NOVEL NEXT Chapter 18: Monster Stampede and a Little Reunion
Narrator’s POV
"She's back..."
Said a black-haired beauty while looking over a group of people hugging in the middle of the road.
She was talking to a girl with a very similar facial feature to her own.
The other girl replied with a "yeah...", confirming what she just announced.
The two girls are leaning over one of the buildings while looking at the commotion happening in the middle of the road.
They are silently watching them.
They are specifically looking at a girl that was the center of all the fuss happening.
The two girls are Luna and Stella Nightfall
"hmpf" <Luna>
Luna snorted at the scene.
"You seemed displeased" <Stella>
Stella noticed the displeased reaction of her little sister.
"I wanted to play with her more in the future. But now it’s impossible… "<Luna>
She replied, Frustrated.
In return, Stella forced a smile.
2 days ago, Stella and Luna schemed a plot to entrap Kazue and her party in a certain dungeon.
A dungeon in which Luna used her power to transport most of its residents to the deepest part of the forest, north of the city of Altus.
After leading Kazue's party, Luna managed to teleport Kazue and her party members into a dungeon.
She left a portal for them so they could use it after they defeated an undead knight guarding one of the rooms in the dungeon.
As expected, they managed to defeat the undead knight and were able to safely return to the city of Altus.
A portal appeared out of nowhere in front of a dejected group of people.
From that portal, a group of people appeared.
This was after a while when the search party from the city of Altus saw the ominous sight of the army of 100,000 undead deep in the forest.
Amongst them was the mastermind of all this, Luna.
At that moment Luna knew that they were able to clear her test.
She set up the portal beforehand to transport the party close to her when they can clear her test.
This is also how she knew that Kazue and her party members had cleared her test.
She was expecting a group of 6 people to appear but there were only 5 of them there.
To Luna's surprise, they returned without the girl named Mizusawa Kazue.
At first, Luna had a troubling thought that Kazue might have died during her test but soon she discovered that she was left behind by accident.
Kazue’s comrade insisted to return to the forest to find her but they were stopped by the Adventurer's guild.
The guild master ordered to have a search party to find Kazue in there instead.
After all, he could not leave them to go now after he personally saw them appear from thin air, he decided that he must know what happened to them.
His instinct is telling him that their mysterious appearance is related to the problem they are facing right now.
In the end, the party could not refuse the guild master who insisted that they should rest first and leave the matters to the other adventurers.
At this time the Nightfall sisters left Altus on the pretext of joining the search party to find Kazue.
In truth, they took the time to meet the god who favored Kazue so they could report what happened to her.
The two felt that they must inform the god who favors her just in case she died in the dungeon.
Thus, back to the present time.
“HAAAAAA~~~~~” <Luna>
Luna sigh loudly once again.
"To think that she forbids you to mess with her... she likes this Kazue- child huh." <Stella>
"I know right..." <Luna>
She was looking over at the party who accidentally left Kazue behind.
They were desperate and begged the guards to let them through so they could look for Kazue.
The other adventurers are stopping them from doing so and asked them to wait.
The situation outside right now is dangerous.
After all, they have now found out that there is an army of undead in the forest where they want to go.
If they go now, they might have themself killed.
Even though they knew about the dangers they still insisted to leave and started to beg the guards at the gate.
But there was no need for them to look for Kazue in the first place.
Luna knew that Kazue had safely departed the dungeon.
After all, she just used the portal she created to escape.
Moments later, Kazue appeared as if this had nothing to do with her.
"Haaaaaaaa~~~" <Luna>
Luna ejected a huge amount of air from her mouth to release some of her displeasure once again.
Stella lifted her index finger into the air and started talking.
"To think that Themis herself would warn us not to touch her... It seems like she really likes this girl." <Stella>
"... still that is half the fun. I wanted to mess with all of them." <Luna>
"Well, she also said that she would allow her to join the upcoming battle here, So I think it is OK?" <Stella>
"... But still, we have to make sure she won’t die from this..." <Luna>
Luna said in a disheartened voice.
"I guess for this event we just have to make sure that she survives, after this, we have no responsibility to her." <Luna>
Luna pushed her body away from the wall where they are leaning then stretched her body as if she was preparing to move.
"I guess we should start the show then..." <Luna>
"Yeah... I am tired of doing nothing." <Stella>
They started walking to a deserted area in the city.
