"Haaaaah!"
Ara's spirited shout rang out as she swung her Power Axe, literally crushing the skull of a Cobolt that had been repeatedly battering the Protective Barrier.
"Seriously, why is it always nothing but extra trouble!"
On the return swing, she shattered the torso of a Goblin charging at her with a rusty longsword.
Right nearby, Mirage in its whip-sword form was slicing through the throats of several Cobolts.
"Don't say that. This abnormality is undoubtedly related to the pulse from earlier. For now, just focus on reducing the number of monsters gathering here, even if only a little."
Through the consecutive strikes unleashed by Mirage, the monsters gathered around the Protective Barrier lost their lives in the blink of an eye.
But even so, the monsters kept appearing in such numbers that one wanted to ask where they were all coming from.
At this rate, Vihera and Marina must be struggling too.
Elena murmured inwardly as she swiftly wielded Mirage, returning it to its longsword form and instantly dicing several Cobolts to pieces.
While chasing after Rei and Set, a report like a scream had suddenly reached them.
Countless monsters were attacking this settlement protected by the Protective Barrier, for reasons unknown. Elena and the others immediately made their judgment.
For now, dealing with the monsters gathering at the settlement took priority.
Since the monsters were gathering surrounding the Protective Barrier, Elena and the others split up to act separately.
Elena and Ara, Vihera and Byune, Marina and As — paired in that manner.
Originally, they could have divided up even more finely, even down to one person each.
But in case something happened, they needed someone to cover their backs, so they formed pairs.
Of course, Elena and the others weren't the only ones fighting outside the settlement. The Dark Elves of the settlement had also risen up to protect their homeland, each attacking the monsters assailing the Protective Barrier.
The attacks the Dark Elves excelled at — bows and spirit magic — claimed the lives of monsters one after another, and the sharp consecutive thrusts of their rapiers struck down Goblins before the creatures could even comprehend what had happened.
There was no doubt that the Dark Elves were overwhelmingly superior in individual combat power, but the problem was the sheer number of monsters gathering around the settlement.
An enormous quantity of monsters had arrived, enough to make one wonder where they had been hiding until now.
No matter how high each individual Dark Elf's abilities were, one person was still just one person.
When facing monsters gathering one wave after another, it was only natural that they would run short on hands.
Moreover, the monsters weren't coming from just one direction — they came from every direction of the forest.
"Kuh, you! That's enough already!"
The Power Axe swung with irritation blew away several monsters all at once.
Watching that sight, Ara thought of Rei and Set, who had headed to the World Tree, as she saw enemies appear from beyond the monsters she had blown away using her boasted Herculean Strength.
Please resolve this as quickly as possible. We won't hold out much longer.
While Elena and Ara fought against the swarming monsters, battles were naturally taking place at other locations as well.
At one of them — in front of the Protective Barrier on the east side of the settlement — Vihera slipped through the enemies like a dancer, simultaneously slicing through them one after another with the magic claws extending from her gauntlets.
In Vihera's wake, the hands, feet, and heads of Goblins, Cobolts, and even monsters Vihera had never seen before fell to the ground.
Normally, the monsters would have been screaming. But the current monsters didn't even let out a roar, let alone a scream, relentlessly attacking Vihera and the Protective Barrier in complete silence.
"If they were just weak, that'd be one thing, but to not even have a will of their own... they're not even worth fighting."
Vihera, having passed through the monsters, flicked her claws to fling off the blood and flesh fragments clinging to them.
Since the claws were made of magic, she could simply dispel them without worrying about the blood — but perhaps it was a matter of feeling.
The monsters tried to turn toward Vihera as she passed through their midst... but in the next moment, their bodies were pierced by long needles flying from nowhere.
"Mn."
A satisfied voice rang out simultaneously.
Normally, a monster pierced by a long needle would scream in pain. However...
"Mn!"
