Chapter 148

Chapter 148

During a dauntingly difficult battle.

No matter what game youre in, whats the recommended strategy?

"Skip the pattern and go for a one-hit kill, duh."

Shut down the enemys complicated pattern at its source and, in the exposed gap, pour in a massive amount of damage as quickly as possible to bring things to an end.

This is a typical trick used broadly in everything from MMORPGs to action games.

Juniors ultimate skill [Elemental Disassembly] made this possible.

Ironically, the boss monster itself provided the idea for this ultimate skill.

Anyway, thanks to that, Celendion was rendered completely incapable of using any magic or skills, and in addition, his magic defense dropped below 0, making him very vulnerable.

Now, its time to beat the shit out of him.

Blink-

Boom!

Jupiter, who launched that monumental first strike, fell back with a satisfied expression.

"..."

I didnt look in that direction. I bit my lips hard, controlling my emotions. The war wasnt over yet.

Youve worked hard, my soldier.

The only way I can repay your dedication is just one thing.

To put an end to this vampire bastard forever.

"Guys-!"

I screamed at my party members surrounding Celendion with all my might.

"Fuck him up!"

Roaaaar-!

As if theyd all been waiting for the signal, they gripped their weapons and rushed at Celendion.

Celendion, with his magic stats in the negatives, quickly revealed his core even to a weak magical attack.

The party members brought out his core by their respective means and shattered it into pieces.

Kill him.

If he doesnt die after being killed once, kill him twice.

If he doesnt die after being killed twice, kill him three times.

Four times, five times, six times, seven times, eight times, nine times-

In an instant, Celendions death count entered double digits.

"Keuhuk-?!"

Even as his body was disassembled and reassembled, Celendion was frantically moving his eyes.

He seemed to be searching for a solution to turn the situation around.

"Stupid bastard."

If from the beginning, you hadnt monopolized all the lives and revived your fallen subordinates to fight with you. We might have lost.

But Celendion chose to fight us alone, hoarding all the spare lives for himself.

It was the same in the game.

Once the last of Celendions minions fell, he started using the remaining lives of the legion for himself.

Unaware that this was the point where he got his own strategy turned against him.

"Youve been heralded as the lord of the legion, but no, youre not a leader."

Theres no way out.

As Celendions defeat became more apparent, I spat out my words coldly towards his face.

"Youre just... a thoughtless kid playing king alone."

Lucass sword bent him.

Evangelines lance pierced him.

Damiens arrow lodged in him.

Godhand and Bodybag drove extra silver stakes into him.

Burnout took Oldgirl and Skulls weapons and alternated firing.

The three tanks of the Old Hunters, despite their critical injuries, shoved the ancient weapon into him.

Lilly threw a fireball.

Lilly brought in three pre-loaded magic cannons and fired them one by one.

Lilly dragged in a fire spraying artifact... no, stop there! How many times are you going to kill him alone!

...

After the reserve party members each had a turn at killing Celendion.

It was Lucass turn again to kill him when a new participant climbed up from beneath the walls.

"Your Majesty..."

The vice commander of the Twilight Battalion approached, grinding his teeth.

His face, covered in a blood-soaked bandage, was filled with deep anger.

"Will you give us a chance as well?"

I nodded readily.

"Of course."

Its always more fun to gang up on a boss mob.

The surviving members of the Twilight Battalion were handed extra silver weapons by the party members.

The soldiers rushed at Celendion with a roar filled with hatred.

Regular soldiers who had lost their comrades also started climbing up from beneath the wall one by one. I nodded to them.

Thud!

Celendions forehead hit the ground once more.

Seeing the vampire king lying down in humiliation, I felt a rush of satisfaction. But that wasnt why I did this.

Let me show you my new skill Ive gained this time, Vampire King.

I pointed my finger at him again with a smirk.

The second skill that Ive acquired was none other than.

[Become Mine!]

- It permanently turns a monster, which is under the effect of Unyielding Commander, into an ally.

- The said monster will gain Loyalty. If the loyalty is high, the monster will obey the players commands better, but if its low, it can break free from the players control.

- You can use Absolute Command once on the said monster.

- This skill can only be used once per stage.

Its this.

This skill, simple and powerful, turns a monster under my mind control into a definite ally.

Everythings good except that the conditions are a bit tricky.

No matter how much I lower the difficulty of the command, most useful monsters have high magic power stats and are less likely to fall under my mind control in the first place.

But thanks to Juniors [Elemental Disassembly], even the Vampire King fell within the skills range.

Then?

I had to use it!

"Celendion, you..."

I spat out the keyword of the skill.

"Become mine!"

Chrrrrr!

A dog collar, laden with chains, appeared out of thin air, clamping tight around Celendions neck.

"Kuh?!"

Ding!

[Vampire Lord Celendion(SSR) has been enlisted on your side!]

- Current loyalty: 0/100

- Absolute Command: 1 time

Ah, the skills effect was truly exhilarating. It worked instantly.

"What is... this..."

Celendion, despairingly staring down at the collar around his neck, bared his fangs at me.

"Dont joke, human! Do you intend to make me your pet?!"

"No, not at all."

I growled back menacingly.

"Youre going to die."

Surely, having Celendion on my side would be beneficial. He was incredibly powerful.

But Celendion was a boss monster, and among them, he was of legion leader rank.

Managing his loyalty would be a task, and properly controlling him would naturally be difficult.

And above all...

"The morale of our forces that would be lost if you were kept alive surpasses the utility of keeping you alive."

This bastard had caused too much damage on this frontline. I couldnt even count how many of my heroes had been killed by him and his legion.

It was the same in the game.

When I made an enemy an ally with various mind control skills.

If it was a creature that had inflicted major damage on us, it adversely affected the morale of the human heroes and soldiers.

Ultimately, before I could properly utilize that enemy, the human soldiers would desert, or the morale would plummet due to negative traits, lowering the overall efficiency of the frontline.

It would be better not to recruit them, to prevent such results.

The Monster Frontline is where humans fend off monsters.

Even the policy of "controlling barbarians with barbarians" is just a temporary measure.

The protagonist of the frontline is always a human. This fact should not be forgotten.

After cleanly killing this bastard... its time to share the experience points.

Actually, this was crucial.

If you enlist him, theres no boss kill experience points. Do you know how many levels we could gain by killing you?

I slowly rose and stretched out my hand, giving the order.

"Commander of the Empires Southern Frontline, Ash Born Hater Everblack, pronounces an immediate judgment on the Vampire Lord Celendion, who surrendered like a dog in humiliation."

"I never surrender-"

"Shut up! Celendion, you..."

Whats the most appropriate punishment for a mosquito that disturbs sleep by sucking blood on a summer night?

Of course, theres only one.

"-Death penalty!"

I yelled it out loud.

"Death penalty! Death penalty! Death penalty! Death penalty-!"

Turning pale, Celendion was subject to my use of Absolute Command.

"Commit suicide, Celendion! Until your last life, all of it!"