Ch.335[Episode 335] Underworld Zone 3 Hard

No, it wasn’t just drakes pouring out.

The drakes were merely the vanguard, and behind them an enormous number of monsters began to pour out.

And in such numbers that commanders who hadn’t fully developed yet absolutely couldn’t withstand them!

“W-wasn’t it over?” Captain Elang’s voice trembled in confusion.

“Could there be a problem because I said ‘took care of it’?”

“I doubt that’s the case.”

Sir Dominic said this while thinking of all the bugs he had experienced until now.

“It seems to be a bug. Something that should be functioning normally has broken down. Most likely, some part of this stage has developed a problem. Perhaps the difficulty level, or the strength of the monsters.”

Sir Dominic’s assessment was very accurate.

It was thanks to the intuition he had developed while navigating all sorts of bugs until now.

Captain Elang, still unfamiliar with bugs, could only blink at Sir Dominic’s words, but seeing Sir Dominic speak so confidently like an expert seemed to calm his mind somewhat.

“Anyway, this is a big problem.”

Sir Dominic said while watching the monsters pouring out from the gate.

“One drake was difficult enough, but this many monsters. It’s going to be quite challenging.”

“Indeed.”

Sir Dominica nodded in agreement with Sir Dominic’s words.

Then suddenly, Sir Dominica looked at Sir Dominic’s expression.

“You say it’s difficult, but you’re smiling?”

Sir Dominica saw the smile on Sir Dominic’s face.

It was the brightest and most cruel smile Sir Dominica had ever seen.

“The same goes for you.”

And Sir Dominic wasn’t the only one with a smile on his lips.

Sir Dominica also had a smile spreading across her face, just like Sir Dominic.

“Well, neither of us is in a position to criticize the other.”

Sir Dominica raised her shield.

“I’ll start by dealing with what’s right in front of us.”

Sir Dominic also raised his shield.

“I’ll… cheer you on as much as I can.”

Captain Elang thought about what he could do, and realized that cheering was the only thing he could do.

“That’s enough.”

Right after Sir Dominic said that, a flag fell from the sky once more.

It was Peralant’s flag with a platinum crow flagpole decorated with silk thread.

Although the flag had been planted in the ground until now, the reason Sir Dominic planted the flag in the ground once more was to renew his determination.

Sir Dominic smiled brightly beyond the fluttering flag.

Sir Dominica was also renewing her determination.

Sir Dominica gauged the speed of the approaching drakes and monsters, then closed her eyes.

And she began counting in her mind.

Three. Two. One.

When she felt the timing was right, Sir Dominica’s eyes snapped open.

And immediately her shield was swung, followed by her gun barrel spitting fire.

Her cost was sufficient, and with that sufficient cost, Sir Dominica instantly unleashed three shield attacks and three bullets.

The shield swung in three directions stunned the drakes at the front, and the bullets fired in three directions stiffened the monsters behind the drakes.

A truly miraculous feat!

Sir Dominic, as if unwilling to be outdone, went under a drake with his shield and pushed it upward.

An ordinary person would not be able to budge such a large drake by attacking from below, but Sir Dominic was someone with very high stats.

Especially since he boasted high stats even among those of the same tier, Sir Dominic’s strength was beyond imagination.

Sir Dominic’s attack hit the drake’s belly precisely, and with tremendous impact, the drake was sent flying into the air before falling and breaking its neck.

The impact created by Sir Dominic’s attack was an effect beyond the stun status caused by equipment effects, and the drake’s neck breaking was because the neck was originally this monster’s weakness.

Sir Dominic had realized during the previous fight that the drake’s weakness was its neck.

Of course, any living creature would die if its neck broke, but drakes had a special organ in their neck for breathing fire, making their necks particularly vulnerable.

Of course, this was also due to the influence of [Cinematic].

Sir Dominic lifting the drake was thanks to his stats, and his decision to lift the drake was because he knew the neck was a weakness, but the drake’s neck breaking so cleanly and in one go was thanks to Sir Dominic’s special ability [Cinematic] making this situation wonderfully dramatic.

Sir Dominic’s exploits didn’t end there.

“Sir Dominica!”

“Got it!”

When Sir Dominic signaled to Sir Dominica, they stood side by side and began advancing toward the monsters.

As they advanced forward with their shields interlocked, the synergy created by the combined attack of these two with already high stats pushed the monsters back.

One of the monsters that had come out of the gate last had long since been swallowed back into the gate, and the rest would undoubtedly be pushed back at this rate.

Truly inhuman strength that pushed back all the monsters despite them using all their might!

“…I’m definitely going to draw a 4-star recruitment card when I get back.”

