Chapter 90

What was supposed to be a spell that fired twelve shots had stacked, doubling into twenty-four.

Thanks to the Force Bullet’s signature homing ability, not a single shot missed the bodies of the goblins and kobolds.

Brrrrrttttttt!!

Kyaa! Crrrk! Crrrkkk!!

Being a first-tier spell—and a relatively weak one at that—the goblins and kobolds that had fallen staggered but slowly got back on their feet.

But then.

“Force Bullet. 24-Shot.”

Brrrrrttttttt!!

Kyaaaaah!! Crrrk!!

Before they could even regain their posture, the spell was ready and fired again.

Crrrk…! Kyaaah…!

Amazingly, some of them even got back up after being hit… but…

“Huh. Nice persistence. Force Bullet. 24-Shot.”

Brrrrrttttttt!!

Grrrk…!

“Huh? Still not enough? Force Bullet. Still? Force Bullet. Force Bullet. Force Bullet…”

Spell after spell fired without giving them a chance to breathe.

Before a prepared bullet could even launch with its activation phrase, the next one had already formed, waiting its turn.

Brrrrrttttttttttttttttttt!!

Goblin and kobolds were pummeled into mush by the downpour of translucent bullets.

“Wow… I’ve never felt sorry for goblins before.”

“Even for a first-tier spell, is it really possible to fire like that? They said he’s only second-tier, right?”

“I told you. There’s no way this guy’s second-tier.”

Each shot was only about as strong as a punch from a grown man using full body weight, so individually they weren’t deadly—but that only counts when the numbers are reasonable.

Spells poured down as if to say, if you don’t die now, you will eventually. The monsters were being obliterated.

The party let out moans of awe—or maybe despair—at the sight.

Krrk. Crrrk… Kiiik…

Even the goblins who had recklessly charged in now hesitated, sensing something was off…

I threw my companions a sharp glance.

“Let’s finish this.”

“I-I’m Mariya…”

The moment the party’s attention shifted toward me, he seemed to panic.

He rambled about how great(?) he had been before coming to this world, how many achievements(??) he had earned as a hero here, and how much respect(??) his comrades supposedly had for him.

“I-I… back in Metran, I was a d-duke…? My territory… was as big as the Baran Empire… I ruled so well that there was… literally no heaven on earth better than mine… Then suddenly, a voice came from the sky with light… saying, ‘Kion needs a hero like you, Your Grace…’ so, out of a spirit of sacrifice to save the world, I… I abandoned all my… my people and Mari…”

…or:

“I… back in the day, I went all the way to the northern Labyrinth, defeated a fire-breathing dragon from hell, faced the Northern Demon King Aka… Aka… and struck with one decisive blow. Then… the Demon King… seeing a hero like me… didn’t know what to do… and returned to his lair… So… I saved the Northern currents… You all should know it’s all because of me…”

“So, you must respect me… I… hunted five of the Demon King’s concubines and monsters… 2016…”

And so on…

“Y-You guys know ‘Grang,’ right? The hero of light from the Visfalen Empire… That guy… he used to be my subordinate. Even now, he keeps contacting me, asking me to become the Empire’s Grand General… crying and all…”

“Not just him… the Fire Hero, the Sky Hero… all of those guys were my subordinates. One word from me and they’d all drop dead without hesitation…”

…stuff like that.

A nonstop, slobbery medley of nonsense, 99% of which anyone could tell is total garbage.

But amidst all that excitable rambling, I managed to pick up a few useful bits of information about the other heroes.

First, not all heroes who come over face angels directly, unlike me.

The worlds heroes come from are far more diverse than I’d expected.

The talent threshold to become a hero might be much lower than I thought.

Moral character is not included in the hero evaluation (for some reason, Shia nodded violently at this part).

Some high-ranking heroes are given the opportunity to interact with angels and other celestial beings.

The majority of heroes are managed by their respective orders, and as long as they fulfill minor obligations, they enjoy considerable freedom (in other words, they don’t get much attention or expectation).

Hmm. Looks like the only heroes they really care about are a few useful ones… so why bother bringing the rest of the weaklings? Just to fill the quota? Or maybe they think “better than nothing” works?”

As I leisurely climbed Mount Camp with the party, half-listening to the endless barking, Tipola and Breed approached with slightly serious expressions.

“Something’s definitely off.”

“Yes. It’s strange.”

“Yeah. Strange.”

Tipola narrowed her eyes at my reply.

“You’ve noticed it too?”

“Of course. We’ve been climbing Mount Camp for over three hours now. Considering its height and width, this is impossible.”

Clio nodded in agreement.

“Exactly. We should have reached the summit long ago.”

