episode_0270

‘Kieeeek…!!’

‘Keureuk, kieeek…!!’

The members who were sleeping inside the tent all crawled out when a group of goblins appeared in the middle of the night.

I had roughly estimated the numbers and even considered not waking them up unless necessary, but it was clear that there were too many goblins gathered for Colt and I to handle alone.

“Ed, take the left, Colt will take the right! I’ll handle the troops coming through the middle, so don’t look back in case you miss any!”

“Got it!”

“Understood!”

As soon as the men opened the tent, Ed, who seemed to be ready, and Colt, who was already outside due to his night watch duty, rushed to take positions on the left and right respectively.

Although I could engage in close combat, my main role was to deal with the monsters. And to assist with auxiliary magic, just like Release did in the game.

I quickly gave orders as the monsters approached, and suddenly I felt like the leader of the battle, but Ed and Colt didn’t seem to pay much attention to it.

“And Agnes…”

“I’ll enlarge Infernosilia to destroy their formation and build a defense line with a flame fortress.”

“…You know what to do.”

Well, Agnes was a character who would act on her own judgment in the original game as well.

Massive fire magic was always effective in battles like this, so I just let her fight as she pleased.

“‘Let the burning flames awaken their souls, today the young spirits shall burn in a new form!’”

-Fwroooosh!

“Alright, I’ll be back, Agnes!”

“…Don’t go into the forest.”

With the joint spell of Agnes and Infernosilia, the enlarged flame spirit of Agnes leaped into the goblin horde. The monsters were startled by the giant mass of flames, causing chaos as they ran around.

Of course, the lower spirits only grew in size, so their actual attacks were limited to minor burns. But it was enough to disrupt the monsters’ formation and cause confusion.

“R-Rosewood Yeong-ae. W-What should I do?! I-I have some confidence in my swordsmanship, so like Ed and Colt, should I take the front line…?”

“That’s unnecessary… Ed and Colt are enough for the front line, Your Highness, please protect Agnes on the opposite side.”

“Oh, I see! Indeed, protecting Agnes is my most important duty!”

In reality, it was because Antonio’s abilities couldn’t be accurately assessed at the moment.

Since he wasn’t a character used as a main in the ‘Luminor Academy,’ there was a lack of information about his basic abilities and growth potential.

So I just left him in a safe place. Even if he was weak, he could handle one or two goblins coming out in front. If anything, I could just leave Antonio behind and protect both Agnes and the prince on my own.

“Lilith~! Do I have anything to do? Should I just sweep them all like that kid~?!”

“Seido, growing? Rapidly?”

Sally and Sei asked if they should play a similar role as the lower spirit excitedly ran towards the battle.

As they were high and intermediate spirits, their rampage would surely be of great help, but being smarter than the lower spirits, they had a separate mission to carry out.

“Both of you, fly to the back without attracting the monsters and search for the Named Monster.”

“Named Monster, what’s that.”

“Whether it’s a goblin holding a ridiculously large staff, or one playing an instrument, or simply a goblin much larger and more heavily equipped than the others, you just need to find that one.”

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

Of course, there were more than just these three types of Goblin Named, but these were the only ones capable of commanding such a large force.

“Oh~! So, we’re talking about those strange goblins we occasionally see?! We just need to search for them, right?”

“Yes. And once you find them, report directly to me. I will take care of the rest. You need to provide me with the exact location as well.”

“Got it. I’ll look for them.”

“I’ll go too~!”

With a nod to my request, two spirits flew beyond the monster horde. With two intermediate-level spirits searching, finding the Named goblins shouldn’t be too difficult. While there was a possibility that Sei, being an intermediate spirit, didn’t fully understand my words, Sally seemed to have grasped them perfectly.

There was no need to clear out every single goblin in the horde and engage in a final boss battle, as in the original event. Just capturing the Named goblins would scatter or disorient the rest of the goblins, making it easier to clean up the rest later.

Although it was a story unfolding now, this nighttime ambush was a recreation of the original event at the Luminor Academy.

When camping on the way to the Witch’s Forest, a monster attack was almost inevitable. The Witch’s Forest itself was a habitat for monsters due to the rich magical energy, with only the witch settlement being free of monsters.

Having experienced the Witch’s Forest event nearly fifteen times during the 25th playthrough, I was familiar with such nighttime ambush events. I had deliberately insisted on a second night watch because I suspected such an event would occur.

