Chapter 195 Strongest Sage, Picks Chance

 

About six hours later.
We finished the quest smoothly and got the reward at the guild.

It was a boring but fruitful quest in term of intel gained.
We now know their technological level and the refineries' locations thanks to the map.

『So, what are we going to do now?』

『Right... Nothing good would come out of staying in this town anyway, let's get them quick. We've grasped our enemy positions after all.』

We were probing the surrounding mana reaction the whole time during the quest.
Result, found 32 sub-demons.
A standard amount for a group of sub-demons.

『But these sub-demons are good at acting in unison right? Wouldn't it better if we waited until they're scattered about?』

Alma looked at the surroundings as she said that.
The sub-demons have situated themselves around the center of the town indeed.

It's probably a good idea to wait for the sub-demons to disperse in order to neutralize their union.
However--.

『Nah, there's no point in waiting. These demons must be holding their current positions.』

I peeked at the mana reaction as I said that.
They've been making sure to absolutely stay in the center of the town.

This is probably done on purpose.
Since their sense-sharing is limited to 50 meter range.

And the sub-demons in this town are moving about while always maintaining their link together.
Thus, defeating even one of them would notify the rest of the sub-demons in the entire town.

This is most likely not a coincidence.
They must have willingly taken this kind of security measures to immediately detect any incident or attack from outside.
That all the refineries are located around the center of the town must be for this too.

『...You mean, we're gonna have to face these sub-demons all at once if we wanna beat them?』

『That would happen if we leisurely wait for them to join up with on another. However, if we attack sub-demons that are their on the way to join up with others and end the battle fast, we should end up only fighting a few.』

Even if these sub-demons are gathered together, it's not like they're all smack dab crowding in one place.
These sub-demons are moving with a certain level of freedom within the 50 meter range limit.

『End it quick... The demons are all within a 50 meter range right? They'd join together in a blink of an eye when they're that close...』

『Not necessarily so. Because these demons won't be going in a straight line. Each one should take about 10 seconds.』

Well if there is a sub-demon acting as an intermediary in the center of the 50 meter range, they should be able to move farther than that, in fact, these demons are scattered about in a 200 meter range.
Even if all these demons were to rush here, it would still take a few dozens of seconds at least.
Ordinary demons would arrive in a few seconds by flying or breaking through walls, however, sub-demons don't have that kind of strength.

『T-ten seconds...』

『That much is enough when you're ambushing a sub-demon... Besides I'll be employing a scheme that will stop them from banding together easily.』

『Scheme?』

『Yeah. Put a disguise magic that blurs your mana on yourself and beat them without having your face seen... In short, you want to prevent these demons from moving at their pace, that's the knack for defeating sub-demons.』

The past me went through some hard times defeating sub-demons in my youth.
Their individual strength is far away weaker than an ordinary demon, but it gets really troublesome when they band together.

『Beating a demon without having your face seen... I don't think I could do that though...』

『It is difficult... And that's why it will be me and Iris that's going to directly fight these demons. You two will pretend to be innocent passer by and disturb the demons. Hide yourselves in the spot I specify.』

Ruli and the girls are still not able to hide their presences while fighting.
There's the difference in our level of experience and crest after all.
And Disqualified Crest is the most qualified crest for stealth action after all.
However, the demons would surely overlook them if they just hide without participating in the fight.

However, I've been hiding Iris's mana with magic from the moment we came into this town.
I don't have the leeway to keep doing so while fighting the sub-demons for real.

And thus, Iris will be fighting too.
Iris's fighting prowess is a good match for the sub-demons.

Sub-demons are good at union, but in exchange they have fundamentally low offensive powers, therefore, they can't deal any damage on opponents with an extremely high defensive power like Iris.
Iris probably won't able to hit the sub-demons either, but by acting as bait with her conspicuous mana, it should make my battle considerably easier.

...While thinking that, the sub-demons got into positions that's easy to attack on.
I thought it would take another few hours before we got this chance, lucky us.

『Here's our chance. Alma, and Ruli, go hide over there.』

I pointed at a nearby shadow.
<TLN: If you're reading this novel at any other site than Sousetsuka .com you might be reading an unedited, uncorrected version of the novel.>
『I-I understand! Do we need to prepare anything?』

『I'll release Iris's mana later, use the confusion to make magic tools and slip them in. Make it a type of magic tool that will explode on ground contact. Something flashy would be good.』
『I got it! Should I augment it on arrows?』

Usually, when Ruli augment offensive magic, she does it by augmenting Alma's arrows.
Since simply putting offensive magic in a magic stone won't help in hitting the target.
However, we won't use arrows this time.

『No, just make it ordinary magic tools... Alma, you've learned how to use Wired Homing Enchant right?』

『I've been using Wired Homing Enchant all this time... Huh? Are you telling me to use it on magic stones?』

『That's right. Throw them at the place the demon will step on when I tell you so... Can you do it?』

『Umm... No sweat!』

The 『Wired Homing Enchant』 that Alma usually uses on her arrows can actually also be used on things she throws.
Of course, using it with arrows is more powerful and effective, but this time we're doing a specific method.
This technique doesn't have many uses, but I was right to teach her just in case.

『Me, what about me?』

『Iris, you wait here and flail your spear around randomly at the demons!』

『S-so haphazard! ...I can just run wild?』

『Your role, Iris, is to be a decoy. Just be careful not to stray too far, and go on a rampage!』

I look at the demons' positions afterward.
We're currently right at the edge of the area where the demons are.
At this position, I can catch mana reaction of the entire group of demons there.

--Nice timing.







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