Chapter 185

"You don't look familiar to me. What's your name?"

As Ellie finished handing out the cups, a Demon named Nephtila called out to her.

(Come to think of it, they didn't ask her name earlier.)

Ellie replied to being asked her name.

"My name is Ellie."

"What do you think, Ellie? Why do you think a million of our troops were defeated?"

"Well, I don't know for certain but if I may take a wild guess."

"Hmm? Of course. It's important to have a variety of opinions.'

"What if the Hero came to save Rosenheim?"

"Cough!... Well, I didn't see that coming. If the Hero were here, he would definitely be the reason for this defeat."

The hyena-faced Yagov nodded his head.

"But it can't be. We sent two million troops to the Central Continent just to stop that."

Nephtila looked to Glaster for confirmation and Glaster nodded.

(So, they are communicating with the Central Continent like I expected. Let's see what else I can find.)

Allen infused the following content into Ellie.

'Then maybe they used the Elven Elixir. I have heard that the Elven Elixir can even recover someone from their near-death injuries and are about to perish. Maybe we don't know their exact casualty and got caught off guard and suffered a great defeat.``

"I see. That's what Yagov was talking about, too."

"Cough! The number of elves does not match the report. There were too few injured."

"If that's the case, we should be able to win easily now that they don't have any Elixir left."

(I can't handle it if they try anything too unconventional. I'm hoping they'll just attack with the rest.)

Ellie grinned and declared their victory.

"No, they might still have those Elixirs. We can't use the same strategy again, right Lord Glaster?"

"Of course. Demon General Razel told me to attack from the ocean."

(Are they going to change their strategy again? It's also coming from the ocean next time. ...Ellie, just stand at the door and listen to them.)

The conversation seemed to have changed from the cause of the defeat to their next strategy.

Since they didn't seem to be talking to her any more, Ellie dropped back to the door with the tray and waited. She acted naturally, as if she were a maid standing in front of the door to refill the tea and clean up.

In response to Ellie's actions, the Demons didn't even look at her as they proceeded with their conversation.

"So the plan is to attack from the ocean? We are going to transport an army of water magical beasts to the city where the Queen is?"

Nephtila confirmed the details of the operation with Glaster.

"No, there is a city at the southernmost tip where the elves have taken refuge. He wants us to attack there and fill the bellies of the magical beasts."

Glaster talked about the plan he supposedly heard from the Demon General Razel.

They needed to assess the war situation and send their reserve troops towards either the Central Continent or Rosenheim soon.

It seemed that the allied forces of the Five Continents Alliance were sticking around in the Central Continent, even though they were supposed to have lost their recovery forces.

However, they were able to occupy over half of Rosenheim. So they wanted to fully conquer it first.

Therefore, they were going to divide their forces into two groups: one on land that would continue to invade from the north and the other that would invade Nest City from the ocean.

According to Glaster, the refugees at the Nest City could be fed to the magical beasts, thus reducing the logistical burden of food and other supplies for the army advancing south. There were more than 2 million refugees in Nest City alone.

After overrunning Nest City, their plan seemed to be to send them north toward Tiamo and pin them against the army from the north.

(Two front strategy, huh? Well, it's not just a simple matter of increasing the number of troops. They want to deal with the Spirit Grand Mage and the high-level Druid that they mentioned earlier. They've coordinated their strategies and information so quickly just after yesterday's defeat.)

The 1-million strong army suffered a disastrous defeat. There was no guarantee that they could win even if they continued to attack with 2 or 3 million troops.

They had to come up with a strategy even with insufficient information, including the causes of why they lost. War was also a race against time.

(Allen's POV)

When I heard about this strategy, I wondered if it included the solution that if the enemy, the elves, had a powerful Spirit Grand Mage. If there was only one Spirit Grand Mage, he/she could only defend one side. He or she alone couldn't defend on both sides.

From Glaster's story, I could infer that the Demons had some way of communicating from Rosenheim and the Central Continent. It was probably some sort of magic tool and was quite close to the Capital Fortenia and the Demon King's army's main headquarters was on the continent where the Demon King originated from.

I was also surprised to find out that they had already decided on their next strategy. This was a battle of wit against Demons that had thousands of points in [Intelligence], and I could feel it.

