Chapter 374: 374 Wake upto Reality
’Are you ready?’
’No... just give me about a month more time...’
’Then let’s get started.’
’Hieeeeek...’
Airi’s face, which was already pale, turned even whiter.
If she had the luxury of time, she wanted to prepare her heart for about a year, but unfortunately, it seemed such time couldn’t be spared in the Labyrinth.
In the end, Airi quietly picked up her bow.
Mika and Lia, who were listening to the conversation from behind, also finished their preparations to move and stood up.
Ian looked at Airi one last time before leaving for his prepared position.
’We’re heading to our spots, so just start once you receive the signal.’
’Yes...’
Why did she ever agree to such a reckless plan? Airi nodded while regretting it belatedly.
When she heard the verbal explanation from Ian, it sounded perfectly plausible and like a plan with a high success rate.
It was only when it was time to start that she realized it was a reckless operation.
Since Ian and the others had already departed, she could no longer throw a tantrum saying she couldn’t do it.
Airi quietly poked her head out and looked up at the cliff.
Countless Harpies were flying above the Harpy nest located a short distance away.
Before long, Airi received the signal.
A flickering light. It was the start signal sent to Airi by Ian, who had arrived at his position.
Airi let out a deep sigh and raised her bow and arrow.
Aiming the bow alone like this brought back memories of when she used to go on requests by herself in the past.
In a way, it was a situation similar to back then.
She didn’t realize it when she was solo, but now that she belonged to a mercenary group and traveled with a party, she could see how recklessly she used to carry out requests.
Silently suppressing her presence in a gap of the cliff cave, Airi leaned out and released the bowstring she was aiming.
And then, Airi immediately turned around and began to run away.
Since she had applied a tracking effect, there was no need to confirm if the arrow hit. With that many Harpies, someone was bound to get hit.
- Kyaaaak!
The shriek of a Harpy echoed from behind. It seemed one had been struck by the arrow.
Immediately, the numerous Harpies near the nest let out a collective shriek. It felt as if the entire canyon was shaking.
’Hiik...’
Airi quickly grabbed the rope while listening to that spine-chilling sound from behind.
The most important part of this plan was for Airi, who lured the Harpies, to reach the destination on the opposite side without being late. She didn’t have the luxury of taking the inner passage leisurely.
Airi grabbed the stakes and rope she had installed in advance for this plan and quickly descended the cliff.
It was fortunate that during her solo request days, she had several experiences of scaling cliffs to infiltrate and deal with a leader in the middle of a monster pack.
’This way!’
Rin, who was waiting for Airi on the bridge, waved her hand.
’Heck... I’m, I’m not late, right?’
’You look fine... Let’s get inside quickly!’
The Harpies were flying toward them in pursuit of Airi.
Rin and Airi quickly crossed the bridge and hid inside the burrow.
Rin, taking the lead, ran inward as fast as possible while dealing with the Molers that popped out to block the way.
’Here! Over here!’
Tanya, who was waiting for the two in the room with the altar, shouted.
’Did you succeed?’
’It’s done! We can do it!’
Tanya quickly placed the item she was holding onto the altar.
’Here it is! You can start now!’
After leaving those words, the three of them quickly took cover in the room adjacent to the altar.
The gem Tanya placed melted away in an instant, and the statue began to burn.
＊ ＊ ＊
Ian was watching the scene from the opposite side, from a pre-secured location. It was a spot where he could survey the situation of the opposite cliff at a glance.
The Harpies chasing the fleeing Airi began to crawl into the burrow without hesitation.
Since almost all the Harpies from the nest had swarmed over, the cliff was so covered with Harpies that it was barely visible.
Judging by the small commotions breaking out here and there, it seemed a fight had broken out with the Molers inside.
Normally, Molers would have the advantage in this environment, but the number of Harpies was simply too great now. The Harpies swarmed into the cliff all at once through the numerous holes in it.
Lia, who was counting numbers in her head, muttered.
’...Hmm. Time has passed, did they take the wrong turn?’
’Since the altar is deep inside, it might take some time to be visible from here.’
Similarly, Ian prepared for the next step while timing it.
’...Ah, over there.’
’Perfect timing.’
It was when almost all of the Harpies that had flown over had entered the cliff.
Lia pointed to one of the cliff burrows and spoke to Ian. Flames were blooming from within.
