Boom! Bam bam bam!
Our artillery fired a salvo at the King of Flies first.
By then, we had completed encircling the King of Flies and finished preparing for the attack. The fired shells formed an orderly formation and fell one after another towards the enemy monster.
Then,
Swoosh!
The King of Flies lightly soared into the air, effortlessly dodging all the gunfire.
'What kind of agility is this...!'
I gritted my teeth.
This was a different level of mobility from the original King of Flies.
The previous one had an unprecedentedly huge size but virtually no immediate mobility. Once it fell, it needed time to move again.
However, the current King of Flies was in a transformed state.
It had significantly reduced its own size and lost a massive amount of durability, but in exchange, its mobility had skyrocketed.
With its two wings spread to the sides, the King of Flies gracefully soared into the sky and said,
"I'll let you know in advance."
It was still staring at me intensely.
"In 15 minutes, I will self-destruct."
"What?"
"The technique your subordinate used to self-destruct inside me... I've attempted to mimic it."
I couldn't help but shout out in anger.
"You bastard, how dare you steal my subordinate's technique?!"
"It is only natural to take what can be taken, since the sacrificial offering sacrificed its life on the altar."
It continued to speak calmly.
"The condensed souls and magic power of 'us' are immense. Once I complete the self-destruction, not only this city but the entire area will be annihilated. This is the winning strategy I've found against you."
"Winning strategy...?"
"By killing you and the army here with an unavoidable self-destruction attack, the monsters that appear after me will also not be stopped, and humanity will be doomed."
The King of Flies let out a mocking laugh.
"From the beginning, I had no intention of living to defeat you. I just want to defeat you by any means necessary, no matter what."
"..."
"I just want to end this world."
Facing its gaze as deep as an abyss, I felt a chill down my spine.
This bastard... was planning a surefire 'victory' by sacrificing its own life from the start?
Sizzling- sounds started as the tips of the King of Flies's hands and feet began to burn away. It was exactly like the self-destruct technique used by Burnout before death.
I shivered and asked,
"Why are you telling me this?"
"Because I want to 'compete' with you."
Its gaze upon me was unwavering.
"I want to fight fiercely with you and win in the end."
"..."
"It's a simple game. If you defeat me within 15 minutes, you win; if not, it's my victory... and the monsters' victory."
While floating in the air, the monster stretched its arms out to the sides.
"Can you 'conquer' me within 15 minutes, guardian of humanity?"
"Damn...!"
"Of course, it won't be easy."
Swish swish swish-
Around the scepter held by the King of Flies, countless flies converged.
The swarm of flies swirling around created... a giant greatsword.
Holding the fly-infested greatsword, the King of Flies plummeted towards me rapidly.
"The self-destruction is merely insurance, for the power of the King of Flies alone is enough to kill you-!"
Crash-!
In the blink of an eye, the monster's sword strike descended towards me.
And,
"Ugh!"
Torkel jumped in front of me, raising his shield in a guard stance.
Boom-!
The size of the greatsword swung by the King of Flies was, to put it mildly, as big as a building.
Normally, it would be impossible to block such an attack with a human body. However, Torkel activated his ultimate skill [Man is not Made for Defeat] and withstood it.
"Argh-!"
Crack crack crack!
His feet planted in the ground slid back, breaking all the tiles of the city.
"Aaaaah!"
Even in such a situation, Torkel managed to lift his shield upwards, deflecting the King of Flies's sword strike upwards.
Clang-! Crash crash...!
The greatsword was flung into the sky, and at the same time, Torkel was thrown far away like a ball hit by a baseball bat, rolling on the ground.
"Are you okay?!"
"I'm fine! Totally fine!"
Immediately after, Torkel got up and returned to my side with heavy steps. Really reliable, invincible for 10 minutes!
Screech!
Meanwhile, the King of Flies had returned to the sky.
"Tch...!"
I clicked my tongue.
With the overwhelming ability to fly, it seemed to plan on repeating the hit-and-run tactic after a strong assault.
Truly annoying - no, now it was finally adopting tactics befitting a fly.
'Fast like a fly, irritating, and yet each strike is powerful...!'
Screech!
It descended again.
This time, the greatsword in its hand was even larger, and it was wrapped in an ominous and evil magic power.
"Torkel, it's too much for you alone!"
Evangeline jumped to Torkel's side, and numerous shield knights from around the world who had gathered to form a party also lined up in a defense formation.
"Let's block it together-!"
As if they had been training together for decades, the shield knights simultaneously raised their shields, and I, standing behind them, planted a flag on the ground and formed a wall of magic power in front of the shield knights.
The King of Flies's greatsword fell upon it.
Crack crack crack!
My wall of magic power evaporated instantly before the swirling dark magic, and the greatsword struck directly upon our heroes' shields.
Flash-!
But together, they withstood it.
The skilled defensive stance of the elite tank heroes, their overwhelming defensive capabilities, and...
"Eeeek...!"
Evangeline, bleeding from the nose and emitting a strange scream from the center of the formation - thanks to her ultimate skill [The Final Fortress] she had activated.
Evangeline applied her ultimate skill [The Final Fortress] to all the shield knights, storing all the damage received within herself. Then,
"Take this, you fly bastard!"
She launched it back...!
Boom!
An epic [Damage Payback] occurred.
Evangeline's lance, wrapped in a blinding burst of light, thrust towards the King of Flies. The most powerful counterattack hit the enemy commander directly.
However,
Whirr-
With an unbelievable trajectory of reverse flight, the King of Flies escaped the range of the counterattack.
With that massive body, as nimble as a fly - it twisted mysteriously and formed impossible whirlpools in the air with its two wings, easily evading the combined counterattack of the shield knights by propelling itself backward.
