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Chapter 308 Part 2

『We are followers of the god of the mace! So us striking enemies with our maces is a like offering a prayer to our god!』

『Oooh!』 『A god!』 『Our god!』 『The mace god!』

『Strike them with your maces with all your heart! The power of our prayers cannot falter!』

『Ooh!』『Ooh!』『Ooh!』『Ooh!』

『Right now, a giant turtle is coming at us! So, what shall we do, brothers?!』

『Strike!』 『Strike!』 『Strike!』 『Strike it dead!』

Geez.
This mood is crazy.
Have these guys been drinking?
Are you on some kind of strange medicine?
Aren’t these guys just a group of fanatics who insist on striking stuff with their with maces?
Oh mama, please help me.

Now, they’ve started hugging each other, as well as striking each other with their bodies.
They’ve started getting stirred up.
Of course, they do this with me too.

『Hey! Goudi, don’t be making that gloomy face!』

『Yeah! You’ll be missing out if you don’t enjoy this mood now!』

「O-Ooh!」

My body gets belly pounded by one of the other Dwarves.
It’s not that painful, but everyone is way too friendly!
To be having such a strong sense of camaraderie already, despite only having met for a few days…!
I have a bit of a trauma when it comes to companions!
Please leave me be!

『We’re up as soon as the branch fortress’ defense line has been breached! Save up your strength until then!』

『Ooh!』『Ooh!』『Ooh!』『Ooh!』

The maces are raised again all over the place.
The voices echo in response.
They’re too loud!

I’ve even set the volume of the Whisper function to its minimum level.
I’d better suggest making an even lower volume setting to the GMs.

『Listen, brothers! We can’t afford to lose to axes, spears, hammers, or even pickaxes, you hear me?』

『Ooh!』『Ooh!』『Ooh!』『Ooh!』

This again…
We’re all Dwarves here!
And yet, their competitive spirit against Dwarves who use other weapon types as their main weapons is amazing.
Isn’t this a form of bullying?
Now I can’t just casually say that I’ve acquired skills for sub-weapons such as axes and spears, can I?

I’ll replace the hatchet attached to the back of my shield with a spare mace later.

– 7:30 AM, 1 Km. south-southwest of Twilight Castle’ outer wall –

「Are they here?」

『I have confirmation. They’ll be arriving soon.』

What’s up with that large group of monsters?
There’s so many of them that it’s hard to count them all.
However, we have a comparative estimate on their actual numbers.

What are our odds at winning?
I don’t know.
I know about our plan to counter-attack at Twilight Castle.
If things go well enough, even if we can’t win, we won’t lose.

Worst case scenario, there’s also a plan to abandon Twilight Castle and regroup at the Spring of Mist.
All we have to do is not lose here.
The Kim Kui Slaves’ fighting power is unknown.
If possible, I would like for us to defeat both groups here.

『This is zin. Can you hear me, Guren?』

An incoming Telepathic message.
zin has joined the Survey Team, which is following the movements of the Kim Kui Slaves.
As soon as the large group of monsters goes past them, they are planning to switch to harassing their rear guard, but…
Hasn’t the group of monsters gone past them surprisingly quickly?

「This is Guren. Can you confirm that the group of monsters has passed?」

『That’s correct. I also have additional information.』

「Additional information?」

『I’ve confirmed that the other team is the Summoner army! They’re currently going around the second large group of monsters to position themselves at their rear!』

「Huh?」

『I can’t say for sure what the Summoners are going to do! What should we do?』

What?!
I knew that the Summoner army was left to act at their discretion, but…
I thought they were going to attack the Kim Kui Slave’s first group, which is expected to arrive at Twilight Castle first.

Is this really true?
No, that’s probably true.

Mr. Summoneeeeeer!
What are you doooooiiiiing?!

「What’s the situation of the Summoner army?」

『All of them are mounted and riding at high speed. That’s all I know.』

「Cancel the plan to harass the rear guard of that group! Can you come here?」

『At this point, I think using Return Home to warp back to Twilight Castle would be faster, wouldn’t it?』

「I’m sorry, please join us here.」

『Understood.』

zin’s Telepathy has been cut off.
Phew…

They circled around the large group of monsters led by that turtle and got to its rear in such a short time…
What tremendous mobility.
Well, maybe this is a natural result?
One could say that almost all Summoner-type players are followers of Mr. Summoner.
Well, most of the information comes through Adele and Irina, though.

