21. City (2)
21. City (2)
The Padix Kingdom, which unified the Ardenia continent.
Having unified such a vast continent, it possesses a massive and powerful military force.
The strength of the Padix Kingdom's knights is famous even among neighboring countries.
Every single member of the Kingdom Knights possesses mana and uses superior swordsmanship and magic to achieve consecutive victories.
Yet, the annihilation of such a Padix Kingdom knight order was instantaneous.
500 knights were wiped out in just one hour.
Medherun City is already in the palm of Lea's hand.
Creatures capable of flight are watching over Medherun City and its surroundings, and creatures the size of a palm or a fingernail are spread out everywhere.
Naturally, she also noticed the Kingdom Knights coming to Medherun City from the Padix Kingdom.
Having awakened to mana, Lea knew just how strong the Padix Kingdom knights were.
Lea thought that while she would definitely win if they fought, the damage would be considerable, so she changed her mind.
Lea deployed small-sized Ners along the path the Padix Kingdom knights were taking.
And she didn't just place them there; she ordered them to dig into the ground and lie in ambush. Then, she waited for the knights to arrive while taking magic lessons.
It was too easy to predict the path the Padix Kingdom knights would take. Because for such a large number of people to move, they naturally had no choice but to use the standard route.
In the first place, that path is also the fastest way to Medherun City that Amber told her about.
Since damage to the villages continued to occur, the Padix Kingdom knights were also in a hurry.
However, they lacked information.
The fact that those Spider Monsters could burrow into the ground was a fact no one knew.
And so, as the Padix Kingdom knights were passing by while maintaining security...
Kwaaaaaaaaang!!!
"Gyaaaaaaaah!"
"Uaaaaaack!"
"Cough! Keugh!"
"Save me!!!!!!"
"Uaaaaaah, it hurts, it hurts, it hurts, it hurts!!!"
In an instant, the feet of over 80% of the 500 Padix Kingdom knights were melted away.
Although they are knights who can create mana shields like Gwen, that is only possible if they use them consciously.
If they were to move while constantly using mana shields, it was clear that their mana would be completely depleted by the time they reached Medherun City.
In the end, they needed to recognize they were being attacked to use their mana shields, but the Ners suddenly self-destructed from the ground, and the acidic blood surged up from the earth, so they couldn't cope with it.
The remaining 20% were highly skilled knights who reacted to the Ners' suicide attacks.
"Damn it!"
"This is absurd! This color is exactly the same as the blood color mentioned in the information about those Spider Monsters!"
"They were hiding in the ground...!?"
In a situation that had turned into a battlefield filled with screams in an instant, the knights who hadn't been harmed tried to resolve the situation quickly, but.
"This... is impossible to heal...!"
The divine healing magic, Heal, is not omnipotent.
To heal a severed arm with Heal, the severed part must be present.
It does not recreate entirely missing body parts.
There is a healing magic that can do that, but it would require pouring all the divine power a healer can use in a day into it.
However, there are only 5 healers in the knight order right now. In contrast, the number of knights who lost their feet was overwhelmingly high.
It is not damage to the point of death. But they are clearly in a state of combat incapacity where they cannot fight.
They need to receive treatment as quickly as possible. There is no immediate threat to their lives right now.
Their feet were completely melted by the acidic blood. I don't know if I should call this fortunate, but as they melted, the areas that would have caused bleeding also melted stickily, stopping the bleeding.
However, if they do not receive treatment, the area near the missing feet will become completely deformed, and then it will become difficult to even receive Heal.
"Damn it...! I knew they possessed intelligence, but to this extent!?"
A unit consisting of 500 Padix Kingdom knights, capable of occupying a decent-sized city, fell into a state of combat incapacity in an instant.
The problem was that this wasn't the end.
"K-Knight Commander-nim! S-Spider Monsters appearing to the front!"
As the unit wavered with most of the knights incapacitated, the [Dagos] Ners swarm, which had been waiting for that moment, began to charge at the Padix Kingdom knights.
"All remaining knights, gather around me!"
"What about the people who have fallen!?"
"Abandon them!"
One of the things the knight order values is to trust their comrades, to help their comrades, and to overcome with their comrades.
But the Knight Commander shouted to abandon the fallen comrades and group up, as if ignoring all of that.
However, no one could refute that.
About 400 people had become incapacitated, and the remaining number was roughly 100.
