“We’re here.” After leading us to the raid group, Ferox turns around without warning. “Good luck, and don’t die!” He walks back to the cliff where we meet him while waving at us. But then, he suddenly stops, looks in Warpoke’s direction, and adds before leaving. “Ah, and think about my offer, okay?”

  He appeared before us like a storm, chatted the whole way here, and disappeared in the same way as he showed up.

  So… what are we supposed to do now?

  The pyers forming the raid party are too busy fighting the monsters ahead to care about our presence. Furthermore, a group of so many people is somewhat intimidating. Everyone hesitates, they don’t want to be the first one to talk with them.

  It’s then that one of the pyers realizes our presence and comes out of the group, shaking his head. “That Ferox… he could have waited for me, sigh… Doesn’t matter.”

  Pointy ears. It’s an elf. But he doesn’t look like all the elven Champions I’ve seen so far.

  Don’t misunderstand. It isn’t like he’s ugly, no. He’s so handsome that I’m tempted to nd my fist on his face to settle the score. What’s different about him is the feeling he gives. Most pyers want their elves to look young and innocent, or slightly mischievous. So much that a girl can fall in love with a single peek at their faces. But this elf has a more mature vibe with his neatly trimmed beard and perfectly arranged hair.

  I can imagine him wearing gsses, gsses that shine and hide the eyes as he ughs, like in the anime… But that’s a sight I’ll never get to see, as elves can’t wear gsses.

  Because they have perfect eyesight? Well, yes… but no.

  The reason they can’t wear gsses is because gsses are an accessory that most factions can’t use. The reason is that too many gsses would break the fantasy immersion.

  As far as I know, the only factions that can wear modern gsses are mine and the Magic Engineers, because we have access to ‘high-tech’ equipment. Other than this… a few factions can use simir items, like the dwarves, who can use soldering or pilot gsses, or the monocles from the human nobles… but that’s all.

  If you want to know more, please go ask Ricard. And when you do, make sure I’m nowhere near. I’m way too tired of his endless ‘knowledge drilling’ sessions.

  “Ferox was the one who guided you here, right?” The elf doesn’t wait for an answer and continues speaking. He points behind him. “As you can see, there are far too many pyers for me to coordinate alone. You can stay with your team or split up, do as you please. As long as follow the orders and take over the frontline when you’re asked to, you can do what you want. You can take this as an easy way to rack up lots of points.”

  His monotonous and severe voice doesn’t give us any option but to follow what he says. He makes it clear: we do what he says, or we leave.

  The elf then looks to the side, where another group of pyers is waiting. Their guide, unlike Ferox, is giving them instructions instead of leaving. “Well then, thank you for your help.” Says the elf before leaving us behind.

  “What’s wrong with him? Couldn’t he be nicer? We’re helping them!” Balmy compins.

  I take a gnce at the rowdy bunch of pyers. As you might expect when such a diverse and random group of pyers meet, they’re making a lot of noise, jumping around like maniacs, showing off their skills, and doing whatever they please. They do seem to follow someone’s orders, but they do so as if it were an afterthought. Their immediate fun is what’s truly important.

  “He’s tired?” I suggest. “It isn’t easy to reign in other pyers…”

  You just have to take into account the actions Moo, Muribelle, and Balmy have taken since the Mystery Event started to understand what I mean. They’ve given me quite a lot of headaches, and it’s just the three of them. Scale this to several hundred pyers, and anybody would lose their patience in mere seconds.

  Me? Nah, I’m perfectly perfect. I never cause any trouble.

  “But still! This doesn’t give him the right to treat us like that! Muuu… I’m angry now!”

  “Stop, Balmy!” I understand you didn’t like his attitude, but… why are you punching me? If you want to punch someone, go punch his annoyingly handsome face. This way, you’ll release both our pent-up desires at the same time.

  We step into the raid group, and the other pyers quickly notice our presence.

  “Fresh meat for the grinder, hahaha!”

  “Let’s bet. How much time do you think will they st? I’m saying they piss their pants as soon as they see the horde of zombies up close!”

  “Just piss? I bet they shit their pants, hahaha!”

  One of the pyers gets close to us and suggestively raises one eyebrow. “Hey, little girl. Want to spend some nice time with me?”

