The Prince's Unexpected Appearance
At the leader's shout, everyone eased up on their strength and focused on batting away the swarming creatures. It felt like baseball players swinging bats at incoming pitches. Screech—! Screech!! Thud! Thud! Thud!!
What more was there to say about Melody and her sister? The sword in her grip was mercilessly slicing through the bats' wings and necks. Watching the bat monsters get sent flying in spectacular fashion after being struck by weapons, I couldn't help but think they didn't seem all that scary. They hurled their own bodies at us like stones thrown at a rock, their broken forms doing nothing to erase the murderous intent in their eyes. The monsters' madness was on full display.
"They're breaking through the center!! Support!!"
Killing the charging creatures wasn't the problem, but their sheer numbers forced us to gradually fall back as time passed.
"How long… ugh! How long do we have to hold out?!"
"Gaaah! Aaaah!"
Bat monsters were sinking their teeth into forearms and thighs. If we didn't shake them off quickly, they'd tear out huge chunks of flesh. It was maddening. Some of the larger ones even grabbed people by the head with their feet and hauled them into the air.
"Uuuuugh!! Help me!"
"Huk! Grab him! Grab him!"
This wasn't working. The monster count was overwhelming—we had to run.
"Leader!!"
"Shields up!!! Tighten formation!! Gather in the center!! We can handle this! Don't panic! Their attacks aren't fatal!"
But the leader seemed to have decided against retreating. What he'd said was probably true. He wouldn't have said it unless he was confident they could manage.
"You think you can escape those agile bastards just by running?! Right now, sticking together is our best option!"
No matter how unreasonable the order, in the middle of battle you had to follow the leader's commands. It was what kept the team alive.
While the other team members hesitated, I was pulled along by Melody's hand and helped tighten the formation behind the leader.
"The leader's decision is correct. Running away like this would accomplish nothing. It's better for everyone to cluster together—the damage will be less that way."
Melody even kindly explained it to me as I stood there confused. Hearing her—of all people—say the leader was right, I had no choice but to follow. The rest of the team seemed to reach the same conclusion and began huddling close.
"Huh? This actually works pretty well?"
Once the whole party had gathered and formed a circle, each person defending their assigned sector, the atmosphere shifted.
"See? I told you it would work!"
The leader grinned as he sliced through the bat monsters darting chaotically overhead.
The benefits of the tight formation weren't limited to just that. I stood alone in the center of the circle, protected on all sides. With my companions standing back-to-back around me, I had a clear line of sight to everyone.
Doesn't this mean I can heal them immediately?
As long as I didn't retire, our team's stamina would never truly run out. If anyone got hurt, I could heal them on the spot.
"I'm going to place my hand on your back. It's for healing, so don't resist—just hold as still as you can!"
"Uaa!"
I spoke into the ear of a team member who was bleeding heavily while still fighting, then laid my hand on his back. Approaching someone from behind during combat could cause misunderstandings and get me attacked, so I'd warned him first. The team member nodded and let out a roar to show he understood. Knowing that if their line broke, I'd be in danger, each of them fought desperately to hold their position.
Melody and her sister were blocking the attacks coming from above.
When the enemy has overwhelming numbers, fighting with terrain at your back is definitely best. We should've done this from the start!
Once the trust settled in—that my back and sides were protected by my comrades—the tension of having threats coming from every direction eased. Everyone gained some breathing room against the monsters.
"Good! Let's keep this up!"
At the leader's shout, the team's expressions brightened noticeably.
Of course, I kept working too.
"Healing complete!"
"Whoa! I feel alive again. Thank you, Priest!"
"I've only closed the surface wounds for now, so you'll need proper treatment again after the battle ends."
Clang—! Screeech!
"Die, you bastard!… Huh? What did you say?"
"…If the injured area takes more impact, the wound will reopen quickly, so please be careful."
"Yes sir!"
I doubted my warnings would be heeded in the heat of battle, but I made sure to explain everything anyway. I continued moving between team members, placing my hands on their backs and channeling divine power.
Princess Lasiel's monstrous strength was especially shining in this fight. Watching the bats practically pulverized in her grip, I felt a pang of pity for them despite being our enemies.
