Hell Mode: Volume 4, page 9
Through Bird F’s Transmission, he then ordered all the Insect Bs to use Spawn, their Awakened Ability. They obliged, each producing a hundred giant eggs each. The three thousand eggs quickly disappeared into bubbles of light and were replaced with what looked like half-sized Insect Bs.
What Spawn did was create a hundred offspring with half of an Insect B’s size and stats. The cooldown time was a day, and in light of the fact that Summons could stay Summoned for thirty days at a time, one Insect B could use Spawn a maximum of thirty times.
Allen named these smaller Antsys “Lil Antsys.” Even if they were not killed, they could only live for a month at most, as they would disappear with their parents when their thirty days were up. Similarly, when their parent was returned to a card, the offspring would disappear with it.
* * *
Status of the Lil Antsys Created Through Spawn
Name: Lil Antsy
HP: 1,300
MP: 500
Attack: 1,200
Endurance: 2,000 (Strengthened Parent)
Agility: 2,000 (Strengthened Parent)
Intelligence: 1,000
Luck: 900
Ability: Formic Acid
(All values are half of its Insect B parent.)
* * *
“All Antsys, order your Lil Antsys to march forward.”
The thirty Insect Bs chittered and clacked loudly in response to Allen’s command, signaling for their Lil Antsys to begin marching toward the monsters. Although they were considered young, these were still five-meter-tall ants, and there were three thousand of them. What was more, Allen had raised the parents’ Endurance and Agility to 4,000 using Strengthening beforehand, which meant all their spawn had 2,000 in both stats.
“Keel! Sophie! Buffs, please! Then we’ll be joining the fight!”
“Gotcha!”
“Of course, Lord Allen!”
While Keel and Sophie cast their spells on both their fellow Gamers and Allen’s Summons, Allen gave out instructions to more Summons.
“Belly and Finny, use your Abilities and Awakened Abilities!”
Although Fish D and C could not speak, they expressed their acknowledgment by swimming a tight circle in the ground before heading off to cast their buffs.
“Genbu, please also use Turtle Shield and Turtle Barrier on all of us.”
Chuckling like an old man, Fish B replied, “You got it, son! Time for this old sack of bones to get a move on!” before similarly diving into the ground. With only the top of the shell on its back visible, it went around repeatedly using its Ability.
While Turtle Shield reduced incoming damage by 20%, Turtle Barrier did so for 50%. The two were stackable, such that when they were both active, they worked together to reduce incoming damage by a total of 60%. This mitigation applied for all kinds of damage, including physical, magical, and even breath. Turtle Shield applied to all allies within fifty meters for twenty-four hours, whereas Turtle Shield applied to all allies within a hundred meters for one hour.
Good. That should save all my companions from getting one-shotted by anything short of Helmios’s Extra Skill.
Allen recalled his fight with the Hero at the Academy. At the time, Allen had used both Turtle Shield and Turtle Barrier, but Helmios’s strike had still left him severely wounded. Allen once again appreciated how powerful Helmios was.
All right, let’s go!
Upon confirming that the buffing was complete, Allen shouted, “All units, charge!”
Chittering loudly, the huge force of Summons rushed toward the back of the Demon Lord Army. Before they made contact, the Dragon Bs drew first blood, melting swathes of monsters with their breath attacks. When the Lil Antsys got close enough, Allen instructed them to use their Ability, Formic Acid. The three-kilometer-long line of giant ants obliged, shooting acid from their behinds.
Antsys and Lil Antsys both shared the Formic Acid Ability, which sprayed an acid dozens of meters in front of them that lowered victims’ Endurance and resistances. This was especially effective against monsters with corporeal forms, and some monsters with no resistance to poison simply died outright.
“Keep spraying! Spray it everywhere!”
The Insect B Summons obeyed and continued spamming their Ability. The elven soldiers were surprised to see the giant ants approaching the monsters from the rear; just as they were wondering whether they were friend or foe, they heard the bellowing of their officers, who had been told beforehand to not attack Allen’s Summons.
“The ants are our reinforcements! Do not shoot them! And don’t attack the flying dragons either! Focus only on the monsters closest to you!”
The elven soldiers did as they were told, quickly shifting their attention back to the monsters they had been aiming at just now. As they did so, the Dragon Bs continued reducing members of the Demon Lord Army to cinders while Cecil spammed wind elemental spells from the back of the Bird B she shared with Allen.
The reason Cecil was not using fire spells was because she figured that any monsters still alive after suffering Dragon B’s breath even with lowered resistance from Insect B’s acid were probably extremely resistant to fire. Ever since Allen obtained Dragon B as a Summon, she had not had as many occasions to use Fire Magic.
The Lil Antsys continued making inroads into the Demon Lord Army’s ranks, spraying acid everywhere. The monsters with lowered Endurance then fell easily to the elves’ arrows, dying one after another in quick succession.
“Don’t let any of them get away!” Allen shouted. “Kill every last one!”
