“This cloak would normally be seized, since it’s a dangerous class 2 good, but we may have no choice but to use it this time.”
“Depending on the enemy’s skill level, there’s a chance he’ll notice us anyway, right? What do we do then?”
“That won’t be a problem. To be honest, I’d just burn down the whole area if I were in Joker’s shoes. Hiding is pointless. Instead, we’ll track him down while keeping a good distance between him and us before surprising him from behind. Well, he will likely predict that too, so he’ll probably leave a rear guard to handle us.”
The BR-319 cut right through the Amazon jungle. Rolf had reached the conclusion that hiding and attacking from the rear was doable, considering the dense forest.
“The Legion’s biggest weakness is that they don’t have access to spy satellites. However, we can make use of Reich and Franze’s satellites to keep track of the situation in real time.”
Rolf continued. “He’s currently camping in the Lago Jari National Park, which is located roughly three hundred kilometers from here, and will reach the defense line by noon tomorrow. We’ll start following him when he’s twenty kilometers away from the intersection and set up our attack.”
His five comrades nodded. They spent their last night before the battle in silence. Finally, morning came.
＊ ＊ ＊
The Brezilian army had chosen Humaitá, a city on the banks of the Madeira River, as their front line location and positioned themselves in the west, at the intersection of the BR-230—also known as the Trans-Amazonian Highway —and the BR-319.
They had brought power shovels and bulldozers to dig trenches. After these were dug, barbed wire was set up in front of the defense line. Although the Brezilian army’s weapons weren’t the best available, they had plenty of supplies to go around. They hadn’t received any support from Bolivar or Guayrani—both countries were going through political crises—but Argentine, the southernmost country of South Gamerica, had sent over arms and ammunition. Dungeons had appeared in Argentine as well, and they knew that if Brezil was to fall they’d face Joker next. Thus, they hadn’t hesitated to send plenty of help.
“We can’t lose to a few dozen civilians with this many supplies! We even have the Crusaders on our side. Let’s rip these monsters apart!”
The soldiers clamored at the words of their commanding officer. The battle on the outskirts of Manaus had taught the Brezilian army a great deal about the Legion’s methods. A single monster was powerful enough to face a platoon on its own. However, they weren’t immune to machine guns and tank guns. If they just held out long enough, the Crusaders would deliver the final blow. In a few hours, everything would be settled.
“Reporting. Three buses have stopped three kilometers north. It seems to be the Legion.”
“Good. Prepare the howitzers!”
The commanding officer’s words marked the start of Brezil’s fight for survival.
＊ ＊ ＊
“We’re deploying the wyverns. Be ready to intercept missiles. Giovanni...” Joker ordered.
Giovanni immediately conjured a thick mud wall with his magic. The wyverns all flew off from behind the wall, and the sound of explosions soon joined the flapping of their wings. The Brezilian army’s howitzers had been fired.
“Wyverns, seize control of the air! Goblin artillery, advance! Follow the orcs!”
Monsters appeared one after the other.
Joker had spent some time in the dungeon of Manaus to obtain more cards and train his monsters. As long as he could find a dungeon, there would never be an end to his supply of soldiers, who would grow stronger after each fight. If Brezil fell, no army would be strong enough to challenge the Legion. Naturally, the Vatican was also well aware of that fact. That was the very reason the Crusaders had been sent.
“Boss, I can feel a presence behind us. It must be the Crusaders.”
“As expected. Leave several Rank B monsters to guard our rear. Let’s see how strong they are.”
Ten dark wolves materialized. Thanks to their sense of smell, these B-Rank monsters would be able to track down their prey even if it tried to conceal its presence. The dark wolves set out at once, noses twitching.
“Mifa,” Joker addressed the blue-haired girl who still sat on the bus. “Go back to your card form, just to be safe. If I die, you’re free to do whatever you like, whether that’s joining the Crusaders or returning to the dungeon...”
“Are you going to lose?” Mifa asked.
“Hya ha ha! I won’t! I just wanted to say something cool for once.”
Joker left the bus in a good mood, twirling and dancing as he threw monster cards around, one after the other. The cards rained down like confetti, fluttering in the air before turning into monsters.
“I’m sure they think they’re better equipped than we are...” Joker said, trailing off. “Their mistake. Two weeks above ground means five years in dungeon time. Do they have any idea how many cards you can get in such a long time? We have hundreds of thousands of soldiers!”
If ten adventurers defeated one monster per minute, they’d kill 7200 of them in twelve hours. There was a five percent chance to obtain a card, which meant they’d gather around 360 cards. In half a year inside the dungeon, that would add up to over 65,000 cards. On top of that, adventurers were constantly taking turns inside the Venisuelan dungeon as well. The Legion was growing stronger every day.
