“Everyone! Calm down! Keep your belongings to a minimum! Ignore the fire and head to the north gate!”
Keita shouted hoarsely and through gritted teeth.
Late at night, magic fire had rained down on the village, and then the invasion began. The sight that he witnessed from the walls was still stuck in his mind.
Dozens of ogres in a row were throwing boulders. By the time he realized they were mountain urchins, the situation had grown significantly worse.
The village was enveloped in defense magic, but it did not detect things that flew high in the sky.
Dome-shaped barriers were of the highest rank of magic, and used an incredible amount of energy to create and maintain.
‘Keita!’
“Sa-Salia!? Why!”
‘I called her. Sheto will come as well.’
“Wh…why… Even if it is Sheto…”
‘Do not worry. I will handle strategy, and my subordinate…no, Hero, will be the fighting force. You just need to buy some time, Keita!’
The encouraging words entered his ears.
He had nothing but fear on the battlefield, but now there was a ray of hope.
“I’m sorry. Thank you!”
‘Canila. The orders to the villagers?’
‘It is finished, but the mountain urchins have entered the village, which is causing confusion among the messengers.’
There was a brief silence, and Salia’s voice returned.
‘I have checked their evacuation status. Keita, this will not be easy for you, but be ready.’
“Ready… For what?”
‘I need you to go to the center of the village, and use ‘Blazing Chaos towards the south gate.’
“B-but if I did that, the village…!”
‘We are too few. Protecting lives is the most you can do. Right now, they still have not noticed you. You can become invisible and move to the location. And then start chanting twenty seconds before the effect wears off.’
There was no time to think. Keita immediately started to chant.
“Hollow one, unseen, ever-shifting. You are a fleeting dewdrop in the wavering mist. Now, veil my mortal form in the shell of an empty cicada.”
And like that, his body dissolved into the air. When he was ready, he ran to the burning village.
“…!?”
In the corner of his vision, he saw the fallen villagers. Blood running, flesh torn. Unmoving. People that he knew.
“This…this is…”
‘Do not stop! If you hesitate now, more people will die! Keep going!’
“…!”
He ran down the familiar street and turned to the left. The wooden village hall was burning.
‘Keita! Chant!’
“Source of all principles and origins dwelling within all things. I weave the primordial rhyme, etched in radiant light!”
He pierced his staff into the ground and chanted with his hands together.
“Faint and flickering will-o’-the-wisp… Gather and raise your many hands… And become a cataclysmic blaze that scorches even the heavens.”
What was burning in front of him was the symbol of this village. It had been built by the people who first reclaimed this land. It was where they celebrated and decided on important things.
When he first came to this village, he had made a promise here.
As the village Hero, he would protect everyone and make them happy.
“Gather to my voice…and with your very being…”
Screams echoed in the distance. Some of them were undeniably the last cries of the dying. And so they fanned the raging fire within Keita’s heart.
“A thousand riders, ten thousand soldiers. Reduce them all to ashes! Let this chant resound upon the battlefield of wrath!”
Keita gritted his teeth and gathered the power that had amassed and unleashed it with an angry cry.
“Unleash the hidden might of the scorching flame—Blazing Chaos!”
—
In the dark forest, light shone down as if it was day. Along with the explosion, the building they could see vaguely from the edge of the forest, turned into a pillar of fire.
“Ahhh. It’s a good thing we aren’t on that side.”
One of the orc soldiers shuddered and then chuckled.
“Still, why are we standing here?”
“Because, didn’t you fail to make the poison?”
He had been placed with the poison-mixing unit, but due to almost eating it, and general lack of seriousness, he had been taken off and was only allowed to be on guard duty now. That being said, after seeing such fire magic, he was glad to have a boring job.
After a short pause, another pillar of fire rose up. He had heard that the village Hero was a magician, but he had never seen magic like this from their army.
“Bah. Horrible. Well, it’s almost time to switch places.”
He turned to the other orc.
“Huh?”
He was no longer standing there.
No, he was leaning against a tree some distance away, and appeared to be sleeping.
“Hey. If you don’t take this seriously, you’ll get in trouble ag…”
But before he could finish, his mouth was covered, and he felt a sharp pain in his left rib.
“Mm!? Gah…gah…”
The blade had sunk deep in. And as the blood flowed, his vision grew dark. His body was thrown to the ground, and he saw the dog-face of the person who had killed him.
“You…”
The kobold’s eyes were shockingly cold as he turned away without interest. And then he vanished into the shadows.
“I must…tell…”
But without being able to alert the others, he joined the other corpses.