Looking up at the fading night sky. The silver moon, which had brightly illuminated the dark, slowly melted away in the sun's golden light.
Alum's sapphire eyes gleamed as the stars reflected in the ocean blue began to fade along the gray clouds of the night, replaced by white, fluffy clouds.
And behind those clouds, massive objects emerged—a bullet-like construct pierced through the clouds, followed by smaller stingrays—a convoy, consisting of a mothership and four stingrays. One of the rolled into itself, descending toward them like a bullet.
As it rapidly approached, its wings spread and slowed down drastically—one of the pilots jumped as it quietly hovered above them.
"Oh? Look who's on time," Turen chuckled. "Seems like it'll be peaceful for a while."
"So you say," the pilot chuckled. "Any strange activities on the ground?" she asked.
"Nope, how about air?"
"The weather is clear for a few hours, but it depends on the mana condition and magi-beast activities as usual. And the main route to Yuflen looks clear as well."
"I see," Turen nodded. "We'll be stopping by Erda to trade."
"Got it, got it."
The pilot then jumped up onto the wing, climbing into the stingray, catching up to the mothership.
"ST-Vel—state ship heading to Lea Nor," Alum remarked as they left.
"Oh? You know about it?" Jua asked as she jumped on the carriage.
"Yes. It'll be one of the three convoys intercepting us on the journey, west from Ilifel, south-east from Levelon, north from Aurlux.
"…I see," she replied.
"Oh?" Turen mused, raising his eyebrow. "Well, going at our speed, we'll see all three, that checks one!" he exclaimed. "But how did you know?"
"I heard that some adventurers plan the routes where they'll meet a convoy or two, I suppose?"
"Pffts… hahaha! You suppose!? You're a funny one, Ailz," he cackled, slapping Alum on the back.
"???" Alum tilted his head.
"Mmmhgg…" Nuli woke up from the loud noise. "Hunbun… you're too loud this early in the morning," she said, after having fallen asleep just a moment ago.
"Oops, my bad." Turen scratched his head, then moved closer to his wife. "Here," he said, patting his lap where he'd placed a pillow.
"Okaaay~" Nuli didn't hesitate as she swiftly brushed her lips against his cheek, then lay down on his lap.
"Hmm." Jua scoffed, rolling her eyes before chuckling softly to herself.
"…"
Seeing the two made Alum think of Amethely—not that he normally didn't think of her, but… this hollow feeling inside his chest—I miss her, he thought, even though it'd only been a day since they parted.
"Jan!" he raised his voice a little, jolting Nuli out of sleep as Turen and Jua's eyes widened in surprise. Not only that, the merchant crew also looked startled.
Jan jumped down from the roof of the other carriage, landing on theirs. "What is it?" he inquired.
"I'll take over; you should rest."
"That's surprising. Why?"
"Jua seems a little lonely. You should accompany her now that you've got an extra member."
"W-wha—" Jua's face brightened, her ears twitched.
"Good point," Jan replied, deadpan. "Then… wake me up at noon so we can switch."
"Got it."
Alum smiled as Jan went to the still stunned Jua. He sat down, slid an arm under her arm and one over her shoulders, pulling her into his chest, and then plumped down.
"…" Jua looked at Alum, her eyes seemed to be telling him something before they shut close.
"Pheew," Turen whistled and went to sleep.
As the merchant crew finished up and were ready to move. Alum got on the roof and watched the scenery play out. The tall grass plains were peaceful as the strands rustled in the wind.
High up in the sky were birds fighting, herds of beasts eating the mana-rich, and packs of beasts hunting said animals.
It's been a few hours, nature was hectic, yet quiet—until he saw something rapidly approaching them through the grass. He instantly put up a barrier, and a pale creature collided with it. Hul activated the barriers and woke the others up.
"What did it look like?" Jan urged as he summoned Themp from the gem.
"Grey, unidentified creature," Alum calmly replied. "There appear to be more of them," he added.
"Got it," the other replied.
The sky rained down elementally infused arrows. They bounced and exploded as they hit the barrier, slowly cracking it. Then, pale hounds appeared from the tall grass, climbing the crumbling shield and digging their glowing hot fangs and claws into it.
The merchant crew fired their catalytic weaponry, blasting them with spells. "Tsk… Ailz, support Nuli and the crew from here, I'll take the aggro as Jan and Jua find the high priority targets!"
"Got it," he said, bombarding ice blades at the swarm of pale hounds.
Nuli enhanced their physical capabilities before they swiftly left the barrier. Turen's mana surged as he prepared for what was to come. Hul and his crew gathered the earth birds, connecting the carriages and activating the levitating core as they slowly ascended.
"Ailz, they won't be able to float forever—I'll dive in so protect Sweetbun for me—"
"That's okay. You should protect her," Alum said.
"…" The air got colder as frost built on the ground—the barrier that was almost cracked was slowly restored as Alum poured mana into it as it ascended with the crew.
"There are too many, you should stay. Besides, protecting her is your job, right?" he said calmly.
Suddenly, mana spiked as he raised his hand, intense blue mana surrounded them, then—everything past the ten-meter radius around them froze. Some of the pale hounds melted through, their bodies ablaze and more aggravated—only to be impaled by the very ice they'd just melted.
