38 – The Shaking Effect (9)
The demons suddenly started dispersing.
However,
Even though they might not know it, there was no time to be pleased with the situation that clearly indicated Geralt’s plan had succeeded.
The imperial army began to grasp their swords as if they had been prepared to do so from the beginning.
A clear act of betrayal.
“Hoo-eung…”
“Unni, what do we do about this?”
Nico, raising the axe while making a crawling sound, saw the barrel that had just been aimed at the demons now pointing in their direction.
“I can’t help it… They betrayed us first over there…”
Alongside those words, Nico ignited her magic in an instant.
Contradicting her timid face, her spirit filled her, causing the imperial soldiers to flinch for a moment…
Facing them,
Nico spoke in a cold voice.
“I’m going to kill them all!”
*
From Noble mtl dot com
We began to retrace our steps urgently.
Fortunately, perhaps because of the flash still flickering behind us, we couldn’t immediately see the enemies pursuing us.
However,
More than the concern for the enemies behind us,
We were more worried about the situation with Kale, where we could already hear the chaotic sounds.
“I-is it going to be okay? What about Nico and Leone…”
“We have to hurry and go check. Considering Nico’s skills, we’ll find a way somehow…”
Honestly, Nico had always been timid in nature. But when we saw her wielding the axe on the battlefield, we couldn’t help but think that she might be more of a monster than these two.
Moreover, considering most of the strong ones were used by Nelson to ambush us, they wouldn’t have such powerful forces there.
With the conclusion that we needed to do what we could now and hurry to join them, we slowly moved towards Kale, furrowing our brows.
“Click…”
“Damn it… How can mere children like this…”
Imperial soldiers with furrowed brows, injured.
In front of them stands a young Devil Hunter woman, holding an axe with a timid expression, and a girl even younger than her, with black hair and sword-like eyes, glaring coldly in this direction, holding a bloodstained sword.
Superficially, it was a fight between dozens of mature adult men and two girls who had not even reached adulthood.
But this was only on the surface.
At the moment, even the black-haired girl, let alone the young woman with an axe in front of her, had effortlessly deflected the empire’s rifle shots and slaughtered about ten imperial soldiers.
A scene that clearly demonstrates the fact that judging people based on appearance is not to be done.
In this situation where the mission they thought could be easily handled was blocked, the imperial soldiers could only take advantage of the momentary confrontation with that monstrous girl.
The only fortunate thing was that the condition of the woman, who had just been engaged in consecutive battles, was not very good either.
Her skill was impressive, but in this situation where they were overwhelmingly outnumbered, she was gradually getting exhausted.
“hehehe… As expected, there are too many of them…”
“Uh… Sister…”
Nico, who had completely exhausted herself physically due to overlapping with the aftermath of endlessly cutting down demons, looked at the imperial soldiers slowly closing in, and Leona started to steel herself mentally.
“If we keep going like this, we’ll both end up in trouble… From now on, I’ll have to do whatever it takes in place of my sister…”
Leone’s mind began to be haunted by the memory of a past near-miss with the octopus demon.
Despite that, Leone had no choice left in the matter.
Nico’s condition had already reached its limit.
Moreover, there was no Geld to aid them here,
nor Jeanne and Gabriel.
The only thing she could rely on was herself.
And in this moment,
ironically, Leone began to recall the words of the very person who had undoubtedly created this predicament…
She turned over Nelson’s tale in her mind.
Imagine the shape you want to create.
Release your magic power with the intent to manifest it.
Through this, the spell is completed.
And right now, in this moment.
The shape Leone began to conjure in her mind.
Accordingly, she started to unleash the dormant magical power within her.
That was…
*
“Huff… Huff. What a tiresome creature.”
“It’s finally over…”
The sensation of being oppressed by something that suddenly started to be felt.
However, before even realizing what it was.
Schuh’s brain became a state where he couldn’t even think anymore.
In an instant,
Schuh’s body, as if being crushed by something big and heavy, was completely crushed as it was.
Looking at his body that was so deformed that one couldn’t even recognize its form, the imperial soldiers momentarily showed a dazed expression.
And.
In that moment, when their brains were trying to accurately perceive the situation.
-Bam!!!!
-Bam!!!!
-Bam!!!!
With a creepy sound, the imperial soldiers turned into blood as well, just like Schuh.
In this sudden situation,
A short word popped out of Nico’s mouth, who had been halfway giving up.
“…Huh?”
The situation was so sudden that she couldn’t understand it at all.
And.
Behind Nico was her.
Quietly holding her hands up and down, stroking it as if comforting it.
Looking at the triumphant expression of the imperial soldiers turned into a mess.
A young girl with black hair…
*
“Huh?”
“Th-this is…”
We hurried to the scene, expecting to find a severe crisis, but contrary to our expectation of a dire emergency, we couldn’t help but show a dumbfounded expression at the sight before us.
Instead of the peril we anticipated, the imperial troops lay utterly annihilated, a catastrophic defeat in every sense.
Behind the fallen foes, there was Nico, resting alongside the sleeping Leone.
“Nico, are you… are you alright?”
“Y-yes. I’m fine… And so is Leone…”
“Ahahahaha, what’s this… I mean, I doubted it, but to actually wipe them all out like this, you really are amazing, aren’t you?”
“No… no, it wasn’t me who did this.”
“Huh?”
Nico began to explain the situation in a fluster. She was on the verge of a major crisis as her magic depleted, but unexpectedly, the imperial soldiers surrounding her started to crumble brutally, which allowed her to escape the impending peril she recounted while we listened.
In our minds, the recent events on that island naturally came to mind.
Suddenly, the phenomenon of a pillar of light falling from the sky and dissolving the imperial army began to remind us.
“Who on earth could it be?… There is no one around here who can help us, so how did they selectively attack only the imperial army…”
“Hmm… I don’t have any guesses either, but does Gabrielle know anything? If she is such an amazing noblewoman, she might know something about this side as well.”
“Huh…? Are you talking about me?”
Gabrielle showed a momentary look of confusion at Jeanne’s question.
While observing her reaction, Jeanne spoke with a meaningful expression.
“Hmm? What is it… By the look on your face, it seems like you know something?”
“Oh… No, that’s not it. I don’t know the details either. However… well… I know of a rumor.”
“A rumor?”
“That’s right. A grand sorcerer who belongs to the Franz Kingdom’s royal family. He uses a certain magic to constantly monitor the border areas. Maybe it’s related to his abilities…”
Gabrielle spoke of quite an impressive story.
In response, Jeanne felt curious and asked her a few more questions.
“Oh… There is such an amazing person? But if there is someone like that, why aren’t they actively opposing the demons?”
“I… I didn’t say I know the details. Anyway, it’s best to go back quickly for now. Since the imperial army has been dealt with, Ellie will handle things here.”
“Well… I guess so.”
Jeanne acquiesced to Gabrielle’s words for now.
Aside from her curiosity, this incident also weighed heavily on her own fatigue.
Thus, the Devil Hunters, exhausted from their fatigue, began to make their way back to where the carriage was.
Witnessing their figure, Gabrielle let out a sigh of relief inwardly.
“I’m glad…that I can handle this.”