We stepped outside from house.

At that exact moment, a silhouette lunged at me. I drew my sword and reacted instantly.

A single horizontal slash.

The resistance was light—a crisp, satisfying snick.

My magic sword bit into the figure's flank, effortlessly cleaving the upper and lower halves of its body apart. The corpse dissolved into smoke, leaving behind a small black stone that plopped to the ground.

It was a magic crystal, roughly the size of a ping-pong ball. That confirmed it: that silhouette was a "monster."

The creatures had almost no hair—just a few wisps on otherwise bald heads. They had sharp, hooked noses, oversized ears, and glinting eyes. Their skin was a pale ochre yellow. They were all armed with crude daggers or hand-axes; some even wore leather armor or carried wooden shields.

—Goblins.

if I had to describe them using terms from my old knowledge, these monsters were exactly that. These creatures were now swarming me, letting out ear-piercing "Gyagya gyagya!" shrieks—maybe their own language—as they attacked. There were twenty, maybe thirty of them.

Judging from that first strike, they were probably weak. As long as I watched out for their attacks, it didn't seem like I'd lose.

Still—I shouldn't let my guard down.

Like with the Skeletons, no matter how weak they seemed, they possessed enough power to kill a human. If one of those hand-axes landed a clean hit on my arm, now that Diana wasn't here, I could easily bleed out and die.

However, compared to the intense training I did with Shello-san, the goblins were slow and frail. To put it bluntly: they were trash mobs.

I thought there might be a psychological hurdle to killing humanoid creatures, but apparently, I wasn't kind enough to feel sympathy for things that simply evaporated into smoke upon death. I began hunting them down, one by one.

My magic sword was a two-handed longsword, about 120 centimeters long. Its reach was superior, and the goblins stood no chance against strikes delivered from beyond their range.

I hunted. And hunted. I cut them down one after another.

If this world had a concept of "Experience Points" like a game, I felt like I could farm them infinitely here, even if each goblin only gave a tiny amount. Magic crystals dropped one after another—it was oddly satisfying.

"Heheh..."

A creepy chuckle escaped my lips. This was getting addictive. I knew I shouldn't treat this like a game, but...

Having cleared a bit of breathing room, I glanced over at Shamash-san.

Come to think of it, she said she'd show me some magic. But she didn't look like she was using any. Does it take a long time to charge up a big spell?

Instead of using magic, Shamash-san was just standing there, her cheeks flushed bright red, staring blankly at nothing. I had cleared the goblins swarming the house, so she wasn't in immediate danger, but still—

"Shamash-san!" I called out.

"...Hweh?"

"What's wrong? More monsters are coming; it's dangerous to space out. Weren't you going to show off your magic?"

I ran over and tapped her shoulder. She jumped as if snapping back to reality.

"O-Oh... right. Sorry. I lost focus for a moment."

Hey, seriously?

"Are you okay? Did you get hit? You look unharmed, though."

"Well... yes. I suppose I was hit... It's bad for the eyes, you know, for a dried-up woman like me."

"What do you mean, ‘bad for the eyes'...?"

"Nothing... just forget it. More importantly, you wanted to see Sorcery, right? Or would you prefer Magic?"

"Oh, right. Wait—is there a difference between Sorcery and Magic?"

"Yes. 'Magic' refers to things like Elven Spirit Magic or Nightmare Summoning Magic. There are a few others, but they are strictly different from 'Sorcery,' which refers to arts that anyone can learn to use."

"I see."

That meant Shamash-san, being a Nightmare, could use Summoning Magic.

I wondered what that looked like... Would she call out something dangerous? Spirits pop out whenever I complete a "Guidance" task, so I doubted anything she summoned would surprise me at this point.

While we talked, more goblins continued to pour out from the depths of the mine.

"Spawning" was the only way to describe it. They were small, barely a meter tall, wielding rusted, chipped blades. They charged straight for us, driven by a mindless attraction to magical energy. They didn't coordinate or use special tactics; they relied solely on sheer numbers.

Shamash-san had mentioned earlier that the situation felt like the Hitotsuzuki (The Lunar Alignment) and the Awasezuki (The Joining Moons) were happening at once. If this kind of thing happens regularly, this world really is peak violence.

