The strategy was simple.
While Lucas and Evangeline stalled for time at the frontlines, Damien and I would take care of the enemies.
The overwhelming specifications of two SSR-grade knights. And Damien's insane offensive power.
That was the defensive strategy we had chosen to go with.
But I didn't solely rely on it.
I considered myself a variable.
In preparation for any unforeseen situations, just like in the last Stage 3, I was ready to unleash an array of hidden tricks and personally carry the fight.
However...
"...Unbelievable."
There was no need for that.
My buffed party members were rampaging around like monsters.
First, Lucas.
He was almost flying around the battlefield, sweeping it clean by utilizing his 2nd skill, "Step of Persistence."
It was a skill that consumed a significant amount of MP to provide overwhelming mobility.
After receiving the buff that reduced MP consumption by half, he was using it as if he was simply breathing.
He was on one side of the fortress, then on the opposite end in a blink of an eye. And again, on the other end as soon as I blinked. It was like lightning speed.
With his agile movements, he was effectively leading the monsters and pulling the mobs.
He really did seem like an evasion tanker.
"Hmph!"
Evangeline was no different.
Already robust, her defense had hardened to the level of a tank after receiving the defense buff.
"Hey, you living statues! Look at me-!"
The approaching gargoyles rushed towards Evangeline due to her taunting battle cry.
The fiends wildly swung their ferocious weapons, but Evangeline didn't even blink, blocking them all with her shield.
While these two were keeping the gargoyles busy,
Boom! Boom! Boom-!
A downpour ensued.
A rain of demon bullets.
Damien had received a stamina unlimited buff for 3 minutes.
And he was demonstrating why this buff was considered top-tier.
The magic gun was powerful, but it produced significant recoil with each shot. Therefore, rapid firing was unfeasible.
This was the reason why even with Damien's potent sniping, dealing with a multitude of enemies was strenuous.
But for the next 3 minutes,
Boom-!
Boom-!
With the unlimited stamina, he was capable of firing continuously while bearing the heavy recoil.
Spewing fire from the 'Black Queen', he used the recoil to spin half a turn and picked up the 'Hunter's Retribution' lying on the ground.
Then he fired again. Another rotation. Repeat.
The two rifles were constantly spewing flames without a break.
The gargoyles had their heads blown off, necks punctured, and upper bodies torn apart.
'When Damien's weak stamina is offset by the buff, this outrageous human weapon is born.'
Watching Damien, who was dancing and firing his guns from the side, I broke into a cold sweat.
I needed to build up my stamina every day from now on. The kid has transformed into a different character.
'On second thought, is this better than I thought?'
I looked down at the Maestro I was holding with a tremble in my hand.
In the game, no matter how good the buff was, it was only for one turn and random, so it didn't feel like a cheat item.
I only thought of it as a mere three-minute buff item in this reality.
However, if that three minutes was the turning point, it could have a far greater effect than I expected.
Indeed, the real effect of anything can only be known when used in actual combat.
Then it happened.
Click. Click.
"Huh?"
Damien, who had been spewing out an enormous amount of bullets, made a surprised noise.
Wondering what was happening, I looked over and realized, oh no. The bullets of his two rifles were exhausted.
He had never fired bullets in such a short time before, and Damien himself was in some kind of trance.
He hadn't kept track of the remaining bullets.
However, the number of gargoyles he had taken down during that time was incredible.
With just the bullets from his two rifles, he had killed over thirty gargoyles.
If we could just take care of the rest, the third wave of these bastards would be finished.
"Lilly!"
While Damien set down his two rifles to count the remaining bullets of his next magic gun, I called for Lilly.
"It's time to get back to your main job!"
Lilly didn't seem too keen, but she responded diligently.
She raised her hands above her head and began casting a spell.
I looked toward the end of the wall. Lucas was charging like a bullfighter, leading a dozen or so gargoyles.
"Lucas! Lure them this way!"
"Yes, my lord!"
Upon hearing my shout, Lucas immediately started running this way, dragging the beasts with him.
I created a single sword of magic energy in the path Lucas was coming from and threw it.
Thud!
The rotating magic blade, whirling in the air, stuck into the ground.
In other words, it was a coordinate designation.
"Lilly, fire there!"
"Haaaah-!"
Instead of a reply, Lilly lifted a massive sphere of flame above her head.
Just looking at it was enough to make you feel the heat.
"Because of you monsters- I can't retire!"
With Lilly's hysterical battle cry, the massive fireball was launched.
It was the 1st skill Lilly acquired last time, [Fire Cannon]!
Lucas was running in a straight line when he used [Step of Persistence] and managed to get out of the way.
The gargoyles that were stupidly chasing after Lucas, right above their heads - the magic fire shell came crashing down precisely.
Boom-!
A fiery explosion and a shockwave spread out.
Like creatures with low magic resistance, all the gargoyles, about a dozen or so, melted to death, leaking molten metal from the direct hit of the fire magic.
"Huff... Huff..."
Lilly looked like she was about to die from exhaustion. Typical of a fire magician with poor magic efficiency.
But would all her magic power be depleted after just one 1st skill? The power was tremendous, but still.
"Hey! You leftover scraps! Come here, let's play with sis!"
Evangeline gathered the last remaining gargoyle stragglers from here and there with a taunting skill.
By the way, did she just call herself sis...?
The swarm of gargoyle monsters raised their weapons towards Evangeline, and at that moment, Damien cried out.
"Miss Evangeline! Lift your shield up!"
