The Canyon Leader
The inside of the canyon. At the appearance of a single kobold that revealed itself there, the canyon fell deathly silent. Every squad member had lost their words. Their gazes, mine included, were fixed on one spot. The sight was simply too alien.
A body nearly twice the size of a normal kobold—slightly larger than the average male frame. The grotesque ornaments woven from the bones of countless magical beasts were strange enough, but the most alien detail lay elsewhere.
Keeing! The creature struck its stone staff downward. Something scattered in every direction at once. The resonance and vibration of sound—more precisely, the something contained within that resonance and vibration.
‘…Mana?’
I felt the unique wave emanating from the stone staff as it pounded the ground. A headache like my skull was splitting open. The moment the resonance reached my ears, my mind rang with it. Starting from hearing, then smell and sight—every sensory organ shook under the violent vibration.
“This… is…!”
It was magic manifested from the stone staff. An absurd notion.
“A magical beast… using… magic!?”
The surroundings twisted as if suffocating.
“Wh-what… is… wrong…!”
Garan and the other squad members were shouting something in haste. Their voices reached me distorted, like echoes. My vision blurred as though paint had been spilled across it. I accelerated the mana circulation inside my body once more. The dizzying senses gradually steadied and returned to normal. With blurred sight, I urgently scanned the area.
The first faces I saw were Garan and Kalant. Both clenched their teeth against the chaotic sensations, sweating heavily as they fought to stay upright.
‘This is dangerous.’
The magic released when the kobold struck the ground with its staff disrupted and shattered the senses of anyone who heard the sound. It had already been used twice; clearly it could be invoked multiple times.
‘I have to stop it.’
Accelerating mana circulation every single time the spell activated was an enormous loss. I could replenish that loss with the Heavenly Fate I had absorbed from hunting countless magical beasts, but others whose total mana was strictly limited could not endure such a drain. The magic had to be stopped.
Yet the real problem remained.
‘How?’
My thoughts raced. How could I possibly block those sound waves spreading in every direction?
Whoosh! The kobold pack that had been tightening the encirclement suddenly charged. They refused to miss the momentary opening created by the sensory disruption.
The fact that they only advanced once the sound wave faded meant they understood both the effect and the range of the magic released by the stone staff. My unpleasant premonition had been correct. These kobolds possessed intelligence and were using it. Their organized, strategic approach felt exactly like subordinates acting on orders from a leader.
‘Then that leader…’
I glared deeper into the canyon at the massive kobold gripping the stone staff. The corner of its mouth curled upward. It was smiling. The sinister expression was no illusion.
‘Confirmed.’
That one was the leader.
“Block them!”
Garan’s shout rang out. In the narrow canyon, the kobolds surrounding us rushed forward like predators closing on prey. Their sneering faces brimmed with certainty of victory.
Including me, Garan and the squad members who had shaken off the sensory disruption met the charging kobolds head-on. I cut down the one rushing straight at me, seized the headless corpse, and hurled it into the next attacker, smashing its torso aside.
‘The situation is bad.’
Squad members with less experience or still unfamiliar with mana use had fallen into a temporary ‘stun’ state from the sensory disruption. Protecting them while fighting was grueling, but not impossible.
The greatest threat, however, was the sensory-disruption magic wielded by the kobold that appeared to be the leader. It wasn’t using it now, but if the spell activated again, everyone—including me—would be stunned once more. I could break free immediately, but whether the others could do the same was uncertain. Even a few seconds of vulnerability could turn the battle into a massacre.
‘How?’
How could we overcome this? I kept slashing through kobolds while the question burned in my mind. I recalled the interval between the first and second castings. If my guess was right, the third disruption was due any moment.
Then the head of a kobold I had just cut down rolled into view.
‘Ears?’
They had stuffed cloth into their ears to block sound. Could something so crude completely stop the waves? Even if not entirely, it might greatly reduce the effect.
‘Sound… Sound?’
An idea flashed through my mind. There was no time to weigh possibilities. My body was already moving. I snatched up a magic rifle from a fallen magic soldier who had yet to regain consciousness. With my free hand I cut down kobolds, slammed the rifle butt into heads, kicked enemies aside, and pressed forward—one step at a time—closing the distance to the distant leader.
“Rookie! What the hell are you doing?”
Kalant, desperately holding the line, spotted me advancing and shouted in alarm. I had no time to answer. My eyes stayed locked on the leader raising its stone staff. The creature lifted the staff high, preparing to strike the ground once more and unleash another wave of disruption. I leveled the magic rifle at it. Even with my senses restored, my marksmanship was far from reliable.