“Don’t be stingy! Throw everything at them!”
A few thousand goblins were added to the troops. The way Joker called upon monsters, controlling them at will, was very befitting of a Demon King.
After dashing along the BR-319 at an inhuman speed, the rear of the Legion finally came into sight. Jet black wolves ran at them as soon as they closed in.
Rolf threw aside his Invisibility Cloak. “Dark wolves! Assume attack formation!” he warned.
“Got it! Leeeeeet’s goooo!” Chloe exclaimed, casting a magic spell.
A huge bolt of lightning struck the ground, covering a large area. The wolves fell one after the other. This wasn’t enough to kill B-Rank monsters, such as the dark wolves, though. However, Alberta Reigenbach and Marco Montale took advantage of their weakened state to finish them off with their blades.
“Boost! Magic Resistance! Toughness! Accelerate! Clear Mind!”
Léonard Chartres was able to use Holy Magic and cast buff upon buff on his comrades. Finally, Franca Bezzini stepped onto the path cleared by Alberta and Marco and fired an arrow at Joker, aiming right between the eyes.
FWOOSH.
The arrow was about to hit its target when a sturdy sword struck it down right in front of Joker’s face. A built man who looked about ten years older than Joker wielded the sword one-handedly.
Joker clapped.
“My, my! Good job! You cleaned up the weaklings with a zone attack and took down the B-Rank monsters in close combat. To think you’d try to finish me off with a ranged attack before I could even focus my attention back on you. You all seem very used to fighting as a team!”
Joker spoke with confidence, as though nothing fazed him, but the person who had just fired the arrow wasn’t as relaxed.
“My arrow was so easily blocked... It’s an SR item! Still, that guy isn’t an A-Ranker. He’s either the same rank as us or lower!” she exclaimed.
“As expected, Joker isn’t alone. Defense formation!” Rolf yelled, putting up his shield.
The other five circled back to stand behind him. The situation wasn’t as good as they’d hoped, but it wasn’t unexpected either. Franca, the scout, had very sharp intuition and could usually assess opponents fairly accurately. As long as the six members of the Crusaders worked together, they could even defeat Rank A monsters. They had honed their formations countless times inside the dungeons.
Right as Rolf tried to launch an offensive, however, Joker raised his hand as if to stop him.
“Ah! Wait. Hang on, okay? Why are you guys even trying to fight me? I’m human, you know.”
“What?!”
“Rolf!!!” Marco screamed from behind, stopping Rolf, who had answered reflexively.
This fight was kill-or-be-killed. It wasn’t the time for casual chitchat with the enemy. Still, Joker was unarmed.
“You guys are the Crusaders, right?” Joker asked, calmly stepping forward. “The ones working in Europe? Why did you bother coming all the way here? I don’t think I ever did anything to you or the Vatican, did I?”
“Stop messing with us! You’re calling yourself the Demon King. You hurt and kill people just because you feel like it, and you’re trying to destroy the world! Stopping you is our duty as God’s vanguard!” yelled Alberta, lunging forward, blade at the ready.
Her attack was stopped by the swordsman who had countered Franca’s arrow earlier. Joker ignored her and continued his speech.
“Look, I’m not even armed. Don’t you think it’s rude to suddenly jump on someone who’s trying to talk to you? Aren’t you the ones who are trying to hurt someone just because you feel like it?”
“That bastard... What the heck is he on about?” Marco muttered.
“Hey,” Joker continued, undisturbed. “Just tell me. Why are you fighting me?”
“Alberta, fall back. We came at the request of the Brezilian government. The Vatican will not abandon faithful Catholics. We’ll protect them from the Demon King... That’s why we fight!” Rolf roared, his shield still up.
Alberta stepped back carefully, sword at the ready.
Joker snickered, shoulders heaving in laughter.
“Can I ask you a question, then? Would the Vatican have done the same if a request had come from a Protestant, Buddhist, Muslan, or Hindra country? Some West African countries have large Muslan populations. Would you have ignored them?”
“Don’t listen to him, Rolf! The same happens in every RPG!!! The Demon King will always try to deceive the hero!”
Chloe’s words were in vain, as Léonard, the former seminary student, walked forward, heading toward Joker. Léonard tightly clasped the cross that hung from his neck and kept walking until he stood in front of Joker.
“Léonard!”
“Shut up! This is an opportunity! We may be able to talk things out without fighting,” Léonard started. “Demon King Joker, I have a question for you as well. Why do you fight?”
“Hya ha ha!”
Joker showed a sinister smile to the youngster who had bravely come to face him.