Saikyou Mahoushi no Inton Keikaku (LN) - Volume 11 - Chapter 60

Sixtieth Chapter

Remembering the White Wolf

Vanalis had been conquered. And Alus was making his way home carrying Loki on his back.

The snow from before was completely gone. Looking up, he could see rays of light streaming down through the gaps in the leaves on the giant trees around him.

The good weather lightened his steps. On the way, Loki had asked a question, whispering into his ear. She’d wondered why he turned down Lettie’s offer. It was something that had happened a few hours ago.

Lettie had reached out her hand and asked him to walk together with her. She revealed everything she’d been holding back when she tried to recruit him. To travel to the Outer World with allies he could trust instead of being alone... She was offering Alus a helping hand, so to speak.

He’d even felt relief when she’d done so, like he’d met someone aside from Loki and the others who would affirm his existence. That was why he’d seriously considered taking her hand. But in the end, he chose not to.

Loki suspected it had to do with his past, and indirectly asked about it. And so Alus bitterly put his hand on the door to his memories.

It was long ago and his memories of it had grown vague... These days, spending his time at the Institute and being sent out on missions, his recall of that time had faded and become uncertain. But there were still some memories he would never forget. Touching on those memories brought bitterness. And pain.

It was more of a scar than a memory. So when he tried to talk about it, his lips felt heavy as if they were sealed shut. Normally, a person wouldn’t want to reopen such scars. But right now, when the sky was so clear and the air so fresh, Alus felt that a boring story or two could be forgiven.

Really, it was just a trivial story...but it wasn’t like he was telling it for Loki to hear. He felt instead that it might be a good idea to reopen it so he could punish himself and chain his heart down again.

Even so, it would just be this one time. It was a scar that should never be either healed or forgotten.

Sensing his hesitation, Loki quietly waited until he was prepared to talk about it. If she were fast asleep, his lips would’ve loosened easier. But that thought was just another attempt to escape.

Alus closed his eyes, as if blinded by how bright the Outer World was. By telling someone, it was possible that he could realize something he hadn’t been able to on his own. It was a slim possibility, but he was attending the Institute now and had a partner. The circumstances were different now.

He thought back on the past, opening up his scar and touching it. Even now, he hesitated. And so he would need a little more time to resolve himself.

***

It was too short a tale to require telling at length, and too few people knew all the details to be able to talk about it more extensively. It was a story from the past of a unique unit in Alpha.

The Special Fiend Attack Unit, also known as the Special Unit, was a newly established squad. There were other units with this name, but that was the only unit that was officially recognized as going by that name.

Only Magicmasters acknowledged as worthy leaders and high-ranking officials were permitted to establish squads as individuals. Rank wasn’t the only requisite either; achievements and years in service were also taken into account.

Leading a squad as an individual was the exception. Most squads were formed by the top brass. They would issue a notice of the establishment of a new unit and list its commander and members. Of course, the appointments would be compulsory and not voluntary. The squads formed in this manner would include troops for the frontlines, defense, support, investigation, and more.

In addition, all squads required the approval of a general or above with no exceptions. Because of this, squads that actively went on the offensive were rarely established. The reason was that bringing the fight to the Fiends was not very popular back then. The military tended to choose a strategy that focused on defense, first and foremost. And the majority of the top brass was of the opinion that safety of the citizens came first.

However, the circumstances were somewhat different for the Special Fiend Attack Unit. The squad was formed by an individual for the purpose of eliminating Fiends, a rarity at the time. The man making the request was Vizaist Socalent, and backing him up was none other than Berwick.

As Berwick’s old friend, Vizaist was made the commander, but the existence of a young boy named Alus was the most important factor. After all, he’d finished the special training program that normally took several years to complete in just six months. And so Berwick wanted to show the abilities and future prospects of Alus to the top brass by piling up his achievements.

Moreover, haste was necessary. The special training program targeted orphan children and was thus criticized by many. And further, Alus’s uncertain origins and young age also played a big part. Putting him into actual combat wouldn’t just be a violation of military discipline; it would also invite criticism from the international community. So it was only natural that the military was expected to fight it. There would be strong opposition, but Berwick determined that Alus was worth the trouble.

Berwick himself was skeptical of the Magicmaster training program that had been started by his predecessor. Even so, he thought there was enough potential to push back on the criticism and turn a blind eye to the ethical issues.

Indeed, sometimes it was worth braving the risks. The battle against the Fiends went on, but their very existence posed a threat, and there was also the possibility of unexpected evolution. He believed that if they focused on nothing but defense that the future of the human race would be closed off.

That was all the more reason he couldn’t allow such an outstanding talent to get crushed. Alus’s powers far exceeded the norm, so as a temporary measure he formed the Special Unit. Also, he’d only just become the Governor-General and had a lot of political enemies, which put his position in danger. Therefore, he’d had Vizaist put his name down as the applicant making the request.

Berwick also expected that the competent Vizaist, as the captain of the squad, would be able to skillfully control Alus. He also hoped to eventually bring Vizaist into the military’s top brass.

He had few allies he could trust, which made his position unstable. Because of his goals, the Special Unit included many people from Berwick’s faction, and he’d also chosen to gather oddballs so that this wouldn’t stand out.

However, it backfired on him. The formation of an eccentric unit immediately attracted the military’s attention.

The newly established unit went about their duties in earnest in order to gather achievements. Since the squad was formed at an individual’s request, there was a chance they’d be disbanded if they didn’t produce results.

Despite the circumstances, this unit that included Alus was off to a good start, a spectacular one even. It boasted an unusually high mission completion rate for a new unit and quickly became the target of rumors in the military.

After months of completing missions in the Outer World, on a certain day in the hectic and busy life of the unit...

“It’s no good... My back hurts too much.” A man stumbled into the squad’s waiting room and lay down on a row of four chairs. He was only in his twenties but seemed to be suffering quite a bit. He made sure to carefully bend his knees so as not to further hurt his back. But it was clear that he wasn’t as worn out as he said.

The man, Lindelph Maeger, tilted his head to the side and wound up peeking under the table. As soon as he did, his eyes that had been slowly closing suddenly opened wide. “Unfortunately, I prefer white over black, but your commitment to supporting the troops is admirable, Elina!”

The woman sitting across from him closed her legs at his words. Her face turned red. Of course the squad had gathered seasoned warriors, so it wasn’t from embarrassment but from anger. The sudden movement made her tied-back golden hair bounce.

The woman called Elina had long bangs, with one side covering an eye and the other side tucked behind her ear. Lindelph was twenty-six and she was twenty-two. Also, he had a higher military rank than her, but when it came to ranking as a Magicmaster, she was far above him.

Elina quickly held down her skirt. “Lindelph, that’s the fifth time this week. I hope you’re ready to die,” she said with a chilling smile, as she threw the documents she’d been reading onto the chair next to hers.

The next moment, the table bent upwards as it was split in two. She’d kicked up from below.

“—! Hang on, I’m weak... Whoa!” Elina had kicked her leg up high...and Lindelph’s eyes were drawn to the obvious place. He welcomed the sight of the black piece of cloth covering the forbidden garden even under these circumstances. “Black’s pretty good too!”

“A-And again!” She skillfully changed her posture and concealed the garden. Embarrassment turned her cheeks red. However, her raised leg didn’t look to be returning to its original position anytime soon, as she put more power into it. “Don’t worry. After I split your skull open, you will be treated as having died honorably in battle and buried with dignity.”

“H-Hold on! S-Seriously!” Shrinking back, Lindelph stared up at Elina with a look of horror on his face. But even then, strangely, he acted in a theatrical manner, perhaps because of his personality. Or he may have been a pathetic man who could only be optimistic even in the face of death.

Elina showed no signs of caring and brought her leg down in a beautiful semi-circle, grazing his nose.

“—! Ack!” He had been in a position that would’ve made it impossible to dodge, but for some reason he just barely escaped the attack. Lindelph’s body floated in the air for a moment, then fell to the ground with a thud, and he hit the side of his head.

Elina snorted, leaving the pitiful Lindelph alone as she glanced to the side. “Alus, there’s no reason to go out of your way to save that man.”

“Not at all, Ms. Elina. We can’t cover up a man dying here. So if you’re going to do it, do it in the Outer World,” Alus answered her with a surly face. Just before Elina’s leg landed, he’d kicked away the chair Lindelph was on. Having his support pulled out from under him, he’d fallen, and the kick only grazed him instead of hitting him full on. But knowing her, it was likely she’d attacked expecting Alus to intervene.

Had anything gone differently it could have been a disaster, but this kind of thing had been a daily occurrence since the unit’s establishment. It was a cliché, in fact. If something like this wasn’t happening, there must be an emergency going on.

It was unfortunate that Alus was getting caught up in this slapstick routine. “And if you don’t cut it out soon, I won’t save you anymore, Mr. Lindelph.”

“Don’t be like that, Alus. It’s the unavoidable fate of being born a man. You’ll understand in a few years. That uncontrollable impulse is something all men get.”

“Don’t feed Alus your nonsense! Lin—delph!!”

“Agh!” Lindelph exclaimed, still lying on the floor. His face suddenly contorted.

Elina looked down at him like he was trash and stomped on him.

“I don’t think showing him this is very good for his education either... Argh!”

“Shut up, you piece of trash.” Elina put more weight into her heel, then looked up with her expression completely changed. She gave Alus a soft and pure smile. If one only saw her upper body, it would be impossible to guess what her lower half was doing. “Alus, don’t listen to anything he says, okay? There are more respectable adults in this unit...” Elina paused to think for a moment. “In the military,” she amended, changing her mind with a smile.

“Does that include me, Second Lieutenant Elina?” a deep voice suddenly resounded.

“—! Captain Vizaist... W-Well...of course. As long as we don’t mention that grin whenever you brag about your daughter.”

“Uh, er... A-As a father, that can’t be helped...”

“By the way, Elina, do you think you could move your foot...? Even the captain agrees that it’s in a man’s nature to grin over women. You need to be a more generous woman.”

At Lindelph’s words, Vizaist gazed down at him on the floor with a cold stare. “Don’t compare me to you. You just have a lecherous heart.”

“Come on! Captain...”

“More importantly, get up and clean this room, Lindelph.”

Lindelph’s head drooped, and he answered with a weak “Yes.”

The next moment, the squad members started gathering in the room. They’d only just returned from a mission. Of course, so had Lindelph and Alus. They’d been in the Outer World for the past few days without rest, so they were rather exhausted.

When the others saw the room in a mess, they sighed as if they’d seen this countless times before. In fact it was part of their daily life, so the sight made them feel a little refreshed and even relieved.

The Special Unit consisted of fifteen members. On rare occasions the entire unit was mobilized, but for most Outer World missions they usually went in groups of six or seven.

Vizaist was the commanding officer and Lindelph was second in command. Incidentally, Lindelph was an excellent officer, but because of his personality he tended to be looked down on. So, normally someone of his caliber would have been assigned to another position.

At any rate, the other squad members thought that Berwick must have gathered them here to re-educate the problem children.

Alus, of course, was in the same category. Again, the unit was made up of members with unique personalities. And all of them treated Alus as a fellow Magicmaster rather than as a child. They acknowledged his abilities.

His nature also played a big role in that. He showed no expressions or emotions, and spoke flatly like a robot. In other words, he didn’t act like a child in the slightest. Even when the unit was first established, people doubted his age. He looked like a worn-out soldier wearing the skin of a child.

That’s why they typically didn’t hold back around him. Even if he was better than anyone else in the unit in terms of ability, that didn’t mean much to this group that knew nothing about being reserved.

“Alus, try to look at the bigger picture. If we don’t understand everyone’s roles there wouldn’t be any point in teaming up,” one of the members said, reviewing their previous mission.

“Yeah, taking out the high-classed Fiend wasn’t a bad choice, but it could have been depending on the situation,” another member said with his arms crossed, as he leaned against the wall. “That’s what happened this time. Because of your actions, our movements became more restricted. It’s not like you trust us, but...”

“Yes, I’ll be more careful next time,” Alus said bluntly, without so much as turning to look at the man, like he had no interest in working with him.

Even so, he didn’t mean anything bad by it. Despite his attitude, after these kinds of exchanges his behavior would always change. Besides, everyone knew that being able to see the big picture took experience.

Alus’s growth was astounding, even considering this. It wasn’t something he’d learned anywhere; it was simply raw talent. That was why the members didn’t mind his attitude, as they gave him advice mixed with stern words.

“Oh dear, people are so warped. Alus is still just a child.” ...With one exception. Elina spoke in a joking tone, as she put her hand on Alus’s head.

The unit understood that her warm demeanor was a sign of her high hopes for Alus’s future. The only reason Alus didn’t realize it was because he was still a child.

Lindelph, who was cleaning up the chair damaged beyond repair and the table that had been split in two, glanced over and said, “But he’s stronger than anyone here.”

“...” Everyone already understood that. They just didn’t say it out loud.

Lindelph never said anything about how Alus handled himself in the Outer World. That was because he was conflicted over it. He wasn’t sure if someone as exceptional as Alus should be tied down by the usual methods of warfare such as coordinating with others. It was the most important thing in a unit, but to Alus it might just be a restraint.

No... Normally the establishment of coordination and teamwork was essential for victory, so maybe the problem really was that he was a child.

There was a tacit understanding that Alus was a second generation product of the rumored Magicmaster training program. No one talked about it because the first generation was quickly wiped out in the Outer World. Even among the second generation, Alus was pretty much the only one still serving.

Vizaist surveyed his unit and let out a tired sigh. “Coordination is the lifeline of a unit, and while it’s not really my place to say this, it would be too late by the time you learned that lesson the hard way. But in the end, it’s your call, Alus. Your talent is in a league of its own. Sooner or later you’ll go beyond what a normal person can do. But that’s why you can’t rely on just your sense. Start by learning theory and thinking with your head,” Vizaist said, rolling up some papers and tapping Alus on the head with them.

“Understood.”

His usual monotone made Vizaist wonder if he really understood, and he sighed again.

“Or so the commander says, but he constantly disobeys orders, so he’s learned his lessons the hard way himself,” Elina pointed out.

“Elina, aren’t you being too lenient with Alus?” But Vizaist’s honest opinion lacked vigor. It seemed clear that he’d been driven away as a nuisance. That was just what Berwick had planned.

“This is just the right balance. There’s only a bunch of strict adults around here. Besides, don’t you have a very high opinion of Alus yourself, Captain? You seem convinced he’ll be a first-rate Magicmaster in the future.” Elina poked at his real feelings with an implicating smile. But it was she who held the highest opinion of Alus.

Vizaist turned to the door as if to escape, but then suddenly turned to address the unit. “I’m sorry for bringing this up when you’re tired, but there’s something I need to show you.” It was a forced change in topic, but he said it with a bitter look as if to say trouble was brewing. That was normal, but his showing something to them rarely happened.