Arriving at an alley where almost no one passes through.
Without saying a word Luna lifted her hand open.
The space distorted like mirrors breaking.
From that a spherical crystal fell from the distorted space, it appeared that it just popped out of nowhere and fell into Luna’s hands.
This crystal was what people in this world call a "dungeon core".
"With this, the monster would start marching toward this place. now then... let's start the show." <Luna>
***********************
Mizusawa Kazue returned to the city of Altus safe and sound.
After getting trapped and got accidentally left behind in a dungeon she was able to survive and return to the city.
At the gate of the city, she saw her party member who was about to head out to look for her.
They had a heartfelt reunion in the middle of the road and created a ruckus.
After her party members had calmed down, Kazue immediately asked to go to the guild to report her findings to the guild master and report what she discovered.
They were asked to go to the guild master’s office to report.
Kazue was able to meet the guild master.
She explained all the things that she knew.
With that, they were able to determine that the cause of all the oddities in the forest was the mysterious black portals Kazue and her party had encountered.
In the past 2 days, the search party was not able to find much aside from the army of undead deep in the forest, but thanks to her report they knew what to expect.
Kazue reported the fact that she was lucky enough to encounter an A-rank adventurer named Argent inside the dungeon.
According to him, the portals were the cause of the monster roaming the forest.
These portals transported the monsters from the dungeon into the forest.
The dungeon they originated in was a dungeon called "Undead King's Lair" which was located in the Marchial kingdom which was in a faraway land.
From his assessment, it appears that the boss and most of the monsters in that dungeon were transported into the forest.
The only question that remains now was the origin of those black portals and the reason why they existed.
Argent guessed that it was some kind of magic, but he was not 100% sure.
No one knew the origin of this black portal thus shall be investigated later on.
The important thing right now was how to deal with the army of undead lurking in the forest.
"So, you are saying that this portal's origin is still unknown." <David>
The guild master David Craig, muttered as he checks what he heard from Kazue.
The man was in his late 30s, he was skinny but still gave off an intimidating aura around him.
This was the first time Kazue had seen a guild master face to face.
David Craig was an A-rank Adventurer before he became the guild master of Altus city.
He had long been away from the front line for a year because of the work that came along from being the guild master.
But this time he could not afford to stay away from battle since they were in a dire situation that forced him to be on the front lines.
"Unfortunately, I have no idea what it was." <Kazue>
Kazue replied to the guild master.
All of the members of the "Water Oath" party were inside the guild's office while Kazue reported to the guild master.
"I see." <David>
The guild master held on the bridge on his nose after hearing the report from Kazue.
"It seems that we have a huge problem at hand. You say that you heard that the origin of those monsters is the "undead Kings Lair" correct?" <David>
"That is what I heard." <Kazue>
"... I see... But what the hell is happening? I have no idea what kind of dungeon is that “undead king's Lair" since as you have said it is a dungeon somewhere in the kingdom of Marchial. I have no information about that dungeon at all." <David>
The guild master clicked his tongue.
Kazue and her party member stood silently as they wait for the guild master’s decision on the matter.
Kazue and her party members became silent in front of the guild master who was deep in thought.
They are awkwardly looking at each other as if asking “What now?”.
Then without a warning.
The crystal ball which was lying idly a top of the guild master's table began lighting up.
"SIR DAVID!" <Crystal ball>
A voice rang out from it.
David puts his hands over the crystal ball and replies to the voice.
"Yes, what is this about." <David>
"It's about the undead movement inside the forest." <Crystal ball>
"!!"
All of the people in the room focused on the voice coming from the crystal ball.
"Continue" <David>
He replied to the voice coming from the crystal ball.
David did not mind Kazue’s party knowing about the report concerning the undead in the forest.
In the first place, he has no intention to hide it.
After all, he was going to announce the situation in public later on.
"They have started moving all of the sudden." <Crystal ball>
"What?! Why"<David>
"We still have no idea why but we are certain that they are moving straight toward the direction of the city." <Crystal ball>
"What!!!" <David>
"There is no doubt about it. We tried to see if they are heading somewhere else but all of the monsters in here started moving toward the city." <Crystal ball>
"If nothing is to be done, they would eventually swarm the city, what should we do sir?" <Crystal ball>
"..." <David>
David went silent and was thinking about what to do, he thought.
