Attack Operation (3)

The next morning…

"Whoa…"

From the rooftop of the tower I looked around and froze.

As far as the eye could see, Magical Beasts, Magical Beasts…

What's more, the Magical Beasts were scattered, not concentrated, standing by in dispersed formation.

"What's going on? Aren't the Magical Beasts supposed to gather up because being dispersed in the White Wave is painful for them?"

"This kind of abnormal Magical Beast behavior… I have a guess."

"Reida-san, what is it?"

"There is a leader among the Magical Beasts. A Demon Person… a Demon General… and worst of all, a Demon God.

Magical Beasts led by these can take strategic action."

"… So it's bad… Himeno. There's no prophecy of a Demon God coming, right?"

"… T-that's right. I have foreseen nothing.

… But Demon Persons and Demon Generals… probably can't be foreseen.

I-I'm still inexperienced…

If 'twere my mother, perchance she could have foreseen them… I am sorry…"

Himeno shrank down, deflated.

"It's all right. Even just being able to foresee Demon Gods is a help."

There, there — I gently stroked Himeno's head.

"So there's a Demon Person or Demon General here.

Reida-san, what's the difference between a Demon Person and a Demon General?"

"Roughly, the Demon Person's LV corresponds to Magical Beast level 100-199. The Demon General's LV is 200-399. The Demon God's LV is 400 and up — that's the common saying."

"Simply put, they're strong. LV 100 and up, huh… whoa… that sounds rough."

"The difficulty of attack operations spikes sharply when Demon Gods, Demon Generals, or Demon Persons appear. If a Demon General or above appears, even S-Class Masters' lives are in danger.

If we're to play it safe, we may need to call off the operation."

So said Reida-san.

"… No. We can't do that."

I couldn't let the preparations Ursula spent five years arranging go to waste.

Giving up without even trying — I can't do that.

"If they're that strong, capturing and recruiting them might be useful.

Demon Gods may still be impossible, but Demon Persons and Demon Generals seem doable."

… Was I being rash?

But if I only ever thought "safety, safety," in the end I couldn't do anything.

"I've staked everything on this battle. I won't back down here.

… The Nord Knight Order — can you not fight against a Demon General?"

"…! We of the Nord Knight Order are a knight order specializing in Magical Beast subjugation!

We do not turn tail and run from Magical Beasts!"

Reida grew angry at my words.

"I voiced that passive opinion only to confirm your intent, Naoto-sama.

We of the Nord Knight Order are fully prepared to fight, no matter the opponent!"

Then it'd be fine.

"Then, broadcast to everyone.

… Everyone, you've probably already noticed the Magical Beasts' movement has changed. There's a high chance they're being led by a Demon Person or Demon General.

If you confirm a Demon Person or Demon General, report immediately. Don't recklessly attack with a small party.

Otherwise, what we need to do hasn't changed.

Subjugate Magical Beasts and reduce their numbers. Just that.

I'm counting on you, everyone!"

And so day two's combat began.

"Kanan! Today we go hard on clone-Dragon Art Blast Storm!

Run tornadoes across the field every which way and rope in as many enemies as possible!"

"Yes! Dragon Art Blast Storm!"

"Adelia and the knight order people, please handle enemies that close in!

Maika, drop Cocytus on big clumps or wherever a strong enemy looks to be!"

"Nya! Leave it to me, nya!"

"Yes, understood. I'll pick my timing and use it."

We couldn't wipe them all out with all-target attacks, but Kanan could rapid-fire Blast Storm.

Fort 5 was fighting at a substantial advantage. Basically the Magical Beasts weren't much.

At most Magical Beast LV 50 or so. They just had numbers.

Around the level where one Blast Storm put them at the brink of death or wiped them.

The LV-50-plus enemies that couldn't be downed by that, we chipped away with single-target attacks.

For a higher-LV group…

"Demon Art - Cocytus!"

Maika shaved them down.

LV-80-plus large Magical Beasts weren't all that many.

"At this rate we'll manage. I'm going to take overall command. The rest is on you.

Now, the unfavorable spots are…"

Across the board, skill uses were depleting far faster than yesterday. The favorable battlefields had grown fewer.

There was no longer room to let Melvis loaf.

"Melvis, I want you to cycle through 1, 2, 4, 6, 9 in order and provide support.

Either by big damage or otherwise, restabilize the lines. I'll leave the judgment to you!"

