Crossroads. Loot Warehouse.
This place is piled with various materials and items retrieved from monsters.
"..."
I am inspecting the goods recovered from previous defense battles.
I hadn't properly organized the loot accumulated from stages 31 to 34 during the four defense battles, so I was setting aside time to sort through it.
'The next one is a boss stage, so I need to prepare more thoroughly...'
The upcoming defense battle is stage 35.
It's a boss stage where the difficulty sharply increases. I need to gather and prepare everything usable on our side.
I meticulously inspected the items piled up in the loot warehouse, organized by the order in which we had defeated the monsters.
'Stage 31 was the Scarecrow Legion.'
It was a formidable enemy, but apart from the SSR-grade magic core spat out by their commander, there weren't any notable spoils. The magic core was immediately used for equipment crafting.
'The rest is nothing special.'
Tossing aside trifles like straw bags, I moved on.
Stage 32 was the Bull Legion. We lured these creatures to a cliff to induce a fatal fall, making the capture easy but the loot recovery a real headache.
The corpse incineration is complete, but the magic stone recovery is still pending. Magic stones are scattered around where the monster corpses piled up like mountains.
Since the Bull Legion wasn't known for valuable loot, I've left them be for now...
'Next up, the Fallen Knights.'
The opponents of stage 33.
'These guys were definitely noteworthy enemies.'
Moreover, since all 13 Fallen Knights were humanoid monsters, the equipment recovered was immediately usable.
The issue is that most of it is severely contaminated, and a lot of the materials are human bones, making it difficult to hand over to anyone.
Among them, the pinnacle.
The weapon used by King Pendragon, the man-eating Sword Excannibal.
'A literal demon sword, this...'
Merely holding the handle brought voices in my head saying, "I'm hungry, give me blood, fresh ones ooo."
Thanks to my passive [Unyielding Commander], I was protected from mental contamination, but an ordinary person unknowingly handling it would be subjected to hypnotic brainwashing corruption combo by the sword.
'...Better to seal it away.'
As malevolent as the demon sword is, its performance is undeniable.
It can devour anything, allowing for tricks like nullifying enemy ranged attacks, as used by the Fallen King.
If stabbed into an opponent's body, its special feature 'Devour' activates, allowing the user to suck in the opponent's life force as they wish.
The performance is good. The problem is that the user goes mad.
It's not worth the risk to use such a weapon. I decided to seal the demon sword away.
"Shit."
I wrapped it up with a strap and flung it into my inventory.
The demon sword vanished, muttering its death throes, "Keep the expiration date freshhhh." Shut it, you bastard.
I decided to melt down the rest of the Fallen Knights' equipment at the forge.
Can't have our folks using such cursed gear. Hopefully, we can recover some magic cores after breaking down the equipment.
"..."
I moved on to the next area.
The monsters that invaded during stage 34. The Ironclad Lion monsters and the Dandelion monsters.
The various material items, magic cores, and magic stones obtained from defeating them were piled up like mountains. I stood in front of them, frowning in thought.
It wasn't a question of how to use these items. Rather, it was the situation of these monsters appearing together that puzzled me.
'Why did two legions appear together?'
The 'game' I'm playing with my adversary, the Demon King, is a contest held under mutual agreement with rules.
I don't know exactly what the Demon King's goal is, but anyway, he has been fighting by the rules.
He has tormented us to the brink of death every time, but he hasn't outright killed us by breaking the rules. Even those damn Dark Events are within the rules.
'There was a case where more than two enemy legions appeared simultaneously during stage 9.'
But this feels different.
In stage 9, it was Wolf King Lunared acting on his own volition.
Part of the werewolf legion he dispatched, on top of the world serpent Jörmungandr, made our lives even more miserable.
But that was it. Jörmungandr and the werewolf legion didn't cooperate or produce any meaningful synergy.
What about this time?
Not only did two legions appear at the same time, including their commanders, but they also showed up with a 'combination' that produced meaningful synergy.
Two legions with clear strengths and weaknesses complemented each other, enhancing their strengths and neutralizing their weaknesses, and for a moment, they overwhelmed us.
