An ordinary profession creates the world's strongest

It couldn't resist, let alone dodge. The full-metal-jacketed bullet, moving at an unimaginable speed, easily piercing even steel, shattered a Pseudo-Pterodactyl several kilometers away. The aftermath alone shattered the wings of several surrounding Pseudo-Pterodactyls, sending them crashing to the ground.

Amidst a thunderous roar, Hajime fired his second and third shots in quick succession, using his spear of crimson light to repel the monsters from the sky. The giant pseudo-pterodactyl panicked and tried to retreat, but Hajime deliberately missed, using the aftermath to bring it down along with the black-robed man aboard.

One of the giant pterosaur's wings broke, and it fell with a sharp scream. The man in black robe was also shocked into the air, struggling in panic and falling to the ground.

Hajime didn't have time to let Aiko meet the black-robed man before he could deal with the monster, so he planned to take his fastest escape tool first. If Aiko heard that Hajime had shot down the black-robed man, her face would probably turn as green as unripe fruit, but Hajime didn't care if the black-robed man was hurt. He shot him down from as far away as possible, so Aiko probably didn't notice.

In just a few seconds, he had driven away all the monsters in the air. Hajime, hoisting Shurajan onto his shoulders, turned around leisurely. Before him were the people, their mouths agape, speechless.

Hajime gave them a smug smile.

"Long live Aiko-sama!!!"

Finally, he concluded by shouting out words of praise for his beloved son.

The next moment...

“““““Long live Aiko-sama! Long live Aiko-sama! Long live Aiko-sama! Long live Aiko-sama! Long live Aiko-sama!”””””

“““““Long live the goddess! Long live the goddess! Long live the goddess! Long live the goddess!”””””

In the town of Ur, the "Goddess of Fertility" is no longer just a title; a true goddess has been born in their hearts.

It seemed that the townspeople's anxiety and fear had been swept away. Their eyes were filled with hope, and they shouted in unison, praising their beloved son as if he were a goddess.

Looking closely, Aiko's face was red and she was shaking with anger. She looked directly at Hajime and said with her cherry lips:

"What.is.this.happening?"

Hajime, looking nonchalant, turned back to face the monster army.

There were certainly reasons why Hajime pushed Aiko to the front lines. The first reason was that if the church or the state took action in the future due to Hajime's activism, Aiko might oppose them, so Hajime wanted to strengthen Aiko's power first.

Whether they felt Hajime's power was a threat or wanted to exploit it, it was conceivable that they would harm Hajime in the future. When that happened, Aiko would undoubtedly protest to the church or the state, just as she had done for the discouraged students.

The impact of this incident will likely further cement the name of the "Goddess of Fertility" in people's minds. Ordinary people will spread rumors without permission. This will make Aiko no longer just a useful figure to the nation, but a living deity supported by the people. Once she becomes a figure that neither the Church nor the state can arbitrarily control, Aiko will have a stronger voice than ever before.

The second reason was to prevent people from harboring fear or hostility after witnessing his immense power. Even if it was a single person's power, if they recognized it as coming from the goddess they supported, their fear would strangely turn to peace of mind, and their hostility to goodwill. Even if they were hunted down by the church, there would still be people willing to assist them... that would be wonderful.

The third reason was quite simple: Aiko had made Hajime the primary target. From Hajime's perspective, since Aiko was "Nangumo Hajime's teacher," she had to stand on the front lines with him.

However, his main reason was simply to avoid causing the townspeople to panic and causing trouble, so he came up with this impromptu move. Although Aiko might be very dissatisfied later, this matter was also beneficial to her, and it was even the result of her own choice, so he could only ask for her understanding... After all, he could just blame Aiko and leave.

Behind Hajime, cheers rivaled the monster's roars (calling out to Aiko), and Aiko gazed at Hajime with a sharp gaze. David and the other guard knights smiled, thinking, "What? That guy is actually quite sensible." Hajime, sensing the gaze from behind, retrieved a massive, twin-barreled weapon—the electromagnetically accelerated Gatling Gun "Mejerai"—from his "treasure vault," replacing the Surajin. He then hefted the Mejerai onto his shoulder and stepped forward.

