Riding the Rapids
On the roof of the western cabin—
the red-haired witch sat silently, eyes closed.
She wasn't asleep.
Rrrrrr…
Tyrbaen could feel the faint tremors creeping closer from deep within the forest,
her mind already running calculations.
"Just a little more… a little closer."
She needed to detonate everything she'd prepared all at once,
then hold out until Gilroshan destroyed the source of the Ultra Wave beyond the treeline.
'Didn't think the Ultra Wave would start this suddenly…'
Just thirty minutes earlier—
Kals had come bursting into the cabin, completely out of breath.
"Everyone, up!"
He kicked the narrow door open and shouted at the kids, who'd been curled up, half-asleep.
"W-what's going on? Why are you shouting?"
"Who is it? What happened?"
The children, groggy and confused, blinked and rubbed their eyes,
as did the half-awake lookouts.
But that wasn't the end of the chaos.
"Lady Sui! It's begun!"
Kals, panting hard, had turned toward her and yelled.
…And where had his fake identity gone now?
"Brother, are you insane?"
"Huh? Ah!"
Judging by the look on his face, he must've left his sanity somewhere on the way back.
"S-sorry! But Gilroshan! No, His Highness Shan! Wait, that's not right either—"
…It just kept getting worse.
'Did he leave his language center behind in the forest?'
At least he remembered to bring that handsome face of his.
"What did you just call him?"
"Something like Gilo… what?"
Thankfully, the kids were too sleepy to catch it properly.
Before the situation could spiral further, Tyrbaen cut in.
"Just get to the point, brother."
"…Ah."
And then he shouted at the top of his lungs—
"The Ultra Wave just started! We have to move now!"
That was how the defense began.
Of course, calling it "smooth" would've been generous.
To prevent unnecessary panic,
most of the children—aside from a few close companions—hadn't even been told a Wave was coming.
Even among the girls, Elaine—the second-in-command of the group and Eve's closest friend—hadn't heard a thing.
But there was no need for long explanations.
Rumble rumble rumble…
The ground began to tremble.
"...Something's coming."
Everyone standing inside the cabin felt it at once.
The instinctive sense of danger snapped them into action.
On the roof, Tyrbaen recalled her arrogant student's words.
"What matters most is calculating your mana expenditure precisely and distributing it efficiently."
That much was textbook theory—anyone who'd read a few magic manuals could spout it.
But then he'd said:
"Always prep for double-casting. Put your main casting into a fire spell to ignite the forest,
and your sub-casting into a wind spell to control it."
…How did he even know that?
For a 7-Star Mage, Double Casting—the ability to weave two spells at once—was a fundamental requirement.
"But once the mid-phase hits, switch the setup.
Make wind the main, and use barrier reinforcement as the sub. You follow me?"
He'd even laid out the adaptive pattern for alternating the spell configurations mid-battle.
It was the perfect guideline for defending the cabin.
'Unbelievable. He doesn't even know the first letter of magic theory…'
She couldn't help but think—
once this was over, she really ought to teach him properly.
'Maybe the Third Prince's talent was something that could only bloom after leaving the palace.'
While she was lost in thought—
It came into view.
Rrraaaaaghhhh!
"...!"
Tyrbaen's jaw tightened in shock.
The forest was collapsing.
Under the dim moonlight, the vast hunting grounds were being trampled—
as if by invisible giants pounding across the earth.
And beyond that shattered edge…
They swarmed.
"Th-those are all monsters?!"
Orcs. Kobolds. Ghouls. Goblins. Lizardmen—
Creatures that normally belonged to entirely different habitats,
and would never appear together under normal circumstances.
But now, they did.
Every one of them moved like a single living tide,
surging and colliding as they charged toward the cabin.
KRRAAAAAAAGH!!!
The monstrous roar rolled across the plains—
and even though they were still distant, the sound reached them like thunder.
"Ugh…"
Goosebumps rippled up her arms.
The realization of how many were coming felt like claws scraping down her spine.
"Ah… ahh…"
For a brief moment, Tyrbaen froze—paralyzed by instinctive fear.
"Lady Sui."
Kals was suddenly beside her, a steady hand on her shoulder.
He gave a firm nod.
"It's alright. There's no need to be afraid. You can do this."
His voice was calm and solid enough to steady her pulse.
"…Then I'll begin."
Pathetic, she thought, cheeks burning.
Shaking off her shame, Tyrbaen gathered her mana.
Time to follow the plan.
Activate the traps hidden in the forest.
Use the resulting flames to hold back the oncoming tide for as long as possible.
[Offensive Magic: Fire Harpoon]
Whoosh—
Five flames shimmered into being above her head,
stretching and shaping into long, spear-like forms.
Below the roof, several of the apprentice witches gasped in recognition.
"Fire Harpoon!"
"That's a five-star spell!"
Tyrbaen swept her arm forward and unleashed them.
Shhhhhh—!
The fiery harpoons sliced through the night air,
and moments later, streaks of orange light speared into the forest ahead.
For an instant, the horizon flashed white.
