[Translator: Dawn ]

[Proofreader: Alissa ]

Chapter 22: [STAGE 1] Main Party

Gwaah-!

The Living Armors reached the moat.

They were slowed down while crossing the moat filled with holy water since they were being struck with arrows from our direction.

However, they were sturdy.

Taking the arrows with their bodies, they finally crossed the moat and reached the wall.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

The leading Living Armors began to knock on the gates harshly.

But the gates were thick and locked.

Even for monsters, the gates were not something that could be penetrated without a siege weapon.

The Living Armors soon gave up on opening the castle gate and started climbing the wall.

Clunk! Clunk! Clunk!

Watching the armored monsters clinging to the wall and climbing up was very ghastly. It looked like something that one would see in a horror movie.

Gulp. Gulp.

The soldiers looking down from the top of the wall started to take dry gulps.

Hold.

I was also taking dry gulps while trying my best to look as calm as possible.

Hold!

Stones and iron pieces left over during the reinforcement work were placed on the wall in advance.

The soldiers prepared to throw these at the Living Armors.

The Living Armors almost climbed to the top.

They got close enough for us to see the eerie eyes waving inside their helmets.

Finally, I commanded out loud.

Now! Drop them!

Drop!

Drop-!

The soldiers pushed the stones and irons over the wall and dropped them all at once.

Rumble

Crash!The Living Armors, beaten by heavy loads, fell to the ground together.

Most of them were shattered by the impact of the fall, but the rest jumped up again. I flicked my tongue.

How terribly sturdy!

The soldiers threw down everything that was left on the wall. Despite being hit, they still started crawling up the wall again.

There was no other choice left. I shouted out loud.

Prepare for close combat!

Yes, Your Highness! Prepare for close combat-!

Close combat soldiers, to the front!

About a hundred soldiers in the stand-by group for close combat, who were waiting in the back, pulled out the blunt weapons they were wearing on their waists at once.

Meanwhile, the soldiers who had been firing the cannons and ballistae and throwing stones were pushed back for a moment.

They will join the close combat soldiers after a brief break.

As the soldiers switched around their positions, I opened up the system window.

'Party Formation.'

Jupiter's party was annihilated, and since the main party only had four members, I needed to reinforce the formation.

After opening up the party window, I put Jupiter from the sub-party into the main party.

[Main Party (5/5)]

Lv.5 Ash (EX)

Lv.27 Lucas (SSR)

Lv.15 Demian (N)

Lv.17 Lily (R)

Lv.35 Jupiter (SR)

The main party was complete. And the party synergy was activated with a notification sound.

[Activated Party Synergy]

> (Commander 1) Battlefield Bodyguards: This party's morale is never lowered. > (Magician 2) Double Mage: The magic attacks of every party member are increased by 20%.

Two synergies in total were activated.

'How beautiful!'

I called out for joy without realizing it.

The Double Mage synergy is especially great for giving a 20% increase in magic attacks.

There is no better synergy than this in the current situation where Jupiter has to rely on her lightning magic as soon as she recovers.

'But for now,'

I turned to look at the Living Armors crawling up the wall.

Lucas put his long sword in front of his chest, and the soldiers clenched their blunts as they trembled.

'We have to deal with them with pure physical strength, not magic.'

So far, although the soldiers were terrified, they carried out the defensive battle stably.

And the biggest reason why that was possible was due to the form of battle being a ranged artillery battle.

However, from now, the soldiers have to fight them fully head-on.

'Can the soldiers pull through?'

I was worried about the soldiers, and then I shook my head.

'No, they must pull through.'

Any veteran is a recruit at first.

There are more stages on the way after this one. The invasion of the monsters will be endlessly continued.

In order to survive, the soldiers must become stronger too.

They must fight and overcome to go forward.

Here they come-!

When the Living Armors climbed all the way up, the soldiers started to push them off with long spears or sticks.

Grab!

However, the Living Armors simply grabbed them and broke them in half.

Woah?!

What the hell?!

The terrified soldiers rushed backward.

The last resistance was easily neutralized, and the Living Armors appeared one by one at top of the wall.

Grrr

Graaaah!

The first one to climb to the top of the castle wall let out a terrifying scream. A commotion spread among the soldiers.

And

Flash-!

The monster's helmet was cut in half by a single slash from Lucas.

The Living Armor split in half staggered with red sparks.

Lucas vigorously kicked him in the chest with his feet and pushed him out of the wall.

I will slash them down!

Lucas yelled at the soldiers who looked at him in surprise.

You just have to stand there for as long as you can and stop them!

Yes, sir!Lucas ran as if flying through the wall and cut the Living Armors crawling up the wall like tofus.

Shriek! Slash!

[Translator: Dawn ]

[Proofreader: Alissa ]

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Whenever Lucas's sword cut through the metal, it spattered bright red sparks. It was as if a flower was blooming from the tip of his blade.

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I was dazzled by the performance of the SSR-rank knight and quickly came to my senses. I have to do my thing too!

Lily, activate the next artifact!

Yes, Your Highness!

At my command, Lily quickly activated the artifact.

The second of the repaired artifacts.

N-rank Haste artifact.

An artifact that casts wide-area speed increase magic on allies. As it is N-rank, the effect is low and the duration is short.