Because of my harsh training, I didn't feel threatened by weak monsters, but to someone without combat skills, this would be terrifying. One mistake, and you'd be crushed under the weight of their numbers.

They weren't kidding when they said wars are won by numbers.

"Shamash-san, there are too many. We need to thin them out first."

"Mu, indeed. Then let me show you some sorcery first... Showing off in front of you makes me feel strangely nervous, even at my age."

She rubbed her hands together, looking up at me with a slightly nervous expression. She's surprisingly timid.

"I'll show you Ice Sorcery... Giving logic to the mana—manifest the art!"

With a casual wave of her arm, countless ice pillars—about 50 centimeters long—materialized in the air.

"Whoa! Amazing. It's like a magic trick."

I was honestly amazed, though this indescribable sense of unreality made it look more like a magic trick than magic. It had a bit of a "low-budget fantasy movie" vibe to it.

With another wave of her hand, the ice pillars launched toward the goblins emerging from the tunnel. The sharp, conical pillars acted like bullets, piercing through the goblins' soft bodies. The monsters disintegrated into mist, leaving behind more small black crystals.

"How was that? It's a simple spell, but highly effective. Not to brag, but few can fire them with this level of precision and speed."

She said that, but she was clearly bragging. Glancing my way with a smug expression, she kept generating and firing icicles.

Unlike Diana's spirit magic, there was no chanting—just seamless, silent casting. If I had to name it, it'd be something like 'Ice Javelin'.

Her "vicious" sorcery slaughtered the goblins. She mentioned "precision," but it wasn't always a headshot; sometimes they hit the torso or blew off limbs. Shards of ice that shattered against the ground would fly up and pierce eyes or necks. Still, it was impressive. Despite nonstop casting, Shamash-san wasn't even breathing hard.

I was genuinely amazed. If someone could pelt you with that much volume from a distance, a close-range fighter wouldn't even be able to get near.

"Fufufu. Well? You want me now, don't you!?"

Even after firing so many spells, she wasn't even out of breath. The title of "Demon Race" wasn't just for show. Her combat ability was incredible.

Come to think of it, Shello-san mentioned fighting the Demon Race before. He fought things like this? That guy really is a monster...

But "You want me now?"... Of course I'd want someone this powerful on the team.

I just wished she'd stop saying things in such a provocative way. I was starting to worry about introducing her to Diana and the others... I really didn't want any unnecessary friction...

* * *

As the numbers thinned, Shamash-san eased up her attack. She narrowed her eyes, looking deep into the tunnel.

"Fuu... But still..."

"What's wrong?"

"Ayase-kun. How much do you know about monsters?"

Knowledge? I only had surface-level “fantasy world is amazing” knowledge.

"Uh, they spawn from magic accumulations and charge towards nearby magic sources... right?"

"Correct. Have you seen others besides these?"

"Yeah. Actually, these are the first ones I've seen—before this, I'd only fought skeletons."

Oh, and that weird bear too, I guess.

But that was super exceptional and came from a magic map, so I'm not sure if that one strictly counts as a monster.

"Un. Exactly. Normally, monsters are things like skeletons, golems, animated statues—magical beings given temporary life. That's what monsters usually are. There are some exceptions, but that's the general rule."

Is that so? I vaguely remembered Rebecca-san giving a similar explanation.

But the ones coming out right now were clearly demi-human-like goblins. They felt way too biological.

"Usually, around here, 'Golems'—dolls made of earth, rock, iron, or mithril during Awasezuki—mostly spawn. So goblins spawning like this is rare."

Rare... so they do spawn sometimes, huh?

Wait, so these fellows are 'Goblins' after all? Or is it just an auto-translation thing?

"But they're definitely spawning now. Way too many of them."

"That's the problem. Normally, these guys only appear during the Hitotsuzuki."

"So... is Hitotsuzuki happening now?"

Hitotsuzuki apparently refers to the moment the two moons of this world eclipse each other completely, becoming 'One Moon.' During that time, powerful monsters—said to be the children of the moons—would appear.

Well, she mentioned earlier it felt like both Hitotsuzuki and Awasezuki were happening at once, so it's probably a similar situation.

"No. Hitotsuzuki is still far off. The moons haven't even overlapped yet. That's why this is strange. Something... something other than Hitotsuzuki... is happening. But it's definitely on the level of Hitotsuzuki..."

