The battle to protect the Temple of Odis was unfolding in places other than where Rion and his group were.
“Felix!”
Felix desperately grabbed the chain Mia threw. Mia, shaking her red hair, pulled with all her might, and an explosion occurred behind the sorcerer. She managed to drag Felix behind the stone wall just in time.
If they had been even a little later in their evacuation, they would have been blown away by the blast.
Mia groaned.
“…He’s strong.”
“Yes.”
Felix grabbed a fistful of his black hair. A thin stream of blood trickled down from beneath the coronet on his brow. The two of them peered around opposite sides of the stone wall at Wolfbone Hati.
After the relentless barrage of magic, parts of the ground still glowed red-hot. Amid the drifting clouds of dust and black smoke that hung over the hills, Wolfbone Hati stood unmoving.
—Awooooooo!
A thunderous howl echoed across the battlefield.
The cry that burst from its split maw was unmistakably that of a wolf. Wrapped in tattered cloth, the monstrous creature stood nearly three meters tall, leaning on its tin staff as it blocked their path.
With his back pressed against the stone wall, Felix muttered grimly,
“He got an inexhaustible supply of mana. Endless stamina. And with a body that large, its field of vision is enormous. No matter where we run, it tracks us immediately.”
“And on top of that… it’s a textbook magic-type enemy. Its optimal range overlaps perfectly with both yours and mine.”
“…That’s the worst possible scenario.”
“The absolute worst.”
“To think I might die alongside you…”
“Hey, I’m not planning on that either!”
Mia twisted her lips into a frown and pulled several throwing knives from inside her coat.
Just as her chain axe suggested, she had always excelled at throwing weapons of every kind. More than a blessing from the Chief God’s bestowed skills, it was likely the result of Mia’s own relentless training—and her natural talent.
“Come on, what’s wrong?!”
Hati’s booming voice thundered across the battlefield.
“You adventurers! Is that all you’ve got!? You’re so weak it’s not even funny!”
Mia clicked her tongue in irritation.
Her level was 35. Felix’s was 42. Those were the levels of seasoned veterans—elite adventurers by any reasonable standard. But against beings capable of standing toe-to-toe with the gods, they were hopelessly outmatched.
An ordinary adventuring party would need numbers large enough to be called an army just to stand a chance.
“…And this thing is supposed to be one of the weaker members of the enemy’s main force, right?”
Felix’s expression darkened.
“It seems so. Honestly, the Age of Myth was absurd in every conceivable way.”
Just then, a volley of fireballs came hurtling from the city walls. The defenses had been shattered by Hati’s assault earlier, but it seemed the defenders had finally managed to regroup.
However—
“What was that supposed to be?”
Hati burst into laughter and casually swept his tin staff through the air.
There was no need for barriers or elaborate defenses. The incoming fireballs were effortlessly swatted aside. Then Hati drew water up from the moat below and launched a barrage of ice projectiles in retaliation.
A chain of screams and furious shouts echoed from the walls.
Moments later, the ramparts fell silent once more.
“What a monster…”
“The walls are protected by Safi’s rune magic. I doubt they’ll be wiped out so easily, but…”
He left the rest unsaid. The situation was grim enough that neither of them needed to hear the conclusion aloud.
Hati raised his voice, the roar carrying across the battlefield.
“Has the axe-wielder and the mage already died!?”
The two of them instinctively stiffened and pressed themselves deeper behind the wall.
“I can smell you, you know. Stop hiding.”
Hati swung his tin staff and began gathering mana for a massive fireball.
The defensive wall shielding Mia and Felix was inscribed with rune magic as well. It would probably withstand a few hits—but staying put would never lead to victory.
“Ready?”
“Yes.”
Mia and Felix exchanged a nod.
“Hopefully all that practice pays off somewhere along the way…”
The gigantic fireball was unleashed. At the same instant, the two burst from cover in opposite directions.
“Hah!”
Propelled forward by the shockwave of the explosion behind her, Mia exhaled sharply and hurled a throwing knife. Aiming for the face was surprisingly effective. Even powerful opponents hated having their vision threatened.
“How irritating.”
Hati shifted his staff to intercept the attack, but that brief distraction was all Felix needed. He was faster.
“Ice Blade!”
The spell erupted from his outstretched hand, razor-sharp blades of ice streaking toward their towering foe. Ice raced across the ground, coiling around Hati’s legs and locking them in place.
The instant his movement stalled, Mia hurled her chain axe.
“Hmph.”
