“Where you came from is a mystery, you don’t know half the things you should, and I’ve sometimes thought you might be a bit suspect. But you’re a kind person, and you’re always trying your best to do things right. I know that.”
I didn’t know what to say.
“You saved my life, you saved the villages... And all this time we’ve spent traveling and fighting together was fun. And I’m really grateful for you sending off the people back at the village.”
Like holding my hands over a warm campfire on a freezing cold night, those words quietly warmed the cold and dark parts inside me.
“Will, you’re my friend," Menel said, standing unsteadily in my way. “Friends don’t abandon each other.”
No words would come. Tears welled in my eyes.
“So... We still fighting?” He stood defensively.
I slowly shook my head. “You win.” My despair, my sense of being all alone, all of it had vanished without a trace. I didn’t think I was this temperamental. “Sorry. I was... I dunno. I lost control.”
Menel laughed dryly. “Happens.” He winced, clutched his shoulder, and glared at me. “You’re a real pain in the ass.” Then, his tone completely changed, and he said brightly, “A win’s a win, though. One to me, I guess!”
I grumbled. “I only said that so you’d quit bugging me!”
“Hah! Yeah, you just keep telling yourself that.”
I suddenly realized that the rain had lifted. We joked with each other and laughed together. It seemed that we’d had our first ever argument, and I had lost.
◆
There was a bit of a commotion going on in the village when we got back. After all, I, my equipment, and Menel had all disappeared. Reystov and the other adventurers had been just about to go looking for us.
“What happened?” Reystov asked.
I may have healed Menel’s wounds, but both he and I had come back covered in mud. It was no wonder Reystov had such a scowl on his face.
“I’m sorry for making you worry. I lost my head thinking I didn’t want anyone else to get hurt, and tried to do everything myself. And then Menel beat the stuffing out of me.”
“No no no. You don’t get to just skip over what you did to me. Feckin’ ruthless...”
“I’m really, truly sorry.” I abjectly apologized.
Yeah, simply speaking, that was what it came down to. I tried to do everything myself and got punched. That summed the whole thing up. It sounded ridiculous, even to me.
“Tough-guy disease,” Reystov said, shaking his head.
Maybe he was right. This might have been the kind of idea that only strong people were susceptible to.
“And sometimes it kills them.”
That might actually have happened, had I just gone running off like that. I was so glad Menel had been there for me.
“I’m really sorry for all the trouble I caused. I’m okay now.”
“We won’t screw up next time.”
“Are you planning to take on that thing again?”
“Yes.”
Even now, I could remember exactly what that chimera had looked like. I remembered that huge body, bigger than a wyvern’s; the horde of beasts it had following it; the way it was charged with contempt, ridicule, and malice toward the small. I could remember vividly the wickedness dwelling in its glinting black eyes. That thing had to be hunted down and killed. And besides...
“Chimeras don’t come about naturally. That was definitely the product of a demonic ritual.”
There were definitely demons behind that, and more than likely, they still had their sights on that city of the dead and were intending on reviving the High King.
“Let’s bring them all down before they run off someplace else.”
The adventurers laughed when I said that.
“So we’re going right back up against the enemy we just lost to?”
“This is a dumb and fun-as-hell adventure, all right.”
“Right, I’m gonna go hunt down some reinforcements.”
“Let’s go big! We gotta show that thing who’s boss.”
The powerful enemy made them laugh all the more ferociously. They looked happy, like they were really enjoying themselves.
“Yeah, it’d bug me to let that beast have the last laugh. I’m gonna crack all three of its heads open.” Menel laughed, too.
“Yeah... Let’s get our honor back.” I grinned too, as if everyone’s smiles were contagious. And then, to raise everyone’s fighting spirit even more, I used one of Gus’s special tricks.
“One silver coin for every demon’s head! And for the head of the boss, I’ll pay ten in gold!”
The adventurers immediately broke into a jubilant uproar.
◆
After that, we spent a few days making preparations, sending out scouts (multiple times), and readying our forces—and then I, Menel, Reystov, and a large number of other adventurers made our way into the valley once more.
We weren’t going to be using any tricks in particular. The plan was simple: get enough people together, prepare properly beforehand, and overcome our enemies head-on. I had Pale Moon, Overeater, my circular shield, and my mithril mail. Menel had his bow, a knife, and leather armor. That was us fully equipped.
The trees were sparse. The river that had formed the valley had long since dried up, and where once there had been a river bed, there were now only rocks scattered on the ground.
We made our way deeper and deeper into that barren place, and before long, the long howls of beasts echoed around. I could sense their presence deep in the valley. It looked like the demons’ base really was down here.
“How many do they have?” Menel said quietly. “I think things might be pretty peaceful around here if we wiped out all of them.”
“Yeah. Let’s kill them all.”
“You come out with the most heavy shit sometimes, you know that?”
The adventurers chuckled slightly at our back-and-forth.
We had provided all the support we could by magic, benediction, and the use of fairies before we even stepped into the valley. All that was left was to fight.
“Here they come,” Reystov said.
