Chapter 127

Evangeline had destroyed four SSR-grade equipment thus far.

First, the spear and shield she received as graduation gifts from the academy.

I was to blame for that one. It all happened because I got a 777 jackpot while trying to use a lucky strike to suppress her.

Next, she bought another spear and shield set from Nameless, a dungeon merchant NPC, known as the "Demon of Spears" and "Giant of Shields".

We destroyed that one together while fighting off 50 golems.

'It's funny how all of this somehow involves me.'

Anyways, all four pieces of equipment broke under inevitable circumstances (?).

So, I requested the blacksmith to dismantle these ruined items.

As a result, luckily, I was able to recover one SSR-grade Magic Core. With this core, I requested the creation of an armor.

Given that the magic core came from dismantling Evangeline's equipment, it only made sense to have her armor made.

"So, this is the result!" 

After a long preamble, I unwrapped the armor lying beside me.

"Behold this armor! It's the Golem Armor!"

"..."

Evangeline, with her mouth slightly open, looked up at the armor I had revealed.

"What is this?"

"Haha. Are you so moved, my junior? Well, I spent a lot of time thinking about what would be best for you before deciding on and ordering this armor. Go ahead! You may shed tears of gratitude for your senior's consideration."

"No, that's not it..."

Evangeline shouted, shaking her small fist at the armor.

"It's ugly-!"

Her calling it 'ugly' is harsh. The armor must feel so sad if it could hear.

"How about you say it looks sturdy?"

"No, there's a limit to how sturdy something can look! This looks like a tower you wear on your body. What is this?!"

Evangeline knocked on the bulky golem fragment with her small fist. Immediately, she recoiled in surprise.

"It's frighteningly solid! What the-!"

"Haha... Isn't it the result of diligent research by the alchemists on the golem armor fragments? It has to be sturdy."

I smirked and stood next to the armor covered in gauntlets.

Surely, the appearance is rather thick...ah, no, solid.

[Golem Armor(SSR) Lv.35]

- Category: Armor

- Defense: 70-80

- Durability: 40/40

- Stamina+25

- Each additional golem fragment increases the wearer's physical and magical resistance by 5 percent each. (total 50 percent)

- Each additional golem fragment decreases the wearer's movement and attack speed by 2 percent each. (total 20 percent)

This was the result of researching the 'golem army fragments' obtained by defeating the Golem Legion in Stage 3.

It was possible to manufacture armor with far superior defense compared to ordinary metal.

'Golem fragments grant a bonus to physical and magical resistance but are disgustingly heavy, resulting in penalties to movement and attack speed.'

Usually, people mix in one or two parts into the armor to reduce this penalty.

But then I had a counterintuitive idea.

'What if we made an armor entirely covered with golem fragments?'

That's what this armor, the Golem Armor, is.

It provides an immense boost to physical and magical resistance at the cost of a hefty penalty to movement and attack speed.

Especially, the decrease in movement speed is lethal in intense battles.

'But here, Evangeline's characteristic [Unstoppable] comes into play!'

Evangeline's characteristic [Unstoppable] provides 100 percent resistance to movement hindrances.

Thanks to this, Evangeline can ignore the movement speed penalty on this armor.

In other words, she gains a huge boost in physical and magical resistance while only suffering a penalty to attack speed.

This makes the armor more advantageous than disadvantageous.

'This is the perfect armor for Evangeline in the early and mid-game.'

Although she has skills that can help in combat, Evangeline is essentially a pure tanker.

She has to draw the attention of the enemies in the middle of the enemy line and take their attacks on herself.

I've been uneasy, watching her dealing with all of this only with a shield. But with this sturdy armor, I feel a bit more relieved.

"...It's thick."

After finally trying on the armor, Evangeline waddled around, muttering.

The absurdly large and thick armor didn't suit Evangeline's petite figure at all.

It looked like she was a festival part-timer, waddling around a venue in an ill-fitting mascot costume.

"What the heck is this..."

Evangeline looked miserable, but I was pleased, nodding in satisfaction.

'Undeniably, a vanguard tank should display the sturdy, dependable characteristics of a well-made bowl of rice.'

