When strategizing for this type of game, there's one unchanging rule.
Depending entirely on luck will inevitably lead to failure at some point.
Let's consider an example.
Suppose there's a magic spell that strikes an enemy with a hit rate of 50 percent.
If you proceed in the game relying solely on the effectiveness of this magic spell, can you really make it to the end?
For a while, you might be lucky, with the magic hitting continually, making the game easy to unravel.
But eventually, you're bound to slip. And at that moment, the game could end.
Whether it's 1 percent or 99 percent, probability never fails to betray the player.
Those who aim to strategize must not depend on luck. Strategy must be conducted in the realm of certainty.
Even though I knew this well, I continued to swing for a lucky strike.
I thought it was the best tactic to pull the pre-opened cards to the limit.
And... this was the result.
0, 0, 0!
[You Are Doomed...Rest In Peace.]
[▶◀FUMBLE▶◀]
It seemed like it would come up at some point, and it finally did.
000.
The worst hand. A fumble.
Thud!
Just after the slot stopped, my left hand was shattered.
"...Ugh!"
I gritted my teeth and bore the pain.
My entire left arm was literally in pieces. The bones that pierced through the flesh were gushing blood.
The pain was so severe that I hallucinated sparks flying before my eyes.
This is the price of a fumble.
The attacker, myself, receives a substantial amount of damage.
Sensing something strange, Evangeline, who had been blocking the golem, flung it far away and looked at me.
Her face quickly drained of color.
"S-senior! Your left hand!"
"Don't make a fuss. I was prepared for this."
I took out a high-level healing potion with my right hand, bit off the cork, and poured it on my left arm.
Hiss-
"Argh...!"
Steam rose from my left arm. The wound was healing, the bone was knitting together, accompanied by a terrible pain. Damn, it really hurts.
The emergency treatment is done, but I won't be able to use my left arm for a while. Catching my breath, I signaled to Evangeline.
"Buy me some time. Just 10 seconds."
"Can you do it in just 10 seconds?! You need more rest...!"
"We're fighting for our lives here, there's no time for rest and whatnot because of a mere injury like this. Here they come!"
Rumble-!
The five pursuing golems charged at us.
"Damn! Back off, you stone brutes-!"
Gritting her teeth, Evangeline stood in front of me and blocked all the attacks.
Evangeline must be running out of strength too, but there's no choice. Just buy me a little time.
I reached behind with my right hand, grabbing the long load I had been carrying on my back.
Relying on luck will inevitably lead to failure in strategy. I know this well.
But the reason I swung for a lucky strike despite knowing this, is simple.
"I had insurance in case my luck failed!"
Fwip-!
I unwrapped my pack.
-A long, thin, beautiful black rifle was revealed.
'There's a reason why I, a right-handed person, had to inevitably use Lucky Strike with my left hand.'
Holding the barrel with my broken left hand, I grabbed the handle of the magic gun with my right.
The butt of the gun was firmly against my right shoulder, aligning the sight with my line of vision, crouching my posture, taking a breath...
I pulled the trigger.
Bang-!
With the tremendous firing sound, I was jolted backward.
Flames burst out from the muzzle like a firecracker, and the magic bullet shot within that blaze blew away the body of the Golem standing at the very front without leaving a trace.
The magic bullet didn't stop there; it penetrated the upper body of the guy behind him, then exploded from the chest to the head of the one behind him.
One shot, three kills.
It was because they were lucky enough to stand in a straight line, but it made a spectacular scene.
"..."
Evangelin, who didn't understand what was happening, was gaping.
Even the remaining Golems were stunned by the current situation, they stopped for a moment.
"W-what is that?!"
It was a few seconds later when Evangelin yelled out. I responded nonchalantly.
"It's my second lottery ticket."
The SSR-grade magic gun, cast from the magic core of the Black Spider Queen.
Black Queen.
It was Damien's, but I took it in a hurry. Because I have to use all the cheating I can at this point.
'Use the variable of Lucky Strike as much as possible with my expendable left hand, and if my luck runs out, decisively strike with this gun.'
That was my strategy.
The magic gun is a difficult weapon to handle. It's sensitive and hard to aim, so the farther the enemy is, the more the hit rate drops.
But if you shoot at close range.
Especially if the opponent is a Golem or something of that size.
Even for a character like me with pitiful stats and absolutely no aptitude for shooting, you can obviously hit.
'Serving in the military on Earth is helpful at times like this.'
I wondered where I would use what I learned about shooting guns, but thanks to it, I could manage to shoot somewhat with the fragile body of the Crown Prince.
Bang-!
I fixed my posture and fired one more shot. This time, only one got hit.
It was slightly off, but it didn't matter because half of its body was blown away anyway.
'The recoil is like a cannon.'
Not only my injured left arm, but my whole body is creaking. If I use this weapon, I'll get bruises all over my body.
'Sorry again, Damien...!'
The last Golem tried to charge at me, but Evangelin stepped in between and stabbed with her spear and hit with her shield.
Clank!
When the last one fell, I let out a long sigh.
"Whew..."
Absorbing the recoil of the gun with my body...
My left arm felt completely numb, as if paralyzed, void of sensation beyond the pain.
"There's a mountain of things I'd like to ask, but I'll just ask one."
Evangeline approached me, asking with an exhausted face.
"What are you going to do now?"
"I told you. I'm going to kill them all."
I gestured towards their main base.
"I'm heading back to the mansion. There are a few more 'insurances' I can use in that mansion."
"That ruined mansion...?"