All kinds of beasts started appearing ahead of us. Every one of them was gushing miasma and had eyes possessed by madness. Their numbers didn’t look as hopeless as before. Maybe I’d cut most of them down a few days ago.
“Hey. Will. I’ve got your back.”
“Thanks. I’m counting on you, Menel.”
Menel and I nodded at each other. Then, I raised Pale Moon, and shouted.
“We’ll storm them from the front!”
War cries came back, one after another.
“Readyyy!!”
Swords were raised.
“For the glory of the Beast Killers!”
Spears were raised.
“By Volt’s lightning sword!”
“Burn hot, fire of Blaze’s valor!”
“Whirl! Grant us winds that blow in our favor!”
We beat our weapons against our shields, a warrior’s gesture to gather the attention of the gods and intimidate our enemies. Everyone cried out the name of their guardian deity and wished for protection.
“May the good gods bless us all!”
“Kill! Kill! Kill! Kill!”
Everyone’s mouths were curved into wild smiles brought on by the tension and excitement of war. They were sweating; their arms and legs were trembling. Then, as one, we drew a deep breath and roared. The war cry reverberated all around us, and everyone broke into a forward sprint, vying to be the first into battle.
“Fire!” Arrows from Menel and the others flew from behind me and into the beasts’ ranks.
“Sagitta Flammeum!” Several magic wielders cast a spell for flaming arrows.
The victory and glory-seeking adventurers sprang hungrily at the beasts, whose order had been thrown into chaos. Swords glinted. Shields were battered with violent sounds. Blood boiled. Hearts beat
faster and harder, and muscles heated up.
This was war. Blood had talked fondly about this sight many times. This was war!
It was meant to be a terrible thing to witness, but for some reason, I was laughing. I felt like I’d arrived in the world of Blood’s epic stories, which I’d only been able to imagine while living in the city of the dead.
I chuckled. Now I was on the battlefield, I appreciated how small I really was. What had I been thinking, saying I’d solve everything myself? In the end, I was only a single element of this battle. A large element, perhaps, or a powerful piece, but not enough to decide its entire course.
For some reason, I was happy that the battlefield no longer looked like a place trivial enough that a single man of exceptional power could do something about it on his own.
I gripped Pale Moon. I could tell that my goddess wasn’t looking sorrowful anymore.
“On the flame of Gracefeel!”
I steeled myself, I shouted my god’s name loud... and I ran straight at the horde.
◆
I swung my spear around and forcibly cut down a pack of small beasts in front. A bull-beast bubbling blood from the edges of its mouth charged at me. I used its momentum and threw it. It smashed into several beasts that weren’t quick enough to get out of the way. A pack of our enemies had been disrupted. Other adventurers rushed in, weapons in hand, and added to the damage.
On the battlefield, it is often more effective to simply overwhelm your opponents with muscular strength instead of trying to add stupid little tricks. I incanted a number of Words as well, and restricted the movements of the enemy group.
While protecting my allies from side attacks, I pushed forward and through, letting nothing stand in my way. Swinging my spear in all directions and yelling, I impaled and struck beasts one after the other, their blood splashing over me, and pressed directly forwards. From behind me, countless arrows and wind and earth elementals helped to clear my way. I could feel that Menel was keeping up behind me and providing me support.
And after running all the way through and past the horde, I found the ruins I’d been looking for hidden between trees and rocks.
It was quite a large structure, made of stone and surrounded by stone walls. The entrance was large, as were the corridors and rooms. From its construction, I guessed that this had once been a secluded monastery where priests had trained; now, it was probably one of the bases of the demons running rampant around here.
The moment I sighted it, my senses, sharpened by magic, picked up a subtle presence. But I couldn’t see anything around that matched it.
“Omnia Vanitas... Erasus.” I quietly incanted a Word of Negation, aiming it forwards, and a large beast showed itself in the shade of a rock in front of the monastery. It had been hiding under the Word of Invisibility.
It had a goat, a lion, and a demidragon’s heads, huge wings, and a tail that was a venomous snake. And all of its heads, and all of its eyes, were filled to bursting with contempt, ridicule, and malice for everything small. It was the same disordered, blasphemous amalgamation of beasts I’d seen before: the chimera.
“Hello,” I said.
I’d considered the possibility that our second meeting would be like our first—that it would fly above us and try to attack us from the rear as the other enemies charged. We’d even prepared a means of shooting it down and made sure everyone knew in advance, but apparently the beast was intelligent enough to know not to use the same trick twice.
If it had been generous enough to fly, I’d been thinking about taking away its wings and sight, slamming it into the ground, and thereafter having everyone beat it up at once. Unfortunately... this was a foe to be reckoned with. After the aerial back attack, it had chosen to lie low, hide itself, and aim for an attack from the side. This really didn’t seem like the intelligence of a beast to me.
“Do you have a bit of... demon in you as well?”
When I asked that question, the chimera’s three mouths all curved upwards into closed-mouth, crescent moon-like smiles.
Multiple beasts and intelligent demons had been crossed together to create an even stronger beast. It wasn’t hard for me to imagine how much blasphemy and bloodshed it must have taken to achieve such a feat. “Are you after the High King...?”
