Damon was dealing with the orc warriors in an extremely effective manner. The Magic Missiles he fired indiscriminately targeted only the orcs’ and medium-sized monsters’ blood points. Finishing them off was left entirely to the warriors fighting them. The medium-sized monsters were no exception.
Kerrek.
The ogres and trolls struggling while surrounded by the warriors began to be incapacitated one by one under Damon’s attacks. Damon, traversing the battlefield in every direction, looked less like a mage and more like an experienced Sword Master. But the medium-sized monsters and orc warriors continued to pour in without end. Damon, who had been raining down attack after attack, slowly knitted his brow.
“That’s strange. Why are there so many of them?”
Just then, an odd sight caught his eye. An orc warrior was fiercely driving back one of the Death Knights. What was strange was the Death Knight’s reaction. Rather than attacking the orc warrior raining blows upon him, he was busy dodging from side to side.
The creature had been taken from the portal and was slightly lacking in ability, but it was still a Master-class Death Knight in name if nothing else. For such a creature to be driven back by a single orc warrior■■. Damon sensed that something was amiss.
“Could it be?”
Recalling that Berkis’s magical attacks had not been coming for some time, Damon hurried toward the orc warrior. First, he closely examined the swordsmanship the orc warrior was using. A moment later, a cry of shock burst from him.
“Damn! It’s an illusion spell. That bastard Berkis has pulled another trick.”
The orc warrior was wielding a sword technique from Arcadia that could be recognized at a glance. In other words, it was a warrior under the effects of an illusion spell. Without another thought, Damon launched a Magic Missile.
Shu-shu-shoot.
Because Damon had given them orders in advance, the Death Knights could not attack the warriors under any circumstances. Perhaps because of that, the Death Knight had been completely unable to counterattack. The two Magic Missiles Damon fired shot toward the blood points of the warrior caught in the illusion spell.
Papapak.
However, the moment they touched his armor, the Magic Missiles scattered uselessly. They had been unable to reach his blood channels because of the Great Magic Armor. Nor could Damon use high-level magic. Even if he destroyed the Great Magic Armor, he could not guarantee the warrior’s life. With no other choice, Damon ordered the Death Knight to counterattack.
“Subdue him if possible. Do not kill him.”
At that, a chilling light flared between the slits of the Death Knight’s helmet.
Kieeeaah!
As though resentful of everything he had suffered until now, the Death Knight let out a shriek and began his counterattack. He was completely different from the way he had focused solely on defense moments earlier. Damon, however, did not watch him. Now that he had realized the truth, he had to take action. Damon roamed the battlefield, shouting at the top of his lungs.
“Krovitz! Where are you?”
But no answer came. Wherever he went, orc warriors and medium-sized monsters merely descended upon him, their eyes glinting ominously. The warriors appeared only sporadically, like beans sprouting during a drought, and even those few were under fierce siege by the monsters. Having no other choice, Damon called the Death Knights to him.
“Everyone, gather here.”
After giving the order, Damon shouted once more. They had to find Krovitz as quickly as possible to prevent them from slaughtering one another. At the same time, he could not help but marvel at Berkis’s thoroughness.
“What a vicious bastard. He lured us into a melee, then quietly cast an illusion spell on us.”
Although they had prepared in advance, they had been utterly helpless. Berkis had deployed the medium-sized monsters and orc warriors under the Berserk spell, engaged them in a fierce battle, and then cast the illusion spell once the fighting was well underway. The warriors had no chance to think of anything else. While absorbed in battle, they had never had the leisure to examine their opponents’ swordsmanship in the first place.
During that time, one of the Death Knights approached. It appeared to be Helbertron, but he looked a complete mess, as though he had just endured a brutal battle. The approaching Helbertron spat out irritably,
“I’m busy fighting a Bronze Golem. What is it?”
Damon said nothing and pointed toward the battlefield. Helbertron looked in the direction Damon indicated and was startled.
“Why are they fighting each other? I see. They must be under an illusion spell.”
“We need to find Krovitz as quickly as possible. Cover me.”
Damon hurried toward the center of the fighting.
“Krovitz! Where are you?”
The orc warriors and medium-sized monsters charged in a black mass, but Helbertron blocked them. Since he had not been affected by the illusion spell, Helbertron was fully capable of discerning the identities of his opponents. He bisected the orcs and medium-sized monsters with a single stroke, while merely knocking the warriors unconscious. As a Grand Master-class warrior, he possessed more than enough ability to do so. During that time, Krovitz’s reply finally came.
“Who calls for me?”
Damon turned his head toward the direction of the voice, and his eyes grew as large as saucers. A gigantic Bronze Golem was glaring at him with an axe raised high.
“Are you Krovitz?”
“I am. Could you be Damon?”
Damon nodded without hesitation.
“That’s right. I’ll cast a voice-amplification spell on you, so stop the fighting immediately. We are currently under an illusion spell.”
“Th-That is what happened?”
Krovitz stammered for a moment, but then shouted without delay. His voice spread over a wide area through the voice-amplification spell Damon had cast.
“I am Krovitz. All warriors, stop your attacks immediately and focus on defense. From this moment onward, killing the enemy is forbidden.”
At his words, several orc warriors and medium-sized monsters turned their heads. Yet distrust lingered in their eyes. Sensing this, Krovitz immediately continued with his explanation.
“We are under the same illusion spell we encountered in the Land of the Fog of Death. The opponent you are fighting may not be an enemy, but a comrade. Therefore, all warriors under my command are to stop fighting immediately and gather at my location.”
Perhaps Krovitz’s words had gotten through, because the melees breaking out here and there began to subside. Warriors of every shape and appearance gathered around Krovitz. But retreating was no easy task.
