I jumped straight down from the wall to rescue Ciel.Fwoosh-.Right now my base physical abilities were at phys-ed major level, on top of being plastered with every buff potion and artifact.Damage from falling was something I could easily absorb.…In theory, anyway. Once I actually jumped, it was pretty high, so it was pretty scary.'Aegis.'Deploying Aegis’s shield, I landed on top of a fishman’s head in the mass beneath the wall.Kwahng-.[kr…….]The fishman’s neck snapped under my weight and impact.The gruesome sound that came up through my shoes felt unnecessarily vivid.'One down.'[krrr!!]As soon as I dropped down under the wall, the fishmen rushed at me like zombies, as if they’d been waiting.From their point of view, they’d already been furious, and now prey had come down to them on its own feet, so they had every reason to be happy.Of course, I had no intention of meekly becoming their food.After setting my specialized attribute to Earth, I drove the Azoth Sword into the ground and Transmuted the sand of the beach.Rumble-.Pillars of sand shot up from beneath the ground and slammed the onrushing fishmen away.[kr!]I hadn’t inflicted heavy damage, but it was enough just to knock them back for now.Rescuing Ciel took priority over killing a few of them at the moment.Shhhhhh-.Continuing to Transmute sand pillars to the left and right, I carved a path beneath the wall, packed with fishmen.Just then, Elena shouted from up on the wall."I’ll come down too!"Elena looked about to jump after me at any moment. While I kept raising sand pillars, I shouted back at her,"Forget it and just block them from climbing up! Think carefully about what your priorities are!"I appreciated Elena’s desire to help, but I couldn’t accept it.'Throwing myself down here to rescue Ciel was purely my personal judgment.'A commander who stops commanding and dives into enemy lines to save one person.Before even arguing about who was more important between the students up there and Ciel, as the commander in charge of this battle, that would be a failing grade.If Elena came down here too, it would burden the other students and create a huge gap in the fortress’s defense.All the more so in a situation where a high-tier monster called Gon had appeared.So Elena had to stay atop the wall and blast holy magic to keep the things from climbing up.Flash-.I sprinted quickly between the sand pillars that had split to either side to form walls, tracking Ciel’s mana.When I closed my eyes and read mana, I could feel a fierce fighting spirit blazing up amid the thick, sticky mana of the fishmen filling the beach.'That way.'[krrr!]Opening my eyes, I saw the fishmen forcing themselves over the sand walls I’d raised and surging toward me like a tidal wave.Right after I raised the sand pillars, the monsters were pushed back and a path opened, but after a little time passed, they climbed over the pillars and the path disappeared.I’d created the path to use when I rescued Ciel and came back, but at this rate it would be pointless.'In that case.'I channeled mana back into the Azoth Sword and Transmuted the sand again.Crackle-.Sand surged up from beneath my feet in a burst of blue lightning.Shhhhhh-.The sand soon formed into sharp footholds that lifted my body slightly.A shape like a surfboard.'If I just keep trying to open more paths, they’ll get blocked by those things right away anyway.'It was my first time riding anything like a board, so it was a bit unsettling, but if I wanted to punch through that sea of fishmen, this was better.Shrrrr-.Then I kept Transmuting the sand beneath my feet into waves, surfing through the sea of monsters.[krrr!][kr!]Fishmen hurled their bodies at me, trying to stop me as I advanced quickly on a wave of sand.Thud, thud-.Their arms and legs bounced away from the translucent shield surrounding me.Dodging the monsters’ body attacks like that and moving at high speed, I finally managed to reach the place where I felt Ciel’s mana.