Endure, and It Will Charge In
If you endure, it will eventually charge in.
A quiet tension hung over the formation. The mercenaries and soldiers crouched low, bracing for the Sky Despair's intrusion, while Armida and Katrinah stood on either flank, scanning the surrounding energies.
I fine-tuned the firing angle of the magic cannons and gazed at the sky to the right. The bastard was probing for blind spots. Fine then—I'd turn those blind spots into deathtraps.
"It's reading our attack vectors. Cannon crews, randomly adjust your angles right after firing."
"Got it!"
Armida and Katrinah shouted in unison.
"Here it comes again! East side!"
The magic cannons roared in unison, spewing fire. As the barrage formed in a completely unexpected direction, the Sky Despair veered off in surprise, fleeing toward the northern sky.
I pursed my lips. If the curtain fire had formed just a bit later, we could've clipped it. What a shame.
Armida rushed over.
"How'd it go? Hit it?"
"Nah. Dodged before we could."
Armida furrowed her brow.
"Pretty cautious bastard, huh."
"Yeah. But back then, it wasn't like this."
The Sky Despair I'd seen in my previous life had been utterly merciless, charging without hesitation.
Back then, it had massacred us without mercy, showing no caution at all. Our disorganized unit must've looked like easy prey.
But now, it was showing a totally different attack pattern. We were moving in perfect sync, and I was countering with a whole new strategy.
"So?"
"It's smart. It adapts its attacks to the situation."
One silver lining: our current tactics were working, at least somewhat. Not enough to corner the Sky Despair, but enough to force it to change its behavior.
Katrinah yelled.
"Straight ahead!"
I whipped my head forward. With defenses concentrated on the flanks, the front was lightly guarded. But at that speed, a frontal assault would smash it into the cliff. No way the Sky Despair was that stupid.
Of course, it could slow down for a frontal hit. But then it'd eat a Sky Sword from Armida or Katrinah.
Suddenly, a massive rounded boulder bounced off the ground and slammed into the cliff above us. With a thunderous crash, rock fragments rained down. The Sky Despair had soared high from afar, now skimming just over the clifftop.
"Urgh... ugh."
Groans echoed from all around. One soldier lay crumpled on the ground, his helmet half-off from a direct hit to the head, while others clutched wounded limbs, crawling out from under the rubble.
The damage was heavy. At least a dozen seemed seriously hurt.
"Shura. Ignes Princess. Treat them."
"Yes. Got it."
I gritted my teeth, staring straight ahead.
I hadn't expected the Sky Despair to use tools. That boulder that hit the cliff? It had definitely dropped it mid-flight.
"Front again!"
Another massive boulder came skipping in low. At this rate, it'd sweep through soldiers and shield carts alike. I raised Yojyo and charged forward.
"You little shit, getting cocky now?"
I swung down at the oncoming boulder. A boom and explosion—the rock shattered, fragments whizzing past me.
As the dust cleared, my battered form emerged. I'd blocked the boulder toss, but it hadn't come cheap.
Tch.
The Sky Despair circled back, hovering overhead and glaring down like it owned the place. I wished it'd attack, but it just shot me arrogant looks without committing.
Soon it flew off into the distance. Clicking my tongue, I wiped blood from my forehead and returned to the formation.
"Master!"
Shura rushed over, unleashing healing magic on me. Wrapped in intense light, I felt my wounds knit rapidly.
Now that I thought about it, Shura's healing magic wasn't half bad.
A notch below Ignes Princess's Shaiya, sure, but way superior to standard spells.
Once healed, I repositioned two magic cannons and crossbowmen up front. It'd weaken flank firepower, but we couldn't leave the front exposed. Otherwise, the boulder attacks would keep coming.
After that, the Sky Despair hit us several more times. Frontal cannons cut down the boulder drops, but it exploited our thinned flanks, tearing nets and escaping—happening way too often.
Still, our defensive formation held firm. We'd prepped plenty of spare iron nets on poles as backups. Even without, we could reuse damaged ones by tying them tight with wire or rope.
And luckily, we had Katrinah, our fire magic expert. Cauterizing severed sections made them good as new.
Shrieeeek!
The Sky Despair whooshed past, shredding part of the net. But the mercenaries and soldiers, now accustomed to its patterns after repeated assaults, sprang up and swapped the damaged section, ready for the next dive.
Armida approached with an irritated scowl. Her recent Sky Sword had grazed perilously close—must've felt robbed.
"That thing. Way too nimble. No openings at all. Should I just nuke the area with Meteor Collision?"
Meteor Collision unleashes a massive blast and shrapnel over a wide radius. Effective, sure, but way too luck-dependent. You couldn't aim it precisely; you just hoped it'd fly into the zone when the spell popped.
"What if you miss?"
"Fire again."
"And if you miss again?"
"Fire some more."
"Till your mana runs dry?"
Meteor Collision was a top-tier 9-cycle spell—mana hog. Not something to spam on a prayer.
"Eh."
"Stay put. That's helping more."
The reason the Sky Despair was sticking to hit-and-run was largely Armida and Katrinah. Charge blindly, and they'd shred it.
Strip away its explosive speed, and it was just a high-magic-resistance Master swordsman. Up close, Valkyries dominated.
"Still, dragging this out for days sucks."
"Don't worry. It doesn't have that kind of patience."
