Arc 28: Return (1)

Saibel remembered.

She remembered the lunatic who had put a bow and arrow in her hands and told her to shoot him.

She remembered the man who had simply believed in her destiny and pushed her forward, as though he knew her better than she knew herself.

“I still... don’t know him... all that well.”

Saibel clenched her teeth. Her green eyes shone brilliantly. Quite literally, mana filled her pupils, making them sparkle like starlight.

Aten’s eyes widened at the sight.

‘... A spell formula...’

Basic Magic Formula One

High Speed

Mana Infusion

Saibel’s mana surged in an instant, swiftly repairing the ice wall Aten had created.

“Haah, haah... Now I can rest a little.”

Having filled the gaps in the wall in an instant, Saibel gasped for breath.

Unable to believe what she was seeing, Aten looked again.

‘... She incorporated a spell formula she’s never even learned, while already using her mana.’

She had only added Formula One, but as a mage, Aten knew just how incredible that single addition was.

“Right, where was I? Oh, yes! I still don’t know him all that well!”

Saibel forced herself to perk up and planted both hands on her hips.

“But he’s not the kind of guy who’d run away to save his own skin!”

Her voice rang with absolute conviction.

Aten turned her white eyes toward Saibel, then looked beyond the wall.

“... Yes. You’re right.”

She nodded. Having witnessed Frondier on the brink of death, she could only agree wholeheartedly.

“Well, we couldn’t see Frondier from here even if he were coming back. We’ll just have to wait for word from the knights on the wall.”

Saibel huffed as she spoke, and Aten smiled wryly.

“Yes... that’s right...?”

As she agreed, Aten’s gaze slowly drifted into the distance.

As Saibel had said, they couldn’t see Frondier from here. He had gone somewhere beyond the wall, while they were inside it.

The wall would block their view of him riding back on the Cassian.

... Then what was that?

“What is it, Aten? What are you looking—”

Following Aten’s gaze, Saibel also fell silent.

Their first impression upon seeing it was, well, a slight ache in their necks. They were looking upward, after all.

Something was rapidly approaching through the distant sky, higher than the wall.

It looked remarkably like Frondier, but neither could bring herself to call out his name.

Because if that really was Frondier...

He was flying.

“Uh, that’s...”

A few soldiers spotted him too. Their expressions were much like Aten’s and Saibel’s.

Something that definitely resembled Frondier was flying toward them, clutching some sort of hammer in one hand.

Rather than delight or relief, their faces twisted as though they were watching some bizarre life-form.

That bizarre life-form took hold of something resembling a sword in its free hand.

“... What the hell is that?”

That last voice belonged to Lidwe.

The Frondier-like thing, holding a hammer-like thing in one hand and a sword-like thing in the other, swung down from the sky toward the ground.

* * *

After emerging from the forest, I spoke when the wall came into view.

“Selena.”

“Yes?”

“You wanted to ride it, didn’t you? The Cassian.”

“Um, pardon?”

“Take the reins from here. Keep heading straight for Teibeon.”

Having said that, I gauged the distance and slowly spoke.

“... Menosorpo.”

I scanned Menosorpo’s range. At this size, it would probably reach the ground in front of the wall.

Fabrication, Black River

Grade - Chief Deity

Mjolnir

I gripped Mjolnir and extended it forward.

“W-wait a moment, aah—!”

Selena said something behind me, but it was already too late.

Controlling Mjolnir while holding on to it, I quite literally shot into the sky.

Flight using a combination of Menosorpo and Mjolnir. I had worried that it might only work underwater, but fortunately, Mjolnir supported my weight aboveground as well.

I flew straight toward the wall. Wind whistled past my ears, its weight pressing over my face and shoulders. My first flight felt decidedly strange.

‘... Good. The wall hasn’t fallen yet.’

The staggering number of monsters briefly made my head spin, but seeing the wall still standing reassured me.

Aten and Saibel must have worked hard. The knights, soldiers, and prisoners too.

An “all-out offensive” meant that most of the monsters in the area were massed at the wall. The powerful ones would be at the front, trying to break through.

Lidwe von Urpa could probably handle most of them, but their numbers were tremendous.

In other words, if I could wipe out those clustered, powerful monsters now, we could defend the wall. I didn’t even need to kill them all.

Fabrication

Grade - Legendary

Excalibur

By the time I fabricated Excalibur in the hand that wasn’t holding Mjolnir, I had used up nearly all of Penelope’s Cloth. It had shrunk to the size of a handkerchief.

I held the cloth between my teeth and gripped Excalibur.

[Excalibur ? Alpha]

? Grade: Legendary

? Description: The legendary sword wielded by King Arthur. Famous for the tale in which Arthur effortlessly drew it from a stone when no one else could. Rather than Arthur drawing the sword, the sword chose Arthur. Of all weapons wielded by heroes, it is the closest to Divine.

Ability Details >

- Legend of the Stone: Excalibur absorbs its wielder’s mana and life force to determine whether they are worthy of it. The absorbed mana and life force become Excalibur’s power.

Excalibur’s ability was simple.

The more mana its wielder supplied, the stronger it became.

A weapon truly suited to the powerful.

‘Then let’s see.’

What would happen if I fed it all of this handkerchief-sized piece of Penelope’s Cloth?

