GILF Hunter

Chapter 401: 401 Beginning

Atop the Labyrinth’s walls.

Countless people stood upon the walls of Labyrinth, which had entered a period of vigilance ahead of the monster invasion.

Soldiers and mercenaries in charge of guarding monitored the Labyrinth in shifts from atop the walls.

‘See anything?’

‘Nothing at all….’

On one side of those walls, members of Ian’s mercenary group, including Rin, had taken their positions and were looking toward the Labyrinth.

‘I wonder when they’ll come out this time…. Surely they won’t drag it out for another month like this, right?’

‘Didn’t it usually take about one to two weeks after entering vigilance?’

‘Sigh. Since they’re coming anyway, I wish they’d just show up early.’

Rin, leaning against a section of the wall, muttered.

Though they didn’t say it, the other mercenaries and soldiers standing on the wall probably all felt the same.

Since the invasion was coming regardless, everyone felt the same desire to at least reduce the tedious wait time.

Rin looked around with a bored face.

She hadn’t been assigned a specific guard duty, but since there was nothing else to do down below, she was up on the wall.

Not just Rin, but among the mercenaries, many could be seen spending time on the wall in that manner.

In the distance, she saw Kria waving toward her. It seemed Kria had also come up because she was bored.

It’s even more tedious because we’re not busy….

Rin thought so and waved back at Kria.

Unlike previous invasion preparation periods, during this invasion, no one had any specific prior tasks or preparations to attend to.

It was thanks to being promoted to B-rank.

Being deployed for vigilance, moving supplies, participating in drills….

There was much for mercenaries involved in defensive battles to do, but such menial tasks were not assigned to B-rank mercenary groups.

Even if they moved around the vicinity as they pleased, no one specifically blocked their actions.

Back when they were busy preparing for invasions, she had been annoyed by high-ranking mercenaries constantly loitering around, and only now did she understand why they did that.

‘…Hm?’

Staring blankly outside, Rin felt like the distant ground was shifting slightly.

As Rin frowned and looked out beyond the wall, Mika, who was beside her, asked,

‘What’s wrong? Is something there?’

‘Over there… it looks like the ground is moving.’

‘…Are you drunk?’

‘No, I’m serious. Look over there.’

‘It’s too far for me to see.’

Hearing the conversation between Rin and Mika, the gazes of the soldiers and mercenaries on guard duty also shifted slightly in that direction.

A stir began to spread among several sentries.

‘It really does… seem to be moving?’

‘Ah, right? I didn’t see it wrong after all.’

Hearing the mutterings of a soldier standing nearby, Rin nodded her head.

Several people with good eyesight watched the area intently and said,

‘Is there a monster underground?’

‘A monster?’

‘….’

The gazes of the people on the wall met.

As if proving that bad omen correct, sharp pincers erupted from the shifting ground.

Everyone had already received information about the Legion Insects in advance. Sentries who realized the monster’s appearance almost matched the data dashed to their respective positions.

‘Monster emergence! Monster emergence!’

Ian and Leona, who were in the commander’s tent, rushed out and climbed onto the wall.

In that short interval, the area beyond the wall was covered in black by Legion Insects pouring out from the Labyrinth entrance and tunnels.

‘They’ve really come out….’

Leona, looking out at the scene beyond the wall, muttered with a pale face. A massive swarm of insects covered the entire ground.

It was to the point where it was impossible to see what the terrain outside the wall originally looked like or what had been there.

The swarm of black insects was approaching Labyrinth, smashing rocks, biting through trees, and pulverizing everything that blocked their path.

The sight of them covering the ground in black looked as if a black wave was surging in.

‘….’

Everyone atop the wall intuitively felt that this battle would be different from any invasion they had experienced before.

It felt as if that massive wave would soon cover the walls here and swallow the entire city whole.

Could they really block all of those?

Such anxiety bloomed in the minds of the people standing on the wall.

When everyone felt fear and instinctively took a step back, there was one mercenary who instead stepped forward.

To be precise, it was a mercenary who was pushed forward by Ian.

‘Airi. Just do as you practiced.’

‘Yes….’

Airi stepped onto the magic circle she had drawn on the floor in advance.

Makers and other nearby mages gathered with Mika to assist Airi’s spell.

The magic circle was already prepared, and with the mages assisting from behind, Airi’s magical ritual was completed so simply that it made her previous worries seem pointless.

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[Soul Harvest Ritual]

– [Dark Magic] Trait Spell

– While the magic is maintained, a certain percentage of MP is recovered proportional to maximum MP when an enemy is defeated.

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As Airi glanced back at Ian after finishing the incantation, Ian gave her a nod.

Airi took an arrow out of the wooden box she had brought.

