Ch.117117. The Great Shit Extermination (3)

The number of Scourge rats spread throughout the Utullum Forest was truly staggering.

Though the vanguard unit was fighting desperately at the front lines, they were overwhelmed against these fearless rodents that charged forward with suicidal attacks using only physical strength rather than magical power.

Nevertheless, Tembris was able to break through the swarm of rats because there was one person who could uniquely use magic against the Scourge.

“Michelle! Are you ready?”

“More than enough.”

Whoosh.

As Senia had mentioned, magic power should never be used against the Scourge.

The Scourge’s ability to devour magical energy and self-destruct in response to it—

This was due to the existence of the magic circuit, the only internal organ within the Scourge.

This magic circuit, which exists solely to expel offspring toward a host through extreme self-destruction, activates upon detecting human magic power and triggers self-destruction.

Yet now, despite being touched by magic, no self-destruction occurred.

-Sizzle!!!

The rats’ skin burned away amid acrid smells.

The rats that had been charging with suicidal intent died screaming even more terribly.

From the fluid containing their offspring, one could occasionally see disgusting creatures trying to bore holes through their mother’s body to escape.

Dealing with these was the responsibility of the other members.

“Wow. That’s refreshing. I wish I could fire a shot too.”

“Aris.”

“I know, I know. I’m just saying that—I don’t actually plan to blow them up.”

The blue flames devoured even the shadows of the Scourge.

Without their magic circuits functioning, they were nothing more than rats smaller than cud rats.

“Just as expected. Michelle’s magic has such great compatibility.”

“Senior Senia’s theory was exactly right. Not a single one shows signs of self-destruction.”

“Really, at this point she’s basically their natural predator. Blue flames that burn away magic power—these creatures couldn’t have anticipated this even if they had higher intelligence.”

Blue Flame Michelle.

The epithet “Blue Flame” given to Michelle came from her unique magic that allowed her to freely control blue flames.

Those blue flames were the essence of her character, believing that the misuse of magic was the root cause of a wrong society built on irrationality and injustice.

It was a power imbued with Michelle’s will to burn away magic that functioned as a social evil.

But this alone might not have been enough for Tembris to advance.

“That’s true, but I think the reason why none of us are getting tired is because of this.”

“Mm-hmm. That’s right too.”

Human stamina is naturally finite, and while Michelle’s magic had good compatibility against the Scourge, it still had clear limitations.

Yet everyone showed little sign of fatigue, for the reason Erica pointed out—the transparent liquid in the bottles everyone carried, now half-depleted.

“Who would have thought our youngest would prepare something like this.”

“I know. How did she know to bring it?”

“Oh, that… I saw in a guidebook that Mistellis is effective against rodents. When rats were mentioned, I bought some just in case.”

Thanks to this Mistellis solution, the Scourge rats, being rodents, grew weaker as time passed.

While everyone was laughing and chatting, one person—Michelle—felt a sense of dissonance.

Mistellis.

And rodents.

Clearly, if there was someone who could use this information in such an innovative way, only one person came to mind.

“Let’s hurry. If we deal with the mother, no more Scourge will be born.”

Having reached her conclusion, Michelle wanted to finish this quickly and ask Junon about everything.

Thus, Tembris advanced forward, led by Senia’s insight and Michelle’s blue flames.

Meanwhile, at the main force, Professor Muniher had predicted the existence of a mother entity.

An urgent meeting was held to gather opinions.

When Professor Muniher emerged from the tent after concluding the meeting, a girl who had been waiting asked a question.

“Uncle Muni—I mean, Professor Muniher. What’s been decided?”

Lenias, her face filled with worry, asked while anxiously shifting from foot to foot.

“…The main force has decided to advance.”

“What?! Then…!”

Currently, both the vanguard unit and the main force had crossed over the mountain to avoid the geographical disadvantages of Mount Utullum.

Retreating was therefore impossible. But this decision created another problem.

She muttered in a low voice, knowing what it meant.

“Please send Ronelion and me to the forward unit.”

“Lenias.”

“They’re obviously going to be annihilated! How can the forward unit, with less manpower and strength than here at the front line, possibly stop those things?!”

The issue was that the distance between the front line and the forward position was too great to send reinforcements.

They had expected the hungry swarm of rats to move toward the side with abundant food.

However, they had never anticipated that the Scourge would attack the rear unit rather than the main force, leading to this situation.

“Calm yourself. This decision was made with careful consideration.”

“How can I calm down! Who there could possibly handle those rat swarms…!”

As she shook off Muniher’s hands on her shoulders and tried to go back alone,

“Because Junon is there.”

His words stopped her in her tracks, and she turned her head again.

“…What?”

“That fellow will come up with an ingenious plan this time too.”

