Chapter 44: The Horde Emerging from the Shadows and the Hunters
“Don’t tell me… they noticed our plan!?”
That’s the only way to think about it. My, our coup d’état plan was detected by someone and is being obstructed right now!
“Dammit, whose doing is this!?”
I thought about who could have detected the plan. The Minister of Military Affairs’ faction? Or did the royal family’s direct intelligence unit notice?
“No, that’s wrong. That’s not what I should be thinking about now.”
Right, what I should be thinking about now is protecting the valuable high-ranking monsters, starting with the S-Ranks. To protect the war potential for us to seize control of this country.
“Curse it all, why must I protect monsters prepared to be used and thrown away as pawns?”
It’s utterly vexing.
“Order the Monster Tamers. Use the monsters systematically to annihilate the adventurers.”
“Hah!? Use the monsters in this situation!? But if we do that…”
“The enemy has already noticed our movements. Then there’s no need for us to sneak around anymore. What, just think of it as full-scale practical training for the monsters under our control. After all, the opponents are merely adventurers.”
The enemy has probably also sensed that we used Demon Grass to draw the monsters to the Royal Capital. And they must think that when the time comes, we intend to plant Demon Grass in various places in the Royal Capital and lure the attracted monsters into the Royal Capital all at once.
But their outlook was naive. We didn’t just draw the monsters here. In the first place, there’s no way we would make existences that don’t follow our will the cornerstone of our operation.
Yes, we obtained the technique to manipulate monsters freely. We, who obtained the technique to manipulate monsters through ancient curse methods, became able to manipulate monsters we originally couldn’t control at will. Not only can we easily obtain numerical superiority, but we can also treat powerful high-ranking monsters as war potential.
A high-ranking monster alone is equivalent to several to dozens of skilled warriors. In other words, if we control one high-ranking monster, we can save the trouble of raising several skilled warriors from scratch. Moreover, all of them move according to our will! Using this technology, we will command an army of monsters and rule this country, nay, this world!
“And Knight Order, pretend to fight monsters and search for the enemy that slipped in among the adventurers!”
“Yes sir!”
My subordinates began to act on my orders. What, the steps just sped up a little, what we do is the same.
“Right, just think of it as dealing with the adventurers who could become irregularities later first.”
Even if they are a rabble, we can’t let our guard down against the existence of high-ranking adventurers. Especially since it’s said S-Rank adventurers are in our country now.
“Now, show them our power, monsters!”
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“Freeze Boost!”
I activated Ice Attribute Enhancement and cut through the monsters. Ice attribute Attribute Enhancement has various applications; it can freeze enemies to dull their movements, or freeze parts of their bodies.
Also, by creating ice blades on the soles of my feet and further freezing the ground, I can intentionally slide on the ice to perform high-speed tricky movements. …Well, this tactic was taught to me by Rex, though.
“Hah!”
While slipping between the monsters, I swept my spear across their legs and necks. This spear, forged by Rex, showed such wonderful sharpness that it could cut through monsters like butter just by sweeping it.
“Not bad, Sis! But I won’t lose either! Flame Boost!”
Jairo activated Flame Attribute Enhancement and charged at the monsters. Using the flames not for attacking, but releasing them behind him to accelerate his own body is quite a unique style.
“Oraa!”
And trusting in his muscle strength increased by Body Enhancement Magic, he cut through the monsters. Although rough, it seems he has the ability to subdue powerful monsters with that fighting style.
“He’s good.”
“Honestly, with such a rough way of defeating them, the purchase price will go down! Thunder Lance!”
Mina, while complaining, accurately defeated the monsters near Jairo with lightning attribute magic. Seeing as she hasn’t run out of magic power yet despite continuing to use magic for a while now, as expected, she is indeed Rex’s disciple.
“Norb, Meguri, keep the prey as clean as possible!”
“I’ll focus on healing, so I’ll leave that to you!”
The priest Norb didn’t actively participate in battle except against monsters coming towards him, and focused on treating the wounded.
“Yes, it’s healed now.”
“T-Thanks, you saved me.”
The adventurers treated by him thanked him and returned to the front lines. Some were quite seriously injured, but he recovered all of them to the point where they could return to the battlefront.
Healing people other than their own companions might look like a waste of time that doesn’t make money at first glance, but in a large-scale subjugation like this, a healer like him who can move freely on the front lines is very valuable. After all, since he can fight off monsters on his own, there’s no need to protect him.
With that much ability, he’d probably be in high demand even if he left his current party.
“Ei!”
And the thief Meguri, in a sense, this girl is the most amazing one. She discerns the weakest part of the opposing enemy and accurately renders them immobile. Whether the opponent is hard or fast, her style of finding a momentary opening and finishing them off is quite a threat.
Unlike the other kids, she uses power as an extension of her basic abilities without using special ways of using power. Simply strong opponents are hard to break when turned into enemies. She’s a girl I’d prefer not to have as an enemy if possible.
“Yaaay, one defeated.”
And since it’s a very clean way of defeating them, the purchase price will probably be high too. As an adventurer, is this technique the most highly evaluated point?
“I can’t let my guard down either!”
Now, where is the next monster!?
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“It’s terrible! Not just S-Rank, but A and B-Rank monsters are also being defeated one after another!”
“What happened to the Monster Tamers! If they command the monsters, they should be able to massacre the rabble adventurers immediately!”
“Well, it seems the monsters commanded by the Monster Tamers were conversely defeated as a group when they appeared together.”
“Impossible!”
Impossible! Adventurers are just a disorderly crowd good at grandstanding, aren’t they! Even if individuals are somewhat strong, they should be powerless if faced with mighty power and overwhelming quantity!
And even if our enemies were among the adventurers, if they are acting while hiding their identities, they shouldn’t be able to mount an organized counterattack!
“…Were there no adventurers who showed excellent coordination among them!?”
“…No, other than some adventurers who formed parties, they were acting freely and separately, and it’s said that even among adventurers who formed parties, there were none who showed advanced teamwork.”
“Then why can’t the monsters win!? …!!? Are they perhaps using Lost Items!?”
This is an army of monsters commanded by military personnel. If they can oppose that, is it reasonable to think they are using Lost Items after all? Was that tornado Lost Item also purposely shown off flashily at first to keep us from realizing that!?
“Well, it’s said they are fighting normally and defeating them. There are some who use magic or special fighting styles, but there are no signs of them activating Lost Items, they said.”
Impossible, then are you saying there are many adventurers who can win solo against S-Rank and A-Rank monsters!?
“That’s impossible!?”
Are you saying such fierce warriors gathered by chance!? That’s truly impossible!
“What on earth is happening, no, how are they opposing them!?”
“A-Also…”
My subordinate spoke with difficulty.
“Is there still something else!?”
“I heard a small white fluffy creature running at tremendous speed is defeating and devouring nearby high A-Rank monsters one after another.”
“What is that monsteerrrrrrrr!?”
