Chapter 12
IN FRONT OF THE CASTLE WALL, Mira summoned Eizenfald and the seven Valkyrie Sisters, then quickly explained things to them. “We’ll be fighting that big thing from yesterday.”
“Leave it to me, Mother!” Eizenfald was in a better mood than usual, no doubt because his dear mother had summoned him two days in a row. He seemed ready to jump into battle at any moment.
“The Sisters Seven live to serve,” the Valkyries replied solemnly. Eagerness burned in their eyes. They were impatient to fight such a powerful foe—save for the youngest sister, Christina. She teared up as she remembered yesterday’s battle.
“Next, we’ll need support personnel,” Mira murmured as she formed the Mark of the Rosary.
Eizenfald’s ultimate fighting strength, the Valkyrie Sisters’ ultimate adaptability—those two resources were indispensable for large battles like this. Still, Mira summoned supporters for them too. One after another appeared Leticia, spirit of song; Wasranvel, spirit of stealth; Pegasus; First Pupil Cat Sith; and Garuda.
As soon as she appeared from her magic circle, Leticia began humming. “Master! I finished part two of ‘Ode to My Master’!”
“It’s been a while since you last called on me. I see we have…quite the impressive lineup.” Wasranvel’s smile faltered somewhat when he saw Eizenfald, the Valkyrie Sisters, and Leticia.
Meanwhile, Mira’s First Pupil was more energetic than ever. “We got a big battle on our paws!” There were some new faces, but Cat Sith quickly grasped the situation, hopping around with a sign that read There’s a thin line between bravery and recklessness!
As for Pegasus, it stood by Mira as calmly as ever. Garuda loomed alone in a corner silently, simply awaiting orders.
Mira surveyed the group. “Today will be a difficult battle. I’m counting on you all.” The summons tensed up, and there was an anxious air, although Leticia and First Pupil’s attitudes didn’t exactly suit the mood. “Now, the time to summon my main force has finally come.”
She quickly set up summoning points in a number of spots behind the gate. She already had enough firepower to burn down a city, but that wouldn’t be adequate against the Machina Guardian.
Mira and Soul Howl were fighting this raid boss alone, so they couldn’t hold back. It was time for Mira to pull out all her firepower—her ultimate strength-in-numbers gambit. With Hermit’s Cursed Eye actively taking in surrounding mana, Mira activated her evocation. At the same time, the Spirit King’s blessing glowed all over her.
It was similar to, but not the same as, her usual One-Man Army summoning.
A chain of countless magic circles extended, linked to Mira’s front. They weren’t for the holy knights or dark knights she loved. The circles, numbering a thousand, revealed her new fighting force: an army of knights neither dark nor holy.
“Good. They turned out quite well.” Mira smiled, satisfied at her new army.
This evocation was unique to Mira. It made the most of the Spirit King’s blessing and the knowledge she’d gained from Soul Howl’s notes on synthesized spells.
She’d used the Spirit King’s power to link before, in the spirit mansion, making the location more convenient by rendering the kitchen, shower, and other facilities usable. In the process, she’d wondered if she could use the power on other things. Soul Howl’s notes had confirmed her suspicion.
The result was this army of ashen knights. The knights—perhaps worthy of the title of “knights-errant”—carried shields in one hand and black holy swords in the other.
Mira had linked dark knights and holy knights; the ashen knights wielded the traits of both, while also having boosted vitality. By adding the holy sword Sanctia’s power, she had greatly improved their potential. Wielding holy swords, they were especially strong offensively.
Mira’s new summoning technique went far beyond the framework of armor spirits. The ashen knights’ power rivaled that of advanced summons…yet because they were just armor spirits, there was no limit to their number.
However, they weren’t forces she could use anytime she wanted. They required the Spirit King’s blessing and the holy sword Sanctia, making each ashen knight’s mana cost eye-watering—again, rivaling that of an advanced summon.
Still, because the ashen knights qualified as lesser summons, Mira could generate a great force of them without wasting time casting. She could think of plenty of situations in which that would be handy.
“Alfina, I’ll trust you and your sisters to lead this army and decide when to let loose. Form ranks, please.” Mira looked back at her troops, feeling a real sense of accomplishment.