Of course, this was a battle to protect the city of Tiamo, but at the same time, Allen saw this as an opportunity to refill his depleted stock of magic stones. After making enough Blessings of Heaven to supply four cities with, he now only had around a thousand Rank B magic stones left, which would barely last him through the day’s battle. This was another reason why he had set his sights on the southern front, where the monsters were the most numerous. However, just killing the monsters did nothing for him; he needed to actually harvest the stones. In order to do this safely, he had to make sure that everything was properly dead within the area. For once, he was actually feeling quite desperate.
Krena and Dogora were also giving it their all, brandishing their weapons against monsters that wielded ones larger than themselves. Some monsters lost their gall and turned to retreat, only to find Lil Antsys waiting for them. The giant ants clamped their large mandibles together with more than enough strength to kill Rank B monsters, ensuring that none got away.
I guess the Antsys really are the most useful in a large-scale fight. Numbers mean power. I’m surprised how much the Lil Antsys can achieve even though I can’t Strengthen or Awaken them.
The buffs from other Summons were effective on Lil Antsys, but not any of Allen’s other Summoner skills. This meant he could not use Strengthening, Sharing, or Awakening on them. Even so, they had proven themselves so effective that he could not help but be impressed.
Before long, one Lil Antsy clamped its jaws around the last monster and it fell dead among the thousands and thousands of corpses that spread all the way in the distance.
Annihilation complete. No Rank S monster showed up.
Allen was staring blankly at the battlefield, lost in contemplation over how the battle had gone, when he was suddenly brought back to his senses by the triumphant roar thundering from the walls of Tiamo.
Oh right, we’re done on this side, but the other three sides are still fighting.
“Doras and Antsys, go support the fighting on the east and west. A few of you, stay behind to harvest the magic stones.”
Just as ordered, the Summons split up into two groups and headed off to their designated sides with several hundred Lil Antsys remaining in the south. They used their powerful mandibles to make large cuts in the monsters’ bellies so that Spirits Bs could then easily reach inside to grab the magic stones. The No-life Gamers themselves also split into two groups and headed to the eastern and western fronts to kill as many more monsters as they could.
It took less than an hour for the monsters that suddenly found themselves attacked on their flank to fall into a panic and flee north. Even though Allen’s group had yet to engage the monsters in the north, they were already quite spent fighting the elves. When they regrouped with those coming from the east and west, the entire force decided to just retreat outright.
The elves trumpeted their victory from the walls and rooftops. The siege of Tiamo was finally over, and the elves had won.
Chapter 6: Strategy Meeting (Part 1)
All four cities, including Tiamo, had successfully repelled the Demon Lord Army. Up to this point, it had taken them all they had just to fend off the Army’s advances and kill a token number of monsters. They had struggled to remain standing until sunset, when the tide of monsters would temporarily recede to rest and resupply. After an entire month, the elves had been severely spent and were convinced that their end was only a matter of time.
However, the results of the day’s battles were entirely different. The generals all sounded uncharacteristically excited as they reported to the queen.
When Allen first arrived at Tiamo, he had determined that he ought to prioritize first clearing away the monsters that were practically knocking on the city’s gates over all else. As such, he had left a Spirit B to attend the strategy meetings with the queen and other generals in his stead. Today, however, he would have to discuss how to proceed, so he had come in person.
“Reporting on the results of today’s battle!” one of the generals shouted. “Your Majesty, all four cities together have killed over 200,000 monsters today!”
The queen unconsciously leaned all the way forward in her throne. “Do you speak true?!” she exclaimed in astonishment. Rohzen remained on her lap, curled up in sleep.
“Yes, Your Majesty. The gains at Tiamo were particularly of note: we killed more than 100,000 here alone!”
Nice, that means the Demon Lord Army’s forces currently in Rohzenheim are now down to two and a half million. Let’s keep bringing that number down!
This meeting was taking place well into the night because the results of today’s battle had been so incredible that it took this long to take full stock of everything. Even though it was so late, the queen and her generals were in such high spirits that they were almost beside themselves. No one could blame them.
Transmission, the Awakened Ability of one of Allen’s Summons, had proved extremely useful for communicating back and forth with the three other cities. Before long, news of their overwhelming victory had spread throughout all four cities, eliciting thunderous cheers and celebration from soldiers and refugees alike. It was said that the elves were a calm and mild-mannered race, but their joy at their unprecedented victory was exploding in unending praise of both the queen and the Sovereign of Spirits, with cries of “Long live Her Majesty!” and “Long live Lord Rohzen!” filling the air.
After a while, however, the queen’s face turned grave. “Now...what were our casualties?”
The general she was addressing hung his head for a second, but then looked back up to return her gaze. “In total, roughly three thousand soldiers died across all four cities today.”
“I see...”
The large majority of elven soldiers were archers, a role that was usually associated with having low Endurance. What was more, they were wearing mithril armor at best while facing Rank B and A monsters. Although they had been buffed, many had died instantly from a single attack, while many others had been unable to receive healing in time. Even so, the number of today’s casualties was much, much lower compared to what it had been before. Without Allen’s Summons’ buffs and all the recovery items, more than ten times that number of elves might have died today.
The queen closed her eyes to observe a moment of silence for the fallen, wordlessly swearing to their valiant souls that their deaths would be avenged. The generals followed suit, prompting Allen’s group to do the same.
