ZAP – Chapter 90: Last Day of the School Festival – Part 4

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TLN: Two chapters today!

Make sure you didn’t miss the previous one.

Enjoy!

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—A horde of monsters of more than a million in numbers. 

It is possible to just say that sentence, but there’s most likely no person in this world that has seen something like that. 

If there was any time it happened, it would be 1,000 years ago. 

The Legendary Hero that saved the world, Abel, is said to have faced an army of the Great Demon Lord of more than a million.

In other words, a fairytale. 

It is not a real story. 

(Oh my, I was there at that time, you know?) (Eri)

The Demon Lord Eri butted in. 

Speaking of which, you were active 1,000 years ago. 

(How did the Legendary Hero Abel-sama defeat an army of a million?) (Eugene)

(…I don’t want to remember it. So irritating.) (Eri)

She always keeps the details hidden whenever we talk about this. 

It seems like it is not a good memory. 

It is a story about a demon lord army of a million losing to the hero party that’s only a few, so it is natural, huh.

“Explorers, look at this!” 

The voice of the 1st Knight Clair Lancelot-sama brought me back to reality. 

At the back of the 1st training grounds’ lectern, the 1st Floor of the Zenith Tower is being shown in the Satellite System of the Last Dungeon. 

“Ugeh…” 

“What’s that…?” 

“Oi oi, it is crawling with Griffons and Basilisks…” 

“There’s a whole ton of monsters I haven’t seen before.” 

“Aren’t the monsters cannibalizing each other…?” 

“So nasty.” 

The Satellite System is showing a hellscape. 

“We have already evacuated the people near the 1st Floor of the Zenith Tower. The Dungeon Alliance had obtained prior information that a Stampede would happen soon, so we could deal with it beforehand.” (Clair)

It must have been the information that I told them about the Dungeon Master Anemoi Babel. 

“Right now the number of monsters being shown here is 50,000.” (Clair)

Unrest ran through the explorers. 

It is an army of monsters they haven’t seen before, and 50,000 to top it off. 

“Just as I said before, the monsters overflowing from the Zenith Tower continue increasing according to King Uther.” (Clair)

‘No way…’ -is the kind of despair echoing everywhere. 

Sumire has a pale face by my side. 

Airi is also making a tense face.

“But this is not a desperate situation. Right now tactical barrier magic has been deployed under the command of the King’s Shield Lloyd-dono to block the horde of monsters from invading the city.” (Clair)

Voices of admiration from the explorers are raised at this. 

“But locking them up inside barrier magic the whole time won’t solve the situation. Due to this…” (Clair)

“A Griffon!! It has slipped out from the barrier!” 

There’s certainly a big monster passing by in the direction someone pointed at. 

“Sun Magic: [Yellow Flash].” 

A spell that an explorer must have casted pierced the wing of the Griffon. 

The monster fell while raising a scream.

“Hey, Eugene-kun! Doesn’t a monster escaping mean the barrier has been broken…?” (Sumire)

“That’s bad.” (Airi)

Sumire and Airi were showing serious faces. 

I know about a situation like this one. 

It can’t be helped that those two wouldn’t know since they haven’t taken barrier magic classes. 

“They are most likely purposely letting monsters outside the barrier.” (Eugene)

“Purposely?” (Sumire)

“What do you mean by that, Eugy?” (Airi)

“The 1st Knight-sama will be explaining from here on.” (Eugene)

Clair-sama seemed calm just as I thought. 

“I think you have seen the Griffon escaping from the barrier just now, but that’s not the barrier being destroyed, but us purposely letting a set number of monsters outside. The inside of the tactical barrier is calculated to be able to keep more than 100,000 monsters inside, but it obviously can’t keep a million monsters inside. That’s why, we are proactively baiting out the weak and flying monsters which would be difficult to subjugate when the barrier is destroyed.” (Clair)

‘Ooh…!’ -the voices of the explorers rang. 

I have learned this method to deal with large scale Stampedes in the barrier magic classes. 

However, this is purely a temporary measure and…

“Then, it should be okay to just defeat the monsters bit by bit!” (Sumire)

“Really? I don’t think it will go that smoothly…” (Airi)

“It is as Airi said. A tactical barrier consumes a lot of mana. It will most likely only last for half a day. They won’t be able to deal with the continuously increasing monsters.” (Eugene)

“Eh?! Then, what do we do…?” (Sumire)

I couldn’t answer the question of Sumire. 

The normal procedure is to retreat while the barrier is up. 

But this is the very center of the Dungeon City. 

