◈ 151. [Side Story] Impossible to attack
I sent a convocation notice to the party members and returned to the mansion and headed to Ader’s room.
“Welcome, lord!”
I spit it out at Ader, who smiled and tried to greet me.
“It is impossible to attack from the next stage.”
“… .”
Ader, who had been frozen, asked in confusion.
“ancient? What did you just say… … .”
“Don’t pretend. You know.”
I sat with my buttocks pressed against any chair in moderation and crossed my legs.
“Right now, the situation here on the monster front is the worst. The fact that it will soon be game over.”
“… .”
Ader was silent.
I let out a small sigh.
“First of all, most hero parties are incapacitated.”
Except for the main party, where everyone was only slightly injured.
The first sub-party and fireteam, the Shadows, lost two of their three archers.
Burnout, the lone archer, was also injured.
The second sub-party and the Dion Mercenary Corps, which was in charge of the dirty work, were wiped out.
This blow is painful as they are newbies who have worked hard to feed experience points and set up equipment for future frontline operation.
The third sub-party, the Old Hunters, which had wide-area magic attackers, both wizards died.
The three tankers survived but are severely injured. It’s like a decision to retire.
‘Out of 20 hero characters, 9 are dead and 3 are retired.’
Out of all the hero characters, he lost as much as 60%.
Of course, there is a party for Lily and Marherita, who were in the reserve.
However, the time and circumstances are tight to train them into a party that can be used on the front lines right away.
Even considering the loss of a hero character, this is enough.
“Ordinary soldiers also took a fatal blow. Most of all, the Dusk Troopers lost their combat power.”
The Twilight Troops were veterans of veterans who had served here all their lives following the Marquis, and were skilled at killing monsters.
They became the main axis of the general soldiers and led the defensive battle.
Veteran soldiers with thick bones taught and protected the new recruits, and thanks to that, they were able to continue the tough battle.
However, in the last battle, the leader, who was a key member, was killed, and half of the three hundred were killed.
In fact, it is a situation that is no different from a disaster.
The morale of the rest of the regular soldiers was, of course, shattered. Only a few, but a few recruits have even deserted.
“What about the walls? They were beaten with magic and split with axes.”
The damage to the defense equipment, represented by the fortress walls, was also formidable.
The walls were split by Beta’s ax and frozen by Alpha’s magic. It would take at least 10 days to recover.
Due to the vampires using blood magic on the wall, a lot of water-based equipment was destroyed.
Both the cannon and the ballista were shattered in half. Even this restoration would take ten days.
It took a serious hit in every way like this, but what is it?
Still, if the next stage had progressed on a normal schedule and with a normal difficulty level, I would have continued with this attack.
But this crazy game never stopped fucking.
[Enemy Information – STAGE 6]
– Lv.?? ??? : 3 bodies
– Lv.25 Flame Wyverns < Elite > : 30 bodies
– Lv.20 Wyverns: 710 bodies
Just yesterday. Among the reserve party members, 5 uninjured people were selected and sent to District 1 for autonomous exploration.
They returned this morning and brought the magic stones of the Wyvern Corps.
At the same time, enemy information for the next stage was being checked through my system window.
“Wyvern? Wyver?!”
I squealed as I pushed the enemy information window in front of Ader.
“Are you crazy, really?! Another aerial mob in this situation?! This side is a mage and an archer, so it’s a mess that’s lost?!”
Ader bent over in the corner and bowed his head to me.
“just… I’m sorry. I was wrong.”
“Of course I was wrong, you bastard director! Isn’t level design straight?! If you set the difficulty cliff like this, you’re saying that the game is over here!”
After voicing my passion, I took a deep breath and took a step back.
“okay. Still, a wyvern is better than a gargoyle. It has high magic defense but low physical defense, so it’s not difficult to catch it with a normal cannon and bow.”
“Then I’m glad you did!”
“If the stage went according to the normal schedule, you bastard!”
I pointed to the bottom of the stage information window, exhaling miasma from my mouth.
[STAGE 6]
– Forward to start: 7 days
unless my eyes are broken.
There is only one week left until the start of the next stage.
“The basic rule is to give plenty of dates before and after the boss stage! But in the meantime, if you add up to three days and a week, ten days? A grace period of only 10 days?!”
I grabbed Ader by the collar and started rocking it back and forth.
Ader let out a windy scream.
“This is definitely abnormal?! You must give at least three weeks between the boss stage and the next stage?!”
“okay! And there’s another fucking reason why this month is gone!”
I opened a new system window and held it in front of Ader’s eyes.
[Dark event notice for STAGE 6!]
[Activated dark event: Rapid progress]
> The remaining time until the start of the stage is greatly reduced.
This damn dark event, which feeds me in a new way every time, has been triggered as if I’ve been waiting for it. It’s a really fresh piece of shit.
