Overflow from the Demon Realm

"Woow, I had no idea something like this existed…"

Kukuri was standing atop a rampart made of earth compressed to its utmost limits through magic. It was roughly fifty meters tall.

While the rampart would be more than sufficient against humans, according to Quorfos, it still wasn't entirely safe.

"Well, other races rarely come here, so you're a fortunate halfling."

"As far as I'm concerned, just meeting a legendary High Elf is already more than enough good fortune."

Quorfos smiled faintly while gazing beyond the rampart.

An intentionally created buffer zone lay between the rampart and the demon realm.

Right now, a massive horde of monsters was pouring out of the demon realm toward that space.

 

*

 

Hey sis, wanna level up a bit?

It hadn't been said quite that casually, but Quorfos's words hadn't conveyed the gravity of the situation either.

"Woow, they just keep coming and coming!"

Even Mako hadn't anticipated a sight like this. Her knees were trembling.

"Since ancient times, weak monsters head west while strong ones go north. Probably has to do with the concentration of magical essence."

Quorfos spoke leisurely, and the elves on the rampart showed no unnecessary tension either.

For them, this was nothing more than careful preparation followed by a hunt. Nothing more than that.

 

*

 

After sending the heroes back, Quorfos had informed them that an overflow of monsters from the demon realm was headed toward the Great Forest.

"If you're a divine dragon, there shouldn't be any danger. Since the monsters are coming to us anyway, this is a good opportunity to level up."

Quorfos then had Laila summon Gantz and Kukuri to the village, and proposed to the five of them—-Sei, Mako, Lavi, Gantz, and Kukuri—-that they hunt monsters together.

"… A bow?"

"Can't you use one?"

The elven bow was too long for Gantz the dwarf.

"Can't be helped. Use this."

What Laila handed over was a crossbow. Gantz could use this, though his considerable strength would go to waste.

 

*

 

The rest of them focused on magical attacks. Even the crossbow was too heavy and unwieldy for Kukuri, so he would observe while handling resupply duties. Well, it would make for good material for his poems.

"There are approximately one million monsters. If each person kills about a hundred, that should do it. Not particularly difficult."

Quorfos said this casually from right beside them, but the monsters emerging from the demon realm were all at least level fifty.

In contrast, there were only about ten thousand elven warriors, though most were over level one hundred. They could use spirit arts and magic, likely capable of facing even a great nation's army, but their numbers were simply too few.

"Won't we get level-up sickness?"

Despite the sturdy rampart and ranged magical attacks, that was Sei's only concern.

"Well, I'll handle about ninety percent of them, so it shouldn't be a problem."

Quorfos said this and patted Sei on the back.

"Since we have the opportunity, let's start the counterattack with your magic as the signal."

Thus prompted, Sei selected the most effective spell he knew for this situation.

With an incantation. He didn't want to use chantless casting to save even a little mana.

 

*

 

The lengthy incantation rang out clearly, and then the magic activated.

Meteor Shower

He had never used it in actual combat, nor even in training. A wide-area strategic-class spell.

A massive amount of mana drained away in a single cast. Then recovery began.

"Quite the flashy spell you chose there."

Quorfos remarked leisurely, but Sei was in no state to respond.

Carla had warned him extensively about this spell's dangers. And its usability was terrible.

It was a spell that had almost no application outside of war or monster overflows. Conversely, now was exactly the time to use it.

 

*

 

Red-hot meteors fell from the sky.

Dozens, hundreds, thousands. Perhaps even more.

They struck at the very edge of Sei's map range.

 

*

 

The demon realm was being carved away.

Craters appeared, annihilating the supposedly resilient monsters by the thousands.

(Crap, level-up sickness is…)

The sensation he had anticipated somehow never came.

Quorfos's hand was pressed against Sei's back. That hand was supporting him.

"If you can control the absorption of magical essence, level-up sickness won't occur."

 

*

 

The blast wave struck the rampart, hurling demon realm trees and monster corpses against it.

Whatever the rampart's strength, it withstood even that.

The elven warriors crouched to avoid the shockwave, and after it passed, the demon realm had been gouged out.

"A spell like this… it's only useful against gods…"

Sei said this, but even with the center of the demon realm carved out, monsters still advanced from both flanks.

"Then I shall handle the flanks."

 

*

 

The mana around Quorfos stirred. But it activated in a way unlike magic.

Spirit King of Flame

Two giants of flame appeared and charged into the monster hordes.

Monsters died, burned by the flames. The fire spread to the trees, burning the survivors as well.

