They might have a tighter chain of command than any of us imagined.
Dammit! One million is too much!
We were bound to need a fortress to fight against their larger numbers.
Tiamo will have to do. This is where we make our stand.
Please rally your troops. We can't do this without the elven army!
You're suggesting that we fight off their superior numbers here in Tiamo?
Yes.
That's risky...
Very well.
We only have two days until the monsters arrive.
That's not enough time to evacuate the 700,000 citizens sheltering here.
Therefore, we have no choice but to join forces with Sir Allen's party and fight to the last man.
Thank you.
Moving right along, I have a strategy that I'd like to propose.
Grand Marshal Siguul. How many scouts do you have available here?
Roughly 3,000.
Then please let me borrow all of them.
All right.
My party will depart after I explain the plan to the scout commanders.
We'll attack and obstruct the invasion force as much as possible.
It should gain us an extra day.
So you'll have three days to prepare as best you can.
Understood.
We'll get the magic ships up and running.
The citizens of Tiamo and the injured will evacuate to Nest.
At the same time, we'll relocate the recovered soldiers from Nest here, and fortify our defenses.
Sounds good.
Okay, team. Let's get ready!
Alright!
Sure thing!
On it.
Yeah!
Roger!
Sophie.
Yes, Your Majesty?
Keep Sir Allen safe, okay?
Of course!
EPISODE 21: THE DEMONS OF LAPOLKA
Look.
There are so many...
You can say that again.
Don't you feel scared, Allen?
Eh. The idea of dying doesn't really scare me.
But... seeing any of my friends die does.
So, you can be a scaredy-cat sometimes!
Don't worry! I'll keep everybody safe!
Besides, your army of ants is 10,000 strong now.
Yeah. Good point.
Okay. Let's do this!
All Protect! Magic Shield!
Extra Skill: Petit Meteor!
Drago, Cerby, Fillet, Finny, Genbu!
Buy us time! Defeat as many as you can!
3 DAYS LATER
Look at that. It's the Demon Lord's army that should have arrived yesterday.
Yes. It seems that Sir Allen's delay tactics proved effective.
Fortunately, that gave us time to get 300,000 of our soldiers ready to fight.
Do we know where his party is?
I'm afraid not. It's just us right now.
We must face the monsters ourselves.
Here they come! Launch the attack!
Yessir!
Dammit!
These makeshift barriers aren't doing anything to stop them!
Stand fast, men! Defend the Queen!
O spirit of earth!
Whew! We made it in time!
Is that a spirit of yours? How cool!
We've defeated about 400,000 monsters over the past three days.
400,000?!
Yeah, so there should only be 600,000 of them here now.
My party is going to join the battle!
Just keep attacking!
Like I need you to tell me that!
Let's see. I've used up 110,000 B-rank magic stones in the last three days.
Now I have less than 20,000 left.
We've been fighting practically nonstop day and night.
That still grates on our willpower, no matter how much HP we recover.
We have to dig our heels in here.
It's time! Get out here, everybody!
I'm summoning my full arsenal!
Guess they're just as hungry and thirsty as us.
Drago!
Right!
Awakened Skill: Hellfire of Fury!
My God. This is a Summoner's power?
This is only the beginning. We have a lot more to go!
Krena, Cecil, Sophie!
Use your Extra Skills to shrink their numbers!
Limit Break.
Petit Meteor!
Great Elemental!
Enemy scouts spotted!
Way to come in clutch, Volmaar!
Heed me, spirit! Smash them!
Their Spirit User is doing some good damage!
Fifth squadron! Use your Extra Skills!
Yessir!
Crap. They just keep coming!
I choose you, Drago!
Hellfire of Fury!
Although I can resummon my creatures that get defeated, it still uses up a lot of magic stones!
There are about 400,000 invading monsters left while I have 9,000 magic stones on hand.
REMANING B-RANK MAGIC STONES: 9,000
Since I'm using 290 stones a minute...
Oh crap! I'll run out in just 30 minutes!
Krena!
All Heal!
You okay, Krena?
I got healed up!
Krena and Dogora are in charge of defeating the A-rank monsters, which takes a big toll.
