Breaking Through the Velora Federation Frontline – Part 1
In the midst of the Velora Federation Frontline Breakthrough Operation, the priority was clear: we had to rescue Lumi before the operation truly began.
Our parachutes had barely unfurled and touched the ground before the tide of battle had already turned against us.
I glanced at the watch on my wrist.
Thirty minutes until Lumi was to be dropped straight into the heart of the enemy lines…
Even if we sprinted there right now, we wouldn’t be able to reach her in time.
She wasn’t even a regular soldier—just one of us. Who would possibly listen?
According to the original story, the moment she was spotted by the enemy elite mages, she would be surrounded and killed.
One hour after the operation started, that’s when Lumi was doomed to fall.
So she had another hour and a half left.
We had to slip into the center of the enemy positions undetected and pull her out.
“Ireli, let’s regroup with the scattered members of the 3rd Division first.”
Instead of chasing the lone one of us we could find, it was smarter to gather every last survivor and then move in together.
That way, we’d eliminate as many variables as possible.
“Yeah…”
Even as Ireli simply nodded without a second thought and followed right behind me, something felt off.
She was too trusting, too blindly loyal to me.
No matter how much she loved me, following me around without the slightest hesitation seemed… dangerous.
Whatever.
“Why? Laila?”
“Ah, it’s nothing. Ireli.”
Well, there was no reason for her to blush like that anyway. It was probably nothing.
We moved quietly through the forest, scanning every shadow. Even the snapping of branches and rustling leaves was something I took great care to avoid.
Crack.
The sound of magic bullets exploding grew steadily closer.
When I turned back, I saw Ireli still clutching my hand tightly as she ran after me.
Eh?
When exactly did we start holding hands?
“Ireli, it looks like the fighting is right up ahead. I’ll take point. Just follow closely behind me.”
“Yeah…”
“And if anything happens, tell me right away. Never move on your own—never let go of my hand.”
Ireli nodded once, then looked up at me with a soft, slightly uneasy expression.
“…Laila?”
“Hm?”
“Be careful, okay? It’s dangerous.”
“Ah…”
Ireli gazed at me with eyes full of genuine worry.
“…Okay. I’ll be careful too.”
Still, it was a relief.
In the original story Ireli had always been the one to take the lead, but here I was moving first—and she was simply following without any doubts.
Was I really that trustworthy?
Before long we reached the edge of the battlefield and pressed ourselves against the trunks of the trees, hiding in the shadows.
Fortunately we hadn’t run into any enemy mages on the way, but…
“Uwaaah! Save meeee!”
Mob 1 was visible, wildly dodging incoming magic bullets with pure panic. He looked like he was trying to dance while barely keeping his footing.
In Magic Frontline, anyone who wasn’t one of the main characters was usually called a “mob.”
He was wearing the uniform of the Erdia Empire’s 3rd Division, so he was definitely one of ours.
“Laila, we have to help him, right…?”
“Wait, hold on…”
“Yeah…”
“First, let’s ambush the enemy mage firing those bullets at Mob 1.”
“Yeah. Let’s do it.”
Was this how it was done?
Among the techniques every mage in the original novel had to master, there was one.
Channel mana from your lower abdomen all the way down to your toes and focus it.
The moment I felt the mana gather in my feet, I leaped straight up into the branches of the tree.
Whoa, I actually jumped as high as the treetops!
Ireli followed right behind me and landed on the same branch.
“Ireli, I think there are about four enemy mages hidden in the underbrush.”
“Yeah…”
“You take the left side. I’ll handle the right.”
“Understood.”
Just like that, Ireli vanished into the foliage.
She was so fast…
Now wasn’t the time for that.
I moved along the branches toward the right.
Through the gaps in the underbrush, I saw the enemy mages firing their magic bullets in a scattered pattern.
Even when I got close, they still hadn’t noticed me.
With that level of skill, these were just trash mobs.
I didn’t need to use any fancy power. I could just keep it simple.
“1st Formula: Magic Bullet.”
Unlike the defensive Magic Wall, I aimed with my staff instead of chanting aloud.
A mana circle formed at the tip of my staff.
The instant it finished drawing, the concentrated bolt of mana shot forward.
It took only one second.
The magic bullet pierced straight through the enemy mage’s side.
A chunk of his body exploded away without a trace—blood, organs, everything.
“Uwaaah…”
I bent over, clutching my chest.
My hands trembled violently.
Vomit spilled from my mouth and onto the ground.
The staff slipped from my grasp and clattered to the forest floor.
Come to think of it…
“I’ve… never actually killed anyone before, have I…?”
There was no time to hesitate.
I’d already experienced what it felt like to be on the receiving end of a fatal mistake.
I moved from tree to tree again and spotted one last enemy mage.
“1st Formula: Magic Bullet.”
“Kyaaaah!”
This time the scream was even more pathetic as the enemy mage’s leg was blown clean off.
He fell from the height, screaming the whole way down.
My shaky hands had missed his balance, so I only grazed him.
Well, at that distance he was probably already dead anyway.
Still, I had to check.
I dropped down from the tree in a smooth leap.
