Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon?, Vol. 6 (27 page)

“Wh-what—wassat?!”

Utter chaos broke out within the castle the second that the magical energy hit the wall.

Screams echoed through the stone hallways as more impacts rocked the structure. Those who emerged from the main tower were immediately lost for words when they saw what had happened to their precious wall.

The breeze took enough of the clouds of smoke away for them to see that a piece of the wall
was missing
.

“U-unbelievable! It’s them—they’re attacking!”

Luan, who had been knocked off the top of the wall by the first blast, climbed back up. The same people who ordered him to “look out” a few moments ago brushed up to him in a panic.

“How many?!”

“J-just one!”

The prum’s superiors squinted at him, as if trying to make sure they’d heard him right. Luan, himself, was visibly shaken by fear. Still, he forced trembling words out of his mouth.

“C-could that be…N-no, it has to be! Crozzo’s Magic Swords! They’re going to break down the wall with legendary weapons?!”

A collective gasp emerged from the small group of people who had gathered around him. They knew he spoke the truth.

There was no other magic sword in this wide world that could possibly break through a wall of that size in one hit. Since this wasn’t cast Magic, Luan’s suggestion was the only explanation that made sense. Any doubts they had instantly disappeared.

Almost on cue, the voices of lookouts on top of the main tower rang out. “One enemy?!” “Attacking with magic swords!” Words that started as a call to arms ended in screams laced with fear and surprise.

“The castle’ll be blown sky high at this rate!”

Luan yelled in sheer terror, his comrades frozen on the spot. Suddenly,
KA-BOOM!
The remains of the lookout tower only a few meders away took a direct hit. Large chunks of stone flew in every direction, showering the archers and onlookers with debris.

“UWWAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!” Luan shrieked at the top of his lungs. Leaving his allies behind, he rushed back into the relative safety of the inner sanctum.

“To think, there would come a day when I would use
this
magic sword…”

The hooded figure, Lyu, whispered to herself as she swung both blades toward the castle.

One flick of the scarlet blade sent a giant, crackling fireball hurtling toward the target. Bringing down the violet blade brought forth a thick column of electricity that snaked its way to the castle in less than a heartbeat. Both were powerful enough to pierce the outer layer of rock, sending bits and pieces high into the air.

The weapons had been prepared by Welf in less than a week. Crozzo Magic Swords.

The blades created by men with cursed blood were so powerful that they overpowered opponents to the point a counterattack was impossible. The kingdom of Rakia had demonstrated their power during the war, and the world had not forgotten the devastation they wrought.

There were even stories about how they’d used Crozzo Magic Swords to turn a previously impenetrable fortress into a pile of rubble in one night. The ultimate siege weapon.

“You cannot hit me from there.”

Archers hastily brought down a rain of arrows from the still-intact parts of the wall. However, Lyu had no trouble dodging them. Every time she spun, she swung one of the magic swords forward, engulfing the archers and magic users with flaming explosions and electrical eruptions. The sound was deafening even from this distance as even more of the castle wall came crumbling to the ground.

Its structural integrity gone, the heavily damaged northern wall started to tilt inward. Hurling a series of magical attacks stronger than regular Magic, Lyu worked her way east as she continued the assault. It wasn’t long before the castle’s eastern wall began to crumble under their power.

“If you insist on doing nothing, I’ll bring the castle down on top of you.”

Her sky-blue eyes narrowed from beneath her hood.

Another beam of electricity shot straight through the opening in the castle wall, lighting up the inside like a storm cloud. It didn’t take long for screams of pain to reach her ears.

“Now, come out.”

One more spin, and yet another explosion rocked the castle.

“S-status report! What the hell is going on?!”

Screams of panic and terror replaced the relaxed atmosphere inside the castle as Lyu continued her bombardment. Everyone was at a loss as to how to handle such an unpredictable and dangerous opponent.

Their arrows weren’t connecting, spells couldn’t be finished—Luan emerged from the middle chamber, running as if his life depended on it.

“Orders from Hyacinthus! Take fifty fighters and take that guy out!”

“Fifty?!”

Everyone present inside the sanctum was taken aback by that number. That would slice the forces defending the castle in half to take care of one enemy. Luan was quick to cut them off.

“Those magic swords will mow down any small groups we send! They don’t even have ten fighters—just get rid of that one and get back here!”

Everyone fell silent in the face of reason. Yet another explosion rocked the wall, sending shock waves through the stone and cracking the surface beneath their feet. “UwaHH!” Luan jumped back as small stones fell from the ceiling, and he ran away.