For better or worse, their unit attracted a lot of attention in the military. They completed hard mission after hard mission. Their achievements had piled up, and they steadily earned renown. That meant, of course, that there was no end to the orders and requests they received. It was difficult even picking out which mission to take on next.

But lately there’d been some that had been pushed on them in hopes of staining their record, out of jealousy. The relationship Vizaist had with the new Governor-General, Berwick, was well-known in the military. That’s why some nobles and officers who didn’t like the way the new regime was doing things tried to force reckless missions on the unit. In short, it was politically motivated. That Alpha’s top brass and military were not a monolith was a major source of concern for Berwick.

Vizaist led the Special Unit members to a certain research area in the military headquarters. This area focused on the development of new spells, the creation of AWRs, and other items for use in the Outer World, even military clothing.

They were underground in a place used as a storage facility for supplies. Arriving at a small room, Vizaist held his license up against the panel next to the door. The door slid open and the light in the ceiling turned on. It was completely empty aside from one thing.

“Captain...what is this?” Lindelph asked with his mouth open.

The other squad members had the same reaction, or furrowed their brows with unease.

In the center of the room was a big cage. The bars were as thick as a man’s arm, and not only were they sturdily welded but they stretched vertically and horizontally to form a crisscross pattern. And inside of it was...

“A-A Fiend?!” someone muttered out loud.

From behind the grid, an eerie low roar bellowed out. The creature in the cage moved slightly. At the same time the shadows shifted, allowing the creature to be seen more clearly.

At a closer look, it was by no means a Fiend. It lacked the distorted shape typical for a Fiend and the ominous body color. If anything, it had a more heroic appearance. It looked like a creature thought to be extinct... A wolf. To those who didn’t know what wolves were, it was like a big dog.

It was covered in silver-white fur and had a long, whip-like tail. Fierce eyes glared as if staring at prey, its sharp fangs bared to intimidate. The blade-like claws were bent in a crescent shape, and each time they scratched the floor it made a clattering sound.

Even if it looked like a wolf or dog, its size was clearly abnormal. At first glance it appeared to be more than three meters long. The size and ferocious growl were more than enough to mistake it for a Fiend.

“This thing was created through an experiment,” Vizaist said. “Supposedly it’s a Fiendog capable of detecting Fiends.”

“And you call this a dog?” Lindelph asked, after a pause.

“Well, they said it was a result of tweaking some genes. It’s capable of generating and using mana as well as detecting Fiends. As you know, spotters are a precious resource, so this was created as a potential replacement. It was a desperate measure of sorts.” Vizaist flipped through some documents as he continued his explanation to the dumbfounded and wary unit. “So by creating a bunch of these, there’ll be fewer ambushes in the Outer World. Moving on to the main topic, I want you to take this with you to the Outer World for a while and gather data.”

“T-Take this thing, Captain? It looks like it wants to tear us apart.” Lindelph had a good point. The creature’s growling was nonstop, and no one wanted to be side-by-side with a beast that had hate in its eyes and kept baring its fangs.

“That’s true. It doesn’t look very cooperative...” Elina noted with a furrowed brow.

Vizaist smiled wryly. “Well, it wouldn’t be. As a result of its mana-generating organs and aggressive genetic modifications, it seems to have developed a rather difficult personality. That’s why I had you come take a look at it first. By the way, there are some special circumstances behind this request, so don’t expect to be able to refuse it so easily.”

“So it’s not a request made by the research team? It’s from higher up, then... More of the usual harassment? But isn’t this a little too much...?” As Vizaist’s adjutant, Elina did some clerical work such as checking orders and preparing documents, so she was well aware of the Special Unit’s position in the military. It couldn’t be helped, then, that she sounded somewhat disgusted.

“Hang on a second, Captain.” That’s when a rugged skinhead squad member interrupted the two. “Just touching it might work. It’s only an animal and it’s probably scared from being locked up here all alone.” With that, he fearlessly walked over to the cage.

The others watched in silence.

“I don’t know anything about genetic modifications or whatever, but it should warm up to me if I just rub its chin...like this.” He put his hand through the bars.

And in the next moment the Fiendog leaped at the man’s arm with enough force to shake the cage.

“Aaahhh!!!” The squad member pulled his hand back in the nick of time, and the sharp fangs bit through air. He almost fell over but managed to regain his posture, then turned around as if nothing had happened. “Well, it is just an animal. Guess it’ll be difficult to communicate with it.”

The squad looked at him with exasperation, while Elina called him an idiot under her breath.

“You sure gave up fast considering how confident you were,” Vizaist observed.

“It’s just that our usual common sense doesn’t apply. The research team sure made something crazy.” The man exhaled in relief, then shrugged.

“Besides, I’m pretty sure it’s cats that like having their chin rubbed. If that looks like a cat to you, I suggest you get your eyes checked out,” Elina said with a cold stare.

That’s when Alus pointed at the cage. “Look at it drooling. It’s like a predator that just missed its prey.”

“And you were calling it just an animal. It only saw you as prey,” Elina said, looking at the skinhead squad member.

Lindelph, in the meantime, wisely kept his mouth shut, trying his best not to stand out.

Vizaist considered what Alus said. “Then why don’t you give it a try, Alus? If it’s a matter of ability, you just have to keep it from thinking of you as prey, right?”

“—! What are you talking about? What are you going to do if something happens to Alus?!” Elina was the only one who was overprotective of Alus, and she immediately stepped in. Maybe it was her motherly instincts at work.

“Now that’s a needless worry. In essence, it just needs to acknowledge someone as its owner. I can’t think of anyone more suited than Alus,” Vizaist replied.

“That’s true, but...”

“I don’t mind.” Without waiting for them to finish their conversation, Alus walked over to the cage with light steps. Once he was close enough for the animal to reach him if it stuck its claws through the bars, it started to growl again. But since Alus was so much smaller than it was, it wasn’t so much out of hostility as simple intimidation.

“That’s enough, Alus! It’s too dangerous to get any closer!”

Alus ignored Elina’s warning and took another step forward. Or rather, he was so focused on what was in front of him that her words never reached his ears.

He got a strange feeling, and it wasn’t just because he was concentrating. Animals existed in the Outer World too, but he’d never seen such a magnificent creature before. It was even more astounding up close. A lonely looking beast, created to be powerful, ferocious and gallant and yet somehow fragile. It reminded Alus of himself in a way.

That was when the creature began to panic in an instinctive sense, because Alus, unlike those who came before him, showed no signs of fear. It felt that its territory was about to be invaded. It howled, its sharp claws scratching the bars, not ripping them up but leaving scratch marks, amid the deafening metallic sounds.

The sounds triggered an unconscious reaction in Alus. His body responded as if he’d been attacked, and his survival instincts—trained in the Outer World—immediately reacted. Mana overflowed from him as he readied himself for battle.

Even the other unit members, who were used to it, didn’t expect this to happen in the Inner World. They took a step back, bathed in the aftermath of the vast amounts of mana that had been released.

“Whoa?! T-Talk about a cruel thing to do!” Lindelph exclaimed.

“Sudden or not, I wish you could at least keep it under control,” Vizaist said with a sigh.

“Y-Yeah. Y-You still have a long ways to go.”

“That’s not very convincing coming from you when your legs are shaking, Lindelph,” Elina noted. “Still, how fearsome.”

Various squad members then spoke up.

“Yeah, we’ll be fine. But that dog’s in trouble.”

“What are you more worried about, its being useless with its current attitude or that Alus might finish it off?”

“...Both. Well, I can only feel sorry for it.”

The squad members whispered to one another while staying alert to the situation.

“Should children really be like that? Speaking of which, isn’t your kid...”

“Yeah, they’re the same age. Although I wonder if we can even call him a child.”

“He’s a reliable ally, but far from a child...”

“It’s kind of pitiful really,” someone muttered.

This caused Elina to glare at the imprudent member, who quickly said, “Ah! S-Sorry. That’s not what I meant.”

“S-Sorry,” said the member he’d been talking with. They must have noticed how inappropriate their conversation was and apologized for it.

Elina was one thing, but Alus himself showed no sign of caring. In fact, it was questionable whether he’d even heard them.

Elina gave Alus a caring look and tried to call out to him as softly as possible. “Alus, that’s enough. I’d feel bad for that dog if you pushed it any further too.” Her voice didn’t seem to reach him as he took another step towards the cage.

Intimidated by Alus’s pressure, the Fiendog tensed. It was something everyone in the room could feel.

Suddenly, there was a loud sound that filled the room. Alus snapped back to reality and turned to see Vizaist’s thick hands pressed together, having just clapped loudly. He’d probably also used wind magic to amplify the sound. “All right, that’s enough, Alus.”

Alus looked back at the cage.

“—!!” The unit members reacted as something shocking happened. The Fiendog had slowly retreated and whimpered as it sat down, bringing its head low. Its nose and tail lay flat on the ground, the ferocity it had exuded before nowhere to be seen. The way it expressed its submission with its entire body was even a little endearing. Instead of returning Alus’s stare, it simply gazed down at the floor. It was a pose of yielding to the other party, something that could mean death in the natural world of the strong and the weak.

With a broad smile, Vizaist said in a booming voice, “Then it’s decided. We’ll keep the Fiendog in our unit for a while. Moreover, Alus, you will take care of it and work together with it in the Outer World. Do you understand?” Despite his authoritative tone, he wore a gentle expression. Well, it might not be a normal animal...but something might change if he takes care of a pet. 

Vizaist was relieved that they wouldn’t have to turn down the request, but he would’ve come up with a good excuse if necessary. So in the end, he unintentionally showed something akin to a parental sentiment, like a father hoping his troublesome son would undergo an emotional change.

Three days later, the Fiendog officially arrived at the Special Unit’s standby room. Apparently it took a lot of work to get it out of the cage and bring it all this way. They’d hurriedly ordered a special-made collar and leash, but it took time to make something that couldn’t be easily chewed through.

Attached to the large collar was a leash made of thick chain that was made with the assumption that several adults would be pulling on it. Even with that, it seemed like they would be powerless if it decided to run wild. Not to mention that it would be Alus, a literal child, who would be holding the leash. Naturally, the squad members were uneasy.

The Fiendog’s size and presence made the already small room feel even more cramped, but at the moment it was quietly lying down with its eyes closed. It folded its paws and rested its head on them. It also appeared to be pretty intelligent, capable of understanding most things through gestures.

The members seemed unconvinced, but according to the researchers it should eventually be able to understand simple words too. Of course, for the time being it would only follow Alus’s orders.

Since the leash was too large to wrap around his wrist, Alus wrapped it around his arm instead. However, it didn’t appear that he had to use any real force to get the Fiendog to move.

The current policy was to get the creature as used to the unit as possible and improve their communication. Trial or not, since its primary use was detection, it needed to be able to work alongside the unit. In addition, it was decided that the laboratory’s warehouse would be used for its room outside of non-training hours and for sleeping.

Vizaist watched the Fiendog as it was led around by Alus, as the unit also looked on from a distance. “We’ll be going on missions together from now on, so it’d be a little tasteless for this thing to not have a name. So I want you all to think of one,” he declared, as if welcoming a newcomer to the unit. But since that newcomer looked a little too aggressive, everyone first turned to look at Alus.

Elina began the conversation. She turned to Alus, who was less than half the size of the dog, and gently asked, “Alus, do you have any suggestions?”

“White,” Alus said after a pause.

Hearing this, most of the unit slapped their foreheads or just shook their heads. They all seemed to be saying that name would be out of the question.

“Isn’t that a little too on the nose? Besides, its fur is more silver than white,” Vizaist said, adding in his complaint. He felt it was too mundane for someone joining the military, even if it was just a dog.

The Fiendog kept its eyes closed, as if in agreement, although that might have been because it really was sleeping.

“Then, how about you, Captain? Any suggestions?” Elina asked in Alus’s stead, as he was too busy frowning.

“Well... Hm, I do have a name I thought up in case my wife had a boy. How about Golmance?”

The room froze over. For some moments silence hung over them, until Elina timidly asked, “By the way, what was your daughter called again?”

“It’s Felinella. My wife rejected the name I thought up.”

“A-And just to confirm, what was it?”

“Golnea!”

The entire unit, apart from Alus, looked at Vizaist with their mouths wide open. Elina ran her fingers through her hair, then put it behind her ear before shaking her head. She spoke as the group’s representative. “How atrocious...”

“—! Y-Yes, my wife may have turned it down, but I spent three days and nights thinking of that name. I only want my daughter to grow up strong, though, and with a desire to improve herself.”

“Sure, I understand how you feel, Captain, but that name brings up an image of bulging muscles and broad shoulders. You owe your wife big time.”

“True, Felinella is a fine name, but the name I thought up is...”

“That’s enough, Captain,” Elina said. “Any more will affect unit morale.”

Vizaist’s head and shoulders drooped and he moved away from the circle.

“All right, anyone else? Please. Anything.” Elina had wound up taking charge of the conversation. It was a shame for the captain, but it was unavoidable.

“We should determine if it’s a boy or a girl first,” someone suggested.

“Hm, good point.” Elina nodded and turned to Alus. “Which is it?” She couldn’t check herself because it was only answering to Alus. More specifically, it had acknowledged Alus as its master. But from the unit’s point of view, it appeared that the animal was also starting to get attached to him.

“It’s a boy,” Alus immediately replied, as if he’d checked before.

“There you have it, so think up a good name.”

“H-Hold on, if it’s a boy, that’s all the more reason to call it Golmance...”

“Just shut up please, Captain! Let’s bring up names and watch the dog’s reaction to decide it. He should react when he hears something that he likes,” Elina said.

“Agh...” Having had the knife twisted in him, Vizaist’s shoulders dropped even further. He sat down while holding his knees.

“All right, we don’t have much time, so be serious. We’re not calling our new member something as embarrassing as Golmance!”

Vizaist looked like he wanted to say something, but Elina’s glare made him hold it in.

The squad mentioned every name they could think of, but the Fiendog showed no interest in any of them. It was also hard to call any of them good names, and it got to the point where Alus’s suggestion of “White” was one of the top candidates.

“How about Nike? It’s what I called my cat back home,” a member suggested. The Fiendog’s ear twitched.

Elina nodded, but had to check. “Just to be sure, it didn’t have some tragic death or other thing that would be an ill omen, right?”

“She passed away a year ago, but she lived a full life! She was my only family, always waiting to greet me whenever I went back home,” the member said with a nostalgic look and tears in his eyes. To the others, though, he looked more like a sad bachelor than a cat lover. Of course with the high number of singles in the unit, there were many who sympathized with him.

Elina mulled it over, and glanced at Alus. But he only silently looked on.

Vizaist interpreted this as a sign that the decision was up to him and spoke up. “Nike, the goddess of victory, if I recall. This is a boy, but it’s not bad. If we just think of it as a name associated with victory it will be a good sign for our unit.”

“And it’s easy to say too.” When Elina nodded, the dog’s ears twitched again and he opened one of his eyes. He looked more like he’d just woken up and less like he was agreeing with everyone, but that brought the unproductive discussion to an end.