Captain Elang muttered quietly after seeing this sight.

Anyway, it seemed like everything would be resolved by Sir Dominic and Sir Dominica’s offensive, but the monsters’ response was not to be underestimated.

As if realizing they couldn’t defeat Sir Dominic and Sir Dominica, the monsters spread out to the left and right to avoid them.

The drakes facing Sir Dominic and Sir Dominica fell backward and rolled, but since the monsters weren’t equipped with conscience, they ignored the drakes and began running toward the commander.

“Huh? Huuuh?”

Captain Elang could only panic and not know what to do when the offensive suddenly turned toward him.

“Commander! Danger!”

As Captain Elang froze, Lily, who was beside him, pushed him away.

The orc’s axe, instead of hitting Captain Elang, hit Lily.

“Kyaak-!”

Lily screamed and collapsed.

And instantly turned into light, becoming a card that returned to Captain Elang’s deck.

The level of the monsters in round 42 was much higher than Lily’s, and due to this huge level difference, she died instantly with one hit.

“L-Lily!”

Captain Elang still couldn’t properly come to his senses.

He was shocked by the sight of Lily disappearing before his eyes.

He was so shocked that he didn’t notice the orc raising its axe again.

“Uh, huh?”

By the time Captain Elang noticed, it was already too late, and the orc’s axe was already coming down toward the crown of his head.

Captain Elang tightly closed his eyes.

So this is how I die. This is how I fail. If I had known this would happen, I should have just taken the reward after the previous round and ended it.

All sorts of thoughts flashed through Captain Elang’s mind.

He squeezed his eyes shut even tighter in anticipation of the imminent pain.

In just a moment, the orc’s axe would split his crown in two and turn his brain into mush.

Of course, this was just Captain Elang’s delusion.

He finally realized that no matter how long he waited, the pain didn’t come.

“Uh, why?”

Captain Elang squinted and opened his eyes slightly at the pain that still hadn’t arrived.

“Captain Elang, are you alright?”

And there were Sir Dominic and-

“It’s better to keep your eyes open. You might be able to escape a life-threatening situation once.”

Sir Dominica.

Captain Elang could only blink in confusion at the sudden appearance of Sir Dominic and Sir Dominica before him.

Sir Dominic and Sir Dominica had been at least 50 meters away from Captain Elang, and no matter how high their stats were, it would have taken several seconds to cover that distance.

And the orc’s axe would have fallen before then.

In fact, this was a very simple trick.

More precisely, it was thanks to Alice.

Just now, when Lily died in front of Captain Elang and the orc’s axe chose him as its next victim, Alice, who had been resting behind, realized that this was not the time to be resting.

And she immediately threw herself in front of Captain Elang and took the orc’s axe instead.

In this situation, Alice’s death seemed certain.

But Alice didn’t die.

You might remember, but Alice was being treated as equipment for Sir Dominic and Sir Dominica.

When Alice was attacked, the system concluded that this was damage judgment against Sir Dominic and Sir Dominica.

And since the attack method was a melee weapon, the system judged that Sir Dominic and Sir Dominica were attacked at Alice’s position, and moved them to where Alice was.

From Captain Elang’s perspective, who didn’t know these inner workings, Sir Dominic and Sir Dominica might have appeared to be masters of defense.

They actually were masters of defense, too.

“Pull yourself together. If the commander gives up, even a winnable battle will be lost.”

“Y-yes!”

Sir Dominic gave Captain Elang a piece of advice.

Captain Elang remained dazed at Sir Dominic’s words, then realizing he was being told to pull himself together, he immediately tensed his mind.

“Good. Much better to look at.”

Sir Dominic praised Captain Elang, who fortunately had regained his senses.

That’s when it happened.

“Well, well, look at these vermin gathered here…”

Suddenly, a chilling voice was heard from inside the gate.

A voice that seemed to crawl up from hell, from the barren demon realm.

Sir Dominic thought this voice was infinitely familiar.

And his thought was not wrong.

“Oh? Who do we have here. Isn’t it Sir Dominic?”

An arm appeared from the gate.

No, I’m not sure if it should be called an arm.

It was a mass of all sorts of flesh, with a very horrific appearance.

Fortunately, Sir Dominic still had the disgust filter turned on, so he wasn’t affected by the horrific appearance.

“They say enemies meet on a narrow bridge.”

Another arm shot out from the gate.

Again, it was an unspeakably horrific mass.

“Today I can finally avenge myself for last time.”

And finally, disgusting large mouths shot out from the gate.

Sir Dominic immediately recognized this horrific being.

“Slaton Vex…!”

It was the demon Slaton Vex, who had a bad history with Sir Dominic.