Chapter 193. Decoy (3)
The borderland of Victoria’s 19th Outsourcing District.
A storm raged across the plain situated between the chilly wasteland of the outskirts and the great forest.
Tududududududu!!
The earth-shattering tremor of the countless magical beast horde, having caught the scent of blood, thundered across the ground in unison.
Ignoring the horde hot on his heels, the black-haired boy running alone at the front glanced around.
They were definitely faster than the previous experimental magical beasts.
The ever-increasing specs of the experimental magical beasts were nothing short of astonishing to experience.
The foundation of this operation was not getting caught by the magical beasts, but I couldn't guarantee that I would absolutely avoid being caught by them.
More than anything, these were specialized in offense to a degree that was somehow different from the experimental magical beasts until now.
There wasn't even time to grasp their exact combat strength.
Hwiiiiiik!!
In that moment, the moonlight above was obscured, and magical beasts that had leaped from all directions rained down like a bombardment, crossing paths.
Kicking off the ground to the side, I rapidly changed direction and weaved through them, running like the wind.
The luring was in the opposite direction from where Sirocco had headed.
As expected, I had already crossed the tree line of the outsourcing district and entered the forest’s edge.
A terrain lined with massive trees that seemed to have no end.
The damp smell of soil and grass brushed past my nose.
Swaeeeeek!!
Just then, a sharp sound of something cutting through the air came from directly behind me.
Reacting instantly, I spun to the side as an awl of black carapace tore through the air, grazing past me.
I narrowed my eyes slightly.
I’d been caught.
The vanguard of the magical beasts, sweeping through the massive trees like a tidal wave, had pursued me all the way here.
The sharp carapace awls of the magical beasts that had already closed in behind me split the ground where I had just been, once again cutting eerily through the air.
Even with the ominous killing intent pressing down on my back, I spun my body with indifferent eyes.
Sense of Mana.
Lines of light raced through the darkness, reading all the enemy's attacks, and having discerned the trajectory of every strike, I kicked off the massive tree trunks and launched myself.
Taaaaang!!
My form, moving at a speed that was almost invisible, kicked off the tree trunks as footholds several times, accelerating nimbly.
Only then did the magical beasts, realizing they had lost me, go berserk and relentlessly leap in pursuit.
Sliding across the ground, evading the attacks of the magical beasts charging from all directions by a paper-thin margin, I happened to look around at the scenery and my eyes widened.
‘Ruined buildings?’
Amidst the forest lined with massive trees, there were, out of nowhere, tall, gray, ruined buildings.
A ruined city of the past, engulfed in vines and leaves.
Perhaps these were the remains of a temporary city where the outsourcing district had once tried to create a residential area in this forest.
For a moment, the thought that the future of the 19th outsourcing district might become like this crossed my mind, and as I ran, I turned my expressionless eyes forward.
No, that's not right.
It is only the present that creates the future.
If it is a predetermined fate, then I will build a new foundation here to build upon.
Whether it's my own life, or the city of the abandoned who meet a tragic end after being occupied by magical beasts.
No matter how hopeless it may be, as long as one does not run and faces the present, the future will inevitably change.
Within the ruined buildings covered by the forest's tree trunks.
Attacks swung by the magical beasts, pounding the ground with gestures of despair and rage. I weaved between them, spinning my body like an acrobat, swiftly evading the attacks by a paper-thin margin.
Then, in a single moment, a steep, towering slope appeared ahead.
Chaaaaaaak!!
Without reducing my speed, I leaned my body to the side for a long slide.
Scattering the white dust of the ruins, I slid down the slope of the hill without hesitation, kicked off the ground and leaped, and in the moment I soared high across the night sky.
Hwiiiiiiiiing!!
My vision was almost completely obscured. My deep blue eyes glanced back at the scenery of the forest behind me, receding at an incredible speed under the night sky.
This time, I felt a definite sense of déjà vu.
The swarm of magical beasts pursuing me closely from behind suddenly overlapped with the first Nemesis entrance exam.
I had already used a strategy of luring and hunting there, so I could tell for sure now.
It wasn't just the experimental magical beasts that had gotten stronger.
I was definitely more agile than I was back then.
Of course, I couldn't openly draw my sword here either, so I couldn't use the mobility of the Explosive Sword.
However, the superhuman physical abilities, sharpened to an extreme while I trained with the sword in solitude, the fruits of that lonely effort were now fully shining in this moment.
But that too was merely a fragment of the strength I had achieved so far.
-Kiriririririk!!
Grabbing onto the long steel frame of a building, I leaped through the air and launched myself to a higher floor.
I confirmed with a sidelong glance that the magical beasts were once again swooping down on me from above, their backs to the moonlight.
There was no end to them.
