Life Is Cruel (7)
If you have no teeth, you chew with your gums. If they refused to give me a foothold to the very end, I would simply make one myself and use it.
With that mindset I checked my mana reserves. Then I tried forming a mana spiral only around my legs.
Surprisingly, it worked. It consumed far less mana than wrapping my entire body—though still more than my recovery rate could keep up with—and that alone was a solid advantage.
Of course, wrapping both legs, two separate areas at once, was an absolute headache of a task… but what choice did I have?
The mana I saved here was what would let me land even one more hit or last that much longer in the fight. That was the reality.
In the end I began my activity with the feeling of solving multiplication and division problems in my head while power-sprinting.
I found myself missing the mages’ support a little, but the thought that they would have been one-shotted by the lava in a single second made the longing vanish just as quickly.
Kwagagagak!
Perhaps because of the black mana storm hanging from my legs, every step I took produced a sound like a spinning saw blade rending the ground.
“Ha, yes. That’s more like it!”
The effect was good, at least. Now even stepping on lava dealt me no damage. The swirling mana flung the molten rock away in every direction.
Kwaang!
No more reason to hold back, then. I ran wild, dodging the volcanic bombs. The lava man was the same. I jumped the arm it thrust out, then ran along the top of that broad limb.
Being a giant made of high-viscosity magma, my feet never sank.
“I almost got bored there, Wrath!”
Around then the demon finally realized I could approach through the lava and began to move in earnest.
The number of flying volcanic bombs multiplied, and the giant’s body started shifting from red to yellow and white. It looked like a bomb about to detonate.
Kwak!
Ah—I’d made it to the giant’s shoulder and meant to dive straight into the building from there.
I swallowed my regret and flipped in midair. My body, which had twisted aside, spun once through empty space and began to fall.
Chaeng!
Right on cue the lava giant made my judgment look brilliant. Its magma skin writhed wildly and changed race to hedgehog.
The grotesque sight of spines erupting everywhere was secondary; I had almost gained a few extra holes in my body. Good thing I jumped clear.
Pung, pung-pung-pung!
I couldn’t congratulate myself for long, though. The demon’s attacks continued even as I fell.
Especially those volcanic bombs—they came in vicious continuous waves, making life difficult.
Some I could twist my body to avoid; others forced me to use my hands no matter what.
Tat!
But a crisis is just an opportunity in disguise.
At first I had been cutting them down with my sword; soon I started using them as footholds instead. When they came from every direction at once, carving them one by one simply wasn’t viable.
Well, the outer surfaces had cooled enough to become almost rock-like, so it was possible. If they had been water balloons I never would have thought of stepping on them.
“Where do you think you’re going?!”
But right beneath the empty air I had just jumped through, the earth rose like flame and immediately vomited magma.
Chwaak!
At the water-like surge I instinctively unleashed mana, the same way I had once shaken off the plants that had tried to entangle my entire body.
Dense lines of mana packed without a single gap sliced and shoved the lava aside.
Kwang!
And the moment my feet touched ground again—spikes erupted! I moved without even time to breathe, dodging the thorns.
They completely blocked every path toward the building, so that direction was closed to me. The cunning placement of the spikes pushed me a little farther away.
When I tried again it was the same. The moment I neared the building the demon poured on even more attacks and raised still more obstacles.
Obstacles so dense that even if I accepted damage I still would not have been able to force my way through. I didn’t dare.
“I’m right here!”
It even started moving itself.
The demon that had latched onto me spun its body, and a tail the size of its own torso whipped around after it, stretching long and thin.
Chwaak! An enormous tail strike.
The problem wasn’t the power. The attack was a damn knockback type. It shoved me even farther from the building, and the space I was driven into just happened to be the lava giant’s strike zone!
Kwaang!
I barely slipped past the giant’s fist and clenched my teeth.
Ritual altar or whatever—if I didn’t kill this damned demon first, there would be no answer. The fact that this conclusion made me furious was just a bonus.
Kwagwagwagwagwang!
Then rock spears with magma visible through the cracks began surging up from the lava.
Ranged attacks to follow the volcanic bombs.
Even small rock-and-lava men rose one after another. Seems every strong demon comes with at least one minion-summon skill as standard equipment.
Really no sense of professional ethics.
Is this honestly designed as a solo raid?
I ground my teeth and shattered the approaching rock spears, then cut down the volcanic bombs.
Kill it.
“I will kill it.”
Kiiik. The sound of metal rang out.
