As we approached the giant mole, we had no choice but to stop our steps.
“Those guys!”
“Do you know them?”
“Yes. They’re a bit dangerous.”
The demons we had met underground were surrounding the giant mole.
“Is that guy your leader?”
“Eeek!”
When one of them cried out, the demons surged up from the ground.
As various demons wielding different weapons appeared, our situation became significantly unfavorable.
“We just need to take them down, right?”
“Yes. That way we can take down that guy too.”
It seemed that the giant mole we thought was a large monster was actually a demon.
After all, it was protected by the demons surrounding it.
“Wind Sword.”
The Demon King used the magic I had taught him and grasped a sword in each hand.
“Two at once?”
“Not a big deal.”
Even one sword had considerable power, capable of creating a colossal tornado-like wind.
I couldn’t even dare to imagine the power that two swords would unleash.
Swish! Swish!
As the Demon King swung his swords, crescent-shaped winds were sent flying toward the demons.
The blades of wind shot out from both swords.
The demons, trying to resist the wind, often found themselves losing parts of their bodies.
Watching the Demon King’s attack, I decided to use the magic I had learned as well.
“Magic Arrow.”
I thought about trying to create two like the Demon King, but since I was struggling to control just one, I stopped.
The spinning arrow pierced the torso of one demon.
Without stopping there, the arrow began to dart around the battlefield like a berserker.
There were so many demons that there was no need to aim at specific targets.
Just sending it out guaranteed a hit on one of them.
In the midst of the chaotic battle with the demon army, it seemed that the giant mole had regained its senses and rose its body.
“How is it alive after taking that magic?”
“It seems to have resistance to lightning.”
“How can it have resistance to lightning?”
For any living being, being hit by lightning and remaining perfectly unscathed is impossible.
Of course, there have been rare instances of people surviving with an extremely low probability.
But surviving dozens of direct hits from lightning is impossible.
“There are large monsters, true. But that’s not a monster.”
It was already proven that it was not a monster due to being protected by the demons.
I couldn’t use lightning magic against a demon that had resistance to lightning.
The magic arrows began to fly around at an even faster speed than before.
The urgency of my heart reflected in the speed of the arrows.
I wanted to deal with as many enemies as possible before the leader, the giant mole, fully recovered.
Thud. Thud!
For each dead demon, new ones began to rise from the ground.
The number of demons kept increasing endlessly!
Fortunately, they were significantly weaker than the ones we had encountered underground.
If it had been the ones from underground, they wouldn’t have been pierced by a single arrow.
In other words, the current ones were trying to stall us by overwhelming us with numbers.
They seemed to believe they had a chance once their leader awakened.
“Ririan, don’t move for a moment.”
“Yes?”
I hadn’t been moving much because I was controlling the arrows since a while ago.
The Demon King sheathed his sword and came close to me.
“Resonate and Tear!”
The Demon King’s small fist struck the ground.
Kugugugugu!
The ground was shaking so violently that it was hard to stand properly.
The demons that had been underground began to emerge to the surface all at once.
There were so many of them that the surrounding area was filled with demons.
Crack!
As the shaking continued, a large crack formed in the ground and began to split open.
Around the big crack, smaller ones started to form, and demons began to fall inside.
“That guy isn’t falling in.”
The giant mole, unable to fall into the crack due to its large size.
“It’s not over yet.”
Snap!
As the Demon King snapped his fingers, a column of fire surged up from the crack.
When others saw me using magic, this must have been how they felt.
Inside the crack, the demons’ dying cries echoed for a brief moment but gradually faded into silence.
The giant mole was still dazed from the impact of the lightning.
As it reached the Demon King’s column of fire, flames ignited on the giant mole’s body.
Even in its burning state, it still couldn’t regain its senses, but one thing was certain: it was still unharmed.
“It seems to have resistance to fire as well.”
“Can it really have resistance to both fire and lightning?”
“There might be more. Since we have this chance, let’s test it out.”
The Demon King clasped his hands together and cast a spell toward the giant mole.
It was the smallest spell he had used so far, but its effect was shocking.
A stream of water shot forth, piercing straight through the giant mole’s body.
“Water seems to work.”
Water shot out with such high pressure that it could carve or cut through hard objects.
It wasn’t that water worked; it was the force generated by the water that got through.
Then, a magic circle appeared high in the sky.
“Ice Shower.”
Giant ice chunks began to fall around the mole.
Sharp shards of ice dropped from a considerable height, impaling the mole’s body.
Eventually, the mole’s body shone with a white light and vanished after a short time.
