At the barricades…
Hal was struggling to make a decision.
On one hand, it would be safer for him, and the chances of wiping out the sprites would be much higher if he brought the town's defenders with him.
On the other, he would be putting the residents in danger by dragging them to the outskirts of a forest, where E-ranked arcane monsters or beasts might lurk.
It would be unfair and somewhat embarrassing to make them shoulder an equal part of the job when they were his clients.
Hal believed he should be the one to resolve things.
Then again, he had already done a lot for them, and technically, he could have ignored their last-minute plea earlier and simply claimed his reward from the Mission Hall.
So perhaps it would not be unreasonable to ask for their help in wiping out the sprites, even if there was a fair chance of encountering something deadly.
But in the end, Hal couldn't bring himself to put twenty men in danger.
How would their families make ends meet if their breadwinners perished?
Deciding to uphold his moral values, he headed off alone, despite Mayor Erold asking him multiple times if he was sure he could handle it.
He was naturally firm when he answered he could.
However, in reality, he couldn't have been farther from confident, though he somehow always held that unshakeable faith that his plan would work.
Even if the rest of the Mischievous Housesprites survived, he would make sure the leader died today.
Hal was certain that the bastard was the cause of the persistent attacks.
Arriving at the outskirts, he carefully looked around, ensuring that there were no arcane beasts or monsters nearby before hiding in the covers of a tree and the nearby flora.
His spot wasn't too hidden but it will have to do.
Hal summoned the Spirit Sparrow the next moment, its tiny wings flapping adorably as it flew towards the hidden cave which was only a few meters away from his location.
Spotting the entrance, Hal hesitated.
He could make the summon sneak inside. However, it would be extremely risky to do so…
'Ahh, f*ck it! Better the sparrow than me, right?'
And so, he decided to risk his beloved little summon's life, sending it into the cave.
The interior was surprisingly not dark but brightly lit with a strange purple light.
Hal gained some confidence, knowing that his sparrow's eyes wouldn't be as noticeable as they would have been if the cave had been dark.
He intentionally slowed the tiny summon's advance to ensure it wouldn't accidentally expose itself.
The cave turned out to be slightly deeper than he had thought, as it took a full minute of flying before the sparrow reached the end—a somewhat wide space where the four remaining Mischievous Housesprites and their leader knelt in front of a magic circle.
They were processing the solidified mana orbs they extracted from the ruined houses to complete the construction of what seemed to be a purple portal, which was lighting up the cave.
'What the hell are these cursed things up to?' Hal wondered, positioning the tiny avian in a small nook near the rocky ceiling of the cave.
He then stood up and made his way to the entrance himself.
Hal, of course, moved carefully.
If he encountered an E-ranked creature or higher, he would be in trouble.
Hal fortunately didn't encounter a problem of the sort.
Around five minutes later, he stood outside the cave, closing his eyes to check what was going on inside.
The darned sprites were still in the middle of their ritual, and the only difference was that the purple portal was now closer to completion.
Hal somehow felt that he couldn't allow them to succeed.
And so, for reasons he couldn't quite explain, he rushed toward the ritual site, though still as carefully as he could.
He wouldn't give up the element of surprise that quickly.
Arriving at the unsettling scene, Hal peered out from behind a rock.
The darned things appeared very vulnerable.
He quickly seized his chance and thrust his palm forward, sending a roaring fireball toward the unsuspecting sprite leader. Just like before, they failed to detect any mana fluctuations.
"EAAAAHH!!"
The fireball devoured the sprite leader, significantly slowing down the ritual.
The struck monster rolled on the ground, shrieking in agony, hoping to extinguish the flames that way.
To Hal's surprise, the other sprites didn't even react. They merely continued processing the solidified mana orbs, using them to complete the purple portal.
Alarm bells rang in his head at the strange lack of response.
'Are these things trying to summon something?!'
It was the only possibility Hal could think of, and he sure as hell didn't want to find out what cursed creature the damned monsters were summoning.
Without hesitation, he fired one fireball, then another, his last charge, killing two of the four remaining sprites.
[Congratulations! You've earned 1 Chaos Point!]
[Congratulations! You've earned 1 Chaos Point!]
But the last two still didn't care.
Hal's heart raced faster and faster as he noticed the portal was nearly activated.
He quickly fired [Weak Mana Blasts] at the last two sprites, determined to kill them before they could complete the ritual.
[Congratulations! You've earned 1 Chaos Point!]
[Congratulations! You've earned 1 Chaos Point!]
Time seemed to slow to a crawl for Hal as he glanced between the portal, the dead sprites, and back to the portal again.
Thank the heavens he had managed to kill all four Mischievous Housesprites before the portal was activated!
Unfortunately, there was a fifth…
The damned sprite leader somehow survived a clean hit.
With a desperate crawl, it placed its dying hands on the magic circle, processing just enough mana to activate the crystal.
Hal noticed the movement too late.
'Bastard!!'
He fired [Weak Mana Blasts] at the sprite leader, killing it, but not before a wave of purple, processed mana surged out from the portal, signaling that its construction was complete and that it was now activated.
[Congratulations! You've earned 10 Chaos Points!]
Hal froze, his hair standing on end as he felt a strong malevolent aura oozing from the other side.
He didn't know what kind of beast or monster it was, or its rank, but Hal was certain he would be dead if that thing made it through.
It was already making its way across, evident from the two pairs of long, demonic horns protruding from the portal.
Fortunately, although he hadn't noticed the small core before it sent out waves of purple, processed mana, he now saw it, and it quickly became both his target and his last hope.
Hal rushed closer and pressed his palms together in a "praying" position.
The next moment, a magic circle emerged in front of him, and a horrifying shockwave shot forth, shattering the purple core.
The monster, or whatever it was making its way to Hal's side, froze as the portal warped and trembled, clearly hesitating.
After a moment of thought, the creature decided to turn back, unwilling to be trapped on this side.
Perhaps it was strong, but not strong enough to defeat the mighty wizards of the Arcanum Imperium.
A few tense moments passed, and Hal couldn't move. His body trembled at the mere aura of the creature.
Fortunately, the portal soon collapsed, but Hal remained petrified, only managing to move a few seconds later, feeling incredibly weak.
He had used up every charge of offensive spell in his arsenal.
But it was well worth it, as he had survived, and to make things better...
[Congratulations! You've earned 300 Chaos Points!]