Chapter III: Inglis, Age 15—Battle with the Prismer (1)
Near the fortifications on the eastern side of Ahlemin, as the swarm of magicite beats which served as the Prismer’s advance guard approached, a faint rainbow-colored haze set over the area. As soon as humans came in contact with it, they transformed into magicite beasts. Chaos overtook the ranks of those soldiers who were present to intercept the Prismer.
The same was true for Principal Miriela’s strike force, composed of handpicked knights’ academy students. From aboard the Flygear Port, Miriela watched Morris, a second-year student, suddenly become a magicite beast.
Silva panicked. “Even Morris?! That’s absurd! Principal Miriela, what was that prism powder he was talking about?!”
“I’ve heard it’s a compound carried by Steelblood Front members,” she answered. “Supposedly, if given to animals it can turn them into magicite beasts, and in large enough doses, it even works on Highlanders!”
“Ah! Does that mean Morris is with the Steelblood Front?!”
“Yes. Thinking back on it, they had an even better grasp on movements in the palace than we did—it was like they had informants lurking. They were even able to turn Leon, a holy knight, so I shouldn’t be surprised that some in the academy leaned toward them! But right now, we have to focus on what’s in front of us! I don’t think it was just prism powder that caused his transformation!”
Even she had never heard of a human turning into a magicite beast. Morris had said that the prism powder burned, and then he had transformed. Surely something else was going on too; the prism powder must have reacted with something—probably the rainbow haze.
It was something that occurred near Prismers, turning living things into magicite beasts, generating an army for the Prismer. As it moved, it engulfed the surrounding ecosystem, creating many magicite beasts and causing great harm. Was the combination of the haze with the prism powder what caused the transformation of people into magicite beasts?
No, if that was true, why would it only be happening now? She had heard that the Steelblood Front was fighting even now to protect the nearby villages and towns from the many magicite beasts the Prismer had created. The situation was so dire that the local authorities were tacitly accepting the Steelbloods’ presence; in practice, they had almost formed a united front. Realistically, it was thanks to their efforts that a stronghold could be established at Ahlemin.
Logically...that meant their own troops, carrying prism powder, must surely have approached the Prismer to some decree. They must have stepped into its haze. If it were just a reaction between that and the prism powder, there would have been cases of humans becoming magicite beasts earlier, but Miriela had heard of no such thing happening before.
The Prismer had traveled a considerable distance to here from where it had revived on the Karelia-Venefic border. At the very least, the Steelblood Front would have been quick to inform their own. It was information that could spell the difference between life and death. Yet Morris still carried the prism powder.
Therefore, there had to be some other factor, something that caused the reaction here but not during the Prismer’s advance. Miriela wasn’t sure what, but she knew it was something she had to follow up on. If it was a simple condition—if it was easy to set up a situation in which large numbers of people could be transformed into magicite beasts—that was something that could spell the end for the surface.
While these thoughts flew through her mind, she watched the chaos unfold below. A knight, transformed into a magicite beast, attacked the knights around him.
“Grahhhhhhhh!”
The arms of the beast, grown thicker and more powerful, swatted away several knights.
“Aaagh!”
“Ugh...! Get a hold of yourself! We’re on the same side! Can’t you hear me?!”
“Has even his mind become that of a beast?!”
The surrounding knights had not expected one of their own to transform into a magicite beast. Reluctant as they were to immediately strike him down, its rampage continued.
“Gwaaaaaaah!”
Morris, now a magicite beast, was the same. He tried to kick Yua away with one of his now-treelike legs.
Unlike the other knights, though, Yua was Yua, and she easily seized the leg, stopping it in midair with a clap of her hands. “What’s this, Beanpole? A new trick?” Tilting her head quizzically, she lifted Morris by his leg.
Left helpless, he writhed in anger.
“Whoa, cool down.” With a troubled expression, Yua held on to Morris tightly by the leg and leaped to the roof of a nearby building. He was dragged along upside down.
“Gwaaah! Graaah!”
“C’mon, Beanpole. The principal isn’t laughing, and neither is Four-Eyes. They’re gonna get mad if you don’t knock it off. And then who’s gonna cover for me?” Yua shook Morris, but it did nothing.
