Is It Bad That the Main Character’s a Roleplayer?
Chapter 212: Life is Cruel (7)

Chapter 212 Life is Cruel (7)

Sometimes, you just had to make do with what you had. If they wouldn’t give me any platforms, I just had to make my own.

With that mindset, I checked my Arcane Power reserves before trying to form Arcane Spirals only around my legs.

Surprisingly, it worked. It took significantly less Arcane Power than enveloping my entire body—though it still used more than my Recovery Rate—so it did have some merit.

Of course, wrapping Arcane Power around my two legs, meaning two separate parts, was quite tedious… but what other choice did I have?

Conserving Arcane Power here meant being able to land even one more hit or fight just a bit longer. That was the reality of my current situation.

Eventually, I started to move, constantly feeling like I had to solve complex arithmetic problems while sprinting at full speed.

I did miss the support of the wizards a little, but that quickly faded when I thought about how they would just end up getting hit by lava and have to retire from battle after just a second.

Bababababam!

Perhaps because I had a storm of dark Arcane Power swirling around my legs, each step I took made a sound like a rotating saw blade cutting through the ground.

> [Hah, yeah, that’s more like it!]

Still, the effect was pretty good, as I could now step on the lava without taking any damage. The swirling Arcane Power deflected the molten rock away in all directions.

Boom!

With no more reason to hold back, I wildly dashed forward, dodging the volcanic bombs flying toward me. The lava giant was no exception. I leaped over its outstretched arm, landed on top of it, and ran along its broad arm.

Since the giant was made of viscous lava, my feet didn’t sink into it when I moved.

> [You almost made this too boring, Wrath!]

By that point, the Demon, having realized I could move across the lava and get closer, began to move seriously.

The number of volcanic bombs coming at me increased, and the giant’s body started glowing yellow and white, like a bomb about to explode.

Bam!

Ah, I was planning to climb all the way to its shoulder and then dive into the building.

Swallowing my frustration, I flipped in midair. My body, which I’d twisted sideways, began to fall, spinning around as I plummeted.

Clang!

At that point, the lava giant proved my decision wise. Its magma skin writhed and transformed into something resembling a hedgehog.

The spikes all over its body seemed grotesque, but more importantly, I narrowly avoided getting additional holes punched into my body. I did well to jump off.

Boom, boomboomboom!

However, I didn’t get to praise myself for my judgment for long. Even as I fell, the Demon’s attack on me continued.

In particular, the volcanic bombs were especially vicious, continuously hurtling toward me in rapid succession, making things increasingly difficult.

Some could be avoided by twisting my body midair, but others weren’t so easily dodged. I had no choice but to act fast.

Tak!

But hey, a crisis could also be an opportunity.

At first, I cut them with my sword, but I decided not long after just to use them as stepping stones. I figured slicing through every last one would be kind of useless since they were coming at me from all directions.

Well, it helped that the surface of the bombs had cooled, becoming something that felt more like rock. If they had still been liquid, I wouldn’t have dared to step on them.

> [Where do you think you’re going?!]

However, just as I jumped off, the ground below erupted, violently spewing magma high into the air like a giant flame.

Shwaaah!

Reacting instinctively, I released my Arcane Power as it surged like a water fountain. It was similar to when I had to shake off those plants that had entangled my entire body.

The Arcane Power, released in strands woven so densely together that there wasn’t a single gap, sliced through and repelled the rising lava.

Boom!

The moment my feet touched the ground, spikes suddenly shot up! I didn’t even have a second to catch my breath before immediately having to move to avoid being impaled on them.

The spikes completely blocked my path to the building, so I couldn’t go that way. They forced me to get away from the building.

Even when I tried again, the result was the same. As I approached the building, the Demon not only increased the intensity of its attack but also formed multiple obstacles along the way.

The obstacles were so overwhelming that I couldn’t even consider simply breaking through them without suffering an unacceptable amount of damage.

> [I’m right here!]

