Ch.204204. Dusky Night (4)

“Tania, come out.”

I urgently summoned Tania while quickly firing an arrow.

I don’t have the powers that flow through Sione’s blood, and all I possess is weak anti-demon resistance. With just this and a single arrow without any spirit power imbued in it, instantly dealing with that thing might be impossible.

But an arrow precisely lodged in its eye socket would be more than enough to serve as a clear warning and deterrent. The creature that foolishly wandered this close would retreat and hide for a while.

Meanwhile, Tania appeared with a puzzled expression and looked around.

“Huh?”

Despite her light voice, the spirit gracefully stepped on air and met my gaze, briefly scanning the surroundings before asking.

─It’s not even dawn yet. Aren’t you calling me too early? You were whining about not having enough mana.

‘I would have preferred not to, but I got tangled up with an unwelcome visitor and had no choice.’

─Unwelcome visitor?

‘It seems this isn’t just the first one involved, but the second one is mixed up in this too.’

─Ah.

Tania let out a small exclamation of understanding.

─You mean that nasty bastard? The one that stinks every time it appears.

‘That’s right.’

One who proudly held a place among the five most wicked demons.

While the first one manipulated powerful poison energy, this one thoroughly isolated us by disturbing the raid party’s minds and using its minions to cut us off. It always only occasionally revealed itself through its puppets.

It kept its true form well hidden, making it an even greater effort to cut off its head and move on.

The army of lion-like creatures it commanded, along with the endless auditory and visual hallucinations, disrupted the raid party’s unity. It consumed a large portion of our already limited resources.

Its individual power might be less than the first demon’s, but comprehensively, it was equally or even more horrifying.

─…Why the hell is that bastard involved in this area’s business?

‘Well─’

That’s exactly the problem, which is why I’m squeezing out mana I haven’t fully recovered to summon you.

I said the second demon’s individual power was less than the first’s, but it was still a monster that had already crossed certain boundaries by its very existence.

Back when we were raiding the dungeon, all the major demons didn’t get along well, and we could see them fighting each other. They all wore twisted expressions as if they found it shameful to be in the same place with each other and wanted to commit suicide.

‘…I can’t say for certain. But that’s probably it.’

According to my knowledge, that thing shouldn’t be here.

And for the great forest to somehow maintain its lifeline against demons, it was an existence that should never be present.

In the midst of all this.

‘If there’s one thing I’m certain of right now.’

I turned my head and quietly gazed into the forest where light couldn’t penetrate.

‘It’s that its minions are targeting us from in there.’

Unlike the auspicious light flowing from the bright spirit’s flame.

Beyond where the moonlight from the round moon in the sky touches, the toys that the damned second demon used to constantly disturb our raid party’s minds were quietly watching us.

I couldn’t let my guard down. They were bold creatures who knew exactly how to strike when we were careless. No telling when those red eyes would drive someone insane.

‘Tania, I think I’ll need your help.’

─When you say minions of that stinking one… you mean those red-eyed ones?

I nodded slightly at Tania’s words.

The spirit crossed her arms, slightly furrowing her brow as she answered.

─Will you be okay? Burning those things will consume quite a lot of mana. With your current level… you’ll quickly become exhausted.

‘Do I really need to burn all of them myself?’

I know this well. How many of those bastards have I killed already?

Filled to the brim with Magia, moving corpses with no intelligence that deserve to be called nothing else. To melt them down, you need to burn away that thick Magia. And since they move using the Magia bestowed by the second demon as their hearts.

It took an enormous amount of mana to burn away that cursed Magia in each one of them.

Unlike when I was active as a Hunter in the raid party, now there are plenty of idle spirit users around, aren’t there?

‘We just need to ignite a small spark in their hearts. The rest… we can let those elves over there burn them away.’

─Hmm… what if they get entranced?

‘Surely not. Even so, they can clearly identify positions with the flames you ignite. They won’t accidentally make eye contact.’

If those creatures are monsters that know how to exploit weaknesses, our side also has well-trained elves.

If instructed properly, they should be able to immediately set fire to burn those things as soon as they vaguely confirm their positions.

