89. Stampede 1

A report suddenly arrived: the capital’s barrier had been breached.

“What? Why now? Who on earth—?” Shiro and the others stared, stunned.

“According to the report, the perpetrator’s identity remains unknown. They’re still investigating,” Aria said, scanning the paper.

“A sabotage operation? Carried out in coordination with the stampede? No… timing like that is impossible….”

Shiro pondered. Then paused. A thought struck him.

“Bad news. Some of the beasts can fire long-range spells. Wyverns, too. If they’re targeting the city, damage could already be happening,” Shiro warned.

“Shiro, let me deploy a barrier. Not the whole city—just parts, or wherever needed. We might manage,” Mitoka said.

“Really? But if you’re out, we lose the suppression magic’s combat strength…” Shiro hesitated.

“It’s fine. We can handle it,” Shestia said, locking eyes with Shiro with quiet certainty. For some reason, on the battlefield, her words always gave him strength.

“Yeah… we’ll make it work… Mitoka, can you do it?” Shiro asked.

“Yes, I’m fine.”

Mitoka said that, then excused herself with a small bow, slipped into the changing room, and emerged moments later.

She could’ve changed in an instant, but chose to conceal it—out of discretion.

“How’s it look, Shiro?”

She spun around, smiling at him.

For once, she’d let her hair down completely—glowing golden, inexplicably.

She wore a loose, white robe-like garment from head to toe, and on her back, a magnificent pair of angelic wings stood tall.

"…Huh, what’s with this? Who exactly are you?" Shiro muttered.

Shiro felt the tension drain from his body and pressed a hand to his forehead.

"Fufu. Maybe this is the 'angel mode' setting? In situations like this, I need to make sure Shiro’s presence and accomplishments are properly highlighted," Mitoka said.

"...No, I don’t think that’s necessary at all… Wait, how did you even get that outfit? It’s suspiciously well-prepared. Feels familiar… like I’ve seen this costume before," Shiro thought, eyeing Mitoka.

"…No, that’s not right. This was designed by Shiro…"

"Shiro, you design clothes too?" Shestia asked, her tone completely relaxed.

"…N-no, just a little… Actually, not at all," Shiro dodged.

At this point, Shiro’s level had risen significantly, with a substantial increase in maximum mana capacity. And Mitoka could now activate the Spirit King Mode, so she could operate independently without needing to stay close to Shiro.

◇

Shiro and the others confirmed the final details of the plan.

First, the mage squad and the adventurers’ mages would unleash their spells in unison. Then, Shiro would activate his annihilation magic.

After that, the weakened beast would be finished off by the adventurers and the knight corps. Simple enough.

Here, Shiro’s newly acquired spirit magic—massive area-wide annihilation magic—became the key.

Aria and the others would handle the main beasts. The giant mammoth would be taken care of by Shestia and Aria.

The wyvern would be handled by Shiro, Sophia, Sherina, Altea, and Albert.

The giant tortoise would be fought by the entire group at the end.

Additionally, twelve rank-A parties were scheduled to reinforce them.

That was the basic outline of the plan.

◇

The battle began.

The monsters charged across the plain in a surprisingly cohesive swarm. Straight ahead, they’d hit the capital dead-on.

Magic mages and adventurer-wizards gathered at the old fortress nestled in the grassland, waiting in ambush.

“Monsters have entered the plain! Prepare mass spellcasting! Initiate!”

The knight commander shouted.

The mages unleashed a coordinated barrage of various offensive spells toward the beasts.

In one spot, flames erupted. In another, a tornado spiraled upward. In yet another, a rain of stones fell from the sky.

Each mage fired their strongest spell, targeted precisely at their assigned element zone.

“Again—full volley!”

They continued several large-scale magical assaults.

The monster horde—roughly three thousand strong—fell into chaos.

Five rounds of synchronized spellcasting had been executed. At this point, most mages had less than thirty percent of their mana left.

So they paused the attack.

Conservative rule among mages: always reserve at least thirty percent mana in case of emergencies.

“Good. Stop the assault. Roughly twenty percent down?” the knight commander estimated.

“Now it’s up to the Apostles….” The group looked uneasy. Over eighty percent still remained.

Shiro fired a purge spell from above.

The fortress adventurers and knights had heard he’d unleash a purge spell—but not where, or how.

So when the entire battlefield froze in shock at the sudden flare of a magic circle high above, and hundreds of glowing arrows rained down from the sky, every eye went still.

Shiro alone—about four hundred simultaneous castings.

Targeting the particularly troublesome monsters—Giant Boa Mages, Madboas, and Giant Hedgehogs—Shiro activated the combination of [Homing Lightning Needle] and [Homing Lightning Stan] a total of six times.

It looked like a downpour of light.

With that, nearly all the smaller monsters were either slain or pinned in place, paralyzed.

“Alright, individual exterminations begin!” the Guildmaster shouted.

Once the beasts were immobilized, the knights and adventurers would finish them off one by one.

The adventurers were mid-to-high-tier, rank C or above—around 1,600 in total, gathered under forced summoning. They were eager to fight, driven by the promise of loot from the slain monsters and the honor of a commendation. The beasts were already weakened, so despite their numbers, the threat was manageable—no major casualties.

◇

Meanwhile, Shestia and Aria stood before three Giant Mammoths, ready to unleash a new spell they had devised.

“Spirit, I call upon thee—become the howling wind, answer my plea… [Wind Tornado]!” Aria chanted, simultaneously,

“Spirit, I call upon thee—[Multi Fire Bullet]!” Shestia chanted.

Combining Shestia’s large-scale wind magic tornado with Aria’s Multi Fire Bullet, they created a hybrid spell: a fiery vortex of explosive projectiles—“Fire Bullet Tornado.”

The three caught in the spell were pierced through and through by accelerated Fire Bullets, collapsing in an instant.

"Hey, that magic—damn, that's something," the fortress mages shouted.

"‘Obsidian Flame Dragon Bullet,’" someone said.

After this battle, that name would become their new nickname—though Aria and the others wouldn’t learn of it until later.

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