The Ice Wraiths converge on the remaining Giant, countering our strategy of using Hollys.
The damage to our ship pains my heart. The lower half of its hull is badly damaged, almost exposing the gems within, but it'll hold. The wings, though, are faring much worse, barely enduring the attacks.
Now that our [Wind Shield] is working again, we limp back over the enemy line without a problem, then we descend behind the Lonlanzas, and the girls disperse into their previous positions.
"URAAAA!" The elven high-pitched roar echoes through the corridor, cheering at our victory.
I climb up onto the prow again, then breathe in and prepare myself. Giving speeches is rather exhausting.
I add [Godly Language] to my voice as I bellow with all my strength, "THEY'RE TRAPPED BETWEEN THE ANVIL AND THE HAMMER! STRIKE WHILE IT'S HOT, AND PUSH THEM BAAACK!"
"URAAAAA!" The entire elven line lets out a fearsome roar, and I notice many of the orcs shifting uncomfortably on their feet. Their morale is shaken. Even their remaining Giant isn’t enough to keep it up, not after we blitzed through five Giants by ourselves in just a few minutes.
The elves hit their shields with their gladius-like swords, then the marching drums slow their cadence, and the Lonlanzas lower their pikes.
"URA!" They roar with every step, thrusting their pikes threateningly, making the enemy line nervously shift backward.
The monsters scramble to reorganize themselves, but the Arquirandos don't let up their continuous volley, encouraging the chaos. The enemy's backline is still in complete disarray due to the Giants running amok and then crashing on top of them, so they can't stop the rain of death even if they wanted to.
"URA!" The pikes meet the enemy shields. Every hole or opening in their shield wall is exploited; broken shields are shattered by the force of the magically reinforced pikes; and any bit of exposed flesh is mercilessly pierced through.
The glowing pikes draw back painted red with blood, and monsters fall to their deaths, joining those slain by the Arquirandos.
"URA!" The Lonlanzas thrust and take another step forward, then even more enemies fall down on the sand.
"UGOOOOOO!" A deep war cry roars from behind the enemy lines, then the monsters start to bunch up properly, recovering from their shaken state.
"URA!" The Lonlanzas thrust again and take another step forward. The blood of the enemy taints the red sand, making it become both sticky and muddy.
"UGOO!" Another war cry echoes out, and the enemies react to it a moment later.
"URA!" Another thrust is delivered, but this time, they don't advance. The enemy shield wall is just too solid now.
Hana thumps her shield and starts chanting along with the drums, hyping up the unsteady militia around her.
The Tusk Warriors appear in the center of the enemy line and roar louder than anyone else, providing the final morale boost the monsters needed to mount a proper defense against us.
"WALL!" The militia commander yells, and the untrained soldiers at both of our flanks reluctantly obey. Shoulder to shoulder, man to man, the militia forms a wall and points their spears forward.
"FORWARD!" And they start marching. They proceed past the line of Lonlanzas to fully cover their exposed flanks.
"STOP!" The commander yells, and both sides angrily stare at each other, standing only two meters apart.
The monsters snarl and growl while the elves throw out taunts at them. The morale of the militia fluctuates, but it gradually grows stronger from their blood lust.
"COME AT ME! FACE ME, YOU PITIFUL BEINGS, AND I'LL GIVE YOU THE MERCY OF DEATH! LET ME PUT YOU OUT OF YOUR MISERY!" Hana taunts, causing a commotion to stir within the enemy line.
A few spells and arrows fall onto the militia, but they cause only minimal damage.
The remaining Troll Clubbers appear within both flanks of the enemy line, and the militia recognizes the furry monstrosities towering above the orcs and Living Armors. The untrained elves shake in fear as their morale immediately falters.
"STEADY!" The militia officers try to calm their men.
"RAAAAAH!" Hana screams, and her rage causes the fire in the men around her to flare up since their emotions are all connected through [Weaverism].
"URA!" The Lonlanzas thrust again, but they don't advance just yet.
"UGOO!" The Tusk Warriors push against the wall of pikes, and a few of them try to slip through only to be quickly skewered for their efforts.
