(Hime's side)
Yuu-chan and I, together with the others, finally arrived at the gates of the city of Vannis.
The gates were still closed, but we could see dozens—no, even hundreds—of soldiers in full armor already lined up and forming a formation.
There were also people positioned on top of the walls, with bows slung on their backs, watching the situation outside the city.
Suddenly, someone approached me and asked something.
"Excuse me, are you part of the hero's party?" the person asked.
"It's just the two of us. Why?" I asked back.
Lancer-san had already said earlier that he had informed Marcen-san about us, so surely these people already knew about our party as well.
"How many in your group can use long-range magic?" the person asked again.
I turned around and asked the other adventurers, and only a few of them could, including Yuu-chan and me.
The rest… they could only use basic magic, and quite a lot of them fought at close range with swords.
"In that case, those who can use long-range magic, follow me up onto the walls. You'll attack from there," the person said.
—
Yuu-chan, I, and several others followed that person up onto the walls and joined the archery unit stationed there.
Well, I had already expected it would turn out like this. After all, we were the hero's party, and we were supposed to be proficient in magic.
The other adventurers had also followed different guides to join their respective units. I hoped they would be alright.
—
A few minutes after all the adventurers had taken their positions, the city gates were finally opened.
The soldiers and adventurers marched out in an orderly manner, led by someone wearing extremely thick armor while riding a horse.
Let me guess—he must be the one leading this army, right?
—
After all the troops had assembled outside the city and formed their lines, the man on horseback stood in front of everyone.
Somehow, his voice carried all the way up here. Was his voice really that loud?
"Marcen-sama has entrusted me to lead this force, and I will see this mission through! Look over there," he said, pointing toward the monsters advancing toward us.
They were slowly approaching us, but their numbers were enormous.
I didn't know where they came from, but most likely they were summoned here using magic circles or teleportation magic.
All monsters and demons from the Abyss possessed several forbidden skills that even humans did not have, so I was fairly certain of that.
"They are nothing more than mindless monsters that only know how to fight, unlike us who fight in formation. Moreover, with the help of the heroes, we can defeat them," he continued, now turning his gaze toward Yuu-chan and me.
That made our fellow adventurers look at us, and everyone on the walls also turned their eyes toward us after hearing his words.
"They are trusted by the Guildmaster and Marcen-sama, so we must not waver or be afraid! Victory is in our hands, without a doubt! Therefore, let us fight!" he shouted.
His enthusiasm spread through the troops standing behind him, and they responded with roars filled with great ambition.
—
There were two towers on top of the walls, with several people stationed there, so they would be observing and monitoring the situation.
Up here, I stood beside Yuu-chan, while the other adventurers stood next to her.
Because of that, the person standing beside me was someone from this army, and judging by his attire, he seemed to be someone important here.
So I took the initiative to ask him something. But before I could, he spoke to me first.
"You're… the hero, right?" he asked while extending his hand toward me.
There was no reason for me to refuse a handshake, so I accepted it.
"Yes. By the way, what exactly is our role up here?" I asked.
"Ah, the leader of the front line will give the signal when those of us up here are allowed to attack. The people on top of the towers will notify us," he replied.
Oh, now I understood what I was supposed to do this time.
"Alright, I'll let the others know," I said.
I passed the information along through one person. The person next to Yuu-chan relayed it to the one beside them, and so on, until it reached the adventurer standing at the very edge before the army's archers.
Well, the archers stationed up here should already know their role, right?
Since our group arrived before them, we didn't know what we were supposed to do yet.
Then Yuu-chan spoke to me.
"Hime, in a battle like this, I'm not very good at using offensive magic. I can only provide support magic for the troops," she said.
"That's fine if that's what you want," I replied.
I informed the person beside me—the one who had spoken to me earlier—about this, and he responded—
"In that case—"
He signaled to the person next to him, and the one he instructed immediately rushed down the walls and headed toward the troops already gathered outside.
I had to admit, he was incredibly fast when he ran.
Ah, he spoke with the leader on horseback and then turned back toward us.
He made a hand gesture toward us, as if saying "okay."
The man beside me did the same. Honestly, it was hard to address him without knowing his name.
"He's given his permission. I'll leave it to you," he said.
