◈ 021. [STAGE 1] Mercenary Survival Guidelines
“Rather than all die, at least one should live! Hurry up, kid!”
Jupiter brushed off the last party member.
“I’ll buy you time with magic, so run away in the meantime!”
The young mercenary, who had been crying, shouted and raised his long spear.
“How do you get there! It’s best to hold out here until help arrives!”
“what?”
“Grandma is a wizard!”
The young mercenary struck the side of the Living Armor with a long spear.
“The second mercenary survival rule! Stay close to your mage at all times!”
“… .”
“Rather than running away without a warhorse, praying that Grandma will clean them up with magic will have a better chance of survival!”
The young mercenary continued to stop the Living Armorers with a long spear and shouted.
“I’ll do anything to stop it, so prepare the next magic!”
Fuck! Fuck!
The young mercenary’s tactics were effective.
Instead of killing the Living Armor, he pushed them away with a long spear and struck them, widening the distance.
The heavy weight of the armor took time to get back up once it fell.
In addition, Damien was firing support fire from the top of the castle wall in the distance.
The flying arrows were knocking down the Living Armors one by one.
If Jupiter’s condition had been fine, it would have been possible to buy enough time.
However, Jupiter was still slow to gather mana because of his injury.
When she manages to gather enough mana to summon a thunderbolt, boom
! Fufufufu!
The spears of the monsters were sticking out all over the body of the young mercenary who was wasting time.
“Ahhh… !”
“Damn it!”
Flash-!
Quagmire!
Jupiter swung his arm forward. Lightning struck and completely reduced the Living Armor gathered in the area to ashes.
“Heh heh heh… … .”
Out of breath with his hands outstretched, Jupiter looked around.
“Kuch cool.”
The young mercenary was lying on the ground with blood pouring from all over his body.
Could he have been saved if he had been able to gather mana a few seconds faster?
Jupiter brushed off the useless guilt and blew it out of his head. He was too old to be mindful of each of these deaths.
“Hey kid.”
“… .”
“What is the first survival rule for mercenaries?”
The young mercenary, whose blood-soaked lips trembled, managed to mutter.
“It’s strange to give a lot of money… … don’t take… … .”
“… .”
“Oh mom… .”
that was the advice The young mercenary died with his eyes open.
Jupiter raised his head. Beyond the burned mountain of Living Armor, another Living Armor was rushing forward.
A dejected smile crept across the old mercenary’s lips.
“Your survival principles are all wrong, kid.”
Pajijik Pajijik… … !
A weak magic power gathered at Jupiter’s fingertips.
“You can’t succeed as a mercenary in that way.”
There was not enough horsepower to shoot. Jupiter turned the last mana into a thunderbolt and wrapped it around his fist.
“To become rich by being a mercenary! To make a name for yourself!”
With that fist, he threw a body blow at the body of the living armor that had come close to his nose.
“Instead of being risky, I only take jobs that pay a lot of money!”
Bang-!
A fist wrapped in lightning shattered the Living Armor.
“I need to stay as far away from friendly mages as possible! because!”
Bang! Bang! Tukkwagwang-!
A bolt of lightning erupted from the end of the fist he swung in succession, sweeping away the Living Armor.
“Because the wizard will snatch all the merits!”
The thunderbolt gradually disappeared from Jupiter’s fingertips as he shouted cheerfully. Even the last squeezed mana ran out.
“What more… If you want to survive, you shouldn’t have been a mercenary in the first place.”
The next Living Armor appeared from behind the fallen Living Armor, sprinkled with iron powder.
Jupiter calmly took out a cigar from his pocket and put it in his mouth. I didn’t have the strength to start a thunderbolt anymore, so I just put it in my mouth and laughed.
“Ah~ I thought I was getting some honey with a high salary… .”
Aaaaa-!
Monsters rained down from all sides. Jupiter closed his eyes.
“This is how it ends.”
Right then.
Close up close-!
I heard the sound of horses hooves kicking on the ground.
“huh?”
Jupiter looked back puzzled and said,
“Stay still.”
Lucas was approaching on horseback right behind him.
snap!
Lucas grabbed Jupiter by the back with his left hand, snatched it up, and lifted it up. At the same time, he cut the sword in his right hand horizontally.
Tsukaaak-!
The living armor that had been cut by Lucas’ sword splattered into pieces with red sparks.
Lucas lifted the Jupiter with his left hand and put it down as if tossing it into his back saddle.
Lucas said indifferently to the bewildered Jupiter.
“Hold tight.”
“Uh uh… .”
“Hey!”
Lucas immediately started riding his horse and making a U-turn back toward the city.
Aaaa!
Aaaagh!
The Living Armorers threw javelins at them from behind.
But Lucas leisurely swung his sword behind him and cleared all the javelins.
Jupiter watched as the spears thrown by the monsters shattered right behind his back, then opened his mouth slightly.
“Hey, young knight man.”
“What is it?”
“Would you like to meet my granddaughter later? She is a very nice girl… … .”
“If you can afford to play, recover first so that you can use magic.”
Responding coldly, Lucas spurred on.
“Because there are still plenty of monsters left.”
“haha… .”
He was extremely friendly to his master, but Lucas was extremely cold when the prince was absent.
Still, Jupiter expressed his gratitude.
“Thank you for saving me.”
“You don’t have to thank me. I was just following Your Highness’ orders.”
