CHAPTER 9 - PART 5 & 6

Part 5

"I couldn't convince her. In order to protect that pervert with her brain as hard as a rock, we need to complete our assigned tasks."

I squatted down next to the tense Megumin who was standing by at the side of the Destroyer intercept zone and reported.

"I, I, I understand…! I, I have to do my best! I, I I I will definitely succeed…!"

"Hey, calm down. It things turn bad, I will strip her of her heavy armor with 'steal' and drag her away!"

— I'm more worried about…

"Woah, there's smoke rising out from your head, are you okay? What skill is this? Are you doing party tricks?"

"No, Aqua-sama… It's because the weather is very good today, so I became like this after basking in the sun for too long…"

On the other side of the intercept zone, Aqua and Wiz squatted there, chatting about something.

Beside us were adventurers holding blunt weapons such as war hammers. Blunt weapons would be the most effective against golems.

The archers had nocked arrows with a hook at the head and rope tied to the end. They were ready to shoot ropes onto the fortress if there was a need to go in.

— The staff's magically amplified voice could be heard throughout the whole plain.

"Attention all adventurers, the mobile fortress destroyer is about to appear before us. Citizens, please evacuate out of the town! Adventurers, please get ready for battle!"

— Mobile fortress destroyer.

It was said to be the same as Jack Frost, a name that was casually given by a Japanese gifted with cheat like blessings.

I wanted to bash them for their cheesy naming sense, but those who had seen the destroyer before felt the name was a good fit.

From behind the hills in the distance, I could see its head looming.

And a faint tremor.

It was light, but the earth was definitely shaking.

"What's with this, it's too big…"

Someone was mumbling to himself.

It was large indeed.

Having been in a party with Megumin for so long, I had a clear idea how powerful the explosion spell was.

That's why I had to ask.

This thing… Could explosion really take it out?

"Hey, this is too much of a stretch. Is it really fine? This is impossible!"

Someone nearby started to panic.

"Create Earth Golem!" x3

The Creators created golems from the earth.

The golems they created formed a row behind Darkness who was guarding the town.

All the creators of this town were novices.

To create stronger, more powerful and bigger golems, they had to cut down on the active time of the summons.

That was the reason why they started creating when the destroyer was so near.

"Big! And fast! It's scarier than I imagined!"

Facing the enormous object approaching them, the adventurers fell into disarray.

"Incoming—! Keep your head down! Don't move in front of the destroyer, you will get crushed!"

Someone yelled, but frankly, nobody was calm enough to listen.

That's how huge and imposing the mobile fortress before us were…

"Hey Wiz! It will work right? Is it really okay?!"

Some distance from where Megumin and I were standing by, Aqua confirmed with Wiz who was standing beside her again and again.

"No problem, leave it to me, Aqua-sama. I am a lich after all, one of the top tier undead. If Aqua-sama can dispel the barrier, you can leave the rest to me! If we fail… we can return to dust happily together."

"Are you kidding me? Are you kidding me?"

I couldn't hear the contents too clearly, but seeing the two of them bicker noisily, I said to Megumin who was standing stiff from the tension and said:

"Hey, relax. Even if it fails, no one will blame you. We just need to abandon the town and run away then, so don't think too much about this."

There was nothing I needed to do, so I said this casually.

"Don't don't don't worry! I I I will use explosion to blast blast blast it into dust!"

Megumin stuttered.

But this was normal. Not just Megumin, all the adventurers here were novices.

"It's coming—! Prepare for battle—!"

This voice was probably Taylor.

For some reason, the responsibility of commanding the group and giving Aqua the instruction to release her spell was left in my hands.

The guild's staff even gave me a voice amplifying magic item to help me issue commands.

The main coordinator of this battle was me, they said it was my duty as Aqua and Megumin's party leader.

Taylor probably recommended me to the staff at the guild too.

Before we knew it, the destroyer was just a short distance away.

If they didn't entrust the command to me, and if Darkness wasn't adamant on staying, I probably would have already fled.

The top of the destroyer was as smooth as an aircraft carrier, with a fortress like structure on top like the residence of a hermit crab. The sides of the torso were equipped with cannon, and as a whole, it was a gigantic golem with the appearance of a spider.

— Mobile fortress destroyer.

Contrary to its comical name, the mobile fortress the size of a small castle shrugged off the countless traps we had set, moving as it pleased noisily…

"Aqua! Now, do it!"

Aiming to ravage the town we were residing in, it charged into the intercept zone!

"Sacred spell break!"

Aqua cast her spell on my cue.

