Chapter 142: Horde Invasion (02)

The first round of this battle was ours, but there was still a lot of work to do.

The monsters didn't seem to care that we had gained a few small advantages.

We managed to kill one of the breeders while also preventing their numbers from increasing indefinitely by thinning their lines.

Another small thing was the addition of one Valkyrie to our side.

Their numbers were still overwhelming though and paired with the breeders' ability to regenerate any losses, it would be impossible to say that we had turned the tide of this battle as if it continued this way, we would eventually face defeat.

Anna: "That was great!"

However, knowing that didn't make the girls any less excited about our success.

And I couldn't blame them.

Despite all odds, by using everything we had, we managed to make progress towards two different objectives simultaneously.

While our numbers couldn't be compared, it seemed like our mighty definitely could.

Still...

Miwen: "Claire, my Kingdom has such a beautiful blue sky, but I can't see it thanks to these monsters. Why don't you do something about it?"

Claire: "On it!"

While this first operation was a success, we couldn't rely on the same tactic again as the monsters were wary of coming closer to the tunnel.

Thankfully, I had another thing planned for them now that they were so cramped, waiting for our next move.

For that, I was going to need Elizabeth. So I asked Claire to use as much mana as she needed to kill everything that was flying around her, as even Elizabeth would have trouble fighting the wyverns and dealing with the interruption of other flying monsters while making her way to us.

While I did ask her for a clear sky, I didn't think she was going to summon an entirely new sun.

But it did the job well, and thanks to the telepathic link between Elizabeth and me, she reached the walls safely.

While she recharged everyone, the wyverns changed their aim to the barrier, dealing massive damage and destroying a layer of the dome covering the kingdom every so often.

Had it been just that, it would still be within my calculations, but...

Elizabeth: "It seems like he is adapting."

Miwen: "Seems so. Guess trolls are the type of monster that gets good reasoning fast?"

Elizabeth: "Hm... it will take a while for him to reach a decent level in that department, but... he won't be made a fool of forever."

The strongest opponent this round was not only scary due to his power, but also his ability to learn.

It was behind that of a human, but it was beyond what you would expect from most monsters.

As a general, he didn't take any actions to prevent what I did. He prepared a basic formation and allowed the monsters to run rampant.

If he was a human, the first time I used the tunneling and burying of his frontline, he would've given them the order to avoid us, while using the mages on the backline to shoot and kill us from afar.

Even if I had a response for that, the important factor was that my tactic would've only worked once, and we wouldn't have been able to thin their lines so much.

We dealt just enough damage to them to be able to successfully take advantage of my speed, as well as Mia's.

It was a small blitz that almost ended up with me losing my life. If not for his incompetence as a general, this wouldn't have worked at all.

But this level of thinking might be too much to expect from a monster, even if he's already a [King].

He has control over his horde, but that's the limit. He doesn't seem capable of reacting. At least as a tactician, as a warrior, it's another matter entirely.

In his battle with Ellie and Angelica, he was capable of understanding that Ellie's attacks weren't meant to hurt him.

He also seems to have understood a bit of Ellie's ability and started using his troops as meat shields against Ellie's arrows.

It's to be expected that any army surrounded, no matter how good a commander they have, will suffer pressure and operate in a lesser capacity than normal.

Their move of going for such a basic formation also ended up biting them in the ass, as in the first contact, the frontline couldn't help the backline, and with how cramped they are due to avoiding the area right in front of them, this became a disaster filled with chaos.

With their artillery so exposed and their organization diminished, it was the right moment to use our most powerful strike.

For that, I was going to need almost all the girls. and we would expend a lot of mana, but it was well worth it, so Anna, Claire, Mia, and I all jumped from the wall into the battlefield...

Before us... there wasn't a single monster.

A giant area had been cleared by Beatrice's fire magic, which allowed us to run approach our objective.

This didn't last for long though, and before we met the next Valkyrie and breeder monster, we were already surrounded again.

Thankfully, the girls knew exactly what to do, and rushed forward as if they weren't even there.

That was because they trusted they weren't going to be there anyway.

And so, I used my own chant and fire magic to once again clear a path forward for us to advance.

We still fell a bit short of reaching our objective but...

We still had one more shot. The most powerful one had yet to come, and with us being so close... The damage was beyond significant.

As impressive as ever, Claire's fire magic killed as many monsters as mine and Bea's combined, not only that, she took a breeder all by herself with that last shot, which allowed Mia and me to free the other two Valkyries while Anna killed another breeder close by.

The only question remaining was how to get out now that we were so deep into enemy lines.

But well... I had already prepared an answer to that problem.

The timing couldn't have been better, our support witch had finished her chant, and so, we were ready to start another volley fire.

Even though she couldn't accompany us due to her speed and bad physical attributes, from up there in the wall, Bea's magic support continued to be superb, and she cleared some monsters, allowing Anna to rush to and secure some space for us.

All the while, I did my own chant and repeated the same process that allowed us to penetrate them so deeply.

Then, it was Claire's turn again, and without most of the breeders... the number of enemies became way more manageable, so much so that our second volley didn't cause as many casualties, not due to a lack of power, but due to a lack of opponents.

It was truly a show of superior firepower, but it was only possible thanks to their artillery being in a disastrous situation of their own.

Their attention had shifted from the battlefield towards their own lives, not only allowing Elizabeth's barrier to last longer but also guaranteeing that they weren't going to interfere with our magic or protect their allies.

With this, the tide of the war had completely shifted in our favor, even more so considering that Elizabeth had managed to kill the first wyvern.

The most dangerous part had been dealt with. Now, it would be hard to say that they still had a big advantage over us.

With each small operation, we reduced the overwhelming odds that were stacked against us, until we were a few steps from winning what would appear to be an impossible battle considering their numbers and powers.

It was still too soon to claim victory though.

As I had expected, the Troll managed to pull a bunch of trees from the ground and used them as a shield to protect himself from Ellie's arrows.

He was too close to Elizabeth's barrier, so I had to intervene as Angelica and Ellie wouldn't be able to deal with him unless they came out of the barrier to get some angles, but with the size of Angelica's dragon form and the number of enemies still, in the air, that would be too risky.

Miwen: "I'll deal with him. Claire, you're in command. I trust you know what to do."

She may be lazy and reckless, but she is not dumb.

While she doesn't have the same military background as Elizabeth, Claire used to lead troops as the representative of her family, so she has some experience and potential as a general.

Since Elizabeth and I had our hands tied, this would be a good exercise for her, and having more heads to come up with strategies would certainly help in the future as a proper war would be comprised of many battles like this occurring simultaneously, and having more opinions would be good.

As Elizabeth said, there's a limit to how many people I can directly control and orientate, so it's about time I start developing the leadership skills of the girls I trust so that they can also take control of others for me.

And when it comes to Claire, I had no doubts that she could do it.

I had to take a few resources from her though... more specifically, Licia and Eir, the Valkyrie focused on barriers and protection.