Chapter 17 - First Team Battle

Upon seeing humans, the Hilichurls wielding clubs or old swords exclaimed in surprise and immediately charged forward. Their skinny black bodies rushed forward without fear despite being a little smaller than the humans. 

Joining them, the Mitachurls pulled wooden shields and clubs from straps on their backs and stomped forward. 

Behind all of those, the Electro Lawachurl that towered over its kin roared and slapped its chest. The goat-like horns on its head that ended purple gem-like protuberances glowed and sparked. Similar purple sparks arced outward from the purple protrusions on its back and shoulders. Electro energy swirled around it and covered its body.

Ayaka, Thoma, and Yae Miko all summoned their weapons. Glancing at Ayaka's sword that he recognized as her signature weapon in the game but could not remember the name of, Ivan asked, "By chance, do you have an extra sword, Ayaka?"

"Sorry. No."

"Fists it is, then."

"I'll handle the Lawachurl since I can Overload it," Thoma said, pointing at his chest with his thumb. He wasn't smiling, though. 

Perfectly fine with leaving the hulking beast to him, the other three nodded. 

"Lady Yae, how do you wish to proceed?" Ayaka asked. A chilly aura of tiny ice crystals floated around her. 

"Ivan can handle the small ones just fine, so please handle the big ones. I will assist you both from behind."

Ayaka nodded, stepped forward while drawing her blade, and replied, "Understood."

"Hm. Got it," Ivan said, sighing. 

Unfazed by the charging Mitachurls, Ayaka swiped her fan toward the sky and summoned a circular Cryo element array that enveloped all four of them. Shards of ice coalesced around each of them with jagged edges angled at the approaching enemies. 

Icy mist and shards swirling around him, Thoma raised his spear in front of him. His Vision glowed a bright fiery red. Flames erupted around the weapon. Cloaked in ice and fire, he dashed forward to meet the Lawachurl. He leapt, whirled, and slashed the speartip across the Lawachurl's chest. Pyro-element particles exploded everywhere, followed by an explosion of sparks. Cryo element shards shot out from the blooming ice aura to strike the Lawachurl's Electro shield and conduct its own lighting against it.

The flames then flew up and surrounded Thoma with a shield. The flames burst towards Ivan, Ayaka, and Yae Miko to protect them with fiery shields, too.

Unfortunately, the Lawachurl barely flinched at the attack and threw a fist half as big as a person at Thoma. Thoma dodged in a blur of movement and stabbed with his spear. Exchanges of quick spear thrusts and heavy punches followed.

Meanwhile, right when the shield surrounded her, Ayaka dashed forward and vanished in a misty ice cloud. She then reappeared in the midst of the three hulking Mitachurls with a burst of frost. The slowed opponents failed to strike her and suffered dozens of slashes under her blade within seconds. 

Unfortunately, Ivan did not have the luxury to admire any of their abilities. He only briefly acknowledged that Yae Miko had already summoned her three Sesshou Sakuras across the battlefield in a blur of movement. In his perception, it looked like she turned into lightning to whirl across the battlefield and then return to stand behind him. She cast lightning bolts from behind at all of the enemies aside from the Electro-resistant Lawachurl. Lightning crashed down from the heavens to strike the Mitachurls or Hilichurls seemingly at random.

Shortly before the Hilichurls reached him, Ivan's gaze locked onto them. Unlike his previous fight, he did not smile at all. Purple sparks jumped around his arm. He then reached toward the sky. A rift cracked open above the charging creatures. 

An arrow struck the Pyro shield protecting him and drew his attention to two archers who stayed behind the others. 

Shaking his head to refocus, Ivan called down the lightning strike with a downward swipe.

Purple lightning crashed into the center of the charging Hilichurls. The sharp crack of lightning knocked the ones closest to the center off their feet. The ones furthest away flinched under the residual Electro energy.

Fists now cloaked in purple lightning, Ivan dashed forward to meet them. First, he leveled a punch at the closest Hilichurl wielding a sword and clocked it on the side of the head. Its feet and head swapped places near instantly. The sword in its hand lurched out of its grip with irregular momentum and struck Ivan's shield as though pulled by an unseen force.

