Chapter 1245: Guardian Deity's Shield

We employed solo hit-and-run tactics against the hordes of undead.

I had expected a tough battle, but things were going surprisingly smoothly.

『This new skill is ridiculously strong!』

「Nn!」

「Woof woof!」

The new skill we obtained upon changing to Guardian Swordking, “Guardian Deity’s Shield”, was even more potent than we thought.

It allowed us to freely create incredibly powerful barriers infused with divine energy. Above all, the costs were extremely light.

Apparently, the divine energy powering these barriers was fueled freely from our various blessings and protections. What’s more, there was almost none of the usual fatigue or healing inhibition.

We simply created a dome-shaped barrier with the max 10-meter radius and dashed around like a madman. That was enough to turn swaths of undead into roadkill.

The image of a gigantic wolf enveloped in divine energy running all over the place felt like a scene from mythology. The actual wolf was probably just playing around though.

「Woof woof wooooof!」

The multitude of undead getting smacked around by his charge was certainly a spectacle. Urushi seemed quite amused by this.

『If we can cover Urushi, that means we can also cover an entire party or squadron, right?』

「Convenient.」

By expanding it into a shield shape, we could create a barrier almost 30 meters in diameter. It could even be spread into a wall shape. No matter how much mana we spent to adjust the shape, there was still no self-damage from using divine energy.

『This turned out to be completed one-sided.』

「Amazing.」

「Woof!」

The divine barrier completely neutralized all enemy attacks, while ours passed through unfazed.

As a result, our enemies fell in droves and Fran didn’t take a single scratch.

Just now, my Surtr incinerated another 5,000 undead to ash.

The supreme-tier flame spell Surtr has a special property in which it can continue burning by absorbing the target’s mana as fuel.

Such a spell is as dangerous as purification magic against undead. After all, undead creatures crumble away when their mana reaches zero.

The combination of flame and mana absorption might even be more effective than purification magic. Despite my focus on area over power, it still dealt the hordes a heavy blow.

Surtr’s mana consumption was extremely high since I didn’t have much experience with the spell yet. Still, taking down so many undead in one cast seemed like plenty.

『Alright! We’ve stalled the ones here a bit, so let’s move on.』

「Nn!」

And so, we repeated the process of ambushing and holding off the undead in three different locations, adjusting the speed of the horde’s advance.

It took about a half a day of continuous fighting. Then, we took a short nap and went at it again for the rest of the day.

『Doesn’t seem like we made much of a dent in the hordes.』

「Nn.」

「Woof…」

I’m sure we’ve annihilated over 100,000 by now. Yet there was no sign of the undead hordes diminishing in number.

They seemed to have multiplied if anything. Perhaps even more undead were flooding in from behind. Do we have no choice but to strike them down at the source?

But if we left to do that, Klimt would have to handle all the undead by himself. That doesn’t sound like a good idea either.

Despite our doubts, we continued the operation. The three hordes of undead finally converged north of Alessa, and just as planned, their arrival was almost simultaneous.

With this, we could potentially wipe them out in one fell swoop, but…

「Fran-san, can you hear me?」

「Klimt?」

A watery blob resembling a slime appeared before us. We had seen it before; it was Klimt’s spirit. He must be viewing our progress through the magical tool.

「I’d like to wait a bit longer and gather the undead in the rear before calling upon the Great Spirit. How much longer can you hold off the vanguard?」

「However long it takes.」

Fran would give her everything to protect Alessa, no matter how reckless it was. And Klimt sensed her unspoken determination.

We heard a light sigh coming from the spirit, but this wasn’t out of frustration. Rather, it seemed to be a sigh of self-deprecation for bringing about the situation where Fran must push herself.

「…Please don’t push yourself too hard. I’ll begin in two hours.」

「Got it.」

Despite the fatigue evident on Fran’s face, she gave a firm nod. Although she hadn’t sustained any injuries, the accumulated exhaustion from a full day and night of combat was starting to weigh on her.

Still, it was much better than her reckless battles in Raydoss. The suppression of physical fatigue through divine energy seemed to be making a significant difference.

『Let’s wipe out another wave of undead to create an opportunity for a break. Hang in there.』

「Nn!」

Fran, who had been taking refuge in the sky, once again descended to block the path of the hordes. But this time, our enemies showed a different reaction.

The normal undead stopped in their tracks as the Duke Zombies took the frontlines. We saw South Conquest Duke Zombies with numerous relics embedded throughout their bodies, as well as the West Conquest Duke Zombies piloting the two-legged mechs.

While they were certainly formidable opponents…

「Haahhh!」

『Nice! These guys aren’t a threat to us anymore!』

「Grr Ruff!」

Guardian Deity’s Shield flawlessly deflected their attacks, from the relics’ powerful artillery fire to the fists of the droids. Nothing got through.

「Fuhahaha! My priestess! My cat-eared priestess! I shall offer you the heads of our foes!」

「I don’t want any of those.」

「Fuhahaha!」

We also summoned Avenger to assist us in holding them back. Yet no matter how many we felled, the flow of undead reinforcements in the rear outpaced us.

If we flew into the sky, we could probably get a better view of the three dark rivers of undead flowing towards us.

「Fran-san, sorry for making you wait.」

「Klimt!」

Two hours later, Klimt flew in using some sort of spirit power and descended next to us.

「Please fall back. The Great Spirit is unable to show discretion.」

「…! Got it!」

The elf man landed softly on the ground after warning us. The green glow of his mana combined with his handsomeness to give him a divine aura.

I think this might be our first time seeing him in this state. He truly was incredibly powerful.

And at long last, Klimt played his trump card.

「O Great Spirit of Wind! Unleash your power, and annihilate all that stands before you!」

That moment, the Great Spirit’s true, unrestrained power was known to the world again.