Chapter 179 - 1 Million (2)
I informed the elven Thieves commander of the mission.
The commander gave me a look of disapproval, but agreed to do so. The place where I told him about the mission was the hall where the Generals stood in a row and the Elven Queen sat in the back.
Everyone in the hall was looking at me to make sure that I meant what I said. The commander didn't have a choice, but I think he agreed with me rather easily, probably because the Thieves originally had more dark operations than the other troops.
We also talked about whether or not the Spirit Mage Gatoruga could be included in this mission.
The strongest man in Rosenhiem should be there to give an advantage in the fight against the Demon King's army.
However, considering the fact that we had never fought together and that the operation was based on the assumption that the Demon King's army would come to Tiamo, it was decided that he would stay in Tiamo.
It was also important to solidify Tiamo's defenses.
I had already informed Nest City that an army of 1 million magical beasts was coming to Tiamo.
They said that they would hasten the operation of the Magic Ships at a rapid pace, and move the injured soldiers who had fully recovered to Tiamo, and the refugees of Tiamo to Nest City.
It was not possible to move all of the refugees, but they didn't need to be needlessly killed. So women and children were given priority while moving refugees.
After informing them of the plan and confirming what needed to be confirmed, we slept for a while and left Tiamo before dawn.
Since a night raid would not be very effective, we prioritized preserving our strength. The battle ahead would be a long one.
The Demon King's army appeared more and more from beyond the horizon, filling up the world.
As in the past, they seemed to have started their movement at the crack of dawn.
"That's a lot."
Cecile and I were again on B-rank Bird Griffin. We were facing each other squarely, and Cecile was talking to me. I was always making [Blessing of Heaven]s, which was why we sat like that.
"Yeah."
I replied to Cecile, making another last-minute [Blessing of Heaven].
"Aren't you scared?"
"Hmmm. I am not."
The words "I'm not" implied that I was not afraid of dying. I was not afraid of my own death, but I was afraid of my friends' death.
Cecile's face relaxed at my words.
"Thanks."
"Hmm?"
"I didn't think you'd tell me about yourself ever."
To Cecile, since the time I was in Granvelle Family's mansion as a manservant, I was clearly an existence that was out of the ordinary. Before, she couldn't ask me what I thought, but after the conversation with the Spirit King, she seemed to have lost her hesitation.
'Well, yes. Don't say things like that before the fight."
(Please don't raise any unnecessary flags.)
"What's that?"
"Well, it's a story about my past life."
"You'll have to tell me about that next time."
"Yes, you're right. That, and we've gotta get through this fight."
I looked at the Demon King's army once more.
(The Demon King's Army, they're going to attack us all at once without thinking, which is the most annoying strategy.)
If they took the time to fight, we could whittle down the enemy army day by day.
Even if the battle was spread out over a number of cities like Tiamo and others, we could still defeat many magical beasts.
That's how I was going to reduce the number of the Demon King's army and eventually regain the fortresses and cities that were taken by the Demon King's army.
However, the Demon King's army soon realized that the situation was not good. They immediately changed their strategy after the defeat of the Tiamo siege.
(The Demon King's army doesn't care if 1 million or 2 million magical beasts die. In short, they don't care as long as Rosenheim is destroyed.)
It was simple yet difficult to beat. Their number was too huge to resist and defend against.
As I was checking the progress of the Demon King's army, a large black swarm was heading towards the Demon King's army. It was a small flock compared to the Demon King's army, but its number was close to 10,000.
"The Alipons are here."
"Oh, well, here we go."
I think the timing was perfect: with nearly 10,000 Child Alipons leading the way, the 30 B-rank Insect summons I've had walking around since last night were almost ready to make contact with the Demon King's army.
(Including 30 B-rank Insect summons I've already summoned, that's 47 slots used.)
2 in Rodan Village
1 in Viscount Granvelle
8 in Northern part of the Central Continent
1 in Nest City
2 in Tiamo
3 in 3 different cities
5 B-rank summons we were riding on
1 E-rank Eagle for scouting purposes
I checked the number of summons I could summon, adjusting the number so that I could summon as many as I could just in time to hunt down as many of the Demon King's army as possible.
