"Is this all of them?"
"Yes, I did as Master Allen asked."
It was the fourth morning after the siege of Tiamo against the million-strong magical beasts army.
We were with soldiers and Generals outside the outer walls of Tiamo.
We were going to start our attack on Fortress LaPolca.
Through Ellie undercover activities over the past three days, I had learned that the reserve unit of the Demon King's army was coming.
Apparently, all four million of them were being deployed.
An oceanic assault on Nest City and a pincer operation from the north via land was about to take place. Apparently the Demon King's army was already marching through the ocean toward Nest City.
Pinned down from the north and south, Tiamo wouldn't have been able to withstand an attack from the north. It would have been even more difficult to defend Nest City in such a situation. I knew that we were in a situation where we had to hurry up and capture Fortress LaPolca.
Although we have won individual battles since arriving in Rosenheim, I felt that the pace of the war as a whole was still being controlled by the Demon King's army due to the overwhelming difference in numbers and the speed of their operations.
The Generals told me in advance that it would take five days to prepare 200,000 troops and then ten days to march and reach Fortress LaPolca but we didn't have enough time for that.
Even after reaching Fortress LaPolca, it would have taken us a few days to capture it and regain its function as a Fortress. In the meantime, the Demon King's army would attack us and that would be the end.
As the troops moved hurriedly, I confirmed with the Generals the composition of the troops.
The soldiers were not waiting in line in front of me.
"50,000 in total, right? How many Archers and Spirit Mages do we have?"
"That's right. The total number of soldiers is 50,000, with 3,700 Archers and 3,900 Spirit Mages."
(Hmmm... 2-star Talent Archers and Spirit Mages means about 7600 Talented people.)
I was told that from the day we had defended Tiamo, it would take five days to rally an army of 300,000 elves to Tiamo and march. Counting from the battle day, that would mean we could march on the sixth day.
I told the Generals that that schedule would take too long, so I would like to have 50,000 elves and start moving earlier. I had told the Generals that I would clear the streets before then.
"You mean to tell me you'll capture Fortress LaPolca with only 50,000!?"
"Yes, I am."
It took us 3 days to hunt the 200,000 troops that fled Tiamo.
It was tough to hunt the completely dispersed monsters, but we hunted about 180,000 of them in three days. We were able to hunt most of them thanks to the fact that we asked the elven Thieves to collect the magic stones and prioritized defeating them.
"Then I shall board the Magic Ship as well. Master Allen, please lead the way."
"Yes."
The Generals then boarded the Magic Ship that the soldiers had boarded.
Leaving me and my friends behind, 50,000 elven soldiers boarded the 11 Magic Ships.
According to a General, they were going to march on land, but we decided to take the Magic Ship to the very edge of Fortress LaPolca and march for about a day to capture it. In this way, it would take less than two full days to travel by Magic Ship. If we were to travel overland from there, we would be able to reach the fortress in three days, starting from Tiamo.
Each Magic Ship could carry 5,000 soldiers, so 10 Magic Ships were enough to carry all the soldiers. The 11th Magic Ship was packed with food, weapons, and other supplies to support logistics for field operations.
"Okay, let's go as well!"
""Oh!""
Astride B-rank Birds, me and my friends moved forward, leading the Magic Ship army.
"Good luck, Formar."
"All right."
Formar was riding with me instead of Cecile for the trip.
I was going to produce [Blessing of Heaven]s on the way. From time to time, I used E-rank Bird's awakening skill, [Clairvoyance] to check if there were any magical beasts within a 100-kilometer radius.
"There's an enemy scout in the bottom right corner, shoot it."
"All right."
Formar replied nonchalantly. Using his skills, he defeated the spying scout from a kilometer away.
I heard that the Demon King's army was aware of the threat posed by Magic Ships, so they would give priority to attacking them. If a single Magic Ship were destroyed, thousands of soldiers, valuable supplies, and the very valuable Magic Ship itself would be lost.
In addition, I had heard that more than 100 Magic Ships were given by the Giamut Empire as a fee for dispatching the elven troops. Sending hundreds of elves to the front lines in the northern part of the Central Continent, where their lives were in danger, was not something that could be done for free.