A magical arrow with a gemstone fully processed. She felt the gazes of everyone nearby gathering on her.

‘…Ugh, phew.’

Ian whispered softly beside Airi, whose hands were trembling slightly.

‘It’s still okay. There’s plenty of time, so prepare calmly.’

The monster legion was approaching the wall, but there was still some distance to spare.

Airi took a deep breath as Ian instructed. However, it didn’t seem to have much effect in reducing her tension.

‘S-so… phew.’

Everyone on the wall was watching Airi.

…She wanted to ask people to look elsewhere for a moment, but making such a request loudly to the crowd was equally as burdensome.

Her mind felt frozen, and she couldn’t quite remember how to move her mana.

As Airi couldn’t seem to relax, Ian leaned in close and whispered in her ear.

‘Try it slowly, just as you practiced. Since you’ll be resting for a while after this is over, I’ll grant whatever you want to do then.’

‘An-anything?’

‘If it’s within my power.’

Anything.

When she heard that word, she couldn’t understand why such a thought came to mind. Airi’s face instantly turned bright red.

…Anything?

Airi’s heart pounded furiously, but conversely, her mind settled into a very cold and calm state.

Anything… anything at all.

Muttering so, Airi slowly moved her mana step by step to activate the magic.

A pure white light began to flow from the arrow imbued with magic.

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[Echo of Death]

– [Dark Magic] Trait Spell

– When an enemy is defeated, the excess damage dealt beyond the target’s remaining HP is stored as [Echo of Death] stacks.

– Upon defeating an enemy, [Echo of Death] activates again toward the nearest enemy, dealing chain damage equal to the stored stacks.

– Deactivates if there are no remaining damage stacks or if MP is insufficient.

– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

Airi watched the wave of Legion Insects approaching from afar with tense eyes. It was almost time for the monsters to enter the target distance.

Just before shooting the arrow, Airi glanced at Ian and asked,

‘W-will something like this really be of any help…?’

Now that she was actually facing the massive swarm of monsters before her eyes, it seemed she felt anxiety about whether she could do anything about it with her own power.

‘Yes. It will.’

Strange as it was, the trembling stopped upon hearing Ian’s voice.

She still had doubts about whether she could perform such an important task… but if it was Ian’s plan, it seemed likely to work.

The arrow left Airi’s hand.

The first attack signaling the start of the battle. Everyone atop the wall watched the scene with bated breath.

The arrow surrounded by pure white light flew through the sky, leaving a long trajectory, and struck a single monster at the very front of the approaching wave.

The arrow imbued with magic easily pierced through the Legion Insect’s body.

Though their numbers were great, each individual’s strength was unremarkable, so the Legion Insect hit by the arrow couldn’t withstand the magically enhanced power and simply burst apart.

…Is that just the end of it?

The people on the wall who had watched the arrow’s flight from start to finish all harbored such a question.

But at that moment, white sparks erupted from the spot where the monster had died.

The bolt of lightning branched out as if it had a will of its own and attacked another monster nearby.

‘That is….’

‘What on earth is that magic?’

The soldiers and mercenaries on the wall muttered as they watched the scene.

The sparks rising from the arrow attacked and eliminated a monster, then immediately transferred to another monster.

The pure white lightning streak sent by Airi began to sweep through the Legion Insect swarm while gradually accelerating.

Even though dozens of monsters had already been dealt with, the momentum did not decrease at all. Rather, every time it transferred to another monster, the sparks grew even more intense.

The Legion Insect swarm seemed completely undeterred by the flashing current, continuing to advance while ignoring the sparks jumping before their eyes.

However, the chain of white lightning swept through the legion even faster than the swarm’s advance.

The light, which grew stronger every time it transferred to another monster, became so powerful that it was difficult to keep one’s eyes open and look forward.

The flashes of lightning and pillars of light rose high enough to cover the entire northern battlefield.

By the time the number of defeated monsters roughly exceeded three digits, the brilliance was clearly visible not only from the northern wall but also from other walls and the inner city.

It was to the point where one couldn’t see ahead due to the pouring light. Everyone was forced to turn their gaze from the battlefield, shielding their eyes with their hands.

Instead, people turned their gazes toward the person who had used this tremendous magic.

Though they couldn’t see inside the curtain of light, the continuous sound of thunder made it certain that this magic was still burning through the insects and growing even stronger even now.

A magic of such an enormous scale… just how long could she maintain it?

People’s gazes of wonder turned toward Airi.

Airi was flustered as she felt the endless thunder and the growing magical energy connected to her.

What is this.

Th-this… just how long will it keep going?

Airi, who had her eyes closed because it was too bright like everyone else, stood still toward the battlefield holding her bow, without even realizing that everyone on the wall was looking at her.