Ogres appear all across the enemy line, and the militia starts to cry and pray once they spot them.
"THE GODS ARE WATCHING! SHOW US YOUR WORTH!" Ciel's angelic voice echoes through the battlefield, easing the hearts of the men.
"STEADY!"
"URA!"
"UGO!"
"MEN! THE MOMENT IS NOW! SEIZE IT!" I use [Project Voice] to give them one last push.
The Grim Giant kneels behind the orcs so that his hands can reach the Lonlanzas.
"STEADY!"
A deep, low horn is sounded behind the enemy line, and the monsters charge the militia.
"MEET YOUR DEATH!" Hana taunts, fire leaking from her mouth in rage.
The Skirmishers loose one last volley at the Trolls; the forty Lonlanza nobles raise their pikes that were hidden in between the militia, and aim them at the Ogres; the thirty Generals and Yunia stop hiding at both flanks and make their way towards the front of their sections; Ciel, Alissa and Lina both mounted Aoi, and a Nalusa appear over the left flank, easily flying past the enemy line unscathed thanks to [Ignorance].
The Giant tries to crush the Lonlanzas with its massive stone gauntlet, but a huge metal elemental in the shape of a stake bursts out of the sand. The Giant is too slow to react, so his hand is completely pierced through by the elemental.
The Trolls and Ogres crash against the militia, trampling the front line, but most of them are immediately stopped by the lone noble pikemen. A moment later, the Generals crash through the enemies and start butchering their way forward.
The Giant falls on its ass, clutching its wrist in pain, then the elemental reduces its girth and pushes itself out of the Giant.
I cast [Telekinesis] and guide it back to us, then I land it behind the Lonlanzas, and it gets ready to stop the Giant again.
"EASE!" I yell, and the Lonlanzas at the center take a step back, but even so, some of the Tusk Warriors manage to reach our shield wall, forcing the elves holding it in place to use their swords to fight.
The Nalusa rakes its large claws down the back of a Hobgoblin mage, drawing blood that immediately gathers in a ball floating beside it.
The spindly and tall monster focuses each of its four eyes on an enemy, then the floating blood morphs into small blades that fly towards their targets.
The monsters finally notice the Nalusa, and its horrific figure scares even them. The flesh of its human-like body seems to be horrifically charred, and white bones protrude out of its back like spikes. It's a creature of nightmares that's been set loose upon the vulnerable enemy backline.
Ciel flies around with impunity; Lina's axe decapitates a monster with each strike; Alissa's arrows stay true to her Title; they're both protected from most attacks by Lina's shield that's been enchanted with both [Dead Zone] and [Wind Shield]; and no enemy around them can stop Aoi from trampling her way through their ranks.
Yunia, Hana, the noble pikemen, and the Generals all stop the Trolls and Ogres from freely plowing through the militia, nullifying their greatest advantage: their charge.
The smell of blood fills the air, and I wrinkle my nose in disgust. The roaring of taunts is replaced with the cacophony of warfare and the death cries of the monsters.
"EASE!" I order again, then I delegate that task to the commander.
The monsters sense our retreat and push harder against the center of our thin line, gaining themselves a boost in morale.
The Arquirandos switch targets, intensifying their attacks on the enemy's flanks and ignoring the center.
The Giant leans forward to slam his hand down again, but the elemental threatens him, making him hesitate.
I jump down from the ship and make my way to the back of the Lonlanzas. I cast [Discharge] at the enemy line, easing the pressure on our troops a bit.
"Strength, men. Have strength!" I exclaim, pushing [Godly Language] to its limit, and the muscles of the elves bulge.
They grunt from the exertion required to keep the swarm of Tusks at bay, and they even take a step forward, but the commander orders them to retreat again.
Our long and thin line of Lonlanzas bends, shifting into a concave curve.
A few of our Generals fall, but the enemy swarm at the flank is pushed back in exchange.
The girls wreak havoc across the enemy backline, causing their mages to completely lose all cohesion, which gives free rein to the Arquirandos.
"RAISE!" I yell towards the back, and the commander of the Engineers relays my order.
They cast [Earth Wall] to raise the ground the Arquirandos are standing on, giving them a vantage point that allows them to directly fire at the monster army.