"…" Nuli and Turen were left speechless for a moment before springing into action—leaving their backs to him.
—Badooom!
Yet again, the sky lit up—raining down another barrage of arrows. But the barrier had recovered enough to withstand another volley. The crew stopped firing as they prioritized their mana to repair the barriers.
But a swarm like this wasn't anything Turen and Nuli couldn't handle—Turen with a shield and a sword practically danced around Nuli as he covered for his weak spots. He bashed a hound as she followed up with a fire arrow to manage the swarm of hounds.
On the other hand, they began melting through Alum's ice—their sheer numbers were impressive. They breathed fire, spat acid, and came at him with relenting claws. In a swift motion, he materialized Depth Cutter from the void ring as he was unable to keep them at a distance without causing collateral damage.
"…"
He used [Physical Enhance] and the sword became much lighter—just as the beast broke through, he conjured a wall of see-through ice behind him. The world seemed to move more slowly as he took a deep breath.
When a hound lunged at him, he shifted the blade horizontally—running the edge along its jaw, down to its throat, and to its end, slicing it in half as both halves thud on the ground, leaking a gray viscous liquid.
Yet they kept coming all at once—Alum sidestepped one, his right knee meeting an abdomen. His left hand delivered a shard of ice through the skull, causing the creature to tumble over. He then ducked, clasping the sword with his hands, and drove it into the hound above him. He twisted the blade, turning around, swinging vertically to slice the one behind in two.
Three taken care of, the rest growled as the second—thud, the second hound that was twisted and split in two, hit the ground. The cloaked man looked at them with ominous eyes, but even as they got free from the ice, they reluctantly leapt, only to realize Alum was the one who melted the ice, submerging them in a massive cube of water.
Having caught the cluster, Alum instantly froze the ice—he took a deep breath; the ice crunched and cracked as it forced out air; he squeezed it into a smaller cube. Despite being struck by a sharp headache from rapid mana usage, he was unbothered.
The others reluctantly approached, but as they tried to circle him—
"Ailz! I'll clear the grass, cover for me!" he shouted and moved closer to the center, melting Alum's ice wall.
"Affirmative."
Alum took over the defense and covered them from all angles, hailing down small blades of ice randomly.
—THOMP
Turen let go of his shield, clasping his sword with both hands, as immense mana traced over the edge, coating it in flames.
"Get down!" he cried, casting [Flame's Arena].
Alum and Nuli got on the ground and—BOOOM! Flames scorched a large radius of the surrounding area, burning away enough grass before clenching his hand, putting out the fires.
Now that they were more difficult to ambush, the hounds circled them cautiously, still hiding.
"Seems they're more reluctant to attack," Turen calmly spoke. "Ailz, do you have an idea what might be attacking us?" he inquired.
"Yes. A horde of pale hounds often indicates pale goblin attacks—hence the elemental arrows."
"Good. There seems to be quite a large tribe hiding in the surrounding forests—we'll have to report it back to the guild when we reach the Yuflan—it seems like we won't be stopping by the Erda village."
"Affirmative—"
Boom! Crackle, crackle, crackle…
"Seems like Jua and Jan took care of a camp," Turen said, glancing up.
The hounds that surrounded them started to retreat as loud horns echoed from the forest. And not too long after, Themp pierced through the tree tops, approaching them rapidly with Jua and Jan holding onto its legs.
Jan dropped off, landing softly with skill, and caught Jua in his arms when she later followed—then, Themp flew away.
Jan, seeing Alum's slightly tilted head, said, "He's informing those behind us and the guild."
"Mm," Alum nodded.
"How was it?" Turen asked.
"There are a few camps scattered around. We've located and mapped out most of them and cleared one," Jua calmly replied.
"Got it. Let's get moving before they come after us," Turen said, gesturing Hul and his crew to get down so they can continue.
They wondered why there was such a large group since this was a relatively trafficked route and all. They couldn't linger on it and had to move on, report back, and have it cleared.
But as they got out of the tall grass and entered the hilly plains, another convoy was attacked by the pale goblins.
"…Something's not right," Turen muttered. "Jua, Jan," he sternly called out to them.
"Got it," Jua nodded as she got on top of the carriage.
Jan turned to Nuli and got enhanced—he materialized a divine weapon in the form of a dagger and in less than a second, he was in the middle of the conflict—piercing hearts, using the corpses as projectiles as he kicked the into a larger group, following up by a stab in the neck, wrapping his legs around another goblins head and snapping it as he spun and pulled out the dagger, moving to one after the other and efficiently taking them down in one strike.
Meanwhile, Jua rained down arrows inbound by lightning. But then, right behind them were the previous tribe. Behind them were earth drakes they'd aggravated
"…"
Turen clenched his fist, grinning as Nuli quietly enhanced him. Now that there was some distance and open space—additionally, larger targets, he needn't restrain himself.
"Ailz, we got this, go help Jan—he'll burn out soon."
"Affirmative."
