Evangeline had destroyed four SSR-grade equipnt thus far.
First, the spear and shield she received as graduation gifts from the academy.
I was to bla for that one. It all happened because I got a 777 jackpot while trying to use a lucky strike to suppress her.
Next, she bought another spear and shield set from Naless, a dungeon rchant NPC, known as the "Demon of Spears" and "Giant of Shields".
We destroyed that one together while fighting off 50 golems.
Its funny how all of this sohow involves .
Anyways, all four pieces of equipnt broke under inevitable circumstances (?).
So, I requested the blacksmith to dismantle these ruined items.
As a result, luckily, I was able to recover one SSR-grade Magic Core. With this core, I requested the creation of an armor.
Given that the magic core ca from dismantling Evangelines equipnt, it only made sense to have her armor made.
"So, this is the result!"
After a long preamble, I unwrapped the armor lying beside .
"Behold this armor! Its the Golem Armor!"
"..."
Evangeline, with her mouth slightly open, looked up at the armor I had revealed.
"What is this?"
"Haha. Are you so moved, my junior? Well, I spent a lot of ti thinking about what would be best for you before deciding on and ordering this armor. Go ahead! You may shed tears of gratitude for your seniors consideration."
"No, thats not it..."
Evangeline shouted, shaking her small fist at the armor.
"Its ugly-!"
Her calling it ugly is harsh. The armor must feel so sad if it could hear.
"How about you say it looks sturdy?"
"No, theres a limit to how sturdy sothing can look! This looks like a tower you wear on your body. What is this?!"
Evangeline knocked on the bulky golem fragnt with her small fist. Imdiately, she recoiled in surprise.
"Its frighteningly solid! What the-!"
"Haha... Isnt it the result of diligent research by the alchemists on the golem armor fragnts? It has to be sturdy."
I smirked and stood next to the armor covered in gauntlets.
Surely, the appearance is rather thick...ah, no, solid.
[Golem Armor(SSR) Lv.35]
- Category: Armor
- Defense: 70-80
- Durability: 40/40
- Stamina 25
- Each additional golem fragnt increases the wearers physical and magical resistance by 5 percent each. (total 50 percent)
- Each additional golem fragnt decreases the wearers movent and attack speed by 2 percent each. (total 20 percent)
This was the result of researching the golem army fragnts obtained by defeating the Golem Legion in Stage 3.
It was possible to manufacture armor with far superior defense compared to ordinary tal.
Golem fragnts grant a bonus to physical and magical resistance but are disgustingly heavy, resulting in penalties to movent and attack speed.
Usually, people mix in one or two parts into the armor to reduce this penalty.
But then I had a counterintuitive idea.
What if we made an armor entirely covered with golem fragnts?
Thats what this armor, the Golem Armor, is.
It provides an imnse boost to physical and magical resistance at the cost of a hefty penalty to movent and attack speed.
Especially, the decrease in movent speed is lethal in intense battles.
But here, Evangelines characteristic [Unstoppable] cos into play!
Evangelines characteristic [Unstoppable] provides 100 percent resistance to movent hindrances.
Thanks to this, Evangeline can ignore the movent speed penalty on this armor.
In other words, she gains a huge boost in physical and magical resistance while only suffering a penalty to attack speed.
This makes the armor more advantageous than disadvantageous.
This is the perfect armor for Evangeline in the early and mid-ga.
Although she has skills that can help in combat, Evangeline is essentially a pure tanker.
She has to draw the attention of the enemies in the middle of the enemy line and take their attacks on herself.
Ive been uneasy, watching her dealing with all of this only with a shield. But with this sturdy armor, I feel a bit more relieved.
"...Its thick."
After finally trying on the armor, Evangeline waddled around, muttering.
The absurdly large and thick armor didnt suit Evangelines petite figure at all.
It looked like she was a festival part-tir, waddling around a venue in an ill-fitting mascot costu.
"What the heck is this..."
Evangeline looked miserable, but I was pleased, nodding in satisfaction.
Undeniably, a vanguard tank should display the sturdy, dependable characteristics of a well-made bowl of rice.
Watching the thin arms and legs withstand the monsters onslaught, its obvious why Ive been so concerned for my juniors well-being. But theres no need for that now, right?