Can we hold out long enough?
Yes! Here comes the calvary!
Good work!
I've brought the stones, sir!
Drop them all in this well.
Yessir!
Great. Keep them coming!
Yessir!
I figured this would happen,
so I had the scouts harvest the magic stones of the 400,000 monsters that we already beat!
Are you good to go, Allen?
Yep! I just got a resupply of 300,000 magic stones!
I'll delete the current Drago squad.
And create a new batch of 20.
Then summon!
You know what to do, Drago! Bring the heat!
I was hoping you'd say that, Master!
Delete, recreate, summon!
Hellfire of Fury!
Keep the flames coming! Burn all those bastards to a crisp!
He wanted magic stones to use that flame attack in rapid succession?
Holy literal smokes!
Drago totally kicks ass!
Hopefully this doesn't turn all their magic stones to ash, too.
Sir Allen!
I can't believe we're actually winning the battle against 600,000 monsters.
At this point...
...it's more like a one-sided massacre.
This might be too much power for one man to have.
THE HARDCORE GAMER DOMINATES
IN ANOTHER WORLD WITH GARBAGE BALANCING
A FEW HOURS LATER
With the help of the elven army, we put a stop to the Demon Lord's assault on Tiamo.
Out of the one million monsters, we defeated 400,000 of them in three days,
and then took down 400,000 more in the first day of the battle at Tiamo.
The remaining monsters lost their will to fight and ran away.
I ended up using 200,000 magic stones overall.
Long live the Queen!
Praise be to Lord Rohzen!
Ahhh!
Nothing better than a nice, hot bath after a long battle! I'm super sleepy, though.
Yeah, it's totally priceless. I'm super sleepy, though.
Our first proper bath in a while.
They'll be coming out soon!
Don't be so nervous! They're on our side!
I know that!
Eep!
Hello there.
Thanks for your cooperation, everyone.
That's 800,000 less monsters that we have to worry about now.
I cannot thank you enough for saving us from such a horrific situation!
It's truly as Lord Rohzen prophesized, you are the savior of our world, Sir Allen!
Well, we barely pulled through this time.
If the Demon Lord had prioritized numbers instead of a speedy assault,
we might have been doomed.
Anyway, this victory is due in large part to the efforts of the elven scouts and archers.
May I ask, what do you think will happen next, Sir Allen?
At this point, the Demon Lord's army only has 1.7 million troops left in Rohzenheim.
However, I doubt the losses they've suffered will make them give up.
I suspect they will opt to call in reinforcements and renew their assault.
Agreed. You mean the 4 million monsters they have on the central continent, right?
Exactly.
I think we should prepare for another battle where having material superiority will be key.
You're suggesting that we retake Lapolka, I assume.
There's a fort occupied by the Demon Lord's forces just north of Tiamo, right?
TIAMO
Yes.
That's Castle Lapolka. It lies in the middle of a mountain range near the capital of Fortenia.
FORTENIA
CASTLE LAPOLKA
It was renowned for being impregnable, but we basically let the enemy have it
because our hands were full helping the Queen and citizens to evacuate.
I see. That means the castle and its defenses should still be in good shape.
Indeed.
Staying here in Tiamo is risky, they would only need to call in one million of their potential reinforcements
and we'd lose all hope of winning.
Understood.
We'll commit half our forces and form an assault team of 300,000 elven soldiers to retake Castle Lapolka.
Thank you.
It will take 5 days to organize squadrons that we can dispatch from here via magic ship,
then another 5 days for them to reach Lapolka.
A total of 10 days, huh?
Either we strike first or the enemy regroups before then. This will be a battle against time.
Right.
But I think you and your party should at least use today to get some rest.
That sounds good to me.
We'll go hunting for any straggling monsters tomorrow morning.
Ellie.
Yes, Master?
I need you to do me a favor.
That must be the place.
CASTLE LAPOLKA
It's totally surrounded by steep mountain tops...
Storming this place is going to be a huge challenge.
That's gotta be the World Tree they said was in the capital of Fortenia.
It's way bigger than I thought!
Bird squad, keep watch outside.