Immediately, flames began to bloom with incredible force from various places. This was the effect of the [Altar of Fire], which, when activated, burns the entire nearby field and annihilates monsters.
’Mika, now.’
’Yes!’
Mika, who had been preparing her magic while waiting, raised her staff.
Since a fairly large spell was needed this time, she had even drawn a magic circle in advance—one she had never drawn before.
It was a magic circle that amplified the range of a spell.
Since she had already completed the incantation and was only waiting for the signal, it didn’t take long for the magic to activate.
’...[Great Wall]!’
The light pouring from the staff swept across the cliff on the opposite side. It was a spell classified as one of the Great Magics among barrier magic.
In party-scale combat, there was no reason to use it; in Mika’s words, it was a ’mana-wasting skill,’ so this was her first time actually using it.
A massive barrier wall covered the face of the cliff.
The Harpies, who saw the flames blooming inside the burrows and tried to rush back out, were blocked by the suddenly appearing barrier and trapped inside.
Endless fire spirits swarmed out from inside the statue.
The monsters attacked the suddenly appearing spirits, but both Molers and Harpies were helpless as they had no means to properly damage spirits.
’Wow... This is incredible.’
’I wondered how it would deal with all the monsters, but...’
Tanya, Rin, and Airi, who had taken cover inside the room with the altar, were watching the flames gushing outward.
If it were a real fire, the three would have been in danger, but since it was spirit fire, the heat did not enter the interior.
The inside of the room where the altar was located was perfectly fine, as if it were in a different space.
Meanwhile, the flames extending from the altar swept through the entire interior of the beast burrows.
Harpies that felt the flames and heat wandered the burrows to escape outside, but most passages were blocked by the barrier Mika had created.
Sweat dripped from the forehead of Mika, who was maintaining the barrier from the opposite side.
Mika called out to Ian with a troubled expression.
’T-this takes much more mana than I thought... I don’t think I can hold it much longer.’
’How much longer?’
’About 2 minutes...’
Not only the attacks of the Harpies striking the barrier, but also the flames pouring out from within were continuously damaging the barrier.
As the range of the barrier was wide, the impact it received was also immense. With the mana Mika was pouring in alone, she couldn’t maintain the barrier for long.
Ian nodded as if it were okay.
’That’s enough. Just hold out as long as you can.’
’I-is it really okay? Then I won’t have any mana left...’
’As long as the Harpies are dealt with, it’s no problem.’
Mika nodded and focused again on maintaining the barrier.
And before long, Mika’s mana ran dry, and the barrier soon shattered.
’Heck...’
Mika, who had used up all her mana, slumped down.
Since it was basic to always leave some mana as a margin during an expedition for emergencies, this was almost the first time since she was a novice that she had used magic until it was completely exhausted.
So this is true mana exhaustion...
Since it was the first time she had pulled and used every drop until she was completely dry like now, Mika closed her eyes while feeling immense dizziness.
’Mika. Snap out of it. Mika.’
’Ugh, ugh... stop shaking me...’
Lia, who was supporting Mika, saw Mika’s eyes close and shook her body vigorously to wake her up.
Mika complained a lot, but listening to some complaints was much better than looking after a party member who fell asleep in the Labyrinth.
Meanwhile, Ian, who had left Mika in Lia’s care, watched the cliff side intently for a long time.
He observed for quite a while, but no Harpy emerged from the burrows. It seemed the Harpies that went inside had been annihilated.
Since there was no way to communicate from a distance, it was a plan that relied partially on luck, but it appeared everything had gone well according to plan.
After a while, Rin peeked her head out from the burrow on the opposite side and waved her hand toward Ian. It was a signal that the interior was safe.
’Everyone over there is fine too. Let’s cross over.’
’Wait... I’ll just rest for two days like this...’
’There are still monsters remaining on this side, so it’s better to go rest over there where it’s safe. If you really can’t, Lia can carry you.’
Mika made a weak sound, but since Ian’s words sounded more correct, she couldn’t complain further.
Instead, the lying Mika spread her arms as if asking Lia to carry her.
Lia grabbed Mika’s arms and hoisted her body upright.
’Now, Mika. Wake up.’
’Ugh, wait... the Captain said to carry me...’
’What are you talking about when you can walk? I’ve experienced mana exhaustion many times during training too.’
’Don’t think based on your stamina standards...’
Mika, forcibly raised by Lia, ultimately had to walk back on her own.
