Ch.403Fighting the Mountain NPC. (9)

“How arrogant to think one could bind the legs of Behemoth.”

-KWAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAK!!!

Watching the natural disaster trying to pull its legs free from the childish trap that had momentarily halted it, the hooded old man, Pope Benedict VIII, raised the corner of his lips in a sinister smile.

“Come, Behemoth. Fulfill your role. What the continent needs now is not the weak will and powerless strength of humans, but unstoppable despair and death. And from there, the birth of pure faith.”

-KWAKAGAGAGAGAK!!! KUUUUUNG!!!

“Now, shake off that demonic power and trample those who resist beneath your feet!! Move! Behemoth!!!”

No one was watching the Pope as he raised his hands high and shouted. However, from his position, he could clearly see the people crawling on the ground beginning to panic as Behemoth started to pull its feet free.

Pope Benedict VIII observed this scene, thinking that after destroying Neity, he would target Aiti next. With that thought, he smiled sinisterly—

-GUUUU⎯⎯⎯⎯

“Hmm?”

A sound from the sky, inaudible to the people bustling about due to Behemoth’s movements. The Pope, who could calmly hear it, raised his head to look at the sky.

-GUUUUUUUU⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯

“What is that, a meteor…?”

The Pope genuinely tilted his head in confusion at the sight of a meteor making noise as it traveled among the stars. No, how could a meteor possibly make a sound…

-GUUUUUUUUUU….!

“More importantly, is it… getting closer?”

-GUGUGUGUGUGUGU!!!

“…No, this is clearly targeting Behemoth…”

Anyone in the upper echelons of the Church knew that what commoners called a divine star or a fragment of god playing among the stars had no connection to divinity whatsoever. That’s why the Pope couldn’t believe what he was seeing. Why on earth would that…

-KUGUGUGUGUGUGUGU!!!

“This can’t be—”

-FLASH.

A truly catastrophic blow fell upon the back of Behemoth, a mere monster that had finally begun to move again after pulling its legs free.

*

-⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯!!!

What the?! What the!! What the hell is that?!!

“⎯⎯…?!!!”

I can’t even hear my own screams. A shockwave incomparable to when Behemoth destroyed Neity’s barrier. Moreover, this shockwave came from behind the monster, hitting the highest mountain at an enormous distance. At that height, you’d need to stack at least ten maximum-sized Gors to reach it. And yet, the shockwave from something that fell at such a distance is about to blow away even me, who’s well past level 1100. Shit, shit!! This kind of power is absurd!! W-what about the others…?!!

[⎯⎯⎯!]

Grabbing the ground and forcibly twisting my body to look forward, I see Behemoth raising its head and screaming in pain. Was even its roar completely swallowed by the noise of the impact? As the edge of Behemoth’s sound begins to fade and the shockwave starts to subside, I wonder—damn it, who did this? Could the Pope have done this?! But why would he blow up Behemoth?! Is he insane?!!

The creature that had been trying to pull out its legs couldn’t regain its senses and collapsed back onto the ground, this time even more limp than before, with the base of its neck touching the ground. Wait, if it’s like this? No, more importantly, what about Reina, Miho, and Chikuyo…!!

[Everyone is safe. No one is injured, only some soldiers who were close by suffered minor injuries from the shockwave.]

“Gor?!!”

-THUMP THUMP THUMP THUMP THUMP!!!

Turning toward the sound coming from behind me after seeing the chat window appear in front of me, I see Gor, grown to about 5 meters tall, running toward me with Miho, Chikuyo, and Rei in her hands. Ah, what’s that bag on her back…? Huh?

[There were troops where Chikuyo and Miho were, so I made a basket with spirit magic to protect them too. I put about 20 people in there.]

“B-basket? Hey, are the people inside okay?”

[Well, they’re all tangled up with each other, but since no one’s dead, I guess they’re safe?]

-THUMP THUMP!!

Why are you phrasing it as a question? There really shouldn’t be any dead people, right? And do you know what kind of attack that was? Oh, speaking of which, what about Ira?!

[Ira is near the shelter with her friends. This was a strike prepared by Ira and the Academy students over several hours.]

“What does that even…?”

[Anyway, to launch another magical strike like this would take several more hours. Master, let’s cut off its head before then.]

After saying that, Gor shook(?) the basket, dropping the people inside, then put the limp Chikuyo, Miho, and Rei into it before extending her hand to me. Wait, am I supposed to get in the basket too?

[Of course not. How could I bear to see my master tangled up with other women?]

Though difficult to understand, I somehow got her meaning and immediately climbed onto Gor’s hand. She then started running toward Behemoth’s head, carrying me and the basket. There was no such magic in the game, so what kind of attack was that?

