Two days later.
The Forest Wave had finally begun.
Blue sky with drifting clouds. A perfectly clear day.
From one end of the Hyzen Great Forest to the other, a green wave arose with a rumbling of the earth.
It was a horde of goblins and orcs.
And not just any goblins. Goblin Soldiers. Hobgoblins. Goblin Commanders. Goblin Knights.
Goblin Lords. High Orcs. Dark Orcs. Head Orcs—a diverse mix.
A horde of roughly ten thousand advanced across the Hyzen Plains.
This was the First Wave.
Nearly six thousand subjugators stood lined up across the Hyzen Plains to meet them.
They were outnumbered. But their combat strength was superior.
A single person could easily cut down ten or twenty goblins or orcs.
Of course, the quality varied wildly. Anyone could participate, so there were those who couldn't contribute at all.
Among those six thousand, we—the Cerberus Tarn—were present.
"Wow. I've never seen that many goblins and orcs in one place."
"And this is just the First."
"I'm starting to tremble a little."
Coran-shi shivered beside me.
Plancy-shi also looked somewhat tense.
I was the same. My breathing grew heavy. Sweat started forming on my hands.
For a moment, I wondered how Wof would react.
Would he be as nervous as me? Or was he completely unfazed?
"Are you okay, Nabel?"
"You sure?"
The two of them called out to me, concerned.
I offered a weak smile.
"I'm so nervous..."
"Same."
"Same."
They both nodded.
The ground rumble continued without pause.
The approaching sound grew steadily closer.
It was like a wave. Explosions boomed as well.
The long-range group was firing elemental Relics.
Even so, the rumbling didn't stop.
It was fierce, powerful, and unrelenting.
"Roooooooaaaaarrrr!!!"
"Goooooooaaaaaaarrrrrr!!!"
"Roooooooaaaaaaarrrrrr!!!"
"Oooooooohhhhhhhh!!!!!"
All at once, a battle cry rang out, and something massive surged forward.
In that instant, I understood. A charge.
At last. The vanguard had collided with the first wave.
The sounds of fierce clashing could be heard all the way over here.
"Third wave! Move it! Are you ready?!"
Those of us in the third wave drew our weapons.
The Wolfeg blade. This time, it's the only weapon I'm using.
To get a feel for it and build up experience.
I'd discussed it with Kolan and the others.
There were no arguments. The conversation went smoothly.
I ended up being the only one to take on the dungeon's anomaly.
The reason was a lack of strength.
Kerberostern wasn't enough to take on the dungeon's anomaly. It was frustrating, but we simply didn't have the power.
But the dungeon's anomaly was a rare chance to gain experience.
So, as the one designated to lead, I ended up being the sole participant.
However, I'd only just obtained it, and I wasn't used to the Wolfeg blade yet.
The Wolfeg blade — I got it thanks to Wof.
It was a weapon from a clan that had been missing for years.
I know its owner. Okami. My uncle.
I remember him being incredibly strong and kind.
I always thought he was still out there, wandering the world.
That's why this is such a shock — and it hurts, and I'm furious.
I want revenge.
The spider, supposedly behind the dungeon's anomaly.
It killed my uncle. There's no way I can beat it, not as I am now.
But even if I have to borrow Wof's power, I want to avenge him.
I want to master the Wolfeg blade. But it's not that simple.
If I can at least get used to it during this First Wave…
"Here they come! Nabel!"
Koran's shout rang out, and I spotted goblins clad in crude armor.
Koran thrust his new spear at a goblin, sending a blade of wind flying.
The two behind it were sliced apart.
"[Flame Lance]!"
Plancy conjured a single spear of flame, piercing through about three of them and setting them ablaze.
Koran has the new weapon. Plancy has the new armor.
A spear that generates blades of wind — an OOPArt.
A strange garment with water and fire crystals on the front and back, worn underneath a robe.
A hulking green giant appeared, brandishing a crude curved sword.
It was an orc. Its body was riddled with arrows, but not a single one had landed a fatal blow.
"Coran. Plancy. Leave this one to me."
I gripped the hilt of my sword Ulfege.
I took a deep breath, then let it out.
The orc was right in front of me. One more step to reach the range of that enormous, ominous sword.
I activated One Step to close the distance, then swung Ulfege.
"Iai!"
In the blink of an eye, I drew the blade from its scabbard, letting it flash as I slashed across the orc's torso.
"Guaaah!"
Shallow. But once I sheathed it, I could swing down again in an instant.
Active time: one minute.
During that time, I slash at the orc.
Sheathe, draw, slash. Sheathe, draw, slash. Sheathe, draw, slash.
The orc was tough. It felt tougher than the orcs from Hydrangea.
Coran and Plancy were both busy dealing with goblins.
Ugh — the sheathing motion was still too slow.
Drawing and slashing felt fine, but getting it back into the scabbard was difficult no matter how many times I tried.
"Guaaaaaaah!"
It finally went down. The sword suddenly felt heavy. Time was up.
