#087 Joint Battle
#087 Joint Battle
Beelzebub is the Lord of Gluttony. He stockpiles what he devours, then regurgitates it, over and over.
To be precise, his specialty is storing something in his stomach to the limit, then vomiting it back up or detonating it.
His true form is a colossal fly monster.
A fly monster with a body comparable to my dragon flesh, and with a frame similar to a Spirit Machine.
It might be a stretch to call it a full name, but the Demon Realm epithet used for him is "Ultimate Perfect Form Great Beelzebub."
The bastard opens his maw wide and devours everything, dissolving it all in his gut and converting it into his own mana—a true anglerfish of a being.
Demonfolk tended to be like that in general, but his form could hardly be called handsome or cute.
What's more, he engraves mana that acts like a parasite into the bodies of hosts marked with his sigil, and through that mana he can control his hosts however he pleases.
And the method he enjoys using most is "explosion."
His specialty was turning enemies into his thralls, transforming them into fly monsters similar to himself, and then detonating those fly monsters.
And now.
That specialty, infamous throughout the Demon Realm, was manifesting in the Middle Realm.
KABOOOOM!!
A mighty blow that shook the entire ice wall.
The people recoiled in terror and began gathering around the Hero Liliez again, and Liliez frantically poured mana into the barrier.
"Ngh...!"
"Too late. They've already started disrupting the barrier."
Originally.
A critical window could be measured in minutes—sometimes even seconds.
The moment I gave Lucius the order, the moment Lucius heard it.
If the barrier had been reinforced without delay, it probably wouldn't have wavered even under the enemies' suicide attacks.
"Deploy a new barrier. A bit smaller, but faster."
"O-oh, understood!"
One mistake.
Liliez immediately drove her Holy Sword into the ground and formed a new barrier to protect the villagers.
KABOOM! KABOOM! KABOOM!!!
Explosions erupted from all directions.
The Diptera hurled their bodies against the barrier and detonated one after another, and the barrier shook under the powerful blasts.
No matter how strong a Holy Sword barrier is, without a continuous supply of mana it's bound to break.
When they burn up their own lives in kamikaze attacks like that, what barrier could possibly hold?
"Everyone! The area is small, but please endure it!"
The barrier Liliez hastily deployed was just barely large enough to cover the plaza.
Perhaps because she was tense about the explosions, the barrier Liliez created was quite thick, but its range wasn't very wide.
"The people...?!"
"O-over there!!"
The villagers screamed.
"What are you doing?! We agreed to come running right away if an emergency broke out!!"
Two people, a man and a woman, came running in a panic.
Judging by how they hadn't even managed to dress properly, they'd clearly been in the middle of that sort of activity when this chaos broke out.
'I understand.'
Whether it's an earthquake or a Magic Beast attack, these things are unpredictable.
Who could have known those Magic Beasts would come at this hour?
If I'd known, I wouldn't have been spacing out—I'd have responded right away.
"Hurry, run! Come on!"
"N-no good...! If we leave it like this, we'll have to release the barrier and redeploy it!"
"What?!"
The villagers' eyes began to waver.
"If the barrier is released...?"
"O-over there! Are those things already at the outer barrier?!"
KABOOOM!!
No sooner had Liliez deployed a stronger barrier inside than the Diptera began smashing the barrier with their bodies.
Already roughly ten percent of the Diptera had burst apart in suicide attacks.
But a hole had opened in the ice wall, and the Diptera began sacrificing their comrades one by one to get inside.
BZZZZZZ—!!
The ones coming in with that awful wing-whine flew at us like bees.
For mere bugs, their speed was like hawks, and the man and woman reached the front of the barrier and pounded on it.
"Open up!"
"Please, right now!!"
"J-just a moment! I'll—"
"Don't open it!!"
Someone shouted in a voice full of malice.
"Do you have any idea what could happen if you open it?!"
No matter how dire the situation, there are always one or two people who turn cold to the point of cruelty.
"C-chief!!"
"That's exactly why I'm asking—why are you late when we're under attack by the Demon King's army?!"
"Please, please save us!!"
The man and woman outside the barrier were utterly desperate, while those who had fled inside could only glance at one another.
"Can't you make a hole in the barrier?!"
"I-it was installed in a hurry, so it's an integrated barrier..."
"What does that mean?!"
"It means I made it so it can't be partially released, to make it sturdy!!"
Sacrifice the two to protect everyone's safety.
Or risk danger to save the two.
The speed of the Diptera closing in.
The speed of releasing and redeploying the barrier.
"Damn it, if it's come to this...!!"
And Liliez, who drove her Holy Sword into the ground and bit her lower lip.
"...Hnng!!"
No sooner did Liliez's eyes flash blue than the barrier momentarily lifted slightly upward.
Like picking up an overturned cup and shifting it sideways, the barrier rose slightly in the direction of the man and woman.
"Get inside!!"
The man and woman smiled brightly and ducked down.
But.
'At times like this, something always trips you up.'
BZZZZZZ—!!