"Yes, understood. Leave it to me."

Melvis smiled and set out. Reliable.

"8 is stable. Kishilia's amazing.

The enemy offensive there should be intense, but…"

Moruna-chan was incredible. She was magnificently trampling the Magical Beasts.

3 and 7 had less intense enemy offensives, so for now they were fine…

Where were the Demon Persons / Demon Generals?

Where was the enemy offensive especially intense?

1… maybe? With Ursula and an A-Class Master there, being this disadvantaged was strange.

… No, the volume of Magical Beasts was simply too great. They were being attacked far more fiercely than the other forts.

But the moment Melvis arrived, the line was restabilized in no time.

"… Summon Undead."

Melvis even left one skeleton warrior behind.

A skeleton warrior that handled high-level single-target attacks was useful for maintaining the line.

"Oh, splendid. Just as expected of Melvis. On to the next."

Fort 1 was somehow stable. Melvis continued on to Fort 2.

Again, with Ia's attack she drove back enemies all at once, then summoned a skeleton warrior to maintain the line…

So grateful.

Without a Demon General Melvis was probably overspec, but thanks to her things were balancing out.

"Melvis, how many skeleton warriors can you put out?"

"… Eight. If it's the LV40 Undead Warrior, I can put out 100."

"100! Even at LV40, that many would be a huge help.

Could I rely on them?"

"Yes, that's fine. But the Undead Warriors can't fight by their own judgment, so I can't leave them scattered around like this."

"Understood… so if you handle base defense, even without help from the knight order, you can really pull it off alone."

"Yes, leave that to me.

… If a Demon General comes, that's another matter. Even I would have trouble alone with that."

"I get it."

Same for Kishilia. Demon Generals must boast high single-combat ability on top of their command ability.

"All right…"

At that moment.

"Naoto! It hath come! The presence of a Demon General! Fort 3 is being attacked!"

Himeno suddenly cried out.

"3!? It's coming into our territory!"

What to do — could Yumi, Cellas, and Lizalind handle it alone…?

No, no good. Yumi alone didn't have enough defense.

Melvis had just stabilized Fort 4. Next was Fort 6's turn, but…

"All right, Melvis next goes to Fort 9! Defend Fort 9! Lyuka, Sawako, Mira, swap with her and head to Fort 3."

I summoned the defense-strong trio.

"Himeno, thank you. Thanks to you we can intercept the Demon General fully prepared."

"… A-are you sure it's all right?"

Himeno looked anxious.

"Suzanne, Saria, Klara! No reinforcements are coming, but keep at it!"

"… Understood, leave it to us!"

Suzanne answered reliably.

… And so I, Lyuka, Sawako, Mira, Yumi, Cellas, and Lizalind gathered at Fort 3.

"Mira and Yumi guard Cellas.

Lyuka and Sawako guard Lizalind. Mira and Cellas, change into Yumi's Spirit Garb."

We hurriedly readied ourselves.

"Demon Gods, Demon Generals, and Demon Persons — to borrow the faerie-realm term 'Faerie race,' you could call them the Demon Race of the Magical Beast realm.

Residents of the Magical Beast realm.

They aren't terribly orderly, but going by what the Demon Race themselves say, it's thought to be a confederation of 72 territories ruled by 72 Demon Gods.

Demon Generals are said to be the trusted retainers serving Demon Gods, but many are strays without masters, so there's no real clear organization.

You can just think of them as simply stronger than Demon Persons and weaker than Demon Gods."

"The Magical Beast realm is 20 times the size of the human realm, right? Is all of that divided into 72 countries?"

"20 times is the territory size, but it's not actually clear that all of it belongs to the Magical Beast realm. It's just that everything surrounding the human realm is covered by the Magical Beast realm.

To begin with, things aren't that organized.

There are countries that don't belong to the Magical Beast realm, like the Vampire realm and the Faerie realm. All of those are hostile to the Magical Beast realm…

The Demon Race seem to think of themselves as loosely ruling a wide swath of the world. That's about it."

"I see…"

Ahh, having Lyuka beside me explaining was so reassuring…

I'd picked her for her defensive strength, but maybe part of it was that I just wanted Lyuka nearby.

Himeno was watching us prepare with frightened eyes.

"… It's all right."

I stroked Himeno's head.

"M-mn…"

Himeno was uneasy.

… Eventually.

