“Orarioooo!! A filthy city of contemptible heroes!!”
As the reality of defeat set in on his army’s side, Basram roared with anger.
“This cannot be! I refuse to let it be so! I refuse to accept your wretched, righteous faith!!”
His goddess’s domain was injustice, unfairness. Everything rotten and crooked. That was why he could not acknowledge the truth—that fair and righteous justice, free of trickery, had triumphed. Zald’s defeat painted a bitter scowl across his usual calm and priestly features.
“Kill those tiny weaklings, my spirit warriors!! Show them that our profane ways trump the rule of law!!”
No longer concerned with keeping up his gentle facade, Basram swung his ringed staff in fury. In response, his four spirit warriors emitted a soulless yell. The Gullivers combined their weapons to block a single greatsword swing, yet the force of the blow sent all four of them flying backward.
They had struggled in the fight so far. The enemy Level 5s had them completely outclassed. All four prums had lost their helmets, their dashing features marred with blood.
Yet still they did not back down.
“““Dvalinn, what have you found out?”””
“The human uses fire, and the elf and dwarf use lightning, while the animal person has no magic. Only the latter two possess regenerative capabilities.”
“““Berling, are there any other foes around?”””
“Not that I can see. They must have been scared off. And our fellow adventurers are keeping the other spirit warriors busy.”
“““Grer, have you worked out their strengths and weaknesses?”””
“The human is fastest to respond to Basram’s staff, while the dwarf is slowest. Of all of them, the elf is the least proficient with a blade; it’s likely they used some other weapon when they were an adventurer.”
“““Alfrik, put it all together!”””
“We must take them out one by one, before anyone comes to help. First the elf, then the dwarf!”
The four prums readied their weapons. Among the siblings, Grer excelled at observational skills, Berling at reconnaissance, and Dvalinn at magical sensibilities, while Alfrik’s superior analysis skills enabled him to make quick decisions on behalf of the group.
“Last time, we panicked, and it ended up as four one-on-ones.”
“Yup.”
“That was silly.”
“For us, four four-on-ones is the only way!”
Four pairs of hawklike eyes fell on the spirit warriors under Basram’s control. The dark priest shuddered, before steeling his courage and swinging his ringed staff.
“Silence, you incessant chatterboxes! Don’t think for one second you could even begin to understand the true depths of my goddess’s majesty!”
The staff chimed, and the four spirit warriors flew into battle.
In response, the four siblings hit the deck.
They let their foes sail right over them, crashing into the ground behind their backs in a devastating explosion of dust and rubble. The Gullivers seized the moment to draw their weapons and make good on their word.
“Ghhhi!!”
They spun around and immediately ganged up on the elf, as planned. Greatsword and greatax came flying in from the foe’s left and right, which the spirit warrior easily blocked with a sword each. However, that was simply a distraction, allowing the greatspear to lunge for the elf’s throat. Expecting this, too, the spirit warrior leaped back—straight into the path of the greathammer.
This powerful blow sent the spirit warrior flying, separating it from its allies.
““““You’re first in line!!”””” the brothers yelled, lunging after it.
“Tch!”
The Gullivers’ plan was to split up the spirit warriors and eliminate them one by one. Basram couldn’t allow this plan to succeed, and so he clicked his tongue and swung his staff, ordering his remaining three servants to catch up and stab the prums in the back.
“………”
However, even when they came from behind, the four siblings handily evaded the spirit warriors’ blows, and their fierce charge went unhindered,
“Your back isn’t your only blind spot!”
“Be aware of attacks from all angles!”
“Leave no gaps in your defense!”
“You have to be ready to dodge, block, and counter all at once!”
Folkvangr. The clash of first-tier adventurers that took place just prior to the final showdown. It was there the Gullivers had discovered the secret to defeating Basram’s spirit warriors. It all came down to tactics. The Level 5s boasted superior might, and their attacks were damaging, but so long as the four prum brothers could endure that and focus all their energy into setting up a four-on-one fight, there was hope for victory.
““““If that boar can do it, then so can we!!””””
The fires of envious rage burned within them as they sought to replicate Ottar’s feat. Spear, sword, and ax all sliced off one of the elf’s limbs, moments before the final hammer crushed its head.
“Impossible!!”
Basram couldn’t believe what he was seeing, but the Gullivers spared him no notice and moved swiftly on to handling the dwarf. With only three foes now remaining, splitting them up was even easier than before.
Basram had made a critical error and underestimated how significant this shift would be. When it was four-on-one instead of one-on-one, Bringar’s unparalleled coordination made the difference. There was a reason it was said that the Gullivers could overcome any foe by working together. Once all four completed their individual analyses, the enemy was stripped bare, and the brothers could utilize their superior teamwork to finish things off.
“Gaaaaaaaaahhh!!”
Upon receiving their combined attacks, the dwarven spirit warrior immediately fired off a lightning spell—the power of the spirit that dwelled inside him. The human added his flame magic to the mix, creating an explosion of both elements in an attempt to tear the brothers away from his fellow thrall.
Smoke and dust swept the battlefield, and Basram covered his face to protect his eyes. Still, he wore a confident smile, assured of his opponents’ imminent demise.
…However, it was then that he heard a voice from behind.
“It was Dvalinn and Grer who figured it out. They realized the spirit warriors would use their magic if threatened.”
He spun around to see one of the prum brothers wielding an enormous spear.
“You of all people should know better than to take us at our word, Basram.”
He was bloodied and beaten, but his cold, piercing eyes revealed the truth he didn’t say. Did you really think I wouldn’t choose the quickest way to beat you?
This had been their plan from the beginning. A bluff. To state that their plan was to eliminate their foes one by one, then draw out the enemy spells, causing a smoke screen in which one brother would sneak away and get the drop on Basram himself.
“Without that staff of yours, the spirit warriors are nothing but mindless beasts, isn’t that right?”
Alfrik glared at the magic item in Basram’s hand—the only means of controlling the dark priest’s heretical creations. It took Basram half a second to get over the shock, and another half a second to raise his staff…