So, there are only 7 days left until the start of the next stage.
And now, the damage suffered by the monster front here is not something that can be remedied in just a week.
In the current situation, the game can no longer be played.
“I can’t wake up.”
I growled.
“No, I can break something. Although it will take more damage than the last stage 5.”
“… .”
“And after that? And after that? In this difficulty and situation, the whole wire will gradually break down and eventually it will be game over.”
Newly acquired heroes die screamingly before they are even skilled.
Soldiers become meat shields and die like consumables.
My party members will be rolled to their limit with injured bodies and die one by one.
Unbeknownst to me, such a scene appeared in my head.
All over the burning city.
Surrounded by countless monsters, Lucas and Evangeline collapse.
Junior, who was receiving the magic of the enemy wizard, knelt down vomiting blood.
Enemy arrows rained down on Damian, who ran out of bullets.
God Hand and Body Bag Burnout resist until the end and get stabbed.
Lily is swept away by the artifact’s explosion, and Marherita, who somehow tries to save the wounded, is consumed by the flames.
‘Fuck.’
He shook his head vigorously.
‘I can’t see it when I open my eyes.’
I have no intention of throwing my remaining men into a battle without a win.
The problem is, as it is, it really will be.
According to my calculations, I can’t even go to stage 10, and the monster front here is annihilated.
‘Crazy game.’
I can’t do this.
Just fold the game!
“… You’re not really going to give up… … ?”
Ader, who was watching my furious eyes, asked cautiously.
“The lord I know is someone who never gives up under any circumstances.”
“… .”
“Stop the standard strategy and use a different move… What do you mean?”
“Whoa.”
With a sigh, I nodded.
It was as Ader said. I’m not giving up.
It’s just finding another way so that no more of my men die.
“The way to solve this situation is simple. If the capital sends reinforcements, it will be over.”
If the capital of the empire – the imperial capital – supported the elite army.
You can afford it at once.
This is because the regular soldiers of the imperial standing army are powerful, and the knights who are commanding officers are the most elite heroic characters.
It’s not permanently belonging to the monster front, but it’s in the form of rental.
Anyway, if you come, you can take a big breath.
While carrying out defensive battles using them, I can buy time to faithfully nurture my heroes and soldiers.
However, the imperial family continues to chew on my help request.
“So there is nothing you can do. The only option is to send reinforcements by ‘force’.”
At my words, Ader tilted his head.
“How on earth do you mean to force them to send in reinforcements?”
“Do you remember the letter I wrote the last time I sent a request for reinforcements to the imperial family?”
Ader, the person who wrote the letter, nodded.
“Yes. don’t remember then obviously… … .”
– If we don’t send reinforcements this time… … . Next time, the youngest prince will show you the best thing he can do. tell me so
“… he said I just wrote the letter.”
I grinned wickedly.
“Let’s show you the best of the best. As soon as the imperial family saw it, they were so happy that they twisted their whole body and dispatched troops immediately.”
“It’s a wake-up call… ?”
“okay.”
Ash, the 3rd prince of the empire, is originally a spoiled brat.
You’ve been such a sincere and kind commander all this time, right?
Now it’s time to go back to being a real maniac.
It’s on a different level than just drinking a little, gambling a little, and wasting a little money. I’ll show you the real fucking shit.
“What’s the fuss of having to send elite troops to the outskirts here no matter what happens in the imperial family?”
sigh.
I answered Ader with a very low voice after keeping my mouth shut.
“That’s right… .”
***
“- Treason.”
Everyone stopped moving at my proclamation.
dinner.
manor house. drawing room.
The place where all the party members gathered as I summoned.
Drinks and snacks were placed in front of each sofa.
This was because the party members had requested a late-night snack during the last battle.
The party members were laughing, eating snacks, and talking while relaxing the atmosphere that had become heavy due to the death and funeral of a colleague.
While the atmosphere had softened for a while, I immediately threw the bomb.
“… yes?”
Evangeline asked with her eyes wide open. The candy in my hand was already rolling on the floor.
“Um, senior? What did you say-”
“Treason. Evangeline.”
Evangeline’s mouth fell open. The drink in his mouth dripped into the cup in his hand.
The reaction of the rest of the party was not significantly different.
He started coughing because he was sick, pinching his own cheek, or digging his ears to see if he had heard the wrong thing.
But I have good vocalization.
I didn’t hear it wrong. friends.
“Tell me again. I am going to rebel.”
Only the word treason is the third.
Unable to deny reality any longer, the party members looked at me with eyes full of astonishment.
“Crossroad, a fortress city on the southern front of the Empire, leaves the Imperial territory starting today. I declare the founding of an independent nation, ‘Crossroads Empire’.”
I shrugged and pointed at myself.
“And of course the emperor is me.”
