You know the saying… Be careful what you wish for?
I was reminded why such a saying exists today.
When we continued our recon, we suddenly heard a rumble and a crowd of these Anomalies appeared out of thin air and we were now stuck on top of a hill surrounded by these Anomalies.
"How many are there?" I muttered.
"We're estimating that there are at least a hundred to two hundred of them, my Lord," Olivia answered my question without hesitation.
Great… And we're an expedition of maybe around twenty or so people right now.
The silver lining is that all the Anomalies are the slow moving kind so we didn't need to worry about being overrun that quickly.
But these Anomalies seemed to be more hardy than the one we met earlier as they were more resistant to damage.
Heck, they didn't even explode like how the others did earlier when the arrows and bullets struck them.
Now I'm assuming those Anomalies earlier just had a special condition of exploding when they were struck, which means it was a good thing that we shot them from afar instead of fighting them within melee distance.
For now, we had arranged ourselves in a defensive circle around the hill's crest and our ranged Vanguards were doing their best to thin out the numbers.
Even though we were vastly outnumbered, the situation wasn't really that dire as the Anomalies were slow so we could wane their numbers before they even got to us.
As we were still watching the Anomalies lumber their way towards us, a particular woman approached us, though Olivia stepped in front of her before she could get too close.
I will first preface that Olivia was exceptionally tall, like probably about two metres tall, and it was kind of normal seeing that she was basically a red Oni.
This woman that was dressed in what basically looked like the standard fantasy mage robes with her very elaborate staff was also almost just as tall as Olivia was, probably with only a few centimetres shorter than the red Oni.
That was when I saw the long ears peeking out from underneath her wide brimmed hat and I realised this woman was most likely an elf from another world. Which would explain her height since she wasn't from this World.
Olivia tilted her chin at the woman, "Do you need something?"
She smiled, not looking intimidated by the larger woman at all, "I was merely going to suggest that the young God there grant me permission to unleash my spell."
Huh?
She's basically asking for permission to fight the Anomalies? Isn't that what we're here for?
Olivia narrowed her eyes at the elf, "You are Avatasia, one of the Guardian candidates. Are you not serious about your candidacy?"
She waved her hand in front of her, "Oh, don't get me wrong. I certainly am interested, but I thought that it would be best that I warn the young God before I cast my spell, you see~ Fufufu~"
Olivia turned to me, as though seeking my permission.
Since I wasn't really sure what was going to happen, I decided to just allow it.
I'm sure she couldn't make our situation worse than it currently is, right?
Olivia turned back to the elf, "Go ahead then."
The elf did an actual curtsey, lifting up a part of her skirt with one hand while still holding on to her staff with the other, "I thank you for your grace, young God."
She then turned back to face the army of Anomalies still climbing up our hill before she lifted up her staff and balls of black coloured lights started to gather in the space above her staff.
A larger ball formed and several smaller balls revolved around it, all of them slowly expanding in size.
I wondered just what kind of spell she was weaving before she thrust her staff up into the air and the orbiting balls flew upwards into the sky.
They spun around for a moment before it combined together to form into a single ball to shoot up higher into the sky, where it seemed to tear open a space in the air.
Then, from that space, a giant rock passed through that tear, making me realise that she literally just summoned a meteor.
Everyone stared at the giant rock coming down from the tear in space that was headed straight towards the foot of the hill.
The elf mage looked up at the rock with interest, "Hmm… That's interesting. I've never made one that big before. I'm glad I asked for permission now before I summoned it~ Fufufu~"
Ah… I'm guessing it's thanks to my purple smoke that is allowing her to cast this spell then?
All of us braced ourselves as the giant meteor smashed into the foot of the hill, crushing pretty much half of the Anomalies that had been there under the rock.
The resulting shockwave was travelling up towards us and I was worried that some of us may be blown away by it when one of the Vanguards, a female dressed like a martial artist wielding a sword and shield, jumped in front of everyone.
She raised her shield and slammed it onto the ground, her black hair flowing behind her like a wave before a blue coloured wall was projected out from her shield to create a dome around us.
The shockwave crashed against the dome and I could see her sliding back a foot before she dug her heels to the ground and stopped herself.
The shockwave blasted several of the other Anomalies away and I got to watch them fly off into the distance, rolling across the plains like tumbleweeds.
When the shockwave finally died down, the girl released the shield and we were left standing on the only spot around that wasn't devastated by the meteor strike.
The elf turned back and did another curtsy, "You will have to forgive me, young God, but this was the first time I'm casting my magic with the help of your divinity. I will make sure to adjust my strength appropriately in the future, if you would have me."
I realised that this was her trying to appeal to me so that she had a higher chance to be chosen as a Guardian, which in turn made me curious as to why she wanted to be one.
With her skills, it was clear that she was a really powerful mage. If she wanted the protection and luxury that comes with being a Guardian, there should be no reason why the other Mortal Gods would not want someone like her.
I'm not the only Mortal God that is able to buff the powers of my followers so shouldn't it be better for her if she looked for a more experienced Mortal God instead of one that is still untested?
Well… At least I won't say no to such help so if she really decides to choose to pledge her service to, then I won't turn her away either.
Somehow, just from the look on Olivia's face, I had a feeling that the red Oni was not amused with the elf.
Unexpectedly though, the elf then lifted her head and smiled at me again, "If I may be so bold to ask, young God… If there might be any chance to see you take the field today?"
Olivia crossed her arms, "What are you talking about? My Lord is already taking the field is he not?"
"I meant personally fighting against the Anomalies, miss director. From what I can feel about him, he should be capable enough to also join the frontlines with us but yet he stays at the back, why is that?"
"Did you not already see that his abilities are support types and not direct attack types? What are you trying to do?"
"Hmm… That's odd… That's not what I sense from him though. I believe from what I can sense, the young God here should also be capable of fighting against the Anomalies on his own without needing a guard. Yet he is hiding behind everyone else right now? Oh, whoops… Perhaps this was supposed to be a secret? In that case, please accept my apologies."
She did another curtsy before turning away, as though nothing had happened.
It feels she's at least a little sincere in her intentions but…
There was just one problem with the interaction with this elf… It was that she somehow knew that I was a frontline fighter before I awakened so either she was telling the truth that she really could sense that power in me or… She somehow knew of my real identity and knew I was a Vanguard before becoming a Mortal God.
Olivia probably came to the same conclusion as I did and turned to bow her head at me, "My Lord… If I may be allowed to do so… I would like to keep a closer eye on that one… She seems to know more than she lets on."
I don't see why not, so I agreed to her request. We've only been in this rift for a while and weird stuff is already happening…