Ellie squad, split up and explore inside.
Okay, Master.
Hey, Ellie. You thinking what I'm thinking?
Perfect disguises.
Both the inside and outside of the castle are full of monsters.
Hey, whaddya doing?
You got pignizz with Captain Glaster or somethin'?
Captain Glaster? Some kinda high-ranking monster, I guess
That's right.
Is that sow? Then you can be the one to deliver his tea!
That works just fine for me!
Very well.
You better hoof it unless you wanna get chewed snout, cuz he's in a bad mood!
The porker here was too chicken to go inside, huh?
Pardon me, sir.
Okay, let's see what this Glaster dude is lik-
Humanoid monsters. They must be demons of some sort.
We learned about them at the Academy.
The Demon Lord has a number of intelligent demonic deities in his employ.
Helmios uncovered that fact, but details about them are sparse.
Lucky me, getting to see them up close.
I ordered some tea. Let us take a break, Captain Glaster.
Screw the tea! I want to know why we lost the battle, dammit!
Ah, now I know which one is Glaster.
Sounds like he's having a hissy fit over what happened in Tiamo.
It was that stupid Rohzen! He musta become God of Spirits, guffaw!
This guy is a real character.
That's why them elves got all tough, guffaw!
Good point.
It is hard to imagine the snobby elves asking other nations for help, anyways.
However, the advent of a God of Spirits would be a joyous event for the elves,
so I find it strange that we did not hear any of them celebrating it.
Fine, then I betcha it's cuz their Spirit User is actually a Grand Spirit User, guffaw!
Or maybe them elves got a High Tamer who took control of our dragons, guffaw!
That is simply ridiculous.
Our invasion would never have been this successful against a Grand Spirit User.
Furthermore, there is no Tamer in existence
who can override the power of the Demon Lord's Monster Subordination Skill.
Just listen to all that new lingo they're dropping. My gamer senses are tingling!
Neftira, quit playing devil's advocate here!
We need some real insight into what caused our defeat!
Yessir. I'm sorry.
Awesome. Seems they don't know anything about me and my Summoner powers.
Shucks, guess it was just bad luck, guffaw!
I'll have your head, Yagof!
Guffaw!
This is serious, our demonic overseer has already put reinforcements on the move.
Demonic overseer?!
You mean Master Rehzel? He's coming here from the capital?
No, he's staying put. We're going to take charge of the troops.
That confirms it.
These guys are demons and the demonic deity who leads them is in the capital.
We're in trouble. They made the decision to send reinforcements too quick!
What're we gonna do with the troops?
He wants us to pressure them from two directions this time.
We attack north from land and south from sea.
Until we've eradicated every last elf in Rohzenheim.
NORTH OF TIAMO
10 KM STRETCH OF WASTELAND
Whew! We've got a big haul!
Yeah, but there's still a bunch left to harvest.
How many groups of stray monsters are there?
What's the matter, Allen?
Listen, guys. We have to let the elves gather the rest of the magic stones.
There's no time to waste.
What?!
There are demons...
...and an overseer?!
Yeah.
The demonic deity who oversees them from Fortenia is in command of the entire Rohzenheim invasion.
As far as I know, no demonic deities have ever manifested in our kingdom.
3 MILLION
1 MILLION
FORTENIA
CASTLE LAPOLKA
TIAMO
NEST
This just keeps getting harder and harder.
I don't get the point of their reinforcements coming from the south.
Why would they take the long way around?
Oh no!
It's because the Demon Lord wants to capture Nest first.
The reinforcements will get ferried over by sea monsters, then use the elves in Nest as food to nourish themselves.
After that, they'll join the northern forces in a pincer attack on Tiamo.
That would be really bad.
There are two million refugees in Nest right now, aren't there?
Oh my God! We can't let that happen, no matter what!
Yeah. I have a plan to stop them, but it requires you and Dogora to fully master your talents.
Huh?
EXTRA SKILL:
FULL BLAZE
You don't have to explain. You mean using my Extra Skill, right?
SKILLS:
SLASH AIR SLASH
PYROBLAST THUNDEROUS BLOW
EXTRA SKILL:
LIMIT BREAK
Uh, so for me, that means using my other Skills during my Limit Break, right?
