Vol 3 Chapter 8 (1/1)

“NYAAH! NYYAAAHHHAHAHAAHA! NYAHAHAHAHAHAHA!” Bell rolls around on top of Sahter booms above the canopy “It isn’t what it looks like!” Rick protests as he wipes fruitlessly at his trousers, a wet splotch visible on his pelvis with a water trail leading to the left leg of the pants “Is Rick-ni afraid of heights~?” Till subtly iggles “Gives for his right ear “Gui, ask one of the dereen pack with the triple butterfly knot and get a pair of trousers for Rick” Kun is well aware that it’s iame even if they want to, since Gui tried that days earlier, so it means that the wet spot definitely isn’t a result of Rick pissing his pants froives off two croaks as a warning, causing everyone to e of its body Afterward, a hand reaches upward, shortly followed by a pair of trousers sailing through the air gasha “Thanks” Kun snatches it froe and give hies out of the trousers, causing Till to ‘Iyyyaaaaaaaa’ loudly “… Thanks man” The youth claps Kun softly on the shoulder before quietly dangling his old trousers over the edge It is carefully tugged at before Rick let’s go of it “… nyahaha nyanyahaha” The felinoid’s laughter eventually dies out, breathless fro with a red, blushi+ng face, she had turned away fro “Hht at the ankles, Rick reaches doith a dagger and gives both of the off his circulation keho Kun, being the ather everyone’s attention “Okay, let’sby the numbers from the time they embarked, the numbers we faced, and all the areas with people, there should be about a thousand fighters—plus an unknown a the preparation tiistics, at least a third of that number should be support personnel…” “Wait, Kun, frouards Soatherareas, especially those affiliated with the nobles” “Oh~ Rick-ni actually noticed those details~ So he isn’t just a pretty face~” pufuu Bell does an e onto Sa her sides “Please… no more…” [T/N: Till used イケメン aka Ikeards to its intonation, so I’m not too sure why it’s funny…Rick the male version of the bimbo? Or it can simply be the fact that Bell finds it funny that Till finds Rick to be handso the felinoid, the three of theo with the attrition strategy~” “Oh?” “Let’s say between 10-20 of the fighting force is out of coh our actions and the inevitable battles between thehters plus their support~ Froenerally two factions in Lilyheim~ This means that one side will eventually doerous to send the deree” Rick starts scratching the corner of his ht be so that the various groups aren’t out to kill anyone, except against the Players that is And before I got… rescued,” the blond youth squeaks out the last word as he chokes on it “There was a group assault, but I didn’t see any deaths on the NPC side So they are obviously holding back” “Hists here, we can’t really cause massive confusion even if ant to With the reinforcey would be rendered less once they arrive” Kun shi+fts his ain, as he ruminates on the situation “A blitz~?” “Infiltration?” Till and Kun suggest their own ideas at the sao first “I can bo it on fire, this will cause the defenders in the front to put out the flame~ Then we can drop in from above and rush in, I will take out all the torches as we advance while Bell-ne takes care of the fighting~ We get to the Princess and then use her as a hostage if we need to~” “Hostage? Aren’t we supposed to be the good guys saving her…?” Rick makes an incredulous face at Till “Probleet trapped in there trying to find the Princess, ill just die pointlessly” “Wait… you actually support her idea?!” Rick keeps his expression as he shi+fts his gaze fro, ‘pretty boy’” Bell finally ether and knocks the youth in the head as she joins in the discussion “I also had a similar idea, but instead of boht after I blind everyone with a flash of light while Till takes out all the lighting, we use that tiet inside Bell and I will enter while the two of you cause as much chaos as possible” “But wouldn’t you have the sa the Princess~?” Kun nods helplessly as Rick rubs his head The group remains silent for a while “If we need to find the Princess, can’t we just send Dosnak in first and get some information?” ““OH!”” “Huh?” The overcast sky blocks any celestial light source,shadoalks froo get souarding the entrance to the caroup of five soldiers behind him The entire camp is surrounded by a series of ropes, attached to bells and traps, securing the perihters can bypass low-level defenses through body enhanceh makeshi+ft defenses with a simple «Spell», the preferred defenses are alarm ones when they are in the field - as they tend to requires very little resources in co like a palisade or a rampart which can at most keep out the weakest of wildlife da da da dokkan dokkAN The sounds of objects landing softly on the jungle floor is covered by consecutive explosions as the ground shakes “What’s going on?!” “Attack! We are under attack!” DOKKAN “Mage Corp, intercept their attack while you retreat! Soldiers, grab your equipes and for warrior bellows at the panicking soldiers “Lotus Blades and Nocturne Petals, protect the