Hellmode ~A Hardcore Gamer Becomes Peerless in Another World with Retro Game Settings~

Chapter 174

It was just before noon, after a successful breakfast and interrogation. The others seemed to have taken my story in their own way.

I only told them because they were my friends. It would not do any good if his story was widely known to the world. All of my friends agreed with my words, feeling that it was just like me.

I looked at Sophie especially when I said why I told them my secret as she was listening to me with sparkling eyes. Maybe she also thought it would be better if people didn’t know me as she replied, “I understand.”

The Demon King’s army was slowly approaching Tiamo as they formed their ranks.

And now, they were about a kilometer away from the outer wall of Tiamo.

Although the Demon King’s army was damaged in the attack by us that continued until dawn the day before, the number of troops waiting in the east, west, south, and north of Tiamo city remained unchanged at 30,000.

In addition, there were about 100,000 troops in the main camp in the north and about 40,000 troops in rear camps in the south.

Perhaps it was because the Demon King’s army had begun its march, but the magical beasts began to shout loudly.

The screams of more than 100,000 B-rank and above magical beasts echoed through the streets of Tiamo.

Many powerless elves who could not escape to Nest, a city on the southern edge of Rosenheim, thought the world was coming to an end with their screams.

Those who were with their families until the end, those who were separated from their families., the shelters set up in the city were crowded with elves.

Since the fall of Rosenhiem’s northernmost stronghold, many people who have fled to the south, or who have desperately fled from the Capital, were in Tiamo.

And the Demon King’s army had surrounded the city. They didn’t know when the city walls would be overturned and the city would be overrun by magical beasts. All they could do was pray to the Spirit King and Queen.

In the midst of all this, the elves who had climbed up the 10-meter high wall were staring at the magical beasts with a strong gaze. It would be a lie to say that they weren’t afraid, as 10 meters was not that high for the magical beasts of the Demon King’s army.

But the soldiers do not give in to fear. Because just the other day, they had witnessed a miracle. A dying comrade who was thought to be beyond saving was now recovered by the power of a miracle. The elves lined up on the city wall had learned that miracles do happen.

There were over 100,000 injured soldiers, but now not a single one was injured. The soldiers who were not on the outer wall were on the ground, clutching their bows. The 200,000 troops who have fully recovered were bracing themselves for the coming battle.

The range of the well-trained elven archers reaches 1 kilometer. They were now up on the outer wall, waiting for a signal from their superiors. The Spirit Wielders were also in formation, waiting to heal and assist their comrades.

The instructions from the commander who directly united the soldiers were different that day than in the past.

For some reason, the Spirit Wielders had been instructed that they didn’t need to conserve their mana. They didn’t know why, but they thought it was a continuation of the day before’s miracle.

As the magical beasts slowly approached, one of the Trolls was so hungry that it couldn’t hold back and started running towards the outer wall at once. The other magical beasts, thinking that it had beaten them to it, started to run as fast as they could. If they lagged behind, they might not be able to eat that day.

Each of the 4 sides of the 5-kilometer square city was rammed by 30,000 magical beasts.

For some reason, the elves were relieved to find themselves in the same situation as in the previous siege.

“Don’t worry! We have the Spirit King with us!”

One of the Generals on the outer wall inspired his soldiers with a loud voice.

“‘Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, !!!!’”

“We must protect the Queen!”

“‘Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, !!!!’”

The soldiers had not been told that there was a Queen in Tiamo. They had been told that not knowing where the Queen was would lead to her protection. That was enough for the soldiers to have a reason to fight.

As if these words were a signal, the powerful bows of the archers, whose levels and skills had been maxed in Normal Mode, went all out, and countless arrows flew into the crowd of the Demon King’s army.

Today’s offensive has begun.

It didn’t matter how many arrows were stuck in them, the magical beasts plunged towards the outer wall. The impact of the magical beasts hitting the thick outer wall echoed through the city.

The elves desperately drew their bow and turned the eyes and heads of the magical beasts into a beehive.

There were also a large number of archers who shot at the magical beasts outside the city from underneath the outer walls in a heap.

As with the Spirit Wielders, the archers were instructed to use all of their skills without conserving their mana and to use all of their strength to defeat the magical beasts in the front row.

If it continued, they would run out of mana in less than an hour.

However, the orders of the commanding soldiers remained the same.

“Don’t conserve your mana, use all your strength to defeat the magical beasts! We have the Spirit King with us!”

An elf noticed something strange. He wondered why, as he drew his bow.

