Volume 3, Chapter 44 – Chaos in the City

The gray furball must not be the Witch’s Heart Core itself, but a mouthpiece-like existence. Since it was calling for Lianne just now, it means its main body is not with her—Lianne has most likely gone to interrogate the Darkborn who calls himself the Knowledge-seeking Demon General.

However, Lianne had the strength of the Sixth Rank, and the Darkborn that the Witch’s Heart Core called Balor was also of the Sixth Rank. In addition, Lianne was completely immune to physical attacks. Even if Balor had come with a trump card, there was no need to worry about her being quickly defeated. That was the Witch Hall, Lianne’s home ground; she surely had her own trump cards as well.

That being said, she still had to go over immediately.

Just as the thought appeared in Fia’s mind, a huge noise, like an oil tank exploding, came from outside. Although the explosion was very far from her, the fact that the sound could still be heard from such a distance showed that its power was not to be underestimated.

In any case, she had to find Liti and the others first, then head straight to the Witch Hall.

Fia casually threw a piece of cloth over the gray furball and then quickly opened the door.

Renee, who was waiting outside, immediately came forward. Her hand was on her weapon and her face was resolute; she had clearly already entered a combat-ready state.

“Lord Thanatos, the city gate is on fire.”

“The city gate?”

So it’s not a problem at the Witch Hall?

Renee nodded seriously.

“Yes, there’s a fire over there, and the explosion also came from that direction.”

“I understand. You stay here, Renee. I’ll go find Liti and the others.”

“Please allow me to accompany you. That explosion just now was no small matter. It was definitely high-rank magic. Since we’ve already found traces of the Dominators in Byrne City, this explosion must have something to do with them.”

A strong will resided in Renee’s deep green eyes.

No, no, it’s precisely because it’s high-rank magic that I’m having you stay here. Fia said in her heart. If the opponent was really a Darkborn, Renee had no chance of winning.

Fia thought for a moment and answered calmly in Thanatos’s tone.

“You may not. In the eyes of outsiders, you and I belong to different factions. Appearing together might expose your identity—you go to the city gate to investigate the situation. If you find anything amiss, retreat immediately. I will find Liti and the others. We will gather here in the end.”

“…Yes, please be careful.”

As Fia had said, to avoid exposing her identity, Renee left through the window, while Fia took the main door. Since Liti had clearly stated before they separated that she was going to the square to watch a performance, Fia headed straight for the square with the clock tower in the city center.

Although using [Flight] in public was extremely conspicuous, now was not the time to worry about such things. In just a few breaths, Fia arrived at her destination.

An extremely chaotic square.

Two or three thousand people were gathered in the square, and now, they were running in all directions like a crowd in a disaster movie facing a tsunami. The shouts of women and the cries of children were everywhere, and the sound of wooden stalls and carriages overturning rose one after another. The magic lamps in the square flickered like baring-fanged demons as people ran in a panic. With the sea of people, it was impossible to tell who was who.

With Anastasia there, she didn’t have to worry about Liti and Milu getting lost for the time being. The real problem was whether there was anything that could threaten Anastasia.

Landing on top of the clock tower, Fia prepared to use [Wind of Exploration].

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“Who’s there!”

A man’s loud shout soon came from the side.

Fia subconsciously looked over. A team of soldiers in brown leather armor was climbing up the narrow stairs.

“It’s dangerous here! There are monsters and Darkborn in the square—uh, is that a Lady Magic Caster?”

“Monsters and Darkborn?”

As she spoke, [Wind of Exploration] also fed Fia the answer. Among the dense, deep purple figures swarming in the square, there were nearly twenty particularly prominent figures. Because they had appeared in the center of the stage, all the spectators could see them.

They were mostly First and Second Rank lizard-type monsters. The leading humanoid Darkborn were Fourth Rank powerhouses. There were four of them in total.

In addition, Fia also found the figures of Anastasia and the others among them. They were confronting the Darkborn together with a team of soldiers, and they seemed to be saying something.

“When did these monsters arrive?”

Fia turned to ask the soldier. Because her wings were enough to prove her identity as a magic caster, the soldier did not dare to disturb her.

“J-just now. We were patrolling the street when these monsters suddenly burst out of the square. Several people who were close by have already died!”

“Go and evacuate the crowd. Leave these monsters to me.”

“Wait! Those are the Flame King’s powerful attendants! Who knows how many adventurers have died at their hands. You should wait for the baron to bring reinforcements and attack together, miss. Don’t throw your life away!”

Thank you for your concern, but it will be too late by then.