Statistically, the time between 1 a.m. and 2 a.m. was when monster attacks were most frequent. So, it was better to be prepared and handle it myself rather than rely on someone else for reporting.

“Still, I didn’t expect this many to appear…”

Typically, ‘Monster Night Attacks’ events like this would scale in difficulty according to the party’s combat power.

For a party of five to summon this many monsters, all five members would have to be elites. Looking at our party’s strength…

First, there was a sword expert wielding dual swords (with a win rate almost evenly split between hero and duelist).

Then, there was a 5-circle mage-to-be specializing in fire magic (with a contract with a fire elemental).

Next, an all-rounder who handled attack magic, support magic, and dagger skills (with the ultimate skill Mana Blast).

And of course, Natalie Unni (stronger than Natalie).

Excluding Antonio, whose true strength was unknown, each member was already elite in the hero party. How did such a party come together?

Well, even if the system of the Luminor Academy increased the number of monsters based on the party’s strength, each member was strong, so it wasn’t that bad.

In this formation, each member’s strength shone brighter in battle.

-Whoosh!

“Ke-e-e-ek!”

Taking down the goblin that broke through Ethan and Colt’s defense, we had already defeated seven.

While Ethan was cutting down six goblins with each swing at the front, and Colt was thrusting three times per second with his skilled royal knight swordsmanship, I was also gaining some experience points on my end.

Furthermore, the ‘Sharp Blade’ buff that was given to the two of them was also playing a significant assist role.

Probably by midnight tonight, they would definitely hit level 18, and if they were lucky, they could even aim for level 19.

Meanwhile, glancing over at Antonio, who had given him the mission to protect Agnes on the opposite side, the prince was drenched in sweat, having just cut down five goblins in a row.

– Chyaaak!

“Hoo, hoo…. Hoo….”

…He’s fighting better than I thought.

Of course, his swordsmanship was far inferior to the two who were swiftly cutting down goblins at the front lines, but it would be impolite to compare the prince, who was still a student at the academy and hadn’t even enrolled yet, to them.

One thing was certain, though. He was at a stronger level than the original story of the ‘Luminor Academy.’ It was probably the result of meeting Agnes during the palace attack two years ago.

“If I raise him well, I might be able to put him in the hero party….”

I should propose it to him when I get the chance. Being of royal blood, his potential for growth would be quite high, and somehow, I feel like Agnes being by his side would accelerate his growth rate.

“Rise! Wall of Flames!!”

“Keeeeek!!!”

In the meantime, Agnes’s flame fortress, which had been completed without them noticing, soared into the sky in front of Edan and Colt.

In terms of scale or height, it was more than twice the size of the flame fortress used in the previous evaluation match, and as soon as the flame fortress was activated, the sound of goblins nearby being swiftly slaughtered could be heard.

“With that, we can almost clean up the small fry, so now there’s only one boss left.”

Agnes would maintain the flame fortress, and the goblins remaining inside the wall of fire would be taken care of by Edan and Colt, and judging by Antonio’s skills just now, he felt like he could entrust defense to him for a while.

“Ed! Colt! From now on, you just need to deal with what’s inside the flame fortress!”

“Got it!”

“Understood!”

“Your Highness! Could you please protect me and Agnes for a moment?! Can you do that?!”

“Haah…. Y-yes…! You can leave it to me, Rosewood Yeongae…!”

…Honestly, he wasn’t as reliable as Edan, but this was the best way to finish things quickly.

Seeing Sally and Sey passing through the wall of fire, I started charging my Mana Blast so that I could fire it off at any moment. I could use my ultimate skill whenever Sally and Sey told me where to aim.

“Lilith~!! Over here! There! There’s a huge boss goblin~!!”

“It was about 300 meters away.”

I gathered all the Mana Blast I had prepared according to the briefing on the locations of the two spirits.

In fact, using Mana Blast against a Goblin Lord was a bit of an overkill, but when else would I use Mana Blast if not now.

Originally, among the magic I had, there was no magic that could kill in one shot, so it was an unavoidable choice.

“…Explode! Storm of Mana!!”

As my Mana Blast flew out, Agnes’s flame fortress was skillfully retracted.

In the gap of the flames, my ultimate skill flew in a straight trajectory towards the huge goblin that was faintly visible.

And then, right after that, a massive explosion rang out, echoing through the midnight camp.