The Hero's Battle

Hero Emma and her group of beastmen were busy preparing to intercept the great criminal who had long tormented the people: Guiche, the First Prince of the Beast Kingdom.

The beastmen made quick work of the earth, their shovels cutting into the dirt with rhythmic, satisfying thuds. Emma, however, was having no such luck. She tried to mimic them with her stone sword, but she couldn't manage to dig so much as a shallow trench.

It was only natural, really.

Even if they were both made of stone, one was a sword and the other was a shovel. The ease of use was on a completely different level. Beyond that, while the shovels were embedded with Magic Stones specialized for excavation, the stone sword was only enchanted with sharpness. Emma didn't yet possess the strength to literally "cut" the ground.

"Even so, Lady Elu, what is the point of digging holes here? Shouldn't we be conserving our stamina for the attack instead of wearing ourselves out?"

"No, Lord Yuri taught me this," Elu replied. "He said that against beasts, simple traps are the most effective. Apparently, he once completely neutralized a stampede using nothing but pits."

"O-Oh! Such a thing actually happened?"

"That’s why this should work against my brother, Guiche, as well."

"I see. Still, this shovel is incredible. No matter how much I dig, I don't feel the slightest bit of fatigue."

"It is a Magic Shovel crafted by Lord Yuri, after all. He claims one can even defeat a Dragon with it."

"Haha! Surely you jest. But I suppose that just speaks to how amazing it is."

"Indeed. Thanks to this, we can set our traps even if we're forced onto the defensive."

The sounds of cheerful chatter drifted through the air, despite the imminent raid. Elu was likely being considerate, doing her best to soothe the nerves of the group before the tension reached a breaking point.

That sort of thing is supposed to be my job as the Hero, Emma thought.

Suppreseeing a slight prickle of frustration, she went back to helping with the holes. As she worked, she practiced her grip on the stone sword. The blade seemed to have been left with just enough "room" for further enchantment, as if it were waiting for her to pour her own Light Magic Power into it.

If she could fire off a slash of pure Light to annihilate the enemy in a single blow... well, a girl could dream.

"Yeah, as expected of my stone sword!" Emma let out a happy smile and returned to the digging.

◇　◇　◇

"Lady Elu, the pitfall is complete!"

"Excellent. Cover it up so it’s invisible, then we'll wait leisurely for my brother to arrive."

"Understood!"

The group sat down on the grass, settling in for the wait. An hour slowly bled away. Then—

"Lady Elu! Guiche’s army is in sight!"

The scout returned, breathless and panicked.

"So, they’ve finally come..."

The relaxed atmosphere evaporated instantly. A sharp, cold tension rippled through Elu’s followers.

"I just hope this plan works," Elu whispered.

If the enemy noticed the pitfall, the battle would be over in a heartbeat. They had to maintain a combat-ready stance to draw the enemy in, yet look vulnerable enough to provoke a reckless charge. It was a delicate, exhausting balancing act.

"It’ll be fine. Just leave that part to me."

Emma saw the anxiety etched onto Elu’s face and reached out to pat the girl’s head. Then, while she was at it, she gave Elu's tail a firm squeeze. She indulged in the mofumofu fluffiness without a care for the time or place.

"W-Wait, Emma-san!?" Elu’s face turned a violent shade of crimson as she spun around.

"Just recharging my fighting spirit. Anyway, I'm off."

Emma hoisted the stone sword onto her shoulder and began a slow, deliberate walk toward the approaching force.

It wasn't exactly the full military might of the Beast Kingdom. Guiche had brought his personal retainers and a small contingent of soldiers provided by the nobles supporting his claim. Still, they easily numbered over a hundred. Emma’s group was, at best, a dozen people.

The math didn't add up for a victory. To make matters worse, Guiche’s subordinates radiated the unmistakable aura of seasoned warriors. On Emma’s side, the vast majority—including herself—were only single-digit Levels.

Telling them not to be nervous was an exercise in futility.

Emma’s palms were slick with sweat. She adjusted her grip on the stone sword, squeezing the hilt tight. I don’t have to wipe them all out, she told herself. But if I can just shave down their numbers a little...

She stood her ground in front of her comrades and leveled her blade.

"Lady Elu... will she be okay?"

"She will be fine. We must believe in Lady Emma," Elu said, her voice steady as she encouraged the others.

Knowing Elu placed such trust in her caused a strange, foreign power to well up in Emma’s chest.

"I am your opponent!" Emma shouted at the approaching horde.

She focused every ounce of her Light Magic Power, funneling it into the stone sword.

"You rebel," Guiche spat, his forehead twitching with suppressed rage. "You dare defy me to the end? Then prepare yourself!"

At his command, the beastmen charged as one.

In that exact moment, Emma swung her blade.

