The eyes of the Gargoyle Chieftain under my command changed, their blood-red pupils turning to blue within the confines of my control magic.

One of them suddenly stopped dead in its tracks, causing its twin counterpart to halt as well, sensing something was off.

A moment of silence passed.

"Huh?"

"What’s with them?"

As Lucas and Evangeline, who were standing in front of the chieftains, looked perplexed, a sudden outburst happened.

SCREEEECH!

The one under my control suddenly roared, then turned its hammer against its twin.

THWACK!

The twin chieftain was struck unexpectedly, armor shards scattering all around.

GRRR?!

Surprise gave way to fury in the eyes of the stunned twin chieftain.

-Monsters do not tolerate betrayal.

The twin chieftain who was struck first retaliated with a furious roar, swinging its hammer.

THWACK! THWACK! THWACK!

The two Gargoyle Chieftains faced each other, indiscriminately hurling siege weapon-grade attacks.

Everyone’s faces drained of color as they watched the two boss monsters attack each other relentlessly.

Even though they were exactly the same, the one under my control seemed weaker.

The twin chieftain began to overpower the one under my control.

THWACK! THWACK! CRASH!

SCREEEECH!

The twin chieftain, with a roar filled with rage, grabbed the neck of the one under my control and hurled it far away.

THUMP! THUMP! THUMP...

The Chieftain under my command rolled all the way to the other side of the wall.

Coincidentally, that was where the sixth wave of Gargoyles was about to land.

"I was worrying about how to guide them there..."

I chuckled.

"That’s one less thing to worry about."

SCREEEECH!

The Gargoyle Chieftain under my control rose to its feet and swung its hammer at its subordinates who were just landing on the wall.

THWACK! THWACK!

The front row of the regular Gargoyles were pulverized.

The sixth wave of the Gargoyle legion was initially startled, but soon their eyes glowed ominously as they charged at their commander.

CRASH! BANG!

A civil war broke out.

The Gargoyle Chieftain and the regular Gargoyles clashed with all their might, trying to kill each other.

GRRR...

The other Chieftain, still of sound mind, wanted to join its subordinates.

"Block him."

Lucas and Evangeline blocked his path at my command.

"Well, the situation just got simpler."

I said, wiping the blood still trickling from my nose with the back of my hand.

"While that mad Gargoyle wipes out his own minions, we’re going to take down this side, the betrayed twin."

A smile crept onto my lips.

"Easy, right?"

Lucas nodded.

"It’s twice as easy now."

Evangeline laughed melodically, raising her cavalry lance.

"It’s four times the fun!"

SCREEEECH!

The enraged roar of the boss monster echoed across the walls.

***

Clang! Crash! Tskaang!

Lucas and Evangeline took turns blocking the Gargoyle Chieftain’s warhammer.

Their opponents had reduced from two to one, so their defense was significantly easier.

Yet, the two knights were unable to transition into an offensive stance easily.

I gritted my teeth, constantly stealing opportunities to throw my kopis.

’I need to strip off his armor...’

The Gargoyle Chieftain was no easy boss.

If our vanguard hastily switched to offensive and got counterattacked, it would be a headache.

Then it happened.

"The Shadow Squad, back on the frontline."

As the voice echoed from behind, I turned to find the five members of the Shadow Squad, including Godhand, aligned.

"Any injuries?"

"Damien cast a healing spell on us. We’re fit for combat."

"What about the equipment? It got damaged."

"I’ve repaired them temporarily. No issues."Damien had provided first aid to the trio of archers, and Godhand had constructed a temporary ballista with the metals scattered around.

With a blunt, yet confident tone, Godhand said, "We’re ready to launch at any moment."

"Good. Engage immediately."

The trio of archers swiftly drew their weapons, aiming at the Gargoyle Chieftain.

"Fire!"

Tutututu-!

Pshooot! Pshooot-!

Amidst the falling rain, a barrage of arrows rained from the three archers.

"We’ll join as well."

Godhand crafted a long spear from the bodies of the fallen gargoyles, and Bodybag, levitating it with psychokinesis, threw it.

Craaack-!

Thudd!

All five members of the Shadow Squad joined in the assault.

Hundreds of arrows and dozens of spears pummeled the Gargoyle Chieftain’s body.

Unable to withstand the onslaught, the Gargoyle Chieftain curled up to adopt a defensive stance, but it was already too late.

Clang-!

The armor hit by the traitorous chieftain earlier was the first to break.

Once a piece fell off, the rest was rapid.

Like sand grains washed away in a downpour, the Gargoyle Chieftain’s armor quickly crumbled and fell.

Now that the physical attacks had mostly destroyed the armor, we could switch to magic attacks to damage the body and finish him off.

It was such a smooth raid process, but then...

Swoosh!

As always, reality didn’t follow plans.

The rain intensified. The merciless downpour blurred vision and affected movements.

Craaaaa-!

The Gargoyle Chieftain swung his warhammer furiously.

Smash-!

Evangeline blocked the attack with her shield effortlessly, but,

Wobble!

On the wet ground flooded with rain, she lost her footing and balance.

"Huh?"

Evangeline’s negative trait, [Error-Prone], came into effect!

And as she stumbled, the Gargoyle Chieftain seized the chance to land another blow on Evangeline.

Crack-!

"Kuhuk?!"

The rain-soaked ramparts were slippery, and Evangeline managed to guard with her shield, but she lost her footing and slid helplessly.

