Chapter 122: Preparation (1)

After a few hours of sleep, all of us woke up well-rested and refreshed. Our team felt like we could take any enemies that we would want and still win the battle. But, of course, I was exaggerating things.

We won't stand a chance against those demons. And the least thing that we could do was to try out those powers and hope for the best in this upcoming battle.

Thanks to my powers, I shared my system with Meliodas and taught him how to use it. He pretty much learnt the basics of the system, with those necessary functions. And when the time comes, Meliodas could use some tricks that players could use.

But before he could do all of that, we must win this battle. If we lost this fight against the demon, we would all die doing nothing.

"Is everyone ready? Did you guys mentally and physically prepare yourselves for battle?" I asked, while gazing at everyone's eyeballs. "I hope you did, because this may be our ultimate battle."

Fenrir nudged her shoulders at me and grunted, "Don't say unnecessary, you idiot. It would look like we're meant to die on the battlefield. Say something that would motivate us! I mean, look at you, Arthur! You scared Merleen!"

Just like Fenrir had mentioned, Merleen hid behind Fenrir. She concealed her shivering limbs, hoping that I could not see her body.

"D-Don't worry, Arthur. I'm fine. As long as I'm with you, we're going to be fine…. or live…. Anything but not dying would be good."

Poor girl... I might have destroyed her confidence after saying those lines. I cleared my throat and corrected myself, hoping that I was not too late.

"This battle will test our strength and dedication as adventurers! I know I have nothing to offer, but we need to defeat this demon before moving onward towards our goal. I want to uphold righteousness and kindness to everyone! All of us have a hero sleeping in our bodies. And it is up to us to wake it up and use its powers for good!" I said, with my eyes glancing at everyone. "Thank you for being a part of this team. I hope we can win this fight and do what's right!"

Our chances of winning were as slim as paper, but it wasn't zero. We still had some ace in our sleeves that we could use to fight against that demon. And besides, I was the strongest player in Magique. It was all up to my knowledge and how I would use them in battle.

"Here's what we are going to do," I said, and formulated our roles for this upcoming clash.

Just like any other RPG game (role-playing games), we needed to have a plan. If we were going to attack the demon without one, we'd be better off dead. Fortunately, we were only against one demonic species. If we faced two or more demonic entities, we would all lose even before it started.

However, according to Fenrir's senses, that demon was not a regular one. Our enemy might be a noble that had the power of a thousand armies of knights and mages. If we were up against that thing, it would be difficult for us to fight it.

"Demons have higher status points than us. They have higher levels than any of us combined, including you, Fenrir. Those demons also have heightened senses that could effortlessly see through the attack of others. It was not foresight, but their own unique passive skill that helped them in fights. But this special trait only applies to nobles and higher title demons. If it's a weaker one, we won't have to worry about that. But for now, we cannot confirm the identity of our opponent," I explained.

I pointed my fingers at Fenrir and discussed all the things she needed to know for this fight. "You will be our vanguard and fighter. Basically, you will get the demon's agro….. demon's attention and brawl with it until you could. Don't let the demon attack the back lines, especially Merleen and Meliodas. Those two are our only mage and support for this team. Distract the demon as much as possible and don't give it time to rest. Keep attacking the demon while defending the back lines for any surprise assaults."

"What if I found an opportunity to attack, but the demon also attacked the back lines?? Will I prioritise attacking, or do I have to defend the-."

Before Fenrir could even continue her sentence, I interposed and answered, "Defend the back lines. Our goal is to restrain the demon, talk to it, convince it, and avoid dying. The last part is very important for our team."

Fenrir nodded at my words and resumed listening to my explanation.

After telling Fenrir's role, I turned towards Merleen and explained her part in this fight. "Merleen, you're a mage. So I expect you to attack the demon using all your magic circles, including your light abilities. And I want you to use them to kill the demon."

As soon as Merleen heard those sentences, she trundled backwards and gasped for air. Since Merleen accidentally killed her parents using her light abilities, she might have some trouble using it for this fight.

"If we want to win this battle, we need your light magic, Merleen. Your magic is the strongest ability in this game. You're the only one who could wield that power. And I doubt that anyone would have that kind of skill in their skill tree," I exclaimed, while holding her shoulders.

"What if I kill the demon, Arthur? People would brand me as a killer again…. I don't want to kill anyone….. Why is everyone killing each other out?! Can't we just talk about it?" Merleen pleaded, while shedding tea.

I did not want to be a douchebag in front of Merleen. And I was the one who saved Merleen from her trauma. If I activated her trauma by saying some unkind words, that would be on me.

"Listen to me, Merleen. Killing is bad. And it would never be good…. Unless if you weigh it down."

"Weigh it down?" Merleen repeated.

I nodded my head. "Yes. Weighing it down and measuring the consequences, the futuristic options, the weight of the punishment done to the people, which would also save millions of villagers."

"Merleen, those demons wreak havoc across villages. They killed more people than we know of in their time. Since they could hardly die, those demons have been living in this world for ages. And the only entertainment that they have was killing off vulnerable villagers. If we take them out, we could save those children affected by their wrongdoings. We need to dirty our hands to give light to other people…. You don't have to do this if you don't want to. At the end of the day, your mentality is more important than this…. I will come up with a plan to stop the demon without you if you really choose that path," I continued.

If worse comes to worst, our team would abandon Merleen and place her inside Caerleon. That was a safer place than any other village we knew.

"No, Arthur. I will come. You saved me and taught me how to use my powers correctly. If I run away right now, when would I use them for those who need me….."

Merleen caught me off guard as she mentioned those lines to me. It was also the phrases I said every time the problems would push me into a corner. That girl met my eyes and gave me a nod, telling me she was ready for battle.

"Very well. If you said that, I want you to give everything you have and kill the demon. But always wait for my signal, especially if I can talk things out with that demonic entity," I said, and caressed Merleen's forehead. "I also want you to cast some shields in front of us if the demon conjured some magic circles. The demon could use dark magic. So please be careful."

We could face a similar situation when our team fought the king. But instead of having Green in our lineup, we had Meliodas as our replacement.

"I will use some black magic around Fenrir and Merleen. Meliodas will have a different role than the two of you," I shared, while pre-casting some magic circles surrounding their arms.

As soon as I planned on ending my conversation with Merleen, Meliodas turned towards me and asked, "You kept saying that you would talk to the demons? What exactly are you going to say to them upon facing one?"

Meliodas asked an interesting question. My eyes widened when he listened to every word I said, including the talk I might have with the demon we would face.

"It's like what I have mentioned. Most demons are violent, but not everyone. Some of them even have standards. We don't have to fight every one of them."