The Nalusa goes into a frenzy as it gathers all the blood it could ever wish for, creating a storm of blades of blood that kills anything around it.
Hana breathes fire, setting another Troll alight, and a noble Lonlanza pikeman pierces its exposed throat while it panics.
Rage and bloodlust burn within my dragonkin, and her emotions fuel the militia around her, turning helpless farmers and craftsmen into berserkers. Yunia voluntarily receives these emotions, then she channels it out, fueling the militia of our other flank.
Their bodies are bathed in the blood of the large monsters, and no matter how many men die around her, they don't give even an inch back, they only advance.
"NOT ONE STEP BACK!" The two roar in unison.
I see a commotion stir among the enemy in front of me, and the fresh orcs replacing their dead comrades now have red armor. They're the Bloodkin, the Orc Lord's retinue.
It seems that he's trying to break through our line.
All according to Keikaku.
"REINFORCE!" I order, and our last few reserves join us, fresh for battle. "PREPARE!"
The Generals and the militia push the enemy line back, advancing together with the Lonlanzas at the flanks. They make their way through the mess of countless enemy bodies littering the floor, then they cross the muddy and bloody sand to reach the survivors.
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The monsters gradually become surrounded, and some start to break off in a rout, trying to pass through the large dunes of soft sand behind them.
"PUSH!" I order.
"URA!" The elves roar and push the orcs back, forcing them to even stumble for a moment.
I cast [Discharge], and the elves thrust, together killing an entire line.
They immediately fill the opening with pikes, pushing the orcs away from our shield wall.
"PUSH!" I cast [Discharge] again.
"URA!" The elves thrust and take a step forward as they kill another line of stunned orcs.
The Giant's hand comes down on us again, and the earth elemental launches itself at him but gets grabbed mid-air instead.
I can see the Giant's grin in his eyes as he crushes the elemental, then oil seeps between his fingers. I cast [Lightning Bolt] at his hand, and it catches on fire.
I pull out a length of rope that we tied to dozens of flasks of Decay, Sneeze-'n-Wheeze, and burning oil, then I throw it all forward and guide it with [Telekinesis]. An enemy mage interrupts my spell, but it's fine because it's already above the enemy Bloodkin.
"MAAAAA!" The Giant yells in pain and waves its burning hand around.
"GURAAAAAAAA!" A rage-filled war cry comes from behind the enemy lines, and all the orcs enter a frenzy.
Tusk Warriors and Bloodkin throw themselves at our pikes, letting themselves get pierced so that our weapons stay still for a moment, then they break their tips with their superhuman strength.
We're running out of pikes, so there's more room for the monsters to push through, and before long, they reach our shield wall again. The center of our Lonlanzas is about to fall apart from exhaustion and attrition, so the final act of this battle now begins.
I grab my spear, mace, and halberd with my tentacles, then I make my way towards the front line with the golems following close behind me.
"ATTENTION!" I yell to the men around me.
Our troops continue the maneuver of wrapping around the enemy army, encircling them and wiping out their backline. The Giant starts to cough as it inhales part of the noxious cloud of fumes from the flasks I threw. Then a flaming arrow lands in the enemy line, and a fire breaks out.
Hannibal would be proud of me.
"RELEASE!" I yell, then I prepare to strike as the oval shields are turned vertical.
I'm going to fuck them all up!
"BREAK!" -The shields turn sideways to open the lines for those behind them- "FRENZYY!" I yell with [Godly Language] and charge through our line along with the final few fresh soldiers. Gify sends the vision of dragons fucking into my mind, and I get a boner along with a burst of energy.
The Giant's burning hand crashes against the Lonlanzas behind me, smashing their formation completely apart, and a melee breaks out. The golems can be quite nimble when the situation asks for it, so they easily dodge its attack.
The girls make a beeline towards my position to end this once and for all.
My halberd splits open an orc's neck, then my mace flattens the head of a Bloodkin.
"You are now level 38."
I stun the orc in front of me with [Lightning Bolt], then my sword pierces his crotch, and I twist it to maximize the damage.
