"I'll use special Rem Commands to tell the Azure Wellsprings what to do," Rem was saying to Leraje.
"Unfortunately, battlefields will become too cluttered if I assign everyone to the fight. Ultimately, they'll be reserves set aside for emergency situations, only, like maybe having to deal with a second enemy formation trying to ambush us."
"Fortunately, Bertz is a surprisingly good tactician. If I ever wind up separated from the group or are otherwise unable to provide guidance, he will do his best to fill that role. Not that you should follow his instructions in full, mind you. All tacticians can do is give advice, not orders. It will fall to you, Master Leraje, and everyone else to take that advice to decide the best use of your awesome abilities based on it."
-----
Saren, being a Breaker, was definitely most vulnerable to Rudy's supernatural charms. Normally, as a friend of Nyam who Rudy had accidentally turned into a vampire, Saren would be kind of put off to Rudy. However, his charms made her attitude much softer towards him.
"Nyam's my best friend," Saren started. "She came here because she's apparently madly in love with you and cannot stand to be too far apart from you. I came here to see if I can find a cure for what you did to her. That is what you came here for, right? I read the report."
"As you can tell, I've let her drink me. Fortunately, it seems like people only turn into vampires by drinking a vampire's blood, not by having a vampire drink them. It's uncomfortable, the wound in my neck, and Nyam seems to enjoy being one of your kind, but I can't let her stay like that."
She tried to ignore his challenge and managed to somehow succeed based on simple logic. "You're a Rusher class, correct? I'm a Breaker myself, which makes me heavier and slower than you. There's no way I could win in a race against you."
-----
The route changed much during the trek. The trees eventually gave away to more dirt and the landscape began to reveal the first signs of what must have taken place four-hundred years ago. There was wreckage from unrecognizeable machines and advanced vehicles. Strange weaponry and cannons dotted the landscape beyond the large trench the group was walking through.
"The first and most brutal battle of the Red War took place along the border," Rem explained.
"Forbidden technology clashed with the biggest, baddest summoned monsters the Overlord could muster with his magic. It was all just to maintain a forward base that was set up on the beach. So many tens of thousands of people were killed in the battle that must have lasted weeks, maybe even months."
Saren smiled a bit. "Hey, there's Nyam."
"And there's the end of this damn trench," Radian said.
"And just beyond that, there's our next victims."
Two suits of armor that clearly contained nobody inside stood between the party and the exit from the trench. Nyam stood easily within kill range of several of the enemies, but she wasn't being attacked. In fact, the enemy seemed oblivious to her existence.
"Nyam, sweetie. Part of being a good scout is not letting the enemy see you if possible." Radian chided the catgirl.
"There's no way to ambush them," Nyam reported. "The scouting parties from before were correct. The Dark Nation units will not attack unless we get too close, or attack one of them."
Here, Nyam produced something for the party. "Please observe this, everyone."
-----
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Rem gazed carefully at the Big Bertha some distance from the trench.
"An enemy unit designed to destroy armored opponents like tanks. It will take some serious firepower to defeat that."
She checked the sprite comic and indicated the position of the two Sentient Armors.
"I am certain those and the Assassin Shades outside the trench will become our first offenders. While we're busy with them, the Gastric Terrors, the Marionettes, and the Duets will come forward. We'll have to play this defensively, spliting our actions between healing and attacking. I should be able to use the Azure Wellsprings to give us the edge we need to survive the first onslaught, but even with every skill we have, this will be a very difficult fight."
Enemy Data
Sentient Armor ~ A popular summoned monster favored by sorcerers who use them to guard their workshops. They gravitate towards using large swords and beheading their opponents. Sentient Armors are best dealt with using piercing attacks or with Lightning elemental magic.
Assassin Shade ~ A sleek and agile being of darkness that uses temporarily corporeal blades to slice their victims to ribbons. They are just barely visible in the dark, making them perfect for night operations. Assassin Shades are weak against Light elemental magic.
Gastric Terror ~ A type of plant creature summoned from some netherworld. They produce an acidic and nauseous smelling fluid within a disgestive sack that they can eject at a high speed with good accuracy. Gastric Terrors fall easy prey to slashing weapons and Fire elemental damage.
Marionette ~ Wooden maidens with indistinct features suspended upon strings that don't appear to be connected to anything. They possess exceptional skill with earth magic. Marionettes are weak against slashing attacks and Fire damage.
Duet ~ The torsos, arms, and heads of two women that were pieced together and face the opposite direction from each other. The lower one that faces away is deadly with lightning magic, while the upper one that faces their foe brandishes a two-handed sword. They are weak to water magic.
Dullahan (Boss) ~ A headless horseman riding upon a horse with no face. He uses a massive lance like Radian and wields Darkness elemental magic. He's pretty fast, but isn't so great when completely surrounded. The Dullahan is weak against Light magic and piercing damage.
Big Bertha (Boss) ~ Supposedly, if Marionettes are born instead of created, these girls would be their mothers. Big Berthas are designed to defeated big, strong, heavily armored enemies with their immense strength and body-shattering fists and feet. Despite being a Breaker class, they are highly resistant to all magic, and seem to possess no weakness other than to piercing attacks.