The Principle of a Philosopher by Eternal Fool “Asley”

Chapter 378: The First Taste of Hell

“Damn you…!”

Billy cursed at Tūs, but the latter did not respond, only lying down flat on his back, his belly inflating and deflating to the rhythm of his snore. And all Billy could do about it was seething with anger.

[If we make him our enemy here, we’ll be destroyed — without a doubt. And even now, as a neutral force, he’s getting in our way by… doing nothing! So this is what a Philosopher is capable of…!]

Billy and Cleath had no choice but to give their Alphas and Betas an additional directive: do not touch Tūs’s group.

On the other side, Irene interpreted Tūs’ intervention as an order to ‘stand back,’ and took this chance to heal the exhausted combatants.

“Well, well! Looks like my mentor still reigns as the laziest guy in the world! Rise, A-rise, A-rise! High Cure Adjust: Count 10 & Remote Control!”

“We must take this chance to regain our ground! Rise, A-rise, A-rise! High Cure Adjust: Count 10 & Remote Control!”

Melchi and Irene proceeded to provide support for the adventurer teams still fighting fiercely on the front lines.

“Hah hah… Shit!”

Bruce used the carcasses of monsters as shields and footholds, and sometimes had to cut his way through them in order to avoid being mauled to death.

The soles of his feet were hot as fire, steam was pouring from his shoulders, and profuse sweating obstructed his vision and movement.

Blazer was bleeding from his mouth as he kept on shouting out his commands.

Betty was still moving swiftly, but her legs were all bloody. Haruhana’s katana was starting to lose its sharpness.

Ryan and Dallas were both at their limits, and Reyna and Adolf were still standing only because of their force of will.

Reid and Mana were so desperate that they could only keep attacking, unable to even plan out their moves.

The appearance of Tūs’ group had caused the enemy forces to lose momentum, but those fighting on the front lines were more exhausted than ever.

“Kyah!?”

Eventually, Reyna failed to withstand an Alpha’s attack, and was blown away as a result.

“Tch–! Damn you little–!”

Betty tried to cover for her, but was not able to keep all of the advancing Alphas away.

“”Reyna!!””

The moment everyone thought Reyna was going to die — including Reyna herself — two individuals leaped down from the top of the city walls.

In an instant, the Alpha closest to Reyna had its head blown off, and the Beta behind it was knocked away.

“They made it in time.”

Warren, who had been standing next to Irene for some time unbeknownst to her, let out a sigh of relief.

Rather than be surprised by their appearance, Irene felt genuinely thankful for both of them saving Reyna.

“Kept you waiting, huh?”

A former Holy Warrior, Lylia…

“Hello, hello! Wait, what are those ugly giant things!? And why are Melchi and Sir Tūs here, too!? Ooh, and he even called out Bull! Long time no see!”

…And Asley’s Familiar, Pochi.

“Weldhun is still fighting hard. We’ll have to do our part, too!”

The others questioned the meaning behind Lylia’s words — but then it was clear to them that it meant Weldhun was still fighting alone back at the Scarlet Devil Wetlands.

He had protected those who were escaping, guarding the Teleportation Spell Circle.

And then, after Warren, Pochi, and Lylia had teleported away, Weldhun had been left without anyone protecting him — as he proceeded to destroy the Teleportation Spell Circle that connected the Scarlet Devil Wetlands to Eddo.

“He did say that he’ll rush over here after getting away from them, though!”

“Heh, we’ll be done before he’s even halfway here!”

“I’ll do my best, then! KAAAHHH!!”

Like the Chappie Cannon earlier, Pochi’s Zenith Breath was powerful enough to overload the Alphas’ Arcane Drain, making quick work of the advancing Alphas and Betas.

As for Lylia, after clearing out the enemies in the immediate vicinity of the vanguard, she jumped behind Tūs, further limiting the enemy’s entry points.

“Rise, House.”

Warren called out his Familiar, an Al-mi’raj — an E-ranked monster that took the form of a rabbit with a horn. It shook its golden fur as it looked up at its Master.

“Latt, assist the wounded warriors — Your recovery magic should be good enough if their injuries are minor. Heal them before their conditions worsen.”

“All right.”

Latt proceeded to swiftly hop to the rear of the vanguard.

No matter how strong the warriors were, even minor injuries could be serious. Melchi, understanding that, nodded in agreement with Warren’s decision.

“Looking good!”

Warren proceeded to move all over the place, filling in for what each of the positions was lacking at the moment.

In only this short time, both the front liners and rear guard were already getting back into a decent attacking rhythm and magic-casting pattern.

Warren, not wanting to disrupt that flow with his addition, ended up as a hit-and-run unit for the rear guard.

“Rise, A-rise, A-rise, Giving Magic: Count 10 & Remote Control!”

