Escape From a Deserted Island With Enemy Female Soldiers

2 – Stranded (2)

The lodestone left my hand, blazing as it flew.

It was a short distance, and I threw it with everything I had, so hitting it wasn’t hard. The white phosphorus struck the creature’s chest.

Flames erupted.

The monster shrieked.

The inferno engulfed its whole body in an instant. It thrashed desperately, but it was futile. That kind of fire wouldn’t be contained by that.

Finally, writhing in agony, it threw away its spear and mace. The wooden spear rolled towards me.

I picked up the spear and immediately got into stance. The monster didn’t attack. It was too busy splashing with its short legs, trying to escape to the sea.

But it didn’t get far. Before it could even get down the hill, the monster had turned into a charred corpse. A white dot twinkled for a moment in the darkness, then went out. The sound of life ending echoed faintly.

“Huuuh…”

I managed to calm my ragged breathing.

What the hell was that creature?

There was no time to sort through my thoughts. The threat wasn’t completely gone yet.

The Valkyrie, who had already picked up her mace, approached. She was touching her side, her face contorted in a grimace.

“Hey, mage. Say something.”

“What?”

“What the hell are those monsters. Is that your doing too?”

She looked pretty flustered as well. The problem was, I had no idea what she was talking about.

“What are you saying?”

“Ha, right. You don’t know Ascalian, do you.”

The Valkyrie sighed and then recomposed herself. Her golden eyes still held contempt and rage. She made no attempt to hide her hostility.

“Hey, weren’t you hurt by that monster earlier? How are you even thinking about continuing to fight?”

I, too, was incredibly tense, aiming the spearhead at my opponent.

But even this standoff didn’t last long.

*Thwack.*

At the following sound, both my head and Valkyrie’s snapped around.

*Thwack, thwack, thwack.*

“Gurgle.”

“Krek, kek.”

The exact same creatures as before had appeared.

Two, four, six, eight… I estimated there were at least a dozen of them. I could feel their vicious intent emanating from their hollow eyes.

“Shit.”

“Damn it.”

At this rate, we’d die. Not even by humans, but by these gruesome fish monsters.

I looked at Valkyrie. Valkyrie was looking at me too.

“Hey.”

“Yeah, I know what you’re gonna say.”

“Just today, let’s just call a truce today.”

“At least humans are better than these monster b*stards…”

Valkyrie, with a reluctant expression, nodded. I don’t know if the meaning got through properly.

But this much is certain.

That every human has a survival instinct. And that instinct is so powerful it can devour all other emotions, even anger and the desire for revenge.

When a life-or-death crisis hits, even enemies who were fighting moments ago can join forces at any time.

“Take it.”

“Take it.”

I handed her the spear, which still had holy power imbued in it, and in exchange I received a club.

A weapon held by a fish monster.

For some reason, I can feel a faint magical power even here.

It wasn’t much, but I was grateful for even this.

[“Sprout.”]

I manipulated the mana embedded in the club and cast a basic spell. Increasing its length and strength. At the same time, the Valkyrie muttered an incantation.

“Oh, holy and exalted Goddess of Battle, please grant us the power to strike down these monsters.”

A halo of light emanated from the Valkyrie’s body. It was a double technique consisting of ‘Consecration’ and ‘Blessing.’ It’s said to be a way of offering oneself to a god to gain the power to defeat demons, but I don’t know the details.

“Gurgle.”

The fish monsters completely surrounded the campfire. Most were empty-handed, but some held blunt weapons.

The Valkyrie and I stood back-to-back.

Me facing west.

The Valkyrie facing east.

One person has to face at least five enemies, I don’t know if it’ll work.

No, we have to do it. If we can’t hold them off, we both die.

I opened my eyes wide and gritted my teeth. I cleared my head and sharpened my senses.

Valkyrie darted off to the other side first. She speared one of the monsters, taking advantage of the moment they were still scrambling to form ranks. It seemed her title of ‘White Lotus’ wasn’t just for show.

Meanwhile, I dug in, using the bonfire as a barrier. The speed at which they were approaching slowed significantly. They seemed to be afraid of the fire.

“Either come at me or piss off, pick one.”

Then one of them circled around and approached from the side. It was as stupid an act as its looks suggested. I charged headlong at the moron and bashed its head. *Clang!* A crisp sound.

I kicked the thing to the ground, then backed off again. The monster I hit twitched like it was in rigor mortis before going limp.

“Next.”

*Whack!*

“Two down, for now.”

This is doable. They’re a bit long-limbed and like to ambush, but their resilience isn’t really that high. If I fight with my back to a safe space, I can definitely take them out.

My confidence grew.

After that, three, then four more.

I kept picking my spots and taking them down one by one, until my shoulder started creaking.

I’m sleepy, hungry, and thirsty. It’s night, so I feel a bit of a chill too. I couldn’t be more uncomfortable and annoyed.

Thankfully, it looks like the end of the fight is slowly coming into view.

*Whack!*

“……Is that it?”

I cleaned up all the ones in front of me. I turned around. Valkyrie was shaking the gore off her spear.

Our eyes met.

I nodded first. Then the other person bobbed their head in return. She and I rejoined at the bonfire.

“Don’t come any closer than this.”

The woman kept her distance.

I didn’t plan on getting any closer either. One wrong move and my head would be blown through that window.

The fire was dying down, so I quickly threw in more firewood. Flames devoured the dry leaves, spitting out a brighter light. The Valkyrie made a *hic* sound, and her shoulders twitched.

I glanced at her, wondering what was up. She was frowning, mumbling something.

“Mind your own business.”