On the right was Yue as usual, and on the left—Shia was carrying the rocket and missile launcher 『Alcorn』 that she had borrowed from Hajime. Next to Shia was Tio, who was gazing at the magic crystal ring in fascination.

The horizon was filled with monsters, seemingly unconcerned about the downed Pseudo-Pterodactyl, charging forward with undivided attention. Standing in the way of the 60,000-strong army were only four individuals—the scene was a joke.

Hajime looked at Yue, who also looked at Hajime and nodded quietly in response.

Hajime then turned his gaze towards Shia, who straightened her rabbit ears and nodded confidently.

Hajime went to Tio... Let's just ignore her.

Hajime turned his gaze back to the army of monsters, a faint smile playing on his lips, and calmly said a sentence that was tantamount to a challenge and also the prelude to the drama of devastation -

"Okay, let's get to work."

(What the hell, this is…what is going on?!)

Far behind the army of tens of thousands of monsters that attacked [Ur Town], a black-robed man, Yukitoshi Shimizu, dug a temporary trench, set up a barrier as much as possible, and shrank his body desperately. He looked at the tragic scene in front of him, his body trembling, as if he could not speak, his mouth opening and closing continuously.

The impossible situation and the unbelievable reality made him curse incoherently in his heart.

That’s right, the black-robed man who controlled the monster army to launch the attack was indeed Aiko’s missing student - Shimizu Yukitoshi.

He accidentally met a man and made a pact with him, intending to destroy the town of Ur along with his beloved son and his family. However, the town and its inhabitants, which he had thought would be easily destroyed, were met with an unexpectedly brutal attack, and so far remain unscathed. Furthermore, the present tense has created a hellish scene for Shimizu.

Da da da da da da da!!!

Da da da da da da da!!!

A distinctive sound echoed across the battlefield, and countless red flashes streaked through the air, brimming with murderous intent. The light spears reached their targets in the blink of an eye, disregarding race or strength, offering no resistance. Instantly, the monsters charging forward with earth-shaking cries were reduced to shards of flesh. Twelve thousand rounds of death per minute, a relentless "wall" of death approached, their bullets piercing their targets, seemingly unsatisfied with each one, piercing through dozens more behind them as well.

The monsters pierced by the blast defied the laws of inertia, their bodies largely exploding and scattering as they collapsed to the ground. Desperate, they tried to scatter to the left and right, avoiding the death ray, but Hajime, the archer, wouldn't let them go. He fired his two cannons in a fan-shaped pattern.

The released "bullet screen" was like an impregnable wall, making it impossible for the monsters to approach, and in the blink of an eye, corpses were scattered all over the ground.

Furthermore, to Hajime's left—Shia, carrying Alcorn, shouted "Fly as much as you can~" and frantically pulled the trigger. With the weak sound of "Pah-whoosh~", the rocket launcher fired continuously.

Contrary to the weak sound, the rocket, trailing a trail of flames, struck the center of the group of monsters, causing a massive explosion that blew away all the monsters within dozens of meters.

The monsters near the center of the explosion were shattered to pieces. Monsters farther away also suffered severe damage to their bones and internal organs due to the shockwave, and rolled on the ground in pain. Unable to stand up, they were trampled to death by the monsters that followed.

Even after firing all the shells, Shia would replace the warheads piled up nearby—the reserve ammunition Hajime had given her, and continue firing.

After the rockets reached the monsters' heads, they paused for a few beats before exploding, much like grenades, sending down a large amount of burning, fierce flames.

The rocket launcher was similar to an incendiary grenade, extracting a tarry liquid from the White Fulham ore, which burned continuously at a temperature of 3,000 degrees Celsius. It rained down on the monsters like a torrential rain, gradually burning their flesh.

The more she screamed and moved, the more she drew in the surrounding monsters, spreading the flames of destruction. The monsters within Shia's area of ​​responsibility were either blasted to pieces or burned to ash... either of these two fates.

Tio stood guard on Shia's left.

