Ch.118Chapter 118: Meteor Strike.

Watching the enormous boulder plummeting down, the three except Valt are struck with astonishment.

“I-is this okay!? Won’t our side die too!?”

“Y-yeah. V-Valt! Think about this again! You might end up on the continent’s most wanted list!”

Even Lilith, a 7th Circle magician, seems unable to fathom the destructive power of this boulder.

“W-will it be alright? I’m worried about the shockwave…”

When massive magic explodes or detonates, shockwaves naturally occur.

That’s precisely what Lilith is concerned about.

“Don’t worry. It’ll end with just a few people getting hurt.”

Valt had reasons for such confidence.

First, the Orc army numbered around 30,000.

From what he could see, they had just begun fighting, with about 5,000 at the front line engaged in battle.

With Valt’s eagle-like vision, he estimated the Orcs were standing roughly 2 meters apart.

If 30,000 were lined up in a row, they’d stretch 60km, but clustered as they were now, they appeared to be spread across about 5km.

In that case, the shockwave could be mitigated by the mage unit’s barrier.

And according to information from the commander, there was an 8th Circle magician present.

A magician of that caliber should easily be able to protect allies from Valt’s magic.

Valt’s plan was to leave the frontline Orcs to the expedition force and focus on striking the rear.

If they could just deal with the mage unit, the Orc Lord, and the Orc Generals, victory in this war would be guaranteed.

But Lisa couldn’t easily believe Valt’s words.

“P-please be gentle! Take it easy!”

Contrary to Lisa’s concerns, the massive boulder began accelerating at tremendous speed under the planet’s gravity.

***

The first to grasp the situation was a magician named Lindhi Ventura.

He was the leader of the expedition’s mage unit and reinforcement from the Magic Tower.

“W-what is this magical power!?”

Even in the midst of battle, Lindhi couldn’t help but look toward the source of the immense magical flow he sensed.

Then his eyes witnessed an incredible sight.

“W-what is that!! Who summoned Meteor!? Barrier!! Everyone deploy barriers!! Pull back the frontline troops! Quickly!!”

Lindhi made an immediate judgment.

He had been surprised by the Orcs’ black magic, but that was merely a type of dark magic.

The Magic Tower was already aware of the existence of the Dark Council. Lindhi himself had considered that they might be capable of using black magic.

But not large-scale meteor magic like this.

With quick thinking, Lindhi realized that this was magic supporting the expedition force.

“What madman supports us like that!! Without any prior notice!!”

Despite his words, the current situation was extremely unfavorable.

The expedition force was on the verge of defeat due to the Orcs’ black magic.

They were barely holding on thanks to the Magic Tower’s support, but Lindhi knew that once the Orc Lord and Orc Generals joined, this precarious battlefield situation would collapse instantly.

If they couldn’t stop the Orc Lord, they wouldn’t survive even if they retreated.

Having made that assessment, Lindhi was a resolute magician who had prepared to lay down his bones here.

“Damn it all! Hurry! Pull back the troops quickly!! Hahaha!!”

Though cursing, Lindhi let out a triumphant laugh, his mood brightening.

“Who is it!? Who could it be!? Not the Tower Master, could the Fairy Queen have come here? Either way, I see hope!! All magic corps members, cease attack spells and switch to defensive magic!! Quickly establish it before that meteor falls!”

The magicians had been conserving their magical power as they expected a prolonged battle.

But now there was no need. If they used all their magic to protect their allies from the meteor’s shockwave, the war would be won.

“When it falls, use all your magic to construct the barrier! It’s a joint barrier!!”

***

Kuooooo-

Ddddddd-

At that moment, Valt was assessing the situation with his Melissa Meteor Strike spell and the expedition force.

“Yes, just as I expected.”

The others, whose eyesight wasn’t as good as Valt’s, had no choice but to ask him about the current situation.

“W-what’s happening?”

“See for yourself. Even if you can’t see clearly, you can understand the flow.”

They all squinted, furrowing their brows as they tried to observe the expedition force’s battle.

“Huh? They’re all retreating?”

“Yes, seems there’s a very wise magician there. Their response is quicker than I thought.”

Valt’s Meteor Strike had now approached close enough to the ground that even the Orcs noticed its presence.

