Axel stared toward the horizon, watching as the sun began to set. In just a few more minutes, their nightmare would begin.
"It's almost time..." he said before turning around. "Let's do this, everyone."
"Yes!"
All five girls nodded firmly, expressions filled with both anxiety and hope. After all, they'd already done everything they could do.
The barricades were expanded to twice the previous size. Still a pentagon, but each side was now roughly 20 meters long. Basically doubling their occupied zone in one go.
In the middle of each side, about two meters away from the barricades, a single crate holding multiple wooden spears could be seen. This was for everyone to have easy access to weapons during their defense.
This way, even if their spear broke or got stuck, they could simply let go and get a new one quickly as a replacement.
"Then, Eve, as discussed, you stay at Side A." Axel reviewed their plan, letting the girls move to their positions.
"A-Alright...!"
The little girl nodded, her expression tight with desperation and resolve. They needed all hands on board, after all. Nobody could simply sit still and do nothing at this juncture.
"Maria will guard Side B and Cherry Side E. The two of you should support Eve if she is in trouble."
At his next words, the two maids nodded their heads in assent.
During their battle planning earlier in the afternoon, the two maids had vehemently refused to let Eve fight, even though the person herself wished to participate. They only relented after Axel let them stay at the neighboring edges to help the little girl in case she needed it.
"Finally, Beatrix will watch Side C, while I cover Side D," Axel continued, finishing the review. "As for Arianne, as planned, you will stay in the middle of the camp, using the floodlight to scan the surroundings. As soon as the Giant Zombie appears, you shall head out and fight it."
"I understand! Leave it to me!" Arianne answered, holding a long wooden stick in her hand.
At the tip of it, a familiar object was tied. A rectangular object with small beads inside, which, if turned on, would flash a powerful beam of light in a certain direction.
Right, it was a solar-powered LED mini-floodlight bought from the system's Shop! Something that definitely doesn't fit a "fantasy" setting, and practically the most expensive "investment" Axel made the entire day, costing him a good 25,000 Colts for one!
Although he wanted to get one to face each edge of the barricade to ensure no blind spots, with their lack of funds, it wasn't feasible at the moment.
Thus, while "waiting" for the boss monster, Arianne was tasked to raise the floodlight and slowly rotate it like a searchlight. Lighting up each side at regular intervals, and working as a way to search for the Giant Zombie the moment it appeared.
As soon as Axel's recap was over, the sun finally went beyond the horizon.
The sky turned pitch black almost instantly, leaving the only source of light the campfire in the middle. Axel and the four girls stood their ground nervously until...
[The zombies are coming! Contact in five~!]
Navi's excited voice echoed beside Axel's ears. He couldn't figure out why the little penguin was dancing around in excitement when danger was approaching, though.
"They're here!" Ignoring such thoughts, he shouted, "Arianne, light up the surroundings!"
"Got it!"
With his command, Arianne, just as she was taught, pressed the switch and let the powerful LED light blast away the darkness. Then, without delay, she let the tall stick stand vertically from the ground and began to rotate it gently at a pace of one full rotation every ten seconds. A bright white beam flashed in one direction, letting everyone see clearly what was ahead, hidden behind the darkness of the night.
Maria, the brown-haired maid, gasped in fear. "Z-Zombies! Lots of them!"
"Don't fret!" Axel, knowing that morale was important right now, raised his voice. "These zombies are dumb. They can't get through the barricades easily! Just stab them from afar, and you'll be fine!"
And as if to represent the saying "lead by example," he took a powerful step forward and stabbed a wooden spear straight. The sharpened tip casually poked the zombie's chest, sinking deep... before the zombie melted away into a stinky puddle.
"T-That is...!"
But seeing what happened, the girls were instead shocked.
After all, unbeknownst to Axel, zombies were known to be tough and practically infallible. Though, since they were slow, locals could easily outrun them.
"T-This spear is..."
Eve stared at the wooden spear in her grasp, and shortly after, gripped it tight. Her expression turned firm as she aimed it forward and awkwardly stabbed one of the zombies trying to push against the barricade.
"Hyaa...!"
The weird texture of stabbing rotten meat, and the brittle bones breaking from her attack...
The experience made her hands tremble, unintentionally letting go of the spear shaft as she fell on her butt, face pale.
"H-Huh?"
But to her surprise, her weak attack did wonders.
The zombie, hit by the spear, quickly melted away, turning into a puddle of green, stinky liquid. At that moment, she realized something.
"I knew it..." she whispered. "This spear is a holy spear!"
She looked at her fallen spear and toward the stack of more behind her, and gulped. Then, her gaze landed on Axel at the opposite side, who was mechanically stabbing one zombie after another like a well-oiled machine. The one who prepared all of it for them.
"Sir Mage, Axel... who in the world are you?"
Of course, it wasn't just her who noticed the anomaly.
Everyone else did. Especially Arianne, who was in charge of rotating the floodlight.
Seeing the near-immortal zombies melt away like they were ice cream in the middle of a hot summer day made for an unbelievable sight.
Still, she knew she wasn't looking at an illusion, but real zombies.
The unbearable stench alone, which they'd already gotten used to, was enough proof.
Everyone's pace was varied. Axel was downing one zombie per second without deviation, while the two maids were killing one every three seconds. Eve, after regaining her composure, continued stabbing zombies at a controlled pace of one zombie every ten seconds. And then there was Beatrix, who was almost matching Axel's pace at roughly two zombies every three seconds.
"DIE, YOU BITCHES! AAAAAH!"
The way she screamed at the top of her lungs with each stab was scarier to those around her than it was to the mindless zombies. Still, Axel understood that she was simply venting her frustrations.
With the way they'd "survived" by running away, they must've had no chance to counterattack after all.
'This should work as stress relief for them too, in some way,' he thought casually.
Everything was proceeding smoothly, with Eve's side getting cleared steadily with Maria and Cherry's help. As proof, the subjugation count on the Quest screen kept increasing at a regular pace.
"Axel! It's here!"
"...!"
But that changed when Arianne raised her voice.
Axel turned to where the light was pointing—at Eve's side. Further back. A zombie that was visibly taller than the rest, exuding a sense of dread that couldn't be compared with the others.
"So that's how it looks..." he grumbled, frowning. "Giant Zombie."
The real battle was just about to start!