The drawing motion. Sigh... I really need more practice.
"That goblin was surprisingly stubborn."
Coran pulled his spear from the armored goblin's belly.
Over on Plancy's side, she was using Flame Lance.
Impressive. She took down an orc in a single hit — the same one I'd struggled with. Tough.
While I was watching, a cluster of goblins started heading our way.
I sheathed Ulufeg and drew Ulufen.
After fighting for a while, I noticed something.
The corpses of goblins and orcs stretched endlessly across the plain.
Like a river of green. The waves had calmed down quite a bit.
I took down a hobgoblin, then pulled a canteen from my pouch and drank some tea.
"Haaa…"
A little lukewarm, but the citrus flavor was easy on the throat.
The tea Wof had given me. He'd apparently brewed it himself.
He was younger than me, underage, and only rank V. And yet, somehow…
Somehow Wof just felt older.
In fact, he was stronger than the rest of us. The witch's apprentice, after all.
"Ah—!"
"Plancy?!"
I heard a scream and rushed over.
"What the— what is this?!"
Even Coran cried out.
What happened? When the two of us got over there, a spider leaped out of the goblin's carcass.
"Whoa!?"
I swatted it away.
It was a small spider. White, with black striped markings on its legs.
Four red compound eyes glinted, but it scurried off in a panic.
"What was that, the spider?"
"That startled me."
Apparently the two of them had been spooked by the spider too.
A spider... could it have anything to do with the abnormalities in the dungeon?
After that, we hunted down the remaining goblins, stripped them, and called the day's waves over.
By the time it was nearing evening, I was completely exhausted.
I managed to eat the provided meal, made it back to the inn room, and collapsed straight into sleep.
The next day.
Another green wave.
We fought and stripped them the same way until close to evening, collapsed from exhaustion, and slept.
The next day.
This time it was a gray wave.
Black Edge Wolves with blade-like horns.
White Claw Wolves that relied primarily on claw strikes.
Lance Wolves with spear-like horns. A giant wolf with four eyes. A four-eyed wolf.
Their numbers were 20,000. On our side, with reinforcements and fresh recruits, we had 12,000.
"Iaido!"
I clashed with the pale Edge Wolf.
This one was strong.
I managed to take it down, but it cost me over a minute.
It wasn't over yet. Claw Wolves and Lance Wolves were closing in.
I switched to the Wolfen sword.
Ears and tail stood upright, my gaze sharpening.
First, I'd finish the Claw Wolf in one burst.
"Wolfen Rush!"
With a full-power One Step, I closed the distance with the Claw Wolf to zero.
One strike to the right leg, two to the head. Before I could confirm it was down, I dodged the Lance Wolf's thrust.
It was a dodge from a complete blind spot, so the Lance Wolf was caught off guard.
I wasn't about to let that opening go to waste. A strike to its flank. It staggered and collapsed to the ground.
Good — a fatal wound.
"Graaaagh!!"
I heard Koran scream. I looked — she was fighting the Four-Eyed Wolf.
A wolf so large you had to look up at it. Four pairs of eyes shot killing intent at us.
"Fire Lance!"
Plansy hurled a spear of flame at the Four-Eyed Wolf.
The Four-Eyed Wolf staggered.
"You mutt! 《Slash Blow》!!"
When Koran swung his spear, a blade of wind shot out.
The Four-Eyed Wolf slammed its forelegs down. The impact sent us flying.
I rolled with the fall and slowly got back up.
"Th-this thing... is way too strong."
"Are these really first-wave monsters...?"
I wondered the same thing.
The Four-Eyed Wolf howled.
"Vooooooohhhhhhhh!"
That roar drew the other wolves toward us.
And then the Kerberostern's life-or-death battle began.
First, Koran went down.
Then Plansy.
They shouldn't be dead yet.
I was barely breathing, and somehow I was holding Wolfen's sword and Wolfg's blade.
With a dual-sword style I had absolutely no idea how to use, I faced off against the last uninjured Four-Eyed Wolf.
All around us lay the corpses of every manner of wolf and the bodies of would-be slayers.
"Vovoohhhhoooohhhhhhh!"
Howling, I charged toward the Four-Eyed Wolf.
I had almost no strength left.
But with the resolve to burn away what remained of my life, I used "One Step" to close the distance in an instant.
Then I brought my sword and blade down on the Four-Eyed Wolf's head.
The next day.
I woke up in a bed at the inn.
Just as I was wondering what had happened, Colin and Plansey came into the room.
The Four-Eyed Wolf had been defeated. It was hard to believe, but I had defeated it.
After that, I had apparently lost consciousness, covered head to toe in wounds.
Apparently I had been on the verge of death, but Wof—who had rushed over—had apparently done something.
If his arrival had been even a little later, I would have died.
I owe Wof my thanks.
Nothing happened that day.
Nothing happened the day after that, either.
That meant the end of the first wave.
Next came the second wave.
But in the meantime, I would rejoin Wof and the others.
The subjugation of the dungeon's anomaly was about to begin.