Now that I activated the spell it sucked even more mana. Flames rose high, fighting against the darkness of the night, lighting everything in a golden shade. I began to feel sick as my reserves were nearly emptied in one move, my body sluggish through the lack of mana. But it was something that soon resolved itself when screams resounded out of the inferno.

“Giiiiiaaaaaa!”

Quickly the crackling of fire was suppressed by a cacophony of screams as hundreds of goblins died at once.

With the level up came a feeling of refreshing as my empty tank began to fill quickly. Only a minute later I already reached another three level through the sheer mass of bodies inside the fire. This isn’t enough though…

“Another group incoming! [Arrow Rain].” An arrow flew into the sky, disappearing into the clouds. I couldn’t see them coming down in the darkness, but Sarah wouldn’t miss her mark in these circumstances given her perception.

Shortly afterwards Alice came back, followed by the surviving soldiers. They were ghastly pale, heaving through exhaustion and collapsing on their knees. Meanwhile Alice just stood there as if having a morning walk in the park.

“Next time wait a little more till we are farther away.”

“I couldn’t see it from over here. Left the timing for Sarah.”

As I said this, she landed next to us, startling the two soldiers in the process. “It was far enough, if we waited longer we wouldn’t have got so many of them.” She looked over to the soldiers, a bitter expression on her face. “We couldn’t save them all.”

“Think about it as saving at least these both.” I tried to console them, even if I knew that it wouldn’t make them feel better right now. I walked over to the soldiers who looked at me, startled from the sudden attention before turning grim as they recognized me.

“The flame demon!” They gripped their knives, ready to pounce at me at any moment.

I managed to repress a sigh. Still I turned sullen as I heard a chuckle coming from a certain berserker behind me. “I’m a human damn. Put these things down before you hurt yourself. If we wanted you dead we wouldn’t have saved you. Now get up, there are still another two groups around.” I turned around, looking at Sarah.

“There’s one coming right from the eye of the storm, the other is a mile down south. They already noticed us and are on their way.”

The faces of the soldiers turned white, thinking about their impending doom, but Alice just looked over without a hint of fear. “How many times can you use that spell again?”

“On a smaller scale two times, for one of that scale I have to recover my mana for a hour without using spells.”

A scream resounded behind us as a goblin general came rushing, its body set aflame. I turned my hand at him as a circle came into existence, flickering for a moment before a flame pillar shot outwards, impaling it and sending it back into the darkness.

“Wouldn’t have any mana left to fight though, so that’s that.”

She frowned before continuing to speak. “I don’t want to go there!”

“It’s the only choice.” Not like I want to go there either. “Just be grateful that it only wants to eat and isn’t a Japanese monster.”

“Thanks for the nightmares!” She covered her body with her free hand.

At least she is more energetic now. The remaining trio on the other hand only looked at us perplexed.

We ran through the forest which slowly changed to the swampy area we found ourselves in at the beginning. Alice ran in front, clearing the way from any incoming monster and hindering obstacle. Sarah and I shot our attacks at any enemy coming from the side or above us. The soldiers on the other hand just barely kept up with us. How could they even get that far with such a low level of skill?

Alice swung her sword, cutting through the trunk of a tree before crashing into it with her shoulder, sending it flying into a group of goblins waiting ahead of us. A howl resounded beside us as a wolf-like creature came through the bushes, a goblin riding above it. They even sent their tamers. I created a Flame Whip, swinging it at the two and send them back where they came from. I looked back forwards just in time to step aside as a crane came crashing downwards, its head snapping when it collided with the ground, an arrow reaching out of its back.

Alice stopped for a moment, standing right in front of greenery blocking our view as she pulled her sword backwards. “[Cleaving Wind].” She swung her sword, the air around us getting pulled towards her before it shot outwards, cutting down everything in its path and leaving behind a destroyed path filled with bits of flesh and blood of the goblins hiding there.

We continued onwards, the organic pieces squeaking beneath us. Even more riders came out of hiding behind us, rushing through the path we left behind and closing up on us. But opposed to the small ones before these were far bigger, riding on black beasts, led by their leader. He was at the front, riding on a black one with streaks of red fur, holding itself on it with one hand as the other gripped a spear of fifteen-foot length.

So, you’re the leader. Analyze.

You’ve got to be kidding me? How can his steed be on a higher level than the lord defending the southern territory? I analyzed the other riders, seeing that they were all well above level fifty, but at least not on his level by far. “[Fireball; Modify: Strength, Explosive]!” The Fireball flew straight towards them but opposed to evading the warg just dashed forward straight into it.

The resounding explosion made the tree bend sideways, smoke blocking the sight. Then it stepped out, completely unscratched from the attack. Of course, it had to be a fire-variant warg… “Hey Sarah, you shoot at the big one, I’ll take care of the small-fry!”

“Okay, [Powershot].” Immediately an arrow shot past me straight towards Keii. Opposed to my attack he wielded his spear this time, clashing it against the incoming arrow and deflecting it. Still it succeeded in stopping it for a moment.

The other riders rushed forward, only to dodge when I sent other Fireballs their way. We rushed forward, hindering our enemies at catching up while protecting the two soldiers until Alice called out to us.

“We’re here!”

I looked back forwards, seeing the water of the bog, mist hanging above it. Finally. We came to a stop shortly before it, facing back towards our pursuers. They also stopped, wary as their prey stopped fleeing from them. They probably also know what is inside these waters. I smirked at them.

“Now, what are you going to do? Leave or turn this into a slaughterhouse?”