The alarm on my phone went off. It had only been three hours, but my head was clearing. When I checked the time, it was midnight. Has the day of the "Temptation of the Evil God" arrived?
In the past, the first attack had come after the sun had risen, but this time, the opponent knew what we were capable of, and they were going to attack differently this time. It would not be surprising if they attacked late at night or early in the morning to catch us off guard.
I changed my clothes from the ones I had received since I came to live here to the ones I had worn during my trip to Hokkaido, I feel more comfortable this way. It's the last day I play the role of a follower of God, so let's get into the swing of things.
I put a large piece of cloth over the head of the statue of god that was living with me in the tent. We need to protect it as much as possible so that it won't be damaged until the moment of the final battle. I leave the tent and wander around the village late at night.
There are nocturnal Kang and Ran on top of the watchtower, so I guess I can leave the guarding to them. There are also three young men, new to the village patrolling just in case. I learned their names and faces over the past three weeks, so I walked up to them and called out.
"Thank you for your service."
"Squire! What are you doing here so late at night?"
"It's that day, you know. I couldn't sleep, so I went for a walk."
I scratched my head in embarrassment. It is also important to appeal like a normal person, and it will be easier for them to talk to me if I act like a friendly character rather than a perfect one. I found this on...and on a website called "How to act like a boss your subordinates will like."
"Take care of yourselves."
"Thank you very much!"
They all hummed beautifully, didn't they? With a bow, they headed towards the fence. I didn't have to be so vigilant since my phone would ring out when the Evil Gods attack started, but my mind was different in front of the PC and on the scene.
The actual sense of impending danger and the tension of the villagers, I could feel it in my skin. However, there was nothing to do, so I decided to rent an empty kitchen and cook some dinner. This place overlooked the whole village, so I could see the entrance to the tent I was in. I was sure that Destiny was still sleeping soundly in there.
I cooked some rice and made fried rice into rice balls, and handed them to Kang, Ran, and the three patrollers. The total number of combatants in this village was fourteen, including Gams, Murus, Kang, Ran, five elves, and five newcomers. Compared to before, their strength has not only doubled, but more than tripled.
The elves were the same height as the humans, but quite slender, taller than the green kobolds, but with slender arms and legs. The other two, who were not part of the human's midnight patrol, were quite large. They have a good amount of width and height. When it was just the initial five members and Murus, I assumed that all the inhabitants of this world were good looking, but the newcomers were not.
It's a secret between us that I was relieved that...I wasn't the only one who felt overwhelmed. In the event that I've got nothing better to do, I may want to take a look at the night sky. The night sky in Hokkaido was beautiful, but this one was a step above. A starry night sky that I would see for the last time today, so I intended to burn it into my memory.
...…
As the sun came up in the morning, the villagers came out of their tents and houses. I had already finished preparing breakfast, so we all ate together and prepared for the attack. Just as I was about to return to my tent, I heard a siren ringing from my phone. I checked the screen.
[Temptation of the Evil God begins!]
It was displayed on the screen.
"It's happening!"
"Monsters are attacking! If you can't fight, please take shelter indoors!"
Chem, standing in the watchtower, is shouting at the top of her lungs. All the unarmed people ran into the house at once. I climbed up on one of the four watchtowers and looked down over the fence. There were over...twenty black dogs!
The arrows were aimed right at the black dogs, and they fell one after another. Murus and the other elves were the ones who shot the arrows, the accuracy and power of the arrows was remarkable. In the end, not a single black dog was able to touch the fence before they all died.
"It's breathtaking."
We have plenty of arrows because Kang and Ran mass-produced them for us. With that and the elves' archery skills, an enemy of that caliber would be no problem.
Another thirty minutes later. The number of black dogs increased to more than thirty, but they were still able to eradicate them with just arrows.
Thirty minutes, an hour, an hour and a half, two hours. After lunch, there was still no attack. This development reminded me of the second attack. That time, we couldn't deal with them because they directly interfered with us. It's a good idea to take a look at your own personal life before you make any decisions.
"So, it's simply a pattern of conserving strength and attacking at once?"
What was the name of the businessman...who was messing with me so much? The name of the businessman who was messing with me so much was...Habata? It's hard to believe that a guy with a name like that would come at you in a straightforward manner.
I took out my phone and checked the screen looking down on the village from above. It's become a habit of mine to look around the whole village like this a few times. What are the villagers...doing now, there's something outside the fence.
Fortunately, I was able to see the forest because I was peeking at it from quite high above, and I saw something in the forest a little farther away. From the observation tower, the trees seemed to be in the way, so I couldn't see them, but from above, I could see them just fine. I can't confirm the exact number, but there are quite a few.
"Miss Murus! I think there's something deep in the forest!"
I shouted out to Murus, who was on the nearest watchtower. She puts her hand on her forehead, squints her eyes, and stares into the distance. Immediately, her skeptical expression changes to one of astonishment, and she violently rings the bell hanging from the ceiling.