"so those monsters started moving. I had a hunch that they would eventually go to this city sooner or later." <David>
His face made a difficult expression.
"It's Water Oath, was it? The name of your party? Who is the leader?" <David>
Kazue together with Rio, Grace, Amy, and Lucas looked at a certain person in the room.
"Y-yes?!" <Charlotte>
Charlotte almost yelled as she realized that it was her time to talk.
"I am Charlotte, The leader of the Water Oath party." <Charlotte>
David nods at her after confirming.
"May I ask you and your party to help Olive to gather all of the soldiers and adventurers in the city to the square? Inform them that I will meet them 2 hours from now, for the time being, I shall talk with others to devise a plan to defend the city." <David>
"Roger, Sir David! The Water Oath party shall help with that. Leave it to us!" <Charlotte>
Charlotte was in a salute position.
"I leave it all to you." <David>
All of them went out of the guild master's office.
Kazue's party, the "Water Oath" led by Charlotte started informing the adventurers and soldiers in the city.
From the guild building, the party started screaming and informing the guards, soldiers, and adventurers to gather in the town square ASAP.
The announcement spread like wildfire from within the city.
Just as planned a lot of adventurers and soldiers, even the townspeople gathered in the square.
This was not to cause panic but to inform everyone so they would know what to expect and what to do.
During the emergency meeting.
David announced the current situation to the people in the town square.
David also instructed them on the general plan.
The emergency meeting ended after an hour.
The meeting filled the city with a sense of anxiety after hearing the march of undead monsters toward the city.
It gave a sense of urgency to all the people in the city.
They knew that time is of the essence.
They did not have the time to argue with most of the plans the guild master and his aide decided.
Despite being outnumbered by the enemies, adventurers and soldiers are stronger than most of the undead monsters charging into the city.
The E and F rank Adventurers together with most of the soldiers are tasked to defend the city.
C and D rank adventurers with some elite soldiers are tasked to help the frontline and defeat the monsters charging to the city.
The lead group is composed of the Heroes' Party together with the Strongest soldiers and adventurers of the rank B and up.
They are tasked to move and defeat the Undead king.
According to the reports, there is an estimated 100,000 undead in the forest.
While the fighting force of Altus is about 4,000 soldiers and adventurers combined.
Although most of the adventurers and soldiers can take out most of the undead without much trouble.
The difference in number is about 25 times.
The army of undead would arrive at the city in 2 days.
On the first day, the city fortified the defense by making fences, traps, and blockades to slow down their advance.
In normal circumstances, decreasing the number of advancing monsters bit by bit is the right approach to defend the city.
Unfortunately, this was not possible because of the boss monster, Undead King.
With the Undead king around, even if they lessen the number of undead, moving to the city.
Even if the adventurer and the soldiers defeat the horde of undead the wave of undead will never end.
The Undead king's wound simply spawns more undead.
So, to win this, they must eliminate the source, They must defeat the "Undead King" first.
Right away the Adventurers, Soldiers, and townspeople moved according to the plan.
The Frontline troupe left the city with no time to waste.
The soldiers assisted the townspeople to evacuate in a safer part of the city.
Adventurers fortified the defenses of the city by setting traps and barricading outside the walls.
At the moment there are more than 2500 soldiers, almost 600 F-rank 500 E-ranks, 200 D-ranks, 47 C-ranks, 5 B-ranks, and 1 A-Rank who was also the City’s guild master.
A total of about 4000 people.
Kazue and her party members were E-rank adventurers.
They are tasked to defend the area near the city walls.
At the moment, there are about 2000 soldiers and 1100 adventurers who are protecting the city.
They are not allowed to join the frontline since if they die, they will just be added to the undead that should be eliminated and would just end up as dead weight.
Most of the people on the frontline were the elite soldiers and veteran adventurers, led by the Hero's party, guild master, and Soldier General.
***********
After the emergency meeting in the plaza
Kazue returned to the inn.
Rio had never looked for an inn in this city and most of the inns are already rented after the adventurers from the Capital arrived in the city 2 days ago.
There is no vacant inn left in the city at the moment.
She went back to the inn that she rented with the merchant girls and asked the manager if they can let Rio join them.
Luckily Kazue and the merchants rented a room for 6 people and since there were only four of them, they asked the manager to allow Rio to join them in their room.