She stretched out her hands, and a black aurora appeared before her, scorching the air as it erupted. It was the same breath she exhaled in her dragon form. It seemed even in human form she could release it. Annihilating black flames—even Hajime was forced to defend with all her might. In an instant, everything in its path was obliterated, even piercing through the backs of the large group of monsters.

Tio simply moved her arm horizontally, and the black bombardment moved in sync with her movements, destroying everything it came into contact with.

When the bombardment ceased, nothing remained except the ripped-apart earth. This attack must have cost Tio a considerable amount of her magic power. Her shoulders rose and fell as she panted, her body swaying, but she immediately kissed the ring on her finger and straightened her back again.

She drew the magic power stored in the magic crystal ring given by Hajime. With a single breath, she wiped out all the monster vanguards within Tio's area of ​​responsibility. After the battle was more or less under control, Tio began to use magic that consumed less magic power.

"Blow, peak wind, burn everything, crimson lotus rushes—'Mist Flame Dust'."

To minimize her magic power consumption, Tio chanted intently, sharpening her concentration. The magic she unleashed was a fire tornado, the size of which, according to Earth's tornado scale, would have been F4. (Editor's note: Tornadoes are classified on the Fujita scale, ranging from F0 to F5, from minimal to maximal destructive power.)

A fiery tornado, tens of meters in diameter, surged towards the swarm of monsters, sweeping them all up into the air. The monsters flew through the air, powerless to struggle, swept into the flames as if they had leaped into the air themselves. By the time they were hurled by the fiery tornado, they were reduced to ash, drifting like snow. The tornado, reducing everything to ash, wantonly ravaged the monsters on the battlefield.

Yue Shou was on Hajime's right, and his annihilation power was even more extraordinary.

Even as Hajime and the others began their attack, Yue remained silent, eyes closed. Realizing the right side was vulnerable, the monsters gathered as if fleeing a destructive storm, attempting to attack from the right.

The monsters were so dense they threatened to disrupt their advance, and they concentrated their forces to charge. When the distance between them finally closed to within five hundred meters, Yue suddenly opened his eyes, slowly raised his right hand, and, as if whispering something, yet also as if declaring it to the world, powerfully chanted the name of the magic.

“—‘Bad Tribulation’.”

That was the trigger for activating Age of Gods magic, a magic personally taught by Meredith Raison that could interfere with one of the laws of the world—'Gravity Manipulation.' Even for the vampire princess, gifted with magical talent, it required a long period of 'charging power' to concentrate the magic and fix the image, making it difficult for her to activate magic instantly.

As the moon chanted, the monsters approached, and black swirling spheres appeared above their heads - the same ones seen during the battle against the black dragon.

But unlike before, the sphere's shape shifted. It was stretched thinner and thinner, forming a five-hundred-meter square above the monsters. The black ceiling, which had blocked out the sunlight, paused for a moment before descending towards the monsters.

The next moment, if one were to succinctly describe what happened, the best way to describe it would be "the earth and the monsters were destroyed." The people of [Ur Town] watched the havoc unfold from behind the wall in silence. In reality, that was all they saw.

The reason why they felt that way was actually very simple. When the black ceiling fell towards the hordes of monsters, it crushed the monsters and the ground together, creating a pit that was 500 meters square and 10 meters deep.

The monsters that had gathered to attack were crushed evenly before they could comprehend what was happening. Their bodies formed a stain beneath the ground, a scene resembling a pile of monster corpses. Yue's single strike instantly crushed nearly two thousand monsters. Those unfortunate enough to stand on the boundary of the spell had their bodies severed, their internal organs spilling out.

As the ground suddenly vanished ahead, the following monsters fell into a massive cavern. Unable to immediately dissipate their momentum, the following forces pushed forward from behind. In a flash, thousands of monsters fell into the cavern. Yue used the magic power drawn from the magic crystal to interfere with gravity again, piling more corpses on top of the monsters.

The wind that whipped across the land carried the bloody scent of the ravaged monsters from the battlefield into the town. The overpowering odor caused people to vomit and nausea. Even so, the people were overcome with emotion by the unimaginable "overwhelming power" and "tragedy of devastation," and cheers of "Wa ...

