Chapter 277: A Horde Beyond Expectations (2/2)

Reinbach-sama pointed to a part of a valley crowded with undead, where a steep cliff could be found along with the rotten remains of a rope bridge that must have snapped and fallen a long time ago.

Along the way, I found out that the bridge was once called the Bridge of Hope.

The criminals sent to the prison down this road were all convicted felons sentenced to either life or execution. At the time, it was accepted to abuse the prisoners to allow the wardens to satisfy their urges, so torture was also the norm. But there were also rumors that human experimentation which was illegal was also being performed [Schieber]

In other words, its a famous spot for suicide. Though sometimes it wasnt the prisoners killing themselves but the jailers pus.h.i.+ng them off for fun. A place like that is bound to make it easy for undead to rise and gather. [Remilie]

Is that what the hope in Bridge of Hope refers to? Ironic [Ryouma]

Unfortunately, humanity isnt all pretty. [Sebasu]

Agreed, and thats why the least we could do is to get rid of the undead that we can see. [Schieber]

When I nodded to Schieber-san, the ruins of the bridge was already before us. The area around the bridge mustve been well-maintained before, as it was clear of obstacles. We placed our belongings away from the cliff and started preparing.

First, we secured the area around us, then I prepared a lifeline for our descent with earth magic, rope, and the wire slime. I dont know what the exact height of this cliff is, but its at least as high as the fifth floor of a building, so precautions ought to be taken.

After that I took out barrels filled with oil and quickly lined them up along the edge of the cliff, then the adults threw them down.

It was surprising how the adults didnt push the barrels down and instead carried them then threw them down. The barrels were the same size as those large barrels filled with wine, so they werent by any means small, and they were filled to the brim with oil, so they were certainly heavy.

I know they used ki or magic to strengthen themselves, but its still a queer sight to see a group of four adults so easily lift such heavy barrels and throw them down.

Fu fu, I might not like fighting up close, but I can still do this much. Mages do need a weapon in case theyre forced to fight up close. [Remilie]

True. [Ryouma]

I know shes healthy and all, but seeing her pick up those huge barrels with her slender arms, not to mention with one hand, gives me a weird feeling as though I were looking at something thats been photoshopped. I guess this is a part of my previous life that Ive yet to completely rid myself of

Ryouma-sama, the royal court magicians may all be called as such, but they have many duties ranging from research to the nurturing of their juniors. Remilie-sama was mainly in charge of hunting down monsters and bandits, as well as researching magic. She was one of the best. [Sebasu]

So not just any royal court magician could have done her work. [Ryouma]

Precisely. [Sebasu]

Just like with ki reinforcement, the more a mage uses strengthening magic, the more proficient they become, and the more efficient their mana consumption becomes. They could also opt to consume more mana to raise the efficacy of their magic.

Vah [Undead 1]

Ah [Undead 2]

Every time a barrel fell, the sound of it cras.h.i.+ng accompanied by the screams of the undead would echo throughout the canyon. Perhaps they were trying to avoid the light of the day, but there were barely any gaps between the undead. Thats why the barrels would always. .h.i.t a few of them.

Ryouma-kun, thats enough. [Reinbach]

You sure? Thats only about half of the oil I brought with me. [Ryouma]

The barrels are big and weve already thrown about 30 of them. Its more than enough. [Reinbach]

I cant believe thats just half of what you brought. [Schieber]

Its because you can make a lot of raw material for vegetable oil using slime and magic. [Ryouma]

We had plenty of oil already, so I took my slimes out from my Dimension Home. I got an Emperor Scavenger Slime and a Big Acid Slime, then for support, I also got out the metal slimes and iron slimes, as well as the spider slimes. About 50 slimes each.

Looks like your slimes are ready. Lets begin. [Reinbach]

Upon seeing that my preparations were complete, Reinbach-sama shot a fireball at the barrels down the cliff. With nothing to obstruct them, they shot straight for their target and started a fire that quickly grew into a great flame that devoured the undead.

