Before the rescue team entered the forward base,
Kali-Alexander had already spotted the emergency teleport gate atop the battery.
Fond of surveying the occupied territory from the highest vantage point, he climbed atop the battery and chanced upon the magic stones of the teleport gate, cleverly integrated between the bricks.
Originally, he intended to destroy it right away, but the intuition of the battle-hardened Goblin God-King stayed his hand.
He had a hunch that they could instead turn the gate to their advantage.
He deliberately left the battery unguarded and surrounded it tightly with troops. Then he ordered them to monitor the use of this gate.
He had thought it would take at least a day - he hadn't expected the humans to return in mere minutes.
"Human soldiers move in squads of five."
The decoy unit was noisily engaging in battle to the north of the forward base.
And the rescue team was attempting to escape from within the base.
Watching them clearly from atop the walls, Kali-Alexander muttered with composure,
"We have taken down only two stragglers. It's reasonable to assume that more from their squad remain."
It was just as Kali-Alexander had predicted.
More had been hiding, and the humans were desperately executing a rescue operation for them.
"We have lost two thousand, and they, merely two. The exchange rate is too generous."
Kali-Alexander waved his hand. The goblin Aamirs, understanding his command, saluted in unison.
The human heroes rushed towards the battery, and the goblin legion swirled around them, encircling them.
Observing this, Kali-Alexander flicked his fingertip lightly.
"Perhaps it's time to adjust the troop exchange ratio to something more reasonable."
***
The Holy Grail Seekers, the Shadow Squad, and Lilly rushed towards the battery.
By now, goblins densely packed the surroundings.
Although the decoy unit outside had lured out a significant number of goblins, the numbers inside the forward base were still overwhelmingly large.
"Even so..."
Verdandi, leading the group, emitted a bright magic glow from her green eyes.
"They're just goblins!"
Leaving a trail of lime green afterimages, Verdandi sped forward with terrifying velocity.
In the wake of her flash-like trajectory, goblins fell in droves, their throats spraying blood.
As an SSR-grade assassin and a warrior of the faerie royal family, her combat strength was formidable.
However,
"Haah, haah, haah!"
As endless waves of goblins surged and the battle dragged on, Verdandi quickly grew weary.
It was the inherent weakness of the assassin class.
In one-on-one situations and short battles, they were strong. But in one-versus-many and prolonged engagements, they were vulnerable.
With conditions being unfavorable, and Verdandi, a pure dealer, leading the vanguard, it was a heavy burden.
The rest of the Holy Grail Seekers quickly became exhausted, clearing the way at the front.
And so,
"Haaahhh!"
Lilly was suited for this situation.
Flames roared—
Lilly's second skill, [Fire Wall], exploded into action.
A huge wall of fire rose on the right flank of the group, and all the goblins rushing from that direction were instantly incinerated.
The natural enemy of the horde tactics, the full display of an area-of-effect fire mage's worth was without regret.
As goblins burned to death with unbelievable efficiency, Verdandi whistled without even realizing it.
"Your girlfriend's pretty badass?!"
"She's too good for me!"
"In front of me, haah, don't talk! Haah! It's embarrassing!"
Cradled in the arms of Godhand, Lilly continuously chugged magic potions.
Being a flame mage with terrible fuel economy meant that in situations like this, she had to keep drinking without stop.
The party finally reached the battery.
At the entrance, the corpses of goblins had piled up, forming a hill.
And there Torkel was, clad in armor stained with his own blood and that of goblins, cleaving through another group with his shield and greatsword.
"Torkel!"
"Climb up, hurry...!"
After letting the Holy Grail Seekers and Shadow Squad, along with Lilly, inside the bastion, Torkel followed, holding off the goblins at the rear.
Atop the bastion, the Leprosy Extermination Squad warriors were locked in a fierce struggle with the climbing goblins.
The place was a mess, seemingly overwhelmed by a massive assault.
But a sigh of relief brushed everyone's faces.
Now they just had to escape through the teleport gate.
"To think this crazy plan might actually work..."
Verdandi stopped midsentence.
Whizz-
An ominous sound echoed, followed by a screech.
Boom!
The whole bastion shook with the explosion.
The goblins had begun firing cannons they had captured at the bastion.
The cannons left at the base, having been set ablaze by human soldiers, were largely damaged beyond repair, often exploding right where they were fired from.
But the goblins kept firing the artillery mindlessly.
The bastion trembled continuously, and flames from the cannonballs surged up close by. Verdandi yelled.
"Activate the gate! We need to escape immediately...!"
Then it happened.
Thud-
A heavy vibration rose from beneath the bastion,
Boom!
A massive explosion followed.
After ensuring all of the rescue squad was inside, the goblin suicide bombers that had been on standby were deployed en masse.
While individual explosions were weak, the number Kali-Alexander had assigned for the bastion's demolition exceeded a hundred.
The already weakened bastion couldn't withstand it.
The lower part of the bastion melted away, and the whole structure collapsed.
All members of the rescue squad on the top floor were helplessly plummeted down.
***
"Uh..."
Lilly blinked dazedly.
Barely clinging to consciousness, she pushed herself up to see a strangely familiar scene.
The bastion had collapsed down to the first floor, entirely.
Debris from the fallen bastion formed walls around, giving the impression of being trapped in a well.
'This is...'
A year ago.
It was exactly like the last time they were loading the final round into the bastion, fighting the Black Spider Legion...
"They're coming from the east!"
"Reinforcements from the south, too!"
"We need more cover!"
"Damn it, get down!"
Here, the heroes of the rescue squad fought desperately.
