Capítulo 70: Chapter 70: The Village Defense Battle

"There's a beast horde coming. Judging by the bell ringing pattern, there must be a lot of them."

The village chief explained the meaning behind the bell sound calmly. "However, our village walls are quite sturdy, so there's no need to worry."

"No, defeating the beasts and protecting the village is our mission. We can't just ignore them when they're attacking," Natsu said, standing up, his fists meeting each other. "I'm all fired up, Happy!"

"Aye!"

Happy understood, wings growing from his back as he grabbed Natsu and flew out.

While airborne, Natsu yelled, "We'll go on ahead. If you're late, you'll miss out, Rhodes!"

Rhodes couldn't be bothered to respond. I actually wouldn't mind missing out. It's exhausting, providing mounts and cleaning up after you all the time.

"Mr. Rhodes, the beast horde is dangerous. Your companion…"

"Don't worry, Natsu is strong," Rhodes replied. "I'll head out as well."

"Please, wait!" The village chief worried that Rhodes would suddenly fly away, hurriedly asking, "Is there anything we can do to help?"

"…Actually, there is one thing." Rhodes felt ashamed that he needed the chief's reminder—it was careless of him, almost letting Natsu's recklessness rub off on him.

"Please, go ahead."

"Could you organize the villagers to prepare water and sand—things that can be used to put out fires?"

"What?"

"Natsu uses fire magic, which is powerful but can easily cause accidents. Please notify the villagers in advance—ideally, every household should be prepared."

"I understand." The chief nodded. He didn't know much about magic, but he figured fire magic must be effective against beasts.

"Answer the call, Crimson Beak Bird!"

Rhodes summoned a Crimson Beak Bird, mounted it, and flew toward the village entrance.

...

Flying above the ground gave a completely different perspective, especially on such an unusual bird. Despite flying at a low altitude—fortunately so—Rhodes knew that falling from this height wouldn't kill him. If it were any higher, he'd probably need a parachute.

The bell had already startled the villagers. Some carried weapons or farming tools and ran toward the village entrance, while others ran toward the chief's house.

Rhodes passed them from the air, attracting many curious glances.

"I heard the chief hired a wizard. Is that him?"

But their attention soon shifted to something else.

At the village entrance, a red fireball fell from the sky, crashing into the center of the beast horde.

Rhodes saw Natsu and silently criticized him for being reckless—jumping down from such a high place like that.

He jumped from the Beak Bird onto the watchtower and ordered it to fly out and attack.

"Wizard, sir!" The guard manning the watchtower was Bit Barr, one of the two who had let Rhodes into the village earlier.

Poor guy hadn't even had a chance to change shifts and was forced to work overtime.

"Thanks for the hard work. The one with the fire is my companion—you've seen him—so tell everyone not to shoot arrows at him."

"Yes, sir!" Bit agreed, then worriedly added, "But your companion charged into the middle of the beast horde alone—will he be okay?"

With nightfall approaching, Rhodes could barely see that the beast horde numbered over fifty, but he couldn't clearly identify all the species.

Under Natsu's firelight, he could make out a few wolves and leopards surrounding him. The tiger that got hit by that meteor-like drop attack was down.

"Don't worry about him. If you want to help, bring more torches... and prepare some water as well."

Rhodes casually assigned some tasks to the villagers.

However, even with these orders, the villagers couldn't relax. Many still carried bows, either climbing onto the watchtowers or propping up ladders to lie on top of the walls.

"Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!"

"Fire Dragon's Claw!"

Natsu had a field day outside the wall, punching a wolf into the air, then kicking a leopard away.

As if that wasn't enough, Natsu stretched out his arms, and fire extended from his wrists, forming wings of flame. He struck down with them, as if a fire dragon were swooping in:

"Fire Dragon's Wing Attack!"

Five wolves were sent flying, their fur catching fire, wailing and rolling on the ground.

"So strong, so powerful!"

"That's magic! That's the power of a wizard!"

"With this kind of power, we have nothing to worry about!"

Natsu's impressive performance left the villagers in awe, giving them confidence.

After dropping Natsu, Happy flew to the watchtower to find Rhodes. "Rhodes, aren't you going to fight?"

Rhodes replied, "I'm fighting."

"Liar, you're standing here."

Rhodes shook his head and sighed, "Who said only those standing in the light are heroes?"

"I don't get it."

Rhodes pointed to a dimmer area. Actually, one of his Crimson Beak Birds and a group of Shadow Wolves were already fighting.

The Crimson Beak Bird unleashed a "Feather Rain" attack, sending razor-sharp feathers into a brown bear, turning it into a dartboard.

Unfortunately, against the rhino, the feathers could only pierce about halfway, not causing much damage.

However, the bird lived up to its name; after flapping its wings and charging, it could penetrate the rhino's belly.

The smaller Beak Birds weren't as impressive but were effective enough against wolves.

As for the Shadow Wolves, they were currently biting and tearing at a massive python, which was already covered in blood and struggling to stay alive.

"I'm a summoner. Being on the frontlines isn't my job, got it?"

Happy realized that Rhodes' combat style wasn't as noticeable at night, and there was a risk that his summoned creatures might be mistaken for attacking beasts by the villagers.

"But if you don't want to fight yourself, why are you training with everyone else in combat?"

"So that when the enemy thinks they can easily take me down after getting past the creatures, I can give them a surprise."

"That's sneaky."

Rhodes pinched Happy's cheek. "How can you call one of your own sneaky? It's called being smart and cautious!"

"Aye~"

Rhodes let go of Happy. "Besides, I also sent two crabs to patrol the village walls. I'm quite busy."

After all, there was no rule that said beasts could only attack the main gate; other directions needed attention too.

Happy watched quietly for a while before asking, "Why not send those rock beetles too?"

"You sure ask a lot of questions," Rhodes said. "If I send out too many creatures, my magic won't last long, and I'm tired today."

If he sent everything out, it'd only be good for a short burst—just like that sneak attack on the two wizards from Phantom.

While keeping enough magic for himself, that series of attacks back then was probably the strongest combo Rhodes could pull off.

For prolonged battles, it was best to stick with two or three groups.

Thanks to the combined efforts of Natsu and the summoned creatures, the number of attacking beasts quickly dwindled. It was the first time the villagers had ever participated in such an easy defense battle—all they had to do was watch.