Chapter 14
“I’VE DECIDED you’ll lead the stealth-drop squad. All right?”
“Eep…! Um, yes, I graciously accept this mission.”
During the initial strategy discussion, Mira had decided that the first leader to fall under ten squad members would receive this special mission. In other words, she was giving this role to the most unworthy leader—one who couldn’t so much as protect her unit—and the job went to Christina.
Realizing this, Christina gritted her teeth for the coming punishment. “Um… So, if I remember right, we draw everyone’s attention…” As she prepared, she thought about the mission she’d received. When she really thought about it, it was a rather conspicuous job, she realized. “Does this mean I’m…the star?”
Christina’s preconceptions based on why Mira had assigned her the task made it hard to tell, but when she thought about it, she was about to become the main character of this battle.
“Ooh! This is getting fun!” Once Christina started fantasizing, she couldn’t stop. Imagining herself saving the day, she rushed to prepare.
***
Mira looked back to the battlefield and watched Eizenfald dance bravely through the air, keeping the Machina Guardian’s eyes on him. “Goodness, that air defense laser is a pain.”
Despite his size, Eizenfald flew skillfully around the area. One might call him the ruler of the sky, and he indeed dodged the machine-gun-like barrage of antiair lasers with aplomb.
Small lightning bolts rushed from him at times. That was draconic magic; he’d only begun to learn it, so despite its grandiose name, it wasn’t especially strong. A single claw swipe would be about ten times more powerful. Still, draconic magic was stronger than intermediate magic, so it had terrifying potential.
That said, it wasn’t enough to restrain the Machina Guardian. At times, Eizenfald’s aggro level dropped so low that the boss turned its attention to the surface troops.
As for those troops, the ashen knights under Valkyrie command kept striking the Machina Guardian’s legs. At times, they even leapt and struck its torso. It wasn’t easy to get through such thick plating, but each knight dealt damage slowly but surely.
Then a laser barrage similar to gunfire rained upon them. Having quickly noticed it was coming, the Valkyrie Sisters twisted out of the way in time.
“Impending cleave!” Alfina called out to all forces. In this drawn-out battle, she’d learned to perceive the meaning of the Machina Guardian’s slight movements, so she could predict its next move and give orders.
The sisters quickly repositioned their ashen knights and took defensive stances. Then the Machina Guardian’s giant leg tore horizontally through the air. The sisters escaped it easily with graceful leaps, but that was only possible due to their powers. The ashen knights lacked the Valkyries’ agility, forcing them to block. With a mighty sound, the boss’s attack blew them back. Most of the ashen knights landed on their feet, and the troops quickly reformed.
The Machina Guardian’s swing combined height and distance, so dodging it was no simple feat. Often, player tanks defended themselves rather than trying to dodge and potentially taking more damage. But the attack’s great impact immobilized the target for a while, subjecting them to the machine-gun volley of lasers. That was one of the boss’s behavioral patterns, at least. Before the Machina Guardian could take the opportunity to aim at the ashen knights, though, Eizenfald’s ferocious tail swung down, and Soul Howl’s bombardment tore into the boss.
That painful attack from an unexpected angle threw the Guardian off-balance. The Valkyrie Sisters and ashen knights seized the opportunity to attack. It might lead to more casualties on their army’s side, but this was a perfect way to deal major damage.
Observing her plan’s smooth fruition, Mira lavished herself with praise. Without the combined offensive and defensive prowess of my ashen knights, you couldn’t pull this off. Ah, what a genius I am.
Thanks to the Bound Arcana, her ashen knights would recover as long as they weren’t destroyed in one blow. If the Machina Guardian attacked like this multiple times in a row, Mira would need to change her strategy; for now, though, the ashen knights were healing enough that this was a good source of damage.
Confirming the situation and providing backup fire as necessary, Soul Howl checked in with Mira. “It’s almost time to strike, right? My gut feeling is that it’s about to hit 30 percent.”
“Indeed. I think it’s about time to bring her out,” Mira replied, then ordered Christina—who’d finished prepping behind the castle wall—into battle.
“Got it!” Christina replied before leading her squad to the fight.