Marshall!” ““““““Yes sir!”””””” Two dozen soldiers dash toward the largest tent in a disciplinedand attach the their way toward the front of the caanize the their standard tactical foric” A blonde wo red robe shouts from the middle of one of the nues in white robes fro three pillars one after another after their incantations dokkan ka ka kkkaaaaaa shan A strea for the ot blocked by three pillars of earth The first pillar is shattered at its top, the second’s es to stop the attack, with a large hole visible on its lower section, on its side The woman in the red robe frowns as they make their way from the camp “I can not detect the enemy! I repeat, I can not detect the enees all turn their bodies, facing a different part of the deep, dark jungle sha sha “Red is good to go!” A muffled voice is acco at the retreating soldiers A heavily aruards, the outer ring with their spears drawn, the inner ring with their diroup moves meticulously towards the outside of the camp, shortly followed by KAAN KAN KAAAN Fires follow the explosions, spreading throughout the camp [T/N: It wasn’t obviously clear, hell, it even took ure out The explosions are as a respond to “Red is good to go!”, if anyone recalls, this was the irenade they used in vol 1 They were thrown into the caun :P (refer to the da da da sfx] “Blue, increase range by 30 meters Then another at 35 meters forith 12 ht” dokkan dokkan dokkan “Focus our defense to our rear! Those off the rotation, help ives out orders as she sends a fireball through the canopy A muffled hishi+ can be heard from above the leaves “““““““Yes ma’am!””””””” “Make way, roup, as a large circle of soldiers make their way to the center The other forhtlyback into their positions “It’s good that you are safe, Marshall” “Skip the for attacked, but we have suffered no serious injuries So either our assailants are unskilled, or they aren’t interested in har us” The Marshall of the expedition scrunches his brows, the heavy arrasp of the situation “Not good! Have our uards!” fiiii dokkan dokkan dokkan “shi+t…” The Marshall place his left hand on his face for a nore the rear! Prepare for battle at the front! Do not actively engage the eneht!” “What the hell was that?!” Aand questions aloud “We are under attack!” gon gon gon “We are under attack!” A dozen or so people screas with sticks to rouse everyone at the camp as they run towards the open stairs “fuck, who the hell has the nerve to attack in the ht?! Are they insane?!” The mercenary quickly rushes down the stairs and makes his way to report to his superior kan kan zarashi+ “Eh… what’s that sound?” “Doesn’t that sound like… a battle?” “Quick, make a report to the Overseer!” … … … “Are you certain?” An elf in satin sleepwear asks while lighting up the lamp on the table in front of hi “We’d already sent out some scouts, they should report back shortly” A soldier is kneeling on one knee on the floor, his right fist pressed fir his salute Furu A pale looking elf roughly tosses aside the hanging cloth that acts as the doorway to the large tent and rushes in “Overseer, the battle is raging, but it’s strange It seeainst the defenders on-site, yet…” “Yet what?!” The elf bellows i a passive battle and see, it’s the defenders that are actively attacking theht battle in the jungle means one or both sides will become totally annihilated, this is definitely not the tiist rushes out in one breath “But you said the Republicans are fighting defensively assu time, then…” “Either their reinforce else!” The strategist quickly finishes off the sentence shi+ shi+ shi+ The Overseer quickly picks up the quill, dips it into so the velluhts it with the fla In a ser and presses it down fir this back to our lord in Lilyheiaze to the strategist and the kneeling soldier “Rouse the archers, ill be stopping the Republicans fro us!” [T/N: If anyone is lost froot attacked and forced to retreat INTO the defenders The Marshall realized it, a bit too late and tries to GTFO 2) Defenders go nuts trying to well, defend 3) Another group hears the battle, going “oh shi+t, I want a piece of that ass” and joins in So it’s a domino effect set off by our MCs] As sih the nearby cauards e tree kan kan The battle intensifies, yet the sound see this chance, Bell -in her black fur le floor with Rick on her back The felinoidthe blond youth onto the floor shi+n shi+n shi+n shi+n Rick places his hands onto the da on the surface of the ground and vegetation As the radius grew to about 3Bell take over A burst of dull, silvery light envelopes her hands, turning it into metallic claws kuru kuru Without hesitation, she starts tearing out the frozen earth, alternating her left and right claw, cutting into the earth with knife hands with a steep angle in a circular pattern After co the circle, she tears out the block of frozen earth with a sha, before repeating the process all over again The sound of her digging is covered by the sounds of battle and the occasional sound of explosion, drawing no attention to herself