The undead tried to flee, but the scope of the fire was too big, while the undead were slow and too many.

They could barely move yet the winds blowing between the cliffs roused the fire to burn even stronger. A cloud of black smoke veiled the great fire, but the winds blew that veil open, revealing the countless corpse writhing in agony as they burned. It was h.e.l.l indeed.

Reinbach-chan. That was just a Fireball, right? Didnt the fire spread too quickly? [Remilie]

Yes Despite the oil, the corpses should have taken a bit more time to catch fire considering the moisture. [Reinbach]

I was planning to use that oil as a trap, so I used the sticky slimes sticky liquid as a thickener and mixed it with it. As a result, my oil can stick onto the skin and clothes much easier than normal. Thats probably why the fire spread so quickly. [Ryouma]

Its also because of that that I couldnt use it for cooking or fuel or for other products, as well as the biggest reason why I ended up with too much oil.

You even did that? [Sebasu]

By this point, its already a weapon. An anti-personnel one. In that case, this will probably be much quicker than Id thought. [Reinbach]

Im glad you like it. [Ryouma]

But at this rate, wont this actually be enough to wipe out all the undead below?

Or so I asked, but

Unfortunately, thats not possible. The undead are just too resilient. [Schieber]

Your oil may certainly be more effective than normal oil, but at most, itll be able to take down 75% of them. [Remilie]

Still, theres so many of them that even just reducing their numbers by half is plenty. The remaining undead should be weakened by having to regenerate so many times in a short period of time, so this definitely wasnt a meaningless act. [Reinbach]

Despite that it would still take awhile before the fire dies down. Not that Im complaining, though. Since it definitely beats having to take that ma.s.sive horde head on.

I thought this too when I saw it from above earlier, but this sure is an amazing view. [Ryouma]

Come to think of it, you were looking around inquisitively, werent you? Is it your first time seeing a landscape like this? [Remilie]

Im used to mountains and forests already, but its my first time seeing such a vast canyon. I wonder how many years it took to form? I cant even imagine. {Ryouma]

This canyon should be about 1,500 years old. Apparently, it was the Child of the G.o.ds then that changed the geography. [Remilie]

Really? Isnt that a fairy-tale? [Ryouma]

The Child of the G.o.ds is a term used to refer to the otherworlders that have transmigrated here. Among those otherworlders are people whose actions and existence continue to be spoken about even to this day. That was written in the book I got from Gayn when I came to this world for the first time.

While Im sure there are plenty of embellishments and distortion of facts in the stories pa.s.sed down, theyre not fairy-tales.After all, it was none other than the king of this country that created this canyon after training his magic. His name has properly been recorded in the history books, and theres an anecdote about him there too.

The Child of the G.o.ds, Masaharu, was born with vast reserves of mana, and he wielded powerful magic. The magic he used in his training was so powerful that he gave rise to mountains, tore the ground, leveled the earth, and washed everything away with heavy rain and waves, resulting into this.

He was born during a time of war, and records have it that it was because of his power that the country was able to push back the front lines. [Reinbach]

I see. Thats my first time hearing it. [Ryouma]

Its hard to believe that the magic of an otherworlder was actually able to form a canyon like this. Just what kind of magic could realize such a thing? The scale is too big. I couldnt do it even if I used my slime magic.

Well, I might be able to accomplish it it were in several moves. Certainly, not in a single move, though. And it would take me a considerably long time. He became a king, did he? Hmm? Wait, hes the king, and that would mean the royal family, so

If Im not mistaken, that King Masaharu is Elias ancestor, right? [Ryouma]

Precisely. [Sebasu]

I knew it! Its thats peerless otherworlder magician that Gayn mentioned! I dont know much about him, but I heard he poured all of his otherworlder privileges into magic. If so, then perhaps its not impossible that he was able to change the terrain this much with magic.

As I thought of the possibilities of a magic Ive never seen and my otherworlder senpai, the fire below gradually waned and our plan to subjugate the unexpected horde below moved on to the next phase.