“[Chain Spell: Rapid Fire]!”
Countless flame bullets spread across my field of vision, continuously hammered into the enemy without pause. The power of each individual shot is no different from the lower-tier Spirit Art [Fire Bullet], but with this quantity—and rapid-fired at that—even a Danger Level C monster stands no chance. Although it requires a slight amount of time to chant, its effect is devastating.
On rare occasions, a missed individual will dive in to strike a blow, so I simply intercept those.
…Linfa’s growth is remarkable.
It is true that I taught Linfa various things so she could become stronger, but this growth is a bit beyond my expectations.
Even the [Chain Spell: Rapid Fire] currently wreaking havoc is actually something akin to an original spell formula Linfa created by applying what she learned while I was teaching her and Yuno mana exchange. She named it “Chain Spell.”
When she unveiled it, she said things like, “So that training method had this kind of intention behind it all along…!” but naturally, there was no such intention. From my perspective, it was more like… What is that, I don’t know it… scary…
Even when I tried to convey that, she just said, “I’ll pretend that’s the case,” and didn’t seem to believe me. I don’t get it…
Anyway, at this rate, it’s only a matter of time before Linfa rises to C-Rank. In fact, it might not be a problem to challenge a Danger Level B labyrinth immediately after ranking up.
We continued to exterminate the monsters we encountered in this fashion, but there was one point that bothered me.
“There are fewer monsters than I thought.”
“Really? I feel like there was a decent number…”
“Well, maybe more than normal, but considering the effects of the Demon Lord’s emergence and the fact that this is a outskirt labyrinth, it’s a little sparse. Maybe another party explored here recently.”
It was while we were saying this and advancing through the labyrinth.
“…Did you hear that?”
“Mm, what is it… This is…”
Linfa looked dubious at my sudden question, but noticing the sound echoing more clearly than before, she turned toward the depths of the labyrinth.
Human voices. And what sounded like a scream. Judging by the way it echoed, it wasn’t that far. Added to that were miscellaneous noises, starting with footsteps. Not one or two, but a considerable number. They were gradually getting closer.
We braced ourselves, and without much delay, it appeared in our field of vision.
“That is…!”
What entered our eyes was a girl running desperately, and a massive horde of monsters chasing her.
“…Haa… haa…! Please, run away…!”
The girl, noticing us, shouted a warning out of concern for our safety, despite being in a desperate situation herself.
How far had she run? The girl was gasping for breath and looked slightly unsteady. Even if we ran as warned, I couldn’t imagine she would make it out safely.
“Linfa, can you do it?”
“Leave it to me. I’ll catch them all in one fell swoop.”
Sensing my intent instantly, Linfa replied immediately. Keeping an eye on Linfa as she began her chant, I broke into a run.
Seeing me charging toward them instead of fleeing, the girl’s eyes went wide.
“Wh-What are you—!?”
“Just run!”
Even if we’re going to clean this up with Linfa’s Spirit Arts, we need to buy time for the chant. To do that, I need to draw their attention…
“Ah… Hebu!”
“Wha—!?”
The girl took a spectacular fall. She planted face-first into the ground with a wet splat and slid—zuzaza—following the laws of inertia.
“This is bad…!”
Naturally, the monsters aren’t going to overlook that blunder. With fangs and claws, they pounced on the girl crawling on the ground.
I concentrated my Body Reinforcement on my legs to the absolute limit, but there was still distance. I won’t make it…
I could only grit my teeth at the predicted gruesome future. Just then, a red light overtook me. It was Linfa’s Spirit Art.
The flame bullets knocked several monsters away, engulfing them in fire. She must have forcibly fired it in a half-chanted state. There was no follow-up attack, but time was bought.
Still, it was just a little short for me to reach her. There were still plenty of monsters, and the rear guard was closing in on the girl. Just a tiny bit more time is all I need, if only… so…
I clad my sword in mana.
The image is: thin to the limit. Sharp.
Stripping away the waste to the limit and kneading it, I fired it off with a swing of my whole body.
Sure enough, the slash tore through the monsters in its trajectory and decapitated the wolf-type monster that was just about to tear out the girl’s throat.
A Flying Slash—due to the reprieve created by [Wave Edge], I sprinted the remaining distance to the girl, stood between her and the monsters, and readied my sword.
