As the Evil God grew larger and more grotesque, Allen changed his strategy.
An angel appeared in front of them.
'Kyubel!'
Merus under Kingship was brought atop the crystal flower's style.
Helmios' party [Sacred] and Merle piloting her hihiirokane golem in Mode Dolphin also came.
The most powerful units gathered there.
Now that the Evil God had been resurrected, there was little point in fighting elsewhere.
Everyone had to remain together. Allen's Army and the Hero's Army were important to fight the Demon King's Army.
But there were two million lives to protect in Patlanta too.
Shea and Cecile, who had both lost their older brothers to the Demon King's Army, glared at the Demon Great Generals enraged.
Allen had to take everything into account, and accommodate for their emotions too.
'Oh my, Merus is finally here too. Are you sure that was a good idea? Our army is still attacking, you know? Or does this mean the army was defeated so quickly?'
Kyubel began questioning Allen's strategy.
He did not believe the army on the north could be defeated so easily.
"Don't worry about that. Try to worry about your own life a bit more."
Allen ignored the question, not wanting to let Kyubel know everything.
(Maybe I should've always stayed silent around him? Though that's just hindsight. At least the Demon Generals are gone there, and I got more allies here.)
Allen decided to focus more on this fight.
There were still 50000 A Rank monsters and a handful of S Rank monsters in the north.
But Allen's Army and the Hero's Army should be able to handle that on their own.
Not having Merus would make it a bit harder though.
Still, Allen only cared about winning the fight.
'Don't try to defeat powerful enemies only to improve your records. Stay defensive and head south!'
Allen used the Bird F summon's Awakened Skill [Messenger] to give out orders to Allen's Army and the Hero's Army.
The golems would keep their defenses up, while archers and magicians attacked from range.
Those with swords and spears would focus on defending the rest.
Merus had also left plenty of summons.
Allen ordered the summons to keep the army safe.
The Demon Generals had been defeated, so as long as they kept their guard up they would win.
The golems and summons kept them safe, prioritizing being safe over defeating enemies.
If the enemy attacked too much, they would simply step back.
If the armies fully retreated the Demon King's Army would easily trample Patlanta.
But by slowly stepping back, they would reach the city after many hours or even days.
"That should give us enough time to send all the mermen somewhere safe then."
Cecile understood Allen's strategy when she asked how things were going.
"Yes. I don't know if the crystal flower will survive that, but Aqua can just create a new one."
By the time the Demon King's Army reached them, everyone would be somewhere safe, transported by the Bird A summon's Awakened Skill [Homing Instinct].
It was hard to know what the monsters would do in Patlanta, if the mermen were gone.
But the crystal flower was something similar to the elves' World Tree.
(I guess Rosenheim has the World Tree, Baukis the Tower of Trials, and Prostia the crystal flower.)
During his adventures in the world, Allen had seen the symbols of each country.
While Allen planned that, there was a face with deep wrinkles glaring at someone.
"There you are, Sinorom."
Memories from decades before flooded Doberg's mind.
More than 70 years ago he was born a serf and called to fight the Demon King's Army once he became an adult.
He had married Classis a bit before the fight, and then they met Sinorom.
Classis then vanished somewhere, and Doberg assumed the Demon King's Army took her.
That happened nearly 50 years ago, but seeing Sinorom and the eyeball monsters brought the memories back.
'Hm?'
His hand gripping his sword was far stronger than it was back then.
Doberg had been fighting restlessly for decades, chasing after Sinorom.
"Sinorom! I'll make you tell me where Classis is no matter what!!"
'Huh? Who are you? Ghah?! Wait wait wait-'
(Sinorom isn't a fighter at all.)
Doberg dashed through the water, his eyes focused on Sinorom.
He had seen the eyeball monster before, and knew how the tentacles attacked.
After sidestepping them, he got closer to Sinorom.
Sinorom's reaction made Allen understand that he was not used to fighting himself.
'There's too many enemies here. Maybe it's best if you stand back, Professor.'
Bildiga sounded displeased with how crowded the place had become.
"Nghah?!"
Doberg had been waiting decades for this moment, but Bildiga blocked his path.
Bildiga's scythe-like front legs easily sent Doberg flying away.
Bildiga, Ramonhamon, and Basque transformed to increase their stats.
Rosalina was also using her singing Skills to buff Allen's group, but it barely made a difference.
(That's not too bad, I guess that's the power of a Knight King. Tanks really are the best, I should try to get one in my party. I think he still hasn't reached Skill Level 6 too.)
Helmios had a Knight Saint as his party's tank.
After a Talent Change, he had become a 4 Star Knight King, with buffing Skills to protect all his allies.
-Strength +2000
-Endurance +10%
-Dodge Chance +10%
Doberg had reached Level 60 after his Talent Change, but his buffs' Skill Levels had not gotten too high.
But even without his Skill Levels maxed out, he still provided ample defense to the group, and powered them up a little.
Everyone was ready to fight as a cohesive group, except Rosetta who looked dissatisfied.
"Hey, where did you bring me?!"
"Calm down Rosetta. This isn't the time to complain."
"What! I won't fight against these gross monsters!!"
Rosetta vehemently refused to fight the Demon Great Generals, stepping back.
Seeing that, Allen turned to Helmios, hoping he could solve that.
Helmios nodded back, though he looked slightly annoyed.
"Come on, Rosetta. Did you even see that shiny anklet on Basque?"
"Huh? I don't care!! I won't fall for that trick again."
"..."
While everyone fought, Helmios tried to convince Rosetta who insisted on looking away.
