Chapter 66

No Man’s Land.

A term for the very edge of the battlefield, the space between our trenches and the enemy’s, during a war.

In the world I knew, trench warfare was a concept that developed relatively recently. Around the First World War, perhaps?

But in this era, where dragons darken the sky and demons crawl from the earth, it seems that concept, tragically, took root far sooner than in my previous life.

A world where strategy and warfare are far more advanced than human rights or labor laws.

As if the Middle Ages weren’t wretched enough, the fantasy setting makes this place particularly godawful.

“Three mutated beings, approximately two meters in height, spotted on the front lines!”

“What are the mages doing? Fire, quickly!”

“Wait, they appear to possess shadows resembling orcs! There’s a possibility they’re friendly, hold your fire…”

“It’s clearly a deception! They have two heads, for God’s sake, unleash your magic!”

Yes.

Fucking godawful.

The soldiers’ near-hysterical cries fill the battlefield. Each man reports their situation and the constantly shifting tide of battle to the officers, who in turn shout orders until their throats are raw.

“Honey, I need honey! If not honey, then at least some sugar…”

Occasional, vacant sounds drifted through the air, but most of the soldiers, in their assigned places, silently trudged through the muddy water, fulfilling their duty.

“Demonic presence at the front!”

“Shit, down!”

Whoosh!

A damp, hot wind brushed past my cheek. A crimson sphere, launched from beyond the fog, slammed into the ground just in front of the trench where the soldiers sought refuge.

Upon contact, the red sphere erupted in a massive explosion, carving a gaping hole in the earth. Venomous, muddied water sprayed in every direction, thickening the fog even further. Fortunately, most of the soldiers sheltered in the trench escaped unscathed.

Modern trench warfare developed with the advent of firearms. But in this medieval fantasy, it seemed to have rapidly evolved thanks to mages who could freely conjure fire and lightning, and skilled archers who could accurately strike targets from a thousand meters away.

“…Damn it.”

Digging trenches, mages traded blind spells with one another. Snipers unleashed volleys of arrows at enemies daring to peek above the trench line.

Where, in all of this, was the medieval war?

Gone was the chivalrous duel between armored knights. Only a vulgar and horrifying ‘reality’ remained.

“…”

Alter and Rex seemed hardened to this kind of battlefield. Even after witnessing the gruesome trench warfare in the distance, they merely gripped their weapons with stoic expressions, uttering not a word.

Lir betrayed a flicker of hesitation. Given that this was likely her first true experience of war, such a reaction was understandable.

“…Sir Bean doesn’t seem afraid at all?”

Lir voiced her admiration, watching me calmly follow the officer’s guidance towards the front lines.

“I am afraid.”

As if I’ve seen war before. This is the first time I’ve set foot in such a brutal place. How could I not be scared when people are constantly getting hurt and screams echo through the air?

“You are quite collected for a boy seeing a battlefield for the first time, General.”

Rex, equally surprised by my reaction, seemed to agree with Lir, adding his own observation.

“Considering my background, it’s perhaps not so strange.”

I come from the streets, you see.

Born with the cheat-code passive of [Composure]. Fear or discomfort? Naturally, I feel them. But never so consumed that I can’t do what needs doing.

“…Well, you did say that even as a child, you entered dungeons so high-leveled they spat out artifacts. So I suppose it isn’t incomprehensible.”

Lir, interpreting my words as she pleased, nodded as if she had reached her own conclusion.

…Whatever. Think what you want. I have no reason, no *time*, to correct you.

“General Bell has given us one mission!”

As we stepped into the long, deep trench carved from the rear to the front lines, the officer at the head of the column finally shouted at the top of his lungs. He had no choice but to raise his voice that way, or it would be swallowed whole by magic and screams.

“To leave a deep impression on the Mazoku! To indelibly etch into their minds, ‘Vin is here, and Vin is a very dangerous existence’!”

“Precisely how are we to do that?”

*KABOOM!*

A massive explosion filled the world, and thin, muddy rain fell from above. Lir tugged her hat down low, sticking close behind me, while Rex carefully crammed his hulking frame into the depths of the trench.

“Huh?!”

Whether the shelling drowned out my voice, the officer shouted back at me.

“Precisely! What! Are we supposed! To do!”

I shouted back just as loudly. With my thin, fragile voice, I couldn’t say much at a high volume, so I was forced to enunciate each word with painstaking care.

“Uh… what I was told to relay, exactly, was, ‘Summon a spirit.’ That’s what they said!”

The officer paused momentarily, then blurted out the message. He didn’t seem to have a clue what that command, “Summon a spirit,” was supposed to mean.

…Summon a spirit?

“Anyway, they said if they left it at that, you’d understand…!”

“……”

Bell’s suggestion was a rather effective strategy.

What would their reaction be, if a mere young mage, barely a month or two into their training, showed them they could command spirits at will?

From the demons’ perspective, they would weep tears of blood, their very organs twisting in agony.

If they witnessed me wielding spirits, it was clear the demons would conclude they had to kill me, no matter the cost.

Since they’ve decided to use me as bait, inflating my value in such a manner was the most efficient and reasonable course.

“…Huh?!”

However, there was one problem…

“Summon a spirit!”

“…Pardon? I can’t quite hear you?”

I just… didn’t want to bring that damn thing out.

I didn’t want to see its face. I didn’t want to hear its voice.

That thing, Dajin, is just…unlikable. No, the spirit is unlikable.

“A spirit!”

Just then, Lir, who was clinging right behind me, shouted into my ear on behalf of the officer.

“……”

“General! He says he wants you to summon a spirit!”

