'Attention all adventurers and soldiers in McAllen!　Gather at the west gate as soon as possible!　There's a stampede of demons!　The danger level is 'disaster designation and city'. I repeat.....

　Me and Princess Sophia's expressions changed at the announcement.

'Sophia!　I'm heading to the West Gate.
I will go to the church and command the priests and monks.
Do you mind if I ask you to take care of Friae?
I will. Take care of yourself, dear boy.　
　I had a brief exchange with Princess Sophia and then ran out of the room.

'Princess!　I need you to work with Princess Sophia!
....Okay.
　Friae-san, who was in the corridor, looked like she wanted to say something for a moment, but she nodded honestly.

'True, let's go! Takatsuki-kun, let's go!
　I met up with Lucy and Sa-san and headed to the west gate of McAllen.

　On the way, the emergency broadcast from the Adventurer's Guild continues.
''Disaster designation, city.
　If it was below the depths of the Great Labyrinth, it wouldn't be a simple matter in McAllen, where even gryphons are rare.
　Even the residents of McAllen can't hide their unease at the unusual atmosphere.
　Some are holed up in their homes, others are heading to church, and many others are on their way to church.
　We ran through the crowd and ran to the west gate.

'True!　You're here!
Mr. Lucas!
　Thank God!
　The most experienced veterans of the McAllen Adventurer's Guild were there today.
　Other veteran adventurers with the two names of 'Blood the Demon Cutter', 'Clark the Strong Spear', 'Ian the Giant Slayer', and 'Justin the Heavy Drinker' are all here as well.

''Alright, you won.''
Takatsuki, that's a flag.
　I know, S-San. Let's not.

"Ta, Kouzuki-sama!　This time the swarm of demons is not as large as last time!
　Nina-san, with her rabbit ears standing up in a twitchy way, came over with a grim expression on her face.
''Nina-san, how many demons do you have?''
　Last time, it was five hundred.
　If it's more than that, it could be 1,000 or 2,000.
10,000 demons in a massacre.
..................What?
Oh, no...
　My pause and Lucy's sad voice echoes.
　Sa-san's expression is grim.
　The adventurers gathered together have almost the same expression.
　The young adventurers are pale and unable to maintain their composure.
　''Ten thousand?　It's a mistake, right?
　That's more than the population of the city!

Well, don't be so negative, really.
　I turned around when I was slapped on the head and it was Mr. Lucas.
'Mr Lucas!　How many McAllen adventurers and soldiers do you have in total?
That's about three hundred people.
Yes....
　No, I can't!
　This is a losing event!

It's your first time, isn't it, young man? The stampede of demons is not something to be taken seriously. I'm sure you're not the only one who can use earth magic, make a wall to prevent the gate from being broken. But leave a gap just enough for people to get through.
"'Woo-hoo!
　The veteran adventurer is giving instructions to the young adventurer wizard.

''Makoto. We're in charge, is that okay?
Sure, I'll leave it to you.
　Younger adventurers, myself included, will only dawdle.
　We'll have to leave it to the experience of the veterans.

'Alright, guys who are new to mass stampede, listen up!　And not just adventurers!
　Lucas gathered the people together in a loud voice.
　Young adventurers, city guards, and even temple knights had gathered there.
　Among them, Jean and Emily could be seen, but they didn't have the time to talk lightly.
　All of them had strong expressions on their faces.

''Alright!　It's important to know how to get past the demons that are running amok. Fortunately, McAllen's walls are pretty solid. We'll further reinforce them with earth magic. The wizards and archers who can attack from a distance will stay on the ramparts.
　Lucy seems to follow suit and climb up the ramparts.
　Oh, I'm a wizard (apprentice) too.

"Hey, friend. Can you use your magic to defeat the enemy?
''Lucas-san. I used spirit magic to get a long-range means of attack.
All right, all right, you're up.
Hey, Takatsuki-kun, what about me?
　Come to think of it, only Sa-san would be left behind.
　I'm in a bind.