  “Kyaaaaah! Get away from me!” Balmy punches me yet again. “See? I knew this would happen. This is why I didn’t want to come.”

  I shrug my shoulders. It’s just the usual stupid banter between stupid pyers. What did you expect?

  The ongoing battle continues as we move forward, finding a path between the pyers who are taking a rest from the frontlines. And then, we see it. A bck sea, its waves continuously crashing into the pyers holding the frontline and doing their best to push them back.

  I thought the pyers were using the word ‘zombie’ as a joke because when the monsters die, they come back to life, but… Now I understand. This must be how those facing a zombie apocalypse in the movies must feel like.

  “Aaah! Save me! They got me!”

  One of the pyers makes a mistake and ends up inside the horde, surrounded. The nearby pyers look at each other but don’t move. They don’t want to be the one who takes the biggest risk.

  *Swish, Bam!*

  But before the pyer can be torn to shreds, something flies next to us and explodes upon impact. The explosion kills the bck monsters and almost takes the life of the pyer.

  “Fucktards! Are you snot-nosed brats scared of weak-ass monsters or what? How many times do I have to tell you to save the other pyers!? Are your skulls empty? We don’t have spares for all you useless fools!”

  Following the trajectory of the projectile, we find a dwarf with a lit cigar in his mouth and a cannon-like weapon that’s way too big for his height. He points at two of the surrounding pyers and then at the one who almost died.

  “You and you. Take that frail useless bastard to the backline, and better not mess up this time.”

  Wow, that’s… intense. A grumbling, foul-mouthed, stubborn, and angry dwarf. It’s the full package! Never thought I’d meet a pyer rolepying so well in this pce.

  “What’re you looking at? Never seen a dwarf before?” The dwarf chews on his cigar as he approaches, inspecting us. “You’re fresh recruits, right? Good. Here, I’m the boss. Do what I say and I won’t kick your asses. Understood?”

  Pressured by the intimidating aura, I instinctively nod. I’m sure the rest do the same because the dwarf smiles and nods.

  “Good. Then, fill the hole left by those wimps and do your best to stay alive. If you do kick the bucket, at least bring some bastards down with you, alright? Or I’ll be the one to finish you off.” He makes a dry ugh. “What are you waiting for? Move!”

  The dwarf then turns around and starts giving orders to the other surrounding pyers with the same gruff tone and crude nguage.

  “That must be the raid’s leader,” I say to no one in particur. “It’ll be best if we do what he said.”

  Everyone agrees with my proposal and we start fighting the endless bck horde.

  Still, what a surprise. I imagine the dwarf, the elf, and Ferox must be from the same guild. After all, it’s clear they’re the ones in charge. And they’re all quite… special. Let’s leave it at this. Is this why Ferox was interested in Warpoke? Because he’s… special too?

  But I must admit it. Only someone like that dwarf can control the chaotic mess of pyers in this raid. This must be why he’s in charge. Maybe he’s the guild’s leader, even.

  “Fufufu! Hahaha! Yes, yes! This is life!”

  “Aaah, there he goes again…” Balmy shakes her head, but I decide to forgive the annoying fairy because I’m in a good mood.

  Why am I in a good mood? I’ll expin.

  The screams from the horrifying monsters fill the air, only outweighed by the screams of the dying pyers and the sounds of explosions. The unending horde never stops, inexorable, crashing into us again and again. We can feel their breath on our skin. A scent of decay fills the air, caused by so many monsters clumped together. And as if this weren’t bad enough, my MP ran out long ago and I’ve been forced into melee combat. I swing my staff with all my might, hoping I don’t get surrounded and killed in an instant.

  So, if everything is so awful, why am I happy? It’s because nothing of the above matters. The only thing that matters is the continuously increasing points we’re getting from defeating so many enemies.

  “Fufufu! Hahaha! I can smell the rewards! Sweet, sweet rewards! Come, monsters, dome to daddy! I’ll turn you into something useful. I’ll improve you, transforming you into your final forms. Hahaha!”

  All our members are suited for combat against multiple enemies. Moo can tank a lot of damage and reflect it back to the attackers. When backed up by Balmy, he’s very useful. And both Muribelle and I have AoE attacks. The amount of enemies we’ve sin in the st five minutes far exceeds the ones we killed before meeting the raid.