“…!?”
I felt the girl gasp.
To reassure her, I gave her a glance and raised the corner of my mouth in a smile.
READ THE ORIGINAL TRANSLATION AT LOCALIZERMEERKAT.GITHUB.IO
…Well, I jumped in with enthusiasm, but the truth is, at the stage where I leaped into the monster horde, my mana was on the verge of depletion. To be honest, just standing here was a bit tough.
The amount used to get here was one thing, but firing that slash really took a toll. That took almost everything I had. I resent my own meager mana capacity…
Of course, the monsters didn’t care about my circumstances. Rather, they seemed highly excited by the sudden intruder…
Riding their momentum, I somehow managed to weather the fierce onslaught of monsters pouncing one after another, feeling like I was going to die. I won’t last long, but there is no problem. I just need to buy a little more time to meet the victory conditions.
“[Chain Spell: Burn Them All to Ashes! Rapid Fire]!!”
With the words of the chant, countless flame bullets rained down, incinerating the monsters. It wasn’t a half-baked attack like before. This was the genuine article, an earnest strike that annihilated the monster horde without a shred of mercy.
Confirming there were no remaining enemies, I signaled Linfa and held out a hand to the girl who was slumped on the ground behind me.
“Can you stand?”
“…………”
The girl just stared blankly at me, not reacting.
Did she hit her head when she fell? Or is it due to mental shock? Either way, worried, I approached her to check her head while calling out again.
“Are you okay? Are you injured anywh—”
“…Hah! E-Ah, no! I-I am okay!”
Then, the girl cried out as if snapping back to reality, and flustered, tried to stand up, nearly losing her balance and falling again. I reached out and supported her.
“Whoops, don’t force yourself.”
“U-Um, I’m sorry, thank you, very much…”
The girl looked down, then peered up at me, offering her thanks in a frail voice.
“Don’t worry about it. And rather than me…”
“Adem, are you unhurt?”
I looked toward Linfa, who came running up.
“Yeah, thanks to you… That fireball just now was her spell. If you want to thank someone, thank her.”
“Y-Yes. Thank you so very much…!”
“Eh, ah, aah… it was nothing much…”
At the girl’s deep bow, Linfa scratched her cheek, looking embarrassed.
I looked at the girl again.
A pure white robe and a magic staff. Looking at her equipment, she is almost certainly a Cleric-type class.
Why was a girl, clearly a rear-guard class, being chased by monsters all alone in a place like this? The worst possibility that comes to mind is that her comrades were wiped out, and she was the only one who managed to escape with her life, but…
“So, um, you are……”
“Ah, forgive my late introduction. I am called Retina.”
“Ah, I’m Adem, a Swordsman. And this is……”
“Linfa, a Spirit User.”
“Adem-sama and Linfa-sama, I would like to offer my gratitude once again for saving me from such a dangerous situation.”
Saying this, Retina bows deeply once more.
“By the way, do you mind if I ask why you were alone, and being chased by that many monsters to boot?”
“Well, actually, I was exploring with my party members until just a while ago, but we were suddenly attacked by a terrible number of monsters……”
Faced with an unexpected number of enemies, the party struggled greatly. For the sake of her companions, it seems Retina drew the attention of some of the monsters and broke away from the group.
“That was…… certainly a reckless thing to do.”
“Y-Yes…… But if I hadn’t done so……”
“You wouldn’t have been able to save your companions?”
“Eh? Ah, um…… yes.”
“……?”
She seems somewhat inarticulate, but in any case, we should reunite her with her separated party as soon as possible. They must be worried sick.
We decided to travel together until Retina could rejoin her party.
Just as we started walking, ready to head out, Retina stopped in her tracks as if she noticed something.
“Adem-sama, you are injured……!?”
Looking where she was staring, there was a tear-like wound on my flank. It seems a monster’s claw or something had grazed me during the battle earlier. Blood was flowing, but it wasn’t that deep of a wound. In fact, I hadn’t even noticed it until she pointed it out just now.
Visit the request page If there’s a Japanese Light Novel (LN) or Web Novel (WN) you’d like me to translate
When the donation goal progress bar above hit 100% one novel will be chosen for translation
| Table of Contents | Next* |
Support the Author by Buying the Original Books!
