Allen swung his sword with all his might, but Lycaoron dodged it, kicking him in a counterattack.
He crossed his arms trying to block the kick, but his arms were crushed and he was sent flying back.
(Mm, Demon Generals really are strong. Though I can match that speed if I switch all my summons to attack and agility blessings. I still like having more Endurance, but damn does it hurt!)
Allen was currently equipped with many Insect A, Beast A, and Wraith A summons for this mission.
Because of that, his Attack was lower than during the fight against the Iron Golems or against the final boss of the S Rank Dungeon Gordino.
On top of that, he was not using the support skill or magic he had obtained after fighting Gordino.
In a way, it was only thanks to the Endurance blessings from Insect A and Wraith A that his arms were merely crushed.
"I think it'll work! Kurena, Dogora, commence the attack!!"
"Gotcha!!"
Having stood waiting, Dogora grasped his large shield and battleaxe, jumping into the fight.
He had been preparing for this since the day before.
'Ohh, so the leader himself threw himself at me to test my strength. But no matter how many weaklings like you pile up on me it'll be the same!!'
Everyone was in the fight now, but Lycaoron still acted full of confidence.
Behind them, Melus shook his hand free from Lycaoron's grasp, and switched targets from the altar to the Demon General.
"Flare!!"
'Heh, magic?'
As Dogora and Kurena jumped into action, they surrounded the Demon General, and when his attention was focused on those two, Cecile shot a fireball towards him, which he swatted away with his palm.
Even though he had easily stopped Cecile's magic, Lycaoron did not feel like it would be a fun time to fight with someone shooting magic from a distance.
He decided to take out Cecile first.
"I won't let you! Ghah!"
Dogora was in front of Cecile, so he attempted to protect her, but he was sent flying together with his shield.
The Demon General moved swiftly, making it hard to believe he was actually surrounded, putting his overwhelming strength full on show.
While the Demon General's swiftness was his main strength, he also had a considerable amount of Endurance and Attack, letting him use a light-weight fighter style of combat.
"Yahh! Ghuh!"
Kurena swung her greatsword with all her might, but Lycaoron stopped the blade with his fist, before flinging it and Kurena away.
Even while in the air, she continued trying to attack him again.
Kurena had always been better at making quick decisions and being flexible during a fight than Dogora.
That had been the case back in Kurena Village, and even now after conquering the S Rank Dungeon it was the same.
(I guess not even clearing the S Rank Dungeon is enough to overpower a Demon General easily.)
This fight was an opportunity for the party to see how they would hold up against a Demon General after their time in the S Rank Dungeon.
There was something Allen had told the party before they entered the S Rank Dungeon.
They would go inside, and advance through the S Rank Dungeon, changing their Talents, and obtain all-new sets of armor and weapons, but even after all that, defeating a Demon General might be hard.
If Demon Generals' stats reached 20000 or 30000, it would take a lot of effort to match up to them.
It was almost necessary to have an Extra Skill like the Hero Helmios' [Phoenix Sword] that made his attacks stronger against Demon General's, or Doberg's [Guard Break] which could nullify their defenses no matter how much Endurance they had.
Kurena supported her greatsword with both hands as she struggled to hold back Lycaoron's punch, while examining his eyes and posture, which were anticipating an attack from either Allen, Melus, or Dogora.
When he turned around slightly, she attacked his back.
Don't try attacking from the front, either go for the back or sides.
That was something which Allen had learned in his past life, and he communicated it to his party before.
Never considering fighting head on, or on equal footing like a duel. They were not aspiring to be knights or honorable swordsmen.
They always had to have their eyes set on victory.
The back or sides were better targets since this world had various details influencing damage caused.
There was regular damage, misses, and critical hits.
Critical hits doubled the damage of an attack.
The conditions for a critical hit were complex, and had not been fully discovered yet.
The chance of landing a critical hit was heavily influenced by the difference in Agility between opponents, and whether an attack landed on a vital spot.
On top of that, attacks from the back or sides usually had a much larger chance of being critical hits as well.
Allen had explained that time and time again while they went through dungeons, so now that knowledge was ingrained in Kurena's body.
After going through the war in Rosenheim, the S Rank Dungeon, and the gruesome scenes of the Holy Land, Kurena's mind had gotten stronger.
But even though she kept focusing her attacks on the Demon Genera's sides and back, she was barely causing any damage.
'Such cheeky weaklings.'
"Mguh!!"
While he was superior in all stats overall, they had an advantage in numbers.
Kurena was flung back after blocking a punch with her blade again, but somehow this situation felt less desperate than the fight against the Demon General Razel.
She was not powerful enough to take down a Demon General, but she was putting up enough of a fight.
(Kurena still hasn't used her Extra Skill too. We're doing well enough like this, the Talent Change was a good idea.)
"Gale! Grant me your power!"
'Yes, mother.'
Gale, the spirit of wind who looked like a young boy with spiky hair and wearing shorts, created ropes of visible wind to restrain Lycaoron.
'You can make spirits visible?!'
Sophie used as much mana as she could, slowly strangling Lycaoron with the wind ropes which made creaking noises..
Even when Kurena used Skills on his back many times, she had been unable to draw blood yet, but Sophie's spirit magic attack with all her mana had started affecting him.
Still, a little bleeding did not seem to bother him, as he mustered all his strength and tore the wind ropes away.
Lycaoron seemed more shocked that Sophie had complete control over spirits than over the fact that he had been harmed.
