Halfway through the night, I suddenly woke up.

　There were no alarm bells ringing or roaring roars. I listened carefully, but I did not detect anything unusual. All I could hear was the sound of sparrows sleeping in an adjoining room, separated from the rest of the house by a sheet of cloth.

　I turned over in my sleep, wondering if it was the alcohol I had drunk with Joel. It was still late at night, and it was too early to get up.

　The time is still too early to get out of bed, but my eyes are strangely bright and I don't think I can sleep.

　I get up and leave the tent, being careful not to wake the sparrows. Instantly, a chill in the air nudged my neck and sent a shiver down my shoulders.

　As I had felt in Belka, the desert region has a great difference in temperature between day and night. The chill of the Leero Oasis, located in the middle of the desert, is not hard to imagine. It's a strange place to be in the desert, because the sun rises in this place and the temperature goes up all at once.

　I look up at the sky and see a frighteningly large moon looking down on the ground in a cold manner. As I cast my gaze on the moon, I asked myself the question: "What do you want to do?


　--Now, what is this sensation that hasn't left my chest since a while ago?


　The flowing of the body that keeps me awake. I'm not sure what I can see or hear, but I can't help but feel my lips lifting up at the edges.

　This may be what they call "the news of a bug". At any rate, something is about to happen - or has already happened. It was more than a hunch, it was a certainty.

　The question is what on earth is going on, but we all know that I, the Dragonslayer, am in this oasis. I've made the acquaintance of the leader of the Desert Eagle, so if something goes wrong, I'm sure he'll be notified. Thinking that, I shrugged my shoulders with a small shrug of my shoulders.

　........It wasn't long after that that I learned that the Alwet Oasis had been attacked by a horde of demons.




　It was in the middle of the night when the information of the attack came through. Most of the residents and adventurers were asleep, of course, but they reacted quickly when they heard the news.

　In the Catalan Desert, it was not unusual for an oasis to be attacked by demons. Depending on the size of the herd, they may abandon the oasis, and in that sense, this attack was probably just "business as usual" for the residents of the desert.

　However, even so, not all the residents of the Leelo Oasis were able to act in unison. Even though they are accustomed to abandoning their homes, if they can do so without abandoning them, it's better than nothing, and they are somewhat torn between focusing on the defense of the oasis and abandonment - the one who told me that was Joel, the leader of the Desert Eagle.

　I'm sure you're busy enough to want to help the cat, but Joel went out of his way to explain the situation to me in a calm voice.


'I've talked to the guys who fled from Alwet and the situation is pretty bad. They said that demons were coming in from the west, north and south almost simultaneously. The east side was empty and we barely managed to escape, but I heard that we were hit pretty badly by the chase.

That's a very tactical move.


　If you completely surround the enemy, they will be ready to fight back to the death. To prevent this from happening, you intentionally make a hole in the siege net to let the enemy escape to you. Once you are on the run, there are not many people who have the guts to stand and fight again. All you have to do is overrun the fleeing enemy from behind.

　I could sense such an intention in the demon's movements. Of course, it could also be just a coincidence, but Joel readily affirms my opinion.


'The sand lizards ambush the sand lizards, and the Catalan ants hunt in packs. The golden scorpion likes to lure people by pretending to be a gold nugget. It's not the first time demons of the desert have been cunning.


　Joel insists on abandoning the Leero Oasis - and as soon as possible - but apparently there are many who disagree with him.

　If they were to abandon the oasis now, as Joel claims, they would have to travel in large numbers through the desert in the middle of the night. The evacuation would not go smoothly, and there was a high possibility that the monsters would catch up with us. If that happened, they would have to fight hordes of demons in the unobstructed desert head-on.

　It is only natural that people would argue that it is better to intercept the enemy in the heavily defended Leelo Oasis than that, and this is the right way to go.

　In addition, not all of those who escaped from the Alwet Oasis have reached Leero. In the sense that they would not be abandoned, the protesters' argument was reasonable.

　Joel himself knew that. But even so, he still insisted on abandoning the Oasis--


I can't help but get a bad feeling about it. It's like they're holding an invisible blade to your neck, you know?


　The leader of the Eagles of the Desert shrugged his head in a chilly manner.


He shrugged his head coldly. ─ The old days are gone and then nothing good happens. This feeling has been going on ever since the news from Alwet arrived - or even shortly before that. So I thought, well, this place is bad, too.


　When I heard that, I gave a small look. It seems that Joel sensed the same kind of sensation that I did.

　If there is a difference between Joel and me, it's whether he sees the looming danger as a crisis or as an opportunity.

　Thinking about this, I opened my mouth.


I open my mouth. So, what do you want me to do?


　I asked him why the leader of the Desert Eagles had come all the way out here. It's not like he's going to end up explaining the situation to me.