This was likely the sisters’ first time seeing the ashen knights, but the Valkyries could tell at a glance that the knights were unfathomably strong. Honored by Mira’s willingness to entrust such a force to them, Alfina kneeled to her with heartfelt gratitude. “Yes, Master!”
Under Alfina’s command, the sisters split the army into squads.
As the Valkyrie barked orders, Mira turned to her First Pupil. “Now, I have the usual important mission for you. I trust you know what I mean, First Pupil.” She handed over four pebble-sized magic stones.
“I’ll do a purr-fect job, Ringmeowstress!” Cat Sith respectfully accepted the stones, swiftly changed into a ninja-like outfit, and struck a shinobi pose. Behind it was a sign written in flashy colors: undercover asset.
He knew exactly what Mira meant by “important mission.” After all, he’d done this same job every time Mira needed to use her full power. Specifically, his role was to place those specially prepared magic stones on the four corners of the battlefield.
A four-point formation around the battle was the most effective layout; it put everything inside under the effects of the Bound Arcana. While there was a limit to the formation’s maximum size, Mira’s power could cover the large square that would house this battle just fine.
The Bound Arcana could only be positioned near the caster, but using the clever First Pupil allowed Mira to quickly set them up at a distance. It wasn’t a flashy job, but it was a vital one.
“This battle will be more dangerous than usual. Help him for me, please,” Mira told Pegasus, cradling the cat in her arms before putting him on Pegasus’s back. In the game era, all Nine Wise Men had usually been together for these battles. Now, there were only two. She felt a little uneasy about letting her First Pupil run around alone, so she decided to rely on Pegasus’s mobility.
“Finally, I have my own trusty steed!” The cat scampered happily across Pegasus’s back.
Pegasus frowned for a moment, but when Mira stroked its mane and urged it to protect her little friend, it neighed eagerly. Then, it turned to the cat on its back and neighed at him. No doubt Pegasus was asking whether First Pupil really knew his mission and whether he’d really be okay.
The cat puffed his chest out proudly, replying, “I’ve done this dozens of times. Leave it to me, paw-tner!” He actually was quite experienced, and the quality of his work proved that.
After dealing with her adorably small—yet reliable—pupil, Mira turned to Wasranvel and Garuda. “Next up…” she began as Alfina returned, having just divided Mira’s army into seven squads. “Good timing. At this point, I should inform you all of the strategy.”
Mira explained the gist of the plan to defeat the Machina Guardian to her personal army.
***
“Open the gate!” she yelled at Soul Howl, backed by a force big enough to fell a small country with ease.
After a moment, there was a dull, heavy sound as the enormous gate opened. Through the widening gap, she saw the battlefield ahead. The sounds of cannons, which had been muffled to this point, now reached her directly.
The artillery’s suppressive fire was seemingly becoming less effective, though. The Machina Guardian was much closer now than when she’d first surveyed it; its parries were also more refined. The fact that it was reacting faster, allowing it to get closer, proved it was continuing to learn. Based on the angles of the cannons aimed at it, it might’ve assaulted the gate if Mira took much longer.
Now, though, everything was ready. Mira stood before the fully open gate and glared at the Machina Guardian head-on. The cannon fire all stopped at once.
As if waiting for that moment, the Machina Guardian leapt forward. Every single cannon fired in unison; it was a simultaneous volley, able to deal real damage to the raid boss. The Machina Guardian reacted quickly, but more than ten shots struck home, causing fiery explosions.
Using that as her signal, Mira loudly ordered, “Charge!”
The army waiting behind her finally leapt into action. There was a moment of silence while they reloaded after the volley, but there was no opening for the boss to take advantage of, now that her army could charge.
Eizenfald was the first to move. As the Machina Guardian attempted to prepare its Rampage once more, dragon breath tore through the smoke. Light surged forth, and hot wind swirled. The attack traveled in the blink of an eye, creating an intense, dazzling explosion in the distance.
Eizenfald’s powerful dragon breath pushed the raid boss all the way to the chamber’s back edge. He’d singlehandedly moved the Machina Guardian, a giant being with awe-inspiring power. That took unbelievable force, but the shocking thing was that this wasn’t even Eizenfald’s full power—after all, he was subject to summoning magic’s limitations.