While Yua tried to get some sense into Morris, the knight-corporal issued commands to the force.
“Ugh! There’s no choice! We have to attack him! We won’t be able to respond to the oncoming enemy like this!”
“But he’s our friend!” several of his knights protested in unison.
“That’s right! He’s a good guy! You know that, right?!”
“But we have no choice!” the officer protested. “If we don’t, you’ll all die! I can’t let that happen! Follow me!” Drawing his Artifact sword, with a blade swirling with lightning he slashed at the magicite beast which had sprung up in his unit.
“Ngh! Understood!”
“I’m sorry! Forgive me!” The other knights followed suit, spurred on by their leader’s actions when his words had not been enough.
“Graaaaaaaaaah!”
They charged in, only to be knocked over by a body check from the magicite beast, and they all gave startled screams. “Aaaaah!”
“Ugh...! He’s strong!”
“Stronger than a normal magicite beast!”
“Graaah!”
The beast extended its claws toward the fallen knight-corporal, trying to impale him.
“Ugh?!” But just before those claws pierced his chest, a flash of light descended from the heavens.
Slaaash!
It cut down through the magicite beast that was once a knight, cleaving him in half.
“Whaaat?!” As the knights gaped in awe at the speed of the feat, Eris appeared next to the fallen beast.
“Wow! Lady Eris!”
“A hieral menace has come to our rescue!”
Eris called out to those around her, calm but firm. “I’ll handle things here! Stay in formation, and prepare for the oncoming enemies!”
“Yes, ma’am!” The confusion among the knights disappeared. If a hieral menace had said so, it had to be the right thing to do. Eris’s words had the power to inspire the knights, to unite their will. This was the result of trust and respect built up over the years.
Eris called up to Miriela in the Flygear Port. “Miriela! Do you have any idea whether the transformations are going to keep spreading among our forces?! If they are, we need to pull out!”
“You haven’t seen this before either?!”
“Of course not! Normal people turning into magicite beasts?! If this were something that happened often, the whole world would probably already be destroyed! So, what do you think?”
“I can’t say for sure without a closer examination, but I don’t believe it will spread to the entire army. It’s likely that those transformed into magicite beasts were Steelblood Front operatives carrying prism powder! That it’s causing some kind of reaction when brought close to the Prismer!”
“Prism powder?! I see. I suspect there’s something else we’ve missed, but...” Eris was grappling with the same reservations Miriela was. However, they were both fairly sure that the presence of the prism powder was a key factor. “All of this with the prism powder is quite ironic. It’s like the Prismer is doing us the favor of identifying their spies!”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“Anyway, understood! Be ready to intercept the Prismer! I’ll hunt the magicite beasts!” Eris charged toward another magicite beast which had appeared near her.
“Gyaaah!”
The beast swung its fist to meet her, only to find its arm sliced off and shredded by Eris’s right-hand sword. The beast continued on, passing her by with its full momentum—only to be sliced through at the waist by her left-hand sword.
“Wow! That was incredible!” one of the knights said.
“So impressive!” another exclaimed.
“There’s still one more!” Eris leaped toward a nearby wall, then off that wall high into the air. Her momentum sent her like an arrow toward Morris, whom Yua was still dangling from the roof. “Haaah!”
A high-speed slash flashed in the darkness.
But Morris softly floated upward, avoiding Eris’s strike. Yua had lifted him and saved him.
“Ah! You’re that girl from the academy!”
“Stop. Don’t. This is Morris,” Yua said, stubborn.
“I understand how you feel, but there’s no way to turn him back! If we let him be, he’ll kill you and your friends! Leave this to me. Spare yourself the pain. You can close your eyes and plug your ears.”
“No way. This is Beanpole. He’s my only friend.”
“We have no choice! There’s no other way. Please understand that.”
“I said no! If you’re gonna fight him...you’ll have to go through me first.” Yua, normally so zoned out, was firmly insistent for once.
“Yua! But he’s—!” Silva choked on his own words. He understood how she felt. Morris was no stranger to him.
Silva considered the younger student a good go-between when dealing with Yua, a girl he neither understood nor felt secure in his authority around, and Morris was a good influence on her. Even if he was with the Steelbloods, Silva could think of plenty of reasons to save him—if it was possible.
