19 Invasion (3)

"...I lack experience," Estelle pursed her lips in annoyance. If it wasn't for her sudden revelation, she would have had to settle the fight by blasting off the entire Dukedom.

It wasn't about who the victor was, it was a concern on the aftermath.

The damages she made were not few even though she managed to realize a fatal weakness in her enemies later on. Her first fight was very amateurish, the training grounds that originally had facilities like a resting area and many others was crushed under her stray spears.

Of course, it was a given that anyone's first fight would likely be full of mistakes and perks that one could easily avoid once they learn through trial and error.

However, Estelle had always been confident in her power. The power she had pointed to the ancient spells she memorized. Those spells, amplified with her infinite mana could cause destruction no one can survive from.

What Estelle possessed was knowledge and only that.

It was akin to someone who learned a new language, memorized the grammar structures and the entirety of its vocabulary, but had never spoken said language.

Something was ignited inside of her as she vowed to change this as time went.

Sure, she was only five years old, so there was time to grow.

But in cases like this, where Minerva and Heine would not be present and there was a threat the Dukedom could not protect itself from, what can Estelle do?

If monsters capable of flight chased her up to the sky, she would not be able to get a grip on her mind.

Just like how she performed in the recent fight, she had forgotten most of the available magic spells that would've helped her in tons of ways.

Use a magic spell that contained power comparable to an atomic bomb and blow up not only the threat, but also the priceless home she attained, where tons of her memories would be stored, the Dukedom?

Not only that, she would also be causing damage to the territory outside the Dukedom itself.

Standing high up in the skies, she looked down to see hundreds of unidentified monster corpses with golden spears sticking out of the carcasses.

The earthen lands was stained with the black, gooey blood of the dead monsters.

"Come to think of it, where the heck is Minerva?" Estelle wondered. She had sent the Witch to eradicate the lost monsters. Even if Minerva did not possess infinite mana, the amount of experience she had was incomparable to Estelle.

She could not imagine her having trouble with just four monsters.

[Minerva, are you there?] Estelle tried contacting her using spirit communication.

'...Are you done over there?' Minerva expressed shock through her words. Even though Estelle was strong, she didn't expect her to be able to eradicate all of them in such a short time.

[I found a loophole and took advantage of that. Why didn't you come to assist me?] Sighing in relief after confirming that Minerva was still doing fine, she questioned the elder.

'I killed them all, but I was a bit too late. There are some casualties here, mostly on the knights. Your parents are fine, but... my healing prowess isn't enough to cover all of the injuries. I have stagnated the wounds from becoming worse, but you should come here and heal them.'

In times like this, she wanted to thank whoever it is that gave her all affinities and immense talents.

If Minerva was the one who got stabbed with a spear, what could she do? Bear with it until the fight ends? Her regenerative and healing abilities were better than the average, but it would not cover a large wound or gash. She wouldn't have been able to fully recover from her injury, let alone take the battle to the sky and perform the feats she executed.

[Okay, I'm coming right now. Where are you?] Minerva had not told her where the space rift connected to.

'...'

[Minerva?] Feeling a bad premonition rush through her brain, Estelle closed her eyes to prepare for the news.

'Actually, I'm not sure?'

[Huh?]

Although it wasn't what Estelle expected it to be, which was something way worse, the dilemma that surfaced was hard to extinguish.

Minerva told her that she should be located 'somewhere' within the Plains, but she did not know the exact location.

She had created the space rift on a rush, so the destination wasn't properly set. She wasn't even thinking about the Plains, but somehow, the rift sent her there.

The Plains, like its name, was a very plain place. It stretched far and wide, to the point where one could not see the end of it even after walking for days. Finding Minerva's location, especially when she herself couldn't see any landmarks pointing to where she was, would be hard even for Estelle who utilized area scanning magic spells.

[Why can't you just open a rift back to the training grounds?] Estelle questioned.

'I'll run out of mana! And, and, some of the injured guys shouldn't be moved lest they get worse.. I think.' Minerva replied.

Indeed, creating a space rift for a singular person, particularly the rift's creator didn't take up that much mana in comparison to Minerva's sizeable mana bank.

However, the rift's laws indicated that transportation of other people would take up much more mana, and the amount of individuals she evacuated took a toll at Minerva's mana. She also had to save some just in case another ttack hapened, so she wasn't comfortable in spending it all.

[I can probably scan all of the area and find your location that way, it will just take a long time.] Estelle sighed. It seemed like her work was not over.

'Alriiight, I'll be waiting. Sorry!'

Sometimes, she wondered how Minerva was able to keep her life for more than a hundred years with her clumsiness and recklessness.

She had never stepped a foot inside the Plains, so she had to personally cast flight magic combined with acceleration enchantments on herself and travel to the place since she couldn't make the rift.

[In these cases, teleportation would be great..] Estelle began thinking up of ridiculous ideas that might be realized in the future, but not for now.

Once she arrived, she stood still in the air and cast the scanning magic.

"[Area Scan]"

The results showed two separate groups who had their numbers in the hundreds.

Seeing something strange unfold, Estelle raised a brow.

[...Minerva, count your numbers?] Estelle asked.

Minerva hummed in response as she counted the total number of people she had with her.

'Including me... 121!' Minerva had evacuated all the knights, maids, and other departments' servants. Thankfully, the people that were stationed in the castle today did not amount to much.

The same people were currently situated behind Minerva, some sitting down and the others standing up.