The town's gentry and knights like David, witnessing Hajime and his men's power for the first time, stood transfixed, as if engulfed by it. Yuuka, Atsushi, and the others, witnessing that power anew, felt a profound sense of the "gap" between themselves and Hajime and the others, their faces filled with complex expressions.

They were supposed to protect people from those monsters. At least that was their original aspiration. But now they were being protected, standing in the same place as the townspeople, staring down the backs of their classmates, whom they had once despised as "incompetent." Of course, their feelings must be very complicated.

Aiko prayed desperately, hoping that Hajime and the others would be safe. At the same time, she finally felt the horror of what she had done, and her expression twisted in pain. The horrific battlefield before her was like a heavy blow to her naive and conflicted heart.

Soon, the number of monsters decreased significantly. When the northern horizon, which had been covered by dense monsters, was revealed, Tio finally fell down. The magic power of the magic crystal given to her had been used up, and the exhaustion of magic power made her unable to move.

"Hmm, it seems this is all I can do. I can't even cast a fireball... Sorry."

Tio lay on the ground, her face turned towards Hajime, and she apologized to him with a guilty look. Her face was not only blue, but even pale. As the words said, Tio had exhausted all her magic power.

"...That's enough. You did a great job for a pervert. Leave it to us from now on. Get some sleep."

"Master is so gentle... I thought I'd be scolded... No, after the candy comes the whip... Can I look forward to it?"

"Just become fertilizer for the earth."

Tio's face was completely bloodless, like a dead person, but when she heard what Hajime said, she trembled with excitement and showed a very satisfied expression. Hajime saw her like that, as if he saw something disgusting, smacked his tongue, and turned his gaze back to the army of monsters.

The enemy's number had fallen to less than ten thousand, perhaps eight or nine thousand. Considering the initial size of the army, this level of damage could be considered a rout.

Yet the monsters continued to charge forward. More accurately, it seemed some of them were being ordered forward. Most of the monsters had become timid, merely obeying the orders of the various leader-level monsters, charging forward in confusion. It was only because the enemy numbers had dwindled that Hajime was able to notice this.

According to Tio's explanation, which was mixed with speculation, the enemy seemed to be using a method of brainwashing only the leader-level monsters of each race, and then letting each leader command their subordinates. Judging from the situation on the battlefield, it seemed that this was indeed the case, and it was indeed a very efficient method.

Even if the culprit in this incident is Shimizu Yukitoshi, who possesses a different-world cheat, and even if he has acquired the powerful Tio by chance, it is still questionable whether he can gather so many monsters in such a short time...

Anyway, let's put this question aside for now. If the enemy's forces consist of slow, monotonous bosses, paired with timid monsters that, while adaptable, charge forward blindly, then it would be wise to defeat the bosses as quickly as possible. In that case, having experienced the power disparity between themselves and Hajime and the others, the monsters, loyal to their instincts, would likely flee back to the North Mountain Range.

Hajime looked at the annihilation weapon, the Mejerai, in his hand. Both barrels were emitting white smoke, as if they had not had time to cool down and had reached the limit of their use. If he continued firing, it would definitely malfunction.

Of course, even if it breaks, it can be repaired, but the more delicate the object, the harder it is to fix immediately. It requires time and precision work. If it gets that bad, it will be troublesome. It seems that it is better to switch attack methods.

"Yue, how much magic power do you have left?"

"...Well, there are only two more magic crystals left. Gravity magic is using up more energy than expected, so I need to practice."

"No, no, you killed over 20,000 by yourself, right? That's enough. We'll focus on the rest. Please cover me."

"Um."

Even though Hajime's words were brief, Yue was able to fully grasp his meaning and immediately put it into practice. The two of them were truly in tune with each other. While Hajime was satisfied with this, he said to Shia:

"Shia, can you tell the difference between monsters?"

"Okay, so it's monsters like the one Tio-san was being manipulated, and monsters that were so scared that their legs went limp, right?"