Together with Rio, they entered the room.
"Welcome back Kazue... Oh, ~ Is that Ota-san?!" <Emika>
Emika looked very surprised at the other face she saw when Kazue entered their room.
Rio replied with a nod to Emika.
“Ota-san... So, you left the castle too?" <Akemi>
"Ah, yes..." <Rio>
Rio gave Akemi a short reply.
Rio was not good at talking to people other than Kazue.
This was true even now, after all the only person she was close to in their class was Kazue.
Her relationship with the merchant girls was only that of a classmate, they are not particularly close, to begin with.
"Ah, I met her at the plaza when the adventurers in the capital arrived. She also joined as a temporary member of the party that I joined and we've partied up since then." <Kazue>
"Oh~ that is what happened…”<Akemi>
Akemi welcomed Rio with a smile.
Then... her face changed expressions.
The welcoming face that she had a while ago went away.
Then she asked.
“I heard the news. So, an army of undead is coming here right?" <Akemi>
Akemi asked in a serious tone.
Akemi was not in the plaza when the guild master announced the plan to defend the city from the marching monsters.
Apparently, Akemi heard the news from other tenants of the inn.
"Yeah, they will arrive in 2 days." <Kazue>
Kazue replied.
"... Undead, it's like zombies and skeletons, right? hiiiiii~ this reminds me of zombie movies I watched." <Reno>
Reno’s face turned pale as she remembers a scene from a movie she watched back in their world.
"Before that... I'm so exhausted... can I use the bathroom I want to wash up and rest..." <Kazue>
Kazue went straight toward the bathroom without waiting for the girls to reply.
While she was doing so, the three focused their attention on Rio.
"Ota-san, how have you been?" <Akemi>
"I... I’m fi-fine..." <Rio>
Rio, who was not expecting Akemi to suddenly talk to her stuttered her words as she replied.
Because of this, her face turned red out of her embarrassment.
"I am sorry that our room is a bit messy. We did not expect you to join us here." <Akemi>
Akemi continued to talk to Rio.
Akemi walked toward one of the empty beds that none of them use and fixed it for a moment.
"You can use this one." <Akemi>
"ah... thanks" <Rio>
Rio replied, her voice soft and reserved.
"Don't be shy~ we will be sharing a room from now on after all." <Akemi>
The three girls continuously asked Rio questions about her adventures and their other classmates.
Rio on the other hand used her mind-reading ability just in case but found no ill feelings toward her.
The girls are genuine and are trying their best to make Rio feel at ease.
She just answered the question her classmates asked.
20 minutes have passed since then and Rio is starting to feel at ease with the 3 girls.
"So, the others also left the castle huh?" <Akemi>
"yes." <Rio>
At that moment Kazue went out of the bathroom feeling refreshed.
she was wearing simple shorts and a shirt that she bought in the capital not too long ago.
"fuaahh~~ that was refreshing~” <Kazue>
She got out of the bathroom with her hair still wet.
Kazue was refreshed after a long bath.
She lazily walked toward the bed she uses.
After bathing, the exhaustion from what happened in the past days had build-up and started to hit her all at once.
Her eyes were heavy and very sleepy.
Reno noticed that Kazue was exhausted and without thinking so much she asked about it.
"Wow, this is the first time I saw you this exhausted... did something happen?" <Reno>
"Ah... no not much...it's... just..." <Kazue>
Kazue, with her hair still a bit wet, allowed her body to fall on the bed while burying her face in the soft pillow.
She relaxed her body
"NOT MUCH?!" <Rio>
Rio yelled at Kazue.
"mha ihts ..." <Kazue>
Kazue tried to reply to Rio but her consciousness faded after she felt the soft sensation of the bed and the pillow supporting her body.
"We thought you might have died there!" <Rio>
"""DIED?!""" <Girls>
The merchant girl’s eyes went wide after hearing that.
"Kazue?! what the hell happened there?" <Emika>
"..." <Kazue>
"... Kazue?" <Emika>
Kazue did not reply.
Emika, was curious why she just stayed there without replying and did not even bother moving.
She went close to Kazue.
"Kazue...??” <Emika>
"Eh, is something wrong?" <Akemi>
Akemi asked Emika who is looking at Kazue closely.
