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CHAPTER 263: HOSTILE INTENT

 

—From Aun’s POV—

「Finally made it to the third floor. No wonder they call this place top-tier — the difficulty’s definitely no joke.」

「Mhm. And those weird goblins that showed up on the second floor… I really hate them.」

「Ah, you mean those goblins riding on hippogriffs, right? Arc Goblin Scouters, was it?」

「Yeah. Both the Goblins and the Hippogriffs are probably around low A-rank, but their abilities are just way too annoying.」

Several hours had passed since we broke through Calvados’ blockade. We’d finally reached a structure that housed the staircase leading up to the third level of the top-tier tower.

The second floor was structured much like the first — a vast city-like field. The layout of the buildings was different, but the overall concept seemed similar.

However, the key difference between the first and second floors was the presence of those Arc Goblin Scouters riding Hippogriffs.

Hippogriffs were beasts resembling griffins, with the head and legs of a giant eagle and the body of a horse. Both in terms of combat strength and mobility, they easily outclassed the Killing Leo we encountered in the Lion’s Tower.

What made the Arc Goblin Scouters even more troublesome was their role. They acted more like scouts than direct combatants, possessing a summoning-type skill that allowed them to call nearby monsters. Similar to the Red Goblins found in the Lion’s Tower, but the fact that their mounts could fly made them exponentially more dangerous.

「Once we got into the later half, Drake and Nelfie managed to pick off the Hippogriffs as soon as they appeared, so it worked out. But in the beginning, we had hordes of Slaughter Ogres and S-Rank Cyclops swarming us… It was great for experience points, but it’s definitely best to take out the Arc Goblin Scouters before they can summon anything.」

「We’ll keep handling the air threats, me and Nelfie-neesan!」

「Yeah! I’m counting on you!」

As we stepped onto the third floor, we were met with a barren wasteland beneath a night sky.

The wide open space was dotted here and there with rocky outcrops jutting out of the ground.

「Aun, we’d better move cautiously here. If the monsters are like those on the second floor…」

「Yeah. With no buildings around, if an Arc Goblin Scouter shows up, monsters could swarm in from all directions. If that happens, we’ll either have to retreat or wipe them out with wide-area, high-power attacks. Either way, the danger level’s even higher than the second floor…」

Just then, we heard a low rumbling, steadily growing louder. When we turned toward the sound, we saw plumes of dust rising in the distance.

The worst-case scenario that came to mind was that a massive horde of monsters was heading straight for us.

But… why?

We hadn’t been detected by any Arc Goblin Scouters yet. That meant there was no reason for monsters to be converging on us due to their summoning skill.

「Aniki, what do we do?」

「We don’t know the cause yet. If we retreat now, we won’t be able to prepare for it next time. It’s dangerous, but we need to investigate. Drake, prioritize taking out any Arc Goblin Scouters and Hippogriffs from the air. Kinu and I will handle wide-area magic to thin out the monsters. Shinku, you handle any that slip through while drawing their attention. Nelfie, move flexibly and investigate the cause depending on how things develop.」

「「「「Got it!」」」」

We set up our battle formation.

When we looked carefully at the oncoming horde, the cause revealed itself surprisingly quickly.

At the front of the monster pack were four adventurers.

Among the monsters they were leading, mixed in with large Slaughter Ogres and Cyclopses, we also spotted floating eyeball-like monsters called Golden Gazers and even Evil Werewolves.

The massive swarm had grown into something that, outside a dungeon, would easily be capable of wiping out an entire city — a disaster known as a Stampede.

And this wasn’t just any stampede. This was a tidal wave of A- to S-Rank monsters. Its danger level far exceeded anything we’d faced before.

「A… monster train!?」

「How many monsters are they leading!? I can’t even estimate, there’s so many of them!」

「No time to think about it! We’re wiping them out! Kinu, hit ’em with your biggest one!」

「Leave it to me. 【Azure Fox Fire】!」

As Kinu raised both hands, an enormous ball of blue flame suddenly materialized. From it, countless fox-shaped blue-white flames emerged, racing straight toward the monster horde.

The flames slammed into the horde, each one igniting fiercely and spreading to engulf surrounding monsters, growing even larger as they burned.

The magic skillfully avoided the adventurers themselves, targeting only the monsters behind them. Controlling magic on this scale required tremendous precision. There couldn’t be many people besides Kinu capable of pulling it off.

As expected of Kinu. With a single spell, she’s already turned the tide of battle in our favor.

But then, the adventurers at the front of the horde made an unexpected move.

Suddenly increasing their speed to distance themselves from the monsters, they pulled weapons from their magic bags just as they passed by us—and opened fire, targeting Kinu, who had just helped them.

Shinku and I leapt in to intercept, deflecting their attacks. Then Nelfie immobilized one of the adventurers using her tree magic and paralyzing arrows, successfully capturing him. However, the brief disruption caused Kinu’s magic control to falter, and the burning flames shifted from blue to orange.

「You bastards… you do realize what you’ve just done, don’t you?」

「Tch. Fall back.」

The leader clicked his tongue and gave the retreat order. Abandoning the captured one, the remaining three crushed teleportation stones and vanished instantly.

They had deliberately targeted Kinu, knowing her wide-area magic was the key to controlling the battle. Their attacks had been perfectly coordinated, with no hesitation — clearly premeditated. And with that, it was obvious: even the monster train they’d brought with them had been an intentional setup.

—A clear sign of hostile intent directed at us.

「Aun. That party just now…」

「Yeah. They’re from Calvados, no doubt about it.」

This was a floor beyond the Calvados Coalition’s blockade. With the large-scale liberation war underway, the only adventurers who could have made it past the second floor besides us were members of the Calvados Coalition.

「Sorry, everyone… I’m probably gonna let a few slip through.」

The fury simmering inside me was hard to suppress, but Kinu’s voice helped me regain some composure.

「Phew. We’ve got plenty to ask this guy we caught, but first we need to clear out this monster horde. Might as well turn the whole damn thing into experience points! Don’t hold back — burn through all your magic if you have to!」

One way or another…

First, we take out our frustrations on these monsters.