The slaughter proceeded in an orderly fashion, the number of mamono (monsters) in the valley visibly decreasing.
No one showed the slightest intention to stop — the operation was going far too smoothly.
Even though Paul was already exhausted, Allen still looked full of energy.
"One hour's up!"
Rolz, still cool-headed despite the thrill of the hunt, dutifully reminded them the moment the hour passed.
Rudi felt his magic still abundant, and called down to Allen below the tree:"Shall we keep going?!"
Allen tore through another of the now sparse monsters with his blade, glanced across the valley — by his estimation, more than half of the monsters were already dead. No, perhaps even more than that.
Most of them really died under Rudi's magic, huh? Clearing mobs really is faster with AoE.
He blinked, genuinely impressed they'd managed to kill so many in just an hour.
Smiling, Allen looked at Paul's tired face — though the man was still forcing himself to stand — and spoke.
"All right, let's call it a day. The number's already been cut down a lot. Rudi, any idea roughly how many you killed?"
Rudi grinned sheepishly."Half? No, even more! These D-class mamono really can't take much — some that just got grazed by a spell fell into the pile of corpses and never got back up. Were they… playing dead?"
"Playing dead? Can monsters even do that?"
Allen chuckled, glancing at Paul, who had exhaled a laugh of his own."Let's go home then, oji-san. We've made enough progress."
Paul, long past his limit after days in the forest, suddenly thought of his wife and children when he heard Allen say "home". His spirit flared as he swung his sword, blowing the mound of monster corpses before him apart.
"Yeah! Let's go home!"
He sheathed his sword, shot the valley one last look, then turned to leave with Rolz — who was already grinning and eager to go — in tow. Rolz even cast Allen a glance as they walked off.
Allen couldn't help but laugh at their impatient attitude.Not even worried about your kids, huh? Paul I can understand — he's exhausted — but you, Rolz? You couldn't even grab your daughter from the tree before running off?
Shaking his head, he looked up at the two little ones on the tree looking down at him with big, expectant eyes. He leapt up to grab them —
But just as he reached, Sylphy raised a hand to stop him.
She frowned slightly, and with a hint of frustration, eyed Allen's swordsmans' uniform, which was covered in gore. Raising her hand, she cast a fūjutsu (wind spell) to blow the filth off him.
Meat and blood fell like red snow.
Beside them, Rudi stood there still bubbling with excitement at the field of corpses, wearing a smug grin at his handiwork.
Allen, meanwhile, watched Sylphy's serious little expression as the setting sun bathed her soft, green, shoulder-length hair in a faint glow. In the wind of her spell, her hair danced, her cheeks painted with the colors of dusk.
They were both silent, while Rudi kept muttering to himself:"…Never thought hunting monsters was this easy. Didn't feel like much when I sparred with Father or Allen, but it turns out my magic really is effective, huh? Hm? Am I seeing things? That spot Father just split open… isn't there something there?"
Allen was about to tease him when something Rudi had said suddenly flashed through his mind:
"Half? Even more! Some just got grazed and never got back up…"
Images from earlier suddenly flooded his mind — the cross-sections of the trenches beyond the forest, all those dark holes.
Deep. Unfathomable.
Allen suddenly grabbed Sylphy's spellcasting hand, making her yelp in surprise, and turned sharply in Rudi's direction.
On the newly-broken ground where Paul's sword had struck, black spheres dotted the earth.
Switching his kanryū (flow sense) to full power, the view became clear:
They weren't black spheres.
They were countless pitch-black tunnels!
Then Rudi's confused voice reached his ears:"Looks like… holes? Lucky I froze the ground, or else this slope would've been dangerous. Father really knows what he's doing…"
Allen's grey eyes narrowed to slits. In Sylphy's wide-eyed, dumbfounded stare, he pulled her into his chest, grabbed the still-chattering Rudi under his other arm, and bent his knees to jump — at the same time shouting to Paul and Rolz, who'd stopped and turned back to watch:
"Oji-san! It's not over yet! The monsters—"
BOOM!!
The deafening roar of earth collapsing drowned his words.
A rumble shook the whole area.
Allen staggered — the ground beneath them was tilting. No — it was giving way!
The slope they stood on was collapsing!
Below the earthspike fortress, the ice layer hadn't been breached — the monsters had dug out the entire foundation!
A giant fissure split open in the ground before the tree, spreading along the edges of the earthspikes.
Allen's eyes met Rolz and Paul's, both of them showing sudden panic — they had already crossed into the outer area of the spell, and now the fissure separated them from Allen's group!
Allen gritted his teeth and crouched to leap —
But then the ground beneath his feet vanished. His hair whipped around his face as the slope dropped out from under them, sending him and the two children plunging downward.
"AHHHH!!"
Rudi and Sylphy both screamed. Above them, Paul and Rolz scrambled to the fissure's edge, shouting in unison:
"Allen!!"
The name jolted Allen's body full of adrenaline. He clutched the two small bodies tightly — Rudi still screaming, Sylphy quickly covering her own mouth and turning to look at him —
Allen crouched in mid-air and launched himself upward!
I can make it! Less than twenty meters — I can jump— Damn it!!
As his feet left the crumbling slope, he saw them — monsters, packed like ants around the fissure, swarming the hollowed-out ridge below.
Dozens of them leapt at the same time as him, their bodies churning the air into a thick, cloudy mist that swallowed his vision.
He instinctively reached for his blade — only to realize his hands were full, holding the two children.
No hands free!
The wind fell silent.
Allen's pupils shrank to pinpricks as he roared inwardly, forcing his kanryū into overdrive:
"Ryūsei dōki, GET OUT! Focus on my back!" (Dragon Saint Fighting Qi, get out!)
The warm flow in his belly suddenly compressed into a core the size of a walnut, its intricate magic lines shrinking to a pinprick —
Then it expanded.
The Ryūsei dōki (Dragon Saint Fighting Qi) burst forth, wrapping his body in a torrent of power named after dragons!
(End of Chapter)
[Check Out My P@treon For +20 Extra Chapters On All My Fanfics!!][www.p@treon.com/euridome][Thank You For Your Support!]