Blue Sky Chapter 44 (Patreon)

Chapter 44 Act 6: Ianus

"My oh my, where could the little mice be hiding?"

"Heheh..."

Someone that was leading the Shining guild troops who looked to be a general spoke sarcastically, and the guild members that were around him snickered.

"Being a mouse is better than a bat!"

This time, someone from our side shouted at them.

"Yeah, you little fairweather bats!"

"Dirty b̲a̲s̲t̲a̲r̲d̲s̲."

Since the remarks were completely true in that the Shining guild members had betrayed them, they didn't respond. It seemed like they were feeling guilty for their unfair actions. Their provocation had failed and only showed their guilt.

"You're all going to die soon anyway... 1st advance group, charge in. Kill all the enemies!"

"1st Advance Group, standing by to charge!"

"Standing by!"

"Standing by!"

Although they couldn't make use of their superior numbers because of the hallways, as the best soldiers in the guild, their morale was high. Seeing as how they followed the orders to a T and formed a squad ready to charge in, it proved that they had a lot of experience in siege battles.

"Hm..."

A low hum rang out across the corridor, though I didn't know who it was from. I tried to form a group that would deal with the enemy squad by prioritizing the highest level mercenaries, but I was pretty sure there weren’t many people among them that had much experience in siege battles.

It wasn't like I was expecting a lot from them either. They were simply there to cover for me. If they gave me at least enough time to create a chance to escape, that was enough. I had plenty of potions stocked up in case I needed to personally battle, so there was no need to worry. I decided that if I were to die here, I will at least build up enough experience points to make up for my death.

"Everyone..."

Hearing the start of the command, the mercenaries all froze in fear. Everyone knew it. The moment the leader swung his hand, the battle would really begin.

"Charge!"

Finally, the hand fell, and the Shining guild's 1st advance group ran in.

Sword and shield. Shortened to S&S, they were tanker characters that made up the 1st advance group. And the 2nd advance group would be made up of ranged users that included healers, while the 3rd advance group would be made up of close-range damage dealers. This was the common setup of formation for any enemy fortification within hallways in a massive siege battle.

As I already have experience of hundreds of skirmishes throughout my time in the game, I knew that there was no other formation and tactic that was more destructive and brutal when wiping out enemies than the one Shining guild was using now.

"Following the procedure exactly."

It was understandable since you'd only try to think of different strategies and tactics if the number of your enemies were similar to yours, but since they have overwhelming numbers, there was no need to conjure up any unique tactic when clearing us out.

But... A skilled leader should consider even the worst of the worst possible situations. Thankfully, the opposing leader wasn't that kind of person.

"Everyone is on standby, maintaining their formation."

Katalina controlled her ally mercenaries with a calm voice.

"I forbid all and any attacks against the enemies, even if they are within range."

Our allies must have been extremely confused about why they couldn't attack. But since they decided to follow Artoria’s orders, they obliged.

"What the, why isn't there any magic flying towards us?"

"You're right, are they giving up?"

The S&S users that made up the front line of the 1st advance group talked amongst themselves with a confused expression. Soon, the S&S formation came within a very short distance.

And the magic shields that were applied to their shields waned and thin out. Without a doubt, 'Great Magic Shield' was cast on them.

"2nd and 3rd advance group, move in!"

In that time, the rear line that had secured enough distance moved. As the S&S line had secured enough grounds already, it was an obvious thing to do to make the backline move forward.

And finally, the magic shield that was applied to their shields disappeared.

[Anti Magic]

Waiting for that moment to come, Katalina chanted the magic she had memorized in that exact moment. It was the most basic magic given to mages, but when it was cast by a powerful mage that had the 8th circle of magic unlocked, it became a different story.

"Ugh...! My mana has been locked up."

"My casting was canceled! I have a 1 minute cooldown time before I can cast it again!"

Sounds of panic rang out from behind the 1st advance group.

It was time for me to move in. With my Excalibur pulled out, I put one foot forward and bent down the knee of my other leg slightly. I held the Excalibur with both of my hands and shifted the center of gravity to the back. My back was bent slightly in a natural movement, and my shoulders faced forward.

Vrmmm...

My maxed out mana ‌become endlessly consumed. Originally this skill could be activated even if I had spent only one-third of my total mana, but some rare S-tier skills have the option to increase the amount of damage you dish out directly proportionate to the mana you invest.

"Wh.. What are you all doing! Stop gawking and attack! Attack!"

As the enemies stared in shock and confusion, the leader in the back shouted.

Hearing that shout, the enemies regained their senses and tried to hurriedly charge in, but my skill had already been completed.

[Moonlight Strike]

The powerful force emanating from the Excalibur enhanced with the Force Blade skill drew a long arc line across the 1st advance group soldiers.

Together with Excalibur's attack power, my level, skill proficiency, and the amount of mana invested, numerous variables were all combined to end up with an unbelievably powerful result.

"Aaargh..."

Without even being able to let out a proper scream, the entire 1st advance group line dissipated. The shields which were cut in half were destroyed along with the characters holding them.

"Charge!"

But the enemy's panic was not over. As the enemy healers and mages watched with confused and panicked expressions on their faces, they saw that our allied forces were charging in towards them and made them realize the situation they were in.

"C... Change formation!"

"3rd advance group, save us!"

"Q... Quick..."

As numerous close-range mercenaries poured in endlessly from our side to the exposed ranged soldiers, many of them were killed without being able to fight back properly and all hastily tried to move to the back to save their lives. It was a pitiful sight, but also looked just the same as how the ally mercenaries were retreating from them previously.

"Ngh...! Everyone, regain your senses, and change your formation!"

Watching the advanced groups fall into near-complete disarray and collapse, the enemy leader shouted. But there weren't many soldiers on their side that could regain their senses when they were being slaughtered.

"Hey! You're blocking my line of sight."

"Get out of my way, you can't retreat. You're just getting in my way!"

As the formations had collapsed, the retreating enemies became tangled with soldiers in the backline, ending up with a chaotic scene where they could not effectively tell friend or foe.

The one who was having the most fun in that chaos was me.

"36th kill. 37th kill."

While killing enemy users that were easier to take down than AI monsters, I found myself counting out loud just how many I was taking down. As none of them were powerful enough to actually go against me, I aimed to just count how many I was taking down. But it affected the enemy group unintentionally.

"It's a top-ranking user..."

"A ranker...!"

Only a few enemies that couldn't deduce how powerful I was blindly tried to counterattack, but those that realized my power immediately tried to stay away from me as they knew how dangerous I was.

That only served to further collapse the formation that they set up. The enemy users in the formations were supposed to be in lockstep, with one attacking and the other supporting them by the side, but my presence had completely ruined their morale and caused them to break formation more, causing a chain reaction of more formations breaking apart.

"Calm down! I said calm down!!!"

The enemy leader did all he could to settle the soldiers down, but the situation had already deteriorated. And while he was distracted from all the chaos, I moved in all the way to where he was standing and stabbed my sword right in his chest straight away.

Stab.

"Ahh..."

And so the enemy leader had met his sudden and disappointing death. More soldiers continued to pour into the interior as if they didn't receive the message that the leader had fallen.

The enemies had their escape route cut off, and they were quickly and easily taken down.

The battle which was closer to an absolute massacre had continued until the enemy's advance group had become completely decimated.