Chapter 55 Countering

Hearing Shizu's command, Azi turned around and began running to the fort walls. He had expended much of his magic energy and was unable muster another infusion into his legs as his body still felt sluggish.

But knowing the situation was dire, Azi attempted to infuse fire elemental energy one more time into his legs so that he could make one more jump up the wall.

When he was 10 meters away from the wall, a bout of dizziness and a heat began to overtake his senses. He fell forward into the snow on all four. He felt sick and when he felt his forehead with the back of his hand, he could tell that he had a fever.

Azi cursed in his mind at the luck he had.

'Damnit, not now. Just a few more meters.'

He attempted to crawl the rest of the way but the feeling in his body was getting faint. The fur coat he wore helped to insulate him from the snowstorm, but his lack of magic energy made it hard for him to strengthen his body against the cold.

From the wall, Shizu and Kajima could only look on in horror at the scene. Azi had suddenly fallen and was unable to move.

Shizu was about to move to the entrance to ride out to save him but a sudden shout she was not expecting rang out.

With what strength he had left, Azi yelled.

"TOUMA! CLOSE THE BARRICADE."

Shocked by what he heard Touma paused for only a moment in hesitation but remembering Azi's smiling face he grimaced for only a moment as he then focused his magic to erect an earthen wall to barricade the fort's entrance.

Shizu attempted to stop Touma, but was held back by the other soldiers who prevented her from interfering. Shizu thought to herself.

'Why why would he say that? No, we need to save him. But if we don't the enemy will get in. Damnit'

Shaking off the soldiers who attempted to keep her away from Touma, she instead approached the edge of the wall and called out from atop the wall.

"Get up, Azi! Get up! AZI!"

She shouted at Azi to get up with as much desperation and hope as she could muster.

To her dismay, Azi did not move and in the next moment a swarm of gengiri had reached his position. She watched as his figure was covered by the black carapaces of the gengiri.

Falling to her knees in despair, tears running down her face, Shizu began to cry as the snowstorm's night air made her feel a cool despair in her heart.

Besides her was Kajima, who was stunned silent by Azi's decision. He didn't think that the boy who sacrifice himself for the sake of those in the fort. He understood what Azi was doing was the right course of action from a tactical standpoint, but sadness overcame him nonetheless.

He had told the boy to not follow Shizu out into battle, but Azi denied Kajima's objects. Azi argued that he could help the team navigate the storm to find Rulu which Kajima had to begrudgingly agree.

A tear rolled down his cheek as he gripped his halberd with an ever-increasing strength that was fuelled by his boiling rage. The sight of the swarm only increased his anger.

Rulu, Nosuri, and Ougi, who joined them on the walls, gave their silent prayers as they gave the two grieving pair some distance.

Yashimu, who had just arrived on the wall, witnessed the sad sight and saw Shizu on the ground hunched on all fours as she cried. Approaching and putting his hand on her shoulder in an attempt to comfort her, he said nothing and allowed her to cry.

Shizu looked over to her right hand and felt the black umbrella Azi had made for her. The emotion of sadness grew in her heart and with it a deep longing to see him again had formed in her heart.

Coincidentally, from her heart, came a faint blue-ish white glow. Everyone's attention was drawn to this and as Shizu grasped her hand over her heart she could feel a familiar warmth. It was Azi's and she felt comforted by it. Her sadness was waning and her desire to see him grew.

"Look over there! What is that?!" A soldier on the wall shouted and pointed at the now glowing orange-red light that was flickering in the black swarm of gengiri that had encapsulated Azi's position. It was getting brighter.

*****

Feeling a sudden warmth in his heart welling up, Azi's consciousness returned to him. He had reinforced his body with his remaining magic energy in hopes that he could last against the attacks of the gengiri until they were defeated by the expedition.

The noise of the gengiri tearing at his clothes and attempting to pierce his reinforced body rang out in his ears. He was soon unable to hear the noise as he had lost consciousness at one point as his over expenditure of magic energy these past 7 days were now showing their effects.

When it seemed like he was able to run dry, a sudden warmth that reminded him of Shizu awoke him before the claw of the monster's pierced his skin.

Strength began to fill his body and with-it Azi put strength into his legs and arms. While still on all fours he looked forward and saw a blue-ish white light shining in front of him like a lighthouse calling him home.

With magic energy he had no idea where it had come from, Azi attempted to infuse it into his limbs. To his surprise he was successful as his entire body began to be set ablaze by a fire. His veins glowed an orange-red and began to spread and burn away surrounding gengiri.

