After Shino returns to our group, we move closer to the round table with the map. It takes a moment for the people who have suffered some minor damage in their apparel to regain focus and we take that time to see what exactly is displayed on the wide desk.

As expected, it’s a layout of the settlement and the surrounding areas. Most of the detail was put into the close vicinity of the town but the map expands a bit further to note the most crucial landmarks like the nearby mines and gives a sense of proper distance. As rare as it seems, this sheet actually has a grid but it doesn’t look like an original part.

“This is a very good map. Easy to follow. The information seems accurate too. I wonder why not all of them that can be found in the capital are like this,” I comment, following a line with my finger in the air.

“That’s because the lines are my doing,” the black-haired woman replies. “It makes it much easier to visualise the battle when you split the area into smaller parts.”

“That’s true. It helps a lot in managing and commanding the troops too. Great use of markers. Do these symbolise the monsters?” I ask, pointing at simple, wooden dice scattered around the town’s walls.

“Yes. The dots correspond to the number of Abyssals in that area, or in a group. More or less, of course, but we try to keep them updated as much as we can.”

I nod while rubbing my chin. “You seem to have everything under control right now. The southwestern gate might need to be updated as we killed off a bunch of them while securing our entry. I saw three deaths but there could be more.”

“Much appreciated.” She quickly changes the values on the dice placed near that region. “Now, before we continue, I believe we should properly introduce ourselves.”

“Right. You already know me and Shino. The guy in heavy armour is Kamil, the dual-wielding redhead is Marcia, the blonde Bard is Natalie, and the brown-haired quarterstaff user is…”

Pausing for a moment, I glance at Vanessa, who shows a soft smile.

“Vanessa, a Geomancer. I’m not exactly going to hide it from official so I can reveal myself as Ronerulle’s princess.” She makes a courteous skip.

“A princess?” The woman raises her brow at her. “I’m Catherine, ex-leader of the 42nd Quick Response And Emergency Fortification Unit, Officer Rank. Currently overseeing the defence of this town. What brings a princess here?”

“I joined the Hero party some time ago. There’s no need to treat me as a royal out here. Right now, I’m just a fellow adventurer and someone who wishes to aid them in helping others,” Vanessa explains.

“Ex-leader?” I ask after their brief conversation ends.

“You can’t call yourself a leader without a unit.” Catherine sighs heavily. “I’m on my way back to the capital to report myself for abandoning my men after my team was ambushed. We faced overwhelming numbers out of nowhere and were wiped out. When things became obvious, our last surviving mages locked me out and told to run… Damned fools…”

She slams her fist into the table and takes a deep breath, raking back through her black hair with one hand. The wound seems fresh so the only proper choice is not to rub even more salt into it.

“I assume you stumbled on this situation by accident and decided to take control of the defence?” I attempt to return us to the main topic.

Catherine gives me a weak smile and a barely noticeable nod, clearly meant as appreciation. “Yeah. You seem quite smart. I walked out of one mess just to plunge straight into another one. But, it’s not like I could have left the town to continue anyway.”

“And we would have suffered much greater losses if not for Madam Officer’s help.” One of the men present in the room bows, most likely part of the leadership or local garrison.

“So, what’s the current situation? I would like to receive as much detail as possible, and considering what I’ve seen here, I think you might be the right person to fill us in,” I continue.

“The main assault has been dealt with, as the report should have said,” she begins and I confirm with a nod. “We are currently left with the remaining vermin surrounding the city from all sides. Their numbers aren’t great but it’s very risky to send out scouts to figure out how many enemies are hiding further in the forest. If only I had my men with me…”

“We can take care of that, right, Paul-san? With your scouting skills and my Shadow Movement it shouldn’t be a problem,” Shino suggests.

“Or we can just wreck their shit like always.” Marcia bumps her fists together with a grin.

“We’ll see. First, we need to learn as much as we can about our enemy,” I reply while pacifying our fighter with a glance. “How many chieftains did you dispose of?”

“None,” the woman answers. “I don’t think they have any or they would have sent them during at least one of the five attempts to break through the gates. It’s just grunts. Still, their leftover numbers are an issue.”

“Maybe it’s guarding the gate like the gorilla back then?” Natalie ponders out loud.

“What can you tell me about the assaults?” I ask.

