"Before the real battle begins, first..."
I pulled out my wand [Maestro] and gave it a wave.
"Shall we go after getting buffed up?"
At that, all the main party members stood in front of me and extended their palms.
"...?"
The new recruits watched this bizarre scene, unable to comprehend, but keep watching. You might have to experience it yourself later.
Slap!
After lightly slapping each palm, random buffs were applied to each.
"Yes! I'm brimming with power!"
Evangeline, with shining eyes, shouted energetically.
"I'm ready! Hurry up! Launch me now! Quick!"
"Don't rush, I'm going to launch you. Go stand there."
What I pointed to was... a catapult.
Yes, a siege weapon for hurling stones. A catapult.
I was going to launch Evangeline from it, like a projectile.
'Normally, it's insane to launch people from here.'
But then, this frontline isn't something you can clear with a sane mind!
With Evangeline's current tanking ability, the impact from being launched by a catapult is trivial.
We tested several new equipment when stage 26 was confirmed to be aerial combat. This Evangeline catapult had already been verified.
"I love this!"
Evangeline climbed onto the catapult, excitedly chattering. I instructed the soldiers operating the catapult.
"Aim towards the Sky Knights. Launch her as close as possible."
"Yes!"
Creeeak-
The mechanism was pulled back tightly. Evangeline, thrilled, shouted.
"Evangeline Cross! Launching-!"
Whoosh!
With a heavy launching sound, the catapult was activated, and Evangeline was shot into the air like a cannonball.
"Kyaaaa~!"
She flew far away, screaming with joy as if riding a rollercoaster...
Watching her, Lucas slightly bowed his head to me.
"I shall return, my lord."
"Alright. Don't overdo it."
Saying this while commanding something extreme.
Without responding, Lucas smiled and stepped onto the wall's railing.
Thump!
He lightly kicked off and shot into the air.
The ground where Lucas stepped sunk in. It's his movement skill, [Step of Persistence].
Using this skill, which is almost like short-distance teleportation, Lucas jumped into the air and then-
Tap!
He stepped onto the back of a beetle monster close to the wall.
And continued.
Tap! Tap! Tap!
From one beetle's back to another, and then to the next.
He was leaping through the air as if crossing stepping stones.
A miraculous feat, almost divine.
The new recruits gaped, and even our heroes watched Lucas's receding figure, thinking, 'Is that even possible?'
Anyway, both Evangeline, launched by the catapult, and Lucas, running on the backs of flying monsters, quickly advanced towards the Sky Knights.
I turned to the remaining members of my party - Damien and Junior - and shrugged my shoulders.
"We can't let those two have all the cool scenes, can we?"
Click!
Instead of answering, the sniper and magician aimed their respective weapons forward.
***
Meanwhile, the Sky Knights were in a dire situation.
"Ugh?!"
"Prince! At this rate!"
They were completely surrounded by beetles, desperately trying to find an escape route.
The problem was a giant beetle that suddenly appeared.
This elite monster, with an extremely thick carapace, was easily withstanding the Sky Knights' attacks, blocking their way.
Eventually, Mikhail, who had been holding off other beetles at the rear, had to lead his griffin and forcefully push to the front.
"Make way-"
Mikhail mustered all his strength to perform magic. Dozens of magic spheres gathered around his rapier and shot forward powerfully.
Boom boom boom!
The giant beetle struck by the desperate blow finally fell. Mikhail watched the falling creature with a sweaty face and a wry smile.
"Good, it's down..."
But then, his smile vanished.
Buzzzz...!
Behind the slowly falling giant beetle, about ten new giant beetles appeared.
And from the opposite side, hundreds of regular beetles.
The monsters closed in from all sides in an instant.
"..."
"..."
The lances of the Sky Knights wavered and dropped.
They too were fighters, who had faced countless monsters. They knew.
They couldn't win.
They couldn't survive here.
"...Prince. We'll break through."
"No, the opposite."
Mikhail looked tiredly at the approaching giant beetles.
"It's my fault for bringing you to this dead end, so I must take responsibility for your survival. I'll break through."
"Don't be absurd!"
"Don't make me say it twice. They're coming!"
The young knight regretted deeply.
'It's my fault.'
He underestimated the monsters of this frontline, thinking only of those he'd faced back home.
'I was a frog in a well...!'
He didn't understand the enemy.
He charged in prematurely.
And even after realizing the enemy's strength, he overestimated himself and missed the chance to retreat.
Now, they all faced death here.
Just as Prince Ash had said. If only he had listened...
'Regret is useless now!'
Mikhail clenched his teeth.
The Sky Knights were just loyal subordinates following him. He couldn't let them die because of his immaturity.
Mikhail resolved to save his men, even at the cost of his own life.
Thud thud thud thud!
The lead giant beetle was now right in front of them.
The young knight gripped his rapier, pulled the griffin's reins, and charged forward.
Or at least, he tried to.
At that moment.
Swoosh-
A sound of cutting wind came from above.
Mikhail looked up in confusion, then widened his eyes.
"What...?!"
A girl was plummeting down like a shell, directly towards them.
"Found you~!"