While we talked, more goblins swarmed out. As I cut them down, a realization hit me.

—The timing of this sudden spawn.

—The progression of my Guidance.

—Right after the quest to "Meet a Nightmare" appeared:

『Subjugate 'Arges' of the Altar: 2/3』

It might be unrelated...

I wanted to believe it was unrelated...

But Shamash-san also said some incredibly powerful monster had spawned.

If this was happening across the entire mountain, with this many goblins emerging from every single tunnel like this, the situation was serious beyond a joke.

On the way here, I saw about ten tunnel entrances, both large and small. I'd heard that many people live along abandoned tunnels. In this town, nestled against the mountain, a lot of people also live near the tunnel entrances as well.

—What if this massive monster outbreak is a phenomenon triggered by my Guidance?

The goblins struck relentlessly, swinging rusty swords and chipped hand-axes without the slightest hesitation. Their ruby-red eyes, unreadable and emotionless, glinted in the phosphorescent light of the tunnels as they launched their unwavering attacks.

A chill ran down my spine.

Those with a way to defend themselves might be fine... but those without means of defense—

"...Shamash-san. If this is a Hitotsuzuki-level event, how do we stop it?"

There had to be a "flag" to end it. If I acted now, maybe I could stop it before the damage spread.

"Hmm? You don't know, Ayase-kun...? You have to kill every single monster... until none remain."

"...What?"

"That's how Hitotsuzuki is handled. Hire a massive number of hunters to exterminate everything at the spawn point. If you don't wipe them out in one place, the damage spreads. But this time, that wasn't possible. After all, it was sudden."

"How does Lucraella usually handle it?"

"You know that monsters consume internal energy to act, right? Because of that, they're destined to eventually run out of strength and disappear. In Lucraella, we take advantage of that trait—during Hitotsuzuki, all operations are halted and every entrance is sealed. That includes people like us who live in the tunnels. Even powerful monsters will vanish after a few days if left alone."

So that's how they handle it—seal all the tunnel entrances and wait it out... Though, it felt like the monsters could just break the doors open and force their way out.

At any rate, defeating the boss monster doesn't end it...?

...Wait, she said this was an abnormal situation. Maybe killing the boss would actually end it this time? It was wishful thinking, but...

"Shamash-san, there's no end to this. Let's get outside for now. If monsters are appearing all over the mountain, I need to inform my companions too."

Come to think of it, it was unclear how much the residents of Lucraella even knew about the situation. Given the circumstances, there were countless things that needed to be done: dispatch the knights, call in mercenaries or hunters, evacuate civilians, etc.

Anyway, once we were outside, we could use the walkie-talkie.

We needed to hurry.

"You're right. Then, allow me to use a few magic crystals."

At our feet, dozens of magic crystals from the goblins lay scattered. Shamash-san picked up several dozen of them.

"This time, I'll show you 'Magic'..."

With that murmur, she glared toward the depths of the tunnel where the goblins were coming from.

〈The world is severed, blocked by walls, becoming logic.〉

〈Hiding people, twilight for whom, the wolf of midnight, the golden dawn.〉

〈For this moment's protection, open the prison gate from the Cinnabar Demon Castle.〉

〈I am the dream-wielder Nightmare, Shamash Aureole.〉

〈Manifest according to my wish—Twilight Mimic!〉

Responding to her chant, an aura like swelling flames rose up. The magic crystals in her hand melted, turning into a powerful vermillion light. The light focused in the space before her, and her final words triggered a brilliant flash.

What remained after that was—

"...What is this?"

What was left was a darkish haze. More like a gas...

"It's a Summoned Beast. Twilight Mimic. Even among the Demon Race, not many can call this one forth."

Shamash-san puffed out her chest proudly.

"It's certainly impressive, but... how is this thing going to help us get outside?"

"Mm, of course. The reason Lucraella can seal the tunnels during a Hitotsuzuki is because of me—or rather, this Twilight Mimic."

I see. So she wasn't completely disconnected from society after all.

"This little one has the ability to look like a wall and drag anything that touches it into a sub-space. It just stays there with its mouth open, unable to move on its own, but it's the perfect counter for monsters."

"I see. So it's not a physical wall but a trap."

"Exactly."

As she spoke, Shamash-san ordered the gas: "Set a trap in that passage." The gas replied with a sound like, "Oma! Oma!"

