"Compose yourself."
A fleeting wave of panic passed over me, but I immediately cooled my mind.
"She must be there."
The queen was undeniably listed in the stage's enemy roster. She had to be somewhere on the map.
"Moreover, the goal of this stage isn't to slay a boss. It's not surprising that the boss monster marker doesn't show."
I remembered the spiderweb-like formation I'd observed earlier, and quickly assessed the enclosing horde of creatures now in view.
Despite the raging all-out assault, there would undoubtedly be a reserved force lurking in the rear.
A secure backline. Escort units prepared for any eventuality.
The queen had to be there.
-Bang!
-Crash!
Already at the fortress's frontline, the battle between the spiders and the soldiers had erupted, and the roar of conflict reverberated throughout.
The explosive sound of cannon fire, the clash of metal, the cries of pain...
"Where is it?"
Amid the chaos, I frantically surveyed the extensive map.
"Where is it? Where?"
Then, my gaze landed on a point.
Southwest of the advanced base fortress.
Distinct red dots, isolated from the main cluster, were distinctly marked on the map.
"Found it!"
I immediately cried out.
"Damien!"
"Yes!"
"It's there! Do you see it?"
I pointed towards the southwest.
Damien squinted, furrowing his brows, and scrutinized the area I indicated.
I was about to pass Damien a telescope from a rear guard, but...
"...Yes. I see something. Spiders standing still."
Damien confirmed this without a telescope, using just his natural vision.
He could actually see them. All I discerned were vague dots. How sharp was his eyesight?
"Among them should be the queen. Can you identify it?"
"..."
Damien, who was scanning the area, visibly flinched.
"By queen, you mean a creature with a human torso and a spider's lower body...?"
Bingo.
"Exactly."
"Yes, I see it. It looks... quite terrifying..."
"Don't be frightened. It'll soon be crushed under our cannon."
Next, I instructed the artillerymen.
"Rotate the cannon! Aim it south-southwest! Damien and I will fine-tune the alignment!"
-Vroom!
The artillerymen swung the ground device, adjusting the entire cannon's orientation.
The cannon, pulsating with mana like a violent stream, pointed its head towards the distant queen.
"Mana Cannon, ready to fire!"
"Mana is fully charged. We can fire at any moment!"
"Excellent!"
I took Damien's arm and guided him to the Mana Cannon's control panel.
Despite being a potent artifact, its sighting device was disappointingly rudimentary.
A crude crosshair served for rough aiming, and you would pull a hefty trigger to release a shot.
"Hold this."
I urged Damien, who stood anxiously before the trigger.
Damien, slick with cold sweat, raised his trembling hand to the trigger. But he couldn't pull it.
"Um... Your, Your Highness."
"What?"
"I'm not sure I can do it."
Damien turned back towards me, his face twisted in anxiety.
"I... I've never been in a situation like this before. It feels too sudden to trust me with this task..."
"Damien."
I laid a comforting hand on Damien's shoulder.
"It's okay if you miss."
"What?"
"I'll shoulder the responsibility."
"..."
"Even if you err, even if you fail, even if you make a mess of it all! It's fine. I'll take the brunt of it."
Soldiers follow the orders of their leaders.
Dealing with the aftermath, that's a commander's job.
"All you need to do is aim at that creature and pull the trigger. That's all that is asked of you."
I tried to offer him a reassuring smile.
"You're seeking retribution for your friend."
"Retribution... For my friend..."
Hearing those words, a transformation overcame Damien's eyes.
Taking a deep breath, Damien firmly seized the trigger, his aim fixed far into the southwest through the cannon's sight.
With Damien's precise adjustment, the gun barrel shifted its tilt and direction.
It took mere seconds to fine-tune the alignment.
-Clank!
Then, with all his might, Damien squeezed the trigger.
-Clang! Clang!
Gears ground together, setting off a series of mystical mechanisms in a chain reaction.
-Zap!
Focused mana sparked a potent current beyond the gun barrel, and then...
-BOOM!
With extraordinary force, it was discharged.
The unleashed power of the mana cannon, in a state of overdrive, was beyond what even the artillerymen could fully anticipate.
Caught off guard by the detonation and shockwave, the artillerymen were knocked off their feet, and I found myself covering my ears and tumbling to the ground.
But my eyes stayed wide open, tracking the path of the discharged magical projectile.
'Hit.'
The glowing mana bullet blazed through the sky.
'Hit!'
Across the southern horizon - right into the heart of the distantly swarming black dots.
"Hit!"
I yelled, almost without thinking.
-BOOM!
And then, the strike.
The plummeting mana bullet triggered a colossal explosion from a distance. The billowing cloud of dust was clearly visible even from our position.
I scrambled to my feet.
"Did we hit?!"
The reply came not from Damien, but from a scout who'd been watching the impact site through a telescope from afar.
"Direct hit! Direct hit! The shot landed square in the midst of those creatures!"
A unified cheer erupted from the soldiers on the cannon deck.
Much like the other soldiers, Damien, who'd been knocked to the ground, appeared dazed.
The artillerymen swarmed around Damien, delivering hearty pats on his back.
"You're incredible, lad! Was this really your first time?"
"Well, I..."
"How did you manage to aim at something so distant? It's barely visible even with the telescope!"
"I don't know how I did it..."
Damien gazed at his own hands in astonishment.