After a while, Rosetta gave up and glanced at Basque's legs.
"...Okay, but that's all I'll do. I don't like how that looks on a muscle brain. Robber's Hands!!"
Rosetta, who had the Phantom Thief King Talent, used her Extra Skill [Robber's Hands].
She held her hands out and moved them like she was grabbing something.
'Hm?! Ah!!'
It took Basque a moment to understand what was happening.
But he noticed his Agility had gone down.
In his confusion, Dogora's battleaxe got closer.
"Where are you looking!!"
'Ghuh!! Damn you!!'
"Gah!!"
Dogora had tried to attack while he was distracted, but Basque's greatsword pushed him away.
But Rosetta had stolen Basque's anklet, which brought his stats down closer to Dogora's.
(She stole the anklet. I guess it works on abilities and not just Skills. And it worked on a Demon Great General.)
Rosetta had once used her Extra Skill to steal Gordino's Skill that erased buffs.
She just stepped back now, feeling like her job was done. But unlike her, a group of mermen arrived at the crystal flower's style.
"Alec, sorry for keeping you waiting. What is going here?!"
(No, I didn't want you here. At all.)
"L-Lord Ignomas!!"
After giving orders to Prostia's armies, Ignomas had returned.
Allen made an exaggerated reaction to that.
"So, tell me what happened!!"
"Yessir!! The First Angel Merus just arrived from the surface, bringing with him heroes from the surface transformed into mermen to aid us!!"
Allen pointed at Merus as he made something up.
He did not want Ignomas there, but there was no helping it now.
Taking up his role as the ambassador Alec, he replied to Ignomas.
"What do you mean? How is that possible?"
Ignomas held his spear aimed at the powerful Demon Great Generals.
Even he, touted as Prostia's strongest, could tell how powerful they were.
He also could see the Evil God behind, looking like an enormous monkfish that kept growing.
"Focus on defense. Keep everyone alive!!"
While Ignomas struggled to comprehend everything, Allen gave new orders to his allies.
"Wait, what? What's happening?!"
Allen did not tell them to fight or win.
He did not want them to feel like they needed to defeat the enemy.
Even Merus, who was under Kingship and buffed by the Spirit King's Blessing, had to focus on defending his allies rather than going on the offense.
'Heheheheh. What do you mean by that? Hmm?'
Kyubel also noticed something strange about that.
Merus was the only one who seemed to have a chance at defeating the Demon Great Generals.
The Angel A summon under Kingship was just that powerful.
He had already used his Awakened Skill, but he could still fight the transformed enemies.
Still, Allen had called those reinforcements to keep his friends alive.
The whole confusion was simply Allen's plan to buy time.
Cecile and Kyubel noticed something about Allen from all of that.
His eyes had been glued to the Grimoire for a while.
After he received the suspicious message claiming he could get 100 Levels, there were more entries being logged one after another.
'The Sacred Beast Stone has been analyzed.'
'The Sacred Beast Stone's administrator privileges have been overwritten. Allen is the new administrator.'
'The soul [Makris] contained in the Sacred Beast Stone has been unsealed.'
'Negotiations to form a new pact with Aqua's Servant Makris underway.'
(Oh? Makris pact with Aqua is being changed then?)
The logs mentioned the Sacred Beast Stone Peromus risked his life to obtain.
Allen planned his next actions based on his past experiences and those logs.
He had to keep his friends safe and buy time.
Allen continued looking at the Grimoire until the next entry appeared.
'I'm the guardian of Prostia! I'll continue defending this city and its inhabitants that Diadora loved so much, no matter what form I take!!'
It was not a robotic message, but it looked like Makris' own thoughts.
'The changes to Makris' pact with Aqua have been completed.'
'Reconstruction of Makris' soul to match the new pact commenced.'
'Makris' soul has been reconstructed.'
(Oh?)
Makris had formed a pact with Aqua, becoming her Servant and defeating the Sea Monster.
That pact was changed now.
Everyone looked at Allen wondering what his next action would be when the log he hoped for appeared.
'Fish S summon has been unsealed. Fish S summon now available. Fish S can't be summoned until enough Sacred Bead Points are gathered. 15 Sacred Bead Points needed to summon Fish S.'
(So it tells me right away that I need more Sacred Bead Points.)
"Peromus."
"What is it?"
"I'm sorry, but can I use the Sacred Bead Rosalina got?"
Allen made a very important question to Peromus, who was standing back.
Peromus had risked his life, getting battered in the process, all for the Sacred Bead.
And somehow he even participated in defeating a Demon General.
Peromus was not much of a fighter, so Allen knew how much it took for him to do that.
He had literally risked his life just to see this happen.
And there had been a specific reason for that.
Allen could not willfully use the Sacred Bead without asking for Peromus' permission.
"Of course. It's not like it was given to me yet."
Without hesitation, Peromus said Allen could use the only Sacred Bead Rosalina had gotten from Makris.
"Thank you."
Allen thanked Peromus, then decided to turn the Sacred Bead into Sacred Bead Points.
'A Sacred Bead has been turned into 15 Sacred Bead Points.'
'15 Sacred Bead Points spent, Fish S created.'
One card labeled [S] appeared in front of Allen.
He had obtained a Fish S summon.
"Makris."
Holding the card, Allen spoke a single word.
That was the only name the Fish S summon could have.
'Raaaaaaahhhhhhhhh!! I'll protect all of mermeeeeeeeeen!!'
Together with that warcry, an enormous fish appeared above them.
Allen had called his Fish S summon.