Evangeline, her platinum hair disheveled by the rushing wind, descended like a cannonball, grinning mischievously.
The catapult-launched girl reached her peak in the air and began to fall gently.
Evangeline stretched out her limbs like a flying squirrel, deploying her armor [Snow White].
Shrrrr!
White armor generated from her bracelets and anklets fitted her body, and a fluttering white cape unfurled behind her.
Underneath, a halo of magic power gathered around her wing bones and shot out like a booster.
Whoosh!
Literally flying through the sky, Evangeline landed precisely on the head of a giant beetle, right above the Sky Knights.
Thump!
"Evangeline~!"
Both the Sky Knights and the beetles were startled by her arrival.
How did she get here?
"Here to rescue you!"
Burning with white magic power, Evangeline slammed her shield down.
Flash!
Her white magic spread out in a flash.
The white power dispersed among the Sky Knights and their griffins, forming a rectangular shield shape.
Evangeline's ultimate skill, [The Last Fortress].
A wide-area ally protection ability that grants [Damage Save] effect to all allies in the vicinity.
Beetles charged from all directions towards the Sky Knights, fiercely jabbing with their horns and snapping their pincers, but the Sky Knights took no damage.
Instead,
Roar-!
The damage absorbed by [Damage Save] was being accumulated in the cavalry spear held in Evangeline's right hand.
A giant vortex of light swirled from Evangeline's cavalry spear. Without hesitation, Evangeline thrust her spear downward, unleashing the fully accumulated [Damage Payback].
As the spear tip touched the giant beetle's carapace,
Boom!
In the next moment, the giant beetle exploded, scattering in all directions.
Everyone in the Sky Knights gaped at this spectacle. Using the recoil of the explosion to leap upwards, Evangeline had already landed on the next giant beetle.
Then, immediately after,
From behind.
Click! Slash! Skreee!
Wielding a sword made of light, Lucas, who had been slashing through the beetles while scattering sword light in all directions and stepping on the beetles to dash through the air, lightly landed on the head of one of the beetles.
"From now on, we'll take over this airspace."
Clang-!
A giant beetle flying towards them was split in two by Lucas' powerful slash.
Lucas flicked his sword and coldly commanded,
"Retreat to the walls."
Mikhail, who had been watching the prowess of these two knights in a daze, stuttered.
"B-but...!"
"I won't repeat myself."
Golden aura exploded behind Lucas.
Ultimate skill, [Divine Descent].
Wrapped in the golden aura like a cloak, Lucas lightly waved his sword,
Boom!
The [Strike of Will], now converted into a wide-area attack by the ultimate skill, tore apart all the beetles flying in from behind Lucas.
"Cherish your life."
Without blinking, Lucas swung his sword barrage and then fixed his gaze on Mikhail, saying emotionlessly,
"You too are among those my lord wishes to protect."
"..."
Mikhail bit his lip tightly and then nodded once towards Lucas and Evangeline.
"I'll properly thank you later."
Then, Mikhail shouted to his men,
"Retreat! Let's go!"
"Yes! Let's go-!"
"Retreat! Back to the fortress-!"
The Sky Knights withdrew.
Taking a deep breath, Lucas, standing on the beetle he had stepped on, quickly dispatched it with his sword as it twisted to attack him, and then immediately moved to the beetle next to it.
At the same time,
Rumble, rumble...
Flash-!
Lightning struck from the sky,
Bang! Bang! Bang-!
And magical bullets poured from the walls like rain.
The lightning indiscriminately fried the ordinary beetles, and the sniper shots precisely shattered the energy cores of the giant beetles. This was the long-range fire support from Junior and Damien.
Swish-!
Lucas, who had been madly cutting through the swarming beetles in the sky, slightly furrowed his brow.
There were no more beetles to climb onto. The next wave was a bit far off.
‘Is this as far as I go? Should I use the device given by my lord...’
As Lucas pondered,
"Hey, grumpy knight over there!"
Just then, Evangeline, who had kicked off from the back of a giant beetle and soared upwards, reached out her hand to Lucas.
"Shall we dance?"
"I can't even dance..."
Grumbling, Lucas still reached out his hand. Evangeline laughed heartily as she grabbed his hand.
Whooosh-!
A halo gathered near the wing bones of Evangeline's armor, and boosters shot out.
Using that propulsion to leap high into the sky in a short time, Evangeline swung her arm and flung Lucas upwards.
Lucas, who had soared into the sky, safely landed on the next wave's giant beetle. Next to him, Evangeline came crashing down with a loud "Woooah!"
"Catch me too! Throw me too!"
"...Come here."
This time, Lucas, standing firm on the giant beetle, grabbed Evangeline's hand as she was about to fall next to him - and with a spin, he threw her forward.
Lightning continued to strike and magical bullets kept pouring from the side.
The two continued to step on, kill, run, and throw each other forward, advancing through the onslaught.
Amidst the relentless rain of lightning and magical bullets, the sword dance of the two knights seemed endless.
--TL Notes--
Hope you enjoyed this chapter. If you want to support me or give me feedback, you can do it at patreon.com/MattReading