After hesitating for a moment, Lucas sighed.
“but… I’m sorry I couldn’t save you sooner.”
All four members of Jupiter’s party have died.
They weren’t mercenaries who would die so easily. They were talented people who would protect the fort here in the future.
However, a combination of misfortune and accidents led to this result.
“I’ll regret it after killing all those monsters.”
Jupiter looked back.
Living armor pouring in and a huge specter knight floating in the sky.
Jupiter’s single eye glared at the two of them, and a bright blue electric current bounced.
“It’s been a while since this old man… I was really pissed off.”
***
In the distance, Lucas was seen riding a horse and returning safely to Jupiter.
“… Whoa.”
I let out a sigh of relief and sigh.
Bringing Jupiter, an SR rank wizard, back to life was a great harvest.
However, four precious hero characters were lost in an instant.
‘I was too overconfident about the game experience.’
It follows the rules of the game to some extent, but this is the harsh reality.
All kinds of variables pop up in the game that you don’t have to worry about.
‘Soldiers are terrified just by the appearance of the boss.’
Even in the game, I had to manage morale, and there were status abnormalities such as fear and confusion.
In reality, much more detailed and diverse reactions came out. I couldn’t even imagine that even the war horses would be terrified.
‘Because it’s reality, we have to consider variables that can happen.’
Biting my lower lip, I lifted my head.
‘And what happens because that’s a different reality than the game.’
I looked toward the outer wall of the fence.
Kung Koo Goo Palace… … .
The wooden outer walls were slowly crumbling.
It wasn’t because the Living Armor attacked. It was because of the crossfire on our side.
As intense fire poured right next to it, sparks flew little by little, and eventually the wooden outer wall caught fire.
It was a small fire, but it quickly spread.
The fire helped burn nearby Living Armor, but eventually the outer walls were crumbling.
‘If the outer wall collapses, the kill zone will be incapacitated soon.’
Living armor poured in all over the collapsing outer wall.
They no longer entered the middle of the crossfire, and the kill zone was gradually losing its meaning.
Aaaa!
Aaaaa-!
Across the field, the Living Armor let out a scream.
Damian and his Ballista troops knocked them down, but soon they would reach the walls.
“After all, we have to fight through the walls.”
I tasted bitter.
I wanted to finish this stage with only firepower projection without melee combat as much as possible.
There are only five hundred people on this side.
Most of them are veterans and newcomers.
When it comes to hand-to-hand combat, exchanging weapons at close range, the damage is bound to increase like a snowball.
So, if I could avoid it, I tried to avoid it.
‘Still, I killed a lot of them.’
I glanced at the enemy information window.
[Enemy Info – STAGE 1]
– Lv.25 Ghost Knight: 1
– Lv.5 Living Armor Assault: 277 (Kill Counts: 775)
The remaining ones are less than 300.
There are fewer numbers to deal with in actual melee combat, as you can further reduce the numbers with firepower projection before you start hand-to-hand combat in earnest.
‘It’s worth doing.’
This battlefield is still under my control!
Just then, Lucas and Jupiter came up the wall. I had just returned to the gates.
“majesty. Jupiter… … I have rescued you.”
Lucas reluctantly put the sutra at the end of Jupiter’s name.
Apparently, the opponent was a disgraced retired person, so it seemed unpleasant, but it would be wise to cater to the magician.
“I have returned, Your Highness.”
Jupiter bowed briefly to me. The blood from the wounds he received when he fell off the horse was staining the old man’s forehead.
“Jupiter. I’m glad you came back alive.”
“I have no face, Your Highness. This old man made a mistake.”
Jupiter wiped the wound on his forehead with his fingertips. Fresh blood that had not yet hardened stained her leather gloves red.
“The annihilation of my party is my responsibility. A lot of young people died in vain. It is truly deplorable.”
“I didn’t know that monsters would suddenly appear out of thin air, and I didn’t know that horses would run amok. It’s not your responsibility.”
Because it was a party made up of heroic characters, they were able to survive while protecting Jupiter.
It was painful, but the sacrifice was able to save the magician, the core force.
“No, if you were on the battlefield by the time you got to this age, you should have been able to deal with situations like this. This is my mistake.”
Jupiter clenched his fists in bloody gloves.
“so… I will pay you back.”
Jupiter’s one eye was fixed on the boss monster floating in the air.
ghost knight.
The boss of this stage and the commander of the Living Armors.
“I will definitely cut his throat.”
“… Jupiter to recover from the condition.”
I moved my gaze outside the castle wall.
“You’ll have to use your strength soon.”
Doo doo doo!
The Living Armors were running across the field.
I shouted at the cannons.
“Killzone has no meaning anymore! Stop shooting!”
“Yes yep!”
Sweat-stained soldiers beside the cannon stopped firing.
“Damian, get some rest too.”
I tapped Damian on the shoulder as he continued to shoot the crossbow.
“Ha ha ha ha!”
Damian, who had been shooting arrows without a break, looked back at me with a pale complexion. The two overworked arms are shaking.
“But they keep coming… .”
“You have to catch the bigger one.”
Holding Damian’s shoulder softly, I nodded quietly.
“Take a rest and recover even a little. It’s alright, right?”
“… Your prince.”
Damian put down his crossbow and I stared at the wires.
Aaaa-!
Before anyone knew it, the Living Armors had reached the moat right below the castle wall.