Spirit King of Earth

The ground turned over, swallowing the monster horde.

The smaller monsters that had escaped the fiery devastation met their end there.

 

*

 

It was overwhelming.

The number of monsters was overwhelming.

Even after reducing them this much, more than half remained. The monsters continued their advance.

"Now then, it's your turn."

Quorfos lightly tapped Lavi's scales.

Lavi, having taken her divine dragon form, was building up her mana.

The attack was predictable. The most powerful destructive force in the world, known to all.

A divine dragon's breath.

 

*

 

The light released from Lavi's mouth swept the horizon clean.

 

*

 

"Our forces are overwhelming, are they not…"

Sei deliberately raised a flag, but the battle situation couldn't change.

Their side had large-scale magic aimed at enemy concentrations, and the monsters that slipped through were picked off by Mako and the elven warriors with magic and arrows.

"How should I put it… it feels very routine."

Mako said, and Gantz nodded.

Kukuri was already muttering to himself, probably preparing to compose a poem.

 

*

 

Still, even if the scale was smaller than theirs, it was impressive that Keita had faced something like this.

If they ever made it back to Earth and met up, he'd like to compare notes on who had the more impressive experience.

"Here."

What Laila handed over was liquid in a glass bottle.

"What's this?"

"MP potion. Once you've recovered, you can fire off another one of those, right?"

"No, my mana's already recovered."

"Huh? After using that kind of magic?"

"… Thanks to training. My mana recovers quickly now."

He recalled those days of training. The days when being killed or knocked unconscious happened far more often than normal sleep.

"Huh, impressive."

Laila herself was also killing monsters en masse with wind magic.

True to the elven image, she didn't seem particularly good at fire magic. Though when it came to firepower, fire magic was indeed the most efficient.

 

*

 

Standing up, Sei surveyed the earth that looked less like a battlefield and more like ground carelessly tilled by giants.

Monsters still remained. But their numbers had been reduced to about thirty percent of the original.

He couldn't understand why they would invade so pointlessly and still keep advancing.

"How long will this go on?"

"Until they're annihilated. Once monsters overflow, they won't stop until they're all dead."

Quorfos said this while commanding spirits. Spirit arts apparently didn't use much mana. Though it did seem to consume a small amount of stamina.

"Then I'll fire off another one."

With that, Sei used his second Meteor Shower of the day.

 

*

 

"Ah, it seems the cause of this disturbance is the evil gods."

Sei strained to see where Quorfos was looking, but couldn't make anything out.

"Try using Clairvoyance. You should be able to see the gods."

Clairvoyance, a principle magic. It was actually a spell where focusing was tricky.

Even so, what Sei found beyond the monster horde were three giants.

"Giants?"

"Yes, those are gods."

Compared to the surrounding trees, they were probably over fifty meters tall, though he couldn't say for certain.

And for some reason, Identify worked on them. Their levels were all roughly around two hundred. They would be difficult opponents.

 

*

 

"Would you like to try defeating them?"

Quorfos asked in a light tone.

"No way. The highest level among us is me at one hundred sixty-five."

"If I whittle them down and provide support, it shouldn't be too much of a problem."

Quorfos apparently wanted Sei's group to fight the gods. But what was his intention?

"Is there some reason you want us to fight?"

When Sei asked directly, a very simple reason was given.

"I just want you to level up. If you continue traveling the world, there will certainly be times when you need strength."

Quorfos spoke as if that was truly the only reason.

Indeed, leveling up meant safety.

 

*

 

"They may be gods, but they're lower-ranked gods. Even a young divine dragon should be able to defeat them. And they have no way to break through your immortality. I'll watch over her"—-he indicated Mako.

So there were ranks among gods. There would certainly be a difference in power compared to those gods he'd seen on TV that reached the clouds.

When Sei looked at Mako questioningly, she nodded.

He wasn't sure about Lavi, but she didn't object.

"Understood. We'll give it a try."

"Very well. Then let me clear the surrounding area."

 

*

 

Quorfos's spirit arts transformed into wind and flame, devastating the area around the giants.

To create solid footing, the earth flattened out. What an enormous spell.

"Then let us go."

At Quorfos's words, Sei and Mako floated into the air.

He didn't understand the mechanism, but there was no wind pressure. Spirit arts seemed quite useful.

Lavi headed toward the god on their left.

Mako would take the center, Sei the right. The gaps between them were wide, but the gods' size was throwing off his sense of scale.

"Now then, let combat begin."

Katana in hand, Sei faced the god.