Dududududu-!
Four cavalry units charging north as if they were flying.
The white, red, black, and blue knights, symbolizing plague, war, famine, and death respectively, twisted the surrounding atmosphere with their mere presence.
The ground trampled by the white knights instantly rotted, and the paths taken by the red knights were set ablaze. Around the black knights, plants and wildlife withered and died, and lastly, the blue knights...
Thud, thud, thud.
They ran quietly.
Unlike the other three cavalry units that loudly announced their presence by devastating the surroundings, the blue knights galloped softly, without a sound.
Spurring the frozen winter ground, they silently headed north.
"..."
Watching the uniquely white-frosted path left by the blue knights, I clicked my tongue.I know.
Those bastards are the most dangerous...
***
A few days ago.
After it was confirmed that our opponents in Stage 48 were the Apocalypse Knights.
I divided our forces into four units. Each unit was balanced with tanks, damage dealers, mages, and healers.
Apart from the unit I would command, I appointed Torkel, Evangeline, and Lucas as the commanders of the other units. All three were tanks with experience and talent in leading troops.
Torkel's unit was assigned to the war's red knights, Evangeline's to the famine's black knights, and Lucas's to the death's blue knights.
"What about you, my lord?"
"I'll handle the plague's white knights."
There was a reason for this distribution.
First, I am immune to plague. Thanks to the celestial peach that Salome once fed me, the plague cannot approach me. This makes me a natural counter to the white knights just by existing.
‘No matter how much you try, you're no match for Raven.’
Remembering the plague lord with the raven mask that Salome and I defeated, I clicked my tongue.
Next, the war's red knights.
These guys bring war with them. In other words, they have fire attributes.
Although they use flames, it's only a supplementary effect. Embers follow their path as they run.
Their main characteristic is their overwhelming physical strength used in warfare.
They are the best in hand-to-hand combat among the four units.
Torkel is the best match for them among our field commanders. With his purified Nightmare Slayer, [Original Sin], he can easily command his troops and put up a good fight against these guys.
"..."
At the mention of 'war,' Torkel suddenly stroked his helmet, [Original Sin].
Was he perhaps recalling the battle with the Goblin God-King, who caused him to lose all his former comrades and whose helmet he now wore?
"I will follow your orders, Your Highness."
Torkel bowed deeply and stepped back.
Next, the famine's black knights.
These guys cause drought, making the land and vegetation dry up. In other words, they have water attributes.
They don’t actively use water but drain moisture from their surroundings and their opponents.
And water is life.
These troublesome guys frequently use life drain.
Evangeline smirked.
"Hehe, you're assigning me to stop their famine with my moist charm, right?"
"No... I mean for you to endure with the fat stored in your round belly..."
"What did you say?!"
Of course, it was a joke.
The leader of the black knights uses a pattern of wide-area life drain targeting our heroes. This is meant to counter that with Evangeline's ultimate skill, [Last Fortress].
"Well, if that's the reason... but I don't have much belly fat now! Instead, I have solid abs!"
Evangeline patted her belly indignantly and looked at Lucas.
But Lucas, with a serious face, was only looking at the deployment map and asked me.
"What are the abilities of the blue knights, my lord?"
"Death."
Sighing, I clasped my hands together.
"And from death, comes cold."
I suddenly recalled the dreadful chill from the heaps of corpses I saw at the forward base long ago.
That terrible chill unexpectedly sent a shiver down my spine, but I nodded without showing it.
"The blue knights extract cold whenever they take a life."
Every time they take one of our lives, they cloak themselves in the cold extracted from that death.
But this isn't just ordinary cold... It's literally extracted from death, touching the soul. Mortals exposed to this cold have their souls scarred.
If the snowball rolls properly, by the end of the battle, their entire bodies would be enveloped in blue cold, almost looking like they’re wearing ice armor.
So, if we had to attribute it, they have ice attributes.
"Do you have any idea how to deal with these guys?"
"...We need to minimize our casualties."
"Exactly."
I nodded at Lucas’s answer.
The more casualties we have, the more cold the blue knights gather, and the stronger they become.
We need to buy time while keeping our casualties to a minimum.
"..."
Ice. And an enemy that grows stronger as they take our lives.
Suddenly, Celendion came to mind. It was similar to the battle against the vampire king who led the frost ghouls.
I closed my eyes tightly and then opened them.
Yes. This is all hardship we've already endured once. Trials we've already passed.
We won't falter now in the face of such adversity.
"Lucas. You and your unit must not engage the blue knights head-on."
I issued my tactical orders.
"After I, Torkel, and Evangeline crush our respective enemy units, we will join you. Your role is to buy as much time as possible with minimal casualties, keeping those bastards in place."
"..."
Lucas listened to my words, deep in thought.
Being told to hold off the strongest unit among the four enemies just to buy time.
