Midnight, a few hours before reinforcements were estimated to arrive, the monster invasion waves finally subsided.
Fighting non-stop until midnight, it had been a long time since everyone lost their stamina and focus. Because of that, accidents were also unavoidable.
"How many casualties?" Kuon asked while massaging his own temples.
The continuous use of Accel had heavily burdened his own head. Moreover, it constantly drained his energy drastically, so Kuon could barely even feel his own body right now.
Humarc, in a condition more or less the same as Kuon, leaned his battered body against the nearest rocks. His eyes looked like they could close at any moment, but he kept forcing himself to stay awake while gripping his prized battle axes tightly.
"… Maybe, seven people. All from the local guard unit and the medical team," Humarc answered while rubbing his eyes.
For the record, the number of people participating in this fight was 32 people including the medical unit newly deployed yesterday.
7 out of 32 people, that wasn't a bad number. In fact, it was highly impressive because they could keep the casualty count under ten people amidst that hopeless situation. But, Kuon immediately shook his head, strongly rejecting the thought that considered people's lives merely as numbers.
Deaths from direct monster attacks were zero. All the casualties that fell today, happened because they were dragged in and failed to save themselves from the Black Tide that aggressively swallowed them. This fact was what made Kuon frustrated.
Out of all the casualties, he had the chance to save two people who were dragged into the Black Tide right in front of him, but he instead failed. Kuon considered that he had indirectly caused the deaths of those two people.
Humarc only stared at Kuon briefly, fully understanding what Kuon was thinking as he clenched his fists. Even so, Humarc chose not to say anything. He knew Kuon was strong, but he was still new to his job as an Adept. So, rather than saying something to cheer him up, Humarc chose to remain silent and let Kuon calm himself down.
Perhaps, that was the best decision.
Only they were still awake. Their team members, and the local guard unit, had long fallen asleep without getting a chance to go to a proper resting place. Even now, Kanon, with a body full of sweat and dirt, completely didn't care about her own appearance and immediately curled up near Kuon.
There were still a few hours before sunrise, but rest was what everyone needed right now. Thinking that, Kuon stood up from his spot. "You should rest too, I'll secure this place," he said to Humarc.
"What about you? I'm sure your team members won't be happy if you keep forcing yourself."
Kuon sighed while shaking his head. "I'm fine. Unlike you, my body will recover immediately with just a little rest. Besides, I still need to prepare your weaponry for tomorrow."
Normally, fighting against monsters and the Black Tide would not only drain stamina and mental energy, but also the troops' weaponry. Because of that, formal troops would usually have a multitude of spare weapons ready to use to face the Black Tide. But, those in this place didn't have such luxury.
Because of that issue, they became highly dependent on Kuon's ability in material manipulation. Humarc had tried sending one of the magicians in his team to learn material manipulation techniques from Kuon, but no matter how hard they tried, their understanding of the concepts Kuon explained was different, so the effectiveness of their magic wasn't as good as Kuon's.
That was reasonable, because Kuon himself utilized his own modern knowledge in using that magic, and surely there would be a gap in understanding between him and the people who were already accustomed to the concept of manipulation magic here.
"Also… I still have to fulfill my contract with the village chief," Kuon added as his eyes stared sharply at the rusted dagger blade.
"… I'm really jealous of that body of yours. It seems you're also hard to injure. What did you offer when you were still in the womb, so you could get body qualities akin to a physical reinforcement-type Gift like that?"
Kuon didn't bother answering it, instead only doing a brief stretch before gathering everyone's weapons lying on the ground.
His body had indeed recovered, but his mental state and mind were still exhausted as a result of the continuous use of Accel. Kuon no longer had the energy to entertain Humarc's light banter.
Seeing Kuon choosing to be stubborn, Humarc could only sigh while scratching the back of his head, and letting Kuon stay like that while he went to sleep.
Tomorrow, he hoped the situation would be better than today.
***
The next morning, good news finally arrived after a day full of battle yesterday.
As a response to the request for reinforcements, 40 people were sent from the combined reserve unit between Narc't city and another nearby city willing to help.
40 people, wasn't a large number for a troops, but also wasn't a small number for them. At least, Kuon could now breathe a sigh of relief imagining a far better division of duties than the day before.