“As I said, there were five. These monsters seemed a tad smarter than the usual ones but it, fortunately, didn’t help them.” She scoffs to the side. “They launched an attack on each of the four gates, with a two-day rest between their attempts, most likely to prod our defences. Then, after another two days, they hit the northeastern one again, with a bigger force, failing to secure it, of course. It’s been a week since then. They must have run out of troops.”

I roam my eyes over the detailed map, focusing on the four mentioned points. After a moment, I quickly notice that the number of scattered dice is much higher near the northeastern quarter. This can easily be taken as the remains of the two armies which tried to push through before, but…

“Shit. This is not the end,” I mutter under my breath.

“What do you mean?” Catherine frowns at me.

“The fifth one wasn’t their final attack, it was one of the reconnaissance attempts too.” I trace a circle over the layout. “They first examined all four gates and then sent one more attack at the one they thought was the most vulnerable. The main army has yet to arrive.”

“What?” She looks down at the map and follows my finger.

“Think about it. All five times had a rest period of two days. They would surely take much more after picking their main siege target, which is the northeastern gate. The fact that no chieftain showed up supports that idea too. Losing one or two battalions to make sure that their aim is true means nothing in front of those behemoths. You can also see that the remaining monsters clearly linger in much bigger numbers in that area too, which means…”

“That they are preparing for the main assault right now.” Realisation dawns on Catherine’s face. “Fuck. This is bad. A week should be enou—”

“Officer!” Someone barges into the chamber while wheezing. “There’s movement!”

“Where?” Her head snaps to the man and she asks.

“All sides!”

Our gazes meet. “Diversion, for sure.”

She nods. “They are going for the northeastern gate. It will be much weaker if we try to split our available forces. And who knows what they found out about it during their previous two attacks. This might get tough.”

“Not if we join,” Kamil says. “I bet each of us could easily hold one.”

“True but we have to expect at least one chieftain right now,” I add. “It might show up in front of the northeastern gate but we can’t be sure. We should utilise Catherine’s grid. It’s perfect for quick communication. Nat, how is your progress on that Telepathy skill?”

“I don’t think I can uphold a connection with this many people yet,” our magician answers.

“I can talk with Marcia-san without a problem,” Shino says and the person in question nods.

Kamil scoffs to the side, for an obvious reason.

“Alright. We’ll have to use the tokens we received from the King. Keep them somewhere where you will be able to feel the call since you need to hold it to answer or even hear the message.” Everyone brings out their round badges to show them and nods. “Shino, get a look at this first and let us know what’s going on through Marcia.”

“Roger that, Paul-san.”

Consumed by a deep, black shadow, she disappears into the floor and I turn towards Catherine.

“What can we work with here?” I ask.

“Five mixed platoons, ten squads of half melee and half range, and some reserve. It’s not much but we were able to push them back each time thanks to accurate tactics,” she lists.

“We’ll shoulder the brunt of the attack so you don’t have to worry about it.” I rub my chin while looking all over the map and bring a few more things out of my ring.

I set down a set of chess and a leather bag with some dice. Opening the former, I bring the pieces out, placing them on the side of the map so that they wait for their turn. Quickly grabbing a fistful of the latter, I prepare them for their upcoming use too.

“As you expected, the main force is moving from the northeast,” Marcia suddenly says, most likely receiving info from Shino. “It’s hard to estimate but at least a hundred or so grunts. No chieftains in sight yet. The other directions aren’t that numerous. Perhaps a few dozen each.”

Listening to her report, I move a couple of dice to each of the four main directions and spread them out, assuming that each dot equals one dozen. I’m not sure about the exact values Catherine set for the earlier ones so I hastily rework them to match our new system. If she has any qualms about me interfering with her operation, she doesn’t show them and stays silent.

“The monsters by the walls are moving too. Most of them head towards that one gate,” Marcia adds and I fix the numbers.

“There definitely is a chieftain, then. Something gave them orders,” I mutter. “ETA of the main force?”

“Shino says something about ten to fifteen minutes at their current pace,” Marcia replies.

“Alright.” I reach for the chess pieces. “Kamil, you get the main gate. If the chieftain arrives, you should easily be able to hold it back. Please, assign him one platoon and two squads focusing on ranged damage. He’ll do better with no one around.”

