~Procell's point of view~

I had received a report from R'lyeh Diva.

It seemed like that they had somehow won the fight in the other dimension. I was also relieved to hear that they had not suffered any casualties.

It also seemed like that after taking a short rest so that the potion they drank could take effect and have their injured allies recover, they were going to keep moving forward.

For them to win against the allied forces of several old Demon Lords with such a small number of people, it was a windfall.

However, things didn't go off without a hitch. According to her story, she had used [Shrine Maiden of the Malevolent G.o.d], the skill she had sealed.

It was an ability that doubled her stats by having her receive the malevolent G.o.d's blessing

curse

.

But the price for such power was great.

Each time she used it, the more the malevolent G.o.d's power took hold of her it turns her into another monster.

According to her, the next use was probably still be safe but on the third use, she was definitely going to lose herself. In response, I told her to never use it again.

"…I have to apologize later for sending her into a battlefield that she had no choice but to use that. And, after she returns, I'm gonna have Aura take a look at her to know if some kind of treatment can be done."

I decided that it was imperative to strengthen the forces fighting in the other dimension to improve their chances of winning without any trump cards besides R'lyeh Diva.

Also, I thought it was possible for Aura to treat the corruption that had stayed with R'lyeh Diva. After all, she was able to treat even Kohaku the Byakko after the latter was affected with the Black Dragon of Death's miasma.

There is hope.

"Oto-san, are you properly watching Kuina's fight?"

"AH, hey! Kuina, don't look away!"

"Fel-chan, when you become an

adult

like Kuina, everything will be fine even while you're looking away for a moment."

Right now, my regular forces, the ones in this dimension, was in the middle of a battle.

Up until this point, we had avoided risks and injuries by using the golems as s.h.i.+elds and firing from behind them.

However, save for the ones transporting our

trump card

, all golems were now out of commission.

For that reason, Kuina the Celestial Fox and Fel the Celestial Wolf, who both had excellent capabilities to break through the enemy lines, were delegated to be our front-most vanguard.

When Kuina was finally able to rampage to her heart's content, she was ecstatic.

Each time she pulled the trigger of her shotgun, a number of enemy monsters were blown to pieces.

Speaking of, her shotgun had gotten larger by one size. It was a new model made from the orichalc.u.m alloy developed by Rorono. Its performance had greatly improved compared to when it was made of mithril.

It was named the EDS-05 Curtana-Avalon

Aura's new anti-materiel rifle was equipped with twin golem cores but doing the same for Kuina's shotgun would make it too heavy for optimal use in close range combat.

Because of that, it was instead outfitted to have Kuina's tail fur to be used as a lightweight battery. The gun was also designed so that a whole lot more magic power could be put in into an attack, thus increasing the damage it could deal.

Additionally, its large caliber sh.e.l.ls that made use of mithril powder had undergone technological innovations and as such, its performance had been also increased.

If the offense was increased though, then naturally, the recoil would also be increased. However, thanks to the excellence of the material used, the orichalc.u.m alloy, and the new mechanism for absorbing the recoil, the shotgun's muzzle could handle it.

Furthermore, it had the [Explosion] enchantment which the previous model also had. In the moment the shots within the sh.e.l.l was going to scatter, [Explosion] would activate and thus result in in an increase in attack power without worsening the recoil.

In addition, due to the growth Rorono had experienced, she became able to add another enchantment to the shotgun.

The new one was called [Softening].

Normally, whether a bullet had been deflected or it was able to pierce through, upon impact on its target, its kinetic energy would be dispersed. Such wasn't the case for [Softening] though. The shots within a sh.e.l.l would be able to transfer all of their kinetic energy to their target without shattering or being deflected.

As a result, its destructiveness went up at least twice. Moreover, like [Explosion], it did so without worsening the recoil.

With the EDS-05 Curtana-Avalon, each simple attack was deathblow that could take down even A rank monsters.

"Master, the present Kuina is amazing. The amount of magic power and her movements; everything is on a whole other level compared to before."

Rorono, who was beside me, uttered so.

She had already put on her trump card: the [Mechanical Warmaiden].

It was an equipment that was made thanks to her [Materialization] which awakened when she became one of my Monsters of the Covenant.

As for what [Materialization] was: by expending half of her total magic power, she was able to create a material that contained any one of the magic spell she could use.

It was an ability she got through the influence of my [Creation].

