"...there was no point in my coming here, was there?

　Ray was let out of the boundary, but Optis was still raging with joy.
　Trafficking, mauling, massacres... all sorts of words pass Ray's mind, but he tries to say them and remembers what he has done so far, eventually staying silent.

"No, it was meaningful to come here, right? You can't go in or out of the barrier without dark elves."
"... I see. Come to think of it, it was so. If it were not for the Dark Elves, would I be trapped in the village?"

　Ray could force his way out of the barrier, but that would put a strain on the recovered world tree again.
　The giant cicadas have already absorbed magical powers and sap, weakening the world tree.
　...and, on the contrary, at one point, it was so nearly dead as to be true.
　Ray's magic has forced it to recover, but it's still far from perfect.
　The magic was replenished by Ray's magic, but the sap, which can be called the body fluid and blood of the world tree, was absorbed by giant cicadas.
　The roots of the world tree, though Ray did not know, were also eaten up when giant cicadas were larvae.
　In that case, the world's trees are somehow kept alive by Ray's magic alone, and it would be fatal to put more strain on them.
　If that's the case, Ray's arrival at this place was certainly significant.
　Right next to Ray, the light bulb blinks to express dissatisfaction.
　This light bulb should be called the will of the world tree.
　Naturally, Ray could and would have been easy enough to get him through the barrier.
　But in the end, it was the dark elves who passed the barrier, and there was nothing else that could be done about the light bulb today.

"Huh? That... What is it? It feels strangely nostalgic."

　The Dark Elf man shoots an arrow at the goblin trying to escape the threat of Optis, perhaps he notices a light bulb floating by Ray's side in the blinking light.

"Ah... yes. Just a little bit."

　No way, Ray, who can't say it's the will of the world tree, goes silent here.
　If you're going to talk about it here, the Dark Elves are bound to make a fuss.
　With monsters attacking us, that would definitely confuse us. I wanted to avoid it if I could.

(Well, if you know it's the will of the world tree, it could boost morale.)

　Still, Ray thought about whether to prioritize morale or confusion in the current situation, but ultimately chose not to be confused.
　If it wasn't for Optis, I might have chosen it.
　However, it is based on the judgment that there is no need to choose the possibility of confusion because the Optimis are now rampant in this battlefield.
　Ray decides that there would be no point in staying here, and calls out to the archer Dark Elf in the sense of diverting the subject.

"The boundaries of barriers have been redeveloped, and I don't need them here, do I?" Don't you know any place that lacks strength?"
"What do you think?" and now that we are fighting in several places, we don't know what the rest of the place is like...!"

　Ray nods convincingly at Dark Elf's words, which killed five goblins in rapid succession.

"Don't you know about it until you get a request for reinforcements?"
"Oh, and that's why we don't get requests for such auxiliaries, I suppose, means we've had enough fighting with the monsters!"

　Ray pauses for a moment to explain as he draws his bow.

"All right, then, there's no use staying here, and I'll try to go around the barrier first. So if there is a place in danger, it's as if you're a helper."
"If you do that, I'll be saved,"

　As long as they were fighting here, Dark Elf, who was talking to Ray, was also involved in last night's battle in the woods.
　He then saw firsthand how powerful Ray was.
　That being the case, Ray's power is not enough.
　He believes that with Ray's power, he can easily reverse the battlefield, which is about to be wiped out.

"Don't worry. This is my job, too."

　Marina asked me to treat the world tree and solve the forest's abnormalities.
　The killing of giant cicadas that seem to have affected both, and the processing of monsters that the giant cicadas seem to have called, is something Ray hopes to see.

(And it would be embarrassing if there were no giant cicadas involved in the abnormalities of the forest.)

　The monster's current situation seems to overlap something with the monster's excitement in the forest.
　But it's Ray's prediction, and there's no clear evidence.
　That's why Ray had some doubts, but he ran away without saying anything more.
　At the time, Optis was looking meaningfully at Ray, who pretended not to notice him.
　If you spoke to Optis here, you would have realized that you were just wasting your time. But I was absolutely convinced that it would be even more troublesome.
　Optis also regretted the loss of her playmates, but as an elder, she has no choice but to thank Ray.
　Still, he could not erase the feeling of boredom from his expression because Ray is valuable to Optis in many ways.
　But Ray doesn't seem to care about such an option and begins to move around with his death size in his hand, tracing the boundary of the barrier.

(If you wear Emperor Flame's Red Armour... No, if you go into the woods, what's the worst case? Then, just as it is now, monsters!)

　At the sight of Ray, who was thinking so, for some reason I could see only three Cobolts running.

"Wow, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh!"
"Wow!"
"Shaking!"