Seeing how I place a white king on the map, he pumps his fist. “Fuck yeah! All the fun is mine!”

Shaking my head, I pick up a queen. “Marcia, you get the southeastern entry. Take one platoon, two ranged squads, and one melee just in case. You are nimble enough to deal with them by yourself.”

She smirks and jabs Kamil with her elbow, definitely happy about her own piece.

“Tell Shino to reach the northwestern gate. One platoon should be enough for her, even though they will most likely stand there and do nothing most of the time. She’s the strongest of us,” I continue, placing a knight over the blueprint.

“She says she’s on it, and I’m pretty sure she’s blushing heavily right now.” Marcia chuckles.

“Then, the last one goes to you Nat, and Vanessa if you could.” I glance at the princess and she nods so I set down a bishop there. “You might need the most help so the other two platoons go to you, and four squads, if possible most melee since they are both more or less magicians. The remaining squads will be on standby to help whichever side might need it.”

After laying out my plan, I turn to Catherine.

“Is that alright with you? I’m sorry for butting in just like that but we are in a pinch right now and should act fast.”

She stops staring at the map while stroking her chin and shakes her head. “No issues here. Go ahead. This seems like a good setup and you certainly know your team much better than I do. Take over the lead and I’ll assist you to the best of my abilities and knowledge.”

“Appreciated.” I nod at her. “Now, get to your positions and talk to your units. Remember about your tokens. I’ll be reaching out to you regularly to update everyone on the situation.”

We exchange quick glances amongst ourselves and they hastily leave the room, leaving just me behind. Of course, Catherine remains here too, and the other people who seem to be of tactician nature rather than fighters.

“You seem very accustomed to this. Did you lead an army before becoming a Hero?” she suddenly asks as I analyse the map in more detail.

“Uhhh… No, nothing like that.” I meet her gaze for a moment. “Honestly, I was just a normal civilian with some interest in these things, and well, studied whatever was publicly available a lot. Who would have thought any of that would actually come useful.”

“Interesting. I bet you would have made a fine commander if you chose to become one. You do seem to possess a knack for this.” She shows a soft smile.

“Can’t say that I don’t.” I try to smile back. “But, I’m certainly no match for real leaders, like you.”

Her expression falls a little and I instantly recall her earlier story.

“Real leaders don’t lead all their men to their deaths,” she says with a sigh.

“With all due respect, even the best leaders aren’t omniscient and we aren’t machines.”

Catherine raises a curious brow at me and I realise that this comparison doesn’t really work as well in Naharren as on Earth.

“What I meant to say is that Humans and other living beings make mistakes. Plus, from how you described it, it doesn’t seem like you could have done much to change the outcome. Your men knew it too and chose to save you. I didn’t know them but I would assume that you were a leader great enough to evoke such a response from them.”

We look at each other for a few seconds and she sighs again.

“You are right. Besides, we have much more crucial things to focus on rather than my unfortunate past. Let’s protect this town and remove those fuckers from the face of Naharren.”

Nodding, I pick up my artefact badge. ~Report in.~

~King here. We are set and ready to rock ‘n roll, baby. No big ugly in sight.~

~Queen’s bored. At least the boys here are fun to talk to.~ Marcia giggles telepathically.

~I took down a few strays, Paul-san. Ah, uh, Knight all safe,~ Shino awkwardly adds her current nickname after her answer.

~Bishop’s preparations are finished too. Vanessa got us some additional defensive formations.~

~Perfect. Get ready to intercept your targets. They should be getting close,~ I wrap it up.

Placing the token away, I support myself on the wide table, gazing at the various pieces and dice scattered all over the map. Soon, the monsters finally arrive and the battle starts. They all let me know before they engage and I await further reports.

The ground suddenly shakes and some dust falls off the stone ceiling. Catherine looks around along with all the other men and women.

“What was that?” she asks, a little uneasy.

“Kamil, possibly. Or Shino. Perhaps Vanessa too,” I reply, unsure about the source since no one said anything yet.

“They are all this strong? We are in the middle of the town.” Catherine’s eyes widen in surprise.

“The princess literally commands earth, Kamil has quite a few big-hitting abilities, but Shino could most likely wipe the entire village out in seconds. She’s always been a little monster, but now that she shares her stats with an even bigger monster, and received another 100% stat buff from them, I don’t think anything is able to stop her for a few days.”

