Konbini Ossan Volume 16 — While Bearing Both Light and Darkness | | Chapter 1 — The Operation Begins
Mobilizing the entire combat division of Otogi Trading, we headed for the Mediterranean.
The number of personnel deployed was an astonishing fifty thousand. Ground weaponry, including combat vehicles, self-propelled artillery, and tanks, numbered over ten thousand units.
Air power consisted of fifteen hundred aircraft. In addition, there were one hundred strategic-class weapons.
This was the entirety of the force Otogi Trading could field.
As for personnel, naturally Arisa and I were there. As combatants, we had brought Marceline, Tiana and Tio, Joan, and Yashiki.
Adventurer parties formed by summoned individuals, like Suzuno-san’s group, were not brought along, since a summoned individual under noble control had already died, making their strength insufficient.
However, several summoned individuals had come for rear support, such as treating the wounded. A good example was Ayumi Suzuhara-sensei, who possessed the «Complete Recovery» skill.
Saori had also come for rear support. We wanted to reduce casualties as much as possible.
Furthermore, there were reinforcements from the Demon Lord’s army. A thousand elite warriors, the best of the best. Their numbers were small, but with proper equipment, they would rival the cream of Otogi Trading’s forces.
And naturally, among them were one of the Four Heavenly Kings, Leonis, Ichiro Suzuki, Satira, and none other than the Demon Lord Vladgaria himself.
They could not be relied upon for suppression through sheer numbers, but for securing strategically critical points with pinpoint precision, they would be more than sufficient.
Then, unexpectedly, reinforcements also came from the Runegard Kingdom.
First, the Court Mage Corps led by Shuri-kun. Though only thirty in number, they were an exceptionally advanced group of magic users, so there would undoubtedly be many moments to rely on them in the operation.
Next was the Hero Party led by Kanehama-kun.
Since Saori had left, they were currently only three people, including Sword Saint Toudo Youta-kun and Matsurike-kun, but among everyone participating in this operation, they were likely among the strongest forces present.
They had never neglected their training, and by now, each of them individually possessed strength comparable to Vladgaria, the Demon Lord.
That accounted for every force involved in this operation.
As for why the Runegard Kingdom’s numbers were so small, it was because we had declined larger numbers, reasoning that half-baked forces would only be absorbed by Douki and expand the damage.
So what were we going to do with all this force?
Simply put: saturation bombardment.
At present, Douki had swallowed and was corrupting an area roughly fifty kilometers around the Mediterranean. Naturally, this meant countless Douki were roaming throughout the region.
For me to reach the bottom of the Mediterranean, I first had to break through this 50-kilometer-thick zone.
To do that, we would concentrate all available firepower and unleash attacks exceeding Douki’s defensive capabilities, opening a hole through which the Douki extermination team, including myself, could be sent into the Mediterranean.
This was the first phase of the Douki extermination operation.
The reason for choosing this strategy was an observed fact: Douki did not seem to display offensive capability proportional to their stats.
Strangely enough, they did not rampage around with speed or power befitting SSSSS-level stats.
They moved slowly on foot, and once they stepped outside the dark territory, they would gradually begin corrupting the surroundings. Once the corruption was complete, they would slowly start walking again.
The reason the corrupted territory had remained only about fifty kilometers so far was likely thanks to this.
Their attack behavior was also surprisingly sluggish. True to their appearance, they only behaved like ordinary goblins, and their speed was the same.
In other words, in terms of movement alone, they were normal goblins.
However, the destructive power of a single strike was on a completely different scale, enough to pulverize even Otogi Trading’s armored vehicles in one hit.
Additionally, they possessed the characteristic of drawing targets into darkness through the power of grudging curse, making every attack effectively an instant-kill move.
Based on this information, we concluded that saturation bombardment from long range, enough to exceed Douki’s durability and response capability, would be effective.
Naturally, because that durability was equivalent to SSSSS-level stats, the required firepower was correspondingly immense.
That was precisely why saturation bombardment with the full military strength of Otogi Trading was the obvious choice.
And then, at last, our forces assembled before Douki.
Overall command was entrusted to Arisa. With the power of «Calculator», she would surely provide precise instructions.
“It’s finally time.”
“Yeah.”
Putting all my trust into the gesture, I lightly patted Arisa on the back.
“I’m heading to join the assault team. I’ll leave things here to you.”
“Leave it to me. I’ll smash every last one of these Douki to pieces!”
As she struck a pose like she was flexing her bicep, there was a reassuring confidence behind her words that made them entirely believable.
Leaving the command post set up in the rear, I headed for the front lines, where the Mediterranean assault team was waiting.
“Operation, commence!”
From behind me, I heard Arisa’s voice signal the opening of battle.
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E/N:
With so many God-level creatures, this level of preparation can't even be called overkill, it's more of insufficient… Fight!
Stay tuned!
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