Chapter 233. The Immortal (1)
At once, information flashed through Enoch's mind.
Earlier, Damastes — one of the leaders of the freelancers' Interim — had, together with Shepherd's infantry, somehow landed a blow on Anarchilon.
That was precisely why, during that all-out engagement, Anarchilon had suddenly pulled its forces back and retreated.
Which meant the enemy was on the move now because the beast's wounds had been healed in one form or another.
Once they had been spotted by the enemy, normally they should have acted with caution — but there were no signs of enemies nearby. They had even rested, and his physical condition had improved.
In that case, there was nothing holding them back.
After a glance at Lien, Enoch broke into a run straight ahead without pause.
Descending quickly along the river, he relied on his sharpened senses and retraced their path, running through the darkness of night.
Looking up at the sky, the far side of the forest was dyed a vivid red. The battle had already begun.
Fortunately, the forest had been emptied so completely that there was no sign of an enemy anywhere, letting them run at full speed.
Stepping from ledge to ledge on protruding rock outcrops and bounding over them, he sprinted down a slope, leapt high into the air, and spun repeatedly in midair before landing.
Vaulting over obstacle rocks with a hand planted against them, without slowing, he then leapt across a ravine several meters wide with a full-body launch.
More than running, the feeling was closer to soaring through the air. Just as he was about to break clear of the forest.
Without even adjusting his breathing, Enoch sprinted, shoved off a massive tree trunk with a powerful kick, and leapt high.
As he broke free in a single bound, crossing the sky and exiting the forest, his view opened wide, and at the sight of flames along with flares blooming high in the sky once more, his eyes narrowed.
KRRRRRRR!!
The vista below, spread out beneath the sky he had leapt into, filled his view.
Massive silhouettes were densely covering the ground, rushing in with ferocious momentum, and in the darkness, small human figures were being swept aside.
The light of magic circles unleashed by the freelancers rose and filled the sky above, staining the darkness as they put up resistance against the enemies — but the offensive soon lost its edge, and they were driven into repeated retreat.
The freelancers' forces had been reduced to a number where their complete destruction could occur at any moment, and yet even so, they were continuing a desperate struggle.
It was painfully clear that at this rate, even with every bit of strength they had left, they couldn't hold out for long.
Sirocco and the other squad members were somewhere in that too. Perhaps already─.
There was no time.
Continuing his sprint, Enoch made a great leap, twisted his body in midair, and kicked off a tree trunk to land.
The place he had just arrived at was atop a large cliff nearby. A spot that let him look down on the battle unfolding in the distance at a glance.
The enemy line was steadily pushing the freelancers back, but even so, a few lines were overwhelming the enemy significantly, just barely preventing a total collapse of the defense.
And it was at that very moment.
At the heart of the front line where magical beasts and freelancers were clashing, a crisp, ear-splitting blast rang out with a tang.
And then, more than a dozen magical beasts were abruptly launched straight up into the sky, dozens of meters high, in an instant.
Raising his head to the far sky, Enoch's eyes widened as he found something that had leapt high there.
Far above, in the distant night sky.
The silhouette of a girl with a red wolf tail, her ankles wreathed in vivid red light, was arched, her back flung back in full extension.
Long red hair that curved in slight waves fluttered around her. Beneath her short skirt, her bare thighs were on display as she kicked one leg high into the air.
Just as the girl reached the peak of her leap and hung still, she glanced this way. He had the sudden illusion, just for an instant, that his eyes had met hers — those proud, beautiful ruby-like eyes.
Sirocco Lycaon.
At the sight of her, whom he hadn't seen in what felt like a while, it was as if time slowed briefly.
In the next instant, Sirocco jerked her face away with a cold, sharp look, and spinning dozens of times in midair, she dropped straight down and crushed the enemies at the front head-on.
Then, dancing in and through the enemies, she began kicking every one of the magical beasts rushing at her from her surroundings up high into the night sky.
But Enoch had no time to gawk at Sirocco's incredible performance — visible even from kilometers away — and calmly scanned the forest around the cliff once more.
For now, the freelancers were falling back in steady withdrawal, meeting the enemy — but it wasn't over yet.
The enemy's full-scale offensive hadn't even begun.
Having seen the scale of the enemies directly, he could tell. What the freelancers were facing was not the main force, but only a portion of the vanguard.
Right then, feeling a huge tremor of the ground, Enoch glanced down from the cliff.
Sure enough, there below, through the dense forest, the massive army of magical beasts crossing toward the battlefront filled his field of view.
The enemy's main force was on the move toward the battle line.