At the blade-like sound, the man and woman turned their heads toward the noise, and their bodies froze as they saw the thing flying at them.
"What are you doing!!"
What were they doing?
They froze stiff in the face of death.
Rrrrumble...
The forcibly lifted barrier began to slowly descend.
The moment even one of those things slips under the barrier, everyone inside is finished.
To be precise, only the "ordinary people."
And in a situation like this, he would definitely want to move.
"Lu—"
WHOOSH!!
Before I could even speak, Lucius leaped forward.
To be precise, it looked as though Lucius had moved in response to someone else's movement.
"Aaaahh!!"
The man and woman tumbled into the barrier as if thrown.
And the ones who grabbed the man and woman and hurled them inside, one each, were Lucius and—
"Young lady!!!"
Droniel Odron.
Rapid's scream rang out, and instead of the man and woman, the Diptera swarmed Lucius and Droniel.
SKREEEAAH!!
The Diptera aimed the long venomous stinger hanging below its abdomen precisely at Droniel, and Droniel stepped in front of Lucius to protect him.
'Oh.'
An ordinary person would definitely stand behind Lucius.
Even knowing he was a Hero, Droniel stepped forward to protect Lucius.
For Lucius's sake.
To protect Lucius's identity.
"HAAAP!!"
Droniel's sword split the sky.
Her Aura-infused blade unleashed a crescent-moon slash that swiftly cleaved the Diptera in two, and Lucius was startled by the sheer speed of the sword.
At the same time.
"Droniel!!"
Lucius wrapped his arms around Droniel—calling her by name, of all things—and shielded her.
As blood sprayed from the bisected Diptera's body, Lucius instinctively turned to cover Droniel.
'The right choice.'
"Earth Wall."
With one powerful stomp on the ground, I created a stone wall to protect the two of them.
Splat, splat, splat.
The Diptera's bisected remains fell from the air and slid off the stone wall shielding them.
Even though the stone wall was raised with mana, the Diptera's venom corroded the barrier and stone wall as it dripped down.
"Ah..."
Droniel's eyes trembled violently at the outcome her own attack might have caused.
Lucius, for his part, seemed flustered that he had called Droniel by name—even though she was Black Lotus, even though he hadn't yet told her he'd figured out her identity.
"Well done."
SWISH.
I stepped outside the barrier.
The barrier has physical force, but with Celsius activated, I can pass through it freely.
"Going out to save people was a good move. Lucius did well too."
"Master, but..."
"I can handle dangerous situations like this as much as needed. As long as I'm on the scene. So..."
I stroked the head of Droniel, who was trembling in Lucius's arms.
"Well done. That was the best possible choice."
"Ah..."
Droniel buried her face in Lucius's chest.
She murmured something softly, as if she had a lot to say, but with her mask covering her face, I couldn't make out what she wanted to say.
"Ngh...!"
THUD!!
Meanwhile, the barrier dropped back to the ground.
For Liliez, who had been controlling Celsius barely half a day ago and hadn't had time to properly recover her mana, moving the entire barrier was nothing short of a miracle.
Unlike me, she hadn't rested, and she'd been pestered by the villagers, so of course she was exhausted.
"H-Hero...?!"
"Don't talk to her. If the Hero's concentration breaks, the barrier breaks."
At my polite way of saying "shut up," the villagers immediately understood.
"O-oh, understood. Sage."
What can I say—I'm someone being treated like a Hero right now.
'It's been a while since I've been called a sage.'
I'd done plenty of work as a porter and guide, but the position of sage was probably the title that suited me best.
And a sage always knows the answer.
Knows how to solve the problem in a dangerous situation like this.
"There are still plenty of enemy monsters left. If we leave them alone, they'll keep attempting suicide attacks, and if we do nothing, we'll have to leave everything to Liliez, right?"
"That's..."
"I know. Liliez is quite exhausted right now. Rosemas!! Assist Liliez from inside."
Sorry to Rosemas, but.
This isn't a battlefield where Rosemas can shine right now.
"Whether they're Narag Venomous Insects, beetles, or some other Magic Beast—bugs are bugs."
There's only one easy way to show them what real explosive power is.
"Burn them all."
"But fire..."
"You have me."
I lightly raised my staff.
"You two knights."
Rustle.
"Ready to swing some fire?"
For Beelzebub's thralls.
"Unleash a slash that burns away everything except their Mana Stones!!"
They have Mana Stones.
Mana Stones, in every single one of them!
"Ignite!!"
FWOOSH.
Before Lucius and Droniel, a sword of flame soared high into the sky.
Its size was like the Holy Sword Celsius had wielded.
"We're swinging it together. Got it?"
FWOOSH.
"The two of you, together."
Something.
Lucius stared at me for a moment, then shifted his gaze to the sword.
"...?"
Why did he seem sulky?
No way.
'Did I mess up earlier when I protected them with Earth Wall?'
Did I get in the way of him trying to protect Droniel?
I did feel a little bad about that.
I can make it up to him later by teaching him a different training method.
Anyway.
FWOOOOSH.
"...Let's end this now."
Beelzebub.