It was a deliberate selection of legions and a coordinated attack, clearly intended by the opponent.
'How should I put it...'
I frowned.
'It's alien.'
It's a completely different game style from the Demon King's until now. It's as if the chess opponent has changed, that kind of alien feeling.
I've never faced him in person, but after continuously exchanging moves with him, I had a grasp of the Demon King's style.
He's a player interested in amusement rather than victory.
It's fine if he wins, but it doesn't matter if he loses.
He torments us, tests us, pushes us to our limits, but on the other hand, he doesn't want me to collapse easily. Such a frustrating opponent.
But what about the opponent making moves now?
Desperate.
They're straining every nerve to thrust a knife at my throat.
"..."
In the end, the simultaneously advancing Ironclad Lion legion and the Dandelion legion self-destructed.
They appeared to cooperate for a moment, but soon they fought each other to the death. We could easily pick off the ones caught in their internal strife.
The forward base was somewhat damaged, and there were a few casualties, but the damage was manageable.
Despite the manageable damage, I felt a sense of foreboding.
The next boss stage, stage 35.
What kind of strategy would the opponent bring out in this defense battle?
With a sigh, I shook my head and inspected the loot piled in front of me.
No matter what the opponent comes up with, we have to prepare as much as possible.
'Anyway, since two legions appeared at the same time, we got double the items.'
The recovered iron armor could be used to repair the walls, and the core parts from the dandelion monsters could be crucial for our weapon manufacturing. Cannons, or perhaps long-range artillery.
'It's been a while since we could upgrade Burnout's equipment.'
My first sub-party, the Shadow Squad... Well, it's a bit much to call it a party now, since it's long been disbanded.
Anyway, the survivors from that Shadow Squad, Burnout, and Bodybag, are now integrated under the Elf Queen.
Creating equipment from the dandelion monsters' parts would give Burnout's long-range artillery capabilities a significant boost.
After deciding on how to handle the items and scribbling down some paperwork, I headed outside the warehouse.
"Lord."
Lucas, who was waiting outside, saluted me.
"The bone retrieval team dispatched to the chapel in dungeon area 8 has returned. They have successfully recovered the remains of the fallen soldiers."
"That's fortunate."
The inner part of the Lake Kingdom is in chaos due to the internal conflict among monsters.
The bone retrieval team couldn't easily enter area 8 and had to bide their time, but they've managed to succeed this time.
I sighed in relief. Though belated, we could now conduct the funerals for the warriors killed by the Fallen Knights.
"Also, sir..."
Lucas glanced at me and cautiously added.
"This time, they encountered fly monsters."
I frowned.
"Flies?"
"Yes. Reports say they were giant flies."
I stroked my chin and groaned.
'So, the next stage's opponent is the Fly Legion?'
A legion equipped with various gimmicks, difficult to deal with, dirty, and flying monsters.
'...Are these creatures suitable for a boss stage?'
Fly monsters have extremely low intelligence.
They can be easily annihilated with simple traps. These creatures are for a boss stage?
"Any other peculiarities?"
"They fled as soon as they encountered them... That's about it."
"Fled?"
Monsters?
Seeing humans but not attacking?
Why?
I activated the system window.
[Enemy Information – STAGE 35]
- Lv.? ??? : 1 unit
- Lv.25 Giant Fly : ??? units
- Lv.20 Giant Maggot : ??? units
Just reading the names makes one's stomach turn, undoubtedly a fly monster legion...
'Why so many question marks...?'
After pondering, I nodded at Lucas.
"We need to scout more thoroughly. Continue autonomous exploration until the defense battle starts."
"Understood."
As always, the game's difficulty seems to be escalating.
With unreliable rules, we need to scrape together any information on what monsters will appear and how many.
"I have a bad feeling, Lucas."
Looking south, I gritted my teeth. Lucas watched me with a concerned expression.
"I have a... bad feeling..."
***
From the Crossroads, south. The forward base.
In this place, bustling with numerous laborers and soldiers busy with reconstruction, one worker stood out.
Bang! Bang! Clang!
