Saikyou Mahoushi no Inton Keikaku (LN) - Volume 13 - Chapter 75

Seventy-Fifth Chapter

The Absolute of Clevideet

Only a few dozen kilometers from the border of Alpha’s neighbor, the nation of Clevideet, a squad was engaged in an intense battle. Their goal was to clear the area of Fiends.

Veteran Magicmasters ran around like worker ants, slaughtering the nesting Fiends one after another. The level of coordination and quickness with which they followed one another and judged the situation was well beyond that of usual Magicmasters.

Yet they were lined up and just barely surviving the horde of Fiends that assaulted them from all directions. The team’s mission right now was to prevent any Fiends from coming within ten meters of a specific area.

If someone were to ask where that area was, any of the Magicmasters would have glanced back with a desperate look on their face, their eyes leading to the exact spot. Sitting on a huge, arching root was a petite girl, slowly rotating an elegant-looking umbrella.

Despite the fierce battle going on all around her, the air just around her was almost peaceful, like she was on a vacation. She alone was allowed to slack off like that in their battle.

She was the sturdy nation of Clevideet’s “hardest” Magicmaster, Fanon Trooper.

Her wisteria-colored hair was tied up on either side of her head, and her cherubic features gave her an entirely different impression than any other Magicmaster present. She wore clothes that looked completely out of place in the Outer World paired with expensive-looking high heels. And, of course, there was the elegantly designed umbrella that stuck out like a sore thumb.

Everything about her felt off, but nobody in the squad would ever point that out. In fact, they were numb to it.

However, while it wasn’t the standard military uniform, it was without a doubt her own combat uniform. It may have been hard to accept, but it was just how she was.

Fanon Trooper’s stance didn’t change no matter where she was—even on the battlefield.

If anything else about her girly appearance were to stand out, it was the large bulges on her chest. They looked very unnatural.

However, there was a terrifying rumor going around...

A male soldier had once made a blunder by mentioning the rumor and earned himself a powerful kick to the testicles.

But rather than a rumor, pretty much everyone knew it as the truth that she all but certainly padded her chest, and nobody in this squad, or the entire military, touched on that taboo.

At that moment, the woman who was an absolute force and reigned over this area stopped twirling her umbrella and spoke to her squad.

“Are you done yet? Can you hurry up and wrap things up already?” asked Fanon Trooper.

The suddenness made the squad jump. Even though they couldn’t afford to let their guards down in their battle, they feared the long girl behind them even more than the Fiends they were fighting.

And standing next to her was a blond woman, looking cool. Based on her position, she was most likely the second-in-command. While the male squad was desperately fighting off Fiends, she didn’t have so much as a splatter of blood or speck of mud on her.

But it wasn’t just her.

The other women in the squad were treated differently from the men. While the men fought a bloody battle, they stood behind them, taking up position by Fanon and watching the skirmish.

But this was considered less special treatment for the women and more like difficult trials for the men. Forced to survive harsh battles, the more veteran members became stronger. In fact, the proficiency of the entire squad rose to a level that far surpassed normal Magicmasters.

On the other hand, the female members were exclusively responsible for looking after Fanon.

Fanon’s abilities far exceeded anyone else’s. Even if this elite squad all ganged up on her, they wouldn’t be able to so much as scratch her. So the men didn’t get upset if Fanon complained that she was tired just from marching and demanded a shower in the middle of the front lines or sent them out to set up a huge tent. Most importantly, they felt it was their duty to fulfill her every wish.

Strange encouragement came from the male squad leader.

“Protect our princess! If even a single one troubles her, we might have to carry twice the usual load in the future!”

Before long, the area practically shook from the spirited response. Everyone present knew that just twice the load was too mild of a punishment.

A horde of Fiends was attacking them from all around, and the cause of that was Fanon. Going after small groups one at a time was too annoying, so she’d brought them all here instead.

Of course, Fanon herself was sitting on top of an arch of roots and kicking her legs. She did not intend to help out, as usual. Likewise, the second-in-command, the blond woman called Exceles Lilyusem, stood by coldly watching the action.

The next moment, things changed.

A dark bruise on Exceles’s neck stirred and spread to below her chin as though it was alive.

“It seems that they are attacking in waves. Not only in bigger numbers but a higher class overall,” said Exceles.

