Chapter 40 – I don’t think you have to be so grim, you know?

“Holy Rain!” (Layla)
“””Oaaaaaaaaaaaa!?”””

The white magic that Layla invoked caused a widespread rain of purification to fall.
The monsters that were bathed in it began to suffer at once.

Since the area of effect was expanded, it was indeed not enough to stop their movements.
But even so, now that the momentum had slowed down, it gave everyone a chance to go on the offensive.

“Divine Space Slash” (Ark)

Of course, I joined them.

“Hey! Don’t you fucking strike out there and miss like that!” (Banna)

Banna, a third-year student in the martial arts department, yelled at me.
No, I didn’t miss it, you know.

The next moment, an invisible slash cut through all the monsters in front of him.

“… Ha?” (Banna)

Banna opened her mouth wide.

“Wha, what are you doing, just now…?” (Banna)
“Eh? I just simply cut them normally.” (Ark)
“Where is the hell you say normal!?” (Banna)

Now is not the time to argue with Banna-san.
There are still a large number of monsters coming from the depths of the forest, and in some places they are struggling.

I moved quickly and backed them.

“No, no use …!”
“I can’t hold them any longer…”
“Divine Space Slash” (Ark)
“””Eh?”””

“Haa, haa … I’m already at the limit…..”
“Bear it a little longer! Or you’ll die!”
“Divine Space Slash” (Ark)
“””!?”””

“GAAAAAAHH!”
“A, are you okay!? Damn it…”
“Divine Space Slash” (Ark)
“””Wha…”””

Yosh, this should help us regain some of the ground we were outnumbered for now.

“Just now, was that the freshman who did that……?”
“That’s right! How? This is the capability of Ark-kun! I didn’t lie, right!” (Melena)

For some reason, Melena-san is so pleased, but the monsters still haven’t ceased yet.
However, the momentum has weakened considerably.

“One more push!” (Diaz)

Diaz-san encouraged us vigorously, and everyone responded by defeating the monsters with vigor.
Eventually, the wave of monsters somehow began to break up.

“Wh, what the, heck is going on…..?”
“Could this be, the invasion of Demon King’s army again…?”

Everyone can’t hide their frustration and fatigue.
Many of them must be remembering the horror of four years ago.

“Layla, how?” (Ark)
“I don’t sense any on this side!” (Layla)
“Westside is clear, huh, I don’t sense any on the east side either, so the only left is the north.” (Ark)

We have been searching for the source of this situation in parallel while fighting.
The possibility of such a large number of undead occurring naturally is extremely unlikely, and we thought that there must be a necromancer causing this somewhere, so we were working together to detect the flow of magical power.

The south is the direction we came in, and out of the forest.
Now that the east and west have been cleared, there is only a possibility on the north side.

“! Something is approaching from the north side!”

As I searched the north, I discovered an unprecedentedly powerful presence.
It was coming towards us at a considerable speed.

Mekimekimekimekimekimeki!
Zun, Zun, Zun, Zun!

Before long, I heard the roar of collapsing trees and footsteps that shook the earth.

“O, oi, what the hell is that noise!?”
“Is there still more of them to come!?”

Finally, its true identity is revealed.

“””Wha…”””

Looking up at the sky above, everyone was taken aback.
What was there was a giant monster that was even taller than the surrounding trees.

The shape is humanoid.
But the size is a completely different level.
It’s probably as big as a five or six-story building.

“T, Titan…!?”
“I, it’s a Cyclops…!?”
“Cyclops would never be that big!”
“Then, could it be….. Atlas!?”

Atlas, a higher-ranking species of Cyclops, approached us, lightly reaping the trees as if they were weeds.

To everyone’s horror, Layla added a harsher truth.

“It’s not just an atlas, you know? It’s probably also an undead.” (Layla)
“Wh, what you say?!?”
“We, we’re over…”
“There’s no way we can defeat such a monster, let alone an undead one…….”
“Such as Undead …”

Several people slumped down on the ground as if they had lost their strength.
Even Diaz-san, who had been leading and encouraging the group, stood there in a daze.

In the midst of this, it was Celestia-san who raised her voice.

“It, It’s not over yet! We will not give up and we will fight until the end! During the battle four years ago, despite being placed in a desperate situation, the warriors of our country never slightest despaired and fought until the very end….!” (Celes)

But when I looked closer, I saw that her legs were trembling.
She was probably so terrified that she wanted to run away at any moment.
Still, she was trying her best to inspire her friends with her pride as a princess.

“Your Highness …”
“Y, you’re right……. We can’t give up before the fight…….”
“L, let’s go and do!”

Perhaps Celestia-san’s feelings were conveyed to us, everyone regained their fighting spirit.

In addition, Celestia-san looked at us and said,

“Layla-san! And also… Ark-san! We’re in desperate need of your help! Please, please, please can you lend us your strength!” (Celes)

She desperately begged.

This is a request from none other than Celestia-san.
Of course, I’m going to live up to her expectations.

However…..
I exchanged glances with Layla.

“Do you think it’s that strong? I mean, compared to Beffy, isn’t it way cuter?” (Layla)
“Unn, well, it’s undead, so it’s a bit annoying to deal, isn’t it?” (Ark)

Somehow this’s kind of like, a fight to the death, but……. I don’t think you have to be so grim, you know?