Hati caught it with his tin staff.
But Mia only grinned.
“This one hits a little harder.”
Mia used the skill <Axeman>, Heavy Strike. Though blocked by the staff, the axe continued to drive forward, forcing its way toward Hati.
Then it struck. At that moment, the mana stored within the blade erupted. The power of the dwarven masterpiece, Crimson Axe, was simple: it absorbed magical energy and hurled it back at its target.
A violent shockwave rippled through the air. Hati dropped to one knee.
“That was your own mana, you know?”
“…So you’re at least somewhat competent.”
Hati planted the end of his staff into the earth.
Once.
Twice.
Again and again.
The ground began to tremble.
Each impact intensified the vibrations until standing became nearly impossible. Chunks of earth rose into the air, compressed and hardened by magic, before raining down upon Felix and Mia like a deadly meteor shower.
“Mia, get to the barrier!”
“On it!”
The dwarven-made barricades were scattered all across the battlefield.
Built using technology derived from golem engineering, they were remarkable fortifications. If the defenders were forced to retreat, the barriers could be collapsed remotely, preventing monsters from turning them against their creators.
“Flames! O heavenly sphere of fire!”
It was likely a spell from the Age of Myth itself. A fireball over ten meters across descended from the sky. The heat radiating from it rivaled the flames of Surtr himself. Even from a distance, the scorching air burned Mia’s nostrils.
“Damn, you’ve got to be kidding me…”
She dove behind the barricade.
But would it hold?
Hati’s lips curled into a vicious grin.
“Burst apart!”
The colossal fireball exploded high overhead.
A torrent of heat crashed down upon the battlefield. The shockwave from the aerial detonation swept over everything below, reaching even Mia and Felix behind the wall. Felix suddenly grabbed the back of Mia’s head and forced her down.
“Earth Burial!”
The ground sank inward around them. There was a faint trace of magical energy overhead—perhaps Felix had cast some kind of protective spell above their shelter. When the searing heat finally passed and Mia opened her eyes, she found Felix beside her.
The entire left side of his body was covered in burns. His usually calm, narrow eyes were twisted with a level of pain she had never seen before.
“…As expected, protecting two people was beyond me.”
A pained smile tugged at his lips.
In an instant, Mia understood what had happened. The barricade that had stood barely a meter and a half tall before was now noticeably higher than it had been moments ago. Felix had used magic to gouge out the earth beneath them, creating a deeper refuge. Because of that, Mia had avoided the full force of the blast and heatwave.
But there hadn’t been enough cover for Felix as well. The left half of his body had taken the punishment instead.
“I’m the tougher one. You should’ve shoved me aside!”
Felix let out a strained chuckle.
“It’s fine. We have gods on our side. An injury like this barely qualifies as an injury.”
Despite his words, the burns were horrific. The skin on his left arm and shoulder was blackened and blistered, and even speaking seemed to send fresh agony through him. Yet he still smiled.
The sight only made Mia grit her teeth harder.
Felix said something unusually irrational. For a man who always weighed every situation calmly and logically, his words felt strangely out of character. Using his staff for support, he forced himself to his feet.
Then a shadow loomed over them.
“So this is where you were.”
Hati stood there.
The tin staff swung down.
Mia threw herself in front of Felix, but the blow sent both of them flying.
“Gah—!”
They crashed across the ground.
Felix’s injuries were already severe. Mia staggered upright and positioned herself protectively in front of him, but she knew the truth.
How much longer could she hold out against this monster?
With Felix barely able to move, their previous strategy of retreating from barricade to barricade was no longer an option. If they ran now, they would have to leave him behind.
“Damn it…”
She glanced toward the nearest battle line.
The front was already being overwhelmed. Monstrous giants and bear-shaped beasts had driven deep into the formation. Their massive silhouettes were clearly visible amid the chaos. There was no spare force coming to rescue them. Everyone was too busy fighting for their own survival.
The realization settled heavily in Mia’s chest.
“So everywhere’s falling apart, huh…”
For a moment, Mia’s thoughts drifted to her hometown.
She would have been happy living as an ordinary adventurer, earning an honest living and taking on ordinary jobs. So how had she ended up here? Fighting monsters like these.
If no one had called out from the city walls, she probably would have charged forward in a reckless, suicidal attack.
“Mia!”
A high-pitched voice rang out through the chaos.
Leaning heavily on his staff, Felix raised his head.
“Safi…?”
