Chapter 238: Death Rush!
"Squeal!" the Giant Rat shrieked as it charged towards us.
It was a useless charge, as Sarah easily killed the monster with a simple Wind Cutter.
"Goddammit!" Sarah cursed in frustration. "There’s no end to them!"
Her anger wasn’t directed at the monster she had just eliminated, but at its brethren emerging from the shadows.
The problem wasn’t their strength. In that regard, we were superior. The problem was their numbers, and as expected in the sewers of a large city, there were plenty of rats down there.
"How... can there be... so many of them?!" Diane complained as she struggled to slash at them with her knives.
"This type of monster breeds rapidly underground," I explained as I swung my sword horizontally, cutting down the three in front of me. "They can easily find food and reproduce down here."
"What the hell do these things eat?" Erina asked as she fired at the creatures farther ahead of us.
"Giant Cockroaches, weaker Rats—basically anything they can sink their teeth into."
"Gross..." Alicia’s grimace showed just how sick to her stomach she was.
"You filthy Rats!"
Camula leaped at them terrifyingly, like a force of nature.
"You bastards spend all day having sex! Damn you!" The furious words she spat at them only made it obvious just how jealous she was.
At least her attacks helped us a lot. Applying the Poison status effect to a group of creatures seemed to be quite effective as the battle progressed.
She certainly had plenty of energy, fueled by her frustration at not being able to spend all day eating and having sex. But I couldn’t say the same for the others.
The other girls in my harem were panting and exhausted after fighting for so long, unleashing attack after attack against the tide of Rats coming at us.
Little by little, their minds were being worn down by the pressure of not being able to lower their guard for even a second.
"Come on!" I called out to my Valkyries. "Let’s clear a path! We’re not far from the center of the tunnels!"
All my wives looked at me. Despite their exhausted expressions and sweat-slicked faces, they answered with renewed vigor.
"Right!"
At that moment, we heard rats squeaking in the distance. The sound wasn’t coming from ahead of us, but from the path we had taken to get here. They were probably coming from one of the forks we had passed earlier.
With each passing second, the squeaking of the rats closing in from behind grew louder and louder.
"We’re trapped!" Justine said, staring into the darkness behind us.
"Not yet!" I corrected her. "I would’ve preferred to avoid using this method, but it looks like we have no choice. Camula, activate Mystic Veil!"
[ Mystic Veil: The user’s defense against magical damage increases (Low Magic Resistance).
Cost: 10 MP ]
"Huh?" She looked confused for a moment. "But these Rats don’t use magic, Master—"
"But you’ll need it for our plan." I softened my voice as I spoke to her. "I’m sorry for what I’m about to do."
After giving my Demonic Slime her instructions, it was time to give my Saintess hers. "Alicia, I’m going to need you to cast another Holy Light on them."
[ Holy Light: Creates a luminous flash of light with holy energy that can be used as an attack that might cause stun, or illuminate your surroundings in the dark.
Cost: 20 MP ]
"U-Understood..." she said, sounding somewhat surprised by my request.
My plan was to keep the group of monsters in front of us under control until the other group came close enough. Once they were within optimal range, Alicia and I would activate our skills, effectively drawing them into the epicenter of an explosion.
After that, we would only need to eliminate the enemies affected by the Stun status effect, and we would be free to continue on our way.
"The rest of you, keep attacking!"
Following my orders, the other Valkyries continued to hold back the monsters in front of us with tremendous determination, even though they were already physically and mentally exhausted.
"Flame Sword!"
"Thunder!"
"Fatal Slash!"
Skill after skill was unleashed against the sea of rodents in front of us. Meanwhile, Erina fired at those approaching from behind. She was responsible for signaling us once they were close enough.
For now, I was only helping to hold them back, staying close to Alicia and Erina without moving too far forward as I prepared for the decisive moment.
The anxiety in my chest only grew as the creatures’ footsteps grew louder.
"Rick...!" Alicia’s voice caught my attention.
I looked back towards where she was glancing. Even in that darkness, I could make out figures approaching through the shadows. It was obvious that something was moving there. I didn’t need my Sixth Sense to know that.
"Now!" Erina shouted after firing her last bullet.
Without hesitating for even a second longer, Alicia and I raised our hands, calling upon the skill that would bring divine light into the underground tunnels.
"Holy Light!" we said in unison.
A brilliant white light shone above our heads, radiating a warm glow capable of disorienting any nearby monsters that dared to look directly at it.
The creatures’ footsteps stopped immediately, creating the opening we needed to escape the chaos.
"Rick!" Diane called out. The time had come for the second phase of our plan.
After the flash of light faded, she ran towards me, heading for the rats behind us. I did the same, but in the opposite direction, towards the enemies blocking our path.
"Death Rush!" we called out in unison.
My feet suddenly accelerated as if they had discovered a new gear.
With my powerful sword, made from the tough wood of Yggdrasil, I sliced through every creature in front of me that was still stunned. There was no chance of them moving again after my attack, as every strike was fatal, and with each kill, my sword grew even more ferocious.
[ Death Rush: The user considerably increases her speed for a short duration. Each enemy defeated during this period increases the damage she deals while the skill is active.
Cost: 10 MP ]
After a few seconds of tearing through the creatures at my highest speed yet, my buff wore off, but there were no monsters left near me to kill.
I looked back, worried that I might have let some monsters slip past me and caused more trouble for my Valkyries. But I was mistaken.
Behind me was a trail of sliced-up rat corpses. Not a single one had survived my charge. My Valkyries, with the exception of Diane, who had finished killing the monsters behind us, were staring at me wide-eyed.
"Is something wrong?" I asked them, confused by their reaction.
That was when my Valkyries’ astonished expressions turned into smiles.
"That was incredible, Rick!" they all shouted, their voices loud enough to attract a new horde of enemies.
But the young women didn’t seem to care much about that. They rushed towards me as quickly as they could, reaching me before the Rats even had time to turn into black dust. All of them looked at me with admiration.
Even Camula. A few patches of singed skin caught my attention as soon as I laid eyes on her.
"Camula, are you all right?" I asked as I gently ran my hand over her skin.
"Yes, my Master. It hurt a little, but thanks to my skill, the damage was greatly reduced. I’ll recover soon..."
I held her hand.
"I’m sorry. It was the best idea I could come up with at the time. To make it up to you, you can restore your life using mine."
"M-Master... when you suddenly hold my hand like that..." Camula grew nervous at my gesture. "And say something like that to me..."
"That was quite romantic," Alicia said with an emotionless expression.
"Indeed." Justine had the same look on her face.
"I’m jealous!" Erina simply looked flustered, clearly wishing she could trade places with the girl.
"Why does that matter?!" I said, putting a stop to their murmuring. "Camula, just take as much as you need to fully restore your life, okay?"
"O-Okay, Master," Camula said awkwardly.
"Don’t suck him dry, you got that?" Sarah complained.
"I would never do that to our Master—" She paused for a moment, as if she had noticed an inconsistency in her own words, then continued. "I mean, in bed, that’s a different story!"
"I’m only joking. Joking."
Alicia approached Camula, who was using her Drain skill to feed on my HP.
"I’m sorry. I used Holy Light too. I hope I didn’t cause you too much pain."
A small smile appeared on Camula’s lips, but it wasn’t an affectionate one.
"I should be thanking you, little princess," she said without the slightest hint of shame. "Had you not done that, I wouldn’t have been able to cling to our Master for so long. Feel free to use Holy Light, Heal, or any other skill on me."
I stared at her in disbelief. "Are you a masochist or something?"
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