Defense Game (1)
A small, nameless island located in the northwestern part of the Ion Continent.
"They're moving rather loudly."
A man in his thirties standing precariously at the edge of a cliff turned his gaze toward the seaside and muttered lowly.
He paid no mind to his dull blond hair fluttering in the wind and stared endlessly in that direction with golden eyes steeped in exhaustion.
A deep gaze heavily laden with complex emotions.
'I thought things had quieted down recently.'
The continent lay in the direction of the man's gaze.
Just as the frenzied vortex of madness that had raged frantically for some time seemed to be dying down, this time an aura of death even greater than before was spreading.
Though the source of that aura was quite distant from the island, such constraints of distance were utterly meaningless to him.
For he was none other than the strongest race that had once been called the guardian of the world—.
And among them, the Elder Dragon of the proud Gold Clan, Shurihartgen.
"The Undying King..."
Recalling that terrible abyssal monster, the sworn enemy of his race, he ground his teeth in a low growl.
Having lived for eons, with the prosperity, decline, and eventual destruction of his clan being his very life itself, the existence of the Undying King was like a reverse scale to him.
But Shurihartgen forcibly swallowed his boiling rage and turned his gaze back.
He was not in a position to move about as he pleased simply because he was angry.
If before it had been to ensure the lineage of his clan did not end with his generation.
Now it was to protect the last descendant of his clan and pass on as much as he could.
'Besides, even if I went now, I would hardly be of much help.'
Closing his eyes tightly, he looked inward and let out a bitter smile.
His Dragon Heart still contained immense power.
But the distorted flow created by the aftereffects of the Great War had turned it into a time bomb that could explode at any moment.
Under normal circumstances, he could forcibly suppress it with his overwhelming dominance over mana, but how could he do so in the midst of fierce combat?
'My lifespan is nearly at its end, and I cannot fight... I am quite literally a relic.'
Precisely because of that situation.
Precisely because such a hollow and miserable end awaited him, it was all the more welcome.
That the Dragon God had sent a descendant to whom he could entrust the future of the clan.
And that he could be of help in that child's growth.
Shurihartgen glanced down below the cliff.
Even on an island wrapped in all manner of barriers, he was in a place where magic circles had been installed with particular density.
A being like a surprise gift that had come to him.
The Gold Clan's hatchling, Horus.
Oooong—
Inside the magic circle, the aura of the training grounds resonated.
Soon, various energies drawn by overwhelming affinity manifested as curtains of light and began to dance.
Attribute powers such as fire, water, wind, and earth, as well as pure mana unprocessed in any other way, surged in and whirled around the one at the center, enveloping him.
"Ngyak!"
Toward the little child of about four or five years old, eyes closed in concentration, letting out a strange, clipped shout.
"...Amazing."
And Shurihartgen, watching Horus's training from atop the cliff, once again let out an exclamation he had already voiced several times.
The foundation of incantations, including the Dragon Tongue, was to project one's will upon the world and forcibly manifest phenomena.
Naturally, it was a high-dimensional mystery impossible to even attempt without the dominance to control surrounding energies and the mental strength to express one's will....
'Is this innate talent? His growth rate is far faster than assumed. Even for a dragon, it's abnormal.'
Horus already possessed all these abilities despite being merely a hatchling in infancy.
No, judging by his level alone, one could say he had already long since surpassed the Child stage of early childhood.
'How long has it even been since he began proper training, and yet he's already at this level...'
It was a growth speed that even Shurihartgen, an old dragon who had lived thousands of years, could not comprehend.
If things continued this way, he might reach the Juvenile stage of adolescence before long.
"Aah— thank you, Lord Drakarion."
Indeed, this could only be seen as the Dragon God's protection accompanying him.
He who pitied the plight of the dying dragons must have personally bestowed a great talent capable of raising the clan up again.
'I shall do my utmost until my death to lighten the burden that child bears.'
Having renewed his resolve, he glanced once more in the direction of the continent and leaped lightly from the cliff, approaching the training grounds.