But Silva also understood what Eris was saying. There was no way to turn a magicite beast back into what it once had been. And with an army of those creatures closing in on Ahlemin, followed closely by the Prismer, to allow their own forces to collapse from the inside out, thrown into chaos by the beasts springing up, would be a disaster.
Just like Morris, many of the monsters in the oncoming horde were humanoid. Everyone could tell that they were probably humans who had been transformed in the same way. If they were reluctant to fight against those who sprang up among their own forces, they wouldn’t be able to fight the oncoming enemy. And that could lead to their being wiped out.
To avoid that, they needed to shake off their doubts and unite in purpose as soon as possible. Eris was trying to show them the way. Moreover, she wasn’t asking the close compatriots of the afflicted to take action—she was handling it herself. She was willing to take the initiative, even if it would lead to her being resented.
As the bearer of a special-class Rune, whose fate would one day be to fight alongside a hieral menace, Silva felt that he should take the initiative of siding with Eris.
Yet, at the same time, he also wanted to take Yua’s side. Maybe handling the others who had transformed but letting Morris live would be fine. Maybe he could let Yua have her way...
Wait, Silva thought, do I only feel that way because of how well I know Morris too?
It was a puzzle. But he had to make a decision.
“Silva.” Principal Miriela called his name, and made a restraining motion with her hand. Her expression said that she would be the one to speak, and he didn’t need to go any further.
He was relieved, but frustration lay under that. In the end, he was still just an academy student, under Principal Miriela’s protection. He felt powerless.
But before even the principal could speak, Eris sprung into action. “I’m sorry! Blame me for this if you have to!” Eris’s swords flashed forth from where she had landed. There was nothing in range, and she should have struck only air, but around her hands, space itself distorted.
“Ah!” Only the golden blades appeared next to Morris. Caught by surprise, Yua was too slow to react. The blades swept toward Morris—only to be stopped just short by another.
Clang!
The tip of a golden spear. Sparks flew as it stopped the swords. Just like Eris’s blades, space had distorted and it had appeared from nowhere.
“What?! But that’s—!” Eris gasped.
“I’m going to have to stop you. I can’t abandon my comrade.” The voice came from somewhere else—a different building than the one from which Yua dangled Morris. There, a tall, beautiful woman with long red hair stood. It was her golden spear that had stopped Eris’s swords.
“A hieral menace?! The Steelblood Front’s?!”
“Sistia. I have no interest in trouble with you right now, hieral menace of Karelia.”
Eris cautiously watched Sistia, who leaped from her own rooftop to Yua’s. “Eris. I feel much the same.”
“Are you hurt?” Sistia smiled at Yua.
Despite her intensity, Sistia was really trying to make a good first impression here. Yua wasn’t used to being treated that way at all, so she responded with confusion.
“I’m fine... Thanks.”
“Then, right away, please seal him in ice! It will be okay. A magicite beast’s life force is strong enough to survive that for a time! We won’t be able to turn him back, but we can keep him alive in a state which allows us to coexist! But we need to stop him from thrashing about.”
“Freeze him? Um... If you say so, but it’ll be pretty tough...”
“I’ll do it! Yua! Make Morris face me!” Miriela offered.
“Principal Miriela! Here!” Yua turned Morris toward her.
“Ice, come forth!” Principal Miriela brandished her staff. From its tip, countless blocks of ice flew toward Morris. Striking parts of his body in rapid succession, they froze his body on impact. In no time at all, he was frozen completely.
“Hey, thanks.”
“No, you don’t have to thank me. Unfortunately, this is all I can do to help here...”
Eris sheathed her swords but challenged Sistia all the same. “And now what do you intend to do? If there’s a way for hieral menaces to save magicite beasts, I’d love to see it.”
“Sorry, but I can’t. It’s not something I can do.” From the rooftop, Sistia looked further up into the night sky, toward a large black Flygear floating in the darkness. It had slipped in directly between the knights on the ground and the Paladins in the sky.
“That’s...!” Eris gasped.
Aboard it, a man all in black with a mask concealing his face stood. Eris had never seen him before, but she had heard of his striking appearance. This was the black-masked leader of the Steelblood Front.
