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Volume 5 Chapter 10: Lightning Speed

Volume 5 Chapter 10: Lightning Speed

That evening, I ventured into the plains near the Spirit City with Gale, Cattleya, and staff members from the Magic Research Institute.

「This plain is where the Spirit Road will appear, right?」

「That’s right, Axel. We’ve sent out vanguards to scout in all directions. If there’s any discovery, we should hear from them soon.」

「Yeah, Berzelia and the others are checking the opposite side of the plain too.」

The grasslands stretched across a vast area.

To search effectively, we had divided into multiple teams. Berzelia and Saki were scouting on the other side of the plains.

During the team assignments, I heard:

「I’m paired with Lysnoir again!」

And:

「That’s my line!」

Though they made a fuss, I trusted both of them to handle their tasks responsibly.

With that thought, I glanced at Daisy sitting in my bosom.

「Daisy, if you sense any magical beast activity, let me know.」
「Got it, buddy!」

For now, all we had to do was walk around and locate where the magical beasts were gathering.

Just as I thought that—

「Director Hundrett! Monsters have appeared!」

A shout filled with urgency echoed across the plains.

—

Cattleya rushed toward the source of the shout and saw the staff of the Magic Research Institute surrounded by monsters.

「This is bad. The advance team is handling it, but there are too many of them—Amber Panthers, Blood Orcs… There are too various monsters.」

The institute’s staff, though not seasoned fighters, were competent magicians. They could handle small to medium-sized magical beasts.

However, the problem was—

… It’s taking them tens of seconds just to take down each one.

Under normal circumstances, speed wouldn’t be an issue for regular subjugations. But here, they needed to defeat the beasts before they devoured too much magic energy from which the Spirit Gate can manifest.

With this many enemies and their current pace of subjugation:

「At this rate, the beasts might consume all of the mana before we finish them off. We need to act fast—」

As Cattleya prepared to dash forward:

「I can reach them from here.」
「Eh…?」

Gale, standing beside her, pulled back his left arm. Then,

「[Screw Blow]!」

With a powerful rotation, the attack was unleashed. In an instant, a violent gust surged straight ahead from the direction of the fist. And then—

「…!?」

The wind struck the monsters in its path, crushing and knocking them far into the distance.

「W-Whoa…」

The spectacle left the nearby staff members dumbfounded, their mouths agape. The reaction was more than understandable.

「Gale… It’s the first time I’ve seen you fight, but it’s overwhelming. So that’s what a heroic feat looks like…」

Cattleya spoke, her words tinged with awe. However, Gale shook his head and replied:

「No, the feat is not mine alone. Look over there.」

He pointed far ahead. And there—

「What in the world…?」

Stood Axel.

「Well, that takes care of it.」

He swung his sword, shaking off blood from it, having just cut down all the monsters in the vicinity.

「How did he get all the way over there so quickly…?」

Even running at her full speed, it would have taken Cattleya several dozen seconds to reach that spot. Not only had Axel traversed that distance, but he had also managed to dispatch all the monsters in that time.

「At the same moment as my strike. His speed is as impressive as ever.」

「And your punches are as solid as ever, Gale. Good to see that.」

Having confirmed the monsters were entirely wiped out, Gale and Axel casually approached each other, lightly bumping their fists.

For them, it might have been nothing remarkable. But for the onlookers—

「All those monsters… gone in an instant…?」

「No way. Is this the power of the heroes…?」

「And the courier… he didn’t even use the skills from his previous job? …And he managed to avoid hitting us, even while clearing out the monsters that were right in our faces…」

Both the staff fighting the monsters and those observing from a distance were equally stunned by what they had just witnessed.

Some of the staff even collapsed to the ground, sitting in a daze as they stared up at Axel with wide eyes.

It must have been quite a shock.

…It seems that the time that has passed since the war with the Demon King I’ve forgotten how overwhelming were the heroes…

「This is… more hopeful than I imagined.」

Cattleya murmured softly, with a hint of excitement to her voice.

「Hm? Something’s starting to light up over there.」

Following his gaze, they noticed blue light, forming a rectangular shape in the air.

The light was spiraling toward the center of the rectangle. Seeing this, Cattleya breathed a sigh.

「Finally, we’ve found it. That is the entrance to the Spirit Road.」