“Kuooook! Kuek! Chwiik!”

The Orcs were in complete chaos.

From their perspective, this was like a bolt from the blue—or rather, a boulder—and they were panicking.

But it was already too late to escape its range. The Orcs appeared to be making their final choice.

“Oh? They’re trying to block it, are they?”

The rear of the Orc army became busy with activity.

The Orc Lord stood at the very front, with the Generals backing him up. The magicians also stopped directing their magic at the expedition force and began channeling all their power to the Orc Lord.

“Hmm? What’s that? Was there such black magic?”

At that moment, the Orc Lord’s power visibly increased.

It was a powerful force that could be felt even from a great distance.

Then the surrounding Orc Generals began to collapse one after another.

The Orc magicians too.

Observing this, Valt could make one assumption.

“I see. They’re channeling their power to him? Convenient magic. But insufficient.”

Kuooooooo-

The massive meteor, growing even more fierce as it plunged toward the ground.

Now it was completely engulfed in flames, obscuring the original blood-red color of the rock.

That red mass continued to gain magical power as it interacted with Valt’s physical magic.

‘It’s stronger than I expected. This could rival a true Meteor spell.’

Valt had successfully executed magic beyond the Archmage level with just 5th Circle capabilities.

Of course, it would be impossible alone, but the fact that he could use it was encouraging.

After a few seconds, Valt’s meteor was about to collide with the Orc Lord!

At that moment, a tremendous roar from the Orc Lord could be heard.

“KUOOOOOOOOO!!!”

A massive voice that seemed to shake heaven and earth.

The Orc Lord’s roar, amplified by black magic, seemed to make the ground tremble.

Then the Orc Lord hurled the enormous axe he was holding at the meteor.

Tuhwaaaak-

An axe clearly imbued with tremendous power. It was a strike filled with the Orcs’ belief that it could shatter the meteor.

However.

KWAAAANG!!

No matter how large the Orc Lord’s axe was, it couldn’t compare to the enormous meteor that Valt had created over time.

Moreover, this meteor was now overflowing with magical power due to the physical magic.

The Orc Lord’s axe embedded itself in Valt’s meteor but couldn’t break it, and the meteor ultimately fell directly onto the Orcs’ heads.

Just before impact!

Lindhi shouted to all the magical forces:

“Now! Pour in more output!!”

The expedition’s magicians, who had already created barriers and were prepared, began to raise their barrier output to the extreme, and Lindhi himself used all the magic he could muster to protect the expedition force.

Valt also created a barrier with Lilith to protect everyone as they watched the spectacle.

KUUUUUNG-!!

A heavy thud echoed as it crashed down, followed by an explosion.

KWAAAANG!!

The ground exploded, and a massive dust cloud rose.

PUHWAAAAK!!

The earth shook as the aftershock began.

“Here it comes! Everyone be careful!”

TUHWAAAAAAAK!!

Ddddddddd-

The air displaced by the explosion enveloped Valt’s group, and then an immense storm rushed into the vacuum created at the explosion site.

“M-my god!! W-what is this!”

While the landslide had crushed the Orc Lord with tremendous mass, this meteor was magic that utilized gravity, plummeting from the high sky.

The falling energy generated enormous power, and the Orc Lord, Orc Generals, and Orc magicians, who had relied solely on the Orc Lord, ultimately failed to destroy the meteor.

Kuggggggg…

Only after a long while did the storm subside, and finally, all explosions ceased.

“Ha, haha… Is this really the result of just one spell?”

Wheeee-

The wind blowing across the plain scattered the dust, revealing that where Valt’s meteor had fallen, a huge sinkhole-like crater had formed.

Valt confirmed the sight and smiled, showing teeth that looked whiter than usual.

It felt like the fatigue from creating the magic was being washed away completely.

“Hahaha, magnificent. Truly magnificent.”

He then immediately checked the state of the expedition force.

“Good, they seem fine. Some cleanup will be needed.”

The Orcs that had been annihilated were those in the rear, including the Orc Lord.

Some Orcs at the front still remained.

But the Orcs’ condition was poor.

The human expedition members had been protected by barrier magic, but the Orcs had not.

In the end, the cleanup of the remaining Orcs was finished in an instant.