“C-come on, let’s get going!”

“Tsk…No choice. Move out!”

Luan’s message being the final push, fifty adventurers gathered around the elf, Lissos, and rushed toward the east gate. The iron doors swung open, an early afternoon breeze hitting their faces as another round of explosions made their ears ring.

“Spread out!” Obeying Lissos’s command, the adventurers split into ten groups of five as they converged on the hooded attacker from different angles.

“Guh, guahh…?!”

As predicted, the group that had taken point position was blown backward by a sparkling electrical explosion. One group after another was mercilessly knocked out of commission every time their enemy swung one of those two magic swords. Lissos jumped over the burning grass and weaved his way through the electrical strikes as he closed the distance.

Then he heard a cracking sound immediately after dodging a fireball. A moment later, the crimson blade shattered into thousands of pieces.

“Now! Attack as one!”

The magic sword had exceeded its limit. The violet blade began to crack the moment that Lissos ordered a full-out assault to seize the opportunity.

The hooded adventurer threw the remains of the weapons into the dirt and withdrew a wooden sword from beneath her cloak to engage the thirty remaining adventurers in close-quarters combat.

“S-so fast?!”

“Stay in formation; do not break ranks!”

It didn’t take long for the group under Lissos’s command to fall into chaos as the hooded adventurer sprang into action. Most of them were third-tier, Level 2 adventurers facing down an enemy who was on her own—yet she unleashed a massacre, wielding her wooden weapon with the force of gale winds. Cape flapping vigorously behind her, she deflected three oncoming swords with one upward sweep before sending a human who got too close twenty meders into the air, using the momentum of her backswing to propel her blade forward.

Thirty adventurers couldn’t even land one blow against a single enemy.

“Haa!”

“!”

Lissos timed his sneak attack to land the moment the hooded adventurer was repelling another weapon. The tip of his dagger cut across the enemy’s cheek.

The side of her hood had been sliced open enough to reveal, for just a moment, a long ear in the shape of a leaf. Time froze for Lissos as he realized the hooded adventurer was another elf. Fury spread through his veins like wildfire.

“Bastard! An elf dirtying her hands with foul weapons such as magic swords—have you no shame?!”

Rage filled Lissos’s body to the point that his ears were burning red as he dove toward the hooded adventurer.

Crozzo’s Magic Swords had turned an elvish forest into ash. “Those weapons destroyed the home of your people! How could you not know?!” He roared with the anger and grudge of an entire race. In response, the hooded adventurer—Lyu—remained expressionless and calm as she sideswiped the dagger, breaking it in half.

“—”

“Regrettably, there is something more important to me than the animosity of one people.”

Time stood still as Lissos watched his opponent step in, her words overpowering him as her weapon came forward.

“If it is shameful to rescue a friend, I shall gladly accept that.”

Lissos saw her feet leave the ground in a spin before losing consciousness on impact.

“This is incredible! Could
Hestia Familia
be looking to end this sooner rather than later?!”

Cheers of surprise and excitement erupted all over Orario.

The mirrors floating in the air showed images of the smoking north and east walls as well as the damage already taken by the inner tower of the old castle. Still others focused solely on the relentless attacks of the mysterious hooded adventurer who eliminated upper-class adventurers one by one in the blink of an eye. She was gaining fans by the moment. Onlookers filling the streets shouted cries of encouragement to the beautiful elf.

“Please tell us, Lord Ganesha, just what are those ferocious magic swords?”

“Those are—Ganesha?!”

“If you don’t feel like adding anything to the commentary, please go home, Lord Ganesha!”

The atmosphere in the Guild’s front lawn was absolutely electric as the announcers’ voices rang out throughout the city.

Meanwhile, inside the confines of Babel Tower in Central Park, many gods and goddesses voiced admiration for her exploits.

“That hooded adventurer—damn good, am I right?”

“According to Hermes, that’s a ‘helper’ from outside the city.”

“Hooded adventurer…Leon something or other…”

“
Apollo Familia
’s response time is very quick.”

Three gods had gathered in the corner, all watching the same mirror and exchanging opinions. Back at the main table, “Cheh!” Apollo snapped his tongue in disgust. He bared his white teeth menacingly at Hestia, but the young-looking goddess didn’t look up from her own mirror.

“Look at that—here comes another one!”

Movement could be seen in a mirror showing the northern grasslands. This time, it was a human girl racing across the landscape like a predator on the hunt.