"Take this! Emma’s Finishing Move... BRAVE SLAAAAAAAASH!"

With her thunderous cry, a massive burst of Light erupted from the stone sword. It was blinding, a searing white veil that seemed to swallow the beastmen whole. When the light faded, nothing remained.

Or so it appeared.

"Huff... huff... I did... what I could..." Emma gasped.

The recoil from using far more Magic Power than she possessed was instantaneous. Her vision swam, and she collapsed where she stood.

◇　◆　◇

In reality, Emma’s Attack lacked the raw power to actually vaporize beastmen with such a massive Level gap. There was a much more practical reason they had disappeared.

The blinding light had been the perfect screen. Unable to see their feet, the entire charging line had plummeted straight into the pitfall trap.

The only one left was a slender member of the Demon Race hovering in the sky. For some reason, he was acting as an ally to the beastmen.

"Lady Elu! Prince Guiche and the others are using their own men as stepping stones! They're trying to climb out!"

"What!?"

This was outside of Elu’s calculations. She had only heard Yuri’s story about trapping a pack of Wolves. She had assumed that, given enough time, the enemy would simply tire themselves out and surrender. The idea that Guiche would literally kick his own comrades into the dirt to use them as footstools hadn't even entered her mind.

"W-What do we do? If Lord Yuri were here..."

She racked her brain for a solution, but time had run out. Guiche’s head breached the edge of the pit.

"Kukuku... did you really think such a pathetic trap could—GWAF!?"

The moment he leaped from the hole, a massive rock slammed into him from above, sending him crashing back into the depths.

"Huh? What just happened?"

Elu spun around. Standing behind her was me.

◇　◆　◇

"Hmm. Don't you think they're just going to climb out?"

I had been watching the beastmen fall into the pit from a distance, debating whether or not I should get involved. They’d successfully trapped the enemy, which should have been the cue to start a one-sided slaughter. Instead, Elu and her group were just... staring at the hole.

"What's the plan, Yuri?" Fritz asked.

"I felt a bit bad about stealing their Experience Points from the sidelines," I muttered, "but we can't have the enemy escaping. I guess I'll just plug the hole."

"Wait, plug it?" Melty looked at me as if I’d suggested drinking the ocean. "That pit is enormous."

"You could do this too, Melty. It’s just making a few rocks fall."

I didn't wait for her reply. I reached out and summoned several Meteors, raining them down directly onto the pitfall. One happened to catch Guiche right as he was making his "villainous escape" monologue, sending him plummeting back into the dark.

"Eh? What on earth?"

Elu turned around, her eyes wide with confusion until they landed on me.

"Lord Yuri?"

"Yeah. I came to help."

I offered a half-hearted excuse for poaching the kills. Elu didn't seem to care about the lost Experience Points, though. She sprinted toward me and threw her arms around me with everything she had.

"You saved us, Lord Yuri! Thank you! Thank you so much!"

She pressed her face uncomfortably close to mine. I gave her head a light pat while I assessed the situation.

The beastmen were buried in the pit. I’d effectively sealed the exit, so they weren't going anywhere. Hero Emma was facedown in the dirt in the middle of the field. She was drooling and mummuring something about being "too full to eat another bite," so her life wasn't in any immediate danger.

That left the member of the Demon Race floating in the sky.

There was only one reason a demon would be here. He was the Mastermind.

I glared up at him. He didn't seem intimidated; in fact, he started laughing.

"Fufu... I didn't expect the main prize to show up here. How fortunate. Those beasts were useless, anyway."

"So, you're the one who orchestrated all of this!?" Elu demanded.

The demon's expression shifted into one of pure ecstasy. "Indeed. I am the architect of this battlefield. At the request of the Supreme One, I incited those beasts to lure you out into the open."

So there was someone above him. Given my luck, it probably linked back to the Lousouth House eventually. Since I wasn't officially independent yet, I needed to be careful about—

"Then you're the one who attacked our hideout!?"

"Of course. Ah, I love it—that look of utter despair. Shall I see how much further I can make it distort?"

The demon's body began to swell. His muscles bulged, his limbs thickened, and his face elongated, shifting from a human-like visage into something draconic.

It was a classic mid-battle transformation. And right in the middle of it—

"GHA!?"

I didn't want him finishing his speech or revealing his boss's identity, so I launched a rock imbued with a massive amount of magic power. It caught him square in the temple. His transformation stalled out, his eyes rolled back, and he dropped out of the sky like a stone.

"..."

The demon ended up head-first in the dirt, stuck in a grotesque, half-transformed state.

It was so cliché that I actually felt a pang of secondhand embarrassment. I looked at the unconscious "Mastermind" and sighed.

"That's what happens when you try to transform in the middle of a battlefield. You're wide open."