#059 Single Strike
#059 Single Strike
"Danger!"
Bang, bang-bang.
Hora Morgen drew her magitech pistol and shot down the crows.
Screeee!!
The monstrous bird that had been flying toward a house slammed its head into the ground, and Morgen hurriedly pulled the fallen child to their feet.
"Are you all right?!"
"Y-yes...! B-but my mom...!!"
"!!"
Morgen turned her head in the direction the child was pointing.
There, a woman clutching a ladle in one hand and a frying pan in the other was moving as if she were fighting the crows with sword and shield.
Clang, clang, clang!!
"Ngh...!"
But against the crows' attacks, even a cast-iron frying pan was not enough.
Bang!!
Morgen shot the crow precisely from behind, and the crow toppled to the ground with a hole through its head.
"Are you all right?!"
"I'm all right, hoo. And thank you...! Jack!!"
The woman hugged the child and patted their back.
The child's eyes glistened with tears, but they did not burst into sobs.
"Th-there are still monsters..."
Because monstrous birds still remained all around.
Even before the sandworms emerged, explosions had gone off underground, and adventurers running everywhere had begun taking out the sandworms one by one, but....
Screeee!!
Another sandworm burst up from the ground, swallowing a building whole.
The sandworms' appearances did not stop, and despair began settling into the adventurers' eyes one by one.
"Oh, please...."
Screeeee!!
"As expected!!"
Naturally enough, crows burst out of the sandworm's mouth, and Morgen checked her remaining ammunition as she aimed her gun forward.
Click.
"!!"
She was out of magic bullets.
A red signal was blinking on the magitech pistol's magazine, indicating that its mana was depleted, and even that was slowly flickering as if about to vanish.
"N-no, this is bad...!! At this rate...."
Just as the crows were about to spread their wings and fly out from the sandworm.
"Whoaaaa!!"
Craaaash!!
Something massive dropped onto the sandworm's head and slammed the sandworm into the ground.
"De! Emery! Punch!!"
Boom, boom, booom!!
The feathers of the crows trying to leap out of the sandworm's mouth scattered upward.
From inside the sandworm, which crumpled inward toward the hole they had been trying to exit, only the sound of flesh being crushed echoed out.
Boom, boom, craaaash!!
The sandworm was eventually driven entirely back underground.
Its circularly gaping maw was torn open, and from inside, a steel golem nearly twice the size of an ordinary adult man clanked as it walked out.
A magitech golem, wearable type.
On the chest of the person wearing what was called a "powered suit," the emblem of the Adventurers' Guild was boldly engraved.
"Branch Chief!!"
"Are you all right?"
Francis de Emery.
"It's not completely over yet, so hold on. Hnngh!!"
Inside the steel golem, he controlled it and brought the massive hammer strapped to his back down onto the sandworm.
Craaaash!
A tremor like the one when the sandworm had burst out rang through the ground, and the sandworm's teeth shattered into pieces and scattered downward.
The sandworm's mouth crumpled so that nothing could escape from inside, and all that could be seen between its teeth were crows flapping twisted wings as they died.
"Hoo."
Francis, having completely wrecked the sandworm's mouth, opened his face mask.
With only his pale face visible, Francis pointed outside for the fallen woman.
"For now, evacuate somewhere else."
"Somewhere else? Where...."
"Go to the Adventurers' Guild. On the way there, adventurers will protect you."
"...Thank you!"
The woman left with her child.
"You've been through a lot, Morgen."
"You too, Branch Chief. ...Branch Chief, were you crying?"
"It's nothing."
Francis lowered his face mask again.
It was a rather menacing-looking mask, but inside the mask was equipped with a mana radar for locating enemies, making it easy to find them.
"If you see any more people, send them to the Adventurers' Guild. There are people along every route, so it'll be fine even if crows go after them."
"Hoo, how can there be this many crows...."
"...They've been preparing for a long time to occupy Normance."
Grind.
Francis clenched his teeth and moved the golem's body.
Around him, adventurers who had come running after hearing the sandworms' roars looked at Francis with relief and raised their weapons again.
"If there are adventurers, listen! This is now a wartime situation!! With a raid underway, achievements will be tallied after the Magic Beast hunt ends!! What an adventurer hunts belongs to the adventurer!! Kill the Demonfolk together with the Normance defense force!!"
Francis raised the people's spirits.
"Attack the ground before the sandworms emerge! The moment they come out, set off explosion magic, and blow open their mouths as much as possible so the monstrous birds inside die without even getting out!! We can win! We will not lose to the remnants of the Demon King Army!! Citizens of Normance! To protect your families, unite!!"
He encouraged others, gave them confidence that they could win, and if they had families, told them it was to protect those families, boosting the morale not only of the adventurers but of everyone.
However.
Screech!!
Sandworms appeared yet again.
And from the dead crows, black wind began to pour out, gathering as it headed somewhere.
"B-Branch Chief!!"
"That's...!!"
The enemy monstrous birds that had seemed like illusion magic began to take on substance, until their mass could be felt.
A gigantic monstrous bird.
