Chapter 166
I was sleeping in bed when I woke up to the sound of loud destruction .
Just like the other day, something had entered this room .
I hurriedly jumped off the bed and landed on the floor, clutching my wand in my hand and strangling it .
As it was, I pointed my wand tip in the direction of the sound .
“Guooh!”
A terrifying cry that was clearly different from that of a human or normal magic beast .
In addition to that, I could hear a bruising sound that seemed to be intermittently hitting something continuously .
The self-defense totem I had set up was repeatedly slamming its body into the beast that was emitting a blue-white light .
The beast is screaming and desperately begging for forgiveness as it turns its abdomen upwards, screaming .
Ortem spun and jumped up, gouging the beast’s abdomen .
The beast bounced its body wide with a jolt and transformed into countless small balls of light, disappearing into the air .
“Spiritual Beast……”
Quietly, I mutter .
There are many definitions of spirit beasts, but they are generally a group of spirits that have come together to form a single individual creature, and they represent a low level of danger .
Whether they do not possess complex magic, language abilities, or take on the form of a simple animal …… depends on the region and time period, and the clear criteria for judging them vary somewhat .
They may be considered in the same category as low-class demons .
In short, it is safe to assume that they are a generic term for lower-level demons that do not have complex powers, do not have the ability to speak, and tend to take on the form of simple animals .
Some individuals are rare and difficult to determine, but that’s about the extent to which a watermelon or strawberry is a vegetable or a fruit .
To be honest, it doesn’t matter .
The one that came to attack me the other day when I caught a cold was probably also a spirit beast .
I should have reasonably killed it, but I instead have lost sight of it .
The body couldn’t sustain it and it was probably dispersed among the spirits .
They should have noticed it when the enemy was using Hamelin .
Come to think of it, I think there were also reports of damage caused by spirit beasts during the damage of magic beasts .
The other party was a spirit user .
“Two spirit beasts and a high-ranking demon, Hamelin, huh……”
It’s not an easy thing to get a summoning crest from a spirit beast or demon and use it .
I once forced a summoning crest on a demon and annihilated it because I had too much momentum .
If the tendency, quality, and wavelength of magic power are not right, it is not so easy to get a summoning crest .
My current Hamelin also looks happy to come to me when I’m raising my magic power, but he looks like he’ll never give me a summoning crest .
That’s how sensitive they are .
That’s why they do their best to follow someone who has given them a summoning crest once .
“He must know quite a bit about dealing with demons if you’ve been following three of them…… I envy him . Can he teach me some tips and tricks?”
However, those three should have been taken care of by now .
However, I don’t know why they decided to attack at this time .
I’m sure they know that they also know now that they failed once .
Is this an appeal for an all-out war that they have no intention of retreating in the future?
As I was thinking this, screams came from other parts of the mansion .
No, that wasn’t all, screams were also heard from the residents’ houses, and a spirit beast could be seen running in the distance .
As expected, even I’m surprised .
How many spirit beasts are they using?
And I can’t even predict what kind of results they want to draw out by attacking the entire village now .
Did they give up and move to attack out of desperation?
I don’t think they were the type who would act that short-circuited …… .
Anyway, I have to ensure that Mea…… and the people inside the mansion are safe .
And then the people in the territory, too .
“Carry”
When I chanted, thirteen magic circles appeared in the room, and an equal number of Ortems appeared .
Unlike the ones made of the World Tree, the teleportation of the Ortem made from a normal tree requires an enormous amount of magic power .
However, all of these Ortems were in the Fage territory, so with my magic power, it’s still within an acceptable range .
It’ll still be a bit of a pain, though .
“Puppet, dance”
Once again I deploy thirteen magic circles and control the Ortem .
I let the ten Ortem’s fly out of the broken window and run the remaining three Ortem’s inside the mansion .
Immediately, the screams of the spirit beasts echoed from inside the mansion .
I ran down the hallway and into Mea’s room .
