Chapter 34

“We’re definitely in a level 2 zone now… It’s gotten darker.”

“Yes, you’re right. We should be getting out of the forest and heading into the plains pretty soon,” I replied.

“Yeah, that’s true, but how do you know that? You remember that, from the last time you were out here?”

“Well, yeah. I have most of this area memorised.”

“Haha, that’s reassuring! Man, you really did spend two years out here, Major!”

“…You can stop calling me ‘Major’ all the time. I’m really not that big of a deal,” I said.

“Hmm? Do you not like it?”

“…I only got this rank recently, and very suddenly, too. I guess you could say it just doesn’t feel right.”

“Guess it really does take all kinds, huh? Not all S-Ranks are the same, I guess,” Lieutenant Bates said, laughing.

“Have you ever met the others?”

“Yeah. Some of them are really proud people, but some of them are pretty humble… like you. Incredibly diverse group of people, really.”

“I see.”

“So, should I just call you ‘Yuria?’”

“Please do, Lieutenant.”

“Guess you’re gonna keep being stiff with the formalities, though… but I like people like you. Plus, when I consider the fact that you’re already at that rank, despite your age, it makes me wonder just how powerful you’re gonna get… Pretty scary stuff, huh?”

“Haha…”

“Well, let’s get along, shall we? We’re gonna be fighting together, after all.”

“Yes!”

The two of us chatted as we walked through the Twilight. Being out here made me feel quite nostalgic.

As soon as we got out of the level 1 zone, the atmosphere changed suddenly. The Twilight was darker here, and the air was thick with the scent of blood. Out here, only the law of the jungle applied. We could feel it in the air.

As we kept walking, we left the forest and came upon the plains, spreading out in front of us. There were large boulders here and there, dotting the landscape… along with monsters, crawling about. The monsters out here were called Scorpions, but, of course, they weren’t normal scorpions. They were about 3 to 5 metres long and dyed in the Twilight’s signature red and black. These ones looked like they’d been living here for quite a while.

I’d fought Scorpions before, actually. They can be quite tricky to deal with, especially since they have poison in their stingers. It’s extremely acidic and will melt anything it comes in contact with, even turning human flesh into mush. I’d seen them hunting with that poison many times before. Individually, they’re not that strong, but dealing with a whole pack of them can get quite difficult.

“Colonel, our orders?” Lieutenant Bates asked.

The Colonel thought for a moment before responding, “Let’s go for a bit of a hunt, eh? Prepare for battle.”

“Yes, sir,” we said in unison, preparing to fight.

He continued. “The vanguard will man the front lines, the centre will provide them support as necessary, and the rear line will cover us all with magic.”

“Roger that!”

Lieutenant Bates and I took off, starting the battle. Holding my knife in both hands, I activated Invisible Blade, lowering my centre of gravity as I ran. The first Scorpion came into view, hissing at me.

The light glinted off my blade as I swung it through the air.

The poor Scorpion didn’t even know what hit it as it was sliced cleanly into two. Carefully avoiding the blood and guts flowing out of our enemies’ corpses, Lieutenant Bates and I continued to cut through monster after monster. I’d always been alone out here, so I could definitely tell this was going much smoother with teammates backing me up.

We continued cutting through every monster in sight, the centre and rear lines handling the ones that got past us. The rear’s magical support, especially, made fighting far easier.

So this is what this squadron is like, I thought. I’d heard lots of rumours about the 71st, that they were incredibly well-known, feared, and respected by everyone around them. In this battle, I came to understand those rumours were completely true.

“…Not bad. I had my doubts about you, Yuria, but I can tell you definitely earned that rank of yours.”

“You’re quite skilled as well, Lieutenant Bates.”

“Well, all I’ve got going for me is this thing,” he said, showing me his weapon. He used a flamberge. Its blade was about 1.5 metres long with a handle so long that even a two-handed grip wouldn’t be enough to balance it well. Its defining feature, though, was its wavy, flame-like blade. His sword had another neat feature, too: when it slashed an enemy, it opened multiple wounds on the target’s body. Basically, any single successful blow on an opponent would result in multiple wounds. It provided quite the advantage. However, the blade was so large that it was very difficult to handle. It had an incredibly long reach but couldn’t be used to attack repeatedly, so it was considered ill-suited for group battles… but Bates had an incredibly strong grasp on Inertia Magic.

In fact, he could use Inertia Magic at least as well as me, perhaps even better. I was impressed by his magical skill. He used Inertia Magic on his own body as well, not just the sword. I could do this, too, but I could only keep it active on a few important points on my body at a time. He used it constantly, on his whole body, almost effortlessly. And I could tell that this incredible skill was a product of his experience on the battlefield.

“Hm?”

“What was that?”

“An earthquake?”

“Quite big for an earthquake…”

“You two, get back…”

Then, we felt a massive vibration, and I suddenly remembered what this was. “There’s a monster coming! Prepare for battle!” I shouted, alerting my squadmates. I knew what this was. The source of this earthquake, and the owner of those massive pincers piercing up through the ground before us was the leader of the Scorpion herd: a Huge Scorpion. HAving dug its way to the surface, it screeched to intimidate us.

But the Lieutenant and I were already moving. We left the weaker Scorpions around the leader to the centre and rear line. The two of us instead focused on the boss. We knew the rear would focus on the smaller opponents, and the centre would provide support as necessary.

As we approached, I slashed at the Huge Scorpion… to no effect. “It’s tough!” I said, trying again and again to cut through it. But I couldn’t even scratch it. Its shell was too hard for my blade.

“Yuria, get back!” Eira shouted, suddenly.

I obeyed on instinct, and a moment later, the Huge Scorpion was entirely engulfed in bright red flames. It screeched, writhing in agony. Its shell was, apparently, unable to perfectly insulate its insides from the heat.

“Yuria, focus all your strength on a single point! That should work!” Eira shouted.

“Got it!” I replied. She was right. The shell was tough, but I could handle it.

I watched Lieutenant Bates move forwards again, targeting the monster’s head. The flames had weakened a little, but it was still dangerously hot. However, we couldn’t afford to let this opportunity pass by. I jumped through the air, activating Invisible Blade on both of my legs. I first hit its skull twice with those two blades, then bent, stabbing downwards again with my knife.

Finally, the shell cracked and collapsed. My sword pierced clean through into its brain.

The Huge Scorpion fell, unable to remain standing. The battle had ended rather anticlimactically. When I looked around, I noticed that the other Scorpions were dead, too.

“Hey, Yuria. We did it.”

“Yeah, looks like we managed,” I said.

“It’s pretty rare to see Huge Scorpions around here, though…”

“That’s right… Aren’t they usually only found in level 4 zones or higher?”

“Yeah, this one is originally from a level 4 zone. Has something happened to the ecosystem out here, maybe?”

“…That’s enough, you two,” the Colonel interrupted. “We’ll hand this information over to the Research Department. Collect some of the corpses.”

“Yes, sir,” we replied.

We followed the Colonel’s orders, gathered up the corpses, and quickly left the dangerous zone. We safely made it back to the city, our mission complete, but…

“…Hm?” I said, looking behind me.

“What is it, Yuria?”

“Oh, no, it’s nothing, Lieutenant,” I said, turning to face forwards again.

For a moment, I had the feeling someone was watching us… but I decided I was probably imagining things.

That’s what I thought, back then.