The Great Northern Wall Defensive Battle

The next morning.

Setting aside the fact that I woke up and found myself being patted

by Arca again.

Arca and I headed to the Guild after having an early breakfast.

"Uoh!? What the heck!?" I was surprised seeing the bulletin board

where quests were posted.

The quests were posted so tightly packed together that there weren't

even any gaps between them.

Moreover, perhaps because there was no more space left, the quest

forms at the bottom of the bulletin board were even messily stacked

on top each other.

"Fumu, I did hear that only few adventurers dared to accept requests

here, but I didn't expect that the condition would be this bad."

"Yep, you can say that again. Now, the problem is which one we

should pick but, I don't think defeating some monsters going to break

through the current situation."

"Umu, I agree. That being the case, the best option is to quickly

crush their 'nest'. Didn't they say that the monsters were coming

down from the northern mountains?"

"Yeah. Which means that their nest is somewhere in the mountains.

But if we want more information on that, asking Freyr-sama directly

may be faster than asking the guild."

"Indeed. It can't be helped, then. Let's hear that woman's nagging

again." Arca shrugged her shoulders while softening the corners of

her mouth.

Then, we headed for Algren Castle again.

◇ ◇

"I deeply apologize for what happened yesterday…" Freyr-sama

opened the conversation with an apology while bowing deeply.

She must be feeling guilty for unable to do anything but watch

yesterday despite being the castellan.

In fact, after we'd gotten to the inn, a messenger had come inviting

us to use a guest room in the castle to stay, but we'd politely refused.

Of course, it wasn't because of what had happened yesterday.

While I had felt sorry for the messenger for having coming all the

way to invite us, Arca had said, "Nope. I mean, we don't need to care

about the noise at the inn, right?"

I wasn't sure what she was getting at by that, but well, staying at the

inn was sure more relaxing than at the castle.

That must be what she meant. Probably.

"No, please don't mind it. Arca said she didn't mind it, either."

"Umu, that's right."

It seemed that she finally felt relieved after hearing our words.

"Thank you." Color returned to Freyr-sama's face.

"By the way, the castle seems to be awfully noisy today…" I asked

what had piqued my interest.

I couldn't see Magmell around either, so I wondered if something

was going on.

"Yes, actually, the attack of the monsters has become more intense,

so I've mobilized all the soldiers for defense, including Magmell."

"I see. So, what's the situation?"

"The situation isn't looking favorable. Hence, I'd like to ask Exa-sama

and Saintess Arcadia-sama to lend us your power."

Naturally, I answered immediately. "I understand. Arca, you too,

right?"

"Ahh, of course. That's our purpose for coming all the way here, in

the first place."

After we nodded to each other, I told Freyr-sama, "Well then, we'll go

join the frontline immediately."

"Thank you so much. On behalf of all the people in the city, I offer my

sincerest gratitude. May the fortune be with you."

"Yes." "Umu." We nodded and hurried to the Great Northern Wall.

◇ ◇

"Ora!"

――Stab!

"Gigeh!?"

Having stabbed my sword into the back of a large quadrupedal

dragon— Vritra, I slashed at the next monster.

The battle situation on the Great Northern Wall was more serious

than I had expected. The majority of the attacking monsters were

wolf-shaped monsters— Garm, with some of them being large

dragons such as Vritra.

By the way, I had eaten a dragon as large as Vritra before, and

although I'd forgotten its name, it was surprisingly tasty.

"Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!"

Bam! Arca sent a Garm flying.

That was the Spear Saintess for you— seemed like she still had

much strength to spare.

As for the other saintess, Magmell,

"Pierce! Purifying Fangs of Light— Sunlight Vermillion!"

――BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANG!

She was slaughtering the monsters from the top of the Great

Northern Wall with Arts[1] of tremendous power.

With that much power, she certainly would be able to hold her own

even without fighting with us.

"Haah, haah…"

Still, the monsters were too numerous.

No matter how powerful her Arts were, her stamina wasn't

inexhaustible, unlike me.

Even from a distance, I could see that she was breathing raggedly.

"It's bad, Exa! There's a Wyvern!"

"What!?"

Out of nowhere, a medium-sized flying dragon— Wyvern passed

through the frontline and headed straight toward the Great Northern

Wall.

Its aim was— yes, Magmell.

"Dammit!" I kicked off the ground and ran toward her in a hurry.

Because, Magmell was so exhausted that she couldn't even stand

without using her staff as a support.

In that condition, it would be impossible for her to shoot down the

Wyvern.

On the other hand, she didn't have enough stamina to escape.

"Shit!" I was running with all my strength, but the Wyvern was flying.

At this rate, I wouldn't be able to make it.

The only way I would be able to was to fly there with phoenix

transformation.

However, because of the size, my flying speed in that form was

rather slow.

Then what now?

What should I do?

To make it in time in this situation,

I had to,

―Fly faster!

"Uooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!

――Blaze!

At that moment, flames wrapped my body and a change occurred to

the Phoenix Robe.

It became as tough as an armor, and it transformed— no, it evolved

to be like a bird flying in the sky.

"Kyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!?"

――Slash!

"Gugyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!?"

"...Eh?"

That was why I was able to make it in time.

Right now, I was— flying in the sky in human form.

It was the moment when the second form of Phoenix Robe—

'Vermillion Bird Form' was born.