　Then Joel's lips lifted up at the corners of his mouth and he said, "What?

I just wanted to see how you were going to do it," he said. In short, I want to know if you're going to fight or run. In both cases, I--no, I'd like to make a request from the Leelo Oasis.


　If you plan to fight, you'll be supporting the refugees in Alwet. If you plan to flee, call for reinforcements to Belka.

　I'm the best person to do both, Joel said, because I can fly, and I'm the best person to do both.

　The amount of money he offered was so large that I would have been able to tear my eyes away from it. It seems that he intends to pay it off immediately, and before I know it, a clear sounding cloth bag is in Joel's hand.

　In addition to showing the sincerity of his own footsteps, he also presents a firm profit. As expected of the leader of one of the most prominent organizations in Belka, he's got a lot of skill.

　You will be able to find out if there are any other options available.


We have no intention of running away under these circumstances. We have no intention of escaping on our own under these circumstances. However, I will decline your request.

How and why again?　It's the same thing we do. You'd be better off with the money.


　I didn't respond to the question, but just grinned along with them.

　Once I accepted the money, I would have to make Joel and the Oasis brass as my employer no matter what. Then, there would be occasions in the future when he would be restrained from acting.

　Instead, he could act more neatly by taking the form of "cooperation" without a request. This was the idea. He didn't want to be accused later on of "the dragon slayer was taking advantage of the crisis at the Oasis to extort a lot of money"!


Spend that money on the people fleeing from the west.

'Hahaha!　It's like being the hero of a story. It's like watching that guy from Arrow.


　With those words, Joel left this place. He's planning to discuss future plans with the influential people again after calculating the strength of me.

　I need to explain the situation to my companions on my own. By this time, Lunamaria and Wisteria had sensed something unusual and started to wake up, and the others were waking up like that.

　I asked the two priests, Ilia and Katia, to treat those who had been evacuated from the west. According to Joel, they had been beaten painfully by the demons, so a priest who could use the miracle of healing would come in handy.

　I ask both Lunamaria and Sparrow to help the two priests.

　In the meantime, I'll ride west with Wisteria on Crow Solus. The reason I'm bringing Wisteria along with me is because of the possibility that tonight's attack will activate the Tongen Existence (Anima).

　No one raised any objections just because of the situation, and we promptly began to act.



◆◆◆



.... this...


　Wisteria, who rode the Winged Beast (Wyvern) and looked down at the scene below her, was often immensely disappointed for a moment.

　A murky stream of demons, as if the desert itself was moving.

　Even for Wisteria, who had hoovered up many demons as the first swordsman (Gladius), the number of demons running on the surface of the earth was unknown to her.

　The climate of the desert is a harsh one that is difficult to live in, even for demons that are full of life force. Where did such a large number of them come from? Before that, what did the seemingly countless demons below them eat to survive until today?

　Sora, who had been silent until then, opened her mouth.


'There are a lot more of them than I thought there would be. I wonder where all these numbers came from?

It's a fearsome scale. And this speed. At this rate, I have no doubt that the group ahead of us will be overtaken.


　Wisteria's mind recalled the small group she had seen just a few moments ago. Perhaps that group of less than a hundred people was the last group to escape the Alwet Oasis.

　Perhaps there was a late group, but looking at the swarm of demons below, the end of the group was clear.


''........What do we do now, Sola?''

Of course we'll fight. That's what we're here for, isn't it?


　The reply without hesitation was a favorable one for Wisteria. However, considering the size of the enemy, we have no choice but to judge that annihilation is difficult. Stalling the Winged Beast (Wyvern) by taking advantage of its flight speed is probably the best means that can be obtained in this place.

　Thinking that, Wisteria was about to start preparing to call out to the higher level spirits.

　However, as if to control the Wisteria's tactics, Sola called out to the Winged Beast (Wyvern).


''Klau Solas, put me down in front of that flock.


　Hearing this, Wisteria involuntarily breaks her concentration.

　Speaking of the winged beast (wyvern), it replies with a pui-pui in a somewhat familiar manner and turns to follow the Lord's command.

　Her body swings wildly on the saddle, and Wisteria clings to Sora's body in front of her. In that position, she opens her mouth.


''So, Sola?''

What is it?

I don't think so, but are you going to fight them head on?

That's exactly what I'm going to do.


　The fearful question was answered with a bland affirmation.

　Wisteria was again exclaiming. Even though Wisteria is so aware of Sola's strength, she still thought Sola's decision was reckless.

　In battle, numbers are a threat above all else. No matter how brave a warrior is who has defeated the Demon God (Pazuzu), there is no way he can fight against that many demons.

　Despite Wisteria's fears, Sora had a somewhat amused smile on her face.