Alum materialized Depth Cutter as Nuli applied [High Physical Enhance] and [Fortified Mana Armor]. In a swift dash, he jumped on a sheet of ice, surfing down the hill, conjuring blades of ice.
Jumping off the ice sheet, he kicked a goblin, dampening his acceleration. Having caught their attention, they came at him with swords, spears, and daggers—not taking any risks, he activated [Static Field] to get their precise coordinates; then used [Infused Plasma] on Depth Cutter, melting through their weapons, flesh, and bones while finishing off the rest with a barrage of ice blades.
As he continued to wet the ground, he stomped, stunning them with [Static Burst], slow frying them as he moved passed them, approaching the carriages ahead. Spells fired his way, but were easily dodged—then, flaming rocks descended from the sky.
"…"
His steps halted, letting the ice blades defend him as he took a deep breath—mana scorched through his body, his hand reached for the sky in a split moment; a thick dome of ice covered the sky, blocking the burning rocks. Jan, noticing that Alum was the caster, swiftly made his way to his side, defending him.
"The meteorite shower seemed to have come from the forest up ahead—I'll go take out the casters. You can handle this, right?"
Though the pain was supposed to be immense, it wasn't anything new, using this type of magic; after all, if his pain tolerance was high enough to withstand a spatial quake for a minute, how would mana overload even compare?
"Sure," he replied coolly.
And as Jan left, he reshaped the dome into a cylinder, letting it crash down, walling off the carriages from the goblins. He made his way inside the wall and saw exhausted mages and swordsmen fighting for their lives.
He didn't see anyone who appeared to be an adventurer—mercenaries? He wondered. But the thought didn't linger as he helped them cut down the remaining goblins inside, giving them some breathing room.
"Thank… you…" a priest-looking man.
The priest had gray hair and green eyes, was rather tall, and his ceremonial clothing was draped in gray blood.
"Mm. Reinforcement is on the way. You should all heal up—the wall won't last much longer." He turned his back toward the priest and looked around—
"Ghhaa…" The man behind him couldn't breathe.
Alum, ever since he got close to the carriages, was greeted by a familiar foul scent, knowing that the pale creatures don't have a scent unless they're burnt and recognizing the shapes registered by [Static Field], the priest lost his lungs, his heart was crushed; he collapsed on the spot.
The swordsmen and mages nearby paused—not fully recovered, they prepared spells or lunged at him.
"Bastard!? What the fuck did you do!? Why!?" they cried.
"Why?" Alum tilted his head, looking behind him. He clenched his fist, clasping the weakened mercenaries with ice hands. "This is why," he said, his voice inorganically cold.
When he opened the carriage door leaked a red, somewhat viscous liquid leaked, heads rolled out, followed by a foul smell—something inside him snapped back together, causing him immense pain; even if it was but an insignificant small shard. His mana weakened, as it got more difficult to control.
"You knew?" his hoarse voice eerily echoed.
Despite the worry some sight, they took advantage of his sudden collapse, they broke free, rushing him down, but just as spells and blades were about to slice, fry, or burn the young mage, they found magic suspended in the air, their feet at their hips, their bodies molded into a meatball with fractured bones protruding through their flesh.
"M-monster…"
The mages from a distance fell to their knees, seeing the harrowing sight of a youth collapsing their coworkers into themselves. With eyes that said—this is yours, right? Their spells were returned at a greater speed than when they were cast.
"Ugh…"
Alum clasped his head; his condition had stabilized after having recovered from his broken core, but somehow, psychic energy flooded his system as one tiny imaginary shard snapped back into place.
"Ughh…. Ah… ahh… phh…argh…"
He panted heavily as sweat trickled down his chin. Or perhaps, were they tears? Looking into the carriage, heads of men, women, the elderly, and… children reflected in his eyes.
..
"Brother YB, you're so cool! How can I protect the others like you?"a young child once asked me.
—cool, huh?
"Ha! As if you'd become as cool as him, Kayle!" Ace said as he smirked.
"What'd you say!? Just because it's true—you don't have to be so mean about it!"
..
"Brother… YB… I-I… argh… haa… ah… I couldn't protect them…" Kayle said. His hand tried to reach me. And I could only hold them as they grew cold.
Beside me, Ace was on his knees, covering his face with his tiny hands. And then, I found their heads in glass containers—still alive and studied for their small psychic properties.
Of course. I made sure that lab is nothing more than dust and ash.
:Illustration:
..
Not too far away from where Alum was, Jan managed to take down the spell-casting goblins, but… when he returned, he saw the corpses of people surrounding a young man. Looking down from the tall wall as the goblins retreated, he reluctantly jumped down.
"Ailz…?" he called out to the youth.
"What is it?" a tired, raspy voice replied.
"…" Jan only needed to shift his gaze subtly to know—the luggage was heads, some of which had rolled out. "Are all of them… like this?"
"Yes."
"…"
"Right, we can't leave it as is."
"Got it… I'll have Turen burn it—"
"No… he doesn't need more burdens."
In a swift cast, holding Depth Cutter, beams of intense lightning disintegrated the carriages, leaving nothing but dust. Jan patted Alum on the back; thus, they headed back to the others to fend off the rest.