Overwhelming Firepower

As the battle between Duke Vardon’s forces against Marquis Valeire’s army continued to intensify, something from the North had arrived.

They had finally arrived, monsters like no other, and unlike the first monster wave, which consisted of corrupted monsters and animals that changed due to demonic mana.

This time, what appeared was something different altogether. Giant monsters that looked like they were born from the shadows.

They advanced like a tide of night, swallowing the horizon. It didn’t take too long for the people to notice what was coming from the Northwest.

Lucen saw the monsters that were coming as he expected they would, but the second he saw the monsters, a vague memory came to him.

He had seen these monsters before, but it was unclear when. Since he hadn’t encountered them in this world, that means he had seen them in his past life, in the game.

The problem was that he could not remember when and which route, which was weird. The second he regained his memories of his past life, he had written everything he remembered, and he remembered a lot.

He had played that game for such a long time, and he had loved it so much that he practically remembered even the dialogue of a few favorite routes.

Yet he could not remember where he had seen such monsters before. ’The only way I can remember this thing is if I drink another memory potion, but I can’t do that now. The only thing I can do now is try my best to see what kind of monsters these things are.’

***

On the Marquis’s side, Marquis Valeire also saw the incoming monster wave and frowned. ’Is this your plan, Lucen Thornehart? To use the monster wave against me?’

”Retreat!”

Marquis Valeire gave his command, and the knight beside him nodded his head and barked at the mages who were in charge of using the communication orbs.

”Retreat! All units disengage! Fall back to secondary formation!”

The very second they received their orders from the aura users to the normal soldiers, everyone retreated as fast as they could.

Their movements were disorderly, which was to be expected from an army with mercenaries and borrowed soldiers that had just gathered together.

The first of the shadow giants reached the outermost line of skirmishers before the retreat had fully formed.

They weren’t that close yet, but many of the soldiers were feeling their heads hurt. A few of them even started hearing things like someone was whispering in their ears.

Familiar voices, of loved ones, rivals, friends. A dead brother’s voice. A commanding officer long buried. A mother calling from home.

Quite a few of those in Marquis Valeire’s army were somehow affected by the voices. This was especially true for those who were closer to the giant shadow monster.

A few soldiers started attacking those near them. One soldier suddenly drove his blade into the back of the man beside him. The others caught in surprise were easily slain.

Some who defended themselves noticed that even after getting stabbed or sliced apart, as long as they could, they continued attacking them.

The shadow giants moved with an unnatural, fluid grace. Their limbs stretched and contracted as if they were not bound by bone, each step silent but devastating.

Trees snapped beneath their weight, and even the ground seemed to recoil as they passed. Their movements were slow, but each step was large enough that it didn’t matter that they moved so slowly.

Seeing this scene, Lucen no longer hesitated and gave a command. ”Everyone aim at the monster wave and fire!

The dwarves changed the direction of the Roaring Thunders towards the shadow monsters. The rifles and the Gatling Guns were now aimed at the monsters. Even the armored knight unit had shifted its attention to the Shadow monsters. None of them even bothered to look at the Marquis’s fleeing army.

Lucen, who was manning one of the mounted Gatling guns, was using his skills for stronger firepower and range.

He started firing at the Giant Shadow Monsters, and so did the others. The sound of gunfire and artillery fire echoed.

As the rain of heavy firepower reached the shadow monsters, something unexpected happened.

The artillery shell was absorbed, but it still blew up inside the Shadow monster. Thinking the monster would get damaged, it instead fixed itself as fast as it blew up.

As for the attacks from the Gatling guns and the rifles, in their eyes, it was barely damaged. As for spell attacks, Robert quickly noticed something.

He showed a manic smile, but before he was immersed in his own thoughts, he shouted at the others.

”Stop attacking with mana! It’s absorbing our mana!”

Lucen’s expression darkened. He had never seen such an enemy before; these guys seem more troublesome than he anticipated.

Mana-based attacks strengthened it, physical attacks were barely effective, and then there were those whispers.