"She's asleep" <Emika>
"She must have been really tired." <Reno>
"It can't be helped ..." <Rio>
Rio said while looking down.
"So? what happened?" <Reno>
In the end, Kazue was too exhausted to even keep herself awake.
Rio was the one who explained what happened to Kazue to the three.
Thus the merchant girls and Rio chats for the night.
This also helped Rio to feel at ease with the merchant girls.
When Kazue woke up, it was already morning.
She fell asleep early in the afternoon and woke up after the sun had already risen.
It was the longest sleep she ever had since she arrives in this world.
She felt refreshed.
Rio and Kazue were on their way to meet up with their party, Water Oath.
They would meet in front of the guild today.
Since the party, Water Oath was an E-Rank adventurer party they are with other adventurers who are D-rank and below with 2000 soldiers who are tasked to protect the city walls.
Right now, the area outside became a campsite for soldiers and Adventurers alike.
As the two were walking to the promised meeting place.
"Ah." <Kazue>
"Ah..." <Rio>
Kazue and Rio let out a voice.
Their eyes were round and stopped moving altogether.
They came across some familiar faces.
Just like Kazue and Rio, they have stopped moving for some reason.
"""Ah."""
They did not expect to meet Kazue in such a place.
"OH~! Is that you Mizusawa-san?!" <Girl>
One of them yelled after seeing Kazue.
It was a girl wearing a mage-like outfit.
She looks a bit different from what Kazue remembers but she was able to recognize her despite the change in her appearance.
Originally, she had black hair but now her hair was brown.
"...Yanase-san..." <Kazue>
Kazue replied to the person who had called out her name.
She was walking with a lot of other people and to her surprise, she knew most of them.
"What? Mizusawa? Do you mean THAT Mizusawa? Mizusawa Kazue?" <Slime Boy>
A boy with slime familiar on his shoulder said.
"Oh, it is Mizusawa-san." <Thief Girl>
Said a girl wearing a Tank top shirt and shorts.
"hee~ Mizusawa, so she's doing well after all." <Boy 2>
Said a boy wearing leather armor and a sword.
"Mizusawa Kazue?!" <Boy 3>
A boy with brown hair said while startled and his face was all red.
"What?! did you say Mizusawa? OH! Ane-san!" <Underlings>
Four boys said in unison after they heard the name of Kazue.
"!!" <Kazue>
Kazue almost let out a groan after hearing the word "Ane-san"
After hearing that word, she already knew who they were.
The party of four boys somehow became her underling.
"Ane-san?" <Underlings>
They all looked at the group of 4 boys who suddenly called Kazue, "Ane-san".
She sighs and placed her palm on her face.
The group that Kazue came across just now is her former classmates.
They seemed to have grouped up together.
Earlier, Yanase Yokuami invited her classmates to join her and her party in this upcoming battle with the undead.
It seemed that they agreed, after all acting alone against an army of monsters is not a good idea at this time.
She persuaded her former classmates to team up with her party temporarily.
And right now, Yanase is doing the same with Kazue.
During the meeting in the plaza, the guild master suggested that parties of adventurers should group into 15-25 members and act as a unit for this battle.
Grouping up in such a number will greatly increase the chances of surviving against the army of undead.
As a result, they have now joined together.
Originally, Yanase was just looking for Rio.
Yanase recalls that she also saw Rio coming to Altus.
But when they found her, she was with Kazue.
Kazue consulted with her party leader, Charlotte and she agreed to join them without any hesitation.
It was perfect since the Water Oath party will have to join a unit in one way or another.
Instead of joining some random adventurers out there, they decided to join the people that Kazue knew personally.
With the Water Oath joining them, their little unit of 19, is now complete.
Later that day.
Adventurers have begun gathering outside of the city walls.
They started to make camps outside the city.
The sun is about to fall and the adventurers and soldiers are starting to make a fire near their camps.
Their unit is gathered next to the campfire.
The leader of their unit started talking.
"As you all know at this time the front line should be engaged in battle with the army of undead." <Leader>
It was a man who is in his mid-20s, he had a very generic face that is not good-looking nor it is bad.
His good-built body makes him give off the feel of an experienced Adventurer.
His name is Marvin, a D-rank adventurer who is the leader of the Brave road party where Yanase was a member.
The members of the unit nod at his declaration.