In its place lay a quite large magic stone.
“Is it alright for me to take this?”
“Yes.”
This was already agreed upon with Isaac.
Magic stones can come from demons, but I’ve heard they can also sometimes be obtained from large monsters.
Since I had to take on a dangerous mission alone, this level of reward was only fair.
After finishing the raid, the sun was slowly rising over the distant plains.
“It’s morning now.”
“It took longer than I thought.”
The expressions of the raid team members, upon seeing me and the Demon King return to the village’s castle wall, were filled with tension.
“W-What happened?”
“We handled it.”
Isaac’s expression brightened at my words, and the rest of the raid team burst into cheers of joy.
The effects of the giant mole’s defeat would not be known for several days.
For now, it didn’t feel like the numbers had decreased at all.
As we returned to the cave, the Demon King immediately checked Isabel’s condition.
“You didn’t move, right?”
“They said if I moved, I’d die, and now that some time has passed, I’m feeling pain again.”
“You’re listening well because it hurts.”
The Demon King began to cast healing magic on Isabel’s body.
“But can’t you just heal her with magic?”
“Not possible.”
“Why not?”
“It’s better for kids to heal naturally.”
The bruise on Isabel’s stomach appearing slightly lighter than yesterday was not just my imagination.
Little by little, the Demon King was healing her without it being too noticeable.
When I woke up from a little sleep, the cave was in disarray.
The members of the guard force who had suffered minor injuries from Juan’s attack were able to move again.
Even with the members of the guard force included, we still had to operate in two groups.
Three days passed, and good news arrived.
“Reinforcements have been sent from Kant. They will arrive this evening.”
The raid team was the happiest to hear about the reinforcements.
They had been unable to rest properly, having been assigned to guard duty split into two groups.
Sleeping when they returned and battling again upon waking was a hectic schedule.
Fortunately, perhaps due to me and the Demon King having handled the giant mole recently, the number of monsters had decreased a bit.
“When the reinforcements arrive, we can leave.”
“Leave? Where to?”
“Are you not going home?”
“We can’t leave until the raid is over.”
“With him in that condition, he’s no longer of any help for our mission. We need to step back.”
Aila had said a week, but the Demon King disagreed.
He believed it would take several weeks for recovery.
We needed someone to consult whether we could leave the raid team.
Before the evening, I went to find Isaac.
Since Tooler was still on guard duty, Isaac was the only one I could consult.
“You have something to discuss?”
“Yes. When the reinforcements arrive, we’re thinking of leaving the village.”
“Hmm. I see.”
He didn’t respond immediately.
He took a moment to think, and I waited while conversing with the Demon King.
“I’m fine with it, but I’m not sure about the mercenaries on Roran’s side.”
Since there were already few mercenaries, if I, Aila, and Isabel were to leave, their numbers would decrease even more.
In such a situation, if the reinforcements from Latnia were to arrive, there would be little room for the mercenaries to maneuver.
I had planned to ask Tooler when he returned in the evening, but the Demon King assured me it was okay.
“The reinforcements will also come our way.”
“When?”
“When they arrive here. They’ll probably come alongside the Latnia reinforcements. So, we can leave tomorrow.”
It felt a bit hollow how easily I could mobilize resources with the Demon King’s words.
I had heard that it was difficult for Solche to find people.
That was why we participated in the raid.
The Demon King and I didn’t return to the cave but went outside the village.
“Where are you going?”
“I have someone to meet.”
I had not realized it until now because there were only people smaller than me around.
I had grown quite a bit.
Ksaham had indeed said he would teach me swordsmanship once I grew a little more.
“I’m going to learn swordsmanship.”
“But we’re leaving tomorrow?”
“Let’s put it off just a bit.”
I still hadn’t seen all of Ksaham’s swordsmanship.
He had only shown me two attacks at most.
I felt a bit regretful not being able to confirm whether it was excellent swordsmanship.
Now, I thought I could see all of Ksaham’s swordsmanship.
Ksaham’s location changed slightly every day.
The moving fortress, Tunnek.
However, since I had just burned down the surrounding forest, finding it was quite easy.
Even though all the forest was burnt down, Tunnek was leisurely wandering around.
As I approached, a voice came from inside Tunnek.
“Who is it? Is it someone from the nearby village?”
“It’s Ririan.”
Although his appearance hadn’t changed much, it seemed he couldn’t recognize me properly.
Chains descended from inside Tunnek.
“Capture him.”
Thinking I was a nearby villager, he let me in first.
The only task left was to persuade him once I was inside.
I entered through the chains into the training ground I had seen last time.