There would be no point if they abandon the city they are supposed to protect. 

I wait for the words of the 1st Knight-sama. 

“Of course, the barrier magic alone won’t solve the root problem. We need a method to suppress a large amount of monsters in one go. King Uther is currently preparing for the sake of this and…” (Clair)

“Sorry for the wait, Clair-kun.” (Uther)

“Uther-sama!” (Clair)

The one that suddenly appeared on the podium in the middle of the 1st Knight-sama’s words was the tall Principal Uther with a flashy cloak. 

He must have appeared with Teleport. 

What was by the side of Principal Uther is something that looks like a giant sorcery weapon giving off a powerful presence. 

(That sorcery weapon… I feel like I have seen it before in the 7th Seal Prison…) (Eugene)

It was covered in dust the whole time, so I thought for sure it was broken. 

“I shall explain from here on. The magic tool here is called the Peacemaker. I think there’s a lot who don’t know about this because it is an old magic tool, but it can suppress a mass number of monsters.” (Uther)

‘Oooooooh!!!’ -the explorers cheered. 

“That’s impressive, isn’t it, Eugene-kun!” (Sumire)

“That’s…” (Airi)

Sumire was honestly impressed by it, but Airi seemed to be thinking about something here. 

That said, I have also learned about the Peacemaker in the imperial military school.

It is the weapon that forcefully ended the Great War that happened in the South Continent 500 years ago. 

Principal Uther spoke as if it only affects monsters, but it was originally a magic tool to be used against humans. 

— Basically, if you use the Peacemaker, you can eliminate even the hostility from any living being. 

Living beings with no hostility will end up not resisting no matter what you do in that time. 

It is the ‘absolute weapon of peace’ that the number one Record Holder, Cristo, brought back from the Last Dungeon. 

It is a fearsome magic tool that can incapacitate an enemy nation easily depending on how you use it. 

It has only appeared once in history, so there were theories that maybe it has already been lost or is broken. 

(So it was stored in the Lykeion Magic Academy…) (Eugene)

The ones from the Empire like me and Airi, and the people of the Holy Union and the Blue Waters Federation that know about it had grim expressions.

The 3 powers will most likely be more proactive towards the Dungeon City now. 

“Now then, about this convenient Peacemaker…” (Uther)

Principal Uther, who must be fully aware of this, had a light tone. 

“It unfortunately requires 3 hours to activate. The magic formation has already been activated. The tactical barrier must be maintained until then.” (Uther)

The air around the explorers gets a bit dampened by this. 

“3 hours…” (Sumire)

“We should be able to manage then.” (Airi)

“Yeah.” (Eugene)

I also nod at Sumire and Sara’s words. 

“Alright, then, the explorers other than the ones maintaining the barrier and the newbies will be under the command of the 12 Knights as per the orders of King Uther in the remaining 3 hours. That goes the same for the students of the Lykeion Magic Academy in the Legendary Hero Department and also the A Rank and B Rank explorers. The other ones will be in charge of the small demonic beasts that slip away and also evacuate the civilians! I would like to ask President Sara and the Enforcement Division to keep order on the students. I am sorry, but I will have the teachers participate in battle with us.” (Clair)

“Understood! Please leave it to us.” (Sara)

Sara, who was at the corner of the podium, answered with strength. 

The members of the Enforcement Division around looked nervous.

(Sara will be guiding the students, huh…) (Eugene)

I think it is great that she doesn’t have the duty to fight the dangerous monsters. 

Sara must have noticed me, our eyes made contact. 

(Why is Eugene here?!) -is what her eyes were exclaiming. 

Crap, I should be taking refuge as an injured patient. 

I averted my gaze. 

It is too late though.

I felt the gaze of Sara that was as if saying ‘geez!’, but I directed my attention at the following words of the 1st Knight-sama. 

“Also, me and the S Rank and higher explorers will be heading to the inside of the tactical barrier.” (Clair)

The loudest ruckus of today spread around the explorers. 

“What’s going on, Eugene-kun?!” (Sumire)

“I don’t get it either.” (Eugene)

Jumping into the Stampede is suicidal. 

It is common knowledge not only students know but every explorer.

“The Stampede this time around is close in nature to a Monster House. The 1st Floor of the Zenith Tower shown in the footage has a magic circle in the center where monsters are teleporting from. We need to destroy that.” (Clair)

Me and the explorers move our gaze to the screen.

I can’t see the magic circle at all with all those monsters packed up so tightly. 

