508 – Reconnaissance

It’s early in the morning, with darkness still around.
Aro and I remain motionless outside the cavern, a fly monster flies out of the mist.
It’s one of Beelzebub’s kin.
The fly monster stares intently at us, as though observing our actions.

“[Gale]!”

Aro releases a burst of wind to slam the monster against the ground, then quickly swells her arm and smashes it.
Green body fluids scatter below her arm.

N-not much hesitation, huh.
It took a fair bit of courage for me when I had to smash abysses.

『I’m grateful for your enthusiasm, but… It’d be easier if I did it.
A little is fine, but don’t waste too much MP…』

“Okay…”

Aro replies quietly, her head hanging down.

『Take some from me with [Mana Drain].
I’ll be able to quickly recover that much with automatic recovery.』

“Yes!”

Aro looks up and cheerfully replies.

I lay my belly on the ground.
Aro leans closely on me and draws magic power using [Mana Drain].
As I watch Aro’s delighted expression with a sidelong glance, I think about what we should do now.

Should we relocate immediately? No, can they find us from the observations of a single fly? Besides, considering the worst case scenario, it might be better for Lilixira to come here rather than for us to move around aimlessly.

Although that does mean we’ll be relinquishing the first attack to them.
The attack that Lilixira is likely to use first is… As I imagine it, a chill runs down my spine.
Beelzebub’s sure-kill beam… The [Storm of the Fly King].

I-I need to wake everyone up right away! Even though we’ve seen a few flies, it’s no guarantee that Lilixira has arrived on this land.
It’s not certain that she’ll attack immediately… But eating a [Storm of the Fly King] would be the worst.
If that happened, we’d be completely routed.

The atlach-nacha lands next to me with a thud.
She was already awake, it seems.
Cracking her neck, she looks at me through her mask.

“Is it alright to wake everyone?”

『Yeah, please! Right away, and quickly!』

“Kishi!”

The black lizard rolls out of the cavern and quickly leaps at the treant, sinking her teeth in.
The treant sways wildly, and its tree leaves flutter.
The eye- and mouth-like holes on its trunk open wide.

『Nuoh!?』

『It’s a bit late now, but you could have woken them a bit more gently!』

This bullying of treant-san! No, the black lizard was probably just trying to wake treant-san up quickly, but… She didn’t use poison, right?

“……kishi.”

The black lizard licks and removes the poison from the bite with her tongue… I-I see, you actually used it.

From within the cavern, Volk appears holding the magiatite-jii golden sword.

“Was there movement from the enemy?”

『Yeah, one of the flies came! We need to get away from here!』

“Calm down.
We don’t know the ins and outs of this place, so if we move recklessly we will end up needlessly giving them opportunities to attack.”

『B-but still…!』

If we receive a preemptive [Storm of the Fly King] strike, not only will everyone be hit by huge damage, we’ll also be scattered by the storm.
To make matters worse, the atlach-nacha, Volk, and the treant would get the deadly poison status condition.
If that happened, we’d have no choice but to go about healing everyone while enduring Lilixira’s fierce attack.

“The Saint is probably similarly uneasy about the geography as well.”

『…I guess that’s true.』

Although they have the eyes of Beelzebub’s kin, the visibility is terrible and the area is vast.
There are also lots of monsters.
To Lilixira too, this is the most dangerous place in the world.
It’s the Easternmost Strange Land.
I might have only been thinking about our own weaknesses and the enemies’ strengths .

I draw a map on the ground with a rough estimate of the terrain, Lilixira’s probable landing area, and our present location.

…She’s probably moving directly towards us.
The reason is, in this land of mist where the details are unclear, she doesn’t have the leeway to do something like try and flank us.
I draw a straight line from the direction Lilixira is likely to come from.

And then, the first attack is probably Beelzebub’s [Storm of the Fly King].
Against such a wide range attack, I’ll have no choice but to heal everyone.
They’ll surely use that opportunity to attack.

For Lilixira, she will end up relying on her [Spirit Servants] to overwhelm me with numbers.
She surely understands that her defeat will be certain the moment it becomes a battle of attrition.

『In other words, we face a short decisive battle…』

There shouldn’t be anything she stands to gain by drawing the battle out.
It might be over surprisingly quickly.

“That’s likely true.
Conversely, if it appears they’re aiming for a protracted battle, it’ll mean there’s something we haven’t grasped.”

Volk says that, but for Lilixira, the strength to force a short battle will be in short supply.
If I take out a portion of her strength, the options available to her will narrow considerably.

『Thinking about it calmly… I understand that Lilixira is limited in her ways of attacking us.
We should be able to restrict her options quite a bit.』

So, we should prepare against Beelzebub’s [Storm of the Fly King].
So that they don’t get hit directly, should I have Aro and the others hide in the cavern while I stand outside by myself?

“It wouldn’t be a bad idea to attack them here, provided we knew how they were moving.
But, to do that, reconnaissance would be needed.”

Volk points to a portion of the map I drew with the tip of the golden magiatite-jii sword.
It’s along Lilixira’s predicted route, and near our present location.
What’s important is knowing the timing of when she’s about to arrive I guess.

However, reconnaissance huh…

『Using illusory magic to hide myself is…』

“You’re likely the lynchpin, so to speak… I understand that exposing you to danger isn’t desirable, but it’s a necessary role.”

…I get it.
As long as we grasp the timing of Lilixira’s approach, I can even use illusory magic to lay down a wide-ranging trap in preparation just before that.
Depending on the situation, we can probably even shut down [Storm of the Fly King] and take them by surprise.
Most importantly, it’ll be impossible for them to catch us completely defenceless with a surprise attack.

“If we go with that, the only one able to do so might be me.”

The atlach-nacha speaks nonchalantly.

『I-It’s dangerous.
We’d be very close by, but it means you’ll end encountering Lilixira first.』

“I’m the only one with survival skills, and able to do perception and stealth.”

I-It’s true that the atlach-nacha has [Presence Perception: Lv7] and [Stealthy Movement: Lv7].
The mist here is thick, so if she devotes herself to concealment, the risk of discovery by Lilixira is low.
If we think about it normally, it’s not a difficult role, and if there’s no other requirement, the atlach-nacha is the right person in the right place… However, just this time, the opponent is too disquieting.

“Besides, I have a skill that notifies me of the situation even with distance.”

A skill that allows the notification of the situation even with distance…? The atlach-nacha had such a thing?