“Hmm…”

“Are we just going in circles?”

Shia, perched on my shoulder, answered for me.

“No, that’s not it. If we were going in circles, we would have passed flatlands or valleys, not just keep climbing uphill.”

Tipola bit her lip and said firmly:

“We’re lost.”

“Hmmm…”

“We should head back to the village, investigate a bit more, and then decide whether to give up or re-enter.”

Breed, who had stayed silent until now, shook his head.

“I’m against that.”

Tipola glared.

“What?”

“To be honest… I agree with you. But you’re overlooking the most important thing.”

“And what’s that?”

“Do you think Mr. Pruuk will simply obey if we say we’re giving up and going down?”

“…Hah.”

He spoke to Tipola and me as if trying to persuade us.

“If we ignore him and leave on our own, he will never cooperate with any quest again. And once he dislikes someone, he will never let them into his party.”

“…”

“I’m at the bronze level, so it’s fine for me… but the others, still at brass and copper levels, would be in serious trouble.”

Tipola sighed and reluctantly nodded.

“One hour. Let’s push in for just one more hour.”

…And, unsurprisingly, the party would come to regret that decision.

One hour later.

Shia muttered in a deadpan voice.

“…We’re screwed.”

“Tell me about it.”

Even though the sun should still be up, a grim darkness clouds our vision. The sun turned blood-red, and the blue sky soon followed, stained with crimson.

On top of that, the snowy mountain scenery kept repeating. A tree I just passed reappeared tens of meters ahead, and a rock I leapt over moments ago blocked the path again.

By now, even the dullest person would realize something’s wrong.

One of the party members, who had stopped walking and overheard my conversation with Shia, raised their voice.

“C-Could this be some sort of hallucination or illusion, Mage?”

“No.”

Shia and I shook our heads simultaneously—we’re effectively immune to mental attacks.

“So we’re completely trapped?”

“Mm.”

“A barrier? Spatial manipulation?”

“Probably the former. Or maybe both.”

At that moment, Tipola interjected.

“Barrier? Spatial manipulation? We didn’t come here chasing some legendary dragon—we came to hunt goblins and kobolds. How could they possibly pull something like that off?”

I shrugged.

“Who knows. This scenario is totally unexpected. Came here to heal, and now this…”

“H-Healing?”

“For now, just calm that idiot who still doesn’t get the seriousness of the situation.”

“I-IDIOT? What’s scary about it?!! Keep going! Forward! This is what we do! All of it would be solved if we just wiped out the goblins and kobolds!!”

Tipola and Breed clicked their tongues in disbelief.

“Phew… I didn’t think someone could be that stupid.”

“And the sky has turned bright red in broad daylight… and he’s still acting like that?”

I chuckled and answered their questions.

“Probably because he’s severely red-green colorblind.”

I didn’t expect even this part to be like a dog…

“Red-green colorblind? What’s that?”

“Unable to distinguish red from green. So to him, the sky and sun look pretty much the same as before.”

Tipola let out a soft exclamation.

“Ah… so that’s a thing. I didn’t know. Truly, Mage.”

“Well… I think it’s about time to stop playing the ‘Mage’ game. Shia. Sword.”

Shia reached into the hero backpack she was carrying and handed me Astrafe.

“Mage…?”

Swish.

I drew the sword from its sheath and lightly swung it through the air.

Crack!!

In an instant, a long scar appeared in the empty air, and through the tear, the world’s original vibrant scenery was revealed.

“Doesn’t seem like spatial manipulation… probably a barrier.”

“Can it be cut?”

“Mm. But cutting one spot probably won’t bring it down. It’ll take time.”

“The real question is… will we even be given that time?”

I was about to answer we’ll see but swallowed the words.

Because my other friends had already answered for me.

Gak-gak-gak!

Gak-gak-gak-gak!

Kukukikikikik!!

Surrounding the party, filling every direction, were clearly thousands of goblins. Compared to them, the few hundred kobolds interspersed among the horde looked insignificant.

“Wow…”

Honestly, I was a little shocked too. I hadn’t sensed their approach at all until they completely surrounded us.

Through the goblin horde, a single elaborately adorned old goblin stepped forward.

Someone murmured the creature’s identity.

“…A goblin shaman?”

“Ke-ke-ke-kek! Foolish humans! I was just looking for humans to offer as sacrifices, and you come crawling to your own death!!”

I let out a hollow laugh at the goblin’s cackling.

“Cut the nonsense. Who… what are you?”

“What am I? Can’t you tell by looking? I am a goblin shaman serving our great god, Krusha…”

I cut him off sharply.

“I said—cut the nonsense.”