LIGHTNOVELONLINE Chapter 22: Monster Stampede and a Vengeful Chase
Kazue POV
So, what's the situation at the moment you say?
Well... Things are going well...
We had been fighting undead for about 6 hours now.
There are not a few undead that comes at the moment.
We have the luxury to rest some of our unit's fighting force.
Our role in this battle is to defend a certain location and not let any zombie pass through.
So far... we successfully defended our post easily.
And so, we decided to let some of the members of the unit rest so we can conserve our energy.
We decided to divide our unit into 3 groups.
Each group is led by a chosen leader.
Those leaders are Marvic, Keikain, and... Me.
My Group includes Shunsho, Naofumi, Rio, Vis, and Yanase.
While Keikain's group consists of Eisuke, Minato, Grace, Lucas, and Charlotte.
This leaves Francis, Harley, Shino, Hyobe, and Michio in Marvic's group
We have decided that 2 groups would defend our location while one group rest.
At the moment, My group and Keikain's group are on duty on defending our position.
-sigh-
Aa~ to be honest I was hesitant to be the group leader.
Anyway.
We excluded the 2 healers, April and Amy to join any of the groups.
We need to have at least one healer to be present at all times.
We have arranged that two groups must be present to defend our position at all times while one group rest with one healer.
Each group rest in rotation every 4 hours.
Once 4 hours pass, one of the two groups will swap with the resting group.
This is to ensure that we can all take turns resting every after 8 hours.
Since we need at least one healer to be present at all times.
April and Amy take turns resting every 6 hours.
As of the moment.
My group together with Keikain's group is in charge of defending our position.
April is doing the healer role while Amy rests with Marvic's group.
It's just been several minutes since Amy rested.
We still have 2 hours before the next group takes a turn to rest.
As decided, in 2 hours, Keikain's group will switch with Marvic's group first.
Then me and my group will rest for 4 hours after that.
Meaning my turn to rest will be in 6 hours from now.
Well, it's not a problem since it is not that hard to defend our position.
There would be an average of 20 undead showing up every 5 minutes, which our group can easily defeat.
There are times when no enemy appears for several minutes.
There are times when several undead appears at the same time.
They show up randomly so we have to be on full alert at all times.
Just now an undead appeared again.
It was a monster called, "Skeleton Warrior".
It was a skeleton carrying a dull rusted blade and wearing tattered clothes.
It is considered a weak E-rank monster.
Thus, Shunsho easily defeated that undead.
"There's no end to these waves of undead. Somehow I feel that it's getting annoying." <Shunsho>
"It can’t be helped. This wave of monsters would not end unless the main group defeats the undead king." <Minato>
"Tsk, that Hano... what is taking him too long to kill that Undead king. He should be disqualified as a hero." <Shunsho>
"hahaha~??" <Naofumi>
Naofumi awkwardly laughs back at the comment.
"Eee~~ that sucks" <Eisuke>
"Arhggg! Just shut up and kill as many undead as you can!" <Minato>
"hahaha! Minato you're acting strict again!" <Naofumi>
"Annoying! just look at Kazue-cha-, sorry Ane-san she just keeps at it without question" <Shunsho>
[??? was he about to say my name with a -chan?]
As I listened to my former classmates Shunsho, Minato, Eisuke, and Naofumi talk, I was reminded of the past.
In the past when we are still in our world, those kinds of friendly talks are an everyday occurrence between those boys.
This made me smile after realizing that even if the world is changed their relationship is still the same as before, what a relief.
I wonder if I could do the same thing with Chiho and the other two.
It would have been perfect if they are not slashing undead while talking.
Well, it's not something that I should be talking bad about since I am slashing down the undead with my Katana while listening.
I glared at them.
"I know you guys are quite tired but please don't slack off." <Minato>
"..." <Kazue>
"Y-Yes Ane-san! I'm sorry I'll try my best from now on" <Shunsho>
"So, you were not doing it your best until now after all..." <Naofumi>
[These boys, it became natural for them to call me Ane-san. It got really annoying to remind them all the time so I will just leave it at is.]
