Volume 4 Chapter 20 ： Closure Device
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
”I want you to fill me with your seed…”
The Maid group on duty today did not wake up even with the loud roar.
Maybe I pushed myself a bit too hard.
”Hey, everyone wake up! It seems there’s been an incident at the crack of time and space!”
As I woke everyone up, Ane jumped into the tent.
She seemed to be in a rush and tripped over her own feet.
”Ouch… I mean! Your Excellency Kent, it’s terrible! According to the report from the lookout, a huge slime-like creature is leaking out from the crack of time and space! The squad we sent for monitoring is retreating! Currently, it seems the ‘Golden Apostles’ are engaged in battle!”
”A slime-like creature, huh…”
”From the slime-like creature, ‘another world monster’ is spawning one after another.”
That’s a really bad status!
If we don’t stop it here, the ‘another world monsters’ will spread out.
”Ane! Call the whole army for an emergency! Assemble in full Equipment! And wake up the hunters too!”
”Yes! I’ll do it right away!”
I also woke up the Maid group who were sleeping in bed and called for an emergency assembly.
After a while, all members in Equipment gathered in the plaza.
The army seems to be having a bit of trouble, so I left it to Kondrad.
”Sorry to wake you, but it seems we have a worst-case scenario. A slime-like creature is leaking from the crack of time and space, and that creature is spawning ‘another world monsters’ one after the other. Currently, the ‘Golden Apostles’ are engaged in battle but seem to be gradually pushed back. We’re heading to support the ‘Golden Apostles’. Is everyone’s Equipment ready?”
Everyone nodded with a grunt.
”Alright, let’s move out!”
I left the field base with ‘Crimson Bride’ and ‘Black Bullet’, along with the temporary patrol team organized by Akebus.
* * *
When we arrived on site, 2 parties of ‘Golden Apostles’ were fighting against creatures trying to emerge from the crack of time and space.
Hendric glanced our way, looking like he wanted to complain, but he was also quite exhausted, so no complaints were voiced.
”Mr. Hendric. What happened?”
I asked Hendric, who had a large dent in his golden armor, for an explanation of the situation.
”Well, I thought it was a blocking device, so I activated it, and it suddenly started to multiply! It kept getting bigger and started spewing out other world monsters. When we defeated them, it grew even larger, and now it’s generating medium-sized ones!”
It seems Hendric got caught in a trap disguised as the crack of time and space blockade and was pushed into the current situation.
”Is the attack effective?”
”Yeah, it works. However, after dealing a certain amount of damage, it generates new other world monsters, which is a pain. They protect the main body.”
Hendric’s allies cast fire attribute magic toward the slime-like creature.
A smell of something burning and a high-pitched roar echoed.
The burned parts were quickly regenerated and filled in.
Then, after spewing out slime, a medium-sized other world monster, ‘Silver Bear’, appeared.
Just as Mr. Hendric said, it’s the worst kind of creature… How can we defeat an enemy that keeps healing and multiplying…?
”How do we defeat something like this?”
”Well, if you increase the damage dealt rather than focusing on healing, it should be possible to defeat it, right?”
Milly gave a simple and clear answer to my question.
”I see… damage exceeds recovery. Alright, we’re attacking the main body. Everyone, please use your skills as you see fit. Melee classes, watch out for gunfire. I’m using my trump card too.”
The hunters and Estfort soldiers gathering were also expressing surprise at the slime-like creature.
They started prioritizing the medium-sized ‘another world monster’ from the attacks.
Soumei’s Hunting Group and Matthew’s Hunting Group were getting ready to attack the main body with us.
I switched my ‘Explode Gunlance’ selector to bombardment mode, combining the shield and spear.
As the legs sunk into the ground, the spear tip broke and the barrel extended from the center.
The preparations for bombardment were complete.
”Are you ready? For now, I’ll take command with the authority of the Supreme Commander. ‘Golden Apostles’, ‘Silver Wolf’, ‘Hand of Glory’, please follow the orders!”
When I spoke to the members around me with my [Loud Voice] skill, I received agreement from the members of the 3 Hunting Groups.
These hunters were used to individual and party combat, but feeling the need for a group fight against such an opponent, they seemed to follow my lead.
”Alright, we’re going on the offensive now. First strike is magic, second strike is melee techniques, and finally, we finish with ranged techniques! Just give it your all!”
Meanwhile, the giant slime continued to spew slime, continually increasing the number of medium-sized ‘another world monsters’.
”Here we go! First strike! Magicians, unleash!”
At my command, Soumei, Lina, and other Magicians began to unleash their respective magic.
The giant slime was burned by flames, frozen, sliced by wind, and pierced by stone spears that shot up from the ground.
The giant slime let out a loud roar and trembled as if in agony.
It seemed we were dealing considerable damage.
There were also areas where the recovery couldn’t keep up, and parts of its body began to crumble.
Alright, just as Milly said, it looks like we can take it down with damage exceeding the healing!
”Next! Melee class! Go ahead!”
Hendric was the first to unleash his combat skills.