Gripping Excalibur, I poured in all the mana. The cloth between my teeth disappeared. Once I confirmed it was completely gone, I launched Excalibur toward the ground.

And the instant I threw it, I felt it.

This was nothing like Fireworks. It wasn’t something delicate and precise. Its sheer force of destruction and annihilation pushed the air in waves that swept over my entire body.

Even if the cloth had shrunk to the size of my palm, Excalibur had devoured it.

The blade that left my hand didn’t slice through the air. It tore it apart as it plunged toward the ground.

‘Ah. This...’

This might be a bigger problem than I’d—

With a rush, Excalibur swallowed all the air the moment it touched the ground.

And then.

KRAAAAAA-BOOM!!!

A tempest erupted. There was no elaborate principle behind it. The release of the mana contained within Excalibur simply overturned the entire surrounding area.

My falling body was hurled back upward. An immense flash burst forth, illuminating even the land beyond.

“Mmph...! Ghh, ugh...!”

The gale raised by the sword I had thrown left me utterly disoriented. I was tossed every which way through the air.

And afterward, when the storm had swept over the area, I looked down at the ground.

“... Hah.”

The only word I could find for it was devastation.

A crater resembling a dragon’s bite had been gouged out around the impact point. In the surrounding area, not even a monster’s corpse remained. Not even a single drop of blood.

Far, far beyond that radius—far enough that I had to turn my head even from this height—I could make out scattered monster parts. Farther still were creatures missing limbs and others lying dead, split in half.

‘Th-the wall!’

Suddenly remembering it, I turned toward the wall.

It was intact. Well, it had sustained some damage. The outer surface struck by the storm was scored as though claws had raked across it.

This had happened despite my launching the sword much farther away in anticipation of Excalibur’s power. Still, the damage wasn’t serious.

‘Good. Now I just need to land safely.’

Falling from high in the sky, I opened my hand. I intended to create shields to land on, as I had before. If I made several and descended them like stairs, I could minimize the impact... Wait, why wasn’t Fabrication working?

I stared at my empty hand.

... Hmm.

I’d used up all my mana.

‘Excalibur swallowed not only Penelope’s Cloth, but all the mana inside me too.’

I hadn’t anticipated that. It was my first time using it.

What now? If I pushed myself, I could fabricate a few things, but then I would simply pass out from mana exhaustion again.

One or two creations wouldn’t come close to getting me down to the ground from here...

‘... Uh.’

I was in real trouble.

Instinctively, I looked around.

I checked the people on the wall. My eyes settled on Lidwe, who stood highest among them.

As luck would have it, he was looking at me too. He was staring as though I were some bizarre life-form, but that wasn’t important.

I gave him a broad grin, a gesture of friendliness. Then I mouthed the words.

“Please save me.”

Lidwe’s lips moved in reply.

“Are you out of your damn mind?”

* * *

Lidwe’s magic caught Frondier in midair. He floated over like a towel hanging from a clothesline.

“Ah, thank you. You saved my life.”

Those were his first words once his feet touched the wall and he stood upright.

Lidwe had plenty to say, but held it all in for now. There was a question he needed to ask first.

“So, what now?”

“Pardon?”

“Glad you’re back, but what’re you going to do now? That, whatchamacallit, bombardment was all well and good for blowing away the monsters, but now this wall’s barely holding together. We’re past worrying about the right side or the left. What’ll you do when the next monsters come? Launch another bombardment?”

Bombardment. Bombardment, huh.

Frondier rather liked the sound of it. After Fireworks came Bombardment? He would call it that from now on.

“Of course not. I went beyond the wall for a reason.”

“A reason...? Wasn’t it to bring back that bombardment?”

“Oh, that was just a side benefit.”

A side benefit?

The bombardment that had not only wiped out the monsters’ all-out offensive but smashed the surrounding terrain to hell was a side benefit?

“This is the real thing.”

With that, Frondier placed his hand on the wall. Mana rose from his body.

... Mana?

“Hold on there, lad. Wait a moment.”

Realizing something, Lidwe tried to stop him, but Frondier was quicker.

Starting where his hand touched it, the wall gradually began to change.

Scratches vanished, and cracks filled in. The stained, weathered surface grew brighter.

“... Th-this is...”

The transformation spread steadily outward from beneath Frondier’s hand. It kept spreading, gradually becoming visible to the others as well.

Scattered stones drew together. Collapsed pillars rose again.

The wall was returning to the grandeur it had possessed when first built, long ago. The magnificent sight was the very image of “restoration.”

“Wow...”

Someone gave voice to their wonder, and it spread like a ripple.

At a sight that went beyond magic and verged on a miracle, some sank to the ground and simply stared.

“Y-you, just what are you—”

As Lidwe began to speak, unable to contain his amazement...

“... Ah,” Frondier muttered.

“Am I an idiot?”

THUD.

Then Frondier collapsed. The restoration stopped as well.

“What? What’s going on?” Lidwe rushed over to check on him.

“... Mana exhaustion, eh? That’s why I tried to stop you.”

Frondier hadn’t even been able to do anything about his own fall. Lidwe had needed to catch him with magic and bring him here.

There was no way he could perform a great spell like Restoration in that state.

“Are you actually an idiot?”

Every trace of Lidwe’s admiration vanished.