While Kuon was re-checking his weapon, one armored figure—who seemed to be the leader of the knight unit—came to approach him. He was a giant figure that looked intimidating, with a height even exceeding two meters. From the shape of the ears standing erect on his head, Kuon guessed that he was a Gray Lupus—the werewolf race in this world.
"I assume you are Kuon de Ataraxia. Am I correct?"
Kuon was still not fully used to being called by that fake full name, but there was no discomfort when the name was mentioned, so he could only smile sourly when hearing it. "Yes, that's me. Is there anything I can help with?"
"No, it's nothing. I just wanted to say thank you. I heard you were the one leading this place in the critical moment."
'Ahh, so that's it…'
Kuon didn't deny that, but also couldn't fully accept it. Taking the role of a leader was one thing he would eventually do later, but right now the situation was different. He naturally led everyone because the situation indeed forced him to.
"All of that could only happen because everyone worked together well. Besides, I didn't truly succeed in preventing casualties."
The man laughed lightly, then shook his head. "There isn't a single person who can prevent death. Casualties and warfare are two inseparable things. So, never get too engrossed in your guilt. Besides, being able to keep the casualty count under ten people, that is an outstanding achievement. I will inform my superiors about your contribution and all the Adepts working with you later, hopefully they will consider giving you a bonus, hahaha."
Kuon didn't even try to fake the expression on his face as the man laughed and walked away.
Once again, he was made aware of the rottenness of the primitive world.
'Lives are merely numbers, huh? Nonsense.'
Kuon adjusted the position of his monocle, and got ready to go meet Kanon and the others who were preparing not far from his position.
Today, the plan was to take back the territory they previously sacrificed when they pulled back the defense line. With this decent number of troops, that should be easy to do.
"Over here, Kuon."
Kuon lifted his face and saw Vierra waving her hand. Beside her, there was Kanon standing while holding her white cane, and Felix standing not far behind.
"How's the situation over there?"
Previously, Kuon had sent Vierra to check the condition of the Black Tide in the remains of their battlefield yesterday. Now Vierra was here, so he assumed Vierra had finished her task.
Vierra then nodded. "At least, the spread of the Black Tide has stopped. I also checked the surrounding area, and it seems the remaining monsters have also been eradicated. With this, the possibility of a surprise attack when monster waves occur will be quite low. But…"
"Is there a problem?"
Kuon could see traces of confusion on Vierra's face as she tried to string her words together. "How should I say this… don't be shocked, okay? You remember the giant monster yesterday?"
"Of course I remember. I killed that creature, even if unconsciously."
"That's true. But, when I went to check it this morning, the monster's corpse had completely disappeared."
"Disappeared?"
Kuon frowned. He knew the nature of the Black Tide capable of destroying corpses. But melting a corpse that big should take more time than overnight.
"I know it's hard to believe. But there really was no trace of corpse there. Furthermore, the presence of that monster was a mistake from the start. I discussed it with Felix earlier, there has never been a record of a creature that big coming out just from the Black Tide. The only place they could manifest is…"
"Denied Space, right?"
Vierra nodded with a worried face. Indeed, Kuon had also anticipated that possibility. However, he was still hesitant to admit it; because if this place had indeed turned into a Denied Space, then the scale of the problem became far greater again.
"… For now, we can keep this information to report later. Let's hope a monster like that doesn't appear again until our job is done."
"Alright," Vierra answered while smiling.
***
With that, one week passed.
Thanks to the presence of the reinforcement troops, everyone's workload reduced drastically, and both patrols and direct assaults could be carried out more orderly thanks to everyone dividing roles effectively.
Thanks to that as well, Kuon could finally more calmly divide his duties between day and night; whether it was fighting to protect the defense line, or becoming a guard for the village chief to fulfill his promise or contract.
Tonight as well, Kuon continued to play his role. However, different from the early days when everyone was busy, now all his team members decided to join and secure the village chief's place.
The village chief's emergency residence was placed not far from the rear line, because he didn't go to the evacuation camp with the residents. After all, the guards at the evacuation camp would find it difficult to focus protection on just one person, considering the critical conditions they had to monitor.