  I salivate at the thought of the rewards I’ll obtain when the event ends. Mission? Final boss? What’s that, is it tasty? Hard-earned cash (points) is the only thing that matters!

  My delusions get interrupted when the mood of the surrounding pyers suddenly changes.

  “We’re in trouble, Boss! Golem incoming, at four o’clock. And it’s a berserk one!”

  Everyone shuts up at those words. Several berserk golems are roaming around, causing huge damage to their surroundings. Depending on their size, their power changes. If one of the biggest ones crashes into us, the raid can be doomed.

  We can’t allow something like this to happen. I can’t lose my source of income!

  “Hah, that junk?” The dwarf calls out. “What size? Time to impact? Tell me, we don’t have all day!”

  “Y-yeah. A-about, forty seconds? And… i-it’s one of the l-l-rgest ones.”

  For the first time, the dwarf lets go of his cigar and it falls to the ground.

  Indeed, when I look at it, the golem I see is the same size as the one we found earlier. The one that treated the monsters like flies and squashed them with a single swing of its immense arm. Behind him, there’s a dark storm of particles, caused by the numerous dead monsters left in its wake.

  I don’t think we’ll fare any better than those monsters if it reaches us. But we have a way out.

  “Muribelle. Do it.”

  Muribelle, who’s standing next to me, gets excited. “Do you mean…?”

  “Yes, I mean it.”

  She makes the gesture to roll up her sleeves although she doesn’t have sleeves. “Alright. Leave it to me.”

  A rge amount of fire starts swirling around her Champion as she prepares her ultimate skill: Meteor. I’ve forbidden her from using it unless I told her to because it costs too much MP, but she has been looking forward to a chance to use it on this sea of monsters.

  “Shoot it in front of us but make sure to not kill the pyers.”

  “I know. Don’t tell me how to use my skills. I’m the master of fire skills.”

  An identical meteor to the one she dropped during Targaroth’s fight falls from the sky. With a booming explosion, all the monsters get annihited and a rge opening, more than big enough for the whole raid party, is created in front of us. Then, like a tide, the monster horde quickly starts filling it back up.

  I can’t help but open my eyes wide at the sudden spike in our points. Aaah, yes. Yes! Give me more points! Fufufu! Hahaha!

  “What are you waiting for, fucktards!? Push forward! Seize the opening created by that ss! We must move out of that pile of junk’s path before it turns us all into pyer paste. Make haste!”

  “Uooooh!” The pyers shout in unison as they rush forward, pushing the few remaining monsters to a side.

  That dwarf is something else, don’t you agree?

  “...

  If you aren’t sure what looks would be the best for the monster you’re creating, just come and ask me. I don’t want to brag, but I know almost everything when it comes to DMA, including the accessories each faction can use and unlock.

  There are lots of pyers that don’t like spending resources and cp to unlock new customization elements, and they’re wrong. Unlocking everything goes against all efficiency, something you should never do unless you’ve already reached max level and just want to complete everything, but not unlocking any cosmetics is equally bad. The key is knowing the minimum you must unlock to achieve your goals.

  If you don’t invest in the cosmetic elements, all your monsters will end up looking quite dull, and the ck of differences between them will bore the invaders. This is especially true if you pn on using lots of the same unit.

  For example, did you know that the human faction can unlock an armor set inspired by the griffins? The armor’s bracers have cws like those of an eagle, and the enormous cape looks like wings from a distance. If you’re creating a Griffin Knight squad and don’t unlock that armor, you’re stupid.

  And there’s a lot more stuff other than apparel, armor, and weapons you can unlock, depending on the faction. For example, new wing and halo shapes and sizes for the angels, or wings and horns for the greater demons. More colors for the slimes, special body features for the orcs and goblins like tusks or tattoos, or golem parts and shapes for the Magic Engineers.

  Even the undead can unlock new decomposition stages for their units, like being infested with maggots; as well as new causes of death like burned, frozen, or drowned.

  …”

  - Yet another one of Ricard’s ‘knowledge drilling’ sessions. This time, though, Andreu was lucky enough to run away on time. Or was he?

  Radosh

  AnnouncementHello everyone. There won't be a chapter today, Monday. A retive was hospitalized and I couldn't write this weekend. I say it here because if I were to publish a chapter just to say it, it'd cause more confusion.