Despite the significant injuries from the fall from the top to the first floor, the immediate attack from goblins on all sides forced them to grit their teeth and fight.
"Lady Lilly! You've come to your senses!"
Godhand, covered in blood, ran over with a foolish grin. Lilly struggled to get fully upright.
"Why... is everyone fighting? We should escape through the gate..."
"That's..."
Godhand trailed off, looking aside. Lilly followed his gaze.
The magic stones that formed the teleport gate were shattered to pieces. To a flustered Lilly, Godhand muttered bitterly.
"It seems the gate broke during the fall. It won't work."
"..."
"Everyone is fighting, but if this continues..."
The goblin onslaught continued from all directions. Hope drained from the heroes' faces in an instant.
Lilly felt suffocated.
Was this the price of a futile challenge?
"...No."
Lilly's hand, which had been motionless in shock, clenched tightly.
She was one of the eight who had survived the battle with the Black Spider Legion.
She remembered fighting alongside Ash to defeat the Black Spider Queen. In a similar situation back then, Ash had said...
"Even if I'm burned to death, I have to throw the dice."
Right.
She was an ordinary human, but even such an ordinary human had... rights.
The right not to give up the challenge.
It was still too early to give up.
"I'll try to fix it!"
Lilly raised her voice deliberately. The surrounding heroes turned to look at her.
"I am the senior magician of Crossroad, in charge of the alchemy workshop artifacts. I was also involved in the gate installation."
Tying her hair tightly at the back, Lilly gathered the scattered shards of the magic stone in front of her.
"Just buy me some time, just a little...!"
The heroes, who had hesitated for a moment, looked at each other and then nodded.
Thud-thud-thud-thud...!
Arrows in terrifying numbers flew from all directions.
The battery was in the center of the forward base.
In other words, it was in a spot visible to all the surrounding goblins and the most vulnerable to attack.
The goblins surrounding them fired their arrows all at once. A literal rain of arrows poured down.
"Take cover!"
"Knock them away-!"
Godhand conjured a shield on the spot, and Bodyback swept them away with telekinesis, but it was to no avail.
The arrows fell like a downpour.
Goblin arrows weren't fatal due to their poor quality, but the problem was their number. Soon, several arrows were embedded in each hero.
However, arrows were the least of their concerns.
The rank of goblin soldiers surging over the broken battery wall had changed from infantry to cavalry.
The mobility and power of a goblin mounted on a mountain goat were several times that of infantry.
One by one, the heroes of the Leprosy Extermination Squad, standing in the front to block the goblins' charge, collapsed, unable to bear their accumulated injuries.
The Holy Grail Seekers also fell to their knees, fighting hard with stamina long since depleted.
Arrows, potions, even barricades used for cover had all run out.
It was then that everyone felt the shadow of death looming.
Keeeeeeng!
With a distinct operational sound, the crumbled magic stones rose up, creating a magical gate in mid-air.
"The repairs are done!"
Surprised, everyone looked in that direction. Lilly was smiling brightly.
"The connection to the magic core was severed, cutting off the power supply. I temporarily linked it to my own magic power."
"Lilly..."
"Everyone, escape now! Hurry!"
Lilly urged them on. Indeed, no one had the strength left to hold out any longer.
Verdandi, supporting an injured party member, came to the gate and asked urgently.
"What about you, Lilly?"
"I have to maintain the gate, so I'll escape last."
For a moment, Lilly and Verdandi's eyes met.
Verdandi, biting her lips tightly, bowed her head deeply and then flashed a smile.
"...Okay. I'll see you in a bit, okay?"
One by one, the heroes retreated through the gate. Now only Torkel, Godhand, and Lilly remained.
Torkel, taking the brunt of the ongoing barrage of arrows with shield and body, gestured to the two of them.
"I'll be the last...! Go ahead inside!"
"I've told you. I'm the last because of the gate. I'll follow soon, Torkel."
"I can't go before you do. I no longer wish to leave someone behind me..."
In a swift motion!
While Torkel was saying that, Godhand pushed him.
Torkel, eyes wide, was sucked straight into the teleport gate.
Flash-!
"..."
"..."
Now, only the two of them were left.
A brief silence passed.
Lilly spoke with a trembling voice.
"Go, Godhand. I'll follow right behind."
"..."
"Go! Can't you see how hard this is for me?!"
"Lilly. Do you know?"
Godhand, who had slowly squatted down in front of Lilly, smiled.
"Lilly, you're terrible at lying."
The magic core of this teleport gate was broken, and now it operates on Lilly's magic power.
The moment Lilly removes her hand, the gate will also close.
So... Lilly couldn't have escaped from the beginning.
Godhand had realized this fact a long time ago.
Closing her eyes tightly, Lilly blurted out.
"You know I'm doing this to save you, Godhand. Please, just go..."
"..."
"It's my last request, so..."
"I don't want to."
Godhand's hand, which replied effortlessly, slowly came to rest on top of Lilly's.
It was the hand that was operating the teleport gate's magic stream.
"Call me selfish. Curse me for being a fool who tramples on your dedication and care. But, in front of you... I don't want to lie to myself."
"Godhand...!"
"Rather than surviving alone and living with regret forever..."
Godhand firmly grasped Lilly's hand and slowly, pulled it away from the magic stream of the gate.
With a rumble...
The magic stones that made up the gate crumbled away like a lie.
Godhand held onto the speechless Lilly's hand tightly.
"I'd rather it be for a moment. I want to be with you."
"..."
"Lilly."
In this place, where monsters swarmed from all around and they stood covered in blood and ash,
Godhand gazed into the trembling eyes of his lover and asked shyly.
"Will you marry me?"