To offer some advice to Horus, who for some reason had seemed unable to focus properly on his training since a short while ago.
'He's still young, so it's understandable. Of course, it's not to the extent of being a serious problem, but this training requires gathering one's mind in one place.'
But he did not know.
The reason Horus now seemed subtly distracted.
Lay in the incident occurring beyond the sea... that he had been concerned about until moments ago.
***
When the battle between the heroes and the giant was in full swing.
Hans, who had immediately returned to the Castle of the Undying after dispelling his summoning at the Boundary of the Abyss, had been watching the situation continuously, waiting for an opportunity.
So that he could intervene immediately and beat that one down if the situation turned unfavorable.
His existence was precisely the 'last resort' Heinrich had thought of, prepared for emergencies.
'Of course, if it had come to that, the situation would be quite different from now.'
In that sense, being able to cleanly deal with the revolutionary before he intervened was a very satisfactory development.
Thanks to that, he had not only shaken off considerable notoriety once again, but had also managed to lay the groundwork for the next scenario, had he not?
[I acknowledge it. Knight of Light, Heinrich. You have done very well all this time. To the point of far exceeding my expectations.]
Thanks to having prepared in advance before departing for the Boundary of the Abyss, he had the army of the undead behind him, already in a state of perfect readiness since long ago.
The king leading them declared arrogantly.
[I never thought that 'prophecy' would be this obstructive.]
"As long as the Lord's will is with me, nothing will go your way, Undying King."
[Kekekek— what tremendous confidence. Yes, and that is why I have prepared something.]
As a cold tension blanketed the area.
Letting out a spine-chilling laugh as if seeping from hell, he slowly extended one hand to the side.
[A bonus stage.]
And then.
Snap—
He flicked a finger brimming with black mana.
Riding that resonance, a strange wave spread in all directions.
Fzzzt— Crack!
As a result, the spatial rift through which he had appeared began to break apart and swell even larger.
[Keheeeek!]
Clatter— Clack!
[Kkuweok—]
Thud— Thud— Thud—
And from within, the army of the undead, neatly aligned, poured out in step.
Tens, hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands....
The rate of increase gradually slowed as it reached the ten-thousands, but....
Undead of varying sizes, forms, and natures, all wrapped in dense auras of death and emanating black mana as they formed ranks, inspired tremendous pressure and terror in those who watched.
[Not only do you defend against most attacks, but you annihilate invaders the moment they attack. Moreover, you actively utilize that prophecy and move the armies of each nation to prepare even beyond your reach.]
Even as the army of the undead formed ranks and advanced, Hans's words continued calmly.
[Doesn't it grow boring faster than expected? To the point of feeling that some change is needed about now. After all, I accepted the bet for greater amusement in the first place.]
"...So, what are you trying to say?"
[Aah, it's nothing much. Merely....]
The Undying King and the Hero glared at each other and conversed at the center.
Even as Heinrich stepped forward and continued the conversation calmly, those gathered behind him hurried to prepare for battle and brace for the coming fight.
Forming ranks, chanting spells, and gripping their weapons tightly.
[I am merely going to raise the difficulty a bit.]
In the gradually heightening atmosphere, the Undying King uttered something meaningful.
At the same time, some of the officers standing behind him began to lead their forces and charge forward.
Rumble—
Thud thud thud thud—
Their prioritized objective.
Toward Tarak Castle.
"What?! They're heading for the castle!"
"That wall is at its limit! If we leave it like this...!"
"Charge! Break their vanguard!"
Those flustered by the overwhelming wave of undead hurriedly moved.
But even then, the hero's party facing the Undying King could not act recklessly.
They had no choice but to trust and leave it to the others.
[Kekekek, of course, as promised at first, there will be no all-out war through the Rohan Archduchy. Just as it has been until now.]
"Ha!"
The selection of attack targets was random, as before.
Only the method of invasion had changed slightly.
From sporadic raids across the entire continent, to massive wave-type attacks concentrated on a single point.
