"Lightning.

The wyvern that had knocked Sierra away was hit by the Toa's lightning strike, and she fell to the ground, her body convulsing.

''...........Quicksilver, Toa.

　Sierra is relieved by the magic of the situation. She grabs the Toa's hand that was offered to her.

''This number of stones is tough, isn't it?''

'Eat the cat fist of Nem's cat fist, but it's good!

　Nem has his claws poised with enthusiasm.

'Nem. As I recall, a few hours ago, you weren't feeling well until Masamune returned...

'Nem is sad when his master comes home late. But now is not the time for that!　Nem is angry!　If you hurt Sierra, I will not forgive you!

　Sierra smiled with relief at those words.

''Nem, don't let your guard down, there are a lot of A-ranked ones, and then there's Nutkelein.''

Out of Toa's line of sight was the spirit beast that he had just confronted the other day.

''Why was he so........''

Perhaps they invited him here. But there's no sign of them. "And the monster is a bit strange, as if it doesn't feel any pain. It's almost as if it doesn't feel any pain.

The Toa drew his snake sword Kyrgyzstan.

'Sierra, let's get this over with for now. I'll look for any sign of you too.

Please.

The three of them looked at each other to check each other's faces, and then rushed to the battlefield with muscular expressions on their faces.



*



Is this all the wights?

A wight is a skeleton that floats in a sedentary state. It is an A-ranked monster that wears a rag-like robe from its shoulders and handles magic with a miscellaneous wooden staff in one hand. Different individuals use different types of magic depending on the individual.
I'm sure you'll be able to find out more about this as well.

''Yeah, looks like they're gone.''

The one who answered was one of the remaining adventurers.
Earlier, several adventurers had formed a coalition and challenged Nutkelein, ignoring Reinhardt's prior instructions. The ones gathered here were those who had been saved by Reinhardt when they had been returned.

''Then the spirit beasts are next.

'But what's the point of only being a wight in one piece? Isn't that too lax?

I agree.

　Looking around the battlefield, there seemed to be more than one monster per type, and the adventurers felt that there was some kind of regularity to it. But there was only one wight.

''Reinhardt!''

　The Raid joins him once from Nutkelein, who was returning fire.

"Do you have the enemy's position?

'No, perhaps it's cognitive inhibition or some kind of magic that's distracting them.

All the White King's Knights were searching for the enemy using sensing skills such as "Searching" and other magic techniques. But there was no response. In such cases, the experienced adventurers would probe the opponent's magic power. This was a different method than skills and magic.

For example, if a sweet scent is detected in the forest, the adventurers wonder if it's a fruit or a monster luring its prey with its scent. Experienced adventurers could tell if it was harmful or not, and if it was the smell of a monster, they would know what kind. In a similar way to this, the experienced adventurer knows the location of the target by the waves leaking from its magic, and measures the opponent's strength by the amount of magic it produces.

'If it's a monster, we can see some of them in the forest. But this would have nothing to do with the ringleader's.''

　As Reinhardt was struggling with his head, all the White King Knights had not been able to detect the magic power of the ringleader.

''《Wind Rampant Dance (Feathered Salts)!

Running around the plains, Toa was wiping out the B-ranked monsters with her wind blade. While Reinhardt and the others were bothering their heads, the adventurers cheered at the girl who was fighting with her light pink hair fluttering. The White King's knights who had heard it were spying on the figure.

''I'm sure that was........''

That's the girl with the boy.

When Raid had caused a ruckus in the old town square by kicking Toa, Daniel had known Toa's face from hiding behind the dwelling and peeking in.

''That woman........''

Raid stared at Toa in the distance.

'So that means the kid's there too?

Raid searched the area with a pupil-opening look. But of course, Masamune was nowhere to be found.

''《The Roar of Lightning (Lightning Breath)》!

It is a very good idea to have a good idea of what you want to do with it. Immediately after, in an instant, half of the cockatrice's body was erased.

''That was all you could do........''

The raider smiled wryly at the magic. It wasn't anger, it was admiration.

'We should join the fight!

'To Reinhardt,' said one of the adventurers.

''Wait ... we'll let her handle it. If we mess with her poorly, she will only slow us down.

　Reinhardt, with a blank expression, looked at Toa and his surroundings and said so.

I'm sure you'll be able to find out more about this. So you were cutting corners at that time?

Lade said, keeping an eye out for the Nutkerene ahead of him.

