"—Stop." Before Emilia could reply, Norwich was interrupted by the Bishop of the Abyss. Tani, with a look of discontent, said, "Sir from Candlekeep, please be mindful of the time, place, and position when speaking! Since we have decided to wage war against the devil, clearing out these burrowing worms is a matter of time, and it's not the responsibility of any one person. If you think you can stay out of this, why not return to Candlekeep now?"

“……!” Norwich’s face turned pale and blue, and finally he gritted his teeth and remained silent.

Craig shook his head and stepped out to smooth things over. "Right now, what to do with these bodies is a pressing matter. Please don't bring personal grudges into this discussion."

After speaking up for Emiya, Tani gave her a gentle smile and said, "The demons probably deliberately sent these corpses, which were about to begin to die, back to the surface. Admittedly, dealing with a large number of corpses has always been a difficult problem. Perhaps we should even seek help from the priests of Tempus, the god of war. But now it seems that our sect of the Enemy of the Abyss has arrived just in time. If the demons knew we were coming, they would probably change their tactics."

Emiya was stunned for a moment, and then an idea flashed in her mind.

"...Mr. Tani." Emiya frowned, "This big drop in temperature is caused by you."

"That's right," Tani said bluntly. "Everyone, you've all been active in cities and wilderness for too long, and have never officially participated in a war, so you're not sensitive to this kind of thing. We, the Enemy of the Abyss sect, have been aware of the dangers of rampant corruption from the very beginning. So we took the initiative to cool things down."

"Embalment, incineration—the Church has many ways of dealing with corpses. But none of them are designed to handle thousands of tons of rain-soaked corpses. If you truly intend to do this, I guarantee you'll be drenched in dissolved corpses countless times before you've even finished disposing of them all! Now, the only way to prevent these corpses from ruining this operation is to use the icy cold to stop them from decaying!"

Craig's face was filled with anger. "Mr. Tani, you didn't even discuss this with us before you did this?"

"There's no room for slow discussion on this sort of thing!" Tani refused to budge. "Many of the burrowers have been dead for days. By the time we finish our business and regroup here, after a few days of arguing and a few more for the temperature to drop, the only things the ice and snow will be able to freeze are the burrower skeletons and shells. Their flesh and blood will have already completely decayed, dissolving beneath our feet and spreading into our mouths and noses!"

The Supreme Observer clearly wasn't going to let them off. Instead, he shouted angrily, "You claim to be enemies of the abyss, yet your actions are so lax! We within the Flood Project have inquired repeatedly, but we still can't figure out who lowered the temperature without authorization. Internal trust has nearly completely collapsed!"

Elturgard's supreme leader looked furious. He waved his hand vigorously. "Very well, you are so enthusiastic? Then you won't be rotated to the front lines. I have a more difficult task for you! I allow you to maintain the low temperatures in this camp, but you don't need to go to the front lines. Now, you will be responsible for handling the corpses in this camp. Use all your spells on them!"

"We would do it without you telling us!" Tani sneered, "Do you think we are those dandies who are too ambitious but incompetent to be pastors only among incense and candles?"

At this moment, someone who was beyond their expectations suddenly spoke.

Emiya was silent for a moment, then calmly said, "Many of these bodies were indeed sent here by my request. In that case, I am willing to participate in the disposal of the bodies."

"...!"

Craig and Tani were both silent, unable to speak for a moment, their eyes full of disbelief.

——There was even a hint of uncontrollable joy.

"Then..." Tani took a deep breath. "I'll respectfully obey. I also want to know the true caliber of the Grand Mage, praised to the skies by every Elturgardian these days."

Author's Note: I'd like to recommend a book from the same site, "Diary of a Debtor Magician." It's a rather mysterious novel—a Type-Moon fanfiction published on Dudu. The pace isn't brisk, so it might require a bit of patience to get through. After reading a few thousand words, I think the book's greatest strength is its close adherence to the original's writing style and storytelling. It's not a simplistic, almost parody-like novel like the one next door, cwm. If you're interested in Type-Moon fanfiction that leans towards the original, give it a try.

Seventy-three Frost White, Flame Red (II)

The silence that had lasted for many days around Berdusk finally came to an end.

Knowing that the enemy is going to attack, but not knowing when, where, and how the attack will be launched - this period is always the most torturous.

The first day passed. On this day, the adventurers, armed with hope and weapons, even stayed at the front line for half the night without sleeping.

