Audiobook: https://youtu.be/yCMFkJkmiKQ
The sound of metal scraping and cobblestones clomping.
Misaki opens her eyes and hears many footsteps in the distance. She then pushes up the inn’s window to look out.
The sun shone brightly in the morning, signaling the end of the long night.
Players wearing dull armor move forward, some in uniform, some in worn robes, some with beasts, some are NPC – but all of them were marching toward one direction, the gates.
(The battle is about to begin.)
Misaki, unable to sleep due to guilt, burst into tears again at the sight of the convoy.
They simply had a higher level; they simply knew how to fight, but they were people who were once students or office workers like her. They are not warriors but ordinary people who grew up in a peaceful world without fighting.
(Sorry ……)
Is the only excuse she could give to herself for not being there.
Misaki banged her head against the windowpane; it was almost like she was asking for forgiveness as she watched the heroes march away.
* * *
At the front of the line were Wataru and the others.
Their force was composed of several unaffiliated volunteer players living in Aristolas, a few players from the frontliners who had responded to the mail, and the rest were mercenaries NPCs and Adventurers Guild NPCs, in addition to the 60 comrades who stayed behind last night.
Forces who had responded to the mail, and the rest were mercenaries NPCs and NPCs from the Adventurers Guild.
Wataru had the highest level, 39.
Alba came in second with level 37.
And the rest of the frontliners average level was 36.
Kid himself is level 35.
While Flame level is 33.
The average of the Monshou Guild is 27, the volunteers are around lv 15, and the NPCs are about the same.
On the other hand, the goblins will have levels ranging from 5 to 8 for the weakest, 11 to 15 for the top derivatives, and 35 to 40 for the Goblin Kings.
(It is the King that is the most troublesome. His unique skill increases the goblins’ status by three levels by in real combat.)
Wataru thinks while chewing on his lower lip. Wataru and his team had the upper hand regarding overall fighting ability. However, the King in question possesses a “boss trait.” making all attacks below the boss’s level to be reduced by half. Furthermore, the unique skill has an effect on the King himself, so if the King is 40, then his actual level is 43 in terms of status.
In [Eternity], a minor difference in level can result in a massive difference in ability, especially if the level difference was as big as 4; the battle ahead was to be expected to be a hard one even for Wataru.
“Including the frontliners, there were six players of level 35 or above, and even though we could not expect a fast result due to the [boss trait], it was possible to buy time.”
“Everything depends on how fast we destroy them.”
The plan for today is as follows.
There are three roads leading to the goblin settlements in the Iriana Tunnel, and Alba will use [assault] from the widest one to scatter their formation and directly gain [hate] from Goblin King.
Then Wataru and his men will attack at once with ranged attacks, greatly reducing the number of small fries; after that, Wataru will take the Goblin King’s focus and tanks alternately with Alba using a shield while watching their LP from here the endurance battle will begin.
The rest of the team will join from another path, blocking the enemies’ retreat and exterminating the small fries; ideally, only the Goblin King will remain at the end of their extermination.
The tension reached a peak when they arrived at the tunnel. Wataru, in the front row, draws and raises his sword.
“This is only the beginning of the battle. We will face numerous challenges from this point forward! This is our first step! And we will not be defeated once until the day we leave this world alive!”
It was a proclamation as if he were a general in a war-torn world.
Wataru’s words silenced the chattering of the crowd, as everyone paid attention to each of his words. Wataru’s soothing voice and words dispelled people’s fears. In some ways, it was a paralyzing drug born of his confidence.
Everyone took up their weapons, fired up their buffs, and waited for the right moment.
“Everyone! Follow me!”
The morale was now at its highest; Wataru had truly proven his worth.
Anti-Goblin King unit followed Wataru into the tunnels, a black horse carrying Alba emerged, and Flame’s final detachment followed.
The battle to defeat the large-scale invasion has begun.
* * * * * *
Alba, striding on a black horse, runs out into the hall.
All the goblins along the way were kicked out by his job skill, [Charge], and the ones he missed were taken out by Wataru and the others coming from the rear.
The goblin village was shaken as a result of the sudden attack by humans. With this, the first phase of the surprise attack was successful.
“OOOOOOOOOOOOhhhh!!!”
Alba, with his speed unchanged and with all magic buffs cast on him, ran over three goblin soldiers who could only make noise and lacked weapons, then swatted them away with his greatsword.
The Goblin King, seated in the center, smiles devilishly and strikes the ground with a massive machete-like sword.
It was a sign of strengthening – a unique skill of the King.
The goblins’ eyes change as they are enveloped in purple steam, and the color of their eyes changes to red.
“This way!'”
Alba immediately cast [Provoke] against King and ran to the designated point, attracting many enemies and increasing the hate directed at himself.
Alba repelled the goblin mage’s magic with a swing of his greatsword.
“Now! Fire at will!”
As Wataru and the others joined in, a large number of magical circles filled the ground, representing the variety of magical effects, and blades of fire, light, ice, and wind attacked the goblin encampment.
Most of the goblins were hit by these, and many of them turned into polygon particles as their backs were turned to Wataru and his men as they aimed at Alba.
The Goblin King, however, easily blocked those attacks and looked back.
But immediately after, Wataru’s wide-range magic, which had finished charging, activated after a one-tempo delay.
“Holy Light.”
The three magic circles formed a triangle, and the three bundles of light intersected in an undulating manner, penetrating the Goblin King’s surroundings.
Wataru’s occupation is Holy Knight, an advanced job that can be obtained after reaching level 30. He is said to be an all-rounder fighter with high attack power and solid defense that could learn a wide range of light and holy attribute magic.
One advantage of changing your job to Holy Knight is that you can use [Holy Light], a level 4 magic that is normally learned at level 40.
It is the most powerful magic level 39 Wataru could use.
boss mob: Goblin King Lv.40
Goblin King’s name, level, and LP bar are revealed for the first time here, indicating that he had [98 percent LP remaining]. It means that the previous concentrated fire reduced the number of its LP by only 2%.
And the most shocking thing is that King is a level 40 individual.
The faces of the people were tinged with the color of despair.
(Here comes the strongest monster we ever face. I can only assume that the Mother AI prepared this for the purpose of sifting out the players who had not moved from the initial point.)
Wataru looks as if he had been forced to chew a bitter bug as he saw his attack damage has also been reduced by half because the opponent’s level is simply higher.
However, the switch was successful; Wataru is now King’s target.
“Sanctuary.”
Without wasting any second, Wataru launches a series of magic attacks.
He raises his shining circular buckler, and a column of light descends around King.
Sanctuary is basic area magic often used in group combat; inside this light, players will regenerate a small amount of LP and mobs take a small amount of damage.
Its effectiveness is especially great against the undead, but that kind of effectiveness cannot be expected from the enemy this time.
Wataru told Alba, “Let’s win,” as he passed by before facing the King with his shield ready.
Alba quickly drank a recovery potion and joined the elite group. He also checked the situation on the battlefield.
On the other two roads, the battle began as planned. With all three entrances and exits now blocked, the goblins in the halls should have been rats in the bag – but with the number of goblins appearing one after the other from the tattered buildings, it appeared that it would take some time before their elite forces could join them.
The battlefield turned out just as Flame had envisioned.
(So far, so good) she thought,
All that remained was for Alba and Wataru to tank the boss and protect the others from its damage while waiting for everyone to join up.
PK’s gonna come in soon, I see no better chance to stomp out hope then now.