(So Sophie is one step ahead of us then. Is the altar really so important to keep defending it in this situation though?)
What that altar with the blue light shooting up was supposed to worship was still a mystery.
But during Melus' many attempts at fighting the Demon General, Allen was sure Lycaoron had called it an altar.
There was no information about what it worshiped, but at least it was an altar of some kind.
(Anyway, we pretty much know the extent of the Demon General's power, so we can move onto the next plan. His attitude is getting pretty riled up too.)
After the first encounter four days before, Melus had constantly come back to try out new plans.
Rather than using brute force to defeat thim, this Demon General required a specific strategy tailored for his weaknesses.
Melus had no need to reveal all of abilities though, so he limited his summons to the bare minimum.
At the same time Allen was helping the other cities and villages, while still thinking of a strategy that would grant them victory without suffering any losses.
Before the fight against the Demon General, they had to make sure there were no survivors in the temple or the areas around it.
Melus had thoroughly searched everywhere, making sure there were no wounded or prisoners inside the temple.
With none found, everything was ready to carry out the strategy Allen thought of.
"Get ready, Cecile. Let's do it Sophie!"
"Okay, got it."
"You can count on me, Master Allen."
Speaking to Cecile, who stood the furthest back, Allen jumped near her.
Melus, Kurena, and Dogora followed suit.
"Dogora, don't let him get through you no matter what!!"
"I-I know!"
(Hey, try sounding a bit more confident.)
Dogora stuttered a little, and his face was beet red.
At least he could hide his blushing face behind his shield, thought Allen.
'Ghahahah! You can try anything you want but it won't work. Or do I need to show you my power even more?'
Lycaoron had the upper hand since the fight started, so he found the idea of Allen's party trying something to be very laughable.
"Heh, just wait and see where mocking us gets you. Sophie, do it."
"Alright. Nymph, grant me your strength."
'You've got it, Sophie.'
A young girl wearing a raincoat appeared, talking in a soft voice. She was the spirit of water.
Her raincoat was soaking wet, as if she had been in the rain until just then, her feet making splashing sounds as she stood on the marble floor.
Sophie's mana began pouring into the spirit of water.
And the spirit formed a mass of water in front of Allen.
"Blizzard!!"
Cecil began freezing the water that the spirit had just created.
As more mana was poured into it, the bigger the lump of ice grew, and the more ominous it looked.
'Ohh, you're combining your skills. You plan on destroying me and the altar together with that? How amusing.'
If Lycaoron stepped forward to attack the party, they would attack the altar.
If he remained in front of the altar, the ice would hit him and the altar together.
Lycaoron understood that was their plan.
He grinned, baring his canine teeth. If he blocked that attack, he could go on the offensive again.
He braced his feet, exerting so much strength that the marble floor underneath him began to crack.
(He really is considering blocking it. I guess it makes sense considering how strong he is. Poppo, come out. It's your turn.)
Seeing Lycaoron get ready to receive the blow, Allen summoned a Bird F.
(Merle, we got everything ready here. Shoot the Vulcan Cannons!)
And then used the Awakened Skill [Transmission].
Only the person Allen designated as the target could hear the [Transmission].
Lycaoron could not hear Allen's shout through Bird F.
But there was someone far away who could hear it.
"It's finally my turn! Got it!"
Merle answered happily, she had never entered the temple
She was resting on Tam-Tam, atop a hill a few kilometers away from Theomenia, Vulcan Cannons aimed straight at the temple and ready to shoot.
The Goliath Type Mithril Golem Tam-Tam was slotted with one Attack Stone Card (Vulcan Cannon L), and five Strengthening Stone Cards (Attack+), giving it the most destructive power possible.
The [Transmission] did not only carry Allen's voice, but also what Bird F was seeing.
[Transmission] had a range of a hundred kilometers, and it let Merle see the exact position of Lycaoron inside the temple.
Though the blue light coming from the altar had already made aiming easy.
"Aim at the Demon General Lycaoron! Vulcan Cannons engage!!"
As Merle pulled the attack controls inside of Tam-Tam, light began gathering into the strengthened Vulcan Cannons.
Then multiple rounds of bright and super-heated bullets were shot towards the temple.
The marble walls covering Lycaoron's location quickly melted from the bullets, and together with a bright flash they closed in on him.
'?!'
Lycaoron was too late to react, not even being able to form a word.
He was fully ready for a frontal attack, and then suddenly the Vulcan Cannon fire came from the side, something he had not expected in the least.
The altar flashed in his mind, which made him turn back to the ice chunk formed by Cecile and Sophie, throwing his movements into complete disarray.
In the end, Lycaoron was caught in the blinding lights of the super-heated bullets.
Then the walls on the other side of the temple began to melt, mixing together with the dirt used to build the temple, boiling, and then evaporating.
"Wait! Is this going to hold out?!"
Cecile sounded desperate. The lump of ice, made to protect the party from the heat of the Vulcan Cannons, was sublimating at an alarming rate.
The ice was becoming smaller in front of their eyes.
"It should... I hope."
(It might be a bit close. We'll just get a bit hot.)
"Hey! Did you just say 'I hope'?!"
Tam-Tam had been stationed a considerable distance away, but maybe they had still been too close to the Vulcan Cannons, so Allen made a mental note to think of that next time.
Kiel sounded quite angry behind them, but Allen decided to ignore him.
Even after the Vulcan Cannons went offline, the ground and walls were still red, containing a lot of trapped heat.
The entire place was melting and bubbling.
Lycaoron and the altar had also been blown away.
