For a while, the battle proceeded smoothly in this manner.
After passing through three "party halls," there was the Crossfire Zone, followed by the ballista and archer squad, and then a very formidable new fortress wall.
The zombie monsters that arrived first tenaciously endured, but eventually, after passing this long defensive line, they fell and died.
Though the early stages of the battle went well...
"...!"
The monsters were not going to let themselves be easily defeated.
Grrrrr...
Aaaahhh!
With a scream that seemed to scrape from the depths of the zombie monsters' souls,
Thud...! Thud...! Thud...!
Gigantic zombie monsters poured out from the front.
Other zombie monsters were also larger compared to humans, but these particular monsters were especially tall and robust.
I ground my teeth as I surveyed them.
"Flame Giants...!"
A powerful legion even among giant species, as strong as the Frost Giants... a typical "crushing with specs" type of monster.
And such spec-type monsters fully benefit from zombification. Since they have no supernatural abilities and fight solely with physical prowess, they lose nothing and gain everything by becoming zombies.
'Moreover, these guys...'
True to their name, the Flame Giants are immune to explosions and flames!
Bang! Boom! Boom!
Amidst the exploding mines and falling fire from the artillery, the Flame Giants remained unscathed.
The ones that stepped forward easily withstood the artillery barrage. In an instant, the entire zombie monster legion behind them approached Crossroad significantly.
The Crossfire Zone was breached.
Panic spread among the soldiers. But this was all part of the pre-planned operation!
"Then let's move to the next phase!"
I raised my hand into the air and swung my fist in a circular motion.
Then,
Vrrrrr-!
An airship soared up from the Crossroad side.
La Mancha.
And escorting it were Mikhail and the Griffins!
"Go-!"
Screeee!
The air force of the World Guardian Front closed the distance in an instant and flew over the heads of the monsters.
I stretched out my hand and shouted.
"Pour it on-!"
As if in response to my words, the bottom hatch of La Mancha opened at the perfect timing...
Sssshhh!
Literally, the cure was "poured out."
It was reminiscent of how planes in large-scale farms on Earth spray pesticides.
The cure, poured like rain, fell on the heads of the zombie monsters. The zombie monsters writhed in agony.
In case they developed resistance to the cure, we gradually reduced the dilution and increased the concentration of the cure.
At this decisive moment, we didn't hold back and dropped the undiluted cure!
Grrrrr...
Aaaahhh...!
A vast number of zombies, showered with the undiluted cure, were forcibly "cured," with parasites emerging as the zombie state was lifted.
I clenched my fist as I watched this scene.
This was the tactic we devised.
Deploy multiple layers of defenses to melt down regular monsters with general firepower, and for the elite monsters that penetrate these defenses, drop the cure!
And the elite monsters, cured of their zombie state, would temporarily...
Grrrrr!
Kyaaahhh-!
...serve as a wall of monsters.
The monsters, who had not been hostile to each other as hosts of the same zombie parasite, began to attack the cured monsters in a frenzy.
The Flame Giants, who had been leading the charge, were instead attacked, and as they fell and died, they swung their fists backward, smashing other zombies.
Chaos ensued rapidly, causing a bottleneck among the monsters. I nodded in satisfaction.
Even two monster legions appearing simultaneously could bring the game to the brink of over, that's how difficult this defense game, "Doomsday Feast," is.
But in this stage, dozens of monster legions appeared simultaneously, even if zombified.
As it stands, the stage wouldn't be feasible. Neither the Demon King nor the Watcher would tolerate such a thing.
Therefore, there must be a "gimmick" that allows for clearing, and the route I chose was this cure.
And so far, it's working perfectly.
Not only does it forcibly cure their zombie state, rendering them powerless, but it also makes them fight each other, reducing their numbers.
At this rate, we can manage...!
"Cure drop complete. Withdrawing temporarily to re-supply and will return."
The pilot of La Mancha communicated as the large airship circled back towards Crossroad. They had used up all the cure they carried in one go.
Now they would return to the hangar to refill the cure and re-enter the battlefield... this process would be repeated. All the cure stockpiled up to now would be used without reservation.
Thus, a new section was created on the battlefield, dividing it into four major zones.
The three layers of party halls with installed traps.
The Crossfire Zone formed by the Crossroad artillery.
The chaos wall of monsters fighting each other after being cured of their zombie state.
The sniper zone of ballista and archers.
Most of the mines and traps in the party halls seemed exhausted, but the newly created chaos wall of monsters provided a new solid defense line.
The bodies of the monsters killed by fighting each other literally piled up as a wall of flesh. The monsters constantly bottlenecked and slowed down.
Our ballista and archers melted the enemies trapped on this path, and La Mancha, now refilled with cure, flew over their heads and dropped the cure again.
Observing the battlefield, which started to operate smoothly again, no one let their guard down.
Everyone knew that the "real" battle hadn't started yet.
And then...
Thud-!
The "real" one appeared.
Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud-!
A giant larger than any Flame Giant seen so far stepped forward.
While the bodies of the previous Flame Giants burned red, this giant's body was already charred black.
Above its head was a halo made of flames...
I ground my teeth as I recognized the opponent.
"Flame Giant King...!"
Indeed.
This zombie monster legion comprised the majority of the monster legions from Zone 10, all zombified and pouring out at once.
Naturally, the legion commanders were also zombified and advancing with them!