“O noble warriors who would challenge the Prismer, I beg your pardon for my interruption. O my comrades! Cast away your prism powder at once! It mingles with the aura of the Prismer, and turns people to magicite beasts! Those who do not carry prism powder have not transformed! Now, hurry!” His raised voice echoed. It seemed too loud for that of one man. It was loud enough to reach across even a battlefield containing a large army.
Eris couldn’t sense the movement of mana from around him, but she wondered whether there might be some special power he possessed.
“But why mention that only now? If he had said so earlier, there would have been less harm, less confusion...” she observed, seemingly not realizing she spoke aloud.
“Yes, that’s right. The Prismer’s come quite a long way. He should have realized during that time.” Miriela nodded, having come to the same conclusion.
“We had no way of knowing. If we had realized earlier, we would have warned our comrades... Announcing it now is as much as announcing our presence,” Sistia sullenly insisted. “But these transformations suddenly began to occur as the Prismer approached Ahlemin. This situation is the result of our haste to warn people of the danger and save as many as possible. We cannot be blamed.”
“Suddenly, as it drew closer to Ahlemin?” Eris asked. “Then I suppose you didn’t have a choice... I’m sorry.”
“As long as you understand, it’s fine. We regret having held you back in your battle against the Prismer.”
“But why would such a thing happen as it drew close to Ahlemin?” Silva asked. “Is this land cursed? It is where the Prismer was originally kept...”
“Or perhaps it’s that the Prismer’s power increases even as we speak, and it reached a point where it would react with the prism powder and cause even humans to transform,” Miriela replied.
“In any case, nothing about this is good,” Eris said, and no one could object.
“Um, how long are we leaving Beanpole like this? I’m scared he’ll go splat if I drop him.” The roof on which Morris was frozen was pitched, and Yua was supporting the block of ice so he wouldn’t fall.
“I’m sorry. Hold on a moment.” As Sistia reached out to help Yua, a voice came from above.
“Sistia, I’ve kept you waiting. Let us at least grant our poor comrades a peaceful rest by our own hands.” The Flygear came down to meet Sistia.
“Yes! But first, can we somehow save Morris? Like we did the consul in Nova.” Sistia bowed reverently to the black-masked man as she made her request.
“Whether that be salvation or no, I cannot say... But if that is your wish, I shall.”
“Thank you!”
The black-masked man nodded, and stepped from his Flygear to stand beside the ice encasing Morris. As his hand brushed over it, a pale-blue light rose like smoke from where he made contact. As the light welled up, Morris shrank within the ice.
“Ooh...?!” Yua’s eyes opened wide. The magicite beast Morris was small enough to ride on her hand or shoulder. “Ah! So it’s like that! This is like the one Inglis has!”
“Indeed. As I said before, this may not be salvation...but at least he cannot do much harm. I’m sorry, this is all that I can do.” As he spoke, he placed the tiny, frozen Morris in Yua’s hand.
Yua held Morris dearly. “No, really, thanks. Even if he doesn’t change back, I’ll take good care of him. He’s my friend...”
“I see... I entrust my comrade Morris to you, then.” The black-masked man bowed his head to Yua.
“Yua, I’ll help you find a way to turn Morris back,” Miriela said. “I think Theodore will lend a hand as well.”
“Ah, Principal Miriela... Yes, I’ll try to be a bit more serious from now on.”
“I wish you’d shown some work ethic earlier, but... Ah, well, it seems you’ve grown. Let’s do our best!”
His work there done, the black-masked man turned on his heel. “Then, let us be off, Sistia. There still remain other comrades who have become beasts. We must at least grant them peace.”
“Yes...!”
“Leave the chaos in the town to us,” he said to Miriela and her group. “Fight your way forward. We also live on the surface. There is no reason for us not to aid you in your fight against the Prismer.”
With some hesitation, Eris responded, “I thank you.”
Now all that was left was for each to take their place and prepare—but not Silva.
“Wait! Lady Eris! Principal Miriela! Since it worked for Morris, then shouldn’t we do the same for as many people as we can? There are lives to be—maybe ‘saved’ isn’t the right word, but still! Shouldn’t we order our entire force to freeze the humans who have become magicite beasts?”
“Silva,” Miriela began.
“Four-Eyes... Sometimes you have good ideas,” Yua said.
