episode_0122

“Hehehe. How long do you plan on running away? Well, I enjoy playing tag like this too.”

Marona was leisurely chasing Filia, who was running away.

Creep – Creep –.

Every time Philia swung her sword, dozens of bee monsters died. However, that loss was not great for Marona’s group, which was filling the sky with black.

Shuuuk–!

Suddenly, Philia threw her sword energy at Marona, but the bee monsters volunteered to act as meat shields, so there was no damage to Marona.

“What should I do about this~. It looks like the sword can’t reach me~.”

Philia didn’t respond to Marona’s words and just kept running. With Philia’s speed, she can outrun Marona’s group, but her goal is not to outrun them, but to lure Marona’s group to a designated location.

Therefore, Philia was acting with an appropriate mix of resistance so that Marona would not suspect anything.

“Huh? What smell is this?”

Marona, who had been following Philia for a while, blocked her nose at the strange smell. The spicy and strong smell that irritated the mucous membrane of my nose brought tears to my eyes.

Bee monsters, including Marona, have a sensitive sense of smell. This is because they communicate using pheromones. Therefore, we have no choice but to instinctively avoid such strong smells that may contain pheromones.

“Fuhu. Did you think I would be incapacitated by just a smell? If that’s the case, it’s a big mistake.”

However, pheromones are not needed when Marona gives orders to bee monsters.

All heads were given one power by the queen. The power of speech, which allows you to give orders directly to the minds of your group.

Despite the strong smell wafting all around, Marona had no trouble keeping her flock under control. It just increased discomfort.

“What do you plan to do now? I think this is the end of the game of tag.”

Philia stopped in place. Marona didn’t know what her purpose was, but there didn’t seem to be anything she could do in the current situation.

‘If I take the Black Knight’s head, the Queen will be pleased, right?’

Marona felt better. The opponent is the Black Knight, the enemy’s greatest strength. If you can handle such an important person with your own hands, you will be making a huge contribution.

“Who will be the good boy who will bring me the head of the Black Knight~?”

The bees rushed towards Philia. It looked like black rain was pouring from the sky.

Philia was wearing a gas mask. That’s why paralyzing poison powder doesn’t work. However, if poison is injected directly into the body through saliva, a gas mask is useless.

Marona was confident of victory. Even if the opponent is the Black Knight, he will not be able to block all attacks from tens of thousands of bees.

Just once. If there is even a small scratch, it is over. Your body will slowly become paralyzed, and additional needles will be inserted into the numb space. Soon your whole body will stiffen, and after that, you can leisurely enjoy the high-quality meat.

Marona felt good. The enemy’s strategy was useless, and I thought it was an opportunity to make a big contribution. That’s why she didn’t notice the unnatural pile of leaves where Philia was standing. Also, I couldn’t even notice the scent of death buried in the strong smell.

Philia lowered her head. Ignoring the rushing bees, I dug into the leaf and quickly pulled the string inside.

“Oh… ?”

It was only then that Marona could smell the smell coming out. And by the time I realized it was the smell of gunpowder, it was already too late.

Kwaaa~!!!

* * *

“You’re going to annihilate Marona’s group with an explosion? It would be difficult to do that with any amount of firepower, right?”

“As far as I know, the Knights stationed there have a lot of unused explosives left over. If we collect them all, wouldn’t we have enough firepower?”

“At that level, it would be enough to blow up a mountain, so it would be possible.”

Ren always questions my strategy.

The flock of Marona that fly in the sky are quite difficult beings compared to the knights that walk on the ground. If it is large or slow, it may be possible to intercept it with various weapons, but at most it is about the size of a child and it is fast, so hitting it in the first place is a problem. There are thousands and tens of thousands of them flocking there, but how long does it take to catch them one by one?

In the end, the answer is to take advantage of the fact that the bee monsters’ bodies are not very strong and blow them away with one big blow.

“But they have a sensitive sense of smell. If there was that much gunpowder piled up, you wouldn’t go near it, right?”

“Just cover up the smell with a stronger smell. I happen to know how to create a terrible smell using herbs found on the Eastern Continent.”

“If it were a place with such a strong smell, you wouldn’t approach it in the first place, right?”

“So we have to throw bait. A bait I can’t resist.”

I looked at Philia in silence. Philia nodded as if she knew she was the bait.

“You can do it.”

If Philia, the strongest force on the Knights’ side and the one the Legion is most wary of, is bait, it’s okay if they can’t eat it. Of course, it shouldn’t be seen as a trap, so proper acting is necessary.

“Philia, please keep an eye on the queen from the castle wall when the battle begins. It’s like if they see even the slightest opening, they’ll rush in and kill you. Then, when I give a signal, run and attack the queen regardless of whether there is a chance, and if you fail, hesitate for a moment, drag Marona to the explosion point, and explode.” That’s it.

“Good.”

It’s good to answer without hesitation, but I’m not sure if you really understand. Because people are so blind.

“The key to this operation is to keep the enemy from discovering our intentions. We need to make them think that they tried to assassinate the queen but failed and that their escape route was blocked so they ran to the wrong place.”

