They really were planning to use me as bait, weren't they?
Besides, turning on each other in the middle of a stampede? That's just insane.
"That movement... You've got a Scout skill specialized in evasion. And you took down a monster in one hit—so you're probably an Assassin. Some kind of Iron-ranked fraud."
The sub-leader analyzes.
"If you'd just survived as bait, we might've let you join the party. But you killed your comrades, and I won't forgive you for that."
The leader roars.
"It was the Big Bear that killed them. I took that thing down too, so if anything, I avenged them. You should be thanking me."
"Shut up!"
The two wielding silver axes had finished carving through the monsters and now had some breathing room, so they turned their killing intent toward me.
It didn't matter how many came at me, but I couldn't afford to let a single one slip away.
Any survivor would go around badmouthing me after the stampede, after all.
So I unleash a [Sword Saint]-level wave of intimidation at all of them.
"I can't move... Who the hell are you?!"
The leader manages to speak, barely able to open his mouth.
"Just an Iron-rank, but I won't deny the fraud accusation."
"Don't think you'll get away with this!"
"Don't worry. You all will—"
un—
—foreseen.
—because
even if you die,
I will annihilate all the monsters assigned to this squad and complete the request.
Straggler monsters began to appear one after another.
"Wait, stop, I'll spare you! So release the pressure! Let it gooooo!"
"Waaaaah!"
I watched as the axe party, powerless against the mercilessly attacking monsters, was wiped out entirely.
Stabbed, torn apart, crushed—they were swallowed by the stampede's tide.
Now all that's left is to finish off the monsters, just as I declared.
"Hmm, I could just keep swinging my blade around, but that's tedious. Guess I'll go with wide-area magic instead. 'Stone Shower'!"
With [Rock-Iron Magic], I rained down massive boulders across the entire area.
The monsters—including the Killer Moths hovering in the air—were crushed to death without any means of resistance.
Once I'd cleared everything in sight, I pushed deeper and dealt with the rest the same way.
Before I knew it, I had reached the rocky mountain where dragons were said to nest—Dragon's Nest.
"But apparently, dragons have never attacked a town or joined a stampede before, so I probably don't need to do anything here."
I turned back from there, taking a slight detour while casually crushing monsters with Stone Shower as I went.
◇◇◇
Silver-rank adventurer Rain had been assigned as the leader of Squad Four.
He was a veteran who had completed four stampede subjugation missions to date.
The role of leader, normally reserved for Gold-rank adventurers, had been given to him at Silver rank in recognition of his experience and ability—or so it was said. Some claimed he'd simply been thrust into it.
"Ugh, I wonder how many from my squad will make it back alive this time… This is weighing on me."
No matter how hard you try, someone always ends up dead.
Especially the low-rank ones — Coppers and Irons, in particular.
Once you hit Bronze, you're treated as competent enough that survival rates go up, but still…
Past noon, the first wave of monsters made contact.
Familiar enemies. Easy to handle.
The only problem was their sheer numbers.
If you had the[Fatigue Reduction]skill, it would be much easier to endure a drawn-out fight like this.
"Alright, let's get fired up."
He muttered to no one in particular.
He immediately drove his blade into a Big Bear's weak point, killing it on the spot.
From here, the real hell begins.
◇◇◇
He mowed down monster after monster, checking on his squadmates' safety one by one, and before he knew it, evening had fallen.
There had been no casualties in his squad so far.
Up to this point, things were manageable.
But this was where the real test began — fatigue had built up, and his mana was nearly depleted.
Even protecting himself was starting to become a struggle.
However, the pressure from the monsters was weakening.
The number of reinforcements trailing behind seemed somehow fewer than expected.
What was going on?
The calm before the storm?
Could they have devolved into cannibalism, birthing some mutated variant?
But contrary to his worst fears, the monsters gradually dwindled and eventually vanished entirely.
So far, no one in his squad had perished.
He didn't let his guard down.
But by that day's end, a messenger from the guild arrived, announcing the mission's completion.
Rain was grateful for this stroke of luck—for the first time, no deaths had occurred during a stampede.
◇◇◇◇◇◇
Skill: [Reverse][Divine Eye][Sword God][Phantom Thief Gentleman][Dark Magic][Rock-Iron Magic]
Rank: Iron
Thank you as always for reading!