“The water level keeps rising, my lord!”
“…How is the evacuation progressing?!”
“Report from the Adventurers’ Guild! Evacuation has begun from the south and west. They’re opening the gates and guiding the people out! Destination is Tsverg Hill!”
The lord of Bemyurhen clenched his teeth as report after report on the battle and the state of the city arrived in succession.
Thanks to the Hero’s presence the walls were taking only half the usual damage, but the approaching “island” was the real problem—and inside the city, everything was a problem.
“Get them out faster! As fast as humanly possible! Make sure no one gets caught up in the fighting and dies!”
“Yes, my lord!”
“W-we’re finished… there’s a demon in the city…”
The decisive problem, of course, was that damned giant.
“…Who is that muttering weak words?!”
“……!”
“Do not be afraid! The demon that appeared inside the city is already being dealt with! It will be eliminated soon, and not even its corpse will remain on this land!”
He glanced northward and ground his teeth again.
A sky so thick with storm clouds that neither moon nor stars could be seen, the fire giant blazing alone beneath it, and the entire district already beginning to burn.
He kept fretting over whether the adventurer he had reluctantly sent alone was handling things well. Even watching the giant thrash in place instead of wrecking the city only made him more anxious.
It was thrashing because the adventurer was keeping it pinned there, but…
Was a single human really supposed to face a monster of that size?
He found himself wondering whether the decision to trust the adventurer’s confidence and divert even the Adventurers’ Guild and Magic Tower reinforcements elsewhere had truly been correct.
As the adventurer had said, those people would most likely have died pointless deaths if they had gone; using them to evacuate the citizens was more efficient… but was this really the right call?
“The evacuation order is merely a precaution for the worst case! So steel your hearts and fight! Instead of doubting the city, fight with faith! The only way we can protect this place is by trusting one another, holding our ground, and driving those damned fish back!”
He still had many plates spinning. With a booming shout he barely managed to settle the murmuring soldiers, then gestured for a messenger.
He needed to send word to every officer across the wall: put every effort into keeping the troops’ morale from collapsing.
“Also deliver this: if it looks like the walls are about to be breached, we may abandon them and fall back, so prepare for that possibility.”
“Yes, my lord!”
“Of course, if retreat is decided I will fire a signal flare. No one is to fall back early out of fear. Make that absolutely clear. And make sure the ordinary soldiers do not overhear.”
At that, an elite soldier who could read and write but had been reassigned to messenger duty after injuring his shoulder bowed loyally. The other messengers did the same.
Those who had received the orders sprinted off first.
“…And you said the water level is rising?”
“Yes.”
The lord finally returned to the matter he had postponed while steadying the troops and spoke with the officer in charge of the floodgates.
Because of the time spent rallying the men, the water had climbed to a height that even the lord found dangerous. He had the strong sense that the first wall would have to be abandoned soon.
“Open floodgates five through nine for now. Then move the soldiers to the inner wall!”
He issued the orders swiftly.
If the city canals filled it would slow the citizens’ evacuation a little, but the sea level had risen too high to leave any other choice.
If they did not drain the water at least this much, the mermen would be able to reach the top of the wall with nothing more than surface jumps.
“Floodgate five open!”
“Floodgate six open!”
“Floodgate seven…”
Even so, he kept a minimum of conscience and left gates one through four closed. In other words, he opened only the smaller gates that mermen could not pass through.
The canals would still fill, but the evacuating people would not be attacked by mermen while they fled. Gates five through nine alone would take quite some time to fill the city’s waterways anyway.
Chiiiiiik!
“You sons of bitches who lost both your parents.”
Around the time the soldiers were gradually falling back to the second wall, someone who had come for maintenance and ended up fighting alongside them finished off yet another merman with a curse.
The merman’s slimy skin—which had often made even blades slip—was melting away completely.
That was the work of an item no bigger than a grown man’s fist that Meister had named the Yomgitan.
“Ha. If you had something this good you should have made it earlier.”
“If it were that easy, even someone like you, my lord, could become a Grandmaster Craftsman, don’t you think?”
“You never lose a single word, do you.”
Amazed by the power yet lamenting the limited stock, the lord still stopped himself from scolding too harshly.
The man had researched the thing of his own will without even being asked—he claimed the clue had come while studying a coat—and the Yomgitan was the result.
Ever since the prototype had passed inspection, the man had taken the commission and produced a full hundred of them—casings and contents both handmade.
