Although there were some bit of trouble, we were successful in wiping out the enemy stronghold.
The MOAB made things seem easy but if it wasn"t used, we would have been hard-pressed, to say the least.
"I have to make another MOAB that can stand as Avalon"s last line of defense… In regards to its performance, I now know for a fact that there is no need for concern and if it can be ma.s.s produced, there will no longer be anything but praise to say about it."
I had originally intended for the MOAB to be used as Avalon"s final defensive weapon. The plan was to gather as much enemy monsters as possible in my dungeon"s last room and then make the MOAB explode, thus turning all of the gathered enemies into ash.
No matter how strong the enemies were, it was impossible for them to be able to break through. The plan also included making my own monsters escape just before the explosion to make the gathering of the enemy monsters more effective.
Despite taking more than one month to make that single MOAB, I was unsure of its performance. Thankfully, without any sort of tests, it worked perfectly.
That"s great and all but there is one issue…
"Master, Fel has worked hard."
For a while now, Felsias the Celestial Wolf had been sticking close to me.
She was showed off her head as though saying she wanted me to brush it so I did as was asked of me and she smiled ecstatically in return.
She"s acting scarily fond of me.
I had asked Wight what happened in the duration that I was under the effects of [Awakening]. According to him, my other self unbelievably grabbed Fel"s tail, brushed it, and then threatened to do even more terrible things.
Upon hearing that, I decided that I should, no, that I must apologize to her.
If the [Time] Demon Lord knew of this, it would be trouble. No, regardless of him knowing and taking issue, the fact is that I did such things to Fel who was entrusted to me, and for that, I"m simply the worst. I don"t think I can look him in the eye anymore.
"Fel, a-about earlier,"
"I"m looking forward to the reward of being petted privately. But if master wishes for it, I don"t mind enduring being petted in front of everyone…"
It didn"t seem like she hated what I had done. Rather, she was expecting for more. It was troubling in a different way.
"Yeah, look forward for it, Fel."
"I will. Ehehe."
She said so and then locked arms with me while swinging her tail.
I bought some time so I should think of ways to solve this later.
"Muu, Oto-san, Kuina worked hard too."
"Yes, Fel shouldn"t be the only one to receive a reward."
"Yeah, yeah, maybe you can also do those awesome things to us."
Kuina the Celestial Fox, Rorono the Elder Dwarf, and Aura the Ancient Elf all approached and issued out their complaints.
"Of course, I plan on rewarding everyone."
When I said so, everyone—except Rorono who had a disappointed look in her face—celebrated in delight.
"For your efforts in developing our weapons, I"m going to prepare a special reward for you, Rorono, so don"t pout anymore, ok?"
"……I wasn"t really pouting. But, yeah, thank you, Father."
Rorono then proceeded to grab the end of my left arm which was the arm not held by Fel.
She might act like she was cool and mysterious but she was actually very easy to read.
By the way, at the moment, we were waiting for the rest of my monsters to catch up so there was no real time lost for our idle chat.
All complete? Alright, let"s go.
◇
Before entering the second dungeon room where Marcho"s forces and the enemy forces should be holding their all-out battle, we prepared for the potential last battle of the campaign by employing all possible performance increasing skills and magic.
For example, Rozelitte whom I got from [Wind] Demon Lord Stolas strengthened the entire army while Wight did the same but only to the undead.
We were pulling out all the stops. After all, there was no meaning in holding back anymore.
And so, we advanced. What greeted us was the fierce fight unfolding there.
In palpable desperation, the forces that belonged to the old Demon Lords were repeatedly launching reckless a.s.saults.
It was understandable though. Their base of operations which they could retreat to was no more; they could no longer expect for supplies; no reinforcement was coming; and they also no longer had an escape route.
They could still win if they could manage to break through Marcho"s forces but her monsters weren"t generous enough to allow such reckless a.s.saults to pa.s.s through.
Marcho"s medal was the [Beast] medal.