'Raid!　Get your ass back here!　There are two more of them left!

　Answering Daniel's call, the Raid went back to the battlefield.



*



The Toa destroyed the Wyvern and Cockatrice. But it was also because Emily and Edward were hunting B-ranked monsters and keeping them away from Sierra and Toa.

'Sierra!　All that's left is those guys, let's just fold them up in one fell swoop!

Yes!

There were two Bison Soldiers left. The battle situation, which hadn't been looking good, had changed with Toa's addition.

''Holy Restraint, Sacred Binding!

Hilda stopped the two bison soldiers from moving.

'Sierra, now!'

Yes!

Sierra appears from behind Hilda.

''The Great Blade of Ice (Ice Proagito)!

Sierra took up her ice-clad rapier and jumped at the front of the bison soldier, beheading it with momentum. Then he landed, adjusted his stance, and swung his rapier straight down toward the neck of the other bison soldier.
At that moment, there was a huge cheer. For the adventurers, it was the second time they had won.

"Thank you for the numbing greeting the other day...

It was Cedric who approached Toa and spoke so.

'I didn't expect you to be this strong, by the way. Thank you for the help, thank you.

Cedric bows his head to Toa. It was Cedric's own way of apologizing and thanking him.

'You ... who are you?'

But Toa had forgotten about the face of the person he had dropped the blitz on.

'Well, okay. I just wanted to say thank you anyway.'

Cedric chuckled and went back to Yogi. Toa tilted his head at his back.

'It's over, Toa.'

'Yeah...'

Toa and Sierra smiled and looked at each other. But next to them was a red-faced and angry Nem's figure.

'It's not fair!　Nem didn't do anything about it!　I don't know what I'm doing here.

Nem couldn't join the fight because Toa had wiped out the monster all by himself. The Toa soothed the sulking Nem with a troubled expression.

'But Nem, that means Nem is still inexperienced. All of the adventurers have been cooperative for once, but there are times when a request can get sidetracked.

Nem's cheeks puffed out and a look of regret appeared on his face.

'Are you going to sidestep the Toa too?'

Yeah.

The question made Toa choke on her words.

'Well, I was bad this time, I guess. I mean, I was a little too forceful, I guess...''

Do you intercept the same people?

Toa was flinching.

'Well I'm sorry,' he apologized honestly, unable to find the words.

'Then, as punishment, Nem will get Toa's meat!

There was still some of last night's meat in the mansion. Apparently, Nem was going for it.

'Hey, Nem?'

When I looked at him, Nem pressed his mouth shut and held back a laugh.

''That's about as much as you can give to Nem!

Okay, okay....

Nem was innocent. So much so that he gave a bad look behind his back so that Toa wouldn't see him.

'Toa, all that's left is Nutkerene!　Let us join them!

Yeah!

Next time, Nemu will join in!

　Nem jumped up and down with a smile.

　The surviving adventurers lay there and looked up at the sky. They didn't have the strength left to raise their voices. Neither did Yogi and Cedric.

'It's over,'

'Cedric, I feel like I'm alive for the first time in a long time. It's a feeling I've had before. But I'd forgotten.

I see.

Cedric laughed at Yogi's words. They stared up at the sky and laughed as if they were nostalgic for the past.

There was a reason why Yogi had gotten involved with Masamune. He didn't like it. The adventurer who was about to dream and start an adventure. To Yogi, those who talked about taking on dungeons and the like, and those who were leaving King's Landing in search of dragons, were unpleasant to him. But now he felt a sincere desire to have an adventure.

'Cedric, let's have a feast.'

Cedric smiled nostalgically, wondering how many years it had been since Yogi had said that to him.
But as the exhausted adventurers' hearts were plunged into despair, things changed rapidly.

It began with a tremor. After a constant rhythm, the shaking gradually increased, and then it revealed itself.

''Hey ... wait a minute. This is not a joke........

--Cyclops.
S-ranked monsters, including Cyclops, appeared from a small hill. The adventurers were speechless as the cockatrice and wyvern they had just defeated were also there. They weren't surprised anymore, they didn't raise their voices or change their expressions. Somewhere in their hearts, they had admitted their defeat. It showed in their actions, and tears naturally spilled from the adventurers' eyes.







Gid watched the knights and adventurers from the top of the hill, as if enjoying them from a distance.

'This is what despair is all about!　They can no longer even hold a sword. This is what despair is all about!