Helios Orb Chronicle – Chapter 157

Side: Prim

I never imagined that my and Yamato’s magic power would start to strain the Beast Carriage.
It’s still usable, but you never know what might happen, so it’s only natural that we’d have to build a new one.
After the new Beast Carriage is ready, this one will be presented to Brother Rai, so I’ll need Mana’s cooperation to adjust the interior a bit.

“Lord Yamato, Mana. I’ve found a herd of Elephant Boars.”

While we were discussing the Beast Carriage, including Fiana, Eos found our target.
Valentia has a lot of wasteland and few forests.
Elephant Boars are huge, so they’re easy to spot from the sky.

“Understood. Could you land us about 500 meters away from the herd, without agitating them?”
“Understood.”

Eos seemed to know what she was doing, landing us about 500 meters away from the Elephant Boar herd.
From here, Honest will pull the Beast Carriage and we’ll advance near the herd before beginning the subjugation.

“Thank you, Honest.”

Honest, visibly pleased, nuzzled into Mother’s hand.
Honest isn’t scheduled to join the combat, so he’ll be guarding the Beast Carriage with me, Jade, and Fluorite.
Breeze and Meena will be dealing with the Long-nose Boars, while Luna, Spica, and Sirius will be fighting the Elephant Boars alongside Mana. That’s why I couldn’t have Breeze or Spica pull the carriage this time.

“Alright, let’s go.”

At Yamato’s signal, Honest began to walk, pulling the Beast Carriage.
Elephant Boars are over 10 meters tall, and there’s nothing to obstruct our view here. They’re already within our sight.
They’ll probably notice us soon, but I’d prefer to get the first strike if possible.

“It seems they’ve noticed us.”
“Indeed. However, they seem to be prioritizing protecting the herd, so there’s no sign of them attacking.”

They noticed us, huh?
I heard that this time of year, the herds become quite large because the young are about to leave the nest.
Perhaps that Elephant Boar was still a juvenile.

“This is probably our limit.”
“Yes. If we get any closer, I think the Elephant Boars will attack.”
“Understood. In that case, let’s leave the Beast Carriage here. Prim, I’m counting on you.”
“I know. Be careful.”

I have to guard the Beast Carriage, so I can’t move from here.
However, since the Elephant Boars are aware of our presence, I imagine they’ll attack as soon as everyone moves a little.
I’m not sure what the Long-nose Boars will do, but Yamato has no intention of letting them escape, so I assume any individuals that try to flee will be prioritized for elimination.
And now that I think about it, there are also a few Jumbo-nose Boars here.
Jumbo-nose Boar meat is delicious, so maybe we can take only the meat and sell the rest.

Oops, I was lost in thought and the battle has already begun.
It looks like all the Jumbo-nose Boars and Long-nose Boars have shown up.

Mana, Lydia, and Ludia are engaging the Elephant Boars as planned, but they seem to be struggling against their massive bodies.

Surprisingly, Raus has already taken down one Jumbo-nose Boar.
He said he wanted to become stronger and evolve to protect Rebecca and Carol. This battle might actually fulfill his wish!
Oh, he’s just pierced another one through the head with the blade of his Lapislazuli Light Shield.
With three remaining, it looks like he can handle them.

Meena is skillfully parrying the attacks of the Long-nose Boars with her Silverio Sword and Silverio Shield. The arrows fired by Flam with her Lapislazuli Feather Bow accurately pierce the Long-nose Boars, immobilizing them. Lydia’s Lapislazuli Light Rapier, imbued with wind, and Athena’s spear are precisely striking their foreheads, so I don’t feel any anxiety watching them.
Rebecca sliced off the nose of a Long-nose Boar with the tip of her Lapislazuli Light Bow Edge, and Viola then slashed at it with her Twin Swords, while Marisa finished it off with a two-handed axe.
One of them tried to break through towards us, but Breeze, clad in earth-attribute magic spears, charged in and dealt with it.

“Raus, you’ve gotten stronger.”
“Indeed. To defeat B-rank monsters so easily… that should be difficult even for High Class.”

Fiana replied to Mother, who had just murmured this as she watched Raus stab both the Lapislazuli Light Sword and shield into a Long-nose Boar simultaneously, finishing it off.
His magic power seems to have increased, so he’s probably evolving.

“Hmm? Did Raus’s movements change?”
“It looks like it… could Raus have evolved already?”

Ed and Marina noticed it too.
His movements have become slower, as if he’s testing his senses, yet he’s powerfully deflecting the Jumbo-nose Boar’s attacks. He’s definitely evolved into a High Ulfy.

“It seems so. Since his opponent is a Jumbo-nose Boar, he’s probably testing out his newly acquired physical and magical abilities.”

Lydia, Ludia, and Maruka-nee-sama were similar.
However, those three were fighting monsters of G-rank or higher, so they didn’t have Raus’s current composure.

Raus then deflected the last Jumbo-nose Boar’s attack head-on, spun around with that momentum, and delivered a blow to its neck with the force of his spin.
Wow, its head flew off.

“Raus took down the Jumbo-nose Boar all by himself. He’s stepping into the realm of non-humans.”
“Well, it’s only a B-rank monster, so I don’t think it’s *that* far.”

For High Class adventurers, solo subjugation of up to S-rank monsters isn’t impossible.
And with alloys now, they might even be able to defeat G-rank monsters solo.

“As for the Long-nose Boars… ah, that’s ending soon too.”
“Sir Yuri seemed to be providing support as well. Everyone is indeed getting stronger so quickly.”