“Alright! it's time for me to show Ane-san my skill. I feel that I can even defeat a ghoul by myself.” <Shunsho>
“Please do so... if you can.” <Kazue>
I taunted Shunsho.
From my observation while fighting alongside him for a while now, judging from his skill I know that he could defeat a ghoul by himself now.
Well, it would take a longer time than I can but still, it seemed that Shunsho had improved since the last time I saw him fight in the capital.
Looks like he's getting a hang of this Isekai life.
"It's a GHOUL!" <Naofumi>
"Alright! it's time for me to show Ane-san my powers! watch me Ane-san!" <Shunsho>
"Whatever..." <Kazue>
I shrugged Shunsho off and let him be.
Shunsho rushed forward to face the ghoul.
Well, since he's that confident I think I could leave that one to him.
After all, there's still a lot of undead here.
"HEY! WAIT? SOMETHING’S WEIRD WITH THAT GHOUL" <Minato>
While I was busy defeating the undead around me, I heard a shout, from the tone of the voice it seemed to be from Minato.
I slashed down the last undead not long after.
When I looked in the direction of where they have spotted the ghoul, I immediately got goosebumps.
At first glance, the ghoul looks normal, but somehow something is giving off a feeling of dread.
It's not only the aura on its body being stronger than the other ghoul I've seen so far, my instinct is also telling me that that ghoul was bad news.
Immediately I was proven correct.
"WAIT!" <Kazue>
I called out Shunsho who was about to attack the ghoul
It seemed that he did not notice that something is odd about that monster.
"Don't worry Ane-san!" <Shunsho>
He then attacked the ghoul.
"EAT THIS! UGLY GHOUL!" <Shunsho>
-clang-
The sound of sword clashing rang loudly.
"Eh?" <Shunsho>
Shunsho's eyes widen as he failed to notice that this ghoul was carrying an odd-looking sword in its hands.
The sword was emitting the same kind of dark aura that a ghoul emits from its body.
"Shunsho! RUN!" <Kazue>
I ran toward Shunsho right away.
But the ghoul was faster.
When the ghoul parried Shunsho's sword with its own.
It shifted Shunsho's balance to the side while their sword was locked in place.
Shunsho tried to regain his balance but as soon as he turned around the ghoul had already swung its sword upward.
"Dammit!" <Shunsho>
Shunsho tried to block the attack with his sword.
The upward stroke of the undead's sword caused Shunsho's sword to fly out of his hands.
Then the undead connected his blow with another two slashes.
Shunsho tried to block them with his shield in his left hand.
He successfully blocked the first one.
Since he was wearing an armed guard the sword did not cut his arm but it was still enough to cause a serious wound.
Then the second blow followed, this time the sword found itself in Shunsho's body.
"Argh!" <Shunsho>
It was then that I was able to arrive at the ghoul.
Even though I rushed toward Shunsho I was unable, not able to reach him in time.
I was not expecting him to be defeated in such a quick manner.
Shunsho fell to the floor and blood flowed from his body.
I could immediately tell that it was a serious blow.
I quickly went in between the ghoul and Shunsho after stopping another swing from the ghoul who almost got the finishing strike into Shunsho.
The strike felt heavy but controlled.
It was different from the time when I faced an Undead knight.
This swing was not forced; in fact, I felt this strike was carefully calculated for a purpose.
I countered with a strike of my own but the ghoul moves strangely fast and smooth to dodge my counter.
Compared to the other undead I faced so far; I feel that this one is the most dangerous out of all of them.
At the same time, the undead came back at me.
"S**t." <Kazue>
I could not control myself to curse at the undead.
I managed to dodge its attack but it was as if I was fighting a skilled warrior that is seasoned in battle.
I managed to make a few exchanges of blow with it.
But soon enough it managed to push me back.
After a few exchanges of blows, I realized that in terms of stat it was completely above mine
"Mizusawa!" <Keikain>
Thankfully I had a comrade to help me and they joined the battle soon.
