Book 6: Chapter 343: The Eve Of The Battle To Defend The Fortress By The Lake
Book 6: Chapter 343: The Eve Of The Battle To Defend The Fortress By The Lake
The Forest of the Wild was located at the end of Dusk Valley. If one were to walk further in, they would arrive at the Cloud Sea Basin. This time, the three locations, where the qualifiers for the ranking competition would be held, were connected to each other. The female students were allocated to the Forest of the Wild. In contrast, the regular male students would head to Dusk Valley and the more powerful male students would accumulate points at the Cloud Sea Basin.
According to the rules, competitors were only allowed to gather points within their allocated area. If they were to cross over to a different region, the points would not be counted towards their total. As long as the points accumulated were ranked within the top three thousand after three days, the competitor would be able to move on to the next round. However, as they competed in pairs, the group’s total points would be divided equally between the members. This meant that only one thousand and five hundred pairs would qualify for the next round.
The average points for each monster killed were the lowest in the Forest of the Wild, the female students’ allocated zone. For instance, each Goblin killed was only one point. On the other hand, a Demon Imp was worth five points, while a Slime would at least be worth six points. However, the problem lay with the Goblin, as their combat abilities were far too lackluster. In fact, one point was more than fair.
If the Demon Imps were decked in full armor, they were almost on par with low-level Human bandits, which meant that the five points would be well-earned. As for the Slimes, each kill would amount to six points onwards since they were immune to most physical and magical attacks. Also, the more powerful the Slime’s attacks, the higher the points. All in all, each kill could amount to at least ten points.
Right now, Bella, along with her partner, President Isaman, were killing monsters on the field at the edge of the Forest of the Wild. President Isaman was a combat priest who was well-versed in both healing and various offensive magical attacks. To be accurate, she was a combination of priest and mage. According to tradition, magical professions usually acted as support of the combat professions through long-range magical attacks, as well as keeping an eye on the situation in case of any sudden attacks.
Bella and Isaman were currently fighting against the most common demonic being within the Forest of the Wild—the Forest Goblins. These Goblins were only about one meter tall, around the size of a small Human child. As their equipment was merely spears of wood or rock, the Goblins were basically defenseless and were the easiest targets.
Each competing student from the combat professions would be given a set of armor for free. There were four different types of armor: leather armor, light armor, heavy armor, and plated armor. The leather armor was used by the assassins and archers, light armor for the swordsmen, heavy armor for the warriors, and plated armor for the knights.
Due to the quality material, the Goblin’s crude weapons could not even make a scratch on the lowest level leather armor, let alone the knights’ plated armor. At most, they could only pierce through the cloth armor worn by the magical professions. However, as the magical professions rarely made it to the front, the Goblins were usually killed by long-range attacks before they could reach them.
Taking full advantage of the Demon King’s sturdy body, Bella had put on two layers of armor. She had a black metal-plated armor as her outermost layer, with a suit of secret silver scales under the armor that was almost like a second skin. Even her undergarments were made from special metals. To be accurate, Bella was technically wearing three layers of armor. She also had a pair of golden boxing gloves on her hands, along with two offensive type shields that were specifically made for attacking the enemy.
On her back, Bella carried a giant human-sized knight’s shield and was using a basic knight’s sword as her weapon. As her steed, Golden Dragon Princess Laceman, was on loan to someone else, Bella had no choice but to take up the role of the infantry. Her only other available steeds were white bone warhorses, but their presence would reveal Bella’s Demon King identity. After all, various birds and flying-type demonic beasts were surveilling the competitors’ every move.
Bella did not even bother to use her sword to deal with those Goblins. She swung her fists and slammed it into the nearest Goblin warrior’s head, nearly smashing it to pieces. The intense backlash from the blow had caused the arrow that a Goblin archer behind it was carrying to pierce right through its body. That Goblin archer toppled over with a look of shock on its face. Even until it’s last breath, it had no idea how it died.