"Incoming! There's a horde coming our way! All hands on deck!"
The combatants all gather near the watchtower and fence. The elves all have their bows at the ready, and Gams is handing out spears to the young men of the village, preparing for when they get over the fence. And at this moment, the words "Temptation of the Evil God: The Last Raid" appeared on my phone. I checked it and headed for my tent alone. There were two villagers at the entrance of the tent, and they were just about to enter my tent.
"Oh, you came to call me?"
When I called out to them from behind, they were so surprised that they almost jumped.
"Squire....Yes, yes, yes, yes. I came to inform you of a massive monster attack."
"I see. But that's strange. I'm the one who informed you of the attack in the first place, right? I'm not sure if my voice reached you or not."
I tilt my head back and raise an eyebrow.
"Oh, I see. I'm sorry, I heard—"
"By the way, why are you two carrying lit torches in the middle of the day? What's in that bag of water you're holding? Could it be ... oil?"
I narrowed my eyes and stared at them, and the villagers looked at each other before drawing their swords.
"When did you start noticing us?"
When I had exchanged a few words with him in the village, he was a nice young man with a quiet image, but now there was no trace of that, and he was staring at me with sharp eyes.
" From the beginning."
As I said, it was only today, or rather a while ago, that I noticed the suspiciousness of these two people. It was on that day when I exchanged words with the management over the phone. Just before I hung up the phone, I asked him something.
"Is the evil side only monsters? Are there no human followers?"
The conclusion was that there were a small number of human believers as well. So, the possible strategy was to infiltrate the believers of the evil god side into the village and destroy it from within. It's the most basic strategy. There was no reason not to do it.
So, what would be the most effective thing to have the believers infiltrated in the village do? I thought about assassinating a major player, but it would be risky to attack the skilled Gams. If they went after someone else, the survivors would be wary of them, and that would be a disaster. Then I thought of a situation where the other side knew about my miracle.
So, if they can interfere with my trump card, Golem Manipulation, wouldn't that greatly increase their chances of victory? If they burn the wooden statue, the villagers will be upset and they could easily corrupt the village. Setting things on fire is a basic strategy game. If the fire spreads to the village as well, the evil gods will be able to win both sides. The evil gods were worried about this, so they remained vigilant, and as a result, here we are.
"By the way, what happened to the...real villagers?"
All the new villagers were either villagers from where Lodis and his friends had lived, or elves from the village of Murus. They all knew each other. But it was too much to say that they were all followers of the evil god that attacked this village by chance. It would be better to think that a different person had switched places. And I know a player who can perform the miracle of wrapping his body in illusion and becoming a different person.
"How could you know that much?"
The villagers I knew were gone, and in their place were two strange men in black robes. Are these the followers of the evil gods? They look like they're dressed to the nines.
"You're saying you saw this coming from the start?"
"Of course."
The only reason I noticed it was because I had witnessed that miracle before. In addition, the three villagers who were patrolling late at night, I checked at close range to see if they were hallucinating when I handed them their evening meal. I've seen Habata's miracles, just as they've seen ours. We both know how he does it. While I'm doing this, the sounds of crashes and monster yells are coming from behind me. It seems that a full-scale battle has begun. I'm not going to waste any more time on this.
"Well, if you know, we will have to kill you here, wouldn't we? The gods have told me that the squire is only as physically strong as a human."
He pulls out a twisted, wavy dagger from his robes.
"And it's a little late for that. The oil has already been spread on the tent, so we'll just set it on fire like this."
Before I could stop him, he threw the torch behind him and it fell into the tent. All at once, the tent burst into flames and a huge pillar of fire rose up.
"If we burn the statue, there's no way to suppress that attack, right?"
Ignoring the triumphant believers, I took out my phone and operated it. Two dull thuds sounded, and two of the believers fell to the ground, face down. Behind them, a statue of God stood with flames in the background. It may be inappropriate, but this situation burns.
There is a reason why the statue is not burning even though it came out of the flames. I stroked the head of the one who had done so much for me, peeking out from inside my coat.
"Thank you, Destiny. I can't do enough for you."
That's right. The power of petrification had already turned the wooden statue into stone. Once the statue was made of stone, there was no need to worry about it being burned. So I was able to keep my composure in this situation.
I couldn't be of much use in terms of physical labor, but I had plenty of time to think. It seemed to have helped me to anticipate the thoughts of my opponent. But this was no time to be carefree. I manipulated the statue to collapse the tent and extinguish the fire so that it would not spread to the surrounding area. Out of respect for my privacy, they had built the tent a little farther away from the other buildings, so I didn't have to worry about the fire spreading.
"All right, then, this time we'll save the village of...!"
Now all I have to do is to kill all the monsters, and save the village with my own hands.