“You could have done without that belittling qualifier!”
The black-masked man pondered Silva’s idea. “Hm... The people who have become magicite beasts are all my comrades. It would be good to save their lives, so that they might find hope in the future. I understand this limits your tactics, and I would be deeply grateful were you to be so considerate. However...”
“Is there some problem with that?” Silva asked.
“I apologize, but even my power is not infinite. To transform so many would leave me without the strength to aid you in the battle with the Prismer itself, I fear. Is that still acceptable to you?”
Eris was at a loss for an answer, but Silva’s words came quickly. “I don’t mind! If we lack strength in our battle with the Prismer, it’s my job to make up for it! This special-class Rune isn’t just a decoration!”
“I’ll do my best too, I guess,” Yua agreed.
“Brave words. Our goal, from the beginning, was to act from the shadows for the sake of this country and its people. We do not intend to shatter Karelia or bring Karelians to despair. Our only enemies are Highlanders who would devour this earth. Then, I await your command, hieral menace, princess of a dead kingdom.”
“What?! How did you—just who are you?!”
“What?!” Miriela gasped. “Eris, you used to be a princess?!”
“That was a long time ago! And it’s over now. It has nothing to do with the situation at hand.”
“Agreed,” the black-masked man said. “I apologize for digressing. We must now give our all to destroy the Prismer... How shall we proceed?”
“We don’t necessarily have to destroy it,” Eris responded. “If we could chase it to some isolated area, that would be fine too.”
Even so, Eris worried over whether she should follow the black-masked man’s suggestion. She thought it would be good to save the people who were turned into magicite beasts, but then he would be too exhausted to fight the Prismer—they needed him in that fight.
That power that he just used to shrink a person transformed into a magicite beast—she had no idea what it was. She hadn’t sensed the flow of mana, but even just from what she could see with her eyes, it was obvious that some strong power was at work.
Power that not even I, a hieral menace, understand, but power all the same... It might be the same as Inglis’s. If so, his strength is needed for the fight with the Prismer. That would lighten the burden on Rafael—raise the chances that he might survive. No matter how many of the transformed people he treats, it’s meaningless if we’re unable to stop the Prismer. Even more would suffer in exchange.
He said that the Steelblood Front, even if it did so from the shadows, fought for the sake of this country and its people. However, Eris judged that if they took too active a role in this battle, the people’s hearts would turn to them, ultimately destabilizing Karelia’s politics.
It may be true that he plots neither separatism nor armed revolt, but at this moment, should not all our focus should be on the battle with the Prismer? Borders mean nothing to magicite beasts. From that perspective, I cannot easily agree, at least not personally.
As Eris pondered all this, someone else’s voice cut in from a Flygear descending from overhead, having overheard their conversation.
“Understood. Tell all our forces to respond to the humanoid magicite beasts by freezing them in place.”
“Rafael! We can’t just—!” Eris began.
“Are you sure about this?” Ripple asked from the controls of the Flygear.
“Yes. Silva’s right. I’d like to save as many as we can. Unlike him, we can’t do anything for people who have been transformed like that. If he’s the only one who can, I’d like to ask him for his assistance,” Rafael answered without hesitation.
“Those magicite beasts are my comrades, members of the Steelblood Front... We bear no enmity toward your government, but your government marks us as traitors. Yet you would still save them, holy knight?”
“Against the terror of magicite beasts, loyalties or politics matter not. I will do my best to save as many as I can. That’s what I believe a holy knight’s duty is.”
“I salute you, then. I shall leave the battle with the Prismer to you and do what only I can.”
“Yes. Leave it to me.” Rafael nodded to the black-masked man. “Eris, Ripple, I’m sorry to have decided that myself.”
“Command is yours; you have the right,” Eris answered. “I will follow your lead.”
“Yeah, exactly,” Ripple said. “If that’s your decision, I’m behind it.”
Even so, they had no intention of letting Rafael fight the Prismer and lose his life if they had anything to say about it. That was only the last resort. If they couldn’t defeat the Prismer with conventional tactics, they could lead it to an unpopulated area; that could buy time for Inglis to arrive. They would fight with their own strength, waiting on that hope.
They would not give up. Eris and Ripple nodded to each other.