Along the battlements stood Safi and three other dwarves. Together, they were carrying enormous glowing spheres, each one as large as a barrel. Then they hurled them over the wall.
Mia found herself thinking, not for the first time, that dwarves possessed utterly ridiculous strength. The three radiant orbs crashed to the ground below. Immediately, they began drawing in the surrounding earth and stone. Chunks of soil, shattered rock, and debris gathered around them as if pulled by an invisible force.
Meanwhile, the dwarves on the wall continued tossing equipment down—armor, weapons, metal plates, and other materials. Piece by piece, the constructs took shape. The earth-and-stone bodies grew larger. Metal fused into their frames. And before long, three complete golems stood upon the battlefield, towering over the surrounding troops. Their massive forms gleamed beneath the smoke-filled sky as they turned toward Hati, ready for war.
“Sentry Golems…!”
“—The improved version!”
Safi immediately corrected Mia from atop the wall.
The three hulking constructs stood nearly three meters tall. In sheer size, they rivaled even Hati himself. Encased in heavy armor, the golems looked like walking fortresses. Then blue light flickered to life within their heads, shining from beneath their metal helms.
Without hesitation, Safi leapt from the city wall.
Landing heavily on the ground below, she rushed toward the center golem and slammed the hammer in her hands against its body.
“Bless!”
The middle golem raised its weapon high.
“OOOOOOOHHHH!”
A deafening roar echoed across the battlefield. Accompanied by the thunderous clatter of armor and weapons, the three golems charged straight at Hati.
Hati swung his tin staff and unleashed a barrage of ice projectiles. The attack never reached its mark. One of the golems swept its axe through the air, smashing the ice rounds apart before they could connect.
“Tch.”
The constructs accelerated.
One carried an axe.
One wielded a sword.
One leveled a spear.
The three attacked simultaneously.
Hati met every blow with his staff, intercepting axe, sword, and spear alike. The impact shook the ground. Then the giant wolfbone warrior bared his fangs and roared.
“They’re nothing but toys made by a bunch of tinkering craftsmen!”
—Ooaaaah!
Hati roared. The ground beneath her staff shook, and Mia stumbled. The moment the golems lost their balance, Hati swept them away with her staff. Flame shot from the butt of the staff, engulfing the golems.
Felix shouted.
“Mia!”
Mia nodded as if struck.
“Ah, I know! But, you…!”
“I told you. Even we ordinary adventurers should act heroically once in a while.”
There was an unusual intensity in his scarred, narrow face. Mia chuckled.
“…You have an adventurer side to you too.”
She threw her chain axe. The golems were mowed down by Hati, but the axe arced through the blind spots created by their movements.
“Now then—me too.”
Felix unleashed his magic. Two in an instant.
“Blazing Flame Ball!”
The piercing fireball was absorbed not into Hati herself, but into the ‘Crimson Axe’ which absorbs magic power.
“Ice Blade!”
The ice crawling along the ground also absorbed magic into the axe’s blade the moment it came close.
The axe, imbued with two magical powers, flew, its chain rattling.
“What?!”
With a thud, the chain axe sank into Hati’s side.
Mia smirked.
“Unlike your relative, Skoll, your defenses are weak.”
“…A trick!”
“That’s right!”
Mia shouted.
“A trick to kill a big shot!”
The crimson axe’s blade gleamed. The first magic released was Ice Blade Ibarak. Hati’s side instantly froze. The magical cold seemed to penetrate particularly deeply because the axe had already broken through his skin.
“Next, Mia!”
“Yes!”
She pulled the chain, urging the axe. The crimson axe shone even brighter, unleashing a blast of flames.
“Guaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!”
Hati writhed in agony. She had been frozen by the cold air, and then the shockwave of the blast hit her. Having two types of magic unleashed by the crimson axe was like having an explosion forced into her body through a wound.
“Guh…!”
Hati remained standing only by using his tin staff as a crutch.
The left side of his abdomen had been gouged open so deeply that his ribs were visible. Blood poured from the wound in torrents, cascading down his body like a waterfall.
“Y-you bastards…”
A dangerous light flashed in Hati’s eyes.
Then an arrow struck him squarely in the back.
“We’re here to help!”
The shout came from a group of veteran adventurers. Mia recognized some of their faces from Flocia. Like her and Felix, they had been assigned to the rear lines to prevent enemy breakthrough attacks, their prior experience fighting alongside the gods earning them that responsibility.