After that, Nike was sent to the Outer World and training grounds in preparation for live combat. The unit seemed to get used to him as they treated him like another member. But unless Alus was next to him, they were reluctant to even touch him.

Incidentally, they concluded that Nike’s combat abilities were the equivalent of a D-class Fiend and that he could detect Fiends up to two kilometers away. Once he detected a Fiend, he was expected to fall back and support the unit.

Expecting an animal to not only detect but also support was asking a lot, but Nike was intelligent and showed he had the ability to make optimum decisions even without orders. Thanks to the efforts of the unit members that trained diligently even in their spare time, Nike acquired a good understanding of the squad’s formation and coordinated actions.

An unexpected by-product was that it was useful for Alus too. He was also able to rethink and learn about the unit’s concept of coordination. Of course, unlike Nike, two days was enough for him to perfectly master it in theory.

Soon, Nike’s collar was removed. It was still necessary for getting him out of the cage, but there was no longer any need to worry about it coming off in the Outer World. The leash had also been replaced with a normal leather one. Whenever Alus walked Nike, he would follow one step behind Alus.

Ever since Nike’s arrival, Alus had changed. The unit members and Vizaist vaguely picked up on it. At first, Alus would head to the laboratory’s warehouse to take care of Nike, but it wasn’t long before Nike started sleeping in the unit’s room.

The unit went out of their way to make space and even made a wooden dog house, though due to his size it was large enough for adults to fit in too.

And in the blink of an eye, it was finally time for Nike’s first live combat experience. On his first mission he exceeded all expectations. He didn’t get flustered and steadily and surely completed the mission. When a Fiend approached, he sensed it before anyone, pointing his head in the direction of the threat and barking. In addition, he was able to convey the distance by repeatedly barking and changing the volume. His basic movements were a result of his training, but everything else was thanks to his high intelligence.

As a result, during the clean-up operation, they killed twice as many Fiends as usual. It was clear to all that this was because of Nike. It also made the unit members who had helped with his training happy.

Once they were back in their standby room in the Outer World, everyone talked about Nike’s achievements with big smiles.

They decided to hold a party to congratulate Nike and celebrate the mission’s completion. Nike was given meat on a bone for the occasion. He drooled a waterfall and got right to chewing it before Vizaist even finished his speech. The party was a great success from start to finish...except for the moment when Vizaist got carried away and tried to give Nike alcohol, which Elina promptly put a stop to.

Needless to say, the excitement became an unforgettable memory for everyone in the squad. Without times like this, the Outer World would constantly wear down a Magicmaster. Even if it was just a fleeting thing, the memory would help boost their morale. Most of all, just being able to experience daily life helped ease their minds, whether they realized it or not.

Afterwards, as proof of being properly welcomed as a new member of the unit, Nike was given a new collar. It was luxurious and made of shiny leather with a silver plate engraved with his name. Alus had done the engraving himself.

Nike’s neck was so thick that Alus struggled to get his arms around him. With Elina’s help they were able to get it on, leaving enough space so he wouldn’t feel choked by it. At that moment he let out a proud and happy-sounding howl that he never had during training.

Alus and Nike started spending all their time together, even when not on missions, to the point that Alus would stay over in the standby room. When Vizaist saw Alus peacefully sleeping like a child his age should with Nike wrapped around him, he was deeply moved. Seeing him this way, the members understood how Alus had changed.

On their one day off a month, Alus and Nike went out to some open space within the military headquarters to play ball. It was a simple game of fetch, but using mana and magic, Alus threw the ball over a hundred meters. Since Nike was so powerful, it wouldn’t have worked unless he did at least that much.

Another unit member tried playing fetch once by throwing the ball normally, but Nike snatched it out of the air the moment he threw it. With the Fiendog’s powerful legs and movement enhanced by mana, he was frighteningly fast. At first they used a rubber ball, but it was quickly chewed through, so now they used a ball made out of special impact-resistant material.

Five months passed after Nike joined the unit. One day, everyone gathered in the standby room. Their missions were the same as before but they’d increased in number, which physically wore the unit down. But morale remained high, and Nike’s presence played a big part in that.

Vizaist, sitting at his desk, looked over the unit and spoke with a bitter expression. “Our mission this time will be somewhat troublesome.”

The unit members shrugged, as if to ask why that would be different from the usual. Troublesome missions made up their everyday life. There were practically no missions that weren’t troublesome. Even so, they were proud to have made it all this way without losing anyone.

“This time, the circumstances are different,” Elina, standing next to Vizaist, followed up.

“The orders this time come directly from Governor-General Berwick. We’re going to clean up someone else’s mess,” Vizaist said stiffly. He could speak normally about it now, but when he received the orders from Berwick, his veins had bulged with anger and he’d unconsciously crumpled up the written orders.

Seeing Vizaist was getting worked up again, Elina took over in the hopes of calming him down. “This is an urgent matter. So far we’ve been constantly sent out to expand Alpha’s territory...and I’m sure many of you have realized that most of those orders come from Lieutenant General Morwald of the Unified Offensive Command Center. All those orders go through the general staff where he holds sway.”

Nobody was particularly surprised at that. It might be an exaggeration to say he held a grudge against them, but it was clear Morwald didn’t appreciate the fact that someone like Vizaist was producing such favorable results. And he most definitely didn’t like that the new Governor-General had appointed Vizaist to establish a new unit.

Berwick’s political base was steadily taking form, but the faction of high-ranking officers and officials from noble families still remained strong. In other words, Lt. General Morwald led the noble faction that opposed Berwick. It was rumored that this noble faction was trying to appoint a Single that would be under their control, and that they’d continued in their efforts even after Berwick was appointed.

Because of that, the unit knew that attempts to take them down weren’t uncommon, but Morwald had been letting his position do the talking lately with some very blatant harassment.

The Special Fiend Attack Unit was technically under the general staff’s control, but in reality, it acted independently. Berwick supported the unit, but the public believed that Vizaist had founded and established the unit himself. It was designated as a special unit so that it wouldn’t be under anyone’s command, which was why they weren’t required to obey the general staff’s reckless orders.

Nevertheless, with Berwick’s position still unstable, they couldn’t show any weakness in front of his political enemies. That’s why the Special Unit didn’t turn down any orders and carried out their missions with the utmost care. It was a tightrope walk, but thanks to Alus and their new addition, Nike, they’d completed all missions with no failures.

“In addition, Lt. General Morwald’s own troops have been out in the Outer World, and...this part is rubbish...” Elina let out a tired sigh before shifting gears and continuing, “Two days ago, the target they were tracking seventy-five kilometers to the southeast was lost.”

The unit members, seeing where this was going, looked at each other in dismay. “In other words, they want us to hunt it down instead?” one member asked, addressing Vizaist instead of Elina, with frustration and anger in his words.

And why wouldn’t there be? They’d been forced to do one unreasonable thing after another. And now they were even being forced to cover for the failure of some other unit, cleaning up their mess. It was truly the short end of the stick.

Not to mention that the target was apparently crafty enough to evade pursuit by a larger force, so the chance for fatalities was high. It was really the worst. However...

“That’s right,” Vizaist said. “As a soldier, once the order comes there’s no backing down. Also, we’re currently the highest achieving unit at headquarters. Harassment or not, it’s a formal order from Berwick as well, meaning it’s not the kind of mission we could refuse.” He signaled Elina with his eyes. Her fingers tapped on the virtual keyboard on the edge of the desk, as she looked down at the documents in her other hand.

Before long, a large virtual screen appeared behind Vizaist. It displayed a map of the Outer World. In the southeast was a red dot that Elina indicated with her gaze. “From what we know, it’s an A-class Fiend, the spider type Arachne. Its expected escape route...” A dotted line appeared on the screen, as she spoke and traced it with her finger.

“—!!!” The unit members reacted.

She moved her finger until reaching a place that shook the unit up. One member said, “You’ve got to be fucking kidding me... So they couldn’t keep up with it, but they kindly managed to attach a tracking signal to the target! How much more transparent of a scheme can you get!” The blood went to the unit member’s head as he shouted with exaggerated gestures.

“That’s enough. Yes, unfortunately the target is on course for a restricted area in Clevideet,” Elina confirmed.

When a nation reclaimed some territory, the rights to it would be determined in a meeting of rulers. Until then, as long as the region was within a hundred kilometers from the nation’s border, that nation had provisional sovereignty.

That was the restricted area Elina referred to. It was like an imaginary boundary between countries extending out from the nations’ borders through the Outer World. And the nation the Fiend was fleeing to was a neighboring nation Alpha wasn’t on very good terms with.

Also, it should be noted that Morwald’s troops weren’t on an internationally recognized mission to retake territory. They were simply wiping out Fiends for Alpha’s convenience. That’s why it would be a huge political failure if, by their own doing, they drove an A-class Fiend into another nation’s territory. Moreover, if the target came across Clevideet troops and caused casualties, the blame would fall on Alpha. It would be like they drove an injured beast into someone else’s territory, one they should’ve killed themselves.

Berwick had likely shared the information immediately with Clevideet, and assured them that Alpha would take responsibility and resolve the problem.

“Why do we have to...” More angry words came from one of the members.

Typically, a force of Doubles was the standard for dealing with an A-class. In some cases a Single would even be sent out. However, this unit only had Elina and Alus as its Double Digit Magicmasters. There were many members with long careers but few had exceptional talent, so they were Triples at most. As for teamwork, they weren’t going to lose to an elite unit composed of Doubles, but their rank average still left something to be desired.

Alus’s contributions to the unit’s achievements were just too big. He was currently a Double, but many in the unit felt he was a future Single candidate. However, that remained to be seen. After all, he was still a child.

Lindelph, in a cold sweat, quietly watched the proceedings. His military rank was second only to Vizaist’s in this unit. And with Vizaist often dealing with things behind the scenes, he was usually the commander in the field. He was somewhat panicking at the unit’s low morale. Great teamwork or not, fear and other negative emotions would definitely hinder them. The unit’s usual cheerfulness was gone, replaced with a bitterness that made Lindelph uneasy.

That was when Vizaist said, as if to dispel the restless atmosphere, “Hm, you all sure look gloomy... Well, depending on how you look at it, that anger’s not so bad.”

“What do you mean?” the frustrated member asked.

“Just think about it. A stupid superior officer screwed up on his own. We clean up his mess...and now he owes us. Plus, we get something we can use to unseat him from his position. Wouldn’t you call that a great situation?” Vizaist showed a wicked grin.

His grin soon spread through the unit, and before long everyone was grinning. “Though it’s still a big mess,” someone jokingly noted.

With just a few words, Vizaist had quelled the frustration the soldiers felt. Lindelph couldn’t help but be impressed.

Even Elina’s doubtful expression had cleared up. She said in a vigorous voice, “Then it’s decided! The fifteen here will form a team with Captain Lindelph in command.”

“What?!”

“Hm? Are you unhappy with that, Lindelph?”

“N-No, I was just thinking that you yourself should be in charge of such an important mission, Commander...”

“I have something else I need to do here. Don’t worry, I believe in your skills. You just need to handle it like normal.”

Lindelph didn’t know exactly what it was that Vizaist had to do, but he was both happy and confused. Considering his skills and rank as a Magicmaster, he almost shook his head in disbelief, but he did have the confidence from having stood in for their commander before. And considering the unit’s morale, he felt like he could pull it off.

Then Vizaist spoke up again, giving Lindelph a final push. “I know you can do it. Listen up! I want you to kill the target without fail. I’ll have a feast ready for your return, so don’t forget that. Let’s meet again after the mission is complete.”

“Let’s meet again after the mission is complete!” the unit members shouted in unison. Their feet snapped into place as they saluted.

“Set out immediately once preparations are finished!” Vizaist concluded in a bold voice with a rugged smile.

The members charged into the changing room, with Alus and Nike following.

Behind them, Vizaist spoke up. “Lindelph. Elina.” The two stopped and turned around with puzzled looks. Unlike his previous resolute appearance, he now had a more somber expression. Seeing that, Lindelph and Elina stood at the ready. “Take good care of Alus.”

They immediately knew what he meant. In fact, they’d been ordered to do so when the unit was established. It was something people inevitably came to understand when they were in the unit. It could be felt even if nothing had been said about it.

Alus’s latent power and potential were immensely important to humankind’s future. It was clear that he would one day become a Single. It was obvious even now. In addition to his sense for combat, he had an extraordinary repertoire of spells and power.

On top of that, they’d completed several long-term missions and his mana seemed bottomless. With most of the unit being Triple Digits, there was a huge difference in their abilities compared with Alus.

Another astounding aspect of Alus was his incredible rate of growth. Day by day, he absorbed and reflected on the experience he accumulated in the most optimum way. The unit members had been confident in their experience at first, but now there was little they could teach him and even thinking of advice was difficult, which was why it was impossible not to expect more from Alus.

A Single could influence a nation’s future. In the past, Alpha had a Single named Sisty Nexophia, and there were countless times she had helped Alpha. Especially in defensive battles—in which she excelled—she could match more than a hundred regular Magicmasters, even though she was only the ranked No. 9.

So once Alus became a Single, to what heights could he climb? And what kind of heroics would he perform? It was an irreplaceable, glorious future, Lindelph thought to himself. He cleared his throat while nodding to Vizaist, determination in his eyes.

But Elina wasn’t satisfied with just that level of determination. “Leave it to me! Lindelph can be unreliable, but I’ll be here too!” she enthusiastically said, puffing out her chest with pride.

She was a rather skilled Magicmaster, and Berwick and Vizaist had both worked hard to bring her into the unit. She wasn’t thrilled about it initially, but her attitude completely changed after she met Alus.

At a young age, Elina had been left with the command of a certain unit that primarily focused on defensive missions under Sisty’s jurisdiction. At the same time she was Sisty’s student and a fierce fighter that had been through the hellfire of battle.

She had no family, and the top brass hadn’t brought her under their wing either, making her perfect for protecting and mentoring Alus.

In spite of appearances, the same could be said for Lindelph. He’d been recruited for his wisdom and wit rather than his skills as a Magicmaster. They’d both been on Vizaist’s mind for a while and were the first people he approached when Berwick had sounded things out with him.

The two took Vizaist’s words to heart, and entered the changing room with firm expressions.

Very few bases for Magicmasters had separate changing rooms for men and women. Since most missions were urgent they typically stayed in the standby room. If the need arose, they could go into separate changing rooms before setting out.

The changing rooms tended to be simple, but they came with partitions. As such, the female members didn’t have to expose themselves in front of the men so long as the men didn’t peek. The Special Unit’s changing room was no different. It had partitions in place and each member had a personal locker.

However, there was not enough space for Nike to fit in there. As a result, he would have to wait outside in the hallway until Alus finished changing. He would turn around a few times in the narrow hallway to try and find a comfortable position before settling in to lie down in a corner.