The mountain of bat monster corpses on the ground finally seemed to snap some sense into the frenzied swarm. They began to hesitate.
"They're pulling back!"
At last, the bat monsters' assault stopped. They let out eerie cries of frustration, circling overhead for a moment before wheeling back toward the Ice Castle.
"Huu~"
"We made it!"
"They were nothing but there were so many of them!"
"We won!"
By a quick count, we'd killed well over a hundred. The pile of bat corpses was enormous. The relief of surviving the battle made my legs go weak. I carefully crouched down out of sight to calm my racing heart. The team member I'd healed earlier approached and offered his thanks.
"Priest, thank you! I thought I was going to bleed out and die."
"I only did what I was supposed to. And you're here at just the right time. You need more treatment, so why don't you sit over here?"
"I'm fine though. Nothing hurts!"
"It might not hurt now, but the pain will hit you later. Come on."
"Aigoo~ I might ignore everyone else, but I have to listen to our priest."
While I finished the treatment I'd been forced to cut short earlier, the leader walked over.
"Thanks to your healing during the fight, my stamina recovered a lot."
"I'm glad it helped. I survived thanks to you too, Leader. That was a good call."
There had been some serious injuries, but at least no one had died. Just imagining what would've happened if the leader had chosen to run sent a chill down my spine. This battle had perfectly demonstrated the saying 'Scatter and die, unite and survive.'
"Now let's talk. What exactly happened?"
Once the situation had mostly settled, everyone's attention turned to the scout despite the lingering stench of bat monster blood. The recent events were so pressing that the awful smell was forgotten.
"First of all, those things had detected me even when I was hiding my presence."
"Bats don't see with their eyes—they use echolocation. We were at a disadvantage."
Who would've thought a monster that didn't rely on sight would be on the first floor?
"It's a miracle we held them off at all."
"What will you do now? That thing looks completely packed."
It was like a beehive ready to spew out hundreds of bees the moment it was disturbed. We couldn't touch it recklessly.
"The numbers are too overwhelming. We can't even enter like this."
It was time to think of another approach rather than forcing our way in.
"How about melting the entire Ice Castle?"
The mages enthusiastically suggested using magic to melt the whole structure. But that was impossible. We'd already used fireballs twice and wind magic as well. Even with perfect preparation, fireballs alone couldn't melt the Ice Castle.
"There's no guarantee the monsters inside would die if we melted the castle. It could actually make the problem much worse by collapsing everything. And even if we killed all the monsters, we wouldn't be able to retrieve the items inside, so it'd be a total loss."
"Wait!"
Suddenly, Melody drew her weapon.
"More monsters?"
Everyone tensed and reached for their weapons, but she spoke again.
"I sense multiple presences from behind."
"Monsters coming out from over there? Not from inside the castle?"
"No. They're not monsters."
The leader must have sensed them too, because he finished her sentence.
"They're people."
"!!"
People encountered in the labyrinth. It might be better than running into more monsters, but facing a large expedition party right in front of the Ice Castle left a bitter taste in my mouth.
Actually, maybe this is good? We couldn't clear that castle with just our group anyway.
Wouldn't it make sense to join forces with the other expedition and tackle it together? I'd been thinking along those lines, but the others didn't seem to agree. The sudden appearance of strangers clearly made them uncomfortable—our entire party now had weapons in hand.
The group approaching from a distance had spotted the Ice Castle first; their faces were bright with excitement. The expedition that had been focused on the castle finally noticed us and stopped in their tracks. But they didn't show nearly as much wariness as we did.
The numbers are overwhelmingly in their favor here too.
They must have counted our small team. Their group was clearly a large-scale expedition, so even if we looked threatening, they had the confidence to overpower us.
What is this uneasy feeling?
Ever since we'd encountered that expedition, my heart had been pounding strangely. It felt like I'd run into someone I absolutely shouldn't have met.
And then—
"Damn it."
Princess Lasiel checked something and frowned deeply in irritation. The moment I saw the person radiating an overwhelming presence among the stopped expedition, I understood her reaction.
"Oh? Little sister, I never imagined I'd find you here in the labyrinth."
The prince was looking at Princess Lasiel with a genuinely delighted smile on his face.