A swarm of fly monsters, erupted from the Fly King’s body, descended upon the forward base.
Whoosh!
The flies fell, their sound like blades slicing through the wind.
Their synchronized descent was akin to a sophisticated missile barrage.
However, we were not unprepared.
“Summon!” I yelled, extending my hand.
Whirr!
My magic barrier enveloped the forward base walls. Simultaneously, R-grade magic cores and pre-positioned construction materials fused together.
When I construct a magic fortress using my ultimate skill, [The Foremost Banner], the numerical limits on summoned creatures vanish within its range.
In essence, with sufficient materials, we could build an unlimited number of turrets!
Within seconds, dozens of automatic turrets materialized on the base walls.
Clank, clank, clatter!
Click!
The turrets simultaneously raised their barrels, and then,
Rat-tat-tat-tat!
They unleashed a torrent of fire.
A barrage of cyan magic bullets tore through the sky, obliterating the descending fly monsters.
Whoosh!
Those flies that managed to evade the barrage with acrobatic maneuvers plunged into,
Zap! Zap! Zap!
Electric traps!
The forward base walls were covered in insecticidal traps.
From electric grids to sticky surfaces, insecticides, and flamethrowers… we had deployed artifacts optimized for fly extermination.
This was ‘Project Fly Hell’!
Thud, thud, thud…!
The flies, torn apart by the barrage and ensnared in traps, quickly perished and fell. The first wave was annihilated in an instant.
“Ha, haha…!”
“Is that all they’ve got?”
The heroes and soldiers visibly relaxed, realizing these monsters were manageable.
And, at that moment.
Thump.
The Fly King extended two legs forward.
Immediately after,
Whoosh-
Whoosh!
A much larger swarm of flies than before poured from the Fly King’s belly.
Roughly double the first wave.
I shouted at the approaching formation.
“Don’t underestimate them!”
The automatic turrets fired relentlessly, and the flies that slipped through the barrage crashed into the traps and died.
Still, it was manageable!
Thump.
The Fly King acted again before the second wave was completely eliminated.
This time, it extended four legs.
Whoosh-
Whoosh!
A terrifying number of flies erupted from the Fly King’s belly.
Double the previous wave. Four times the initial wave.
The flies filled our vision, obscuring the blue sky.
Automatic interception with turrets, traps, and artifacts was no longer sufficient.
“Ugh…! Begin interception!” I shouted.
The heroes and soldiers grabbed their weapons.
“Artillery unit! Fire!”
“Yes! Fire!”
“Fire!”
Bang! Bang! Boom! Boom!
The artillery shells exploded in the air, scattering a rain of fire.
Following that, arrows from the archers pierced the flies, causing them to fall like rain.
The fire net created by the monster front’s elite was overwhelming. The flies couldn’t even get close and were incinerated.
And.
As if unmoved by our desperate resistance, the Fly King mechanically took its next action.
Thump.
Legs. Eight.
“… !”
Dark clouds gathered in the sky, rushing towards the forward base.
…No, it wasn’t clouds.
It was a swarm of flies.
Twice the previous wave. Eight times the initial wave poured down like a rain of missiles.
I urgently called for the mages.
“Diarmuidin!”
“I know!”
The mages raised their staffs towards the sky. Diarmuidin commanded.
“In set order, by attribute! Water first, then the rest!”
“Yes!”
“Now!”
Magic was unleashed by attribute. Water, ice, then lightning, followed by wind, and finally, fire.
Diarmuidin unleashed a huge flame from his staff.
The mages, positioned by attribute, continued their pre-arranged chain of spells. The flies were swept away.
But.
Thump.
The Fly King didn’t stop.
The legs extended now numbered sixteen.
“… !”
For a moment, I couldn’t hear anything.
The sheer number of flies was deafening.
“Burnout!” I yelled. Thanks to the [Main Order] trait, my orders were clear.
“It’s your turn!”
Burnout nodded and activated his equipment.
Clank! Vroom…!
A rough engine sound filled the air as Burnout’s special weapon transformed, ready for operation.
It was a huge, mounted machine gun with six barrels and a bombardment core from the Dandelion Monster Legion Commander at its center.
Chik…!
A red light appeared on the core, and hundreds of dandelion seed-like projectiles were loaded into the barrels. The rotating barrels turned red and began to fire.
Rat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat!