‘Doesn’t matter.’
I was aiming at the leader, yet I had no intention of actually hitting it. What I needed was the act of firing itself—specifically, the gunshot that would ring out.
‘Now.’
The instant the bottom of the stone staff struck the ground—
Keeing! Tang!
The metallic ring of the staff mixed with the gunshot exploding from my muzzle. The black aura spreading outward from the staff scattered before it could reach us. The magic bullet missed its target, but I knew the true purpose had been achieved.
‘That black aura is mana.’
Perhaps because I could perceive Heavenly Fate, the sight was crystal clear to me. The black mana spread outward in a vast circle—the mana carried within the sound wave generated by the staff strike. That was the true nature of the sensory-disruption magic.
“Ah.”
Garan was the first to grasp what had happened. Kalant, realization dawning on his face, spoke next.
“That’s clever.”
He had understood why I had grabbed the rifle and fired without bothering to aim. Impressed, he acknowledged there had never been any need to actually hit the target. The third sound wave had been completely nullified by my counter. Yet the underlying problem remained. Unless we dealt with the stone staff—or the leader itself—this battle could not be won.
“Kalant.”
“Yes. Leave it to me!”
Kalant answered his superior with confidence. With no further sensory disruption to contend with, he had simply recognized his role. No detailed orders were required; the example had already been shown. Meanwhile, the stunned squad members were gradually regaining their senses. Still disoriented, they struggled to understand the situation.
“Anyone who’s recovered, grab your weapons and move! Cover Kalant so nothing interferes with him!”
Mana laced Garan’s voice. The fierce command spread instantly. His shout snapped the confused soldiers to attention. They formed a shield wall to block the charging kobolds, thrusting swords and spears through the gaps to cut them down. Dozens pressed forward, yet the squad fought desperately, ensuring not even the slightest hindrance reached Kalant in the rear.
I scanned the area and took position beside him.
“Thing is, I’ve never actually tried shooting without caring whether I hit or not.”
I understood his meaning at once.
“Can you do it?”
“What do you take me for, kid? Even so…”
Kalant snorted, finished loading mana into the rifle, and aligned the scope mounted on the barrel with the target’s head.
“My marksmanship is the best in the entire unit!”
I nodded at his confident reply.
“I’ll open the path for you.”
“Ha! Reliable as always, kid!”
Kalant chuckled. I stepped forward, leaving his muzzle behind me. The rear was now fully secured by the recovered squad members. I felt eyes on my back—Garan’s, no doubt.
“Don’t let them break through, no matter what!”
His shout toward the rear carried clear intent: the front was mine to handle. Though no explicit order had been given, I somehow understood his thoughts.
‘Am I being trusted?’
The feeling was strange, yet not unpleasant. I pushed the emotion aside and focused ahead.
Whoosh! The kobolds hesitated, emitting strange howls. They were afraid. Only one enemy stood before them, yet they wavered. I neither knew nor cared why. If they would not come to me, I would go to them.
I charged. My sword drove toward the nearest kobold’s neck. It tried to retreat, but I thrust straight through without pause. The blade pierced its throat. A horizontal slash sent blood spraying as the severed head tumbled to the ground. I turned at once for the next target.
Whiiish! As if meeting a gaze that said “You’re next,” the kobold that locked eyes with me flinched. Momentum had shifted entirely to me. I swung fist and sword in turn, cutting them down one after another. Around the time the fourth casting approached—
Tang!
Kalant’s shot struck first. The leader kobold’s head exploded at the far end of the canyon. Its body slumped like a puppet with cut strings.
Whi, whiish! Whiiish!
The kobold pack that had been throwing itself at us in desperate numbers let out frantic howls. They had seen their leader fall.
“Finish them!”
Garan seized the moment of confusion and roared. Victory had shifted decisively. The kobolds’ momentum broke; they were swept away, some even discarding weapons and fleeing.
Tang! Magic soldiers’ shots burst the torsos of the runners. Only after the last stragglers were eliminated and the canyon confirmed clear of kobolds did Garan speak.
“You’ve all done well.”
At their superior’s words confirming victory, the squad’s tension eased and elation spread. Garan, however, refused to let them relax.
“Stay alert. We still need to locate the two missing soldiers, and this abnormal situation must be thoroughly investigated.”
“……”
The relief on the soldiers’ faces hardened once more. They nodded quietly and waited for further orders.
“From now on, split into teams of four and search the canyon. Even though we’ve won, we cannot ignore the possibility of remaining magical beasts. Proceed carefully and watch for ambushes.”