To eliminate its weakness of each material containing being only capable of containing a single spell, Rorono had a.s.sembled together scores of parts to form the strongest and most versatile equipment she could think of: the [Mechanical Warmaiden].

Equipped with the [Mechanical Warmaiden], she could display excellent fighting prowess despite the fact that her status wasn't particularly geared toward battle. As she was, she could match up to even against Kuina or Aura.

The [Mechanical Warmaiden]'s primary weapon, an ultra-large caliber coilgun, was then fired.

Its ultra-fast bullet pierced through every enemy in its path and made them vanish.

Its power was so absurd, rather than calling it a soldier's weapon, it was more fitting to call it a tank's gun.

Rorono wouldn't use her trump card unless things were getting dire so her using it now only proved how deep in trouble we were.

After all, just by looking, I was able to tell that the enemy forces were composed of more than 200 units, with a lot of them being A rank monster. Worse yet, many of those were A rank monsters with progressive levels.

It was a situation where we absolutely could not afford to be negligent.

Presently, Rorono was standing by here and guarding me while providing support via bombardment.

We were currently dominating the battlefield so apparently she could afford to give priority to protecting me.

"Yeah, she sure is. …I'm not so confident I can win against the present Kuina-chan."

Aura the Ancient Elf said so as she tirelessly fired her anti-materiel rifle from the sky. The latest revision of her rifle was dubbed the Durandal-Avalon. Because it was equipped twin golem cores, it was able to spit out high-powered bullets that didn't consume the user's magic power.

An anti-materiel rifle, to begin with, was powerful enough to pierce through armored vehicles but this model surpa.s.sed that power many times over. Combining it then with Aura's stats and her [Shooter of Magical Projectiles]—the skill that gave the strongest bonus for long range attacks—any A rank monster would be taken out by just a blow, if not slaughtered outright.

Moreover, with her [Jade Eyes]—the best magical eye—and her ability to freely control the wind, missing was impossible.

One would absolutely not want Aura to be their enemy. There was nothing more terrifying as an opponent in the battlefield than a sniper that had extreme firepower.

And yet, she herself had commented that even she wasn't confident she could win against Kuina.

"Oto-san, this is amazing. Ever since Kuina became an adult, Kuina became even stronger"

With dance-like movements, Kuina easily rampaged in the center of the enemy formation.

She narrowly avoided every attack coming her way by a few millimeters and relentlessly fired attacks of her own.

By nature, as a Celestial Fox, she had the skill [Precognition] which allowed her to glimpse a few moments into the future. To make full advantage of that skill, she used it in conjunction with [Ultra-rapid Reaction] which made her reflexes the fastest it could be. Furthermore, for those hard-to-avoid magic attacks, she had [All Magic Nullification].

All together, she definitely had overwhelming fighting prowess.

Nevertheless, she also had clear weaknesses. After all, there was a limit to how much she could see into the future. Plus, no matter how much she saw ahead or how fast she reacted to it, there were just some attacks that couldn't be avoided.

Moreover, using [Precognition] was awfully taxing on her powers of concentration and could therefore only be used for a few minutes.

However, that was before. Presently, even though the battle had been going on for an hour already, [Precognition] was still in use.

The secret to that and the way Kuina was fighting currently—which was unimaginable for her former self—was her finally reaching level 70, the standard level for any S rank monster born with a static level.

Upon reaching that level, Kuina had grown up. If before she looked like a young girl of age 12-13, currently, she looked like a beautiful maiden of age 16-17.

It wasn't just her appearance that changed. All her capabilities had drastically improved and she had gained new special abilities as well.

That power was just like when she used [Transform] to defeat [Wind] Demon Lord Stolas's trump card, the A rank Emarald Dragon that was under the effect of [Berserk].

Originally, Celestial Foxes were late-blooming monsters so this change wasn't really a power up; it was more fitting to say she was only wielding the power that was supposedly hers from the start.

As she was, no simple A rank monster could ever hope to compete.

She was now truly an S rank monster.

"Rorono, it isn't just Kuina that's amazing, Fel who is with her is as well."

"Mhm, Kuina has [All Magic Nullification] but even without that, that girl is guarding Kuina's back amidst the melee."

Kuina and Fel were both leading the charge in this battle. If Fel wasn't here, Kuina probably wouldn't had been able to rampage as much as she had. It was because Fel guarded Kuina's back that Kuina could fight as freely as she wanted.

