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Act 2-22.1 : Black Mist 1
「ZOMBIEEEES!!!」
「H-HOW CAN THE GATE BE BREACHED THIS EASILY?!」
「SAVE MEEEEE!」
By the time Gallios and the Freedom Fighters arrived, the gate had already been breached, causing a major panic around the area.
「OI! THE GATE HAS BEEN BREACHED!! WHAT THE HELL IS THE GATEKEEPER DOING?!」
Stor asked angrily to one of the sentries.
His anger was only natural since it was the gatekeeper’s job to close the gate upon seeing the monsters approaching from outside, but it turns out they had neglected their duty.
「Kuro was right, something bad really did happen here. Everyone, we must prevent more zombies from entering the gate.」
The zombies’ movements were really slow, as of now, they were still around the gate area. But, their huge number alone would become a problem if they were left to their own devices.
After Nimri voiced his thoughts, he conjured fire blade magic by using flint as a catalyst. Though such a spell was easy for Shirone and the others, it was in fact a high level spell for the human natives of this world; they couldn’t conjure this spell without a catalyst due to their low magic powers.
In addition, though sunlight magic was more effective against the undead, Nimri couldn’t use that kind of magic.
Nevertheless, the fire blade spell was still better than nothing.
Gallios’ sword shone red as soon as Nimri finished his chant.
「Thanks a lot Nimri-sensei! EVERYONE, CHARGEEEE!」
「「Ooosss!」」
The Freedom Fighter roared as they charged towards the zombies at Gallios’ signal.
Zombies were by no means powerful foes, but they were proven to be extremely troublesome enemies due to their sheer numbers. Moreover, beating zombies wasn’t a simple matter for Freedom Fighters who could not use magic.
「We’re in deep shit, huh. At this rate, it’s only matter of time until we-… but, why hasn’t the royal palace sent their reinforcements yet?」
Nimri had some doubts in his mind. And with Gallios’ expression, he guessed that he might be pondering the same thing.
At this rate, their side would be annihilated first. And yet, the knights and soldiers of the royal castle had yet to send reinforcements.
Suddenly, at that moment, a squall blew above their head.
「What the…」
After the squall receded, when Gallios opened his eyes, he found that the zombies around him had already been blown away. In their place stood a girl with shimmering wings protruding from her back.
The one who came to help them was Shirone, who had fought alongside them back in the tower.
「I-IT’S AN ANGEL!!!」
「ANGEL-SAMA HAS COME TO SAVE US!!!」
The people around shouted such words.
「All civilians, please quickly evacuate this place while we hold them back!!」
Shirone turned around and smiled as she said that.
◆
Chiyuki floated in the air, looking over the situation at the gate with levitation magic.
The Freedom Fighters and Shirone were working together to suppress the zombie outbreak.
「It seems she arrived just in time, huh.」
Then, Chiyuki’s eyes moved toward the northern direction. Aside from the main, southern gate, Rox Kingdom had another gate, the northern back gate.
Since there might be another emergency situation over there too, she asked Kyouka and Kaya to go there.
Rino and Sahoko were currently running around the city to heal all the injured.
As for Chiyuki, she and Nao went to arrest the Striges who caused this incident.
They would leave the aftermath to Reiji to kill all the undead with sunlight magic.
That was Chiyuki’s plan to deal with the sudden zombie outbreak.
「If things go according to my prediction, our plan should be enough to deal with this situation but…」
Chiyuki muttered to herself.
（Why did such a thing happen unnoticed? The guard should’ve noticed this earlier, right? Is Lucullus alright?）
Chiyuki was starting to regret the fact that she didn’t get rid of the root of the problem as soon as possible.
「Sorry to keep you waiting Chiyuki.」
「Doesn’t matter, I simply arrived faster than you.」
Chiyuki turned around as she replied to Reiji.
Since Reiji always acted at his own pace, one would keep wondering when he would arrive; there were even times when he arrived rather late.
Despite the hint of sarcasm in Chiyuki’s words, Reiji acted like it wasn’t his fault at all.
「Well then, I guess it’s time for me to do my job.」
Reiji’s hand started shining as soon as he spoke.
Chiyuki, who stood by his side, squinted her eyes due to the blinding light.
Reiji then threw that light to the sky, right above Rox Kingdom. That light illuminated the sky, it looked as if a second sun had risen right after the first one had set.
It was the pinnacle of sunlight magic. This was Reiji’s unique skill, who specialized in light magic.
That sunlight magic, which shined over Rox Kingdom, should have been enough to annihilate the zombies in one go. That was what Chiyuki thought… until she looked at the situation down below.
「Eh… no way!」
The entire kingdom was covered in black mist.
Chiyuki only noticed the black mist after the intense solar light had hit the kingdom.
「That’s… Night Robe.」
Even Reiji was looking at the mist with an astonished look on his face.
Night Robe was a type of dark magic that protected its user from light magic. Most races who lived in the darkness were adept users of this kind of magic.
The mist covered the entirety of Rox Kingdom, preventing the sunlight from entering, thus creating a pseudo-night.
「Surely, it’s without a doubt the Night Robe spell, but is it even possible to cast Night Robe on the entire kingdom? Is the culprit behind this incident really just a Strige?」
Chiyuki was sure that no Strige was capable of casting magic of this scale when they went to exterminate them before. That’s why she speculated that there might be someone else in the shadows, someone with great power cooperating with the Striges.
「Someone who can use magic of this scale. Reiji-kun, I will go investigate this matter with Na—」
Chiyuki spoke as she looked at Reiji. However, she immediately noticed that he wasn’t paying any attention to her, rather he was looking in the direction of the royal palace.
His state was strange.
「Reiji-kun?」
「Chiyuki!!」
Reiji suddenly called Chiyuki’s name.
「Is something the matter, Reiji-kun?」
「Almina is in danger! I’ll leave this place to you!」
「WAIT, REIJI-KUN!!!」
Chiyuki tried to stop Reiji, but she was a step too late; Reiji’s figure had already vanished.
He was already gone due to the effects of his quick movement magic.
「Geez… always doing things your way… what should I do about the situation in this place?」
Chiyuki complained to Reiji who had already left.
Though she wanted to go to the royal palace to give Reiji a piece of her mind, she had no choice but to stay due to the current situation.
Chiyuki went over to Nao in a hurry.
Nao had low offensive ability in exchange for her high maximum agility. That’s why she often found herself in situations she couldn’t get out of due to her lack of offensive power.
（The likes of Striges won’t pose a problem to her, but if by any chance there’s a more powerful monster behind them. I guess it’s better to go to her immediately.）
Chiyuki searched for Nao’s position with magic. She really had no leeway at all.
◆
The sound of clanging metal resounded as two swords clashed.
「No way… what are you doing… Lucullus-dono?」
Rember called the name of the man who blocked his path. It was none other than the Temple Knight who should have been protecting the Hero and his companions, Lucullus.
In fact, Rember had heard of it more than once, the fact that Lucullus was the great commander of the Temple Knights, who came to Rox Kingdom to escort the Hero and his party.