Normally, it would be a suicidal order. But I am the one giving this command, and Lucas is the one receiving it.
I won't let my people die.
And Lucas is undoubtedly my ace.
He has the ability to carry out this mission. That's why I trust him with it.
"Hold the forward base and buy time. But if the situation gets tough, don't hesitate."
"Yes. We will retreat."
After instructing Torkel, Evangeline, and Lucas on which heroes to attach to each unit and what equipment and troops to assign...
Finally, I spoke.
"Everyone, remember. In this battle, our role at the forward base is merely to blunt the enemy's spearhead."
The three unit commanders looked at me with shining eyes. I nodded.
"There's no need to overextend and wipe them out. Reducing their numbers and buying time is enough."
Emphasizing once more the operational method of the forward base, which I've mentioned hundreds of times while managing the monster frontlines.
After stressing to retreat without hesitation if necessary, I clapped my hands.
"Alright, not much time left! Let's give it our all until the end!"
Then, Evangeline suddenly thrust her fist forward. Huh?
Looking puzzled, Evangeline just raised her eyebrows and looked around at us.
Lucas chuckled first and bumped his fist against hers, and only then did Torkel and I, understanding her intention, bump our fists as well.
Pop!
After lightly bumping our fists together.
We stepped out to organize our respective units.
***
Present.
"This place..."
I planted the flag into the ground and declared.
"This is the front line of the world!"
Shoooom!
Gray walls made of magic rose from all directions, and a fortress emerged in the barren wasteland.
Immediately, my heroes and soldiers, who were on standby, quickly found their positions inside the fortress.
"Huff."
Taking a short breath, I looked around.
Despite reducing the burden as much as possible in the previous battles, the faces of the heroes and soldiers were etched with irremovable fatigue.
It wasn't just the fatigue from the continuous battles at the final stage.
It's the fatigue accumulated from fighting endlessly for the past three years, carved into their faces like scars.
"..."
All of it will end soon.
I looked up at the sky.
The airship La Mancha was waiting in the sky, overseeing all four forward bases.
Damien, also aboard La Mancha, was responsible for supporting fire for all four forward bases.
Given the vast distances between the forward bases, it’s an impossible task, but Damien possesses Far-Sight. It's okay to assign him something impossible.
So La Mancha and Damien will provide support as needed to all forward bases. The Sky Knights, operating from La Mancha, and Mikhail will also provide support if necessary.
The newly joined pirate airship Blue Pearl was attached to Lucas's unit. Considering their enemies are the strongest, the airship was reserved as a retreat means.
Thinking about the status of the heroes and equipment assigned to other units...
"It's good to be concerned about other units, but."
A voice came from behind.
Turning around, a bald dwarf was walking toward me with a swagger.
"How about worrying about us first?"
"Kellibey."
I smiled broadly.
"With the great Dwarf King here, what could I possibly worry about?"
"You brat, your tongue's become as slick as a politician's."
Kellibey shook his head in disbelief and looked around the magic fortress.
"You've assigned all the main heroes and troops to other units, handed out artifacts and equipment, and all we have here is you, me, my subordinates, and the newly joined volunteers."
Kellibey looked south.
"Can we really handle this on our own?"
Dududududu-!
From the south, a cloud of dust was rising as the white-cloaked cavalry unit appeared.
The plague's white knights.
The path taken by this archery cavalry unit was blackened with rot. The sight of the white cavalry galloping on the blackened path was itself eerie.
I grinned.
"You should ask the other way around, Kellibey."
"Eh?"
"Isn't it too much to gather such overwhelming force here? Wouldn't it be better to scrape some of it and support the other units?"
Kellibey was dumbfounded by my bravado, but I was somewhat serious.
While I'm saving the power of the dragon and the divine for the 'clear.'
Even without using them, I'm already a half-cheat character.
When I swung my arm to the side, the magic wall beside me began to transform rapidly.
Clunk! Clunk! Clunk!
Thud! Thud! Thud!
In an instant, the transformation was complete, and what stood there were automatic defense turrets.
Precisely- one hundred turrets.
‘I have plenty of SSR-grade magic cores to use as missiles, so in a situation like this, I need to use the surplus R-grade magic cores!’
This is the ultimate tactic for dealing with resource saturation in the endgame - turret spam, a move only the commander-in-chief can use!
What’s the point of hoarding minerals at the end of the game? Use them all!
Seeing Kellibey with his mouth agape, I winked at him.
"How about a fireworks show, Kellibey?"
Kellibey clenched his fist and shouted.
"That sounds great-!"
Clunk-!
The one hundred automatic defense turrets simultaneously locked onto the incoming cavalry unit within range.
In the next moment, the muzzles of the one hundred turrets simultaneously spewed dazzling cyan flames.
--TL Notes--
Hope you enjoyed this chapter. If you want to support me or give me feedback, you can do it at /MattReading
Join my Discord! .gg/jB26ePk9