Chapter 135
A war between monsters and humanity. It is a truly fierce battle. You can see that clearly from a little distance away. Both sides are fighting for their lives.
"That's precisely why it's so much fun to meddle."
"...You're a real rotten bastard."
As I muttered to myself while gauging the timing, Nanako said so with exasperation. Although Nanako is supposed to be in the form of a crow whose emotions are hard to read, I somehow felt as though I were receiving a reproachful look. I won't ask why. I am fully aware that both what I am doing and what I am about to do are villainous.
"Whoa... That rush is brutal! How do they keep repairing things like that?"
"They have more people over there, after all."
"Oh! They're adding more attackers over there too!"
Beside us, a trio of girls were enjoying the spectacle. The three of them had different personalities, but they seemed to have grown quite close through the event. However, Touro was the only one with a human-like appearance, so they weren't exactly easy on the eyes. Rather, the sight of a horned woman, a mushroom with arms and legs, and an obviously vicious giant spider chatting together might be a bit much for ordinary people who weren't used to it.
"Hmm... This feels like it's going to turn into a messy slugfest, Izam-san."
"All the more reason for that setup to serve its purpose. It never hurts to prepare for anything."
The balance between how quickly the gate was taking damage and how quickly that damage was recovering had collapsed. Even from this distance, though, it was obvious that it would take a fair amount of time for the gate to be completely destroyed. Well, if the people of Ilevus were any more incompetent, we wouldn't have had a role to play, so I suppose I shouldn't complain.
"That's right, Mossan. Then let's get started."
"All right! So we're heading out, huh? I've been waiting forever!"
Perhaps because the time for the event's final battle had arrived, Sei began stretching, looking excited. This was a game, so loosening up his body shouldn't have had any real meaning, but things like this were also a matter of attitude. If stretching helped him bring out his usual strength, then that was good enough.
"As planned, we'll split into groups and act separately from here. Do whatever you want."
"I'll do that, then. Don't worry, I won't do anything too reckless."
From here, we would split into three groups and act separately. The first group, led by Touro, would join Eiji, Sei, and his familiars in the battle. Their goal was to blend in with the army of the Troll King and fight the players and NPC soldiers. That would fulfill their goal of fighting to raise their levels.
"Heh heh heh heh! This is going so much more smoothly thanks to the map!"
"You can leave it all to us!"
"We'll steal as much as we can."
Shiitake, Shifune, and Wool's role was to plunder Ilevus as thoroughly as possible. Originally, I had thought they could simply do it along the city's main street, but thanks to Usuba, we had a map of the city that made it obvious where every store was located. The alchemy-related shops Shiitake was looking for in particular tended to be in hard-to-find places, so this saved her the trouble of searching for them.
I ought to thank him... No, wait. After having him do all this for us, won't he taunt us if we fail to meet his unreasonable demand? Ugh, I hate that! Please let us succeed!
"Nanako and Mossan will be accompanying me for a while."
"I understand, boss."
"We'll handle the escort."
I had something I wanted to do as well. I intended to have Nanako and Mossan guard me while I did it. Originally, the two of them had planned to join Shiitake and the others in stealing equipment, but they ended up having to go along with my whim. I had also asked Shiitake and the others to find equipment for them, but they probably wouldn't be happy about giving up the chance to choose it themselves. So, if my plan went smoothly, I intended to have them rejoin Shiitake and the others afterward.
"Let's start with the first firework. ...Self-destruct."
I made a Flame Ghost I'd summoned in advance with 【Summoning】 and hidden some distance away self-destruct. Now I wondered whether it would produce the results I was hoping for.
Just as I was thinking that, the ground directly beneath the castle gate suddenly exploded. The blast was more powerful than expected, causing the gate to collapse along with the surrounding walls. At the same time, the Troll General and Troll King, who had been directly above it, were both blown away, suffering injuries in the process. It seemed I had managed to damage both sides.
"Oh, it had more punch than I expected."
"More importantly, wasn't there someone jumping down?"
"Huh? Really? Wool, were you watching?"
"Nope. I was watching the gate the whole time, so I didn't notice anything."
Was there really someone like that? I hadn't noticed them at all. Still, if there had been, they were probably respawning by now. But I can't say I dislike the nerve it took to leap alone at a powerful enemy! Though I suppose it's a little rich for me to say that after blowing them away!
Anyway, what I did was simple. I used 【Earth Magic】's Earth Hole to its fullest, digging a tunnel beneath the ground and secretly making my way toward Ilevus. After checking my current location on the map and reaching the area directly beneath the castle gate, I planted all the dynamite Usuba had entrusted to me. Then I had the Flame Ghost I summoned wait there while I withdrew.
I had Shiitake reinforce the tunnel with her 【Earth Magic】, while Nanako used Skeletons summoned with 【Summoning】 to keep the hole from collapsing. As a result, the two of them had to focus on recovering their magic alongside me. It was easy to describe, but it had been extremely laborious. And I am a skeleton, after all!
