Chapter 132
The scene shifts to inside Ireves. Everyone capable of fighting had joined the defense in full force. The murder that had occurred the day before was being treated as a major incident, but arguing in the face of the immediate crisis would have been utterly foolish. So, on the surface at least, everyone was fighting in unity.
However, that did not mean the rift between the NPCs and the players had been healed. In fact, the NPCs were keeping the ever-deepening rift in check through the rational understanding that they needed to unite to win the war.
"How long are we going to keep hiding in here?!"
"It'd be easier to go outside and fight at this point."
Siege warfare required patience, but there was no way everyone could devote themselves to simply waiting. A very small number of people did not even understand why they needed to hole up, and the irritation of those players was gradually mounting.
"Don't be stupid. We'd just get ground to paste. Think before you speak, moron."
"What did you say!? You picking a fight, punk?!"
Nor was there any real unity among the players. Under the event's system, players who participated as clans or parties were added to the defense army as single units. The countless groups that gathered were then assigned to defend each fortress so that their fighting strength would be evenly distributed, with solo players used to even out the differences that still remained.
Thus, every fortress ended up with roughly the same fighting strength. But there was no way everyone gathered at the same fortress would get along. Some were cooperating with one another, while others had become so hostile that they seemed to find even breathing the same air unpleasant. In some groups, a leader had not even been chosen to organize the players, leaving them in complete disarray.
They were not on quite such bad terms. Still, they were certainly tense enough that verbal arguments never stopped.
"Don't start fighting just because you're irritated! We're in the middle of battle!"
"Come on, the event itself is a defensive battle, so there's nothing we can do about it."
"And don't provoke him with unnecessary comments!"
"Besides, it'd be stupid to get banned from the blacksmith shop like those idiots on the first day just because you're making a racket, wouldn't it?"
"Ugh...!"
"He's got a point..."
However, after the other players admonished them, they immediately put aside their hostility. That was because they knew about the various incidents that had happened the day before yesterday and yesterday.
After the fortress battle ended, all the players who had died and respawned in Ireves hurried to repair their equipment and replenish their consumables. This world was a game, and thanks to production-type Skills and magic tools for repairs, the time needed for repairs themselves was far shorter than it would have been in reality.
But even that had its limits. In particular, since FSW operated on the Simulated World System, or WSS, there was no way equipment repairs could be completed in an instant. Still, the players had just come through a fierce battle and wanted to get their gear repaired as quickly as possible so they could prepare for the next one.
On top of that, players who had the same idea kept arriving one after another, so it was easy to imagine what happened next. The blacksmith shops throughout the city ended up with long lines stretching outside.
"On top of that, some idiot bought up all the potions, so even those are in short supply. If we go outside, the priest classes will work themselves to death."
The blacksmith shops were not the only places where problems arose. Players also flooded the item shops to replenish the consumables they had used in battle. However, because some players had bought up all kinds of potions, every shop remained sold out.
Trouble breaking out wherever large numbers of people gathered was practically a rule of every MMO. No matter how close this place was to reality, it was still a game. Anonymity was considerable, and if someone made their avatar look nothing like their real self, it was difficult to figure out who they were unless they revealed their personal information themselves. Because they had become new versions of themselves, quite a few players grew bolder and ended up behaving arrogantly.
Various problems had occurred in many places, but the most common were forcing NPCs to put their own errands aside to prioritize the players' business, and high-level players pressuring relatively low-level players to give up their place in line.
The former deepened the rift between players and NPCs, while the latter deepened the rift between players. It was a bitter irony that humanity, supposedly blessed with intelligence, still could not stand united even when matters had reached this point.
"GRAAAAAAAAAAAH!"
"Eek!?"
"Whoa!?"
Just then, an especially enormous monster's roar echoed across the battlefield. The booming sound drowned out the shouts of countless humans and monsters, along with the thunder of thrown stones and magic, and even the players who had been idly arguing flinched in spite of themselves.
"Huh? Looks like the enemies are retreating."
