Vol. 4 - Chapter 197 - Fortress in the Central Continent (1)
"Hey, it would be great help for us, but can you afford to leave them here?"
"I think it will be fine. I mean, I have a new skill and it would be a shame not to leave them behind. Alipons can\'t fight at ocean anyway."
"Yeah."
I was planning to leave some of my summons in Fortress LaPolca.
(The Demon King\'s army seems to be serious, so they will definitely move the remaining troops to capture the Fortress LaPolca during this time.)
There were about 1 million Demon King\'s troops to the north of Fortress LaPolca.
Since we arrived in Rosenheim, my friends and I had killed nearly 2 million magical beasts, but there were still about 1 million of them alive and well.
The 1 million troops of Rosenheim were gathering with 3 million reserve troops to attack Fortress LaPolca.
I looked at Dogora, who had not been well lately.
Kurena was also depressed, but Dogora seemed to be regretting not being able to activate his Extra Skill in the fight against Glaster.
"Dogora."
"Hmm?"
"I have nothing but high hopes for Dogora\'s Extra Skill."
"Hey! Oh, you."
Dogora exclaimed in surprise, wondering why I would say something that would put even more pressure on him.
"I\'m thinking that your Extra Skill is probably a move that consumes all of your mana, just like the name suggests. As I said before, that strike will probably be the strongest strike of the party. It\'ll be a blow that surpasses Cecile\'s [Small Meteorite]."
"What? Can it really surpass Cecile\'s [Small Meteorite]?"
Everyone listened in silence.
I explained further.
The more mana one consumed, the stronger each attack would be.
Dogora had a combined [Attack] of nearly 8,000 with his weapons and Rings.
This number was certainly inferior to Cecile\'s [Intelligence].
However, Cecile\'s [Small Meteorite] was an AOE attack (Area of Effect).
I knew from experience that a single-target attack would be more powerful than an AOE attack if they both consume same amount of mana.
"Yes. That\'s right. It\'s a technique that is typical of Dogora, where you use all your mana and beat your opponent with all your might. I hope you can learn it in this war. I can\'t use Extra Skills, and I\'m not as strong as you think. Everyone\'s strength is important."
I explained what I could to get him an idea of his Extra Skill.
"Not strong enough? How can you say that after killing so many magical beasts?"
"Yes. In other words, my direction of strength is different from everyone else\'s. My summons are weaker than you and Kurena. But since I have so many of them, I can kill a lot of magical beasts, which makes me look stronger."
I had never thought of myself or my summons as strong.
It was Kurena\'s attack that took down Glaster.
Glaster didn\'t seem to have taken much damage from my summons\' attack.
With [Attack] of 8,000, Dogora\'s [Attack] was higher than B-rank Dragons and B-rank Beasts.
Even a person in Normal Mode with 1-star Talent with Adamantite weapons and armor and 2 Rings could in have [Attack] higher than my B-rank summons even after
<Strengthening>
and<Command>
.<Strengthening>
<Command>
"We\'re going to split up, but keep that in mind as we fight."
(Well, I\'ve heard that it takes a few years for some people to acquire Extra Skill.)
Dogora and I had been friends since I was six years old.
And, as I learned at the Academy, how quickly one could use Extra Skill varied from person to person.
I heard from my homeroom teacher that some people needed 2 or 3 years to be able to use their Extra Skill.
After saying that, I summoned a B-rank Bird that had doubled in length.
I summoned another 4 B-rank Birds who I was going to leave in Fortress LaPolca.
I was leaving for the ocean after placing some of the summons in Fortress LaPolca.
My friends were going to escort the elven Magic Ships and help the elven army reach Fortress LaPolca safely. After that, they would prepare for the siege at Fortress LaPolca.
As my friends looked on, I flew off to the north.
I focused my attention on one B-rank Spirit Ellie as I flew off alone.
(Well, there\'s hardly any room left. We\'re about to have to fight a million troops. Ellie, is everything ready?)
When I asked this question with Ellie who I had been using
<Sharing>
with, Ellie responded.<Sharing>
"It\'s about time. I\'ve summoned them to a private room, is that okay?"