At their head stood Lloyd, a seasoned adventurer wielding a stone hammer. Raising his weapon high, he bellowed to everyone on the battlefield,
“The enemy is on his last legs!”
Mia yanked on her chain.
The Crimson Axe came whirling back into her grasp. Across the battlefield, she met Felix’s gaze. No words were needed. They both understood. For the first time since the battle had begun, Hati was wounded. Truly wounded.
The monster that had seemed invincible was bleeding.
And that meant—
He could be killed.
“Go.”
“…Yeah! And don’t you dare die on me!”
Hati was still swinging his staff desperately.
“Fenrir! Where is the chief of the Wolfbone Clan?! H-help me…!”
At that moment, a chill wind brushed across Mia’s skin.
In the direction where Rion and the others were fighting, a raging blizzard swept across the battlefield. The howl of a wolf echoed again and again through the storm.
Hati’s eyes widened.
“…The chief… is struggling?”
Swords and spears leveled toward him from every side.
For the first time, genuine unease appeared on Wolfbone Hati’s face.
“Push forward!”
“We can kill him!”
“Axe-men and swordsmen, get in close! Spearmen, hit him from the flanks!”
“Come on then—which one of us is going to be the hero?!”
Hati staggered. His massive body swayed as blood poured from his wounds.
Desperate, he slammed his tin staff into the ground, attempting another spell. The earth erupted with violent tremors. The shockwave blasted outward, hurling adventurers into the air all at once. Everyone who had been charging only moments before were thrown from their feet like leaves caught in a storm.
Yet this time, something was different. The attack lacked the overwhelming force it had carried before. The tremor was weaker. Slower.
The magic that had once seemed inexhaustible was finally beginning to falter. And everyone on the battlefield noticed it.
“Stop… getting in my way…!”
Mia ran. She sprinted up the wreckage of a shattered Sentry Golem and launched herself straight at Hati.
“You’re the one in the way!”
The Crimson Axe came crashing down.
Its blade struck squarely between Hati’s brows, right in the center of his massive forehead. The legendary monster lashed out with one enormous arm. Mia was swatted away and sent flying through the air.
But she had felt it. Her blow had landed.
“Gu… Aaah…!”
The giant staggered. Then he collapsed.
Even Mia no longer had the strength to break her fall properly.
Just as darkness threatened to overtake her, someone caught her and pulled her upright.
It was Felix.
“…He’s—”
“That thing…”
The moment Felix indicated Hati with his chin, his face twisted in pain. The movement alone must have sent agony tearing through his burned body.
The Crimson Axe was still buried in Hati’s forehead. There was no sign that the monster would rise again. His enormous eyes rolled upward. His limbs slowly began to crumble into ash.
A familiar end. The death of a monster.
Soon, nothing remained except an enormous magic stone. The legendary beast that had seemed invincible only moments before was gone.
For a heartbeat, the battlefield fell silent.
Then the adventurers erupted.
Cheers and victorious cries rolled across the field, echoing beneath the crimson evening sky. The sound spread from one soldier to another, growing louder and louder as the reality of their victory sank in.
Wolfbone Hati had fallen.
And for the first time that day, hope returned to the battlefield.
—Push them back!
—Push them back!
—Come on, push them back!
The adventurers were repelling the monsters’ swift attack.
“…We did it,”
Mia smiled, and Felix’s cheeks relaxed as well.
“We can both be a little proud of ourselves now, can’t we?”
◆◆◆
The cheers spread across the entire range of hills. They were no longer merely being protected. Nor were they simply waiting for destruction.
Rion, too, stood facing the enemy alongside Solana. Wounded and steadily being driven back toward the front lines, Wolfbone Fenrir retreated step by step.
Rion leveled his short sword at him. The blade caught the light of the setting sun, its edge gleaming with a radiance almost like gold. Forcing air into his ragged lungs, he raised his voice as loudly as he could.
“Push them back!”
The rallying cry of the horn-blowing boy ignited the battlefield.
The soldiers answered with a roar. The adventurers surged forward. Even the exhausted defenders found strength in their legs once more.
The momentum of the battle swelled.
What had begun as a desperate effort to withstand a sudden assault was changing into something else entirely.
From defense—
to counterattack.
Beneath the fading light of dusk, hope spread across the battlefield as surely as the cheers that echoed from hill to hill. And before that rising tide, even the legendary Wolfbone Fenrir found himself driven backward.
This is translated by Yume Neiji. Kindly read at yumeneijiworks.com
Previous ⚜ Table of Contents ⚜ Next
