Chapter 20
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 20
Chapter Title: Three Bolts
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Clang, clang, clang, clang!
The alarm bell, installed less than an hour ago, began to ring noisily through the camp, piercing the sound of the rain.
Soldiers dropped the bread they’d been issued and rushed out of their barracks. The platoon leader, standing in the very center of the camp, began to loudly explain the situation.
“A herd of Tauros has appeared! Distance is approximately 200 meters! A chieftain has also been spotted among them!”
Beneath the sky thick with dark clouds, not a single star or moonbeam could be seen. Because of this, only the sound of soldiers hastily donning their armor and the patter of raindrops against it echoed through the forest, which was cloaked in pitch-black darkness.
“Did you say there’s a chieftain, sir? Have we identified their numbers?”
“The scouts reported that it was difficult to get an accurate count due to the lack of visibility! But with a chieftain present, we can expect their numbers to be considerable!”
A chieftain.
Though it varied by individual, most monsters roamed aimlessly in packs of thirty to forty, their primary goal to attack any wild animal or human they saw and consume their flesh.
But a pack with a chieftain was different.
Unlike ordinary monsters that acted purely on instinct, a chieftain possessed intelligence comparable to a human’s and was even capable of a certain level of conversation.
They commanded the monsters under them, controlling the hunt. A pack of monsters that had moved only on instinct was instantly transformed into an army with strategy and structure.
In addition, the number of monsters in a pack with a chieftain was incomparable to that of an ordinary one.
They usually formed herds of three to four hundred, and it wasn't uncommon for them to move in groups of over a thousand.
“Dammit… We’re in deep shit.”
It was no surprise that sighs of despair escaped the soldiers’ lips.
“All units, finish your battle preparations within one minute! Move!”
Most of the soldiers had been preparing for sleep in their cramped barracks and had taken off their heavy armor. To get into battle formation as quickly as possible, they began fumbling for the armor they had hung just outside their tents.
“Lantern… Hey, private! Get a lantern from inside the barracks!”
“You think a torch will light, you idiot?! It’s pouring rain! What are you doing? Snap out of it!”
“Hey, hey! That helmet’s mine! The size is different, you fucking blockhead!”
The night, devoid of electricity and with the moon and stars hidden by dark clouds, was far darker than I had ever imagined.
It was truly pitch-black. In this forest, where not a single source of light could be found, the soldiers frantically searched for lanterns, hastily fumbling as they put on their armor.
“Orb.”
In the middle of the dark encampment, where confusion and fear had descended, Alter softly uttered a spell.
In that instant, as if a pure white flare had been shot into the sky, light returned to the world.
The soldiers stared blankly for a moment at the white sphere that had soared high into the sky, then quickly came to their senses and began to gather their armor and weapons.
Only then did the soldiers display their usual disciplined and swift movements, preparing for battle.
“…It seems we’re only causing you trouble. I apologize for showing you such a shameful display.”
The platoon leader let out a sigh at his soldiers' fumbling and offered his thanks to Alter.
“Tauros chieftain spotted approximately 50 meters ahead! Numbers confirmed to be between 500 and 600!”
Before Alter could brush it off as nothing, the soldier in charge of scouting shouted.
The thunderous sound of the Tauros herd’s hooves beat against my chest, breaking through the sound of the rain.
The hoofbeats drew closer and then began to spread out in all directions. The Tauros herd was forming an encirclement around the camp.
The soldiers, careful not to let their feet sink into the muddy ground, quietly raised their blades. Soon, the grotesque creatures with massive arms emerged from between the trees.
“……”
The monster, with the lower body of a great horse and the massive torso of an orc, was clad in the armor of elite soldiers, though who knew when or how it had stolen it.
“So it was you. The ones who have been killing my subordinates.”
The chieftain aimed its bloodstained, rusted spear tip and shouted at Alter, who stood directly beneath the light.
…What’s that thing suddenly talking about? Killing his subordinates? Alter? When?
“Well, this seems like a decent opportunity. Lord Bin, please watch carefully.”
Alter turned his back to the Tauros chieftain pointing its spear at him and spoke to me.
“From now on, I will use three versions of magic. The first is a version without chanting the spell’s name. The second is a version chanting only the spell’s name. The third is a version chanting both the incantation and the spell’s name.”
To him, a monster horde of this level, whether it was 400 or 4,000, seemed to pose no threat at all.
Well, considering the difference in their levels, it was only natural.
“Kill them!”
Realizing Alter was ignoring him, the chieftain roared, consumed by rage and humiliation.
