Combatants Will Be Dispatched - Volume 1 - Chapter 3.3

3 

“Close ranks to the right! Take out the caster first! Minimize the damage!” 

“Push! Use your numbers and push!” 

I can hear the din of battle through the stone as I continue driving more iron stakes into the tower, leading my squad slowly up the side. The battle raging inside the tower has done a good job of masking our noise. 

“This…this is just wrong. This can’t be the proper way to besiege a tower…surely…” 

Right below me, Snow mutters to herself as she follows behind. She’s shed her armor and strapped her sword to her back. The other members of the squad have removed their heavy equipment and join the climb with a light payload. 

“Hey, Snow, they probably can’t hear you over all the fighting, but try to talk as little as possible. If the enemy finds us here, we’re sitting ducks. You can complain to Alice later.” 

Without my power armor, there’s no way I’d survive a fall from this height. Now that I’m a good distance up the tower wall, I take my time in driving in the stakes, making sure that each is secure before moving on to the next one. 

The climb feels endless, with only the steadily increasing wind indicating any progress. Eventually, though, I climb up high enough that I catch a glimpse of the top. 

“Psst! Six! Hey, Six!” I hear Snow’s urgent whisper from below me. 

“What is it? And why do you sound so desperate? Wait, don’t tell me… Do you need to go to the little knight’s room…?” 

“No! I-it’s not that.” 

Yeah? I wait impatiently for her to explain. 

“…I got carried away when swinging my sword earlier… My arms can’t take much more of this. They’re starting to tremble…” 

“You moron! If you fall from here, that’s instant death! And you’ll take the rest of the squad with you!” 

“I—I know that! I already admitted I got carried away! So what should I do?! I’m seriously freaking out right now!” 

Snow looks up at me with tears in her eyes. It’s actually kind of a nice change of pace from her usual expression, and I’m pretty tempted to leave her hanging, both literally and figuratively, but Snow’s not the sort to beg unless it’s an actual emergency. I need to take this seriously. 

“Ugh, fine! Give me your hand!” 

I bite down and grasp the compact pile driver with my teeth, taking hold of a stake with one hand and reaching down to grab Snow’s hand with the other. 

“Wh-what are you doing?! Eeep!! Don’t just dangle me with one arm! Gyah!” 

I ignore Snow’s panic and pull her up to my shoulders. In all honesty, this is actually pretty hard on my arms, considering I’m not in my power armor. Sure, I’ve got cybernetic enhancements, but my physical abilities are basically at the limits of what the human frame can handle. Carrying Snow and her sword one-handed isn’t something I can sustain for long. 

Mumbling with the pile driver in my mouth, I try to communicate to Snow with my eyes and chin to grab hold of my shoulders. 

“Gh… S-sorry.” 

She might be too tired to continue climbing on her own, but she should still be able to cling to me using her arms and legs. 

I confirm that Snow’s got her arms wrapped securely around my neck, then resume my climb toward the top floor. 

…Hey, wait a second. This is… 

“Hey! Tighten your grip a bit. Flatten yourself against me to reduce the effects of the wind!” 

“G-got it… Like this?” 

A soft, supple warmth presses against my back. The intimate event I was looking for, at long last. I couldn’t be happier. 

“This is the first time you’ve been useful today. Hey, if you’re going to be dead weight, the least you can do is press your chest against me a bit more.” 

“Y-you son of a—! At a time like this?! You really are scum, aren’t you?!” 

“Sh-shut it! Your huge boobs are pretty much your best asset! I’m letting you make good use of them! You should be thanking me!” 

“You ass! The moment this mission is done, meet me behind the barracks!” 

As we continue our whispered argument, we get to a height where we can climb onto the rooftop. A quick downward glance confirms that the others have climbed up without any problems. I expected Rose to be fine, given her physical strength, but even Grimm, ordinarily confined to a wheelchair, has no problems with the pesky sun out of the way. 

Alice, being an android, had no concerns about fatigue, and taking advantage of her near infinite energy, she took the occasional peek through the tower’s windows on her way up. 

I address the others in a whisper. 

“I’ll climb up and scout ahead. Join me when I call on you.” 

Everyone, except for Snow, who is still on my back, nods in understanding. 

I drive in the final stake, then poke my head above the edge and sneak a peek. 

The sun had set a long time ago, leaving the top floor lit only by moon and starlight. In the gloom, I catch sight of two demons. Standing in front of the staircase is a giant bull-headed humanoid carrying an ax. Standing a fair distance away is a ram-headed demon carrying a staff. 

The invading knights were forced to come up the stairs in a single file but faced attacks from both the front and the side. I gotta give credit where it’s due. The enemy set up in a good location. 

“Now’s our chance. Let’s call up the others and face them before they notice us,” Snow whispers to me from my back… 

The two demons, oblivious to our presence, start talking to each other. 

“Fu-ha-ha-ha! Hey, brother, how many groups does that make it? I haven’t suffered a single scratch yet!” 

“Hee-hee, I’ve lost count, brother. There have been too many. Besides, we already beat the Chosen One. Mere knights and soldiers don’t stand a chance against us, no matter how many of them there are.” 

Still carrying Snow on my back, I stealthily climb up onto the top floor. The demons remain ignorant of our arrival, continuing their cheerful conversation. 

“That’s true. Since we’ve beat the Chosen One, I bet we’ll get promoted to Elite Four status. I’m sure the Demon Lord’s drafting up the orders as we speak.” 

“Indeed! Come to think of it, we beat the Chosen One when the Elite Four couldn’t. We may not have been able to finish him off, but we got him real good. It’s not a stretch to say we’ve probably surpassed the Elite Four!” 