"Hey, Kuon, are you sure the person the village chief mentioned will start moving tonight?"
Vierra asked him while polishing all her beloved daggers. All those daggers were in glossy condition thanks to Vierra always maintaining them, so Kuon really lamented it because in the end Vierra would use them as single-use weapons.
"That's what I estimated. In fact, it's very strange because this person hasn't moved at all until today. Of course, that's assuming the threat they gave is real as it is."
"But, what will we do if this person really appears?"
Felix suddenly appeared from behind and asked a question while hugging his crossbow. Vierra who heard that question, could only sigh tiredly.
"I guess we don't have any other choice but to fight. But…" Vierra didn't continue speaking, and only glanced toward Kuon. Kuon who understood her immediately continued, "It probably won't be an easy fight. We've fought many monsters for the past two weeks, but fighting an opponent with intelligence is a different problem."
"Moreover, the one we'll be facing is the same person who became the mastermind of all these events. How strong they are, is still a mystery. Because of that I want you to keep tightening your vigilance. It's better to prepare for the worst possibility."
"Woah, even Kuon can't guarantee his victory this time? But well, I agree with that."
Kuon didn't say anything else to Vierra, before switching to Kanon who had been quiet beside him. "Is your body alright?"
Before reinforcements arrived, Kanon had really nearly pushed her body to its limits in the fight. Although of course, Kuon still helped her so there was no real danger to her. Even so, draining Aether and bodily stamina to fight for days might have left a bad impact because Kanon had been quieter since yesterday. "Sorry if I pushed you too hard." In the end, that was all Kuon could say to her.
Kanon turned and immediately shook her head. "No, it's not like that. I don't mind helping, and even though it was a bit scary, I also found it quite fun."
"… You had fun?"
"Mhmm, you could say so. You might be worried because I'm just being quiet, but that's because I'm reading the viewers' comments. Some comments are quite funny even if absurd."
'Ahh, that's true.'
Perhaps because the situation didn't support relaxed thinking, Kuon had truly almost forgotten the existence of the broadcast system.
'Besides, I can't access it anyway.'
"It's very annoying, you know. Your viewers are complaining they can't deliver comments directly to you, so they're leaving them to me—"
Kanon stopped her words as she suddenly stood up. A freezing cold aura began to spread from her body as tension took over her instincts.
Although a bit late, the others also felt the approaching danger, so they all immediately stood up and faced the same direction.
One second, two seconds, nothing happened. However, Kanon's voice suddenly shattered that silence.
"Kuon!"
Kuon didn't waste even a second. Obeying his instincts that sounded a loud alarm, Kuon immediately activated Accel, instantly making his perception several times faster.
Everyone slowed down in his eyes, and utilizing that momentum, Kuon immediately moved and pushed Felix who was standing alert with the guards.
Sure enough, a one-meter-long iron needle coated in blue fire shot at an absurd speed. Fast enough to make Kuon unable to provide an appropriate response even though supported by Accel.
The needle shot under the night sky, and stabbed right into the wall behind the spot where Felix and the guards had stood previously. However, that wasn't all.
Only two seconds after the first needle was shot, a dozen other needles began to arrive, although indeed not as fast as before. The target was the tent where the village chief temporarily lived.
Kuon immediately stood in the path of the needles, and began deflecting them one by one. On the other side, without letting Kuon act alone, Kanon immediately moved to create a thick ice wall surrounding the tent, while Vierra tried to find information about the attacker by reading the wind that was within her control.
"Wake up quickly and go inside, protect the village chief!"
Felix who had just been saved immediately gave follow-up orders to the guards—who fortunately didn't oppose him—while he himself began aiming toward the direction the needles were coming from, hoping Light Way could give him accurate guidance.
However, the lines of light that usually always appeared now didn't appear at all. Which meant, the attacker figure was completely invisible, or indeed no longer there.
Realizing the situation, Felix tried to predict the attacker's location, but Vierra had already voiced it first by saying, "Behind!"
They turned toward the village chief's tent, and found a robed figure falling from the sky, before landing softly on the ice wall Kanon had just created.
Without giving a real pause, Felix immediately shot toward that direction, while Kanon collapsed the wall she had just built again. And with one clench of her fist, all that ice reunited forming several ice spikes which were then shot toward the figure.
