Chapter 97: Defense of Filsand
(Part 5) (3rd Person)
"OOOHHHH!”
“Hiii?!”
From his position in the command post, court magician Kaneigin had a great view of the 8 meteors falling right into the thick of the Legion.
At the landing points of each of the meteors, a gigantic fireball erupts, creating thunderous noise and shockwaves that envelope even the command post.
Even the stout and durable great gates that they are currently on top of are shaking violently, causing Kaneigin and the other vassals to need to brace themselves in desperation.
“So that is Margils’ meteor……”
It is very rare to see the cool-headed Duke of Filsand overcome with surprise. More like, Kaneigin thinks it admirable that he didn’t even scream at all.
The only person looking nonchalant is that wizard’s close aide, the female magician.
“L-, look! That big one……”
“What incredible magic this is……”
Even without the chief vassals’ and knights’ cries, everyone can see it for themselves.
The super large Shadow Demon with a majestic appearance rivalling even Filsand’s main gates that had been closing in is now rolling on the ground, reduced to almost only the lower half of its body.
One of its arms that had been torn off is now pasted onto the city walls like a pressed flower, while the other is just lumps of meat raining on the soldiers.
The spread out crowd of Shadow Demons that looked like a black blanket now has 8 big holes in it, areas where the ground underneath is visible.
“W-, wizardry. So this is the might of wizardry……”
So mutters Kaneigin with a shudder.
He had been present when Margils had created that dragon. At that time, he had also felt astonishment and fear, but the impact from this time is even greater.
Unlike the chief vassals and knights, this man who had been called a genius at the main campus of the Magician Academy of Shulendal is not simply surprised at the might of the meteors.
He has realized that Margils’ ‘Wizardry’ is not just techniques specialized in a certain direction, like ‘creating dragons,’ but most likely a whole set of techniques with a wide range of application.
“...... I-, if it was me, casting a spell only half the firepower of one of those meteors would already cost me almost all of my magical power……”
As a magician, he cannot help but to make comparisons to ‘magic.’
Magic is ‘activating something by depleting magical power.’
For example, Kaneigin’s Magic Board currently indicates that his magical power is at 322. It is a number that places him within the top few percent of this world’s magicians.
The most powerful spell that he can cast is {Thunder Vortex}, which costs 300 magical power. In other words, after using {Thunder Vortex} even once, his magical power would drop from 322 to 22, which is an amount barely enough to cast a single mid rank spell.
Even that super rank magic {Thunder Vortex} is less than half of a single meteor in firepower (for what it’s worth, this will be said for his honor’s sake, but that {Thunder Vortex} is powerful enough to defeat a Rock Demon).
In short, if what Margils just did is to be matched with magic, it would cost 4,800 magical power in total.
“A single person possessing almost 5,000 magical power…… is unbelievable……”
The strongest magician that Kaneigin knows, the Grandmaster of the Magician’s Guild, only possesses around 1,000 magical power. Kaneigin can do nothing but to limply shake his head at the absurdity of the power of the man they have as a guest.
“Oi, that big one, it’s……”
“Moving…… wait, no, it’s r-, regenerating?!”
“And there are still so many Shadow Demons left…… ahh, I can still see two Rock Demons!”
“...... How much can our knights and soldiers handle……”
The super large Shadow Demon had been toppled over and left with only the lower half of its body, but at the gaping wound from which its internal organs are spilling out there is dark red meat bulging out. Though the speed of regeneration is not to the point where it is visible to the eye, at this rate, this Shadow Demon should make a full recovery with half a day.
Furthermore, though the power of the meteors was indeed incredible, it was insufficient to defeat all five thousand Shadow Demons.
At a quick glance, it seems around half of the Shadow Demons are still uninjured, and after stopping for several tens of seconds after the meteor crashes, they’ve resumed their advance. Even the Shadow Demons bearing injuries that would take a human soldier out of commission are literally dragging themselves along, determined to reach the soldiers defending Filsand.
«That Rock Demon over there, I can somehow take care of. As for the other one, if the other magicians and soldiers focus on it, then……»
Kaneigin regathers himself and begins considering strategies. But at that moment……
Hyuun.
Once again, eight meteors pass by overhead, diving straight into the Legion.
“Wh-, WHATTT?!”
“UWAAAHH!”
It hasn’t even been 30 seconds since the previous time, but once again the scene of 8 fireballs roasting Shadow Demons is reproduced.
What’s different this time is the number of Shadow Demons remaining.
The super large Shadow Demon that had begun to regenerate was blown to smithereens, and the same went for the two leftover Rock Demons.
The army that is now reduced to being only composed of Small and Large Demons has been downgraded from a black carpet to stains here and there. There are probably not even a thousand left.
“Th-, th-, that’s im-, im-, impossible! Impossible!!”
The one who had shouted out while clutching his head was Kaneigin’s disciple, who is currently standing behind him.
