Chapter 247 : Chapter 247
Chapter 247. Overloading (2)
The small girl of the Outsourcing District, Ella, sprinted with everything she had, her life and her future on the line.
Turning her head now and then to check for pursuers, she had already run who knew how many kilometers.
She was clearly passing through streets packed with buildings she saw every day, yet she couldn't relax at all, and her anxiety surged.
Her legs ached. Clothes soaked with sweat clung to her skin, uncomfortable and miserable. For a non-mage unable to use magic, this was an agonizing distance to run.
She suddenly recalled a classmate from school grinning and saying, "If you can't use body-enhancement magic, at least build up your stamina!" She really should have taken that advice.
The city center, spread out beneath the red sunset, bore no resemblance to the usual atmosphere of the 19th Outsourcing District.
Memories from barely minutes ago still burned vividly.
An unremarkable evening — she had gone out hand in hand with her little sister to buy a meal at the bakery. That had been the start of it all.
Without any warning whatsoever, she could only stare in a daze as pterodactyl-like magical beasts — blotting out the sky like a swarm of black insects — came flying in, scattering green light beneath their carapaces.
And the magical beasts, once they had flown overhead, dropped the humanoid magical beasts clutched in their powerful talons right into the middle of the plaza where people were passing through.
She clearly saw the beasts smash the ground on impact, then rise and let out a thundering roar.
Beyond that, she had no idea what happened.
Screams erupted, her vision shook, and she was simply dragged along by her sister's hand, running.
"A, are you okay? Are, are you tired?"
Ella glanced sideways at her little sister running beside her. She was running too, but her breath was already ragged, seemingly at her limit just as Ella was. She looked like she could collapse at any moment.
"I'm…… I'm fine. Sis, let's hurry and get out of here."
"But I can't…… go on……"
The moment she opened her mouth to reply, the terror she had been suppressing pierced through Ella, tangling her already faltering steps and sending her crashing down without mercy.
The instant she hit the ground face-first, a scream from somewhere behind her sent an icy chill down her spine. The magical beasts. They were already right behind her.
Even as fear threatened to shut down her brain, Ella shook her head and somehow crawled forward.
Her little sister stopped ahead and rushed back to pull her to her feet.
"Quick! Let's hide this way!"
They ducked into the entrance of the nearest roadside shop building. It was already too late to outrun them on the open street.
Effectively cornered in a dead end, sensing the short chase was over, Ella clasped her sister's hand tightly.
But it wasn't over yet.
If they hid inside the building, maybe there was still hope. With so many people around, there was no guarantee the beasts would follow specifically after them.
But just as she was thinking such hopeful thoughts — running up the stairs in search of a hiding spot and reaching the third-floor corridor.
She felt a blinding burst of mana light from behind, and Ella yanked her sister's hand back and turned.
"Wh, who are you! You two!"
Standing there was a man draped in a modern-style robe, teeth gritted, aiming a wand at them. He appeared to be a refugee who had arrived first.
"P, please hide us! The magical beasts are outside!"
"D, damn it! I was here first — don't come crawling in here. If the beasts find us, we're all dead!"
"But, we're……!!"
"Get out! Otherwise I'll kill you both!"
The man leveled his short wand, concentrated its glowing mana, and projected a spinning magic circle.
But the next instant, a deep vibration shook the entire interior with a rumbling boom. It felt as if something enormous had latched onto the outer wall, and everyone turned their heads.
The moment she rushed to look at the window, Ella froze in place, face drained of color.
Filling the entire window was a pair of massive, hollow eyes radiating a sickly green glow, staring straight at her.
A flying-type magical beast of enormous size had clamped onto the building's exterior with its powerful talons and landed. In that instant, Ella instinctively sensed the danger and clamped a hand over her mouth.
If the flying-type was here, that meant the humanoid magical beast it had been carrying had already reached this place——
The girl was startled, but the man was outright terrified. He forgot even to activate his magic circle and stumbled backward.
"Damn it, how is this possible! They said the front line was fine……!"
Clutching his magic gear, the man staggered back as if he simply couldn't comprehend it.
That sealed their fates.
Suddenly, the third-floor beneath where he stepped caved in with a sickening crack, and from below, an experimental magical beast — sporting long spike-like carapace lances on both arms — erupted upward.
Having lost his balance on the crumbling floor and fallen, the man was skewered by the carapace lance in midair before the beast touched down. With a swing of its arm, it slammed him into the floor and roared.