When the remaining Goblins hit their wooden and stone weapons against Bella’s black armor, it did not even make a single scratch. With a slap, she tore the head of another Goblin warrior off its head. The remaining Goblins quickly realized that the situation was not in their favor and turned to make their escape. However, their legs were too short, and they did not manage to get away in time. Bella’s kick had killed them all in an instant.
Regardless of the Goblin being a warrior or an archer, they were only worth one point each. Other than their chieftain, who could conjure magical fireballs, the regular Goblins did not know any magical attacks. It did not take Bella much effort to take them out. Even before President Isaman could provide any support, she had already cleared the field.
“The points are still too low. Isaman, let’s go elsewhere with demonic beings. It’s not worth the effort here.”
“Bella, did you follow the basic requirements for dragon-slaying missions? This is way too thick, these Goblins… forget it. Let’s go, the other girls have already begun accumulating points.”
President Isaman stared at the bloody mess of Goblin corpses and felt a twinge of pity for them. Those few Goblin warriors were merely worth a few points, and this mess was not worth it at all. They were only given three days to kill as many demonic beings as they could. Excluding the sleeping time, they did not have much leeway. In fact, it was nearly impossible for them to make it into the top three thousand just by killing these Goblins.
The bloodbath in other areas had begun as well. The Goblin patrol team on the field outside the Forest of the Wild did not last long before losing most of their team to the girls. The remaining fortunate survivors had scrambled back into the Forest of the Wild to seek cover. In a field littered with Goblins corpses, Bella and the others did not find any collectible items since the Goblins did not have much reusable value.
Not far behind Bella and President Isaman, Kriss and Bella’s shadow surrogate were currently killing new demonic beings as the Goblins were not enough to satisfy the need for points. Right now, their target was the Hedgepig Warriors. Each one of those warriors was worth at least four points. Their skin was similar to good quality leather, and they were nearly as tall as a human adult. The only reason why they were worth fewer points than the Demon Imps was because the Hedgepig Warriors were using wooden weapons, just like the Goblins.
The swords in Kriss’s hands were definitely against the rules. Each of them was forty meters long. She did not even need to engage in close combat, merely using the sword’s aura to slash at those Hedgepig Warriors. Bella’s shadow surrogate simply stood at the side and blended into the background as Kriss carried her through the battle.
The girls from the Rose Society took their cues from the map and began to make their way towards the largest lake within the Forest of the Wild to assemble. It was too much effort to try to accumulate points on their own. As a group, they would be able to move up the ranks much faster.
At the moment, the female students from Olsylvia Academy were separated into four different groups. The first was the Rose Society, led by Bella. The second group consisted of those led by the Golden Legend Society and the Mask of Darkness Society. The third group was led by the Ironblood Cross Society, while the last group consisted of girls who operated independently. The first three groups were well aware that it was inefficient to act individually and had banded together to accumulate points right from the beginning.
Technically, Bella’s Rose Society had cheated by making replicas of the map in advance, which allowed them to be the first to gather as a group. It became much easier after they assembled together, beginning their arch towards the Forest Goblin’s fortress.
There were more than ten thousand Goblin Warriors in that fortress, so it would naturally allow them to accumulate many more points. For now, within the Forest of the Wild, the “Golden Eighth Chapter” Emiga was in the lead. As an alchemist, she could openly summon many of her puppet creations.
Furthermore, Emiga had been grouped together with Bella’s demon familiar, the Demon World Princess Diaz. She was disguised as a Human berserker who had already fought her way into the middle region of the Forest of the Wild on her own and had begun to make quick work of the Forest Demons there. Those Forest Demons were worth at least ten points each, as their combat abilities were much stronger than the regular Demon Imps.
Not long after the Rose Society set up camp near the lake, the other two groups of female students also approached the lake. The first rule of wilderness survival when setting up camp was to seek out a source of water. Hence, the Rose Society could not claim that those other groups had followed them to gain more points.
Once the girls from the Rose Society gathered, they immediately launched an attack on the Goblin Fortress by the lake. With more than ten thousand Goblins, most adventurers would not dare to approach it. However, this was not the case for Bella’s Rose Society. Her group consisted of many mages, including all Eight Chapters. Amid a dazzling swirl of magical attacks, the earthen fence around the Goblin Fortress was instantly destroyed.