I stop an orc with my spear stabbed through his eye, and push another away with my [Wind Shield], then my mace crushes the head of the orc in front of me, and I advance further.
My MP runs low, and I immediately use [Redirect Mana] to fill it up again, then I summon another Nalusa. The monster immediately flies into a frenzy and dives into the center of a group of orcs.
An elven slash sends orc blood spraying at my face, and it enters my mouth. I crush a Living Armor's head with my halberd and roar.
"YOU'RE WEAK!" I scream with [Godly Language] as I move towards the next target. The large orc ahead looks more like a frightened child to me.
[Battlefield Perception] triggers, and I use [Muscle Explosion] to dodge to the side, and a greatsword cuts through the air where I just was.
I look to where the attack came from and see a huge, muscular orc in gilded armor. The Orc Lord.
Wait… that armor seems familiar…
Rage fuels me again, and I dash forward.
"I'VE SEEN BIGGER!" I taunt with a laugh as I attack him.
I only see his hateful eyes glare at me from behind his closed helmet; he's even more consumed by bloodlust than I am.
I cast [Lightning Bolt] at him just as I strike with my halberd and spear at the same time, and I see his armor glow with a rainbow shimmer that's characteristic of [Rainbow Shield]. He must've barely felt my spell.
The motherfucker's got Celestial armor!
He slices through the tentacle that's holding my halberd with his greatsword, and I immediately make another to grab the weapon before it can even fall onto the floor. My spear strikes into an opening at his armpit, piercing through the chain, but not the padding.
I cast [Rush] and charge at him.
I stab towards the side of his left knee, but my sword is stopped by his chain mail. My mace strikes the side of his chest, bending the armor slightly.
I glide backward with [Telekinesis], and his greatsword chops at nothing, only hitting the bloodied red sand.
[Battlefield Perception] triggers again, and I jump backward with all of my strength, then the Giant's hand lands where I just was, crushing both enemy and ally alike.
I cast [Telekinesis] on my sword and chop downwards, letting the increased gravity do the trick.
The Orc Lord defends against it, and his posture bends backward under the strain. I even get so close to him that I can smell his horrible breath, which is the usual for an orc.
My halberd lands on his flank, right where it was already bent inwards, but it doesn't manage to punch through; my mace lands on his shoulder, but he doesn't even flinch from it; my spear slides around his bevor and leaves nothing but a scratch on his armor.
He releases one of his hands from his greatsword, and the blade smacks against his shoulder, but it doesn't do any damage, then his gauntlet grabs the wrist of my sword arm.
Oof.
I panic and cast [Shocking Touch] on his hand, but it only helps his muscles flex, so he simply crushes my armor, then my wrist.
Pain and rage cloud my mind, then I order with [Godly Language], "UNHAND ME!"
He grunts and obeys, though perhaps it might be voluntary, then he immediately chops down with his greatsword.
I block it with [Wind Shield], but the spell still pushes me away due to his superhuman strength.
Yunia gets left behind by the militia, too tired to continue fighting.
A short span opens up between me and the Orc Lord, then I summon a Shad and a dark elemental.
"FUCK HIM!" I order, and both of my summons envelop him.
I cast [Heal] on my wrist and watch on as Pinhead, the fantasy version, powers through the pain and attacks me.
FUCKING MASOCHISTIC ORCS!
A frightening amount of mana starts to gather behind me while I defend myself against the Orc Lord.
I jump backward again, dodging another palm strike by the Giant, and summon Hana, who immediately retreats while limping, too tired to fight anymore. The golems surround her and make sure that she reaches safety.
The summons don't seem to be accomplishing anything, so I dismiss them and cast [Rush], allowing me to swing the momentum back in my favor, forcing him onto the defensive.
I continue bending his armor, but I barely manage to punch through it, and there's still the padding underneath to deal with.
The Giant leans forward, slamming a flaming hand behind me to block off my exit.
Ciel stops flying and continues on foot, now tired and low on mana.
I focus on his left knee and manage to wound it, slowing him down. The Lord cuts through my tentacles in retaliation, but he's too slow to catch me or overpower my [Wind Shield].
I'M FUCKING INVINCIBLE.