“Then, let’s hurry and give the order for the new tactic!” Eris said.
“Yes!” Rafael agreed.
“Yeah, got it!” Ripple said.
As they were about to depart, the black-masked man stopped them. “Wait. If you wish to communicate your order, touch my shoulder and speak. Your voice will reach all your forces.”
“Oh, like I heard before... How in the world did you...?”
“It’s nothing much. Now, hurry.”
Rafael alighted from the Flygear next to the black-masked man and touched his shoulder. “This is Rafael Bilford! Can you hear me?!” Just like the man’s voice had before, his voice echoed across the town. “Use the power of ice Artifacts to stop the people who have been transformed into magicite beasts! There’s no need to harm them further! Separate measures will be taken to incapacitate them! Prioritize use of ice Artifacts! And take formations prioritizing the defense of those who wield them!”
At his call, shouts arose all over.
“Sir Rafael?! If those are the orders of the holy knight, then—!”
“We can save them! Let’s do it!”
“Understood, Sir Rafael!”
Everyone had been quiet in response to the black-masked man’s previous announcement, but at Rafael’s call they responded with cheers and excitement.
“Let’s go! Follow me!” As Rafael called out, he drew his crimson blade, Dragon Fang.
“Grooooooar!”
His determination was matched with a draconic roar from the Artifact. Clad in armor of the same color as the blade, he took to the sky with its wings. The glow that followed him served as an urging to follow, inflaming the hearts of the knights on the battlefield below. They cheered as he soared overhead.
“Rafael! Let’s leave the protection of the rear to them!” Eris said.
“We’ll go to the front! Quick! The swarm is almost upon us!” Ripple agreed.
“Yes! Let’s go!” Flying alongside Eris and Ripple’s Flygear, Rafael sallied forth from the Paladins’ position above the eastern wall. Turning around for a moment, he saw that his forces were immediately responding to his orders, setting up formations with the wielders of ice Artifacts in the rear guard.
And we’ll buy them time as well! “Lady Eris! Lady Ripple! We will take the lead, and charge the enemy position!”
“Understood!” Eris responded. “That’s a good idea!”
“Then Eris and I will take the left!” Ripple said.
“And I’ll get the right!”
Their Flygear rapidly turned, disappearing. Accelerating at full speed, Rafael rapidly reached the right of the line. Roaring, he charged as fast as he could, plunging Dragon Fang’s crimson blade into a bird magicite beast.
“Cawwwwww!”
Shrieking, the beast writhed in pain, dropping the humanoid magicite beast it carried. That wasn’t a problem. Neither strikes nor shocks could harm a magicite beast; an Artifact was necessary to wound it. So even if it fell a long way, the humanoid should be fine.
The problem was the bird. It and its kin seemed to be the guardians of the Prismer, and previously, even a brush from the blade of Dragon Fang could practically boil them away. But now, not so much. Rather than disappearing, the beast held its shape and shrieked.
“I’m sure of it! This beast is stronger than the ones before!” If the Prismer’s guardians were tougher, then it could safely be assumed that the Prismer itself was as well. “But now!”
Slaaash!
The crimson blade cleaved sideways through the magicite beast, cutting it in two. Even if they no longer simply evaporated, cutting them wasn’t hard either. “I’ll cut through you if I must!”
Rafael held Dragon Fang horizontally out from his waist and charged into the midst of a line of enemies to his side. As he shouted, a slash of crimson light cut down the birdlike beasts. A large number of humanoid beasts fell, and the ice unleashed by the Paladins’ rear guard buried them, creating ice statue after ice statue.
As Rafael continued his assault from the right of the line toward the center, he saw many humanoid beasts fall on the left as well. “Eris, Ripple! I knew you two could do it!”
He wanted to maintain their onslaught. Increasing his speed, he pushed in from the right flank. Eris and Ripple approached from the opposite side, and the line of magicite beasts coalesced into a clump in the center.
As Rafael reached the center, the vanguard of the Paladins was already engaged heavily with the magicite beasts. Even though Rafael, Eris, and Ripple had split up, they were effectively pushing the beasts together. The bird beasts were stronger than the ones they’d fought near the border with Venefic, but the Paladins were still able to handle them. Rafael was proud of his subordinates. Their losses were few, while the ranks of the magicite beasts visibly thinned as he watched.
