“Please buy us some time!”
“Understood!”
With the shout from Laguiel, the Truck Shield’s shield grows several times larger than before.
It’s as if it’s the size of a truck.
The Truck Shield charges like a truck and crashes into the unicorn’s ankle.
Creeeek…! The unicorn, just a little, loses its balance.
In that moment, the barrier surrounding the unicorn dims, and the archer’s eyes seize the opportunity to target its weakness.
“Manrian, concentrated fire.”
Piiing─!
An arrow imbued with the blessing of precision pierces the unicorn’s solar plexus.
It looks like a successful hit.
“Dodge!”
But the unicorn’s size is comparable to that of a dragon.
No matter how precise the arrow is, to the unicorn, it’s just a toothpick.
There’s damage, but it’s not nearly a critical hit.
Of course, if it were to strike the heart or the eyes, it would be a different story, but above that, the shield is protected by Freytion.
A powerful magic circle swirls around him.
Dark clouds gather, and the sky momentarily loses its light.
Crackle.
The judgment from the sky descends.
“Invocation of lightning.”
Zzzzziiiii–!!!
Lightning crashes down upon the unicorn, piercing through the dark clouds.
The powerful strike may look like an attack, but in fact, it’s a means to enhance the unicorn.
The supercharged unicorn kicks aside the bothersome Truck Shield and advances toward the heart of the fortress.
The castle walls crumble, and the castle itself fails to function, collapsing.
At this rate, the core will also be smashed along with the castle.
Laguiel calmly lowers his bow and assesses the situation.
The half-destroyed castle and the perilous Choco team.
The strongest forces have already gone to fight Lady Lily, and Lord Leo is waiting for the opportune moment.
Confirming Leo’s team with Manrian, the target is to take them out in one fell swoop.
Leo’s team has decided to eliminate both teams in one shot.
If this continues, it will lead to either Lord Leo’s victory or a surprising outcome from Lady Lily’s team.
‘What would my older siblings do in a situation like this?’
Michael, who had participated in the last mock siege, had faced off against Leo.
As expected, Leo won in a crushing defeat.
However, surprisingly, Michael had actually managed to secure two wins against Leo.
Though Leo ultimately claimed the final victory, it meant that he created variables in a ‘team’ match.
A major incident where an egg broke two boulders.
‘How can I win this?’
Memories surfaced.
“Gueal, I’ll tell you the strategy. First, grow strong. You have to use your abilities to the fullest.”
“Use your abilities properly!”
“No way! We have to take out the resource-gathering soldiers first!”
“These guys don’t get it. We need to cut down the opponents first, why wait for all that?”
“Can’t we just charge the castle?”
…I really don’t understand how we won.
The unicorn’s front paw moves towards the core.
And it slashed.
“Seven cuts.”
Fwoosh!!!
The dagger’s trajectory swung eleven times.
The unicorn’s huge front paw was ground down, splattering particles of blood. At the same time, Yena, scattering holy energy, landed on the remnants of the castle.
Her black hair danced in the wind.
“Well, that’s not seven cuts anymore. Should I call it eleven cuts?”
Yena scratched her head.
And with Freytion’s magic, the unicorn’s body gradually started to regenerate.
At that moment, lightning struck Laguiel’s mind.
The words of Michael-o-oppa echoed in his ears.
“If the situation turns to crap…”
“Hey! Don’t curse in front of the cute youngest!”
“The youngest isn’t a kid!”
Uriel hugged Laguiel.
“The youngest is a kid!”
“…Anyway, if the situation looks grim, just remember one thing.”
“Just dash over and smash the core.”
That’s how we won.
“…Miss Yena.”
“How do we kill that… huh?”
“Can we move now?”
She pulled back her bowstring.
Hundreds of arrows, imbued with the blessing of accuracy, pierced the unicorn’s body.
The unicorn hesitated and stepped back for a moment.
Yena pondered briefly before nodding her head.
“It’s possible, but if we don’t stop that now, it’ll break immediately, right? With Freytion there, it’s just a matter of time before it shatters…”
“What if we just capture Freytion?”
Freytion, assisting from atop the unicorn.
Even though attacking wasn’t easy from up there, if he came down to the ground, we would have a fighting chance.
“…Then we might be able to hold out.”
“I’ll use my ultimate ability to disable the unicorn’s defense system. In that gap, Miss Yena can assassinate Freytion and head straight to Leo’s team.”
Right now, the team that has the most power missing isn’t Lily’s team or Choco’s team.
“Most of Leo’s team isn’t in the castle.”