As soon as the chieftain’s order was given, the sound of hooves began to echo from all around.
“All units! Make protecting the mages your top priority!”
Mages could unleash immense firepower and wide-range attacks, but their survivability was poor.
Most mages lacked the strength to block an enemy’s weapon with a shield, nor did they possess the agility to dodge attacks.
Therefore, on most battlefields, soldiers also had to serve as protectors for the mages.
However, the mage standing here, smiling kindly at me directly under the light, was a High Mage who had reached the 8th Circle.
For such an undeniably exceptional being, the word ‘ordinary’ did not apply.
“Uraaaagh!”
With battle cries from all sides, the soldiers began to swing their blades at the charging Tauros herd. With the sole intention of protecting me, Alter, and Rireu, they raised their shields against the enemy’s spear tips and took their stances.
Alter stood still, letting the heavy raindrops from the sky fall on him.
In the center of the chaotic battlefield, he slowly raised his finger…
Fwoosh—
And brought a streak of brilliant blue light to the battlefield.
“That was a Bolt, cast without speaking the spell’s name.”
The falling rain turned to mist. The wet trees caught fire, and a hole was torn in the encirclement formed by the hundreds of Tauros.
“…Uh.”
The Tauros chieftain, finally realizing something was wrong, began to back away with clattering hooves.
“Bolt.”
As if to give the enemy no time to fully grasp the situation, Alter then unleashed the massive ball of lightning gathered at his fingertip.
Boom!
A colossal mass of energy tore through the air, blasting another huge hole in the rear of the encirclement.
With the explosion, more than 60 Tauros were turned to ash.
The Tauros near the ashes were also electrocuted by the spreading electricity and lost their lives in an instant.
With just two Bolts, over 100 Tauros had vanished.
“…Retreat! Retreat!”
The chieftain, finally judging that it had chosen the wrong prey, shouted to its subordinates and immediately turned, kicking its hooves hard against the ground.
The Tauros herd, which had just been about to engage in battle, followed their chieftain without complaint despite the sudden order to retreat.
“That was a cast using only the spell’s name. And now…”
The sound of hooves that had been assaulting the ears from all directions converged to a single point. Alter raised his finger toward the place where the sound of hooves was concentrated, then slowly opened his mouth.
“A single point. Absence. Union and compression.”
Crackle…!
An electric current surged around his body, and the falling raindrops began to boil.
“Bolt.”
With a deafening roar, a compressed orb of electricity shot forth from Alter’s wrinkled finger.
Light.
A colossal light, incomparable to the small sphere currently floating overhead, enveloped the rain-soaked forest. Searing heat was felt from all directions, and the rainwater descended upon the battlefield as mist.
Where Alter’s fingertip was pointing, nothing remained.
“As I explained before, chanting an incantation increases the casting time of a spell, but it also dramatically increases its power.”
The retreating Tauros herd and their chieftain, who had shown their backs, as well as the trees that packed the forest and the very earth their roots clung to, had all been reduced to a handful of ash before the immense amount of electricity.
“Like so.”
I let out a quiet gasp of admiration as I looked at the battlefield where everything had vanished and the mist that filled the air.
I had never dreamed that ‘Bolt’ could be a spell of such power.
‘…If I’d known, I would’ve become a Bolt mage.’
A meaningless regret flashed through my mind.
Of course, I couldn’t forget that Alter was an 8th-Circle High Mage, nor could I forget that the Tauros herd was composed of level 20 and 30 monsters, far below his level.
Nevertheless, the power of the Bolt he had just shown was more than enough to captivate me.
“Um, by any chance, do you also know the incantation for Blooming? I understand that one is supposed to develop their own incantation, but I thought it might be helpful for development if I had a reference.”
If I added an incantation when using Blooming, its power would become much stronger. My eyes sparkled at the unexpected opportunity for a power-up as I looked at Alter.
“I’m afraid Blooming is a spell that has long been neglected by the mages of our school. If I look through the ancient tomes, I might be able to find what incantations my predecessors used, but…”
Alter said, tidying his static-messed beard.
To him, the recent Tauros herd was not even a light snack.
“As you know, it is best to develop your own incantation. Not all humans share the same way of thinking and computational structure. It might even be an opportunity to be uninfluenced by another’s incantation. The one I just chanted was one I developed myself when I was twenty-one…”
“Ha…!”
“To think we’ve been traveling with such incredible mages.”
“This whole expedition has been a complete cakewalk from start to finish.”
“They’re all dead, right?”