“Ugh… this is disgusting…”
The enemy mage had fallen from ten meters and landed head-first, crushing his skull like an overripe fruit.
That aside.
I looked toward Mob 1’s direction.
Since the magic bullets had stopped coming, Mob 1 was now standing there with a bewildered expression, looking around like he didn’t know what to do.
Where had Ireli gone?
Ah, there she was.
She was perched on a branch directly across from us.
But…
Ireli was gripping the dead enemy mage by the throat and staring straight at us.
“So that’s the average level here…”
I was acting so cowardly over the death of just one person.
I motioned for Mob 1 to come closer.
Ireli understood instantly and nodded.
At the same moment, Ireli and Mob 1 both leaped down from their perches and approached us.
I waved cheerfully.
“Hey, hello!”
Mob 1’s face froze in pure panic.
“E-Eh…? W-Who are you…? Wait… you look just like us?”
“Yeah, that’s right. We came here to save you.”
“T-Then you’re the ones who killed those enemy mages?”
Mob 1’s eyes sparkled as he glanced between Ireli and me.
“Yeah, that’s us.”
“Oh my… I thought I was going to explode and die right then and there… Thank you! Thank you!”
Still bowing repeatedly, Mob 1 tried to kneel, but I raised my hand to stop him.
“Don’t worry about it. We’re all comrades here—we’re supposed to help each other, right?”
Mob 1 bowed once more.
Ireli’s gaze shifted back to me.
She stared at my face for a long moment before speaking quietly.
“Laila… are you okay?”
“Yeah… I’m fine. Why?”
“Ah… no, nothing.”
Was she noticing the vomit stains on my sleeve?
Or had she seen me kill the enemy mages from afar?
Ireli’s worried eyes remained fixed on me.
“Speaking of which, Mob 1… want to join us? I’m gathering up the scattered soldiers so we can sneak in together.”
“O-Of course! I’d love to! If I’m with strong people like you two, my lifespan might even increase!”
“Haha… you dodged those magic bullets surprisingly well, you know?”
Mob 1’s movements really did look like he was dancing.
While barely avoiding the bullets flying from every direction, he never once lost his balance.
“I-I’m a mage too, you know!”
“You were yelling for help earlier, weren’t you?”
“I was scared!”
“Haha, you’re interesting.”
“Ugh!”
Mob 1 pouted his lips in obvious resentment.
Now, what should I do?
I looked at my watch.
We didn’t have much time left.
Soon Lumi was scheduled to be dropped right into the center of the enemy camp.
Even if I pulled every last bit of mana I had, it would still take at least ten minutes to reach the drop zone from here.
Should I take one more person with us?
Right before Lumi was supposed to die, there had been one elite enemy mage in the center.
The main antagonist… what was her name again…?
Shania, right?
She could fire multiple magic bullets at once.
Of course I was capable of it too… but
Sigh. I’d think about that when the time came.
First, I was sorry, but let’s put Mob 1 up front and have Ireli and me handle the ambush from behind.
Ireli was probably relying on her strong Magic Wall technique…
But if we wanted to avoid risks, one extra person was necessary.
We needed to guarantee that not everyone died in this battle.
I looked at Ireli and Mob 1.
“Yeah…?”
“Why? What’s wrong?”
Both of them answered at the same time.
I waved my hand dismissively.
“Nothing. It’s fine.”
Now I had to explain the plan.
“We’re going to find one more soldier and then head out to rescue another allied mage.”
“An allied mage…?”
“Yeah. That was always our mission.”
I checked my watch again.
There was still time left.
But the drop time for Lumi was getting closer by the second.
I checked my watch again.
There was still time left.
But the drop time for Lumi was getting closer by the second.
“I’ll explain the details later. We need to hurry.”
We had to find at least one more person.
The situation was too urgent to waste any more time explaining.
“Yeah…”
Ireli simply nodded without asking any questions.
Mob 1 narrowed his eyes slightly as he watched us.
“Um…”
“Hm?”
“It’s nothing. Forget I said anything.”
Mob 1 kept glancing back and forth between Ireli and me with a strange expression.
Ireli spoke to him in a calm voice.
“It’s fine. Laila knows what she’s doing. Don’t worry.”
…What?
Why was she suddenly saying something like that to Mob 1?
“No, Ireli. I don’t know everything either…”
“But since it’s Laila, it’s okay.”
“…”
My face suddenly felt hot.
Mob 1 tilted his head, looking between us again.
“Um… are you two…”
“Hm?”
Mob 1 carefully glanced at both of us.
“Are you dating?”
“What?”
“…”
Ireli froze for a second.
“No!”
“N-No… it’s just…”
Blushing furiously, I denied it as fast as I could.
But why was Ireli hesitating?
Ahem.
After clearing my throat, I answered.
“We’re just close comrades.”
“Ah…”
Mob 1 nodded, finally satisfied.
We didn’t have time for this small talk.
“Let’s move fast.”
I leaped into the forest first.
Ireli and Mob 1 followed right behind me.
Then, beyond the trees, we heard another scream and the explosion of another magic bullet.