Chapter 46
- Fuck, the monsters are invading Elrad!!!
- So why Elrad this time?
- What do you mean, why? They just do it.
- Are they after the World Tree?
ㄴ ??
ㄴ Oh, to save us from those long-eared pests?
ㄴ What the hell are you talking about, senile human?
ㄴ Isn't the World Tree what's stopping the monsters from taking root? That's probably why, yeah.
The armchair scholars of the Destruction Gallery came to that conclusion after a heated debate.
“They’re after the World Tree?”
The monsters were slowly attempting to terraform the otherworld.
But they weren't having much success in Elrad, because of the World Tree.
It even restored land polluted by the Rifts and prevented them from causing headaches.
From the monsters' perspective, the World Tree might be the one thing they most wanted to get rid of.
- Isn't it just because it's the easiest target?
ㄴ What?
ㄴ Shh.
ㄴ That's right. Where else are there guys who'll just take a beating like the elves do?
ㄴ For real, the power gap is fucking huge lol
ㄴ Do you really want to die that badly?
ㄴ Gasp.
The other opinion was that it was simply because Elrad was easy pickings.
That was clear enough from the monsters' actual invasion attempts.
The place they first came into contact with from outside was the Dwarven mountain range.
But thanks to the dwarves' technology and combat prowess, the monsters only managed to take the front part of Kilgrot.
“Even that got driven back in no time once we gave them a little support, right?”
We only gave them tuna cans and booze, and they drove the monsters back beyond the walls.
The next target the monsters chose was Adrian—more precisely, the Kelliarton Kingdom that had split away from it.
- Why Adrian fell.jpg
- Fact) Humans have never prospered since Adrian was founded
- Isn't there something fishy about Kelliarton?
- Kelton, the supposed successor = the first to fall lol
In a way, no race was easier to pick on than humans.
Unlike the other races, they had the largest population, but were simultaneously too busy fighting among themselves.
The fact that Adrian had split in half was an internal matter, after all; it wasn't caused by a monster invasion.
“But they do band together when a common enemy appears, right?”
Human trait: get stronger when cornered
It's not for nothing they say heroes emerge in troubled times.
Though the monsters invaded relentlessly, humans were the ones who stubbornly held them off.
Surrounded? Yeah, just run away.
They would retreat with those same numbers or join forces with troops from other countries to continue the fight.
The monsters' invasion attempt had failed.
- Making arrows is way harder than I thought
- Ah, I'm a baby
- Armor? What do we need that for?
ㄴ We have to protect nature.
Of course, that was except for the elves.
Elves? They had nothing.
Literally, they had nothing.
They had excellent physical attributes and long lifespans, but those advantages only truly shone in one-on-one combat.
That was why, before the Great War, the other races hated them for being assholes, but it hadn't caused any major problems.
- If you're salty, choose your respawn point better lol
- Or grow your own World Tree~
- Or come attack us lol Let's have a match in Elrad hehe
Because they had strength.
If things got really bad, they could always hole up and endure a siege.
The problem came after the Great War broke out.
Arrows that were lethal to living creatures were largely ineffective against monsters.
Nor had they developed the advanced technology or civilization of the dwarves and humans.
They were a one-trick pony whose only asset was their character stats.
They paid a heavy price for relying on that.
- I'd rather cut off my own wrist than help elves
- This is what they call karma. I couldn't care less if the elves went extinct
- It's not like we trade with them, either...
The dwarves hated elves.
They had humans as trading partners, so there was no reason to deal with the stiff-necked elves.
Humans... were a little different.
- Hehe, wanna be slaves then?
- I'll give you something, but there's something I want too...
- You look good hehe
ㄴ Ugh, all humans think alike ㅡㅡ
Humans hated elves.
Blink, and a generation had changed, along with its way of thinking.
Just when it seemed honorable humans had appeared, rotten humans would take their place after a mere thirty to fifty years.
A race faithful only to its instincts.
The elves couldn't rely on anyone.
Except me.
[Nature Guardian^^ has offered 100 ‘Dawn Dew’!]
[Young and Healthy Elf has offered ‘Lucky Earrings’!]
[Elves Are the Trend has offered ‘Magic-Infused Leaf’!]
- Please take good care of our elves... ^^
- Head Mod! Head Mod! Head Mod!
- Thanks every time. Elrad is alive thanks to you ^^
“Are they trying to bribe me?”
I was clearly trying to give them things out of goodwill for free, but gifts kept coming back to me.
Frowning, I accepted all the gifts into my clothes.
“Can't resist fantasy elf goods.”
In exchange, I bought the old war weapon I'd originally intended to give them.
[M2 HMG] - 14,000 points
A machine gun.
I delivered the heavy machine gun known as the MG50 in my country to the elves.
*
Elrad had been busy with the monster problem lately.
The pumpkin-headed monster was only the beginning.
There had been reports that no fewer than fifteen variant monsters were invading.
“Hmm, so this is the...”
“It's creepy just looking at it.”
“But it looks a little different from that thing the beastmen have called a shotgun?”
Peeking out.
In the Elven Kingdom's capital, Eladrien, the elves perked their ears with curiosity in the meeting hall.
It was all because of the weapon Head Mod had distributed.
“You said it was called... a machine gun?”
But surprisingly, the elves weren't exactly welcoming it with open arms.
“Hmm... Still, I was hoping he'd send more grenades...”
“Or those bounding mines. Their power was perfect, but this is a shotgun...”
“Not a shotgun, a heavy machine gun. Lord Head Mod definitely called it that, didn't he?”
“Isn't that basically the same thing?”
The elves clustered around the machine gun, eyeing it skeptically.