Watching the thin arms and legs withstand the monsters' onslaught, it's obvious why I've been so concerned for my junior's well-being. But there's no need for that now, right?

"As you can see, these additional fragments attached to the basic armor can be detached," I explained while tapping the extra fragments stuck all over my body. Evangeline watched me with a disapproving look, her excitement visibly diminished.

"If the additional fragments get heavily damaged during battle, like this... by pressing here at the junction, you can detach them. This will reduce your defense but will increase your mobility."

The Golem Armor allows the additional fragments to be purged, or in other words, detached. 

This was why it was possible to create it without taking measurements. 

It was a suit of armor created by attaching parts together - one size fits all.

'It seems a bit... large for one size fits all...'

You're going to grow, Evangeline. Then it'll fit better.

Listening to my lengthy explanation, Evangeline murmured softly.

"I'm devastated..."

"Huh? What is?"

"The fantasy I had about my first armor."

"C'mon. Don't fuss over the looks of your armor. Practicality is what matters."

Although it does appear slightly bulky. But it's solid, isn't it?

"Hey, the latest knight trend is all about showing off with armor! Wearing shiny armor! A cool helmet! And a fluttering cape!"

Evangeline, who was squawking, eventually hung her head low.

"Could you promise me one thing, senior?"

"What?"

"When I get another set of armor next time, please ensure it's truly beautiful."

"Hmm."

It might be a future matter, but your final armor, the [Snow White], is extremely beautiful. 

So much so, your image in it was used as a promotional photo for this game.

"Alright, alright. I promise. But for now, you have to wrestle with vampires. Just bear with it and put it on."

"Really... I'm going to exterminate them, these vampires..."

A ferocity I had never seen before flared in Evangeline's eyes. 

But it's kind of funny... uh, I mean, cool, seeing her say that while wearing her clunky armor.

Turning my gaze away from the spirited Evangeline, I looked at the blacksmith's forge.

"What about the Golem fragments for the common soldiers?"

"Half of the current forge facilities have been allocated to producing Golem fragments. They should be distributed to everyone before the start of the defense battle."

"Good."

We decided to distribute a single part of the Golem fragments to each regular soldier. 

They can attach it to any part of their armor or put it on their shields.

'Such upgrades might not seem like much, but diligently making these improvements, one by one, is important.'

If hero characters are the hammer, regular soldiers are the anvil. 

You need the anvil to strike with the hammer. 

And both must be sturdy to smash the monsters sandwiched between them.

Strengthening the regular soldiers' equipment consistently is as important as taking care of the heroes' gear.

Although it feels like I'm making a fuss over a single armor part.

After giving a few more instructions to the blacksmith, I turned towards the party members.

"There's a meeting about this defense battle's tactics tonight."

Evangeline, who was waddling around in her new armor, Lucas, who was blatantly laughing at her (you bastard), and Damian, who was covering his mouth and laughing (you bastard 2), looked at me.

"Take a break and come to the lord's mansion by 6 p.m."

I gave them a grin.

"Let's talk about it over dinner together."

This defense battle was going to be brutal and hard.

I planned to explain the strategy while serving them a nice meal.

***

Since this meeting was also an announcement about the overall strategy for the defense battle, I toured the city and summoned the other party members.

The Dion Mercenary Group was at the barracks.

It was a bit past lunchtime, and they were sweating profusely, training in the barracks' indoor training ground.

"One!"

"Two!"

"Three!"

"Your defense is shallow! One more time!"

Two thieves launched an attack on three warriors with shields.

The warriors defended, coordinating their shields so they wouldn't be breached. In response, the thieves tried to break their defense by launching coordinated attacks.

Even though they were only equipped with wooden swords and shields, the fervent exchange of offense and defense was in full swing.

"It's good to watch."

When I muttered that, Dion, who had just realized my presence, was surprised.

"Your Majesty, you're here!"

"Huh?!"

"Lord, you've arrived!"

The five who had put down their shields and wooden swords hurriedly came over to me and bowed. I grinned back at them.

"I'm sorry to have interrupted your training. It looked like you were having a good time."

"Oh no, Your Majesty! We're embarrassed for showing you something we shouldn't have."

Dion genuinely seemed ashamed, but inside, I was forming a new opinion about them.