Mira watched the Valkyrie head off, then turned her eyes to the main battlefield and ordered Eizenfald to fight on the ground for a while, focusing on defense.
“Understood, Mother!” he replied cheerfully, weaving through antiair lasers to land. When the Machina Guardian tried to strike during his landing, cannon fire from the castle walls stopped the boss just in the nick of time, giving Eizenfald plenty of leeway to defend himself.
The battle remained at a stalemate for a while after that. The Valkyrie Sisters intermittently attacked and retreated before the boss could counter. Eizenfald didn’t use big attacks, instead maintaining a distance and attacking with smaller dragon breaths to keep the boss focused on him. Unlike before, they fought cautiously, but that was necessary to keep the Machina Guardian in check—all part of Mira’s new plan.
“Okay, she’s in position. Let us begin.” Having confirmed that Christina’s squad was on standby, Mira signaled Soul Howl, then ordered Eizenfald and the Valkyries to attack full-on.
Immediately, every cannon on the castle wall fired at once. The shots slipped past the Machina Guardian’s legs as it tried to defend itself, striking its body one after another. Explosive flames burned wildly.
Amid all that, the Valkyrie-led army sprang into action. They abandoned defense for an aggressive attack, focusing on striking down one leg. The Machina Guardian swung a leg to try and stop them, but Eizenfald’s tail deflected it, temporarily neutralizing the limb.
That didn’t last long. Aiming lasers at the ground, the Machina Guardian fired madly. Its aim was poor due to the smoke still wafting around, but it had no shortage of targets, and shot through multiple ashen knights. It culled one-third more of the army.
Still, the sisters succeeded in destroying the leg. The Machina Guardian staggered. Now perceiving the sisters as a major threat, it focused fire on them.
While the boss was fully focused on the ground below, Mira ordered Christina, “Okay, now!”
Christina’s ashen knights suddenly appeared above the Guardian in a total blind spot—the most unexpected sucker punch possible. Garuda had carried them, and Wasranvel had kept them imperceptible, making this the perfect stealth-bombing ambush.
Falling from above, the ashen knights stabbed their holy swords into the Machina Guardian’s back. One even cut another of the boss’s legs off in the process.
Their seven swords pierced the boss one after another. When they pulled the blades out, sparks flew, and smoke rose from the wounds. The momentum of their falls contributed to their force, enabling these blows to deal the most damage yet to the Guardian. The attacks pierced into its depths, rendering its movements unstable. It lurched even farther sideways, as if unable to bear the pain.
Then the “main character” made her appearance. After gathering more than enough mana, Christina finally leapt down, turned her shield into a foothold of light, and accelerated instantly. Despite being the youngest, she was still a Valkyrie. Therefore, her speed was many times greater than the knights’, and her sword much sharper than theirs could ever be.
“Go!” Christina cried, penetrating the armor despite its overwhelming toughness.
Eizenfald, the Valkyrie Sisters, and the ashen knights on the vanguard had created the perfect opening for Christina. Mira had given her a vital role, but this wasn’t a tall order for her; she sliced heroically through the enormous, powerful foe that lay before her.
Then, with a shrill metallic sound, the sword in the ecstatic Christina’s hands snapped right in the middle. “Nooo! My six-time-hand-me-down swooord!”
Swung with such speed that one expected it to slice the Machina Guardian’s torso in half, the blade had broken. Christina lost the resistance it provided, and her momentum sent her falling right onto her face.
“At a time like this?!”
The youngest sister glared at the sword angrily, more upset that she’d missed her big chance than by her fall itself. She’d felt the attack succeeding until the antique sword, passed down from Alfina on, had snapped cleanly in the middle.
She looked up to survey her attack’s results. “Huh?”
Christina could see the gleaming red crystal inside the Machina Guardian’s opened torso. Indeed, what she’d felt about the attack had been accurate. Despite breaking her sword, she’d dealt deep, significant damage to the Machina Guardian.
That was precisely what triggered Ancient Ray, the Machina Guardian’s trump-card attack, which surpassed even Rampage’s raw power. The Machina Guardian always used Ancient Ray when it hit 20 percent health, and always aimed at whoever had earned the most aggro.