And in the deluge, she was swept off the edge of the rampart.

"Aaah!"

Evangeline screamed, suspended in mid-air.

"Evangeline!"

Without realizing it, I tried to rush to her aid, but a wave of dizziness hit me.

"Ugh...!"

Perhaps it was too much to use my Commander’s Mana on the boss monster, I was struggling just to stay standing.

All I could do was try to keep myself from falling and observe the situation.

"Heup!"

Lucas, who was charging at full speed towards Evangeline, slid and threw himself towards her.

Lucas’s sturdy hand caught Evangeline’s, who was about to fall over the ramparts.

"Phew, that was close."

I sighed in relief as I watched, but there was no time for that.

Craaaa-!

The tank line holding back the boss monster disappeared.

So where would the boss monster head?

Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!

Of course, it heads towards the dealer line, left defenseless.

The Gargoyle Chieftain began to charge at us with an ominous momentum. This was completely unexpected and I froze in place.

I was counting on either Lucas or Evangeline, one of the two SSR-ranked vanguards, to hold it back.

But suddenly, everything had changed.

"Damn it!"

"We’ll hold it back!"

Godhand and Bodybag urgently stepped into the middle.

Against a normal monster, or even an elite one, Godhand and Bodybag would have been able to form a line of defense.

But the opponent was a boss monster. There was no comparison in specs.

As a utility mage and not a pure tank, they wouldn’t be able to hold out for long.magic

"Fire! We need to push it back!"

As Godhand cried out, the trio of archers increased their barrage of arrows, and Bodybag continued to throw his spear.

But the Gargoyle Chieftain just plowed through all the attacks, advancing relentlessly.

I had never seen such a bulldozer-like creature."I’ll buy us some time!"

Shouting, Godhand charged forward.

In an instant, he got right in front of the Gargoyle Chieftain,

Whoosh!

Sliding on the water-logged floor, Godhand’s hand touched the Gargoyle Chieftain’s foot.

Whirrrrr!

The tip of the Gargoyle Chieftain’s foot melted and stuck to the ground. It was a typical move for a metal mage.

However, the versatility of a utility mage like this,

Chkrrr-!

Loses its meaning in the face of simple, overwhelming power.

Godhand desperately tried to seal the Gargoyle Chieftain’s foot, but with a brief exertion of strength, the monster ripped a piece of the rampart floor.

"Damn it...!"

Godhand tried everything he could to buy more time, but the Gargoyle Chieftain paid him no mind.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

It was charging,

And coming to kill the dealers.

And me.

’With the blade of Mana...’

I drew my staff, but there wasn’t a shred of magic power left in my body.

In a desperate rush, I pulled a magic potion from my inventory and gulped it down, but my magic power didn’t recover.

What the hell? Did I exhaust too much earlier, to the point where drinking a potion doesn’t restore anything?

What should I do now-

"I’m here, Prince."

That’s when I heard Damien’s composed voice.

Damien nodded, holding three magic pistols, Cerberus, in his hands.

He held two in his hands and the third one was tucked into his waistband.

"Let’s give it a shot."

"Damien!"

Damien, standing before me, took a breath and aimed the Cerberus in his hands - then pulled the trigger.

Bang!

A sound like a hammer strike erupted from the muzzle.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

Six shots from each pistol. Twelve shots in total using the akimbo style.

With Far-Sight activated, Damien’s Cerberus shots all accurately struck the pinpoint on the Gargoyle Chieftain’s body.

With each bullet lodged in its body, the Gargoyle Chieftain twisted in pain, letting out horrific screams.

Yet, it didn’t slow its charge.

Even with the damage it was taking, it seemed able to endure.

’The damage limit of an R-rated magic pistol...!’

Before we knew it, the Gargoyle Chieftain was almost upon us.

Thud!

Thud!

Thud!

Each step it took sent ripples through the fortress floor.

Unflinching, Damien dropped the pistols in his hands to the ground and drew the last one from his waistband, gripping it with both hands.

He fired.

Bang! Bang! Bang...!

The magic bullets accurately hit the monster’s weak spots like its forehead and neck, but they didn’t deal any decisive damage.

Unyielding, Damien planted his last bullet in the monster’s forehead.

The archers also followed Damien’s lead, continuing to fire. However, the beast showed no signs of falling.

Thud-!

Even amidst this downpour, the face of the Gargoyle Chieftain had drawn close enough to be seen.

From between the shattered and fragmented helmet, the steel statue emitted an ominous red glow.

What was visible in those two eyes was nothing more than pure hatred.

The intent to kill humans. No, more than that.

The endless hatred intended to annihilate the entire human race...

"Hey, monster."

That was when it happened.

"Listen carefully."

Suddenly feeling hot air, I turned around.

From the rear line of our party.

Lying on the cart used for artifact retrieval,

with hands raised, evaporating all the rain around her- Lilly was generating a magic sphere of flame above her head.

"I am..."

And then Lilly uttered the coolest line I had heard from an R-ranked character in this game.

"The senior mage of this Monster Frontline-!"

With her red hair flying wildly, Lilly thrust her hand forward, and with a loud roar-!

The flaming sphere that was fired accurately hit the Gargoyle Chieftain right in the face.

--TL Notes--

Hope you enjoyed this chapter. If you want to support me or give me feedback, you can do it at patreon.com/MattReading

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