78
Wolf Monsters
The wolf monster became a corpse after a single strike from Ferda.
The people who witnessed it could not hide their astonishment.
"He killed a monster in one hit…"
They had heard that magic was effective against monsters, but few had ever witnessed it firsthand.
Even for a mage, killing a monster in a single blow was no common feat.
Ferda looked at the dumbfounded man and said,
"What are you standing around for?"
"What?"
"The fissure is still open."
He was right.
Even after the wolf monster died, the fissure had not closed.
That meant there were still more monsters inside.
"Anyone who can wield a sword, prepare for battle! Protect the civilians!"
"Request reinforcements! Call the guards!"
"Forget the guards—call the mages! Summon mages capable of blasting them with magic!"
People were shouting chaotically from all directions, but a rough chain of command had formed in its own way, so Ferda paid it no mind.
The corpse hanging limply across the boundary twitched.
"I-It moved!"
"Is it still alive?"
Someone said that, but the wolf monster was dead.
If it was moving like that, it meant another creature was preparing to emerge.
Ferda immediately readied his next spell.
Before long, something appeared beyond the shimmering space.
It was another identical wolf monster.
It tried to leap out, but Ferda was one step faster.
"Lightning Spear."
Ferda cast the spell at the monster emerging from the fissure.
The spear of lightning struck the wolf monster while it was still coming through.
Krrrk!
Lightning Spear was a Fourth-Tier spell.
It possessed excellent penetrating power and could inflict fatal damage as long as it struck a vital point.
However, if it missed the target's vitals, it would fail to kill.
Just like the one before him now.
'Still, that wasn't bad.'
The monster had panicked and was trying to retreat back inside.
However, it could not.
The heads of other wolf monsters were visible behind it, pushing through the narrow fissure.
There were at least four of them.
Thanks to the panic, the creatures had temporarily blocked one another from pouring out.
In the meantime, those capable of fighting had assumed battle positions.
The knights drew their swords, while the few mages present began preparing their incantations.
Mages were effective when dealing with monsters.
Everyone knew that.
But how many mages had ever actually fought one?
The higher a mage's Circle, the closer their world became to politics rather than magic.
They had no chance of winning with this force alone.
"What should we do? Evacuate?"
Zed asked.
This was Halim's problem, so they had no particular reason to risk their lives.
"No. We'll join the battle as well."
Ferda was the only truly useful mage here.
Still, there was no need to risk his life, and their odds of victory were high.
'Fighting will benefit me more than running away from this.'
Having reached his decision, Ferda searched for what he needed.
'What I need is mana.'
Ferda needed mana to replenish what he lacked.
In other words, he needed mages who could serve as his fuel.
He called out a name to set that plan in motion.
"Malcolm!"
"Yes, Regent!"
Malcolm answered promptly.
Despite his quick response, his body language made it clear that he had no idea what to do.
"Bring every mage here to me. It doesn't matter if all they can do is generate a Mana Shot. Just gather every last one of them."
"W-What if they say they don't want to come?"
Was that even a question?
"Then kidnap them and drag them here."
"Y-Yes, sir! I will carry out your command!"
Malcolm flailed as he ran off.
"May I go bring some as well? Persuasion happens to be my specialty."
Zed asked tentatively.
"You need to work as a knight."
"Damn it."
Zed sighed and drew his dagger.
Grrrrr!
In the meantime, the wolf monster's panic subsided.
It forced its way out, and the monsters waiting behind it poured through like a flood.
Once every wolf monster inside had emerged, the fissure sealed itself again.
'Seven in total?'
Even a single one would be difficult for an ordinary knight, yet seven had now invaded the building.
'I can handle about two. If the others have to face the remaining five…'
Ferda quickly assessed and compared their available forces.
'Impossible.'
The monsters would hunt them down one-sidedly, and that hunt would lead to their annihilation.
Like falling dominoes, once it began, it would not stop.
"Sir Zed."
"Yes."
