A blood-soaked man galloped across the plains on horseback. His mount had a long gash across its hindquarters, likely grazed by the large arrows shot by Orc Longbown. The horse kept running, bleeding profusely until it finally collapsed sideways.
The man rolled across the grassy ground, covered in what might have been horse's blood or his own. Covered in blood, dirt, and grass clippings, he looked like a walking grass doll - or rather a gory horror mannequin. Yet even with twisted and broken legs, he wouldn't stop moving.
Running, rolling, falling, crawling - his appearance was awful. Broken arrow shafts protruded from his body; he must not have had ti to pull them out when he was hit.
"What, what is this?!"
"Brother, did you say Demon Lord?!"
Fortunately, this was in front of the gate on floor 60. A priest from a passing adventurer party rushed over, followed by a group of priests who had co to pray using the supply caravan's wagons.
Irene reached out in shock, her inefficient heal softly enveloping the man's wounds. Though weak individually, the overwhelming brute force of holy power was supplented by the other priests who had erged at the commotion, carefully healing his injuries.
His face remained deathly pale - the blood lost on the plains couldn't be instantly restored. Still refusing to stop despite receiving treatnt and support from the priests, the man approached us.
Or rather, approached the hero.
"He-hero! Hero!"
"Yes. What's wrong?"
Han Se-ah's voice was stiff with tension, perhaps startled by the suddenly appearing man with horrific injuries who limped toward her on a twisted leg.
Regardless of her reaction, the man who had accurately picked out our party, likely knowing our descriptions, continued rambling:
Empire, commanders, military tactics, rookies, centaurs, stealth, ambush, encirclent, annihilation--
"Hmm, seems he's in ntal shock too."
"Still, I can roughly understand what he ans. What the Demon Army's doing too."
"Really? You can tell just from that, Roland?"
Beyond his physical injuries, he seed to have suffered significant ntal trauma. His words jumbled together as he frantically explained events out of order.
Looking at his clothes, he wasn't an adventurer, rcenary, or Imperial trainee commander. Not muscular despite being fit, and no mana presence like a mage - probably just a sowhat athletic civilian.
Most likely a scribe evaluating the Imperial trainee commanders.
"Seems a mid-boss that can freely move between floors went up the tower and joined forces with floor 60's boss monster. And now they're hunting humans systematically, cutting them down."
"What do you an cutting them down?"
"To hide information as much as possible."
Piecing together his jumbled words with gaming knowledge painted a rough picture.
The black mage-type mid-boss was smart enough to modify monsters. With the ability to move freely between floors, rather than descending, it chose to climb to floor 60 and join the boss monster's army.
Whether they were planning sothing or panicked by Han Se-ah's insanely fast progression, they had barricaded the gates.
And now they were systematically cutting down humans who had made it to floor 60, using stealth centaurs to ambush and completely surround groups before massacring and kidnapping them.
This wasn't a world with phones or radios for wireless communication. While magical communication devices existed, it wasn't a world where every adventurer carried one and posted constantly on forums. So if a surrounded party disappeared, it wouldn't be noticed until supply caravans were scheduled to et them weeks later.
"For so reason, despite operating a massive army, they're trying to hide information and buy ti."
"So when centaur units find enemies, they cut off escape routes with stealth, use exploding zombies as bait to lure them in, then surround and annihilate them?"
It made sense why there was no news of the boss monster. Centaurs had detection abilities on par with 5★ archers. A party with a 4★ guide would be surrounded before noticing the army, and even a 5★ guide wouldn't suggest retreating imdiately upon spotting enemies, so they'd miss the stealth centaurs.
The blood-covered man had co from the northeast - ironically, the direction most Imperial commanders had headed.
※
Floor 60's gate quickly beca busy.
Naturally, this was due to news of the boss monster's appearance. Those who had quietly descended through gates were probably rushing to sell the information to other adventurers.
It would take ti for word to reach the Harpy city and Adventurers' Guild on floor 50, but people who had sprinted to safe zones near gates would start gathering soon. The current arrivals were from floor 59, and soon people from floors 58, 57, and 56 would follow.
"Hanna, the magical device?"
"Use it right here?"
"Whether they try to surround and devour us once they spot us, or start an all-out battle - we found their location, so we should coordinate with Charlotte from here."
"Ah, right. They said they block paths with stealth centaurs."
So our task was to receive the ogres from Charlotte and advance northeast imdiately. At my explanation, Han Se-ah pulled out the crystal ball from her inventory and activated it with mana without hesitation.
I liked how she acted decisively like a proper broadcaster, not hesitating like so annoying sponsored content creator.
Charlotte was also sharp and clever despite her low combat rating, so she'd understand what our signal from the gate entrance ant. She'd realize sothing had happened on floor 60 and co. So we had just one task now.
"Hanna, gather people."
"Gather people?"
"So idiots might charge in recklessly and get wiped by the army. They could use those corpses for sothing."
"Ah, whatever they're preparing, having corpses would help them?"
"Right. Since that guy ntioned the Demon Lord, have Irene rally adventurers and rcenaries. We can't completely prevent individual action, but most will respect the temple's authority and hero's honor."
We needed to prevent potential trolling.
These monsters using human lives to make dark magic crystals were stalling for ti. This suggested they weren't planning a straightforward military assault, but rather so kind of magical sche.
If Magic Tower personnel brought the ogres, it would take half a day at best, a full day at worst. A single day's delay wouldn't derail Han Se-ah's ultra-fast progression, but human variables changed things.
What if so foolish young commander ordered a charge seeking glory, relying on defensive magical items? What if Han Se-ah's bad luck combined with coincidence to trigger so magical incident? What if we accidentally triggered so event flag we didn't know about?
"Ah, I understand Roland. If there's anything I can do...!"
"I'm counting on you, Irene."
She nodded firmly at my words, clenching her delicate hands with determination. From dark magic crystals made of human sacrifices to the Imperial scribe who barely survived horrible injuries, her anger at the Demon Lord drove her forward.
Han Se-ah supported her by creating steps and a platform with Earth Control. I was amazed how she instantly made Irene the center of attention with an idea I hadn't even considered.
The Imperial official who collapsed from blood loss while shouting about the Demon Army, the gathered priests whispering amongst themselves, adventurers and rcenaries carefully watching after rushing through gates - and in their midst, a beautiful nun ascending the earthen platform nearly 3 ters high.
"Everyone--"
Had she learned from 'Saint Candidate' Laurencia who freed slaves in the Harpy archipelago? As whispered conversations died down and eyes gathered, Irene's action was very simple.
She didn't remove her nun's hood to reveal her beauty, or speak with a compelling voice--
"Oh, oh my, such divine power..."
"As expected of the hero party's nun. With power like this, we should call her a saint."
She simply released divine power with brute force.
Atop the raised platform, the goddess-like blonde nun radiated overflowing divine power. She resembled a holy statue made of light, or perhaps a pillar of holy energy stretching skyward.
Though she rely released divine power outward, the sight was sacred and divine. The previously muttering crowd gaped at Irene's majestic appearance.
"We now face the Demon Lord's evil army. They who desecrate the Goddess's precious gift of life, animate corpses, and use humans as materials for dark magic."
Her beautiful golden hair cascaded like a waterfall beneath her hood billowing in waves of holy power. The lingering rcenaries and adventurers gathered, mouths agape at the beautiful sight.
Han Se-ah and I could only stare in shock as well.
"So I ask you all - do you desire a holy war? Do you wish to join in this most united and righteous crusade to halt evil's advance?"
It seed a total war under the na of holy crusade was about to begin, led by a Saint Candidate.
Why did this speech sound so familiar...?
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