769. [STAGE 48] Breaking ground (5)
Dudududududu-!
Four cavalry units galloping northward.
These white, red, black and blue knights, each symbolizing plague, war, famine and death, distorted their surroundings in an evil way just by their presence.
The ground trampled by the white knights rotted away at once, and fire spread across the path the red knights ran on. Around the black knights, the plants and wild animals withered and died, and finally the blue knights…
clatter, clatter, clatter.
Just run quietly.
Unlike the other three cavalry units that announce their presence by noisily laying waste to the surrounding area, the Blue Knights are galloping silently.
Winter has descended and we quietly head north, breaking the frozen winter ground.
“….”
I clicked my tongue as I looked at the particularly white and frozen road the Blue Knights took.
I know.
Those kids are the most dangerous…
***
A few days ago.
After Stage 48’s opponent was confirmed to be Apocalypse Knights.
I divided our troops into four units. Each unit was evenly divided into tanks, dealer wizards, and healers.
And in addition to the unit I would command, I appointed Thorkel Evangeline Lucas as the commander of each remaining unit. All three were tanks and at the same time heroes with troop command experience and talent.
Thorkel’s unit was given the Red Knight of War, Evangeline’s unit was given the Black Knight of Famine, and Lucas’ unit was given the Blue Knight of Death.
“What about my lord?”
“I will stop the white knights of the plague.”
This personnel arrangement has its own reasons.
First of all, I am immune to plague. Thanks to the persimmons that Salome once fed me, pestilence cannot invade my surroundings. So, I become a counter to the white knights just by existing.
‘If you try to fool me, do you think it’s only Raven?’
I clicked my tongue, remembering the plague brew of the Crow Mask that I defeated with Salome.
The Red Knight of the next war.
These guys are driving the war. In other words, flame properties.
However, even though it deals with flames, it is only an additional effect. It’s like embers igniting along the running trajectory.
Their special advantage is the ability to wage war using overwhelming physical power.
Of the four units, it is the most excellent at hand-to-hand combat.
Among our field commanders, Thorkell is the best to deal with. Thorkell, who can easily command the entire army under his command through the purified Nightmare Slayer [Original Sin], should be able to put up a decent match against these guys.
“….”
At the word ‘war’, Thorkel suddenly stroked the helmet he was wearing [Original Sin].
The owner of that helmet… and the Goblin God King who lost all of his former companions. Did he even remember the battle with that guy?
“I will follow your orders, Your Majesty.”
Thorkel bowed deeply and stepped back.
The next Black Knight of Famine.
True to their name, these guys cause droughts and dry out the mountains and rivers. In other words, it is a water property.
Rather than actively using water to exert strength, it takes moisture from the opponent and the surroundings.
And water is life.
They are troublesome people who easily drain their lives.
Evangeline smiled sarcastically.
“Hehe, is it arranged for the reason that I can prevent their famine with my moist charm?”
“No… It means that you should support yourself with the fat stored in your round belly…”
“What?!”
Of course it’s a joke.
The Black Knights’ leader has a pattern of attempting wide-area life absorption-life drain targeting our heroes. This was arranged to counter this with Evangeline’s ultimate skill, [Last Fortress].
“Well, if that’s the reason… No, but I barely have any belly fat anymore?!” Instead, I have big abs?!”
Evangeline patted her stomach in frustration and looked at Lucas.
But Lucas just looked at the layout of the map with a serious face and then asked me.
“What are the abilities of the Blue Knights, my lord?”
“death.”
I nodded and sighed.
“And there is a chill in death.”
It reminded me of a pile of sheets I saw at a forward base a long time ago.
The terrible chill I felt at that time suddenly cooled the back of my neck. But without showing it, I nodded.
“The Blue Knights extract cold energy every time they take an opponent’s life.”
Every time our life is taken, the Blue Knights surround themselves with the cold energy extracted from that death.
But this is not just cold… it is literally cold that touches the soul extracted from the dead. Mortals exposed to this cold are wounded in their souls.
If the snowball rolls properly, at the end of the battle, their entire bodies will be covered in black cold, making them look almost like they are wearing ice armor.
So, if you ask me, it has ice properties.
“Do you have any idea how to deal with these guys?”
“…We need to reduce the damage to our allies as much as possible.”
“Accurate.”
I nodded at Lucas’ answer.
As the damage to allies increases, the Blue Knights are covered in more cold and gain more strength.
You must bide your time by reviving as many allies as possible.
“….”
Ice. And the enemy becomes stronger as he takes the lives of his allies.
Suddenly, Celendion came to mind. The battle with the Vampire King who led the Frost Ghouls was like this.
I closed my eyes tightly.
Yes. These are all hardships we have already experienced once. It is an ordeal that has already been passed.
Are you going to give in to this adversity now?
“Lucas. You and your unit must not engage in direct combat with the Blue Knights.”
I handed down the tactics.
“I, Thorkell, and the Evangeline unit will destroy each enemy unit and then join your side. “You and your unit are in charge of holding them in place while taking as much time as possible and causing as little damage as possible.”
“….”
Lucas listened to me with his eyes deep in thought.
Just buying time by taking on the strongest of the four enemy units.