-Swoosh-
Keikain swung his sword toward the undead.
But it smoothly dodges it without much problem.
"Waterball!" <Charlotte>
"Stone Spike!" <Yanase>
A ball of water and a sharp piece of stone flew at the undead at a fast speed.
It managed to dodge the waterball and slashed down the stone spike as it dodged
"What?!1NANI?!" <Yanase and Charlotte> 2NANI?!
Yanase and Charlotte could not believe how the monster dodged and strike down their attacks.
[This is bad]
I could see in the faces of my companion that they are as shocked as I was.
This was the first time I saw such a monster.
I did not feel this pressure even in front of the Undead Knight.
I and Keikain stood in front while Eisuke and Naofumi were protecting Shunsho.
Soon the others noticed the gravity of the situation and everyone started to come together.
Our unit gathered into one place to confront the undead.
We got into the formation surrounding the wounded Shunsho.
Rio and Grace stood nearby and were ready to react to any situation.
Yanase and Charlotte cast magic to push back the undead.
And the two ranged attackers, Vis and Lucas fired arrows at the undead.
Just like before, the undead was able to dodge and slash down the magic and arrows flying toward it.
As if noticing that it was at a disadvantage, it turned around and ran.
I kept my guard up but it seemed that it ran away as I could feel its presence going away and ran toward a certain direction.
"Shunsho! Hang in there Man!" <Eisuke>
I heard Eisuke's cry.
I ran toward Shunsho who was lying on the ground and see his condition.
-Cough-
Shunsho coughed some blood out of his mouth
"Shunsho!" <Eisuke>
"Heal... Healer! APRIL-SAN! Where's April!" <Kazue>
I almost lost my cool as I look for April to heal Shunsho’s wound
"Ane-san..." <Shunsho>
"Sorry! I should have faced that ghoul myself!" <Kazue>
"Ane-san don’t blame yourself... It was my selfishness that got me into this..." <Shunsho>
"No! As the leader, I should have gotten in front. Sorry, Sorry, I knew I was not fit as the leader after all Sorry!" <Kazue>
"Ane...san... don't say tha-“ <Shunsho>
"Ssssshhhhhh! Stop talking!" <April>
April shushed us and immediately cast healing magic toward Shunsho.
I allowed April to do her thing and heal Shunsho.
I took a few steps back while fixing my gaze on the wounded Shunsho.
I bit into my lips out of frustration.
I regret the fact that I let Shunsho face the ghoul.
I was too confident about his ability to take on one ghoul by himself.
The appearance of that irregular ghoul was unexpected.
But, even so, I should have been the one who faces that monster instead.
"Don't blame yourself Kazue" <Charlotte>
Charlotte places a hand on my shoulder as she was trying to console me.
"I knew It, I was not fit to be the leader..." <Kazue>
"No, you did just fine... that undead was just unexpected." <Charlotte>
"I..." <Kazue>
I looked at April trying to help Shunsho.
"How's Shunsho?" <Eisuke>
"...It's all right... It's a deep wound but I think I can manage to heal it. Still, with this injury, he will not be able to come back to fight soon." <April>
"Whew"<Eisuke>
Eisuke Sigh in relief
"See? he's going to be fine." <Charlotte>
"Thank god..." <Kazue>
I felt a bit of relief after hearing that he was going to be okay.
"But man, where did that ghoul go?" <Keikain>
"It went toward that direction." <Kazue>
I pointed toward the direction of where the undead run to.
"Wait?! If it went that way? No this is bad!" <Charlotte>
"Eh?" <Kazue>
We looked at Charlotte who is trying to say something about the situation.