Christina had just torn through the Machina Guardian’s torso, so the boss naturally targeted her, though her sword had just broken. Instantly, destructive light engulfed the Valkyrie.
***
“That was a massive hit! Well done, if I may say so myself!” Mira called proudly as she watched the Machina Guardian unleash Ancient Ray.
“Yeah, great job. Its eyes turned red and started flickering right away. I didn’t think it would go that well,” Soul Howl said, impressed, as he watched things unfold.
When the Machina Guardian’s gold eyes reddened, that meant damage had exceeded 70 percent. When they flickered, that proved damage had gone beyond 80 percent. If Christina had completed her attack, she might even have finished off the boss herself, but the immense force put the sword through too much strain.
Christina, who’d just barely missed her chance to shine as MVP, froze thunderstruck in a curled defensive posture next to Mira.
Despite the accident, the stealth-drop team had dealt more damage than Mira anticipated. She thanked the team’s leader, Christina, putting a hand on her shoulder. “A shame that the unexpected happened, but you did well, Christina.”
Christina raised her head in surprise and looked around. When she spotted Mira, she gasped in confusion. “Huh? Master? Um, what just…?”
“I used Shepherd to Refuge. That was close, wasn’t it?”
Shepherd to Refuge was a summoner skill that allowed the user to instantly return a summoned target to their side. Mira had used it to relocate Christina immediately before Ancient Ray hit her.
When she explained as much, Christina finally realized what was going on. Gasping, she uncurled and kneeled before Mira. “I’m sorry I couldn’t finish it off…” The Valkyrie hung her head sadly at her failure to accomplish the major role entrusted to her.
Mira simply praised her. “Please, you did well. Quite well.” This operation had merely been an attempt to shave off 10 percent of the boss’s HP—in a way, a slapdash experiment to see how well the strategy would work. Christina had achieved even greater results, which deserved praise, not shame. “You charged up quite a while, I noticed. Was that a new skill? What impressive power.”
The final blow Christina had unleashed had drawn a trail of light behind it, tearing through the Machina Guardian’s torso. No doubt it was a derivative of the Christina Slash the Valkyrie had shown off not long ago. Mira was happiest to see one of her partners growing.
At first, Christina was taken aback, since she’d thought her sword breaking meant she failed. However, she started to comprehend that she wasn’t being scolded; she’d actually succeeded, and Mira was openly praising her for it.
Christina’s vigor gradually returned. “I made it just to help you, Master! Your praise honors me!” she announced, taking this opportunity to show off to Mira.
Christina’s sword of light was actually a skill she’d happened upon totally by accident. She’d condensed her mana during training to look like she was trying really hard while actually slacking the whole time. She didn’t tell Mira that, of course, despite thinking of all the bitter, painful training she’d been put through.
“Is that so? Really, I can’t thank you and your sisters enough.”
When Mira expressed gratitude again, Christina replied with a very smug grin. “Please. We’re just doing what’s right!” It was true that even Christina did everything necessary to help Mira. She just also used her wits to survive the overly harsh training she was forced to undergo.
“Now, Christina, we just need to press on a little longer. I’m counting on you.” Mira offered Christina a summoned holy sword Sanctia to replace her broken one. Christina had a shield as a secondary weapon, but couldn’t fight with that alone, and Mira thought it might be fun to give a Valkyrie a holy sword.
Christina and Sanctia… Sounds like a good match to me!
The swords the sisters usually wielded were true works of art. Your average famed sword, holy sword, or demonic sword couldn’t hold a candle to them. Even the antique blade Alfina had passed down through the family was far superior to the average sword. That was why Mira had neglected to try this until now. Since Christina’s sword was broken and useless, it was the perfect opportunity to have her use Sanctia.
Even clumsy Christina was a first-rate swordsman. What would happen if she swung the holy sword? Mira gazed at her, eyes burning.
Christina interpreted Mira’s gaze as expectant. The thought that her hopes were pinned on Christina, not her sisters, filled the Valkyrie with a sense of superiority.
“Thank you so much!”
A gift of a sword from her beloved master? Though this unexpected turn of events surprised her, the elated Christina sheathed her broken sword and accepted the gift reverently.
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