The slaughter was proceeding smoothly, almost methodically. And visibly, the number of monsters in the valley was dwindling.
No one had any intention of stopping. The operation had gone too well.
Paul was already starting to show signs of fatigue, but Allen was still brimming with energy.
"One hour's up!"
Laws, though basking in the success of the hunt, remained cool-headed and dutiful. The moment time ran out, he called out the reminder right on cue.
Rudeus checked his mana reserves—still full. He immediately shouted down to Allen on the ground.
"Should we keep going?!"
Allen cleaved through another pack of monsters—their numbers visibly thinning—and glanced toward the valley.
Just by eye, at least half of the original horde had been culled. No—possibly even more.
Did Rudeus's magic account for most of it? AOE spells really are the most efficient way to clear mobs…
He blinked, momentarily surprised by just how many they'd taken down in only an hour.
Things really have gone way too smoothly.
Allen turned toward Paul, who was clearly exhausted but still holding his ground. After a moment of thought, he spoke:
"All right, that's enough for today. We've cut down their numbers plenty. Rudeus, any estimates on the kill count?"
Rudeus laughed sheepishly.
"Half? Maybe more! These D-rank monsters are really squishy—some of them just brushed the edge of a spell and collapsed into the corpse pile. They never even got up again. Think they were playing dead?"
"Playing dead? That'd be a bit much."
Allen grinned and glanced at Paul, who let out a heavy breath and smiled in turn.
"Then let's head back, Uncle. We've done enough for now."
Paul, worn out from days of defending the outer forest, perked up instantly at the mention of "home." The image of his wife and children flashed in his mind, and his spirits lifted. He sent out a sword wind that blasted a hill of monster corpses off into the distance.
"Right! Let's go home!"
Sheathing his blade, Paul looked back once more at the valley below. Then, without hesitation, he turned and walked back the way they came—Laws hopping down from the tree beside him with a satisfied smile. As they started their descent, Laws looked over his shoulder at Allen.
Watching them leave so eagerly, Allen couldn't help but laugh.
Really? Not even gonna carry your kids down? Paul I can understand—he's actually exhausted—but you, Laws? You've just been perched up there the whole time. Even if you're not much in a fight, you could at least carry your daughter, couldn't you?
Shaking his head, he glanced up at the tree where Sylphy and Rudeus were watching him expectantly. He leapt up and reached out to lift them down.
But just as he did, Sylphy raised her hand to stop him.
Frowning slightly, she looked troubled by the state of Allen's monster-gore-covered clothes. She raised her hand and cast a wind spell to blow the filth off him.
Chunks of flesh and frozen blood fell like red snow.
Rudeus, meanwhile, was still marveling at the mass of monster corpses surrounding them, wearing a proud grin like he was admiring his own collection of trophies.
Allen looked down at Sylphy's focused expression. The sunset caught in her soft, shoulder-length green hair. The breeze from the spell stirred her strands gently, her cheeks tinged with the orange of the evening clouds.
They stood in silence—only Rudeus's muttering filled the space.
"...Didn't expect monster hunting to be this easy. I mean, sparring with Father or Allen didn't really give me a sense of it, but my magic actually worked really well out there. Huh? Wait, did I see something? The spot Father just split open in the ground… was there something under it?"
Allen was just about to make a quip—but something Rudeus had said earlier suddenly flashed through his mind.
"Half? Maybe more!"
"Some just got grazed and fell into the pile and never moved again…"
Fleeting images surged through Allen's brain—dozens of those dark, narrow tunnel mouths cut into the snowy trenches outside the forest.
Deep. Bottomless. Pitch black.
His hand shot out and grabbed Sylphy's, making her jump in surprise. Then he snapped his head around and looked in the direction Rudeus had pointed.
Where Paul's sword had casually torn open the ground moments ago—dozens of black spheres dotted the exposed earth.
[Perception Flow] kicked in—his senses sharpened, vision honed.
Those weren't "spheres."
They were holes.
A dense web of them—dark, circular, freshly carved tunnels.
Rudeus's voice, puzzled, drifted in from beside him.
"Looks like… tunnels? Good thing I froze the ground earlier. If I hadn't, this whole slope might've collapsed… Guess Father's instincts were spot on."
Allen's pupils narrowed into pinpoints.
In Sylphy's stunned gaze, he yanked her into his arms. With his other arm, he grabbed Rudeus—still muttering—and tucked him under his armpit. Crouching to leap, he twisted around, ready to shout to Paul and Laws, who were now some distance ahead and had just turned to wait for them.
"Uncle! It's not over—the monsters—"
BOOM!!
The mountain roared.
Allen's voice was completely drowned out by the deafening explosion.
The ground rumbled.
No—it didn't rumble. It collapsed.
The slope they stood on gave way entirely.
The ice layer beneath their stone spike barricade hadn't been broken from above.
It had been undermined from below.
The monsters had dug out the entire foundation.
A massive crack tore open the ground in front of the tree, tracing the edge of the earthen magic. Allen's eyes met Paul and Laws's just as panic filled both their faces. The rift split the slope between them.
Paul and Laws were already outside the barricade's range. Allen and the two kids were cut off.
He bent his knees to jump—but the ground vanished beneath his feet.
His balance failed. His hair flew upward past his face.
The entire slope collapsed down the mountain in a thunderous landslide.
"AHHH!!"
Sylphy and Rudeus screamed at the top of their lungs.
Paul and Laws dove toward the rift's edge, watching in horror as the mountainside gave way.
"ALLEN!!"
Their shout echoed through the canyon.
Adrenaline flooded Allen's veins. Holding a child under each arm, with Rudeus still screaming and Sylphy covering her mouth as she turned to him—he leapt.
I can do this! It's under twenty meters. I can—shit!!
He'd barely left the ground when he saw them—monsters, dozens, coiled around the edges of the chasm.
They'd tunneled out the hollow beneath the ridge—and now they leapt too.
At the same time.
The air above the crevice exploded with movement. Fog and shadow filled his vision.
They were about to crash into him midair.
Allen instinctively reached for his blade—but realized—
His hands were full.
He couldn't draw his sword.
Silence fell like snow.
Allen's eyes narrowed. [Perception Flow] surged to its maximum limit.
Inwardly, he roared:
Dragon-Saint Battle Aura—Activate!! Focus it on my back!!
A sudden warmth shot through his gut. The walnut-sized core of [Dragon-Saint Aura] compressed tight—down to a shriveled pit. The magic runes etched onto it shrank until they were nearly invisible.
Then—eruption.
Battle aura exploded outward, named after dragons themselves, coiling around his body in a storm of force.