Either way, most of them had creased brows and pursed lips, anxiousness and worry lacing their eyes. Their home and workplace had been decimated by unknown sources.

Estelle's expression turned grim as she realized that there were something more than just Minerva's entourage in the Plains.

Even worse, 'they' outnumbered the them by at least 5 times.

Estelle wished that she saw wrong.

[Take cover somewhere. You guys are in danger.]

She discovered Minerva and the group, but along with it, hundreds of monsters appeared to be lurking around the vicinity. Clusters of the creatures were even moving towards the group.

'Hm?'

[Possibly more monsters. Just evacuate them to somewhere else. Ask my mother to cooperate if you need. I can kill them, but I'm still exhausted from.. a lot of things.]

'Wha-'

' ...Roger.' Minerva realized the severity of the situation from her tone and started to go into work mode.

A few minutes later, Minerva contacted Estelle again.

'It's not possible for some of them to move. Large gashes made their way into their legs. Moving them would make it worse.' Minerva reported.

She tried her best to heal them, but ultimately, it didn't suffice.

[Then just wait there. I'll finish them all.]

'Eh? In front of these people??' Minerva worried about the traumatic experiences that could emerge.

[It's fine.]

Letting out another sigh, stress filled her to the brim as she fled to the unknown creatures' location.

Looking down from the skies, the creatures seemed very unorganized and unruly. They did not march as a team, but more like a bunch of high schoolers in a field trip.

Their appearance resembled the chimera - like creature that appeared in the Dukedom, although some had minor changes to their features.

Their voices mingled with each other as they communicated in a language Estelle had never learned before.

It was akin to a riot, their speech sounded like mumbles and no one cared to listen to what others were saying.

Estelle slowly descended from the skies and was seen by one of the creatures.

One creature turned to two, and the number multiplied without stop. Soon, all of the creatures had seen Estelle's figure and was starting to brace themselves in vigilance.

Estelle prepared herself for the fight mid air, nonchalant at the creatures' cries and shouts.

Minerva worked to coordinate the group so that they could prepare for the worst case, that is Estelle going too ballistic and potentially harming them. She knew that the child took care of the crowd in the manor, which numbered in the hundreds too. The time she took wasn't long, so the damage must've caused a catastrophe.

Getting caught in the battle where Estelle was involved in was something that no one would wish on their worst enemies.

Cooperation was key in chaotic situations like this.

The feeling of restlessness spread through the people. It was understandable, since they were being put in dangerous and unknown situations without a clear explanation.

Minerva told her plan to the nearby guard, who nodded in compliance. She was Estelle, their young lady's trusted acquaintance, so the manor's people had some level of trust on her after seeing Estelle now floating in the sky.

There was one thing that they understood: Their lady was protecting them with her life on the stake.

The simple knowledge led everyone to forsake their fear and try to preserve their lives for it was something that the lady fought for.

In the battlefield, Estelle thought back to the feat she performed in the manor.

It was the most efficient thing to do.

However, the concern here was on whether they would pounce on Minerva's group.

Thinking about it, Estelle created a bunch of shields from above the sky, forming a turtle like shell.

Just like that, Estelle started the abundant rain of spears. The spears were produced at an astonishing rate, it would not be too far of a stretch if someone said that the number was similar to real water droplets in a drizzle.

She struck down the ones nearest to the group first.

Then, slowly, she started making her way up the layers.

The war cries gradually turned into sorrow as the thick despair in the atmosphere lowered their resistance.

Seeing their brethren fall down without a fight, the others chose to drop their weapons and march towards a different direction in panic.

It was one girl versus hundreds of creatures, but the main point was not their strength.

A squad whose morale was lowered to the very bottom and could not be decreased any further, who in their right minds would think to advance further?

Although the monsters didn't really have a sense of camaraderie, natural instincts were a thing. Their ingrained logic made them turn back and retreat.

Huffing her breath, Estelle felt tired.

Strange, because her mana bank was still filled by question marks, never seeming to be close to depletion.

The effects of battle? Did that tire her out?

[I don't feel anything, though.] Estelle laughed in a self depreciating manner. Her emotions all revolved around things that would put her at a disadvantage, this was the first time she was thankful that she did not have an adverse reaction towards such a sight.

For someone who got pissed at being called a shorty, not flinching when a bloodbath was occurring in front of them was a mismatch in reactions.

After the battle, Estelle descended down.

Minerva came to approach her, the child who had shocked an entire group of people for the mass execution she held.

Her expression was somewhat off.

"Hey, I thought about it for a minute, but..." Minerva's expression turned solemn. She looked like she was having a tough conflict inside her heart and was filled with hesitation.

"Hm?" Estelle's interest was aroused.

Since this was the Plains, Minerva told her to go ham on the killings and show no restraint.

She threw large meteor like fireballs left and right, only stopping every so often to rest and recover her mana.

The fire would render the monsters unable to move, and Estelle would swoop in to take their lives with her spears directed at their vitals right after.

Estelle was still in her battle junkie mode, so she wondered what other ideas Minerva had.

"Instead of having us wait, couldn't we just escape together and not fight the monster? " Minerva questioned.

"Wait, nooo! Your mana was limitless, you should've came down to evacuate us with a rift!!!" Gaping her mouth, she realized what would've been the best solution of all.

"..." Estelle looked at the crimson - haired woman in disbelief.

Come to think of it, this whole face off was pointless.

Estelle's mind was still not in the right place from her first real fight, so the thought never crossed her mind.

Sure enough, stupidity was the deadliest weapon, an unmatched threat to someone's victory.