"As you can see, these additional fragnts attached to the basic armor can be detached," I explained while tapping the extra fragnts stuck all over my body. Evangeline watched with a disapproving look, her excitent visibly diminished.
"If the additional fragnts get heavily damaged during battle, like this... by pressing here at the junction, you can detach them. This will reduce your defense but will increase your mobility."
The Golem Armor allows the additional fragnts to be purged, or in other words, detached.
This was why it was possible to create it without taking asurents.
It was a suit of armor created by attaching parts together - one size fits all.
It seems a bit... large for one size fits all...
Youre going to grow, Evangeline. Then itll fit better.
Listening to my lengthy explanation, Evangeline murmured softly.
"Im devastated..."
"Huh? What is?"
"The fantasy I had about my first armor."
"Cmon. Dont fuss over the looks of your armor. Practicality is what matters."
Although it does appear slightly bulky. But its solid, isnt it?
"Hey, the latest knight trend is all about showing off with armor! Wearing shiny armor! A cool helt! And a fluttering cape!"
Evangeline, who was squawking, eventually hung her head low.
"Could you promise one thing, senior?"
"What?"
"When I get another set of armor next ti, please ensure its truly beautiful."
"Hmm."
It might be a future matter, but your final armor, the [Snow White], is extrely beautiful.
So much so, your image in it was used as a promotional photo for this ga.
"Alright, alright. I promise. But for now, you have to wrestle with vampires. Just bear with it and put it on."
"Really... Im going to exterminate them, these vampires..."
A ferocity I had never seen before flared in Evangelines eyes.
But its kind of funny... uh, I an, cool, seeing her say that while wearing her clunky armor.
Turning my gaze away from the spirited Evangeline, I looked at the blacksmiths forge.
"What about the Golem fragnts for the common soldiers?"
"Half of the current forge facilities have been allocated to producing Golem fragnts. They should be distributed to everyone before the start of the defense battle."
"Good."
We decided to distribute a single part of the Golem fragnts to each regular soldier.
They can attach it to any part of their armor or put it on their shields.
Such upgrades might not seem like much, but diligently making these improvents, one by one, is important.
If hero characters are the hamr, regular soldiers are the anvil.
You need the anvil to strike with the hamr.
And both must be sturdy to smash the monsters sandwiched between them.
Strengthening the regular soldiers equipnt consistently is as important as taking care of the heroes gear.
Although it feels like Im making a fuss over a single armor part.
After giving a few more instructions to the blacksmith, I turned towards the party mbers.
"Theres a eting about this defense battles tactics tonight."
Evangeline, who was waddling around in her new armor, Lucas, who was blatantly laughing at her (you bastard), and Damian, who was covering his mouth and laughing (you bastard 2), looked at .
"Take a break and co to the lords mansion by 6 p.m."
I gave them a grin.
"Lets talk about it over dinner together."
This defense battle was going to be brutal and hard.
I planned to explain the strategy while serving them a nice al.
***
Since this eting was also an announcent about the overall strategy for the defense battle, I toured the city and summoned the other party mbers.
The Dion rcenary Group was at the barracks.
It was a bit past lunchti, and they were sweating profusely, training in the barracks indoor training ground.
"One!"
"Two!"
"Three!"
"Your defense is shallow! One more ti!"
Two thieves launched an attack on three warriors with shields.
The warriors defended, coordinating their shields so they wouldnt be breached. In response, the thieves tried to break their defense by launching coordinated attacks.
Even though they were only equipped with wooden swords and shields, the fervent exchange of offense and defense was in full swing.
"Its good to watch."
When I muttered that, Dion, who had just realized my presence, was surprised.
"Your Majesty, youre here!"
"Huh?!"
"Lord, youve arrived!"
The five who had put down their shields and wooden swords hurriedly ca over to and bowed. I grinned back at them.
"Im sorry to have interrupted your training. It looked like you were having a good ti."
"Oh no, Your Majesty! Were embarrassed for showing you sothing we shouldnt have."
Dion genuinely seed ashad, but inside, I was forming a new opinion about them.
Theyre in the middle of party combined training, even without instructions.