Another artillery shell detonated inside one of the giants. For a brief moment, its torso burst apart into a cloud of writhing darkness. But the fragments did not scatter. They recoiled, reassembled, and sealed themselves as if nothing had happened.

The first giant shadow monster was just a few meters away from the walls of Ironhold, and they had not killed a single one of the monsters.

The Giant Shadows now looked humanoid, with only a single white part on their shadowy body, which looked to be their face, or that’s what everyone thought, simply because of its humanoid structure.

It was at this moment that a few soldiers in Ironhold started screaming as their eyes glowed red, and ominous mana surrounded them as they started attacking anyone nearby.

Sir Thalos and a few knights were quick to move as they subdued the rampaging soldiers quickly.

Seeing this scene, Lucen started thinking about what else he could do. While he was thinking, he saw his Father jump down from the battlement. His cold silver blue aura enveloped his body.

Duke Vardon held his longsword with both hands, pointing the tip behind him as he took a step forward and got into some sort of stance. Duke Vardon was about to unleash one of the secret sword techniques of the Thornehart family.

***

[Thornehart Sword Art, Moon Series: Crescent Moon.] This was a technique first Duke of Norvaegard, Edric Thornehart created. He did like creating sword moves while looking at the distant sky.

Which was why he had moves name after the sky, the moon, the stars, and the sun. The sky series was made of his final techniques, which only a true master of aura, the sword, and the environment could unleash properly.

The Star series had the strongest burst attacks and could only be performed by someone with a combination of mana and aura.

The Sun series was an aggressive set of techniques that discarded defense for overwhelming offense.

Finall the Moon Series, the first set of techniques Edric ever created from the sword techniques of the Ancestors of his family. He made a set of moves that were deadly and looked very flashy.

Rumor has it he used the Moon Series to captivate and flirt with a few maidens back in his day.

***

Duke Vardon did not speak. His silver-blue aura mantle thickened, spreading outward like frost creeping across still water. The air around him grew heavy.

Duke Vardon then made a move. His sword traced a perfect arc across the darkened battlefield. The motion he made was beautiful to look at, with his sword and aura mantle.

A crescent of condensed aura tore forward. It truly looked like a crescent move was used to attack.

It cut through the nearest giant shadow as though slicing through reflected moonlight. The giant’s torso separated cleanly in two, its form splitting apart with no resistance.

Unlike the artillery shells, the severed halves did not immediately reconnect. The silver-blue aura clung to the edges of the wound, spreading like frost through the creature’s body.

Unfortunately, in the end, that did not do much as it faded. Still, the giant shadow had shrunk a bit. It then made a sound like a screech, harming the ears of those who heard it.

Duke Vardon then performed another [Thornehart Sword Art, Moon Series: Crescent Moon]. Sir Thalos also charged at the nearby giant shadow monster, his blazing aura clear to see. He started punching and kicking the giant shadow monster.

Several holes appeared on the shadow monster’s body, but like before, it closed up. However, its towering frame seems to be diminishing, as if it were shrinking.

Seeing that Sir Thalos and his Father had momentarily stopped the giant shadow monsters, Lucen started thinking.

’Mana is being absorbed; physical attacks barely work. Aura attacks are a little bit more effective, but it’s not enough. What else can we do?’

As Lucen was thinking, he couldn’t help but sigh. ’It would have been so much easier if I remembered what these things are, or if this world was still a game I could reset... Wait a minute... A game?...’

Lucen was starting to think of something. ’Right, like a game. If mana is being absorbed, regenerating HP, and physical attacks work, but barely, there’s still another form of attack. Status ailments like poison. Even Father’s attack with a bit of frost did much better than just a pure physical attack.’

”Robert!” Lucen shouted without turning away from the battlefield. ”Do we still have the alchemical acid batch from the mining tests?”

Robert’s manic grin widened instantly. ”Of course we do!”

Lucen smiled as well, ”Then let’s show these monsters the might of alchemy!”