"Thanks for the shield, Thoma," Ivan mumbled while shaking his hand that throbbed a little after smacking the startlingly durable Hilichurl mask.

Not wasting any more time, Ivan knelt and grabbed the sword. Although it was just a Dull Blade, it was better than nothing. His stance shifted to a sword-drawing stance almost on instinct after holding it in his grasp. The purple lighting crackling and chirping around his arms arced over to the blade and morphed it into a longer blade of flickering Electro energy. 

Some of the Hilichurls recovered from their shock and tried to strike him with clubs and blades. Taking advantage of the Pyro shield, he dodged the clumsy sword swing of the nearest Hilichurl and sliced his own sword across its chest in retaliation. Two clubs struck his shield in succession while he did so. 

Limited as his current knowledge of the Iwakura Sword Arts was, he dispatched the other nine Hilichurls one by one in a blur of sparkling purple, burning red, and powder blue. He slashed one's chest. He decapitated another. Dark blood spewed from their wounds. Flashes of Overload or Superconduct charred two more. 

His stomach lurched a little as he briefly recalled the origin of these creatures, but he immediately shook his head and refocused on cutting them down. 

'Let them rest in peace.'

Retaliating as best they could, a few Hilichurls struck his shield with their clubs and successfully shattered it thanks to it being weakened by a few arrows. Amidst the flurry of battle, lightning strikes cast down by the Sesshou Sakura turrets obliterated two Hilichurls who tried to strike him from behind the moment the shield dispersed. Another Pyro shield formed to protect him seconds later when Thoma cast his skill again. Ayaka also popped out from an icy cloud next to him and cast another Blooming Ice to buff him again before dashing back to slice up the only remaining Mitachurl on her end. 

Ivan blinked in surprise, but then chuckled, thanked all of them, and stomped toward the archers. His Electro imbued weapon fizzled out along the way while he practiced dodging arrows. Perhaps due to his strength that increased after having a curse removed, he darted sideways out of the arrows' paths with sharp movements while keeping a close eye on them. Upon entering close enough range, he called down another bolt of lightning that knocked over one of them. 

A handful of fluid slashes later, he cut them down as well. He quietly watched while their mutilated bodies dissolved into the dirt. Even their blood staining his clothes dissipated into particles and sank into the ground. The items left behind were sucked into his inventory automatically, but he didn't pay it much heed. 

Taking a deep breath, he cast aside any thoughts about the situation to the side thanks to the aid of adrenaline. Then, he looked at his current traveling companions.

The Mitachurls were dead. Ayaka and Thoma fought the Lawachurl together. It was covered in wounds but did not seem to care. Jagged ice shards sliced through its body. Flames burned its skin. Even so, it still fought like a berserker. The beast's fists pummeled the ground and smashed any trees in its wake. Both Thoma and Ayaka dodged as much as possible even though they both had Pyro shields. 

Ivan walked back over to Yae Miko. Upon reaching her, he said, "Thanks for the help earlier."

"It was nothing."

Ivan smiled in response. Then, he looked at the Lawachurl and said, "I don't think I can help against one of those yet."

"Indeed. They are troublesome creatures to deal with for those of us who wield Electro," Yae Miko replied with a small sigh. Then, she turned her head to observe Ivan quietly while he watched the fight with focused eyes. After a few moments, she asked, "Is there a reason you looked so solemn after killing those Hilichurls? It was a very different reaction compared to your earlier fight."

Ivan blinked a few times due to not expecting such an inquiry. Meeting Yae Miko's inquiring gaze with a somewhat unfocused one, he contemplated for a moment before answering in a slightly dazed manner, "I believe it is because they were once human. Killing any other monster might feel like doing a good thing, I guess, but when it comes to Hilichurls, it just feels like I'm putting them out of their misery rather than doing a good deed. Hard to revel in that."

Yae's eyes widened slightly, but quickly returned to normal.

"That… is rather uncommon knowledge to the people of this current era."

Blinking a few times, Ivan's distant gaze refocused. Then, he sighed and said, "I suppose it is."