Dawn Battle

‘Kiiieeeek…!!’

‘Keureuk, giiieeeek…!!’

The entire group that had been sleeping inside the tent crawled out upon encountering the sudden horde of goblins in the dead of night.

I had considered estimating their numbers and not waking everyone if it seemed manageable, but the sheer scale of the goblin swarm was clearly too much for just me and Sir Colt to handle.

“Ethan, take the left! Sir Colt, the right! I’ll handle any that slip past you-don’t look back even if some get through!”

“Got it!”

“Understood!”

As soon as I opened the men’s tent, Ethan-who seemed to have been ready-was the first to rush out, followed by Sir Colt, who had already been outside on night watch. They each dashed to their assigned positions.

Though I could engage in close combat, it wasn’t my specialty, so I was in charge of handling stragglers. And providing support magic, just like Lilith did in the original game.

I had unintentionally taken on the role of battlefield commander by issuing orders the moment the monsters appeared, but neither Ethan nor Sir Colt seemed to mind.

“And Agnes-nim…”

“I’ll enlarge Infernosilia to disrupt their formation and set up a Flame Fortress as a defensive line.”

“…You know exactly what to do.”

Well, in the original game, Agnes was the type of character who could fight effectively on her own if left to her judgment.

Large-scale fire magic was always the right choice in battles like this, so I could just let her do her thing.

“‘Burning flames awaken the soul, today the young spirit shall blaze anew in form!'”

-Whooosh!

‘Aja~! I’m off, Agnes~!’

“…Don’t go into the forest.”

Agnes and Infernosilia’s combined spell summoned Agnes’s enlarged flame spirit, which charged into the goblin horde. The monsters panicked and scattered at the sight of the massive fireball.

Of course, a low-level spirit only had enough power to inflict minor burns, but it was more than enough to disrupt the enemy formation and sow chaos.

“M-Miss Rosewood! Wh-what should I do?! I-I’m somewhat confident in my swordsmanship, so like Prince Ethan and Sir Colt, I could join the front lines-“

“What nonsense-the front is already covered by those two. Your Highness, please stay on the opposite side and protect Agnes-nim.”

“A-alright! You’re right, protecting Lady Agnes is my most important duty!”

Truthfully, I just didn’t know Antonio’s current combat ability and wanted to keep him somewhere safe.

Since he wasn’t a main character in [Luminor Academy], I lacked detailed information about his base stats or growth potential.

So I kept him safely nearby. Even if he was weak, he should be able to handle one or two goblins that slipped through. Worst case, I could just position him behind me and protect both Agnes and the prince myself.

‘Lilith~! Anything for me to do? Should I just go wild like that kid over there~?!’

‘Sei too, grow? Up up?’

Sally and Sei, excited by the rampaging low-level spirit, asked if they should do the same.

As a high-level and mid-level spirit respectively, they could certainly cause significant havoc, but since they were smarter than the low-level spirit, I had a different plan for them.

“Both of you, fly to the rear without being noticed and search for the named monster.”

‘Named? What’s that?’

“Look for a goblin carrying an unnecessarily large staff, or maybe one playing an instrument. If not, just find one three or four times bigger than the others, covered in gear.”

These were the traits of a Goblin Magician, Goblin Bard, and Goblin Lord.

Of course, these weren’t the only named goblins, but only these three could command such a large force.

‘Ahh~! You mean those weird goblins we sometimes see?! Just scout and report back~?’

“Yes. And if you find one, report directly to me immediately. I’ll finish it off. Make sure to tell me exactly how far away it is too.”

‘Got it. I’ll look.’

‘I’ll go too~!’

The two spirits nodded and flew over the monster horde. With two spirits of mid-level or higher searching, finding the named monster shouldn’t be too hard. Sei might not have fully understood my instructions, but Sally seemed to grasp them perfectly.

We didn’t need to clear out every last goblin like in the original event. Once the named monster was taken out, the rest would scatter or become disorganized, making cleanup much easier.

Looking back, this night raid was also a recreation of [Luminor Academy]’s original event.

Camping on the way to the Witch’s Forest almost always triggered a monster attack. The forest itself was a mana-rich environment perfect for monsters, so outside the witch settlements, it was practically overrun with them.