For a moment, a fragment of the conversation I had with Damastes just before the operation began flashed through my mind.
[─Our freelancer corps will aim for the moment the enemy's ranks are split. However, even if we switch to an offensive right away, it will take some time.]
Damastes had asked back with a savage grin.
[But I've been watching you for a while. You don't seem to use magic and participate in combat directly, do you, Direct Lineage Member?]
[So?]
[Honestly, I don't know what kind of scheme or whim that young master from the main house has, and it's not my business, but.]
At my nonchalant question, he slowly rested his axe on the ground and asked mockingly.
[Without getting your own hands dirty like that, can you really withstand all those magical beasts all by yourself?]
Kurururururu!!
In the moment I returned to reality, I touched the ground and spun in mid-air, evading the enemy's attack like an acrobat.
The strike of several magical beasts that hit the spot where I had been shattered the long-weakened steel frames and concrete floors.
Cracks ran across the floor of the building where I was, and it shattered into giant stone slabs, collapsing.
As I accelerated through the air, consecutively kicking off the falling platforms, I floated high in the sky, flipped my body once, and looked back.
The swarm of magical beasts that had covered the ground in black, in hot pursuit, was reflected in my deep blue eyes.
And looking down at the countless legion from the sky, I gave a faint smile.
[Can I withstand them? A foolish question.]
[What?]
Remembering the stupid expression Damastes had shown then, I quietly opened my mouth.
“Alicia.”
KUUUUUUUUUUUNG!!
As soon as the words were finished, a massive explosion erupted behind the magical beast horde.
The next moment, a blast of wind emitting intense heat raged, blowing away the other magical beasts that were chasing me.
A bombardment that dyed the night sky in an orange flash. The flames of hell that swallowed the enemy colored the surrounding darkness and debris in intense hues, exploding in all directions.
Tukwaaaaaaaang!!
Without a pause, a second and third barrage of concentrated fire followed, driving away the darkness with circular explosions.
With the sharp roar characteristic of an explosion that felt like it would burst my eardrums, the magical beasts engulfed in flames were annihilated without even a chance to scream.
“Direct Lineage Member, you’ve worked hard!”
It was then that a clear female voice echoed from high in the sky, erasing the afterglow of the explosions.
“Please leave the path ahead to me!!”
As I slid to a long landing and glanced up, I saw the young Dragoon soldier standing proudly on the rooftop of a tall, ruined building.
Over her slender and full thighs wrapped in black stockings, her short skirt fluttered and billowed greatly in the blast of the bombardment.
With her back to the night sky, the Dragoon looked down at the enemies with clear, noble eyes.
“An army with such a messy formation and tactics is nothing more than a disorderly mob!”
KUUUUUUUUUNG!!
Alicia, her long hair fluttering, took her stance. She slammed the jet-black Bombardment Lance she held in one hand into the ground, engraving the majesty of a natural enemy.
In response, the magical beasts once again launched a death-defying pursuit towards Alicia and me.
But it was all in vain.
“Dragoon Bombardment Art, Number 3───!”
Alicia descended from the sky like a meteor, plunging her Bombardment Lance into the enemy, and placed her finger on the trigger.
“Fire Scar.”
Tuuuuuuuuuung!!
In an instant, an orange flash erupted in a circle, a tremor ran across the ground, and dust and debris danced brilliantly with the aftershock.
A wave of fire that spread out in a circle, sweeping away everything on the ground in a wide area, rushed forth.
The surrounding massive trees were uprooted and sent flying in a single blow, and rocks the size of houses shattered and scattered wildly in all directions.
The intense power of a bombardment that changed its form at will according to the caster’s intent to annihilate the enemy.
Without realizing it, I found myself staring at Alicia, standing at the center of that circular explosion.
She was definitely strong.
Even though she wasn't a 10th-rank yet, being an 11th-rank, had Alicia already reached this level of proficiency?
Alicia, who slowly rose from her position while gripping the lance embedded in the ground with both hands, looked back at me and shouted.
“Enemy annihilation confirmed, more pursuit units will come!”
The very next moment, from right beside me, a magical beast leaped, its green eyes glowing.
It swung its arm, which protruded long like a spear, and flew madly towards me.
“Direct Lineage Membeeeer!!”
The moment Alicia, who had failed to notice the presence of that enemy, let out a piercing scream.
Swaeeeeeeek!!
A sharp, pink trajectory of light rushed forth.
A sniper round, wrapped in the night air, drew a straight line, surpassing the speed of sound.
And it instantly pierced the enemy’s head.
A surefire bullet that froze everything around it spread its chill, dyeing the enemy’s skin white.
-Kiriririririk!!
“Too bad.”
Looking up at the creature whose body had become sluggish as its carapace and skin froze over, I added coldly.