Normally, this would be a crazy order, no different from a suicide order. However, the person who ordered this operation was me and the person who received the operation was Lucas.
I don’t let my people die.
And Lucas is my ace in name and reality.
We have the capability to carry out this operation. That is why we trust and leave it to you.
“Take your time by protecting the forward base as much as possible. But when the going gets tough, I don’t hesitate.”
“yes. “I will retreat.”
Besides that, which heroes would you give to Thorkel and Evangeline Lucas? After giving instructions on what equipment and how many soldiers to bring.
Finally I spoke.
“Everyone, keep in mind. “Our role fighting at the forward base in this battle is only to break the brunt of the enemy.”
The three unit commanders looked at me and their eyes lit up. I nodded.
“There is no need to go to great lengths to annihilate it. It is enough to reduce the number of enemies and take time.”
I taught them once more how to operate an advance base, which I had probably mentioned hundreds of times while running the monster front.
After emphasizing that we should retreat without regret when necessary, I clapped my hands.
“There’s not much left! “Let’s do our best until the end!”
Then Evangeline suddenly thrust her fist forward. huh?
Looking at us curiously, Evangeline looked around at us without saying anything, just waving her eyebrows.
Lucas chuckled first and attached his fist to that fist. Only then did Thorkel and I, realizing his intention, attach our own fists.
Pot!
After lightly bumping each other’s fists.
We headed out to form our respective units.
***
Currently.
“This place…”
I declared, planting the flag on the ground.
“It’s the forefront of the world!”
Sigh!
Gray castle walls made of magic rose up from all around, and a fortress emerged on the empty plain.
Immediately, the heroes and troops under my command who were on standby quickly found their positions inside the fortress and began to be deployed.
“after.”
Taking a short breath, I looked around.
Even though the burden was reduced as much as possible in the previous battle, the faces of the heroes and soldiers showed fatigue that could not be completely erased.
It is not simply fatigue caused by the series of battles that unfold at the end.
The fatigue accumulated from endless fighting over the past three years is etched like scars on everyone’s faces.
“….”
It will all end soon.
I turned my head to the sky.
Of the two airships, La Mancha was stationed high above where it could monitor all four forward bases.
Damien was also on board La Mancha and was entrusted with supporting fire for all four forward bases.
Considering that the distance between each forward base is extremely long, it is a nonsensical order, but Damian is a clairvoyant. It’s okay to do something a little crazy.
Therefore, La Mancha and Damien will provide support to the four forward bases as needed. The same goes for the Sky Knights and Mikhail, which operate based in La Mancha. If the situation arises, we will sortie and provide support.
The Blue Pearl, a pirate ship that had recently joined, was attached to Lucas’ unit. Since the enemy there was the strongest, an airship was prepared as a means of retreat.
Besides that, I think about the status of the heroes assigned to other units and the state of their equipment…
“It’s good to worry about other units.”
A voice was heard from behind.
When I turned around, I saw a bald dwarf walking towards me with unsteady steps.
“Anyway, why don’t you worry about us first?”
“Kelly Bay.”
I grinned.
“Why should I worry when the great Dwarf King is here?”
“This has completely become a politician’s tongue.”
Kelly Bay shook his head as if it was absurd and looked around the inside of the magic fortress.
“All of the main heroes and soldiers were placed in other units, and all the artifacts and equipment were distributed… The only people here are you, me, my subordinates, and the volunteer army that recently joined.”
Kelly Bay looked south.
“Are we really sure we can solve this on our own?”
Doo doo doo doo!
A cavalry unit with white cloaks waving appeared in the distance in the south, raising a cloud of dust.
The white knight of the plague.
The entire path along which this archer cavalry, all equipped with bows in their hands, ran was black and rotten. The pure white cavalry galloping over the blackened road was a terrifying sight in itself.
I chuckled.
“You should ask the opposite, Kelly Bay.”
“huh?”
“I wonder if we have gathered too much power here. Wouldn’t it have been better to scrape together the rest and provide support to other units?”
Kelly Bay opened her mouth slightly as if she was shocked by my bravado, but I was actually being sincere to some extent.
The power of the dragon and the power of the divine power are saved for ‘clearing’.
Even if I don’t use it, I’m already half a cheat character.
As I spread my arms out to the side, the magic wall next to me began to transform in an instant.
Slam! Slam! Slam!
thud-! thud-! thud-!
The transformation was completed in no time and what was erected there was an automatic defense turret.
The number is exactly – one hundred doors.
‘The SSR grade magic core is also rotting away due to the surplus being consumed by missiles. In this situation, we need to use it!’
This is a special move that only the commander-in-chief can use when dealing with resource saturation in the latter half of the game – turret bombardment!
What are you going to do with the minerals left over when the game is over? I have to shake it all off!
I winked at Kelly Bay, who gaped.
“Would you like to have some fireworks, Kelly Bay?”
Then Kelly Bay clenched his fists and shouted.
“That’s Joochi-!”
Clap!
One hundred automatic defense turrets simultaneously spotted the enemy cavalry within range and turned their heads.
The next moment, a hundred gun ports spewed out dazzling blue-green fire all at once.
