“First is intellect. Second is wealth. Mana is merely third.”

This was one of the maxims passed down among alchemists.

Half of it was a joke, but the other half was also a serious reflection.

This stemmed from the characteristics of alchemists.

The two main specialties of alchemists were material reconstruction and homunculi production.

To skillfully handle the former, various engineering and physical knowledge was essential.

To avoid mishaps like making a ship out of heavy rocks or creating a sword out of soft rubber, one had to accurately understand the properties of materials. The same was true for engineering knowledge to create more efficient and precise mechanisms.

The latter was no less challenging. Homunculi production was unthinkable without considerable knowledge and understanding of biology. The higher the level of the homunculus, the more this was true.

The wealth aspect was relatively simple. Creating and maintaining homunculi consumed considerable funds.

Preparing laboratories, collecting relevant books, gathering materials—it all came down to money.

Even feeding homunculi, which boasted voracious appetites proportional to their high physical abilities, was difficult to manage with ordinary wealth.

Compared to these, mana was somewhat lower in priority.

Once created, homunculi were independent living beings, so while they cost money to maintain, they didn’t require mana.

Material reconstruction consumed an average amount of mana, so it wasn’t bad for an alchemist to have a small amount of mana, but compared to other schools that would become half-dysfunctional without mana, their situation was much better.

This was why Elphaba could remain composed even as she watched the increasing number of undead in the fierce battle unfolding on the rooftop.

How foolish. Attempting a war of attrition against me?

It was truly unpleasant, and also amusing.

Certainly, the enemy’s forces were increasing, and Elphaba’s army was gradually decreasing.

If this state continued, the balance of power might eventually reverse.

But that was impossible.

After all, while Elphaba didn’t need to consume any mana to make homunculi fight, Dorothea had to continuously expend mana.

Every act of reviving fallen homunculi as undead, moving their bodies, and repairing wounds all required pouring out mana, and the more powerful the homunculi’s basic abilities, the more intense the mana consumption.

An ordinary mage could manage at most 3 bodies, and even if someone quite talented like Franka did the same, it would be about 30 bodies.

And that was only if they focused solely on reviving and maintaining undead, without paying attention to anything else.

Yet Dorothea was now single-handedly maintaining defensive magic with her staff and supplying mana to the Tin Knight.

Moreover, she must have been continuously consuming mana on the way here, so it wouldn’t be strange if she experienced mana depletion right now.

No, rather, it was strange that her mana hadn’t run out yet.

Even if, by some miracle, that wench actually manages to do it… by then, reinforcements will have arrived with plenty to spare.

Elphaba resolved that at the moment they thought they had grasped hope through desperate effort, she would crush them effortlessly, deploying forces far exceeding what she had shown thus far.

The outer defenses might be somewhat reduced, but that much seemed necessary to soothe her wounded pride.

The Witch of the West’s eye gleamed with a sinister and cruel light.

***

[■■■■!!]

As the Tin Knight blocked the right arm swung with a beast-like roar with his shield, his body was pushed back.

He wanted to counterattack at once, but dealing with the golden weapons swung mercilessly as if to split Dorothea in two was more urgent.

Deflecting the spear, blocking the axe, and completely changing the trajectory of the arrow to crush another homunculus’ upper body.

This series of actions occurred simultaneously in just one breath. It was truly a feat that could be called miraculous.

The homunculi targeted the gap while he used all his strength to block Elphaba’s attack, but even this was mitigated to having parts of his body cut off by twisting his body.

If he had used the impact deflection he showed at first, he might not have been injured at all, but his mana reserves were too low to use that.

He wanted to receive mana replenishment from Dorothea once to fight more easily, but unfortunately, he couldn’t retreat now.

Behind where the Tin Knight was fighting, inside the barrier spread by Dorothea, Adelaide was receiving treatment from Sophia.

As proof of the fierce battle so far, her armor and clothes were tattered all over, and even her two-handed sword had lost its edge in several places.

While blocking the attacks of homunculi wielding spears from all directions with the barrier, Dorothea asked with a frown, “Adel. Are you okay?”

“I’m fine.”

It was an immediate answer without hesitation. But because of that, it was clearly visible that she had no room to spare.

Adelaide’s complexion was extremely pale.

While Sophia was healing the wounds on her body as soon as they appeared, the blood that had flowed out of her body was a different matter.

If it weren’t for Adelaide’s uniquely robust constitution, it wouldn’t have been strange if she had collapsed long ago.

“I need to switch with Sir Knight. So…”

“If a switch is needed, that guy will signal on his own, so rest until then. Surely that battle monster’s judgment isn’t worse than yours.”

Responding a bit harshly, Adelaide showed a blank expression for a moment before obediently nodding.

Usually, she would have argued that she was fine or that she needed to help, but with her eyes half-dazed, it seemed she didn’t have the capacity for complex thought.

Dorothea inwardly clicked her tongue.

This is too close.

The tactic itself wasn’t wrong.

The homunculi’s minor attacks couldn’t penetrate Dorothea’s barrier, and the Witch of the West’s attacks, which were the only ones capable of breaking through, were all blocked by the Tin Knight, so not a single blow reached them.

The homunculus occupation ratio battle that started at 5 to 195 had now caught up to 50 to 150, and as the number of allies increased, the speed of taking over the ratio was also accelerating.

The problem was with the Tin Knight and Adelaide.