But then, a rain of magic attacks was poured toward the two. Kuina, who was safe thanks to her ability to nullify magic attacks, aside, Fel reacted to such by raising her hand. Upon doing so, the rain of magic spells encountered an invisible wall.

Even Aura and Rorono couldn't make a barrier that could defend against the carpet bombing that was done by even A rank monsters.

The secret behind it was Fel's ability to manipulate time. With it, she stopped the flow of time within the s.p.a.ce that was a few millimeters around her, thus becoming the barrier.

Because she had stopped time only within such a small area, its magic power consumption was at minimum. And hence, it was a barrier ridiculous both in its strength and efficiency.

"Ha, enough. You're all annoying! Don't come near me!"

Fel shouted so and then swung the sword in her hand.

Inconspicuously, the sword had no blade. However, the moment she swung the sword—and only then—a blade of light that was several meters long was formed.

Its ability to mow down enemies was spectacular. An attack that was supposed to be for close range was turned into a far-reaching one.

"Rorono, that, can it not really be used by the Avalon-Ritters, after all? It seems awfully useful."

The sword without a blade was originally a weapon made for the Avalon-Ritters. However, with none of them being capable of using it, the development for it was put on hold and eventually canceled.

"It's impossible. The formation of the blade is a function of the weapon itself but for the blade to have the desired shape, have the desired output, it would depend completely on the user's control of magic. It is a task that is immensely difficult and time-consuming. Moreover, while the blade is given form, it has a fault wherein it continuously drains the user's magic power. To counter that, the blade should be formed only when it is about to cut something. But doing it so instantly and so perfectly is not something the Avalon-Ritters can do. It's precisely because it's her that it is being done effortlessly. She's got amazing senses, to the point I'm somewhat jealous, actually."

Fel didn't fall behind Kuina in battle.

Even though she was a monster made using three high-level A rank medals, her martial arts and precision in magic was still far too great.

I had conjectured that perhaps it was more because of the [Time] Demon Lord's rigorous training.

After all, for all the feats she had shown, talent alone wasn't enough of an explanation.

Her use of her time manipulation abilities wasn't limited to just defense. Occasionally, I could notice that she was moving in such speed that she was faster than even Kuina who had [G.o.dspeed]. It was perhaps her using her ability to accelerate her own time.

She was quite literally living on a different time.

Kuina the Celestial Fox and Fel the Celestial Wolf, the world's strongest sisters, were dominating the battle.

But that didn't mean that we could rest easy.

Our magic power and ammunition was limited. Our stock of potions too was beginning to run out.

Still… we had to press on.

"Oto-san, the enemies are running away"

"Hmp, if you're going to run away anyway, don't even try to fight from the very start"

The two shouted so as they gave pursuit.

The enemy had resisted heavily thus far but upon becoming numerically inferior, they understandably withdrew.

The current place we were in was the penultimate floor in Marcho's dungeon.

That meant that the enemies' stronghold was not far now.

Given all that, it was then feasible that the reason the enemy monsters here weren't fighting until the end was because they intended to link up with their main force.

From their viewpoint, from here on out, it was probably a do or die situation since it was pretty clear that they were going to be trapped on both ends by my and Marcho's forces. Presumably, they were going to go all out, sending even Covenant monsters.

In the case of a pincer attack, a logical solution was to attack with one's all the weaker of the two enemy forces. In this scenario, ours was undoubtedly the weaker end.

"Everyone, this will be our last break. Feel free to use up all the remaining potions. I want you all in perfect condition."

I then issued a battlecry.

As things were, it was truly possible to help Marcho without losing anyone.

And, upon R'lyeh Diva's confirmation on where the enemy stronghold was, we could finally unleash that

trump card.

We had managed to continuously win so far but an a.s.sault on the enemy's full force was on a whole other level.

Should we dare to confront them head on, there was no question that my forces, even Kuina and Fel, were going to be flattened.

It was great news.

From this point on, due to us now having full control of the other dimension, we would be able to guarantee at all the times the acquisition of intelligence. Moreover, we could now communicate with Marcho's monsters.

"Well done, R'lyeh Diva. I'd like you to do two more things. First is to know where the enemy's main force is. Next is to ask Marcho's monsters to deliver a message to her…"

Like so, there was no need to fight directly anymore. The

trump card

will surely be of great use now.

My plan might not be honorable but I will go will go with it nonetheless. I didn't come here for honor after all, I came here to save Marcho.