Chapter 209. Blunder (4)
A high-risk operation, practically a suicide mission, where a single squad began to infiltrate enemy territory.
As soon as the operation began, in the ruins of an abandoned city located in the forest.
In its center, magical beasts appeared from all over, their green glows shining ominously in the darkness as they charged.
Glancing back at them, Enoch narrowed his eyes.
“We're surrounded.”
It seemed the scouts had spotted us and had already vanished into the darkness to form an encirclement.
-Kiriririririk!!
Experimental magical beasts that had a humanoid form, but could no longer be called human.
The dull screams of the magical beasts, roaring from their twisted bodies throughout the ruins, echoed from all directions as they charged in unison.
“Multiple enemy encounters, they're coming from all directions!”
A sleek and massive modern-style lance, black in color with a mechanical design.
Holding the powerful magic gear, a fusion of modern mechanical engineering, at an angle, Alicia glanced back from the front.
“I will clear the path at the head! Direct Lineage Member, please command from the rear and keep watch!”
“Will you be alright facing them alone?”
“Yes! If it's just them, I can handle it!”
Alicia turned halfway, looked straight at Enoch, and shouted.
“And, last time when you conducted the luring operation, Lord Enoch. I saw that the experimental magical beasts here reacted strongly to the smell of your blood!”
She gripped the lance's handle tightly once and exclaimed with a serious expression.
“I don't know why, but if you, Direct Lineage Member, get injured in battle, it might attract even more enemies from the surroundings! Unless it's a truly dangerous situation, I will take the lead in combat!”
Her tone, which had become serious as soon as combat began, held a surprising amount of insight.
Realizing anew that Alicia was indeed an excellent asset as a squad member, Enoch quietly nodded.
“Alright. Then Alicia, I'm counting on you.”
“Leave it to me!”
Just as Enoch stared ahead and slowly stepped back, as if melting into the darkness.
Simultaneously, as if switching places, Alicia strode forward, her short uniform skirt fluttering, raised her massive Bombardment Lance to the sky, and shouted.
“From this moment, Alicia of Victoria will now commence engagement as ordered!”
The moment her high, clear voice announcing her entry into battle rang out, she kicked off the ground and surged forward.
As if to draw the enemies' attention to herself, Alicia pulled the Bombardment Lance's trigger repeatedly as she ran.
Fwoooosh!!
The Dragoon's Bombardment Lance, possessing power comparable to a tank's main cannon, spat fire.
The flames of the massive bombardment, powerful enough to shake one's heart with the shockwave alone, engulfed the enemy, scattering a brilliant vermilion flash in the darkness.
Kraaaaaaaash!!
In a single blow, the upper bodies of five or six magical beasts were erased, as if a hole had been perfectly drawn with a compass.
In the ensuing explosions that engulfed the area, their bodies, carapaces and all, instantly burst apart and vanished into the darkness.
Alicia glanced at Enoch and shouted.
“Following tactical doctrine, I will clear the path at the vanguard. Please stick close behind me!”
Simultaneously with her words, shrouded in the white gunpowder smoke scattering under the moonlight, Alicia sprinted with her long hair flying, swinging her lance sideways to reload the next round.
Quickly following behind her as she cleared the path, Enoch glanced at the experimental magical beasts charging from the surroundings.
As expected, Alicia's battle to break through the encirclement was proceeding smoothly.
-Kiriririririk!!
Between the enemies surging from the front, a vermilion flash erupted, pushing back the darkness.
Even with the power and noise suppressed as much as possible, the still-powerful bombardment magic unleashed immense firepower, blasting away all the charging enemies.
For a moment, a massive vibration in the air sent dirt and branches flying in all directions.
Alicia immediately lowered her stance and broke through the wall of dust head-on, forging a path as she ran.
Watching her tear through the enemy lines with a breakthrough power comparable to a tank, Enoch found himself clicking his tongue in amazement.
To use a chess piece as an analogy, she was truly a Rook, freely charging across the battlefield.
Bringing Alicia along for this operation was definitely not the wrong choice.
-Kiriririririk!!
For an instant, a green glow flashed from the side, and another magical beast leaped into the air.
Just as Enoch, now somewhat accustomed to such surprise attacks, glanced at the creature.