"I just... did as the prince advised... the moment I held the trigger, I seemed to know what to do, and my body reacted on its own."
Was this the result of in-game skill adjustments, or was it Damien's natural aptitude?
There was no moment to ponder. The scout who had been scrutinizing the impact site through his telescope turned towards me, his face ghostly pale.
"...Um, Your Highness."
His voice was shaky. A wave of dread washed over me.
"What's the matter?"
"They're on the move."
"What's moving?"
"The spider swarm... they've begun to mobilize."
I dashed to the telescope, took the scout's place, and peered through the lens.
"...!"
Within seconds.
The spiders, a considerable distance away, started moving in unison, forming what appeared to be...a defensive formation?
'Damn!'
I clenched my teeth.
The Black Spider Legion was supposed to halt once their queen was killed, as it was akin to having their brains annihilated.
Yet, the spiders remained flawlessly active.
Not only the ones struck by the cannon, but the spiders assailing our forward base showed no signs of retreat.
'This could only mean...!'
Just then,
-Hiiiiiii...
A menacing cry echoed across the battlefield.
There was no need to speculate who that cry belonged to.
-Kiyaaaaaaaaaaaaa!
A terrifying shriek from the spider queen filled the battlefield.
Despite the distance, the immense pressure from the scream made it difficult to breathe for a moment.
Confused, the soldiers clutched their heads and yelled.
"What's happening? What's going on?!"
"Didn't we hit the spider queen?"
"Why is she still functioning?!"
The mana cannonball had struck accurately.
The issue was, the damage was not enough.
"Everyone, pull yourselves together! Stay composed! Keep firing at that beast!"
As I yelled, the trembling soldiers turned to look at me in unison. I shouted even louder.
"Load the next round! Now!"
"Y-yes, sir..."
The artillerymen, shaking, clung to the mana cannon. They cooled the overheated cannon and readied the next round.
Just then...
-Kiyaaaaaaaaaaaaa!
The spider queen let out another horrific shriek, and the movement of the entire Black Spider Legion shifted.
-Hiiiiiiii....
-Kyieeeeek!
The spiders attacking the forward base abruptly pivoted their attention. To our artillery position.
The monster's blood-red compound eyes flickered menacingly. I shuddered, drenched in cold sweat.
You're quite the quick tactician, Queen!
-Thud-thud-thud-thud-thud!
The spiders, who had been evenly assaulting the entire forward base, abruptly reversed direction and started charging towards us. The scout yelled.
"They're storming the artillery position!"
"Let the soldiers below handle the defenses! You guys just load the next round! Quick!"
I urged the artillerymen.
"We need to take out the queen before they reach the artillery position! Reload-!"
The artillerymen hurriedly cooled the mana cannon with magic and loaded the ammunition. In no time, the perspiration-soaked artillery captain shouted.
"Reload complete!"
"Damien! Fire!"
Damien, who had been narrowing his gaze to pinpoint the Black Spider Queen's location, pulled the trigger as my words rang out. Clang!
-Zing-zap-zap!
-Boom!
Mana burst forth like a stream of electricity, and then a mana shell was fired. I swallowed hard, tracking the shell's trajectory with a telescope.
The projectile that sliced through the sky with a graceful arc fell directly over the Spider Queen...
-Boom!
Hit.
The shell landed so accurately atop the monstrous queen's head that it sent a shiver down my spine.
"Hit! It's a hit! Right on target!"
An excited soldier in the rear jumped up and down. But I felt no excitement.
-Kieeeek!
Because the horde of spiders charging towards us didn't alter their movement one bit.
'Not enough!'
Even from a distance, where only a silhouette was visible, it was clear the queen remained alive.
I clenched my teeth.
If this were a typical queen from the Black Spider Legion, encountered midway through the second year, the artifact's damage could shatter her in one or two shots.
The Black Spider Legion was known for their strong warriors, not a formidable queen.
But this queen at the tutorial stage?
There was absolutely no information on her.
What if her entity value was different? What if she had a special trick up her sleeve? Or, what if she was 'indestructible' by default?
'What then...'
A succession of grim thoughts began to take shape. I hastily shook my head.
I can only do what's within my power. I must hold on until the last moment, push to make a breakthrough...!
"Your Highness!"
The artillery captain, who had been prepping the mana cannon for the next shot, hastily reported to me.
"The Magic Core is reaching its limit due to forced overload! The barrel damage is also serious! We can shoot fewer times than initially estimated!"
"Enough with the reports! So how many more shots can we make?"
"A total of five times... we've already fired two, so three more times!"
Three more chances.
I was left with no other choice but to hope that the Spider Queen would be annihilated within those three shots.
'No, from the beginning...'
I surveyed the defensive line enclosing the artillery.
'I'm not even sure if we can get off the remaining three shots.'
-Thump! Thud-thud!
The frontline was giving way.
The spiders, clustering together, furiously gnashed their teeth and claws, eventually crumbling the walls and starting to infiltrate.
"Hold them off! We must hold them off!"
Lucas, now covered in monster blood, wielded his sword, shouting. But the defensive line was already on the brink of collapse.
"Argh!"
"Kuaah!"
One by one, the soldiers fell, their screams echoing as they met their end.
The Black Spiders, their red eyes glowing ominously, began to pour through the broken wall.
I clenched my fist, staring down at the encroaching tide of death that had come so perilously close.