Usually, the Tin Knight could smash all ordinary enemies and finish the battle with just one mana replenishment, but this time, perhaps because the opponents were so strong, he was requesting mana replenishment several times during a single battle.

While the Tin Knight was replenishing mana, Adelaide had to fill that gap, but to endure for just a few seconds, Adelaide had to go through a near-death experience each time.

Adelaide’s injuries and fatigue were becoming increasingly severe, and the Tin Knight, for his part, had to go out and fight again before fully replenishing his mana, so the intervals between requests for replenishment were getting shorter.

If only we had the Belt of Amaryllis on our side, it would have been much easier.

The Tin Knight had been trying to retrieve the belt for a while now, but he couldn’t move freely as he had to protect the barrier from Elphaba’s attacks. Even if he managed to fatally wound the homunculus wearing the belt, another homunculus would immediately inherit it, resulting in an endless loop.

Would the two allied warriors reach their limit first, or would they reverse the situation by stealing the homunculus occupation ratio? It was truly a close gamble.

Dorothea’s gaze turned to the green liquid covering the rooftop floor.

She still had one trump card—well, it was more like a final gambit..

This gambit was a one-time opportunity.

A move to counter the reserve homunculus army that Elphaba would likely possess.

If they used this and failed to capture Elphaba, if they allowed her to escape, everyone would meet a miserable end in the face of overwhelming numbers afterward.

It wasn’t a matter of having courage or not.

Believing in victory in this tightrope-like battle and saving the next move, or not considering the enemy’s reinforcements at all and aiming for Elphaba’s neck—both were gambles either way.

Her deliberation wasn’t long.

Dorothea’s closed eyes snapped open.

Right after the Tin Knight deflected Elphaba’s attack, she shouted, “Both of you, follow me!”

“Huh?”

“Understood.”

A questioning response and a calm answer were heard together.

Dorothea initiated action instead of words.

It had to be now, at this timing when Elphaba’s attack had been deflected.

Simultaneously releasing the barrier, she ran forward.

The homunculi’s attacks cut her skin, but Dorothea didn’t stop.

“Tin Can!!”

The Tin Knight’s blue will o’ wisp-like eyes turned towards Dorothea.

Perhaps because he had fought while conserving mana to the extreme, unlike the overwhelming power at the beginning, parts of his body were damaged all over.

However, even in that state, he was utterly indomitable.

The Tin Knight, who momentarily made the surrounding enemies flinch by swinging his sword widely, leaped to Dorothea’s side.

The moment the party of four gathered in one place, Dorothea activated the staff’s barrier again.

Smaller and sturdier than before. To last even one second longer.

Receiving concentrated fire without someone to check the homunculi like the Tin Knight or Adelaide, the barrier screamed.

Ignoring that, Dorothea poured mana into the Tin Knight to the limit.

For the final blow, he needed to have some strength left.

10%.

Cracks appeared in the barrier, and the undead homunculi, having lost their main force, began to be pushed back in an instant.

20%.

The witch’s golden weapons were raised high, and Adelaide’s scream leaked out.

30%

The barrier pierced by a spear shattered, and just before the axe’s slash was about to split Dorothea in two, the Tin Knight’s sword twisted its trajectory.

As the price for blocking the following arrow attack with a shield of holy power and protecting the party, Sophia was pulverized.

Flying backward due to the shockwave, Dorothea activated her trump card.

Like a coiled spring’s release, the turned homunculi’s defensive posture sprang into an aggressive charge.

Just as the natural environment of the Garden recreated using various catalysts, the parasitized plant mediums explosively strengthened using Dorothea’s mana as nutrients.

In a move that was only possible due to the freshness of the corpses, the turned army was strengthened by the power of the garden.

However, as it was used before securing sufficient occupation ratio, the enemies couldn’t be swept away in one go.

But it could hold the homunculi’s ankles for a brief moment.

The teacher and pupil didn’t fail to exploit that gap.

The Tin Knight’s sword bisected the body of the homunculus possessing the Belt of Amaryllis.

Adelaide’s toe picked up the belt and kicked it into the air.

As if even the time to properly wear it was too precious, she roughly hung the belt around her neck and shoulders, but even that was enough to fill her with power different from before.

As if trying to stop the Tin Knight’s charge, the shield held by the fourth mechanical arm blocked their path.

Adelaide leaped.

At the tip of her sword, which rotated once in midair, violet rotation sprang up.

The downward strike that harmonized the momentum of the rotation, her full body weight, and overwhelming brute force forcibly blew away the shield.

Woong!

The Tin Knight’s sword once again contained mana.

Two flashes cut through the air, severing the root and neck of the golden pillar.

Remaining Mana: 20%.

The head part of the pillar where the Witch of the West was located fell to the ground.

The witch’s face was bewildered.

She seemed to be denying something, as if such a thing couldn’t happen.

The Tin Knight tried to cut down the Witch of the West right there, but the head part itself surrounding the witch transformed arbitrarily like a golden sphere, protecting the witch inside.

Not only that, but it even showed signs of trying to roll, as if to reunite with the fallen pillar part.

The three arms of spear, axe, and crossbow, excluding the shield, also tried to block the Tin Knight.

The Tin Knight’s sword energy rose high, cutting them down as well.

Remaining Mana: 10%.

The Tin Knight swung his sword down at the sphere that had fallen to the ground.

[The ‘Tin Knight’ shouts that the desperation phase is over!]

The golden sphere was…

…cleaved in two

***

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