CH185 Raiding down south for levels
Many demons could function just as well at night so sneaking in at night didn’t make much sense. They approached the town in a way that would hide line of sight for the longest time. No demons came and tried to attack them on the shore so they either didn’t notice them or did not want to fight so close to the water.
The group of combat classers scouts came back with the information that for this town there were thousands of imps and likely close to a hundred 2nd tier demons. Unsurprisingly fire cultivators predominated the group. There was no big dojo that would signify that a tier 3 demon had made this place their home base.
“I’m not confident in us winning a fight where we are so outnumbered.” Alex asked Cecil, the guild master. “I’ve had some big counts of defeating demons but they were all under some circumstances that I’d like not to repeat.”
“Imps are fodder.” Cecil explained. “Defeating a hundred is usually a small task for anyone midlevel and properly prepared. They are sneaky though so I bet they’ll try some underhanded things. The trick to dealing with them is to treat them like monsters. The system defined them like that for a reason.”
Alex wasn’t so sure about that because nymphs were also considered monsters. “Okay, but what about the people in town?”
“Common sense.” The guild master sounded confident. “If your ability might level a building don’t use it on a building with people in it.”
“What about the rest of the group?” Alex looked around for Ariel and Grace.
“Ariel is not as good without a ship.” Cecil pointed to the bay. “When we strike she’ll be taking a group into the harbor so that it’ll be an attack from more than one direction. I was told Magical Girl Grace does ranged attacks so the dinghies will have other long ranged attackers. The demons won’t want to go out on the water if they don’t have to, so they are in little danger of a counter attack.”
The group came up with a simple plan. The main street was the only one that was wide enough for the carriage-turned-semi-truck to travel on. So they would take it, use the tanker filled with water against any fire attacks and plow from the outskirts down to the harbor, meeting up with Ariel’s forces. Defeat as many demons as possible, then take the dinghies back to the flying cloud from the harbor and get out before word could be spread and they could form a counter attack from further inland forces.
Cecil, having a leadership class, took control of the carriage. He didn’t need to get the kills himself, just needed to be leading the assault and the group’s performance counted. Alex deployed the carriage and gathered the lillypad dolls up on top of the tanker. Rose was hooked up to the water and would use her squirt gun to put out any fires or hose down any demons who got in range.
Some archers on the front started firing first. Their shots went really far, much more than a normal bow and arrow should go. By the commotion that came after several shots and the imps rushing towards the carriage, it the demons had noticed them.
“You court death!” A diminutive red-skinned imp shouted. “Know your place humans!”
With a little sway of the hips, Alex activated her animate doll skill, and a tiny arrow ended the imp with one shot.
Alex checked her level progress on her phone:
[Next level: Defeat 400 monsters, two of which needs to be tier 2]
[Level 7 Progress 4/400 monsters, 0/2 tier 2 monsters]
“Getting to the next level is going to be so much work.” Alex grumbled then focused back on the battle.
“Fellow humans.” Cecil used a skill to project very well. “We are only here to exterminate the demons. Stay away from the fighting and no one will get hurt.”
“Traitors and fools.” A tier 2 fire cultivator joined the battle when enough imps amassed to swarm their group. “This resistance against the Demon Queen’s rule is destined to fail like all the rest before it.”
The demonic hoard attacked like a crazed mob. Bolts of fire peppered the carriage, which was now plated in metal so it could largely be shrugged off.
A fireball came from the large demon and people in the front took cover.
“Rose.” Alex began to dance. “I choose you.”
The doll, with a huge amount of water to use in the tanker sprayed down the area with a jet of water that would put a fire hose to shame. The spray cooled the carriage and with a back and forth motion forced the imps back, many of them getting knocked off their feet and an unlucky few taking a blow that defeated them.
[Next level: Defeat 400 monsters, two of which needs to be tier 2]
[Level 7 Progress 14/400 monsters, 0/2 tier 2 monsters]
Her phone buzzed showing some more progress to the next level when she checked.
The demons retreated into the other force advancing from the harbor.
Grace played her organ sending waves of sound that shot through the street like a tsunami.
Groups of imps that were caught out in the open were shattered into mist that evaporated into the wind.
Ariel barked out orders to the archers on her dinghy, boosting their attacks. Attacks empowered by magical girl abilities bypassed defense. For imps, those attacks were overkill. Arrows would go straight through one of the demons and any demons in the path, leading to multikills per shot.