Despite having multiple long needles stuck in their bodies, the monsters showed no sign of caring at all. They didn't even notice Byune, who had thrown the needles, and pushed forward toward Vihera in their line of sight.
Finding it unpleasant that her attacks had been completely ignored, Byune flashed a momentary anger across her expressionless face, drew a short dagger from the sheath at her waist, and in the next instant kicked off the ground to close the distance with the monsters.
"Hey, Byune!?"
Vihera called out in surprise at Byune suddenly charging into the battlefield.
With her small body, Byune was inevitably inferior in physical strength.
She more than made up for it in speed and precise movements, but what the situation demanded right now was the attack power to kill monsters in a single blow — monsters that ignored pain and kept attacking.
"Mn!"
But ignoring Vihera's words, Byune charged into the swarm of monsters and slipped through them as if mimicking Vihera's movements from moments ago.
As she passed through, she swung her short dagger, attacking the monsters' limbs — more precisely, their joints and tendons — cleanly severing them.
While destroying the head and heart of a Goblin that had attacked her with Magic Impact Palm, Vihera let out a voice of admiration.
I see. Even if she can't kill them in one blow, immobilizing them achieves the same result of neutralizing them.
Watching an Orc collapse to the ground after its heart was destroyed in a single blow, Vihera's gaze turned toward the monsters writhing on the ground — Goblins and Cobolts.
Monsters that had fallen to the ground, unable to move because their leg tendons had been severed.
Heavy monsters like Orcs trampled over such monsters without a second thought as they walked forward, so even without Byune doing anything, the trampled monsters died one after another.
Byune watched with satisfaction, but the reason the monsters hadn't attacked Byune until now was because she hadn't been perceived as an obstructive presence. Once she was recognized as a dangerous existence, she would naturally become a target.
An Orc that had been approaching while trampling fallen monsters raised the club in its hand.
Judging that the club would be brought down at this rate, Byune didn't widen the distance from the Orc — she closed it.
Keeping her body low, she closed the distance with the Orc and flashed her short dagger.
She severed the tendon of the Orc's left leg... and yet, Byune's face contorted slightly.
Without delivering a follow-up attack to the Orc that had dropped to one knee, she took her distance.
Leaping while evading the attacks of Goblins and Cobolts, she landed on a tree branch a short distance from the Protective Barrier.
Arrows fired by Dark Elves waiting at a distance pierced the backs of monsters that tried to chase Byune, one after another.
The monsters whose hearts were pierced by arrows from behind died as they were, collapsing to the ground.
Watching the series of movements from atop the branch, Byune slightly furrowed her brow and turned her gaze to her right wrist.
To the wrist that hurt when she moved it.
She had managed to sever the Orc's leg tendon, but the muscle protecting it was thick and tough.
If she were eating it, that would mean it had good chew — but in battle like this, it was an extremely troublesome existence.
"...Mn."
Even in the midst of such a situation, the taste of Orc tendon stew passed through Byune's mind — the tendon, parboiled in plenty of hot water, then simmered in soup until soft enough to melt in the mouth.
Gazing at the Orc lying on the ground not with the eyes of someone looking at a troublesome enemy but with the eyes of someone looking at delicious ingredients, in the next moment she lightly kicked off the tree branch and leapt... descending straight down toward the Orc's head, carrying the momentum of her fall and her own body weight.
What returned through the short dagger was the sensation of piercing the Orc's head's skin, stabbing through flesh, shattering bone, and stirring its brains.
Taking that blow, the Orc's Flame of Life was extinguished, and it crashed to the ground.
"Mn!"
Gazing at the Orc's corpse, Byune celebrated her victory — or rather, rejoiced even more at having obtained quality ingredients.
"Poro, electricity!"
"Poruru!"
At As's command, Poro discharged electricity.
Purple Lightning racing through the air struck the Ogre, halting the movement of the Ogre that had been about to swing down its club.
But As didn't think that blow would finish off the Ogre either.
