Hell Mode: Volume 7, page 18
Having created a straight, empty lane through the crowd of enemies, Krena rushed in with her greatsword shouldered. After a short delay, the horde began to close in around her, and she used the opportunity to again unleash her Phoenix Smash skill. More than a dozen daemonic incarnations fell to it, but a surviving giant monkey monster jumped at her. She was knocked to the ground by its immense strength.
“Healing Blade!” Krena cried, thrusting out her greatsword. It pierced through the large monkey’s stomach and out its back, annihilating the opponent instantly. However, daemonic incarnations quickly rushed in.
“Rah!” Krena stood up, monkey corpse and all. She started delivering powerful kicks to the incoming enemies, making it seem like had not taken any damage at all during her previous scuffle with the monkey.
Krena had four skills: Slash, Phoenix Smash, Healing Blade, and Supreme Ruling Blade. The power, performance, attack range, and cooldown were different for each.
Krena’s Skills
Slash: Consumes 10 MP per use and doubles the power of sword attacks. There is no cooldown, and it can be activated by slashing vertically, diagonally, or horizontally, making it the most convenient of her four skills.
Phoenix Smash: Consumes 30 MP and unleashes a fire-based attack that burns enemies within a ten-meter diameter of Krena. It has a ten-second cooldown and can cut 360 degrees with a single blow, but it can only be activated by swinging the sword horizontally.
Healing Blade: Consumes 50 MP and, upon landing a blow, heals Krena for one-quarter of the damage dealt. If the enemy is killed in a single blow, she recovers one-quarter of the enemy’s total HP. Cooldown is thirty seconds.
Supreme Ruling Blade: Consumes 100 MP and has a cooldown of ten minutes, which is the longest of all four of her special skills. This skill is also restricted in that it can only be activated by holding the sword high and swinging downward. However, if it hits, not only is it three to four times as powerful as Slash, but it also shoots out a roughly fifty-meter shock wave that can be up to twice as powerful as Slash.
Using these four skills, Krena single-handedly defeated countless daemonic incarnations and monsters as they came in to attack. Unlike Allen, she did not plan her skill use around their cooldown times, but rather acted according to her instincts. She skillfully coordinated her swordsmanship and stance while stringing together each of her skills.
The soldiers of the fortress leaned over the parapets as they watched the lone warrior fight against over a thousand monsters. At first, they were stunned, but they soon readied their bows so that they could assist with long-range attacks. In the end, however, they realized that their help was not needed.
“What is that woman? Is she an incarnation of the God of War?”
“Does this mean Lord Elmea never abandoned us?”
Captain Myuhan, who was among the soldiers watching Krena in action, traded his crumpled armor for an undamaged piece and put on a new helmet. He then raised his voice and issued an order. “All right, men, change positions! It looks like that swordsman will be in charge of this place!”
“Yes, sir!”
The fortress was already surrounded by monsters that had climbed the slopes of the riverbank. Even if Krena protected the river-facing front gate, it would be meaningless if the rear gate—the one facing the Kingdom of Calvarna—was breached. Captain Myuhan divided the surviving soldiers into three groups and placed one on each of the three undefended sides.
Watching everything from above, Keel circled his Bird B around the fortress while firing cleansing magic to take care of the large number of enemies attacking the flanks. There was already a large number of dead people within the fortress walls, but there were still thousands of soldiers fighting within the fortress which could accommodate at least ten thousand. Deciding in his heart that he did not want there to be any more casualties, Keel continued to move about between the two remaining sides while using his healing skills and Blessings of Heaven.
Captain Myuhan looked up at the sky and sent a silent thank you to the young man in the gold-embroidered robe riding a griffin. He wondered if he would be able to learn the full story of the day’s events if he survived the attack.
Just then, above the river, a bright light appeared. From a single point in the air, countless purple bolts of lightning radiated down toward the surface of the water.
“Huh?!”
BOOOOM!
A moment later, there was a sound akin to the earth rumbling, and the river exploded where the lighting had struck it. Columns of water of various sizes shot upward, filled with sediment from the river’s depths. This was Merus’s Awakened Ability, Judgment Lightning. It launched a wide-range attack downward using his 22,000 MP, wiping out all the daemonic incarnations and monsters in the river.
Night fell on the wide river that divided the Kingdom of Calvarna and the Republic of Carlonea. As it did, the number of daemonic incarnations and monsters that were crossing the river finally dwindled.
＊ ＊ ＊
Even as the sun set and the surroundings grew dark, Krena continued to defend the fort’s main gate, which faced the river, from the oncoming enemies. By this time, there were far fewer of them flanking the fortress, and soldiers worried about Krena had emerged from the main gate to set up bonfires around the area. Torches were also lit along the four battlements to aid everyone’s vision.
Merus’s Insect A, Parent Beas, and Baby Beas began to take control of the monsters around the east and west fortresses. Once it was completely dark, with the full moon high in the sky, they were finally ready to take on the daemonic incarnations crossing the river. From there, Merus got to work on building a formation to protect the river, while Keel and Krena, being human and thus needing rest, decided to return to the fortress to eat.