In Damien's hand, he held a grade N magic pistol called the Woodpecker.
A magic pistol that due to manufacturing errors, ended up in a rapid-fire format.
Evangeline, in a low stance, lifted her shield towards the sky, and Damien fired his magic pistol at it.
Tutatata-!
Dozens of magic bullets poured out of the magic pistol all at once.
Evangeline blocked them with her shield, and the ricocheted magic bullets violently scattered in all directions, following the slope of her shield.
Puck! Prrrrr...!
And all of those magic bullets accurately hit the gargoyle's eyes or forehead. I gasped in astonishment.
'Don't tell me, he calculated the trajectory of the bullets ricocheting off the shield? All dozens of them?'
It sounded like absurd nonsense, but Damien possessed the [Far-Sight].
Considering the miraculous aiming skills he had shown so far, it wasn't an exaggeration, but it might be really the case he aimed and fired all of them.
Kruk?!
Krara...!
Among the screaming monsters, the bundle of light gathered on Evangeline's shield moved to her lance.
Evangeline's [Damage Save] stored the damage she received.
In other words, if she received physical damage, she stored physical damage, and if she received magic damage, she stored magic damage.
In other words, the dozens of magic bullets she blocked and stored were all magic property damage.
Tuakak-!
The lance rose up, and the stocked magic damage exploded in a [Damage Payback].
The formless energy that burst out from the tip of Evangeline's spear shattered the remaining gargoyles into pieces.
Evangeline laughed joyfully amongst the gargoyle fragments flying around like fireworks.
"Woah, that was incredible just now, Sniper! Let's try it again later!"
"Haha, it's too consuming to do it often..."
It seemed to consume not only ammunition but also a significant amount of stamina.
Perhaps because he showed that skill after my buff ended, Damien's complexion was noticeably pale.
Evangeline, who fought with her defense buff turned off in the end, couldn't hide her regret, feeling the difference.
"The effect of your... um, Love Whip? is good, but the duration is too short. Can't it last longer?"
"Unfortunately, it only lasts a short while once a day. Even if the stimulation feels good, it becomes dull with repetition."
"It's cumbersome and perverted..."
Lucas, looking at something, was beheading the gargoyles who were still squirming alive.
"It's amazing that you can even cut down monsters made of steel."
"I'd say it feels more like severing than cutting, but using skills also wears down the weapon."
Lucas, who came back to me, showed his long sword.
The blade I had previously given her, an R-rated longsword called 'Rat Cutter', was completely damaged, its saw-like edges dulled and chipped.
"Definitely sturdy fellows. If they weren't in a weakened state, they wouldn't even have been scratched by the sword."
"Anyway, we decimated the third wave much easier than I thought."
Looking around at my party members, I grinned.
"True elites of mine. Well done!"
At my praise, all the party members gave awkward smiles.
Simultaneously,
"Artifact cooldown complete! Ready for activation!"
I heard Lilly's shout.
Her voice was drained of energy, probably due to the hefty magic spell she had cast. Still, the content was hopeful.
"Activate the artifact!"
"Activating!"
Whooosh!
A gust of wind started to swarm again towards the center of the fortress.
The fourth wave of gargoyles following the third were swept away by the wind, and like their predecessors, began to fall.
It was a relief that we had dealt with the third wave rather smoothly, but there was some exhaustion nonetheless.
"We're almost out of ammo, Prince."
Damien said cautiously.
Both of Damien's rifle, 'Black Queen', and 'Hunter's Revenge' were emptied to the last round, and his pistol 'Woodpecker' was almost done, too.
All that was left were the three handguns known as 'Cerberus', but they dealt lower damage and had a much shorter effective range.
I checked on the status of the other party members.
Lucas's sword was completely worn out, and Evangeline's shield was battered.
Lilly was still out of breath.
'I still have some reserves.'
The main party had done enough. It was time for repairs.
I turned around and shouted.
"Shadow Squad!"
As if they were waiting, the five members of the Shadow Squad stepped forward and bowed to me.
"Your command, sir."
"We're switching. Hold them off as our main party did. If necessary, I'll join in."
"Rest assured, Your Highness."
The captain of the Shadow Squad, Godhand, spoke confidently in a calm voice.
"We'll make sure there's no need for your involvement."
The elf boys and girls who hid their faces under hooded cloaks.
The five members of the Shadow Squad took their positions on the front lines of the fortress wall with agile movements.
The expressions of the main party members who were watching this sub-party were varied.
"Is it really going to be okay..."
Lucas looked worried.
"I can finally see the Aegis Special Forces Team's skills with my own eyes."
Evangeline looked excited.
"..."
Lilly frowned deeply, glaring at the back of Godhand.
"Um... well, something..."
Lastly, Damien, who had no clue about anything, blinked his eyes in confusion, baffled by the changing atmosphere between the main party and the sub-party.
"This isn't something I need to know, right?"
"Yes."
I patted the head of such an innocent sniper.
"This is a sight you'll see quite often."
The expansion of our sub-party would continue.
It was only natural for a bit of awkward tension to exist between the original members and the new recruits. Without this process of acclimatization, wouldn't it be more strange if they all just got along instantly?
'Show us you're worth it, Shadow Squad! Show us your skills!'
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The Gargoyle's fourth wave had begun to land at the edge of the fortifications, breaching the barrier of wind.
And there, fluttering in their uniform coats, the five young elf soldiers of the Shadow Squad drew their weapons.