All of them were N-grade heroes. They have neither impressive specs nor skills.
There isnt much they can showcase, but one of the things they could boast about was their tight teamwork.
If a team of five can act as one body in attack and defense, they can compensate for the limitations of N-grades, and low levels and specs.
They knew exactly where they needed to go.
Looking back at his party mbers, Dion gave an awkward laugh.
"Compared to the other heroes under Your Majestys command, who are all extrely talented, were rather ordinary. We cant afford to be a burden, so we have to train hard."
"..."
I didnt deny his words.
To compete and to survive on the battlefield, they have to keep up their relentless effort.
"Theres a eting at the lords mansion at 6 PM tonight."
As I spoke, I patted each of the Dion rcenary Groups five mbers on the shoulder.
"Wash off all the sweat. Youve been working hard, you should eat sothing tasty."
***
The Shadow Squad was staying in an annex a little distant from the lords mansion.
Being elves, they were concerned about others gazes, so I simply gave them the annex.
Swoosh! Whoosh!
There was a shooting range set up behind the annex, and it was unclear when it was built.
Targets were scattered all over, and there were a lot of straw n riddled with arrows.
Two wizards were moving the targets around as three archers shot arrows, aiding in their training.
They were very systematic in their training.
"Oldgirl. Your long-range accuracy is still low. Increase it by one point today. Skull. Your close-range shooting speed is slow. You need to retrain your reaction speed from the beginning. Burnout. What are you... are you just going to keep bombing? Youll die if you cant do anything else."
Godhand, who had been giving feedback to the archers, seed to sense my presence and turned to look at .
"Your Majesty, youre here."
"You all are very diligent."
"Youre here, Your Majesty!"
"Youre here!"
The remaining mbers of the Shadow Squad bowed to .
Oldgirl just gave a small wave. Hm, still the sa as always.
I looked at Godhands two hands.
"Are your hands okay now?"
"Of course. Theyre in perfect condition."
"Thats a relief. From tomorrow, youll have to use your body more."
I winked at Lucas who had followed .
Lucas climbed onto a cart that was pulled behind the carriage, and opened the box that was on it.
Creak-
The box was half-filled with sparkling gray tal.
Silver bullion.
"Its yours, Godhand."
I brought the remaining silver used in equipnt crafting for him.
"With this amount of silver, I think you could hire an army, not just the five of us."
Surprised, Godhand looked at .
"Why are you giving this to us?"
"Youve heard that our opponents for the defense battle this ti are vampires, right?"
I grinned.
"And the weakness of those vampire bastards is this silver. And Godhand, youre a tal sorcerer who can manipulate tal at will."
"!"
"What do you think? With this much silver, we could make a decent leap against the vampires, right?"
At last, Godhand, who realized my intentions, cracked a faint smile.
"What should I do, Your Majesty?"
"Co to the main house by 6. Lets talk while having a al... Ah."
I winked at the younger squad mbers.
"Is there a nu you want for dinner? If there is, tell now."
As I said this, the trio of archers imdiately lit up their eyes and raised their hands. These gluttonous little ones.
***
I had soone call Junior separately, and a reply ca back that she would arrive by 6.
With this, all the party mbers were gathered.
Until everyone arrived, I decided to take a break. I sat on the edge of my bed in my room and stared blankly into space.
"..."
Before floated the system window.
[Enemy Info - STAGE 5]
- Lv.? Vampire Lord: 1
- Lv.? Vampire Generals: 2
- Lv.? Elite Vampires: 7
- Lv.25 Fallen Blood : 20
- Lv.20 Frost Ghoul: 970
- Ti till start: 9 days
Theyre coming.
Gazing upon the open window detailing my enemies, a wave of vertigo washed over . Before long, I closed the system window.
Theyre getting closer.
This stage was going to be challenging.
Despite my bravado and preparation for the defense, I had past experience to draw upon.
I knew this stage would be dreadfully harsh.
But I couldnt avoid it, so all I could do was stare down the approaching wave of enemies with eyes wide open.
Nothing changes. Every defense, no, every mont, is a make-or-break situation.
A pivotal move with the fate of the world at stake.
Just as it had always been, that was my role.
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