[Ah, additionally. As time passes, the scale of the invasions will continue to grow.]
So it would be best to hurry before it becomes impossible to stop.
The Undying King, floating in the air, looked down at the hero's party and let out a grim laugh.
[Well then, today is also a monumental first day. Shall we finish with a light greeting?]
The moment those words ended, an enormous black mana amplified instantly.
And then.
Kwaaaang—!
A massive explosion burst forth once more from the place that had been the fierce battleground with the giant.
And so—the final defense game to raise the pace of the scenario began.
***
Fshhh—! Screech!
The sound of steam escaping and metal grinding against earth echoed loudly.
"Ugh!"
"My, are you alright?"
As the prolonged noise gradually subsided, the voices of a young man and woman followed.
"Y-yes... I'm fine. Guild Master."
"Hmm, you don't seem very fine. As expected, the shock absorption device is still inadequate. We'll need to reinforce this part further."
Hubert and Diana, who had fled Tarak to avoid the giant.
They had been rapidly heading south using the power of their special suits when a malfunction occurred, causing them to crash-land on a hill.
Perhaps because they had operated it too excessively to escape from that thing's clutches, the suit had finally broken down.
"Ugh... more than that, I think I'm going to be sick...."
"You can do it over there. Shall I pat your back?"
"Ah, no... I'll take care of it myself—*hurk*!"
Before she could even finish speaking, Diana hurriedly ran into a nearby thicket.
Unpleasant sounds soon flowed from beyond it.
At that, Hubert, who had been keeping light watch on their surroundings, quietly shook his head.
'Well, this must have been her first time flying like this.'
Moreover, Diana only possessed a special sense of smell; physically, she was just an ordinary girl.
Even if a protective magical artifact had mitigated the shock of high-speed flight to some extent, there was a limit.
'No, rather, it's impressive she held out until now.'
If she had had an accident while in his arms mid-flight....
'Hmm, truly a relief.'
Nodding seriously, he examined the metal parts of the suit wrapped around his body again.
Unlike the two deep furrows created in the ground during the emergency landing, the bottom surface of the metal boots showed no damage.
But only the exterior was intact.
"I had hoped otherwise, but as expected. This can't even be recycled."
Hubert frowned as he looked at the results reflected by his "Analysis."
Whether because they had drawn out the machine's potential to its limit, the mysteries Howard had implanted inside using the "Artisan's Soul," as well as the inherent characteristics of the materials themselves, were completely exhausted.
Those precious rare metals had all become scrap.
'Well, it can't be helped. Still, it's as good as having proven the performance, so shall I pay more attention to the next one?'
Having reached that conclusion internally, as he took off the now scrap-metal suit and stored it in subspace, Diana staggered over from beyond the thicket.
With a face even more haggard, as if she had fought a fierce battle with her overturned camouflage.
"...Pardon me, Guild Master."
"Are you feeling better?"
"Yes, I'm a bit better now...."
She looked anything but fine, so Hubert chose not to press further and quietly handed her a potion.
It might have been excessive for mere motion sickness, but to him it was pocket change.
She hesitated for a moment but eventually expressed quiet gratitude, took it, and drank it down.
In the current situation, being drained of strength would only make her dead weight.
"What shall we do now?"
"Hmm."
Diana, having somewhat regained her complexion, cautiously looked around and sighed.
All she could see right now were trees and hills.
Since they had flown in a straight line, even the roads carriages traveled on were out of sight.
"Let's head to a nearby city for now. Hmm, if we're in this area, there should be the city of Lionart."
"Wow... we've already come down that far? Ugh, that speed... I never want to go through that again...."
At first, they had headed as far south as possible in case of emergency, but looking back now, it might have been too much.
Wouldn't it have been fine to stop at a moderate point and wait in a nearby city?
'But that's just a matter of hindsight. Let's see, then in this direction....'
And so Hubert and Diana found themselves enjoying a sudden hike.
At that very moment.
The area around Tarak that they had left behind was turning into a chaotic mess in real time.