When they met in the fortress courtyard, Keel could hear Krena’s stomach rumble.
GYOO GYURGLE!
“I’m hungry,” Krena said.
The ever-cheerful Krena wore a weary smile on her face, probably because they had arrived before noon and had not eaten anything since. Up until now, Allen had managed their meal times in order to keep Krena running efficiently, as her hunger tended to slow her down. Thanks to that, Krena had not felt this worn out since back when she was at the Academy, save for in situations where something truly out of the ordinary was happening. Dogora, meanwhile, had always been told to just hang in there when he complained about being hungry.
“I noticed. But it’s gonna be a while before we get any food, I think.”
“Really?”
“We worked pretty hard today, though, so I’m sure they’ll make something super tasty for us.”
When Krena heard that it would take a little longer for her food to come out, she thought about reaching into her magic bag and taking out some of their preserved food but stopped herself. She really wanted to eat her fill of fresh, delicious food after having fought all day. Keel smiled and heaved a sigh as he watched her let go of the magic bag after momentarily reaching into it.
Shortly thereafter, Keel spotted a soldier running through the bonfire-lit courtyard, heading toward him. Though he, too, was already quite exhausted, he figured that he needed to meet with and speak to the head of the fortress.
“I bet he’ll feed us something good if we follow him. Maybe we’ll even get a feast. Let’s get going.”
“Sounds good!” Krena rubbed her belly and spoke happily.
The approaching soldier stopped and jolted at Krena’s outburst. “Please follow me.”
They were then led inside the fortress. Unlike castles, which were places where politics and social gatherings took place, fortresses were buildings meant for battle. They had narrow, complicated passageways that were only as wide as they needed to be. After turning a few corners, a pair of double doors was opened, on the other side of which about ten soldiers, including Captain Myuhan, were waiting. A piece of parchment with a map drawn on it was spread out on the table they stood around, and decorated helmets were also placed on the table, with one in front of each man. Apparently, these were the people in charge of the fortress.
“Thank you for coming. Right this way, please.”
Keel noticed that Captain Myuhan’s voice trembled as he spoke. Looking around, the other soldiers were also watching Krena from afar. They had seen her bisect the body of a nearly ten-meter-tall Rank A monster easily as though she was slicing a piece of bread or fruit. Furthermore, she was casually walking into the room with her large sword, still soaked in the blood of countless monsters, strapped to her back. The soldiers swallowed hard at the sight. Keel recalled being looked at in a similar manner when he had ridden his Bird B down into the fortress courtyard.
“My name is Rankopar Myuhan. On behalf of this fortress, I thank you for your support. You seem to be a noble, if I’m not mistaken?”
Keel felt as if Captain Myuhan was judging him by his appearance. Currently, both he and Krena were wearing armor they had acquired from silver treasure chests while farming iron golems in the Rank S dungeon. All together, their gear was worth well over a hundred thousand gold coins. In particular, Keel was wearing a pure-white cloak embroidered with golden thread and carrying a staff embedded with golden gems.
“I’m not of high rank, but...my apologies for not introducing myself earlier. I am Keel von Carnel, a mere apprentice priest who serves Lord Elmea. My companion here is Krena, and as you can see, she is a swordsman.”
As Captain Myuhan had given his family name, so too did Keel. From behind their captain, the soldiers were whispering among themselves, “The Carnel family?” It seemed many were unaware of a noble who owned a corner of land in a small nation located in the far center of the continent.
However, the soldiers seemed relieved to learn that Keel was a nobleman, and some of the tenseness in Captain Myuhan’s expression seemed to disappear. He probably figured that since Keel was a noble, he had common sense and would not do anything unexpected or act rashly during their discussion.
Since Keel’s priority was to save the fortress, he had not put any thought into whether those in it would welcome him or not. If their first impression of him had made them even slightly suspicious, they presumably would not have invited him into the building. Had they closed the gates on him and his friends, they would have had no choice but to give up and withdraw, at least for the night.
With that in mind, Keel remembered what Allen had said when dividing the party into three teams. He needed to consider what the Summons could do, what his team could do, and what the citizens could do. The situation he was faced with could not be resolved by sending out Summons, nor could it be done by his group on their own. He would need the help of the citizens to sort things out here. This meant that he had to gain an understanding of the situation and think about how each of the three groups in question should move. Keel figured that Allen had chosen him as a team leader because he had faith in his abilities.
Changing the tone of his voice, Keel bowed politely. “I’d like to thank everyone for inviting us.”
“No, please allow me to offer you my thanks. I promise that the Kingdom of Calvarna will someday offer you its appreciation.”
Keel could sense that Captain Myuhan’s words were filled with the utmost gratitude and respect. However, he and the others had no interest in receiving a gift from the country.
“Yes, I’m grateful for that, but for now—”
GYOO GYURGLE!
Just as Keel had begun to speak, Krena’s stomach rumbled once again. It was so loud that it could be heard throughout the entire hall. Everyone’s eyes focused on Krena, who looked around in surprise.