I guess that means something like, “What the hell are you staring at?”

Whatever. I don’t really care. She can catch a cold, get hypothermia, whatever, wearing those wet clothes. Not my problem.

I tuned her out and replayed the day’s events.

Those monsters.

Could they be…demons?

Actually, that kind of makes sense.

That one assumption could explain why the magic concentration on this island feels so much higher than anywhere else.

But, I heard demons were completely wiped out after the Demon King died?

Wait, so maybe…this island is untouched by civilization?

That makes me uneasy.

Anyway, that’s not the real problem.

I managed to kill the monsters, but there’s no guarantee more won’t come.

And then there’s the Valkyrie in front of me.

I might end up dead in my sleep because of her. We may have fought together just now, but fundamentally, we’re mortal enemies, right?

“…Hah.”

Goddamn it.

Why does it feel like I have to pull an all-nighter tonight?

I can’t just not sleep. I need to sleep to recover my strength. And to replenish my mana.

Though, sleep isn’t the only way to refill my mana.

Leaning against the rock, I closed my eyes.

Focusing on my senses other than sight: smell, hearing, touch. I calmed my mind through meditation, beginning the process of sensing the mana around me.

With each inhale and exhale, energy circulated. Little by little, I drew the scattered mana around me into myself.

Breath weaving.

Or, Mirkil, as it’s otherwise known.

It’s how countless mages accumulated their magic before the invention of the Ekirel Potion made of condensed mana. It may be obsolete now, but back then, they say it was an efficient way to train.

I never thought I’d be gathering mana using an old-school method like this.

Once more.

“Sssip.”

Inhale, then exhale.

“Hooo.”

I don’t have a large mana pool. In fact, it’s considerably below average. I can quickly deplete it just by casting a few high-level spells.

Yet, I was still able to obtain the rank of First Class National Mage because of one thing.

Conservation.

I had the ability to deploy magic formulas that others needed 100 mana to execute, using only 1 or 2 points of mana.

It wasn’t an innate talent. It was the result of thorough theoretical study and methodical training. That’s why my specializations are ‘Optimization’ and ‘Normalization’.

The absolute amount was so small that it replenished just as quickly as it depleted. My skill had recovered enough to use a few simple spells.

I slowly opened my eyes.

The Valkyrie was lying on her side, eyelids shut.

She didn’t look so good.

The Valkyrie kept touching her ribs. She frowned and bit her lip. Had she broken a rib or something?

“Tsk.”

It was none of my business. Not like I could fix it anyway.

I took out the raw gems I’d picked up earlier and poured mana into them.

[“Cover. Wake. And, inform.”]

Orthoclase.

The primary mana receptor of sandstone, it emits mana with an electrical current when pressure is applied.

I carefully placed the orthoclase stones in a circle a little away from the fire. This way, I’d be able to immediately sense if any monsters came.

“……”

The Valkyrie had stopped moving at some point.

I cautiously called out.

“Hey, you sleeping?”

“……”

No response.

The sound of her soft breathing carried across the fire. The hand that had been touching her injury wasn’t moving anymore either. She was completely knocked out.

This was an opportunity.

If I circled around the fire and struck from behind, even a valkyrie with the quickest reflexes wouldn’t stand a chance. And wasn’t she injured right now?

I grabbed my iron club and knife, moving with caution.

Betraying a truce by striking from behind, I know it’s a low blow.

But still.

Is there any guarantee that this valkyrie wouldn’t kill me tomorrow?

The valkyrie killed my comrades, but I killed her comrades too. If the other side gets emotional just once, I’m a dead man.

Better to finish her off here for good.

I saw the spot to strike. If I slammed the club into that rounded nape, and then slit her throat with my knife, it would surely kill her.

Slowly, carefully, I raised the club.

“……”

But, if I did this.

It felt like I’d be hitting rock bottom as a human.

Okay, in the heat of battle, things are unavoidable. But now, we’re clearly stranded. Even though she’s an enemy, is it really right to take the life of someone who’s hurt, tired, and defenseless?

Of course, I’m afraid of dying.

But losing my humanity was even scarier.

If I’m killed, it’ll hurt just for that moment, but if I stain my conscience, I’ll have to live the rest of my life tormented.

I wrestled with the dilemma, and eventually sank into something like a rationalization.

“……Monsters. If it weren’t for those monsters.”

This is an island inhabited by monsters. That much is clear. The existence of beasts that were thought to have vanished long ago proves that human civilization hasn’t reached this island.

Which means, there’s a good chance this is an uninhabited island.

To survive on an island teeming with monsters, you have to cooperate with anyone. Even if they’re the enemy you had a gun pointed at just moments ago.

And what if, the Holy Kingdom finds this island before the Magic Kingdom?

If you’ve built up animosity with a Valkyrie, or are alone, you’ll be a prisoner at best, and if you’re a chaplain, forget rescue, you’ll be shot on sight.

But if you show even a little kindness to a Valkyrie, if she has any conscience at all, she might speak well of me.

Of course, I know that’s a long shot.

Still, isn’t this the only way to survive while keeping a shred of humanity?

“You should know you’re lucky today.”

I let out a deep exhale and lowered my weapon.

“Huuuh.”

The Valkyrie shivered, probably from the cold.

I shook out my somewhat dry military jacket and draped it over her. Then I leaned against a rock and tried to grab some sleep.

A monster or two more tried to attack after that, but each time, using my regained magic, I somehow managed to take them down.

Slipping in and out of sleep was disorienting.

Gazing up at the vast night sky lit by stars, I let out a soft sigh.

“Haa.”

How did I end up like this?

I wonder if the stones back home are doing okay.