Then Katrinah shouted our way.
"Front!"
Cannons fired as Armida reflexively charged. She knew the boulder follow-up well, swinging her beloved Talatas to pulverize it in one go.
I gawked at the exploding boulder. Where did that slender body hide such power? Even a small rock at that speed packs a punch, yet she brute-forced it.
Armida shook out her stinging wrist as she returned.
"Anyway, I hate that thing. Gonna catch it with my own hands."
"Knock yourself out."
I turned, staring where the Sky Despair had fled.
Its attack patterns had simplified. More accurately, we'd gotten used to them.
No matter how smart the Sky Despair was, against Valkyries and our arsenal, its options were limited. So we adapted.
Alright, what's next?
To beat us, it'd need to take out the Valkyries or dismantle our layered shield carts and iron nets. The former was tough, so it'd focus on the latter.
Boulder tosses were a prime example. Pointless now thanks to us three, but a success would've rocked our formation hard.
"West side again. Real high this time."
Moments later, countless pebbles rained down fast. Shotgun spread. Most whiffed overhead—thankfully a dud—but some pelted the eastern shield carts.
I glared. This was deadly. Not enough to wreck iron carts, but plenty to maim personnel.
"Everyone behind shieldbearers and carts!"
More pebbles flew. Too fast to track, denting shields and battering bodies. Casualties weren't huge yet, but accumulating—that was the killer.
Soon, blood-soaked soldiers and mercs groaned everywhere. Shura and Ignes Princess bustled, healing them.
"Tiss. Casualty report!"
"Two dead so far."
Tiss skipped the wounded—they'd be healed by our Great Saintesses.
I eyed the body pile on the rear cloth. Two dead wasn't devastating, but our inability to stop it? That worried me. Armida and Katrinah blocked some, but not most.
"What a pain in the ass."
"What now?"
"Just endure for the moment."
Unreasonable call, no real fix. But retreating? We'd get slaughtered en route.
Ignes Princess, healing a nearby merc, spoke up.
"Baekmyeon, let me raise a Radiant Barrier."
Radiant Barrier was Shaiya's wide light shield—solid defense, pebble-proof. But unsustainable.
Artifacts had mana limits, like us.
"Nah. Focus on healing."
Short deliberation, then solution.
I ordered soldiers and mercs to dig trenches and pile dirt. More cover to cut casualties.
Trenches dug across the formation. I concentrated shieldbearers on cannons and crossbows, regular troops hunkering in ditches against pebble barrages.
Night fell. My lantern lit the area bright as day, meal sounds drifting from trenches.
Pebbles lost punch, so Sky Despair attacks had slowed.
Injuries from sporadic hits, but no deaths. Trenches working. At this rate, it'd have to switch tactics. Injuries weren't losses with our healers.
"Not coming, huh."
Chewing bread, I replied to Armida.
"Taking a breather. Even it has stamina and mana limits."
"Think it'll bail?"
"No way. Ever see a monster abandon prey?"
"True. Never."
Armida nodded quick. Monsters never fled. Honestly, its hit-and-run with breaks was already weird for one.
"Anyway, two choices: it dies, or we all do."
Armida gripped Talatas confidently.
"Then it dies."
"Yeah. Humans have better endurance."
Our job: outlast. Sky Despair was still a monster. Realize its tricks fail, it'll default to monster mode—reckless infinite charges, life be damned.
Endure long enough, opportunity comes.
"Baekmyeon."
Ignes Princess hopped into our trench. I scolded first.
"Dangerous coming alone like that."
"Had a question."
"Shoot."
Ignes Princess stared straight.
"How'd you know so much about this monster?"
"Fought it before."
"But it's never appeared in this world before, right?"
"Who said?"
"Katrinah."
I met her curious gaze, sighing long. This girl was suspicious again.
"Even Valkyries don't know everything. Especially worldly stuff."
"But not a monster this strong. Humans couldn't beat it alone—must've wrecked humanity bad, forcing Valkyries out."
"How you so sure?"
"Katrinah couldn't catch it."
I stuffed the last bread in my mouth and stood.
"Not uncatchable."
"But too strong."
"Strong, yeah. Tricky as hell, but not hopeless. Real monsters are elsewhere."
I scowled, recalling one. True beasts existed. Especially Monster King Jord—with his horde, he'd despaired humanity like an unscalable cliff.
Jord wiped Katrinah's relic squad effortlessly. Shattered unbreakable Polkin Gate. Killed me and Fabius Duke in the final war.
If Jord hit Prosia Continent first, not the New Continent, humanity crumbles in half a year.
Then Armida shot up, yelling.
"It's coming!"
"Where?"
"West."
No sooner said, it shredded the net and bolted east. But different now—no pause, sharp U-turn, double-dipping our formation.
A soldier dove for trench—its Aura Claw shredded him mid-air, body bursting apart in chunks. Blood sprayed as it followed with Super Vibration Breath, exploding several mercs.
"Damn it!"
I leaped from the trench. Armida and Katrinah launched Sky Swords, following.
In the sudden carnage, I targeted its flight path.
Patience at its limit?
Spot on—it spiraled past the swords, beheaded a fleeing merc, then charged me.
Boom—colliding Aura Blades and Claw. Aura remnants scattered as telekinetically controlled Talatas and Idrone hounded its rear.
If you endure, it will eventually charge in.