The girl collapsed to her knees, clutching her ears against the earsplitting screech. Her little sister spread both arms wide, shielding Ella.
"Run, sis! Hurry——!"
"N, no……!"
Tears streaming, Ella let out a wretched cry and reached forward.
But her arm never reached.
Like slow motion from a movie she had once seen, she watched the beast charge at her sister, its green gleam trailing from its eyes, and her vision blurred with tears.
She couldn't bear to watch.
In that moment that felt like eternity, a sudden thunderous roar shook her vision violently.
BOOOOOOM!!
She realized belatedly that the beast charging at them had taken a direct hit from a bombardment shell fired from the side. It staggered sideways, nearly toppling.
Before she could even register what had happened, a second shell screamed in and blew away half the beast's upper body.
"Haaaaaah!"
The beast, spinning and staggering like a top, tried to right itself — but in the next instant, a figure gripping a jet-black Lance cried out with a clear battle shout and surged forward.
Sliding low across the ground, twisting at the waist, the figure delivered a full swing with the entire shaft and sent the enemy flying.
THUUUUUUUNG!!
The beast sailed like a leaf, embedded itself in the wall, tumbled to the floor, and crumbled into black ash. Ella stared blankly, then turned to look beside her.
A woman had emerged in the dim interior, silhouetted against the sunset light streaming through the window.
Long, wavy ash-brown hair. A short red skirt revealing slender yet full thighs, above which the jet-black Dragoon uniform rippled.
Even as a fellow girl, she was breathtakingly beautiful.
"Are you alright? I'm Alicia, of the Victoria Dragoons!"
The girl who introduced herself as Alicia approached right to them, carefully knelt, and met their eyes with a serious expression.
"Listen carefully. If you follow the main road from here, there's a temporary shelter where people have gathered. Go there and get to safety."
"U, understood. Thank you so much! Ma'am Dragoon!"
Her little sister cried this and pulled her by the hand, but Ella hesitated, then raised her head.
"B, but are you okay? If you're fighting alone like this, you could get hurt……"
But the Dragoon girl quietly shook her head.
"I'm fine — I'm not alone."
Alicia said that much, then leaned forward and smiled warmly.
"Right now, I'm fighting under a truly trustworthy commander!"
"R, really?"
"That's right. And that person is none other than Lord Enoch Elsyde, Direct Lineage of the Elsyde Main House."
At that, Ella's eyes went wide.
"Enoch Elsyde? R, really Lord Enoch Elsyde?"
"Hm? Do you know him?"
"H, how could I not……"
The man who had cleared an Exemption Mission thought to be impossible to survive, and who had even thwarted a conspiracy by the secret society of Black Mages called Vendetta. The one who had once been scorned as a non-mage.
The name Enoch Elsyde was already known throughout the Outsourcing District, even amid all the speculation.
Recalling the news that these magical beasts were all creations of Black Mages, the girl jerked her head up and asked Alicia,
"Th, then. Can we survive too?"
"Of course! Just leave it to us!"
Waving goodbye as the girl disappeared around the corridor corner, pulled by her sister's hand, Alicia raised her fingers to the communicator in her ear.
"This is Alicia. Direct Lineage, the ground-type magical beast that landed in this sector has been dealt with. However……"
Alicia glanced to the side.
Beyond the window, the flying-type magical beast had already taken to the sky and was fleeing — it had done so the moment the ground-type engaged in combat.
Tracking its silhouette as it raced toward an altitude impossible to pursue, Alicia continued her transmission.
"Enemy has broken contact. It's flying upward. Visual confirmation possible!"
[Good work.]
Enoch's measured voice came through immediately.
[April, if you would.]
[Ugh, r, roger!]
The instant a slender, high-pitched voice responded over the comm.
The distinctive crack of a sniper rifle tore through the air, and a streak of pink light sliced sharply through the sunset-stained sky.
It pierced the enemy's torso in a single shot.
CRRRRRACK!!
White frost instantly bloomed from the point of impact, freezing the beast's wings and stripping it of balance.
The beast immediately began to plummet several meters toward the ground, tumbling as it went.
But the beast was still a beast.
The flying-type Experimental Subject seemed to be trying to leverage its regeneration — it severed its own frozen wings with its beak and began to recover even as it fell.
— No, at this rate it'll recover.
