Twilight Alchemist 51

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51. It's About Teammates Saving The Day, Isn't It?

"Craft-san! Is the petrification antidote ready yet!?"

An adventurer barged into the house, sweating profusely and shouting.

Having already exhausted all the stamina potions, it's clear at a glance how reckless he's being.

"I'm making it now! Which unit are you from!?"

"The Right Wing Unit! Under Alphard-san!"

"Damn it. So it's finally starting to crumble!"

A massive army of Cockatrices had already arrived at the central unit, relentlessly demanding petrification prevention and antidote since a while ago.

Due to prioritizing the central unit with the prevention antidote, adventurers were starting to petrify in the left and right units.

The fact that the damage to Persia's left wing is minimal for now is a relief.

"Can't Alphard hold them back?"

"A while ago, many Cockatrices poured in all at once. Even Alphard-san couldn't handle them all, and quite a few managed to slip through. If we let that happen, adventurers will get reckless..."

"Darn it... Acting recklessly without even having the prevention antidote. Did they manage to enter the town?"

"No, I firmly prevented that."

"Even though the adventurers assigned to Alphard are of low rank... they did well."

If even one Cockatrice managed to enter the town, it would be game over.

The damage would be unimaginable.

Petrification alone still has a reversal method, but Cockatrices are inherently vicious creatures. Civilians would easily be crushed to death.

The adventurers who prevented intrusion even at the risk of petrification are heroes.

"The antidote will be ready soon... But the central unit has suffered quite a lot..."

The petrification antidote I create is of legendary quality.

While a regular antidote might take hours or even days to reverse petrification, mine works instantly.

With this potion, they can immediately return to the frontlines, which is why every unit is desperate for it.

However, prioritizing the antidote's production has led to a problem where we can't produce enough prevention antidotes.

Due to the lack of resources for prevention antidotes, we're stuck in a cycle of petrification and reversal.

No, we've been completely overwhelmed, since the main Cockatrice force arrived at the central unit.

"It's done! Send half... No, thirty percent to the Right Wing and the rest to the central unit!"

"What did you say!? But that means!"

An adventurer from the Right Wing protests, but is immediately interrupted.

"Are you stupid! If our central unit gets breached, Cockatrices will flood in from both sides!"

The one shouting back was the liaison with the central unit.

He had been waiting anxiously for the antidote's completion.

"W...we... wanted seventy percent or even all of it... please understand."

"....Ah."

The Right Wing adventurer nods tearfully. Perhaps one of their party members had also petrified.

At that moment, the front door resounded loudly once again.

It's a constant stream! Of course, the door is unlocked!

"Craft-kun!"

"Leafan!? Have you finished setting up the barriers?"

Leafan was supposed to be assisting in setting up barriers for the central unit.

But now that the frontlines are open, there's no time for that.

"Where I could! Is there anything else I can help with!?"

"Then, take this barrel to the Right Wing!"

"Got it!"

Apologies to the adventurers from the Right Wing, but Leifan is faster than them.

Grabbing the barrel without hesitation, Leifan rushes outside immediately.

"Darn it! I'll definitely, definitely figure something out!"

I gulp down a mana potion, wringing out every bit of magic to hasten the potion's completion as soon as possible.

◆

This is bad, bad, bad!

Alphard was inwardly panicking.

Of course, he didn't show it outwardly. If he did, it would only make the cooperating adventurers anxious.

Alphard, who had been a squad leader at a young age during his time as a holy knight, countered his inner panic with a calm declaration.

"It's fine! You guys can do it! I'll hit them head-on! You guys wipe out the rest! Do not let them into the town!"

"Yes... sir!!"

The adventurers' response gradually lost its vigor. It's natural; in the previous encounter with many Cockatrices, nearly half of them suffered severe injuries or petrification.

While injuries could get treated with healing potions, they were replaced with fear, and carrying petrified comrades to safety behind the frontlines was emotionally taxing.

Still, they stood up to defend the town.

Their morale hadn't waned.

Alphard was diving into the area with the most Cockatrices and relied on his lizard-like agility and brute strength to turn them into minced meat one by one.

Yet there were still several, no, dozens left.

Thanks to the agility of the lizard-like legs, he managed to take down quite a few scattered Cockatrices, but their numbers kept increasing, leading to many missed targets.

They were facing the main group of Cockatrices, which needed immediate attention, causing them to miss opportunities with the stragglers.

The adventurers surged forward.

They were brave.

While lower in rank compared to the central unit's adventurers, their determination to not let the Cockatrices into town propelled them to fight even stronger foes.

But, at the cost of several casualties.

Fortunately, with healing potions abundantly distributed, there were no deaths yet, but it was only a matter of time.

"Darn it!"

A particularly large Cockatrice, leaping over Alphard, managed to break through their lines.

"This is bad!"

Alphard prioritized taking down the larger, stronger Cockatrices, but even among them, one slipped away.

Given their size, this Cockatrice was probably beyond the adventurers' capability to defeat.

If Alphard were to chase it, the frontline would collapse. So he couldn't pursue it.

"Aaaargh!"

Alphard slaughtered the Cockatrices before him, intending to assist the adventurers as soon as possible, but it wasn't necessary.

"Leave it to me!"

A girl's voice echoed. No, it was as reliable as Craft, the head of the production guild, Leafan's voice.

Fully armed, she met the charging giant Cockatrice head-on, shielding against it with her shield as it leaped towards her, spewing saliva.

The sound of a battering ram breaking through castle walls resonated, and unbelievably, Leafan managed to repel the giant Cockatrice's bulk.

The Cockatrice let out a strange cry.

"Everyone, step back! Here I go! [Rockslide Strike]!!!"

What Leafan unleashed was a hammer technique.

With a power-focused strike from her hardened mithril hammer, she blew away half of the Cockatrice's body, causing it to crash to the ground.

It was promptly finished off, lifeless.

"A production emblem holder using a hammer technique? How much training has she undergone? But we're saved!"

Alphard stopped worrying about his rear and focused on wiping out the Cockatrices before him.

"As long as Leafan is here, we can hold on for a while longer... but there's a limit, Craft!"

He shouted the name of the only person who could break through this situation like a prayer.

◆

Meanwhile, the left wing's Persia unit managed to withstand the relentless assault somehow.

"Persia-san! Watch out!"

A Cockatrice that had circled around Persia's blind spot fell.

It was due to Jitaro's arrows, which had infiltrated the projectile unit.

Ironically, the reason this frontline was holding was partly thanks to Jitaro.

"That was close!"

"Leave it to me!"

Persia thanked loudly, and Jitaro flexed his arm in response.

She smiled faintly and resumed charging with her lance.

"Heh, Jitaro is quite something. If there's a chance, I'll introduce him to someone from the Royal Knights."

Persia muttered to herself.

"Whoooa! Seriously!? Seriously!? I'll do my best!"

"Huh!? Did you hear that!?"

Thanks to Jitaro's mysterious efforts, the left-wing unit managed to maintain the frontline successfully.