Many soldiers wore their military uniform, but they were allowed to adjust it to their liking to a certain degree. They were also allowed to modify armor and weapons to make them more comfortable for moving around in the Outer World. How far they could go was limited by the unwritten rule of not compromising the dignity of an Alphan Magicmaster.

Incidentally, Alus had two lockers: one for his uniform and the other for weapons such as his AWR.

With the swiftness of one who’d completed dozens of missions, Alus stripped down to his underwear and threw his clothes into the locker. He pulled his pants out of the locker and slid into them, putting on his belt. Just as he put his hand on his shirt, he heard the curtain open up behind him.

“I’m coming in, Alus,” said a soft, cheerful voice.

“What is it, Ms. Elina? I thought I’d finally been freed from you.”

Alus pulled one arm through his shirt, turning to see Elina in her underwear closing the curtain behind her, looking a little guilty. Though that was just on the surface, as she felt nothing of the sort.

For some reason she took care of Alus at every little turn, even changing clothes together with him. The partition only had room for one so her entering made it more cramped, but she didn’t seem to care. However, she’d all but stopped doing this once Nike joined the unit.

Right now, Elina wore underwear with lace decorations on the top and bottom. Her breasts showed off a typical woman’s cleavage. With all her training she maintained a well-toned body, with a woman’s ideal proportions.

But as a result of her Magicmaster job, she was constantly covered in fresh wounds. When Alus first saw Elina, he’d made a rude remark about wasted beauty. Even he realized that was impolite and apologized afterwards, but Elina said it was proof of experience in battle.

He no longer referred to wounds as ruining her beauty. Now he said that she was beautiful and meant it from the bottom of his heart. But each time he did, she would show a strange expression, as if trying to hide some uncontrollable feeling welling up inside of her. Alus wanted to run away from the situation, but she didn’t seem to notice that.

“Oh, don’t be like that. Last time I just fixed your button. Besides, you never bring flash bangs or signal flares with you.”

“But the others bring loads of them, so I don’t need to, right?”

“Yes, you do. Those who neglect their equipment return as corpses,” Elina held her finger up and lectured Alus as she stood in her underwear. They were words of wisdom she’d inherited from Sisty.

“I understand,” Alus said after a pause. “That said, it’s really cramped in here, so can you get out?” He was irritated and troubled in turn. It appeared Elina’s well-proportioned body wasn’t very attractive to an eleven-year-old child. Or maybe it was because it was Alus. Actually, her appearance stood out even in the military.

He recalled her excuse at first when she began fleeing into Alus’s changing area...that men would peek at her. In fact, it had happened a few times before Alus came to the unit. The primary miscreant was none other than Lindelph, who claimed it was just a sudden urge, and as a result she’d nearly ended his life, so Alus struggled to understand why.

Elina was the strongest in the unit aside from Alus, and those caught peeking had required the services of the healing Magicmaster. Because of that, nobody aside from Lindelph had ever considered doing it again.

If she wanted to, she could have sensed Lindelph’s presence. So Alus couldn’t understand why she continued to use that flawed excuse to sneak into his changing area.

“Hee hee.” Elina smiled, a sign she was going to ignore his complaints yet again.

“Fine, let’s just hurry and change.” Resigning himself, Alus ignored her and quickly continued changing his clothes.

“I’m glad you’re so understanding,” she said, putting her hand on his head as she always did.

Alus, embarrassed, tried to brush her hand away. But the action felt different than usual, so he glanced at her face. Normally she would just put her hand on his head, but this was the first time she’d ever patted him. However, Elina’s bright smile easily overcame his doubting attitude.

It felt off, but since he was pressed for time, Alus quietly continued to change. He pushed his head through the neck opening in his shirt despite the cramped space. As he did, he felt his arm push up against something soft. It was the same as usual, and in the way as usual.

“Hey, that tickles.” This time it must have been Elina’s stomach, as she giggled with a grin.

“If you’re going to complain, then go change on your own, please.”

As Alus heard the sounds of curtains sliding from in front of the other members’ lockers, he reached to get the next item of clothing, but stopped and furrowed his brow. A pair of thick military-issue socks, well-made but hard to get on. He always sat on the floor to get them on but with Elina here that wasn’t possible. And he was tired of Elina holding his shoulders like she always did too.

He stubbornly stood on one foot and tried to quickly get his right toes in. But they ended up getting tangled and he started to tumble from the momentum. “—!”

Elina was in the middle of putting her shirt on as Alus’s face fell into her twin hills. Since she hadn’t buttoned up yet, there was only a single layer of cloth between her breasts and the head of black hair that bounced into them. “You still have a long way to go, Alus,” she jokingly said, gently looking at him like he was a child.

If his mouth wasn’t blocked he likely would have objected in annoyance. However, he was unable to do so in the current situation.

“You need to roll up those socks a little before you put them on.” Elina shrugged as Alus wordlessly pushed off from her to get away. But then she suddenly embraced his head in her arms. She squeezed, and whispered “It’s okay” in his ear... Unfortunately, the meaning of the words didn’t reach Alus’s heart.

He felt a gentle sensation as he was wrapped in Elina’s chest, like he was enveloped in petals. At the same time he smelled a faintly familiar scent. The reassuring fragrance didn’t just appeal to his sense of smell, but encompassed his entire being, creating a sort of dream-like sensation. Having never known parents, this was probably the first time he’d ever felt a woman’s affection.

Alus struggled to escape from her embrace, but eventually gave up and let his arms sink down. Feeling that mysterious warmth for the first time, he slowly closed his eyes.

Four hours later, in the afternoon, the Special Unit stepped into Clevideet’s restricted area. They’d been able to reach it that fast because other units had cut open the path. Berwick must have sent a squad to wipe out any Fiends in the area.

On the way there, Nike had only detected one Fiend. It was far away enough that they just made a minor adjustment to their route and avoided it.

Clevideet wasn’t as aggressive as Alpha when it came to expansion and clearing land. Because of that, the area was practically on par with the pristine wilderness of the Outer World. If they’d been in Alpha, anywhere within a hundred kilometers of the Outer World would have had scars from battle.

Shortly thereafter, they discovered the Arachne, their target. The Arachne’s upper body was shaped like a human, resting on top of a massive spider. It was said to mimic the appearance of Magicmasters that it ate, but the human-shaped bodies were always reminiscent of women. However, that was just the shape. Its outward appearance was more like a featureless doll, which was really creepy.

The Fiend’s body was nearly ten meters long. Its body was covered in a cracked-looking black outer shell, and its abdomen—which was inflated in normal spiders—was strangely shriveled.

The strangest thing of all was that the Fiend seemed heavily injured, on the verge of death. Its numerous legs were covered in wounds that hadn’t healed, and plenty of them were severed altogether. The upper body was slumped over and lay limp. Unlike a real human, the hairline was indistinguishable. It simply had long hair that looked like a woman’s hanging over what would be its face.

The Arachne didn’t even move when Alus and the others arrived. Alus watched from the shade of a tree, and signaled the rest of the unit that they would go ahead as planned. He and Elina would work together to eliminate the Fiend. The remaining members lurking on all sides would assist from a medium distance.

Lindelph, who was a little unreliable when it came to firepower, was stationed behind the Fiend with Nike, giving orders as needed through the Consensor.

With a sword-type AWR provided by the military, Alus approached the target without making a sound. His AWR was a very high quality one since he was a Double Digit Magicmaster, although everyone knew that this AWR wasn’t enough to bring out his potential. In fact, he’d changed AWRs over fifty times since joining the military. And he’d defeated countless Fiends with them.

That said, the battle against the Fiend was rather easy considering what they’d expected. Alus followed up on Elina’s preliminary attack with an expert-level spell and the deed was done. It was an overwhelming victory, and the Fiend, with its core destroyed, turned to ash starting from its legs. Of all the Arachne’s weapons, its thread—strong as steel—was the most dangerous. But it never even got the chance to use it.

“What do you think, Lindelph?” Elina asked. It was an unusual situation. Her clothes didn’t even have any dirt on them from the battle. Near death or not, an A-class Fiend should have put up more of a fight.

“Hm, it sure did go very easy for an A-class. And I’m curious about the wounds it had...”

“Lindelph, it might have gotten into a fight with a Clevideet unit,” one of the members said, as they all breathed a little easier.

“Or maybe Morwald’s forces really did corner it,” another member suggested.

“That’s not possible,” Lindelph said, rubbing his chin. It was extremely rare for a unit to even be able to stand up to an A-class. Without Alus, they would’ve had to give up on facing the Fiend head on.

“Why is that?” Elina curiously asked him.

“Lt. General Morwald’s forces aren’t strong enough to face an A-class.”

Hearing that, she traced her memories and let out a small yelp. She must’ve remembered the data on the members that made up the forces that encountered the Arachne.

“If they fought it straight on they would have been wiped out. Saying it escaped was just for show. Although the strength of a unit can be more than its members...so maybe they really did engage in battle and it escaped.”

“You mean they put up a good fight?”

“Hm,” Lindelph said after a pause. “It’s not likely, but we can’t rule it out entirely.” But he began to doubt his own words. He rubbed his chin with a troubled expression and thought further about it. “Maybe the Arachne was attacked by another Fiend as it escaped. No, that’s hard to imagine too.”

Considering Nike’s behavior, it was almost unthinkable that there had been another Fiend on or above the Arachne’s level nearby. High-classed Fiends cannibalizing each other was something that happened only occasionally during rare circumstances, and even if that was the case, where did the other Fiend go? There were no traces of battle near them, and no signs that the Arachne had eaten another Fiend.

“That leaves an encounter with a Clevideet unit, but I find that hard to believe too. They’re not very active in the Outer World and they’ve never sent anyone this deep before. I can’t imagine that Alpha wouldn’t know if they’d started actively reclaiming land since we’re neighboring countries,” Lindelph said.

It felt like an anticlimax to the unit members, but the reality of the situation was strangely chilling. That’s why they started speculating and exchanging theories as if to dispel the feeling.

Then Lindelph noticed that the person whose opinion they should be listening to wasn’t joining in. Although he rarely participated in conversations, Alus always observed his surroundings, keeping an eye out for any abnormalities. While still a child, when it came to certain topics he was more knowledgeable than many adults.

Meanwhile, the boy in question was watching the pile of ashes that was once an Arachne scatter in the wind. Fiends weren’t defined as living beings by the academics because their biology was that far removed from any other living being. They ate, but it was mostly limited to humans, and it had already been determined that it wasn’t for survival.

In other words, Fiends were capable of functioning without eating humans. The details were still unknown, but the current theory was that they targeted humans, and in particular Magicmasters, to take in magic genes and to evolve.

Even Fiends had a survival instinct and would fight with everything they had if they were in danger, but this one...

Lindelph walked over and called out to Alus, who stood motionless. “What’s wrong, Alus?”

“Did you find something strange?” Elina asked, jogging up to reach him before Lindelph.

“The wounds on the target... They weren’t made by a Magicmaster attack.”

“—!” Lindelph and Elina both gasped.

“There’s bite marks here and there, but they’re all shallow and small,” Alus noted. “On the other hand, taking the strength of its outer shell into account, I put a lot of power into the spell I used to finish it off. In fact, I don’t think a low-classed Fiend could even leave a dent in it. And if it couldn’t even regenerate, then...”

Elina began to say, “So you think...”

Alus nodded. “Yes, this was done by Fiends, and more than one. It couldn’t have been some kind of trap by a Clevideet unit, and Morwald’s forces probably didn’t even put up a fight. They might have managed to carry out some attacks from a great distance at best. Those kinds of attacks wouldn’t leave much of a mark on the outer shell, so they probably just let it go.”

Elina raised her eyebrows in disbelief. Even if a Fiend was responsible for the Arachne’s wounds, the wounds themselves were inexplicable. If a low-classed Fiend couldn’t break through the outer shell, it would need to be a high-classed one that did it. But since there were no signs of combat around it, that was hard to believe.

Nike jumped on the thick root of a tree and howled loudly. It was a different kind of howling that they never taught him during their training.

“What?!” Lindelph shouted, as at the same time everyone turned to look at Alus. He’d been with Nike the most, so he should be the one who understood what this howling meant.

However... “I’ve never heard that kind of howl from him. But in terms of threat level, it’s probably...”

“The highest?! But from where?”

“It’s in the direction of Alpha!” Elina quickly answered Lindelph’s question, and Alus nodded.

“We completed our mission. Let’s get back home.”

At Lindelph’s command, the unit turned back. Shortly thereafter, Lindelph approached Alus and quietly asked him a question while remaining alert to their surroundings. “Alus, I once looked into some documents about Fiends and found something interesting. Is it true that Fiends can breed?”

Alus faced forward, and he moved his eyes only to glance at Lindelph, keeping his voice down. “It’s probably true. Strictly speaking, it’s not breeding in the biological sense. There are few examples or details, but apparently it’s something you only see in specific types of Fiends. In particular, in insect-like Fiends with similar bodies. You’ve seen something like that too, right, Mr. Lindelph?”

“Y-Yeah...”

“The Arachne is a spider type, so it’s a possibility. If it did give birth to so-called children, it must have used up its energy, or rather, its mana. Given that the outer shell’s a good mana conductor, it’s possible that the shell would soften somewhat due to massive amounts of mana being released during birth.”

“So then baby spiders must have caused those wounds?” Lindelph asked.

“Baby spiders, huh...”

“What?”

“Well, Fiends can’t have offspring, so they’re more like clones that share the Fiend’s mana.”

When the other unit members began looking curiously at them, Lindelph decided to leave the rest for later and returned to his position at the end of the column.

As he did, Alus looked over at Elina and saw a hint of anxiety in her face. But in the end he said nothing.

Elina led in front with Nike right behind her. That was the Fiendog’s standard position when they were on the move. There was no longer anything to talk about, and the Special Unit picked up the pace as they headed back towards Alpha in silence.

On the way, Lindelph listened to additional information Alus gave him, and seemed to be pondering something.

An hour passed, and they were within ten kilometers of Alpha’s border. But soon—given the scene they came across—everyone doubted their eyes. The sky was dyed bright red. A dazzling amount of mana particles warped the air, creating a mirage-like phenomenon.

They were five kilometers from Alpha’s defensive line but it looked like a battlefield. And Nike was growling the whole time at the unsettling scene.

They decided to make their way to a stronghold in the defensive line, but on the way, they had their first encounter. Catching a glimpse of something between the massive trees, they heard the distinctive shuffling sound of arthropods all around them. There were several of them, and each was larger than usual.

Lindelph ordered Alus and Elina to launch a preliminary attack on the unknown Fiends. But when he saw the remains of the first Fiend, his face contorted. “This is...”

Alus nodded. “There’s no doubt about it.”

The remains turning into ash definitely looked like an Arachne, although it was small in size, like a human child. There was a separate type of spider Fiend known as Alania but they were thought to be like half-bodies of the Arachne. In other words, the Arachne was the matured form of the Alania. Incidentally, because of their size and combat abilities, Alus considered the Alania to be C-class, right in line with their official classification.

