21st Century Archmage

CRASH! CRASH!

RUUUUUMBLE.

The roaring explosions reached my ears all the way in the sky, telling me that we had finally reached the battle. After flying for several hours from Denfors, just as I could feel the strength draining from Bebetos wings, we reached Fort Ciaris.

‘Th-These bastards!!!!

And then, I saw it—under the bright stars and shining moon, a massive, bloody battle betwixt man and monster was raging on.

GUOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!

As if feeling the same rage as I did, Bebeto roared to shake the heavens.

The sturdily rebuilt fortress walls were collapsed, and the soldiers were putting up a desperate resistance at one side.

KWAAAAAA!

KUGEEEH!

At Bebetos cry, the monsters looked into the sky, screaming.

“Have a taste of this, you bastards!!!!”

My eyes were bloodshot.

“FIRE LANE!!!!!”

I needed to draw the attention of the monsters. For that, I needed the flashiest and most widespread spell, so I turned to the strongest AOE in my arsenal, Fire Lane.

PIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIING!

The mana jumping out of my mana core merged with the atmospheric mana, making a sharp sound.

However, that too, was fleeting.

PZZZZZZZZZZTTTTTTTT.

Like an exploding firework, red shrapnel began to spread in the sky. After forming hundreds of meters aboveground, the sparking shrapnel whistled down to the ground like shooting stars.

BOOM! BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOOOOM!

The powerful explosion rang in my ears.

FWOOOOOOOOOOOOOSH!

An explosion of flames spread on the ground in an instant.

KWAAAAAAWK!

KRAAAAGH!

KYAAAAAAAAK!

The Fire Lane spell that released in my rage had mana quantity nearing the 7th Circle, so after merging with the mana in the air, its power exceeded all imagination. Moreover, it was cast high in the sky, so the range was several hundred meters. The flames shot down on them like a bolt from the blue, and the monsters were set ablaze as they squalled death throes.

CRAAAAASH!

FWOOOOOSH.

BOOOM!

The spells the beastmen fired after me exploded everywhere like a carpet bombing.

“T-THE LORD IS HERE!!!!”

“WAAAAAAAA! THE LORD IS HERE! THE LORD!!!!!”

The soldiers cheered after seeing me.

Guoooooooooooo!

Flying low above the heads of the soldiers, Bebeto gave a long roar in my place as if to say, “Your lord is here!”

* * *

“Damn it!”

“Unforgivable bastards!”

“Everyone, set off! The Lord and our colleagues are in danger!”

Janice and Rykers flight teams were running patrols when they heard urgent bell tolling from a fort located on the trade passage. They landed, and after hearing an explanation of the crisis from the forts commanding officer, their faces turned white and they jumped onto their wyverns. They wouldnt be worried if they were just regular monsters, but they were filled with worry after hearing that even the demon beasts that had been laying low had appeared. Their lord might be powerful, but hundreds of demon beasts would be very difficult to deal with.

Flap flap flap flap flap.

Without any chance to catch their breath, ten or so wyverns went aloft again.

It wasnt just them.

Skyknights in the middle of patrols everywhere changed course after hearing the news, flying towards Fort Ciaris, where their lord was facing great danger.

* * *

‘Theyre clever.

After firing a few volleys of spells, most of the monsters clustered around the fort retreated. The beastmen had mana that humans couldnt compare to, so thousands of the swarming monsters were killed with a few hits of 5th Circle magic, and having recovered their morale, the soldiers were able to push the monsters off the castle walls.

However, the demon beasts hadnt yet revealed themselves. They were hiding in the dark, but I could feel them—powerful creatures directing bloodthirst at me.

‘Anymore magic is meaningless.

Even for me, casting 6th Circle magic five times was rough. I had depleted about half of the mana in my mana core, so I couldnt fire spells off like crazy anymore. Wasting mana when the demon beasts, basically the bosses of the monsters, hadnt shown up yet would only endanger me and my soldiers.

‘Huhu, Ill gladly become the bait.

If the monsters retreated like this, that too, would be problematic. In the deep, deep Rual Mountains, monsters were overflowing. If the demon beasts rallied another group of monsters and came attacking, in a war of attrition, I would be forced to suffer a defeat.

So there was only one solution—strike hard and fast to prevent the enemies from recovering in a short amount of time.

“Bebeto, descend.”