A gun? Sounds good.
But in the public imagination, guns were like finishing moves.
Weapons that could kill any opponent with nothing more than a twitch of the finger.
But they had the drawback of requiring close range and being unable to deal with multiple targets.
Because they'd never seen anything but a shotgun, they had developed a misunderstanding about guns.
“Isn't it inadequate for use in war?”
“What if we die instead while trying to get close?”
The elders in particular had many concerns.
If only he'd given them grenades or mines instead of such an unfamiliar weapon.
They were disappointed that he hadn't given them something whose power they had already experienced firsthand.
“Your Majesty, I don't think using this weapon is...”
“For Her Majesty's safety, it would be best to place it in the audience chamber.”
They soon judged that the machine gun would be difficult to use in war.
They didn't know the difference between a machine gun and a shotgun at all, and they also preferred what they were familiar with.
“No.”
But Armion was different.
She didn't care what the elders were saying.
From the moment that long, beautiful grand magic entered the meeting hall, there was no chance for her gaze to turn anywhere else.
“Ahhh, it's beautiful.”
“Your Majesty?”
“Mersen, when did you say the monster horde would reach Eladrien?”
Tap-tap-tap.
[Title: Meetings Are Boring!]
Author: Elder Elf-chan
Meetings... are boring and dull...
It'd be better to read one more book during this time.
Isn't that right, Harp-chan?
(A harp-shaped meme nodding its head, Harp-con)
Say hello to my friend, Harp-chan!
“Mersen?”
“Gasp. I was thinking the same thing.”
Mersen's ears trembled as they remained engrossed in the Gallery.
They understood the question a beat late and answered.
“Um, I heard they'll arrive at Eladrien tonight.”
“Tonight?”
“Good heavens, they've already come this far...”
Mersen's report cast a gloom over the meeting hall.
Night was truly the worst possible condition for battle.
Although elves had excellent eyesight, they couldn't make use of that advantage against monsters that charged mindlessly.
In a large battle, it could even become a disadvantage, so they couldn't help but anticipate heavy casualties.
“Great!”
But Armion's expression was bright.
No, it was more than bright—it was positively elated.
“The time has come to see... no, use the grand magic Head Mod gave us!”
Armion spoke while twitching her ears like an elf desperate to see it as soon as possible.
“You mean... the mines and shotgun?”
“The M15 anti-tank mine and the M2 HMG heavy machine gun. Please call them by their proper names.”
“Ah, s-sorry.”
The queen was showing an unusually intense curiosity toward Head Mod's grand magic.
“Ah, I can't take it. I have to go out and watch the battle myself.”
Armion was hoping night would arrive as soon as possible.
*
Late at night.
It was the dead of night, with even the moonlight fading beneath a blanket of deep darkness.
One by one, bizarre growls began echoing through once-quiet Elrad.
- Grrrk..
- Grrr!
“They're here!”
Rather than coming from the east, where the outside world lay, the monsters were swarming in unusually from the north and west.
The variant monsters mutated by the Rifts began revealing themselves one after another.
And just as reported, they were enormous.
“Good heavens...”
“How are we supposed to kill those?”
The elves had been expecting pumpkin monsters at most, but what appeared before them were gigantic monsters easily over three meters tall.
At that size, they were among the larger specimens of adult trolls.
More importantly, unlike trolls, which couldn't use mana barriers, these monsters could.
The elves' swords and arrows could never pierce that flesh and take their lives.
“We can't, we can't kill those.”
Despair spread across the elves' faces.
More precisely, only the elves who hadn't seen the power of the bounding mines before reacted that way.
“The monsters are approaching the grand magic!”
The elves called the mines grand magic.
Would they really work?
No matter how powerful the explosion, was it even possible to kill monsters that size?
As the elves, full of doubt, watched, those who knew slowly covered their ears with both hands.
“Just cover your ears.”
“Huh?”
“If you don't know, memorize it. No, even if you can't memorize it, just do as I say.”
The young elf who had only just joined the battle covered their ears with a bewildered expression.
Come to think of it, several elves whose faces were strangely full of anticipation caught their eye.
‘Are Head Mod's weapons really that amazing?’
Just as their doubts were gradually turning into curiosity,
“It stepped on it!”
An elf flooded with dopamine shouted, and they soon understood why.
KABOOOOOM!!!
“?!”
The aftershock was tremendous, as though a giant had grabbed the earth and shaken it.
The power was so immense they could have mistaken it for thunder.
- Grrrgh!
Like the monsters collapsing in the distance, the elves also lost their balance and fell to the ground.
And the sky they saw was red.
Though it was clearly the middle of the night,
the sky had brightened until it filled their vision.
“This is the grand magic...?”
The grand magic mentioned only in ancient books.
When they were startled into barely getting back to their feet, the monster that had stepped on the mine was nowhere to be seen.
The simultaneous explosions had thrown the monster horde into chaos.
But it wasn't over.
- Skreee!
- Grrr!
“More monsters are coming!”
Once the variant monsters died, the lower-level monsters began rushing out in earnest.
The sheer number of them made the young elf freeze for a moment.
Something appeared behind them.
“Your Majesty?”
It was Armion, the queen of the elves.
“Your Majesty, you can't be here!”
“You must return at once!”
“Hey, let go of me!”
The young elf was thoroughly confused now.
What on earth were those explosions shaking the sky, and why was Her Majesty here?
Then, in the elf's eyes, Armion was breathing heavily with excitement as she roughly set something down.
Clack, thud!
“Elf-kyaaaah!”
It was the MG50, the heavy machine gun beloved for generations after the World Wars.