Although the process is slow and laborious, it’s co, she hits the rocky layer underneath as she guessed she would The country where she was born in is a jungle, extreenerally have very poor soil, which is considered co this fact to their advantage Giving her claws some rapid shakes to loosen them up, she dismisses them to reveal the paws underneath With multiple soft kas, she stretches herself out and acts as lookout, while Rick returns to the spot to take over subu Rick swings his right arer into the center of the hole He brings his arm back up and places it onto his ear “Go” He immediately turns on a «Chatrooer releases a warht As the wisps of sht e Rick to cover the hole with his foot-, driving itself deeper into the now damp hole After a similar interval, the liquid in the hole creates shi+n and kuru as they freeze rapidly The cycle repeats itself, with the dagger shrinking quite a bit each ti into a piece of charcoal “This one is a bust,onto the nEX- ouf!” Before Rick can finish his report after turning off his «Chatroorabbed hi into another section that’s barely within view of Kun and the others “Starting hole nu over us and set up a sentry further down in case this one is a dud as well” The felinoidit as she waits for the youth to freeze the ground … … … kon “Kun, stop! Send Dosnak down, this one is good!” “Till, barrage!” DOKKAN DOKKAN DOKKAN DOKkan dokkan dokkan dok… The group le floor after their 6th try, Till had to subtly shi+ft the battleground ever so slightly to allow the duo to hile Gui acts as a scout, soundlessly stalking the branches as he watches the battle unfold nearby After the report, a rain of explosions pule floor Unlike the previous streams of water, the strikes for the sound and area of impact at the expense of power sha sha sha sha The leaves rattle as the deside Dosnak, not taking any chances The reason the guards were kept is twofold: aside froe as only the rich or the powerful have deuards, this will automatically make any opponent hesitate in the dark should they see theotiations easier “Good luck Dosnak, remember, run as soon as you are spotted, don’t take any risks” Rick gives the humanoid a pat on the shoulder as he ives hi up onto a nearby branch, heading towards Kun’s position … … … “Bring out the last of the reserves! Recall squads 1 through 7 to have them rest!” A dirt-blonde elf wo onto the table with a ns of harsh battles The di candlesher to see “Ma’am! The latest report!” A soldier covered in ers run out of the roo the barely noticeable reflection on the ceiling to retract ever so slightly “Good, rest for now!” The worabs the piece of vellu it to view the details With careful attention, she shi+fts the various pieces on top of the ether The breathless er seats hilass of water “What kind of battle is this?!” The woman shakes her head at the nonsense that’s before her eyes With the entrance to the underground fort as the center, several pieces of wooden figures are spread out The first group of attackers have noweast froroup rained arrows continuously froroup of attackers, before a third group attacked the second group froroup seems to be uninterested in the battle as they continue to retreat, strangely enough, away from their supposed campsite A 4-way battle between her secondary forces and 3 other forces shi+fted froing another group into the battle, leaving the southeast practically e everywhere indiscriminately, some of the strikes even knocked the torches off their holders in the corridors [T/N: And this is why you use wooden iic, people will think it’s just burnt out torches after you are done with it :3] “Recall mercenary squads 10 to 17 and redeploy 10 to 13 to the southeast and have the rest on standby!” The soldier nearest to the door immediately runs out of the roo left somewhere further down the path The barely visible watery-fil down the corridor in the opposite direction sha sha “Brother, a group of fighters are co back this way” Gui’s voice appears fro leaves from above Kun “Good job, keep an eye out on them, don’t let them catch you” “Okay!” The voice answers once as the natural sounds of the jungle and the raging battles takes over “Bell, how is it going on your end?” The youngcaltrops fro them into another “It’s all set up, how are these bits of rope and strings going to help though?” “Does your country have tales of ghostly lights intravelers astray?” “No… we have too hosts… wait… youlike ‘will-o'-wisps’?” “Is that what they are called where you are froet to the Princess In that case, every little bit helps, so like this would probably be ht” “You are more devious than you look, Kun” “Thanks for the compliment” “Actually, do we have anymore of those oil filled blocks?” “I have about 7 left, why?” “I’ to add to that “every little bit helps”” … … … doro doro “Rick-sensei” A translucent puddle sluggishly forms next to the blond youth’s hands, the cool sensation reaching his arm unexpectedly “Eeeeeeee!” A shrill, muffled scream barely escapes from Rick’s throat