Movement speed and attack speed are increased by 5%, and the duration is five minutes.

However, 5% is good enough. And five minutes are long enough.

A buff cast at the most important time of the battle, which is when the first engagement happens, will boost the confidence of the soldiers.

As their bodies became lighter, the soldiers swung their blunt weapons more lightly and pushed their shields forward.

Push the monsters off!

Push them off-!

The Living Armors that climbed up and the soldiers collided.

The close combat soldiers who took a rest were doing much better than I expected against the monsters.

They couldn't defeat the Living Armors, but they were strong enough to form a front line against them.

The traits I equipped for this battle were, [Main Order], [Attack Totem], and [Defense Totem].

They can be of some help in close combat.

While the soldiers held on without being pushed, Lucas busily ran and swung his sword.

Flash! Flash!Every time his blade flashed, the Living Armors fell like a bale of straw.

A trace of light from the activation of a skill flashed from the tip of Lucas's sword. This is Lucas's 1st skill, [Strike of Will].

[Strike of Will] is a stacking-type skill that gets stronger the more enemies the user kills.

I wanted to leave all the remaining Living Armors to Lucas, but I couldn't afford that.

'We are getting pushed.'

Lucas alone swept nearly half of the wall, but he couldn't handle all of them.

The number of those who climbed up the wall gradually increased. The number of injuries also increased.

Argh!

Uwah!

If you get injured, back off! Switch position!

I replaced the injured soldiers with the group of soldiers resting in the back.

However, the soldiers resting in the back were also exhausted.

There were not many deaths, but the number of wounded increased quickly. I bit my lower lip softly.

Your Highness, I should get back on the front line

Demian, who was resting at my command, raised his crossbow again, but I raised my hand to stop him.

I needed him for the boss fight. And Jupiter too.

'What should I do?'

Is there a way to reduce the soldier damages as much as possible and clean out the remaining Living Armors?

It was at that moment.

Fwoosh!

Suddenly, a fire broke out, and the Living Armors that were climbing over the wall were turned to ashes.

I looked at it in amazement. Lily in her wheelchair held her hand forward with a bitter face.

Right, you could use magic too!

As I shouted out in astonishment, Lily replied as she found my remark ridiculous.

You know, I was a fire-type magician in the first place!

Sorry, I was just thinking of you as a body shield.

That's so mean!

The Living Armors continued to climb up the wall. Lily hurriedly fired in all directions.

Gaargh!

Gwaah!

The Living Armors that came onto the wall from the sides of Lily melted in an instant.

They have high physical resistance but low magic resistance, so fire magic was also effective.

Huff, huff

Lily huffed as she quickly ran out of mana. It seemed that she was unable to handle the enormous mana consumption of fire magic.

I ran to Lily's back and grabbed the handles on her wheelchair.

Good job, Lily! I promise you a promotion after this!

No, please let me retire

I'll give you bonuses too! So come on! Let's spew some fire one more time!

I want to retire! And I'm almost out of mana!

I know you can do it one more time! C'mon, now! Heave ho!

Waaah!

I dragged Lily's wheelchair around as she cried out loud, spewing fire everywhere. Pretty effective!

20% from the party synergy, and 5% from my trait, [Attack Totem].

Lily's fire magic, which was strengthened by a total of 25%, brilliantly blocked half of the wall.

I poured mana potions into Lily's mouth, who was suffocating as she was exhausted.

Let's go, my flamethrower! One more time!

At least treat me like a human being!

As the soldiers blocked with their bodies, Lucas slashed them down with his sword, and Lily burned them down with her magic,

[Enemy Information STAGE 1]

Lv.25 Specter Knight: 1

Lv.5 Living Armor Assaulter: 3 (Kill Count: 1449)

We were finally starting to see the end of this.

Die, monsters!

Get the hell out of this castle!

The soldiers surrounded a Living Armor and beat it with blunt weapons,

I can't I really can't drink anymore

This is the last one, I promise. Now, now. Shug it all down, cheers!

Lily burned another one as the mana potions spilled from her mouth.

Flash!

And the last one was cut in half cleanly by Lucas's strike.

It's over.

When the moving Living Armors were no longer visible, the confused soldiers all shouted cheers.

We did it! We won!

We did it! We did it!

I poured cold water into the delightful atmosphere.

It's not over yet!

P-pardon?

Don't let your guard down. The last one is coming!

I stared into the sky. And the soldiers turned their gazes too.

Guh

Fragments of the Living Armors that had fallen all over the area gathered in the body of the giant ghost in the air.

Clunk! Clunk!

Thousands of pieces of armor came together to form a huge patchwork of armor.

From gauntlets to shoulders. The chest plate, and the leg armors that covered the thighs and calves, all the way to the foot.

And lastly, the helmet.

Click-!

The finished giant armored monster let out a gloomy groan.

Gwaah!

The Specter Knight.

Blue flames flickered in the eyes of the boss monster of this stage.

Thud-!When the Specter floating in the air fell to the ground, the whole area shook as if there had been an earthquake. We staggered all at once.

I held back from spitting out profanity as I tried my best to keep my balance with my hands by grabbing onto the wall beside me.

You call that the boss of STAGE ONE?!

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