After checking the remains, Lindelph pressed on the Consensor in his ear to get more information on the situation. “It’s no use. I can’t make out the words, and the noise is awful too. Even if we get closer we probably won’t get anything useful.”

“What do we do, Lindelph?” Elina asked. “We’ll move at your command.”

The unit nodded at Elina’s words. True, Lindelph wasn’t very reliable as a Magicmaster, but his abilities as a commander were outstanding. Not to mention the more dangerous the situation, the more astute his judgment became.

Lindelph scratched the back of his head and sighed, though he didn’t appear to be as gloomy as he sounded. He was currently wracking his brain. The Special Unit was given few restrictions, so they were allowed a certain degree of freedom at their own discretion. Defensive battles weren’t the main focus of the unit to begin with, and their mission this time wasn’t a defensive one. But if there were Fiends this close to the defensive line, they’d have to join in on the action too.

That said, since Lindelph couldn’t estimate the enemy’s threat level, he struggled to reach a decision. He’d memorized the manual on defense, but since the instructions changed depending on the scale he couldn’t make any careless moves. He kept his mouth tightly shut as he contemplated their next move. When Elina stared at him, he lowered his head, letting her know that he understood.

Should we endanger ourselves for others... He suddenly recalled what Vizaist said, the true intentions of what his superior told him before they departed...the directives that should be followed. Our top priority is Alus’s safety...but is that really okay? Besides, he’s not someone who needs our protection. The biggest problem would be if the defensive line was broken and new Fiends appeared. 

If Fiends started surging into Alpha, they couldn’t possibly say that wasn’t their mission. In that case perhaps they should hit the enemy and see how dangerous they really were... But no, Lindelph rejected his own idea. The enemy was unknown, and they were still in the Outer World. That kind of naive thought might easily pull the rug out from under them. I’m sure Elina would say we should take a detour and prioritize getting back first... 

Their mission to eliminate the Arachne was already complete. Lindelph thought about it some more. They had Alus on their side, someone who could be considered an ace up their sleeve. He’d also been asked to take care of Alus. So as long as Alus was safe, he’d be able to recover from the situation eventually. “All right, we’ll take a detour to...” he said, starting to explain his plan.

“Mr. Lindelph, if we don’t hurry, there are going to be a lot of deaths,” Alus interrupted him, making this ominous statement as if it was nothing, his expression blank. It was unclear if he was actually even worried about the other forces.

Lindelph turned Alus’s words over in his mind. He might just be making a routine observation. He couldn’t tell how Alus truly felt. But in this emergency, he’d been reminded that a Magicmaster never abandoned their allies. He’d completely lost sight of that and felt like a child being scolded.

“Ha ha! That’s true. Let’s hurry!” said a unit member.

What kind of Magicmaster would hesitate to help their comrades when they were in danger? And so Lindelph reached the exact opposite answer from the first one he came up with. With Alus’s potential he was a future candidate for the position of Single Digit Magicmaster. Considering the influence it would have on him, they shouldn’t be abandoning their allies here. Retreat wasn’t an option.

“Lindelph!” Elina shouted. Her tone was reprimanding.

But he took it in stride. “Don’t get so worked up, Elina. We don’t know what will happen regardless of what we choose. So why not act like Magicmasters? We specialize in killing Fiends, right? If we have allies fighting some right now, then what else should we do but help them?”

“But then we’d be ignoring the captain’s—”

“He’s left command to me. Of course, I understand what you want to say.”

Elina sighed. She glanced at Alus. His face was expressionless without any trace of childlike emotion. It was as if his sense of danger and fear of death were both broken. From her point of view that was very dangerous...but in the end she realized that her role wasn’t to bind Alus. She wasn’t meant to be a protective parent either. This meant that any actions of hers that limited him would only be for her own self-satisfaction.

So even if Alus’s true intentions were unclear, if he put himself in danger from his own decisions she just needed to protect him in terms of support. That was all that she was meant to do. “I understand. But are you okay with that, Alus?”

“Captain Vizaist said if there’s something I don’t understand, then I just have to try it. So for starters I think we should wipe out the enemy from behind.”

“Ri-Right...that’s true. Well, nobody knows what the right choice is. And I believe that even if it’s a mistake at first, it’s up to you to turn it into the right choice,” Elina managed to wring out with a forced, awkward smile. In the end she knew it was just sophistry. But she still chose to say it because she respected Alus’s judgment. She also believed that no matter what the risk, he really could turn it into the right decision with his overwhelming power.

“All right! Then, let’s get going,” Lindelph said, shaking off the hesitation still remaining in him.

Some time later, Alus and the others were rushing towards Alpha, or rather, the defensive line. But the closer they got, the ominous scenes unfolding before them told them that the situation was taking a turn for the worse.

Traces of battle could be seen here and there with corpses of Magicmasters strewn about. Looking at the devastation, it was hard to believe there were any survivors.

The unit had already dispatched countless Fiends on their way here. However, they were still some distance from the rearmost lines.

Lindelph stopped for a moment at the top of a hill and looked around with a bitter frown. “This area was the first front. But there’s no sign of any battles happening nearby...meaning that the frontline’s been pushed back quite a bit. Let’s hurry.”

Everyone felt a prickling frustration, wondering how far back the defensive line had fallen, but they quietly continued on their march. They’d already been eliminating Fiends, but they were no longer just the small Alanias. They all understood what that meant. The mass birth of Alanias had probably been the trigger.

Since the Arachne had suffered some attacks from Alpha’s army, the Alanias were probably born in an excited state. As soon as they were born it was likely that they’d eaten the Arachne’s body to accumulate mana, which would mean they were in a combat-ready state when they made their way to Alpha.

The Fiends’ war cries and the smell of blood called forth more Fiends, causing them to invade as well. But if there was such a large-scale invasion, there must be some high-classed Fiend driving it...

A unit member shuddered from a sudden chill. At the same time Nike let out a quick bark to alert everyone to a threat. Something deadly was nearby. All the unit members focused on their surroundings, staying on guard as they kept moving.

Eventually they reached a certain location...and everyone was horrified. Trees were burning bright red. Large amounts of blood were splattered all over. The orange light of the flames illuminated the slimy ground.

What the unit members saw was a hellish picture of countless Fiends devouring the corpses of Magicmasters. It was clear there were no survivors. From the Fiends’ point of view, Alus and the others were newly arrived sacrifices as they finished up their current food.

It was the worst possible situation. If it were just forty low-classed Fiends they could still make it through. However, when they saw the massive Fiend in the swarm’s center, they drew their AWRs and cursed their misfortune.

Elina shouted out what everyone was thinking. “Ogre type, Roscarg! What is it doing here?!” The Roscarg’s red eyes reflected the flames. A swell of dark-colored fur like a mane ran down its back. Its muscles were swollen like boulders and its arms were like tree trunks. Black claws protruded from its fingers.

The Roscarg was one of the more common A-class Fiends. Even so, there were few records of one appearing near Alpha’s defensive lines. Was it a lesser Fiend that had just recently evolved? Or perhaps it came from deeper in the Outer World in response to the Alanias. Either way, it was probably the driving force behind the large-scale invasion.

The unit froze from shock as if time had stopped. However...

“Our target is the Roscarg! Get ready!” Lindelph raised his voice.

“—!” The members finally reacted.

Lindelph snapped the unit out of their daze. They all locked their eyes on the enemy and nodded. If the high-classed Fiend was taken out here, the other Fiends would get confused. Once the leader was gone they would become disorganized, and many would leave Babel’s defensive area.

However, those thoughts were soon replaced with astonishment. The unit watched as Alus jumped ahead of them, and without hesitation, made a beeline for the Roscarg with sword in hand.

“Alus! We need to work toge—” one of the members said, but stopped when Lindelph held up his hand.

Lindelph looked at Elina. “Leave the Roscarg to Alus and Elina. We’ll clean up the rest.”

And so a fierce battle began. Flames scorched the air as the Special Unit began to fight. They steadily cut down the Fiends’ numbers, but more just sprang up from the ground and down from the trees.

As time passed, the unit members got worn down. Their pale faces revealed they were close to running out of mana. In the midst of everything, Nike targeted Fiends on the verge of mutating at Lindelph’s direction.

The time it took for each Fiend to convert absorbed mana varied, but some that had eaten the first victims were already showing signs of mutation. If the process was allowed to complete, the threat level would rise dramatically. The signs included their bodies starting to change, their skin warping, and more.

Nike struck at the Fiends as they transformed, as they were left defenseless when that happened, killing all that showed signs of transformation.

Meanwhile, Alus and Elina were engaged in close combat with the Roscarg. The Roscarg manifested mana, its arms ablaze as they swung around, while Alus’s sharp blade carved off bits of its outer shell. With Elina’s support the two were just able to put up a fight.

Alus didn’t so much as blink, as with each exchange sparks scattered from the Fiend’s body. The sparks burned his own body but he kept his eyes on the Fiend.

Suddenly, the Fiend’s thick legs were covered in flaming dust. Then it unleashed a kick as if trying to mow down everything around it.

Alus crouched down to avoid it, but the dreadful power of the kick spread large amounts of flames around it, nearly burning the unit members from behind. It was deadly enough to kill anyone it hit instantly. Despite knowing that, Alus still didn’t falter. He simply increased his speed, eventually overwhelming the Roscarg.

Elina attacked any openings she saw as well, but ground her teeth at her inability to keep up with Alus’s speed. That was when the Roscarg flinched from one of Alus’s attacks, showing a momentary opening.

Not missing her chance, Elina put as much mana into her foot as she could, and jumped up. She spun several times, adding centrifugal force, then unleashed it and her mana towards the Fiend.

But the moment Alus realized what she was doing, he did something that shocked her.

“What?!” she yelped. Just before her heel drop could connect, Alus pushed her away.

Elina rolled across the ground a couple of times, but stopped herself as soon as she could and looked up. She bit her lip. The light of mana was gathering in the Roscarg’s mouth. It was a beam-like attack that gathered flames before shooting them out. If it had been fired earlier, she would’ve been unable to evade since she was in the air.

By their nature, Fiends were uncanny beings that humans didn’t fully understand. Sometimes they ignored basic survival instincts, looking to take down their prey even if it killed them.

But the same seemed true for Alus, who’d covered her by pushing her out of the enemy’s line of fire. And he was already making his next move. He swung his AWR up from below, causing the Roscarg to rear back. While it impacted hard on its chin, it wasn’t enough to knock its head off. It was, however, enough to push its head upwards, causing the beam to go in that direction.

However, the price for avoiding a fatal attack was a heavy one. A dull crack rang out as Alus’s AWR shattered. Alus saw that the cutting edge wasn’t effective now and changed the way he held it, using the back of the blade to smash the Fiend’s chin. The AWR shattered...but not because it was fragile. It had been unable to withstand the amount of mana poured into it to increase the power of its impact.

When the Roscarg brought its head back down, it glared at Alus with hatred. Its jaw was cracked open and black liquid dripped down.

When Elina saw Alus throw away his destroyed AWR, she regretted her own carelessness. Moving to assist Alus in this situation wasn’t something anyone would blame her for. But from her own strict perspective it was a clear blunder, the result of which was Alus losing his weapon.

In the Outer World, losing your weapon in a situation like this could spell instant death. However, that was when—

“Alus!” Another sword flew through the air. Alus caught it. Lindelph had thrown his own AWR.

Alus’s expression remained unchanged, but from Elina’s point of view, new weapon or not, the situation was bad.

At first, Alus must’ve thought about wiping it out with an expert-level spell. But since his allies were around, he would run the risk of getting them caught up in it. Elina understood that he’d chosen close combat instead, so the circumstances weren’t in his favor. But in the next moment Alus easily passed his mana through the water attribute AWR he’d gotten from Lindelph.

The sight made Elina sigh in relief. But I thought Alus had an affinity for fire... She’d sensed something was off, as she realized the truth. But who could blame her when Alus had only really used fire magic before? When she understood that he could use attributes other than fire, she was amazed again at his unfathomable talent.

Meanwhile, it looked like Lindelph had already realized this beforehand. If not, he wouldn’t have thrown him an AWR that would’ve otherwise been useless.

Alus didn’t even bother thanking Lindelph, as he again leaped forward to face the Roscarg. And so their clash continued. A single hit could mean death, yet Alus handled all of its attacks.

But it wasn’t as though the tables had turned. Lindelph was a third-rate Magicmaster to begin with, and his current position was due to his outstanding commanding abilities, so his AWR was for self-defense and nothing more. Therefore, he didn’t have a very high quality one, and as proof of that, only shallow scratches were left on the Roscarg’s outer shell while Alus’s blade was screeching and cracking. Even though he was using mana to cover it, the difference in materials was too great.

Seeing that, Elina was frustrated. She needed to do something. She was a Double after all. But she shivered as she saw something. She wasn’t looking at the Roscarg but at Alus. And her eyes stopped at his lips.

He’s smiling...?! His smile was inappropriate for the situation and even looked somewhat sadistic. It was like he couldn’t see the difference in abilities or anything else around him.

But he wasn’t losing his mind from the danger. On the contrary, the large amounts of adrenaline released into his bloodstream made him feel all-powerful and ecstatic. The excitement was making him high.

“Lindelph!!” A scream rang out, breaking the momentary lull. It came from one of the members who was fighting the low-classed Fiends and was followed by their death throes.

By the time Lindelph looked over in that direction it was already too late. A deep laceration ran across the member’s body and a large amount of blood spurted from their mouth, staining their uniform a deep red. It was clear at first glance that they wouldn’t survive. Another member then met the same fate.

Lindelph gazed sorrowfully at the tragedies that were happening, but he quickly snapped out of it and made a decision with a pale face. Alus had lost his weapon and casualties were occurring. A high-classed Fiend that forced them into a struggle had appeared, so the best thing to do was to slow down and reorganize. “Elina!!” he shouted, preparing to tell her to get ready to retreat.

However, she didn’t react until he called out a second time. Things were getting heated, but she felt a chill. She was petrified with cold sweat running down her back. “A-Alus, we need to retreat... Alus?” Having returned to her senses, she called out to Alus. She knew there was no vigor in her voice but it was still loud enough for him to hear. But he didn’t react.

A feeling of impatience welled up. She’d feared this. She hesitated, and looked to Lindelph for instructions.

“Fine. We’ll have to pull him away by force. I’ll step in between them, so use that to carry Alus off. If he won’t listen, then knock him out or whatever it takes.”

“—! But then you’ll...” Elina’s voice trailed off as she realized the importance of her role. Then she regained her cool with a wry smile. “You won’t be able to create an opening, Lindelph. This thing is stronger than your average Roscarg,” she told him, getting ready to cut in between Alus and the Fiend.

But Lindelph grabbed hold of her shoulder. “This is an order. I’ll make an opening. I’ve been useless as a Magicmaster, so at least let me act captain-like in the end.” His hand trembled but his eyes were serious.

