Chapter 169. Barrier

「I wonder what happened here?」Tina asked, confusedly.

「There are traces.」Rosetta said.

Indeed, there were burn marks and slash marks on the surrounding vegetation.

The ground was also slightly unearthed.

Tent wreckage was also found in the bushes.

「No doubt that there was a battle here. I’m sure there must be more traces.」

Rosetta crawled on all fours on the ground, using her eyes and nose to the fullest to look for traces.

Traces would continue to be washed away with great momentum in the rain.

I also used magic to search the surroundings, but I couldn’t find anyone.

They would seem to be very cleverly hidden.

If it was the enemy who hid the traces, that would be quite scary.

If it was only the enemy who was capable of hiding from me, then that would still be preferable. But they were able to hide four students and even Jema-sensei from my detection.

「This is turning out to be quite troublesome.」I said.

「I found something! Follow me.」Rosetta called out.

She seems to have found a hidden trace.

「I found a blood stain. This way.」

Rosetta followed after the faint traces of blood remaining in the rain. She steadily followed the traces with a serious expression.

As we followed the traces further, something was caught in my detection magic.

「I found out where they are hiding.」

「Amazing, Will. I still haven’t found the exact location.」Rosetta said.

「No, I wasn’t able to find them until we got this close. It’s all thanks to you for finding those traces.」

There was a space surrounded by a dome-shaped barrier.

It was quite wide. Would take about thirty minutes to walk around it.

The circumference is probably about a few thousand meters.

To be able to hide such a huge barrier, what a frightening enemy.

Moreover, even though I’ve come so close, I still don’t know what the situation is.

One thing I know for sure, both enemies and allies are inside the dome.

I walked closer and came to a position where I could touch the dome.

「The enemy is probably strong. Brace yourselves.」I said.

「I understand.」Tina replied.

「I’m prepared.」Rosetta replied.

「Okay.」

After hearing their replies, I touched the barrier.

I read the flow of mana and broke the barrier, like popping a bubble.

Information from the inside overflowed.

Jema, the four students, and Rubeum were all inside.

「We’re going in.」.

The barrier wasn’t broken from the core. I just broke the surface layer temporarily.

It will be restored soon.

Everyone stepped into the area covered by the barrier.

After that, we ran towards Jema and Rubeum’s location.

『Why is Rubeum inside this barrier?』

『I told him to help out if our allies were in a life-threatening situation.』

That’s why Rubeum must have rushed in. That’s why he kept fighting inside the barrier.

『Why didn’t he contact you?』

『I guess he didn’t have time for that.』

Everything must have happened so quickly that he didn’t have time to contact me.

At the same time, contact may have been impossible near the barrier.

I tried to guess the most likely flow of events.

Perhaps the enemy tried to kill the students when Jema arrived.

To prevent that, Rubeum rushed in and was trapped inside the barrier.

This barrier is probably to interrupt contact between Jema and the other teachers.

While running inside the vast barrier, outside information no longer reached me.

As I expected, the regeneration of the barrier seems to have been completed.

The regeneration of the barrier itself was as expected, but the speed was unexpected.

Shortly after, we came upon Jema and the others.

The four students were so gravely injured that they seemed dead at first glance.

Jema, who stood protecting the students, was also seriously injured.

And Rubeum, in his giant form, was protecting Jema from fierce onslaught of the enemies’ attacks.

They were different from the previous enemies. The purpose of these enemies are different in the first place.

The enemies so far have been trying to lure out Jema by barely keeping the students alive.

Therefore, the lives of our allies were safe.

However, the current enemies’ purpose was Jema’s life. Their attacks filled the entire space with killing intent.

『Tina, heal the injured.』

『I got it.』

All the students were still breathing, but that could cease at any moment now. There wasn’t a second to lose.

Besides, Jema herself was in a state where standing was a miracle in itself.

Jema could also die in a few minutes.

『Arti, Rosetta. Go support Tina.』

『All right!』

『Leave it to me.』

『Fluffy too, please help Tina.』

『Pii!』

The enemy’s biggest goal is to assassinate Jema.

Then, Tina, a life-saving Healer, would naturally be exposed to violent attacks.

And I rushed in front of Rubeum, making as loud a sound as possible without hiding my presence.

The reason for making a sound and attracting the enemies’ attention is to prevent them from noticing Tina and the others.

Just as I rushed in front of Rubeum, a magic blade aimed at Rubeum rained down from above.

I parried it off with my left hand clad in mana.

The deflected magic blade pierced the ground and caused a small explosion.

It was quite a powerful attack. If it had hit, Rubeum’s scales could have been broken.

『Sorry I took so long.』

『Kyuru.』

Rubeum cried happily.