Many of the defending Goblin Archers on the fortress walls did not manage to retreat in time before they were blown up by the magical attack. The leader of this particular fortress was a Goblin Chieftain that knew fireball magic. However, it did not even have time to conjure any fireballs before it was sent flying by Bella’s shield. This simple attack managed to kill the Goblin Chieftain that was worth ten points.
Both sides engaged in an intense fight from morning till the afternoon. In the end, the girls from the Rose Society emerged victorious. Although they were not a large group, their combined combat prowess was staggering, with three members at the Dragon Knight’s level—Lisha, Bella, and the Chief of the Disciplinary Committee, Natasha. As for the magical side, the group consisted of the full Eight Chapters, as well as Dark Warriors like Ariel. It was no surprise that they would win.
After this fortress that could fit ten thousand men was conquered by the Rose Society, the Forest Goblins at the outskirts of the Forest of the Wild had mostly begun to be soundly defeated. Those surviving Goblins immediately fled deep within the forest.
This fortress was the largest gathering point for the Forest Goblins and had been home to more than ten thousand Goblin Warriors for many years. However, it had now been taken over by the Human powers, and the Forest Goblins had no other choice but to run away.
Bella looked up at the skies and could see many bird type demonic beings flying around. The magical recording devices attached to their backs were used to provide a live feed of this prestigious event for the screening at the magical broadcast station within Macnadix City.
Unfortunately for them, this massive battle had somehow managed to slip through the cracks and was not broadcasted at all. The current feed at the broadcast station focused on the battles at Dusk Valley and the Cloud Sea Basin, and the Forest of the Wild was barely mentioned.
“Damned Humans, I will not—”
The Goblin Chieftain that had been sent flying by Bella’s shield attack did not even finish uttering his threats before collapsing dead on the ground. Her attack was backed by an immense amount of strength. This meant that even a high-level demonic beast would sink to its knees after experiencing a combined attack of Bella’s shield and boxing gloves. The chieftain was clearly no match for it.
“How weak! President Isaman, do you want this? It’s still a magical staff.”
“Bella, you can keep this for yourself. I don’t need weapons like this.”
Bella finally picked up her first valuable spoils of war, the staff that the unfortunate Goblin Chieftain was holding in its hand. Its value was around the same as a regular Human magical staff. When Bella knocked the Goblin Chieftain out of the way, the staff had fallen out of its hands. It was a pity that it did not catch President Isaman’s fancy.
After making a few slight adjustments, the Rose Society managed to convert the Forest Goblin’s Fortress into a decent temporary base camp. The girls that came after had no other option but to camp out in the open.
Before the competition began, Bella had secretly instructed the girls from the Rose Society to keep a low profile this time and not to go overboard with the points. If those dark interdimensional travelers were to go all out, they probably would have already made it to the inner regions of the Forest of the Wild.
Near the lake within the Forest of the Wild, the original Goblin fortress had been taken over by the Rose Society. The girls from the Ironblood Cross Society were the next to arrive at the lake. As they had come slightly later than the Rose Society, they had missed the perfect opportunity to attack the Goblin fortress. They had no choice but to set up tents to camp beside the fortress.
The third group of girls to arrive was from the Golden Legend Society and the Mask of Darkness Society. As they had some previous conflict with the Rose Society, it did not feel right for them to stay too close and decided to set up camp on the opposite bank of the lake.
As expected, the focus was clearly not on the Forest of the Wild, where the girls were fighting the demonic beings. There were only a small number of flying-type demonic beings responsible for the live feed.
For now, the Saviors like the God Chosen Knight Scott were in the lead. Under their frenzied attacks, the Demon Imps at Dusk Valley had already retreated back into their burrows. The Slimes in the Cloud Sea Basin had met an even worse fate. The team led by the God Chosen Mage Adelaide had gone on a rampage and practically wiped out the entire Slime population. Right now, he was leading his team to search for secret locations in hopes of finding hidden treasures.