“Ohh...?”
The beast slowly emitted the common language from its vocal cords.
“You know of the High King’s seal. Are you a warrior sent by some god or other?”
I nodded, a little surprised at its lucid question. And if that was its answer to me, then I could be virtually certain: the demons’ objective was neither deep nor far from here.
The demons taking over this base had all been part of the greater plan.
That city of the dead, the ground of the High King’s seal, still wasn’t under the control of any power. If the demons could take the city, they could break the seal, and calamity would once again sweep across this continent. Conversely, if people could take the city, and came to learn about the seal, the seal would be strengthened further.
So, for the demons, Beast Woods was a place that had to remain ravaged. It had to be a crucible of conflict, poverty, and disorder.
They couldn’t allow mankind to advance any further south.
They couldn’t allow people to set their sights on the south.
They couldn’t allow people to think there was any hope to be found in the south.
Once you considered the existence of the demons’ king, their goal in subjugating beasts, attacking cities, and constantly applying pressure was incredibly easy to understand, and blatantly incompatible with the happiness of people.
“In the name of Gracefeel, I will destroy you all.”
“Ohh? But wait. It seems there has been a little misunderstanding. A false impression.”
The chimera’s enormous body slowly walked towards me.
“A false impression.”
“Yes. You see—”
It flowed from its slow walk into a horizontal swipe at me with one of its massive front legs. If it hit me, it would smash my head clean off in a single strike. I leaned back and avoided it, and as I did, I gave the beast a quick spike to send it a message.
“Ghh—!”
It leaped back and put distance between us.
“I’m surprised that demons still use those antiquated classics.”
My mild provocation enraged it. The chimera let out a loud roar and began to charge at me. Real battles rarely began with a clear “ready, set, go”; usually, they started just like this.
I wasn’t going to use any clever schemes this time. There was only one main aspect to my strategy, and it was very ordinary: to make full use of all the power at my disposal. This wasn’t like my battle against the god of undeath, where there had been an overwhelming difference in power between us. This time, I had properly prepared, discussed, taken all measures that could be taken, and now, I was going to win—because that was perfectly possible, as long as I didn’t lose my cool.
“Menel!”
“Gotcha!”
Shouting out a signal to my partner behind, I faced the chimera rushing at me.
◆
The chimera’s huge body came towards me. As I faced it, its demidragon head was on the left, the middle was the lion, and on the right, the goat.
From behind, Menel ran around to the right in a wide arc. The goat’s mouth spoke in a muddy and indistinct voice, and Sagitta Flammeum came flying at Menel.
“You’re not getting me with that!”
The sylphs changed the arrow’s direction, offering him their Protection From Arrows.
Keeping Menel in the corner of my eye, I faced the rushing chimera head on. I was staring down a frontal assault by a beast of greater mass than a wyvern. I may have been strong, but with my small body, it was going to be impossible to physically block or throw this thing.
So I prayed for protection with the blessing Sacred Shield. Drawing from my experience w
ith the wyvern, I set up the shield at a diagonal angle.
The wall of light rose in front of me. The chimera collided with it, its momentum was redirected by the diagonal wall, and it glanced off to the right. Instantly, I erased the shield, and with a shout, I stabbed Pale Moon deep into the chimera’s right side.
“‘Gnomes, gnomes, take his feet! Harden, bind, and nail him down!’”
It was the spell Hold, sent out just at the moment when the wall of light and my spear together had slowed the chimera’s charge. Menel’s spells wouldn’t have been powerful enough to do anything about a chimera in peak condition, but his timing was exquisite. Forced to devote most of its attention to me as the closest attacker, the chimera got its feet caught in Menel’s trap.
Menel sprinted nimbly over the craggy ground. It was hard to run in this place, but the fairies were making sure the path was clear for his feet.
With a proper front-line attacker in front of him, Menel’s skills at mid-range were more impressive than I imagined. It was true that I’d overestimated him, but apparently I had been underestimating him as well. People are so complicated and multifaceted. I realized that coming to a quick conclusion about someone and thinking you had them fully understood was a very foolish thing to do.
As the chimera fought to shake off the earth and stone clinging to it, I took my chance. Screaming a war cry, I relentlessly gouged into it with the blade of my spear. The chimera finally gave out a roar of agony. Its demidragon head attempted to bite me, but stopped dead an instant later. On the other side of it, Menel had shot an arrow towards one of its goat eyes.
Being a multi-headed beast meant it had multiple brains, and if each issued a different command for a different reflex action, it was obvious that the body receiving them would become confused. This beast was simply unnatural as a living creature.
As the chimera fought and screeched wildly, I ran to the other side, where Menel was. The chimera’s enormous body was causing it problems. It couldn’t fully keep track of my movements. Having a huge body made it strong, and fast by the same token, but that body was obstructing its field of view, and there was nothing it could do about it. Having something dance about in close proximity to it was probably the behavior the chimera found the most unpleasant.
The Archer of Beast Woods Page 18