“Hmm. Well, I’m sure they will be fine,” Fanon said nonchalantly and raised her eyebrows.

“Ah! What are you pulling back for? Who said that you were allowed to bring in the defense lines? Burn the behinds of anyone who takes even a step back from that line!” yelled Exceles.

The female squad members who were given that order looked regretful but readied flames in their hands. At the other end were the male squad members making a circular formation in a ten-meter radius around Fanon.

But the pure numbers of Fiends began to push them back. Eventually, one after another, they began to have their behinds burned.

“Hold your ground! Squeeze out the last of your mana!” the male squad leader shouted.

Fanon’s squad had been in the Outer World for a while, and it was her men who had borne the brunt of the fighting, which had been nothing but fierce.

Yet despite that being the case for years, the squad had fewer deaths than others, and the reason was simple.

“Oh fine. This is such a pain,” said Fanon. “Have Rowan be bait as usual.”

At these words, Exceles spoke, representing the confusion of the male squad members. “Lady Fanon, Rowan is no longer with us. Did you forget that he left this squad to make his own?”

“Oh? Did he?”

“He did. Rowan only happened to be with us by chance before,” said Exceles. “His squad had joined up with ours, although it seemed to still be lacking people.”

“Now that you mention it...” said Fanon. “But it smarts a little to lose such good bait.”

“I hope you can overlook it. It has always been his dream to have a squad of his own. He’s currently groaning in a hospital room right now. How unfortunate seeing as he just formed it.” Exceles deliberately lamented their former colleague’s poor luck as if to take a dig at Fanon.

“I don’t care.” Fanon turned away as if trying to avoid a scolding.

Seeing that, Exceles let out another sigh, wearing the look of an older sister looking after a problematic younger sister.

You laid the groundwork for the joint operation, Lady Fanon, she thought. Letting the newly established Rowan squad earn accomplishments by working together with yours was fine. But dumping that tight spot on them was too harsh... Her only real fault is that she has a habit of overdoing it. 

As Exceles sighed again, she heard Fanon pondering whom to send as bait instead, giving her even more to worry about.

As proof, she saw the backs of the men in the squad stiffen as though they had heard the devil’s voice. In the next moment, both Exceles’s and Fanon’s gazes were drawn to a break in the men’s formation where a B-class Fiend rushed in. Spotting it in an instant, Fanon snapped her fingers nimbly and allocated two of the women to it.

Perfectly understanding their leader’s intentions, the two fired magic to patch up the hole. Magic immediately created a sea of fire before the Fiends, and at the same time, an earth wall emitted a powerful heat wave.

The two of them had worked together to create magma so intense that even the Magicmasters on the front had to cover their faces.

Following that, Exceles gave Fanon a report in an unconcerned tone. “We finally lured it in. However...”

The words seemed out of context to anyone aside from the two of them. But before Exceles could continue, a huge shadow circled back around Fanon.

A Fiend had gotten behind Fanon quicker than anyone could perceive. It had a shiny black upper body that looked like a gigantic bat with flying membranes beneath its arms. Its lower body had sturdy legs for kicking off the ground.

The Fiend’s eyes glared sharply at its prey, Fanon. It rapidly approached Fanon from her blind spot.

In the blink of an eye, the Fiend used an explosive amount of mana to freeze the squad members who ran towards it. Then it unleashed an attack with all its power towards Fanon’s back.

However, as everyone looked on, a translucent barrier warded off the attack. An absolute defense seemed to render everything useless.

The Fiend’s five tough claws bounced off, and its arm was crushed by the recoil. As Fiend blood rained down, Fanon turned around and flashed an evil smile from under her umbrella. She spoke a single word.

“Stuuupid.”

“A-class Fiend Bakura confirmed. Please be careful! It has a lot of mana inside of it!” Exceles shouted.

Bakura specialized in letting its allies and subordinates draw its enemy’s attention and then launching an ambush. Its incredible agility and ability to search for enemies made it one of the most difficult Fiends to deal with around Clevideet.

The Bakura was cunning and cautious, and Fanon had taken quite a roundabout way to lure it out so that it could be eliminated. And now that the prey had jumped into the trap, Fanon wasn’t going to let it escape.

Meanwhile, the Bakura had two choices: attempt escape or be foolhardy like most Fiends.