　The frantic running of each makes Ray feel something desperate.
　In fact, Ray's feelings were not at all wrong, as the three Cobolts were desperately trying to escape from their dead places.
　The unfortunate thing for the three Cobolds was that they met Ray on the way.
　Suddenly, there were goblins, oaks, augers and many other monsters around us, desperate to survive.
　I was so terrified that I would only die if I stayed here that I ran away, joined the Cobolts, who thought the same way, and ran away... beyond that was the death-god to the Cobolts.
　As soon as they see Ray approaching, running at a speed they can't afford... the Cobaltes turn their backs on him.
　The lucky thing for these three was that they had thrown away their weapons on the way.
　It's bare hands, showing off its belly and entangling its tail, and turning its gaze away from Ray.
　It was a gesture of unconditional surrender to the opponent.
　...of a dog, but
　Ray's brain goes blank for a moment with surprise when three Cobboldt's sudden move in his direction.
　Cobold is a monster with a dog's face, but he never thought it was the same as a dog.
　And Ray continues to run in surprise and passes by the cobold... or cobold.

(a)

　After passing by, I came back to myself, but looking back for a moment, I saw the covorts running away.
　It's as if you think you'll definitely die if you stay here.
　The conclusion isn't really that wrong.
　If Cobold had remained willing to fight, Ray would not have let Cobold go.

(Well, you know)

　Looking at the frightened Coboldt, he was certain to have a strong fear of humans and the Dark Elves, and Ray expected that he would not attack the Dark Elves in the woods for a while.
　Determined that it would be all right to leave him alone, Ray turns his gaze forward, saying he is not interested in Cobold moving away from him.
　I was running for about a minute when I heard the sound of battle from the front.

(I thought there might be battles all over the place along the boundary of the barrier. When you actually move around like this, as Dark Elf said, there's a certain group of people fighting. Is this also the work of that giant cicada?)

　Ray runs with his head tilted, but eventually he sees not only the hustle and bustle, but also the actual battle going on.
　The battlefield was almost equal to the battle between monsters and dark elves, in part because there was no exception to optis.
　However, the level playing field is entirely due to the monsters fighting with each other.
　Dark elves' attacks may be taking place on those who are away from the monsters' battle.Leaving the pack, it was the three Cobolts Ray had just encountered that managed to escape the Dark Elves' attack.
　In the approaching battlefield was Ray's familiar face.
　The nervous-looking man desperately directs the Dark Elves to minimize their damage and to try to inflict as much damage on the monsters as possible.

"Oh... don't do it, Ragged,"

　Yes, it was Ragdo who was desperately at the helm, and the dark elves around him had no hesitation in following Ragdo's instructions.
　Ragdo's influence was diminished after being beaten down by the argument with Marina, but no one would think so now.

"Lady Ray!? Why are you here..."
"The treatment of the world tree... the treatment? Well, we succeeded in identifying the cause of the world tree's weakness and separating it from the world tree." The world tree has recovered a lot now, so I wanted to do something about monsters. Then..."

　The sight of Optis competing against monsters passes through Ray's mind.
　It was exactly what we should call the Dark Elf hero.
　...it was somewhat doubtful that the elder was a hero, but some of them were convinced that he was an optis.

"Then?" ... the goblin is coming out of the right side! Hit that first!"

　While talking to Ray, he looks over and analyzes the war situation, gives instructions to the dark elves, and then attacks them with bows and spirits.

(Is Ragdo pretty amazing?)

　I've seen a glimpse of it several times before, but it's safe to say that it's a great achievement in the present situation.
　Perhaps because of my poor initial impression, Ray had to underestimate Ragged... or underestimate him, but I couldn't see him that way now.

"Lady Ray? What's the matter?"
"No, it's nothing. It's just that Optis fought to his heart's content where I first went."
"Oh, the elder man..."

　Ragdo probably understood most of the situation in Ray's words. After a small sigh, he gives instructions to the other dark elves again.
　Watching it, Ray opens his mouth with a death size in his hand.

"So, do you need help? From what I see, it's even."
"Yes, sir. I' I need everything."

　Ray is momentarily pressured by a ragdo telling him immediately.
　I guess that's what he meant by that serious look on his face.

"All right, calm down. So where should I launch the attack, both long-range and short-range?"
"From a long distance, please." Everyone is now conducting long-range attacks, so if you rush into the enemy's camp without thinking, you will hesitate to attack your friends."
"Well, I see. Then let's go a little flashy. Wouldn't that be better to raise morale?"
"That's... no, that's right." To be honest, I'm worried that if I do it too loud, the monster's consciousness will be turned to me, but if there's a lord Ray..."

　I have no doubt about Ray's ability.
　On the contrary, considering how much Ray's power was, Ragdo's honest feelings were that he was here now...
　It was now neck and neck, but it was completely unclear what would happen in the future.
　It would be advantageous for them to fight each other and reduce the number.
　On the other hand, if we were to be able to focus on ourselves when there were enough monsters left, we would be overwhelmingly disadvantaged by the number difference.
　Ray came at that time, so I couldn't be more reliable.
　Ragged's gaze made him nod small, and then set his head on his death-size... sway wide.

"Hit!"

　Flying slashes would fly straight to monsters, cutting several goblins, coborts, or oaks, or inflicting great wounds.