One of the first summons a Summoner should get is the Horse.
And the Support Skill 【Horsemanship】 is essential.
I can see why this quickly became the standard.

Now that they’re here, they’ll be showing their great power.
The troopers are truly in shambles.

『Guren! I’ve finished my calculations. The newly estimated time for the enemy to reach the palisade is under five minutes!』

「Under five minutes?」

『I’ve also confirmed what kind of monsters they’re sending as their vanguard! It’s Majins riding on Svadilfari Slaves, followed by packs of Garms!』

「What about the Lesser Gryphons?」

『They are still circling in the sky!』

「Understood! Please come back to the rear!」

Alright.
Let’s check our own plan one more time as well.
The troopers are to flank the vanguard of this Kim Kui Slave’s group of monsters.
This will be at about the same time as when the Kim Kui Slave will be reaching the palisade.
In line with this, we will also be observing from behind while passing through the sides.

The size of that monster group was larger than expected.
How will things turn out?
What will happen from now on?

That I cannot tell.

Of course, I can’t tell how strong that Kim Kui Slave is, but I also have no read on the Summoners’ movements either.
That guy seems to have some cards in his hands that I don’t know about!

No, really…
What will happen in this large-scale battle?
I wish I had trained my 【Horsemanship】 Skill more.
I would’ve loved to chase after Mr. Summoner and record a bunch of videos of his performance!

– 7:55 AM., outside Twilight Castle, in the middle of the branch fortress –

『I have visual confirmation of the monsters’ vanguard!』

『The group of monsters behind them isn’t moving.』

『Approaching point of cross fire!』

『Majins confirmed! There are Exorcising Priests and Dark Clowns!』

「Archer squad! Snipe Shot at the ready!」

『Understood!』 『Roger that!』 『Got it!』

Responses pile up on top of each other.
That’s right.
Archers should aim for the Majins.
This has been thoroughly established as a result of the battles we’ve had thus far.
It could be said that this is pivotal to any defensive battle.
The burden on our forces at our defensive walls will vary greatly depending on whether our Archers are successful or not.
The same could be said for our staff users.

We’re being more thorough in this large-scale battle than in the one at the Silent Bamboo Woods.
There are few exceptions.
We have a unit that operates in a brigade format, a Survey Team, an Analysis Team, a Summoner army, and headquarters, don’t we?
Outside of that, we have unions formed between parties of players that use roughly the same kind of weapons.
In the event of a free-for-all fight, we can form an unlimited number of large unions to counter-attack and retreat.
That’s right.
If this becomes a free-for-all, we will lose.
If possible, I would like to be able to prevent it with this first line of defense, but looking at how things turned out back in the Silent Bamboo Woods, I know that this is impossible.

The plan to counter-attack the first Kim Kui Slave isn’t a guaranteed success either.
Our success rate will vary greatly depending on whether these Snipe Shots succeed or fail.
That makes me feel nervous.

『Majins have been confirmed to be on top of the turtle’s head! One Beast Master! One Exorcising Priest! They’re by the road!』

『Are those the ones who are leading the rest?』

『Reconfirm, copy!』

『Cross-check! There’s no mistake!』

This sounds like good news.
Those are somewhat lower-class Majins.
One could say that these Majins have become easier to kill in terms of difficulty.

『Monsters have made contact with our defensive forces! The battle at the palisade has begun!』

「These are Reina’s orders! From Reina to each of you! Survey positioning is completed! Your targets have been set!」

『Commencing countdown!』

The countdown has begun through the Whisper function.
This outermost enclosure is shaped like a folding fan.
The three branch fortresses, or should I say strongholds, are nothing more than observation towers.
Although my arrows may or not be useful after all, I’m still a bow user myself.
I have to take aim!

Alright.
Come, first prey of these bow users!

『Snipe Shot!』

We let our arrows fly the moment the countdown reaches zero.
They seem to be drawing a beautiful arc before converging into a single point.