"I think I heard it make a noise..."

"Of course it did. It's a magical beast, after all."

"It's alive?"

"It's a summoned magical beast, so yes, it's alive."

I guessed that's how it worked.

While we talked, the Twilight Mimic spread itself across the passage, becoming a pitch-black wall. Any goblin that charged in would be sent straight to a sub-space. Pretty brutal.

It looked suspicious as hell, though. It might work in the dark, but in this relatively bright tunnel, it looked out of place. Then again, monsters blinded by mana probably wouldn't care.

"Now, Ayase-kun. This area is safe for a while. Let's grab the crystals and head out... Ion must be getting scared too."

"Right. Let's hurry."

We went back inside Shamash-san's house to find Ion-san waiting with her bags already packed.

"You're late, Shamash!"

The princess was angry... Or maybe she was just putting on a brave front? To the people of this world, the Hitotsuzuki must be truly terrifying. Because Shamash-san was so calm, I had underestimated it, but even Oyakata was giving off a very serious aura.

"Ah, sorry, Ion. Ayase-kun was giving me such intense looks wanting to see me fight, I got a bit carried away."

"I wasn't looking that intently! Though the sorcery and magic were definitely amazing!"

"Ugh, enough! Just hurry up and get going!"

* * *

Outside, nothing had changed from when we arrived—it still had the atmosphere of a peaceful afternoon.

Everyone stepped outside and immediately checked the position of the moons. That seemed to be a common habit for the people of this world. The two moons—Linklumie and Misumikandallu—hung overhead without overlapping. As expected, it wasn't a natural "Hitotsuzuki" alignment.

"Danna, what's the plan?"

"For now, I'll contact my companions."

I took out the walkie-talkie and switched it on. The channel was already set. If I boosted the reception, we should be able to connect—

『...Ji... Jirou, Jirou. O-Over! Wait, is this thing even working right!? He's not answering at all!』

『A-Asking me won't help nodesu. It should be correct, though...』

『Maybe he's already been eaten by monsters...』

『...Etowa, don't say scary things.』

『I knew it—Marina should've gone with him after all de-arimasu...』

I could hear a commotion. I wasn’t sure what was happening, but they seemed lively at least.

I pressed the transmit button.

"Chikuwa Daimyoujin."

『Ah! I heard something!』

『Chi... Chikuwa?』

『Was that the Boss's voice? I couldn't really tell.』

『...Maybe try calling again?』

『Marina wants to go look for him de-arimasu!』

The group on the other end erupted into noise. I couldn’t help but play a little prank.

"This is Jirou. This is Jirou. Rebecca-san, please respond."

『Ah! It connected! Jirou, are you okay?!』

"I'm fine. Where is everyone right now?"

『We're still at the blacksmith's. But more importantly, the princess has been in a huge panic, saying, "Monsters are piling up like crazy, the mountain is currently in full monster festival mode," or something...』

What kind of explanation is that? Sounds like a major panic.

"Etto... we've linked up with the demon-san here and confirmed the situation. What Diana's saying is true, so I need everyone to start moving."

"Eh, really?! She's saying Awasezuki and Hitotsuzuki are happening at once..."

"It's real. If we don't act quickly, there are going to be casualties."

"Eh?! That's bad, isn't it!? What do we do? What's the situation on your end right now?"

Rebecca-san's tone shifted instantly. I could feel her agitation.

"We're okay over here. Let me talk to Diana first."

『Ah, okay—here.』

『...I-I am here. Goshujin-sama, are you truly alright nodesu? The mountain should be turning into a monster's nest right about now.』

Diana's flustered voice.

I remembered Priestess-chan mentioning that when monsters spawn, the surrounding spirit energy thins out, which can cause Elves to panic. Shamash-san, being a Nightmare, seemed unbothered, so perhaps that was the difference between their races.

Still, there were many tasks only Diana could handle. Even if spirit energy was lacking, she'd have to do them. If it came down to it, we could use spirit stones on her. No idea if that actually worked that way, though.

"I'm fine. Now, Diana, first, use spirit communication to contact Priestess-chan. Tell her it's an emergency. We'll need reinforcements from Erische. I don't know if Elishe has a standing army, but if they fly from there, they should be here in a few hours. Also, inform the elf in Lucraella of the situation and ask for their action plan. Well, that elf is in the temple attached to the guild, so the town's central authorities probably already know about the mountain situation."

