The Kassad Defense Line

An emergency quest from the Adventurer's Guild.

Different from regular quests, these are issued during crises like the one the city now faced.

Payment would be determined later. While it wouldn't be a large sum, it would be factored into one's evaluation in some form.

It was a system that sent notifications through adventurer IDs throughout the city.

Regardless of whether you accepted the quest, ignoring it would lower your rating.

As a result, adventurers from all over Kassad had gathered at the Adventurer's Guild.

"Wow, there were this many people…"

"You can make a living with monster extermination and small quests, so this is about right."

Alexia said this to Azu, who was looking around.

The Empire probably wasn't that different when it came to adventurer circumstances.

A convenient labor force for preventing vagrant slums and culling monsters.

That's what mid-rank and below adventurers were.

"Is this all the mages!?"

The guild master's voice rang out.

Fifteen mages had gathered. Judging from their equipment, several appeared to be beginners.

Looking at them, Alexia was clearly the highest ranked.

Kassad was a reasonably sized city, but it wasn't particularly lucrative for adventurers, so skilled or high-rank adventurers had moved elsewhere.

It wasn't especially good as a waypoint either.

As a result, the bulk of adventurers were lower-mid-rank, followed by low and beginner ranks.

There weren't many mages in those rank brackets.

Unlike warriors, mages needed talent for handling mana.

For example, Azu had acquired mana through monster hunting and training, but without the Water Elemental's assistance, she could barely use magic beyond physical enhancement. As a mage, she was less than a beginner.

Without exceptional mana and talent, it was difficult to make a living as an adventurer-mage.

So the strong grew stronger.

Among high-rank adventurers, there were probably plenty of mages on par with Alexia.

That said, Alexia's strength lay in being an excellent mage while also being a first-rate warrior, so they couldn't be evaluated on the same scale.

"This many would be enough for a regular Ice Golem, but…"

"Tell us the details. The scouts have returned, haven't they?"

"Mm. According to the scouts, it's as tall as the city walls."

Huge. The walls should be at least five meters high.

"Warriors will hold the enemy! Mages will bombard it with magic! Listen, if a monster this size reaches the walls, they could be destroyed. If that happens, the city's safety will be compromised!"

Saying that, the guild master led an impromptu warrior unit toward where the Ice Golem was.

It was decided that the mages would attack from atop the city walls.

"Well then, I'm off."

Alexia was chosen as the leader of the mage unit since she had the most mana.

That was apparently the most important factor when determining hierarchy among mages.

"Take these. Finish it off quickly."

"You don't need to tell me. When it comes to fire magic, I'm confident."

I handed Alexia some Ramiza-brand hot drinks and mana recovery potions to encourage her.

She accepted them with a confident smile, then led the other mages up the emergency staircase to the city walls that had been opened for them.

Having been a noblewoman who led soldiers in battle, she looked natural in a leadership role.

When it came to mages, this was the best we could do.

Attempts to contact other cities via magic failed due to the snow's interference.

The portal wasn't working well either and couldn't be used.

Perhaps this snow wasn't ordinary snow at all.

Perhaps noticing my serious expression, Azu stood before me and thumped her chest with her right hand.

"We just need to defeat it."

"That's right. Let's finish this quickly and get back to a warm house."

"I'm counting on you. If anything happens, come back and tell me. If it's something money can fix, I'll figure it out."

"Yes. We'll be going now!"

Saying that, Azu and Elza went to join the warrior unit.

With the hot drinks, they shouldn't have their movements impaired.

From here on was Azu and the others' domain. All I could do was trust and wait.

"By the way, what are you doing?"

"Don't call me 'you.' I'm not an adventurer, and if I leave a weakling like you alone, you'll probably die, so I'll stay nearby."

"I see."

Finn said that, then watched Azu and the others leave, looking bored.

I couldn't argue that I'd be useless if things went wrong. I'd learned not to follow along and get in the way.

Besides, physical attacks were less effective against Ice Golems, making Finn a bad matchup.

"Well then, shall I prepare something warm for the catering?"

"… Sometimes I'm impressed. By how meticulous you are."

Alexia was the first to reach the top of the city walls, then grabbed the other mages' hands and pulled them up.

The ladder meant for soldiers seemed tough for the frail mages.

(Now then.)

Outside, the blizzard reduced visibility, but the lights held by the warrior unit were clearly visible.

And beyond them, she could vaguely make out something massive approaching.

"I-It's huge～"

"It is. Let's go all out from the start."

"If it gets all the way here, we'll be crushed."

A woman with her long hair tied in a single braid spoke in a trembling voice.

She was the mage with the second-highest mana in this group after Alexia.

That said, the gap was significant; she was mid-rank at best.

"I'm so glad there's a high-rank mage here…"

"I've never fought anything like that before."

The mages' morale was low, but not to the point of running away.

That was because they could vaguely sense Alexia's mana.

The reassurance that things would work out if they followed Alexia's orders kept their fear in check.

(Not bad.)

She assessed the situation from experience. The worst outcome would be loss of morale.

If someone fled or panicked and held everyone back, it would mean failure.

Especially now, the vanguard could do little more than stall.

The mages' firepower was needed.

If Alexia charged in with her beloved battle-axe wreathed in fire magic, it would be devastating, but then she obviously couldn't command the mages here.

"Since we have this many people, rather than casting magic individually, let's use a large-scale formation to maximize our firepower."

"Um, how do we do that?"

A large-scale formation. Magic handled by multiple people.

If fifteen people simply threw fire magic at the target, it would produce decent firepower, but it wouldn't be efficient.

By combining everyone's mana into one, they could elevate it to a higher-tier spell, and releasing that would dramatically increase their firepower.

Top-tier mages could apparently wield such spells individually, but Alexia hadn't reached that level yet.

However, with this many mages, she could cast it with their support.

"I'll be the axis and activate the spell. Direct your mana toward that spell from behind."

"I see!"

She set her battle-axe at her feet and held up the brooch housing the salamander with both hands.

She began chanting under her breath, and a massive magic circle floated above her head, gradually taking shape.

The other mages directed their mana toward that magic circle.