A wire, scattering a faint silver light, rang out with a clear sound, and the next moment, the charging enemy was silently split in half, breaking into two pieces in mid-air.
Instantly killed, it crumbled into black ash.
Enoch continued running without stopping and glanced back.
“Thanks, Lien.”
His eyes met with the maid girl running a step behind him like a gliding shadow, consistently protecting him.
Lien, who had been looking this way wordlessly, soon turned her head and glanced around.
“It's not time for thanks yet.”
She whispered, having assessed the situation.
“That Dragoon member, due to the nature of her magic gear, the sound of battle is too loud. If she continues to fight like this, more enemies will swarm in from all directions.”
“It certainly looks that way.”
Enoch nodded.
The magic Alicia was currently using was a powerful bombardment-type magic via the Dragoon's Bombardment Lance.
Enoch was well aware of its power from previous battles—how a single shot could pulverize an enemy's limbs and shake the entire surroundings.
Naturally, for an operation against magical beasts, there was no one more suitable among the current squad members than Alicia.
However, making such loud noises in an area potentially filled with magical beast sentries was dangerous.
Alicia seemed conscious of this, suppressing the bombardment sound as much as she could, but that alone couldn't eliminate the noise completely.
In the first place, the roar of a bombardment couldn't be completely suppressed even with noise-dampening magic like a [Suppressor].
It was, in fact, a chronic problem inherent to all thermal weapon-type magic gears that used gunpowder ignition, with only a difference in degree.
And given the nature of the current operation—infiltrating the heart of enemy territory—it was the most worrisome part.
But Enoch smiled faintly and replied.
“Still, it's fine.”
After all, it would be an unsolvable problem if one only knew a fragmented side of Alicia, but Enoch was different.
As long as he knew how versatile her combat style was and could give the appropriate orders.
This situation wasn't that big of a problem.
Enoch called out to Alicia, who was clearing the path ahead without obstruction.
“Alicia, I have an order.”
“Yes, Direct Lineage Member. Your orders!”
The Dragoon girl paused her sprint, swung her lance once behind her back to let it hang, and glanced this way.
Gazing at her beautiful, deep blue eyes shining in the moonlight, Enoch raised his arm slightly.
“The bombardment magic draws too much attention. The encirclement has thinned somewhat, so from now on, clear the path by dealing with the enemies in close combat.”
“Confirmed, switching to close-quarters combat!”
As Alicia nodded.
A metallic clank rang out, signaling that the Bombardment Lance's mode had changed.
- Kiririririririk!!
And before her, having received Enoch's order, the last remaining magical beasts forming the encirclement charged in a desperate frenzy.
Alicia, her deep blue eyes gleaming as she glared at the enemies shrieking and running through the darkness, ran towards them without reducing her speed.
“Haaaaap!”
Sprinting at full speed with her lance held askew, she slid, dragging one leg on the ground and pivoting on her left leg.
Chaaaaaaaak!!
The moment she kicked up a cloud of pure white dust that glittered in the moonlight, her long hair fanning out in a circle.
The jet-black tip of the spear, spitting sparks, pierced straight through the enemy's carapace-armored chest.
Kagagagagagak!!
Ignoring the enemy impaled on her lance like a giant skewer, Alicia's form accelerated.
The Dragoon girl, holding the cone-shaped cavalry spear shrouded in white dust, surged forward, cutting a straight line through the night's darkness.
With the enemy's corpse still impaled on her lance, Alicia ran like the wind towards the next enemies, even before the magical beast could finish crumbling into black ash and disappear.
Following behind her as she pierced through enemies in a head-on charge, Enoch glanced back to check their rear.
- Kiririririk!!
The ominous green glow emanating from the magical beasts charging through the darkness was steadily growing.
They had broken through the encirclement in front, but the number of pursuers from behind hadn't decreased at all.
No. It was more accurate to say it had increased.
If they stopped, they would surely be caught, forced to face the swarm of magical beasts attacking with their terrifying numbers.
Naturally, the more time they wasted here, the greater the chance that stronger enemy reinforcements would arrive.
To make matters worse, the end of the narrow ruined city appeared ahead.
Beyond it lay terrain where giant trees sprouted sparsely.