“Unfortunately, the squad doesn't end with one member.”
I launched my body high, spinning to the side, and kicked the frozen creature away.
KUUUUUUUUUNG!!
Ignoring the magical beast that crashed into a tree with a roar, I glanced to the side.
Already at a distance where she was visible from here, a sniper was providing covering fire with one slender leg propped up on the ruins of a building.
Positioned on a dizzyingly high building, April was there, supporting me.
“Tch, you’re really aggressive, Direct Lineage Member!”
Immediately calculating the next sniping position, April slid her feet on the steel frame of a ruined building and spun her body.
Her bright pink bobbed hair fluttered under her baseball cap as she put her eye to the scope.
“I’m definitely going to get a hefty bonus for this!”
While sliding, she pulled the charging lever and loaded the next round.
The moment a brass casing danced past April's pink eyes with a pinging sound.
Taaaaaaaang!!
The long suppressor of the sniper rifle, glowing brightly with a pink light, spat muzzle flash.
Without even confirming the magical beast's silence through the scope, April relentlessly changed targets and pulled the trigger repeatedly.
The remnants of the magical beasts that had survived Alicia’s bombardment magic and were charging towards me were all pierced by sniper rounds, regardless of whether they were in the air or on the ground.
Glancing at the scene of dozens of sniper round trajectories racing through the air, I nonchalantly turned my head. Just then, Alicia hurriedly approached and shouted.
“D-Direct Lineage Member. Are you alright?”
“Yes.”
I slowly took out my terminal.
“This should be enough luring.”
On the display, the movements of the enemy magical beasts were now split into two large groups.
It seemed Sirocco had also succeeded in her luring.
“Wow, you… you really succeeded in luring them…!”
Alicia, who had come right up beside me, let out a cry of admiration, her eyes sparkling purely as she looked at the terminal screen.
I glanced to the side.
This would have been impossible without the squad.
The same went for this terminal. No matter how much I had the Sense of Mana, there was a limit to what I could see with my own eyes.
It was impossible for me alone to currently read the movements of such a wide and extensive enemy.
However, since I couldn't use detection magic, despite having no means to secure a view of the battlefield.
There was only one reason I could confirm the results of such a precisely lured enemy.
“Phew, for now, it's done-ssumda!”
From a ruined building not too far from me, Nano, who had been on standby with Lily.
She, walking over from the side, slid her metal visor up onto her head and wiped away the beads of sweat that had formed with her arm.
“But this is still just the vanguard of the pursuit team-ssumda. There are still more of them chasing us!”
“No, it's the opposite.”
I said, looking back towards the plains that were faintly visible from the edge of the forest.
“It's about time to start.”
“……?”
The moment Nano's eyes widened, on the terminal's display, the red dots of the enemies confirmed by the drone blinked and approached.
And the moment the ominously glowing green light drove away the darkness and swarmed into the entrance of the ruined city.
Piiiiiiiiiing!!
From the main freelancer force, a signal flare announcing an all-out charge against the scattered magical beast horde began to be fired with a powerful explosion.
-Kiriririririk!!
Simultaneously, the magical beasts that had flinched upon noticing the scene momentarily faltered and retreated.
And then, as if they were puppets that had suddenly lost control, they each turned their backs with a sense of urgency and began to run in the opposite direction from me.
Kurururururu!!
Now the tables had turned, and the magical beast horde, having abandoned their pursuit target, was fleeing in disarray.
Watching this, Alicia instinctively clenched her hand gripping the lance and shouted.
“Ah! D-don’t tell me……!”
“Looks like you've noticed.”
I laughed lowly and slowly took the lead.
“It wasn't for nothing that I observed the freelancers' strength earlier. I thought the counterattack would start around now.”
“……Then right now is!”
Alicia hurriedly looked back at me.
Due to the crushing defeat of the Victoria infantry before, the tide of battle should have been tilted to a point where it couldn't be turned back.
But at this very moment, after luring the enemy into a chase, that entire tide of battle was being turned on its head once.
By deploying freelancers from other outsourcing districts, a new variable that was never in the original battle was introduced.
The mastermind who had planned all of this was smiling before her eyes.
“As you said before, it is our turn, isn't it?”
“That's right.”
An unorthodox plan based on the official history I already knew, on the experience of that future.
It was possible because I knew that no matter how large the army he commanded, the leader of the experimental magical beasts could not control a force that was this spread out.
From the beginning, I had only this situation in mind as I continuously lured them and tied them down.
The magical beasts, having lost their leader's command and been thrown into disarray, were nothing more than a disorderly mob that had lost their reason, no matter how powerful the experimental subjects were.
Step.
“Well then.”
With the full moon of midnight at my back, I gave a faint smile.
“This time, shall we be the ones to give chase?”