CHAPTER 260: THE GREAT LIBERATION BATTLE 5

 

— Lion’s Tower, 9th Floor —

One hour had passed since the fighting began at the supreme-class dungeon—the Dragon’s Tower.

Now, battle had also broken out on the 9th floor of the advanced class Lion’s Tower, where the Calvados faction had locked down the floor, and the Tekirana faction was attempting to break through.

Calvados had stationed around 70 personnel at the Lion’s Tower. More than double their usual allocation, they had committed significant forces here as well, aiming for total victory on both the advanced and supreme dungeons.

For Calvados, overwhelming victory had always been the goal. In the past, by crushing their enemies completely during the Liberation Battle, they secured several years of stability—time they used to amass resources and strengthen their personnel before the rise of any new challengers. This strategy had allowed the Calvados Union to establish its supposedly unshakable current system.

However, the Lion’s Tower was ultimately a secondary battlefield. The common practice was to concentrate resources on taking the primary objective, the Dragon’s Tower. Historically, attacks on the Lion’s Tower were significantly lighter compared to the main front.

Facing them, Tekirana had committed 45 personnel to the Lion’s Tower assault. Outnumbered by nearly 1.5 times, their adventurers were also generally one rank lower on average compared to Calvados.

For Calvados, this was well within expectations. If everything proceeded normally, they anticipated being able to suppress the attackers in short order.

— But this Liberation War was unlike any that had come before.

In stark contrast to the quietly unfolding battle at the Dragon’s Tower, ferocious combat had erupted at the Lion’s Tower. Barely twenty minutes had passed since the start, yet nearly half of Calvados’s forces had already been forced to activate their teleportation stones and retreat to the rear base.

Despite having both superior numbers and stronger individual fighters, Calvados was inexplicably being pushed back.

The one responsible for this unforeseen situation—beyond anyone’s expectations—was a single lizardman operating in the shadows of the battlefield: Curulario Agarma.

「Damn it! We can’t hold the frontlines!」

「What the… My legs suddenly gave out…」

「Damn it! They should be weaker than us!」

「H-Hey! There’s something lurking on this battlefield! Don’t just watch the front—keep an eye on our rear too!!」

「That’s impossible— guh! … Poisoned!? I have to retreat…」

「The frontlines are breaking! Now’s our chance!! Push them back all at once!!」

At the outset of the battle, under orders from Heil, Curulario had slipped into position diagonally behind enemy lines amid the initial chaos. For the first 30 minutes after combat began, he carried out covert operations at a level even his own allies were unaware of, continuously inflicting status ailments on the enemy to gradually tilt the battle in Tekirana’s favor.

Once the 30-minute mark passed, Curulario loosened the restraints on his power just slightly.

His next targets were the mages and healers in the rear ranks, who were providing support with recovery and attack spells.

「A shadow… just now… Huh!? What’s going on!?」

「Hey! Why are you collapsing!? Are you out of mana!?」

「Why are you firing attack spells at your own allies!? Have you lost your mind!?」

「No, you’re the one who—why are you healing the enemy… Huh?」

「The situation’s spiraling into chaos! N-Nigrus, sir! We need orders!!」

Confusion bred more confusion, until strategy, commands, formations—everything became meaningless in the growing disorder.

In the midst of such a chaotic melee, Curulario ’s skillset was overwhelmingly effective.

Drawing close to the rear under high-level stealth, he spread skills that caused false recognition and status abnormalities. That alone was enough to leave the enemy bewildered, unable to grasp what was happening to them, and collapse in disarray.

「It’s no use! Everyone fall back so we can regroup! Once we recover, we’ll return together and reclaim this floor— gah!」

「You must be the commander, right? You were at the very back, so you were easy to spot!」

「Y-You are…?」

「Oh, I’m not anyone worth introducing—just your average E-Rank adventurer.」

「What nonsense… I-I’ll strip off that fox mask next time…」

「Aha♪ If you’re coming for us again, bring at least double the numbers, will you? This was way too easy.」

On Nigrus’s command, the remaining Calvados forces simultaneously crushed their teleportation stones, one after another retreating to the entrance.

Forty minutes into the battle at the advanced-class tower, the first clash ended in victory for the Tekirana faction. But the real plan Heil had entrusted to Curulario was only just beginning.

「Good, good. We’ve provoked them and lured them in. If they really bring double the numbers next time, that’d be perfect. Even if they don’t, they’ll still bring a decent force. Seriously though, Heil sure comes up with some devious strategies… Not that we could win without this kind of tactic, I suppose.」

Thirty minutes later, after regrouping and recovering, Calvados would send reinforcements to the Lion’s Tower and launch a renewed assault. Among them would be S-Rank parties originally stationed at the Dragon’s Tower, now reassigned as part of the reinforcements.

The fact that this was all within Heil’s design was something Calvados had yet to realize. But in this second round of fighting at the advanced-class tower, the outcome would be one that not even Heil himself could have predicted…