But, no attacks succeeded in hitting her.
Needles coated in blue fire appeared again and easily deflected Kanon and Felix's attacks, while she moved again and descended from the wall before facing Kuon. With one additional movement from her, the tent completely shattered, burning from the bright blue fire blazing in the middle of the night.
She wore a robe, but from her posture and way of moving, Kuon assessed that she was a woman. And most likely, it was the same figure who met the village chief some time ago. That was also confirmed by the village chief's frightened expression when seeing her figure.
"I-it's her! She's the one who threatened me back then!"
Kuon didn't move immediately, rather choosing to observe first. There was one thing that made him slightly worried, and that was the presence of a tail coiling around the woman's leg.
However, amidst their silence, Vierra chose to move first. She shot a wind bomb at the figure. The figure didn't move, and only stayed in her place when the wind bomb hit her.
Vierra's intention wasn't to attack her, but to uncover the identity hidden behind her robe, and the result was in accordance with what she hoped.
The robe's hood instantly opened, revealing the face of a young woman—perhaps with an age not too far from theirs. Seeing that, Kuon's suspicion became valid.
"Those horns and snake tail… Gaisca-Lin, right? Don't you live as a colony in the Uni-Chana region? What are you doing in this place?"
Hearing that question from Kuon, the woman tilted her head while raising a sharp smile on her face. Her bright red hair with white strands in many parts looked even more blazing when blue fire emerged as bracelets circling her wrists.
"For a Drifter who hasn't been here long, you're quite smart, aren't you?"
'Drifter'. Just hearing that one word instantly made Kuon and Kanon increase their vigilance. Kanon immediately created several ice spears ready to be launched at any time, and Kuon also took one of them as a weapon.
Seeing them all ready to fight, the woman slowly raised both her hands. With a sharp smile still plastered on her face, she then said, "No one expected the presence of a Drifter, and I also don't intend to fight for now. Step aside and just hand that person over to me right now."
The woman pointed toward Kuon—precisely toward the village chief who had somehow been hiding behind him for some time.
Kuon tried to intervene, but his body suddenly felt so heavy as if pressed until it felt suffocating. The woman, even without her doing anything right now, her power seemed to leak and could destroy all presences near her. Even the guard knights Kuon assessed as strong weren't able to move under the pressure of her power.
"Of course, I could kill all of you if that's indeed what you want." After saying that, the woman raised her hand and directed it toward Kuon. Instantly, a one-meter-long iron needle appeared, which was then enveloped by brightly blazing blue fire.
Kuon could only prepare to face that attack. In this situation, he was well aware that the woman possessed greater power than him, so as much as possible Kuon didn't want to act recklessly and tried to resolve the problem in another way.
'But, what method can I use? Resolving the problem without sacrificing that damn village chief…'
Nothing came to his mind. The only reasonable solution for now was trying to hold out, and maintaining the status quo. Because whatever it was, right now Kuon and the woman in front of him were still in an equal position, and happened to be in conflict due to the village chief's involvement.
As Accel accelerated his thoughts, a cold aura suddenly emerged from behind and disrupted Kuon's concentration. He abruptly turned around, and found another figure standing there.
Without a robe, and without any disguise to cover his identity. His characteristics were similar to the woman earlier, but the horns and tail looked bigger than what Kuon knew, which made him guess that he came from a different race from that woman.
"Reinette, why aren't you finished yet?"
'Reinette…'
"Don't disturb me, Quantine."
Seeing her reaction, that must be the woman's name. But without losing his composure at all, the man then stared at Kuon briefly, before sighing in resignation. "I understand that you encountered a little disruption here, but you're wasting time entertaining them."
Right after the man—Quantine—said it, the cold aura became far heavier and suffocating, making Kuon unconsciously grit his teeth and ready to move at any time by drawing the ice spear in his hand.
However, Quantine didn't budge at all. He casually swung his hand toward the village chief, and like swinging an invisible sword, the village chief's lifeless head was already thrown in the air.
No one could react in time when he did that. Quantine only sighed as he looked back at Reinette who put on an annoyed face at him. "Now everything is finished. Let's go back, Reinette."