A beautiful girl shouldering a great sword appeared, swaying, from beyond the horizon.

Cute. Being a bit of a loli, she didn't yet entirely match my taste, but the future potential was beyond reproach.

Hair and eyes the color of a green-tinged blue sea — striking.

A light-blue outfit that hugged her body tight…

Loli flat-chest she was, but with the snug suit her nipples stuck out, prominent… somehow erotic.

And a blue great sword. Maybe she had her own particular coordination in mind.

… She's cute! I really wanted her as a companion.

"Haa-hah-hah! You puny humans, putting up dinky little forts!"

… A rough manner of speech that didn't match her charming appearance.

"I'm Vivia! Demon General Vivia! That's the name of your reaper!"

So she declared.

"The title 'Demon General' originally didn't exist; humans started using it to refer to powerful Demon Persons.

The Demon Race took a liking to it, and powerful Demon Persons started calling themselves by it."

"Hooh."

While I listened to that trivia…

"Don't ignore me! Weak-ass humans!"

I got scolded.

… Somehow she came across like a mischievous kid.

I hurried over to her.

"You're here! You're the humans' Master, right!"

"I'm S-Class 24th, Akai Naoto. Pleased to meet you."

"O-oh… p-pleased to meet you too."

Vivia answered earnestly.

… She was a cute kid, somehow.

"Ah, n-no, 'pleased to meet you' my foot! … Hmph, S-Class 24th… so the lowest! Just right for a starter.

As a sacrifice for me to climb to Demon God!"

So she shouted.

She seemed a bit goofy, but if she was leading this mass of Magical Beasts, her ability was certainly the real deal.

I couldn't let my guard down.

"Likewise, since I'm about to defeat a Demon God, you're just right for a starter. Battle, Vivia."

"… A starter, you say! Don't underestimate me!"

Vivia got angry. Even though she'd said it first…

"You shouldn't say to others what would make you angry to hear."

"U-uu… w-well… s-shut up!"

She didn't seem too bright.

"Element looks like water. A bit of a bad matchup, but… we'll manage.

Go, Mira, Yumi, Cellas!"

"Going! Demon General Awakening!"

Gooo…!

Vivia's combat ability spiked. Awakening… she was pulling it out from the start.

"Yumi, Quagmire of Binding, Earth's Resonance, Summon Gnome, Earth's Wrath.

Cellas, Wind God's Blessing twice.

Mira, Defense Tonic twice, Acid Shell, Demon Art - Iron Maiden!"

Even I thought the action count was crazy.

Yumi's Earth's Resonance. By granting Earth element to all skills via her Saturn's Blessing trait, she doubled the attack count.

"U… can't move…!?"

Vivia got caught in the mire and couldn't move.

"But… don't underestimate me! This won't work!"

Baan! Effect of Awakening, maybe. She was repelled.

… Stat reductions didn't apply. Bringing the mire had been a mistake, maybe.

"Don't underestimate me! Demon Sword Riot!"

Hyun, hyun, hyun, hyun!

Vivia swung the great sword around. A 4-hit attack. But…

"Agu, gu, uah! Ow!"

Counter damage from Acid Shell.

The damage was tiny. Only 1 dot reduced.

She seemed to have an enormous HP pool.

"Aah, k-kuso…! I'll just smash through this head-on!"

Hyun! Reaction. Acid Shell's effect ran out. But…

"Acid Shell!"

I put it up again. With 8 actions per turn, I could hold defense for 5 turns.

"Gu, gu, guah! This… ow! Ow!"

Counter damage. Reached 2 dots.

… Her reactions were sometimes cute.

"Demon Art - Iron Maiden!"

Mira's attack.

Vivia got slammed — zgan! — into the Iron Maiden, and her HP dropped 2 dots.

Only 2 dots! What…? That was supposed to be super-large damage.

Metal element was even on both Demon and Water. With Yumi's Earth's Wrath 100% UP, firepower of 7000, only doing 2% damage — calculating with MDf 100, her HP would be 3500.

Wasn't that too much…!? So this was what a boss battle was.

Well, knowing the stats made calculation much easier.

"Mira, put up Mirror Shield."

"Yes."

For the last single action, I quietly raised the defense.

… If she didn't have piercing, Mirror Shield should be very effective.

Turn 2.

Buff state was as follows.

"K-kuso… don't underestimate me too much! I have this skill too!

Demon Art - Maelstrom!"

