NOVEL NEXT chapter 32
32. Operation Time
In a tavern, over fifty people have gathered.
All eyes are on a single man.
“Well then, everyone! Looks like we’re all here!”
The man, Rainer, has a suspicious laugh.
“You all will be going to a certain place! There, you’ll find my associate! Follow their instructions!”
Voices of dissent rise from the crowd.
“Why must we follow the orders of someone we don’t even know?”
“We wish to move freely as well!”
Clap! Rainer claps his hands lightly to calm them down.
“Well! I understand that feeling! But listen! That person is a former military officer and incredibly strong! That’s why they can give better orders than I can!”
Most of those who had voiced opposition seemed to accept this, though some remained reluctant.
Perhaps they didn’t want to end up like the men who had been buried when they were gathered the other day.
“Alright then! This time! Ta-da! I wonder if anyone has seen this before?”
Rainer lifts a cloth, revealing a massive glass object hidden beneath.
“This is a magical tool used for large-scale operations!”
At his words, nearly everyone gasps in surprise.
This magical tool, one of the reasons the Magical Empire wreaked havoc in the recent war, had spread widely among humanity.
“And so! We’ll be using this to fly to that location!”
As Rainer snapped his fingers, a sharp sound echoed, and a magic circle appeared on the ground.
“By the way! If you’re not at least eighty percent in, you’ll be left behind, you know?”
At those words, those at the edges moved toward the center,
crammed together in a throng.
Light shone brightly, enveloping everyone.
“Well then, it seems we’ve arrived!”
When everyone opened their eyes, they found themselves in a forest. They didn’t know where they were, but they understood that the transfer had been successful.
“Alright! Everyone! Listen up!”
Rainer pointed toward a woman cloaked in robes.
It was clear that they hadn’t just been teleported; they had been there from the start.
“Now, this time, you will fight a certain magician. That person is brainwashed but incredibly skilled, so as a whole, you will follow my command.”
Everyone had been drilled to obey the instructions.
“Alright! Everyone! Let’s move out!”
Rainer wore an even more unsettling smile than usual.
◇◇◇
“It seems to be alright…”
Wide and Ayla had teleported after everyone else, waiting a moment before making their move.
Ayla used a portable magical device to signal the members of the resistance to commence the operation.
Wide glanced at a device resembling a compass.
“The position of the transmitter-type magical device is fine.”
The two exchanged glances and nodded.
This operation was to ensure the safety of the fighting members of the resistance before regrouping.
They would follow the operation to reclaim Elg.
“It seems like our fathers have also managed to get in touch, so they should arrive before long.”
“We will definitely save you, Elg!”
With a determined expression, Wide set up the magical device for the operation.
◇◇◇
Kelt confirmed from a distance that a crowd of about fifty people was approaching.
“Sigh, I wish I could have spent this time with Elg instead of dealing with all this.”
Kelt, somewhat sulking, grips his staff.
“Still, to think you could capture me with just this… you’ve underestimated me.”
He swings his staff.
The various spells he had prepared the day before activate.
Gildia, sensing the disturbance, halts the movements of his group, but it is already too late.
In an instant, all the spells are unleashed.
A legion of over a hundred golems.
Walls of earth block their escape.
Ice magic saps their body heat.
Countless other spells reveal themselves one after another.
“I am Kelt, an S-rank adventurer and the Grand Sage of the Mage Empire.”
The Grand Sage swings his staff and activates more magic.
“Let’s wrap this up quickly.”