Looking around, no one in the Special Unit was left standing. There were no calls for help or desperate screams. Nothing but emptiness remained. Everyone must have lost their lives in the fight.

Only the three of them remained. The last unit member to scream Lindelph’s name... His will finally reached Lindelph...to at least save Alus.

The two of them had received direct instructions from Vizaist. And it had been the will of the entire unit. Alus was their hope.

Witnessing his allies dying before him, Lindelph felt both regret and the desire to atone. He couldn’t be the only one to survive. And so there was an unshakable resolve in his eyes. This time he used his willpower to stop himself from trembling.

“So you really were a man, Lindelph,” Elina muttered. She reflected on this self-evident fact and her expression eased up a little. Her cheeks seemed to be faintly tinted by the color of fire.

“Of course I’m a man. At least let me act cool! So...if I do happen to make it back alive...”

Elina looked a little surprised as Lindelph stared directly at her. But she interrupted his words and smirked as if she’d seen right through him. “You’re saying you’re prepared to die? You wouldn’t even be able to seduce a dog with a line like that.”

Lindelph stumbled over his words, trying to correct himself, but Elina stopped him again. “I hate a man who goes back on his word,” she said sharply. Then she continued with a smile, “By the way, I have no interest in a man who chases after every woman he sees. We can discuss this in detail when we get back to Alpha.”

Lindelph’s expression quickly brightened and he ran off like a foolish boy. “Here we gooooo!!!”

He dashed into the fire like he didn’t feel the heat, and Elina quietly followed behind him.

***

Alus was excited, drunk off his death match, so in order to get him to understand that they needed to retreat they would have to snap him out of it.

However, that would leave a big opening. And Lindelph understood that Alus’s battle style wasn’t just fighting like a maniac. When Alus was calm, he would use all kinds of magic to gain an advantage, even against a Roscarg.

He’s experiencing euphoria over this. That might be due in part to his immaturity, but Alus had enough composure to enjoy the situation, which was a sign of his bottomless potential. It was Lindelph’s first time seeing Alus like this. Everything else so far must not have been enough for him. He must’ve been bored having to fight under the assumption of cooperation to protect his allies.

But the Special Unit was meant to be his home. It was an essential place for Alus to live, regardless of his outstanding talents. Lindelph couldn’t and mustn’t deny him that.

Right now, Alus was like a child playing with the first toy he’d ever had that didn’t break after he picked it up. It seemed he was using the Fiend as an experiment to measure his power, to see how far he could push it without breaking it.

However, given Lindelph’s experience as a commander and having calmly overseen the situation in its entirety, he was worried about that composure. The balance would fall apart at some point. Fighting in a playful way like that would definitely come back to bite you in the Outer World.

True, Alus appeared to be in the lead, but the battle had been going on for minutes despite him having the upper hand...and the enemy still hadn’t fallen.

The problem lay with Alus. And it wasn’t the quality of his AWR. Lindelph could tell that Alus was intentionally holding back.

Strong as he was, Alus was still young. Underestimating the enemy could lead to death. Anyone who’d survived for long in the Outer World knew that, but it still hadn’t engraved itself in Alus. That was probably because of his overwhelming power.

That was why Lindelph was running so desperately. He was sure the battle would end soon with Alus being fatally wounded. The closer he got to Alus, the more anxiety he felt.

Alus was in some kind of manic state. He was feeling all-powerful, on top of the world. Time felt like it stretched to infinity in his brain as he analyzed countless complex strategies that would lead him to victory.

That’s how an opening appeared in the middle of the fight, as he suddenly moved awkwardly. A single move from the Roscarg was all it took for Alus’s body to stiffen. In a word, he was overloaded.

By then, Alus’s mind had already exceeded being in the moment. He was thinking a dozen moves ahead. He simultaneously analyzed the enemy’s movements, its muscle contractions, the direction of its claws, and more. It was an attempt to pile up multipliers upon multipliers, trying to calculate a suitable outcome out of the infinite possibilities.

Naturally, this tremendous load would fry a normal person’s brain. Alus’s brain could withstand it because a young body was built differently. But just like a child who tried too hard to solve a puzzle and became feverish, his body was unable to keep up.

In the blink of an eye, the tables had turned. The Roscarg twisted its body and pulled its arm back. Its muscles bulged as it gathered power.

That kind of movement would normally be too slow for him, but Alus couldn’t move. He felt his moment of death approaching but still couldn’t move.

“Fuck!” Lindelph realized he wasn’t going to make it, when a large white object passed by him.

It was Nike, growling as he jumped in. He swung down his large claws on the Fiend and deflected its aim.

A moment later Alus could move his body again. Nike filled his vision with his glistening hair as he landed on the ground, but...the moment his feet touched down, his body shook from a heavy impact. His fur and flesh were unnaturally swelling in several places with things sticking out. At the same time fresh blood spurted out and dyed the area red before Alus’s eyes.

Alus realized the Roscarg’s claws were tearing through Nike’s body, and coming towards him. He didn’t even flinch at the approaching claws. He just stood there dumbfounded, looking past the claws to stare at Nike.

At the same time, the Roscarg launched another claw attack from the opposite side. Alus was stunned, but a coincidence saved him. He’d twisted his body to reach Nike and the claws flew over him. Or rather...most of them did. Only the tips of the claws had touched him.

But to Alus it was like being hit by a bullet. One of his eyeballs was torn out along with a lump of flesh, as blood sprayed up high.

“Alus!!!” Lindelph’s voice didn’t even reach his ears. Alus collapsed to one knee, closing the eyelid, and ignoring the blood running down his face as he stared straight forward.

Nike was skewered and lifted in the air. Blood poured out of his wounds with no end in sight, pooling up below him. Eventually the claws were retracted and Nike fell to the ground with a heavy thud.

“Nike...” Alus murmured. His words resounded through the air but didn’t reach anyone. His focus was only on Nike, to the point of not even seeing the approaching Roscarg anymore.

He gently stroked Nike’s fur with his small hands, his fingers brushing through like he always did, even as blood poured from his eye socket. Nike was taking slow, deep breaths as Alus shook him. But after a few breaths his breathing stopped. In spite of that, Alus continued to stroke his fur, looking into his now empty eyes.

“...” An abnormal silence fell around Alus. There was no longer any emotion in his face. Blood trickled down from the eye socket, while the other eye was as usual, feeling no pain. His remaining eye was as empty as always.

It was a frighteningly expressionless face. He didn’t blink, and there was no reaction from the flames dancing around him. A line of dark red blood ran from his closed eyelid down to his chin, dripping onto the ground. “I should have just done it alone from the start. People die because I’m not alone. I should have been alone. That’s enough, I don’t need anyone else anymore... Good work, Nike.” Alus’s words were full of hate, except for the last, which were said with sympathy.

Two extreme, conflicting emotions exploded within him. An abnormal power swelled up inside of him. That power froze both Lindelph and Elina to the core. They heard a strange cry as Alus’s emotional balance collapsed.

“...!” A chill ran through Lindelph’s body. He felt a terribly bitter, numbing sensation. Grinding his teeth, he ran towards Alus at full speed as if driven by something.

The Roscarg paid no attention to Nike as it raised its giant arm wrapped in flames to slam down on Alus. Lindelph slid in and cradled Alus’s head. He then turned his back to the Fiend to protect him from a fatal blow. He squeezed his eyes shut and waited for the moment to come.

He heard a voice. In that instant his eyes snapped open, and the scene before him made him bite down on his lip hard.

“I knew you wouldn’t make it, Lindelph...” Elina was standing between him and the Roscarg. She knew her magic wouldn’t be able to intercept the attack wrapped in flames...yet she smiled at Lindelph as the claws skewered her stomach. Heat scorched the wound. Smoke rose up from her abdomen.

“Wh-What are you doing, Elina...?”

“It’s all about the right person in the right place.” She vomited blood and panted heavily. The next moment her body moved up slightly. The Roscarg was trying to rip its claws back out.

Elina was thrown in the process, spraying blood as her body rolled, before stopping near a burning tree. Her head was turned to the side, her hair spread out like a spider’s web on the ground.

Lindelph’s teeth chattered at the sight. He bit down on his lip even harder, ignoring the blood coming out, until it took on a deathly pale color.

“Goddammit!!!” He stood up in a fury, looking like he was going to throw himself at the Fiend unarmed, but stopped as a primal emotion overcame him. Dread filled his heart, but it wasn’t the Fiend’s doing. It was coming from behind him.

The enemy that killed Nike and Elina was standing right in front of him, but his instincts told him that an even greater threat was right behind him. Even the Roscarg completely disregarded Lindelph to focus on it, and of all things, it slowly backed away as if afraid.

When Lindelph timidly turned around, he forgot about his goal to get Alus to safety... He even forgot how to use words. “—!!!”

Alus, in a daze, was staring at Elina’s still body. Tears dripped from his remaining eye, stained red by the flames. To Lindelph they looked like tears of blood.

“And again... Ha ha ha, I knew I should’ve just done it alone,” Alus repeated himself in a hollow tone that sounded loud to Lindelph’s ears.

But when Lindelph realized that was because the surrounding noises had ceased, he raised his voice. “Alus!” His voice, though, seemed to disappear into the air. Thinking his vocal cords had collapsed, he touched his throat, but soon understood he was off the mark. He just couldn’t hear anything else. Not the burning trees, not the wind currents created by the heated air, not the sounds of Fiends roaming around him...or any other sound he should have heard.

Yet he could hear Alus’s mumbling perfectly fine. Even so, he tried to shout to let his voice reach Alus.

Suddenly, the Roscarg’s sense of danger kicked in, and it tried to get away.

—! Alus! Lindelph turned to Alus, and to his astonishment, the eyelid of his torn-out eye had lifted. In the socket was a ripped-looking wound. Then it opened wide and a crack seemed to spread through the socket. A murky black liquid poured out from the crack. It quickly covered Alus’s eye socket and dyed it a terrifyingly deep black.

Next, Lindelph sensed a big shaking movement behind him. When he turned to look, the Roscarg had fallen to one knee. A leg that previously showed bulging muscles as thick as a log was destroyed from the inside as it popped open. Black blood gushed out of the wound.

When Lindelph looked at Alus again, he could only shudder. Of all things, the cracks had spread to both eyes. The white of his remaining eye was dyed black, and the eye lacked any semblance of human-like qualities.

Somehow regaining his composure, Lindelph took one step towards Alus to get closer. But Alus held his arm out and stopped him. It was a casual motion, but it was enough to make Lindelph feel like his vision was being distorted.

No, it wasn’t just a sensation. The space around him was warping and bending.

Lindelph reached out to Alus despite his shock... However, his hand simply grabbed empty air.

***

As the warped space returned to normal, the ability to hear sounds suddenly returned as well.

With his hand still in midair, Lindelph was confused for a moment, unable to comprehend what had happened. As soon as he snapped out of it, he hurriedly looked around to find Alus.

He was still in the Outer World. It was a grassy area, not too different from what the battlefield had been before the attack. So why was he here when he was supposed to be surrounded by hellfire? For a moment he thought he’d lost his mind.

That was when he spotted a collapsed figure and screamed, “Elina!! Hey! Elina!” This time his voice reverberated through his surroundings. Without thinking about it, Lindelph rushed over and held Elina up with his arms.

“What are you doing here?!”

When he turned around, a man was standing behind him. Based on his military uniform it was clear that he was one of Alpha’s Magicmasters. “I don’t know what unit you’re with, but hurry up and fall back. Lady Sisty is making preparations on the final defensive line.” The man eyed Lindelph with suspicion.

“Where am I? What area is this?!”

“What are you talking about? In fact, what unit are you even with...?” The man approached Lindelph. “Sorry, but it’s too late for her,” he said, glancing at Elina. He grabbed Lindelph’s arm to get him to stand up.

But Lindelph shook him off. “Just answer me! How far is the barrier from here?”

The man, startled by his intensity, answered him. “The three kilometer mark... More importantly, hurry up and fall back! The directive’s already been issued. It’s been a while since they decided that the defensive line is being pulled back. There shouldn’t be anyone else left around here.”

“H-Hold on... Wait! Elina isn’t dead yet! And there are still injured over there. Where are the medics! Hurry up and call them over!”

The man calmly listened to Lindelph, then put a hand on his shoulder with a sorrowful look. “Give it up. It’s too late to do anything now. Besides, this is the Outer World.”

“We’re not going anywhere! Just bring a healing Magicmaster to treat Elina! Please...I’m begging you.” Lindelph started off strong, but his words turned into a weak plea at the end.

Then he noticed the noisy transmission on his Consensor and jumped up, pushing his hand over his ear, willing to cling to any hope.

“C-Can you...can you hear me... Answer me...”

“Yes, Captain Vizaist! I’m fine, but Alus is... And Elina is seriously injured! Please, please send over a healing Magicmaster!” Lindelph curbed his impatience in order to convey his main points, when suddenly...

“Wh-What is that?! You’ve got to be kidding me! Hey, we can’t stay here!” The man pointed to the sky some distance away.

Lindelph’s eyes opened wide and he went speechless, ignoring Vizaist’s request for details. Countless big, black serpents were flying around in the sky. He wasn’t sure they were actually serpents, but couldn’t come up with any other way to describe them.

“Lindelph!!” Vizaist shouted, his tone reprimanding, snapping him back to reality. “You’re seeing it too, aren’t you?”

“Yes, I think that’s Alus. Please send reinforcements and medics there!”

“Understood. I will ask for details later. But are you not with Alus right now?”

“T-That’s...”

“Hello, sorry to interrupt, Vizaist,” said an unusually carefree voice.

Lindelph recognized the voice and was shocked. “Is that...Sisty Nexophia?!”

“Yes, indeed.” The answer came not through the Consensor, but from right behind him.

Turning around, Lindelph saw a group wearing long capes making their way over. In the center was a woman holding a long staff, pressing a finger against the Consensor in her ear. She walked with a gallant stride, continuing the discussion that she’d just interrupted. “We already have medics, so you won’t need to call for those, Vizaist.”

“I see. Thank you.”

“This is just a coincidence. I came to see how things were going. I’d love to ask what that thing is, but I’ll save it for later.”

“Yes, I’m aware. Are you in overall charge now?”

“Unfortunately, no. Frose is the supreme commander.”

“I see,” Vizaist said. “Either way, you are a big help.”

“That’s very honest...for you. Well, my former subordinate is on the verge of death, so I’m going to end the call here.”

“Take care of her.”

As the call ended, Lindelph slumped down on weak legs.

Three people who appeared to be healing Magicmasters slipped out of the group Sisty had brought. They rushed over to Lindelph, and Elina, who was still in his arms. Upon seeing her condition, they hurriedly began treating her.

Lindelph asked about Elina in a frantic tone, and they gestured to him that they would probably be able to save her. They would miraculously be able to save Elina after the other man had already written her off.

With a sigh of relief, his attention shifted to Sisty. Apparently she’d been keeping an eye on her former subordinate’s condition as well. However, there was neither relief nor anger in her expression. Having experienced hell itself for years, she remained calm.