And even worse, that thing started to move.

The Demon rapidly spun its body, causing its long tail—the size of my body—to whip around, stretching and extending in the process.

Whoosh! A massive tail strike.

The problem wasn’t its power. The real issue was that attack’s damn knockback effect, which threw me even further away from the building, right into the lava giant’s strike zone!

Boooom!

I narrowly avoided the giant’s fist and gritted my teeth.

Forget about that ritual altar or whatever. I felt like I wouldn’t get anywhere if I didn’t kill that damn Demon first. It made me almost seethe with rage.

Bababababang!

Then, rock spears with magma glowing through the cracks began to rise from the lava.

It was another long-range attack following the volcanic bombs.

Additionally, smaller lava creatures made of solidified rock began to emerge one by one. Apparently, all-powerful Demons had at least one minion-summoning skill up their sleeves or something.

This fight seriously had no sense of fairness at all.

Did they really design this as a Solo Raid?

Grinding my teeth, I shattered the incoming rock spears and sliced through the volcanic bombs.

‘Kill it.’

“Die.”

Screech. The shrill sound of my attack echoed through the area.

* * *

“The water level is rising, my lord!”

“…How is the evacuation proceeding?!”

“The Adventurers’ Guild has sent a report! Evacuations have begun from the south and west. The gates have been opened, and they are leading the people out! Their destination is Mount Zwerg!”

Lord Bemurchen clenched his teeth as he received status reports on the battle and the city in succession.

Thanks to the Hero’s presence, the damage to the walls was significantly less than usual, but the real problem was the approaching “island” and the thing that appeared inside the city. The problems were never-ending.

“Hurry, tell them to get everyone out as fast as possible! Make sure no one gets caught up in the fighting and dies!”

“Yes!”

“W-we’re doomed… There are Demons in the city as well…”

The most pressing issue was, of course, that damn giant.

“…Who’s spouting that cowardly nonsense?!”

“…!”

“Don’t be afraid! The Demon that appeared in the city is already being dealt with! It’ll soon be eliminated, and not even a trace of its corpse will remain on this land!”

He glanced toward the northern part of the city, grinding his teeth.

The sky was covered in dark clouds, and beneath it, the fiery giant illuminated the surrounding area, which was now beginning to burn.

He couldn’t help but feel uneasy about whether that lone adventurer he’d sent to handle the situation would do a good job. However, he could see the giant flailing around in one place rather than rampaging through the city.

It was probably acting like that because the adventurer was holding it there, preventing it from moving anywhere else…

But he kept wondering if it was really right to let a single person face such a gigantic beast.

He kept doubting whether he’d made the right decision to trust that adventurer’s confidence and divert support from the Adventurers’ Guild and Magic Tower to other places.

Sure, as the adventurer said, using them to evacuate the people was far more efficient than letting them die pointless deaths… but was this really the right call?

“The evacuation order is only a precaution! So steel yourselves and fight! Fight with faith instead of doubting this city! There’s only one way for us to protect Bemurchen: stand our ground, trust each other, and fend off those damn rotten fish!”

However, there was still a lot on his plate. After calming the restless soldiers with loud shouts, he gestured to the messenger.

It was to relay an order to the officers stationed throughout the area that they should do everything in their power to maintain morale.

“Additionally, tell them this. If it looks like the walls will be breached, they may abandon their position and retreat.”

“Yes!”

“Of course, if a retreat is ordered, a signal flare will be fired, so they shouldn’t flee prematurely out of fear. Make sure to be clear about this. Don’t forget not to let the normal soldiers hear any of this.”

The messenger, a former elite soldier who could read and write but changed his job to messenger following a shoulder injury, bowed his head loyally. The other messengers did the same.

After receiving the orders, they sprinted off immediately.

“…And you said the water level is rising?”

“Yes.”

Having delayed this matter to urge on the soldiers, the lord now returned to it, addressing the officer.

