Chapter 35: You Woman Are So Annoying, Why Can't I Kill Them
The one who said this was Brandon. Compared to when he was worried about Verdani earlier, his expression had improved considerably, but he still looked extremely serious. "But even so, we cannot ignore the soldiers' stamina and morale. In previous years, a typical beast tide was only around ten to twenty thousand magical beasts, which was already considered overwhelming and boundless. But what we face now are all the monsters from the entire Northern Black Forest."
"These magical beasts are mainly composed of armored deer, giant wild boars, winter wolves, and white-armored ice bears. The flying beasts are mostly giant bats from the Great Aias Mountains, mixed with some two-legged frozen wyverns. And without exception, all of them can undergo berserk transformation."
When he said this, the blonde swordsman's tone was certain. "We can confirm that all two hundred thousand magical beasts have been infected by the Black Dragon's berserk record."
"So that means there are a full two hundred thousand berserk monsters waiting for me to kill."
Nodding, Joshua said thoughtfully, "Once infected by this kind of mutated record, it's very difficult to restore them. If you don't kill them, most of the time you're just leaving an infection source behind."
Moreover, the experience from berserk monsters was slightly higher than that of ordinary magical beasts. In fact, from the Black Forest Fortress all the way to Moldova, the sheer number of monsters he had killed and the abundant experience he had gained had already allowed him to level up three times.
His current level was LV34+5, Gold Glory. He only needed one more level to obtain his true Glory Force. If he happened to kill a Gold-rank Chaos monster along the way, he could even jump five levels and stride directly toward LV40, Mid-Gold Rank.
Although Joshua knew that within the same realm, actual combat strength had no decisive relationship with level—he was currently Gold Low-rank, but even ordinary Gold High-rank might not be able to defeat him—a higher level meant higher attributes and allowed him to use more skills in the same amount of combat time.
Thinking of this, he couldn't help but frown and ask a puzzled question: "In past beast tides of ten to twenty thousand, Gold-rank magical beasts could appear. And as I said to Brandon before, a Gold-rank monster also appeared in the beast tide on my territory. Why didn't I see any monsters of that rank when you were defending and I charged into the city earlier?"
He had originally thought he could conveniently kill one and finish the task.
"There were originally two Gold-rank monsters—at least two appeared."
Since Brandon had only arrived from the Imperial Capital during this beast tide, only Verdani could answer this question. She said in a still somewhat weak voice, "They appeared during the first siege of the beast tide. One was a giant dragon spider and the other an ice butterfly. The dragon spider had a hard shell similar to a sea king crab, could resist most magic like a dragon, and the webs it shot were no longer physical but mana as solid as substance, with power equivalent to a high-rank binding spell."
Recalling this, her expression couldn't help but show some fear. "If I weren't a war mage who could use large-scale fire positive energy spells like Meteor Fire Cover and Starfall Tear, I'm afraid that single monster could have breached the fortress. For a spider, no matter how high the walls, they mean nothing."
"As for that ice butterfly, although its frontal combat power wasn't strong, it poured out all kinds of ice-type negative status magic like a rainstorm. If we hadn't relied on the fortress's heavy firepower to drive them back, I really don't know what we would have done."
When she said this, the countess also looked somewhat puzzled. "But they never appeared again after that. In fact, if they had shown up last time, the fortress would definitely have fallen, and I might not have been able to wait for the two of you to arrive."
Brandon said nothing but hugged Verdani and whispered a few words of comfort.
These two really act as if no one else is here.
Joshua sighed. He waited a moment before continuing to question them, trying to get more information. "Ice butterflies are very common—they can be said to be the most common cold magic insect. But a Gold-rank one is very rare. The dragon spider is a close relative of the armored sea dragon and sea king crab, except it lives on land. It's not considered a rare Gold-rank magical beast. Adding the Black Dragon, that makes three Gold-rank monsters."
"Indeed. If the Black Dragon and its two minions attacked together, given the defensive capabilities of the Moldova Fortress, it would indeed be very troublesome."
Brandon had witnessed the Black Dragon's breath. If not for the fact that his opponent was the black-haired warrior before him, even he wouldn't dare to be sure he could survive such an attack.
Joshua nodded naturally. "That's right. They are all huge threats. When they appear next time, I'll go kill them first, so the fortress won't face too much pressure."
???
"Wait, sir, I'm sorry, did I mishear you? What did you just say?"
The purple-haired female mage looked incredulous.
"I said, next time during the beast tide siege, I'll go kill those two monsters first. Without these two Gold-rank monsters that are extremely suited for the battlefield, defending the city will be much easier."
Verdani was dumbfounded, not knowing what to say. She felt that her thinking simply couldn't align with this man before her—no, it had been off from the very beginning. This Count of the Radcliffe Family had been problematic from start to finish. What did he mean by saying there were two hundred thousand monsters for him to kill? It would take him a year to kill that many! Those were magical beasts, not ants!
I told you this information to make you more cautious, not to send you to your death and waste the fortress's strength! From the very beginning, I was just explaining the current situation and information. I really didn't intend to ask you to help solve these troubles...
Verdani felt the blood in her head flow faster, and her young, maiden-like face was full of complicated expressions. To be honest, if there were another Gold-rank priest here, the four of them could form a Gold-rank team and indeed easily enter and exit a beast tide of over two hundred thousand to kill Gold-rank monsters. But if it were just one person...
"Logically speaking, according to the rules and customs of lords and nobles, isn't it that soldiers hold the walls to ensure the rear is secure, while Gold-rank experts lead elite teams into the beast tide to kill Gold-rank magical beasts?"
Joshua didn't think there was anything surprising about this. He had brought fifty Silver-rank knights precisely to gather their strength and carve a path through the beast tide. And it had been proven that under Joshua's leadership and skill enhancements, these knights could indeed charge in and out among these monsters.
"That's not the issue. What you said is correct—as lords, we should indeed lead teams to kill powerful monsters that threaten fortresses and cities. But this depends on strength. Given the current power comparison between monsters and humans, we simply cannot kill such a powerful monster in the beast tide."
The countess was still trying to explain, but under his gaze, she felt her words becoming more and more powerless. "You can't just go into the beast tide like this—it's a waste of the fortress's combat power and irresponsible to everyone..."
Joshua squinted his eyes, his expression clearly saying, 'You woman are so annoying, why can't I kill them?' He frowned slightly, considered his words, and then said slowly, "But in reality, there's no obvious gap in strength between us and the beast tide. Based on my estimation, this plan is completely feasible. It's not a waste of combat power at all, but rather a way to maximize the use of my abilities."
This is not a question of feasibility at all...
"I'm sorry, I still feel a bit unwell..."
Holding her forehead with one hand, Verdani's voice already carried a tremor. "Spiritual backlash requires rest. Please allow me to take my leave for now."
The purple-haired female mage looked utterly exhausted. She exchanged a glance with Brandon beside her, and they both nodded at the same time. Then she said to the black-haired warrior before her, "Brandon can fully represent me in making any decisions, Mr. Radcliffe. If you have anything, you can discuss it with him. As long as it's a reasonable request, we will definitely not refuse you. Good night. Come, help me upstairs."