The Giant's hand tries to press me towards him, but I just jump up and away, towards safety.
There are no enemy mages left to interrupt Roxanne.
In a final display of intelligence, the Giant uses its other hand to slap at me, and I don't have enough speed to dodge.
But that was all according to Keikaku.
"[EXPLOSION]!"
The Giant's brain becomes mush, and I'm sent to the ground.
I grunt in pain, but nothing's broken, so I quickly get up again just in time to watch the Giant's body falling on top of the Orc Lord, trapping him underneath it.
I glide towards Hana and quickly check on her. She's exhausted, covered with bruises, and her armor has multiple cracks, but she's fine otherwise.
I cast a [Heal] on her worst wounds, then I look towards the enemy's last bastion of resistance. The Bloodkin and Tusk Warriors desperately resist our forces, trying to push the elves back while a few unsuccessfully attempt to pull the Lord out from under the dead Giant.
Aoi tramples through their ranks, breaking their formation apart, then our troops seize the opening and immediately mob them.
I let the bloodlust fade, and the mana overuse gives me a headache. I also start to feel my mana organ complain, telling me to refrain from using magic for a while.
The Generals finish off the last of the orcs, and the Arquirandos switch targets to the few dozen that managed to run past the dune wall.
The sounds of combat die down, and the end of our battle finally arrives.
I summon the last of my draconic energy to let out a victory cry, "URA, URA, URAAAAA!"
The men drop their weapons and cheer. Alissa drops down from Aoi's back and adjusts her helmet to cover her ears. She definitely dislikes all this cheering.
I unsummon the Nalusas, and more than a few liters of blood suddenly splash down onto the corpse-covered ground.
I unsteadily walk up to the dead Giant. The countless monster bodies and broken remnants of glowing elves cover every centimeter of the red sand. The smell of blood is so thick in the air that I can even taste it in my mouth…
Ah, no, that's just the blood that I drank by accident. Ew…
Most of my armor is spattered with droplets of blood; even the elves are glowing red because of it.
Weepers' dream, that's a literal river of blood…
The macabre sight gives me shivers, but there's one last corpse we still have to add to it.
I finally reach the Orc Lord and sigh, my ears hurting from all the cheering.
I unceremoniously store the Giant's body in my "Items," then the girls, the Generals, and I all glare at the hateful, broken thing currently wriggling pitifully at our feet.
As a testament to the Celestial Horns' armor, the Orc Lord wasn't completely crushed, but his limbs are all bent and broken.
I find an opening in his armor at the back of his neck, and I sink my blade into it.
"Level up," Yunia whispers wryly in my soul space, and I can feel her tired smile in my mind. She breathes in and rises to her feet, her legs unsteady from exhaustion.
The ground suddenly trembles, and my scouting Holly sees the sand down the corridor suddenly shifting, then a wall of smooth gray stone rises up at a frightening speed.
What the…
The wall goes up so quickly that even the monsters standing on top of it don't have enough time to get out of its way before they're flattened against the ceiling.
All the cheering stops, and everyone stares at it in awe and confusion.
We notice a vertical slit at the center of the wall, then it starts to widen, which tells us that it's actually a door.
I quickly store the corpses around me into my "Items," then I hurry to gather the girls together. Roxanne is blind, deaf, and in a lot of pain from using her HP to fuel her spell, so she'll continue resting on the ship while her potions do their work.
I grab the attention of the commanders and tell them to rebuild the lines. The tired elves obey begrudgingly, and a sloppy line of Lonlanzas starts to form.
The doors make the ground rumble as they slowly open towards us, revealing a glowing army.
Ahead of us, we can see hundreds of horsemen, a few companies of longbowmen, a shit ton of mages, and a rather small group of infantry. They're all wearing red or yellow full metal armor, and they're glowing just like the elves.
Imperials…
"Not one step back…" The elves all whisper in unison.
I look around in fear and mumble, "Wait, what? No…"
"Not one step back," their tired voices gain volume but lose emotion.
The imperials start marching forward, and the battered elven army marches to meet them. They climb the dunes like robots, and their formation quickly breaks apart.