"Even though we are away from the main battlefield we must not lower our guards. The front line may be composed of strong adventurers and soldiers but in front of 100,000 undead, they will not be able to stop them all from advancing. Since most of the members of our units are E and F-ranks, we are tasked to be the reinforcement unit for the D-ranks adventures who are scouting the forest or as reinforcement of the guards inside the city. I know it's late but I would like everyone to introduce themself and let us know your job and specialty." <Marvin>
"Introduction? what is this? the first day of school?" <Kazue>
Kazue said softly to herself.
Rio who had heard this made a crumpled expression on her face.
"Ugg, I don't like this kind of stuff" <Rio>
Rio’s face was pale.
"Ehh? you're still having trouble with that?" <Kazue>
"... it's like you don't know me Kazue, I am bad at this kind of thing." <Rio>
Rio whispered while trembling.
"What are you talking about?" <Amy>
Amy said after noticing Kazue and Rio talking, she decided to join their conversation.
"ah, Rio is having trouble since she is bad at introducing herself." <Kazue>
"What? even though you're such a great Assassin?" <Amy>
"Amy… I think that being a good Assassin is not related to introducing oneself." <Kazue>
"...I suppose," <Amy>
She transformed the expression on her face into a big smile.
"Well, just watch me and learn a thing or two." <Amy>
Amy said while puffing her chest forward.
Kazue’s eyes followed Amy’s chest seemingly bounced on its own.
“Ah~ sure… you’ll definitely get their attention.” <Kazue>
“Duh?! Of course, they will have a good impression of me and remember me well!” <Amy>
Amy scoffed with smugness on her face.
Kazue on the other hand was looking at Amy with lewd eyes just as old men look at young girls.
"I will go first, I am Marvin, my job is a Warrior and I am D-rank and the leader of the Brave Road Party. I am good at clearing monsters with my great sword. I see that most of you are an acquaintance of our member, Yanase. Knowing that I am confident that I can trust all of you here. I will do my best to live up to your expectation of me as the leader of this unit." <Marvin>
The unit listened to his commanding voice.
He talked with confidence behind his voice and his eyes did not doubt himself.
Despite giving a lively introduction, the impression of a reliable leader is oozing out of him.
This gave a sense of relief to all the members of the unit.
No one seemed to doubt his capabilities as a leader.
After all, out of all of the people here, Marvin must be the most experienced adventures amongst all people here.
He looked in the direction of Charlotte next.
She was hesitating to stand up for some reason.
She bit her lips.
Kazue looks behind and glanced at Charlotte.
Kazue noticed that her usual confidence is not present at this time.
She is feeling bad after what happened at the dungeon.
Kazue noticed that this might be the case so she tried to encourage Charlotte.
She pushed Charlotte on her shoulder with her fist.
"Leader, don't lose to some old man okay~" <Kazue>
"Huh? what are you..."<Charlotte>
When Charlotte looked at Kazue that made her stop what she was about to say.
-Sigh-
[seriously even after that you still...] <Charlotte>
Charlotte lightly slapped her cheek with her two hands to reset her mindset.
She showed a confident smile
"Got it... but is not a competition OK?" <Charlotte>
She stood up and closed her eyes.
She pictured the look that Kazue gave her just now.
[Even after that you still trust me that much... then I must do my best to answer your expectation.] <Charlotte>
Charlotte thought to herself.
"I am Charlotte, a Mage, E-Rank, and the leader of the Water Oath Party. My specialty is water Magic. I will be acting as the vice leader of this unit." <Charlotte>
The usual confidence in Charlotte is now present.
She looked at her party members and they were giving her a thumbs up.
Then they introduced themselves to each other.
The ones who were introduced first were the solo adventurers.
Ishibashi Minato -Tamer, F-rank.
Tamashiro Naofumu -Swordsman, F-rank.
Hayasaki Keikain -Swordsman, D-rank.
Kazue was a bit thankful for the fact that they have to introduce themselves right now.
Kazue felt a bit sorry for the fact that she has forgotten their name.
She never had a reason to remember their names since she had only talked with them in class a few times.
Listening to their introduction.
Kazue and her former classmates were surprised by the rank of Hayasaki who was already D-rank.
[Just how was he able to get to D-rank in such a short time?] <Kazue>
Kazue thought.
