The Deathloop Killzone had a grandiose name, but when dissected, it wasn’t that impressive.
Using the trait of monsters that sought to kill the nearest human, they lured the monsters to a point close to the fortress that was directly in their line of sight.
From that point to the fortress, they placed wooden fences in a zigzag pattern, making the monsters waste their movement and take a longer path.
Then, they would clear out the monsters, either with firepower or traps, as they wasted time moving in circles.
’However, creating this maze is the very charm of defense games,’ I thought.
I preferred simple zigzag mazes. But some users enjoyed creating spiral mazes that forced monsters to move in circles, and others built genuinely intricate labyrinths.
Wasn’t one of the real joys of defense games watching those dumb monsters wander around, lost inside these mazes, only to get picked off one by one by our artillery?
Clomp! Clomp!
The narrow path between the wooden fences was a sticky mud terrain.
I wasn’t sure how the skeletons, made of bones, balanced and moved, but one thing was clear: their leg strength wasn’t that formidable.
Already forced to navigate the winding path, they could only move slowly. Naturally, they became easy prey for our archers.
The skeleton fools were hit by arrows, fell, tangled together, and were swept away en masse by our magic and artifact barrage.
While they managed to breach by forming piles of bones,
Whoooosh!
Sorry, that’s a trap.
Deeply dug pit traps sent the skeleton warriors tumbling down.
Cannons, already aligned for firing angles, poured their shots into the pits.
Boom! Blam!
The skeleton warriors inside the pit literally burned to ashes. Quite a sight to behold.
Realizing they couldn’t advance toward the pit trap, the skeletons took a detour.
Thunk! Clank! Whirr!
Oh, regrettable. That’s another trap.
Rotating iron clubs sprung from between the wooden fences, smashing the skeletons’ shin bones.
With the sound of breaking bones, the skeletons fell all at once.
It was an unbelievably crude device, but it was still an artifact.
It was of N-grade, with low durability, and its force waned after breaking a few skeletons.
Yet, the halted iron club artifact, intertwined with the shattered skeleton bones, itself became a barricade.
That’s the advantage of low-grade artifacts. Use it once and dispose of it.
Boom! Crunch! Creak!
Other welcoming devices like acid-filled pots, metal ball artifacts, and direct line ballistas greeted the skeleton army.
The skeleton horde was smashed here and broken there, struggling to pass through the Deathloop Killzone.
By the time they managed to breach this delightful theme park of traps, arrows, and cannons to finally reach the fortress, their numbers had dwindled to about fifty.
Drenched and shattered, the leading Skeleton Marshal, who had spearheaded their passage through the Killzone, flashed a menacing gleam in his eyes.
The remaining skeletons also radiated a terrifying aura as they gripped their weapons tightly.
The forward base here hadn’t been fully fortified. There were significant gaps, plenty for them to exploit.
"You’ve come a long way, and I’m sure you’re eager to scale these empty walls and slice up some humans, you monstrous bastards."
I smirked.
"While we may not have walls here, we have something just as good."
No sooner had I finished speaking,
Shiiing...
Lucas drew his longsword from its scabbard,
Clank, rattle!
And Evangeline stepped forward, equipping her bone lance and bone shield on her arms.
My two most formidable vanguards, volunteering to act as our frontline, took their positions. Behind them, Damien and Junior prepared their long-range attacks.
I too, held my Maestro Staff in one hand and the Agate Pistol in the other.
Behind our main party, the Penal Squad and the Shadow Squad were lined up in that order.
Should any skeleton manage to get past us, the Penal Squad would block them, and the Shadow Squad would take them down with firepower.
Further back, the reserve parties and soldiers were waiting, but I believed none would get that far.
"...!"
The Skeleton Marshal’s jaw dropped, and he let out a silent scream.
Thududududu-!
Although inaudible, some command must’ve been relayed among the skeletal fiends.
About fifty skeletons charged at us in unison.
"Don’t let a single one of them inside our fortified base! Take them down!"
As I yelled, Lucas and Evangeline charged forward, and the monsters were met with a hail of arrows from Damien and magic spells from Junior.
***
The battle was over quickly.
The fragmented and divided skeletons had diminished significantly in strength, while on the other hand, our champions were in peak condition.
In front of Damien’s sniping, Junior’s magic, and the firepower of the Shadow Squad, the skeletons were decimated.
And with Lucas and Evangeline, along with the Penal Squad charging at them, they were finished off.
"Heh heh... heh heh heh..."
...Evangeline’s performance was particularly noteworthy.
For some reason, she was furiously enraged and displayed terrifying combat prowess.
Usually, among the vanguards Lucas and Evangeline, Lucas would lead the offensive while Evangeline defended. But today, the roles were reversed.
Lucas protected our ranks, and Evangeline plunged into the enemy lines like a bomb.
Evangeline pierced skeletons with her bone lance, crushed them with her bone shield, headbutted with her bone helmet, and even engaged in close combat with her bone armor’s gauntlet and greaves.
Lastly, holding the Skeleton Marshal by the scruff of his neck, she smashed his lower jaw with a punch and growled menacingly.
"I... hate bones..."
"..."
"I said... I hate bones!"
It seemed she still wasn’t fond of the bone equipment set I’d forced her into. Ahem.
Evangeline’s emerald eyes darted towards me.
I quickly turned my head away. Well, the bone equipment set does perform well, doesn’t it? You look really powerful in it!
Creak, groan...