Rex, with his typically massive orcish chest, echoed the same message in a loud voice. His booming voice was louder than most bomb explosions, making it impossible to ignore.

“……”

Ah, I don’t want to…

“……Ah, ah! A spirit.”

I answered with an awkward smile, as if realizing the meaning only belatedly.

“Do you know what it means?”

“……Well, it’s just as it sounds.”

“Huh? What did you say?”

“You’ll see.”

I replied to the officer, who was clearly questioning me, and walked deeper into the trench.

The closer we got to the front lines, the clearer the screams became, and the heavier the scent of blood grew.

From time to time, I could see soldiers leaning against the walls of the trench to rest, their bodies covered in mud and wounds.

“……Around here would be perfect to draw attention!”

We stopped a little ways back from the front lines, where magic was flying every which way.

“Be careful! If you get hit by a stray spell and General Bean gets even a scratch… General Bell will kill me!”

“I can’t tell if you’re worried about me, or worried about yourself…”

“Sir?!”

“Never mind! Just give me some space for a moment!”

I took a breath, quietly closed my eyes, and concentrated all my senses on my right hand.

Then, tiny, molecular-sized black dust particles started to seep out through the skin of my hand, gathering in my palm.

The dust, clumped into dots, began to intertwine like thin threads, eventually taking the form of a long staff held in my hand.

‘Ah, it’s been a while. Has it been two days? I was starting to think about calling you myself, since you hadn’t called me for a while.’

As I gripped the staff, that irritating voice echoed in my head.

‘So, you seem to have some business? Or what, just wanting to chat? Love stories? I do love a good love story. How did things go with Lire? Not well? Don’t be too disappointed. Elves tend to want to be with their own kind, you know. Thinking of the difference in lifespans, the thought of eventually fading away is nothing but sadness, they say… Anyway, if you’re looking to meet a new woman… how about a dwarf? Cute, feisty, with a personality as bold as they come. So much charm, and watching them waddle about…’

What the hell is this guy spouting the instant we connect?

I stared at the staff in my hand, letting out a genuine sigh and furrowing my brow.

“…Just shut up, please. My head is throbbing.”

‘I was so bored without anyone to talk to for two whole days. Is it really such a difficult request to ask for a bit of conversation?’

“…Seriously, how can every single thing you do be so utterly unlikable? Can’t you see what’s going on around you?!”

As if reacting to my outburst, a warm jolt of lightning burst from the staff I held. The lightning filled the trench, then coalesced above it.

The gathering lightning quickly took the form of a deer. Its massive antlers jutted out in every direction like the branches of a colossal, beautiful tree, and its hooves possessed the elegant curves of a sculptor’s masterpiece.

“Unlikable, am I?”

Shining with a pure white light, that damned deer-thing asked me.

“…”

I didn’t bother answering the question.

You’re the unlikable one, you little jerk, aren’t you?

“…Haaah.”

Lire sighed quietly from behind me. Even she, who had once revered Dajin like a god, now looked uneasy whenever he manifested, having learned what kind of being he truly was.

“oooh…!”

Alter, in contrast, let out a gasp of admiration upon seeing Dajin’s form. For him, who had spent his life as a mage of the electric school, Dajin was always a mystical and beautiful being.

“Huh.”

The orc warriors and soldiers in the trench, ignorant of magic, didn’t seem to understand what they were even witnessing. They simply stared blankly at the beautiful, gigantic deer.

“My business is simple. Attract attention. Enough that people will see it clearly from 2000 meters away.”

“A singular strategy, I must say. Voluntarily making yourself a target on the battlefield. Have all the mortal manuals of war been set ablaze, then?”

Dajin sneered, his laughter gratingly mocking.

“Well, none of my concern, really. Though it promises to be… entertaining. Watching to see just how you survive the inevitable barrage.”

Without so much as a question about the situation, the transcendent began gathering electricity between his immense horns.

For him, the flow of battle, the purpose of the operation… none of it mattered much. Only that it seemed, above all else, *amusing*.

“…Hang on. Lightning is a tad… cliché, don’t you think?”

The mass of pure white light coalescing between the deer’s antlers was moments from detonation when Dajin, with those loaded words, dispersed the gathering energy into the air.

He must have conceived some novel amusement, but that smile… it only filled me with unease…

“Uh.”

Uh.

Uh-oh?

“…Mister Been?”

I could feel my once pristine hair bristling outwards, as though struck by lightning. Sparks crackled from my robes, and then, my body, like scrap metal drawn to a massive magnet, slowly began to rise into the air.

I’d warned them all – Lir included – against leaning out of the trenches, but this… this wasn’t my doing. My body refused to obey, serenely ascending into the heavens.

I want to come down. Pull me down, you sons of b*tches. What are you all just standing there for?

“Isn’t it… comical? A mortal, riding atop a spirit!”

“…What?”

Just what in the world has this b*stard been plotting?

“I wonder how many spells will be hurled our way when we soar through the sky like this? Hmm?”

“I don’t wonder, you maniac.”

“Bullshit, I said let me down!”

“I’ll make sure you get their attention. Hmm? Just like you deserve with that ‘Dominator of Spirits’ title!”

Looks like this guy’s been secretly stewing about the nickname the dwarves gave me.

Could’ve told me beforehand. Then I would have cleared up any misunderstandings with the dwarves, told them not to call me that—urgh…!

Dajin pulled me close against his torso and leaped high into the sky. Lyr, Alter, even Rex, boasting his massive bulk, shrank to the size of mere beans in an instant.

The sudden altitude made my consciousness feel like it was about to completely unravel.

…A single, massive lightning strike would’ve been enough.