The few other magicians and a portion of the knights are in the same state. The chief vassals, who know almost nothing about magic or battles, are just honestly being glad. However……
“An estimate of 10,000 magical power?! No way in hell there’s such an existence!”
“If, if Margils-dono felt like it, how easily could he destroy our Castle of Fortitude……”
“Not just a single castle! He could actually erase an entire country……”
“......”
Honestly, Kaneigin is filled with the temptation to wail and moan alongside his disciples. However, his sense of responsibility as Court Mage allows him the bare amount of reason to continue thinking.
«With this, I truly have no choice but to admit that that is something completely different from magic. ‘Wizardry,’ was it? A completely different set of techniques drawing from a completely different source of power……»
Kaneigin had been able to feel magical power ever since he was aware, and had been able to recognize his Magic Board not long after the start of his training. For him, this conclusion is on the same level as recognizing that someone is walking in the full sense of the word, but with a different organ than the feet.
This conclusion, which no one else has yet to realize, was so easily acceptable to him because he has enough ability to have been called a genius. Furthermore, this is why he arrived at the questions “In the first place, what is magical power? What is magic?”
“Meteors, a-, again!!”
Right when Kaneigin was about to sink into deep contemplation, a third round of meteors whistle by overhead.
“...... I don’t even…… I swear I’m not going to be surprised anymore, no matter what happens next.”
This declaration which was uttered with the last dregs of someone’s stubbornness are, of course, going to be overturned quite soon.
♥♦♣♠
“...... Hey man, are we not actually dreaming right now?!”
“Who the hell could come up with a dream as screwed up as this?!”
Among the Filsand foot soldiers all currently laying flat on the ground, Baik and Bond are screaming back and forth.
By the time of the third thunderous roar, their eardrums have gone completely haywire, to the point where they cannot hear each other otherwise.
A mere 30 seconds ago, they had been staring down the huge black wave that is a Legion, resolved to die.
But now, the only thing covering the vast ground are scraps of dismembered Shadow Demons. Actually, no, a closer look tells them that there are still several hundred Small and Large Demons moving about. Almost all of them are suffering from grievous wounds, with instinct being the only thing driving them to continue tottering towards the direction of Filsand.
“That just now…… was done by…… that guy, right?”
“Idiot! Don’t say ‘that guy’! What are you going to do if he hears you?!”
Baik looks up. At the far, far end of his vision is a tiny figure of a man astride a black horse.
For Baik, whose experience with magic had only ever been fire arrows or wind blades strong enough to kill one Small Demon, that figure is an existence beyond his imagination.
And so when his companion Bond referred to such a personage as ‘that guy,’ Baik could not help but to poke him. If in the one in a million chance they sour that personage’s mood and a meteor falls on top of their own heads — Baik can hardly be faulted for thinking along such lines.
“...... Th-, the Shadow Demons are already on the verge of collapse! All units, ready yourselves! We’ll soon be cleaning up the remnants!”
His commanding officer’s voice resounding from behind was also slightly off-pitch from usual.
Indeed, though the Shadow Demons’ number has been drastically reduced, their current number is still one that cannot be overlooked. The meteors are powerful indeed, but now that the Legion has been spread out so thinly, its effectiveness drops.
His commanding officer’s decision was correct. Baik and the rest of the soldiers also desperately stand up while still quivering.
“Al-, alright, with just those numbers, we can somehow handle it!”
“We’re not going to let a single one into Filsand!”
Zuun!
The foot soldiers point their weapons towards the bands of Small and Large Demons that are now only several tens of meters away.
But at that moment……
Before Baik’s very eyes, a ‘wall’ suddenly appears. The heavy sound was when the ‘wall’ had landed and caused a small ground tremor.
“Wh-, what….. GYAAHHHH!”
“UWAHHH!”
“Sh-, Shadow Demon?!”
As Baik and Bond look up following the wall, what eventually registers in their eyes is the figure of a warrior wearing full armor. In other words, what they had thought to be a ‘wall’ is actually the warrior's leg.
“G-, g-, g-, GIANT?!”
These are three Forest Giants that Margils, from atop his Phantom Horse up in the sky, had created with the [Create Monster] spell.
The giants are lined up in a straight row, standing between Filsand’s main gates and the Shadow Demon remnants. Facing a whole Legion almost 5,000 strong would have been one thing. But now that there is only a handful of stragglers left, Margils had determined that these three would be sufficient to prevent even a single Shadow Demon from reaching Filsand.
“Were these guys also created by tha-...... I mean, Margils…… Margils-sama?!”
“...... I, I guess so……?”
“More like, look what these guys are holding!!”
“Oi, don’t tell me……”
The three giants are all wearing proper armor. But what they have in their hands are not proper weapons.
At the end of a long handle is a countless number of sticks bunched up and tied together…… to get to the point, those are brooms.
“ “......” ”
The giants brace the brooms in their hands in unison as if they were triplets, and begin to sweep.