“You think anything could survive a spell like that? They’re wiped out, no need to even check.”
Behind Alter, who was continuing his explanation, the soldiers’ cynical laughter erupted.
It was understandable. The power of the magic Alter had just displayed was in the realm of the absurd.
The sight of a Tauros herd being completely obliterated from the world, the earth splitting open, and the falling rain turning to mist just from chanting a few simple words would never fade from their memories.
“…Unbelievable.”
The platoon leader also stared blankly at the path Alter’s Bolt had carved, wearing an expression similar to his men. He soon gave the order to rest again, and as soon as the command was given, the soldiers simultaneously lowered their swords and began to remove their armor.
“…What do you all think you’re doing? Isn’t it a bit early to be clocking out? We haven’t completely secured the area yet.”
Then, the 8th-Circle High Mage who had brought silence to the battlefield, Alter Haindel, spoke with a look of disbelief to the soldiers who were taking off their armor and heading back to their barracks.
Complacency and carelessness.
Normally, these well-trained elite soldiers would not have wrapped up a battle so simply. They should have been scouting the surroundings for any monsters the mage might have missed, ensuring the area was completely secure.
But they didn’t.
Having witnessed such an absurdly powerful strike, they had hastily concluded that all threats had been eliminated.
And it was then.
Clip-clop.
That the faint sound of a hoofbeat was heard through the rain.
“…Huh.”
The Tauros chieftain had surely been turned into a pile of white ash by Alter’s Bolt.
After all, Alter’s finger had been pointing at the chieftain’s back.
This much was a certain outcome.
And most of the Tauros the chieftain had brought with it would have been electrocuted by the immense lightning created by the Bolt, unable to escape the same fate as their leader.
But among so many monsters, could there truly be not a single survivor?
It had been a ‘Bolt’ so beautiful and intense it could blind you.
But Bolt was fundamentally a spell designed for one-on-one situations.
No matter how powerful it was, to believe that it had annihilated a herd of over 600 monsters in just three shots, without a single survivor…
That was in the realm of optimism.
“Manifest.”
Before my thoughts could even finish, my mouth reacted on its own. Yellowish-red dust pushed through my skin, then formed into the shape of a crystal near my shoulder blade.
Clip-clop.
The faint sound of a hoofbeat echoed once more.
It was a sound so small and faint that I might have mistaken it for a figment of my overwrought imagination.
Clip-clop.
Clip-clop!
The faint hoofbeat began to grow clearer.
“……!”
The platoon leader, finally snapping to his senses, drew the sword at his waist and began to run toward us.
“What are you all doing?! The chieftain is dead! Prepare for a surprise attack!”
Just before it died, the chieftain had ordered its subordinates to ‘retreat.’
But Alter’s Bolt had turned the chieftain to ash, and the massive herd had lost its commander.
Monsters that lose their chieftain revert to being creatures of pure instinct. The ‘instinct’ that had been overlaid by ‘orders’ now came to dominate their bodies.
Their instinct always screamed at them to bare their fangs and charge at humans.
It didn't matter how strong the human was, how skilled a mage they were, or how powerful a blow they had previously demonstrated.
Because for monsters, fear was a non-existent word.
Fwoosh!
As if to prove my concerns, the body of a massive Tauros broke through the burning trees and revealed itself.
As it happened, most of the soldiers had returned to the barracks and taken off their armor, so the formation was in disarray.
There was nothing between that monster and us mages.
The monster, its entire body charred black, looked as if it could draw its last breath at any moment.
But as if it felt no pain, the monster charged straight for where Rireu and I were standing, its hooves thundering.
Seeing this, the infantrymen belatedly started running toward us.
But no matter how fast they ran, they couldn't match the speed of a Tauros with the lower body of a horse.
It was instantaneous.
The time it took for the Tauros to burst out of the forest and thrust its blackened spear at us.
The Tauros was aiming for Rireu.
Monsters without a chieftain choose their prey at random. Rireu being targeted by the last surviving Tauros was simply bad luck.
“……!”
Rireu hastily raised her palm, gathering electricity in her hand.
It was an agile response, befitting an elf, but the time it would take for the mana in her body to turn into an electric current, for that current to be reconstructed into a spell, and for that spell to unleash its power was far too short.
The massive creature’s spear was already at her throat.
In that moment, as the word ‘death’ was etched into the eyes of the genius mage Rireu, who had reached the 4th Circle at twenty-one…
Click!
A sound like interlocking gears echoed from the yellowish-red crystal orb floating above my shoulder.