It was only been 2 weeks since he has left the castle and now, he was already a D-rank adventurer.
The next ones to introduce themselves were the So-Mi-Am-Mi party.
This was the group of 4 boys who kept on following Kazue in the capital.
Soga Shunsho -Knight
Amisaki Hyoube -Archer
Wakuri Michio -Mage
Mita Eisuke -Swordsman
They are all F-rank adventurers.
The next ones to introduce themselves were the Brave Road party, Yanase's party members.
April -Cleric, E-rank
Harley -Spearman, E-rank
Francis -Swordsman, E-rank
Yanase Yokuami -Mage, F-rank.
Out of all the members of our unit, their party was the most experienced adventurers out here.
And lastly the members of the Water Oath party.
Amy -Acolyte, E-rank
Lucas -Ranger, E-rank
Grace -Thief, E-rank
Ota Rio -Assassin, F-rank
Mizusawa Kazue -Swordsman, E-rank.
Although Rio and Kazue were only temporary members they still were considered members of that party.
The day had passed without any happening and their unit was on standby.
They used the time to discuss and make strategies and formations for their unit to work well.
**********************
Meanwhile.
In the Frontline
It was almost dusk.
The first encounter between the frontline and the army of undead had started.
BOOM
The loud explosion welcomed the marching undead monsters.
The frontline is composed of about 100 D-rank and above adventurers together with the around 400 elite soldiers of the city of Altus, a total of about 500 people are fighting.
500 vs 100,000 may sound absurd but those 500 people are elites’ soldiers and Adventurers.
They could easily kill zombies and skeletons like they are nothing.
Led by the Guild master, Soldier General, and the Heroes Party.
The battle had risen as the sun falls.
It was quite far from the city itself so they are giving it their all.
Magic and destructive skills devastated the battleground.
In just about 20 minutes mountains upon mountains of undead were defeated.
“Great! Keep pushing them back!” <Adventurer>
Despite the difference in numbers the unit of 500 fighters is managing to keep the army of undead from advancing.
“hump~ looks like we’ll going to manage to hold them here without any problem huh~” <Mage Girl>
A black-haired girl in twin tails said while holding a staff in her hands.
She has just cast a large spell that managed to blow away hundreds of undead.
“Eiko~ don’t let your guards down~ the battle had just started.” <Saint Girl>
Said a girl wearing a white robe.
Her soft angelic voice reaches the ears of the lively girl.
“I know, I know but this is too easy! Eat this Fireball!” <Eiko>
A large ball of fire appeared near Eiko’s staff and blasted toward the undead after she had pointed it toward them.
It exploded and obliterated undead in a radius of 5 meters from where the spell hit.
“Big talk from the girl who was having nightmares after seeing an undead for the first time” <Sword Girl>
A calm-sounding voice called out to Eiko after casting a spell.
“Shut up! Mizu-chan! I did not have a nightmare about zombies.” (Eiko)
“Now?” <Sword Girl>
Mizuko slashed the zombies like it was nothing.
The Sword Princess Haga Mizuko has been slashing the heads of the zombie she came across one after another.
Her strikes were very precise and she moved on the battlefield elegantly.
The soldiers around who were watching her were mesmerized by her movements.
“At this rate, we will definitely be able to eliminate them all before they even reach the city.” <Archer Girl>
A girl with blonde hair said while pulling the string of her bow.
Instead of an actual arrow, a glowing light was shot out from the bow.
The girl gives off an elegant aura that makes you think that she came from a high-class family and rightly so.
She was the 3rd Princess of Artesia Kingdom, Levethy Pau Artesia.
She fixed her hair and relaxed for a bit before looking at a man.
“Well, I wish that would be the case but we have yet to encounter a strong undead up until now… “ <Hano>
The Hero Hano Ryuusei replied to the blonde girl.
“sir victor, what do you think?” <Hano>
“My gut is telling me that that would not be the case here.” <Victor>
The Knight Master Victor Meister replied to Hano.
He had just leveled down an undead knight with just his fist as he was responding toward the Hero, Hano Ryuusei.
“Hero! We have a problem!” <Soldier>
“What is it?” <Hano>
“The Undead Dragon had appeared.” <Soldier>
“About time it shows himself.” <Victor>
The soldier was pointing in the direction of the undead dragon.
At the same time, Hano saw the Undead Dragon.