as he chokes on his own breath on its way out The puddle gradually transfor before hi his chest, the youth stands up straight and tries to act dignified “Good work Dosnak, did you found the Princess?” “I believe so, there seeuarded rooet any closer Also…” The youth holds his left hand up to stop Dosnak froet the other two here so you don’t have to repeat everything” Turning his head, he puts his right hand on his ear “Kun, co his head once again “Get your fat ass here, Dosnak’s back” Moroup of people next to the small hole “Woah, so nice and cool here” “Well, I DID freeze the ground all the way through” In the saain doro doro “Bell-sensei, you don’t have to hit les back and forth before finally settling down “Sorry Dosnak, sorry, really, sorry! That wasn’t intended for you” The felinoid apologizes profusely before staring daggers at Rick “You are getting pretty p-r-e-d-i-c-t-a-b-l-e” The youth teases before swiftly dodging a kick aiht please?” The translucent humanoid shi+fts for a bit “Let’s move over there” The trio follows hiht Within mo the ht after, rapidly scraping lines onto the floor “I didn’t find the entrance since it was on the other side, but here is thecorridors that forle of various sizes, within the istics and dorht of thecorridors, where a tendril is pointing at it intently “This is where I think she’s at, there’s four feic users, I nearly got detected by one of them before I rushed back out” “Excellent work, Dosnak” “Yeah, good work, and really sorry about that!” “Alright, let’s call down Till So you, Rick, and Till will rush in from the front after I start a diversion with Dosnak and the deht change of plans” Bell brings out a long piece of rope with six blocks tied into a knot at fixed intervals “Why go through the front e can go through the back?” She flashes a big se up the blocks first, Kun” “I’ it up” “Alright, then do it later” Bell hands the rope ooden blocks to Kun “Just lower it into the hole once you are done with them” She flexes her paws as she closes her eyes for a e up her mana and then make a mess at the entrance I’ll throw this last block of oil at the entrance and rush in Till will rush here to provide assistance, when I get to here…” Bell reaches down and points at an intersection on the map “I’ll tell Kun to explode those blocks, which will open a hole and drop a bunch of debris, I will use an Earth Pillar froet to the Princess while Kun keeps our escape route open” “Eh… what happens if you die at the entrance?” “Just wait til this is over…” Bell mumbles under her breath at Rick’s question “That’s why I’ my halberd here Kun will keep an eye on my status in the party screen, if I die, just blow up the hole and hope for the best We wouldn’t have survived anyways if I can’t get in by ht, let me fill Till in on the new plan” 30 minutes later, the plan went into action It took a little longer since they hid theroup of people Gui warned Kun about appeared, forcing Gui and two of the guards to act as bait and lure them to another location Afterward, a localized storround staircase During a brief lull, a fiery explosion rips through the air at the sa the flaetation A shadow bolts froht into the staircase as the coh… Intruders! Stop that th-mmrph” A mercenary at the bottom of the stairwell yells as a furry blackstone to go over his co?!” “Shut up and chase it!” Sounds of warnings fill the underground corridors as the shadow flickers between dull red and black under the dih stones, with hints of moisture on the orn floor Each time the shadow encounters a squad of soldiers, it ju and even the soldiers the their hindrance It didn’t take long for it to reach the designated spot, with soldiers chasing it from the rear “Let her rip, Kun!” The shadow dives onto the stone floor while a tilted pillar of earth appears from behind it DOKKAN ssshhhhhhhhhaaaaaaa rororororo An earth-rending explosion rocks the ceiling, large chunks of stone bounces off the pillar, leaving deep indentations on its side, a rain of gravel and dirt follows, coust of wind kicks up the loose earth and gravel, creating a sirl in a dress and a dust covered youth, showing a distinct contrast between the two piutaaaa pa pa pa The youth blows a breath to clear his mouth as his proceeds to pat the dust off of himself “Couldn’t you at least cover o~!” The two run up to the felinoid on the ground and give her a hands up “God daives her head a shake to clear her ears as the ringing sound echoes inside Ta Ta Ta “Who goes there?!” A handsoroup of soldiers behind her, with their weapons drawn “Wait… it’s you?!” The blond youth stares at the wo his hands at her [T/N: In case people didn’t realize it, the factions AREN’T at war, they are just different groups within the sa to kill each other as that can easily incite a civil war, so they don’t want Also, if anyone have any questions, ask in the comment and I will answer to the best ofbetween the chapters and this chapter is actually pretty da (almost 15x over the more normal chapters)