Considering he had done it in only six days, that was no small quantity.
“Enough. Go inside already. You’ve confirmed the effect plenty.”
“Don’t wanna.”
“You’re irreplaceable. Separate public and private.”
He hated the thought of Meister’s grandfather Werner being disappointed, but Meister’s own importance could not be ignored either.
Saying that the young man’s touch was already everywhere would be exaggeration given his still-short life… but at least on the combat-equipment side, far too many things depended on him.
The lord pointed that out.
“I want to see what that island is first.”
“…Sometimes I resent the fact that you’re a mage.”
“You don’t think I’d be the same even if I weren’t?”
“The fact that I can’t even argue with that makes it worse.”
The lord sighed as he looked at the damned researcher whose curiosity outweighed his concern for his own life.
Then he tapped Meister’s shoulder. The young man, who could freely strike others but never allowed anyone else to touch him without permission, raised his eyebrows sharply.
“If you’re staying, stay by the Hero. It’s safer there.”
“…Fine.”
The lord jammed a spear into the mouth of a merman that had just climbed up and lifted the creature clean off its feet. The weapon, longer-bladed than a normal spear, smashed through the merman’s skull and came free above it.
“Move with courage! The gods are with us!”
“Uwaaaaah!”
The battle was still as fierce as ever.
“…My lord.”
And yet…
“I think I have a rough idea what that is.”
“……?”
The next moment the lord fitted the item he always carried to his eye and let out a groan instead of hope.
“But… no matter how I look at it, it looks like a turtle. Am I right?”
Beyond the night-piercing vision, the true nature of the “island” was slowly becoming clear.
“…I see the same. I’ve never seen a turtle that big in my life, though.”
The vaguely revealed “island” was an enormous turtle.
Long legs, a long neck, a shell covered in boulders—something that had slept in the deep sea and only now risen to the shallows to feel the sun.
“I wonder if the legendary Yukgui really looks like that.”
It was impossible to tell whether the ancient records had helped or not. No dragon had appeared the way the records claimed, yet the weapons prepared against dragons might still prove useful.
The lord swallowed a low sound and lowered the item. Then he looked for Meister—only to remember half a beat late that he himself had just sent the young man to the Hero’s side.
“Tsk.”
He started to signal for a messenger, then changed his mind. He would go himself.
“I’ll take a look elsewhere. I’m counting on you!”
“Yes, my lord!”
He clapped the shoulder of the sector commander and ran along the wall with the knights who always escorted him.
“Do not be afraid! We have the messenger of the gods with us!”
“We have fought the sea our whole lives! We can win this time as well!”
“Do not surrender your body to fear! The fear that you might die erases even the possibility of living!”
“Focus on the enemies right in front of you! I will open the path for you to survive—I swear it!”
He encouraged the soldiers the entire way. His feet were nearly at the section of wall wrapped in a golden barrier.
“My lord! A message from the Magic Tower!”
A messenger who had just climbed the wall caught up and shouted. The lord’s eyebrows rose.
“What is it?”
“Most of the mages will help the citizens evacuate and flee with them, but any who can still fight will be sent this way. However, Great Sage Cheongsanho has been seriously wounded and asks that you not expect any aid from him…”
“What?!”
The lord raised his voice on pure reflex, then realized the roar of battle had barely covered it. His twisted face lowered his volume.
“…What is the Great Sage’s condition?”
“That wasn’t in the message… instead he gave a more important piece of information. The demon that appeared from behind… it is performing a ritual to summon something—”
“That giant was summoned by a demon who seems to be trying to bring down the Demon Realm itself.”
A flutter of cloth tickled his ear just then.
A massive Slander tribesman covered in wounds leaped dozens of meters and landed on the battlements. Ash, dust, and burn marks covered her, as though she had just left a fire.
Pruuk. From farther back came the faint snort of a horse.
Kwajik!
“More precisely, it seems to be performing a ritual that calls a space existing somewhere else to this place. I called it the Demon Realm because it is saturated with dense demon energy.”
Even though she was not a soldier, she swung one of the spears issued to the troops. The precise strike instantly killed a warrior-class merman that had just been about to climb onto the wall.
One arm and one leg looked unusable, yet her ability was astonishing. At this point even the casual appropriation of a spear was forgivable.
“Bringing down the Demon Realm… such a thing…”
“Who knows. But the fact that the creature introduced itself as Pandemonium, Seat of Greed, is something worth taking seriously.”
Between faded eyelashes the color of hardened tree sap blinked.