"That's the direction where Altus is!" <Charlotte>
""""!!!""""" <Everyone>
"What should we do?" <Naofumi>
"Should we chase for it?" <Rio>
"We should report this to the command center first." <Charlotte>
"But it could be too late. You saw it right?! That thing was fast! It might be too late when we wait for the response from the command center." <Eisuke>
"Yeah, by the time the response team reaches Altus that thing might have already caused casualties... What should we do?" <Vis>
"I'll chase after it." <Kazue>
"Kazue?!" <Charlotte>
"I'll chase it. Only I could chase after it now and also I am strong enough to at least buy some time till the reinforcement arrive and help in case we need more time." <Kazue>
"Ughh... I know what you mean... but..." <Charlotte>
Charlotte tried to stop me but I was determined to chase after the ghoul.
"Char, Trust me..." <Kazue>
"Kazue..." <Charlotte>
[What the hell?! Charlotte don't show me those puppy eyes.]
"Also... I have something to settle with that thing." <Kazue>
I took a glance at Shunsho and squinted my eyes from the feeling brewing in my chest.
The force of my grip on the katana in my hands tightens from that feeling.
"... I see... But keep your cool okay?" <Charlotte>
"Okay, Char… Keikain-san. I'll leave them in your hands." <Kazue>
Charlotte and Keikain nodded at me while giving me a thumbs-up.
"Just in case at least bring some of the guys with you." <Charlotte>
Soon after I ran to where the undead ran to.
2 people came and followed me, it was Naofumi and Rio.
I and Rio were running side by side while Naofumi was just running behind the two of us.
"Wow, Naofumi I did not expect you to be able to catch up to us?" <Kazue>
"Hahaha~ I get that a lot... well at least I am confident that I am fast enough not to fall behind... after all my specialty is running away..." <Naofumi>
"Ahuh..." <Rio>
"Hey, at least say something to follow me up." <Naofumi>
"Ah... huh..." <Kazue>
I could not say anything about Naofumi’s self-deprecation
Info: Tamashiro Naofumi
*********************************************************
Narrator POV
As soon as Kazue, Rio, and Naofumi left.
Keikain took over the fighting in response to Kazue's absence.
Kazue's team falls back and took Shunsho with them to rest in their camp.
Soon Marvic and his team joined Keikain in the front line.
Shunsho was resting with Amy and Charlotte
Vis went to the command center to report their encounter with the ghoul and the fact that 3 of their members are chasing after it.
The instigators of all of this chaos were watching a scene in a crystal ball as the two were walking to Altus City
They are watching the situation in the frontline and got the gist of the situation.
At the moment the frontline is on the verge of defeating the Undead King.
This was while the Elite soldier is holding back strong undead like the Headless Knight, Death Knight, Nightmare, and other strong-looking undead.
The monsters on this battlefield were C-rank monsters and above.
Most of the monster the Elite Soldier is holding off was a league above the monster the rear was facing.
The Elite Force of the soldier and Adventurer could not waste energy on weaker monsters and let the rear route them.
In fact, they are doing well at their job of just letting the weak undead go past them.
The strongest monster that they would allow to pass was the Undead Knight who was significantly weaker than the upgraded version of it, the Death Knight.
At the moment the adventurer left the job of holding back the strong undead to the Elite Knights
This was because they are fighting the Undead King lurking behind all of the marching undead.
The battle with the undead king had reached its climax as they are about to defeat it.
This was all thanks to the effort of the Knight Master- Victor Meister, and the Guild master- David Craig.
The formation of the battle was quite straightforward.
While Victor and David fight the Undead King, the other adventurers are fighting against the minion protecting it allowing Victor and David to just focus on the Undead King.
With their combined efforts they could defeat the undead king in time.
Hano Ryuusei, Sakata Chiho, Muto Eiko, Haga Mizuko and Levethy Pau Artesia.
The members of the hero’s party have been fighting with the other adventurers on this battlefield.
"Wow, after resting I feel that my magic power has increased... Is this what leveling-up does? Amazing!" <Eiko>
She said while casting fireballs at the monsters.
"Yeah, not long ago I am still having quite a hard time dealing against an undead knight but now I could easily defeat one without much effort." <Mizuko>
Slashing an Undead Knight with her glowing sword covered with aura blade.
She is now capable of damaging the Undead Knight’s armor with her blade.