Then, using Magic Tables, he reset the fixed-position Spell Circles that were close to wearing off.

Irene, knowing fully well that arcane energy was everyone’s lifeline, said as she drew her own Spell Circles,

“Thanks!”

“You’re welcome.”

Although the words they exchanged were brief, they demonstrated a degree of synergy far beyond that of a teacher and student.

“Hehehe… I’m getting jealous.”

Trace muttered, her intentions unclear.

◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆

Several hours later…

Due to a chain of events — Team Silver General’s reinforcement, Chappie Mask’s heroic intervention, Tūs and his companions’ hindrance, and the return of Pochi and Lylia — the number of Alphas and Betas was rapidly dwindling.

Staring at the battlefield, both Billy and Cleath clenched their teeth.

“Even if we could jump in there, those two would attack us… Hmm.”

Billy scoffed at Cleath’s comment.

“Hmph, I wanted the results to be more thorough, but… I suppose we have stalled for enough time. Master Gaspard’s objective ought to be fulfilled by now. Still…”

“…SHE will surely be a hindrance to us down the line.”

Billy and Cleath were looking neither at Tūs, Pochi, nor Lylia.

They were looking at the in the very back, supporting commanding the whole defending force… — Irene the Invincible Sprout.

“The victory or defeat of an army depends on the ability of its commander. I didn’t think they would have any leader to take up Gaston’s mantle, but perhaps I was mistaken…”

“Believe it or not, as a professor of the Magic University, she was closest to the students — That’s why she’s able to do this.”

“…We must eliminate her.”

“Hmph, as much as I hate to agree with you… I agree.”

As soon as they reached an agreement, they both boosted their arcane energy outputs.

Immediately after, all the Alphas and Betas stepped back and opened their mouths wide.

Arcane energy was concentrated densely in the air. The first one to notice that was none other than the target, Irene.

“Hmm!? Everyone, get away from me!”

This was a clash of one army and another — a war.

But if an army were to attack one person, it would turn into a slaughter.

The moment Irene saw Billy and Cleath — both in Devil forms — open their mouths, she knew she was about to be destroyed.

“”KAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!””

All of the Zenith Breaths concentrated on one point — Irene.

It was too late for anyone to defend against it now — not Pochi, not Lylia, not even Trace despite her unit having just conjured a shield nearby.

But as it turned out, one man could do it — the man who was not even supposed to be here.

“HAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!”

He descended from the sky and shouted out as he stood in front of Irene. He unleashed a blast of concentrated arcane energy, canceling out the countless breath attacks.

His pool of arcane energy flowed endlessly, gently wrapping around Irene behind him.

“A… Asley…?”

“AAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!”

He was not able to respond to Irene.

Although the number of enemies had reduced greatly, he was still going against almost a thousand energy blasts, coming at him endlessly.

No one was able to do anything.

There was no telling where the breath attacks would be redirected to if they were to intervene.

As such, there was only one thing that Pochi, his Familiar, could do now.

“Help him! Destroy as many enemies as possible!”

And with that, everyone moved.

They charged onward as if they were a single swing of a sword.

“”OOOOOHHHHHH!!””

One by one, they struck down the Alphas and Betas, reducing Asley’s burden.

Pochi and Lylia destroyed the enemies in the back rows first, and then joined up with the others in the vanguard.

Repeat the process again and again, and slowly but surely put pressure on Billy and Cleath at the far end.

“That fool! He dares to get in our way again!?”josei

Before long, the defending force was posing enough of a threat for Billy and Cleath to shut their mouths.

Although they tried to hold out until the very last moment, Lylia seemed so eager to bite their necks off any second now as she radiated an overwhelming degree of murderous intent.

In the end, they were forced to retreat, leaping back and promptly disappearing on the Teleportation Spell Circle from which they had emerged.

“Tch…!”

Lylia clicked her tongue and proceeded to get attack the remaining creatures.

Even now, there were still hundreds of creatures unleashing their breath attacks on Alsey.

Irene, unable to move even an inch due to her being the target, shouted out her command to everyone else.

“Kill all the remaining creatures! Right now!!”

She clenched her fists so hard that they started to bleed, blaming herself for her helplessness.

She trembled, tears welling in her eyes. Holding them back, she could only keep on looking at Asley.

“……”

For the first time ever, the battlefield fell silent — and Asley collapsed on the spot, completely exhausted. But he still looked straight ahead, as if he was still fighting.

The one to catch him before he hit the ground was the leader of the Resistance — the very person he had just protected.

The despair had passed, and the war was over… for now.

Not a single one of the survivors was happy. This was far from a victory — it was their first taste of Hell.

And the first thing they heard was a sob… but no one turned to see who it came from.

None of them could bear to look at their commander as tears overflowed from her eyes, her trembling hands holding Asley’s cheeks.