But perhaps because it was the entrance to the forest, the density of the trees was low, making it a field far more difficult to shake off enemies than the alleys of this ruined city.
Sure enough, a troubled sigh from Alicia, who was leading the way, reached his ears.
“Ugh, of all the terrain to be up ahead...!”
Looking around, they were on the last narrow path where the ruins of the abandoned city ended.
Blocked by a giant tree and a collapsed high-rise building, it was a chokepoint that the magical beasts had to pass through to continue their pursuit.
If they left this place and continued forward, it would be difficult to shake off the magical beasts' pursuit.
“The area ahead doesn't look favorable for an escape!”
Sliding on the ground and turning her body halfway, Alicia braked by jamming her lance into the earth.
Then, she looked at Enoch and shouted with an urgent gaze.
“It seems impossible to shake off all the enemies chasing us from behind! I'll stay here and buy some time, so I'm counting on you from here on out!”
But Enoch immediately shook his head.
“No, that's too dangerous. I won't permit it.”
No matter how strong Alicia was, if she kept fighting here, it was obvious that more magical beasts would swarm in.
He had no intention of putting Alicia, a key part of this operation, in danger just to hold back some scouts.
“Huh? But! I learned in the Victoria army's tactical doctrine that it's effective for one person to stay behind and delay the pursuit!”
Alicia, who had clearly thought she would be used to hold up the enemies here, shouted, quite flustered.
However, Enoch stopped for a moment, looked at Alicia seriously, and said softly.
“Tactical doctrine or whatever. Right here, right now, you are far more important. Alicia.”
“Ugh, w-wait a moment. S-suddenly saying something like that...!!”
For some reason, Alicia's eyes widened at his words, becoming a little flustered.
But she shook her head, checked the magical beasts chasing from behind Enoch, and shouted.
“S-still, Direct Lineage Member! It's really better for me to stay! At this rate, we'll all be caught anyway...!”
“It's fine.”
Enoch said flatly and gave a faint smile.
“I was sure of it from the moment I saw this area, anyway.”
“Huh? Sure of what, what do you mean...”
“From the moment we entered a narrow passage like this, I planned to shake off all the pursuing magical beasts right here.”
From the beginning, he had no intention of following a standard textbook procedure like the Victoria army's tactical doctrine Alicia mentioned.
There were several strategies one could employ in this special environment of a confined space.
But among them, if one were to choose the most efficient method with no chance of other reinforcements arriving, there was only one answer from the start.
Suddenly, as if realizing something, Alicia flinched and looked around, exclaiming.
“N-no way. Direct Lineage Member, you...!”
“Lien.”
Enoch walked past the hesitating Alicia and glanced to his side.
“Block their pursuit route.”
Just one step behind. Lien, who was walking behind Enoch in the darkness, spun around once.
She immediately swung both her arms wide as if crossing them.
The moment her black and white maid uniform bloomed and rippled like a flower. That was when the sharp, air-tearing sound of deployed wires clearly struck the eardrums.
Piiiiiiiiing!!
A silver flash raced through the darkness, sharp cutting lines dashing across the giant trees on all sides.
Even Alicia seemed to realize a beat too late that the giant trees had been severed in a single blow.
For a moment, the giant tree, tens of meters tall, scattered a hazy dust as it slowly tilted with a deafening noise, before finally crashing down and covering the ground.
Kbooooooooom!!
A huge crack and a cloud of dust exploded on the ground.
The massive tree trunk crushed the pursuing horde of magical beasts, leaving not even a trace of their forms.
“Ah!”
Alicia, who had stumbled back a few steps from the impact, stared ahead, her eyes wide in a daze.
The trunk of the giant tree, so massive it couldn't fit entirely in her view, had become an impassable natural barrier, blocking the enemies' pursuit route.
Beyond it, the furious roars of the magical beasts echoed, along with the sound of them pounding on the tree.
But other than venting their frustration like that, there was nothing the creatures could do.
Alicia stared blankly at Enoch, her mouth agape, and quietly spoke.
“W-wow. T-there was a way like this... As expected...”
“We've bought some time for now.”
Looking back at Alicia, who was watching with wide eyes, Enoch added nonchalantly.
“It'll be quite difficult for them to get over or around an obstacle of that size. In the meantime, we move quickly.”