"COME BACK! I ORDER YOU TO COME BACK! STOP! STOP!" I scream at the men, adding the [Project Voice] gem and even [Godly Language], but none of them listen to me.
"W-we can't win this… this is madness," Ciel whispers, then she looks towards me, her eyes asking me for guidance.
I catch a General and force him to face me. "Where's your loyalty?! Obey me! Stop at once!" I yell in his face.
"Not one step back," he responds like a zombie, then he gently pushes me away and continues marching forward.
Arreira, you fucking piece of shit. You pretentious fucker! You know what, I won't accept this!
"Not one step back," the imperials join in, and the zombie-like chant reverberates through the corridor.
"BACK TO THE SHIP!" I scream, then break into a dash, and the girls quickly follow. Aoi collects Yunia, then Hana, and carries them both up to the deck.
My muscles scream with exhaustion, but it's time for one last push.
Everyone gathers on the deck, then they secure themselves to the ship with ropes. Alissa climbs up the ladder to the bridge and gets ready at the controls beside me.
I summon two wind elementals on the deck and wince from the mana strain, then I order them to blow wind into our sails. Ciel joins them, but she's on her last legs, too.
We fly up towards the ceiling, then I slam the ship against the gravity-defying sand. The doorway between us and the imperials may be huge, but I bet there's enough sand above us to block it, at least partially.
Our [Wind Shield] doesn't even need to use that much mana to push the sand away because it's just sand, not a twenty-meter tall Giant trying to crush us with its huge hands.
The ground starts to rumble again, and this time, it's coming from far behind us. Alissa turns her eyes towards the source worriedly, and her heart sinks.
It's sand. All of it, actually. The corridor is collapsing behind us. Whatever held up the gravity-defying sand is fading away, allowing a solid red curtain to close in towards us.
"What the fuck?!" Everyone exclaims in unison.
We wait, but the wall of sand doesn't stop. Tons and tons of red sand are falling from the ceiling, and we only have a few seconds before it reaches us.
"What can we even do against that?!" Hana exclaims, dumbfounded.
"We can run…" Lina mumbles, her body frozen in fear.
Both the imperials and the elves simply stop their march and turn to stare at the oncoming sand.
Yunia's face warps in horror as she says, "The non-combatants… they're gone."
Panic suddenly thrums in my heart.
What the fuck is going on?!
"We have to run," Alissa states, and I agree.
I lower the ship, then I fly forward at full speed, shooting past the imperial army.
A few seconds later, the falling sand simply buries everyone, just like that.
There's no cloud of dust forming, allowing us to see the wall of death behind us perfectly, and it's rapidly approaching.
I summon five more wind elementals, and my vision starts to darken, so Alissa takes over for my eyes.
"It's still getting closer!" Hana yells, getting increasingly worried.
"Then go help the elementals!" I panickedly yell back.
The golems and all the girls, except for Roxanne, move closer to the sail and push it to the limit, but the wall of sand is still gaining on us.
We have no idea why this is happening, and we have no way out, no mana, no resources, and no plan.
Is he trying to kill us?!
Hana laughs out loud at the absurdity of this development, or perhaps it's just a way to relieve some stress.
The floor underneath us suddenly vanishes, and the walls start to glow red. Like a microwave, mana is violently jumbled all around us in a chaotic storm, interrupting all spells.
This is [Disruption Field].
The [Spirit Light]s snuff out, the elementals get dispelled, the golems fall limp, Gify's presence disappears from the back of my mind, then the ship's [Fly] gem deactivates, and we start to fall.
Roxanne, Hana, Ciel, Aoi, and I. None of us can fly anymore.
The ship starts to plummet like a rock. Not even the wings can help us now.
"Ah… ah…! AAAAAH!" Lina screams in terror, and Ciel hugs her tight.
Hana runs towards Roxanne and firmly hugs her before she flies off the ship.
I grab Alissa and cling to the bridge, then I open my "Items" and desperately flick through it.
A parachute, I need a parachute!
Aoi jumps up onto the bridge, and her claws grab our arms, then her wings protectively wrap around us.
FUCK… I JUST… NEED... A BLANKET!
I click the immaterial button to pull it out, then the ship violently crashes into the ground.