Demons shot fire bolts back, but with both groups having a strong water source it wasn’t very effective. They didn’t route like a normal human group would. Taking losses made the remaining group fight harder. Considering their numbers advantage even after taking losses early on with not much to show for it, the lower leveled demons likely believed that they would still come out ahead, even if it was a pyrrhic victory.
“This town is lost to the raiders.” One of the tier 2 fire cultivators exclaimed, looking for an escape.
“Coward!” An imp smelled weakness. “You do not deserve your rank.”
An arrow from an allied archer put an end to the imp.
The tier 2 demon likewise got targeted by arrow fire but burst into a storm of flame that pushed the arrows off course.
Alex, having the high ground on the tanker danced and Lily shot straight into the storm. A pink light made a trail behind the tiny arrow from the doll. Being a cute shot, the cultivators power didn’t affect it at all. The first one missed, because of aim, as did the second one.
The demon dashed away, but the flames made a good beacon. The third shot from the doll hit the immolating demon center of mass. The shot sent it to the ground.
“This is nothing!” Were that demon's last words on this plane of existence.
The archers with better aim peppered it with more arrows, taking advantage of losing grasp of the fire skill keeping the missiles at bay. After several more shots all that was left was a red mist that drifted into the wind.
Ranged attacks from the dinghy also carried the blue sparkle of Ariel’s skills. People on the boat with her shot arrows that homed in on demons like physics was just a suggestion.
It took less than an hour to clear out the rest of the demons. Some of them escaped. Cecil warned them not to give chase, they wanted density and if the demons scattered then it was time to leave. But they got the majority of them in this town.
Cecil told the townsfolk they were leaving and to stay in their homes. Some people protested but no one wanted to come out and directly confront the invaders.
After several trips from the dinghies to the flying cloud, they had everyone loaded. Alex stayed until the last boat to keep the carriage out. Cecil said it was a good way to intimidate the people.
“I don’t like dealing with the nobles either.” The guild master kept his voice low. “People that highly specialize in persuasion are a pain to deal with. Anyway, time to go, lingering will only bring people out of hiding.”
Alex retrieved the carriage back into card form and they took the last boat to the flying cloud which was anchored in the harbor.
“You don’t worry about reprisal?” Alex asked the human man.
“No,” He shook his head. “They believe this will only bring more wrath down on them from the demons. Some of the younger ones think that this is a good example as to why humans are forbidden from having combat classes by their demon overlords. I don’t want to argue. We are here to get levels.”
“But the people.” Alex started.
“They rightly fear the demon queen.” Cecil said. “We’d have to flee if the general took to the field, and that would just leave them to deal with different, more angry demons wanting payback. Maybe with three magical girls we could take down a tier 3 demon. But this is a whole country. It is best not to linger.”
Fufi landed nearby. “When one of your breaks past the level cap then we might have a chance against the general.”
Alex deflated. “It feels wrong leaving them.”
“They didn’t ask to be saved.” Cecil calmly stated, looking out over the water. “We are the interlopers here.”
After a couple more days at sea they raided several more towns and people cheered when they felt like they had leveled. Alex too had leveled.
When things had calmed down and they were headed back on the flying cloud Alex checked her phone.
[Next level: Defeat 400 monsters, two of which needs to be tier 2]
[Level 7 Progress 400/400 monsters, 2/2 tier 2 monsters]
[Level up!]
[New feat unlocked, Crafting: Weight manipulation]
[Description: Decorate something with bright colors to reduce weight. Decorate something with dark colors to increase weight. Craft success depends on cuteness.]
Name: Alex Parker
Class: Magical Girl
Level: 7
Sex: Female
Race: Human
Strength: 11
Constitution: 9
Dexterity: 17
Intelligence: 13
Cuteness: 26
Skills:
Cleaning: 3
Cooking: 2
Dancing: 2
Tailoring: 4
Toymaking: 5
Feats: Empower Doll
Crafting: Force Imbuement
Crafting: Weight manipulation
Possess Doll
Spells: Animate Doll
Magical Girl Transformation
Lesser Grow Plants
Traits: Mental Resistance: 4
[Next level: Defeat 800 monsters, four of which needs to be tier 2]
[Level 8 Progress 0/800 monsters, 0/4 tier 2 monsters]