...Putting that terrible pun aside, my 【Earth Magic】 level increased during the process, allowing me to learn a new spell. Earth Fang is a spell that creates a fissure at any location, opens a gap, and then forcefully slams the fissure shut.
In addition to its damage, I think the true value of this spell lies in its restraining effect when it traps an enemy between the closing earth. 【Earth Magic】 gives the impression of being mostly support-oriented, but this spell seems to be a useful one capable of both attacking and supporting. I look forward to putting it to use in an actual battle!
"No matter which idiot gets minced, what we're doing won't change, right? Come on, let's go."
"Touro's right. Operation start!"
"Yeah!"
◆◇◆◇◆◇
"Here it is."
After parting ways with Izam-san and the others, we hid in the forest near the monsters attacking the western side of the castle wall. The monsters here belonged to the unit that had captured the fortress we attacked—in other words, the unit that had easily brought it down through the strategy of Izam-san and the members of 'Persona'.
That meant they had suffered the fewest losses and were the most numerous. So this was the safest place both to blend into the battle and to enter the city. Izam-san called himself 'nothing more than a coward' and said he was merely 'good at underhanded tricks,' but couldn't this be called military strategy?
"We have plenty of numbers too, but the resistance is fierce to match."
"If we charge in without a plan, we'll definitely die."
There were so many monsters that Ilevus was responding in kind. Quite a large number of soldiers and players were defending the city. Even so, it seemed their offensive was weaker than at the start, perhaps because the destruction of the gate had forced them to divert some of their forces there.
There were plenty of monsters, but no ladders had been set up to climb the wall yet, and attempts to run up the wall had failed as well. I could barely do anything without a ladder, so I hoped something would change...
"This is getting us nowhere. I'm going over there for a bit. You two wait here."
"Huh? Wai—!?"
"Hey! Wait, leader!"
Wait! She had just said that so casually and taken off running! I could accept waiting, at a stretch, but she hadn't even told us what she was going to do!
"If all the ones with decent levels are slowpokes, there's no helping it. Is this enough running room?"
She was too far away for me to make out what Touro had said, but she had probably insulted someone. She seemed to have a habit of provoking people, after all.
"Hup, ho, hng... made it!"
"No way!?"
"S-She climbed all the way up in one go!?"
A-Am I dreaming? Touro burst from behind cover and ran toward the castle wall at incredible speed, then used that momentum to run straight up the wall. She could perform a stunt like that!?
"Who'd have thought the 【Acrobatics】 Skill would ever be useful for something besides swordsmanship?"
I heard about it later, but apparently Touro had a Skill called 【Acrobatics】. Its effect allowed her to use acrobatic swordplay, but this time she used that Skill to climb the wall.
She also said that the torrent of level-ups had left her with SP to spare, which she used to acquire 【Dancing】 and the mysterious 【Allure】 Skill, whose effects were unknown and which was limited to female avatars. What in the world was Touro aiming for?
"Hey, look! She made it up!?"
"Kill her! Quickly!"
"Now let's wreak havoc."
Regardless of how she had done it, Touro had climbed the castle wall all by herself. I thought she would be surrounded and crushed, but that didn't happen. She leaped all over the top of the parapet, keeping the soldiers completely off balance.
She didn't seem to have any opportunity to counterattack, but it looked difficult to land a hit on Touro while she focused entirely on evading. Still, how could she bounce around so easily on a spot like that—an uneven balance beam? It would have been absolutely impossible with my avatar, and even if I had been using hers, I wouldn't have had the nerve to do something like that.
"Hey, now's our chance!"
"I don't know who you are, but thanks!"
"GRAAAAAAAH!"
The monsters that had frozen for a moment at Touro's appearance began moving again. The players and NPC monsters mixed in among them seized the opportunity and began setting up ladders one after another. The people of Ilevus hurried to deal with them, but Touro interfered by running around and casting magic.
...Somehow, the way we're doing things has gotten pretty underhanded. Could this be because of Izam-san's influence?
"Woooooo! Go!"
"Whoa, it talked!? Then you're a player!"
"GROOOOOOOAH!"
"Kill them! Take everything!"
Touro's distraction created an opening. Thanks to that, a ladder was finally set up. Players and NPC monsters began surging up it all at once. Oh! This really feels like a war!
"Hey, Eiji! Quit spacing out and get moving! Even Touro's about at her limit!"
"R-Right! Yeah!"
Oh no! I got so absorbed in the scene that I felt like I was watching a movie! No matter how nimble Touro's movements were, her defense was extremely low. That was why our combination had worked so well: Touro was fast but fragile, while I was slow but tough.
"Hey, Sei-kun. In times like this, going full monster is the right move, isn't it?"
"Huh? What're you talking about?"
We were going to become monsters and attack people. In that case, speaking human language would be terribly gauche.
"In other words... BUAAAAAAAAARGH!"
"Whoa, that's loud!? Hey, wait!"
I charged forward while deliberately letting out a roar that sounded like the NPC Orcs. All right! I was going to take down as many enemies as possible!