The laborer, making a racket while moving bricks and steel beams, was actually a golem.
Moreover, there wasn't just one. Over five golems were transporting materials and wielding their heavy arms to assist with the construction throughout the site.
"Right, right! Put that there! Good job, No. 1! No, wait! No. 4! That steel beam goes next to it, not there!"
The one controlling the five golems simultaneously was the golemancer, Candler.
Once a regular of the casino mercenary group 'Blacklist', this magician, who retired as a mercenary due to injuries sustained during the Gorgon Sisters' invasion, later found employment with the Crossroads Production Association.
Utilizing her specialty as a golemancer, she quickly became an ace worker. Currently, she's an indispensable talent in the reconstruction efforts.
"Amazing work today, Candler! Thanks to you, we can repair the forward base on time."
The carpenter and mason guild masters, who came to check on the repairs, praised her. Candler scratched the back of her head and smiled awkwardly.
"Ah, it's nothing. I'm just doing what I'm told."
Candler's smile revealed a missing tooth, making her look a bit foolish.
However, those who knew that tooth was lost blocking a body slam from Stheno, one of the Gorgon Sisters, did not think of Candler as a fool.
The guild masters quietly handed Candler a pouch.
"Here, take this. It's today's wage, and we've put in a bit extra for all your hard work."
Feeling the pouch, noticeably bulkier than usual, indicated a significant bonus. Surprised, Candler waved her hands.
"Oh, no! Why are you doing this? The wage alone is enough!"
"Everyone's work got easier because of you. Don't be shy, take it. Now, hurry up!"
Candler, pretending to be reluctant, accepted the pouch and tucked it away. The guild masters chuckled, patted Candler on the shoulder, and walked away.
"Let's wrap up for today and just a few more days of hard work! Got it?"
"Yes, yes. Just leave it to me. Go on in!"
The guild masters ordered everyone at the forward base to clock out for the day. Candler wiped the sweat from her forehead and looked up to see the sunset already approaching.
"It's already this time..."
Working hard and earning money steadily filled Candler with an indescribable sense of fulfillment and pride.
Candler started to clean up the site along with the other workers. As quitting time approached, everyone seemed to cheer up on their own, humming tunes through their noses.
She returned to Crossroad via the teleport gate. The workers, greeting each other for today's hard work, grouped together in twos and threes, heading out for dinner.
"Heh, I even got a bonus, maybe I'll treat myself to a special meal tonight..."
Muttering to herself, Candler moved on.
Limp. Limp.
The mage limped noticeably through the alley.
During the battle with Stheno, Candler had hit her head hard. This resulted in difficulty moving, and she had no choice but to retire from being a mercenary.
But Candler preferred her current life.
Instead of living day to day as she did when she was a mercenary, she worked regularly every day and saved money steadily.
Each day was fulfilling, and above all,
'Safe.'
There was no longer any need to stand in front of monsters. No need to risk her life in battle.
She still dreams of the terrifying Gorgon sisters. Candler knew well that she could never stand in front of a monster again.
So, this was enough.
This had to be enough...
"Huh?"
That's when she saw it. As Candler was walking, pondering what to eat for dinner, she noticed familiar faces walking through the alley opposite.
It was Nobody, the blind swordsman, and Chain, the dark wizard.
Her former colleagues from the Blacklist were giggling and walking down the road. Candler hurriedly raised her hand.
"Hey! Eyeball freak! Premature grandpa..."
Immediately after, Candler hastily lowered her voice.
Nobody and Chain were walking with other mercenaries.
Wearing glittering armor covered in monster blood and adorned with splendid weapons, other heroes walked proudly, boisterously boasting about the results of today's dungeon exploration.
"..."
For some reason, her voice wouldn't come out anymore.
Candler slowly dropped her hand. Though she had done nothing wrong, she quickly hid behind the alley.
Not knowing why she was acting this way, Candler caught her breath roughly and only after a while did she stand up straight. Then, she walked out of the alley.
"Hey~"
"Why did you call out and then hide?"
And.
Outside the alley, Nobody and Chain were waiting, grinning mischievously.