Soul Howl smirked from above at how the dragon had surpassed his strength of long ago. “Don’t fire that off at such close range, you fool,” he laughed.
Under cover of the blast, the ashen knights rushed onto the battlefield, led by the Sisters Seven. They spread out in perfect unison like an army of battle-hardened elites, surrounding the Machina Guardian. Together, they prevented the raid boss from attacking the wall again, bringing the battle into full swing.
After confirming that the Machina Guardian was fully focused on the ashen knights, First Pupil held fast to Pegasus’s back and pointed his sign toward the corner. Our success rides on this mission! it read. “Begin the meow-ssion!” he exclaimed.
“I’m counting on you, friends,” Mira said. Her feline pal responded elatedly, while Pegasus nodded solemnly before heading to the battlefield. “Next…”
Leaving the rest to them, Mira looked back at Wasranvel and Garuda, who were waiting inside the gate. When they nodded to her silently, she took Leticia back with her to Soul Howl’s location atop the wall.
There, she asked, “How do things look?”
Below, her army had encircled the Machina Guardian, thanks to Eizenfald drawing aggro—that is, the enemy’s attention.
“Well enough so far. You called those ashen knights your trump card, right? I’ve seen them cross swords a few times. They’re plenty strong,” Soul Howl answered, never taking his eyes off the battlefield.
The ceaseless cannon fire finally calmed now that the battle had begun in earnest, but he watched for opportunities to fire nonetheless. That helped distract the Machina Guardian from Eizenfald and the sisters, supporting them and occasionally suppressing the enemy’s movements.
“Indeed. I knew giving them holy swords was a good idea. Now I can focus on bolstering their defenses.”
The Machina Guardian was one of the raid boss “tanks.” Heading into this battle, their biggest concern had been whether they had the offensive power to cut through its plating. After all, its learning ability made them want to avoid a long fight.
When they’d taken it on long ago, Luminaria, Flonne, and Meilin could fill that offensive role just fine. Unfortunately, none of them were present, so Mira and Soul Howl had to use the tools at their disposal to make up for that.
They couldn’t match the full force of Solomon and the Nine Wise Men, who held the record of defeating the boss in under two hours. Still, they wanted to defeat it within the day. That was when Mira hit upon something: holy sword Sanctia.
“Leticia, I’d like you to play ‘Serenade for a Dear Knight.’”
“Request received!”
Next to the roof overlooking the battlefield was a wide scaffold. Leticia skipped gleefully to its center. It was only natural for her to stand in the middle of that unnaturally large scaffold, since it was a stage prepared just for her.
It would be close to impossible for enemies to stop Leticia’s songs, since the castle-wall cannons shot down any who approached. That was evidence of Mira and Soul Howl’s strong teamwork after fighting together for so long.
Onstage, Leticia began playing a song infused with mysterious power. It resounded across all corners of the battlefield, empowering those she considered allies. The song’s inherent buff was Damage Reduction.
“Now, we just wait and watch for a while.”
“Yeah. Let’s hope things go as planned.”
As the Machina Guardian sustained damage, its patterns and attack methods changed. The laser beam they’d seen last night made that most obvious. Normally, the Machina Guardian attacked with that once it had taken 80 percent damage, but the previous night, it had used the laser to wipe out everything in the hallway.
In light of that, Mira and Soul Howl decided to start off watching from afar.
***
Mira used Far Sight, a skill she’d learned from the Encyclopedia of Skills, to look at the battlefield from a distance and send orders to Eizenfald and the Valkyrie Sisters. Soul Howl used the same skill—which he’d learned from Mira—to set his gunsights more carefully and provide supportive fire.
The Machina Guardian’s attacks had weak and strong versions—weak versions had little windup, while strong ones had more. Focused entirely on defense, Soul Howl easily spotted the strong moves’ windup phases and suppressed them with cannon fire. As a result, none of the Machina Guardian’s attacks were able to destroy the knights in one strike.
Two hours after the battle began, things were going mostly as planned. Mira and Soul Howl recognized that the enemy’s movement patterns and attacks suggested that it had taken at least 40 percent of its health as damage. So far, the Machina Guardian had done nothing unexpected.