“Hey, it’s okay ……”
Mea was shivering on the bed, wrapped in a blanket and shivering, with two Ortem’s spinning around on either side of her .
“A, Abel… . . thank goodness…… Mea thought I was already done for……”
Mea said with a tremor in her voice, and stood up, dressed in a painful walking outfit with the blanket wrapped around her body, and waddled over to my side .
The outer wall has a large hole in it . It seems that the spirit beasts have broken through it with their bodies .
Mea seemed to have been attacked by the spirit animal and was scared .
Anyway, I decided to reassure her and put my hand on Mea’s shoulder .
“You saw a strange magic beast, didn’t you?”
“N, no, just now in Mea’s room…… um, I saw two pale, glowing wolves come in……”
Two?
There was only one of them getting into my room, though……
“Have those guys already escaped?”
“…… The two Ortem’s spinning over there have trampled them down . ”
I turned my head to where Mea had indicated, and the two Ortems were dancing a victory dance .
“…… I see, that’s good to hear . No, that’s the one I’m controlling, you don’t have to worry about it . ”
As I pointed my wand at them, Ortem walked out of the hole in the wall, looking for the other spirit beasts .
…… Lark’s mansion, it’s totally airy now .
After that, a loud noise sounded from below with a thump, thump, thump, followed by the screams of the spirit beast’s decapitation .
I joined with the humans in the mansion .
Lark and three of his relatives and three live-in servants …… There were a total of nine people gathered there, including me and Mea .
There were some people that were injured, but not something that will take their life .
“So that was Abel-dono’s wooden puppet . Really, thank god . I didn’t expect so many magic beasts to enter the territory……”
“If it weren’t for Abel-sama’s wooden puppet, it would have been really, really dangerous . Thank you……”
“That puppet, like the one that was smashing a first-class instrument made by a craftsman in Royal Capital by throwing it around……”
“Thank you! I don’t know what I would have done if it weren’t for Abel-sama!”
Lark’s relatives and servants thanked him verbally .
But Lark himself was pale and trembling .
“Ma, Marias is not here……”
Hearing those words, the expression of all the people in the building darkened and looked down .
Among the faces of the remaining servants, Marias was not among the remaining servants .
Finally, the enemy side’s intentions came into view, and it made sense .
“Don’t worry, she shouldn’t have been killed . Probably …… eh, they took her hostage . ”
“Hostages?”
“Yes, I heard that two spirit beasts also jumped into Mea’s room . They might have thought it would be a card against me and tried to attack me in priority . ”
The reason he turned the spirit animal against me was probably because he was thinking that he was lucky and could take me by surprise .
It may be that he only sent one of them to me because he thought it would be useless to have several of them facing me .
“Perhaps…… some influential people have been taken out of village as well . Let’s ask around to see if anyone has seen a spirit beast that escaped with a person in its mouth . ”
They should be showing us where they escaped on purpose .
Perhaps…… this raid is a letter of challenge against me .
My opponent, who has decided that his territory will recover, is trying to move me into a direct confrontation with him .
It may also be a threat to me, saying that I can turn the spirit beasts against them and certainly bring death to the territory .
In any case, if the predictions were correct, there would be some missing people .
If Ringus is among them, we can already see it as a certainty .
But when I think about it, there’s one thing that’s stuck in my mind .
He knows that I have defeated Nalgarn, Hamelin, and Icarus, and he wants a direct confrontation with me, that’s the point .
I don’t think they still have something more in depth than…… reproduction Nalgarn to hide behind .
I may have underestimated my enemy somehow, because it was surprisingly smooth, despite all the problems I’ve had so far .
I have to brace myself, too .
Maybe, the place that they’re luring me out may have some kind of terrible trap .
I have to be fully vigilant .
“…… Abel, your face is loose . ”
Mea made a tube with her hand and sneakily gave me an earful .
I hurriedly adjusted my expression and looked ahead to see Lark looking at me with resentful eyes .
I-…… I’m sorry .