Its feature was its capability to create monsters that had high physical abilities along with other varying abilities. As a group, they were the strongest.
Individually, her monsters might fall behind in performance to [Time] and [Dragon]"s monsters but taken as group, hers would fare better.
The [Beast] medal itself allowed the creation of monsters that were easy to use in a group—even in hundreds, they could adapt perfectly to small changes in the battlefield—but the main factor for their strength was Marcho herself and her caliber as a Demon Lord.
She loved and was loved by her subordinates. For that reason, her army was strong.
"Now, everyone, rampage as loudly as you could! Attack the enemy in the back!"
My monsters replied with shouts of their own.
The enemy"s rear was full of openings and my monsters intended to exploit that.
The ones with guns began firing theirs while the ones without used their magic and breath attacks.
It was an easy hunt.
Obviously, if Marcho"s monsters were locked in close range combat with the enemies, it would be hard to distinguish who was friendly and who was not. Even if we were able to do that, preventing friendly fire was still going to be hard.
However, considering that what was ahead of us was only the rear end of the enemy forces and considering that they couldn"t just turn around to face us because of Marcho"s monsters, things were simple.
Inferior in both quant.i.ty and quality, there was no way they could survive for long.
In such a short time, the enemy forces began to perish. And once they showed an opening, their demise came a little bit faster.
Like so, in under two hours, the enemy forces were annihilated. Well, almost annihilated since some were spared so that information could be extracted from them. To prevent the survivors from committing suicide, strong paralyzing poison was applied.
"Is it over?"
With this, Marcho"s dungeon was probably safe for moment.
We won. Such feelings welled up within me.
Marcho"s forces then parted and in the center was a giant wolf which was taller than I was.
It was a monster that fought vigorously in the previous battle.
It had grey pupils and a coat of fur so beautiful that it could make one sigh. Despite its killing intent that could make one"s soul freeze, it was very n.o.ble.
That wolf then began to walk toward me slowly. After a while, its body shined and it changed its form into the shape of a humanoid.
The light faded and what appeared was a brown-skinned, beautiful woman that had white hair and a wolf"s ears and tail.
It was the person that I came here to help. It was my guardian. It was Marcho.
"Procell, I believe I told you to not come."
Her smile was wry but in her voice was unconcealed joy.
Urged by something, I rushed forward and embraced her.
"I was worried, Marcho. Very worried."
When I felt Marchos" warmth and tenderness, the feeling of accomplishment rushed to me. I did it, I did it without losing her.
"Sorry. …you must think I"m useless right now, don"t you? After all, if you didn"t come, I might have been defeated and killed, my crystal broken, and my beloved monsters gone. So, thank you for coming."
When Marcho said so, she then parted from our embrace, placed her hands on my shoulders, and looked me straight in the eye.
"I"m glad that you came but as your guardian, I must say this: what you did was suicidal. It"s impossible for a new Demon Lord like you to remain safe after challenging old Demon Lords to a fight. Things might have turned out alright for the moment but I a.s.sure you, things will get much harder from now on."
As she said, it was probable that I would be continuously targeted by the Demon Lords I fought this time. But…
"I know and I"m prepared. I"ve considered all that and in the end, I still wanted to come. I"d much rather have that than let you be killed."
Marcho"s face grew red but more interestingly, the expression on her face was more innocent than usual. It was my first time to see her look like that.
"Yeah, you"re an adult now, no longer a child. You just made my heart skip a beat. …ahhh, I should be angry right now but after hearing that, how can I stay mad?"
Marcho and I then laughed together. Thank goodness, we can laugh together like this again.
"…Procell. Your reward will be all of me. My dungeon, my monsters, my treasures, all of it, I want to entrust it to you. I know it"s a selfish request but from now on, will you, in my place, please protect my dungeon and my monsters? If it"s you, I"ll have no worries."
She said such words with a smile and in a refreshing tone but somehow, those words made me feel uneasy.