“All right, let’s gather the others… Um, Six?” 

Ignoring Snow, I crawl along the floor, approaching the ram-headed demon. 

“Fu-ha-ha-ha! The world is ours for the taking, brother! With the two of us together, we can’t lose!” 

“Hee-hee-hee! That’s right! With the two of us together, we can beat the Chosen One or even the Elite Four! We could probably even give the Demon Lord a run for his money!” 

The ram-headed one merrily continues his conversation, still blissfully unaware of our presence. He’s standing away from the staircase, glancing down at the battle unfolding in the tower from the ledge near the empty center. I get a bit closer to Ram Head… 

“H-hey, Six! We’re close enough! Let’s hurry and get the others, and then…” 

“Fu-ha-ha-ha-ha! Once we beat these fools, we’ll gain even greater fame and glory!” 

The bull-headed demon lets out a joyful belly laugh. 

“S…Six?” 

I stand up behind the ram-headed demon, still carrying Snow on my back. 

“Hee-hee-hee-hee! Indeed! Our names will echo throughout the world! Just the two of us, Gil the Mighty and Ri—!” 

I shove Rista the Windbag off the top of the tower. 

“WHOOOOA! HEY! S-Six! Wh-what the hell?!” 

“All right, you guys, the coast is clear! Let’s get to work!” 

I call on the others and wait for them to join us. Snow climbs off my back, drawing her sword and dropping into her fighting stance. She looks at me, her expression torn. I guess she has something to say. 

“Hey, Six, don’t you think that was a little messed up?! I almost felt sorry for him! I’ve never heard of anyone kicking a boss off a tower before the actual fight!” 

“Wha—?! Where the hell did you all come from?! Cheeky bastards! C’mon, Rista, let’s get ’em! We’ll use our…” 

As the other squad members climb up from behind Snow and me to join us on the top floor, Gil glances from side to side, trying to find his companion. 

“…Rista? Hey, Rista, where’d you run off to?” 

For understandable reasons, Gil turns his gaze toward Snow and me. Meanwhile, the two of us were looking in the direction that I’d shoved Rista. In a panic, Gil abandons his post in front of the staircase, rushing toward the ledge where Rista fell… 

“R-Rista?! Rista!” 

“G-Gil! Heeelp!” 

I glance down and notice that the ram-headed Rista had managed to grab hold of part of the spiral staircase, hanging off its edge. It’s hard to read expressions on animal-headed demons, but if I had to describe what Rista was feeling right then, I’d say it was desperation. 

“Damn, I thought he was dead already. Hey, Alice, can you shoot the one clinging to the stairs?” 

“Wouldn’t be a problem, but why waste the precious ammunition? I bet if you just toss some rocks at him, he’ll slip and fall on his own.” 

I bend down and grab a rock. 

“H-hey, stop! Stop, dammit! I won’t let you attack Rista!” Gil announces rather dramatically, throwing himself into my line of sight and blocking me from throwing rocks at Rista. “I won’t let you lay a finger on him! I don’t know where you came from or how we got into this situation, but I’ll see to it that no harm comes to him!” 

“…Ugh, now I feel bad… Why is he making this difficult?” 

Rose lets out a soft whimper, cringing as she looks at Gil bravely putting himself between us and the vulnerable Rista. 

I don’t know why she’s saying that. I’d say this situation is actually pretty cut-and-dried. 

“All right, we’re going to surround him. The moment he moves to attack one of us, the rest of us will throw rocks at the one hanging on to the stairs.” 

“Impressive, Six, a wonderful plan. The very model of a Kisaragi employee. Letting him hear his companion’s cries of distress so that he can’t actually attack anyone was a nice touch.” 

Glad someone appreciates when a beautiful plan comes together. 

“Hey, Gil, was it? Heh-heh-heh, you can move if you want, but I think you can guess what will happen to your precious partner if you do… All right. Snow and I will be on standby with rocks. The rest of you, use ranged attacks to hit him from outside his reach!” 

“““Y-yikes…””” 

The three squadron members aside from me and Alice cringe and look a bit apologetic as they carry out their orders. Gil the Mighty lets out a cry of despair as he does his best to block the attacks with his ax. 

“DAMN IT AAAAALL!” 

“—Gil! Gil, are you all right?” Rista the Clever shouts out as he scrambles up the stairs. 

“He’s alive…but I wouldn’t say he’s all right.” 

Gil actually put up a decent amount of resistance. More, if I’m honest, than I expected. By the time he collapsed onto the floor, Rista had managed to pull himself back up to safety. He then gathered his underlings as reinforcements to help the beleaguered Gil…… 

“You bastards…! You not only shove me off the ledge when my guard is down but then use me as a hostage to beat up on Gil?! Don’t think any of you will get out of this alive! You’re all dead!” 

Rista snarls in rage, glaring daggers at us. I rather casually hold out my palm toward him to stop him from making any rash moves. 

“Easy now, didn’t you hear what I said? He’s alive, but I wouldn’t say he’s all right. Do you understand what that means?” 

As each side prepares to attack the other, and the tension in the room is rising rapidly, I smile disarmingly at Rista. Despite my attempt at putting Rista at ease, the ram-headed demon backs away at my expression. 

“…Your precious partner is barely clinging to life. He might make it if you can get him immediate medical attention. So here’s my question.” 

The color appears to drain from Rista’s face, and he swallows, tensing. 

“How highly do you value your partner’s life?” 

In response to my question, a familiar voice echoes in my head. 

<Evil Points acquired.>