And in the next moment—
A slightly delayed blast echoed through the night.
BOOOOOOM!
There was a brief lag between sight and sound, but the explosion itself was powerful enough to make the ground tremble.
The blast had gone off exactly as planned.
'Then… did that wall form just like he said it would?'
The witch narrowed her eyes, gazing into the distance.
Across the shadowed forest, a red line stretched out as if painted by fire—
A wall of crimson flame cutting through the darkness.
"Oh, it worked?"
It was exactly as Gilroshan had envisioned—the Wall of Flames.
Kieeeeeeek!
The monsters that had been charging like a living tide were now trapped within the blazing barrier,
screeching and thrashing as they burned alive.
'It's really working according to his plan.'
Beforehand, Gilroshan had poured oil, gunpowder, and all sorts of flammable materials across the path the Wave would pour through.
He'd also scattered resin dust throughout the forest so that once the flames hit,
a chain reaction of explosions would erupt one after another.
...And this was the result.
Kyaaaaaaah!
The front ranks of the surging monsters turned into blackened heaps of charred flesh,
then were crushed into ash by the wave of beasts rushing in from behind.
Tyrbaen's eyes gleamed.
'That's the first attack completed.'
There were five prepared bombardment points in total.
If she triggered them one by one while using wind magic to control the blaze—
'We can probably hold for about forty to fifty minutes.'
That was by no means a short time.
It was long enough to burn down the entire forest—
and it marked the final line of the bloodless defense operation they'd planned.
'If the Wave continues beyond that window… we'll have no choice but to shift into siege defense.'
In other words, they'd have to use the cabin's outer barrier as a fortress wall—
and the armed children would have to engage the monsters in close combat.
Of course, with Kals Sillion—a high-ranking knight—among them,
it wasn't likely they'd be overrun easily.
'But casualties will be inevitable.'
The longer the siege dragged on, the more blood the children would spill.
Some of them might even die.
'...Gilroshan had better capture that culprit in the cathedral before then.'
With that thought, Tyrbaen activated her next spell.
[Offensive Magic: Fire Harpoon]
BOOOOOM!
The fiery harpoons exploded mid-flight,
unleashing storms of blazing heat across the battlefield.
Second volley. Third volley…
'Alright. Time to adjust the wind.'
As Tyrbaen calculated the direction of the air currents and gathered mana—
–"Ah, can you hear me, Master?"
"Eek!"
A voice suddenly pierced her ears.
Startled, Tyrbaen nearly slipped off the cabin roof, but managed to regain her balance just in time.
And when she finally grasped what was happening, her eyes widened in shock.
"Sh-Shan? Are you using a communication spell with me right now?"
A bright, almost cheerful laugh followed.
–"Yes, yes! It's me, Master!"
How was that even possible?
Tyrbaen was baffled.
Within the Empire's magical framework, long-distance communication spells could only be used
by mages of at least the Third Circle.
By all accounts, the Third Prince Gilroshan shouldn't have been able to cast such a spell.
Granted, there was a lot of static interference,
and even listening required supplementary mana from her end.
'Is another mage relaying the signal? But I don't sense any foreign mana…?'
She was still trying to make sense of it when—
–"You're curious, right? But I need to conserve mana, so I'll explain later! For now, here's the main point!"
Whooooshhhh…
The sound of cutting wind mixed into Gilroshan's voice,
along with a faint female shout in the background.
–"Please slow dooown!"
'…Eve Wyler?'
What the—why was she there?
–"Can you hear me, Master?"
"Huh? Ah, yes! Go ahead!"
–"Right!"
Gilroshan's voice rang bright and confident as he delivered an absolutely bewildering report.
–"I just captured the culprit from the Kishiris Order! If the Revolutionary Army officers show up before I return, could you please explain things to them for me?"
...What?
'He caught the culprit?'
The Wave had barely even started!
'Is it… already over?'
But then Gilroshan dropped an even more ridiculous statement.
–"Also, I'll need your help with this part! The Wave will continue for another hour!"
"...What?"
–"Can't hear me well? The Ultra Wave! It's going to last! For one! Whole! Hour!"
"What do you mean?! You just said you caught the culprit!"
Tyrbaen shouted furiously, but Gilroshan rattled on as if he couldn't hear her.
–"So just set off the flames faster, okay? Hit them with all the offensive magic you've got! It'll be over soon!
Tell Kals to hold the entrance tight! Got it?"
"Hey! You little—Gilroshaaaaaan!!"
–"Oh, right! Cancel all wind spells! Don't use them! They're… inconvenient for me!"
And with that, the connection cut off.
Tyrbaen stood there, speechless.
"..."
He'd already caught the Kishiris Order's culprit?
But the monster Wave was going to continue for another hour?
'He expects me to hold it off until then?'
No matter how she turned it over in her head, it didn't make sense.
But one thing was certain—
Something was very suspicious about all of this.
"That brat…"
Tyrbaen didn't care who heard her as she screamed at the sky.
"What the hell are you doing, you deranged prince?!"