Chapter 200
Entry (2)
“……It’ll be fine, right?”
At Elisha’s anxious question, Morrigan tilted her head and spoke.
“In what sense do you mean?”
“…….”
“No, I mean, isn’t that dangerous?”
As she said that, Elisha pointed toward the massive horde of beasts surging violently across the wasteland.
Was there a phrase—shaking heaven and earth?
They blackened the sky, and their mere movement caused the ground itself to tremble.
Considering the individual combat power each of those beasts possessed, that was not something you could describe with anything less than a catastrophe. It was a collective force of overwhelming destructive power.
Even if a nation’s entire military strength were to charge at them, victory wouldn’t be guaranteed.
What was even more absurd was that this wasn’t even all of them.
‘……This is like.’
It felt as though the Void Zone itself was moving as a whole to hunt down the humans who had entered it in that tiny carriage.
Like an immune system activating to eliminate a foreign substance that had entered the body.
From a human perspective, the only way to describe that was that surviving it would be nothing short of a miracle.
“……Won’t it work out somehow?”
“…….”
“It’s not like they’ve only faced this kind of crisis once or twice before.”
At Morrigan’s immediate response, Elisha rubbed her face dryly, as if she had nothing to say.
Well.
Maybe it was because those people had gone through so many absurd situations that even she had lost her sense of danger, but somehow, none of them looked even remotely tense.
“……I’m just wondering if they can really get through something like that safely.”
As she said that, Elisha dragged her hand down her face.
If she could, she wanted to gather everything she had and go help them right away, but unfortunately, she had to preserve her strength until the ‘final battle.’
That was the ‘request’ she had received from that man.
“…….”
She let out a small laugh as she recalled the meeting she had recently attended with Bailey and Aiden.
Well.
Thinking about that conversation, she still couldn’t quite tell whether that man was bold… or simply insane.
But one thing was certain.
‘If it succeeds, it’s the biggest jackpot.’
For both Bailey and herself, that man had presented an answer that couldn’t be more ideal.
And for that to happen—
That group had to reach the body of Wornil deep within the innermost part of the Void Zone.
‘……Whether it’s Bailey’s demonkind or our celestial race.’
From the perspective of races that had branched off from Wornil, finding a ‘pillar’ that could support their future depended on that man somehow reaching a conclusion with Wornil.
No matter what, if that man died in a place like that, everything they had worked on in relation to him would collapse.
‘……He’s proven his worth, and he’s proven his qualification.’
What remained now was to prove it with results.
Thinking that, she anxiously stared at the screen Morrigan had projected.
Now, this was the first step.
How would he prove that he was someone who could stand face-to-face with Wornil?
“……Huh?”
That was when a baffled question slipped from Elisha’s lips.
Because what was unfolding on the screen was nothing like what she had expected.
The proof—
Was accomplished far too easily.
So easily that it left Elisha staring in a daze.
▣
Thinking about it, Aiden himself had felt more doubtful than convinced.
When he heard that Teresa and Abigail III had developed something remarkable for him, his honest thought had been—just what part of this is supposed to be effective?
“……Uh, so… there are no combat instructions?”
“Well, it’s more like a warm-up.”
But one thing was certain.
At least from Aiden’s perspective, the effect was clearly visible.
Just as Rania had said before, they themselves seemed completely unaware of it, but to Aiden, it was obvious.
The energy rising from their bodies right now was at a level that was astonishing—even from Aiden’s perspective, who had personally engaged with them multiple times.
‘……Isn’t this basically them?’
It was enough to make him think that.
A terrifying divine energy streamed continuously around their bodies.
An absurd number of beasts were charging at them from all directions, yet it didn’t create even the slightest sense of danger.
“Th-then, uh, what should we do?”
“……G-good question?”
“…….”
But seeing the others flustered because Aiden wasn’t giving any instructions left him a bit speechless.
“……Weren’t all of you supposed to be renowned combatants?”
“Exclude me and Rania from that.”
“Right, I’ll take that into account.”
At Cretin raising her hand beside him and making her claim, Aiden waved his hand dismissively as he replied.
“No, it’s just that in situations that go beyond common sense like this, we’ve gotten used to fighting according to Aiden’s… unconventional behavior.”
“……Do you really have to call it ‘unconventional behavior’?”
“Is there any other way to describe it?”
“…….”
Hmm.
That was true.
As Aiden nodded, unable to refute that point, Noel let out another sigh and continued.