It was a Continuous Attack technique called [Spiral Destruction Wave], slashing the target in a spiral motion repeatedly.
Hendric’s combat skills, enhanced by Support Magic, sliced through the center of the slime.
Aurelia, who said she had just learned a dual-wielding technique called [Wind Pierce], rushed in with her twin blades raised.
[Wind Pierce] was a technique that used the twin blades to deliver sharp, rapid thrusts.
Aurelia’s attack further widened the hole that Hendric had opened in the center.
Then, the remaining attacks began to rain down.
Axes, spears, and Martial Arts techniques struck, causing the massive slime to evaporate about half of its volume.
Now, we just need to finish it off from a distance!
”Alright, melee class, retreat! Prepare for ranged attacks! Magicians with spare energy, join in! We’re going to turn this slime to ashes!”
I confirmed that the melee class had finished their techniques and retreated to safety.
The slime, bubbling all over, continued to release more slime.
From the slime, large specimens were finally starting to be generated.
This is bad… If it keeps multiplying, it will increase the burden on the army and the hunters… We have to make sure to blow it away next time…
”This is the last one! Ranged class! Fire!”
From Elitzina’s launcher, ‘Black Bullet,’ a ‘Blast Shell’ was fired, and upon exploding, the massive slime’s volume decreased even further.
Other ranged attacks also hit, steadily reducing its volume.
Magicians with remaining magical energy joined in as well.
The slime shrank to one-tenth of its original volume and continued to shrink.
Now, I’ll blow it away with my ‘Explode Gunlance’ shot!
”Let’s finish it off! Everyone, watch out for the blast!”
I recited the command word for ‘deadweight.’
Then, the magic element condensed at the tip of the cannon.
Since I had been unleashing large-scale magic earlier, it seems the magic element concentration has increased.
The magic element condensed into a sphere of light generated at the tip of the cannon.
Thanks to the legs firmly fixed to the ground, there was no swaying, but it was vibrating slightly.
It seems the cannon was ready, so I pulled the trigger.
A beam of light shot out from the sphere, aimed at the writhing giant slime.
As it hit, the slime emitted smoke and began to evaporate.
Eventually, as the beam settled, the ‘Explode Gunlance’ opened up in various places to release heat.
Did I do it?
It seems the giant slime has evaporated….
──Job acquired [Cannonier].
──Skill point 1 point acquired.
──Job bonus: increased magic power.
──[Targeting] Skill has been unlocked.
The log flowed.
Using the bombardment mode seems to have unlocked a new job.
I checked the information on the new skill.
[Targeting]:
- When activated during bombardment, it increases hit rate by 50%.
- Consumes 15 skill points.
A powerful cannon is meaningless if it doesn’t hit.
Confirming the effectiveness of bombardment with the unlocking of the new skill, I returned my gaze to where the slime had been.
As the smoke that had covered the area cleared, there was nothing left where the slime had been… yes, even the crack of time and space had vanished.
”There’s no crack of time and space! What’s going on!”
The huge fissure that had been there disappeared along with the slime.
Milly, who had come beside me, murmured.
”Wasn’t that slime the sealing device? It might have been a trap to confine us in that space as we defeated it.”
”Lady Milly… don’t say such terrifying things… Are you saying we would have been trapped if we had fought inside?”
Hendric reacted sharply to Milly’s words.
”Well, I don’t think Hendric would make such a blunder. You felt something was off and lured it out on purpose, right?”
”Yeah… I had a bad feeling with the fake closure device, but I didn’t expect it to be a real closure device…”
Hendric claims he sniffed out the trap with his hunter’s instinct and lured the slime outside, but only he knows how much of that is true.
”For now, whose party gets the closure reward… should we split it among the 5 Hunting Groups?”
Matthew, Kerstin, and Soumei approached me.
”Ten gold coins means 2 gold coins for each Hunting Group… better than nothing… ‘Silver Wolf’ is fine with the split proposal.”
”Wait, Matthew, don’t decide on your own! We ‘Golden Apostles’ brought it this far! Why should it be a split?”
”That’s… because Kent delivered the finishing blow… let Kent decide… we also support the split proposal.”
Hendric’s gaze pierced through me…
No, I mean, who would think that was a closure device, Standard-level… if I mention the split here, I feel like I might get attacked in anger… but I can’t make everything the ‘Golden Apostles’ achievement…
I was pondering.
Then I remembered that there were still medium and large enemies spat out by the slime.
”For now, we’ll split the reward among the 5 Hunting Groups. However, thanks to Mr. Hendric’s efforts in luring it out, how about we set the priority for defeating the remaining large ‘another world monster’?”
”Tch… I’ll let that slide… but we’re running low on energy. Just please refill our magic power.”
”Alright, I’ll do a Mana Transfer from my side.”
After that, Hendric and the others seemed satisfied with their rewards after defeating around 5 large ‘another world monsters’.
In terms of the number of defeats, the ‘Golden Apostles’ hunted the most.
Thus, the crack of time and space that suddenly appeared near Abyss Vena was sealed off.
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Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
Thanks for reading.
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