"From now on we are taking charge! Masaru, please head inside and get some rest."
"Make sure to save some magic power for the Gate, got it?"
In the meantime, I took out a large shield and a quiver of arrows from my item box. I've secured for myself a lot of arrows due to my previous preparation.
"You have done well, oh Masaru. From here on it is the elves turn. Please find yourself a safe spot while waiting."
"We will fight until the end, Lily-sama." Ann asserted to Lily.
"But……"
I've depleted my magic power and Ellie is in charge of the Gate. The only ones left for combat are the priestess and a truth official. We were rushing here and she is not familiar with our abilities yet. No wonder she is feeling reluctant.
Unbeknownst to her, activities such as annihilating half-pint punk monsters are our specialty.
"They are right, and even I have some magic power left."
The "Save the Elf Country" quest is still ongoing. The elves are not saved yet. We are still in a dangerous situation even though I defeated the Earth Turtle King.
"The enemy force is directly ahead of us. There is no more time to argue." After Ann said that, ten elves come toward us.
"Lily-sama! The enemy is coming. It's dangerous over here!"
A female elf, who was dressed as a commander, rushes over to Lily-sama. The other soldiers placed themselves at the wall, and prepared to intercept with their bows.
The one who came barehanded (ed: weaponless?) and carried a cane must be from the wizard corp.
"No matter where I'm staying, the danger level is the same. I'll fight too."
"But……please, at least, why don't you go to the tower where the king is residing?"
"I have my reliable escorts. You should focus more on our defence."
"Your escorts, huh? Including the one with magic that defeated the Earth Turtle King. So, he is one of these guys?"
After saying that she looks at Ellie and the rest of us.
I obediently stand at Lily-sama's side so as to not appear conspicuous, as Lily-sama is a Wind Mage. The most probable other mage candidate is Ellie.
"That is a secret."
"So, a secret……"
Afterwards, elf-san moves her gaze to me.
For a race as versed in magic as the elves, they only need to feel the magic power from us to pinpoint the mage responsible.
Normally, they can only sense a slight amount of magical power leaking from a mage when that mage is not invoking any magic. Since I have far more magic power than what is normal I, in turn, leak much more magic power too.
Well, it doesn't matter if she suspects me. My primary aim is not to be strictly confidential, but to remain unsuspicious. She might suspect Ellie or I, but now that Lily-sama said it's a secret, I believe she will not pursue this matter any further.
And thinking about it, there is no use hiding it.
The only person using Fire Magic here is me, and so the person who is capable of shooting a high-ranking Flare can be easily guessed.
Taking the situation into consideration, I don't think I can survive if I am half-assed in using my magic power.
"I understand. However, I will still evacuate you from here like was originally planned."
Whatever rank this elf-san is holding, I can easily imagine how she is going to be held responsible if any member of the Royal family gets injured.
No matter how good Lily-sama is in combat, there is no doubt the effectiveness of our combat unit will suffer during the fighting while attempting to keep safe someone as important as her.
It is indeed troublesome to be asked to evacuate when we are the escort.
"The enemy will arrive soon." I said, and pointed to the enemy troops.
We can see the monsters slowly marching towards our location. The leading edge of that army has reached the spot where the Earth Turtle King was defeated, and now they are within range of our spells. The harpies, demons which cover the sky (ed: provide air support?), are remaining still and have hardly moved from their original location.
"Then, as long as you are here, I will follow your instructions Lily-sama."
"But of course."
"Did all of you hear that! Lily-sama will be fighting with us. Let's march!!"
All the elves present roared ""OOOOOOOOH!"" upon hearing their commander's order.
"Now, as for you guys, Lily-sama's escort……"
"Of course we are going to fight too." Ellie replies.
"Then, I will leave this place to you."
"Actually, I want you to let us attack first. We will shoot them with our long-range magic."
"……understood."
"Arrows are in-coming! Be prepared, everyone!"
Following the warning from the elf, a rain of arrows streaked in from the enemy side and some even reached our place.
The enemy advancement temporary halted. Is it supposed to be a small-scale team with long-range attacks? Our side has started counter-attacking with arrows and magic from behind the wall.
Right now under Ellie's order, we're holding back our attack. If we can kill all of them at once, then there is no need to waste our energy attacking.
"S-shouldn't we start attacking soon?"
"Wait, just a little bit more." Ellie answered Ann who is getting worried.
Although they are within the proximity of our range magic, it is still a bit too far.
Offensive magic has a required distance and an area of effect. It's dangerous to cast it too close, and it can't go too far either. Even if it somehow manages to go far, if the distance is beyond the spell limit, then consumption of magic power will increase, and its effectiveness will decrease. This phenomenon particularly occurs when a mage is trying to activate a range magic which requires a large amount of magic power.
