"Nothing clear from here," Mary said, standing atop a hastily built makeshift fortress, with Noah beside her.
Then a voice echoed from the sky, "Nothing within a kilometer either." It was Libby, who was destined to take the spotlight today.
Mary breathed a sigh of relief. "That's good. Finally, we can rest."
Noah replied, "I'll check the traps."
"I already did."
A soldier's voice rang out, "Since they haven't come, does that mean the other teams succeeded?"
Libby answered, "We can't say they succeeded… but it's a sign of victory."
Indeed, the plan was supposed to work.
The hero's role was to distract the enemy forces and attack from different directions, while Khalid and Reinhard attacked from the east and south, opening the way for the main army composed of the elite Altherion, alongside the thousand players led by Ronald.
… Meanwhile, we stayed here to defend, but according to the plan, these were only the initial raids, and Arcanthia would resort to defense afterward.
"Lady Libby, something's happening!" one of the soldiers shouted at me.
Out of nowhere, several massive portals opened, and from them poured monsters — or rather, transformed humans — falling like rain.
Had it not been for the hero, I wouldn't have believed they were humans walking on all fours with hooves like horses, a single eye in the middle of their foreheads, and long faces resembling dogs… Well, that doesn't change anything.
This was my chance to prove I was on the same level as the hero and Khalid. "Don't worry, just follow protocol. Activate the traps on my signal."
Their ability to use teleportation technology meant if we had pushed further, the traps would have been useless or worse—they might have infiltrated the fortress from within.
Is this why the hero demanded the fortress be relocated from its planned spot? This guy seems to have read their plans.
"Trap A, now."
Users of Earth power moved forward and dug a massive, deep trench filled with metal spikes at the bottom, where thousands of the transformed humans fell.
The flow didn't stop and they kept advancing. "Trap B, now."
Fireballs rose into the sky, but before they could fall, ten large machines resembling tanks emerged and launched missile strikes at the fortress walls, causing them to collapse completely.
"Everyone who can fly, carry as many people as you can and retreat!"
The Earth users reinforced the walls with all their might while Mary and Noah carried people away.
"I'm going down to fight."
Mary replied, "Wait, Noah, are you crazy?! That's dangerous."
"But if we don't, we'll lose."
"We still have the illusion traps, but they need to advance just one more meter."
Mary was right.
My power consisted of two types of illusions: traps, which I set up in advance and are the easiest to use, and spontaneous illusions, which I create directly in battle.
The latter was difficult because I had to customize illusions for each person, but… thanks to the hero who bought me this accessory, it's no longer a problem.
I shouted to the rest of the airborne soldiers, "Any gravity users?"
"Yes, Lady Libby."
"Quickly, gather all those tanks and monsters in Area A."
"Understood."
Indeed, the soldier raised his hand slowly; his veins bulged from the strain of holding the heavy tanks, which caused his nose to bleed and rendered him powerless to move any of the tanks more than 30 centimeters.
The attacks launched again, fiercer than before, while the transformed humans tried to climb the fortress walls.
Noah jumped and blocked a missile aimed at us with his body, while wrapping chains around another, swinging it to collide with a third missile.
Once Mary confirmed the fortress was evacuated, she yelled, "Retreat!"
All the forces started running backward, away from the tanks' wrath.
But the tanks kept advancing… and that was the plan. I activated the illusion traps, causing the transformed humans to attack each other, as well as the tanks.
Inside one of the tanks, the Arcanthian soldier tried to regain control of the situation.
"What's happening?… Everything's changed."
Suddenly, his tank was hit by a blast that burned his entire body.
"Well, now we can rest a bit."
I spread my wings, preparing to fly.
"Not yet, Noah, we must be ready for more."
I soared high and prepared to enter the portal. "Don't follow me."
I dashed at full speed and pierced the portal. The first thing I saw was a huge rocky tunnel, ending in a small laboratory glowing under green light, filled with brilliant scientists.
The screams of humans echoed throughout the place, and the scent of blood and chemicals filled the air.
The soldiers gathered before they noticed me. I used illusions to vanish from their sight.
Swiftly, I began beheading those unaffected by the illusion, while the others shot each other.
From behind, a scientist fired a massive energy beam. Noticing it, I extended my sword, which easily absorbed the energy.
My body soaked up the power; I punched the ground, unleashing a massive explosion of energy that caused an earthquake, killing everyone in the room and ending the tyrant of every world… and the suffering of each victim.
If all they were sending were just tanks and transformed humans, then… why would they need such a huge building?
I shook the thought away and continued the massacre, destroying the rest of the tanks on my path.
Suddenly, the ceiling broke, and a man in his forties with white hair on the sides and a black mustache covering his mouth descended.
I was shocked upon seeing him. "You!"
"Hello, Libby from the hero's team… I am Aldric Veilheart."
"Didn't the hero say Selina killed you?"
He looked at me arrogantly. "Do you think I would leave Arcanthia—the safe place—for somewhere dangerous where everyone seeks my death?"—
I lunged forward before he finished, my sword aimed at his neck, but he caught it with his bare hand.
"It's rude to interrupt your elders."