The boss’s expanded repertoire of attacks increased the casualties in the mages’ army, but only among the ashen knights on the front lines. Each time the knights took damage, Mira repaired them. She couldn’t replace the ones destroyed entirely, but she kept losses to a minimum. That consumed her mana quickly, however, and she was forced to hide behind the wall and recover her mana with Cerebral Flux each time.
The First Pupil and Pegasus did their job with aplomb, filling the battlefield with the maximum effects of the Bound Arcana. However, the effects only lasted thirty minutes, so they had to replace the magic stones regularly.
Their efforts bore fruit, bolstering Eizenfald, the seven Valkyrie Sisters, and the ashen knights. With their defensive barriers repairing automatically as well, this was even more advantageous in longer fights.
Still, the Machina Guardian’s blows were powerful. When one of the mages’ allies took a direct hit and shattered as a result, healing was pointless. They had to be careful. That much was well within their expectations, though. The plan now was to continue until the Machina Guardian sustained more than 50 percent damage.
“Rampage really is a thorn in our side,” Mira complained.
“After three Rampages, I’m amazed you still have so many soldiers.”
Kicking its eight legs, the Machina Guardian jumped overhead and barreled downward, creating a massive explosion below. That Rampage culled a portion of Mira’s army. Getting hit by Rampage directly would’ve vaporized even fully kitted-out top players, so ashen knights didn’t stand a chance against the attack. The previous three had already eradicated 40 percent of the knights.
Had this been an army of dark knights exclusively, it would probably have been obliterated long ago. Even Rampage’s shockwaves were strong enough to blow them away, after all. The fact that 60 percent of the ashen knights remained was only thanks to their added holy knight defenses.
“Thorn though it is, I love the opening it presents.”
“Same. We can knock the raid boss down 2 percent while it recovers.”
The Machina Guardian’s Rampage ended with a powerful explosion, disabling the enemy in the process. It took only five seconds to right itself, but that was ample time for Mira and Soul Howl to aim.
On the battlefield, Alfina commanded the ashen knights to fall upon the Machina Guardian all at once. She and her sisters were prepared to perform a powerful joint attack. Just before the Machina Guardian could right itself, the ashen knights would strike, then scatter like ants. At that moment, Alfina would unleash a spear of light created by her and her sisters.
The spear’s flash was followed quickly by a boom. Its power didn’t equal Eizenfald’s dragon breath, but the attack still dealt the Machina Guardian considerable damage. To rub salt in the raid boss’s wounds, there was then another volley from the castle wall.
“Ooh!” Mira piped up. “I think we’re past 50 percent!”
“Yeah. Finally time for phase two.”
Having seen the spiderlike Machina Guardian’s eyes turn from blue to green, the mages looked to the battlefield to figure out where its gaze was pointing.
The Machina Guardian jumped up forcefully, and its back suddenly burst—no, opened up. Several objects flew out, descending upon the battlefield one after another.
“There they are.”
“All according to plan.”
Five enemies had appeared: Mechanized Protectors. Each looked a lot like the Mechanized Wanderer defeated by Mira. They appeared when the Machina Guardian’s damage surpassed 50 percent, and they were powerful foes, rivaling the Wanderer itself.
This was the same as usual. Even halfway through the fight, the Machina Guardian had yet to do anything unexpected. Carefully confirming that, Mira surveyed the battlefield and assigned sections of her army to deal with each Protector.
The five Protectors each used a unique weapon. All the Valkyrie Sisters were currently armed with swords, but each possessed their own favored weapon to respond to various situations. Mira quickly sized up their targets and assigned the Valkyries to advantageous fights. Eldest sister Alfina and second sister Elezina would stay to fight the Machina Guardian, while the third sister onward would fight Protectors.
The Valkyries’ leadership was superb, and the army was split back into squads in no time. They encircled the Protectors, gaining an advantage before the new enemies could move.
To people strong enough to challenge the Machina Guardian, Protectors were equivalent to the Wanderer: they could be beaten solo, as long as you didn’t let your guard down.
If left unattended, however, Protectors would cooperate and cause casualties you couldn’t ignore. Furthermore, if left unchallenged too long, they could even fuse to become a more troublesome foe. As such, they had to be taken down individually.
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