[krrr!][krr!!]A spot where fishmen were encircling in a ring, shrieking.As if they’d found something interesting to watch, they were all screaming however they pleased and doing grotesque dances.Looking closely, I saw Ciel, already a wreck, facing off against Gon there."Haa, haa."Her once-neat hair was completely disheveled, and her uniform was ripped in places, making her look like a mess.The situation didn’t look great either—she had bruises here and there, probably from getting hit by the tentacles. Those were injuries she’d gotten while deflecting or blocking attacks.The only saving grace was that I didn’t see any marks of tentacles having pierced through her.To put Ciel in that state in just a few minutes.No, it was more that they’d been toying with her like a plaything—if they’d seriously tried to kill her, it might have been worse.In fact, aside from Gon, the other fishmen were just surrounding Ciel in a ring to keep her from escaping and watching.[krrr!!]Seeing the fishmen dance while watching the battered Ciel, I ground my teeth."Move."[kr?]Squelch-.A spear of sand that shot up from beneath my feet pierced one fishman’s head.[kr…….]It spewed black blood and crumpled.After clearing one out like that, I pushed aside the fishmen surrounding Ciel and stepped into the round clearing.Rustle-.When I emerged through the fishmen, Ciel looked at me with wide, startled eyes."Loen… sir?"She clearly hadn’t expected me to come here at all.I shrugged."What’s with that look. I came to save you."Ciel clutched the necklace around her neck and shouted,"Who’s saving who! Why on earth are you doing something this dangerous…"Scolding the person who came to rescue you by asking why they came—harsh, isn’t it.Of course, I could somewhat understand Ciel’s anger too.Her getting captured had been an unavoidable outcome in the process of saving Charlotte.But then the person she was supposed to guard had jumped into the middle of enemy lines to rescue her instead.It was the worst decision, one that could get both of us killed for nothing.Even so.Seeing her expression, she seemed secretly happy I’d come to save her.Not exactly an emotion that fit this kind of hellhole situation, though.I forced a relaxed expression and said,"Why else? It’s only natural to rescue the maid whose master is in danger."After looking at Ciel for a moment, I pointed at the fishmen surrounding us on guard."Let’s head back. It’s too dangerous here."Just as I reached a hand out to Ciel—Shrrk-.With the sound of air being sliced, Gon’s tentacle came flying in.I quickly pulled back the hand I’d extended toward Ciel and dodged the tentacle’s attack.Boom-!Gon’s tentacle smashed into the sand between Ciel and me, splitting us.Unlucky for them, a few fishmen that happened to be in the tentacle’s path were shredded to chunks on the spot.Watching that horrific sight, I shrugged."…Doesn’t look like it plans to let us go easily."And thinking it through, it wasn’t enough for Ciel and me to just get out of here alive.Even if we went back like this, as long as those tentacles were around, similar situations would keep happening.Ciel had been dragged down here in the first place trying to save Charlotte after she got skewered by a tentacle.If we didn’t stop Gon here, sooner or later either I or some other student would get snagged by those tentacles.'This might actually be the perfect chance to kill the enemy commander.'We take it down quickly here and flip the tide of battle.Finishing that thought, I clenched my fist and said,"All right, we beat it here.""…Huh?"Ciel tilted her head, eyes full of baffled disbelief, as if to say what kind of nonsense is that.I understood. This was a situation where we barely had enough time to look for an opening and run, and I was saying we should fight instead, so she had to be wondering if I’d lost my mind.I added an explanation,"If we leave it alone, the walls will collapse sooner or later. Even if the two of us survive and run away right now, the result will be the same, so it’s better to settle it here.""No matter what, still—!""If you don’t like it, you can go back first. Take the surfing board… that sand foothold. I’ll at least Transmute some waves for you."I said that and pointed at the sand surfing board, but Ciel let out a deep sigh and took up a combat stance."