Lee Shin was well aware of the weaknesses of humans.
Initially, they were too weak.
Specifically, the archers were weak. Their bows and arrows were of poor quality, and they lacked proper armor.
Even summoning two Hellhounds with the same 50 magical power could not guarantee victory in a one-on-one fight.
Hence, in the early stages, the compatibility with beasts, which could rapidly produce troops, was not favorable.
Since about 40% of Demon Lords preferred such beasts, it was understandable that humans were perceived as weak.
As vulnerable as they were early on, investing in defensive structures like arrow towers was necessary, but what if the enemy did not attack?
That would mean wasting money on defense unnecessarily. Wasting money this way meant still being at a disadvantage as time passed.
However, the creator of this rank battle system was not just any game developer, but a Demon God.
There couldn’t possibly be any unfairness between the races. Lee Shin had confirmed the strengths of humans through numerous mock battles.
‘First, scouting.’
To ascertain the enemy’s intent to attack, he had to focus more on scouting.
“You, and you. Go scout. Head to 7 o’clock and 11 o’clock.”
“Yes!”
“Leave it to me!”
Two slaves from the magic stone mining site immediately moved out.
Coincidentally, one of them was the elderly man who had died first in a previous mock battle.
The only way to escape eternal torment in hell was to make a mark in the rank battle.
Therefore, the elderly man wanted to perform well, even if it meant risking his life. There was no reason to spare his life since dying on this battlefield simply meant returning to hell.
As the slaves set out to scout, Lee Shin immediately built barracks near the entrance. The entrance was blocked by the barracks, narrowing it by about 70%.
The first produced archer was stationed in front of the entrance to keep watch for any enemies.
“Leave it to me!”
The middle-aged man who had been summoned before cheerfully responded and stepped forward.
Lee Shin continued to summon archers, and had the newly summoned slave build another barracks.
He had it built at the entrance again.
As a result, two barracks intersected, causing the entrance passage to twist in a zigzag shape.
‘This should hold off a good number of Hellhounds.’
The Hellhounds Lee Shin had encountered were fast but stupid.
By making the entrance into an S-shape, they would falter and fall prey to a barrage of arrows from the archers.
That was when it happened.
[Enemy spotted!]
One of the two scouting slaves had discovered the enemy camp.
Fortunately, it was the elderly man again.
The enemy was constructing a magic circle at another magic stone mining site outside the entrance.
[Magic Circle: A summoning circle for beasts. A basic building for the beast race that also stores gathered magical power. It can summon three beasts at a time and requires 300 magical power to construct.]
The palm-shaped monster busily drawing the magic circle was Cro, a production unit of the beast race.
[Cro: Harvests magical power and constructs magic circles or buildings. It can slash with its sharp claws, but its attack power is negligible.]
‘He’s building an expansion base.’
It appeared that the high demon Eltima was focusing on securing magical power.
From the start, his plan was to harvest magical power from both his main base and an outer location.
That meant there probably weren’t many Hellhounds yet.
‘He thought I would focus on defense.’
While Lee Shin was investing in defense, Eltima planned to invest in securing magical power to amass an overwhelming force through greater magical resources.
More confirmation was needed.
“Go inside the main base.”
The elderly man did as instructed, passing through the entrance to Eltima’s main base.
Though he had no choice but to follow orders, the elderly man was eager.
Just as Lee Shin thought, there were only two Hellhounds.
Cros were swarming, busy harvesting magic stones.
The two Hellhounds chased after the elderly man.
“Run! Keep looking around the main base to see what they are doing.”
“Aaaaah!”
The elderly man truly ran for his life while scouting around Eltima’s main base.
Meanwhile, Lee Shin constructed additional barracks, now producing archers from a total of three barracks.
The other slave sent for scouting was positioned near Eltima’s camp to detect any potential attacks.
‘Playing the main base game, it’s turned into a classic style battle.’
The elderly man managed to escape skillfully while informing Lee Shin about the situation in Eltima’s main base.
Thanks to him, Lee Shin could time his strategy.
Humans grow stronger in the later stages.
Eltima planned a large-scale offensive before moving into the later stages, but Lee Shin intended to strike first.
‘He wouldn’t expect me to use archers as my main force.’
Lee Shin then proceeded to build a blacksmith.
[Blacksmith: A facility that provides weapons and armor to the troops summoned from the barracks. With a blacksmith, you can summon spearmen and shield bearers.]
Once the blacksmith was built, Lee Shin started summoning two spearmen and two shield bearers after adding another barracks.
He also gave another order to the blacksmith.
‘Weapon development!’
[The blacksmith begins weapon development. Better weapons will be provided for archers, spearmen, and shield bearers.]
The elderly man scouting Eltima’s main base ultimately died.
However, he had lived long enough to provide valuable reconnaissance, making him a standout contributor in this rank battle.
The elderly man had revealed a new building Eltima was constructing.
[Dragon Shrine: A shrine where offerings are made to the dragon. Magic circles can now summon dragons and dragonlings.]
‘We need to settle this before the dragons accumulate.’
Just then, two spearmen and two shield bearers were summoned from the fourth barracks.
There were a total of 20 soldiers, including 16 archers.
“Attack!”
Lee Shin had also brought along three slaves who were working at the magic stone mining site.
He then had the slaves stationed near Eltima’s camp enter inside.
One slave rushed into Eltima’s camp to report the situation.
Two magic circles were emitting light, about to summon something—likely dragon spirits.
“Run!”
At Lee Shin’s command, the 23-strong force ran desperately.
***
[The enemy has appeared!]
Eltima tilted his head in confusion.
“Just earlier, a slave came in lurking around and I killed him immediately, and now another?”
But this was not a reconnaissance mission.
23 soldiers!
Eltima was initially startled but soon calmed down.
“Hah! Is this all?”
The majority of the force was made up of weak archers. Neither the spearmen nor the shield bearers had decent weapons.
Six dragon spirits could easily sweep them away.
But then it happened.
“What?!”
Suddenly, the archers, spearmen, and shield bearers’ weapons transformed.
Archers became crossbowmen, spearmen became long spearmen, and the round shields of the shield bearers turned into large square shields.
This was the result of weapon development completed in the forge.
The enemy had timed their attack just as weapon development was completed.
Lee Shin’s troops attacked the magic circle outside the main camp.
The Cros transporting magic stones to the magic circle were massacred.
Just as three monsters were summoned from the outer magic circle, 16 crossbowmen, as if they had been waiting, fired their bolts.
“Screech!”
“Screech!”
In an instant, two were dead.
Eltima felt as if he was living a nightmare.
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