Other than the four young ladies of the underground mafia organizations, Chairman Sally Roy, Miss Veronica, Miss Inie, and Miss Kleina, every single one of Bella’s close friends in the academy was among the girls from the Rose Society who had set up camp in the fortress.
Instead, those few young ladies had paired up and were currently exploring deep within the Forest of the Wild. As Bella was secretly in contact with the Death Spirit Wizard Kleina, she could pinpoint the Shadow Warrior Inie’s location through her. The Blood Berserker, Miss Veronica, and Chairman Sally Roy were the only ones that Bella had no way of knowing where they were.
“Bella, come here. What kind of Goblin is this? It feels a little strange. Princess Noreya and I found it around the corner while we were patrolling the surroundings… She had already killed it…”
Once they had settled into the camp, the Assassin Noreya and her partner, the Holy Maiden Daisy, were on patrol duty when they killed a special Goblin at one of the fortress’s dead ends.
Bella and President Isaman had rushed over the moment they heard the news to take a look at the Goblin. This particular Goblin was different from the usual. It had dark skin and was almost as tall as a typical Human. Most importantly, it had much better equipment than the Forest Goblins. In fact, it was carrying the standard equipment for a Human assassin.
According to the Assassin Noreya, this Goblin appeared to have the same stealth skills as Human assassins. It was merely unfortunate enough to have bumped into Noreya, who was an assassin of a much higher level, and had been instantly killed on sight.
“This is the standard-issue equipment for assassins from the Human Adventurer Union. How did this end up in the Goblins’ hands? Bella, we should report this…”
“Isaman, I know what you mean. Well… the flying-type demonic beast that was responsible for keeping up with our live feed has gone back early. Let’s wait until tomorrow. All we can do now is to tighten our defenses.”
Bella had a vague feeling that trouble was brewing. Those were Dark Goblin Warriors and were many times more powerful than the Forest Goblins. The last time Bella had encountered Dark Goblins like these was when she had met the “Dark Faust”, Miss Ford. This time, she had no idea who had sent them.
The flying-type demonic beasts responsible for surveillance felt that the viewership for this area would be far too low, so they had left much earlier. Even if Bella and the others wanted to report the situation, they would have to wait for the demonic beasts to return the next day. Although the broadcast would last the entire day, it was forbidden for them to continue the live feed when the girls were resting at night. These restrictions only applied for the girls, not the boys, though.
As she did not know how many of those Dark Goblins were around, Bella did not deem it necessary to inform the girls who were not in the Rose Society in order not to incite any panic. According to the initial plan, they would attack the Hedgepig tribe’s territory the next day. Then, on the third day, they would regroup and combine efforts to take down the Forest Demonic Giants. By then, they would have accumulated enough points. However, judging by the current situation, there might be a change of plans.
“The fortress gates must be sealed before nightfall. By the way, Daisy, please help me inform President Maria and the other student union presidents to suggest to their students to spend the night in the fortress. We will provide enough tents.”
“Also, tonight, President Isaman and I will be responsible for guarding the gates.”
Bella had sent out the girls like President Lucia, who held some form of influence within their peers, to persuade everyone to “huddle up” back at the fortress before the sun went down. She needed to protect as many girls as she could.
At the moment, the teachers, such as the Dragon Knight Ingrid, were not here. Furthermore, they were in the qualifying stage and not within the academy. This meant that the status of student union president was void as well, and the other girls, who were not from the Rose Academy, might not listen to them. She could only leave it up to fate.
However, not every girl was willing to listen to the Rose Society. Other than the female students from the Ironblood Cross Society, none had agreed to bunk in with them. The Golden Legend Society and Mask of Darkness Society across the lake had politely declined their offer. Many of the girls who were operating independently were influenced by the latter’s decision and decided to remain there instead.
Bella did not force them either. She simply hoped that the Dark Goblin was simply a wild one. If they had been sent by a Human, the danger levels within the Forest of the Wild would increase significantly.
Eventually, when day turned to night, large numbers of black humanoid figures emerged from within the Forest of the Wild. Although they all looked like demonic beings, they moved in perfect unison, just like an actual army. The figures were beginning to move soundlessly towards the lake.