I Became a 6★ Gacha Character

The stealth centaurs creeping across the plains to surround us were hunted down with pathetic ease.

Since their combat strength wasn't particularly exceptional, they were quickly cut to pieces by the charging knights' swords. Though the Imperial trainee commanders were only mid-rank and their mercenaries about the same level, all the additional adventurers they'd hired were top-tier veterans who'd reached high rank.

These were the kind of people who made their living on the tower's highest floors where 10-meter berserk ogres roamed freely and information about safety was nonexistent.

"Grab the mana stones! There's got to be better prey than these bastards!"

"Push forward! They came from that direction!"

About a hundred of these monster butchers charged in, not just one party. They showed zero hesitation in attacking the stealth centaurs, seeing them as walking money bags. Within 5 minutes, the plains were empty and the trainee commanders who'd rushed ahead were nervously watching us.

The stealth centaurs had only detected our party at the front as we marched forward in a line. When they hastily moved to surround us, Lusalka spotted them, allowing our combat forces in the rear to rush them before they could react. The outcome was inevitable.

"Leave the mana stones and get back in formation! Unless you want to charge the Demon Army alone!"

"Damn it, don't get greedy over the small fry! Go for the big ones!"

"That young lord is right, gather up!"

Once again it was Olek's shout that gathered the people scattered in all directions searching for mana stones. More interested in achievements than money, he picked up a single stone at his feet before returning to us without hesitation, bellowing loud enough for everyone to hear.

Those who wanted glory and gold but didn't want to be meat shields for the first charge against the Demon Army slowly regrouped, raising their banners and reforming the lines.

My opinion of this guy keeps improving, except for how easily swayed he is.

Maybe his suggestibility makes him a natural lubricant for group combat.

"In the Goddess's name! In the Goddess's name!"

"These bastards were nothing! As long as we can detect them!"

"What was that adventurer's name? Lusalka? Hmm... more impressive than expected."

"Well then Roland, shall we?"

The people huddled behind Irene gazed at us eagerly like puppies begging for a walk, wanting to set out. Irene naturally began walking forward.

Not a single person was wounded - or if they were, the priests among the adventurer parties had healed them. After such an overwhelming victory in their first skirmish, everyone's shoulders were squared with confidence. They raised their banners high, comparing themselves favorably to the trainee commanders who'd died after being surrounded.

What blocked our path next wasn't stealth centaurs but centaur units carrying suicide goblins on their backs.

"They're coming head on!"

"What's this? Did they give up on surrounding us after just one try?"

These ones fell just as easily to the charging knights' swords. After all, Irene's barrriers blocked not only their thrown rocks but also the goblin suicide bombers' explosive belts.

All their tactics were thwarted while ours worked effortlessly. Though it took longer to clean up than the stealth centaurs, still no one was hurt.

"Hmm, what could they be thinking?"

"What is it, Hanna?"

-Is this like fighting the army in waves?

-lol why send one unit at a time if it's an army, BB Games really doesn't know games

-Is this BB Games' design or the boss desperately trying to survive by blocking the way

-Do they get stronger gradually? Was the training quest actually a boss battle tutorial?

-But we just brute forced through it, speed-running genius lololololololol

"Doesn't this feel like they're stalling for time? Between blocking the gates, and what Roland said about them hiding information through encirclement. Like they're deliberately dropping bait one by one to slow our rapid advance?"

"You're right."

"Ah... that makes sense."

Han Se-ah's expression suddenly turned serious, and Irene and the others echoed her concern.

The stealth centaurs and stone-throwing goblin centaur units had fallen so easily that chat was starting to bring up the penalty roulette again. Though she'd hastily changed the subject, she wasn't wrong, so I nodded in agreement.

As Han Se-ah said, from the mid-boss monster's disappearance to the gate closure, information control through encirclement, and centaur units thrown as bait - everything from start to finish blatantly showed attempts to buy time.

What could they be trying to gain time for while sacrificing troops like this?

We'd find out soon enough.

The high castle walls looming in the distance told us that much.

※

Palisade, earthen walls, and then stone walls.

"Where the hell did they get the stones from?"

"Hell if I know. Tower monsters have always been crazy."

"Damn bastards. Thought they'd just put curses on palisades and hang some skeletons."

An adventurer spat and cursed as the tall castle walls rose before us across the plains. Of course they were dumbfounded - these weren't wooden palisades but carefully crafted walls of solid stone blocks stacked with precision.

So this is what they were buying time for?

Seems the floor 60 boss monster was more serious about base building than expected. Looks like they started constructing a fortress rather than a military camp, conquering the surroundings - but we arrived too quickly, forcing them to desperately block us.

"Irene, Grace. Do you sense any suspicious magical energy from the walls?"

"No, nothing special. They look like normal walls. Seems they even stopped digging the moat partway."

"Dark energy flows through them, but there's no intricate black magic woven in."

"...I don't see anything either."

The fortress must be unfinished because of that. The adventurers were intimidated by the massive walls that towered well above ogre height, probably close to 15 meters, but they regained their spirits at the words of Grace, Irene, and Lusalka who'd quietly joined them in examining the walls.

After all, stone walls that were merely tall without magical reinforcement could be easily dealt with by the gathered superhumans, whether by climbing or breaking through. In fantasy common sense, a 15-meter stone wall without magic was easier than a 5-meter wooden palisade with magic.

Magic and black magic were equally brutal in that you had to get hit to learn about them.

"What now?"

"What else? We throw them."

-Big ones coming? Big ones coming? Big ones coming? Big ones coming? Big ones coming?

-Sorry humans Sorry humans Sorry humans Sorry humans Sorry humans

-Is this really what a hero should do hmm

-Given Han Se-ah's personality she would've put giant bomb vests on the ogres connecting goblin bomb vests, but she didn't so it's properly heroic

-I'm an ogre and since she didn't give me a bomb vest she must be a real hero

So our task wasn't to charge in while the walls and moat were unfinished and test any potential black magic with our bodies. We had ten sturdy friends to do the testing for us.

Charlotte, who'd naturally approached us as we stopped to examine the walls, immediately signaled her mages after hearing my conversation with Han Se-ah.

True to her nature of coming all the way to floor 60 despite being only 2★ in combat, the mages who'd followed her seemed equally unhinged. As they moved the two frontmost ogre cages, spraying potions and activating magic circles, their faces showed more excitement than concern as they gazed lovingly at the ogres.

"So Charlotte, how do you plan to control the ogres once they're released from the cages?"

"We'll try guiding them with a potion made from breeding season female ogre secretions. It works on normal ogres but I'm not sure about berserk ones. Still, it should have some effect."

"No, just wake them up and open the cages."

"...Roland? Wait, hold on! We won't be able to test the attractant's effectiveness...!"

"This will work for sure!"

Having no desire to keep watching the grimy mage lovingly stare at naked giants, I strode over purposefully.

The ogre was already stirring as they sprayed the potion to neutralize the sleeping drug and deactivated the cage's magic circles. It looked ready to wake within a minute. I pushed aside the mages and grabbed the iron bars firmly.

Though the magic was gone, the cage still resisted my grip with a shriek, as if made of stone dwarf special alloy--

"Huh? H-he's doing that bare-handed?"

"Wow, seems goblins aren't the only ones that can fly."

Bracing my legs against the ground, I tensed my waist and threw with all my might, sending it sailing over the walls.

Kieak?! Kieeeek?!

Grrrr, grrrah, GRAAAAAAHHHHH!!!

The orcs' screams and enraged ogre's roar from behind the invisible walls painted a clear picture of what had happened, even without seeing it.