Chapter 956 Welcoming the Threat
I was uncertain whether I should leave or wait for everyone to return as the situation became far more dire than I initially expected when I saw Renatta and the others return, rushing out.
"Manato, did you stay behind and decide to rest here?" Pandora inquired upon spotting me in the same area as before the battle.
"Yeah, after the fight against Hagane, I needed some rest. That guy had some serious backup, and I had to use some of my abilities as well," I replied.
"But what's happening? I heard an explosion just now," I asked.
"We are under attack. I will be facing the assault of the beastmen right now. Would you like to join, Manato? Your help would be greatly appreciated," Renatta asked.
"Well, I don't want to remain idle here, and even though I'm still tired, I don't want to be unproductive, so I'll join. Why not?" I shrugged.
"That's good. We're going to confront them right now."
Behind us, Avos and Mila rushed in, accompanied by two elves who bore a striking resemblance to Renatta and appeared to be of royal descent.
"We will come as well, Renatta. This battle is not only yours and your friends' duty, so we will lend our assistance," Avos assured Renatta.
"Thank you for offering..." the queen-like figure began, but Renatta immediately interrupted her.
"Don't think we're defending this place out of duty, but because we care about the innocent lives that will be in danger. If you two are not here to help, then please step aside and stay out of our way."
With those parting words, Renatta walked off, her weapon gripped tightly in her hands. As for Avos and Mila, they silently turned their backs on the two royalty members, who were too stunned to speak. Whatever they discussed back there, I didn't really care, and I couldn't care less, I guess.
The rest of us left as well, following the three who had gone off on their own. They disappeared so quickly, but thankfully, Labo and Alena were there.
"It looks like they rushed ahead. Follow us, guys; we know the way to where they will be meeting the Beastmen attacking," Alena said as they started running away from the castle.
We followed them, and we saw the elves scrambling around the place. Chaos had ensued, and many were panicking.
"I didn't expect to see the day when these elves would be afraid of something. But seeing their reactions now actually makes me feel a bit relieved that they do have something to fear. Otherwise, I would assume that they have been hardened so much that even things like this would no longer provoke a reaction from them, given their unwavering loyalty to the royalty," Labo grinned as he looked at the running elves.
"Well, they are still the same people who have remained in this state for quite some time. If they had seen the state of the world outside this kingdom, I would say they might get a wake-up call about how backward their thinking is," Alena chuckled as well.
Although I don't understand much about what the elves really think about the state of their kingdom, it's not my concern to dig into the details. We are here to help resolve things, but Renatta has to deal with these matters the most, as she knows what's going on.
It didn't take us long to arrive at the gates where Renatta, Avos, and Mila were engaged in a battle against multiple Beastmen trying to breach the defenses.
"Prepare to fight!"
Everyone sprang into action and joined the battle. Now I realized why the elves were struggling. I checked their stats and saw that they were all around level 200 and above, which explained why the elves were having a tough time. The average level of the elves here is around 150+.
The only ones with levels of 200 and above were Avos, Mila, the spirits in Renatta's mansion, and Izmir as well. As for the guards, I didn't see them making much of an impact against these foes. It made me wonder how they managed to hold off the Beastmen while trying to protect themselves from being overrun. Perhaps this is the first time the Beastmen decided to take advantage of the castle.
Avos and Mila were having difficulty fighting the beastmen, but their experience in battles eventually secured their victory. However, they knew that if the beastmen ganged up on them, they would be vulnerable. The beastmen held the advantage due to their physical strength, greater numbers, and proximity to the skill level of Avos and Mila. Without our assistance, it seemed unlikely that they could defend against the beastmen.
Renatta, in her Bear form, effortlessly dispatched the beastmen, tearing through them and surprising Avos and Mila with her strength.
We joined the battle as well, with Akira and I drawing the beastmen's attention and engaging them in combat, allowing the ranged attackers to eliminate them quickly.
Pandora nonchalantly dealt with the beastmen using her chains, while Sora used magic spells to blast multiple foes. Alena and Labo focused on sniping any beastmen who managed to slip through the defenses.
I also allowed Lina to participate in the fight, though Tina was busy tending to Cotton at the moment.
We swiftly eliminated many of the beastmen and cleared the area around the gates. Afterward, we pushed the remaining beastmen back and sealed the gates. Now, we faced the distant beastmen who had siege equipment ready.
Realizing the dire situation, the remaining beastmen, seeing their comrades fall and their siege weapons undamaged, activated their beast forms and charged at us.
I assessed the situation and noticed that the siege equipment posed a significant threat to the castle walls. Without any hesitation, I transformed my Versatile Weapon into a cannon and aimed it at the siege weapons. These structures might be sturdy, but they were made of wood, and my [Grapeshot] would make quick work of them. It might not be the most efficient method, but it was the fastest way to eliminate both the siege weapons and any beastmen operating them.
"Defeat the one with the cannon! He's targeting our siege equipment!" the beastmen urgently pointed at me as I fired my second volley of grapeshots.
I signaled my companions to unleash their full abilities while the beastmen were distracted by my actions.
"It's time to face the threat head-on," I said with a grin as I aimed my cannon at the approaching beastmen while loading another [Grapeshot].
BOOM!
Multiple of them got injured as a result. Seeing that they were not capable of dealing with us, the one in the distance shouted to the attacking beastmen, "RETREAT!"
Hearing this, they immediately started running. Although we continued to fight them while they were fleeing, they were fast and they disappeared before we could do anything about it.
However, no one of us knew that the beastmen never fully retreated. It was that everything was just the beginning. After all, this is the first raid of the group.
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