Sion activates his 'tail counter' and flips the flying doom by waving his big tail like a whip. He then hid behind the building with Madoka - but the situation was still imminent.

'Rival, run!　If you take any more, you'll die!
"I'm not going to die you run for your lives!　He's got me in his sights, and I can take one more shot!　I'll be right behind you, run!
"You're not even a shield knight, brother Rival, what are you talking about?
Yeah, I'm a chopper... and that's why I'm gonna have to cut him down...

　I understand that Rival-san is serious, but I have to say that risking your life here is, from my point of view, unnecessary.

　--I'm not going to be the only one who can do that. I can understand it too well - because if I were in the same position as Rival-san, I would choose that recklessness without hesitation.

''--Eritia, can you avoid those heat rays!
I got it!　
'No I'm leaving with you!　We can't let such a large number of enemies rush in on you alone!
'Igarashi-san we'll cover you from here!　Just make sure you avoid the heat rays that that 'named' is shooting at you!　
Copy that.

　As they run out, as if to say they were pulling on a limb, they hear the cries of the demi-harpy, which had been hiding in the roofs of the buildings around the square.

(If they use the Song of Sleep now, Rival-san and his party... no... well, the Song of Sleep has to be sung above your head for it to have any range. (If they come out this way........!

　But Demi-harpy isn't naive enough to appear in the sky without any preparations. The three sweetbirds that called out in response to the cries just now, after loading up on support with the 'Crazy Feast of Wings', are charging towards us, two in a row - the other one is aiming at Rival-san, who has his shield at the ready and his vision is reduced. When Elitia sensed this, she turned to cover him.

　--The battle situation is moving in various places, and I'm approaching the limit of my ability to grasp everything and make instantaneous decisions. The moment I thought that, my vision seemed to expand all at once to the point where I could see all the way up to the sky.

　◆Current Situation ◆

　Arihito's Eagle's Eye is activated, and his ability to grasp the situation is improved.

　I understand the 'death coming from the sky' in the sky above me, as if I'm watching its current state up close and personal.

　After shooting the heat ray, a cooldown occurs. The entire body becomes incandescent and releases a heat ray, but afterwards the polarized tentacles that covered the spherical body remain red and red-hot - but it is thought that it takes about fifteen seconds to fire again, so there is no time left.

　And considering that they'll 'rampage' when their strength is reduced, they'll have to strike with all their might and fall at once before their strength is reduced to half.

''Theresa, just push back one of them first!　We'll take one of them down!
"-Oh!

　Theresia slammed her wind slash into one of the two sweetbirds, knocking them back. A merciless arrow, dice, and sling of metal bullets pierce the head of the other one, which slips past it and tries to take aim at us in the rear guard. If all the projectile weapon holders cooperated together, we could manage to drop one of them.

　Theresia drew the enemy's counterattack to the very edge and evaded it with 'Axel Dash'. When the enemy is unable to decelerate and slammed into the floor, I'm the only one to make a follow-up attack - the bow and Misaki, who isn't used to attacking, isn't ready to throw a projectile...!

　But then a chain flail flew in from behind - a chain flail with an iron ball at the end of a long chain. It knocked the Sweet Bird down with precision, buying Suzuna and Misaki time to chase it down.

　And then the demi-harpy and the others from the back started singing - as if they won if they put the Sweet Bird to sleep, even without the Sweet Bird as a shield.

'--I was naive. We're used to staying up all night over here!
"--Peep!

　Current Situation

　Demi-harpy invokes the "Song of Sleep".
　All of Alihit's party is disabled by resistance

　I guess they didn't expect the song to be nullified, but the harpy in the form of a girl turned into a startled expression all together - by that time, we had already finished preparing for the attack.

''Everyone, shoot!''
Dice Attacks!
Yah!
-Oh!

　My sling and Misaki's dice shoot into one demi-harpy - the demi-harpy takes 11 additional damage and loses its balance, wobbling and falling.

　Suzuna's arrow shoots through the other wing, and the feathers scatter - and as the demi-harpy tries to soar again while losing altitude, Theresa leaps and windslashes the demi-harpy.

　The blown-up demi-harpy flaps its wings with the last of its strength and tries to stay on, but it runs out of power and falls straight down. Now there are no more troublesome enemies.

　Then we return to the shadows of the building and turn around. There was the person who had just covered us with a chain flail.

'Leila-san it's good to see you're safe.