The Witch was once one of the Three Pillars that included Vizaist, and they had supported Alpha. They’d built up a generation of Magicmasters and continued to guide them afterwards. However, of the three, Sisty and Frose Fable were supposed to have already retired from the military. So what could have brought them back?

Suddenly, a gentle smile appeared on Sisty’s face as she addressed Elina. “It looks like you’ve suffered quite the misfortune, Elina. But it’s the path you chose for yourself, so I’m sure you don’t have any regrets. I tried to stop you, but you were just so stubborn.”

Even as she spoke these words, Sisty looked somewhat proud. “Besides, you still haven’t introduced me to him . That’s why you have to survive... I want to see this hope you’ve found. And if possible, I want to hear his introduction from you.” Her tone was calm and her expression gentle, as if she were talking to her daughter.

When he heard that, Lindelph finally realized why Sisty had appeared. She didn’t just show up to save a former subordinate. He’d heard that Elina went out of her way to leave Sisty’s unit and join the Special Unit. Of course, it was unclear what Elina had told Sisty about “him.” No matter how much Berwick and Vizaist had wanted her to join, there would’ve been some controversy over it.

But as it was, her judgment had been sound. Alus was without a doubt the most talented Magicmaster since the rise of Alpha. Lindelph was sure of that. In that case, he still had something he needed to do. He couldn’t be the only one who fled.

“E-Excuse me!” he somehow managed to squeeze out.

Sisty turned her head and quietly looked at him. He stood facing the only one of the Three Pillars to reach the rank of Single. Behind her he saw the sky, and the mysterious black serpents still dancing over the burning forest and slithering through the trees, dying everything black.

Frustration built up within him. He couldn’t wait a second longer. He’d left Alus behind. Lindelph gave a brief report on the situation, then left Elina in the healing Magicmasters’ hands and gave them his thanks before turning to go.

“Stop.” After his first step, Sisty’s staff blocked his path.

But not even a former Single was going to stop him. “No, this is something I have to do,” Lindelph declared.

But Sisty mercilessly shot him down. “Captain Lindelph, there is nothing you can do. You need to understand that there are people you can’t save with willpower, guts, or foolhardiness...like you just proved.”

Her chilling voice froze Lindelph like it was a spell. She was intelligent and calm, and showed undeniable power in her tone. But that wasn’t all. Even now, he couldn’t completely play the fool. He cursed himself for not being able to disregard Sisty’s words once he understood that they were the truth.

At the same time, he felt how truly powerless he was. In the end he was lacking in everything. His weakness had hurt Elina and left Alus alone in a deadly situation.

“Leave this to me. You and Elina retreat first.”

Lindelph gulped and tried to resist one last time. “P-Please wait! Alus is still out there, and my other allies might still...”

“Captain Lindelph, it seems you still don’t understand the situation. The military alone is not enough to repel this large-scale invasion. My being here is proof of that. Not to mention...” Sisty looked over at something that was happening.

And it wasn’t the sky filled with black serpents. She was gazing at a huge figure looming high over the canopy of giant trees. It was a strange Fiend with a sickle-shaped neck around thirty meters tall.

“Where did that come from?”

But Sisty seemed unconcerned. “Now that’s a foolish question. This is the Outer World. It’s a place where strange things happen like it’s normal...where the abnormal is normal.”

Next, she narrowed her eyes and looked at the black serpents in the sky. They seemed to be rejoicing upon spotting the giant Fiend like they’d found prey worth hunting, and one after another they dove towards their new target.

The black serpents rushed in to sink their fangs into the Fiend. In the blink of an eye it was wrapped in a dark mist.

Then the head of the Fiend came flying out of the black mist. And the black serpents swarmed and devoured it before it could even hit the ground. It was not unlike the predation of the natural world. The serpents made from a mist without substance were eating a Fiend with substance.

“Is that...‘him’?” Sisty asked.

Lindelph hung his head low and answered, “I honestly don’t know. But it’s very likely that Alus is involved in some way. Either way, leaving him there would be the biggest failure in our military history. I think we should set out to rescue him right now.”

“So it seems. At the very least, Elina was willing to leave me for him. We’ll need to hurry, Captain Lindelph. We don’t have a moment to spare with that here.”

Sisty struck the ground with her staff. She stared straight forward with a sharp glint in her eyes, watching not the black serpents or the giant Fiend they’d eaten, but the new threat that had just appeared closer to them.

A Fiend was observing them from between the gaps in the trees. The first thing that stood out was its strange silhouette, like it was wearing an umbrella. Size-wise, it was close to a human. The body was humanoid and it had slender legs like a woman’s.

As it made its sudden appearance, Lindelph asked, “What is that...?”

But Sisty didn’t respond, only tightening her grip on her staff. It didn’t look anything like the Fiends she knew, so it was undoubtedly a new species that was born here.

She quietly released her mana. It wasn’t an explosive outburst, but more like a ripple spreading across the ground.

Before long, it covered everyone’s feet. Lindelph was taken by surprise at the act, while Sisty’s subordinates respectfully stepped back.

“Now, that’s enough talk. Like I said before, this is already a battlefield. So let this be our perimeter and destroy any targets beyond it,” Sisty calmly said, basically declaring this to be the final defensive line and that all before it was to be annihilated.

At the same time, one of her subordinates shot a red signal flare up into the sky.

“It’s definitely going to be a pain in the future if we don’t deal with it here. So let’s start off with a large-scale annihilation spell.”

It appeared to be the signal for a counterattack. But suddenly the Fiend between the trees started to shake, and an ultrasonic wave echoed through the surroundings. It felt like the sound would burst their eardrums and pierce their brains. Lindelph and even Sisty covered their ears as a sharp pain drove deep into their heads in waves.

“Ugh...my head...!” Covering his ears didn’t seem to help, as Lindelph cradled his head and crouched down low.

Meanwhile, Sisty gathered all of her willpower and raised her staff. Immediately a storm of wind kicked up. A powerful gust blew, throwing up dust and sand.

As the wind started to push the trees, the sound finally stopped. Lindelph’s eyes flickered and he looked up at Sisty. She wore a bitter expression like she wanted to click her tongue, and for a former Single, she seemed to be lacking in composure now.

The ground suddenly started shaking. A noise rang out like the forest itself was making a racket, gradually growing louder as if something was approaching.

All Lindelph could do was to stare blankly into the darkness of the trees. It was clearly a sign that something was coming and that nothing but destruction awaited. Yet his legs wouldn’t move.

“!!!” Finally, the trees were pushed aside as a wave that provoked despair appeared, making Lindelph realize how reckless his wish to save Alus was.

The Fiends coming out of the woods numbered over a hundred, over two hundred. They were like a surging wave. An extraordinary number poured out like the gates of hell had opened and chaos itself had been given form.

Is this because of that sound...?! It was way beyond the level of a simple trigger. It was like all the Fiends in the area had been aroused and awakened to the urge to destroy. Indeed, that sound was the signal for the massive invasion that was a threat to Alpha and all of humanity.

“I’m designating that new species as ‘Siren.’”

Following Sisty’s murmur, her aide shouted, “We’re having the defensive line fall back!”

“Wh-What are you...”

“Captain Lindelph, it’s too late. Unfortunately, we’ve lost the initiative.”

When Lindelph looked, the Fiend responsible for the rampage was already gone. Once it had let out its scream, the Siren had completed its job. He also realized that he couldn’t rely on Sisty.

All the forces began to retreat at Sisty’s hand signal. Someone tried to grab Lindelph’s arm but he shook them off. “At least let me borrow an AWR!” he shouted, ignoring any strategy or calculations. He couldn’t come up with any proper plans, let alone a way to win. Even so, he had to get to Alus no matter what. It was something a rational man like him would never normally do. There was no reason involved and his judgment was gone. And he would’ve made the same decision regardless of who was left behind, even if it wasn’t Alus or Elina.

The Special Unit was all but destroyed, and he couldn’t name a group consisting only of himself as a unit. Being alone meant all the decisions and responsibilities fell on him. And the only price he could pay for his recklessness was with his life.

Sisty stared at him coldly, but Lindelph, not giving in, met her gaze. “Phew... Captain Lindelph, I won’t stop you. I won’t tell you to do whatever you please. But I will say this because you are Vizaist’s subordinate. And because Elina who was tormented to this point is my former subordinate. I thought you were a little smarter than this. You really aren’t suited to be on the frontlines.”

“Yes, I’ve gotten a good feel for my own capacity. And I hope this is the last time,” Lindelph daringly said, putting up a bold front.

“Hm, but you still haven’t shown what you really think,” Sisty quietly replied. “You look like you want to do something stupid, but that’s not quite it... That’s it! You just want an excuse to wager your own life.”

“—?!” She’d hit the nail on the head. He wanted an excuse to lose his life, to do what he could... There was a deep-rooted weakness in his heart.

When this was pointed out to him, Lindelph couldn’t say anything. She wasn’t wrong, and he felt like he was shrinking from shame. Thinking it over, those feelings might have lurked at the root of every one of his actions. Playing the fool was easier and he didn’t have to deal with everyone placing expectations on him. As a result, he’d had fewer responsibilities and he didn’t even have to use his head. He’d been satisfied just with getting a few promotions and living modestly.

Yet he’d ended up having his talents recognized by Vizaist. He did find joy and happiness in that. It wasn’t for his skills as a Magicmaster and it definitely wasn’t because he’d played the clown. Instead, it was because of his knowledge and insight and the wisdom to use them.

At the eleventh hour, he finally acknowledged his own powers. He steeled his resolve and spoke up. “Lady Sisty, Alus’s powers exceed even your own. Considering humanity’s future, it’s worth it to charge into the swarm of Fiends even if there are thousands of them. Even if the military is decimated for it.”

“Those are some big words. But how trustworthy are they?”

“Elina staked her life on him!”

Sisty didn’t respond, but slammed her staff into the ground. Mana flowed from her body into the staff, which astonished Lindelph.

Then something explosively swelled up in the swarm of Fiends, blowing them all up into the air. It was the ground itself that raised up, like an invisible tornado throwing them into the sky, which turned dark with the swarm of Fiends for a moment.

A smile appeared on Sisty’s face as she watched the chilling sight, like all of her doubts had finally been answered. “I see. So that’s how it is. That’s why Vizaist put a unit together... Then that’s fine.”

Her decision seemed to have turned the tide. All her subordinates who were about to take evasive actions turned to look at each other.

“Oh, well. Everyone, can I ask you to make a stand here? Having the defensive line retreat prematurely might be a bad idea. The units behind us might panic, and I can only imagine how loudly Frose will yell at me.”

The subordinates immediately followed their commander’s change in policy and calmly got ready for combat.

Lindelph, who was responsible for all of this, gazed quietly at Sisty.

“We’ll only last ten minutes or so, so you do what you can here. If we’re lucky we’ll find him from here. If those black serpents move at Alus’s will like you say they do, then tell him to pull back and retreat. If he can’t do that, it means his will no longer exists.”

Realizing what she’d left unsaid...that meant it was already too late. Lindelph was impatient. “B-But... Right, the Consensor!” He tried contacting Alus with the Consensor, but all he got back was static.

But he didn’t give up, repeatedly calling out to him. Once, twice, three times. As time went on his calls took on a more desperate tone. In the end, though, ten minutes was a short amount of time.

“Time’s up. Any longer is going to affect the back lines,” Sisty quietly told him. Lindelph slumped over.

However...Sisty and the others who’d had the defensive line fall back and repositioned to counterattack were suddenly left in shock. And there were countless Magicmasters who saw that . That being another change that had happened with the black serpents flying in the air.

They devoured Fiend after Fiend and intertwined before explosively growing. The whole area was covered in a black torrent. In the face of their momentum, the swarm of Fiends was whittled down. It was like a small school of fish against a massive wave.

And then the whole thing came to an undramatic end. The thousands of Fiends rapidly dropped in numbers until what remained wouldn’t be a challenge for Sisty and her unit, so it was only a matter of time before they were cleaned up.

It was an odd anticlimax. While many had died, it was nowhere near the expected number of casualties. And despite their sinister appearance, the black serpents were a blessing. Moreover, what surprised everyone was that Alus, the lost cause, returned. The black serpents had disappeared at some point and he returned two days later.

Everyone was still on high alert as people built up positions, treated the wounded, and brought in new equipment.

His clothes were dirty and tattered, but there were no injuries that stood out on his body. Even his lost eye had returned to normal. Nobody could believe what they were seeing, and even Lindelph pinched his cheek to confirm he wasn’t dreaming.

Only Vizaist nodded as if he understood everything and praised him for his return.

When the two saw Alus standing there not saying a word, both understood that he had lost something huge that would never return. The boy’s empty eyes no longer had any light in them or reflected any emotion.

***

While the invasion had been repelled, the military had suffered many casualties. The screams of those scarred by what they saw could sometimes be heard from the treatment rooms hastily set up at headquarters.

In the headquarters, two figures walked forward gallantly. One wore a white military uniform, with her long hair tied to one side and hanging down in front. It was a woman with a voluptuous figure that swayed to and fro. She wore a special-made uniform that emphasized her ample breasts, but it seemed they didn’t get in the way of her movement. The fabric appropriately pushed up her breasts as she bounced with each step.

The other was a man walking one step behind while he hurriedly read through a document in his hand. “Good work on holding the defensive line the other day, Lady Sisty. We only got away with the casualties that we did thanks to you. As to be expected from one with your skills...”

“Enough with the pleasantries. Can you get to the point?”

“A-Ah, right. Forgive me!” At the sound of her fed-up voice the man flinched, and quickly apologized, before getting to the main topic. “A mop-up operation under Frose’s command will be conducted starting tomorrow morning. More Fiends are gathering in the Outer World and threatening to...um...eat the unrecovered bodies. So it’s important to prevent any Variants from being born...”

“Naturally. So how many squads are you sending in?”

“Well...we still don’t know.”

Sisty let out an audible sigh at his witless reply.

“Lady Sisty, where are you going?”

“There are a lot of things bothering me about this, and I want to meet with him one more time.”

“Who do you mean by ‘him’?”

“I’m talking about Lord Vizaist.”

“—!”

The peerless commander Frose Fable. A catastrophe-level nonconformist, Vizaist Socalent. And Witch Sisty Nexophia. The missions that had made use of these three when they were known as the Three Pillars were a thing of the past, but the man couldn’t help but stare with wide eyes as Sisty prepared to meet with the other two again.

“That’s enough talk.” Sisty turned around and continued on her way. She’d heard about Elina’s motivation for joining the Special Unit from the woman herself, but she didn’t know Vizaist’s thinking or the purpose of the unit. That said, as one of the Three Pillars, Vizaist was trustworthy. He wouldn’t do anything stupid, and she wanted to respect Elina’s will as well. That’s why she’d decided against inquiring too much...

But after the invasion, the circumstances had changed. Lindelph had shown exceptional resolve. And both he and Elina had nothing but remarkable praise for the young boy.