“What?” She frowns, even more confused than before.

“It’s complicated.” I shrug.

The telepathy token vibrates on the table so I quickly pick it up.

~Fat fuck spotted!~ Kamil announces. ~It looks like a house-sized version of Godzilla! I really hope it can’t beam us off like the original!~

~I’m sure it can’t or else they would have just obliterated the gates or walls. Can you hold it off?~ I ask.

~Can I kill it?~

~Sure but don’t overextend. Remember, there are people with you. Protect them too.~

~Got it, boss. Here’s Johnny!~

A moment after I place the artefact down, an explosion takes place and everything rumbles again.

“Now, that definitely was Kamil,” I say, turning to Catherine. “He’s engaged a chieftain.”

“Will he be fine?”

I chuckle lightly. “You are worried about the wrong side.”

Ten more minutes pass and I reach out to everyone. They seem to be doing fine. The girls are repelling the smaller forces efficiently while Kamil plays with the chieftain in front of the northeastern gate. The monster is a tough one, according to his evaluation, but he’s saving his mana and the strongest skills as I have requested him to. I update the dice as much as I can.

We’ll try to thin out the lesser monsters and see if more chieftains show up. Additionally, the grunts are spreading out between the four locations more than they have intended, for sure. I wouldn’t be surprised if their goal was just to assault the other three gates for a moment to lure the defenders away and then join the main force for the big push. Unfortunately for them, the girls are annihilating anything that moves.

But, maybe I’m giving them too much credit and looking into it way too deeply.

I notice another call so I quickly grab the radio.

~Queen to HQ. Requesting backup. Enemy numbers started growing. A big group is approaching from ahead,~ Marcia reports.

~Will the emergency squads be enough?~

~I don’t think so. There really is a fuckton of them. I gotta free my hand soon and focus on making them a head shorter fast.~

~Alright. How far from your location?~ I ask.

~About fifty metres but approaching.~

~Get everyone back. I’ll take care of it.~

~Roger that.~

Pocketing the token, I straighten up and glance at Catherine. “What’s the fastest route outside?”

“Follow me,” she answers without a single question.

I do as she says and jog after her towards one of the wooden doors leading out of the chamber. Instead of grabbing the knob, she launches a powerful mid-kick at it and sends it flying with a loud thud and whine of metal hinges. I realise that we haven’t actually even asked what her Class or Tier are, but they clearly are something if she can obliterate a fortified door like this.

We walk into a quite spacious battlement and I take a peek past the edge, spotting the wooden rectangle still falling down the castle walls while spinning uncontrollably.

Hopefully, no one gets hurt by that.

Shoving that issue aside, I quickly get a grasp on directions and turn towards Marcia’s location. Catherine joins my side and looks up at me.

“What are you going to do from here?”

“Step back a bit and you’ll see.”

I summon my bow from my spatial storage and get a good grip on it. Catherine’s eyes widen a little as the magnificent weapon enters her sight and she quickly follows my advice. I’m very eager to see its power after Alastair’s friend tweaked it a bit. She said that a few parts were somehow disabled and she reactivated them. Something around thirty or more percent of power increase.

Closing my eyes to connect with my weapon better, I focus my mind on grasping the distance and the last known location of Marcia. A few techniques from my Draconic Sharpshooter Arts roll through my mind, fitting my requirements, and I pick one pretty quickly.

Mana begins to gather in my fingers as I aim the bow up and start drawing back the bowstring. It takes way more effort than I would think it should as the skill activates. With each centimetre, the spiritual pressure around me increases and I can feel my clothes fluttering even without looking at them. It gets increasingly warmer too.

Finally pulling the string all the way back, I open my eyes and witness a small, spiritual storm of crimson colour swirling around me. An arrow of pure scarlet mana has gathered between my fingertips, surrounded by a helix of two long Dragons, resembling the Chinese variation. They keep nipping at the air near the arrowhead, eager to be released.

Making sure that my calculations aren’t off even in the slightest, I make the last, small pull, and let go of the gathered energy. A powerful explosion of force throws me and Catherine back as she lets out an unexpected squeal of surprise. We then watch as the crimson arrow paints a red arc in the sky with an extremely loud whizz, definitely heard by everyone all around the town.