We defeated the enemy scouts flying magical beasts as we moved forward.
(After all, Formar is the best at attacking at ultra-long range. His range is several times longer than Cecile's range.)
[Name] Formar
[Age] 68
[Talent] Archer
[Level] 60
[Strength] 1322
[Mana] 716 + 1000
[Attack] 1730 + 1600
[Endurance] 1140
[Agility] 727 + 600
[Intelligence] 482
[Luck] 783
Skills: Archer6>, Far-sight<6>, Distant Target<6>, Strongbow<6>, Must-Hit Arrow<6>, Step <2>, Archery<6>
[Extras] Arrow of Light
Skill level
[Archer] 6
[Far-sight] 6
[Distant Target] 6
[StrongBow] 6
[Must-hit arrow] 6
He was equipped with Rings that increased his [Mana] and [Attack] by 1000.
The Archer has a skill called [Far-sight] that gives them good eyesight.
The Archers on the Magic Ships were also using their skills to guard their respective.
"It looks like the magical beasts in the cities aren't going to attack us."
"Really?"
"Yeah, we are getting a little close, so shoot them down if they get too close."
Between Tiamo and Fortress LaPolca, there were several cities that were captured by the Demon King's army. We didn't bother to pass by them, but even so, there seemed to be no particular reaction. The magical beasts also seemed to be defending the cities they had captured.
While being vigilant, we couldn't afford to have our precious Magic Ships destroyed, so we proceeded to keep a little distance so as not to provoke the Demon King's army in those cities.
(Well, we'll have to hunt down any flying enemies for the return trip.)
"Master Allen."
"Hmm?"
As I was using E-rank Bird to check for the safety of the Magic Ship, I heard a voice from Formar sitting in front of me without turning around.
"What do you intend to do with Rosenheim, Master Allen?"
"What? I'm going to defeat the entire Demon King's army?"
"No, after that. You have that much power. I'm talking about what you plan to do after this war. I'd love to hear it."
(Hmm? Is there something heavy going on here?)
"Hmm? Huh? Didn't you hear me?"
"Hmm? What are you talking about?"
"I think we talked about this in the Academy City and you were there too. After this war, I'll go to the S-class dungeon in the Baukis Empire. And of course, you are coming too."
(You're guaranteed a 4-star Talent and have valuable super long range attack skills. You might want to stay in Rosenheim, but you'll be sticking around with me for the future.)
"...That's what I thought."
Formar had been with me for more than ten months at that time. We had been sleeping and eating at the same base for a long time. We had conquered dungeons at an unbelievable rate and stopped the invasion of the Demon King's army against Rosenheim in ten days or so.
Formar wanted to ask me what I would do with Rosenheim in the future. However, the answer to his question was something he could understand if he thought about it calmly. Formar realized that I was that kind of person, and reflected on his own question.
It seemed that Formar had something he really wanted to ask me when we were alone, and he started pontificating as if he remembered some things. I regretted that I had not communicated with him well enough. As a party leader, I thought I should communicate with my friends a little more.
The next day around noon, we arrived a day's march away from Fortress LaPolca. Since we were in enemy territory, the soldiers and supplies were quickly unloaded.
"Well, Cecile, there is an army of 10,000 a little northeast of here. So [Small Meteorite], please."
"All right. Allen, you are not coming?"
"Yeah, I'll check until the Magic Ships return safely back to Tiamo."
As the Generals and my friends looked on, I marked the map I had placed on the ground. I used E-rank Bird to see how many troops were in a 100 kilometer radius. I discovered 4 groups outside the Fortress LaPolca.
It seemed that the Demon King's army had several units of roughly 10,000 to 30,000 magical beasts standing by. I wanted to concentrate on capturing Fortress LaPolca, so I asked Cecile for her one [Small Meteorite] of the today.
The Magic Ship, which had dropped off most of its troops and supplies, leaving behind a small number of soldiers, was returning to Tiamo. Formar and I followed them back.
We're going to escort them to Tiamo safely.
Then, at midnight the next day, Formar and I used B-rank Bird's awakening skill, [Soar] to join the elven army that had marched to the vicinity of Fortress LaPolca.
The next day after dawn, the attack on Fortress LaPolca began.