In the span of less than a second, with blood splatter still in the air, it jumped away, unveiling its trump card. The surface of its skin was covered with countless fine lines, which all now lit up with an eerie light.

Fanon looked on with a fearless smile as even its flying membrane stretched out.

“Lady Fanon, it’s transforming!”

The Bakura disappeared from Fanon’s view. It had distanced itself from her to evolve to the next stage. Or rather, its body had already begun to transform when it began its attack. It planned to change appearance and gain new powers midair before its next attack.

However, its fate was sealed the moment it decided to back off. As it took flight, its body suddenly crashed into an invisible something—a magical barrier, huge walls that spread out in all directions.

The Bakura flew all over, hitting walls in every direction. When it thought it had just found an escape, it realized the only way to go was up. It was the only direction that wasn’t covered by the walls.

As soon as it realized that, the Bakura kicked off the walls and used the momentum to fly. It rapidly repeated the process to go higher and higher.

Seeing that, Fanon bent her fingers beneath her umbrella. In response, the barriers rapidly stretched up into the sky. The Fiend flew higher and higher, so the walls also rose ever higher. Even when straining one’s eyes, the giant Fiend looked as small as an ant.

Fanon abruptly lowered her umbrella. In an instant, the game of cat and mouse ended.

The speed at which the barriers extended exceeded the Fiend’s speed by far, and the Bakura crashed into the ceiling that suddenly appeared. At the same time, all the momentum that had built up from its continued kicks bounced back all at once.

The impact made the Fiend’s head pop, and its huge body fell down with a torrent of blood. As if waiting for that moment, the female squad members fired a barrage of spells up, ignoring any and all interference.

Not even a piece of flesh was left after the massive firepower exploded the remains into fireworks. The impacts and mana particles created a natural form of space that temporarily hindered any detection.

But by then, Fanon was already sitting back on her branch, holding her umbrella high, and happily kicking her legs back and forth.

“The core has been completely destroyed.” Exceles reported after some time, and the squad members stopped.

At the same time, the barrier changed shape into a box that surrounded Fanon and the others.

The Fiend’s blood rained down, sounding a little like rain. Fanon closed her eyes. Once it stopped, she opened her eyes and jumped off the root.

She put her hands together and raised her arms to stretch her stiff back. “Great. Let’s go home.”

The mission had been expected to take a week but only took two days. It had been a forceful approach, but once Fanon decided on something, everything obeyed her will. Of course, that just meant her squad got pushed to the verge of death...

But she was fed up with the air of the Outer World and had decided she didn’t want to spend a week there.

However...

“Lady Fanon, we can’t! Th-The mission is still... There are more and more Fiends still coming...” one of the male squad members said in a distressed voice and pointed.

“What? You can just deal with that small fry yourself. Anyways, we’re going back!” Fanon coldly declared and left, giving a wave of her hand. Her steps maintained a consistent pace, showing no signs of slowing down.

The man who had desperately called out to her stared after her. Another man shouted at him, “You idiot! Don’t trouble the princess over enemies of this caliber!”

After reprimanding the man for his weakness, the male squad leader waved to Fanon with a smile that did not suit his rugged face. “Please feel free to go ahead, our princess! We will hold these Fiends back!”

“Oh really. But there looks to be more annoying ones coming from the way home too...” she said.

“Ah, please leave those to us too! We will carve open a path home!”

While this was a natural sense of duty for soldiers, their mana was running so low that the squad members couldn’t help but worry about if they could accomplish that. They could only see the worst future awaiting them.

But even with a clear picture of such a hellscape in her mind, Fanon left the battlefield without a care.

“Then just do your best. More importantly, Exceles, let’s go shopping to vent once we get back!”

“Huh? Yes, of course. Trying on clothes for adults is fine, but please don’t get angry just because they don’t suit you,” Exceles warned her, praying that Fanon wouldn’t get jealous of her good looks and model-worthy height.

“Oh, but of course. I’m not a child, so I wouldn’t do that.”

“I sure hope so.”

Fanon and her second-in-command casually chatted while the male squad members desperately fought back the Fiends and prayed that the battle would eventually end. As she gracefully walked down the escape path they had secured for her, she twirled her umbrella-type AWR in her hand.

Her expression showed the good mood she was in.