Then, it explodes with a loud boom and suddenly, two serpent-like Dragons soar towards the ground while coiling around each other. I have to mention that they aren’t arrow-sized anymore. No, each of them is like a giant castle tower and they both roar ferociously while descending toward their target.

As they disappear behind the edge of the battlement, we jog closer and follow them further before they dive behind the outer wall this time and slam into the ground somewhere far ahead. A powerful tremble passes through us as the earth shakes from the impact and two giant blasts of crimson fire in the form of two massive, flaming spheres peek over the defences.

My pocket vibrates so I hastily pick the phone up.

~Nice! That wiped out most of the bastards! And was so freaking cool! Fuck, you made me so wet!~ Marcia snickers into our temporary connection.

I smile wryly. ~Glad to be of use. Please, try to keep your focus on the enemies until the end of the battle.~

Receiving another chuckle in response, I hide the token again.

“I think you forgot to include yourself when listing the powerful members of your group earlier.” Catherine shows a faint smirk.

“Compared to the others, I’m nothing, really. I make sure that they can fight without having to worry about the battlefield. It’s much easier to keep an eye on everything from the back and archers certainly fit that role well.”

We hurry inside and update the map. Shino, Natalie, and Kamil report in too, helping us with that. Things are looking well. The main force is getting smaller. They must have split a bunch of monsters to try and take Marcia’s gate by surprise. It really doesn’t seem like another chieftain will show up so I guess it’s time to wrap it up.

~Everyone, hold your positions. I’ll move to Kamil with Catherine and we’ll take down the chieftain. Be ready for the grunts to react somehow,~ I convey my intentions through the artefact after they pick their copies up.

“Alright. Let’s join the battle and wrap it up.” I turn to my temporary second-in-command.

“I have a horse ready nearby. Follow me,” she replies with a nod and picks something up from under the table.

To my surprise, she pulls out two handheld crossbows featuring some kind of a reloading mechanism and straps them to her belt on both sides like two handguns. Then, she drags a much bigger one, even larger than a full-sized crossbow, and hooks it onto her back. The weapon almost reaches her ankles at the lowest point and clearly extends over her head quite a bit. It looks damn heavy but her figure doesn’t show the slightest sign of struggle.

Her eyes meet mine and she smiles. “What? Can only guys play with big toys?”

I shake my hands dismissively. “Definitely not. I was just admiring your small arsenal. It’s quite something.”

“I’m a Headhunter. Tier 4. Most abilities focus on close quarters but this little guy knows a few things to show off too.” She points at the large, elongated ballista-like crossbow. “I think we shouldn’t have problems working together, Mr Archer.”

“Draconic Sharpshooter. Unfortunately still Tier 2. And yes, most of my abilities focus on range so this is perfect. Let’s go.”

“That attack was Tier 2? Damn, I’m getting jealous.”

I smile softly and we race down the castle’s hallways together. No one else seems to follow. It’s not like that’s an issue. I wouldn’t have been surprised to learn that Catherine was a non-combatant too, focusing mostly on strategizing and leading others. But, she’s clearly more than that.

We reach the outside and she brings us to one of the castle’s gates. There’s a guy sitting on a bench while watching over some horse, most likely our method of transport. She waves at him and he hastily unfastens the reins from the nearby post.

With nimble grace, making completely nothing of all her gear, Catherine jumps onto the animal’s back and extends a hand to me. I grab it and hoist myself behind her, quickly wrapping my arms around her waist. In no time we are speeding through the streets, heading towards Kamil.

We reach our destination in a flash and I pick an arrow from my quiver while we are still on the move. Aiming it at the top of the walls, I release it with a whizz and a rope follows it as it soars through the air, piercing into the stone. I send one more after it, ending up with two cords hanging down from the wall.

As our ride arrives right under them, we jump off straight to the ropes and climb up without an issue. Soon, we are on top of the walls, surprising the soldiers stationed there. Ignoring them, we move to the other side and take a look at the battle taking place in front of the gate.

About thirty Abyssals of various animal and monster shapes run around and try to take Kamil down but he doesn’t let them do anything substantial. The ones that manage to sneak into his blind spots are quickly skewered with arrows shot by his ranged support. If something actually gets to him in time, his armour protects him well from such small attacks.