A huge torrent surged in. Plus a 2-hit…! Looked strong. But it didn't seem to have piercing.

… As planned.

"Mirror Shield!"

Kan! Reflected. Two times running.

"Kyaaa!"

When reflected by all three, damage tripled. 2 hits, so 6x damage.

Oh, amazing.

20 dots gone in one stroke.

"Higu… uu… t-this… d-don't mess with me! Haaa! Demon Sword Riot!"

Kankankankan!

About 6 dots gone.

"Wait, Mirror Shield can't be broken, and you don't have anything but attack skills?

And you can't help acting every turn…"

Huh, not all that strong? At this rate it'd be pretty much an easy win…

… But for the next turn, there was a feeling she was aiming for something.

What to do — save Mirror Shield, or set it up…

"No, save it here.

Mira, Defense Tonic 4 times.

Yumi, Earth's Resonance, Earth's Wrath twice.

Cellas, Wind God's Blessing twice.

Crea, Earth Breaker!"

Buff state was as follows.

Crea's attack didn't even amount to 1 dot, but it couldn't be helped.

Lock down defense and brace for the attack.

How would it go…?

Turn 3. If we got through this…

"Cellas, Wind God's Blessing, Gungnir!"

The first to move was Cellas. From Attack 575% Defense 500% Speed 375%…

"Divine Art - Gungnir!"

Zgaan!

Oh, shaved 12 dots in one strike! Amazing!

Zgaan! 2-hit. That was Gungnir's base effect. But her Speed buff was already at 435% UP.

Zgaan! Zgaan!

All right, broke 2x. Re-action!

So how about it? Speed at 495% UP…!

… Too bad, only this far. Speed hadn't crossed 4x.

But Vivia's previously huge HP was now under 1/3.

"… Well… well, you've had your way with me till now! From here is my real moment!

Demon-Blood Frenzy!"

Goo…!

Vivia's stats spiked.

Whatever — did this girl use "ore" or "atashi" for her self-address? It was kind of all over the place.

"Demon Sword Riot!"

She swung the great sword down.

"I'll…"

Yumi leapt out to take it. Then Crea instantly substituted in.

Good combo.

Bakiiin!

Acid Shell didn't work; damage to Crea. A piercing attack.

So Demon-Blood Frenzy didn't come together until turn 3, huh?

Zbaan!

60 damage…! Ugh, close… it was so close to 50.

"Crea, guard properly!"

Zan!

But Vivia's attack technique itself was solid.

When Crea tried to defend with her stone shield, Vivia immediately slashed from the other side — another 60 damage.

Another 60… Crea got taken down in one turn flat.

"… Kuh, I won't let you through!"

If Crea took 60 damage, Yumi took the same.

Zan!

As expected, 60 damage to Yumi.

"Demon Sword Riot!"

"Hold on, if it's 60 with element interaction, wouldn't Mira taking it as Metal element bring it under 50?

Mira!"

"Yes!"

Zan!

"Auh!"

But Mira also got struck for 60 damage.

"Eh, what's this?"

"It must be element-nullification effect… auh!"

Zan!

Another 60 damage to Mira.

"This…!"

Yumi covered Mira again. 60 damage. And…

"Fixed damage is terrifying! Cellas!"

Zan!

Last, Cellas covered. 60 damage. Dealing the same damage to three with different elements…

At this point, Yumi and Mira were on the brink.

"That was tough… but we managed it. As expected, Cellas, Mira, Yumi."

"Haa, haa… yeah, a Demon General really is tough."

"Yes, we mustn't drop our guard till the end. She was strong."

"… Hmm? You all… what are you talking about, like you've won?

What starts from here is my own slaughter show!"

Mmhm, after 3 turns Demon-Blood Frenzy was online and she was getting cocky. I got it.

"Then let's go.

Yumi, Summon Gnome again. Earth's Wrath, last cast.

Mira, Defense 4 times."

… Right, the buff state going into turn 4 was like this.

"Let's go, Cellas. Divine Art - Raphaela!"

"Aah… here I go! Divine Art - Raphaela!"

Go…!

Attack 1350% UP, defense 1600% UP, speed 990% UP, skill 100% UP.

Gogogogo…

Cellas was clad in an awesome divine-energy aura.

"… Eh?"

Vivia… had gone pale. Even her ditzy self had figured out what she was up against.

"Now, please let me start that slaughter show of yours."