"Should I join you guys?"
There are still many enemies around. They might not have enough firepower.
"This will turn into an extended battle, so expect many waves of attack. Please conserve your magic power."
"If you insist."
As expected, it will drag into a long-term battle?
The enemy that will be annihilated now is only a part of the whole army. It would be best to keep some magic power in reserve.
"They're coming!" Ellie warned the soldiers.
The enemies who stopped after approaching a certain distance, have now started moving again. A large number of monsters are running towards the wall.
*Rumble**Rumble**Rumble*
The monster troops are reaching the walls.
"Let's go! We will match the timing just like usual."
Ellie, Ann, and Tilika start chanting.
When the casting is complete, the magic of these three people was released simultaneously and a lot of monsters were killed. However……
"Again!"
It doesn't interrupt the attacking waves of the enemy. As if not minding their fellow monsters being blown away by our magic, the monsters continue to press forward.
Second shot, third shot, fourth shot.
The range magic of Ellie and the others has knocked down a massive number of monsters. Despite that, we still can't see the far side of the army. It's not only here. The same situation is occurring along other parts of the wall also.
Although it is a unilateral annihilation, in exchange, we have exhausted a large amount of our magic power.
It will take time to recover the expended magic power. Furthermore, the elves exhausted theirs earlier while trying to defeat the Earth Turtle King.
In the end, if we don't manage to finish off all the enemies by the time our magic power is consumed, be it from the elf side or our side, then at that time we will find it very difficult to stop the demon invasion.
"The enemy force has split and separated." Ellie said after she shot for the fourth time. The demon side seems like they are changing their strategy.
Unlike the Gorbas Fortress, which sat in a narrow valley, the Elf Country is located on a flat field, resulting in a wide battlefield. As a countermeasure to our range magic, unlike with their first charge, this time they are approaching us while distancing themselves. (ed: lol, what?)
Our range magic has become completely obsolete and the elves have started to intercept the attackers individually. Our party was ordered by the elf commander to stand down and take a break.
Sati, with her bow, replaces us as a fighting force.
"Since they are going to converge in the end anyway, why don't we wait and attack them?"
Since the enemy assault is coming sporadically I have no idea how to handle it, so I asked Ellie for her opinion.
The wall covering the kingdom is about 50 meters tall, in addition there is a moat surrounding it. The moat is about 20 meters wide. Even so, they don't seem to have any difficulty approaching us at all.
"That won't do. What if there is an Earth Mage among the enemies?"
That would be bad. Even if they don't have an Earth mage, a Water mage can easily render the moat useless.
It was said that the demons side has some mages with them. Fortunately, they are small in number. If it were otherwise then, just like all human fortresses from past ages, the state of human civilization would be completely obliterated.
Because of that, even if they only have a single mage with them, they could be capable of breaking through. It is dangerous to let the demons nullify the effectiveness of the defense provided by the wall.
For example, when the wall at the Gorbas Fortress was breached, we still managed to push the enemy back with our warriors.
But the elves, who specialize in magic, are weak in close quarter combat. Moreover, the defensive emplacements cover a wide area, therefore their fighting forces are dispersed.
They are strong enough to defend the whole place with their magic, but in the same time that is also their weak point.
What if we attacked from underground?
It is not a hard thing to do. By using the Earth Sonar, there wouldn't be a surprise or other problem if we carefully used our magic power.
Magic power is relatively easy to detect when it is actively used; however, I can dig out an area underground and then wait inside and attack when the enemy approaches. We could also lure them in and bury them there.
However, by creating a hole at the front line, we are increasing the risk of them breaching the wall.
We need to be vigilant towards the mage from the demon side alongside the specialized and larger monsters.
"In other words, as long as we manage to locate the enemy mage and killed it, then everything will be alright," I said while looking at Sati shoot arrows at the approaching monsters.
Enemy arrows are not raining down in this direction.
The fact is if enemy arrows arrived here, then our arrows could reach them too. That is, if the enemy archers were as good as Sati. So far, there hasn't yet been an archer among the enemy who can shoot an arrow as far as Sati.
Perhaps the mage feels like the invasion won't be done any time soon and is therefore remaining at the rear of the enemy force.
"If, you can find him."
There is a limit to what my Magic Sense can do.
Although it is easy to detect when my target is in range, the difficulty rises steeply when the target is out of range. Especially if the mage has weak magic power, then they are hard to distinguish from the others.
Even a beastkin like Sati has magic power. As for the demons, each individual has magic power too. Heck, all living things carry magic power within them. It is just that the amount that they carry is small, hence their inability to utilize it.
"I wish I found it at the start……"
My Magic Sense skill is level 5. I carefully examine the group of enemies in front of me… and… there. Quite far from here, I can sense one strong magic power mixed together with a normal one.
