__________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Yuki Suou was instantly drenched in cold sweat.
She'd wanted to pull off something impressive, but instead ended up making a complete mess of it.
Thankfully, everyone else was too busy hacking away at the undead to notice what she'd just done. Otherwise, she might as well slam her head into a wall and die on the spot—because honestly, dying would be less painful than dying of embarrassment.
Rosen caught her fumbling out of the corner of his eye and couldn't help but chuckle inwardly. Still, since she was one of his own, he didn't laugh out loud.
The four girls instinctively closed ranks around Rosen, shielding him in the center. Rationally speaking, Rosen was far stronger than all of them combined, but their subconscious drove them to protect him anyway.
That small gesture made Rosen feel oddly gratified.
Raising these girls hadn't been a waste of time after all.
"We can't keep this up. If it goes on like this, we'll be wandering around till nightfall without ever finding the shrine."
Miko Yotsuya finally voiced what everyone had been thinking.
Right now, they were holding their own, but the undead just kept coming, more and more of them. Even if they weren't overwhelmed yet, their divine power and stamina wouldn't last forever. If they dragged it out too long, retreating in disgrace would be the only outcome.
"I know," Mai Sakurajima said, slashing down a cluster of ghouls before pausing to gauge her own condition. She clicked her tongue.
Her skill "erasure of existence" was incredibly useful, but the drain on her was terrifying. Even when she used it sparingly—just flicking it on and off to the bare minimum—the constant demand was chewing through her strength fast.
At this rate, she wouldn't last thirty minutes.
"I've got half an hour left in me at best," Mai admitted without hiding anything.
"Same here," Miko said grimly. She was running all three of her abilities full blast. Sure, her speed and reflexes were way sharper than usual, but it came at a steep price.
The real kicker was that the undead themselves weren't even all that dangerous. Each of their strikes was enough to wipe out a ghoul—but they had no sense of direction. They were like headless flies, flailing around with no idea which way to go.
"Then let's just head for the summit," Yuki Suou suggested. "Shrines are usually built at the top of the mountain. Once we're up there, we can regroup."
"Guess that's the best shot we've got." Mai turned to Rosen. "Lord Rosen, stick close to us. And Hana—finish up those snacks quick. When we break through, you're our main firepower."
Hana Yurika, still standing there blasting away with her left hand while munching donuts with her right, gave a muffled, "Got it."
She didn't even bother with her usual lazy attitude. Normally she nibbled donuts in dainty bites, but now she shoved in half at once.
Her drink was nearly drained too, and the life energy radiating from her grew so thick it was almost suffocating.
Thick enough that even the wandering undead hesitated, their steps faltering.
Sure, pure life energy was like a feast to them—but when it blazed this brightly, it didn't feed them. It burned them out of existence.
"Now's our chance! Straight up to the top!"
No one argued.
Miko charged first, holy light sword flashing, carving through the least-crowded path. In an instant, several undead heads went flying, black ichor spraying before dissolving into mist.
Rosen and the others followed her lead, plunging through the gap toward the summit.
Mai flickered in and out of sight along the way, every disappearance and reappearance marking the death of another undead. Rosen thought to himself that she really had the makings of an assassin.
She just didn't have the polish yet.
Right now, all their fighting was raw instinct mixed with sheer brute force. If he could put them through proper training, their efficiency would skyrocket.
Not that he was sure this world even had anything like professional combat training. If not, well… he could always hit up the chat group and ask his friends there. Frieren, or maybe Maruciel—they came from worlds where adventurers trained seriously. Surely they had manuals on cultivating skills.
The breakthrough worked, but things weren't looking up.
The undead still blanketed the mountainside. All they'd done was shake off the pack behind them. Worse, their noisy assault had drawn the attention of bigger, nastier ones.
Gone were the human-shaped ghouls they'd been hacking through earlier. Now hulking monsters loomed, some as tall as trees, some wielding blood-stained weapons that radiated pure menace.
The girls didn't slow down, though.
Rosen briefly considered messing with them a little—maybe "accidentally" tripping up and forcing them to adapt. But then he remembered this was their first time facing an undead horde of this scale. Better not to traumatize them.
He wasn't some Jeep-driving monster who tormented his disciples to the point of leaving lifelong trauma.
Progress was fast. The mountain wasn't that tall, so they reached the upper slopes quickly.
But just as they were nearing the summit, Miko, charging ahead, slammed into something invisible with a loud thunk.
"Ow, ow, ow!"
She toppled backward, clutching her forehead as tears welled in her eyes.
"What happened?"
"Miko-chan, you okay?!"
"No, there's… something blocking the path up ahead."
The other three tensed immediately.
Yuki Suou stepped forward, stretching out a hand. Her palm met something solid—smooth, like glass.
"What the heck? A barrier?"
"Looks like the way forward's sealed. What's going on here?" Miko asked, wincing as she rubbed her head.
Something was wrong.
Seriously wrong.
Nine chances out of ten, this was bad news.
The girls turned to Rosen.
"Most likely the 'god' of this place doesn't want random people barging in," Rosen explained calmly. "There's probably a ward set up around the shrine to drive outsiders away. But since you're different, you slipped through until now."
He paused.
"Unless a normal person comes up here with a true wish in their heart—and the ability to pay the price—the barrier won't open."
"..."
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________