“…I’m not confident in acting.”

“It’s okay. Don’t say anything from start to finish, just wince at the right time and you’re done. Then the enemy will interpret it as they see fit.”

For Marona, who treats humans like toys, Philia running away would be an element that stimulates sadism. In particular, a being so strong that he can’t be overcome is hiding away from him? Is there really a sadist who can tolerate something like that?

“…This is an operation with too many uncertainties. I wonder why they are so sure that Philia will only pursue Marona’s group when she runs away, and more than anything, if she detonates that many bombs, even Philia will get injured. Surely you don’t mean to sacrifice Philia to catch Marona?”

“Of course not.”

However, as Ren pointed out, if a huge amount of bombs exploded at close range, even Philia would be hurt.

If her role ends with catching Marona, there is no big problem as she can just come back and get treatment. But Philia must deal with Moglam.

Even before becoming stronger as a demon, Moglam was able to compete with Philia. Did you say that you would be pushed back by at most one or two moves? However, now that they have become stronger with demonic energy, it is safe to assume that the two are in harmony.

‘But what if Philia is injured? ‘The balance is broken.’

In other words, my strategy can be said to be a handshake in the long run.

Even if you kill Marona, if you end up losing the war, you’re in trouble.

“Don’t worry. Because everything has a plan. I will pass this on to Philia separately.”

I have prepared an item that is perfect for times like this.

* * *

“Clog, cluck… .”

Inside a huge pit. Everything disappeared without a trace, but Philia was relatively unharmed. Of course, I was relatively fine, but because I was hit directly by the explosion, my whole body was throbbing and my head was dizzy.

“Ugh… .”

Philia moaned softly at the pain she felt in her back. This is because when the explosion occurred, I turned my back on the explosion to protect the items I received from Zeke.

‘neck… . Don’t… .’

Philia felt extremely thirsty due to the heat she could feel around her.

Fortunately, she had something to quench her thirst. Philia took out a water bottle from her arms. This is the item that was given to me by Zeke and saved from the explosion.

Gulp–gulp–.

The drink from the water bottle went down my throat. It didn’t feel like a refreshing sensation, but it was enough to quench my dry throat.

But the role of the drink was not simply to moisten a burning throat.

“The body… . It feels like I’m flying.”

Even though less than a minute had passed since I drank the drink, my stiff body and throbbing back were completely relieved. The tinnitus I had heard disappeared, and all the small burns on my body also completely disappeared.

Additionally, his condition was excellent, as if he had woken up after a good night’s sleep.

She recalled what Zeke had said.

– If you drink this after the bomb explodes, everything will be better, just like a lie. Filia, it won’t hurt you too much, so you can drink just a little bit.

“There is a potion like this… .”

Philia gave a small exclamation and gently shook the water container.

I think I definitely drank a little bit, but I couldn’t feel the contents at all.

Only then did Philia look at the water container.

“……There’s a hole.”

The contents continued to leak through the hole, and Philia drank all that was left.

– For your information, that is very expensive. Please leave as much as possible.

“……”

Although Philia lacked the concept of money, she could guess how much this ridiculous potion was worth.

“Will I be able to repay you? .”

Thinking about the balance accumulated in her account, Philia walked towards the camp.

*

*

Kwahiah Ah Ah -Ah!

The ground shook strongly along with a huge explosion. I lost my balance for a moment and fell to the floor, and I could see huge flames shooting up into the sky. It seems like they used too many bombs to be able to see it so well even though it is quite far away.

Afterwards, an observer holding a telescope on the wall waved a green flag. It is a signal that the operation was successful and Marona’s group was wiped out.

“Marona cut.”

With this, the only remaining boss is Moglam.

‘I’m glad it’s not an actual attack route since you have to use elixir.’

Elixir, a consumable item sold at the store for 3,000 points. It is the best medicine that heals all wounds the moment you drink it.

However, having to spend 3,000 points just to treat a wound is too much, so it is actually a rarely used item.

The point is that it will be restored if you retry, so you don’t have to worry too much. What is important is that it has been proven that Marona can be harassed through explosions.

‘Just as I thought, Marona and the bees’ bodies are not that strong.’

Honestly, the power of the explosion seemed excessive. I hit all the bombs so as not to miss any of them floating in the sky, but assuming they explode at close range, I think even a weaker force than that would be enough to kill them.

‘…Then they say we have to secretly take the bomb to Marona’s hive… .’

Is it possible to avoid the surveillance of smell-sensitive bees?

I ran the simulation thinking of several methods, but most of them failed.

‘……Should I use that too?’

In the end, the fact that I had to spend points again made me depressed. Fortunately, this is a skill and not a consumable, but it is too expensive.

[Point balance: 10,955]

Compared to the days when I was a rich man with 50,000 points, I couldn’t help but sigh at how thin my wallet had become.

Anyway, I’ll think about that after Retry and focus on the war now.

I stood up, shaking the dirt off my pants.

I have to finish it soon.