novelraw Chapter 168
Chapter 168
Ch.168 A Sea of Troops Surged Toward the Enemy
The standoff dragged on.
We attacked from range, but liches layered multiple barriers, drastically reducing our damage.
“Icira, any other options?”
She surveyed the battlefield.
“My breath is too close-range. Meteor or Flare seems to be our limit.”
“Can you block their incoming Meteors?”
“Too many. Even I have limits in this form—unless I revert to my true dragon self.”
But if Icira transformed into a dragon, she’d become a massive, obvious target.
“Too risky. Roy would go straight for you.”
If Roy succeeded in killing Icira…
Just imagining it was horrifying.
Even if I finished him with Equality before he turned undead—
How would I tell Icira that her mother was gone?
Unthinkable.
I couldn’t do it.
“If nothing works… I have no clever solution either.”
“Guess I’ll just have to block with my body again?”
Just then—a meteor hurtled down at incredible speed.
“Go block it.”
“Whoa!”
Icira launched me toward the meteor.
I hastily applied debuff curses and braced for impact.
—Kuuuung!
—Kuuung!
This is unfair! Sacrificing me twice in a row?!
I barely had time to reset my curses between meteor collisions—another misstep, and I’d have dragged my allies down with me.
“Hey! Give me a heads-up! I nearly had a heart attack!”
“How? It came too fast! Here comes another!”
“Aaah!”
—Kwaaaaang!
Icira clearly found this entertaining.
“Tch! Stop playing and do something useful!”
Mia snapped in frustration.
Without the Spirit King, our firepower had plummeted.
“Just wait.”
I fired Equality wildly.
—Bang!
—Bang!
—Bang!
But my fire rate was still too slow.
Then—
The fourth bullet in Equality’s cylinder glowed.
A purple bullet.
“It’s here! It’s finally here!”
I’d pre-set the purple round as my first shot.
Of all situations, the one I needed most appears now.
Is the god helping me?
I switched the cylinder to purple and held the trigger.
—Bang bang bang bang bang!
Equality spun wildly, firing at machine-gun speed.
Enemies dropped like flies.
“Pwahaha! We’ve won! We’ve won!”
Switch the cylinder to orange—it becomes a shotgun.
Switch to purple—it becomes a machine gun.
Firing relentlessly, I roared,
“Where are you, Roy?! Your army’s dying!”
Soldiers turned into pincushions under the bullet storm.
But Roy gave no response.
Tch. I wish he’d come out already—he’s holding back well.
Bullets mowed down wave after wave.
“Master! You’re the best!”
“Woooh!”
“Yes! Kill them all with that!”
While the Hero Party cheered, I analyzed the situation coldly.
Range is shorter than default mode—but still much longer than shotgun, enough for a few hundred meters.
So first—eliminate the liches.
But where are they?
I scanned for the troublesome enemy mages—but the battlefield was too crowded to spot them.
No sign of the annoying liches.
But…
Ghouls and knights crawled out from the forest.
Mounted knights charged fast—and ghouls kept pace.
Their numbers were overwhelming.
Watching the undead horde surge forward,
Are there really tens of thousands? Feels like even more.
Beyond the soldiers, the undead count kept growing.
—Bang bang bang bang bang!
I mowed down the oncoming wave—but there were too many.
Even a machine gun couldn’t handle this density over such wide terrain.
“Meteor!”
Leah’s fire support melted knights and ghouls—but seeing more infantry advancing behind,
Should we retreat?
The open field made holding the line harder than expected.
And Leah’s powerful magic was heavily weakened by lich counters.
Enemy corpses inched closer.
Our defensive line was collapsing—we needed to consider retreat seriously.
Now, enemies were only dozens of meters away.
—Heeeng!
A horse hit by Equality writhed on the ground.
I thought a machine gun would handle this…
But it’s not enough.
At close range, enemies fell faster—but still too many.
“We should probably fall back.”
Icira’s anxious voice made me nod.
“Icira! Teleport us inside the dungeon!”
Before I finished speaking, she chanted,
“Teleport!”
Blue light engulfed us—and we appeared in the dungeon’s inner cavern.
Cecilia approached Leah.
“Leah, are you alright? Didn’t you overexert yourself casting magic earlier?”
Leah flashed a playful V-sign and grinned.
“Nope! Thanks to this, I didn’t use a drop of magic.”
She proudly brandished Altarion’s Staff.
“This thing’s amazing! Just chant the incantation, and the spell fires exactly as I imagine—feels like I’ve become a dragon!”
Cecilia’s eyes sparkled.
“Oh! That’s incredible!”
“But maybe it’s too early to celebrate?”
“Right. Don’t forget—we just retreated.”