Wait, is that even possible?
Well, every time I try, my brain goes KABAM! Then ZAP! So I can't do it...
Who said you can't do it? Was it God?
Nmph!
That's what I thought.
Don't set limits on yourself. It's definitely possible!
Once you get the hang of it, you'll have as much impact on the battlefield as the Hero!
Do you want to save the elves or not?!
We won't beat these demons with a wimpy attitude!
So do whatever it takes, train until your limbs fall off if you have to!
YESSIR!
But actually, I'm our biggest problem...
All the EXP I've been farming throughout the war has pushed me up to level 63.
Yet there's still one skill that I can't use!
NAME: ALLEN SUMMON (7)
AGE: 14 CREATE (7) EXP:
TALENT: SUMMONER FUSE (7) EXP:
ENHANCE (7) EXP:
LEVEL: 63 AWAKEN (7) EXP: [STONE]
SUMMONS AVAILABLE FOR CREATION: [FISH]
HP: [INSECT] [SPIRIT]
MP: [BEAST] [DRAGON]
ATTACK: [BIRD]
ENDURANCE: [GRASS]
AGILITY: INVENTORY:
LUCK: SUMMON (7), CREATE (7), [BEAST]
FUSE (7), ENHANCE (7), [BIRD] E 6 COPIES / B 5 COPIES
SKILLS: AWAKEN (7), EXPANSION (6), [GRASS]
INTELLIGENCE: [INSECT]
The Deputize skill. I hoped it would get unlocked at level 60, but no such luck.
Whatever. I'll just have to fight with the cards available to me right now!
Some time later, I got another report from Ellie on what the enemy was doing.
They were mobilizing all four million of their reinforcements with shocking speed.
3 MILLION
1.7 MILLION
1 MILLION
Given the severity of the situation, we had to forego waiting for extra elven troops.
Our only option was to storm Castle Lapolka with the forces currently available.
Sir Allen.
Field Marshal Lukdraal!
3 DAYS LATER - TIAMO
It's good to see you again.
We managed to assemble 50,000 elven soldiers for the attack.
That includes Gatoluuga and myself.
Hmph.
What about the Queen?
She'll be staying here in Tiamo, of course.
That sounds good.
Sir Allen.
Remember my right arm you healed with your elixir?
We were fighting at the castle up north when I originally lost it.
I'm sure it was one of the demons.
They're very powerful.
Even more so than A-rank monsters.
I know. Trust me that the No-Life Gamers will handle them!
It's time to retake Castle Lapolka! Let's go, everyone!
Eyeball bat spotted at 2'clock.
Got it.
Nicely done!
There's nobody better at long-range attacks than Volmaar.
NAME: VOLMAAR
TALENT: ARCHER
HP:
MP:
ATTACK:
ENDURANCE:
AGILITY:
INTELLIGENCE:
LUCK:
SKILLS: ARCHER (6), KEEN SIGHT (6)
SNIPE (6), STRONGBOW (6)
BULLSEYE (6), TREAD (2)
BOW MASTERY (6)
EXTRA SKILL: LIGHT ARROW
I've known him for over half a year now,
but I still haven't seen his Extra Skill.
Ah, well. No reason to pressure him to show me.
Sir Allen.
What is it that you fight for?
Huh?
The odds of victory are incredibly slim here,
and I greatly appreciate the effort you've put forth in spite of that.
Yet I find myself concerned for the future.
What do you have in mind for Rohzenheim should we defeat the monsters?
I imagine there must be something you want in return from us elves.
Well, obviously...
I want the Sovereign of Spirits to upgrade the talents of everybody in our party!
And then, I wanna conquer the S-rank dungeon in the Baukis Empire!
You might want to stay in Rohzenheim, but you'll have to come with us for sure!
I see. I was silly to ask.
Don't worry.
I'm sure Allen has a solid strategy in mind.
You know how he is, right? He never has ulterior motives, just selfish ones.
Allen won't give up. It's not in his nature.
We're all a team. Let's have faith in him!
Right!