“Why not try to change things?”
“If I do that and another problem arises, then I’ll have to stay like this even longer!”
It wasn’t that she was rejecting magic, but she seemed to be feeling psychological pressure.
“Try changing things without worry. Just think of it as resting here.”
“Can we go to war without me?”
Right now, it’s true that we’re in a situation where we’re short on power.
But even while waiting for Aila to return to her original form, a war could break out.
I was formulating strategies based on the current situation, and things were going relatively well.
“Wouldn’t it be good to practice magic in the meantime?”
“Ugh.”
It seemed Aila had made up her mind, as she gathered mana in her palm and changed it with magic.
It was a brief moment, but the mana gathered in Aila’s palm transformed into a bright light briefly before disappearing.
“Did you see that just now?”
“Yeah. You succeeded.”
“No! You can’t be satisfied with just this!”
Aila looked like a child with joy, bouncing around.
“This will be a great help.”
I explained a training method that involved gathering mana at the fingertips for transformation.
Even if it wasn’t me, the Demon King would have taught her someday.
“Ah!”
Suddenly, Isabel stood up with wide eyes, as if she had an odd inspiration, and approached Tenji.
“Hey, can I ask you for a favor?”
Stopping the training he was overseeing, Tenji hurriedly created a space for sparring.
“Can I really attack with all my strength?”
“Sure.”
With an unexpected confidence, Isabel asked Tenji to attack her.
Tenji was preparing to launch weapons around him.
“Anytime is fine?”
“Yes!”
The moment Isabel answered, one of Tenji’s swords shot out quickly.
Clang!
The sound of Tenji’s sword hitting a large shield resonated low in the underground training hall.
Just blocking one attack isn’t the end of it.
Tenji’s attacks have effects similar to my magic arrows.
Weapons flew freely, attacking in all directions.
Whoosh!
Tenji’s weapons flew in unison, attacking in all directions around Isabel.
Clang!
This time, I witnessed clearly.
Isabel surrounded by massive shields!
The shields that had withstood several attacks finally crumbled and broke down.
As soon as the shields shattered, Isabel raised her hands and asked for the attack to stop.
“Thank you. This is enough.”
“Understood.”
The shields that withstood Tenji’s attacks seemed useful even in real combat.
In just a few days, Isabel’s shield magic had reached a level that could be practically used.
When I checked Isabel’s body through mana sense, I noticed mana had settled in one more spot aside from the heart and head.
“You created a mana hole?”
“No, it’s just mana that’s in here.”
When I said I didn’t understand what was different, she approached me to show me.
“Look closely.”
As Isabel brought her hands to her lower abdomen, the gathered mana dispersed in an instant.
The scattered mana would gather back to her lower abdomen like a mana hole when she wished it.
“I can only create it when I need it.”
“Who taught you that?”
“That child.”
Isabel still referred to the Demon King as ‘that child.’
I found her unique method fascinating, and I wanted to ask her about it immediately, but I held back.
The Demon King was likely busy with meetings and dealing with various matters, so I couldn’t just go and waste their time.
Leaving the training ground, I set out to explore the city.
As I was about to leave the hotel, there was 5th Unit waiting in the lobby.
“Have you been waiting here the whole time?”
“I told you to stick together if you’re going outside.”
“We’re just staying in the city; it’s not necessary.”
“How do you know what might happen?”
5th Unit got up from their seat and followed me outside the hotel.
There was a place I wanted to see first.
Raden was no longer the city it used to be.
It felt like a battleground where a war could erupt at any moment.
Here and there, I saw collapsed buildings, but the skeleton army hadn’t reached this far yet.
“Have there been more attacks?”
“No. Those buildings were intentionally brought down.”
5th Unit shared the truth about the fallen buildings that I inquired about.
“Those buildings were old and needed to be rebuilt anyway, so they brought them down in advance to use the rubble for defensive barriers.”
“Is that a strategy?”
“It’s tactical.”
From above, the city’s structure looks like a web of intertwined paths.
If you block paths effectively, you can attack the enemy from behind and in front.
Battles within a city without castle walls generally proceed this way.
The collapsed buildings effectively provided paths for enemies to move.
However, following the provided paths leads only to destruction.
The skeleton soldiers might be gullible, but it seemed viable to lure them.
The end of the complex alleyways wasn’t just a trap.
If you evade the traps and arrive, you’d find a wide railway crossing.
“This is the spot.”
“Right. A zone where destruction is permitted.”
Although the surrounding buildings were relatively far from the railway, using large magic would inevitably cause destruction.
The maze-like paths throughout Raden City seem designed to gather enemies here.
I stood on the railway, surveying the surroundings.
