"It looks like everyone's mood is shiny," Zolast said as he looked at us.

"Yes. Precious," Limenta grumbled with annoyance.

"It's not as fun when you're the one wearing the armor, right?" I said with a chuckle, amused by his frustration. Since Concealment had limited impact on the beasts, Limenta wouldn't be operating as an assassin against the upcoming corrupted monster horde.

That meant, he was wearing one of our amazing golden armors he loved to mock so much. A particularly shiny one, as for any observer, he was going to be the Lord Steward due to his Agility. He wanted to play the assassin against the occasional summoner mixed in the force, but that was vetoed. He lacked magical capabilities to defend against Destruction Mana.

"Really, boss," Terma grumbled. "Couldn't you come up with any color but yellow?"

"Come on, kiddo. It brings out your complexion," I said, happy to tease them now that I wasn't the one suffering from my ill-advised choice.

"Yes, we look dashing," Karak commented in a deadpan tone, which earned a chuckle from everyone. Including Silas, who was still depressed about Jertann's absence and the lack of progress. I didn't doubt that that was Karak's aim all along. Growing together, they were close, and Jertann's absence made Karak act more extroverted to keep Silas' mood from sinking too low.

Luckily, I could see that there were no suppressed romantic feelings between the two that might grow during Jertann's absence. The last thing I needed was a ridiculous love triangle between them, which would poison everything.

Admittedly, my good mood was not just due to their bad mood. It was also influenced by the way they reacted to the upcoming challenge. Here we were, merely eight people against an endless horde of monsters. Worse, I had already informed them that neither Zolast nor I would be taking part of it unless it was necessary. Yet they were complaining about the — admittedly horrible — color scheme of their armor rather than the challenge of facing an endless wave of corrupted beasts.

Our reason to stay away from the main battle was simple. I wanted to act as an assassin against any hidden high-ranking cultists, as well as staying ready to intervene against any particularly dangerous beast. Meanwhile, Zolast was already setting up several layers of wards that could be turned into defensive bulwarks or explosive traps as needed, which was a necessary investment if the beast wave turned out to be even more dangerous than we had expected, giving the army behind a chance to properly dig around the city.

And, if possible, activate the ward.

Of course, I was very enthusiastic about the potential benefits. I checked my Authority, wondering how much it would increase.

[Authority: 47,114]

"Go forth and shine like the sun, brave knights," I said, which earned another set of grumbling as they moved forward. I stayed behind with Zolast, using my Perception to the limit. However, even as the younglings made contact with the first wave, which consisted of faster yet weaker beasts, I ignored the wave of notifications and spoke absentmindedly.

"Isn't it amusing just how a well-established scheme can make our enemies do the last thing they should be doing," I commented. After all, under the circumstances, Authority was the resource I had been lacking the most.

Yet, the enemy, who previously decided to kill me simply because I dealt with some corrupted beasts and collected some Authority, decided to send a treasure trove to my way, unaware of its benefits to me.

"It's even better that we claimed some kind of great enmity between their god and ours," Zolast said. "No one would ask questions why we're this enthusiastic about dealing with those beasts and protecting the princess."

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"You made sure to extract some more books for our protection, right?" I asked.

"Naturally," he answered.

I laughed. Double-dipping was always something to celebrate. However, I turned my attention to the younglings, watching them battle. Terma danced between the beasts, cutting through them like an overenthusiastic harvesting scythe, putting his combination of Agility and Speed to great use and dealing with the greatest number of beasts.

Silas was drawn to the area where the flow was thickest, more than willing to confront Lord Beast equivalents alone. More fascinatingly, succeeding thanks to her Strength, which was currently even higher than mine.

I expected Karak to take a more passive role, but to my surprise, he was just as bloodthirsty as Silas, though choosing his targets more carefully. His stats might be lacking compared to others, but he more than made up for it by his steady yet decisive attitude, his spear carrying a subtly threatening element that the others lacked.

I had a feeling that, if Marquis Somaton watched him, he would have marked him as another candidate with a potential to develop a Domain. That much I was sure of, even though I still didn't know the exact meaning or process of a domain.

In comparison, Mahruss was much steadier in his display, almost ordinary as he cut waves of monsters down, mixing Agility, Strength, and Perception well enough. He was dangerous with his steady, balanced approach, but it would also be a vulnerability in a duel, against an equal opponent. He needed to work harder to create better combinations.

He also stayed near Takis, who was by far the weakest when facing the beasts. His class, the Scholar of War, didn't grant him any physical stats, and the mental stats he possessed had limited impact on his combat abilities due to his lack of natural Attunement, but it didn't matter. His talents were not in direct combat. He was there to get a more visceral sense of what others were capable of — both the rest of the gang and the corrupted beasts — to make sure his future strategies accurately included both factors.

None of us believed that this was the last time we were dealing with the corrupted beasts.

We watched without assisting, at least not directly. I still used our Party connection to give them some advice, reminding Terma and Silas not to go forward, advising Karak how to make his attack better reflect his perception, explaining to Mahruss that he needed to be more aggressive on the battlefield to actually increase his safety, and other such tricks.

"They are doing really well," Zolast commented as he paused to absorb some mana stones, his mana stores had drained once more. Luckily, we had a literal cartload of high quality mana stones to replenish his reserves and be utilized by the ward. Enough to bankrupt an ordinary barony.

Our growing financial superiority was as useful as our levels. Ultimately, regardless of the planet, war was a competition of logistics and financial means as much as martial ability.

"Not bad, but it looks like we need to help them a bit," I said as I pointed at a certain direction. "There's too many beasts with dense destruction mana that look far more volatile than usual," I said. It was a hard judgment to make for Destruction mana, as it was always wild and chaotic, but my previous skill helped me in that aspect.

"Summoning or explosive?" Zolast asked.

"Hard to be sure from a distance," I said. "Let's be on the safe side."

"Sure," Zolast said as he waved his hand, and a hundred ballista bolts from our stockpile flew forward unassisted, only to explode before they made contact, mana-imbued shrapnel enough to kill thousands of beasts.

It also triggered a great explosion of destruction mana that would have troubled the younglings, had they tried to deal with it at close range, answering our earlier question.

At the same time, it netted several thousands Authority for me despite every beast only granting one. I certainly appreciated the increase. We barely started minutes ago, but my authority had already increased incredibly.

The benefits of my expanded party was hard to overstate. I wondered what would happen once it reached a hundred thousand. I hoped for something fancy.

[Authority: 71,021]

"I wonder why they are so invested in throwing so many beasts to our side. It can't be just for revenge," I said.

Zolast snorted. "You're strongly underestimating how vindictive and stupid a knight like Toross could be even under more ordinary circumstances, let alone after being corrupted by a volatile entity like the God of Destruction," he said. "It wouldn't surprise me if he doesn't eventually throw his full force toward us."

"There's a chance that he just did," I said. "After all, his god already sacrificed his avatar in anger, and he lost quite a bit of his forces. Even he has limits, doesn't he?"

"I doubt it," Zolast said. "They had spent too much time near the mountains already. Since they are willing to reveal their forces now, they should have accumulated more than this. This is more of a probing attack."

I sighed. "Even with superpowers, it's annoying to fight against an enemy with endless supply. Even if that supply brings untold benefits. It looks like I have to go and see if I can stem the tide to something more manageable.

Zolast just nodded.

And, I started running once again, wondering exactly what I would find in the depths of the mountain.