I nodded and looked toward Yuu-chan, signaling her to begin.
The people on the towers and the walls all turned their eyes to Yuu-chan as she extended both of her hands straight forward.
Slowly, I saw a magic circle form in front of her hands. Its size wasn't very large, but the pattern was something I had never seen before.
—
Hime was a little curious about what kind of magic Yuu-chan was about to cast, since she had said it would be support magic.
To explain briefly, support magic is magic used to grant additional effects, such as the Boost and Vision skills that had appeared before.
These increase either physical strength or magical power, and the most common support magic among many people is healing.
Yuu deliberately chose to do this because she didn't want to stand out too much, and she intended to leave that role to Hime.
She knew that Hime's abilities were not much different from her own, and she was confident that Hime could unleash magic that would amaze and shock everyone.
—
"Oi, look up!" "What the hell is that?!"
"That's… a magic circle, right?"
The people on the front lines looked up at the sky, because they saw a massive magic circle forming above them.
That had to be Yuu-chan's magic.
The magic circle, with its intricate lines forming complex patterns and its grayish-golden color, made the spell look luxurious.
The blue sky beyond the circle looked like nothing more than a small decoration compared to the beauty of the magic circle itself.
Yuu-chan's eyes were closed, which meant she was being extremely serious while casting this spell.
She finally opened her eyes and looked down at the people standing beneath the enormous magic circle she had created.
"Enchant… I forgot the name of this technique, so I'll name it myself," she muttered.
"Then what's its name?" I asked.
"Hehe, Yukito-sama Enchant!" she declared confidently.
Unlike me, who was confused by the name she gave the skill—seriously, what? She used Yukito-san's name?
The magic circle slowly descended, passing through the bodies of the soldiers below, and when it finally touched the ground, it disappeared.
Their bodies glowed faintly for a few seconds before the light vanished.
They began to feel their bodies grow lighter, or sensed that something was different, which prompted the leader to immediately open his status screen.
"All of you! Open your status screens!" he shouted to his troops.
They were immediately shocked by what they saw.
"This?! Our attributes have increased dramatically!" "That magic circle earlier… did it boost all of our abilities?"
"A-amazing!"
Their morale visibly rose even higher than before, prompting the people on the walls and towers to applaud what Yuu-chan had just done.
After witnessing such overwhelming power, how could they not be amazed?
"You're incredible!" "They're heroes, after all. It's only natural for them to be this strong!"
Hearing the voices of the people up here made me feel relieved as well.
The same went for our fellow adventurers, who briefly came over to Yuu-chan to share their thoughts about the spell before returning to their positions.
Yuu-chan bent forward, placing her hands on her knees as she caught her breath.
Naturally, she was a bit exhausted after casting that spell.
"Yuu-chan, are you okay?" I asked.
"Don't worry… I can still do it two more times," she replied.
"What kind of magic was that, anyway? It was your first time using it, right?" I asked, just to be sure.
"That spell increases offensive power, defense, immunity, and enhances magical abilities. It lasts for about ten minutes, and during that time, they can fight much more powerfully than usual," she explained.
"But still, why did you have to use Yukito-san's name for it? Couldn't you think of another name?" I asked.
"T-that… what's wrong with using Yukito-sama's name? Or is it that… Hime, you don't like that name~?" Yuu-chan teased mischievously, clearly trying to pull me into her joke.
"I-it's not like that! Besides, a name like that isn't bad either, right?" I replied.
Well, she could name it whatever she wanted. What mattered was that the battle was about to begin.
—
"Ah, Hime, could it be that you think Yukito-sama belongs only to you~?" Yuu asked.
Hime's cheeks flushed slightly, but she still managed to endure Yuu-chan's teasing.
"Who said that?" Hime shot back.
"Just now. You asked why I used Yukito-sama's name. That means it's true, right—" Yuu replied, before being cut off by Hime.
"Alright, alright, do whatever you want. Besides, Yukito-san is part of our party. That means we're always together, right?" I said.
"Hehe, every time I talk about Yukito-sama with you, you always react like that, don't you?" she asked again.
"Just so you know, I'm always honest and aggressive when it's just the two of us," I replied.
We looked at each other, smiled, and then turned our focus back to the battle ahead.