In the time he took to calm the soldiers, the water level had risen so dangerously high that even the lord could tell. He had a feeling the first wall would soon be destroyed.

“Start by opening floodgates five through nine. Move the soldiers to the inner wall!”

Considering the situation, he swiftly gave new instructions.

Flooding the city’s waterways might slow the evacuation of the residents slightly, but with the sea level that high, there was nothing else they could do.

If they didn’t drain the water somehow, the Merfolk could easily climb the wall just by jumping out of the water.

“Open floodgate five!”

“Open floodgate six!”

“Open…”

Still, exercising minimal restraint, they left floodgates one through four closed. In other words, they only opened the smaller floodgates the Merfolk couldn’t pass through.

The waterways would undoubtedly fill with water, but at least there wouldn’t be any risk of people getting assaulted by Merfolk during the evacuation. Besides, since they only opened floodgates five through nine, it would take quite some time for the water level to rise enough to cause any problems.

Hisssss!

“You damn bastards.”

Just then, as the soldiers gradually retreated to the second wall, the person who’d come to perform maintenance but ended up fighting alongside the rest loudly cursed as he sent another Merfolk to the afterlife.

The Merfolk’s slimy skin, which often caused blades to slip off its body, was now dissolving.

This was thanks to a fist-sized item Meister called an “Alkaline Bomb.”

“Ha, if you had something so effective, shouldn’t you have made a lot more of them before now?”

“If that were so easy, even someone like you would have long become a Great Master, Lord.”

“Always have to get the last word, huh?”

Even while grumbling about the lack of more items, the lord refrained from criticizing Meister too much.

After all, Meister created these alkaline bombs—he claimed to have found a clue while researching a coat—on his own initiative.

Since the prototype had passed inspections, he’d started working on them tirelessly at the lord’s request, producing a hundred bombs in total—all hand-made, from the casing to their contents.

Considering he produced them all in just six days, a hundred was by no means a small amount.

“Okay, you can go back inside now. You must’ve confirmed its effectiveness sufficiently by now.”

“Don’t want to.”

“You’re an irreplaceable talent. Keep your work and personal life separate, okay?”

He didn’t want to see Werner, Meister’s grandfather, disappointed, but more importantly, he couldn’t ignore the value of Meister himself.

It might be an exaggeration to say that Meister’s touch had shaped almost every part of this place, seeing as he hadn’t lived that long yet… but at least in regard to their weaponry, he was responsible for far too many things.

The lord was pointing that out.

“Let me see what that island is.”

“…Sometimes I resent that you’re a wizard.”

“Don’t think I wouldn’t act this way even if I weren’t a wizard.”

“The fact that I can’t even refute that only makes it worse.”

The lord sighed as he looked at that damn researcher who valued curiosity more than his own life.

Then he tapped Meister on the shoulder. The latter’s eyebrows shot up since he didn’t appreciate others touching him like that, even though he invaded others’ personal space without batting an eye.

“If you’re staying, at least stick close to the Hero. It’s safer there.”

“…Fine.”

* * *

The lord pushed his spear into the mouth of a Merfolk that had just climbed up, hoisting the creature into the air. The weapon, which had a considerably longer blade than a regular spear, shattered its skull and rose upward.

“Move with courage! God is with us!”

“Uwaaaaah!”

The battle was still fiercely raging on.

“…My lord.”

But…

“I think I have a rough idea of what that thing is.”

“…?”

The next moment, the lord, equipped with an item that enhanced his sight, let out a groan instead of hopeful words.

“However… no matter how I look at it, it just looks like a turtle to me. Am I right?”

Beyond the bright horizon, illuminated even at night, the true nature of that “island” slowly became apparent.

“…It looks like that to me, too, though it’s my first time seeing a turtle that massive.”

They’d vaguely identified the “island” as a giant turtle.

One with long legs and a long neck, its shell covered in jagged rocks as if it had been sleeping on the seafloor for ages, only now surfacing in these shallow waters to bask in the sun.