Thinking that, Alicia urgently turned toward the direction of the sniper shot. On the collapsed uppermost floor of a tall building roughly a hundred meters away, she could see Enoch and April watching the same target.
Realizing they were within shouting distance, Alicia cried out toward them.
"Direct Lineage! At this rate it'll recover!"
***
Enoch, who had been monitoring and commanding the battle, heard Alicia's shout from the side and glanced down toward her position.
There was some distance between them, but what she was trying to say was clear. At this rate, they certainly wouldn't be able to shoot that beast down.
But there was no problem. Because——
"Hmph, so she says."
A clear voice rang in his ear, and Enoch glanced behind him. Sure enough, a Beast-kin girl was walking toward him, tail swaying left and right.
Enoch met her ruby-like eyes and gave a small nod.
"Sirocco, drop it."
"Sure!"
Brushing past Enoch, Sirocco, ears pricked and red, slammed her foot into the ground.
Scarlet mana rose in a ring around her ankle, and with leg strength enough to shatter the building's corner, she kicked off the ground and rocketed dozens of meters into the air, then spun her body forward several times.
The moment her body — loaded with all that rotational and leaping force — hung large against the sunset sky.
Sirocco traced a parabolic arc over the beast's head and brought her raised foot crashing down before her prim eyes.
THWAAAAAAAM!!
Transparent shockwaves rippled outward in concentric circles from dozens of meters up, and in the same instant the enemy's body was fired straight down into the ground at supersonic speed.
Below, on the ground, five or six beasts that had been chasing civilians were crushed flat beneath the falling flying-type's body, and a column of dust dozens of meters high erupted from the impact like a tank shell.
The ground heaved, nearby building facades cracked under the strain, and lower floors' windows shattered all at once.
The shockwave was powerful enough that freelancers and beasts alike across the surrounding area all stopped and stared blankly at the scene.
From the billowing cloud of dust, Sirocco emerged with a light yawn.
Enoch quietly studied the ring-shaped scarlet mana coiled around her bare ankle, and felt a slight thrill at its formidable power.
Her magical output has gotten even stronger.
It wasn't his imagination. Sirocco's Unique Magic was definitely growing more powerful.
Her self-assessment of being in a growth spurt wasn't wrong. While her technical control of magic hadn't shown major development yet, the raw output itself was climbing ever higher.
On top of that, her continually growing body was supporting that output, and she was clearly still strengthening even in this very moment.
Just then, Sirocco lightly kicked off the ground and landed nimbly before Enoch on the building roof, padding closer.
Then she looked up at him, eyes gleaming with prim satisfaction as if to ask how she did.
"Hmm~. How was that? I did good, right?"
"Yeah. Good work."
"Then praise me already."
Sirocco said this, pushing her head forward. Her wolf ears atop her head twitched.
Watching, Enoch tilted his head slightly.
"Praise?"
"Can't you tell just by looking? I'm telling you to pet me."
"What?"
Somewhat caught off guard by the unexpected answer, Enoch blanked for a moment. Sirocco stroked her own hair and averted her gaze with a prim expression.
"W, well, there was that time. When you petted my head before. It felt good, so from now on, if you're going to praise me, do it like that."
"That time — you mean……"
Enoch suddenly realized. When the solo mission was over and he had reunited with Sirocco, he had stroked her head.
Come to think of it, he recalled her saying not to touch her ears or tail carelessly.
Remembering that a Beast-kin's ears and tail were particularly sensitive and important, Enoch carefully placed his hand atop Sirocco's head.
Stroking her soft, glossy hair, he glanced down and saw she was wearing an expression of utter triumph and joy.
As she was, Sirocco happened to spot, through the collapsed floor, a group of freelancers far off encircling and dispatching a beast. She glanced at them and remarked,
"Hmph, rallying those guys was the right call. You did well too. Thanks to them evacuating the civilians, I can fight the enemies to my heart's content."
"That's surprising. You're praising me too?"
Sirocco closed one eye and tilted her chin up primly.
"Obviously. You did well, so you deserve praise too. Besides, without you, things would've been a lot worse."
Enoch nodded slowly. It seemed Sirocco already understood the core of this urban battle.
Compared to the first aerial beast assault on the city center, much had changed. Back then, no ground-type beasts had been dropped, and the numbers had been far fewer.
The most frightening element was the so-called "infection explosion" — the chain-reaction beastification spreading through the city center.