Meanwhile, he keeps aggro on himself, poking and taunting the Godzilla-like chieftain. It clearly suffered some wounds but nothing major. Plenty of burns and cuts decorate its dark purple, leather-like skin.

“I go down there to help your friend and you keep me alive, right?” Catherine asks with a smile.

“I can work with that.” I nod and she vaults herself over the edge.

Nocking an arrow, I aim my bow through the gap in the battlements. She drops to the ground like a superhero and brings forth her giant crossbow. After taking careful aim, she launches a massive bolt right into the chieftain’s eye, evoking a pained roar from it. The force of her shot pushes her a metre or two back, showing how powerful that thing is.

Unfortunately, it doesn’t have a mag or a clip and she has no time to reload it manually. I nail one beast to the ground with a well-aimed arrow as she throws the crossbow behind her back and picks up her crossguns.

Then, she starts dancing.

The simplest comparison would be Marcia with her shortswords. Catherine roams the battlefield while doing various acrobatics and irregular movements, raining dozens of bolts at her opponents, turning them into shadowy porcupines. Her aim stays true no matter what and I don’t notice even a single missed shot. Knowing that I look after her, she clearly fights much bolder, and I do my best to eliminate any danger from her close vicinity.

Kamil, taking our arrival and help as a sign that it’s time, goes wild immediately. He throws his shield on his back, disregarding it for now, and grabs his longsword in both hands. The blade starts shimmering with golden light and he goes into the offensive.

While he enters a proverbial fistfight with the small Godzilla, the two of us focus on the trash mobs, reducing their numbers as fast as we can. I try to keep my eyes on both him and Catherine, mostly assisting the officer lady by covering her back. She mows the Abyssals down like a mobile turret, stopping only to exchange mags full of bolts.

My token vibrates and I get warned by literally everyone that their opponents are running away in our direction. It immediately becomes clear to me that the chieftain is somehow calling for them as it has started having more issues with a battle-crazy Kamil. Ready for their arrival, I prepare an appropriate ability.

Catherine notices the reinforcements early and turns her face up to warn me but stops after finding me already taking aim. Holding my bow horizontally, I launch three arrows simultaneously towards the left side, and three towards the right. They stick into the ground at regular intervals. Quickly adding one more set per side before the monsters reach them, I create a segmented, rectangular shape with them.

As soon as the first Abyssals cross the barrierless fence, an explosion of fire occurs and a literal wave of flames rolls outwards like a small tsunami, scorching all the void creatures on their paths.

The reinforcements are gone.

I receive thumbs up from our new friend and she returns to her part of the carnage. Taking a glance at the duelling duo, I notice that Kamil has almost dealt with the chieftain. He could use a little bit of assistance for the finishing blow so I prepare another technique, hoping that he’ll make good use of the brief window of opportunity.

Nocking a normal arrow, I fill the tip with mana and it glows slightly with a red hue. Keeping my mind focused on it, I release the projectile and invoke the ability before the arrow flies past Kamil, still remaining behind his back. A bright flash of crimson light explodes from the tip and assaults wannabe Godzilla’s healthy eye, causing it to cover it and take a step back.

Our golden hero begins charging his sword at a moment’s notice and slices through the monster’s knee with ease, not having to worry about getting interrupted while gathering his power. The chieftain falls to the side and he hastily jumps on top of it, aiming his blade down. More golden energy surrounds it and he sinks it right into the monster’s neck, barely able to pierce its hide. As he shouts angrily, some kind of light illuminates the Abyssal’s insides, and soon, its body literally explodes, dark guts and blood spilling everywhere.

Catherine manages to hide behind a nearby tree in time and I duck down behind the battlements. Standing up right after most of the viscera passes over my head, I start picking more targets as the grunts begin losing their integrity. That’s a very good sign, and most likely a confirmation that there are no more chieftains in close vicinity.

My token vibrates and the others confirm the same phenomenon. I allow them to give chase but not far, and order everyone to gather in front of the northeastern gate. Catherine finishes the enemies in our quadrant with my help while Kamil tries his best to get monster intestines out of his armour, grumbling and cursing under his nose.

Soon, Shino, Marcia, Natalie, and Vanessa join us and I jump down too. We gather up and Natalie turns to me.

“Do we go after the gate immediately?” she asks.

“That would be for the best. We need to figure out where it is though,” I answer.