Finally, he met up with Eris and Ripple in the center.
“Rafael!” Eris called out. “You’re okay, right?”
“Yes. But, Lady Eris, Lady Ripple, let’s be careful. The beasts are stronger than the ones we fought previously!”
“Yeah,” Ripple said. “They seem sturdier than the ones from before! I guess this means the Prismer has gotten stronger too?”
“That’s exactly why we can’t let ourselves get worn down in the opening action! Anyway, we need to get through this while limiting our losses, and prepare for what comes next!” Eris said.
“Yes, that’s right!” Rafael looked back toward Ahlemin. The chaos caused when the humanoid magicite beasts sprang up seemed to have subsided. The ice-Artifact-armed squads atop the ramparts had begun to launch a supporting barrage at the humanoid beasts which had fallen.
Not only that, but a hazy, pale-blue light was appearing all over town—the same light they’d seen from the black-masked man when he’d shrunk the magicite beast. It seemed things were going well there as well. Rafael hoped he could make it to the beasts frozen outside town once he finished inside. It must have been a lot of work, but Rafael could only trust the Steelbloods’ leader would see to them all. “He’s doing his best too— Wait! What’s that?!” he gasped.
“Whoa! Look at that!” Ripple said.
“Ah! Ripple, Rafael! The next wave’s coming!” Eris called out.
Rafael was looking back, Eris toward the right flank, and Ripple straight ahead.
“What?!” they gasped at once. Each, looking in a different direction, spotted the enemy.
“What’s going on?!” Rafael asked.
“They’re trying to surround us?!” Eris said.
“They’re everywhere, no matter where I look!” Ripple said.
Ahlemin was a pocket amidst a vast force of magicite beasts, almost all of the bird type. There must have been nearly ten times more of them around than there had been earlier.
Most notably...
“I’ve never seen magicite beasts move like that!” Eris gasped.
“Yeah...” Ripple agreed. “I didn’t know they could do that.”
Eris and Ripple gave words to the thoughts running through Rafael’s head. Magicite beasts, as powerful and as threatening to humanity on the surface as they were, behaved more akin to animals than anything. They were known to form hordes and attack villages and towns in their path. However, that was an instinctive behavior, not due to their own tactics.
Forcing their foes into a siege or a surrounded pocket before falling upon them was not a decision which could be expected of them. But now their actions seemed to be driven by clear objectives and plans. This was even more unsettling than their sheer numbers.
Rafael felt uneasy, but his anxiety did not serve a point here. When the enemy approached, his duty was to respond. “This is no time to panic! Prepare to counterattack!”
“You’re right!” Eris said. “The longer we hesitate, the more of our own will fall!”
“But how do we counter them?” Ripple asked. “The Paladins can’t handle that many!”
“If we stay out here, we’ll be cut off!” Rafael responded. “We’ll pull back within the walls! Once we’re able to link up with the levies, we attack with the entire army!”
“But they have us surrounded on all sides!” Eris said. “If one sector is broken through, we could collapse from there!”
“Maybe we should split up and each take a direction, then!” Ripple suggested.
“Then, let’s split the Paladins into four groupings and use each as the main force holding the line in a sector!” Rafael ordered.
“Three of those can each be led by one of us!” Eris said. “But what about the fourth?!”
“Why don’t we leave the lieutenant colonel in charge for now, and later send Miriela to help?” Ripple asked. “She’s already here, after all!”
“Understood! Then, we’ll go with that!” Rafael said. “I’ll hold the rear while we move into position!” The first wave of enemies had still not yet been wiped out, but if they didn’t make their move quickly, it would be difficult to respond to the reinforcements. It was necessary for someone to guard their exposed flanks while they prepared to counterattack.
“Then I’ll go talk to Miriela!” Ripple offered.
“Lady Eris, you and the lieutenant colonel will be in charge of forming the Paladins into four companies and deploying them!”
“Got it!” Eris replied. “After that, I’ll defend the west!”
“Then I’ll take the north!” Ripple said. “And have Miriela go south!”
“Once I’ve bought us some space, I’ll continue to hold the east!” Rafael replied.
The three nodded to each other and set off for their posts.
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