"Did we win?"
Their fears proved groundless. The abnormally loud monster's roar seemed to have been a signal to retreat. But that did not mean the event was over. It was merely starting over. Every player understood that. They had only survived the first wave of a tower-defense game.
"Woohoo! Serves you right!"
"We did it!"
"I'm exhausted..."
"Phew, I can finally log out and take a break~"
"Yes! Level up!"
Be that as it may, it was also true that they had driven the enemy back without suffering any major losses. Thus, most players were either cheering in victory, breathing a sigh of relief now that things had settled down, or celebrating the level-ups they had gained from the experience points awarded when the battle ended.
"It's him...!"
"Figures he's here."
"He'll probably show up starting with the next wave."
Amid all this, there were also players who were not celebrating at all. They were none other than those who had been killed by the Troll King that had just roared. Among them were Luke, currently the only player with the Title 'Hero,' and the members of his party.
"What do you think today's attack was?"
"Just testing the waters. If that Troll King comes out, the gate is almost certainly getting breached."
The gate of Ireves was sturdy. There was no doubt about that, since the city had gates and walls larger and more durable than those of the fortress, at the very least. The city gate also had extremely high durability, so players who had come from the other fortresses had grown complacent, assuming that they could hold out here.
However, the players who had fought at the central fortress suspected that even these defenses might not be enough. The Troll King was a monster that had destroyed the fortress gate in an instant. For that monster, the difference between a fortress gate and a city gate might be no greater than the difference between toilet paper and a wooden door.
"We can't let our guard down."
"It'd be a waste to mess up this event."
"That's only natural for those of us entrusted with leadership, isn't it?"
Luke's party had been wiped out during the retreat from the fortress, yet they had performed their rearguard duty brilliantly. They had accomplished the remarkable feat of buying enough time for the fortress's commander and many players to escape safely to Ireves. As a result, they had been chosen as the leaders of the players assigned to the central fortress, and even many who disliked the decision silently followed them, knowing that arguing would turn the event itself into a catastrophe.
"Besides, the rear ambush operation failed, so we can't celebrate without reservation."
They had no way of knowing that Izam had been behind the harassment, but news of the failed ambush operation had already spread. If it had succeeded, it would have damaged the enemy while also raising the morale of their allies, but that dream had apparently gone unrealized.
"Anyway, why don't we log off for a while and rest? My throat's dry!"
"Haha, yeah. Let's do that."
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"Gaaaaaaaaah!"
Troll Knight-san, I am so sorry for underestimating you and thinking we could beat you pretty easily! You're strong! So insanely strong it doesn't even make sense!? What are you!?!
We were making the fullest use of our numerical advantage, yet we were being forced into a battle like walking a tightrope. It was a fierce struggle where choosing who did what and when could mean the difference between life and death. How could this thing be even stronger than the Field Boss Tarasque!?!
There was, of course, a reason for that. I learned later that any monster given a direct order by the King received a positive stat modifier. In return, defeating one apparently yielded an enormous amount of experience. It was difficult to interfere with its mission, but it was worth doing.
"Gwah! Izam-san!"
"I know! Light Armor!"
Even now, Eiji should have properly deflected the Troll King's attack with his shield, but his massive body went flying and he still took a little damage. The 【Holy Magic】 Light Armor I had cast on him was stripped away, so I immediately cast it again.
I had no idea how it worked, but I assumed it must be the effect of some combat technique I did not know about. Perhaps forced knockback and piercing damage? If so, wasn't that far too powerful?
"Tch! Watch out!"
With Eiji, our sturdy wall, gone, the front line fell into a crisis. Uro was being targeted in particular. That was only natural, since she had been hacking away at the Troll Knight with dual blades imbued with fire.
Uro backflipped to evade the shield bash rushing toward her face, but the Troll Knight had apparently used a combat technique that produced a shock wave. The wind pressure knocked her over.
It seemed she had taken no damage, but falling over in the middle of combat was bad. The Troll Knight had no intention of letting such an obvious opening go to waste, and immediately raised its axe to follow up. With her poor defense, taking the attack head-on might result in instant death.