If they can’t even do something that simple and lose their minds to those creatures… it would mean the forest guardians’ skills are lower than I imagined. Surely they would just focus on the spark in the heart without raising their heads to make eye contact with them.

“Let’s begin.”

Now starts the repetitive labor.

With attention drawn to us by the small commotion, I quickly nocked another arrow and pulled it taut.

To lodge the arrow firmly in its heart to create a significant impact. To show our allies the light that would shine precisely from its heart.

I corrected my posture.

Closed Stance. I adopted the stance for war bows like longbows from a fixed position.

Left foot forward. Slightly bending the left knee and leaning the upper body forward. Thus, pulling the bowstring more firmly and largely, the fully drawn string and bow limbs exert strong recoil force on my hands and arms strengthened through mana.

─Now!

At that short exclamation from Tania, who had placed a small spark on the arrowhead without delay.

The arrow, charged with maximum power, was magnificently released.

The arrow that flew through the air stopped abruptly in the darkness-filled void. As the fire attached to the arrow shaft began to brighten around it, the remnants of the second demon hiding in the darkness.

The lion-like form with a rotting body and red gleaming eyes gradually came into view.

“Need to burn it right—”

“So that needs to be burned.”

Airine, who had somehow appeared behind me, summoned her fourth spirit.

Unlike the other spirits, this intermediate one—though quite skilled among intermediates—appeared and created flames that fiercely consumed the walking corpse. Thanks to the spirit’s performance, empowered by its caster’s abundant mana, the enemy’s body began to melt.

‘Four spirits.’

An extremely rare case even for an elf.

Unlike the usual contract with two, the stray thought about her talent in successfully contracting with four spirits came to mind.

I forcibly suppressed it to regain focus and began concentrating all my attention on the darkness.

Meanwhile, Airine, after observing me, gave new instructions to those who had contracted with fire spirits.

Soon, Sione, whom I had pulled back earlier, approached and stuck close to me again.

“Ray, there’s one in the northeast.”

She seemed to have finally grasped how to locate them. With her eyes gently closed, she began tracking their positions according to her senses.

Just telling me about one in the northeast seems rather inadequate…

But we’ve spent enough time together. Even if the explanation is rough, I should understand what she means.

With confidence, I shot an arrow toward the point indicated by Sione’s index finger, where her vigilance was alerting.

“One far to the north-north.”

“Incinerated!”

“Two together in the southwest.”

“Confirmed!”

“…I think our eyes met. The situation is ambiguous, so I’ll fall back for a moment!”

The elves, guided by the arrows I shot, began raising flames to illuminate the forest.

A chain of rising flames and the melting forms of puppets.

Although a few lost their minds due to creatures that struck unexpectedly, they were able to quickly regain their senses thanks to Friel, who slapped their cheeks, and Airine, who unhesitatingly punched them in the stomach, as they had clearly recognized the forms and had a strong will to resist.

‘With such violent slaps, they’d stay alert just to avoid getting hit.’

Thwack!

Whether due to the enemies confirmed right before their eyes, or thanks to the loudly echoing sound of beatings and the groans of allies.

Our forces maintained their sharp spirit until the end, but…

The problem was the number of those damned remnants.

“…At this rate, we’ll be doing this all night.”

“…Changshik will be waiting. I had just parted briefly to bring Orna, who said she’d come soon.”

“……”

The continuous cycle of discovery and attack was tiring the body, and beyond that, the repetitive labor was beginning to exhaust the mind.

“Lady Sione?”

“Ah… now in the northwest… there are two.”

Sione, who had been pinpointing accurate positions, gradually began to grow exhausted.

Airine’s intermediate spirit, which had been skillfully raising flames under her adept command, slowly began to respond more sluggishly.

What marked the end of this battle with no foreseeable conclusion was the gradually brightening dawn. Those who couldn’t approach the light recklessly began to retreat as the moon of madness set and the sun began to rise again.

Even in the midst of this, standing as the focal point of the battlefield while identifying the position of each enemy until the very last one. As the twilight grew larger and the red rising sun illuminated the world, signaling the end of the battle. The elves had no choice but to completely erase the unconscious prejudice that had lingered in their minds due to one clear fact.

The ones who became the focal point of the unit during this absurd battle and achieved the greatest merit were none other than Sione and me.