Depraved Hero's Path

'Their Pawn is the only one to have moved. That… Thing is keeping everyone at bay while that pink-haired girl is attacking from afar.' Gin, the White King, thought to himself. 'Petra is able to contain those attacks. That Item must be powerful since it isn't strengthened by the Game like Petra's shield is.' His gaze moved back towards the large summoned creature.

He frowned suddenly.

"Destroy it!" The White King ordered with a shout. "It's obstructing our vision!"

Indeed, the summon had been placed in a way that allowed most of the Black Army to remain hidden, including the Black King.

As the White Army turned its attention towards the summon,

[The Skill "King's Order" Activates.]

[Tier: 2.]

[All Stats increase by 20%!]

'By following Gin's orders, our Stats increase!'

'Tier 1 gives a 10% boost, and Tier 2 a 20% boost!'

Gin scratched his chin.

'He isn't giving them orders. Why is that? Orders are ranked in Tiers that depend on how specific the order is. Ording them to fight is a Tier 1 Order. Ordering them to attack the summon was a Tier 2 Order. Tier 3 would be something more specific than that, such as ordering them to swing their sword at a specific moment or ordering them to block a specific attack.' The White King thought, which only increased his confusion as to why the Black King wasn't giving out any orders, not even to the lowly pawn fighting alone.

"Guess we're fighting this one-on-one, huh?" Léa muttered as she jumped back.

"Pawn against Pawn makes sense, doesn't it?" The White Pawn sneered. "I do feel bad about fighting a girl though!" He shouted as he swung his axe with all his strength!

"Feel bad my ass!" Léa gritted her teeth, blocking the attack with her blade.

She jumped back a moment later and noticed from the corner of her eye that the White Army was advancing towards her Summon.

'It'll be troublesome if they destroy it.' Zarath thought to herself, unleashing another slash of Dark Magic. 'Time to increase the tempo!'

While she previously had been targeting the far right side and the far left side of the White Army alternatively, with just enough speed to allow the White Queen to block the attacks without rest,

'Fuck!' The White Queen cursed internally, having wrongly assumed the Black Rook was already striking at full speed. "Block it!" She ordered with a shout.

Zarath had swung the Black Knight's Sword towards those same spots, this time without delaying the second hit.

While the White Queen protected the White Knight on the far right, the White Rook on the far left blocked with his sword, causing him to stumble back and fall.

What they hadn't expected, however, was the third slash that had been perfectly hidden by the massive Saber Tooth Cat.

The slash had been sent right after the first two, and cut the air horizontally, moving below Léa's summon and between its legs.

Due to the White Army's attempt to split in two, one side moving towards the right side of the summon and the other moving towards its left, the center had been left free, allowing Zarath's attack to cut through the White Army's defenses and target the White King directly.

'Check, huh?' Elijah thought to himself with an amused smile as a barrier of white energy appeared around the White King.

The dark slash collided with that barrier, and cracks appeared all over it.

"Tsk." Gin clenched his fist. 'The King's Barrier heals over time. It only activates while the King is seated on his Throne. Had I been standing, I would have received serious damage!' His fist hit the Throne's armrest. "Kill it now! It's not as strong as it looks!"

The greyish energy that made up the Saber-Toothed Cat fluttered

"Fuck!" Léa cursed.

Her focus had been momentarily broken by the pain.

"How about you give up now?" The White Pawn suggested with a smug smile, the knife in his left hand covered in blood.

'I focused on the Ghost too much since it was being attacked and didn't notice the knife!'

The Saber-Toothed Cat roared menacingly at the assailant, and the latter prepared to swing and thrust their swords and spears!

The next second, all Participants momentarily froze.

"Wha…?"

Out of nowhere, purplish orbs had appeared. Two dozen of them floated, about one meter above the ground.

[The Black Magician's Staff imbues your Fire Magic with Dark Magic!]

Some had appeared between the White Army and the massive greyish Saber-Toothed Cat, others had appeared between the different members of the White Army.

Three of those orbs had appeared in front of the White King.

"Petra! Protect me! Block them!"

[The Skill "King's Order" Activates.]

[Tier: 3.]

[All Stats increase by 30%!]

The moment that the White Queen stood between her King and the purple orbs,

BOOM!

The area was immediately covered in smoke while the White Army cursed and shouted.

'The way that they were placed…' The White Queen thought with a confused frown. 'It's almost like they weren't meant to hurt or kill.'

Indeed, bruises and light burns were the only injuries sustained by the White Army.

"It's the smoke!" Gin muttered. "We can't see anything!"

While the White Pawn's focus was broken by the smoke and explosions around them, Léa took the opportunity to swing.

"Argh!!" Having reacted too late, the White Pawn had been unable to block or dodge.

Léa's sword went through his thigh.

'This wound should put him out of the Game, but…'

She jumped back and turned towards the other side of the White Army, her teeth clenched with worry.

"ARRRGH!" Both White Knights exclaimed as the smoke started to settle, their knees hitting the ground.

Marianne and Katherine stared with cold eyes as Zarath swung the Black Knight's Sword, causing the White Knights' blood to splatter on the ground.

"Ran out of Mana." She smiled at the White Queen.

Two deep, horizontal wounds had been drawn, splitting open the White Knights' stomachs.

"Time to start the killing."