Muniher’s eyes were filled with certainty.

For that fastidious and demanding man to show such confidence was truly, truly rare.

***

Morale will never rise if you’re constantly pushed back.

Despite their pitifully small numbers compared to the Scourge, showing that they could take even one step forward would be a successful counterattack.

Though he wanted to push them to the target point, progress was difficult.

“One more step forward. Retreating is as good as death!”

“M-more from here?”

Even when told to step forward, they hesitated.

Fear is contagious by nature.

If fear finds the weakest among them, it inevitably seeps into others as well.

Morale drops, and fighting strength diminishes at an accelerating rate as fear spreads.

Professor Muniher once said:

If fear finds the weakest soldier on the battlefield, that battle is already on the path to defeat.

Though only read in books, his words were truly spot-on.

What they needed right now was a minimum of hope to strip away the fear.

-Clatter.

“Take this.”

“A bottle…? What is it?”

“You said you can use flow magic on liquids, right? I need to borrow that power.”

“I can, but… didn’t you say earlier not to use magic?”

That was correct—magic should not be used against these Scourge.

There was only one cause for the Scourge’s magic circuits to activate: reaction with magic power.

Therefore, Junon had instructed beforehand:

-‘Everyone, all magic is forbidden except for physical enhancement buff spells.’

This was the minimal approach to avoid stimulating the magic circuits that caused self-destruction.

“That’s right. But I never told you to use magic on the Scourge.”

“Huh…? Then where am I supposed to use it?”

“After I give the signal, I’ll throw these bottles. I need you to spread the liquid evenly, not concentrated in one area.”

This was something he had anticipated.

He knew better than anyone that with just the strength of the students gathered here, buying time was the limit.

Moreover, most of those gathered were third-year students unfamiliar with actual combat, and some primarily used magic, making them weak in physical combat.

Nevertheless, they could counterattack.

Simply holding out for a much longer time was counterattack enough, and if no one became infected until the end, it would be a great success.

Humans are, after all, animals that use tools.

“So, can you spread it?”

“With this viscosity… it’s barely within my capabilities.”

What their magic circuits detect must be magic power that touches their skin and fur, even slightly.

For their allies, this would be a spark that reignites a dying flame.

“Listen up, everyone! When I throw these bottles, those things will noticeably weaken after a short while. We’ll use that opportunity to execute the plan I explained earlier. Understood?”

The northern border of Sheet has quite rough geography.

With straits, hills, and slopes connecting to Mount Utullum, it’s a harsh environment for humans.

But this doesn’t apply only to humans.

For a rat with a much smaller body, even with overwhelming numbers, this geography equally saps their strength. That’s what they were counting on.

Soon came the sound of breaking bottles, and a rain of solution from the air struck the skin of the plague-bearing rats.

“Spread out in your originally designated groups! As discussed, scatter them for 30 seconds!”

The counterattack had begun.

***

Again, rough terrain impartially drains the strength of any living creature.

In the meantime, the exhausted rats would wander around, and just as the Scourge had their advantages, so did the humans.

The Scourge had visibly weakened, unlike before.

With their senses dulled by both the rough terrain and the effects of Mistellis, they completely lost track of where their prey had gone, seeing only steep slopes amid the dense forest.

“Now!! We strike first!!”

The scattered rats faced the suddenly appearing humans in confusion.

Though they rushed toward the prey that had reappeared, unlike before, their bodies lacked strength.

At this significantly reduced speed, they couldn’t possibly reach human skin.

“West side! Charge!”

“Over here, you rat bastards!!”

-Squeak?!

Meanwhile, a group that had circled around and arrived from the west attacked the Scourge from behind.

Being attacked from two directions like being wrapped in a sandwich, they couldn’t clearly determine their target.

“South side!”

“Yes, we’re here too!!”

Another human offensive continued from the southern direction.

The rats, lacking any command structure, collided with each other and failed to adapt to the chaotic battle.

The plan was this:

Using the dulled senses of the Scourge affected by Mistellis, the humans would spread out in groups, then unite to eliminate one cluster at a time.

Although it would be difficult to face all the Scourge from one direction even with Mistellis taking effect, dealing with one divided group from four directions could be resolved in just a few dozen seconds.

The following swarms would arrive later due to geographical factors.

In the meantime, they would eliminate one group at a time, then spread out again and repeat. This way, they would gradually reduce the numbers.

It was guerrilla warfare that would have drawn exclamations of admiration from Professor Muniher had he been watching.

“North side! Strike now!!”

And finally, the north.

This was the highlight of the strategy, aiming to attack from all four directions to eliminate part of the scattered swarm.

But…

-Squeak!!!

“What… how did this…”

From the north came not the final group, but a swarm of Scourge rats charging toward them.