The next day, the snow piled up on their armor and clothing. At first, the soldiers on the defensive line were in the mood to shake it off frequently, a small break from the boring, seemingly endless surveillance. But after a whole day of tedious waiting, they only began to shake their heads when their eyebrows were covered with snow.

On the third day, even playing musical instruments and singing could not relieve the physical and mental exhaustion brought on by the combination of fear and impatience, and the adventurers began to request shift changes. Only the Knights of Hell and the Knights of the Companions of the Sun remained silent at the front line.

Just as midnight fell into deathly silence near Berdusk, the earth finally began to tremble.

Most areas of the defense line that stretched for hundreds of kilometers remained silent, but only in a few kilometers wide section at the edge of the line did the guarding Hell Knights feel the earth shaking.

The target they had been waiting for for a long time crawled out of the cave they had been monitoring.

The long wait finally paid off, and they finally had a place to release their anxiety and worries.

"...Wait a minute, don't rush to report!" The centurion in charge of this team reached out to stop the chaplain in the team. "Daylight, let's confirm the scale of this invasion first!"

But soon, this Hell Knight team realized: they had won the jackpot of jackpots, and they didn't need to confirm the scale.

The daylight spell rose into the air, lighting up a large area of ​​dozens of meters around. The faint dim light outlined the figures of their enemies.

The ground, frozen by the cold, was being torn apart by the burrowing worms with their impressive strength and mandibles, one after another gradually emerging from the earth. The burrow that could once accommodate two burrowing worms had become completely insignificant in just a few minutes.

Ten, twenty?

Countless shadows gradually filled their field of vision. The shadows cast by countless burrowing worms threatened to completely obliterate the firelight in the camp.

They had no idea how many earthworms had attacked the camp. They only knew that their small team of less than ten people would be eaten up in an instant when facing a siege of this magnitude, not even a trace of them would be left.

What’s even worse is that the shaking of the earth has not stopped - there are more digging worms moving in this direction!

"...Everyone, attention! Retreat immediately! Priest, warn the Knight Commander. Post 121 is encountering a massive enemy force. We estimate at least fifty burrowers!!!"

Fortunately, the Hell Knights were most proud of the fact that all of their thousands of members were required to learn horsemanship, and in combat readiness, they never left their horses. So even if the mage had no time to release the Phantom Steed, all the members could quickly mount and flee.

*******************

"Outpost 121 was attacked..."

Asul frowned and found the location of Outpost 121 on the map.

Almost at the very edge of the defense line.

Moreover, mass attacks?

This is what surprised Asul the most.

In previous battles, the burrowing worms had always been like headless flies, swarming everywhere, eating whatever they could and attacking anyone they saw. If their activity areas were not vast expanses of uninhabited wilderness but densely populated areas, they would have caused massive casualties long ago.

Because of this characteristic of the burrowing worms, Elturgard hired a large number of adventurers to do the work - it just so happens that the burrowing worms' activity patterns are most in line with the adventurers' combat habits.

But this decision also stretched Elturgard's battle line to an unprecedented length.

"...Ah." Asur sighed deeply.

Force the enemy to stretch out the front line, then concentrate the forces and make a breakthrough before the enemy has time to react.

The opposing commander was very experienced. The Hell Knights, however, were fighting within their own territory and didn't dare enter the dungeon, so they could only passively block the demons.

This breakthrough was within his expectations. The Hell Knights still had a reserve force that could provide support in time.

The question is, where is the target of this sudden army of digging worms?

The most marginal.

Asur pondered for a moment, drew a perpendicular line between the place where the swarm appeared and the front line, and continued to extend it.

Finally, he hesitated and pointed to a place outside the map.

——Berdusk.

On this battlefield, the defense is the weakest, and it is most likely to cause heavy casualties. It is also the part that absolutely cannot be lost.

But could this be the devil's true destination? Is he making this desperate attempt just to cause more casualties to humanity?

This possibility cannot be ruled out, but he still has to make plans.

Since the demons can come silently, they can naturally leave silently as well.

First, he must confirm the movements of the enemy's real main force, the devil Baatezu.

If the demons haven't left, then they must have a goal that has not been accomplished.

The digging worms are just a decoy to attract attention.

If they don't even know the devil's goal, they will just continue to be led by the nose.

Asul was silent for a moment, then spoke to his lieutenant, "Two orders. One, inform the Supreme Observer via short message that Outpost 121 has suffered a large-scale attack. The details are unknown, and we need to know the scale of this attack. I request reconnaissance by the Mobile Support Team. Please confirm the movements of the demon army and suggest that some forces be recalled to protect the Companions. Second, inform the Companions Knights and suggest that they call on the adventurers to shrink their defenses. If the enemy has decided to concentrate their forces, then our front is too stretched. We recommend that we respond."