'They're in the middle of party combined training, even without instructions.'

All of them were N-grade heroes. They have neither impressive specs nor skills.

There isn't much they can showcase, but one of the things they could boast about was their tight teamwork.

'If a team of five can act as one body in attack and defense, they can compensate for the limitations of N-grades, and low levels and specs.'

They knew exactly where they needed to go.

Looking back at his party members, Dion gave an awkward laugh.

"Compared to the other heroes under Your Majesty's command, who are all extremely talented, we're rather ordinary. We can't afford to be a burden, so we have to train hard."

"..."

I didn't deny his words.

To compete and to survive on the battlefield, they have to keep up their relentless effort.

"There's a meeting at the lord's mansion at 6 PM tonight."

As I spoke, I patted each of the Dion Mercenary Group's five members on the shoulder.

"Wash off all the sweat. You've been working hard, you should eat something tasty."

***

The Shadow Squad was staying in an annex a little distant from the lord's mansion.

Being elves, they were concerned about others' gazes, so I simply gave them the annex.

Swoosh! Whoosh!

There was a shooting range set up behind the annex, and it was unclear when it was built.

Targets were scattered all over, and there were a lot of straw men riddled with arrows.

Two wizards were moving the targets around as three archers shot arrows, aiding in their training.

They were very systematic in their training.

"Oldgirl. Your long-range accuracy is still low. Increase it by one point today. Skull. Your close-range shooting speed is slow. You need to retrain your reaction speed from the beginning. Burnout. What are you... are you just going to keep bombing? You'll die if you can't do anything else."

Godhand, who had been giving feedback to the archers, seemed to sense my presence and turned to look at me.

"Your Majesty, you're here."

"You all are very diligent."

"You're here, Your Majesty!"

"You're here!"

The remaining members of the Shadow Squad bowed to me.

Oldgirl just gave a small wave. Hm, still the same as always.

I looked at Godhand's two hands.

"Are your hands okay now?"

"Of course. They're in perfect condition."

"That's a relief. From tomorrow, you'll have to use your body more."

I winked at Lucas who had followed me.

Lucas climbed onto a cart that was pulled behind the carriage, and opened the box that was on it.

Creak-

The box was half-filled with sparkling gray metal.

Silver bullion.

"It's yours, Godhand."

I brought the remaining silver used in equipment crafting for him.

"With this amount of silver, I think you could hire an army, not just the five of us."

Surprised, Godhand looked at me.

"Why are you giving this to us?"

"You've heard that our opponents for the defense battle this time are vampires, right?"

I grinned.

"And the weakness of those vampire bastards is this silver. And Godhand, you're a metal sorcerer who can manipulate metal at will."

"…!"

"What do you think? With this much silver, we could make a decent leap against the vampires, right?"

At last, Godhand, who realized my intentions, cracked a faint smile.

"What should I do, Your Majesty?"

"Come to the main house by 6. Let's talk while having a meal... Ah."

I winked at the younger squad members.

"Is there a menu you want for dinner? If there is, tell me now."

As I said this, the trio of archers immediately lit up their eyes and raised their hands. These gluttonous little ones.

***

I had someone call Junior separately, and a reply came back that she would arrive by 6.

With this, all the party members were gathered.

Until everyone arrived, I decided to take a break. I sat on the edge of my bed in my room and stared blankly into space.

"..."

Before me floated the system window.

[Enemy Info - STAGE 5]

- Lv.? Vampire Lord: 1

- Lv.? Vampire Generals: 2

- Lv.? Elite Vampires: 7

- Lv.25 Fallen Blood <Elite >: 20

- Lv.20 Frost Ghoul: 970

- Time till start: 9 days

'They're coming.'

Gazing upon the open window detailing my enemies, a wave of vertigo washed over me. Before long, I closed the system window.

'They're getting closer.'

This stage was going to be challenging.

Despite my bravado and preparation for the defense, I had past experience to draw upon. 

I knew this stage would be dreadfully harsh.

But I couldn't avoid it, so all I could do was stare down the approaching wave of enemies with eyes wide open.

'Nothing changes. Every defense, no, every moment, is a make-or-break situation.'

A pivotal move with the fate of the world at stake.

Just as it had always been, that was my role.