Sigma and Sabrina returned to the others, and they could tell that even Ed and Eclair were starting to get a bit bothered since they weren't doing anything. It couldn't be helped, though. It couldn't be helped, but then Sigma wondered if Eclair's healing magic could be used agaisnt the monsters. He didn't know why he had that idea… but it was probably impossible for her since she didn't have many defensive abilities.
"Well, it seems that the plan is working well for some reason… even though you end up drawing their attention a bit sooner than expected," Ed said.
"That is because the army is split into groups, and they only work with the monsters of the same group," Lucy declared. "Still, once half of them have been dealt with, at least one of the demons will show up."
"I guess it is to be expected that you know this much, but why didn't you tell us earlier?" Sigma furrowed his eyebrows.
"I didn't think that it would change anything. We didn't find a way to exploit that. After all, I highly doubt that four people can come up with a plan that two hundred didn't," Lucy replied. "Waiting to be next way won't change a thing. Five hundred will be back tomorrow. Trying to sneak on their territory won't work either. Crossing their line of defense will alert the monsters immediately. Trying to wipe them out all at once won't work either since they are that tough, and the demons can revive and summon more even without getting close."
Sigma had thought of all those possibilities, but since they had already been tested, he needed something else that only his group could have. Sigma was at level sixty, so he needed four more levels until he got Mana Regeneration, which should increase his deck of options tremendously.
"It almost seems like the demons only come to fight you out of boredom or just to annoy you," Ed said while scratching the back of his head.
"We thought that as well, but most likely, that isn't the case. They just can't afford to use more mana than they have to with those five hundred monsters," Lucy shook her head.
Sigma could just wait for the enemies to keep doing what they wanted and level up. That would make him stronger, but he didn't know what they were plotting, and it might be something that would be too hard to deal with even if he reached level one hundred there or something.
"Do you know when those demons arrived here?" Sigma asked.
"Around one month, we kept coming back and forth to wipe out all the monsters, but one day, we suddenly found them blocking our path," Lucy replied.
"What was originally in the place where they built their base?" Sigma asked.
"The largest lake in the area… we tried to understand the connection between this and that, but we failed," Lucy replied. "In the first place, that lake didn't even have monsters, to begin with."
"Why?" Sigma furrowed his eyebrows.
"How should I know? It has been like that since pretty much forever," Lucy replied.
That was a clue, and Lucy knew that, but she was too hot-blooded to investigate it further. Still, not like the group had much reason to understand the goals of the enemy without being able to invade their base.
"I suppose we need to think of a better plan… the enemies might be better prepared tomorrow, so we need to come up with one today," Sigma declared.
The group went silent since they didn't know what to say or do… the situation was really troublesome. Still, the simplest approach was always the better, and the best way to get rid of the ice skeletons was to also by killing their masters. It was unlikely that they would keep going if those demons died.
"We will attack the enemies together and focuses on decreasing their forces together until the demons approach. Once that happens, we will focus on the demons themselves," Sigma declared. "Once they lose their masters, they should become a lot easier to kill."
"... That seems like the best option," Ed said after a long sigh. "But we need a clear battle plan to fight them. What can you tell us about the demons, Lucy?"
"Nothing aside from the fact that they are a nasty bunch," Lucy said. "They didn't fight us directly, and they just used Ice Spears that were stronger and heavier than of the skeletons. We had a hard time dealing with those, even those of us who could use high-level Fire Armor."
"They didn't have swords of armor?" Sigma asked.
"Just a few pieces of armor. They have wings, and they use those to fly, and too much armor would hinder their speed," Lucy explained while looking a bit annoyed for being asked too many questions.
"Did you ever wound them? Can they heal? Or use healing magic?" Sigma asked.
"... Is this guy for real?" Lucy asked while looking at the others.
"Well, you forgot about the Amnesia… or perhaps you didn't believe," Ed shrugged. "Some demons can heal pretty fast, but they are mainly melee fighters. Demons can't use healing magic since it is considered holy and all that."
Somehow, Sigma felt that it made sense… considering the story of the world, the humans learned magic from some gods, some types of magic from ones, and some from others. Some gods were considered evil and created the monsters and possibly the demons, and those probably couldn't use that kind of magic. Still, that gave Sigma a chance on how to deal with the deal with the demons.
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