Evangeline followed my gaze towards the mansion. It wasn't too far. The problem was the remaining golems swarming on the other side.
The boss golem I had summoned was already neutralized.
Enemy golems stood atop the fallen boss golem.
They were tearing off the remaining armor of the boss golem, destroying its magic cores one by one.
"If we want to survive, we have to kill all of them here."
If those creatures were to pursue us, we would die before reaching Crossroad.
We have to end it here.
As if sensing our gaze, the golems began to look in our direction one by one.
Upon seeing this, Evangeline shivered, her shoulders trembling.
I checked the remaining ammo of Black Queen. It was a seven-shot magic gun and I had used two shots, so I had five bullets left.
'Enough.'
Nodding, I began to take step by step forward towards the mansion of Margrave, swarming with them.
"Uh, uh-oh, uh-oh! I don't know anymore!"
Evangeline, with a tearful face, clung to my side.
Now, the golem legion began to slowly approach us, leaving the neutralized boss golem behind.
I opened the system window and brought up the skill list of the summoned boss monster.
The skill at the very end.
The ability I had paid the most attention to since I first summoned it.
"You did well, my summon."
I calmly gave the command.
"...Now self-destruct."
As my words fell, the single eye of the fallen boss golem dyed red.
Goooooo...!
The golem legion seemed to sense the unusual atmosphere and quickly turned to look at the boss golem, but it was already too late.
Kwa-kwang-!
Bang! Booming...!
A grand explosion erupted, accompanied by a deafening noise that made my ears ring.
I calmly watched the massive pillar of fire rising, while Evangeline, seemingly without the energy to be surprised, just widened her eyes.
'Well done, Giant Steam Golem. You've fulfilled your role.'
I silently praised the boss monster. Goodbye.
"I hope they all died with that..."
I activated the [Map Drafting] feature.
With a sensation like scanning the surroundings, a dotted map appeared at the corner of my vision. The number of remaining enemies, let's see.
"Seventeen left."
I couldn't see due to the smoke from the explosion, but the map doesn't lie.
I quickly counted the remaining foes and swiftly took Evangeline's arm to lead her.
"Let's go, we need to get inside the mansion before they regain their senses."
We started sprinting towards the mansion. We were both nearing our limits, but the mansion was soon within our reach.
That's when it happened.
Buzzing-
Flash!
A streak of red light whizzed past us, cutting through the dense smoke. Evangeline, who was shielding me, deflected the attack with her shield. Ping!
"The most troublesome one is still alive!"
"That's always the case. The damn ones always live long."
A Stone Golem revealed itself amidst the billowing smoke.
Despite being smothered in the suicide blast of the boss golem, the Stone Golem was functioning just fine. Its strength truly befitting a sub-boss.
"It seems his friend is dead, though."
"That's some good news...!"
Another Stone Golem was rolling on the ground, shattered into pieces.
It was the one that killed our horse earlier. It seemed to have been hit hard by the suicide blast. Serves it right!
Ping! Beep-beep!
Boom!
As we sprinted towards the mansion, we had to deal with the magical bombardment unleashed by the Stone Golem. It was now within arm's reach!
Crack-
Just then, Evangeline's shield got a large crack, sounding like breaking glass.
It had taken too many hits and its durability had been completely exhausted. And it shattered when she kept using it to defend us...
"No way...!"
Following that, a single streak of red light flew towards us.
Evangeline blocked it with her cracked shield, and the shield burst into golden particles and fragments right after.
Clatter-!
"Ugh-?!"
Evangeline brushed off the fragments from her left arm while lifting her cavalry spear with both hands above her head.
Red streaks of light rained down on her.
Ping! Beep-beep!
Boom!
If there's no shield, you use a weapon to defend.
It was a sensible decision. If you don't block, you die.
Her cavalry spear deflected the magic attacks splendidly.
But, the cavalry spear is a weapon. It's not equipment for defense.
If it keeps taking attacks like this-
Crack.
It inevitably gets damaged.
Clatter-!
Soon, even her cavalry spear shattered into pieces.
The streaks of light that followed were all blocked by Evangeline, who wrapped herself around me.
"Argh...!"
"Evangeline!"
"It's fine, hurry, to the mansion...!"
The mansion was right before our eyes.
Supporting the almost collapsing Evangeline, who had taken the hit, I dashed and threw ourselves against the back door of the mansion. Thud!
As we rolled into the building, we pressed ourselves against the wall immediately.
Smash!
Ping! Beep-beep!
Bursts of light continued to pour in, shattering the windows.
Although the wall was offering temporary cover, we couldn't hold out for long in this situation.
"So...as you instructed, we've arrived at the mansion now..."
As she pressed her hand against her injury to stem the bleeding, a pale-faced Evangeline asked with difficulty,
"Do we have... a good plan to overcome this situation, senior...?"
"Just trust me, junior."
With a wry smile, I dug my hand into my pocket.
"I may not be a prince on a white horse, but..."
My pocket was linked to my inventory, and I pulled out what I had been searching for.
"I'm a not-so-bad trickster."
In my hand was a magic core.
It was a standard high-grade Magic Core (SR) I had obtained from our last free exploration.
I hurled it towards the inside of the mansion.
Then, I cried out,
"Summon!"
[Summoning Magic: Automatic Defense Tower]
- All required materials are prepared.
- The level of the summoned entity matches the level of the summoner. You can only maintain one summon at a time.
- Please designate the summoning location.
I was going to use everything I could.
I curled the corners of my mouth into a smug grin.
Do you think I'll go down here, you monsters?