Replying in her heart to the soldier whose face was written with anxiety, Fia jumped off the clock tower. At this time, Anastasia had already engaged the Darkborn, and Liti and Milu were also clearing out the First and Second Rank monsters a little further away from her. Although these lizard monsters were much more troublesome than the Fire-striped Frogs, Liti and Milu were not fighting alone. Nearly twenty soldiers were assisting them, preventing them from being surrounded.

There were clearly noble-looking magic casters and their guards in the square, and their strength was quite considerable, yet these people were just watching from the sidelines. No wonder Baron Khesa disliked these exiled nobles.

Bang!

“Aaargh!!!”

“Eek! They’re coming again!”

A harsh beastly roar and the shrill screams of the crowd came from the right. Fia subconsciously looked over. What came into view was a giant worm, three or four meters tall, that had burrowed out of the ground. Its lamprey-like mouth, full of teeth, was constantly spitting out a white slime. And along with the slime, a few four-legged anglerfish and two-legged sea urchins were also spat out.

They were at least two meters tall, especially the anglerfish monsters, which were four meters long. A single turn could cause huge casualties. Each monster was burning with red flames, consistent with the soldier’s description of the “Flame King’s attendants.”

She had wanted to complain ever since she knew about the Fire-striped Frogs and the turtle Flame King. Why did these fire-attribute monsters always look like sea monsters?

Complaining was one thing, but unlike the center of the square where Anastasia was, there was no one of decent strength where these monsters had appeared. And among the crowd were some children Fia recognized; they were the slave children she had given alms to before.

“You all run! I’ll hold them off!”

“No, you’re no match for them! Don’t mind us!”

“If we die, we die together!”

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A man dressed as an adventurer, holding a long-handled axe, stood alone between the flaming anglerfish and his fallen companions. His companion could only crawl on the ground because of a leg injury.

If this were a movie, the man with the long-handled axe would definitely be the protagonist.

Fia was not so sadistic as to test these adventurers’ friendship. She landed in front of the man and pierced the flaming anglerfish’s abdomen with [Dragon Tooth].

[Dragon Tooth] was an earth-type spell Fia had learned back in Oro. Under normal chanting, it would only cause a piece of the ground to bulge. But when enhanced by [Hyper-computation], it was a stone spear as thick as a bucket, and she could summon up to nine of them at once. Its attack power was even greater than [Wind Blade].

With a rain of blood falling from the sky, the man, who had gritted his teeth and prepared for a fatal blow, opened his eyes in a daze.

“I’m still alive?”

“Take your companion and go quickly. You’re no match for these monsters.”

“But if we leave these monsters alone…”

“There’s no ‘but’!” Seeing his companion’s hesitation, the injured man on the ground urged. But he soon widened his eyes, his mouth agape enough to fit a slime. “…you’ve got to be kidding me?”

“What?”

The male adventurer with the air of a protagonist looked forward, and he soon widened his mouth in an exaggerated manner just like his companion.

Not a single monster could last a second against the elf. The hard scales of the flaming anglerfish were as fragile as paper under her stone spears. This elf even lifted the lava sea urchins, which were as heavy as a land dragon, into the air and skewered them one by one with those incredibly hard stone spears. For a moment, the male adventurer rubbed his eyes, thinking he was dreaming. Everything in front of him was beyond common sense, making him suspect that these monsters were just paper props.

[Fairy Fire]

After dealing with the monsters rushing towards the crowd with [Dragon Tooth] and [Wind Blade], the flaming anglerfish and sea urchins finally felt fear and quickly retreated into the giant lamprey. And after they had burrowed in, Fia shot a total of ten fireballs at it.

The reason she hadn’t used [Fairy Fire] from the beginning was because this was a square, and the exploding rubble could easily injure people. Now that they had hidden themselves, it had actually done her a big favor.

With the raging flames and the smell of burnt flesh filling the air, the lamprey let out a terrifying roar, its body swaying violently, and the stone slabs around it also bulged and cracked. However, its struggle did not bring it life. Death was already written on it.

A fire-attribute monster that was afraid of fire. Something felt a bit strange.

“Thank you for your help, milady!”

The male adventurer’s thanks came from behind. Fia turned her head slightly. Although his companion was injured, it was not an injury that would leave a lasting disability if not treated promptly. As for the man’s blush, it was probably due to the earlier excitement.

First, to Anastasia’s side.

Fia’s actual actions were much faster than her words. The whole process only took a few breaths. By the time she appeared beside Liti, Liti was still dealing with the truck-sized gecko-type monster with the soldiers.

“Get out of the way, my spell is ready! —[Triple Lightning Spear]!”

As Liti’s voice fell, with a strong flash and a clap of thunder, three bolts of lightning shot out from her staff, narrowly grazing the heads of two soldiers, and landed squarely on the gecko monster’s back.

Boom!