“Charging into that? Are they insane?” (Airi)

I also feel the same as Airi.

But it is true that the Stampede won’t stop as long as we don’t destroy the magic circle where the monsters are popping out from. 

“There must be a lot of you who are worried, but there’s a user of Teleport within the party of 12 Knights and S Rank explorers. Our objective is basically to destroy the magic circle and retreat. We don’t have someone who can use Teleport several times in a day like King Uther though…” (Clair)

I see. 

They should be able to reduce the danger to the bare minimum. 

Now that I look closely, there’s also the school festival committee president, Rebecca-san. 

She is a Teleport expert if I remember correctly. 

The precision of the Teleport was a bit rough though. 

“Also, if push comes to shove, I can also participate in the magic circle destruction team—” (Uther)

““““Please concentrate on activating the Peacemaker, King Uther!”””

Everyone from the podium retorted at the mutter of Principal Uther. 

“You are the only one who can use the Peacemaker, Uther-sama, so it would be troubling if something were to happen.” (Clair)

“…Muh, it can’t be helped.” (Uther)

The Principal nodded extremely reluctantly. 

Anyways, it seems like they are done explaining with this.

The roles are clear now. 

“Hey, Eugene-kun, we are A Rank explorers, so we should be moving under the orders of the 12 Knights, right?” (Sumire)

“That’s right, Sumire. What will you do, Airi?” (Eugene)

“Right. Then, I will help Eugy and Sumire out. There’s a lot of people from the Empire living in the Dungeon City too.” (Airi)

Sumire and I nodded lightly at Airi. 

Camilla had a bitter expression by the side, but she must have noticed that there’s no point in objecting even if she wanted to, so she didn’t say anything. 

She must be aware that Airi is stubborn once she says something. 

Also, there’s no way a weak monster let out of the barrier would pose a problem for a Heaven Knight like Airi. 

“All explorers! The orders have been given, now perform your own roles—” (Clair)

“…Clair-kun, an unfortunate notice.” (Uther)

“Uther-sama?” (Clair)

Principal Uther interrupted the speech of the 1st Knight Clair-sama. 

The usual aloof voice of King Uther is tense. 

This is rare. 

But all the people in the Dungeon City know…

—The time when the farms turned into empty plots of land due to Principal Uther messing up a magic experiment.

—The time when the magic creatures Principal Uther experimented on escaped into the city.

It is common knowledge that this tone of Principal Uther is normally heard through the whole Dungeon City with loudspeaker magic when giving out bad news.

In other words, the residents of the Dungeon City know that the news that will be told now are not decent at all. 

“My Clairvoyance activated. 5 minutes from now…a Divine Beast will be appearing in the 1st Floor.” (Uther)

““““““““““““!!!!!!””””””””””””

Shock spread on the explorers. 

The 12 Knights, the Enforcement Division of the student council, and the teachers on the podium were shocked, too.

“Uther-sama, what’s the name of the Divine Beast that will be appearing…?” (Clair)

The voice of Clair-sama was still calm despite that. 

Even though it is possible that the plan that was explained just now will be turned into nothing. 

But no one could keep calm after the next words.

“The Divine Beast that will be appearing is the Hydra. The 9 headed poisonous dragon.” (Uther)

“Wa?!” 

This is my first time seeing the 1st Knight speechless. 

There’s also the surprise of the other 12 Knights and the high ranked explorers.

“Hey, Eugy, if I remember correctly, a Hydra is…” (Airi)

“A super strong Divine Beast…right, Eugene-kun?” (Sumire)

“Yeah, there has been no explorer currently in active duty that has defeated it.” (Eugene)

A legendary Divine Beast that Airi, who lives out of the Dungeon City, and Sumire, who is in the middle of learning about the Zenith Tower, know well. 

I glanced at the face of Rebecca-senpai on the podium and she was making a complicated expression.

Principal Uther grumbled while everyone was speechless. 

“The one who defeated the Hydra before…was the Red Witch Rosalie-kun, was it? The whole floor was burned down at that time and the angel in charge reprimanded her… How nostalgic.” (Uther)

(Is this the time to be indulging in nostalgia?!!) (Eugene)

I think all explorers retorted in this fashion. 

That said, Principal Uther’s voice didn’t have strength, and it is understandable. 

It is written clearly in the books for explorers of the Lykeion Magic Academy. 

9th Place of the Last Dungeon [Zenith Tower] > Record Holder: Rosalie J. Walker. 

Defeated the Divine Beast Hydra in Floor 300.

It is a record of over a century old. 

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