An area of about 1 meter in radius around Azi was set ablaze by the orange-red flames.

Putting more power into his arms and legs, Azi began to crawl forward with his sights set on the blue-ish white light in front of him as his guide. His vision was blurry but using the light in the distance as his goal he continued to crawl forward.

He could barely lift his arms and legs, so he crawled close to the ground and moved like a slug through the snow. He could not tell how long he was crawling but at some point he felt with his hands the sensation of something rough and long in his hands.

He recognized it as a rope and could see that it connected to the blue-ish white light. He tightly held on to it for dear life as he was pulled along. Azi soon felt as if he was hanging off the ground and shivered at the cold wind that beat against his body. Fortunately, he was then embraced by something warm and soft.

Azi could no longer see at this point as his mind was again taken by his dizziness and fever.

*****

Everyone on the wall fort had witnessed the sight of a burning human figure rise up from the heart of the swarm of gengiri. The fires burned the monsters to ash and in the next moment the burning figure set its sights on Shizu.

Shizu's heart skipped a beat in anticipation and as the burning figure crawled closer, Shizu could recognize that the figure was Azi.

Reacting with all haste, Shizu commanded someone to throw a rope over to him. Nosuri, with no hesitation, fished through her waist bag and pulled out a long rope. She wrapped around an arrow and fired it to land near Azi

Her aim was true, and the arrow landed close to Azi who noticed the rope with his hands. Azi held on and gave it a tug which prompted Shizu to stay pulling. Everyone who was available began to pull on the rope.

Rulu joined the line and added all the feeble might she could muster. She pulled in hopes to be of whatever little help she could. The soldiers and volunteers looked on in pride at their beloved princess and with rising resolve pulled the rope with an ever-increasing fervor.

When Azi was in arm's reach, Shizu hoisted him up onto the wall and into her arms. The small glow that Shizu and Azi emitted ceased when she touched him. Azi was trembling from the cold but had a large amount of sweat pouring from his brow.

Feeling his forehead with the back of her hand, she grimaced.

"He is sick. We need to get him to an apothecary."

"INCOMING, THE SWARM IS CHARGING THE WALLS."

The sudden shout from a soldier on watch interrupted Shizu and she grimaced. She could not get Azi to an apothecary with the current situation. As she was thinking of a plan, a voice behind her called out.

Speaking up, Rulu stepped forward with a trickle of sweat on her brow. She was not a trained apothecary, but she did know how to care for the sick and injured.

"Sister, allow me to take care of him. I may not be an apothecary, but I can nurse him to keep him stable."

Shizu made eye contact with her younger sister that she has not seen for weeks, she wished that their reunion was on a cheerier tone. But Shizu shook that notion out of her mind and told Rulu.

"Alright. *Sigh* Yashimu and Touma, I need you to take him to my personal tent. Rulu, go with them and request whatever you need from the available volunteers."

Rulu and Yashimu nodded to their older sister and moved to grab Azi. Touma and Yashimu were able to make a makeshift stretcher with two spears and the coats that they wore.

Seeing off the unconscious Azi, Shizu turned to face the swarm that now charged at the fort's wall. Kajima, who was beside her, put his hand on his shoulder in reassurance.

"He will be ok. We need to protect this position for now."

"I know Uncle, but let's blow off some steam first."

Shizu's hand that was gripping the black umbrella began to glow an orange red. Raising the expanded black umbrella up above her head like a flag. A light mist of orange-red particles permeated the surrounding.

The nearby soldiers and volunteers could feel a sense of invigoration and newfound energy. This was one of the numerous features of the umbrella that Azi described.

Since the umbrella carried a large amount of magic energy, he wanted it to have a way to act as a kind of battery that could share its power to not only to the user but to allies as well.

Shizu had a support spell that would increase the magic energy contained in herself and any ally that was 1 meter away from her. When she loaded it into the umbrella, Shizu was able to use its large capacity of magic energy to cast the spell into a larger than normal range.

This would be of help to their expedition party which only numbered a little over 50 with the inclusion of Rulu's party. The swarm still have them outnumbered 5 to 1.

Seeing over a hundred gengiri charge the fort's entrance, all available soldiers and volunteers knock arrows to their bows and rocks to their slings. With Shizu's command, a deluge of projectiles peppered the incoming monsters.

The remaining thaumaturge rained what little elemental might he could muster as a few explosions rang out which scattered much more of the swarm.

The kengiri were still 100 meters away, so while they had the chance the expedition did what they could to whittle down the enemies.