"Ah, what the... Just like a real fly..."
Evangeline, wiping away the blood from her nose, clicked her tongue in disbelief.
The monster, having soared into the sky again, prepared for its next greatsword bombardment. I looked around and said,
"To execute the Winter Calling operation, we need to pin it down in one place."
Originally, it would have been an operation easily fed to the creature if it had stayed put.
But now, with its mobility drastically increased and it rampaging around, we need to find a way to fix it in one place.
"We'll capture it."
I instructed all the heroes and soldiers around me.
"You should be familiar with its pattern by now, right? The next time it descends close to the ground, use every means at your disposal to grab it!"
"Yes!"
"Alright, let's go-!"
Screech!
The King of Flies descended towards the ground for the third time.
This time, the weapon in its right hand had changed from a greatsword to the form of a massive lance. Perhaps it had learned that this form of weapon was advantageous after fighting Evangeline.
The flies swirled around, forming a typhoon-like blade, and charged at me again.
It was as if a giant tornado had descended to the ground.
Evangeline commanded,
"Block it, one more time-!"
"Waaaaah!"
My magic barrier at the forefront, followed by the shield knights' formation, and behind them, the regular infantry's shield line.
The King of Flies's lance strike exploded upon the triple-layered defense.
The shield knights formed a giant shield by overlapping their shields together. Torkel was at the forefront, directly receiving the attack.
Torkel's great shield blocked the King of Flies's swirling lance strike,
Creak, creak...
Crash-!
The shield, engraved with the face of Medusa, shattered into pieces. The surrounding shield knights were unable to withstand it and collapsed, spewing blood.
But Torkel held on.
It wasn't just holding on; he received the lance strike with his body and grasped the giant tip of the King of Flies's lance with both hands.
"Argh...!"
It was a feat possible only because of the invincibility effect of his ultimate skill.
His armor was torn to shreds, flying away as if disintegrating, and his leprosy-afflicted skin was exposed to the world, but he firmly gripped it till the end.
"...Caught you, monster...!"
Even if the lance was made of flies, there was a wick connecting it to the main body at its tip.
Torkel, with the invincibility effect, forcefully inserted his hands into the swirling mass of flies like a drill and finally grasped that wick, momentarily capturing the King of Flies.
"Now!"
At Torkel's shout, all heroes and soldiers from all directions were already charging in.
Before it could escape to the sky again.
"Ah..."
A voice filled with thrill flowed from the King of Flies.
"Yes, this is the battle I've been longing for, staking everything...!"
The King of Flies grabbed the handle of the lance - the scepter - with four hands, and injecting power, its compound eyes sparkled.
Boom-!
Evil magic power exploded from the lance tip, sending Torkel flying backwards.
Immediately after, the King of Flies attempted to take off again, but,
Click!
Damien was already aiming at it.
Boom-!
The [Black Queen], switched to Nightmare Slayer mode, scattered beams of light into the air.
The highest firepower from the monster frontline cleanly burned through from the center of its back to the back of its head, including the wings.
"A barrier exists at the center of its chest; even my firepower was insufficient, ugh...!"
Damien groaned, tumbling backwards from overexertion.
'Well done, Damien!'
-Of course, this won't kill it.
Sizzle!
The King of Flies regenerated from its burned wings to its head in real time.
As its body size had decreased, the speed at which the flies congregated to repair the loss had inversely increased. It was almost at the level of regeneration shown by the troll king before.
But, it was enough for us.
In the moment it was recovering, having lost its wings, it wobbled and its altitude decreased, and the other heroes did not miss this opportunity.
"Charge-!"
Waaaaah-!
Heroes and soldiers from all directions screamed and poured towards it.
Leading the charge were Dusk Bringar and the Dragonblood Knights.
"Here we go! Here we go!"
The Dragon Lady, riding a dragon horse, and her knights kicked off their saddles and flew up to land on the King of Flies's back.
"Stay put..."
Flies forming tentacles poured out from the King of Flies's back, attempting to intercept Dusk Bringar, but her knights swept them away with swords and spears.
In that interval, Dusk Bringar, who had also climbed up to the wings, opened her mouth wide.
"Stay downnnn-!"
Spit-!
A close-range Dragon Breath erupted.
Once more, it burned the King of Flies's wings, forcing it to land on the ground completely.
Thud...!
As its feet touched the ground, elves executed their joint magic.
"World Tree, your legacy..."
Leading the elves, Queen Skuld finished casting and swiftly pressed her hands to the ground.
Crack crack crack!
Roots burst from the ground, furiously climbing up the King of Flies's legs. Skuld shouted with effort,
"Sister! Now-!"
Thunk!
The moment her words fell, a dagger was thrust into the King of Flies's body,
Flash!
Holding the handle of that dagger, the elf assassin - Verdandi appeared.
It was a teleportation using the Blink Dagger.
Verdandi threw an ordinary dagger to pin the King of Flies's body to the vines, then threw the Blink Dagger to another spot to teleport again, binding the vines tighter.
The tentacles made of flies from the King of Flies's body thrashed, trying to free the roots, but the tightly entangled roots did not budge.
"Fire-!"
Thump! Thud thud!
With its movements restrained, artillerymen shot large arrows tied with ropes from ballistae at the King of Flies's body.
Approaching infantrymen swung hooked ropes and threw them, hooking them onto the King of Flies's body all at once.
In an instant, the King of Flies was like a giant bound by the Lilliputians in Gulliver's Travels.
Thud...!
Unable to withstand it, one of its knees hit the ground.
At last, the King of Flies fell to the ground.
--TL Notes--
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