"I'll need you to step forward. Can you keep two of them occupied?"
"Two of them?"
Zed swallowed hard.
They resembled wolves, but their mouths and claws were not their only means of attack.
Sharp, spiked tentacles sprouted from their tails and floated threateningly behind them.
Ferda wanted him to stall two of those things?
"Can you do it?"
After thinking it over again and again, Zed finally answered.
"My fee is going to be rather high."
"Have I ever cheated you out of money?"
"No. Then…!"
Zed adjusted his grip on his dagger and moved off.
He approached Penelope.
There was only one thing she was capable of doing in a situation like this.
"Waaaaah! I don't want to die!"
"Hey, Pepe! Get a grip!"
Smack!
"Ugyak!"
"Stop bawling and do your job! You can use magic too!"
"W-What am I supposed to do? How could I possibly fight something like that?!"
"You don't have to fight. Just help me. Make my body lighter somehow—you know, that spell! That one!"
"That one? Ugh, just a second. Haste!"
Penelope's magic enveloped Zed's body.
Feeling himself grow considerably faster, Zed loosened up his limbs.
"Yeah. That's the feeling."
Zed grinned and muttered as he stared at the wolf monsters.
"Then I'll take them for a little walk."
Zed moved to draw the attention of two of them.
With that, Ferda would handle two, while the others dealt with the remaining three.
Ferda turned his head and selected the most experienced-looking man among those who had drawn their swords.
"You there!"
"Yes!"
"Good spirit. We'll take on four of them, so work with the others around you and somehow handle the remaining three. Can you do it?"
"H-How are we supposed to do that?"
"Tell everyone to fight as defensively as possible. Form a defensive formation."
That was what he said, but whether they defended or attacked did not truly matter.
As long as they did not lose their will to fight and flee, it was enough.
That was all Ferda expected of them.
"Regeeeent!"
Malcolm came rushing back after receiving his orders.
Ferda was about to ask why he had returned already, but the sight of what Malcolm was carrying left him speechless.
A robed man was slung over each of Malcolm's shoulders.
"Here are the mages!"
"You truly kidnapped them."
"I'm not very confident in my ability to persuade people…!"
Ferda stared silently at the panting Malcolm.
"You're smarter than I thought."
"What? I'm smart?"
"It is not easy to know yourself. Keep doing exactly that."
"Understood!"
Malcolm ran off to kidnap more fresh mana reserves.
The men he had dragged over without explanation stood frozen in place.
They had been fleeing safely only moments ago, only to suddenly find themselves dropped into the middle of a battlefield.
Ferda gave them no time to think.
"Can you cast Mana Bomb?"
"What? Ah, yes…"
"Then prepare one. When I give the order, throw it toward me. What about you?"
"I-I still can't…"
"Then prepare a Mana Shot. Once it's ready and I give the order, throw it at me. That much should be easy, right?"
"Y-Yes!"
"And when that kidnapper brings more mages, explain the same thing to them. I hate repeating myself. Understood?"
"U-Understood!"
Given how urgent the situation was, there was no way they had understood all of it.
Ferda did not expect much from them and prepared for battle.
'I need to refrain from using dark magic as much as possible.'
Dark magic would leave a fatal stain on the larger picture he was trying to create.
He knew Erdes was already using dark magic, but being seen by the public was an entirely different matter.
He had to avoid it as much as possible.
'But I can't afford not to use it at all.'
He would use it discreetly and silently so that no one noticed.
That was why he had learned Barbatos's shadow arts.
The shadow beneath Ferda's feet began to move.
It stealthily reached beneath the wolf's feet.
Ferda chanted a spell.
"Bind."
A concealed hand stretched out from Ferda's shadow.
Grrr!?
It seized the wolf's ankle with tremendous force.
It was a Fourth-Tier binding spell from Barbatos's shadow arts.
Its original name was Shadow Bind, but Ferda deliberately omitted the word "shadow."
The spell had never required an incantation in the first place.