Somehow, he was able to dodge a blow from a magical beast that he thought he couldn’t dodge.

For some reason, he hit weak spots of the magical beasts from time to time.

Somehow, he was able to withstand the dying blow.

It didn’t take much time for that feeling to change from discomfort to conviction.

Today they were in the midst of a miracle. The battle was going so well that he wondered if this was what blessings were all about.

The elves’ discomfort and conviction were natural. It was because before the war began, I had used the special skill of D-rank Fish, C-rank Fish, and B-rank Fish on all 200,000 elven soldiers.

D-rank Fish: [Splash]: Increases evasion rate against physical and magic attacks by 10%

C-rank: [Shark Oil]: Increases critical hit rate by 10%

B-rank: [Turtle Shield]: Reduces damage taken by 20%, regardless of whether it is physical, magical, or Breath.

All of the special skills lasted for 24 hours.

10% or 20% might be a margin of error for one person or one attack. But we were in a war, and the longer the war goes on, and the more elves fight, the more differences due to the effects of that 10% or 20% would begin to appear.

One by one, the elves killed the magical beasts that reached the city wall.

Then a Dragon over 10 meters in size, perhaps disgusted by the situation, leaped to the forefront, kicking the magical beasts to the ground.

Its head, which was well above the top of the city wall, was raised to the sky, and the inside of its mouth was glowing.

“Breath incoming!”

A commanding soldier shouted. Everyone took a defensive posture, but the Dragon spit out flames from its mouth that seemed to consume everything.

The flames scorched many of the elves on the outer wall at once, inflicting mortal wounds.

Then the General, who had been watching the situation, reacted quickly.

He held up a red peach to the sky as if to prove the existence of a miracle.

“The miracle is upon us!”

Then the red peach turned into glowing bubbles and disappeared, and the elves began to fully recover.

The elves, whose skin had been burned to death, all returned to their unharmed state.

And the elves were astonished to see their mana, which had been decreasing since the battle began, replenish.

An elf looked around and saw the same look of surprise on everyone’s face, wondering if they had fully recovered to the state they were in before the war began. 

I tried to determine from the elves who had recovered from their burns how many people had been completely healed, but the area where they had received the breath was too small to determine the true extent of the effect.

I gave each of the Generals 10 [Blessing of Heaven]s.

A General usually had between 5,000 and 10,000 troops under his command. There were about 50 Generals in Tiamo, and I had told each of them to use their own judgment in a pinch or when their mana was depleted.

“What are you doing, slay the Dragon!”

At the command of a General or commander-level soldier, archers attacked the Dragon at once.

Even Elite Archers, a Talent that was normally a rare 2-star, it was quite a struggle to defeat a Dragon with a bow and arrows.

However, thanks to C-rank Fish’s special skill [Shark Oil], the elves got critical hits. Even a 1-star Archer could cut down the Dragon’s health in one fell swoop with the amount of numbers and probability.

A Dragon with arrows sprouting from its entire body collapsed on its back, crushing the magical beasts.

The elves continued to attack and defend, and the number of magical beasts in the east, west, south, and north, which had numbered 30,000 each, was reduced to nearly half.

As the elves wondered if it would be possible to keep this up for several hours, a cloud of dust rose from the south.

There seemed to be an awareness within the Demon King’s army that they were struggling unexpectedly.

The 40,000 or so magical beasts that had been spread out as a reserve south of Tiamo and to keep the elves from escaping to the south had already finished compacting and organizing their ranks.

Then, as reinforcements, they began to take action to capture the southern part of Tiamo.

No matter which direction, east, west, north, south, or southwest, the Demon King’s army would win if it destroyed the wall and the magical beasts poured into the city.

2 groups of magical beasts, each more numerous than the first, attacked the south side in a single mass, as if they were breaking through a single point.

The thickness of the magical beasts that stick to the outside of the wall, which the elves had been working hard to reduce, more than tripled.

“The numbers have only increased! Victory is ours!”

The Generals desperately tried to inspire the elves, who were flinching at the number of magical beasts.

“The southern reserves have finally moved. I mean, I’m glad we got here in time.”

(It took us long enough to hand out [Blessing of Heaven]s in 3 different cities.)

“Right. Now that the reserves have moved, are we going to attack?”

“Of course.”

To Cecile’s question, I replied as if it was obvious.

Allen and the others were a little above the trampled ground where the reserve team was.

The second half of the Tiamo siege was about to begin.