Ch.396Fighting the Mountain NPC. (2)

Behemoth.

Level 950. An enormous raid boss with an estimated HP exceeding 20 million. Literally known as the strongest field boss raid, famous for having invisible HP and no elemental weaknesses. Moreover, even after completing the final raid content in ep.8, reaching level 1100 with full equipment, the minimum number of people needed to defeat this monster was 12 parties of 4 players each.

[Eight]’s trademark. The party NPC system that literally extended this game’s lifespan for years was practically useless against raid bosses with area attacks after the “Mountain Dragon,” which meant the required number of players increased tremendously. I’m speaking from hearsay because I was a casual player who reached level 1100 but never completed ep.8’s full equipment set.

In reality, entering as a filler party with just the minimum level requirement was pathetic in terms of damage output. During my first few attempts, I couldn’t even get basic drops after defeating the boss due to insufficient contribution. It was truly frustrating—if only Reina or Chikuyo could have stayed alive to deal damage, I wouldn’t have gotten the “insufficient contribution” notice, but the NPC AI simply couldn’t dodge the boss’s area attacks. Hell, even I died at least four times every attempt. And now, such a creature…

“…A report has come in from the guild. In terms of appearance, it has a dragon’s head and a turtle’s body. And it carries an enormous mountain on its back. It’s an absurdly massive body that seems to bear all the mountains surrounding Nati, heading in this direction. Currently, all land routes it has passed through…”

Annihilation. Trampling—no, completely sweeping away every village in its path as it slowly moves toward us. This report arrived two days after we gathered for our meeting. The reason being…

“They left only the message to flee before communication was cut off. They say it’s impossible to determine just how enormous it is. We were only able to get this information because a village along the way had a communication crystal in their guild, but…”

“So those became their last words? Ha! What are we going to do? Do you think the Spirit King’s barrier can stop that monster’s movement?”

“…I can’t reach the Headmaster. I’ve spoken with the King of Ponia, but apparently he hasn’t come out even once since that project began. Naturally, the Spirit King seems to be with him as well.”

“Shouldn’t we send scouts from here? If necessary, I could g—”

“Bill doesn’t need to go! We have Luxuria!! She can fly, so she won’t have to worry about dying. Send her!!”

“Are you crazy, bitch? What if the Pope is riding on that monster’s back? She could be spotted from the sky. You want me to send my woman to her death? Want me to hit you?”

“Eek?! B-Bill!! He’s threatening to hit me!!”

“Hahah!! Jack, don’t be so harsh. Artia is probably just worried about me.”

“I’m just worried about my woman too.”

In the first place, if he’s recovered, he should go himself instead of pushing Luxuria forward—it’s fucking annoying to watch. And you, aren’t you going to change your appearance? How long are you going to stay in Luxuria’s form?

“Hmph! That’s already been settled between Luxuria and me! Besides, she still has blue skin and inverted eyes! I’m properly human-shaped! Completely different!”

“Sigh. That’s not what’s important right now. Jack, is there no solution? With the knowledge you have…”

Only Ragni, who’s here, and Miho and Chikuyo, who are quietly listening, know about my past life. Honestly, there’s no reason discussing it further would yield any solutions. HP of 20 million. Moreover, if the Pope can heal it, I’m not sure if even all the forces this world could muster would be enough to defeat it. At best, if the level 3,300 Spirit King came here, things might be different. But it seems that important figures not moving when they’re most needed is the same here as it was in the game.

And so, tonight again, we couldn’t decide on anything. The guild masters and Avalitia left, and Ragni began agonizing over where and how to evacuate the students. Wouldn’t it be better to quickly evacuate them to the Empire or somewhere else?

“…Where to? Nati at least has the Spirit King’s barrier, so there’s a ‘possibility’ of protection. But Aiti isn’t moving in the current situation, and the Empire has collapsed with terrible public security. Plus, they have no forces to counter it. What if the Behemoth starts tracking us after we move first? No matter where we go, we’d only last a few days given the monster’s estimated size. After that, it’s certain annihilation.”

*Click*

As soon as Ragni finished her desperate words, looking at me with dark circles under her eyes, Chikuyo, who had been waiting to serve tea, spoke up.

“But we can’t just stay like this, can we? Wouldn’t it be better to split them in half, sending one group to the Empire and the other to Aiti?”

“…You’re saying to sacrifice half?”

“I’m saying to save half.”

“Anyway, shouldn’t we decide soon whether to flee or not? By the way, Jack, what about Miss Ira? I haven’t seen her for days.”

“She’s with Gore, and we’ve been in contact. I told her to come back, but she said she’s close by so there’s no problem. Apparently Ira still wants to stay there, so I’m leaving her be for now.”

