The group of adventurers moved toward the city gate, led by the Guildmaster himself.
With a number that was probably only around a hundred people, we had all prepared to face our enemies.
And my party was appointed by the Guildmaster as the ace card, the main force that would deliver the decisive strike to defeat those monsters.
The main reason why our forces only numbered around a hundred people was because of the kingdom.
The kingdom would not provide their soldiers, because they believed this problem had to be handled by the Guildmaster, and the kingdom would not get involved.
Even though if they helped us, we would surely have several hundred times more troops than we currently had.
Then, the Guildmaster gave me an ordinary iron sword, which he said would be very suitable for me.
He did not buy the sword—he received it from a close friend some time ago.
——
Well, since I already got a sword, why not use it?
Before it began, I might space out and think for a moment. I wanted to pray in my heart, hoping that Cyve would be willing to help me.
If he didn't want to, then I wouldn't be able to use the skills he had given me.
And I would only be able to run around while swinging this sword.
——
Suddenly, in front of the gate, the gate doors were shut tightly.
On top of the gate, several people were already preparing to use their arrows to support us.
I joined the front line along with the others who also carried close-range weapons like mine.
Meanwhile, mages like Hime and Yuu-chan would stay behind and only attack if the front line was overwhelmed.
I assumed the Guildmaster had already made a plan to withstand the monsters' assault.
—
Along the road leading to Necvalion, the monsters walked slowly and stopped about a hundred meters away from our formation.
Their bodies might be around the height of an average adult human, but their size was far from average.
They were perhaps two or three times larger than a human.
They also weren't carrying any weapons. Besides, monsters shouldn't be capable of making plans, right?
If such monsters existed, then this world would already have been conquered by them and humanity would be at the very bottom of the hierarchy.
Compared to elves, dwarves, or dragons, humans could be considered the weakest in terms of strength.
But above all that, humans used their minds to think and devise the best strategies.
——
Dark clouds had covered this city and its surroundings since morning. The cold air made this upcoming battle even more intense.
We were all led by the Guildmaster and several others who had their horses ready to charge the monster army.
Of course, all hope rested on the Guildmaster, as the most important person here.
"Listen! We know that the kingdom's forces won't help us… but even so, this is our city, and we cannot allow them to attack it as they please!" shouted the Guildmaster to encourage us.
Everyone who had been afraid and anxious shifted their focus toward the Guildmaster.
"There may be a thousand of them, but that will not make us falter!" he continued.
I started hearing whispers from behind me, surprised by the overwhelming number.
"A thousand, he said?!" "Seriously, can we win?" "Our numbers are way too different, and we're just the leftover adventurers in this city."
The whispers reached the Guildmaster's ears, and he spoke again.
"I know, they may be far stronger compared to us, but are we going to let them come in and hurt our families?!"
"We continue to fight because we're protecting the people who are precious to us, and the same goes for me right now."
"I don't want to see them cry because we fall and because we're destroyed—"
Van-san, the Guildmaster, clenched his fist and raised it high.
"That's why! We will fight with all our strength, and return home carrying the name of this city's protectors!!" he shouted.
The soldiers who had previously been scared now began to steel their resolve.
I could feel the spirit of those people, making my body tremble a little.
"We must win!" "There is no such thing as defeat for us!"
Their voices echoed in my ears again. They were all fired up.
I could see Van-san's gaze — full of hope and determination.
He turned his horse and looked toward the monsters, preparing to charge.
"We'll wait until they move closer to us, and when that happens, the front line will follow me in the attack."
"The mages will act if any of us need assistance."
"The archers will protect the mages and support from behind," said Van-san.
As if reacting to Van-san's words, the monsters began moving toward us.
They kept moving…
"This is it! Attack!!" shouted Van-san.
He pulled his reins and rushed forward toward the monsters.
We followed behind him, ready to slash any monster that came close.
The monsters also ran toward Van-san at the very front.
In an instant, our forces and the monsters clashed.
The sound of swords echoed everywhere, and the mages continued to cast their spells to support the front line.
The monsters could barely offer any proper resistance.
They could only try to strike us with extremely slow movements.
Which made it easy for us to deal with them, even though their numbers were ten times ours.
Because of that, I had already defeated dozens of monsters trying to attack me.
And during all of that, I didn't feel my stamina decrease — in fact, I felt like I could keep fighting for several hours.
——
Before we realized it, there were no enemies left to defeat.
All of them had been wiped out by our forces.
And even better, there were no casualties among the adventurers.
"We did it!!" shouted Van-san.
We all shouted joyfully because the battle didn't last long.
And the enemies, who were unexpectedly weak, allowed us to deal with them easily.
The burning spirit we had from the start remained ablaze even now.
Victory was ours. And surely, this was thanks to everyone who fought today.
——
Everyone had returned to the front of the guild to rest and recover.
Meanwhile, my party and Van-san remained at the front gate.
Van-san said he wanted to take a sample of the monsters' blood to give to the researchers.
He suspected that Necvalion would be attacked again by monsters like these.
And most likely, this was the work of the Abyss forces that seemed to be rising again.
Because of that, he hoped his prediction was wrong.
But for some reason, after hearing Van-san's words, Hime looked worried.
I could feel her gaze — filled with deep thoughts. As if she knew that all of this would truly happen.