With a terrifying sound, muzzle flashes flickered.
Burnout adds explosive properties to his projectiles. Combined with a weapon using a dandelion monster core specialized in bombardment,
‘And the ultimate skill effect!’
Burnout’s awakened ultimate skill, [Fireworks], is a passive skill.
It makes the corpses of those he kills ‘explode’.
It might seem lackluster, but its true value is in situations like this.
If Burnout kills a monster with his bombardment,
The corpse explodes, and the corpse of the monster killed by the explosion explodes again… creating an infinite chain reaction.
If this bombardment and explosion chain is successful!
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
It unleashes firepower that can easily grind down small fry…!
Flowers of fire bloomed in the sky. Countless flies exploded, burst, and fell, burned to a crisp.
Our heroes and soldiers cheered at the spectacle.
When the explosions ended, the sky was clear, and a mountain of charred fly corpses lay below the walls.
A smile crossed my lips.
“How does it taste, you damn bug bas…”
I couldn’t finish.
Thump.
Thirty-two of the Fly King’s legs.
Were extended forward.
I couldn’t help but shout.
“Damn it, cut it out! You crazy monster bastard!”
Thud, thud, thud, thud…!
A downpour of fly monsters, thirty-two times the initial wave, descended.
“Full barrage! Respond!”
We began interception with all available means.
But – there were too many.
Too many.
Beyond the turrets, traps, artifacts, shells, arrows, magic, and bombardment…
Whoosh!
The flies, having broken through the barrages, penetrated the walls.
I stared at the compound eyes of a giant fly and thought.
Why.
Why are there so many…?!
“Bodybag!”
At my shout, Bodybag activated his equipment.
Bodybag’s ultimate skill is [Multiple Telekinesis].
He can manipulate multiple objects with telekinesis, limited only by his magic power.
Clank, clank, clank!
Dozens of steel plates rose into the air.
The plates, from the Steel Armor Lion Monster, were light but strong.
Bodybag used them to-
Thwack! Thwack! Thud!
Block the flies pouring towards Burnout.
Burnout needed to keep attacking. Bodybag was protecting him.
Flies poured in, but the steel plates crushed their heads.
At the same time, the vanguard heroes stepped forward, slashing and stabbing the flies.
Many heroes performed brilliantly, especially.
Clack, clack, clack!
The Insect Busters were running wild.
Their boasting was not empty talk.
They burned them with flamethrowers, melted them with poison, crushed them with hammers, and zapped them with electric staffs…
Their leader tore through the flies with a magical engineering weapon with chainsaw-like blades.
Clack, clack, clack!
Every swing ground up the flies.
The flies that broke through were crushed without breaching the vanguard heroes’ wall.
We were somehow holding out… but the situation was deteriorating.
“Your Highness!” Lily reported urgently.
“They’re no longer getting caught in the traps!”
“What?”
“They’re not being lured! Not a single one has been caught!”
It wasn’t just the traps.
“The shells aren’t hitting properly either!”
“The arrows, too, they’re dodging as if they’re reading their trajectories! The hit rate is plummeting! This is clearly evasion…!”
I gritted my teeth.
They’re learning?
The flies?
Our attack patterns?
“Don’t be ridiculous, seriously…!”
When we had roughly cleared the swarming flies.
The forward base was filled with corpses, and the heroes and soldiers were panting.
I, too, had been killing flies with my pistol, Agate, and my staff, Maestro. I looked up at the sky.
Whoooooo…
Slowly, but surely.
The Fly King was getting closer.
“…I’ve been waiting.”
And that meant,
“It’s within our ‘range’, you damn monster bastard…!”
It also meant the monster had entered the range where our trump card attack could achieve maximum efficiency!
“Damien! It’s your turn!”
“Yes, Your Highness!”
Damien transformed his rifle, as if waiting for this moment.
The highest firepower on the monster front.
Nightmare Slayer, [Black Queen].
Clank, clank, clatter!
Seven magic bullets spun and merged into one on the barrel of the Black Queen, which had transformed into a long railgun. Magic-infused electricity surged through the barrel.
I thrust my fist forward and shouted.
“Fire!”
Damien pulled the trigger without hesitation.
Thwack!
With a terrifying explosion, Damien was blown backward by the recoil.
The pure white magic bullet cut through the air-
Splat!
Shattering the Fly King’s head into pieces.