…Forget it. Where would I go, leaving you here, Loen? You really are unbelievably unreliable.""You’re really not honest."Well, fine.I knew by now that those kinds of barbs were Ciel’s way of expressing her feelings too.'But… can we actually beat that thing.'Whip-.I looked at Gon, spinning the tentacle attached to its tail casually.Its body was three or four times larger than other fishmen. With its limbs thin like an amphibian and its joints sticking out all over, it looked extremely grotesque.Unlike other fishmen, it had no legs, its long tail trailing behind it like a snake.At a glance, it was clearly not an easy opponent.'It’s a named, field-type monster that appears in the latter half of the game.'You needed to be at least Sword Master level to handle it comfortably.'Well… if I unleash my power, I think I could win.'There were fifteen hundred students on top of the wall. And Elena was up there too, so demonization was by no means a good option.No matter how chaotic the situation was or how far this spot was from the wall, I couldn’t relax. Someone’s eyes would definitely catch it.While I was standing off against Gon, thinking for a moment about how to fight—The creature blinked its pale, half-clouded eyes at us and opened its mouth.[kr, k, kk, krr?]"……?"Movements like it was trying to communicate with me. Of course, I had no way of understanding what it meant.Then—Zzzing-.[You, that, qualified, existence?]Suddenly, a radio-static-like noise rattled my head, and at the same time, Gon’s intent was conveyed.I clutched my head, which felt like it was going to crack open, and grimaced."…I don’t know, you bastard."I didn’t know exactly what kind of thing Loen was, either.At best, I knew that Loen was deeply entangled with demons, and that the Apostles who served the Demon God were keeping a close eye on him.Why they were so obsessed with this body, I had no idea.[k, kr, krr, kr, krkr, k,kr.]Gon bared its teeth, pointing at me.[You are, to our, candidate, a threat… before the coronation, we kill you.]At the same time, it whipped its tentacles and began its attack.Swish-.Ciel and I split to either side, dodging the tentacle strike.At the same time, I pulled the subspace pouch from my coat and tossed it to Ciel."Use as much as you need. Potions, enhancement stones, whatever."Ciel snatched the pouch out of the air and deftly pulled out recovery potions and various enhancement stones to use.She didn’t forget to take Blessing of Fierabras to amplify the power of the enhancement items, either.Crack-.I also used items while keeping my guard up against the Gon in front of me, raising my Agility stat as high as possible.'Gon’s Agility stat is around 70.'To dodge its attacks and land hits of my own, I needed at least 50 Agility.Rip-.As I tore a scroll for use, I thought,'While the Haste spell lasts, my Agility stat will be a little over 50 too.'That met the minimum condition to bring the monster down, but we had to finish the fight before the Haste spell ended.'On top of that… Gon isn’t just one.'Judging from the number of tentacles that had attacked the wall, there were at least two Gons.If we wanted to take both out, our time limit would be even tighter.Finishing my thoughts, I spoke to Ciel."Ciel, can you follow my commands?"Ciel came over and stood back-to-back with me, watching for enemies."Just say the word.""Create as many openings as you can so I ⊛ Nоvеlιght ⊛ (Read the full story) can get close to Gon. That’s all I need.""…You’re going to approach that thing?"Ciel frowned at my words.She already hated that we were fighting here at all, and now I was saying I’d walk straight into the jaws of death, so of course she was exasperated.I added an appropriate explanation."Half-assed attacks won’t work on it anyway. It has high regeneration, so most wounds will heal quickly."Gon boasted a recovery rate and toughness several times higher than a normal fishman.Ciel’s strikes and my Transmutation spells likely wouldn’t work.It’d be like throwing an egg at a rock."But I have a way to attack it. Just follow my lead.""……."Seeing her hesitate, I kept talking."Trust me, Ciel. At the very least, I’m not planning to die here. I’ll beat that thing and lead this battle to victory. Then we go back together. That’s what I’ve decided.""Is that so?""Yeah. We beat it and definitely go back alive. I’ll live until I’m old and senile, so don’t worry."When I added that last part, Ciel, who had been listening with a solemn expression, furrowed her brows."Did you really have to say it like that? You could have phrased it more elegantly…"Swish-.While Ciel was grumbling, Gon’s tentacle shot toward us.Watching it, I shouted,"Shut up, it’s coming!"

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