　The flail user was Leila, the second-in-command of the mercenary agency. She had the appearance of a strong man, but her red hair was disheveled and stuck to her skin along with sweat, and her leather armor was broken in places.

'I'm sorry, the mercenary agency was destroyed by the enemy's heat rays and it took me so long to check on your safety I don't have much to show for it.

　Leila-san ran from behind, her eye patch was torn off and the eye underneath it was visible - not that it was damaged or anything, but her eye was blind and there was no light in it.

''Leila-san, that eye...''
This one I fought a demon that took away my senses a long time ago. The sight itself was attacked and taken away. If I only had one eye left, I could fight to some extent.
All right, we'll fight together. Do you have evasive skills?　If you don't have that, now.......Igarashi-san!
It's okay, rear end!　Three more times.... no, four more times........!

　Current Situation

　Death coming from the sky activates Raster Flame.
　Kyoka activates the Blink Step and avoids the Luster Flame.

　The very moment - the light that enveloped "Death Coming from the Sky" converges to a single point, and in the next moment, a ray of flame shoots through the place where Igarashi-san was. However, Igarashi, who created an alter ego to evade it, didn't chase the flying doom that chased after her, but instead tried to evade it. She can't use "Double Attack" and can't make them knock back, so she understands the risk of not being able to defeat them in one hit.

　Before the Flying Doom, which was dodged by Igarashi-san, can gain altitude, Suzuna's arrows fly, and the metal dice thrown by Misaki in one or two strikes, delivering no small amount of blows - but without the attack of the vanguard, she can't finish it off in one hit. We can't reduce the number of enemies.

''If only the enemies would come all at once, we could round them up.......hassle.......!

　While Elitia said that, she made sure to drop the flying dooms that fell at different times. 'Slash Ripper' and 'Rising Zapper', both of which are one-hit kills, but if you can get more enemies into the range of the 'Blossom Blade', you can reduce the number of enemies more efficiently. However, the enemies are attacking at two or three at a time, shifting their timing - as if they're just wary of the existence of range attacks.

''Miss, I'm at least a target........''
Just run!　There are a lot of people who will be sad when you die!
Okay, all right. Take care of the rest.... whoa!

　Mr. Rival showed his willpower - on his way to run into the shadows of the building across the square, where his companions were, he carried the fallen man up. He was carrying a super-heavy shield on his back.

'We'll draw the enemy's aim, so get out of here!
"--I can withstand one more shot. One more shot would be........oh!

　Sion has Madoka covered - if he has Rival-san covered in this situation, Sion will be in deep trouble if he can't use his supportive defense to prevent the heat rays.

　His head spins at high speed. There are nine Flying Dooms left, and the 'named' are unharmed - and I realize something.

("Death coming from the sky" no longer shoots heat rays.......has his magic power run out? Then what was he aiming at--)

　-- at that moment I saw a mass of polarized tentacles that should have had no expression on their faces, but they did indeed seem to laugh.

　The remaining Flying Doom rushes towards Igarashi-san and Elitia. And the one that 'Death Coming from the Sky' was aiming at was the fallen explorer - - Rival-san who was holding a person from the magic profession.

　◆Current Situation ◆

　Death coming from the sky activates "Drinking the whole thing".



　Rival, fleeing with his shield on his back, is unaware of the threat from the sky. That a monster with a mouth so huge that it could swallow a human whole is descending with the intent to kill.

　Death coming from the sky - the name doesn't just mean an attack from the sky by heat rays. Literally, he was a being that 'came from the sky' and brought death.

　The calls in battle acted as 'support uplift 1' and his morale was up to 99. And I could release my morale in just one more time.

　Even if I go behind Rival-san in the backstand, I'll just get eaten up. Elitia has to drop five Flying Dooms with her Blossom Blade, and Igarashi-san goes around to evade - no one can reach Rival-san.

　Still, I want to save Rival-san. I can't let that person who was so foolish and didn't run away even though he knew he couldn't win die.

(Ariadne if you can hear me.

　The license responds to my will, and without even having to slide my finger, the desired screen is displayed - I get 'Other Assist'.

''--Rival-san, I'm 'assisting' you!

　I'm not going to be able to get a good idea of what to do with it.

　--I'm not going to be able to get it done with my "Supportive Defense 1". I'm not going to be able to get the best out of it.

　As if to rewrite that regret, the voice of that inorganic, self-denying girl - the voice of that inorganic, self-denying girl - resounded in my mind as if to heat and inspire me.

　'My name is Ariadne. To the faithful and their allies, I give my blessing.'