(Ellie, you're going to take care of these Demons and gather information.)

Ellie replied in an inarticulate voice, "I understand".

I was more than ten kilometers north of Tiamo.

"Well, we don't have much time. I think I'll ask the elves to collect the magic stones."

"Is that so?"

"Oh, the Demon King's army is already moving on to their next move."

Me and my friends were riding on B-rank Birds just above 20,000 magical beast corpses.

"So there are Demons in the Fortress LaPolca and giving orders to the magical beasts?"

"Yes, Sophie. But it's just that apparently there is a Demon General in Fortenia, and he's taking strong orders from the Forgotten Continent where the Demon King is."

"Oh, yeah. So? Did those Demons seem strong to you?"

"Dogora, I'm pretty sure I heard that they are equivalent to A-rank magical beasts at the Academy. Their boss was a guy named Glaster, and he might be pretty strong."

I also added that I didn't know how strong he was because he was just sitting there blubbering and drinking tea.

"What about the Demon General then?"

"Ah, it seems that the Demon General Razel was the boss of this war."

In the midst of such a conversation, there was a girl who was dejected in front of the corpses of numerous magical beasts.

"I couldn't do it again."

I was so shocked that she didn't seem to be able to hear what I was saying about the infiltration operation.

"Kurena, I know you can do this. You just have to believe in yourself."

"But I can't do it, can I?"

"No, you absolutely can. Who's to say you can't?"

I admonished Kurena.

(Is it that difficult? But it should be possible. Kurena has not been able to use her Extra Skill at its full potential. If she does, she should be able to become as powerful as a Hero without his Extra Skill.)

I compared the Helmios' and Kurena' status in the Grimoire.

Helmios' total status (status, Talent skills, equipment)

[Attack] 10400 (2400, 3000, 5000)

[Endurance] 10400 (2400, 3000, 5000)

[Agility] 8400 (2400, 3000, 3000)

Kurena's total status when she uses her Extra Skill (status, Talent skills, Extra Skill, equipment)

[Attack] 10200 (2400, 1800, 3000, 3000)

[Endurance] 9500 (1700, 1800, 3000, 3000)

[Agility] 8400 (1600, 1800, 3000, 2000)

Kurena was wearing two Rings that each increased her [Agility] by 1000.

While using her Extra Skill [Limit Break], the Master Swordsman Kurena's status reached Hero Helmios' status. If Kurena and Helmios were to fight, it would seem that Kurena, with her naturally recovering strength, would have the upper hand.

However, that was not the case at all. If Helmios and Kurena were to fight, Helmios would probably win completely. It would be a total one-sided fight.

"I can't use my skills. My head gets all warped! Huh!"

She desperately complained to me how she feels when she activates her Extra Skill.

Then I squeezed Kurena's cheek with both hands.

"Look, who decided that you can't control your Extra Skill? Elmea? Or Kurena?"

"Huh, me?"

Kurena goes into a berserk state during her Extra Skill and kills all enemies that came towards her.

However, the attacks were normal attacks that didn't use any of her skills, but were just swings of her weapon.

That was nowhere as powerful as Helmios' attack, who had driven B-rank Stone to the brink of death.

With her skills, Kurena's [Attack] could be doubled or tripled.

"Don't set limits. Don't get caught up in common sense. You can definitely use your skills while in that state."

When we first fought the Dragon, I thought that's what Kurena's Extra Skill was.

However, when Cecile drained all of her mana when she activated her Extra Skill, I suddenly had a question.

Why couldn't Kurena use her skills when she activated her Extra Skill?

I persuaded Kurena as I nibbled on Kurena's cheek.

"If we decide on common sense now, we will not be able to grow in the future."

"I understand! Thanks!"

"Well, not immediately but one day you will succeed. Kurena, continue your hellish training!"

"Yes sir!"

After I told her about my previous life, I taught Kurena about how to respond to me in my previous life.

(I have no basis to believe that Kurena will be able to use her skills, but I am sure she can do it.)

'It's the usual again', sighed Kiel and the others.

Seeing the exchange between Allen and Kurena, Dogora, who was the only one in the party other than Allen who had yet to activate his Extra Skill, gripped his axe tightly.