The faint wrinkles made her age even harder to guess.
“A Great Demon…!”
“The Demon Knight is strong, but the opponent looks fully prepared. Finishing things here quickly and going to help him would be the wise course.”
The lord squeezed his eyes shut at her words. The only thought that rose in that moment was, “Good thing I evacuated the people early.”
An unknown giant beast in front and a Great Demon behind. There was no answer.
“More importantly, you… no, shouldn’t you be in the infirmary? Can you even walk?”
“Don’t worry. I’m used to walking on one leg. And if you were going to ask who I am—I am a companion of the Demon Knight and a member of the Hero’s party. Everything I just told you I learned by fighting that thing myself.”
“You fought it?”
“That mage, Cheongsanho… he was facing a demon contractor with only a single escort. It looked like he was going to lose, so I stepped in. You can ask later.”
Cheongsanho. The lord almost gasped and barely covered his mouth. Then he forced himself to listen to the rest.
This was not the time to worry about someone who was not even here.
“I got wrecked so badly I had no choice but to leave it to the Demon Knight… but I don’t think the Demon Knight’s matchup against that demon is especially good either. It would be best if the Hero went.”
She finished with talk of contractors and how a demon had appeared when she tried to kill the contractor, and how the matchup was bad so she had left it to him.
The story was not airtight, but it did not sound like nonsense either. The still-fresh wounds especially supported it.
And if she was part of the Hero’s party, the Hero would recognize her.
So he nodded in acknowledgment and called to the Hero, who was within earshot.
The Hero was also treating the wounded, so it served a dual purpose. Even as strangers the woman’s injuries were severe enough to worry him.
“Meister! Hero!”
“What is it?”
“My lord? Ah—Berserk! Your body…!”
“…I’m not Berserk.”
“Ah, Weapon Master! More importantly your body… I’ll treat you right away!”
“Eh, Weapon Master-nim’s here?”
“Thank you.”
In the middle of everything, the platinum-haired warrior was indeed a companion of the Hero. That meant everything she had said was true, and therefore Cheongsanho as well…
“Meister! No matter how I look at it, that turtle—whether demon or not—doesn’t seem like it will be friendly to us. Do you think the ‘failure’ can damage it?”
The lord forced his drifting thoughts back into place and stated the reason he had come here, as if changing the subject.
Peok! Even in that moment everyone’s hands kept fighting.
“Turtle?”
“Look for yourself!”
He tossed the observation item to Meister. The young man who had removed his monocle pressed the item to his eye with one hand while still throwing Yomgitan with the other.
“…I can’t give a definite answer yet. I don’t know how hard that turtle’s shell is, and the ‘failure’ has only had the bare minimum power confirmation.”
“So you can’t even tell whether it will work or not?”
“…It has pierced steel before, so if the shell is only that hard we should be able to deal some damage.”
Good. That was enough.
The lord gave Meister the order.
“Get it ready. Be ready to fire the moment the decision is made.”
“Give me some people.”
“Take whoever you want.”
“And clear a space for installation. It takes time to set up, so we have to factor that in…”
“I’ll handle everything—just get it done!”
“Yes.”
The Grandmaster Craftsman shrugged and hurried down the stairs. “You go with him too. Protect him as if he were me!” The lord hastily attached his own escort to the dandelion-fluff of a young man.
“Um, my lord…”
Around then the Hero, who had been silent, finally reacted. The Inquisitor, who had been treating the wounded and shoving back climbing mermen, glanced at him gently.
That was good. Assisting Meister would require the Hero’s cooperation.
The lord’s mouth opened quickly.
“Hero, we have a weapon that can attack that giant monster—”
Kwaang!
Just then the edge of his vision brightened for an instant, and immediately afterward thunder crashed against their ears.
The gap between lightning and thunder was almost nonexistent; a bolt had struck quite nearby.
“……?”
“Over there…”
But the place the lightning had struck just happened to be the land where the fire giant stood.
Lightning striking the very place where the Demon Knight was fighting the demon… could that really be coincidence?
“Demon Knight…”
Kwarrrreung!
“……!”
Lightning struck again. Almost exactly the same spot. The phenomenon was far too strange to call chance.
And so everyone standing on the wall felt an instinctive chill settle deep in their chests.
It was the anxiety that could only be soothed by seeing the truth with their own eyes—and the knowledge that they could not go look, so all they could do was hold onto faith.
The Inquisitor’s face turned pale.