The Flame Giant King opened its mouth wide, spewing not a roar but a massive flame. Then, exhaling black smoke, it began to charge forward.
Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!
It was as imposing as a steam locomotive spewing smoke.
Crash-!
In an instant, the Flame Giant King approached its own cured legion—the Flame Giants—and extended a massive fist engulfed in flames...
Boom!
It blew off the upper bodies of what were once its subordinates.
The mighty arms of the Flame Giant King instantly demolished the wall of flesh. The cured monsters couldn't hold out long and were annihilated.
Huff...
Exhaling flames, the Flame Giant King turned its fiery gaze toward us. Indicating its zombified state, the flames in its eyes were tainted green.
And then,
Thud-!
It began to stride towards us.
"Fire, fire!"
"Stop its advance-!"
The ballista and archer units, aghast, focused their attacks on the Flame Giant King.
Rattle...!
However.
The Flame Giant King marched forward, unfazed by the rain of arrows. Its body was so massive that even direct hits didn't seem to faze it as it kept advancing.
An absurdly, transcendently durable body.
Realizing that standard sniping was ineffective, the archers lowered their bows with pale faces.
This is the dignity of a legion commander.
Moreover...
This wasn't the end.
Thud...! Thud...! Thud...!
Shaking the ground, giant zombie monsters appeared one after another behind the Flame Giant King.
Observers screamed reports from all directions as they confirmed the appearance of named monsters.
"Report! Multiple legion commander-level entities are emerging-!"
"Not only the 'Flame Giant King'! The 'Cerberus' and 'Orthrus' of the Hellhound Legion have appeared!"
"Squid Snail Legion Commander, entity name 'Maelstrom,' confirmed!"
"The 'Wingless Cicada Lord' is leading its swarm...!"
"And following are 'Ten Horns,' 'Bride Devourer,' 'Thousand Legs'... they keep appearing-!"
The last ones are the legion commanders of the Rhino, Mantis, and Centipede legions.
After the regular zombie monsters were culled by fire and explosions at the previous defensive lines, finally, all sorts of legion commanders emerged and took the lead.
'This is an all-star lineup.'
I clicked my tongue as I surveyed the impressive assembly.
One would think this was the final stage, right?
Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!
The parade of legion commander-level entities crushed through the party halls and Crossfire Zone.
Even if zombified, they all possess boss-level specs. It's difficult to inflict significant damage with standard artillery or ballista shots. And, there's an unusually high number of them.
At least ten, perhaps more...
Vrrrrr!
La Mancha flew in again, pouring the cure over their heads.
Despite being drenched in undiluted cure, whether due to some legion commander buff or the parasites in their brains also being boss-level, they continued advancing, unaffected by the cure.
The soldiers paled at the rapidly closing distance between us and the monsters.
"Stick to the plan!"
I encouraged the soldiers.
"Ignore the legion commander-level zombies! Focus on culling the rest!"
"Y-Yes, sir...!"
"Fire, fire! Pour the barrage-!"
At my command, the soldiers deftly adjusted their aim, intentionally avoiding the
legion commander-level monsters and pouring firepower on the rest.
One of the advantages of bombardment is the splash damage. It delivers area-wide impact at the point of impact.
The zombies following behind the robust legion commanders began to explode one after another. Regular zombie monsters started to get culled again.
The problem was the advancing horde of legion commanders.
Unleashing such a number of legion commander-level entities at once, it's either merciless or lacking in balance.
"Unfair and shitty, but what can we do..."
I grinned as I turned to my side.
"Life is always like this. Isn't that right, Damien?"
"Indeed, Your Highness."
Damien, who grinned back, sat at his assigned modified ballista gunner's seat.
"And overcoming such ordeals is also what life is about."
Well said, my sniper!
Click! Click! Click!
As Damien prepared the ballista for firing, priests and alchemists loaded "special rounds" into the modified ballista.
Special rounds... were large arrows with a head filled with a mysterious liquid.
'We sprayed diluted cure at first, then administered the undiluted cure.'
So what's next?
"It's concentrated special cure, monsters-!"
This is the highest-grade special concentrated cure made by working our temple priests, alchemists, spiritists, and even King Poseidon to the bone. Only a few are available on this front!
"Treat them diligently, Damien!"
"Yes, sir!"
Damien meticulously adjusted the firing angle of the modified ballista.
Then he imbued the rounds with his magic power. Knowing Damien's skills, I could recognize the craftsmanship he put into the rounds.
On the outside of the rounds, [Magic Bullet of Annihilation].
Inside the rounds, [Magic Bullet of Healing].
He combined two types of magic bullets into one round.
[Magic Bullet of Annihilation] increases the penetration power of the round, and [Magic Bullet of Healing] enhances the effectiveness of the cure.
Damien, his large brown eyes flashing, placed his hand on the trigger.
"Firing-!"
Without hesitation, Damien pulled the trigger.
Thud-!
With a short, intense echo, the modified ballista fired the special round...
Screee!
The round flew straight towards the Flame Giant King's forehead.
The Flame Giant King swung its massive hand to block the special round, but,
"...?!"
Did I mention that I possess [Far-Sight]?
The special round, curving mysteriously and altering its trajectory, narrowly slipped through the Flame Giant King's fingers-
Thunk...!
...and pierced through the Flame Giant King's eye, embedding itself into its head.