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CHAPTER 198: THE ARENA BOMB ①

CHAPTER 198: THE ARENA BOMB ①

~Kinu’s Point of View~

After jumping off the flying Drake, Cinque and I landed inside of the ring in the center of the arena.

Maybe because we stood out a whole lot, we were surrounded by the enemy soldiers as soon as we got there, but something seemed to be rather strange and off about them. They were surrounding us, but they were not trying to attack us at all.

The emotions conveyed from their expressions were not that of aggression, but rather of anxiety, impatience, fear, and…… a little bit of expectation? No, it was more like the desire or longing for something……. In that case, the possible explanation for that was —

「Cinque, it seems the enemy’s goal is to buy time here.」

「Buy time? But for what……?」

「Hmm. I don’t know the reason for that quite yet. But we can’t take it easy just because things are that way.」

「Yes, that’s right. But we cannot fight in a place like this with civilians still around……」

Cinque was right in saying that……

Honestly, even with this sheer difference in numbers, there was a big difference in power between us and the rebelling soldiers. Even if they all came at us together, there was certainly a huge difference in their stats that would allow us to easily wipe the floor with them if we were to put up a defensive barrier and unleashed some Area of Effect magic.

However, that would mean dragging the civilians into the conflict as well, and even if we had the noble excuse of “coming here to help,” if it turned out that “Seika was the one who made the first move,” it could put us at a tremendously disadvantageous position later on.

Or rather, I guess they have even taken into account the fact that we would think that and it would be difficult for us to attack them based on that assumption alone……

The enemy probably assumed we would come here either way, and had carefully planned a strategy to prevent a battle with us from starting. There was no doubt that Fernando was the one who gave those orders to those soldiers.

Fernando, who has planned an intricate strategy so meticulously and thoroughly created an environment that made it difficult for us to fight back against him, was a much more difficult opponent to fight than the Satanas muscle-brained Demons we have encountered before, who were overly confident in their military power and blind to anything else.

However, with a little bit of ingenuity, this situation would not be that big of an obstacle for us to overcome.

「No need to worry here, we can easily break through this blockade with the use of your magic, Cinque.」

「You really mean MY magic, not yours, Kinu-sama?」

「Mhm. My magic is way too lethal for a situation like that, so it is hard for me to use it freely without fear of causing unwanted damage.」

「I see. So, what should I do?」

「Fortunately enough, the people here are all concentrated at one edge of the ring. We can protect them with an Iron Wall. That will eliminate the enemy’s advantage in one fell swoop.」

「I see! You use magic not to annihilate the enemy, but to protect the people, instead!」

「Hmm. Magic can be used in many different ways, you see. Querebre should have taught you that, isn’t that right?」

「As expected of Kinu-sama. It goes without saying just how inexperienced I really am.」

「That’s not true. You are far better at protecting someone continuously than I am, Cinque.」

「Okay! Let’s get right to work!」

「Yeah, but wait a minute. I will just do the preliminary work first really quickly.」

To break through this situation, we first needed to make the people clearly recognize that we were on their side. At the same time, it would be better to keep the enemy soldiers in check at all times.

In the end, this would take up time, so it may be what the enemy wanted all along from the start, but let’s just accept it as a necessary expense.

「Listen up, rebels! if you don’t get in our way, we are just going to restrain you. But if you make even the slightest strange move to oppose us, we won’t show you any mercy.」

The atmosphere instantly froze up at my words. However, it was just a setup for the next thing I wanted to say.

「We want to protect the lives of everyone here, first and foremost.」

「What…… What do you mean by that……?」

From this reaction, the soldiers at the bottom probably have not heard anything about the bomb from Fernando. They were probably only given the order to “buy him as much time as possible” and the instruction that “There shouldn’t be any fighting in a place where there are civilians” before they were stationed here.

However, if I mentioned the bomb here, the whole arena would panic right away, and things would get out of hand really fast.

「You shouldn’t ask me why. But please believe my words. We want to save everyone, including you, rebel soldiers.」

Glancing behind me, I could see that the people had heard me and were a little shaken up by my words.

「Cinque, protect the civilians at all cost.」

「Understood.」

At my command, Cinque deployed a spherical Iron Wall that enveloped the people behind us. I could hear confused voices from the inside of the barrier, but I think it would be fine if we deactivated it after neutralizing the enemy soldiers.

Of course, the people were not the only ones surprised by this action. With this move, the enemy soldiers had completely lost any kind of advantage that they might have had. Many of them probably understood what would happen to them if they were to try and break through the iron wall, because of Cinque who went berserk during the Ibuldia invasion.

Taking advantage of the enemy soldiers’ stunned moment, I gave Cinque a quick wink, and Cinque accurately read my intentions and deployed the Iron Wall again. However, this time it was several times larger than before.

In other words, it was a metal wall that enveloped all of the enemy soldiers. It was like an improvised cage of sorts.

Thanks to Cinque, it did not take long for us to take control of the arena after we landed there. The only people we had not managed to capture in the arena were the guards patrolling the perimeter.

Now, let’s prioritize reuniting with Nelfie next. But before that……

「Cinque, please deactivate the Iron Wall on the civilians.」

「Understood.」

It was only for a few minutes, but they were trapped in an enclosed space, so there must have been some confusion and anxiety amongst them. But it was a necessary procedure, and they would naturally understand if they saw all the enemy soldiers neutralized in those few minutes.

It would take time to explain, though……

After releasing the civilians from the Iron Wall, I got to explain the situation together with Cinque in order to calm them down when I heard a telepathic message from Nelfie.

(This is Nelfie. I have found the bomb set up in the arena.)