"You've really gone and done it, you adventurer bastards."
"Too kind."
Maybe because, unlike expectations, the battlefield had been cleared in an instant.
The bone-helmeted man let out a rough curse.
Well, after burning through that much manpower, it had to sting to see our side suffer almost no losses.
Of course, I had no reason to care about his feelings.
"By the way, the underlings you were controlling are gone now too. Looks like it's about time for your turn. Mind giving me a quick self-introduction?"
"Hmph. Underlings, huh... [Vioras]."
Koooooo!
But as if he didn't care about any of that, the bone helmet called in more of the cannibalized monsters from all around.
And there were even more of them than before.
So this meant he hadn't even considered the Evils remnants to be real combat power from the start.
"This is..."
"No way?! Just how many of those cannibalized monsters are there?!"
It was an overwhelming wave of numbers, hard to believe even with my own eyes.
After taking down so many of them, he could still summon even more like that.
It was the kind of all-out numerical assault that made me think of some alien creature's mole crickets.
No, if I had to compare them by size and shape, maybe they were more like mutalisks.
Either way, disgusting was disgusting.
"I've seen enough of your unpleasant flailing. Still, from what I saw earlier, that little trick of yours seems to require special gloves. I wonder how much longer you can keep it up?"
The bone helmet looked smug as the situation shifted in his favor once again.
But he was right.
I wasn't taking out and swapping in new gloves anymore.
I'd used up everything I brought.
Asfi seemed to realize that too, and though she was shocked, she still looked at me with a sliver of hope.
But even so, there was no way something that didn't exist would suddenly appear.
Give it up.
Unfortunately, if it's not there, it's not there.
"Don't look at me like that. Like he said, I can't do it the same way anymore. I didn't bring nearly enough because I never expected this incident to blow up to this extent. Besides, the stock I left upstairs isn't exactly plentiful either."
"Then what about that thing in the corridor earlier?"
What was she talking about now?
Even if it was my own arranged replica, it was still a weapon with power approaching Noble Phantasm level.
Besides, both the Stella from Rivira and this [Kikaku Itto] were things I'd had no choice but to use by forcibly overloading magic stones to raise their output.
That was the only answer I had with my current abilities.
As if I could mass-produce something that insane like it came off an assembly line, or reuse it over and over again.
Even I had limits.
I wasn't some absolute god, and I wasn't even a "mage" yet.
Well, if I had something like Paracelsus-sensei's Philosopher's Stone, that might be a different story.
At least for now, though, that was impossible.
"Did your sense of common sense just collapse? It had that much power. Of course it's impossible now. That thing was single-use to begin with. It's still under heavy research."
"Is there any other way?"
Even so, Asfi still couldn't quite give up on hope.
In the end, I decided to make her face the cruel reality.
"Hmm... no!"
"Huh?"
I've said it several times now, but if something isn't there, it isn't there, and if something can't be done, it just can't be done.
It's like expecting Harvard from a kid whose parents are local civil servants.
"Like I said earlier, I never thought things would go this far. Even if it was an abnormal situation, it was happening in the middle floors, so I figured it wouldn't be that big a deal."
"That... haah."
In the end, Asfi accepted reality too and let out a weary sigh.
Then, somewhat irritably, she looked at me with resentful eyes.
What? What now? You got a problem?
"You wasted too much from the very beginning!"
"You got to come this far comfortably thanks to me, and that's what you're complaining about?"
"That is... true, but."
Still, she must have realized that wasn't fair, because she apologized right away.
And right now, that wasn't the important thing.
"Forget it. What's the point of getting mad at each other over what we don't have now? If we're determined to live, we'll find a way somehow."
In the end, all that remained in this situation was the kind of grit-filled talk I hated hearing.
The others had to hold out a little longer if we were going to see any way forward.
"But even now, with this much manpower... at this rate, it'll never end."
"Got any other plan?"
"Nothing fancy. The straightforward way is still probably the answer. We'll have to cut off the head if we want any chance of turning this around."
"That's true."
Asfi seemed to reach the same conclusion and turned her gaze away.
Her target was none other than the bone helmet.
To reverse the situation now, the only option was to strike directly at that bastard standing alone and smug in the back.
I agreed with that too.
"Go on ahead. I'll handle things in the rear and catch up soon."
"Then I'll leave it to you."
And Asfi ran forward.
But then someone else followed after her.
"Asfi-san! I'll provide support! Please, just give me the order!"
Oh, it's that guy again.
He really was terminally committed.
At this rate, he was liable to die young.
Still, it was hard to criticize him outright, since it was a bit much to leave everything to Asfi alone and send her in as the only backdoor.
No matter how much of a Level 4 she was, we couldn't put everything on her shoulders alone.
There were still a few Evils bastards left, even if they were few in number.
And that bone-helmet guy looked relaxed enough to be at least Level 4 himself.
So having one or two people support her from behind would definitely be better.
