Surviving the Apocalypse While Being Tempted by an Elf and a Dark Elf

            When night fell, the group raised their guards for the possible arrival of any mobile fortress in the area. Still, after two hours, they concluded that none of them were coming. So, it was time for them to move and look for them. 

"Another thing that I noticed is that they tend to stop in areas with large amounts of monsters," Richter said. "When there is a really large number of them and two overlords reach the same area, they fight each other."

"A bit too late to say that, don't you think?" Rachel asked and then punched Richter on his left side.

"I forgot a few things… since I didn't have time or the chance to write them down," Richter replied.

            In any case, they began to move while walking around that forest. The spiders only appeared now and then, so even in the darkness, they wouldn't be a problem, and they could use that location to hide.

                It was around midnight that they found the first mobile fortress in the distance. However, things seemed a bit too noisy ahead, so they quickly assumed that something was off. Still, they approached to check despite the obvious danger. In the end, the worst-case scenario took place in front of them. The armies of two overlords were facing each other. The two armies were composed of goblins and orcs, and their levels… they were all above level 350. Not to mention, they were being attacked by a few monkey pile creatures that were wearing pieces of armor on several parts of their bodies. They looked and not just that, they were really strong.

Armored Gorilius - Lv 275

HP: 3575/ 3575

MP: 880/ 880

SP: 2420/ 2420

STR: 754

SPE: 225

INT: 110

END: 925

RES: 322

FOC: 800

Free points: 00

Gold Coins: 00

Active Skills: Dash Lv 07, Charge Lv 07, Tectonic Punch Lv 10

Spells:

Passive: Fire Resistance Lv 10, Cold Resistance Lv 04, Poison Resistance Lv 05, Pain Immunity Lv 10, Iron Heart Lv 08, Vigor Lv 06

"You didn't use Appraisal in their armies?" Luke asked. "You never mentioned an army of this level."

"That is because… I didn't see those orcs and goblins before," Richter said nervously. "The other enemies were above level three hundred, though."

            Luke checked things with Rina, and she told him that she had never seen those monkey monsters before as well. Their levels were also pretty high, so it was weird that they reached this level in less than a year… Regardless, facing an army of monsters with levels that much higher would be pretty dangerous. If Richter doesn't finish their overlord as soon as possible, things might end up becoming pretty nasty.

"Still… this kind of proves that the overlords are here to strengthen their troops," Luke thought while rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "Is it because the levels of the monsters here are strangely high? They are on the same level as in the dark elves world…"

              Luke didn't have much time to think. It was hard to tell when the two overlords would give up on the fighting. Even if he finds that easy to discern, if he attacks one of them, the other is bound to act in one way or the other.

"I can sneak into one of the fortresses while they are busy like that," Richter declared.

"That is too dangerous. From what we can see both overlords are continuously spawning their monsters and making them join their armies. They might try to overwhelm you inside the fortress," Rachel said. "We should retreat and look for other targets."

"It will be better if we deal with the most troublesome opponents as fast as possible," Richter added. "If they notice that something is happening, they will raise their guards, and defeating them later will become even harder."

            Both of them had a point. That was why Luke couldn't tell which was the best option. Since a kid was with them, Danielle, Luke felt more prone to retreating and looking for another target.

"Like I keep saying, I can do it…" Richter said.

"What good friends you have, Richter… they don't trust you even for this simple task."

"You… shut up," Richter said, visibly annoyed.

"It must hurt… you have come all this way to help them, and they treat you like you are a dead weight. Even your sister thinks of you like that. The sister that you protected for weeks by yourself, even when you had to do the same for a bunch of strangers. It must hurt so much…"

"No! That is not it!" Rachel said. "I am just worried that you might work too hard."

"I know, don't worry about it," Richter said. "Still, believe me, just this once. If I fail or take my time, then I won't try to pull this off again."

            Until now, Luke was thinking that Richter just didn't want to fall behind him in terms of accomplishments. He also thought that he wanted to show off in front of Amanda a little. However, Luke began to wonder if that was the case… instead of that, he was calm enough to refute the words of the shadow. If he truly was the kind of guy he thought he was, he would be angry. It felt like he just wanted to prove to himself that he could accomplish at least that much. Until now, he didn't fail in protecting anyone, but it has been a while since he was the center of the group. He didn't want to be revered or anything. He just wanted to be relied on.

"All right, go get them, tiger," Luke said since Rachel still was hesitating in giving the last push.

            Richter nodded, and then he disappeared after turning into a shadow.. That certainly was a useful skill. If he had that kind of power, Luke would probably focus on a critical build to slay the enemies as quickly as possible, but that didn't fit his style…