　Current Situation

　Aricht activates 'Other Assist'.
　Aricht's 'Supportive Defense 1' is activated → Target: Rival
　Arihito requests temporary assistance from Ariadne, the "Kijin Ariadne" → Target: Rival
　Ariadne activates the Light Arm.

　If the defensive barrier was breached, Rival-san would be eaten by the entire shield - but it didn't happen.

''What........was that.......''

　It was, shall we say, a giant hand. It's like a giant's hand that catches "death coming from the sky", one size larger than Rival's.

　It's not just a matter of time before you get to the point where you can get your hands on it.

　Only the mechanical giant's, hands emerged from the empty space and protected Rival-san.

　Ariadne's voice was heard and that giant's hand appeared. It meant that Rival-san had been protected by the 'Blessing of the Secret God' - and that the Secret God was still a thing of tremendous power.

''What the hell is that.......a hand from the air.......''
"Brother Rival... thank God... stupid, you were about to be eaten!
"I'm not sure I'm proud of him... but he's not just any guy... Aricht... how far will you go... ...

　Once she gets down there, I'm not going to let her get away. I'll order Sion to cover Igarashi-san and create enough room for her, Theresia, and Misaki to release their morale.

'I'm going to end this.......morale release, 'Soul Blink'!
Huh...!
I'm going to go!　Morale release, 'Fortune Roll'!

　Current Situation　

　Kyoka activates "Soul Blink" and all members of the party receive "Spirit of War".
　Theresa activates Triple Steel and all members of the party have the Triple Steal effect.
　Misaki activates the "Fortune Roll" and her next action is sure to succeed.

"Scatter like a flower!　"Blossom Blade!

　The giant's hand flicks off "Death Coming from the Sky" - Elitia, who ran into it, rains down slashes with the war spirits.

　The Fortune Roll causes Steel to succeed on the first shot, and the damage from the slashes and the fixed damage are piled up continuously - a total of 24 levels, far more than 300 damage in total, together with the war spirits' attacks. The "Death Coming from the Sky", which was lower level than the "Eagle-headed Titan Soldier", was drained of its strength in one fell swoop and fell to the ground, unable to float, and stopped moving.

　The Flying Doom that was chasing Igarashi-san around was defeated by the coordination of me, Suzuna, Sion, and Leila. If the number of attacks increased with the war spirit, the sweeping wasn't difficult at all - I also found that when the war spirit was on Sion, it was very dependable.

　◆Current Situation ◆

　Defeat one "Death Coming from the Sky".
　Killing 4 Flying Dooms.

　The demon is gone, and while I'm catching my breath, the war spirit disappears - looking at the license map, there is no longer any movement indicating a demon.

'We did it......... Really, it's just you guys........
'Yes it looks like you managed to beat it. But it's not over yet.

　We had to tend to everyone who was down - some of those who had been hit by the heat rays were seriously injured.

　We put off rejoicing in our victory and started the rescue operation. The garrison finally rushes in and carries the wounded away one by one.

　I approach Rival's party, where four of us have gathered. When Rival-san saw me, he raised his arms and smiled.

''Before I knew it, you were completely on the side of help. You're a great guy, man.''
As for you, Mr. Rival I'm glad you're safe.

　Rival-san chuckled and looked at his companions. The large man who had lent his shield to Rival-san, the archer woman, was safe, but the wizard man was unconscious - it was one of his friends that Rival-san had saved.

'Assuming these guys get narrowed down later, I'm sorry for the trouble I've caused Aricht as well... Also, let me thank you.
'We fought together to save the town, so no thanks are needed. But couldn't you have escaped into the labyrinth?

　When I asked that question, one of Rival-san's companions told me that when a stampede occurs, you can't enter the labyrinth until you defeat the demons that appear in the town - I don't know why, but that's how it works.

　If you try to escape into the labyrinth without knowing it, you will make a mistake in your calculations. I decided to engrave it in my head as knowledge and try to turn to help with the rescue - and then.

'Melissa ... and Mr. Rykerton, too.
''Thank you for protecting the town, Alihit-san.
'Can I take the named one apart?　And other demons.
Yes, please.

　Melissa is bathed in return blood that looks like Flying Doom's and has a meat cleaver in her hand - which means that she and her son are capable of defeating Flying Doom, too.

　It's good to know that the people I know are safe, but the damage to the town is too great. Looking at the walls of the square and buildings that have been scorched all over and filled with holes from the demon's crash, I was wondering if we could help in any way to repair the damage.