"Aya-chan, you'll stay at the gate. It would be better if she wasn't on duty, but if the gates are breached, we'll be the last group of melee fighters.
'Yes, but I'm worried about Takatsuki-kun, so is it okay if I stay with him?'
'Well......... It's weird that no one is following the brave man's true colors. Good!　I'll leave it to you, Aya-chan, and we'll do it.
　Lucas-san doesn't seem to doubt his strength, even though he's probably never seen Sa-san fight before.
　I guess it's called the strong man knows the strong, isn't it?
　d*mn, I'm jealous.

"True, Aya-chan. We're going up the ramparts. I'll give the orders to the others.
　We followed Mr. Lucas.
　The castle walls were several meters high, with a path through the top that was just enough for a person to walk on.
　The wizards seemed to have already started chanting.
　Lucy's magic takes a long time, and I hope she can make it in time.......
　I glanced at Lucas-san, who was staring out of the city walls.

''Lucas-san, you're very calm and collected, aren't you?
Don't be silly. A mass stampede (stampede) of "disaster designation" doesn't happen very often. Frankly, if it weren't for McAllen, the city would really be falling apart.
　Indeed, I may have never seen such a serious face before.

'Lucas, I see a demon!
　A scout who could use flight magic returned.
　Soon after, a swarm of demons, said to be over ten thousand in number, appeared.
　To be precise, it's part of the swarm.
　Hidden in the shadows of the forest, the entire herd was hidden from view.
　Goblins, kobolds, orcs, ogres, giants... are there any demons from a thousand years ago?

"Dear wizards!　You're ready to go!
　The chanting of the wizards lined up on the walls of the city is about to end.
　Among them, the one that stands out is

''Lucy, you really do have a royal grade magic...''
Lu-chan, you're amazing.
　Lucy's great-grandfather, who was given to her by the Great Sage Master - raises the staff of the hero Jonny Walker.
　As if reacting to Lucy's magical power, her hair and eyes shine red.
　The magic power gathering on the wand swirls and rises up like a tornado.

　--Fire King Class Magic, Phoenix

　From Lucy's wand, a giant firebird emerges.
　It's a little unstable, but it's slowly growing in size.
Lucy's Royal Grade magic. You're the daughter of the Red Lotus Witch.
　I heard Mr. Lucas mumble.

　It's time for me to get ready, too.
Genie, genie, genie.
　He holds up Noah-sama's dagger and calls out to the water spirit.
　The blade of the dagger, which has become one with the spirit, shines blue.
　At the same time, the compressed mana begins to pulse like heat.
　Noah-sama's dagger is charged with magical power (mana).

　According to Sakurai-kun, the magic power is on par with king-class magic, but
(I wonder if Lucy's magic (mana) will defeat me...)
　Glancing at the flaming phoenix that grows ever larger.
　That guy, Lucy, is truly bottomless magic.

　The wizards' chanting has ended.
　The lead group of the demon flock is close to 50 meters away.　

Shoot!
　At Lucas-san's signal, everyone unleashed their magic in unison.　

　--Magic Sword Technique, Water Dragon Claw!

　I released the magic power that had accumulated in Noah-sama's dagger at once and released it as a giant blade.
　Led by Lucy's giant firebird, a number of magic of tremendous power attacked the crowd of demons.


　--Hmmm!!!!


　With the sound of the explosion, you can't see in front of you because of the explosion.
　The roar of the explosion was so loud that I thought my eardrums had been hit.
　The ground is shaken with a great deal of force.
　Is this a war?
　War.

　After the dust clears, hundreds of demon corpses appear.
　Burned, crushed and mutilated.
　As a preemptive strike to open the war, it would be a success.
　But.

"You're not going to take down a thousand...
　Lucas's voice is bitter.
　Soon enough, new demons are coming one after another, over the corpses of the demons.

