第６９掘：地雷は踏み抜くもの (Part2)
"Don't you dare mock him!!!"
The two girls' cries, sounding more like wails of anguish, were met with a thunderous roar from the monsters as they charged forward.
"Wait, what!?"
"Hah! So that was their plan—to lure us into a false sense of security and strike! But they’re naive! I saw right through that! Archers, take aim! Shield bearers, there are few of them, hold the line!"
"Understood!"
The enemy troops responded promptly to their commander. However, reality is rarely so kind.
The shield wall was obliterated in an instant.
"Piki—! (You’ve got some nerve making Aslin and Firia cry!)"
The Slime Corps launched a synchronized cannonball tackle. It was a terrifying strike that combined raw status-based attack power with sheer velocity. It seems that after I taught Surakichi-san a few personal techniques, he’d been passing them on to the others.
"What!? Impossible! Archers, fire!"
The commander was actually quite competent; the fact that he could still issue orders in such an absurd situation was impressive. As instructed, the archers let fly a volley that soared over my head, intended to rain down upon the enemy's right flank, which had only just begun to move...
"Th-that’s impossible."
The rain of arrows, which should have descended upon the enemy, seemed to strike something in mid-air, losing all momentum and pattering harmlessly to the ground.
"Piki—! (Targeting the girls with projectiles? You’re rotten to the core!)"
That’s right. The Slime Corps had spread their bodies across the sky, acting as a living shield against projectile weaponry. Since these units were distributed evenly throughout our entire force, we could effectively neutralize any threat from enemy archers.
Oh, and it seems a slime's body size can fluctuate based on their magical energy. Surakichi-san prefers his current form, but given his mana capacity, I’ve confirmed he can grow to the size of the training hall. Because of this, we don't need a massive number of slimes to maintain a solid defense. Naturally, breaking through that slime barrier—let alone getting past them to hit us—would be nearly impossible.
"Aaaaaaaahhhhhh!!"
*Thud!*
"Huh? A-agyaaaaaaa!!"
The enemy commander’s legs, along with the horse he was riding, were blown away. Before I knew it, Firia was standing right in front of me, having just swung her heavy-duty combat warhammer. She then charged straight into the heart of the enemy.
"H-hey! Firia!"
"Gob! (Leave this to us!)"
"No, stop!"
"Gofu. (Ah, that’s impossible. We can't let those who make a child cry get away with it.)"
With that, the Goblin Corps, led by Steve, began pulverizing the enemy to protect Firia. Firia herself swung her hammer, primarily focused on making the enemies' heads disappear. The enemy was completely unable to respond; the Slime Corps that had dived in first were rampaging uncontrollably.
"M-my legs! My legs are gone!!"
Oh, so he was still alive? I’d already stopped caring.
"...Oh? Is losing your legs not enough for you?"
*Whoosh.*
At that sound, the commander’s arms fell away, severed at the elbows.
"Gyaaaaaaa!! My arms!?"
"...You're unhappy that I left some behind? I'll just cut them all off."
Then, his arms were severed completely from the shoulders.
"...Stay there and suffer until you die."
Labyris didn't even bother to sheath her blade, instead walking toward the remaining enemies. One by one, their limbs were blown away.
"...Suffer! Because you dared to insult what is precious to us!"
It was rare to hear Labyris’s voice carry so clearly, even from this distance. This was the beginning of the hell that followed.
Status report: The enemy's left flank is, quite literally, wiped out. No survivors.
Honestly, I was starting to panic.
"Aslin, it’s okay! I don't care what they said about me!"
"It's not okay!! People who mock my big brother are bad people! Waaaaaaah!!"
The first thing I had to do was stop Aslin, who was driving the monsters' battle intent to abnormal levels.
"No, look. Even at school, people make fun of me sometimes, right? They call me a weirdo?"
"That's different!! They don't mean it! But those people... they were genuinely mocking you!! I can't forgive them! *Hic, sob!*"
"GOAAAAAA!!!!"
Every time Aslin cried, the monsters let out a roar.
『Wait, Brother!? What is happening!? The monsters won't listen to me anymore!!』
Ratz contacted me, sounding flustered.
『The center is being overrun by monsters led by Firia and Labyris! What happened!? Don't tell me... is Aslin okay!?』
『Hey! Brother, is Aslin safe!?』
"Calm down. Aslin is safe, she isn't hurt. She was just surprised and started crying. That’s what’s got the monsters so worked up. Keep anyone who surrenders as far from the battlefield as possible! Until I calm Aslin down, I don't care about the state of those who surrendered!"
『...I see. Firia and Labyris are also enraged, so I suppose Yuki was mocked?』
"Seraria-nee-chan. They mocked my big brother!! They called him incompetent!! Said he didn't think about anything!! I can't forgive them!! Big brother isn't stupid, he saved us!! He's kind!! He works so hard to make sure everyone is full and happy, he's not stupid or foolish!!"
Perhaps hearing the radio, Aslin answered Seraria directly. She was sobbing, her face a mess of tears. How was I supposed to calm her down...?
『...Yuki, you focus on calming Aslin down. We will annihilate the enemy!! No more surrenders will be accepted!! They were fools who laughed at our ideals!! No mercy is needed!! ...They have some nerve mocking someone's husband!!』
『This is Eris, understood. From this point on, no surrenders will be accepted; we will annihilate the enemy!!』
『For the usually gentle Aslin to cry this much, they must have said something truly terrible. ...Ah, just imagining it makes my blood boil. ...I won't be holding back.』
『Making Aslin cry!! I won't forgive them!!』
『Hey, wait! I told you not to charge ahead! Ugh, and now you don't even have your monster subordinates with you! I'm going after Riel!!』
『...Milly, I'm coming too.』
『Me too!!』
Ah, they’ve all gone into total annihilation mode.
In the end, Aslin only calmed down at almost the exact same time the enemy's central main force fell. Man, in a large-scale battle, Aslin is the most dangerous person to upset. The monsters won't even listen to me anymore.
Well, they don't seem to be attacking allies, so maybe it's convenient if used correctly. But I’m sure everyone would agree on one thing: don't make Aslin cry.
That was a scene that made that very clear. lol