Our main fighting force consisted of two Queens.
Queens were originally superior to the Ancient Dragons.
However, having had a portion of their souls devoured by White, they had been significantly weakened.
In their current state, the Queens were probably only on par with the Ancient Dragons.
Our opponents had five of those Ancient Dragons.
Fire Dragon Guen.
Wind Dragon Hyuban.
Light Dragon Byak.
Every single one of them was a troublesome opponent.
Guen was well-rounded, with all abilities at a high level.
Compared to the others, he lacked explosive power, but made up for it with stability.
Hyuban excelled in aerial combat and was unmatched in high-speed fighting.
Fortunately, within the enclosed space of the Great Ello Dungeon, free flight was impossible, so that advantage was effectively halved.
Even so, his ability to manipulate air was not to be underestimated.
Nia was also an annoying opponent.
She specialized in gradually wearing down an opponent's stamina using two types of power — ice and curses.
On top of that, she herself possessed defensive capabilities second only to the late Earth Dragon elder, Gakia.
She was the type of enemy who would force a prolonged battle when that was exactly our disadvantage, using her defenses to drag things out.
Byak was focused on support.
While he himself lacked significant combat power, he could dramatically enhance a single person.
Given that he was wrapped around Yamada-kun's sister's arm, it seemed he was currently powering her up.
An enhanced human was comparable in strength to an Ancient Dragon.
Furthermore, Byak himself was a user of healing magic and could fill the role of healer as well.
And Reise was... thinking about the long term, he might be the most troublesome of all.
Well then.
What was to be done...
Of course, the strategy was already decided.
I issued commands to the Queens through my Skill.
The Queens moved into action in response.
Every spider-type Monster on the battlefield charged forward simultaneously.
Toward Yamada-kun.
"Protect the brat Hero!"
Guen shouted.
Panic was visible on his face.
Well, naturally.
The weakest person here was Yamada-kun.
Yamada-kun was present precisely because he was the holder of the Ruler Skill: Mercy.
And the effect of that Mercy Skill was resurrection of the dead.
Lars-kun had been kept reviving the Ancient Dragons through that resurrection until he finally collapsed.
Given that, it was only natural to target Yamada-kun — the one who possessed that troublesome resurrection power yet had the lowest combat strength on the field.
"Don't take this personally. I've already decided I'm not going to hold back."
If they were a Reincarnator, but stood against us, then they would be killed.
Lars-kun had been a Reincarnator, yet he had sacrificed himself.
If he could go that far, then we could not afford to lose.
The same applied to them.
In the battle against Lars-kun, Thunder Dragon Goka had exhausted his power and been sacrificed.
If neither side could back down, then all that remained was to give everything.
And I had already heard Yamada-kun's answer from our earlier exchange.
In that case, there was no need for restraint.
Without mercy, kill them.
The swarm of spiders that rushed forward was halted by a barrier.
Was that the Purity Skill from Oshima-kun?
The Purity Skill was an ability that created powerful barriers.
Oshima-kun was no different from Yamada-kun in weakness — if anything, even more ill-suited for this battlefield — but the barrier alone possessed a strength that was still useful in this fight.
That said, it was not unbreakable.
"That's not good!?"
The two Queens fired their breath attacks simultaneously.
Even a barrier produced by a Ruler Skill did not have the strength to withstand the simultaneous breath of two Queens.
And if you were maintaining a barrier, that also meant you couldn't escape from within it.
The barrier meant to protect those inside had become a cage in an instant.
But the enemy wasn't foolish enough to let such an obvious attack go unanswered.
Guen and Hyuban transformed into their dragon forms, matching the Queens' breath with their own.
Fire and wind breaths mingled, producing a synergistic effect as they collided with the two Queens' breath.
The result: mutual cancellation.
"Hmm?"
"Oh?"
Guen and Hyuban tilted their heads.
...Tch.
They'd caught on to the Queens' weakening from that exchange.
They might not have certainty yet, but they must have felt something was off.
And since we had no reason to hold back, it was only a matter of time before the Queens' weakened state was exposed.
If this dragged on, our cover would blow.
Well, that was only if it dragged on, of course.
Shrouded by the Queens' spectacular breath attack, ten shadows crept toward Yamada-kun and the others.
Puppet Taratect.
Their appearance was not much different from humans.
Except for having six arms.
The Puppet Taratect's true body was a fist-sized spider Monster, but it fought by manipulating a humanoid puppet it created from its own thread from within.
The six-armed human form was merely a puppet.
Ten Puppet Taratects charged at Yamada-kun and the others all at once.
The Puppet Taratects' Status was around ten thousand.
They fell short of the Ancient Dragons, but they were opponents that neither Yamada-kun nor Oshima-kun could handle.
And despite being outmatched, the Ancient Dragons weren't so fragile that they could be swatted aside in a single blow.
In a two-on-one, even the Ancient Dragons would find themselves in genuine danger.
In any case, apart from the Queens and the Puppet Taratects, none of the other spider-type Monsters here counted as fighting force against the Ancient Dragons.
Even an Arch Taratect would be of little use.
In other words, nearly every spider-type Monster present on this battlefield was effectively nonexistent.
In terms of raw fighting power, our side was at a slight disadvantage.
That left only one option.
A blitz.
Standing in the path of the advancing Puppet Taratects were Guen, Hyuban, Nia and Reise still in human form, and Yamada-kun's sister with Byak wrapped around her arm.
We had double their numbers, but in terms of individual combat strength, we were the weaker side.
The Puppet Taratects clashed with the Ancient Dragons, reaching a stalemate.
Some Puppet Taratects tried to slip past the Ancient Dragons to target Yamada-kun and Oshima-kun, while the Ancient Dragons moved to intercept them.
A fierce exchange of blows unfolded, both sides probing for openings.
But Ancient Dragons — have you forgotten something?
The Queens are still here, you know.
"Hey, hey!?! Are they seriously willing to take out their own allies too!?"
The light of breath once again glowed in the mouths of the two Queens.
The Puppet Taratects were in the line of fire, but that was fine.
If we could take out the Ruler Skill holders here — Yamada-kun and Oshima-kun — then we could crush their entire plan.
The Black God faction's victory condition was not defeating us.
It was to bring a Ruler authority holder through the door behind me to the System's core and stop the System's collapse.
For that, they needed someone with Ruler authority.
So if we could eliminate the three who qualified — Yamada-kun, Oshima-kun, and the sister — then even if we died, it would be our victory.
"This is bad!"
"We can't stop it!?"
The Ancient Dragons tried to prevent the Queens from firing their breath.
But the Puppet Taratects were in the way.
Even though being hit by those breath attacks would mean their own destruction as well.
The Puppet Taratects had also staked their lives on this battle.
To honor that devotion, we would not hesitate.
"Fire!"
At my signal, the two Queens released their breath.
It shattered the barrier Oshima-kun had erected and hurtled directly toward Yamada-kun and the others.
At the very last moment.
"Harmony!"
A man's voice was heard — someone who should not have been here.
And then, along with the Puppet Taratects, the Queens' breath that should have struck dead center in the enemy formation simply dissipated without any effect.
...Huh?
My mind couldn't keep up with the sudden shift in the situation.
Seizing on that brief moment of mental blankness, the Ancient Dragons landed strikes on the Puppet Taratects.
The Puppet Taratects had also frozen for an instant.
They weren't weak enough to be taken out in a single blow, but there was no denying the situation had turned against us in a flash.
I grimaced and glared venomously at the man who had caused this.
"
There stood Dustin, Pope of the Divine Word Religion.