"Weak legs... Yeah, that's right. Monsters like Tio are probably the brainwashed leaders of the group. If we kill the leader, the other monsters will probably flee."

"I see. I don't have much ammo left. I should just kill them!"

"Y-yeah... How should I put it, you've become stronger."

"Of course, this is all to stay by your side."

Shia's face was filled with smiles, and Hajime's smile, though wry, was gentle in response. However, the next moment, Hajime's expression softened, and he placed the Mejriel in his "treasure vault," pulling out Donal & Shulak. Shia simultaneously put Alcorn down and reached for the Deluken on his back.

There seemed to be about a hundred leader-level monsters. Perhaps because they were afraid of being killed all at once if they were to charge in, their subordinates would lose their leadership, so most of the leaders retreated to the rear.

Now that they were without the magical attacks of Majore, Alcorn, and Tio, the enemy, perhaps seeing this as a good opportunity, launched an attack as if revived.

To cover Hajime and Shia's attack, Yue casts magic.

“—‘Thunder Dragon’.”

The sky immediately filled with dark clouds. A thunder dragon, emitting a violent discharge of electricity, appeared with a roar of thunder, ravaging the front line from right to left. Like moths to a flame, swarms of monsters flew towards the golden dragon's gaping maw, only to be annihilated one after another. Seeing this, the following monsters retreated again.

"Let's go, Shia!"

"As you command!"

Taking advantage of that opening, Hajime and Shia attacked the monster group all at once.

Hajime, using his "Shrink the Earth" technique, sped across the land, firing at Donal and Shulak. His gaze pierced through the gaps between the monsters, catching sight of the looming leader. His Death Flash shot out, piercing the tiny gap to reach his target, mercilessly striking its vital points and causing an explosion.

He ignored the monsters in the front line, but the leader-level monsters behind him exploded and died one after another. The monsters around him were confused and in chaos.

Suddenly, a shadow appeared above a monster's head. It looked up and saw a girl with swaying rabbit ears and a huge warhammer on her shoulders, literally falling from the sky.

The girl, Shia, used the monsters' heads as pedals, displaying her rabbit-like nature, leaping over the heads of the monsters. When she reached the last pedal, she stomped on it with enough force to crush it to death. In an instant, she used gravity magic to reduce her weight and leaped high into the air.

When she reached the highest point, she flipped in the air, this time increasing her weight several times, and fell down with great force.

The target location was, of course, a gathering of several boss-level monsters. Shia used the recoil from firing the Deluken to accelerate her free fall, and she also maximized her body enhancements to maximize the power of this attack.

The hammer, a symbol of destruction, swung down at full speed.

“Aa ...

The blow, delivered with a lovely cry, was like a meteorite. With a resounding boom, it caused tremors that could be mistaken for a small earthquake, and a powerful shockwave.

The Brutal-type leader-level monster was hit directly by the attack, and was crushed from the head to the ground like a building that had been blown up, shattering into pieces. The fierce impact caused blood and flesh to fly everywhere.

The massive amount of earth and rock scattered by the impact, mixed with flesh and blood, eventually returned to the earth. The same fate befell the monsters gathered around them. The overwhelming impact of the Deluken and the earth and rock scattered like shotgun shells shattered their flesh, and they also returned to the earth.

At the bottom of the pit she had created, Shia used the recoil of the gun to pull out the buried Drukken. At the same time, she used the remaining energy to move at high speed and continued to attack the monsters that seemed to be the leaders of each group.

However, the monsters were not pushovers after all, and would not let her get close to them and act recklessly. They seemed to want to crush Xia with their numbers and were preparing to build a wall of flesh to surround her.

"That's all I am, don't underestimate me!"

Shia unfolded the mechanism of the Drukken, extending the handle by about a meter, and triggered it to spin at high speed like a gyroscope. Then, using the Drukken full of centrifugal force, she knocked away all the approaching flesh walls.

Countless Brutals were sent flying in a radial pattern. The sight of a seemingly fragile girl treating a monster several times her size like a ping-pong ball and easily sending it flying was almost a joke.