svetikya Vol 4. Chapter 739: A Duke’s Work
Vol 4. Chapter 739: A Duke’s Work
“A stampede?”
Ryo and Abel both tilted their heads.
“I will check the ‘images’ from the observation birds at once.”
As he said this, Chukudy stood.
Only then did he seem to remember Abel and Ryo were there.
“My apologies, Your Majesty. I recommend the people of the Kingdom return to your ship immediately and put out to sea.”
“Out to sea on the ship? What is a stampede?”
“In brief, it is a massive runaway surge of monsters.”
“What...”
Ryo and Abel were both struck speechless.
The door opened again, and someone came running in carrying what looked like a crystal ball the size of a human head.
“My lord, we have an ‘image’ from the observation birds.”
The crystal ball was placed on the table.
What it displayed was...
“What is that number...?”
Yes. It was a runaway surge in the truest sense.
“Several thousand? No, there are tens of thousands...”
“Boars, Bears, Goblins... even Ogres?”
“A scale that appears once in a century.”
Chukudy said this, then let out one deep breath.
But he immediately set his expression and posture in order, and began giving instructions.
“Evacuation alert throughout the city. Guide all residents to evacuate onto the sea.”
“Yes, my lord!”
The subordinate who had brought in the crystal ball ran out.
“Your Majesty, we should evacuate as well.”
The one who called out to Abel from behind was Scotty.
The other company commander, Zack, had already run from the room and headed for Skidbladnir.
He had gone ahead to return to the ship and have it ready to leave port.
Even during that time, Abel kept looking at the monsters reflected in the crystal ball.
Ryo was also peering in from beside him.
“About thirty to forty thousand?”
“There are no Griffins or Behemoths.”
“What do you think, Ryo?”
“Yes. It should be doable.”
That was the entire exchange.
Abel turned toward Chukudy, who had been about to move out after giving his orders.
“Lord Chukudy, what would you say to letting us help exterminate these monsters?”
“Your Majesty? As you saw, that is an enormous horde of monsters numbering well over ten thousand. ❀ Nоvеlігht ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) Extermination is... of course, we will do everything we can to buy time for the residents to evacuate, but even so, extermination will not be the main objective...”
Still looking dubious, Chukudy began explaining what would happen next.
In that instant, Abel changed his tone and called out.
“Duke Rondo.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
Abel had not called him “Ryo,” but “Duke Rondo.”
Ryo adjusted himself accordingly.
“You are skilled at exterminating monsters, are you not?”
“Of course. Command me as you will.”
“They appear to number in the tens of thousands. Will that be a problem?”
“Whether ten thousand becomes a hundred thousand, or even a million, it will present no problem.”
Ryo answered reverently.
“There you have it, Lord Chukudy. If you have no effective means of exterminating them, why not try our strength?”
“That is... But would it truly be acceptable for us to ask such a thing of you...?”
“If this becomes an opportunity to forge friendship with your country, then we would be glad to offer whatever cooperation we can.”
Abel said it with a smile.
Chukudy thought for a while, then gave one firm nod.
“Your Majesty, may we have your assistance?”
“Very well.”
Abel nodded once, then turned toward Ryo.
“Duke Rondo, sweep away the monsters attacking this city.”
“I accept your royal command.”
The group moved onto the southwestern wall of Borne.
Abel, Ryo, Scotty, Lord Chukudy of Borne, and Chukudy’s aides.
In the distance, they could see clouds of dust rising and drawing closer.
“This is...”
The words slipped from Chukudy’s mouth despite himself.
“My lord, only about ten percent of the residents have completed evacuation onto the sea! We will never make it in time!”
Grim reports arrived one after another.
Chukudy looked at Abel beside him, whose expression remained calm.
“Your Majesty, even with this?”
There was neither subject nor object in his question, yet the meaning came across all the same.
Faced with an overwhelming phenomenon, words could be omitted and still understood.
“It will be all right, Lord Chukudy.”
Abel said that, then looked at Ryo.
Ryo nodded silently and looked toward the wall of dust as it swelled in size while bearing down on them.
Now that it had drawn this close, even the individual monsters could be made out.
“
Sixteen magic circles appeared, floating behind Ryo.
Then—
“
Ryo himself rose into the air.
At the sight, no one could open their mouth.
The enormous horde of monsters came on with a thunderous roar, kicking up clouds of dust.
On the city wall, silence fell as everyone stared at Ryo, stunned into speechlessness.
Amid that contrast, the spell was released.
“
The thousands of ice spears fired from Ryo and the magic circles spread outward in a fan, piercing through the enormous horde of monsters advancing on the city.
One volley.
A second.
And then a third...
With each release, the fan spread a little wider.
The ice spears glittered in the sunlight as they steadily stole the monsters’ lives.
Seen from afar, the great mass of spears was astonishingly beautiful... but what it created was a blood-soaked vision of hell for the monsters.
Even so, the monsters did not stop.
One after another, they charged toward the city.
One after another, they were pierced by ice.
And then...
A total of five volleys.
Every monster stopped moving.
No one opened their mouth.
But then they remembered.
They remembered the song the minstrels went around singing.
The song of the water-attribute magician who served King Abel.
“There is one magician who follows King Abel. His magic is the great water magic that erases the heavens, shatters the earth, and freezes the world. It is no dream nor illusion that with a single blow, he crushed an army of one hundred thousand.”
They had now been shown that sight with their own eyes.
“People praise him and sing of him as Icefall, or else as the Silver Duke.”
That person was the robed man standing before them.
“So this is... Duke Rondo.”