Arriving at the gates, we drew our weapons.
Damn, there were so many demons. As far as the eye could see.
Stepping through the hole made by the Minotaurs, Steinen held off the demons as much as he could while Incus tried contacting the kingdom's army. A messenger who arrived saluted Incus.
"Ma'am, the army is currently preoccupied with suppressing the demons that have breached the castle walls. But the elites are preparing for combat, so rest assured. We just ask for you to hold them off for just a few moments—no, just a few minutes."
Spitting on the ground, Incus grimaced.
"If they take any longer than five minutes, I will abandon this kingdom. The humanoid demons are weak, but even I'm not stupid enough not to know that this is an invasion by a demon general. All generals have lieutenants, ones that are incredibly powerful."
Scampering, the messenger ran off.
Turning toward my allies, I gave a thumbs up.
"Alright, this is where things get serious. Lieur, support us. Alleus and I will be the front liners, and we'll switch when tired. No more than thirty-second rests."
Stepping over the hole after Incus, we were immediately attacked by humanoid demons.
"Urgh!" Blocking a humanoid demon wielding a sword, Lieur killed it with a shot to the head.
Damn it, all the demons had weapons. Unlike the red demons, these humanoid ones had the ability to move like us.
Sequences of demons then lunged at me. I could feel that their weaponry skills were much weaker than mine, but these were probably just the foot soldiers meant to tire out the warriors. The real danger was yet to come.
It was oddly strange. I had yet to encounter a demon from this raid that used magic.
"Switch!"
Jumping back, Alleus immediately started swiftly killing the demons. Looking at Lieur, her fingers were bleeding. Her calluses, which should have been there, must have disappeared because of her current occupation as a florist.
"Scales, veil her shooting fingers." The scales then wrapped around her thumb, index, and middle finger.
"Thanks." The power in her shots increased.
"Switch!" I deflected a blade out of the way as Alleus stepped back. Whenever I got hit, the dragon scales would stop it from cutting through. That still didn't stop the force of the impact.
"Argh!" Getting hit in the lower rib with a blade, I threw a hook punch at the demon's neck and stabbed it through the chest.
"P-please don't kill me…"
Jolting, I froze for a few seconds.
Taking the opportunity, the demon extended its sharp claws and struck at my chest, piercing through my light steel armor. But thankfully, the chainmail stopped it from digging deeper into my skin.
Slicing off its head, I gasped for air. These demons were pure savages, using dirty deceptions.
"Less than forty arrows left. Try to kill them off without my assistance!"
I got so caught up in the moment that I didn't think about the expenditure of Lieur's arrows.
Continuing my battle, a sharp pain in my liver area left me open to attacks.
"Switch—"
Pulling me back, Alleus started battling. Her eye was no longer covered by the eyepatch.
Grabbing a small recovery potion, I drank it. But the pain wouldn't go away, so I drank even more. The pain only subsided after three potions.
"Twenty arrows!"
Roughly two hundred meters ahead of us, Incus was plowing through the horde of demons. But she wasn't using the powers of the hero swords. Instead, she was using pure might. The gap in our strength was heavy. Compared to her, I was just a feather.
Glancing at the window screen, it read:
┌─────═━┈┈━═─────┐
Chapter 118: Just a Few Minutes
…
Although she was conserving her mana, she couldn't conserve her stamina. She couldn't use the [True Eye of the Truthseeker] because it consumed mana and put a strain on the mind due to the overload of information.
'This isn't enough. I need more strength.'
Glancing at her wrist, an epiphany came to her.
"Scales of dragon, strengthen me."
Wrapping around her muscles, the scales of the armor gave her immense strength, increasing her strength and stamina by three levels.
'Ah, it's a little tight. This will have to do for now. I didn't get a chance to get my hero armor.'
With newfound strength, she continued her slaughter. Her blade bathed in the blood of demons.
└─────═━┈┈━═─────┘
She commanded the dragon armor very differently from I. Putting that aside, I now had a new way of using the armor.
"Switch!"
As I jumped in, Alleus snapped her eyepatch back on.
"Scales, strengthen me."
The scales exploded off my body as they began flying to wrap around my muscles. It was indeed tight, but I could feel so much strength pulsating through me.
My sword had never felt so light. Each stroke was not only powerful, but it also felt amazing.
Stabbing my sword into the ground, I raised my fists. This was the perfect time for me to improve my martial arts.
I may not be a combat genius like Incus, but hard work was better than doing nothing at all.
My attacks killed the demons within one to three strikes. Grouping up, the demons attacked me all at once.
"I'm such a threat now, am I?"
Going into a back stance, I pulled my fist back. Blowing air, I threw an explosive barrage of punches, elbows, and kicks.
Grabbing a sword mid-strike, I crushed it with my bare hands.
"Weak! You'll have to try much harder than that!"
Punching a demon through the head, I threw its body at the crowd. Focusing my attention on the nearest demon, I threw a punch at it. But before it could land, the Dragon Scales Armor dispersed and went back into its cloak form.
"What?"
Don't tell me this form had a time limit. Seeing my hesitation, the demon I aimed to kill revealed its claws and lunged at me.
Countering by uppercutting its arm, I picked up my hero's sword and ran back.
"Switch!"
But Alleus didn't do anything. She just stood there.
"What are you doing, you fool? I said switch—!"
Stepping out of the way, I saw an army cloaked in white striped with blue, their armor shining with silver and gold. The elites had arrived. Not only that, but Index was there too.
"Hello there, my dear disciples. Did you miss your master?"
Looking at Index—a rough-looking man—and at us, who, although we looked a little battered, looked like we had dignity.
"Master, you've arrived just in time. The main battle is happening soon. We should get ready."
Walking toward us, the Dragon Scales Armor turned into a cloak around her. It was Incus. Hold on, where did she summon the dragon scales from? I could have sworn she only had the academy uniform on.
"Scales of dragon, hide yourself!" The scales then flew toward her wrist, forming a bracelet.
I see. So that was how she did it.
The messenger from earlier presented something to Incus wrapped in cloth. Taking off the cloth, Incus gave a creepy smile.
"…My armor. I've wiped out their army by more than half. Kill the lesser demons and pave a way for me." She pointed at the figure painted in crimson flying in the sky, barely visible because of the crimson above.
I only had four arrows left. I wouldn't be able to contribute as much anymore.
"You must be a new recruit. My name's Index." He extended his hand for a handshake.
Accepting it, she told him her name:
"Liar."
"Are you calling me a liar? Haha, I'm just kidding. Nice to meet you, Lieur."
"What's our plan, partner? We have Index, so we won't have to do the switching strategy anymore," Alleus asked me.
Recalling the pages from the book on war tactics, I rubbed my chin.
"Index will serve as our tank, making sure to kill as many demons as possible. Lieur will serve as our scout because of how she can see far distances with clear vision. Alleus and I will be the vanguard, guarding Lieur."
Drinking from my flask, I continued:
"Alleus, make sure you only use the Eye of the Truthseeker unless absolutely necessary. I don't want you to collapse during battle."
"Will do!" A strand of hair rose from her head and straightened upward.
***
With her hero's armor and cloak on, Incus told Steinen, who wore a set of heavy armor:
"Let's go."
The author posted the chapter and started writing the next chapter.