Complicated magic formation floated around Aqua and a white ball appeared in her hands.

Aqua aimed the ball in her hand towards the destroyer and shot it out.

When the flying ball of light touched the destroyer, a giant membrane appeared on its surface to resist the light ball. But it shattered into pieces like glass shards.

Megumin who was holding her staff and trembling slightly looked at me uneasily, waiting for my go ahead.

The membrane that was shattered just now was probably the magic barrier.

If that was so, magic should be effective now.

I shouted through my loudspeaker:

"Wiz, I'm counting on you! Please take out the legs on your side!"

After giving Wiz the instruction, I said to Megumin who was shaking nervously:

"Hey, is your love for explosion magic a lie? You keep talking about explosion this, explosion that, it would be ugly if you lost to Wiz. Is your explosion a joke spell that can't even blow that thing up?"

"What, what did you say! What you just said was even worse than making fun of my name!"

The corner of Megumin's mouth started cramping from anger and she stood up. Her nervousness was nowhere to be found, as she concentrated and chanted her spell…!

As the destroyer passed by the place we were standing by with a bang.

The one known as the strongest arch wizard in the past, and presently a lich who was troubled by the poor business of her magic item store.

And the one known as 'explosion girl with brain problems', who devoted her all to one and only one spell, the top arch wizard of the crimson magic clan.

The strongest offensive spells of these two were fired at the bounty target said to be invulnerable.

"Explosion—!" x2

The two of them fired at the exact same time, breaking all the legs of the mobile fortress.

Part 6

The mobile fortress which lost its legs suddenly crashed into the ground with a big bang. After its bottom part hit the plains, it slid towards the town with its forward momentum.

But the giant sliding object didn't hit the barricade placed before the town, stopping right before Darkness who was standing at the very forefront.

The legs shattered into bits with the sound of explosions and rained down onto the heads of the adventurers.

The side Wiz was responsible for didn't have anything raining down, the explosion blowing the pieces into dust.

On the other hand, there were several large pieces of debris falling here and there.

Which meant…

"Ugh… It's regrettable… as expected of a lich. Seems my level isn't high enough to win against Wiz's explosion magic…"

Megumin who was lying face down on the ground mumbled, and seemed displeased.

I helped that frail body to get up, and Megumin who had exhausted her mana said with a pale face:

"I, I don't want to lose… Next, next time… I will definitely…!"

"Good girl, you did great. Wiz is a powerful lich, it is normal that she bested you. Just work harder next time. Look, we accomplished our objective, well done."

I was planning to carry her to a tree for a rest, but the pale Megumin refused to let me go.

"Once more…! Another chance! I will definitely prove my explosion is the strongest…!"

"Let, let go, stop that! Don't pull my pants! I get it, you are the best in terms of explosion! It must be because of something, that's right, because your condition wasn't too good! Alright, when you recover your mana, I will look at your explosion spell, so rest quietly in a safe place!"

I placed Megumin under the shade of a tree and lay her down. As the other adventurers were dodging the falling debris, Aqua and Wiz came to my side.

As for Darkness, she wasn't fazed by the falling debris and didn't move away with her eyes wide open.

When I raised my head to watch the gigantic body of the destroyer, the fortress which had lost its legs remained silent.

When the debris pelting down like rain drops stopped, the adventurers finally calmed down enough to grasp the situation, gasping in awe.

But we wouldn't need to work so hard if things could be settled so easily.

At a moment like this, we had to be careful with our words, and avoid blurting out the cliche 'did it work' and raise a flag. We needed to be vigilant, surround the destroyer slowly, and not…!

"We did it! What's with that, I thought it would be powerful with an incredible name like mobile fortress destroyer, but what a letdown. Alright, let's go back and have a beer! We took out a target bountied by a country after all, I wonder how much the rewards would be!"

"You idiot! Why do you like to act in such a cliche manner! If you blurt something like that…!"

Hearing what Aqua said, I did my best to stop her.

… But, it was too late.

"…? What, what happened, why is there a tremor?"

Wiz who came over with Aqua glanced towards the giant mobile fortress uneasily.

The tremor that was shaking the earth came from the destroyer.

The adventurers was looking up at the mobile fortress uneasily too.

Suddenly.

"This machine has stopped operation. This machine has stopped operation. Unable to expend unused energy and vent heat, operators please evacuate from the machine. This machine has…"

The mechanical recording came from within the fortress again and again.

"Look at what you've done! Why do you always have to drag us down after accomplishing something?!"

"Wait! Wait okay! This is not my fault! I didn't even do anything this time!"