Almost simultaneously, the three bolts of lightning blew a large hole in the gecko’s back, exposing the charred flesh. The gecko monster also let out a painful roar and began to roll around, screaming wildly.

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“Now, cut off its tail!”

“Yes!”

No, no, geckos can detach their tails to survive, right?

Liti’s command made Fia prepare to activate [Dragon Tooth]. But the reality was that under the soldiers’ chaotic slashes, as the scales and flesh of the tail were gradually exposed, the gecko monster’s magic core also came into view. Finally, with a powerful swing from a man using a greatsword, the gecko’s tail was separated from its body, and its head also fell off its neck on its own, losing its life.

It seemed it was not a species that survived by detaching its tail, but by detaching its head.

What a strange thing.

“Miss Stellacryst, behind you!”

“Troublesome.”

Frowning cutely, Milu first used her two-handed sword to slash away the tail attack of the lizard monster in front of her. Then, using the momentum, she turned and split the sword into two, her hands glowing with red and gray light respectively.

This was a prelude to a spell activation.

Since she had never seen Milu use two-handed magic, Fia naturally thought of the [Chain Thrust] that was attached to the two-handed sword.

The next second.

A speed that was difficult to see clearly.

The humanoid Darkborn who was attempting a sneak attack on Milu was instantly pierced through the palm by [The Undead Princess’s Hatred]. Then, the red [The Vampire’s Blessing] also stabbed into its chest.

Although Fia could be faster than Milu with her physical strength, Milu’s mana was worlds apart from hers. [Chain Thrust] looked simple, but it was actually very practical.

Except that its attack power was slightly insufficient.

[The Vampire’s Blessing] did not have the [Magic Piercing] effect. The blow that stabbed into the humanoid Darkborn’s chest only made a clanging sound as if it had hit steel. The huge recoil forced Milu to take a step back.

“Hmm? A mere Second Rank can actually harm me. Is it that sword? You’ve found a treasure.”

His words had a very heavy accent. The headless Darkborn smacked the mouth on its abdomen.

It was of the same race as the one named Balor who had escaped that day. He was smaller than Balor, and only had two arms.

“Give me that sword, and I’ll leave your corpse whole.”

“Go to hell.”

As her voice fell, Milu used [Chain Thrust] on the headless Darkborn again. But this time, the sword was stopped in mid-air. The headless Darkborn’s thick arms had caught one sword each at the last possible moment. The huge force, like a vise, made Milu’s twin swords unable to move.

The headless Darkborn grinned.

“I see, a top-tier Crimson Gold-rank weapon. You are not worthy to use it. Get lost!”

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“Little Milu, get out of the way! —[Triple Lightning Spear]!”

“How dare you use a mere Third Rank spell in front of me!”

Faced with Liti’s lightning, the headless Darkborn just made a grasping motion in the air and crushed it. But Liti’s magic did not end there. Following the lightning, three fireballs shot at the headless Darkborn’s body and legs.

This time, the headless Darkborn didn’t even make a grasping motion. He just stood there, and the fireballs dissipated into thin air before they could reach him.

“Ridiculous, a low-rank spell that can’t even break a magic shield. Is this all you elves have—what is this!”

Before the headless Darkborn could finish, his left hand, which was holding Milu’s longsword, was severed by a fleeting silver glint. Then, Milu’s body was moved aside by a Spatial Hand, and the sky turned orange-red. The air temperature rose by several degrees, to the point that one’s skin felt scorching hot.

And then.

Explosions, one after another.

If the three fireballs from before were just a tickle, then now it was as if the sky was raining down aerial bombs. The violent roar was accompanied by a strong flash, almost robbing people of their hearing and sight. Their minds buzzed, and they felt dizzy.

It’s still alive after all that?

Fia, who had retrieved Laevateinn, raised her eyebrows.

[Wind of Exploration] showed that although the headless demon’s mana was dropping section by section, it was not yet dead.

A durable grunt character.

Fia had no interest in a minion-like Darkborn. She followed up with the higher-attack-power [Dragon Tooth], and with the intention of ending it quickly, she added a [Mental Shock] before using it, preventing him from putting up a defense.

“Aaargh! I am the Son of Balor! I cannot die like this!!!”

Squish.

The sound of a sharp object piercing flesh.

“I am… not resigned…”

The Darkborn’s angry roar came to an abrupt end.

After that, Fia used [Dragon Tooth] again to pin all the nearby gecko monsters to the ground. Only Anastasia’s side did not need help, so she did not interfere.

After dealing with everything, Fia turned around with a wry smile.

“Are you all alright?”

“I’m… I’m fine… thanks to you…”

“Ah… we survived.”

Besides Liti and Milu, who had run over quickly, the only answers Fia received were the lowered guards in people’s eyes and the relief of having narrowly escaped death.