"Not on my watch! Look this way!"
"I'll back you up~. Baa-baa."
"Stop!"
We were not about to let that attack land unopposed. Sei charged in from behind and struck it with a staff, Wool tried to induce drowsiness with its cry, and Shishu scattered adhesive threads around its feet. But we were painfully shown the overwhelming power of the level difference. The blow was reduced by its armor, the drowsiness was not enough to put it to sleep, and the threads restrained it for only about a second.
"Go, go, gooo! And now, kamikaze!"
The assault still did not let up. The crow summoned by Nanako was sent on a suicide attack and immediately detonated. Sharp, pointed feathers scattered like an anti-personnel mine and stabbed into the Troll Knight. Its armor deflected most of them, but quite a few should have slipped through the gaps.
"Chomp! ...Tch! I can't latch on!"
Immediately after detonating, Moss-san bit into the Troll Knight's neck. Moss-san tried to drain its blood, but the Troll Knight brushed Moss-san away as though swatting a mosquito. Moss-san narrowly evaded being struck, but could not transition into draining its blood.
Even so, our companions' efforts bought Uro enough time to regain her footing. She quickly stood up, fired a probing spell at the Troll Knight to keep it at bay, and retreated for the moment. As Eiji moved forward to take her place, Shiitake used magic.
"Now's our chance! Earthquake!"
"Raaah! Helmet Splitter!"
Earthquake from 【Earth Magic】 shook the ground beneath the Troll Knight's feet and threw it off balance, allowing Eiji to land the most powerful combat technique available through his 【Axe Arts】. It was a terrifying attack that greatly reduced the user's defense in exchange for an armor-breaking effect.
The Troll Knight could not dodge the devastating blow that abandoned all defense for power. But it did not simply take the attack. At the same time it took Eiji's Helmet Splitter on its shoulder, it struck him with its shield and sent him flying.
"Guh!? What monstrous strength!"
"No, that was enough! I made it in time!"
While my companions fought, I had not been sitting idle. Because of its recovery ability, the Troll Knight could not be killed unless we dealt a massive amount of damage all at once. So I had been chanting a spell powerful enough to finish it with a follow-up attack the moment it suffered heavy damage.
"Grand Magic Circle, activate! Spell Adjustment! Blow away, Magic Bomb!"
"Gaaah...!?"
I unleashed Magic Bomb from 【Explosive Magic】, having boosted its power to the absolute limit with Grand Magic Circle and Spell Adjustment. Magic Bomb had the shortest time between activation and dealing damage. It also had a composite attribute of 【Fire Magic】 and 【Wind Magic】, meaning half its damage was treated as fire damage. That allowed it to exploit the Troll Knight's weakness, 【Fire Vulnerability】.
"Goh-aaah..."
My magic exploded with a blast loud enough to rupture my eardrums, enveloping the Troll Knight. When the cloud of dust kicked up by the blast finally cleared, the Troll Knight lay collapsed, barely breathing.
Surviving after taking a spell like that, even after already suffering a fair amount of damage, was worthy of admiration despite being our enemy. But it truly was only alive in the most technical sense. The arm that had held its weapon had been severed, and the face beneath its helmet was covered in damage effects. In reality, it might have been reduced to something resembling a keloid scar. It had probably survived with only a sliver of health left by sheer chance.
"How's it still alive?"
"Tough bastard."
"Let's just finish it."
Seeing the Troll Knight, which could literally be killed with one more blow, we exchanged glances over who would deliver the final strike. Then everyone turned their eyes toward Eiji, who had served as our shield on the front line.
"M-me?"
"Of course. This fight would definitely have fallen apart without you, Eiji."
"That's right. Get it over with. Looks like this guy's regenerating even now."
"Th-then I won't hold back... Hnn!"
Urged on by Uro, his partner, Eiji shook off his hesitation, brought his axe down, and beheaded the Troll Knight.