“I took a quick peek at the Abyssals running away and I think I know the general direction,” Shino chimes in.

“Then that should be fine. We ought to leave someone behind just in case, though.” I glance around.

“I’ll do it.” Vanessa steps forward. “My magic is decent for both offence and defence. If worse comes to worst, I can stall the enemy for quite a bit.”

I nod at her. “Alright.”

“Should I get us some horses?” Catherine asks.

“No need. I’ll cast Symphony of the Wind on us and follow it up with Stride. It should be enough,” Natalie suggests.

“What she says.” I gesture at our Bard. “Let’s not let them notify any possible chieftains protecting the gate.”

Natalie plays two quick melodies and the mentioned magical effects settle in our bodies. I suddenly feel extremely light, certain that I could run a few marathons back to back. We all exchange a glance, bid a temporary farewell to Vanessa, and break into a run.

Catherine is extremely surprised and unstable on her feet after experiencing such a method of travel for the first time. I give her a hand until she gets accustomed to sprinting at around sixty kilometres per hour, lending her my body as support. Natalie is getting much better at this and our highest achievable speeds gradually rise.

We follow Shino’s directions and soon find a slowly descending hole in the ground, looking like something dug its way up to the surface. A bunch of Abyssals loiter around it but we make quick work of them, mostly me and Catherine since our attacks have a bit of range and accuracy.

Getting rid of an occasional monster, we delve into the earthen tunnel, illuminated by Nat’s magic. Kamil takes the front, of course, while Shino watches our backs. The path leads us quite deep under the ground and we reach the supposed bottom after around ten minutes of careful walking.

Immediately, we notice the familiar sight of a shimmering, swirling gate of purplish shades and its guardian. It seems that the recurring theme here is lizards as it looks like a massively overgrown komodo dragon. Unfortunately, it notices our approach, smartly facing the only entrance and exit.

“Shino?”

I call our strongest member, but before I even finish, she materialises in front of me out of a deep shadow, with her skin almost bordering on pure black, announcing the activation of her Demonification.

As the monster screeches at us and rushes forward, Shino is already in a lowered position with her hand hovering over the hilt of her katana, eyes closed. No one dares to say anything and I can tell how tense Catherine becomes, watching the huge lizard charge at us.

But, it soon gets exactly where Shino wants it to be and her eyes fling open. An immense killing intent explodes from her small frame, making all of us shiver, and even the Abyssal beast suddenly gives its best to halt its movements.

All for naught, though.

Before it fully stops, a loud shiiing echoes through the cavern and tens of light violet lines appear all around its body as Shino unsheathes her weapon in a fraction of a second. The chieftain falls apart, chopped into hundreds of small slices that retain their momentum and splatter over the ground in front of us. She lets out a soft sigh and stands up, giving us a pretty smile. Catherine’s mouth hangs open from shock and I place a hand on her shoulder.

Clearly, she hasn’t been ready to see a gargantuan katana blade slide out of a tear in reality and pierce the Abyssal gate either, because that’s exactly what Shino does a moment later. All of us would have some issues reaching that high. But, in the end, we get rid of the problem and that’s what counts.

Making sure that there are no more surprises waiting for us somewhere near, we make our way back to the town and work together to clean up the remaining, scattered creatures. It takes us a few hours but we get rid of them all, at least in about a five-kilometre radius. After that, we gather in the meeting chamber once more, receiving many thanks and words of appreciation from the people waiting there.

“So, what are your plans now?” Catherine asks, walking past the crowd to join me next to the map.

“We’ll stay around for a moment to watch over things and then most likely return to the capital to see if the King has something else for us. Then, that depends. We are almost always on the move, trying to get stronger and gain more experience,” I reply.

She chuckles lightly. “You want to get even stronger?”

I show a small smile. “Shino doesn’t count. Someone multiple times stronger than her is supporting her from afar.”

“Damn. I can’t imagine a person like that. And here I thought Tier 4 was something mind-blowing.”

“That’s what we’ve been told too but he can’t be measured with this era’s scale.”

“Fun. Anyway, do you mind if I tag along?” she asks with a raised brow. “I’ll be on my way back too and it will definitely be safer in a group.”

“Sure.” I shrug. “Another capable person is always welcome.”

“Perfect.” She shows a beautiful smile. “There are so many things I hoped to discuss with you.”