Me and Garrick fought through enemies, buying enough time for the villagers to retreat. We also retreated to the place where buildings had been destroyed by the villagers to create a zone that reduced the effectiveness of magic. The enemies slowly approached—then suddenly, an arrow came flying and struck a knight in the head. But he survived due to how thick his armor was.
From one of the ruined corners, a villager lunged out and stabbed the mage hiding behind the knight. The knight turned his head to look back, but that moment of distraction gave another villager the chance to slam a hammer down on his helmet, crushing it and killing him instantly.
The remaining knights tried to counterattack, but the villagers backed off and disappeared into the shadows of the ruins. This pattern repeated with a few more attacks, gradually reducing the number of enemies. The narrow spaces between the wreckage prevented the use of offensive magic, since any blast would hit their own allies.
“Fuck these slippery bastards!” a knight roared, punching a wall in anger.
“Our number got reduced to ten people,” a mage muttered. Only four mages were left out of the original twenty, and six knights out of forty-five.
“Where are the reinforcements?” another knight asked, his voice tense.
“They must be facing the same problem we are right now,” one of the mages sighed—right before collapsing in front of them with an arrow stuck in the back of his head.
“Shit! Formation!” the senior knight shouted.
The knights quickly formed a circle to protect the remaining mages.
“Start chanting,” one knight commanded, and the mages began to chant, forming a magic barrier around them.
Me, Garrick, and the others were hiding in the corners, while our archers on the rooftops waited for a chance to ambush. Garrick threw a knife at them, but it bounced off the barrier. We couldn't attack them directly anymore. So, Garrick and I decided to move to another location, while our allies waited for their mana to run out.
We ran along the corners and spotted a small team with only one mage.
‘This one only has one mage, and he looks exhausted. He must be running out of mana.’
‘Fuck, I’m running out of mana. I need to drink a mana potion…’ the mage reached into his sleeve—just as a knife pierced through his head.
I charged in while the knights were distracted, swinging my mace sideways. I hit one of them cleanly, sending him flying into a wall. The others slashed at me, but I blocked their attacks with my gauntlet, dodged the next strikes, and retreated back to the corner. One of their swords got stuck in the wall. Taking the opportunity, I punched another knight, stunning him, then shoved his body into one of his allies, using him as a shield. Garrick used the chance to strike, beheading both of them. He quickly finished off the survivors of my assault.
“We could win this, thanks to the strategy you suggested at the last minute,” he said.
“Not could, but will,” I replied.
“These soldiers aren’t the problem. The real problem is…” I pointed toward the giant monster looming outside the village.
“Yeah… how are we going to beat that? Wait—you can beat it, right? Like when you used that spell on the mountain-sized monster you defeated a few weeks ago?” he asked.
“Yeah, I could two weeks ago. But my mana is still unstable because of the magic I used back then,” I replied with a reasonable, believable excuse.
‘Because of the system, I can’t use my magic. If only I could get rid of this thing…’ I clenched my fist in frustration.
‘But I have already cleared this.’
Then a window, visible only to me, appeared in front of my eyes:
[Secret Sub Quest]
Reduce the number of enemies: {11,000 / 10,000} Kill enemies by yourself: {200 / 100} Bring fear to your enemies: ✔
Reward: [Fifteen percent of the player’s original stats]
I claimed the reward.
“Garrick, let’s regroup first.”
We regrouped in the basement of a half-collapsed building. As our allies arrived, I started the meeting. I suggested we wear the armor of our enemies and pretend to be one of them, sneak into the enemy camp, assassinate the commander, and end this war. Everyone agreed.
We picked up the armor from fallen enemies, suited up, and walked through the village until we found a team of soldiers.
“Who’s there?” one of them shouted as they got into a defensive formation.
We walked forward, carrying Garrick by the shoulder, pretending he was injured. Thanks to the armor, they
immediately dropped their guard.
“Did you guys also fall victim to that mace-wielding bastard?” a knight asked in an angered tone.
“Yeah… my friend here got hit in the legs,” I said, with a sad, frustrated voice.
“I see…”
“Those trash… failures of the Empire…”
“I swear, I’ll torture them once I get the chance,” another one muttered darkly.
“Captain, we received an order to retreat back to the camp,” a mage reported.
“Well, let’s go back then.”
With a little bit of mana having returned to me, I managed to cast a low-tier telepathy spell, allowing me and my allies to communicate silently and efficiently.
‘Calm down, guys,’ I sent through the link.
‘Don’t worry, I am calm, Haru,’ Garrick replied. But I knew he was pissed off right now.
‘Yeah, Haru, we’re calm…’
‘We’re very patient people, you know…’ Lyle added, but his tone told a different story.
‘Hold it until we arrive at their camp.’
‘Okay.’
‘Got it.’
‘But now the problem is the giant monster… will fifteen percent of my power be enough to kill it?’ I thought to myself.
‘But for now, let’s focus on the army first.’
We exited the village and saw the enemy’s massive camp ahead—rows of tents, patrolling soldiers, and that monster still looming like a nightmare in the distance.