Imagining the range when I used a lightning spear in Kant Forest.
I estimated that dozens of buildings surrounding the railway would be destroyed.
But that was my estimate for the lightning spear.
I couldn’t even imagine how powerful the Last Ape would be.
“This area won’t see soldiers approaching even during battle.”
“Why not?”
“Banning access since it’s uncertain when a large spell will be used.”
I began to understand why I was issued the magic stone armor.
As I left the train station and looked around the city, I noticed defensive barriers set up in various alleys.
“Can those really hold them off?”
“Certainly against dispersed troops, but the ones called leaders would break through.”
In fact, if we could handle just the ones called leaders, the soldiers beneath them would be like scarecrows.
Skeleton soldiers without leadership would be manageable by Tenji’s trainees.
It looked challenging to defend the vast city with our forces.
Hence, we chose a strategy to funnel enemies around the train station.
“Wait a moment.”
5th Unit closed their eyes for a moment and began muttering something to themselves.
“I received communication. Relay it immediately.”
I conveyed what 5th Unit instructed to the Demon King.
“How long will it take?”
“About a day or two.”
Upon returning to the hotel, preparations for war were already in full swing at the entrance.
Soldiers were building defensive barriers and moving busily.
Since JS Hotel was at the heart of the defense of Raden, allowing it to be captured would mean a direct failure of defense.
The news from 5th Unit indicated that part of the skeleton army was heading toward Raden!
Notably, it was reported that a headless skeleton leader was among them.
The Demon King had previously brought back a skull of a skeleton leader for research.
It seemed that creature was heading this way.
Additionally, it appeared that there were about two more skeletons similar to it, indicating this time they might properly invade.
Although it looked like we were carefree, I was determined to show we weren’t just idly waiting around.
In the late evening, the conference room was filled with me, the Demon King, 5th Unit, Riki, and one member of the Royal Guard gathered around a large table.
Food was laid out on the table, but none of us started eating.
“Even though this is a conference room, let’s proceed comfortably with the meeting while we eat.”
Rather than a meeting, it felt more like an important dinner among key officers before a significant war.
“What’s the scale of the enemy?”
“It’s estimated to be around two to three thousand.”
When they had previously launched small-scale surprise attacks, I had roughly gauged the level of the skeleton soldiers.
According to 5th Unit’s speculation, one of our squads could handle the numbers from the skeleton army’s previous ambush.
Considering it this way, it was clear that we were at a numerical disadvantage.
“I think it would be good to stir things up at the city entrance first.”
“Who do you think should do it?”
When the Demon King asked, everyone’s gaze shifted towards me.
“Who else is capable of doing that?”
It would either be me or the Demon King.
“Ririan, if you see the enemies, can you blow them away immediately?”
“If they are outside the city, I can do it without hesitation.”
Though there were small villages around the city, they had already evacuated.
This meant I could unleash powerful magic without concern.
“What about the situation in the south?”
“Even though the troops have spread out this way, it doesn’t seem like they’ve significantly reduced.”
They called themselves a corps.
At least ten thousand troops are generally referred to as a corps.
So even if two to three thousand troops had dispersed, it wouldn’t be evident.
When dinner was finished, everyone returned to their own rooms.
The Demon King, too, headed back to rest, collapsing onto the bed.
“Oh, Ririan, tomorrow when we go out to the city, you’ll come with me.”
“Huh? Wasn’t I supposed to do it alone?”
“Heh. We need to provoke the enemy.”
It seemed there was a plan already thought out.
In the early morning hours, I woke up.
By tonight at the latest, the skeleton army would likely appear near the city.
In the room, the only one still sleeping was Aila.
“Looks like Tenji didn’t come back yesterday.”
“I heard he was having a drink with the trainees.”
5th Unit, being adept at information gathering, easily provided that bit of information.
“Today’s going to be quite busy.”
“Ah, right! I need to get my sword back!”
Isabel jumped from her bed to the Demon King’s bed.
“Here, your sword and new armor.”
Upon seeing the armor the Demon King pulled from thin air, 5th Unit’s eyes widened.
“Is it really okay to give that to a regular person?”
“Since I’m giving what’s mine, it’s none of your business.”
As Isabel donned the magic stone armor, a chill swept through the room for a brief moment.
“Inserting mana into the magic stone to calm it down.”
“Look. You still can’t control it properly!”
“It’s just armor, what of it?”
As Isabel settled the magic stone armor, it became somewhat thicker, resembling a vest.
“Is this really armor? It looks just like clothes.”
“Isn’t it better than looking ugly?”
“True? It’s not bad at all!”
Isabel seemed quite satisfied with her transformed magic stone armor.