Growing as if to swallow the entire city, the demonic bird evoked a terror as though all the crows' grudges were gathering together.
"Ah, aah...!!"
The moment everyone despaired and faltered.
Bang!!
Crimson flames stood before the monstrous bird.
A golden flash flew toward the monstrous bird.
"Ah."
Atop the city wall.
Watching the man and woman standing boldly even against the monstrous bird, Morgen swallowed hard.
"......Heroes."
Their bearing was truly like that of heroes.
If they brought down that monstrous bird.
Would it not be the descent of true heroes?
And then.
FWOOSH.
Centered on the crimson witch, red flames began to blaze up.
"Wow."
The witch's entire body burned, and her clothes vanished.
As if the flames were a dress, they began to coil around the witch.
* * *
Combination technique.
That was a Hero's dream.
Back when I was a member of the Macho Party.
Specifically, when I led my companions not against the Demon King Army but toward other Demonfolk who had rebelled against the Demon King Army, and we cut them down.
-Hey, Bel! Let's do 'that'!
-That?! Sounds good!
--Combination!--
-Burn, o flames!
-Rage, o wind!
--Crimson Whirlwind!!
I dealt with Demonfolk far too easily.
Two people combine different powers to draw out a new power.
Even though it was a musclebound Macho Party, even though it was a party made up of a grumbling human prince, an elf man living on his own arrogance, a grumpy dwarf, and a half-human half-dream-demon mage old man creaking with dementia.
-Formation Z.S.A.! Can all of you keep up with my speed?!!
-Hmph, just don't get left behind yourself!
-Here we go, running as light! Let's goooooo!!
I learned that mixing techniques with multiple people could produce far greater power than techniques used alone.
Of course.
A combination technique does not simply become stronger just because two techniques are combined.
How can one person's technique be made even stronger?
Or can two people use the same technique simultaneously to deal heavy damage in a single strike?
Mixing each person's magic in various ways, or infusing power into weapons and using them—that is what can truly be called a "combination technique."
"Lucius. From now on, I'm going to infuse you with the power the Flame Hero left behind."
"...Is that all right?"
"Of course."
"...Is it really all right? It's the power of a Holy Sword."
"Are you worried I'll get hurt because of the Divine Power?"
Lucius nodded.
He was holding his sword out in front of him, wary of the monstrous bird, but the eyes of the guy sneaking a sideways glance back at me were full of worry for me.
'Everyone's full of distrust like that before using a combination technique.'
Once you match timing once, after that you can use it together with just a look, but the first attempt is difficult in many ways.
But if it's Lucius, he'll definitely be able to follow my tempo.
No, rather, with this body, I might not be able to keep up with Lucius's speed, which is like a rough gale.
So it's right for me to support, and for Lucius to swing the powerful force.
"The principle of a combination technique is simple. Infuse your sword with the power of wind. Then I'll pass through your body and infuse you with the power this Flame Holy Sword holds."
"Is that possible... no, asking whether it's possible or not is meaningless with you, Master."
"Right."
I'm doing it because it's possible.
"There's only success or failure."
"If it fails...."
"Don't even think about failing. I'm supporting you, so there's no way you'd fail at swinging your sword."
I lightly tapped Lucius's lower back and made him straighten his waist.
"It's fine. If it comes down to it, I'll just draw a Holy Sword and blow that thing away. Got it?"
"...Yes."
Lucius's stance steadied.
I ran my hand up along Lucius's spine, then gripped the gem I held in my other hand.
"...In the name of the Azure Moon Goddess."
I really hate it.
But if it meant using the power of flame dwelling in this gem—
FWOOSH—!!
The Holy Sword's flames coiled around my body in an instant.
FWOOSH.
The Holy Sword's flames caught all over my body as if to burn me, but I quickly recited the Trigger Word.
'Burn, o flame of life.'
FWOOSH.
As soon as I lightly recited the Trigger Word, the Holy Sword's flames lent me their power.
The flames that had been trying to burn me away now coiled around me like a puppy that had finally recognized its owner.
"M-Master!!"
"Look ahead."
I tapped Lucius's lower back once more, then sent holy flame forward through his body.
"From now on, I'm going to infuse my mana into your sword. It might heat up a little?"
"...Yes!"
FWOOSH.
The flames slowly seeped into Lucius's sword.
Screeeeech!!!!
As expected.
No enemy waits while you prepare a combination technique.
The monstrous bird was flying straight at us with its maw open, and I raised the middle finger I had placed on Lucius's back upward.
"Hold it high."
Lucius raised his sword high.
Red flames coiled and blazed around Lucius's sword, which towered above his head.
"Just swing."
"Um, don't we have, like, a technique name...?"
"...Pfft. You're a man after all, huh?"
"You said it's a combination technique...?"
"Yeah, yeah."
WHISPER, WHISPER.
"Ah. Using the old name as-is would be a bit much, so... it's this. Got it?"
"...Understood."
I casually recalled a technique I had used in the past and counted to three.
Three.
Two.
One.
""Scarlet Blaze Slash!!""
Scarlet Blaze Slash.
The flames split the black sky.