''Shoot the next magic!　The flying demons must be defeated first!
　If you look, you can also see glimpses of gryphons and flying dragons.
　The wizards are defeating them.　

　--The meteor shower
　--Firestorm
　--Thunderbolt
　--The Great Rock Drop
　--Claw of the Water Dragon

　The wizards continued to shoot their magic incessantly.
　Hundreds more piles of demon corpses were created.
　Even so, the momentum coming towards them didn't change.
　What the hell, these guys!
　An infinite number of springs!

Lucas, you don't sound right.
'Yeah, I think it's time to lose some momentum...'
We've got a wizard who's run out of magic.
"Restore your magical power with the magic restorer.　The guild will pay for it later!
　The veterans are giving instructions to young adventurers who are hesitant to use expensive magic power recovery items.
　As for me........I don't need a magic power recovery item.
　After using spirit magic a few times, the power of the item became less and less powerful.

(Probably because of this battlefield........)
　The water spirits prefer peace.
　There's no way they like a place with this much blood and dust.

　The only wizard who keeps shooting magic is Lucy.
　The other wizards are all out of magic.

"Only about 2,000 of them were defeated by magic...
Normally that would be enough.

　There are still nearly eight thousand demons left in the swarm.
　The forest near McAllen has been blown away by the first magic.
　The demons come out of the great forest in the distance.
　From there, the demons appear as if they are gushing out.

(Huh?　(Something's wrong.)
　Something doesn't feel right.

'Takatsuki-kun!　The flying dragon from earlier is the one that Takatsuki-kun cut off his wings!　
　Following Sa-san's voice, someone shouts out.

''That giant should have been defeated by my magic!
And the ogre!　My magic must have been a direct hit!
The demon is back...?
That's ridiculous...
　When I heard those voices.


　--Oh, wow!


　A low roar caused the atmosphere and magic power to tremble.
　Above the great forest, something appeared.
　The distance from here is far.

　--The 'clairvoyant' skill.

　That figure I could see was.
The black-scaled dragon...?
　Around that black dragon, space was shaking like a mirage due to the dense magical power.

''It's an ancient dragon (Ancient Dragon)!　He's healing the demon's wounds!
Don't be stupid!　This is water country, Roses!　There can't be an ancient dragon (Ancient Dragon)!
Lucas!　You fought the old dragon in the past, didn't you? Was that really an old dragon?
　The veteran adventurers are making impatient noises.
　This was the first time I've seen them looking so uncomfortable.

''I fought against the old dragon in the depths of the Great Labyrinth. It is an old dragon of the earth but that is an old dragon of the sky. It's the first time I've seen it too.
You're sure it's an old dragon...?
Perhaps....
Shit, so he was the cause of this stampede, huh?
"I don't know, but it looks like this fight isn't over until he's killed...
Are you kidding me...?　An old dragon has to be an Orihalcon-level adventurer....

　An uneasy feeling spreads among the adventurers.
　Most of the wizards are out of magic power.

　--Meteor Shower!

　Lucy unleashes her magic for the umpteenth time.
　She's breathing on her shoulders, quite exhausted.
　That guy is trying too hard on his own!

'Lucy!　Take a break. We all use magic recovery items to recover!
"...haha, haha, haha. That's okay. It's true. I still have some magic in me.

　Glancing out of the city walls, I see that the swarm of demons is still closing in on us.
　However, the wizards have hardly been able to attack.
　Lucas-san's, expression is grim.
　It's only a matter of time before they reach the west gate........

　At that time.
　A lone griffon attacked Lucy from above.
　Sheesh!

Sir!
'You!　What are you doing to Roo-chan!
　When Sa-san blows up a gryphon with The Demon God's Hammer and
　The griffon's key claws attacked Lucy almost simultaneously.

''Kyah!''
　Lucy fell down the castle wall.

　
"I jumped down to save Lucy...
　Ha!


Lucy!
　For a moment, something flickered out of the corner of my eye, but I ignored it and jumped off the ramparts.