While the Ogre's movement was stopped, he drew an arrow from his quiver, nocked it on his bow... and in the next instant, loosed it.
The time between drawing the bowstring taut and releasing the arrow was virtually nonexistent; without even confirming what had happened to the fired arrow, he nocked the next one and shot.
The arrows released from As's hands were by no means inferior to the rapid fire of the bow-proficient Dark Elves.
Though it looked as though he was firing with almost no aiming, the first arrow struck the Ogre's right eye, and the second struck its left.
Normally, an Ogre would let out a roar — whether of pain or rage.
But the current Ogre, as if lacking any will of its own just like the other monsters, swung the club it held without any regard for the fact that both its eyes had been pierced by arrows.
Though it was called a club, it was nothing more than a growing tree that had been forcibly uprooted and used as a weapon.
A feat possible only for an Ogre nearly four meters tall with monstrous strength.
Still, without its sight, its attacks inevitably became crude.
As understood that as well, so he immediately leapt backward to create distance from the Ogre.
This was not to evade the Ogre's attack.
That was certainly one reason, but there was a far greater reason for putting distance between himself and the Ogre.
With a thunderous roar, the Ogre was blasted away.
It was sent flying as if it had taken a direct hit from a mass of iron hurled at high speed, and the Ogre — its entire body battered and bruised — was slammed against the ground multiple times, sent flying nearly ten meters before finally stopping after breaking several trees.
Gulp. Hearing that sound, As finally realized he had unconsciously swallowed.
Quietly turning his gaze toward the direction the mass of wind had flown from, there stood Marina, clad in a party dress with a deeply exposed neckline.
With a serene expression, she was offering words of gratitude to the Wind Spirit that had lent her its power — her appearance was such that one could never believe she was the same person who had just instantly killed an Ogre.
"Poruru!"
"Ow!"
Poro, leaping onto As's left shoulder, sent a light jolt of electricity through As, who had been captivated by Marina, as if telling him to get a grip.
Returned to his senses by that pain, As noticed an Orc closing the distance toward him.
Since it approached without making a single sound, the difficulty of noticing the enemy's presence was an extremely disadvantageous situation for As.
If he had an ability to sense presences, it would be a different story, but unfortunately As did not yet possess such capability.
His eyes, while serviceable for reading an opponent's movements, could not perceive everything in his surroundings.
"Tch! If you're going to attack, at least let out a roar or something!"
He reached for his quiver, drew his bow, and fired an arrow.
The rapid fire released once again succeeded in embedding multiple arrows into the Orc's body, and the Orc collapsed to the ground.
Unlike an Ogre, an Orc didn't possess that level of stamina or defensive power — hit in the head or heart with an arrow, it would die quickly.
Setting aside the fact that they have no will of their own, it's helpful that they die properly when you hit their vitals.
Firing arrows at Cobolts and Goblins approaching from behind the Orc, As casually glanced toward Marina.
That spirit magic just now had been powerful — was it possible she was out of mana?
But what As saw when he turned his gaze was Marina firing arrows at a speed even greater than his own.
As had some confidence in his bowmanship, but seeing Marina made it impossible to maintain that confidence.
"Do not let the enemies get close! Match the timing... now!"
At Ragdo's shout, the Dark Elves loosed their arrows all at once.
Nor did they fire just one.
The arrows fired in rapid succession, one after another, pierced the monsters trying to approach the Protective Barrier, claiming their lives.
"That's the spirit! Let us show the power of the Dark Elves to those who would bring harm to this settlement!"
Many Dark Elves raised war cries in response to Ragdo's shout, and under his command, they struck down the approaching monsters one after another.
Ragdo had lost significant influence from his arguments with Marina and Rei, but it was certain that this incident would allow him to recover that influence.
Thus, battles against monsters were unfolding all across the Dark Elf settlement, and at least for now, the tide of battle was turning in the Dark Elves' favor.
That is, while they still had stamina to spare.