As if a looming doom had come the last ray of light from the sun had disappeared and it was night.
“Sir, Victor how strong is that thing…” <Hano>
“Undead Dragon huh… that monster is an A-Rank difficulty monster. With your current strength, you guys are still too weak compared to that thing. In the frontline only I and the guild master are probably the only people capable of dealing damage to that thing.” <Victor>
Just as the Knight Master said those words to Hano.
“Sir Knight Master, the guild master is requesting your support with the undead dragon” <Adventurer>
The knight master looked at Hano.
“Well, that is how it is. Mister Hano, can I entrust you with the protection of the princess?” <Victor>
“Sure, leave it to me.” <Hano>
“KAKAKAKAKA~ such confidence. Well, then I will leave her to you.” <Victor>
“Sir. Victor, I am not that weak of a person that I need the protection of the hero. I can at least protect myself if that time comes. I did not join the Heroes party just to be protected!” <Levethy>
“KAKAKAKA~ I suppose you are right Princess Levethy. I am sorry.” <Victor>
The knight master dashed toward the undead dragon.
Magic on the scale Hano and the other Heroes had never seen before was cast by the guild master toward the undead dragon.
With that, the battle on the front line continues.
***********************
Behind the Scene.
Luna and Stella Nightfall are watching the battles on the front line from within their camp.
They have stayed near the city since they are still E-rank Adventurers.
The two are watching the battle in a crystal ball that Luna was holding in her hands.
“It seems that the front line has encountered the army of undead already.” <Luna>
“hoo, ~ looks like I have underestimated the power of that guild master and the Knight master is stronger than I anticipated.” <Stella>
“Well let’s watch for a bit. I will decide what to do when they have encountered the Undead king.” <Luna>
“Do you think they would win against that?” <Stella>
“In time, yes, but I am sure that it will take them a long time to kill the undead king. If they are unlucky, they could even lose to it. The chances of them winning are about 80% though.” <Luna>
“Hmmn~ just as I thought it would. Would you like me to boost the Power of the undead king to make it 50%? I mean 80% is a bit too high…” <Stella>
Stella’s eyes seemed to glow as she suggested this to her sister.
Her expression changed from that of a cheerful face into that of a sadistic smile.
“That sounds tempting but, not right now. This is just our first project. Reserve that for the next time we would make this kind of event again. For now, we just have to assess their abilities.” <Luna>
Stella made a teasing smile.
“foooo~ you are holding back right now fufufu~ Is it because Themis lectured you about getting a hand on her cute child?” <Stella>
Luna’s face crumpled a bit.
“Ah~ I hit the mark huh?” <Stella>
“Shut up.” <Luna>
"I can’t wait to tease these Heroes" <Stella>
“That goes with me as well” <Luna>
In the city of Altus, 17 out of the 28 summoned hero was gathered.
The party of the merchant: Asano Reno (Scholar), Chino Akemi (Appraiser), and Ueda Emika (Merchant).
The party of 4 boys who worship Mizusawa Kazue and act as her underling: Soga Shunsho (Knight), Amisaki Hyoube (Archer), Wakuri Michio (Mage), Mita Eisuke (Swordsman).
The girl with mind-reading ability: Ota Rio (Assassin).
A girl with the ability to steal monsters’ skills: Uesaka Shino (Thief).
The mage with the ability to transform things to her liking: Yanase Yokuami (Mage)
A boy with a mysterious slime: Ishibashi Minato (Tamer)
The boy with a confident smile: Hayasaki Keikain (Swordsman)
The normal-looking boy Tamashiro Naofumi (Swordsman)
The Hero and the girls who like him: Hano Ryuusei (Hero), Sakata Chiho (Saint), Muto Eiko (Sage), Haga Mizuko (Sword Princess)
And the girl who was favored by a god: Mizusawa Kazue. (Swordsman)
All of them have gathered in one place right now because of the mischief of the gods.
***********
Author Note:
Hi there!
It’s been a while! I think it had been a month since my last update.
Hmmm? Why did you ask?
I have a lot of work to do…
LoL just kidding~
In life, there are times when laziness attacks you right?
Watching Youtube, checking up on social media, and all?
As a famous saying says.
“There’s nothing more difficult than fighting laziness,
especially when you are lazy to fight against it.”
Anyway, I am back…!