Before he noticed, my black claws drained his strength and cut his fingers.
Aldric stifled his scream. "You'll regret this."
I used illusion to create three copies of myself inside his mind.
Aldric simply raised a finger, aimed at my body, and unleashed a blazing green beam so hot it melted all the metal around us.
At that moment, I absorbed the attack and stored it inside me.
But it didn't stop there. Aldric filled his body with that green energy and charged at me, destroying everything nearby. He almost struck me until I spread my wings and used them to escape his attack's range.
He looked around the place, then at me for a while, before smirking wickedly and starting to gather energy to blow up the entire laboratory.
I used my wings to flee quickly from the laboratory, which was about to be destroyed. Although Aldric saw I was out of the blast radius, he didn't stop.
In a flash, everything shone with bright light, the heat was unbearable… yet when the light and smoke cleared, Aldric stood in the middle of all the ruin.
He dusted off his body and clothes. "Well, my work here is done."
What? What did he mean?
Then he continued, "Actually, you're not the only ones with plans. We have a plan to end this battle… with minimal losses."
The ground shook—not an earthquake—but footsteps, as if a massive entity was walking, shaking the earth with every step.
"W-what is that?"
Behind Aldric, a giant robot appeared, twice the size of the previous one, with massive claws on all limbs and a blind animal-like face. It ran past both of us.
It was heading toward the camp where Noah, Mary, and the others were. But I couldn't do anything… nothing except get rid of the maker.
"If you don't mind, Lady Libby, I'm leaving now… good luck dealing with the beast."
"Not yet, Aldric Veilheart." My smile widened triumphantly. "Where do you think you're going?"
From the same green energy I'd absorbed throughout the fight, I created several burning arrows around the place. "I'll finish you first since you've drained all your energy."
Fear flashed on Veilheart's face. With a single gesture, all arrows shot forth, piercing every part of him.
Aldric spat blood. "… Note this down, Veilheart… Never enter a battle without knowing your opponent's abilities."
Are these notes? Is he a clone too? No, of course, he's not a clone. Well, that's not important now—I have to save my comrades.
I spread my wings and pierced through the portal at full speed, only to find Noah holding the mechanical beast with his chains, while four other men helped him.
The robot opened its mouth and unleashed a laser beam hotter and stronger than Aldric's energy.
But Mary stood before the attack with her sword glowing with glory, deflecting all the energy. Flames erupted from her mouth, and her eyes glowed red, ready to unleash her strongest fiery slash. She shattered the robot's jaw as if it had never existed.
It still wasn't enough to stop the mechanical beast, so Noah released the robot's arms and used his Hardening power, pulling his weapon back into glove form.
With a single leap, he reached the robot's head and began dismantling its frame and damaging its cables.
I watched from afar, impressed by how things were unfolding.
Suddenly, I noticed several drones hovering above us, belonging to various VoxView channels, trying to document this war.
I saw this as a crushing victory for us… but what about the portal? More mechanical monsters appeared.
"What?!"
My joy turned to shock as I tried to analyze the situation.
Then came Noah's voice, "Try to contact support."
Yes, that was the solution… but who could stop this?
At the southern battlefield, soaked in blood, piles of corpses, and bodies hanging from ropes descending from the sky, Reinhard sat atop all that.
"Commander Reinhard, there's a call from the defensive line requesting backup."
"Backup?"
Calmly, Reinhard lowered himself and dug his hand into the ground, pulling out a handful of earth worms. In an instant, he swallowed them with the soil.
Once the worms passed through his throat, he brought them back out. They weren't the same worms as before entering but had transformed into another entity—though for now, there was no visible difference except in color.
"Go support the defensive line," Reinhard ordered, and the worms obeyed.
Back at the defensive northern line, the battle was at its peak.
Noah asked, pushing his endurance to the limit, "Who did you call, Libby?"
"Everyone!"
While holding the mechanical beast's claw, crushing it underfoot, he shouted, "They need to hurry. I don't think I can hold much longer."
Suddenly, a giant Harish emerged from underground, twice the size of the mechanical beast. With its massive jaw, it tore the beast that was crushing Noah into two.
Everyone in the battlefield was stunned and could only flee.
The Harish began hunting and breaking the mechanical monsters with ease, while the three of us watched the scene from afar.
"Why those insects?"
Mary replied, "Don't worry, those are Reinhard's beasts."
"Reinhard can do that?"
"Much more."
Noah's voice rang out again, "No time to slack off, we need to rebuild the fortress."
Immediately, some drones descended in front of us.
< Habisage Corporation expresses its gratitude and offers you this aid, hoping it helps. >
The aid consisted of food, drink, and some fine clothes.
Despite all this, my mind was far from this place. I was still wondering about Aldric's words.
What did he mean by ending the war with minimal losses? The Altherion wouldn't stop the war even if it meant their destruction because… the hero!
The Altherion are ready to sacrifice everything except the hero… they must have some plan.
Fear grew inside me. I opened my wings.
"Libby, where are you going?"
"The hero is in danger. Mary, you're in charge while I'm gone!"
I absorbed the surrounding air, turning it into propulsion to increase my speed… I hoped to arrive in time.