“This is going on way too long. I’m hungry.” The look on her face was one of absolute desperation; she had not looked this crestfallen even when surrounded by hundreds of daemonic incarnations. She embodied such a strong sense of hunger that it almost seemed as if she had been wandering the desert for three days.
“I’m sorry. We’ve been so busy that we haven’t eaten since yesterday.”
In reality, they had only skipped lunch, but Keel lied for the sake of Krena’s dignity, as well as to make things easier.
“Is that so? As a matter of fact, we were just about to eat. Why don’t you join us?”
“Ooh!” Krena’s expression instantly brightened as one of the high-ranking soldiers offered to guide them.
Krena and Keel followed the man back down the narrow hallway until they reached what looked like a dining room with many wooden tables. “We will be honoring those who went above and beyond in today’s battle. Would you care to join us?”
Armored soldiers rushed in with steaming pots and massive platters of grilled meat.
“Yes, I’d love to.”
“Of course! Let’s eat!”
With those statements, Keel and Krena sat in the back of the dining hall with the ranks of soldiers. As they waited for the food to finish being prepared, the heroes of the battle arrived. Keel remembered seeing some of them moving skillfully about the battlefield from his overhead view of the battle. They all looked nervous and apologetic when they entered, but when they spotted Krena, their faces lit up and they started talking to one another.
Keel overheard the soldiers’ conversations.
“It’s the Sword Lord. Look, she even has a greatsword. D-Do you think I can go talk to her?”
“Stop! Don’t be such an idiot!”
“Do you think I could ask to fight against her? Or at least have her be my sparring partner?”
“Seriously, knock it off! You’re gonna get kicked out!”
Despite the many casualties they had endured, the soldiers seemed to be in high spirits, probably due to their miraculous victory. It seemed that these muscleheads were all quite gifted, as evidenced by the fact that they had survived. If they could score even a single blow against Krena, who seemed to them like some sort of demon of war, they would almost certainly be hailed as a hero from then on.
They also seemed to have misinterpreted Krena’s Talent to be Sword Lord. Considering that Sword Kings were rarely ever born and that class promotions were still not common knowledge, the odds of someone being a Sword Emperor were about as good as the odds of someone being born with the Talent of Hero.
Once all the soldiers had taken their seats, one of the officers stood up and gave a brief victory speech. Then, after introducing Krena and Keel, a small feast began.
Right away, Krena, who had been waiting like a dog told to stay, grabbed a piece of bone-in meat with each hand. She alternated between the two, taking a bite out of one and then the other until, in no time flat, she had finished them both. All the soldiers in attendance smiled brightly at the sight. It showed clearly on their faces that they accepted Krena.
“I am truly grateful to you both. Considering that it will still take a few days for the main army to arrive, I thought it would be impossible to deal with such a large number of enemies.” Captain Myuhan’s body shook as he spoke. He must have remembered the feeling of being in that monster’s grasp.
“The main army? So you were the advance party?”
Keel had thought that the fortress was too large for the number of soldiers that had been fighting. There were just too many shortages, and while he had assumed that it was because they had already lost so many soldiers, that did not seem to be the case.
“That’s right. The main army is scheduled to arrive the day after tomorrow at the earliest. You surely must have seen it, but about ten days ago, that pillar of light in the sky started emanating from the Republic of Carlonea, stretching across our country. It traveled north through the sky, but we came here to see what it was and to prepare for a possible attack from Carlonea.”
After hearing Captain Myuhan’s story, Keel decided that it was time to tell them why he and his team were here. “Actually, we didn’t come here by accident. We followed that pillar of light from up north in Elmahl.”
He went on to explain how they had gotten to this point, starting with the fact that they belonged to a party led by a Rank S adventurer. Hearing Elmahl’s distress signal, they had come to this continent to help. He spoke of the tragedy that had occurred in Elmahl’s capital, Teomenia, and the possibility that the Demon Lord Army was the one pulling the strings. Upon considering that the event in Teomenia that turned people into monsters was related to the appearance of the pillars of light, they had split into three groups, each one searching for one of the other places where the pillars had appeared. The teams had traveled east, west, and south, with Keel’s having been the one to come all the way out here.
After detailing everything, Keel politely informed the captain that he planned to investigate the pillar of light that seemed to be coming from the Republic of Carlonea. However, he noted that he would appreciate it if, before that, the captain would tell him about what was happening in the Kingdom of Calvarna and the Republic of Carlonea.
“Is that so? This isn’t the only place where it happened? Regardless, it’s great to hear that you’ve already found a possible solution.”
Captain Myuhan looked somewhat relieved as he listened to Keel’s story. Apparently, when Keel said that he and the others had mostly solved Elmahl’s problem, he had gained some hope that things would also be resolved for their country. Perhaps he had also heard about the birth of a new Rank S adventurer via the notice sent to the entire world by the Adventurer’s Guild.
“So, you said that the pillar of light appeared about ten days ago. Could you tell me more about that?”
“Certainly. Let me start by talking about the day when the people reported that a pillar of light was extending from the southern sky off to the north.” Captain Myuhan stopped putting food in his mouth and began to speak.