A chill ran down his spine, but Enoch slowly lifted his face.
That this position happened to overlook the entire enemy main force advancing through the forest was itself an opportunity.
Enoch quickly switched on his terminal and brought up a number on the display. The bell rang ten-plus times, and the other party answered with a harried tone.
[— Ah! Th, the freelancer from before?! S, sorry-mda! I'm in the middle of combat-mda!!]
"Nano, it's Enoch Elsyde. Listen carefully — Indiviltal's been taken out. Communications, and the scouting functions of the drones too, are all back up now."
[Oh?! For real-mda! Now that you mention it, comms are working-mda!]
Perhaps she'd been too occupied supporting combat to notice, Nano only now let out a gasp of realization.
Then, as if confirming something, she was briefly silent before her voice returned in a puzzled tone.
[Huh? But then, why are you using the number of the freelancer who's operating in the Outsourcing District-mka, Direct Lineage…?]
"I ran into him during the operation here by chance, and borrowed his terminal briefly to reach you urgently."
Enoch answered in a calm voice.
"My terminal was out of battery."
[What?! You met that freelancer-mka, Direct Lineage? Is he here on this contract too-mka?!]
"Yeah. I'll explain later."
He'd exchanged numbers with Nano back when he had been operating as a freelancer with his face concealed.
Having called directly from that number was an obvious cause for suspicion given the urgency, but right now, enduring some doubt was secondary to defeating the enemy.
From atop the cliff, Enoch calculated the direction the enemy main force was moving and got to the main point.
"With Indiviltal — the one drawing up the strategy — dead, the enemy's tactics and strategy have collapsed. The units are moving as a single mass, so their movement is simple."
[I, is that so-mka?!]
"Yeah. Now that Anarchilon is moving is our chance. At minimum, we need long-range area magic."
Nano briefly held her breath on the other end of the terminal, but being who she was, her judgment was instantaneous.
[Ah! You're giving orders-mka?! I'm listening-mda, please continue-mda!]
"I need the highest-grade firepower the freelancer army has right now. The only way to stop them is to dump everything we've got on the main force while it's on the move."
[Fire support-mka! I know some freelancers I've scouted for that-mda!]
Based on the map he had memorized, Enoch immediately confirmed the coordinates of the enemy army's position and called for fire support there.
"Concentrate every available firepower the army can currently project on these coordinates I just gave you."
[But if the other freelancers won't accept that request…!]
"If the other Interim won't listen, name Elsyde. At the very least, if it involves the Main House, they'll follow."
Enoch spoke in a low voice into the terminal.
"I'm counting on you."
[Ah, just a moment, please────.]
Cutting off the call, Enoch slipped the terminal back inside his blazer and walked forward without hesitation.
Moments later, an object flew in with such impossible speed that it could barely be tracked by the naked eye, slamming into the rear of the advancing magical beast main force and exploding, dragging a huge number of Experimental Subjects into its wake.
The resulting searing heat and shockwave whipped up into Enoch's coat, setting it flapping wildly.
Enoch raised his left arm to shield his eyes, peering through the gap between his fingers with a sharp gaze.
12th Rank, Fire-type Derivative Attack Magic
Long-range Bombardment : [Howitzer]
Flames of hellfire, falling from the sky, erupted on the ground. Starting with that first strike that hit the enemy's line of battle, two, three, followed, flying in one after another, splitting the sky.
Lifting his head, crimson flames were blooming like flowers against the night sky. The hot wind caressed his cheek.
Black flames that, with thunderous roars, spat out hellish fire and scorched the sky.
Following, breaking through that wall of smoke, two combat aircraft emerged in the skies above the battle.
Sleek, unmanned fighter craft.
Massive unmanned combat artifacts — on par with the top-tier drones.
Those huge, heavily armored drones — on par with fighter jets — were the freelancers' strongest asset.
Artifact drones only produced in small quantities by the Empire's leading corporations — Enoch had once glimpsed these two drones being test-operated by two 11th Rank elites at a freelancer base before.
And now, the moment Indiviltal had been killed and the drones' camera eyes had become usable, they had at last been given the chance to deploy.
The drones flew across the battlefield at near-sonic speed, trailing jet flames from their single turbofan engines, and simultaneously launched air-to-ground bombs.
The bombs, drawn into the ground blanketed by black enemies, once again spread firestorms and searing heat around them.
The army of magical beasts that had been charging recklessly through the forest at last came to a halt, hesitating, and their bodies began to convulse with confusion and fear.
