Skill Hunter -Kill Monsters, Acquire Skills, Ascend to the Highest Rank!

249. Hold the Line

The monsters kept coming. Behind Ike and Wisp, the castle's ordinary spell formations and its cannons boomed out. The spell formations fired webs, catching the monsters in place, and the cannons blasted them away. Ike and Wisp cut down all the monsters they could, but to say they held the line wasn't true anymore. They killed as many as they could, but that was all. Thinned the forces. Mag flew loops and dropped the occasional attack to tear into the monsters, but he didn't contribute much to the overall battle. Ike and Wisp were the front line, while the Old Guard supported them from the walls.

Wounds stacked up on Ike's body. Burns seared his skin simply from fighting with them. There was no way to avoid it. The monsters were fire, and fire was the monsters. When they died, they released superheated liquids and steam that splashed and scalded. Their embers flew on the wind, blackening Ike and Wisp alike. When they landed a hit, their weapons burned and cut at the same time. Ike dodged most of their attacks, but the ones that got through took forever to heal. His healing struggled to handle burns and cuts at the same time. It could, but it took longer than either one on its own. And simply having his skill active meant his aether constantly drained at a low rate. Eventually, Ike took to cutting off the skill from his aether, then activating it for just long enough to get him back into fighting fit before cutting it off again. He had no idea what Wisp was doing, but she seemed even less thrilled about the fire than he was, if such a thing was possible. By the time the sun began to set on the day, she had a nasty cough, and her fingertips were black from soot.

But at the same time, a pile of bodies gathered at their feet. Wisp clambered over them. Ike darted back and forth over the charcoal-cracked corpses. Their horns jutted up out of the pile, and he cut more and more of them down, adding to the mound. Stay connected with empire

The last of the column rushed Ike. Wisp darted down from above. Red threads wrapped around the monster. Ike darted in. River-Splitting Sword burst from his sword. He took the monster's head. Bright red embers trailed after it. It hit the ground and bounced.

Ike stood. He wiped his brows. "Is that it?"

Mag winged off. He returned a moment later and landed beside Ike. "Relin says they'll retreat for a few hours. We have some time to recover."

"Oh, that's nice." If that was the case, then he wouldn't have to worry about getting the others to his castle to have breaks. He still would, but—

"But the gaps get shorter. This one is the longest. You should take the opportunity to rest," Mag repeated, clearly rehearsing what Relin had said.

Ike pressed his lips together. Yeah. Got it. His guesses hadn't been wrong. Which meant he still needed to recruit the others.

Fire roared, louder than he'd ever heard anything before. Rumbles and booms echoed off, continuing on and on for what felt like forever. Ike's head snapped up. Without needing to be asked, Wisp grabbed him and carried him to the top of a nearby tree.

A castle fell. Backlit by red firelight, the tower trembled, then crumbled. A huge monster, formed of dozens of the smaller monsters, punched the castle's walls. The stones flew. The wall cracked. The huge monster kept pummeling the walls, fist after fist. Bright lights flashed from the battlements, until the walls caved in. Bodies tumbled. One last punch landed on the wall, and the castle caved in. The monster stood there for a second, then fell apart, all the smaller monsters running off into the forest.

Rufus had fallen.

Ike quickly scanned the horizon. Vi and Scar's battles raged on. It was only Rufus who had crumbled.

He sighed. "Let's get to the wall. Rufus will be here sooner or later."

"You think he's coming to you?" Wisp asked.

"I'm the only one who offered to help. Everyone else is still fighting. I guess it's possible to be so blind that he doesn't even realize that, but… I don't know. I think he's headed our way," Ike said. He stepped away from Wisp and landed on the ground, jogging back to the castle.

Wisp shrugged. She jumped onto a nearby strand and ran over the thin string, sure-footed as though she were on flat land, back to the castle's walls. Hopping behind the battlements, she leaned forward and looked down at Ike. He looked up at her, waiting at the gates.

"Uh oh, who is this mysterious stranger seeking to enter my castle?" Wisp asked, grinning.

Ike crossed his hands. "Are you going to do this every time?"

She chuckled. "Maybe." She tossed down her usual thread, and he climbed his way up.

Mag landed beside him. "You're right. Rufus is coming this way."

Ike looked at him. He paused, then turned and looked at Wisp. "Am I the only one who has to be let into my own castle?"

"You're just realizing it now?" she asked.

"Why can't I fly or climb? What is this discrimination?" Ike asked, shaking his head at her.

"All you can do is pray to be reborn as a beast," she said, shaking her head at him.

"I think that's considered a downgrade," Ike informed her.

"Sure, you blind humans would consider it a downgrade. Blind humans who can't understand the sheer superiority of spiders. But that's okay. I'll educate you," she reassured him, patting him on the shoulder. "And then you'll understand the advantages of being born as the ultimate being: a spider."

Relin cleared her throat. "Most mages at Rank 4 learn how to fly on a sword or other implement of their choosing, and many mages own instruments that allow them to fly, even at lower Ranks."

"Ah," Ike said. His expression fell. "So you're saying it's just me."

"That's not…" Relin trailed off. Her brows furrowed, faintly troubled.

Ike cracked a grin. "I'm just kidding. I probably have one of those, somewhere in the loot we took from Shopkeep. I've just never bothered to go through all of it."

"To be fair, there's a lot of loot," Wisp agreed.

Relin looked from one to another. "Are you suggesting you have a large pool of magical devices and weapons that you've simply been holding on to?"

"Yeah. I was planning to sell them, but…" Ike looked at Relin. "Oh. Ohhh. We could use them here, couldn't we."

"Yes. If you're too busy, I'd even be willing to organize your storage space and help take inventory," Relin offered.

"Yeah, I bet you would," Wisp snarked.

Relin glanced at her, eyes cold. "I cannot leave this trial, nor take anything with me into the next iteration. Why would I steal your things, when they are of no use to me?"

"She's got a point," Ike said. He took off his storage ring and handed it over. "I know generally how much is in there. That, and the powerful artifacts all have pretty obvious mana reverberations. I might not miss one or two small things, but if you take anything big, I'll know."

"Of course. I wouldn't dream of taking anything, even if I wasn't trapped here," Relin reassured him. She accepted the ring delicately, as if she were afraid to harm it.

Wisp squinted. "Is it just me, or does she treat you differently?"

Ike shrugged. "I guess it's just my animal magnetism."

"Is that why I followed you?" Mag muttered to himself.

Wisp pointed at him. "Yeah, with a party full of beasts, I've gotta agree: I think you have a different kind of animal magnetism, Ike."

Ike rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah. Relin, thank you so much for offering to do the boring work of inventorying my storage ring. Everyone else, to the battlements, and look sharp. Rufus should be here any moment now."

The rest of the Old Guard saluted. They stepped forward, and so did Ike, all of them watching, waiting for Rufus.