Ed and Marina said this with a hint of exasperation, but isn’t that a good thing?
Besides, we were bothered by some unsavory High Class adventurers in Etrada, and just now at the Hunter’s Guild. To avoid unnecessary trouble, it’s better for everyone to get stronger.
That said, even if Meena and Flam get stronger, I don’t think they’ll be able to solve everything with brute force.

The last Long-nose Boar was hit by Yuri and his spirit Raks’ Aqua Arrow, and Meena finished it off with a thrust of her Silverio Sword.
Now for the Elephant Boars, I wonder how they’re doing over there?

Side: Lydia

“Hnngh!”

Ludia is parrying the Elephant Boar’s fangs with her Dragorapier Gauntlet, but combined with the charge from its over 10-meter body, she’s not unscathed.
Still, she’s clearly keeping up with its movements, so it’s likely just superficial wounds.

“Sirius!”

Mana-sama had Sirius use ice-attribute magic to freeze the Elephant Boar’s legs.
The charge was strong, so Sirius’s ice couldn’t completely stop it, but it caused the Elephant Boar to lose its balance significantly. This is our chance.
I took a deep breath and attempted to further immobilize the Elephant Boar by releasing Ether Breath, a Dragon Spirit Magic.
As a Ice Dragon Dragonewt, the elemental attribute I can use is ice.
Ludia is a Fire Dragon, so she uses fire. However, my Dragon Spirit Magic is Ether Breath, while Ludia’s is Ether Burst, so our usable magic systems are different.
Besides Ether Breath and Ether Burst, there are several other Dragon Spirit Magics. Each person can use one, and two if they evolve into High Class.

“Hyaaaah!”

Even with my Ether Breath, it didn’t completely freeze, but I managed to stop its movement.
Ludia then struck the immobilized Elephant Boar with her Dragorapier Gauntlet, successfully snapping off its left tusk.
I also rushed in and damaged its right tusk with my Drag-sword, so it can no longer attack with those fangs.

“Luna!”

Then, a spear of light created by Luna, a Carbunculus, using light-attribute magic struck true. The Elephant Boar shattered the ice and fell to the ground.

“Spica, here we go!”

Seizing the opportunity, Mana-sama, riding on Spica’s back, charged forward with her Lapis Whip Edge ready.
Spica enveloped herself and Mana-sama in earth-attribute magic. Then, with Mana-sama’s wind-attribute magic for acceleration, she charged towards the Elephant Boar that was starting to get back up, blowing it away and knocking it to the ground once more.
Spica is supposed to be a C-rank Battle Horse, but I never imagined she could blow away an S-I rank Elephant Boar.

“This is the end!”

Using the downed Elephant Boar as a stepping stone, Spica jumped high. On her back, Mana-sama channeled magic into her extended Lapis Whip Edge. Spica’s earth-attribute magic reinforced the blade, Sirius’s ice-attribute magic formed the blade, Luna’s light-attribute magic unified the Lapis Whip Edge and Spica’s and Sirius’s magic, and Mana-sama’s own wind-attribute magic enhanced its cutting power, creating a massive blade.
This is Sterling Divider, a Unique Magic created by Mana-sama to compensate for lack of attack power by gathering the elemental magic of her summoned beasts into the blade.
On our way to Dragunia, many monsters were cut in half by it, so it certainly has sufficient attack power.
The opening is large, but by moving on Spica’s back, it seems to have been minimized. Moreover, the Elephant Boar is lying on the ground, so it can barely retaliate.

Mana-sama brought the Sterling Divider down on the Elephant Boar, and with a violent impact, clouds of dust billowed up.
As the dust cleared, the Elephant Boar’s corpse appeared, severed from its neck to its right foreleg. I never expected it to be able to split an An-type monster in half.
Has her magic power increased since before?

“Hih-hiiiin!!”

Spica, landing, whinnied joyfully, and Mana-sama stroked her with a smile. Did something happen?

“Magnificent. My assist wasn’t necessary, was it?”
“Just knowing Yamato is standing by is enough of an assist.”

That’s absolutely true.
Even in the Ideal Mountain Range, I didn’t feel any danger to my life because of that.

“Lydia’s right. Okay. Whoa! Hey Spica, calm down.”

Spica, unusually, is being affectionate with Mana-sama.
Breeze often acts spoiled towards Meena, but Spica always had a dignified image, so this is quite rare.

“Mana, what’s wrong with Spica?”
“Yes. Spica has evolved into a War Horse. Spica seems happy too, which is why she’s acting like this.”

Battle Horses have Duel Horses as a higher species. That means a War Horse is an evolution to S-rank monster, isn’t it!
It’s rare for familiars or summoned beasts to evolve, so this is quite amazing.

Familiars and summoned beasts can evolve, but it is said that they do not normally evolve into higher species.
This is a hypothesis, but it is believed that higher species are variants of normal species.
Therefore, when normal familiars and summoned beasts evolve, they seem to become rare species.

“Oh, congratulations. I thought you said she might evolve someday, but it was sooner than I expected.”
“I think so too. Our magic affinity was good, but I didn’t know when she would evolve, so I’m really happy too.”

I heard that Mana-sama formed a Summon Contract with Spica out of mutual infatuation when they went to Count Sofia’s territory on a request they took together with Holy Grave.
Therefore, not only is their personality compatibility excellent, but their magic compatibility is also outstanding. Even though Spica is a C-rank monster, a Battle Horse, she was able to defeat even B-rank monsters.
Now that Spica has evolved into an S-rank monster, I believe she won’t be outmatched even by G-rank monsters.
In other words, Spica is happy that she can be even more useful to Mana-sama.

Luna and Sirius are also nuzzling Spica as if congratulating her, which is a very heartwarming sight.
It even makes me want to form a familiar contract.