“Could this be the legendary Land Turtle?”

It was hard to tell whether the ancient records passed down through history could be trusted. No dragon had appeared as the records had warned, but at least the weapons they’d created in preparation for one seemed like they might come in handy.

The lord swallowed hard and lowered the item from his eyes. He then turned to look for Meister, but he soon remembered that he’d already sent the Great Master to stay beside the Hero not too long ago.

“Tsk.”

He initially planned to gesture for another messenger but quickly changed his mind. He should go himself.

“I’ll head to another place. I leave the rest to you!”

“Yes!”

He patted the shoulder of the commander in charge of this area before leading the knights assigned to guard him as they sprinted across the wall.

“Don’t be afraid! We have the messenger of God on our side!”

“We have fought against the dangers of the sea countless times before! We can win this time as well!”

“Do not give yourself to fear! The fear of losing your life will erase even the slightest possibility of our survival!”

“Focus on the enemy in front of you! I will carve out a path for us all to survive, definitely!”

On his way, he continued to encourage the soldiers. His feet had almost brought him to the part of the wall covered in a golden barrier.

“My lord, we have received a message from the Magic Tower!”

At that moment, a messenger who’d hurriedly climbed the wall followed after him and shouted. The lord’s eyebrows shot up.

“What is it?”

“Most of the wizards are assisting with evacuating civilians, but the few capable of fighting will be sent here. However, we’ve also been told not to expect any help from Great Sage Surging Azure Lake, as it seems he’s been seriously injured…”

“What?!”

The lord reflexively raised his voice but realized the sounds of battle had completely drowned him out. His contorted face showed his irritation.

“…What’s the great sage’s condition?”

“That wasn’t included in the message… Instead, they mentioned something more urgent. The Demon that appeared behind us… It seems to be performing some sort of summoning ritual—”

“The Demon that summoned that giant seems to be summoning something Demonic.”

A towering member of the Sland tribe, covered in various wounds, leaped dozens of meters into the air before landing atop the ramparts. She was covered in ash, dust, and burn marks, as if she had just come out of a fire.

Prrr. The faint sound of a horse snorting reached their ears from behind them.

Crash!

“To be more precise, it seems the Demon is performing a ritual to summon a space from elsewhere to this place. I called it Demonic because that place’s atmosphere is dense with concentrated Demonic Energy.”

Despite not being a soldier, she swung around a spear usually provided to the troops. Her precise attacks took out a commander-class Merfolk just about to scale the wall.

It looked like she couldn’t use one arm and one leg, yet she still displayed remarkable skill. At this point, even if she just arbitrarily took a spear, it seemed more than justified.

“Summoning something Demonic, that’s…”

“Well, I’m not that sure, but the Demon introducing itself as Pandemonium, the Great Demon of Greed, is probably worth taking into consideration.”

Her eyes, like ancient, hardened tree sap, blinked slowly between faded eyelashes.

The faint wrinkles on her face made it even harder to guess her age.

“A Great Demon…!”

“The Demon Knight is strong, but the enemy seems to have prepared thoroughly. It would be wise to finish things here quickly and assist him.”

The lord closed his eyes tightly at her words. “It was the right call to evacuate the people in advance.” Those were the only thoughts that went through his mind at that moment.

A massive, unknown beast before them, and a Great Demon behind. There was absolutely no solution in sight.

“More importantly, shouldn’t you… be heading to the infirmary? Are you even able to walk?”

“Don’t worry about me. I’m more than used to getting around on one leg. And if you were about to ask who I am, I’m the Demon Knight’s Companion and a member of the Hero’s party. As for the things I just told you, I learned them while fighting that thing myself.”

“You fought it?”

“Surging Azure Lake, was it…? That wizard was also fighting a Demon Contractor with just one escort. It looked like they were about to lose, so I stepped in. You can ask them about that later.”