Of course, it is the Shadow Demons heading their way that are being swept.
“Uwah?!”
“Hii!”
At this point, if the giants’ movements are as dull as their size implies, a few of these persistent Shadow Demon burning with hatred might have actually gotten past and reached Baik and the soldiers.
However, the giants are changing their standing positions with nimble steps, raising turbulent winds strong enough to blow a child off its feet while quickly moving their brooms back and forth.
«That’s exactly the way my mom sweeps the floor…...»
Still on his butt, Baik dazedly recalls the figure of his mother, who he hasn’t met much recently.
“Gyaaaahh?!”
“Gyahi!”
But of course, falling on their hindsides is hardly the Shadow Demons’ worry.
Some are being flung tens of meters into the air, some are being grinded to paste between the ground and the broom, some are being skewered by the bristles……
Baik is thinking more and more how lucky he is that the clouds of dust being whipped up is preventing him from seeing most anything.
“Th-, there are giants there too!”
“That side also!”
The soldiers, who have all sunk to the ground, watch on as more and more giants appear.
They can’t tell due to the clouds of dust, but there are now 3 giants positioned on each of the four sides of a square, boxing in the entirety of the Legion.
“What is this even…… am, am I supposed to laugh? I feel like I’m supposed to laugh……”
“I, I guess……”
Several minutes later.
When the 12 giants have fastidiously swept together all the remaining Shadow Demons……
“GyuuOOOoooo!”
What resounds through the sky is not the sound of meteors slicing through air, but the roar of a dragon.
A single gigantic dragon the size of one of those large model sailing vessels that dock at Filsand’s port comes flying in.
“This time it’s a dragon……”
“Seriously, who on earth is Margils-sama? The Demon God that the barbarians always speak of?”
The Shadow Demons and Shadow Demon remains that have been gathered into a small mountain thanks to the giants are now being incinerated from the dragon’s searing breath.
The scene has already departed from the realm of reality and become legend. Baik and the soldiers are a given, but even the knights are paralyzed and cannot move.
Starting with Baik, every single person present is praying “may the Duke never anger Margils-sama” from the bottom of their hearts.
♥♦♣♠
“...... If this is a dream, I wish to wake up……”
“Do you want to take a dive into the ocean, then?”
One of the newest models of large sailing vessels currently standing by inside the bay waiting to set sail.
The two men standing in that ship’s crow’s nest are whispering to each other in nervous, stiff voices.
One man has a blue sash thrown over his shoulder to indicate that he is a merchant from Shulendal. The other is this ship’s Captain.
The one who had spoken while peering into a telescope that he had purchased from a dwarf at a high price was the merchant.
“I don’t know the full details, but the one riding that horse flying in the sky must be Gio Margils. And the rumors about him calling down meteors and controlling giants and dragons…… are apparently real.”
“I still find it hard to believe…… a single magician performing such outrageous deeds……”
“Even after all the information gathering that we had done, and even after seeing it with my own two eyes, I still think the same way. It’s only natural.”
The man with the sash wipes away his cold sweat and sighs deeply. Actually, him being a merchant is merely a front, and his true identity is an intelligence operative in the service of a certain important person of Shulendal.
“I’ve also seen Purgatory Flames fighting in the arena in the capital, but…… different dimension is all I can say.”
“Even the strongest adventurers can’t annihilate an entire Legion after all……”
Even the adventurer party called ‘the strongest’ in Sedia, Cabran of the Purgatory Flames, cannot hold a candle to [Wizard] Gio Margils. This is the conclusion that this operative naturally arrived at.
“Captain, full speed. Cancel all trades planned on the route. Worst case, we might even need to discard all our cargo. Our priority is to return to the capital as fast as we can in order to give our report.”
“...... If we do that, we’ll be deep in the red though.”
Though their job is only a front, the maritime trade route from Filsand that connects Ran Balt, Reind’Dal, and Shulendal generates massive profits.
Their journey this time was also planned to bring in not only information, but also revenue.
“Right now, the information we have grasped is the most valuable cargo we have onboard, Captain. This one man who possesses so much power, whether the Kingdom becomes his enemy or his ally…… it would be no joke to say that that choice would literally determine the life or death of Shulendal.”
The Captain swallows after hearing the words of this veteran operative who has survived many a battlefield.
“I am sure that many in the same profession as ours would also be bringing this information home, but…… the only person who would take it seriously is probably only our boss, right? If some other stupid noble meddles with him and angers him……”
“Ugeh, I can certainly imagine that happening.”
The operative man, through the Captain, has several subordinates lowered in a small boat with orders to continue gathering information on Margils.
He is truly relieved that he didn’t escape Filsand several days ago when word spread about the approaching Legion.
He has been active as an operative for many years, but this is his first time handling information as important as this.
“What happened today might actually move history itself……”
At this moment, this operative is thinking that this is the climax of his career.
It will be much, much later when he realizes that this is merely the harbinger of the climax.
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