That alone was enough, and from the outside, its effect looked similar to an ordinary Bind spell.
The wolf flailed about, unable to lift its feet as though it had sunk into a swamp of sticky glue.
'Take one down quickly.'
Ferda rapidly drew the magic circle stored in his mind and cast his spell.
"Lightning Spear."
A spear of lightning shot from his hand.
With the monster unable to move, hitting its heart was child's play.
Crackle!
The lightning spear flew forward and pierced through its hide.
The place where its heart had been erupted with nothing but pulped green blood, and the wolf collapsed lifelessly.
"My God, he killed it in one blow…"
Exclamations of admiration erupted once again.
Grrrr!
The other restrained beast sensed its kin's death and bared its teeth.
It struggled violently, then used a momentary slackening in the restraint to bite down on the black shape with its jaws.
"Urgh."
A groan of pain escaped Ferda's lips.
The moment the wolf bit down, Ferda felt something sever near his right little finger.
The shadow was treated as an extension of Ferda's own body.
Therefore, whenever the shadow was cut, he felt pain as though his own flesh had been torn apart.
'That is the condition.'
Unless he was careful, the pain could overwhelm him, leaving him tormented by phantom agony for the rest of his life.
Ferda skillfully severed the mental connection and escaped the phantom pain.
The moment he disconnected his mind from the shadow, the spell weakened.
The wolf monster broke free.
"Regent! Where should I throw the Mana Bomb…?"
The timing was good.
"Throw it toward me!"
The mage hurled a large blue sphere toward Ferda.
Ferda did not turn around.
Instead, part of a black finger emerged from his back, projected a thread of mana, and snatched the Mana Bomb out of the air.
To everyone watching, it looked as though the sphere had naturally fallen under Ferda's control the instant it entered his range.
"Magic Intercept…!"
The seasoned mages stared in disbelief at the difficult technique.
Ferda had no time to care.
His full concentration remained fixed on his target.
He hurled both the Mana Shot and Mana Bomb into the wolf's face.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
A perfect hit.
The magical explosions struck the wolf squarely in the face.
The creatures of reversed order that survived by releasing junk mana experienced slowed regeneration the moment they came into contact with mana that followed the natural order.
When its regenerative ability stopped completely, the wolf monster staggered like a dog beneath the midsummer sun.
"Lightning Spear."
With that, Ferda finished off the two wolf monsters before him.
Without even taking a moment to catch his breath, he surveyed the battlefield.
'The knights and soldiers.'
The knights and soldiers appeared to be struggling.
Fear was plain on their faces.
Zed, on the other hand, was keeping the attention of two wolf monsters without suffering a single wound.
Their attacks ravaged a wide radius as though they were throwing their entire bodies into every strike.
Astonishingly, Zed moved even faster than the monsters' attacks and evaded every one of them.
'I need to help Zed.'
Even if he looked comfortable, his situation was the most urgent.
"Zed!"
"What is it?!"
Zed answered irritably.
"Lure them toward my shadow."
"Understood!"
Even as he flipped through the air, Zed's eyes swiftly located Ferda's shadow.
He moved with acrobatic agility and sprinted in Ferda's direction.
Woof! Woof!
The two thoroughly enraged wolf monsters charged after him.
The moment they tried to cross Ferda's shadow, hands surged upward and seized their ankles.
Yelp!?
The wolves tripped over the sudden obstacle and tumbled across the floor.
"Bind."
Ferda used the prepared Shadow Bind to restrain them once again.
"Throw them!"
Following his command, the conscripted mages threw the Mana Bombs they had created toward Ferda one after another.
They worried that they might end up attacking the Regent instead.
However, Ferda skillfully wrapped the spells in threads of mana and claimed them as his own.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Mana penetrated the bodies of the two monsters.
As intended, both of them began to stagger.
'My remaining mana is… awkward.'
Since his Red Circle was not rotating at full capacity, replenishing his mana was difficult.
'I have enough left for roughly three Lightning Spears.'