“……To be honest, I do have an idea of what we should do.”
As she said that, Noel lightly tapped Katya on the back and gestured.
“……? What?”
“Let’s try it together. I’ve got something in mind.”
As Katya was being dragged outside with a bewildered expression, Rania, who remained inside the carriage, puffed on her pipe and watched the scene.
“Unni. Let’s go help.”
“Hm?”
“……We can’t just sit here twiddling our thumbs either.”
As she said that and stepped outside with them, I quietly closed my eyes and took a deep breath.
To be honest, there was no particular reason not to give combat instructions here.
Even so, the reason I chose not to—
‘……They need to be able to fight to some extent without me.’
In the final battle that was right around the corner, there was a high chance I would have to focus solely on my own task.
Even without me acting as the lubricant, they had to be able to find a way themselves and break through the situation. Only then would the ‘structure’ I had in mind hold.
‘This is the only chance to practice.’
Even if this many beasts were rushing at us, compared to negotiating directly with Wornil, this was practically just a preliminary battle.
This was the only moment where they could try it out in advance and identify their weaknesses.
After going over those thoughts one by one, I slightly poked my head out of the carriage.
I was curious how they would handle the situation without me, but—
“……Katya, you’ve gained more weight than I expected.”
“…………Hey. You wanna fight?”
“No, I can’t breathe. Just how thick are your thighs—”
“Do you seriously want to fight?!”
“…….”
The first thing I saw was Noel carrying Katya on her shoulders.
Her cheeks were squished between those thighs, making her speech come out muffled and unclear, which looked rather pathetic, but her attitude was dead serious.
It almost felt like she believed this posture was absolutely necessary…….
“……So how long are you going to stay like that?!”
Cretin shouted as she pointed forward.
The beasts were already within visible range, charging right up to them.
Yellowish saliva dripped between their teeth, and their entire bodies bristled with fur as sharp as steel awls. The sight of them rushing forward was terrifying.
“You’re not planning to just stand there and die, are you?!”
“……I’ve seen this once before.”
Noel answered without the slightest hesitation.
“When it comes to wide-area attacks, Katya is the most suitable person here. I might be better suited for breaking through a single point against heavily armored enemies, but against something like that, it’s best to put her at the center.”
“No, this isn’t the time to be explaining—”
“In other words, if we just place the right people in the right positions, anything can be resolved easily.”
Noel lightly tapped Katya’s legs resting on her shoulders.
“Katya. Light it up.”
“……You’re saying it like you’re asking me to light a cigarette.”
She grumbled, but still, Katya immediately ignited her divine power.
A colorless flame. As always, it rose with the ominous intent of devouring everything around it. Seeing the blazing conflagration, Noel nodded.
“From here on, this is what Aiden showed us.”
Then, pure white qi surged from her body.
But unlike before, when she tried to draw it out to use directly herself—
“……I never would have imagined this in the past.”
Muttering that, Noel let her qi ‘soak into’ Katya’s flames.
“……?!”
Seeing that, I couldn’t help but gape.
‘……Wait a second.’
Mixing abilities—wasn’t that supposed to be something only I could do?
The fact that someone else could do something like that was completely unheard of……?
“If the reason Aiden can mix abilities freely is because it’s possible under the authority of a god, then logically, those of us who can borrow that divine authority should be able to do it as well, shouldn’t we?”
“…….”
Those words followed as Rania and Cretin stared in equal disbelief.
“In other words.”
Noel grinned.
“All those incredible things Aiden usually does—”
The blazing white flame began to grow stronger.
The more Noel poured her qi into it, the larger it swelled.
“—means we can do the exact same thing right now.”
No, perhaps—
“…….”
Rania, who had been listening quietly, raised her mana as if thinking, no way.
A bright sphere of light formed and blended into the flame. The already expanding fire surged explosively, as if fuel had been poured onto it.
“……This is insane.”
Rania muttered like a groan.
“Come to think of it, Aiden might be unparalleled when it comes to handling this kind of energy.”
Noel watched that and smiled faintly.
“But compared to us, who’ve spent our entire lives training for combat, when it comes to ‘utilizing’ something like this… well.”
Maybe we’re better at it.
Noel let out a small chuckle as she said that.
Meanwhile, Katya stared in shock at the flame above her, which had grown into something so overwhelming that even she couldn’t control it.
“Katya. Fire.”
With those words—
The flames swept across the entire area.