The elf in Lucraella was an elf too. Just like Shamash-san and High Elf Diana sensed the anomaly, he must have noticed it as well.

In that case, the town's official response should come together quickly. Evacuation orders would probably go out soon... Hopefully.

Personally, I wanted any Elves with combat ability to join the fight.

"Rebecca-san, head toward the mountain with Elepipi. The monsters are mostly Goblins and easy to kill, but there are a lot of them. Borrow or buy weapons from the smithy. Diana, Marina, and Etowa—I want you three to handle the evacuation warnings for the residents. If Diana is there, the people will believe the warning. Marina, I’m assigning you as Diana’s guard. Etowa, you’ll act as the messenger—take the walkie-talkie."

For now, this was our only move. Rebecca-san had combat experience; Goblins wouldn't be a problem for her, and it would be good training for Elepipi. I planned to join them as soon as possible.

Diana would use her prestige as a High Elf to issue the evacuation warnings. If a regular person suddenly said, "It's a Hitotsuzuki, run for your lives!", people might not listen. Diana was the perfect person for that role. The only downside was that she was our only healer, so splitting the team had its risks. We'd have to regroup by the time we faced anything truly powerful.

I’d let Etowa handle the communication. She was the sharpest after Rebecca-san—maybe even the smartest overall. I wanted her to oversee the team's actions, including situational judgment. Ideally, it should be me or Rebecca-san handling it, but considering our available forces, Etowa should be able to do it... Though realistically, she'd probably end up running all over the place.

"Danna, what is that tool? Is someone inside it??"

The master asked curiously.

Maybe showing such a mysterious item to a Dwarf was a mistake. I didn’t want him probing too deeply.

"Ah, yes. It's an item that lets me talk to my companions far away. By the way, would it be okay to borrow weapons from the smithy? It would be a huge help if we had your permission."

"I don't mind that. But can I talk to my people with that thing too?"

"You can."

"Can I borrow it for a bit?"

"Sure, hold on. Diana, put someone from the smithy on. Oyakata is going to give the word to let us borrow weapons."

『Understood nodesu.』

Diana replied. She seemed to have passed it to the master's son.

"Oi, can you hear me...? It's Dargos."

『Oh! Is that you, retired-master?』

The master's eyes widened in shock as he heard the reply. He pulled the walkie-talkie away from his mouth for a moment.

"It really works! This is incredible. Is it a magic tool...?"

"Well, something like that."

I gave a vague answer. There was no way to explain it anyway.

"Well, fine. Now's not the time for this kind of talk anyway."

He said, pressing the button again.

"It's me. Listen—this is an emergency. Once you hear the situation from the young ladies there, grab weapons and head to the nearby mine tunnels. We're hunting monsters. And lend weapons to those young ladies too, good ones if possible. Also spread the word to residents that monsters are spawning in huge numbers. It should still be manageable now. I'll join you shortly."

『U-Understood! Stay safe, retired-master!』

It looked like the entire smithy was going to help.

"That's a huge help, Oyakata. Thank you."

"Danna, this is Lucraella's problem. It's only natural we handle it. I should be the one thanking you. Judging from how you were talking earlier, you plan on helping us hunt them down too, right?"

"I can't exactly say 'not my problem' in this situation. I don't know how much we can do, but we're in this together now. At the very least, I hope we can buy some time."

I said "we're in this together," but I couldn't shake the feeling that I was the one who had brought the storm with me. It wasn't certain that my "Guidance" was the cause, but either way, I couldn't just stand by. We had the power to fight, we were talking about forming a knight order, and then this happens.

『This is Etowa. Boss, what should I be doing?』

Etowa's voice came through, tinged with uncertainty.

I wanted Etowa to move between everyone, relay information, and even issue orders depending on the situation. She would be the one overseeing everything and making judgments.

"Etowa, I'll be joining up soon, but for now, stay with Diana. Keep me updated on the situation. Also, depending on how things go, I want you to head over to Rebecca-san and see how they're doing. You're going to be doing a lot of running... can you handle it?"

『Understood, Boss. Leave it to me!』

A good response.

Lucraella wasn't a massive city. We might just be able to pull this off.