"So... leveling up would do so much huh... I feel that as long as we continue growing it's not just a dream to fight alongside sir Victor on equal ground later on." <Eiko>
"Well... with just this much we still have a long way to go." <Levethy>
Levethy looked at the main battle where Victor and David were exchanging powerful skills and Magic with the Undead king with a pained eye.
They could not imagine joining that battle the way they are right now.
They’re still worlds apart from those two beings fighting the Undead King.
"Hmph... I know that much... but watch... I'll catch up in a week..." <Eiko>
"Hahaha... that's a little bit..." <Chiho>
Chiho gave Eiko a troubled look after saying such an impossible task to do.
"Oho~ Eiko that's the spirit!" <Mizuko>
"Oh, Mizu-chan don't encourage Eiko." <Chiho>
"Hahaha sorry, sorry." <Mizuko>
"It may not be a week but I agree that we should hurry up and catch up with Sir Victor... We can't leave things like this to him again next time." <Chiho>
Chiho said in a serious tone.
Their party had felt helpless with the fact that they could not even help Victor with fighting the Undead king because of how far their power falls behind him.
In their hearts, the party member had taken it to heart to get stronger as quickly as they could.
1 hour, 2-hour, and 3 hours had passed since they started their battle with the Undead King.
Victor Meister and David Craig eventually defeated the Undead king.
Victor was covered with wounds and his armor had damages from here and there.
Meanwhile, David had only a few scratches and some dirt on his clothes.
This was not because David was stronger than Victor.
Rather it was proof that Victor had done his best to cover David in both fighting in the forefront and defending David from most of the damage.
With that, David could just focus on casting spells at the Undead King, thanks to Victor's efforts.
Upon defeat, the Undead King had left behind its equipment and some glowing stones.
It was similar to a monster drop in most RPG games.
As soon as the Undead king faded into the abyss of nothingness the Adventurer cheered on the success of their mission.
Now the adventurer would march toward the battlefield where the elite soldier was fighting and attack the undead from behind.
"Aaaaaand ~~~~ that's it, the Undead King is gone" <Luna>
"Hee~ that took longer than I expected." <Stella>
"Right?! well, I was expecting more from the heroes but well... It could not be helped they're still too weak right now." <Luna>
Luna said in a somehow dejected tone.
"Fufufu~ I could not wait to play with them once they become a little bit stronger." <Stella>
"Stella your eyes are scary." <Luna>
Said Luna with a chuckle
Luna and Stella Nightfall watched the end of the battle on the frontline.
They used a crystal ball to observe the performance of the Hero's party in the frontline.
They are not satisfied with their performance but still, they had passed their test.
"Now then, It's time for the main event of this whole fiasco." <Luna>
"Let's hurry, we might miss all the fun parts." <Stella>
"Don't worry... In most stories, when the heroes are in a pinch where they have no choice but to lose against a powerful adversity something or someone would eventually save them. YES! that "Someone" who would save the heroes is us!!! We have to be a little bit late!" <Luna>
"hymn~~~ Have you been reading a little too much of those stories lately." <Stella>
"Geh~~~ Come on Stella don't you want to experience being one saving the heroes?" <Luna>
"Well... if I am being honest... yes, a little bit?" <Stella>
"After we save them from danger, they would eventually build trust toward us." <Luna>
"Hmnn~ what will do with that trust?" <Stella>
"Fufufu, Tsk tsk tsk, Stella, Stella, " <Luna>
Luna waves her finger at Stella as she tries to lecture her about things.
"It's not that we need them to trust us you see? Just imagine when the time comes for us to reveal that we are the instigators and the fact that we're not actually on their side. Could you just imagine the reaction on their faces?" <Luna>
"Oh~ Hmn hmn~ That... is actually NICE!" <Stella>
"RIGHT?!" <Luna>
"Now then follow me and let's gain some trust! Ready?" <Luna>
Stella gave Luna a nod.
"Let's go!!!" <Stella>
Stella cheered with Luna.
"Now that's the spirit!" <Luna>
The two walked toward the city with bright smiles on their faces.