I couldn't follow immediately anyway because of the people left behind, so if someone else covered for me in the meantime, I'd actually be grateful.
Especially since he said his specialty was slinging stones, so support work should be no problem.
"Let's see, then first..." [Target Change]."
So I'd better finish my own job quickly and chase after the two of them.
First, I changed the Moon Spirit Slime's protection target from me to the mage boy and the supporters in the rear.
Priority one: protect the targets. Defense form: fixed to the basic barrier.
Attack function: only for counterattacks. Attack form: restricted to [Kaku] only, so it won't needlessly damage the surroundings.
"Hey, how's the potion stock?"
"Potions? We're almost out!"
"Figured as much. Take some of mine to top up. They're homemade, but they should restore wounds and fatigue, and maybe give you a little buff too. Randomly."
"Oh, thank you! I'll use them well!"
What, no, I'm the one who should be thanking you.
I hadn't said anything because this was an emergency, but this was basically a clinical trial too.
Other than the one I tested on myself and the one I used on Bell-whatever through the little goddess, I hadn't tried it on anyone else yet.
According to my calculations, side effects would probably include alternating fever and chills, while the whole body went limp as if it had been hit with a strong muscle relaxant, doubling the fatigue.
Still, I was confident it would get them through the immediate danger.
The worrying side effects wouldn't kick in until around tomorrow, so for now it should be fine.
It was literally life or death.
After this is over, I'll be honest and tell them everything, so they can save the resentment for then.
"Next, [Gather. Rise. Awaken]."
Clack, clack
I reached into my coat again and threw something onto the floor.
And then the headless skeleton soldiers rose.
They were my own replica golem soldiers, modeled after the dragon soldiers from the Fifth Holy Grail War's bride.
What I'd scattered on the floor were processed magic stones shaped like fangs, made to draw on the original's power.
When these processed magic stones were scattered on the ground, they absorbed the mana in the surrounding atmosphere and nearby objects, reconstructing them into their own bodies.
Just like the Land Form of monsters in the Dungeon, the armory of the labyrinth.
Of course, I'd inscribed the relevant formulae on the surface of the magic stones.
If things went wrong, they could be contaminated by the Dungeon's mana and turn into real monsters, but I'd built in a self-destruction function for that, so it was fine.
The only problem right now was that these guys were only about as strong as upper-floor War Shadows.
Still, they were far better than having nothing at all.
"[Fight. The target is the plants here. Assist. The targets are the humans around you]."
Clatter, clatter
At my command, the things moved.
This wouldn't make me feel safe, but at least it would buy time.
...or so I thought, just as I was about to catch my breath.
"Ghh, aaaaaaaah!"
"What?! No way!"
Had Asfi been hit in the meantime?
Thankfully, she wasn't dead yet.
But that wound from a dagger piercing her stomach was anything but light.
Damn it, had I gotten too complacent?
"What about support? What about the slingers?!"
Ah.
Right after he shouted that, he charged in angrily and got backstabbed by a cannibalized monster.
The injury was the same too: a stab through the abdomen.
Were you two a couple in that department or something?!
"Boss! We'll handle our side somehow, so please, the captain!"
"Tch, you're all in such a damn hurry!"
They should've just kept their heads down and waited while taking things slow.
I didn't know if they'd fought because they thought they had some kind of opening, but from my perspective, this was just a nuisance, a troll move.
I hadn't even worked out a proper plan yet.
"With what I have now... should I try it?"
While I was anxiously thinking, a method suddenly came to mind.
Just one.
Among the tools I currently had, there was still something that might break this situation open.
Only, I'd accidentally brought it along as a test item without thinking.
To be honest, I'd made it fairly recently, and I still hadn't done any clinical testing, so I didn't know if it would work properly.
Besides, when I made it, I was thinking it was for monsters.
It was absolutely not something I'd made with adventurers in mind.
So the success rate was a little worrying.
But if it happened to work, then victory would be as good as guaranteed.
That said, the odds were, hmm...
"All right. I've decided."
Yeah, I've made up my mind!
Try it, and if it doesn't work, run.
Just getting this far and doing what I could already felt like enough to count as my share of loyalty.
I still didn't want to die, so if it didn't work, then this was the endgame and I'd have to flee.
Luckily, I hadn't forgotten to bring the escape route, so running itself wouldn't be a problem.
As for the resentment of those left behind... well, wouldn't the bone helmet handle that for me?
Let's see, the Sword Princess. Maybe I can use losing an arm as an alibi?
At this point, that kind of thing was easy enough to replace, so no problem.
Yeah, this couldn't be helped.
I'd done my best, and the result was just unfortunate.
Therefore, I was still not in the wrong.
The ones in the wrong were the Guild that sent me here, and that bone-helmet bunch.
Mon-da-i-na-i, mon-da-i-na-i~
"So please, let this work."
As I ran toward the bone helmet, I prayed with all my heart.
Grant me the luck of the jackpot, please!
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