drek.
"Drek! Protect the people!!"
I shouted at Drek. Drek nodded, taking out his spear from the case Simon had been holding.
The mages were rushing down the stairs and coming toward this side in panic.
'Yuria, why isn't she here···? No way···.'
No. I had to just hope she had escaped well on her own for now.
From now on, I had to accomplish two goals at the same time.
Drek protecting the gathered people here, and uniting with the mages to fight against the **Monsters** and golems.
The second was to cut off the head of that demon.
We couldn't just sit here protecting people and wait for the mages to organize until it was too late.
At this point, the demon was still hunting us. If it wanted, it could bring down the entire magic tower and exterminate us all.
"Drek, I'll leave this place to you!"
"I understand!"
With that said, Lir ran off somewhere.
Drek swung his black spear and, by himself, blocked the path where countless **Monsters** and golems were about to come up here.
He looked back.
His arms were broken, and countless blood-soaked mages had collapsed there, screaming. All the servants of the Langrand family were unable to hide their anxiety.
Mom was trying to calm everyone down, but she couldn't completely hide the anxiety in her expression. Dad, whose legs were uncomfortable, could only protect Mom at best.
'Right now, I have to do it.'
Drek steeled his resolve.
Lir had gone to fight the demon. No matter who she was, the demon was an existence beyond human. Since she was risking her life, of course I had to risk mine too.
A large staircase, and **Monsters** rushed down it.
The large claws of the **Monster** were pointed at Drek's head, and at that moment, a piercing sound rang out.
Kwaang!!
Drek's spear moved in an instant.
When he swung his spear short, the **Monster**'s head was driven into the ground. And its skull shattered.
The **Monster**'s claws didn't stop. Drek's movements didn't stop either.
When he swung his spear at the maw of the approaching **Monster** for the second time, it flew straight to the wall and crashed, twitching before dying.
"Huu···."
At that moment, a large shadow fell over Drek.
Kwoong!
A large fist struck Drek down. Drek barely blocked the attack with the spear's handle.
The muscles of the received arm felt like they were tearing, and his legs trembled. This power was incomparable to the existing golem.
Gritting my teeth.
With a sound, he knocked away the golem's fist. The golem swayed and tilted, and Drek gripped the spear tightly again.
And, concentrating magic power in an instant, he thrust it toward the golem's face.
The golem's face was pierced through. Drek, having hastily retrieved the spear that had gone through the head, gripped the spear again while looking at the continuing golems and **Monsters** coming toward him.
***
Drek desperately blocked the front of the staircase, bringing down **Monsters** and golems.
From time to time, through gaps in his movement, **Monsters** jumping down from the upper floors bit his arms and body with their teeth.
He staggered for a moment. But he firmly braced his central axis leg and swung his spear like he was whirling his body, throwing off the **Monsters**.
He stomped the end of the spear into the ground and gasped for breath.
The vitality of the sword artist visible to the demon's eyes was clearly depleting.
The male demon with dark ashen hair and horns on his head watched the scene with interest.
At that moment.
Crack!
The demon reflexively took a defensive stance from the sudden eerie feeling.
In an instant, something happened. The demon distanced himself from the mysterious attacker who had struck him, and placed his hand on his neck.
A slimy feeling was felt in his hand. When he removed his hand from his neck, his hand was covered in blood.
"What a waste. I could have cut it off in one go."
Lir, swinging her silver-white hair with a faint blue tint, was holding a black-bloody knife in her hand.
Only then did the demon realize. If he had reacted even a little later, his neck would have been rolling on the floor.
Lir wasn't smiling. She wasn't showing the energetic expression like in a duel.
The expression was serious. No, rather, her face was cold enough to say that.
"How did you get this far···? I blocked every path."
"Can you not guess even seeing my face?"
The slimy black blood extended from the corner of the magic tower to Lir.
Only now could he realize that he had been cut down by a single sword held in his hand, which had all the **Monsters** blocking the way.
Black blood clung to her hair, and her originally white shirt was soaked with the blood-red liquid.
"As expected, movements skilled in battle··· ugh?!"
With the sound of "Pawng!", blood splattered.
While speaking, Lir had already pulled out a needle from the pocket tied to her thigh and thrown it; if the demon hadn't blocked it with his hand, it would have pierced his eye.
It didn't end there. Lir immediately stuck close and swung her sword upward from below.
With a whoosh, the demon's thigh flesh was lightly torn. Lir glanced sideways for a moment, then fixed her gaze back on the demon.
'I have to press the attack.'
This wasn't a duel or practice. Besides, if things went wrong, the golems could bring down the magic tower itself.
I had to press the attack without any leeway. Even if it felt rough, I had to bring him down as quickly as possible.
While the sword was drawing trajectories, Lir activated a sign spell with one hand. At that moment, an impact struck the demon's temple.
Thud!
I had to keep pressing, and especially since I was at a disadvantage in physique and various conditions, I couldn't give him even a moment to breathe.
"···Ugh?!"
The demon's head swayed, and he showed a panicked expression. In an instant, maintaining the posture of grabbing his temple, he lost his balance.
Lir turned her body again, stepped on the ground, and gripped the sword. The blade precisely targeted the neck of the opponent who had lost balance.
Krrung.
At the perfect opportunity, the ground shook.
The demon controlled his **Magi**-filled golem and struck the wall hard. With her central axis shaken, Lir lost balance and fell as if collapsing.
"Spark"
At the same time, the demon muttered something.
Flames ignited and blocked the vision. There was no time to confirm the results. She immediately did the next thing to do.
With one hand on the floor, she pushed off the tilted body and stood up straight.
Lir strongly stepped her foot down, gripping the handle with both hands.
She swung the sword upward from below again, and the sword cleaved the flames that had appeared between them.
Crack!!
The sword was blocked. A black and transparent wall blocked the sword and cracked on the wall.
Crack, crack, and with that, the wall shattered. It wasn't a sword clash, but something else.
Thud!!
At the same time, Lir felt a sharp pain in her left shoulder.
A lump of **Magi** pierced through the girl's shoulder and passed through, blood splattering.
Her left arm didn't have strength. It seemed she had completely pierced the tendons, and strength left her hand, letting go of the sword.
"A knight of this level in the magic tower···?! I was about to lose to a single human. I was about to lose to a newbie···."
The demon, who had become haggard and blood-soaked, showed a panicked expression. But seeing her let go of the sword, he smiled as if he had won.
He grabbed her neck, which had been pierced through and lost balance.
When her neck was grabbed and lifted, Lir's toes dangled in the air.
The demon surrounded her in front with a shield so she couldn't struggle.
"The last obstacle was you. From now on, this space will become a tombstone for humanity!"
"···What?"
Lir, whose neck was held by the demon, slightly smiled.
And, shaking her pierced left arm wildly, she brought it up and placed it on the demon's shoulder, then weakly held it.
"I've been asking if it's still alive. Yuria."
"Yur···ia?"
Lir's gaze was not toward the demon.
Beyond that, toward somewhere else, and when the demon looked there, a woman with ashen hair was aiming an arrow at him.
And in the meantime, an already shot arrow was positioned right in front of the demon.
Pawng.
The arrow pierced the skin. The arrow went straight through the demon's neck.
"Then it's not like I lost to one person, right?"
Lir pulled out the knife with her other hand. And she smiled at the demon's face, which had frozen over.
The shield disappeared. Looking into the demon's eyes who couldn't even moan, Lir swung her sword.
Crack.
Red blood lines scattered into the air.