At that moment, another rain of bombs poured down and shattered their line.
The enemy main force fell into complete panic, floundering in every direction. Some, stricken with fear, even turned to attack their own comrades.
Good. If they could scatter them all like this, the fight was over.
It was at that very moment Enoch witnessed an incredible phenomenon, and involuntarily stepped back with wide eyes.
In the middle of the enemy ranks, where branches had been destroyed and burned down, opening up a clear view.
Somewhere there — where the chain of command hadn't fully collapsed — an enormous magical beast suddenly revealed itself.
A round, solid back like a beetle's split open in four directions, and two pairs of long wings glowing with ominous green light tore the darkness of night to shreds.
Above its head were long, sharp horns of carapace stretching tens of meters.
A colossal experimental magical beast in a form resembling a rhinoceros beetle. On its solid waist and belly were dozens of spines, extending and retracting freely.
The moment Enoch saw the silhouette of that enemy lording over the darkness, even he nearly broke out in goosebumps. Its size approached a full fifty meters in length.
It couldn't be… was that Anarchilon?
The enormous silhouette swung one of its spines and brought it down on a humanoid magical beast that was trying to flee.
The Experimental Subject, skewered by a carapace spine dozens of times its own body size, thrashed as if it couldn't even comprehend what had happened to it, and then began its final convulsions.
Anarchilon brought its subordinate's body toward its mouth, cracked open its massive jaws lined with razor teeth, and flung it in without hesitation.
A sound that he ought not have been able to hear — yet Enoch could clearly hear the experimental magical beast's final sounds as it was chewed and crushed between those teeth.
Staring at it expressionlessly, Enoch unconsciously brought his hand to his sword bag.
It was an execution. Making an example of the comrade Experimental Subject that had tried to flee.
A leader without blood or tears, commanding the army of Experimental Subjects through terror.
— GRRRRRRR───!!, RRRAAAAAAGHHH──────!!!!
Anarchilon roared, enraged, toward the pitch-black night sky. The experimental magical beasts, who had been on the verge of scattering, stiffened at once, then slowly turned in place where they stood.
And then, shrieking, they charged once again toward the freelancer army before their eyes.
Every one of them, driven by the fear of their supreme commander Anarchilon, surged across the ground toward the fight with desperate momentum.
The fighter-type drones too marked Anarchilon as their highest-priority target and charged in.
To counter them, the flying-type magical beasts clustered like a cloud and threw themselves forward.
The sensors of the drones, which emitted red light once they had locked on, let out a high-pitched squeal, then the lower weapon slots opened and missiles fired.
Four science-wrought spears lodged themselves into the wall of flying-type experimental magical beasts and bloomed into flowers of flame.
His nerves raw at the sight of countless magical beasts dropping in black rain with anguished screams, Enoch did not look away and kept watching.
But the enemy wasn't easy either. Some of the flying-type magical beasts, pressing with sheer numbers, raised a cry and began a suicidal charge all at once.
One drone, unable to fully dodge the charge, had the edge of its body clipped; it lost its balance and spiraled downward, slamming into the ground without regaining control.
The remaining one pressed its charge bravely. Its intent was likely to drive its own attack into Anarchilon in a cross-counter, abandoning defense.
The drone launching a guided missile, and Anarchilon extending a still-longer spine, happened at the same moment.
The spine pierced the alloy-made body, went through the drone's camera eye, and triggered an enormous explosion.
And the guided missile — the drone's final gift — finely adjusted its locked-on position through the sensor and flew squarely into Anarchilon's face, where it struck home.
In the next instant, amid a colossal blast, a low, low scream that seemed to echo from the abyss rang out in agony.
When the smoke of the blast cleared and the view opened, there, with its beetle-like head entirely blown off, Anarchilon stood.
Only the enormous carapace horn that had been atop its head remained, slowly tilting toward the ground and embedding itself with a heavy thud.
The enemy's huge form didn't so much as twitch.
The damage from all the [Howitzer] volleys that had rained down indiscriminately due to its massive size, on top of the decisive, precisely-placed missile strike. — A killing blow.
A success.
Just as Enoch was about to allow himself certainty, seeing the enemy's head clean torn off─
─That was when the anomaly occurred.
With a twitch, Anarchilon's body suddenly moved, and the beetle-like wings that had been tucked into its torso unfolded once more and began vibrating at high speed.
"……Don't tell me."
Seeing that, Enoch unconsciously froze and took a step back.
That was no mere post-mortem convulsion.
Anarchilon's huge wings, having unfolded, were continuing their motion — still without a head.