When everyone slowly lifted their heads back up, one person asked the queen, “What is our next step, Your Majesty? Should I arrange for your safe passage to Nest?”
“There is no need, Gatoluuga. I will stay here in Tiamo to keep an eye on the situation.”
“But, Your Majesty!”
So this man is Rohzenheim’s one and only Spirit User and the nation’s greatest military asset. Speaking of Spirit User, I remember Sophie mentioning that the walls of this city were erected by a Grand Spirit User who did so using the power of a grand earthen spirit long ago.
The man standing straight as a rod beside the throne, Grand Marshal Siguul, said chidingly, “Gatoluuga, do not trouble Her Majesty Our Queen.”
Gatoluuga protested, saying, “That was not my intention!” but still backed off.
While listening to the exchange, Allen busily made notes in his grimoire of the progression of classes that used Spirit Magic. Gatoluuga’s Talent, Spirit User, was three stars in rarity. In short, it was the same tier as Krena’s Sword Lord.
Progression of Spirit Magic Users One-star: Spirit Mage
Two-star: Spirit Wizard
Three-star: Spirit User
Four-star: Grand Spirit User
Above Spirit User was the Grand Spirit User class that the elves still passed down legends about. It was said that this was such a rare Talent that it appeared only once every millennium. No Grand Spirit User was currently alive in Rohzenheim, but it was said that the previous one had created not only the walls of Tiamo but also numerous fortresses dotting the nation.
In order to change the heavy atmosphere, the queen asked, “Well then, what can we do now?” in an effort to bring everyone back to a more positive mindset thinking about their next step. Their country was still in a very precarious position, after all.
One general stepped forward. “We should first focus on gathering magic stones so that we can get the magic ships back up and running.”
As a superpower of the Five Continent Alliance, Rohzenheim had more than a hundred magic ships in its service. However, ever since the start of the war, the Elder Council had chosen to prioritize the citizens’ lives and had therefore ordered that all the ships be fully mobilized to transport wounded soldiers, refugees, and relief supplies. Doing so burned through the country’s stock of magic stones, leaving the ships all but grounded. However, this situation could be rectified once the elves secured the massive amount of magic stones just sitting out in the open outside their gates.
It was decided that all the magic stones south of Tiamo, which roughly came to around seventy thousand total, would belong to Allen. As he was running low on both magic stones and Blessings of Heaven, he was more than thankful for the arrangement.
Suddenly, the queen turned to Allen and asked, “Lord Allen, do you have any elven elixirs remaining?” There was no doubt that the Blessings of Heaven had been the linchpin behind today’s victories.
“Yes, I do.” As Allen had not explained that he needed magic stones to make his recovery items, he had simply handed them out without recompense so far. However, he now made it clear that he would be asking for stones in exchange for more Blessings going forward. For a split second, Gatoluuga’s face stiffened and he glared at Allen.
Seeing that the exchange between the queen and Allen was over, the general from before continued, “I suggest that we bring 100,000 of the newly recovered soldiers in Nest back to the front lines. Including those already present in the four cities at the moment, that would give us 640,000 troops in total.”
As the skies above Tiamo were still occupied by flying monsters from the Demon Lord Army, it was impossible to dispatch the magic ships currently docked in the city. Conversely, if Allen was to deliver all the magic stones they harvested to Nest via Bird B, the magic ships in Nest could be mobilized to deliver the newly recovered soldiers to a location close enough to Tiamo that they can march the rest of the way on foot.
The other generals felt so moved they could not help but let out a cheer. Everyone who knew that the queen was here in Tiamo had thought that the city would fall in a matter of days—this would have meant the death of the queen, and by extension, the end of Rohzenheim as a country. In the blink of an eye, however, all four cities along the front lines had successfully repelled the Demon Lord Army, garnered enough magic stones to get the magic ships up and running again, and would now be seeing 100,000 troops returning to bolster their numbers. Just when it had seemed like all was lost, everything turned around in an instant.
The queen expressed her thanks as representative of all the elves. “Lord Allen, I promise we will repay this debt. Please continue lending us your aid.”
“Of course, Your Majesty,” Allen bowed. “Now, about what to do next...”
One of the generals perked up. “Hm? Do you have a plan in mind, Lord Allen?” It had been Allen’s idea to pincer the monsters in the south during today’s battle. If he had more ideas, the elves were eager to hear them.
“Before I get into it, I report that the Demon Lord Army appears to be withdrawing.”
“Well, we did see them retreat...”
“What I mean to say is, all their forces, even the ones at the other three cities, are withdrawing.” Thanks to White Night, Bird D’s Awakened Skill, Allen had a clear grasp of the Demon Lord Army’s current movements. “As such, I think this a wonderful opportunity to chase them down.”
“Chasing the monsters down?”
The generals were aware that Allen’s group had killed almost 40,000 during their night attack the other day. That proved that Allen actually meant what he was saying and had the ability to enact it.
“Please bring the recovered troops to Tiamo as quickly as possible. When they arrive and are properly rearranged into ranks, let’s push north and start retaking cities.” There was a limit to how many a magic ship could carry, but Allen still pressed home the fact that time was of the essence here.