Surging Azure Lake. The lord barely managed to suppress the curses about to leave his mouth by covering it with his hand. He then forced himself to listen carefully to what the person before him was saying.

Now wasn’t the time to worry about someone who wasn’t even here.

“I ended up getting overwhelmed, so I had no choice but to leave it to the Demon Knight… I don’t think he’s well-suited to fight that Demon, either. It’d probably be best for the Hero to go.”

She concluded her brief explanation about the encounter with the Demon Contractor, trying to kill them, and the resulting appearance of the Great Demon with the fact that the Demon Knight wasn’t a particularly good match for this enemy.

It couldn’t be said that the explanation made complete sense, but it wasn’t nonsense either, especially considering the copious wounds that seemed fairly fresh all over her body.

She was also part of the Hero’s party, so she was someone recognized by the Hero.

With that in mind, the lord nodded to show he understood and called out to the Hero, who was within earshot.

She was currently tending to the wounded, so this would kill two birds with one stone. This person before him was grievously injured enough for him to be concerned, even though they were just now meeting for the first time.

“Meister! Hero!”

“What is it?”

“Lord? Ah, Berserk! Your body…!”

“…I’m not Berserk.”

“Ah, then you’re Weapon Master! Either way, your body… Let me heal you!”

“Huh, Miss Weapon Master? You’re here?”

“Thanks.”

Meanwhile, the platinum-haired warrior was confirmed to be a Companion of the Hero. That meant everything she’d said was probably true, so naturally, the thing about Surging Azure Lake…

“Meister! No matter how I look at it, whether or not that turtle’s a Demon, it doesn’t seem particularly friendly to us. Do you think we could hit it with that ‘failure’ of yours?”

The lord stopped his wandering thoughts, explaining his actual reason for coming here as if trying to change places.

Clang! Even at this very moment, everyone continued to fight.

“A turtle?”

“See for yourself!”

He tossed the observation item to Meister. Taking off his glasses, he threw another alkaline bomb with one hand and held the observation item to his eyes.

“…I can’t give you a definite answer for now. We don’t know how tough that turtle’s shell is, and we’ve barely tested that ‘failure’s’ power to begin with.”

“So, you can’t even tell whether or not it will work?”

“…It managed to penetrate steel, so if it’s that much, it should be able to cause some damage.”

Alright, good enough.

At that, the lord issued his orders to Meister.

“Get it ready. Be prepared to fire it as soon as I give the order.”

“Give me a few people to help.”

“Take whoever you need.”

“And we’ll need to clear some space to set it up. It’ll take some time to install, so we’ll need to factor that in as well…”

“I’ll handle that, so just get it done!”

“Alright.”

The great master shrugged his shoulders and hurried down the wall. “You, go with him. Protect him as if he were me!” The lord quickly dispatched one of his escorts to follow the man, who was moving like a drifting dandelion seed.

“Lord, I…”

At that moment, the Hero, who’d been quiet until now, spoke up. The Inquisitor, who’d been treating the injured while repelling the Merfolk trying to climb up, glanced up at him.

That was a good sign. The lord would need the Hero’s cooperation to assist Meister.

He quickly opened his mouth.

“Hero, we need a way to attack that giant beast—”

Boooom!

A flash of light briefly appeared in the corner of his vision, followed by the deafening roar of thunder striking his ears.

Judging by the minimal delay between the lightning and thunder, it seemed to have struck somewhere close.

“…?”

“Over there…”

But the place where the lightning had struck was actually where the fire giant was.

The place where the Demon Knight was engaged in combat with a Great Demon… Could that be a coincidence?

“Demon Knight…”

Ruuumble!

“…!”

Another lightning strike fell, almost at the exact same spot as before. It was far too strange to attribute to chance.

So those standing atop the wall instinctively felt a chill settle in their hearts.

It was a sensation they couldn’t shake until they witnessed the truth with their own eyes, but since their circumstances didn’t allow them to do that, they were left with nothing but hope and faith.

The Inquisitor’s face turned pale.