Real orc warriors and medium-sized monsters had mingled among them and begun launching savage attacks. The warriors, unable to determine whether they should fight back or attack, had no choice but to devote themselves solely to defense.
Unable to bear watching any longer, Damon ordered Helbertron to identify their opponents.
“A Twin-Headed Ogre is pushing in from over there.”
When Helbertron pointed, the warriors swarmed toward that direction.
Kwooooh!
Before long, the Twin-Headed Ogre collapsed where it stood, its entire body hacked to pieces. The warriors who had brought it down once again waited for Helbertron’s instructions.
“This time, over there.”
Any orc warrior or medium-sized monster Helbertron pointed out had to endure the warriors’ concentrated attacks without exception. During this time, Shrekheimer joined them. He, too, possessed the ability to distinguish between warriors and orc warriors affected by the illusion spell. At Damon’s request, he had not joined the battle and had instead been protecting Juliana.
Once he joined in, friend and foe gradually began to be distinguished. As the warriors stopped fighting and withdrew to one side, the Berserker Legion began slaughtering one another instead. They, too, had not been free from the effects of the illusion spell. Meanwhile, the remaining Death Knights, having annihilated the Bronze Golem Legion, broke through a path of blood and joined the battle.
They joined forces with Helbertron and formed a solid wall. An impenetrable defensive line soon arose between the Berserker Legion and the warriors. With eyes clouded by exhaustion, the warriors watched the Berserker Legion fight among themselves. Having grasped the situation, Berkis gave a bitter smile.
“Have the berserkers reached their limit?”
Berkis sighed and withdrew the illusion spell. They were doomed to die anyway, but it seemed best to prevent them from being wiped out by killing one another. Once the spell was lifted, the warriors whose appearances had changed gradually returned to their original forms.
At the same time, the Berserker Legion, which had been striking at one another in a tangled mass, also stopped fighting. The Berserker Legion, their bloodshot eyes glinting as they searched for an opponent to fight, eventually turned their gazes toward the place where the warriors had gathered. But their numbers had been drastically reduced.
“Heh heh heh. I suppose they realized they were outmatched.”
Damon let out a sinister laugh and ordered the charge. To kill Berkis, they first had to annihilate the Berserker Legion that served as his hands and feet.
Kwaaah!
The vastly diminished Berserker Legion began to be pushed back helplessly by the warriors’ charge. The four great Death Knights, led by Helbertron, took the lead and mercilessly cut down the orc warriors and medium-sized monsters. The Death Knights taken from the portal joined them as well. Though two had been lost in the bloody battle with the warriors, four Death Knights still remained in fighting condition.
Thanks to the warriors’ desperate struggle, the tide of battle was visibly turning. Enraged, the warriors bisected the berserkers without showing them any mercy.
Flash.
The number of berserkers dwindled one by one. No matter how mad a berserker was, they could not overcome an inherent difference in skill.
Kwau.
At last, the final troll collapsed onto the cold earth. Not a single member of the Berserker Legion Berkis had deployed remained standing; every one of them lay dead upon the cold ground. Once the battle was over, Berkis’s voice once again echoed through the fog.
“As expected, the berserkers were not enough. The potential of humanity truly is astonishing.”
At those words, Damon stepped forward.
“This cannot be the only card you prepared.”
“Of course not.”
After that brief reply, Berkis’s voice no longer reached them. Instead, the fog surrounding them on all sides began to disperse slowly. Krovitz encouraged the warriors with a face full of fatigue.
“Everyone, reform the lines and report the casualties.”
Even a cursory estimate showed that the losses were tremendous. Approximately one hundred warriors were missing. The mages in particular had been reduced to cold corpses by nearly half. With their weak stamina and sluggish movements, the mages had been bound to struggle in a melee. After hearing the casualty report, Krovitz’s expression darkened.
“Even after preparing so thoroughly, we still couldn’t avoid slaughtering one another.”
Even the Berserker Legion was not beyond the warriors’ ability to handle. But the illusion spell Berkis had quietly cast had increased their losses exponentially. Many warriors had become corpses at the hands of their own comrades. They had won, but viewed as a whole, the loss was enormous. Damon shook his head with a drained expression.
‘If I had brought only the members of the Kasim Mercenary Group, we wouldn’t have suffered losses like this.’
But in that case, they would not have been able to handle the Berserker Legion. Furthermore, Berkis might still have more hidden cards, so Damon forcibly steeled his resolve.
‘This is the final battle anyway. I should think only about what lies ahead.’
While they reformed their lines, the fog lifted completely. The scene revealed was nothing short of carnage. The corpses of warriors, orc warriors, and medium-sized monsters lay strewn messily in every direction. Countless bodies had been torn apart, and the blood that had spilled had formed streams.
Amid them, the shattered remains of the Bronze Golems were scattered in a gruesome mess. Seeing them, a thought suddenly crossed Damon’s mind.
“Russellent.”
Damon turned his head, and his eyes widened. At the edge of the battlefield, he discovered Russellent lying in a state of terrible destruction. Startled, Damon hurried over to him.
“I thought you could handle an Iron Golem easily enough.”
As he approached, Damon realized why Russellent had been defeated. Fury rising to the top of his head, Damon shouted.
“Berkis, you son of a bitch!”
Most of Russellent’s torso had melted away. Anyone could tell at a glance that he had been struck by Berkis’s signature spell, Fireball. Judging by his condition, Russellent seemed to have been fighting an Iron Golem when a Fireball struck him in the back. The Iron Golem must have delivered the finishing blow. Damon had been so absorbed in the battle that he had not had the time to spare any attention for Russellent.
“Russellent. Get up.”
But Russellent, completely destroyed, showed no response to Damon’s call. He had reverted to the corpse-like state of his original form. Russellent, who had played the most outstanding role in hunting the dragon, had met his end in this way.