Mia and Icira’s words made the two girls blush.
Only then did Cecilia look around, worried.
“But… what do we do? There are too many!”
“They won’t get in immediately.”
As if on cue—
—Kwuung!
The cavern shook violently.
If enemies enter, the tunnel entrance will collapse.
Rebuilding it will take considerable time.
“Phew… but what now?”
I stared at the tunnel entrance.
“Since the passage is narrow, we’ll hold it with Equality, magic, and spirits.”
“What if we completely collapse the entrance?”
“Block it and buy time?”
“If we bring it down big enough, they’ll take even longer to reach us.”
That made sense.
But…
“Won’t liches blast through it quickly with fireballs?”
Exactly.
With liches capable of spamming fireballs like dynamite, how can we buy time?
Plus, we’re scattered at the mansion—we can’t respond quickly.
Even I need time to gear up in the Arbiter’s Armor.
“Better to stop Roy right here.”
We still had time before enemies cleared the rubble.
I planned to strategize during this window.
“I’ll suppress them with Equality. Mia, can you summon the Spirit King again?”
She nodded.
“Possible—but in this narrow passage, I won’t be able to unleash his full power.”
She had a point.
This good passage might collapse under the Spirit King’s strength.
If the entrance collapses again, they’ll clear it wider.
Or the whole cavern might cave in.
Losing the cavern would make defending the Seal Stone extremely difficult.
“What should we do…?”
Is there a better way?
As I pondered—
—Kwaaaaang!
A massive shockwave echoed.
“Huh? What’s that?”
—Kwaaaaang!
Another explosion and tremor.
“Crap! Are they blasting it open with magic? Icira, show me outside!”
“A-alright.”
She waved her hand—and a vision of the exterior appeared.
Dozens of liches spamming fireballs,
—Kwang!
Widening the tunnel.
They knew the entrance was narrow—and were expanding it.
With luck, they might even collapse the inner chamber.
But they avoided strong Meteors—if they buried the Seal Stone under rubble, it’d be hard to find—so they used fireballs to widen carefully.
—Kwaaang!
As tremors continued, Cecilia grew anxious.
“W-will it hold?”
“Not if they keep hitting it.”
Icira stared intently at the entrance.
She turned and asked,
“What now?”
All eyes turned to me—
as if expecting a miracle.
Damn it… no game ever taught me how to handle this!
Once the entrance widens, my aim with Equality will spread too thin.
And if enemies get close, Scarlet and Nekhuf will have to step forward to protect Leah, Cecilia, and Mia—leaving me unable to use Equality.
Should I ditch Equality and fight on the front line?
That’s also problematic.
Roy’s undead army is larger than expected.
He must’ve slaughtered nearby towns and cities en route to bolster his forces.
That’s why he pulled his troops—he’s smart.
Scarlet and Nekhuf are incredibly strong one-on-one—
but against hordes, fatigue and damage will wear them down fast.
“Ugh… a way… a way… Ah!”
Suddenly, a brilliant idea struck me.
But I couldn’t use it yet—it required enemies to get closer first.
“You’ve got a plan?!”
“Really?!”
I nodded.
“Yes. This should hold them.”
***
Roy watched the liches’ assault from afar.
The entrance widened rapidly.
The King hoped the enemy would retreat if the inner chamber collapsed.
‘They won’t back down so easily.’
After all, this adversary had repeatedly blocked him with unimaginable methods.
‘Did he say ‘game’? It feels like the gods are meddling from another world.’
To Roy, ‘game’ was either a selection mechanism or a divine trial.
And he believed the chosen adversary wouldn’t fall easily.
—Paaang!
—Kwajijik!
Granite shattered under intense blast pressure, expanding the entrance.
‘Thirty minutes?’
Watching dozens of fireballs widen the passage, the King’s heart pounded.
—Thump. Thump.
‘I must win. I can’t lose here.’
—Kwaaaaang!
Every crack in the stone made his heart race.
‘Not much longer.’
The King, who hadn’t rested in death for over a millennium, forced his racing heart to calm.
His enemies were now rats in a trap.
He’d slaughtered nearby towns and cities to amass this army.
No matter how strong they were, holding this open field would be impossible.
Distract them with overwhelming numbers—and if he could ambush and kill even one…
The tide would turn decisively in his favor.
—Kuuuung!
The dungeon corridor crumbled further, exposing more of the interior.
—Kwaaaaang!
Stone fragments flew everywhere.
The entrance widened steadily.
Soon, the end of the passage came into view.
Far inside, the adversary stood—Equality in one hand, Levi’s Dagger in the other.
“My soldiers! Grant them salvation!”
At the King’s command, a sea of troops surged toward the enemy.
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