"Then, the third order is for us."

Asul pondered for a moment.

Hell Knight Reserve, stay put?

……No.

He said, "Get ready to move. We're going to the new camp built to deal with the burrowing worm corpses."

What is there in Elturgard right now that would attract demons so eagerly?

If Asul were to say, it would only be Banri...

And, Emia of Lunya.

Thinking of this, Asur glanced at his wrist.

His magic wristband contained several spare weapons that could be transported to his hands at any time. And just yesterday, an unusual sword handle appeared in his wristband.

Who could have imagined that the Moonlight Sword crafted by Lunia's Emia would be completed before Elturgard's own Sunlight Sword?!

*******************************

“…This is too much.”

Fenwei, the originator of the flood plan, was now transformed into an eagle owl and flying in the air, overlooking the ever-increasing tide of digging worms below from a relatively close distance.

The snow is still falling.

But at this moment she would rather not have seen anything.

The battles the Elturgard had fought before were now completely insignificant—the burrowers gathered in a terrifyingly dense formation, connecting front and back to form a massive wedge. With just one glance, she was certain that beneath her, at least hundreds of burrowers were frantically advancing towards Berdusk.

The digging worms, their backs covered with snow, marched forward in an orderly manner, like icebergs rolling on a frozen sea.

She tilted her head in the air.

——And this group of diggers are just forerunners.

In fact, behind that huge wedge formation, the endless line of digging worms seemed to have no end in sight.

Even during a major earthquake, she had never seen a swarm of creatures on such a terrifying scale.

That's over a thousand of these massive creatures that dwarf even elephants!

She had been finding various excuses to go to the logistics camp these past few days. It was already filled with countless burrowing worm carcasses. She estimated that there were already two thousand burrowing worms sent to the camp alone.

If there were no flood plan, the scale of this burrowing worm attack might have been several times larger.

……but.

The Archdruid's emotions were hidden beneath the down of the eagle owl.

She didn't think the devil's target was really Berdusk.

However, it wasn't that difficult to force the devil's true purpose out - first, quickly eat up the bait used to lure him. Then, the devil would have to immediately pull out another trump card.

Thinking of this, Fenwei shook his head and dived downwards.

She was the druid closest to the burrowing worms. The other druids hadn't arrived yet. But she believed that once they arrived on the battlefield, they would immediately understand what she had done.

——At the same time, can't wait to join in.

The eagle owl streaked silently across the night sky, its wings fluttering.

Beneath her, vast tracts of weeds grew rapidly at a speed visible to the naked eye, with countless thorns weaving through them, eventually becoming entangled with each other and clinging firmly to the ground.

At the same time, these plants maliciously pointed their sharp barbs straight upwards, aiming at the swarm of digging insects that were about to pass through them.

Diggers are accustomed to burrowing, so when fighting, they more often launch raids from underground.

Because of this habit, their defense is also completely focused on the outside of the body.

——In other words, their lower bodies are seriously lacking in protection. Compared to those shells that can be compared with fine steel plate armor, their abdomens can be described as... tender.

And these flesh and blood were directly exposed to the sharp edges of the thorns.

She expected these thorns to quickly slow the advance of a large group of burrowers. Such a dense formation was most vulnerable to sudden chaos. A sudden slowdown in one group would spread chaos throughout the entire formation like an epidemic. A few such attempts would completely destroy the burrower's formidable formation. She had successfully slowed down the burrower's relentless advance.

Then her eyes widened.

The first group of burrowers caught in the thorns did not choose to force their way forward. They did not force their way forward, nor did they attempt to destroy the thorns, nor did they choose to take a detour.

They lay flat on the ground with incredible agility, using their bodies to pave the way for their compatriots, blocking all the thorns beneath them. Fenwei's first wave of obstruction was easily overcome.

“…” Fenwei’s face darkened.

This time, she was really angry.

She suddenly changed direction, circled in the air, and flew in front of the digging worm again, returning to her original form.

"Like animals that have encountered an earthquake?" She smiled.

Then she opened her hands and poured the power of nature into the earth.

"—!"

The digging worms had just discovered something unusual and began to raise their heads unconsciously, as if they had heard a strange sound.

For the first time, the swarm of digging worms stopped.

The next second, the world in Fenwei's eyes trembled violently.

Tap the screen to use advanced tools Tip: You can use left and right keyboard keys to browse between chapters.

You'll Also Like