(No problem.)
Through Ellie, I checked the inside of a certain private room.
The wooden, candle-lit place was a small room of about six tatami mats.
"Sorry, sorry, I\'m late."
Then the door to the private room opened and a young man with light blue hair walked in, smiling.
A woman in armor, about the same age as the young man, entered behind him as well.
"No, that\'s no problem. But, Master Helmios, I thought I asked you to come alone?"
Ellie made a clearly disgruntled sound to the Hero Helmios as he entered the room.
"I\'m sorry. I thought maybe it would be quicker if you talk to Sylvia and me together instead of me alone. She\'s a member of my party, and I want her to be at ease."
(Who\'s Sylvia? I\'ve seen her before. Oh, she\'s the Imperial Master Swordsman who came with Doberg. Is that right? She\'s in a party with the Hero? Ellie, there\'s nothing we can do about it.)
I asked Ellie to call Helmios to a private room because I wanted to talk to him.
I didn\'t want to reveal my actions too publicly, so I called only Helmios, but Sylvia, the Master Swordsman from the same party, also came to the room.
"I understand. Master Allen says it doesn\'t matter."
"I see. Allen, are you listening to this conversation too? How\'s Rosenheim?"
(You\'re still as light-hearted as ever. Well, I\'d rather have this type of conversation than a heavy one. Conversations with the Elf Generals are too heavy for me, probably because of my age.)
"The Situation in Rosenheim..."
I shared the current situation of Rosenheim with Helmios through Ellie.
It had been about 20 days since I arrived in Rosenheim, and the battle against the Demon King\'s army was still continuing.
The elven army had gotten back up on their feet and had defeated about 2 million magical beasts.
Fortress LaPolca had been recaptured and the frontlines had been pushed back.
Rosenheim was tto be attacked by an army of 5 million troops, both by ocean and by land.
"2 million troops in just 20 days..."
Sylvia let out a sigh of disbelief at Ellie\'s report.
The number seemed to be on a scale that even a Master Swordsman in the Hero\'s party could not imagine.
"If you can defeat that many, it\'s almost as if victory will be decided if you come to the Central Continent, Allen. So, its really is true that the Demon King\'s army has no reserves left?"
"That\'s right. Therefore, no reserve troops will be coming to the Central Continent, so if you defeat the Demon King army that is currently coming, we will win."
(Well, the Central Continent is also fighting a pretty tough battle, and I never gave them mana recovering medicines.)
"That\'s true. But the Demon King\'s army is stubborn. This battle is going to take a little longer. And yet, it\'s thanks to you that we have the Elven Elixir isn\'t it?"
(Well, the Central Continent is having quite a hard time.)
I had handed them 600,000 E-rank magic stones worth of [Leaf of Life]s.
Thanks to that, even without the elven troops who were responsible for recovery in the battle against the Demon King\'s army, the Five Continents Alliance didn\'t lose a single fortress.
[Leaf of Life] restores 1000 health within a 50 meter radius, but didn\'t restore mana.
If mana was not recovered, then they would inevitably have to fight against the Demon King\'s army while consuming less mana.
I believed that to be the reason why the Central Continent was struggling.
In addition to the [Leaf of Life]s, I had sent some summons to the northern part of the Central Continent.
However, one by one, those summons were defeated, and only 4 B-rank Spirits and 1 E-rank Bird summon were left.
I had told Ellie to hide within the walls of the fortress and use the [Blessing of Heaven]s I had given her at the right time.
It was very little compared to the [Blessing of Heaven]s used by the elves, but Ellie used it when she had to, to prevent the collapse of the fortress and the death of the soldiers.
Since such a thing was happening for about 10 days, there had been quite a commotion among the Five Continent Alliance forces as a miraculous recovery of some unknown kind.
"I\'m just using the Elven Elixir. Please explain it well to the higher-ups. After that, there is something I would like to ask and confirm with you."
"Of course. What is it?"
Having briefly reviewed the current situation, they got down to the business of the conversation. The conversation between Helmios and B-rank Spirit Ellie continues.