To completely wipe out the enemy, everyone except ‘Dinosaur is Alive’ evacuated the castle.
Abandoning the defense to swiftly take down both teams.
We need to take advantage of that opening.
“Alright. There’s no other way, so let’s give it a try.”
“I’ll start!”
Laguiel’s left eye shone with light.
A cross-shaped trajectory filled her sight, and the guild buff ‘Light’s Blessing’ enveloped her body.
The light’s grace envelops her body.
The weight of the incredibly condensed power.
A weight so powerful it’s hard to lift builds up, but Laguiel doesn’t let go of the bow.
As if unable to just stand by, Freytion’s lightning targets Laguiel, but a massive shield that appeared in an instant absorbs all the thunder.
Boom! The legs of the Truck Shield sink into the ground.
“I’ll hold it!”
“…After using this, I’ll collapse. Please hold it.”
“Huh? I can’t stop a unicorn by myself!”
“Then we lose.”
The mountain flew away.
Manly, Taishan.
Faiyang—!!!
An arrow with a weight rivaling that of a mountain hit the unicorn right in its chest with a tremendous bang.
In an instant, the unicorn’s massive body toppled backward, and Freytion, unable to withstand the sudden weight, also became momentarily defenseless.
In a moment that felt like it couldn’t even last a second, the once-famous assassin Yena didn’t miss the chance.
“One-hit kill.”
The red dagger pierced Freytion’s neck.
Freytion was protected by dozens of shields and hidden pieces, but the opponent was a legendary assassin.
Yena is not weak enough to fail to take down a defenseless mage in one hit.
Freytion vanished into blue particles without even putting up a fight.
Got it!
“Now! Go…”
Before the words were even finished, Yena vanished from sight.
As expected of an assassin, her speed is truly fast.
“Phew… Ah, I should’ve learned something from Sandalphon…”
My stamina is running low…
Crash!
“Get a grip!”
“Truck Shield… please hold off the unicorn…”
“I can’t stop it alone!”
Booming…
The unicorn stood back up.
Aside from the massive bruise on its chest, the unicorn looked fine.
Whether angry or not, the forest trembled with each step it took.
Like a human in front of a typhoon, my legs shook, and cold sweat streamed down the hand gripping the shield.
The Truck Shield opened its stance and murmured.
“How am I supposed to stop that…”
■
Creeeak…!
“Phew… this is tough, really tough.”
Running fast for the first time in a while made my head dizzy.
Could it be because I pushed my mana beyond its limits?
But if I don’t hurry, Lady Lily’s team or Lord Leo will get there first, and that would be a problem.
It looks like Choco is already dead.
“So I’m telling you not to go first.”
Having teamed up with Choco, I can feel that he’s quite skilled.
With talent, techniques, and an excellent way of dealing with opponents.
There may be some noise, but he has been progressing in his pro career without any issues and the team’s performance has been outstanding.
“And that’s more of a problem.”
Literally, he’s so skilled that he can be a bit reckless at times.
The reason why there have been no issues so far is that the players he’s faced have been at a similar level or below to Choco.
No matter how many variables pop up and how messy it gets, Choco and his teammates can cover for each other just fine.
But that’s not the case now.
“Lily. And Leo.”
Both of them are users who deviate significantly from the norm.
They’re those who have gone beyond the so-called “human realm,” as commonly said in the community, like the Sword Saint.
No matter how great they are, they can’t win if they only have the level of a “talented human or user.”
To face a real powerhouse, one must avoid direct confrontation and target weak points where they can’t exert their power or pay attention.
“Like a kid… Ah, is it right to call him a kid?”
Choco is 20 years old this year.
He even said he entered school a year early.
“Yeah, I guess he is a kid.”
Whether it’s from running or because of a teammate’s fault, Yena was pressing her head with the tip of her dagger as she approached the castle of Leo’s team.
Aside from the summons, there don’t seem to be any special enemies around.
“Let’s end this quickly instead of causing a ruckus.”
Every second counts.
Even at this moment, the game could end at any time.
Using invisibility, Yena slipped through the summons.
Fortunately, they seem unaware.
“Cough!”
“I’ve taken care of the druid…”
The dinosaur, being a summon, was easily dealt with.
Usually, druids fight alongside their summons, but this dinosaur was primarily set up for growth and equipment configuration focused on summons.
In other words, it’s like he took the “summoner route.”
“Having two mages does make things easier.”
She dashed past the disconnected summons and quickly ascended to the level with the core.
If things go on like this, it’s a house burglary…
“Welcome, Miss Yena.”
“…Huh?”
Why is Lady Lily here?
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