The summons that I sent to the northern part of the Central Continent were already fighting against the Demon King's army, and their number had been reduced to 8. They were supporting the allied forces of the 5 continents that were defending the fortress in the northern part of the Central Continent.
"Let's go!"
""Oh!""
I used F-rank Bird to call out to my friends who were riding B-rank Birds.
"Okay, Cecile. I want you to target the lead group."
(A fast group of magical beasts are leading the way. We need to slow them down as much as possible.)
I told Cecile to aim near the front of the Demon King's army, which was rushing in as a mass.
Cecile thrust her hands out in front, her figure flickering like a shimmer.
"[Small Meteorite]!"
A huge, red-hot rock burned through the lead group of the Demon King's army.
It was a hellish scene, but even so, after a while, the Demon King's army that had been running behind them came straight ahead. They seemed to be unconcerned with the red-hot earth.
"All right, let's land and fight!"
""Oh!""
We were in the sky to let the Alipons who were on ground to move forward.
We landed but we were still riding on B-rank Bird's back so that we could escape in case of emergence.
"Dora-dora, Kerolin, Harami, Fin, Gembu, come out!"
I summoned 10 B-rank Dragons, 4 B-rank Beasts, 1 D-rank Fish, 1 C-rank Fish, and 1 B-rank Fish. That was probably the best lineup.
And soon, we were in close contact with the Demon King's army, which had continued straight ahead without hesitation even after being hit by Cecile's Extra Skill, [Small Meteorite].
The Demon King's Army rushed in, swallowing everything in its path, crushing the trees that had grown on the ground. This was the first time I had ever seen such a thing.
(Come with all your might!)
I came to this world because I didn't want to play an easy game. The scene in front of me reminded me of the days when I spent all my time trying to defeat the enemies that filled the screen.
I warned myself not to get too excited and thought about how I could defeat more magical beasts. If we didn't reduce the number enough, many refugees and soldiers in Tiamo would die.
The Demon King's army came into contact with 10,000 B-ran Child Alipons which didn't seem like much compared to the Demon King's army of 1 million.
The number of Child Alipons, which had grown to 10,000, was rapidly dwindling due to the number of magical beasts and their momentum. The magical beasts did not hesitate to attack the Child Alipons.
(But it's great that Insects and Beasts can be summoned with just 1 magic stone.)
The number of B-rank magic stones needed to create a B-rank Dragon was 29 and I needed to 15 other summons and use times to summon a B-rank Dragon.
The time loss had been eliminated by the , but the number of magic stones required remained the same.
However, the B-rank Beast and B-rank Insect summons only required 1 B-rank magic stone.
Current of magic stones and [Blessing of Heaven]s
100,000 B-rank magic stones
6,000 [Blessing of Heaven]
From that moment, I was going to use the magic stones that I had accumulated through the Tiamo siege battle and the 3 days of harassing the retreating army, as well as the [Blessing of Heaven]s, to annihilate the Demon King's army.
Dogora and Kurena also went to the front lines, wielded weapons, and began hunting the magical beasts.
"Kurena and Dogora, make sure you fight with the Child Alipon as your wall!"
"Yeah, got it!"
"Oh!"
The magical beasts in the sky above were also shot down with B-rank Dragon's breath, Formar's arrows, and Cecile's magic.
(I knew the Demon King army wouldn't bother defeating us before moving on.)
The magical beasts in front were indeed fighting against us. However, an army of 1 million was far more than the width that we could occupy.
Many of the magical beasts continued to advance towards Tiamo, ignoring us, in order to achieve their goal: the fall of Tiamo.
"Don't worry, we'll take down the magical beast in front of us! Once we've defeated every last one of them, we'll move to the front lines!"
""Oh!""
I knew this would happen. After defeating the enemy in front of us, we would leap to the forefront of the advancing Demon King army and fight them in the same way. I wanted to hunt down the magical beasts on the front lines and slow down the march as much as possible.
Thus, the battle between Allen and his party and the 1 million-strong Demon King army continued.