If he used two of them here, he would not have enough mana left to deal with the others.
How should he finish them?
"Regent!"
Zed called out to Ferda.
His eyes burned with fighting spirit.
Ferda looked at him and thought,
'Useless.'
Perhaps such spirit mattered to knights who armed themselves with ideals, but it was worthless to Ferda.
However, Zed's dagger gleamed with a cold light.
It was aura.
'Now that is useful.'
Understanding Zed's intention, Ferda nodded.
In the span of roughly one and a half seconds, they silently chose their respective targets.
"Lightning Spear."
Ferda's arrow of lightning pierced through one monster's forehead and ruptured its heart.
"Go take all the walks you want in hell, you bastard!"
Zed's dagger stabbed through the monster's belly.
The tough hide sank inward like jelly, and the blade continued between its ribs.
Crunch!
With the sound of thick, rigid muscles being severed, the wolf's body went limp.
The two monsters Zed had been leading around were now dead as well.
Only three remained.
Those three were being held back by a ragtag group of fighters.
"Agh! That thing nearly got me!"
"Don't retreat! Maintain formation!"
The commander's charisma kept their feet planted, preventing the three wolf monsters from finding a way through.
They merely prowled around, searching for an opening in the formation.
Ferda aimed for that opening.
He shouted toward the mages.
"Mana Bombs!"
Malcolm had supplied ten mages in total.
Twelve completed spheres flew toward Ferda all at once.
Fingers formed from his shadow caught every single one and brought them under his control.
Ferda targeted the gaps around the wolf monsters.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The mana struck their bodies.
The concentration was high enough to pierce their outer hides and seep inside.
The wolf monster struck directly staggered weakly, while the two that had been moving aggressively also suffered significant damage and recoiled.
"Now! Take them down!"
"Uwaaaah!"
With a roar, the fighters launched their counterattack, driving their swords into the staggering monster.
The wolf resisted, but its movements were as feeble as those of an old man on the verge of death.
Woof! Woof!
The other two wolves turned their attention toward Ferda.
Their wild instincts had identified the most important person among the humans.
Their eyes rolled back, and they charged straight toward him.
"They're going for the Regent! Protect him!"
The soldiers could barely take care of themselves.
There was no chance they could react immediately.
'Two of them.'
Ferda did not possess Zed's acrobatic ability to evade them spectacularly.
He had begun preparing his spell before he even sensed their murderous intent.
"Lightning Spear."
The spear of lightning pierced through one monster's torso.
It did not strike the heart, but it successfully halted the beast.
The last one charged fearlessly toward Ferda.
"Regent!"
Zed threw himself in front of Ferda to protect him.
"Gah!"
He may have surpassed the monster in agility, but in a head-on clash, he collapsed like a scarecrow planted in soft soil.
Ferda used the opening Zed had created and spread out a magic circle, intending to drive a Lightning Bolt into the monster.
"Lightning—"
He could not even finish the incantation.
The wolf monster pressed down on both of Ferda's shoulders and climbed on top of him.
Grrr!
It opened its jaws.
It looked like a wolf, but the inside of its mouth did not belong to one.
Its teeth were far sharper, and dozens of tendril-like tongues writhed within.
The razor-sharp fangs sank toward Ferda's neck.
He sensed death.
Bang!
A sound that seemed to shake heaven and earth erupted.
At the same moment, something small and fast flew through the air, and the wolf monster's body lurched violently.
The fangs that had already sunk halfway into Ferda's neck lost their strength, and the monster collapsed.
Having narrowly escaped death, Ferda examined why the creature had died.
'Small, fast, and powerful magic.'
It felt familiar.
Ferda looked for the person who had saved his life.
The attack had come from the direction of the stage.
Standing there was none other than Burnell.
He was breathing heavily, and something was held in his hands.
It was the magitech rifle scheduled to be introduced after President Bernard's presentation.
The long barrel in his hands was releasing a stream of pure white smoke.
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