The location is a bit far to attack with magic. Even if my attack could reach, its size is too small and the other monsters are probably going to shield it.
"Sati, come here. Do you know that there is a mage around?"
I point Sati in the direction where I sensed the mage. Sati's Magic Sense is level 3. Not only that, she also has Hawk's Eye. If only she can pinpoint the exact position……
"Perhaps……found it. I'll give it a try."
Sati returns to her post, nocked an arrow and pulled the string of her bow, and let it go——
"I defeated it." Sati claimed quickly.
The enemy magic power diminished. I try sensing the surrounding area again, but this time I can't find anything resembling a mage.
"Well done, Sati."
"That is……quite an amazing feat. Is this really a B-rank ability?"
Lily-sama, who had been quietly watching, voiced her amazement.
"We have just recently become adventurers."
"That is why we are lacking in achievements, but our ability is actually equivalent to an S-rank, Lily-sama."
"I see. Then I didn't make a mistake when I identified you guys as S-rank."
"That's right."
"I was wondering why you would want to keep the Gate secret, so this is the reason. Your strength is too immense for an adventurer with freedom of mobility."
Since the other elves are quite a distance away, we can talk about it without lowering our voices.
The demands on a capable mage are very high. Even when I just started as an adventurer, I had a lot of invitations and even received an offer from the Templar Knight. As of now, if my reputation gets any crazier, then things will be more tiring for me.
"That's entirely correct. I don't want to get flashy and, in turn, have my freedom restricted."
It's easier when Lily-sama is convinced with this explanation. We've been meaning to keep it a secret from the start but with this, nobody will advertise our success.
Currently, I still don't have enough experience as an adventurer. I still haven't mastered much magic. Even my sword skills are still immature. It is too early to step onto a higher stage.
Regarding the destruction of the world, looking at the great demon army in front of me, it will turn to reality but I still don't have much information regarding it. I don't think that I can save the world just by recklessly defeating all the demons.
Even so, this enemy is launching an organized attack.
We're going to attack under the command.
It was said that a demon is the one pulling the string behind this massive invasion. There is that kind of rumour circulating around. But nobody has seen it eye to eye, much less defeated it yet. Except for the Hero who killed the Demon King. Even though that is an old story too.
"Say, Lily-sama, about this invasion. What do you think spurred this attack?"
As someone from the Royal bloodline, there must be something that Lily-sama knows. This is the perfect time to ask, seeing as how the enemy attacks have slowed down.
"……it's because of an evil person." Lily-sama said with a bitter expression.
"Evil person? What kind of person is that?"
"The evil person is an evil person. I don't know anything further than that."
"Lily-sama is lying."
Tilika, who was listening to our discussion, renders the verdict.
"T-the Truth Official is ruthless……"
"Although it is unfair to use Devil Eye in this case, I believe that this information is very important."
"What is it that Lily-sama knows?"
Just like what Tilika said, this is a very important piece of information.
"……promise me, that you will not utter this to anyone else, alright?"
"Yes. I promise."
"We call them the Dark Elf. Serving the Demon King, they are the elves who have fallen into darkness."
"But, the Demon King is already dead?"
"That doesn't mean that the demons and the monsters under him were wiped out altogether. One group of survivors is the Dark Elf clan."
It is an act against the principle of Elves, who are the devotees of God. As one of the same race, it is hard to forgive. It's a shame. Elves have given the highest priority to find, chase, and hunt down the Dark Elf. However, there are still survivors among the Dark Elf, and now they are manipulating the monsters from behind.
"Are they called the Dark Elf because of their black skin?"
Lily-sama and the other elves have a uniformly fair skin.
"Right. They have darker skin and silver hair."
"Then they are easily distinguishable, aren't they?"
"The thing is, it is not that simple. It's easy to camouflage both their hair and skin colour."
There exists a chemical that can temporarily change their skin tone and their hair colour. Even their distinctive ears can be hidden by something as simple as wearing a hood, or a hat.
"So there is no way to identify them, when they have disguised themselves, isn't it……"
When you think you are together with an Elf, but actually you are with a Dark Elf. That's a bit scary.
"There is another definite way to tell them apart." Lily face turns sharp when she says that.
"Which is … ?"
"They have big breasts."
"Ha?"
"They have big B・R・E・A・S・T・S……"
"Umm…"
In retrospect, I have never seen any elf with big breasts so far. And I heard in the stronghold, a rumour was circulating that the elves have a complex about their small breasts. If an elf has big breasts, I'm sure they are the dark elves. So, in the end, was it only a rumour when people said an elf has a complex with their chest?
"You know, the Dark Elf. In exchange for bigger breasts, they've fallen into the Demon King's side!"
Eh? Is that even possible……