If this were a situation where the battle had ended, they would have moved to save everyone, but the battle was just beginning.
And it was a battle where they had to fight thousands of Spider Monsters.
It was doubtful whether they would have a chance of winning even if they fought right now, but to fight while protecting their comrades?
It was close to impossible.
"I don't care who it is, let the Kingdom know about this fact!!!"
"W-what on earth is that...?"
"Don't just stand there blankly! Knights who can move, pull yourselves together and reorganize into a combat posture!"
'Strange. Something is strange.'
The Padix Kingdom Knight Commander looked around and realized something was off.
It is clearly strange that not a single knight has died even though a fight of this magnitude is taking place.
'Are they deliberately not killing them? Could it be that they are trying to kidnap us just like they kidnapped the citizens? What on earth are they trying to do?'
The thought didn't last long.
"Everyone scatter and run! Let at least one person survive!"
The Knight Commander took out a precious scroll from inside his chest and handed it to the trembling healer girl behind him.
"Eh...? C-Commander-nim?"
"Go back right now. I will save at least one of the knights."
To save even one of his knights who were running away, the Knight Commander rushed toward Gluttony, who was clearly mocking him right in front of him.
==
Is it wrong to think, 'This is fun'?
While learning magic, I kept waiting, wondering when they would come.
When I confirmed that the knights were diligently coming after waiting like that, my heart went pit-a-pat.
The moment they slowly and quickly climbed over the ones I had deployed.
The moment I ordered all the Ners I had lying in ambush to explode via the Hive Mind.
Kwaaaaaaaaang!
Through the eyes of the flying creatures, I vividly saw the moment the kids self-destructed.
The ground burst with a pababak, and the Ners' green acidic blood splattered, causing the knights to scream and collapse.
The thrill and dopamine I felt when my strategy worked were the best, to the point where words couldn't describe it.
On top of that, it's not like in a game where they just go "Ugh!" and die or just lose HP without any reaction.
Like a Hollywood action movie, they scream and suffer, and it's reflected immediately when they take damage.
With hundreds of humans enjoying themselves like that because of my strategy, there's no way I wouldn't have dopamine.
I just feel the best.
I thought about 50% would become incapacitated. However, far more knights became incapacitated than I expected. That must mean my strategy is excellent, right?
Ah, my strategy was great, but the sacrifice of the Ners is the biggest contributor.
Even though they are creatures that don't have intelligence and just move according to orders unless they are [Overlord] or [General] class, those creatures are still my children.
I told the children in my heart that they worked hard.
Thanks to those children, 80% of the knight order's combat power was incapacitated in an instant.
The knights didn't die but were left alive, and screams of pain and cries for help spread everywhere.
Those knights must surely be the comrades and friends of the other knights.
Such comrades and friends have had their feet melted in an instant and are crying out for help. There's no way there wouldn't be a mental blow.
Even looking at them, the remaining knights were trembling, and their will to fight was greatly diminished.
Even if their condition or mental state were perfect, in a fight where they might not win, it was visible that their minds had collapsed before the fight had even begun.
One of the important things in a war where lives are at stake is the mind. If the mind collapses, they cannot attack, defend, or judge well.
The remaining knights began to be swept away by the Ners without being able to use much of their strength.
However, there were knights who clearly possessed different skills from the other knights. Those knights calmly led the other knights and dealt with the Ners.
They were probably elite knights with good skills even among the knights.
But I also have a creature prepared to deal with such knights.
Gluttony, who devours everything.
Since there is an overflow of delicious food containing mana scattered on the ground, it looked very difficult to stop Gluttony, who keeps getting stronger by chewing on humans while fighting.
I hope this fight ends quickly.
Seeing those knights full of mana flopping around on the ground, I want to absorb the mana from that delicious-looking meat quickly.
On top of that, apart from the Breeding Farm, I need the power of mana even more to make our legion even stronger now.
No matter how strong our legion is, in the end, they are life forms without mana.
The more I learn magic from Yui and Erina, the more I realize anew what an infinite power mana possesses.
For now, because there is no information about us, a good situation continues to be created, but I don't know how long this will last.
I must make the legion even stronger before the humans find out a lot of information about us.
The fight is almost coming to an end.
I bound the meat scattered on the ground with thread, including the knights who had held out until the very end.
'Come quickly. Come quickly.'
I urged Dagos to bring the meat back quickly.
==