After experiencing the Witch’s Forest event nearly fifteen times across 25 playthroughs, I was familiar with these night raids. That’s why I insisted on taking the second watch-statistically, the hour between 1 and 2 AM was when attacks were most likely.

It was better for me to handle it since I was already prepared.

‘Still, I didn’t expect this many…’

Normally, these “night raid by monsters” events scaled with the party’s combat strength.

For a five-member party to attract this many monsters, all five had to be elites. Looking at our party’s strength one by one…

First, a Sword Expert dual-wielder (win rate against the Hero was about 50-50).

A 5th-Circle mage slated to become the next Red Tower Master (specializing in fire magic, with a contracted flame spirit).

An all-rounder with mana reserves rivaling the future Tower Master, skilled in offensive magic, support magic, and dagger techniques (possessing the ultimate skill Mana Blast).

And Natalie-unni (stronger than Natalie).

Even excluding Antonio, whose exact strength was unclear, each member was already elite-tier by Hero Party standards. How did we even end up with such a party?

Well, [Luminor Academy]’s system scaled monster numbers with party strength, but having strong members wasn’t a bad thing.

In battles like this, where formations mattered, individual strength shone even brighter.

-Thunk!

‘Keeeek!’

Seven goblins had already slipped past Ethan and Sir Colt’s defense and been taken down by me.

Compared to Ethan, who was cleaving through five or six goblins at a time with sword aura, and Sir Colt, whose imperial knight techniques allowed him to stab three times per second, my contributions were modest.

Still, I was steadily gaining experience. The “Sharp Blade” buff I’d cast on the two of them was also proving its worth.

By tonight, I’d definitely reach Level 18-maybe even Level 19 if I was lucky.

Glancing over at Antonio, who I’d tasked with protecting Agnes on the opposite side, I saw the prince drenched in sweat, having just cut down his fifth goblin.

-Slish!

“Huu, hoo… Huuu…”

…He’s holding up better than I expected.

Of course, his swordsmanship paled in comparison to the two at the front, but comparing an academy student to a prince who hadn’t even enrolled yet was unfair.

One thing was certain-he was stronger than in [Luminor Academy]’s original story. Meeting Agnes during the Imperial Palace assault two years ago must have had a positive influence.

‘If we nurture him well, he might even be Hero Party material…’

I should propose it to Gyeotmwa later. Being royalty, his growth potential should be decent, and having Agnes around would probably accelerate his development.

“Burn! Wall of Flames!!”

‘Keeeeeeek!!!’

By then, Agnes’s Flame Fortress had already erupted in front of Ethan and Sir Colt.

In both scale and height, it was over twice as large as the one she’d used during the evaluation match. The moment it activated, the screams of goblins being annihilated echoed through the night.

‘With that, the grunts are mostly dealt with. Now, just the boss remains.’

Agnes would maintain the Flame Fortress, Ethan and Sir Colt would clean up any remaining goblins inside, and after seeing Antonio’s performance, I figured he could handle defense for a short while.

“Ethan! Sir Colt! Just focus on the ones inside the Flame Fortress now!”

“Got it!”

“Understood!”

“Your Highness! Protect Agnes and me for a moment! Can you handle that?!”

“Haaa… Y-yes…! Leave it to me, Miss Rosewood…!”

…Honestly, he wasn’t as reliable as Ethan, but this was the fastest way to end things.

Just then, Sally and Sei appeared beyond the wall of flames, so I began chanting Mana Blast, ready to fire the moment they gave me the target’s location.

‘Lilith~!! Over here! The big boss goblin’s here~!!’

‘300 meters, about, distance.’

Following their directions, I unleashed my fully charged Mana Blast with all my might.

Using it on a Goblin Lord was a bit overkill, but when else would I get to use it?

Besides, Mana Blast was the only spell I had that could one-shot an enemy, so I had no choice.

“…Explode! Storm of Mana…!!”

The moment my Mana Blast was unleashed, Agnes’s Flame Fortress dissipated on cue.

Through the parting flames, I glimpsed a massive goblin as my ultimate skill shot toward it in a straight trajectory.

And then, a deafening explosion shook the campsite in the dead of night.