Yet Vizaist hadn’t mentioned anything about that trump card to Sisty. Along with the secrecy, she felt politics at work behind the scenes. She also knew that while the Special Unit had been formed by Vizaist on paper, Berwick had had a hand in it.

A certain hypothesis came to mind. She’d heard about the existence of something that Berwick considered his treasure. And she’d heard about a project that once existed in the military as well as its facilities. It was said to be a place that gathered children who were orphans of soldiers.

While an orphanage on the outside, its true purpose was finding talent among the children and training them to become Magicmasters. In other words, it was for training young boys and girls and sending them out to the battlefield.

There was, of course, a lot of backlash within the military, and in reality the first generation had all been wiped out. So Berwick should have been working on putting the project on hold indefinitely.

Berwick, I’m starting to understand. Sisty felt like all the pieces had fallen into place. She relaxed a little. Everything had finally connected up in her mind. Speaking of which, he played it off during our call...but I still suspect there’s something more behind those black serpents. 

Captain Lindelph had said something that made it sound like their appearance was related to Alus. Perhaps it was a spell she’d never heard of before? In addition, all the high-classed Fiends had disappeared after that. Not to mention that Lindelph’s serious expression had left a deep impression on her.

I’m sure of it. That entire unit was made for that boy. For Alus. The unit belonged to Vizaist on the surface, but it didn’t make sense for someone who’d stepped away to work behind the scenes to come back and make a new unit. That stirred her curiosity as a Magicmaster.

Elina had left her side for this boy. She wanted to see him for herself so that she could appraise him.

Eventually, Sisty arrived at a room. The plaque near the door stated that it was the standby room of the Special Fiend Attack Unit.

As she approached the door, she noticed that it was slightly ajar. Seeing how light was streaming out through the gap, somebody had to be inside, so Sisty peeked in. “Is that...”

The commander of the Special Unit, Vizaist, was conspicuously missing. Instead there was a boy holding his knees sitting in the corner. His eyes were empty. Sisty had seen those kinds of eyes before. It was something a lot of mentally scarred Magicmasters got from battle. And who could blame him? Age-wise, he was still just a child. And the large-scale invasion had only happened recently.

He looked fragile, like his existence was fleeting and he could fall to pieces at any moment. Yet he still maintained a distinct atmosphere of his own. Even if he looked like he might break, Sisty could feel his potential.

Once she’d confirmed there was nobody else inside, she stepped away from the door for a second and turned to the man with her. “That’s enough. You can go back now.”

“Excuse me?”

“This will probably take a while. Oh, yes, and Lord Vizaist appears to be missing, so could you find him for me?”

“Y-Yes, ma’am!”

After watching the man walk off, Sisty took a deep breath before opening the door. “Nice to meet you...”

***

Two days later, in the evening.

A small figure stood in the vast space next to headquarters. It was Alus. His clothes were neatly arranged, and other than his expression which had become even colder than before, he showed no traces of the previous battle.

He was at the military cemetery. His black eyes reflected the dusk and crimson-colored clouds. His memory of playing with Nike next to the cemetery two weeks ago felt like a dream.

Alus stood in silence. There were hundreds and thousands of grave markers and they would only increase with each passing year. The fact that there was still so much space left for more would cause most people to feel conflicted.

Before him were the graves of the Special Unit. Many of the graves were empty, containing neither body nor belongings. Even as such, a grave was better than nothing. There were plenty of Magicmasters who were treated as having disappeared, who didn’t even get graves.

Alus bent down and placed a white bouquet on a certain grave. Behind him stood Lindelph and Vizaist with downcast eyes, in mourning dress. A special promotion of two ranks was little comfort to a Magicmaster.

Officially, the credit for repelling the large-scale invasion was given to Frose Fable and her command and to Sisty Nexophia for her fighting on the frontlines. Alus and the rest of the Special Unit were, of course, kept secret.

However, their work behind the scenes was undeniable, such that Vizaist was promoted to major general and Lindelph to lieutenant colonel.

It was an unwanted promotion from Lindelph’s point of view, but he gritted his teeth and accepted it. “If I climb the ranks and get to take part in strategizing, I can reduce the casualties even more. That way I can at least pay them back a little,” he’d said when he accepted it.

After a silent prayer, Vizaist spoke up. “There’s still some clean-up remaining.”

“I know,” Lindelph replied to Vizaist’s tactless words. He glanced to the side.

Alus seemed completely unconcerned with their conversation. He had already turned his small back and was about to leave.

“I’m not telling you to abandon him, but leave him be for now. The unit was made to keep this from happening, though...”

Vizaist’s sigh pierced through Lindelph’s chest. He also understood that it had only been in this unit, and especially with Nike, that Alus had been able to truly act like a child. That’s why a grown-up like him couldn’t judge how much of a shock losing all of that had been.

Alus had seen and experienced too much for his age. All the cruelty of the world had been beaten into his small body, which was bathed in the blood of those who had died.

Ever since that day he was like an empty husk. Worries and regrets no longer carried any meaning for him. However, at the very depths of that emptiness was a firm vow that wouldn’t falter.

Alus had made up his mind that day. As Vizaist had said, he’d reached his own answer and the worst possible one at that. When Vizaist heard that Alus returned alone that day, he was reminded of how he’d been in the past. Before Alus joined the Special Fiend Attack Unit he’d been used like a Fiend-slaying machine, given missions to carry out on his own one after another.

Meanwhile, Lindelph felt something else. Just the fact that he was standing there didn’t feel real. Perhaps he was still in shock... It even felt like his time in the Special Unit had been but a dream. Each time he felt that way, his heart fought back, telling him to never forget and snapping him back to reality.

But there was something else on his mind: Alus. The unit’s existence had been brief, but he hoped it had left something behind for Alus. Though by now he was afraid to even mention anything about it... If he did, he’d have the cold hard facts thrown at him whether he liked it or not.

Indeed, the Special Unit had been formed to become a place that Alus could call home someday. But perhaps their playing family had only ended up hurting Alus more, making him close off his heart.

When Lindelph thought about that, he bit his lip. As he came back to the present, he could see that Alus’s back had already become much smaller in the distance, casting a long shadow in the setting sun. The path he’d chosen was one of solitude. Ironically, having survived that battle, he had proven to himself that the best way to keep anyone from dying was to fight on his own.

Lindelph wiped his damp eyes, as Vizaist handed him a piece of paper. “What is this?”

“Read it.”

He saw that it was a request for a discharge. He didn’t need to ask whose request it was. Lindelph was shocked, but at the same time, he’d almost expected it. He’d had a feeling it would happen.

However, Vizaist just snorted like he was bored. “Hmph, looks like he knows the drill for these sorts of things.”

“What do you plan to do?”

“What can I do? This is it. The unit can’t continue with only four members left. We’ll get an order to disband soon enough, so there wouldn’t be a reason to request this in the first place. The Special Unit has already fulfilled its purpose.”

“I see.” Lindelph found it hard to process everything, but he was an adult. An adult who couldn’t come up with a single thing to say to Alus.

There was also another question that neither he nor Vizaist had a good answer for. Was Alus’s path that he’d chosen for himself the best way to use him, or should he be with allies? They knew the reason why Alus’s cooperation with the rest of the unit hadn’t worked out very well was because they’d been unable to keep up with his power. When they’d prioritized coordination, everyone had sensed that Alus had had to hold back.

Lindelph scratched his head with a somber expression. If only Elina were here... He couldn’t help but make feeble complaints. How was he supposed to carry on like normal?

Sensing Lindelph’s pain, Vizaist put his hand in his pocket and spoke with a bitter expression. “We shouldn’t be doing anything right now. We’re men. We can’t be like mothers, we’re not skillful enough for that. Then again, Alus is a man too. So let’s just silently watch over him for now.”

“Is that really all we can do?”

“Yes, for now. Lindelph, as of tomorrow you will be in charge of one region of the mop-up operation. There will be another Fiend clean-up operation soon, but we’re going to let Alus rest for a while.”

“I know.”

“I’d love to let you rest too, but...”

“No, I understand. We’re too busy and understaffed for that. Besides, I’d rather be working right now.”

“I see. Well, try not to push yourself too much.” Vizaist tapped Lindelph’s shoulder, and then decided to give him a reminder. “Also, make sure never to tell anyone about Nike...or rather about the research.”

“Y-Yes.”

Nike had been a genetically engineered specimen, but recently it had been revealed that there’d been problems aside from the ethical one...basically, the lifespan of the subject. The rapid growth forcibly induced through drugs proved to be too much of a burden on its body. As a result its lifespan was just a few months, putting it close to the level of a consumable.

Vizaist first learned the truth after taking in Nike. Of course, he’d reported it to Berwick, and put a stop to the project. Most of the test animals were freed. However, nothing could be done for the creatures that had already been created.

So Nike was able to stay with Alus thanks to Berwick’s and Vizaist’s discretion. Naturally, they couldn’t pull them apart after the time they’d spent together. And by the time of the last battle it seemed that Nike was at the end of his lifespan.

But Nike had hardly shown any signs of it, perhaps out of a sense of responsibility. When the two men thought about that, they couldn’t help but feel sad for the silver-furred unit member.

Vizaist and Lindelph fell silent, looking down at their feet. In front of them was an especially large tombstone. Alus’s white bouquet rested at its base.

When they raised their eyes a little, they saw a large collar. In the center of the pedestal was a polished silver plate with Nike engraved on it with a knife.

***

The trees of Vanalis were green and the sky seemed to go on without end. It was hard to believe this scene could be found in the Outer World. But that was when a gentle wind pulled Alus’s consciousness back to reality.

He’d just finished telling the story in a heavy tone. Of course, he only talked about the parts that he knew, and Loki, who was being carried on his back, remained silent.

To her, his story was too bitter, heavy, and even painful to accept as it was. “So that’s what happened...” she muttered after a long pause.

“Hm? Y-Yeah.” Her reaction almost disappointed Alus. Once he’d finished talking he didn’t feel much pain. If anything, he’d even felt some weight come off his shoulders. A sigh of relief escaped his lips.

“I’d heard about the large-scale invasion before. You saved my life too,” Loki said, putting more strength into her arms around Alus’s neck as if hugging him.

Alus had chosen to isolate himself. But in the end, his surroundings had pushed him away as well. The more he fought alone, the more prominent his power and talents became. To put it another way, he was like a lone bird in the sky. He’d finally reached a level where it was impossible for a normal human to coordinate with him.

“Whether it’s mental or technical, if there’s enough distance between people they won’t be able to mesh. Frankly put, it’s impossible for me to perfectly coordinate in the Outer World if there’s a gap in strength. Any allies would just hold me back.”

He’d had firsthand experience of fighting side by side with those weaker than him. He knew that normal people needed to cooperate with other people in squads, but he’d been shown that such things didn’t apply to him. So he’d written it off as mutual aid necessary for people other than himself.

“Then that’s all the more reason to have accepted Lady Lettie’s offer.” Loki suddenly noticed how her heated words revealed her own greedy feelings. She wasn’t taking his feelings into consideration. She was only saying what she wished he would do. But it was too late now to slam on the brakes.

“You’re awfully eager to recommend that,” Alus said, before Loki could refute it. “Fine. It seems you really want me to join Lettie’s squad, but my answer won’t change no matter how many times you ask. That much is clear.” He stared into the distance, his gaze cold.

Loki sadly cast her eyes down. After retaking Vanalis, Lettie had invited Alus to walk by her side. She’d made the offer and put all of her feelings into it. To run across the Outer World with someone he could truly trust... She’d reached out with a helping hand.

Lettie was someone who could affirm him. That was why Alus had seriously considered taking her up on the offer. Somewhere deep down he must have wanted that kind of future. But in the end he’d turned her down.

Loki knew that Alus, as a person, had been broken a long time ago. It wasn’t just his time in that squad either. His work behind the scenes was another factor.

She was aware that Alus had strayed far from the path of a decent person. Even so, that was fine with her. He was still the same as when he’d saved her. But if he was trying to change, trying to fix his broken self, she wanted to help, even if it was just filling the hole in his heart for a moment. And she was the only one who could fulfill that role.

She was lucky that she was on Alus’s back, because when he’d firmly refused, she must’ve shown relief.

Loki realized she was being selfish. She did feel bad about it...even guilty. That said, Alus had told her about his hidden past. She’d heard the beginnings of when he started to break. As greedy as she was, she had to repeatedly tell herself that this was enough. Perhaps she’d asked not for Alus’s sake but for her own, so that she could carry the same pain as him.

However, she’d come to learn why he so stubbornly fought on his own. Maybe he wasn’t aware of it himself, but Alus didn’t want to see someone else die in front of him. Seeing someone he trusted getting killed by Fiends was harder than anything. So while Alus was stronger than anyone, he may have also been more cowardly.

“Sir Alus...I will always be with you,” Loki blurted out, her feelings getting the better of her.

A heavy silence fell after her words. “...I’m going to throw you off here.”

“—! S-Sir Alus?!”

“I’m joking.”

Loki looked a little relieved at that. “Please don’t make jokes like that. It’s bad for my heart. Besides, I think you should save that attitude for Ms. Tesfia.”

“What a terrible thing to say. Well, I guess I should pick who I act like that around.”

She felt like he’d evaded their discussion, but that might have been for the best. Even if they were words loaded with feelings, there were some topics she could and couldn’t touch upon. The line between the two was always vague.

Suddenly, Alus spoke up. “Well then, I bet they’re waiting for us. So let’s hurry back.”

Loki was startled. Did he mean the Institute? Her cheeks flushed as she broke into a natural grin. Even though she was on his back, she knew exactly what kind of face Alus was making right now. It was surely the usual vague smile.

I see, Sir Alus. You always say that life at the Institute isn’t bad...but I see that you really enjoy it. She was happy just to have realized that. I think it’s so much fun I could forget all about the world outside of it too. 

As Loki raised her head, she felt a fresh breeze brush against her cheek. “Sir Alus, please speed up. I’m sure it will feel great.”

“That’s the attitude of a distinguished soldier. As you wish.”

The daily harsh missions Alus had been sent out on had slowly ground down his soul and memories. This meant that for him the past itself was a wound, which was why his mouth had been sealed tight whenever he’d tried to talk about it. Nobody would want to open that wound again.

Yet he’d undone the seal himself. Something was slowly changing inside him.

Meanwhile, he squinted as the bright scenery of the Outer World was dazzling. But it wasn’t only because of the light. Right now the scenery looked a little different than usual through his eyes.

With the battle over he felt some relief. He’d also told Loki about his past. While she’d gotten a complicated expression on her face, she also looked a little happy. All of that worked together to change his outlook and that was far from unwanted.

He felt like Loki had noticed something he hadn’t and showed it with her attitude. When Alus thought about it like that, his heart felt lighter. For now, although it was temporary, he had a place to come home to and people waiting for him there. Everything truly was different from the past.

As those thoughts ran through Alus’s mind, he sped up.