To be honest, we could definitely escape if we started running when the Behemoth appeared on the horizon. With Ira’s teleportation and our raw power, we could outrun the monster’s movements even on foot. The real problem is…

“…Damn that Headmaster. He left me in charge at the worst possible time. I never imagined something like this would appear. Jack, perhaps…”

“About 2,000 shots of your full power. If you feed it that much, the rest of us might be able to take it down somehow. Assuming the Pope doesn’t heal it.”

“……”

This isn’t even certain. The monster’s defense is truly high, and Ragni’s level is only 450. Since she hasn’t physically trained her body or her magic, she might not even deal 10,000 damage per shot. In other words, one shot of Ragni’s current power might be equivalent to my damage output during the time I couldn’t even get basic drops due to insufficient contribution. Simply put, it’s meaningless.

“Tch. I’m sorry. I should have fought the Pope that day…”

“I don’t think that’s right.”

“That’s not it.”

“No, it’s not.”

I blurted out something I’d been thinking about for days, but all three immediately rejected it with expressions that couldn’t possibly agree. H-huh? But if I had captured the Pope then…

“Actually, Jack’s decision to retreat that day was absolutely correct, even in hindsight. You heard it too—they found that old man not far from Aigram. Imagine if you had been fighting him there when the Behemoth suddenly appeared. Forget about rescuing the injured; your entire party would have been annihilated.”

“…Haha, I’d really rather not die without having sex.”

“Yes! I can’t die before carrying Jack’s child!”

“…I-I see?”

I had been secretly thinking that all this happened because I let him go, but it seems Ragni and the sisters had already finished processing the situation. Haha. I’m the only one being foolish? Well, I am a fool.

“Anyway. I’ll make a decision by noon tomorrow. Whether to intercept it here, or…”

“Split them in half after all?”

“…No, I’ll tell the King of Ponia to prepare for refugees and send them to the Empire. If we split them, it should be after entering the Empire. With Aiti being so uncooperative, honestly, we should consider the possibility that they’re in cahoots with—”

*Buzzing sound!!*

Just as Ragni finished making her difficult decision and was about to prepare other documents, a loud noise erupted from her drawer. She immediately pulled out a communication crystal. By the way, aren’t we using communication crystals too much lately? We’re going to blow all our savings on call charges at this rate.

“This is Ragni Blum, Acting Headmaster of Nati…”

[Ah, can you hear me? This is Elder Green Stone of Siltra. Am I speaking with the head of Nati?]

“Gambling elf…?”

[Hmm? That voice. Could you be the blue-haired woman, Jack’s lady?]

Wait, gambling elf? Ragni’s true thoughts slipped out, but is this person now the only elder of Siltra? And Green Stone used a communication crystal to contact Ragni? Wasn’t this line only connected to the King of Ponia and the Headmaster?

“Yes. Blue-haired woman, Jack’s lady, Ragni Blumoon. I’m currently serving as Acting Headmaster.”

[Hahah! Well, this is convenient! I was wondering how to speak with the so-called Headmaster of Nati, but my worries were foolish! It’s been a long time.]

Green Stone, seemingly pleased that Ragni answered the call, immediately continued.

[As Acting Headmaster, you must be aware of the current situation?]

“By current situation, do you mean regarding the Behemoth?”

[Indeed. You already knew.]

“Your information is quite late.”

[Don’t be too harsh. We have our own circumstances here.]

Green Stone brushed off Ragni’s incredulous remark and continued.

[Do you intend to intercept it there?]

“Impossible. Our forces are too inadequate. Fighting while relying on the city’s barrier…”

[The King of Ponia has dispatched 500 knights who will reach you in three days.]

“I’ve already heard about that. I plan to have them join the refugee procession as escorts as soon as they arrive…”

[And in two days, about 3,000 from Siltra—elves, beastkin, and magical races—will join the battle. Even with that?]

“…What?”

Siltra joining the battle? Even Ragni seemed unable to comprehend the unexpected news coming through the crystal.

[KWAKWAKWAKWAKWAKWAKWAKWANG—!!!]

“Green Stone!!”

“E-Elder Green Stone?!!”

“Elder!!”

Suddenly, a sound like an explosion came through the crystal, startling not only me but also Chikuyo and Miho who had been just listening. What on earth was that?!

[Ah, sorry for startling you. So about our current position…]

.

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*Beep beep beep!!*

[GOUUU—!!!]

*KWAKWAKWAKWAKWAKWAKWAKWANG!!!*

“We’re currently running alongside the Behemoth. We’ve been delayed in contacting you because we’ve been trying to impede this creature’s movement while rescuing people being swept away. Well, it seems there are fewer and fewer people to rescue in each village we reach, so we plan to head toward you at full speed starting tonight. We’d like you to intercept it there if possible. Can you manage it?”

In the mountain depths at night, Green Stone—leading golden-glowing elves and beastkin racing across the ground at tremendous speed while hidden in darkness—has requested preparations to intercept the monster.