The Skeleton Marshal, making one last effort to twist and attack, was met with,
"Quiet down!"
Whack!
Evangeline struck the skull with her bone shield, causing it to crumple silently to the ground.
"Whew..."
Evangeline, carelessly tossing the now-silent Skeleton Marshal to the side, chuckled bitterly.
"Yeah. Now, I’m the one who despises bones... Bone Hater."
"...What did you say?"
"Hmm? Now that I think about it, isn’t your middle name also ’Bone Hater’? Do you hate bones too?"
"What... What are you talking about?!"
For the record, my middle name is ’Born Hater,’ not ’Bone Hater.’
It means something along the lines of ’born to hate’ or ’naturally detesting.’ One might wonder what parents would name their child something like that, but anyway! My middle name has nothing to do with bones!
"Hehe. Senior."
Evangeline, with dangerous glint in her eyes visible through her bone helmet, approached me.
"From now on, would you call me Evangeline ’Bone Hater’ Cross...?"
"Okay, enough with the jokes! You’re scaring me!"
"Hehe. Jokes? Does this seem like a joke to you...?"
Yikes! Forcing her into a bone armor, equipping her with bone weapons, and even making her fight bone monsters might’ve twisted her a bit!
Fortunately, Lucas stepped in, sighing, "In the Everblack Empire, only the royal family has the privilege of a middle name, Evangeline. Stop with the jokes."
"Tch. I just wanted to share a title with Senior."
The disgruntled Evangeline, humming a strange tune that went ’Bone Hater, Bone Hater~ I am the Bone Hater~,’ went off to finish off the remaining skeletons.
Watching her receding figure, Lucas cleared his throat, "Given the circumstances, it seems she’s uncomfortable wearing bone armor, probably fearing she might look like those skeletal monsters."
"Ah, that makes sense..."
Considering she’s draped in bone armor, bone helmet, wielding bone weapons, and a bone shield, and the enemies are skeleton hordes. It could evoke some eerie feelings.
"... It might have been better to exchange our armors."
"Uh, umm."
I had given Lucas, a damage tank, and Evangeline, a pure tanker, armor that best suited their roles. But I didn’t anticipate Evangeline despising the bone set so much.
Maybe I should’ve given her Lucas’s cooler armor.
"Do you want to swap now? We can adjust the size at the blacksmith’s."
"No? I don’t want to. This one’s mine."
Lucas immediately declined and hugged his armor tightly.
Why did you even bring it up? You act so generous and then shoot me down!
"It’s equipment bestowed by our lord. I won’t give it to anyone. Besides..."
Lucas narrowed his eyes, muttering,
"It’s kind of entertaining watching Evangeline struggle."
"...You two are starting to act more and more like siblings."
Anyway, setting aside the armor issue,
We were able to eliminate all the skeletons that had approached the forward base.
"I never realized that the kill zone strategy would be this effective," Lucas remarked.
Lucas muttered as he examined the monsters that had been felled within the Deathloop. I shrugged.
"It worked because there weren’t that many of the damned creatures."
This time, all the right conditions had conveniently fallen into place.
"Besides, setting up such traps in front of Crossroad would be challenging."
The southern wall in front of Crossroad is vast and expansive.
The area in front of this forward base had a narrow and confined terrain, allowing for a dense deployment of the kill zone. Such an arrangement wouldn’t be feasible at Crossroad. That’s why we hadn’t done it there before.
"Indeed, there are strategies and tactics that can only be utilized here at the forward base."
"Exactly. If we can operate this place correctly, our future defense will be much easier."
When I’m away, Lucas would have to act as the deputy commander. I hoped he’d use the kill zone strategy effectively.
Lost in thought, Lucas stared at the kill zone, then turned to me with a sudden realization, "Ah!"
"Do you remember where I placed those two additional teleport gates?"
"Of course. You installed them on the path heading north from here to Crossroad."
I had set up gates at the one-third and two-thirds markers along the route from the Black Lake to Crossroad. They were discreetly hidden within the mountains off the path.
As the creatures would take about three days to arrive using this route, the gates had been strategically placed to anticipate their journey of one or two days.
"Ah! You’re not suggesting...!"
I nodded, "While they make their way north, we’ll use the teleport gates to carry out guerrilla warfare."
We would teleport ahead of them, lying in ambush. Once they approached, we’d launch our attack, then escape via the teleport gates.
"We don’t need to annihilate them during this process. Just inflict damage and pull out."
"Such a tactic..."
"Currently, the teleport gates are temporarily installed. Later, I plan to set up dozens of them, at every key point."
Using the teleport gates, we’ll ruthlessly and persistently harass the monster hordes making their three-day journey from the Black Lake.
By the time they reach Crossroad, they won’t have the strength to pose a significant threat. This tactic will ensure the city’s safety.
’I’ll use any trick in the book.’
Slyly. Dishonorably. By any means necessary.
Using tactics unavailable in the game,
I will kill the monsters.
And protect the people.
"Of course, some monster hordes might resist this strategy. During our guerrilla attacks, some of our allies might also face danger."
I nodded in agreement, "But we’ll optimize our approach. If a strategy doesn’t work against a certain enemy, we’ll find another way around."
"..."
"From now on, that’s how we’ll combat the monsters. If you have any good ideas, don’t hesitate to share them, Lucas. Understand?"
As I spoke with a smile, Lucas looked at me with a complex expression.
It was a mix of admiration and...
A hint of concern.
--TL Notes--
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