[It would be more fun to ask directly later. Just to let you know, it wasn’t a magic Ira did alone, but a large-scale spell committed by about 100 mages of level 400 or higher gathered together. So, Ira is surrounded by 100 mages of level 400 or higher, making her safer than anyone else.]

“…What? 100 mages of level 400 or higher?!”

What are you saying, Gor?! Even Academy professors who exceed level 100 are rare, and even the headmaster is only in the mid-500s, so how did so many level 400 mages appear?! Did someone mass-produce mages somewhere?! Besides, is that really safe?! Even if Ira is level 700, facing 100 level 400 mages seems dangerous?!

What’s going on? What on earth did they do?!

Though I kept questioning Gor in confusion, she just raised the corner of her mouth as if amused by my reaction and continued running toward Behemoth at full speed without answering. Then, a few minutes later.

“Wake up, sleepyheads. How long are you going to sprawl there when you weren’t even directly hit by the aftershock?”

“Uuugh!!”

“I-I think I’m going to throw up…!!”

“W-wait?! Don’t throw up on my tail!! Move!! Get me out?! No!! Miho, you shouldn’t throw up on your sister’s tail…!!”

I neither want to know nor am curious about what’s happening inside that basket. Gor, seeming to understand my feelings, turned the basket around and shook it, with Chikuyo being the last to fall out, looking like she was about to cry as she cleaned her tail. After confirming this, I addressed the four of them.

“I don’t know what happened, but Behemoth’s head has fallen to the ground. If we act now, we can cut off its head ourselves. Can the three of you move?”

“W-wait… urp.”

“Ugh, Gor, that’s too much. I told you my MP is at rock bottom and my head hurts…”

“Hngyu. My tail. My proud tail…”

…I was hoping for a clear “yes,” but this is just confusing.

*

“Aaah~ I’m exhausted~”

“Phew~! Ira, good job!”

“I’m hungry~”

-FLOP!

Near the civilian shelter away from Neity.

The Adventurer’s Guild and 500 knights had thoroughly eliminated all monsters in the surrounding area days ago, and now, except for the giant Behemoth visible before them, it could be called a safe zone without a single monster. There, Ira and her friends, along with the top students from Elementary Division Classes A, B, and C of the Academy, were all sitting down, exhausted.

“Haha, who would have thought we’d actually succeed with that…!”

“An ancient continental-level magic! I can’t believe something like that actually worked!!”

“Hmph! I told you it would work! With Ira’s and our power, it was totally possible—”

“Weren’t you panicking, Grace, when Ira said she couldn’t feel anything even after three hours had passed?”

“T-that?!! I-I just thought since I was the one who suggested this!! If it failed, I thought it would be my fault, not Ira’s…?!!”

“Kekeke! You were super panicked, right? We used an insane amount of mana, but absolutely nothing happened.”

“When I saw Grace’s expression, I was 100% sure we’d failed.”

“L-listen to me?!”

“Eh, I was 100% sure it would succeed. After all, Ira’s mana from the gravity magic at the center of the magic circle is still there, isn’t it?”

“But realistically, this is a difficult spell to use in battle—it took 5 hours. Honestly, if that monster had tried to move just an hour earlier, we would have definitely missed.”

“But after activating it myself, I understand. Not all ancient magic is good. If we modify the inefficient parts of that magic circle and the central magic circle, we could reduce the activation time a bit more…”

“Would you listen to me?!!”

“The power is also a problem. That tremendous shockwave sent all those tough knights, elves, and beastkin flying backward.”

“I thought we fired from a sufficient distance based on Grace’s advice, but if allies get caught up like that, it’s not worth it.”

“Hey!!!”

Despite being exhausted and sitting down, the students were raising their voices in excitement as they looked at the ancient magic they had successfully cast—[Meteor – Tears of the Sky]. And at the center of it all, Grace was still squawking energetically while Ira watched her with an amused smile, both looking truly satisfied with their achievement.

Yes, Grace Müller had returned from the Empire before Ira and selected promising students from Classes A, B, and C, dragging them all into Neity’s dungeon. All of this was to prevent Ira from becoming isolated among the other children—to create a place where she belonged.

And while there would normally be no reason for Academy professors to nod at the voice of a mere elementary first-year valedictorian.

[-Occupation: Daughter of a Viscount Family- Level: 578 Name: Grace Müller. Age: 14.]

With talent and magical power equal to or greater than the headmaster’s, her “persuasion” semi-forcibly convinced the professors to entrust her with the top students from Classes A, B, and C.

[-Occupation: Academy Elementary Student A- Level 403. Age: 13.]

[-Occupation: Academy Elementary Student B- Level 411. Age: 14.]

[-Occupation: Academy Elementary Student C- Level 393. Age: 13.]

.

.

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As a result, Jack is still unaware that a corps of 100 mages exceeding level 400 has emerged in just half a year.