In a densely populated urban area, even a slight delay in response would see the infection spread like wildfire, beyond all control.
Chasing down and eliminating the enemy raid units demanded both speed and precision.
And naturally, the long-range sniper capable of engaging flying-type beasts dozens of meters in the sky was a fixed asset.
Enoch glanced beside him.
"April, next target?"
Even after sniping the flying-type that Sirocco had intercepted, she had been ceaselessly scanning for enemies through her scope, murmuring to herself as if to steady her nerves.
"Phew, I hit it, but at this rate……"
Enoch quietly looked at April, whose pale, exposed shoulders beneath her unzipped jacket were trembling slightly.
"Are you alright? You don't look well."
"Ahaha! Of course! Wh, who do you take me for~?"
April pressed her arm down firmly and forced a smile with a bright voice that sounded put-on.
But Enoch tilted his head, expressionless.
"No, no matter how I look at it, you don't seem alright."
April flinched, eyes widening, but Enoch didn't let up and moved to her side.
Then, kneeling on one knee beside April — who sat clutching her rifle in a sniping position — he whispered near her ear.
"Be honest with me, April."
"Ugh."
April's face went bright red and she turned aside. It seemed the problem was exactly as he'd guessed.
"We haven't even faced Anarchilon yet. Are you already getting nervous?"
"It's…… a little different."
She kept her head down under her ball cap and parted her lips with a somewhat dark expression.
"Being scared is part of it, but it's the pressure. If I mess up here, other people could get hurt or die, you know?"
Saying that, April looked down at the freelancers, scattered in complex formations below, shouting into their communicators, with a conflicted expression.
"On top of that, the freelancers aren't coordinating well. It's a complicated urban battle, and if command breaks down, friendly fire will happen instantly."
Enoch looked down alongside her.
The city center was already pandemonium — enemies, allies, and civilians all mixed together. Yet the freelancers still weren't managing to fight in coordination.
The reason was obvious. Enoch raised his head with a calm expression.
"I understand what you're saying. I only had time to rally the freelancers — I couldn't build a proper chain of command."
"Even just rallying them like this is a miracle."
April fiddled with her communicator.
"It's just, fighting like this, everyone's tripping each other up. There's a very real limit, you know? So……"
Only now did Enoch understand. So that was why April had been so focused yet so consumed by anxiety.
Sniping aerial raid units in an urban environment — mixed in with evacuating civilians and allies — was no easy task.
Enoch quietly studied her trembling shoulders. April probably carried this kind of pressure every time she sniped.
"So the pressure's getting to you?"
"Yeah. If this keeps up, civilian casualties will only grow. That kind of weight on top of everything else makes pulling the trigger……"
April seemed to become conscious of his gaze and smiled darkly, lowering her head.
"Ahaha. Can't even get one thing right. Definitely not cut out for the whole champion thing."
Enoch noticed her slender shoulders trembling and looked down at her quietly.
Unlike her usual operating environment of small-scale freelancer operations, it was only natural she'd show vulnerability in extreme large-scale combat like this.
But right now, a single mistake born of that pressure could decide the entire mission's success or failure.
Resting his hand on April's thin, trembling shoulder, Enoch spoke quietly.
"It's okay, April. You just focus on sniping."
"Wh, what?"
"You said the problem is command. Then unifying the chain of command solves it."
"That's true, but what are you planning to do……?"
"Simple."
Enoch looked down at the freelancers waging their complex urban battle below.
"From now on, I'll take over direct command of the other freelancers' combat as well."
And the next moment, noticing April had stopped trembling and was staring up at him in a daze, Enoch glanced back at her.
"What is it?"
"Wh, what did you say?"
April stared with eyes round in disbelief and cried out.
"Are you serious? You're seriously going to command this entire battle in real time……?!"
"Yes."
Enoch nodded and turned his gaze. But April immediately exclaimed,
"What? B, but commanding every single one of over seventy freelancers in active combat?! That's seriously impossible!!"
"It'll be fine."
Enoch slowly rose to his feet. Then he looked down at the battlefield and quietly closed his eyes.
In the original "Atlas of the Magic Empire," missions that required large-scale command to annihilate enemies had certainly existed.
This was precisely why Enoch had rallied the freelancers.
Feeling memories of the original flicker behind his closed eyelids, Enoch placed two fingers on the communicator in his ear and spoke quietly.
"Because that was the plan from the very beginning."