My Goblin System : Levelling up with my SSS Class Devouring skill-Chapter 309

Back inside the war room, Seraphina continued her systematic review.

"Magical defenses?" she asked, looking at Vex’ahlia.

"We have forty-three casters across all forces," Vex’ahlia reported. "Mix of offensive mages, defensive specialists, and support casters. They’ve been practicing coordinated spell patterns—overlapping fire zones, layered barriers, counter-spell protocols."

"Show me the anti-hero preparations," Seraphina commanded.

Vex’ahlia pulled up notes on the four summoned heroes based on TheReaper’s intelligence.

"For Gattychan, we’re preparing overwhelming initial assault—hit him with maximum force before his Adaptive Evolution triggers. We’ll rotate attack types constantly, never giving him time to fully adapt to any single threat."

"For Seraphelle, we’re designating harrier units—small teams whose sole job is disrupting her concentration. If she can’t focus, she can’t maintain buffs or healing."

"For Mikazelle, we force overextension. Her dimensional zones are powerful but energy-intensive. We make her create and maintain multiple zones until her reserves drain."

"For Rindelle, we use fire starvation tactics—give her no good targets to amplify, forcing her to choose between ineffective attacks or friendly fire risks."

Seraphina listened to all of this, then shook her head. "Your tactics are correct in principle but insufficient in execution. You’re treating these heroes like powerful enemies. They’re not. They’re reality-breaking threats that will devastate normal forces."

She stood, moving to the center of the room. "I’m assigning fifty of my specialists to work directly with your mage-killers. Combined, they’ll form dedicated hero-elimination units. Each hero gets a specialized team designed specifically to counter their abilities."

"Won’t that leave other areas underdefended?" Lyra asked.

"No. Because my corruption zones don’t require constant supervision—once established, they persist and spread. My remaining forces can create area denial across the entire battlefield while the specialist teams handle heroes." Seraphina’s smile was cold. "The humans think they’re bringing overwhelming force. They have no idea what corruption magic can do to an army."

"Speaking of which," Urgak rumbled, "we haven’t seen a demonstration of these corruption abilities. Hard to coordinate with capabilities we don’t understand."

"Fair point," Seraphina acknowledged. "Let’s remedy that."

Twenty minutes later, the settlement’s defenders had gathered in the large training area. Word had spread that the Fourth Seat was going to demonstrate her forces’ capabilities, and nearly everyone wanted to watch.

Seraphina’s two hundred minions assembled in the center of the grounds. They wore matching armor in crimson and black, and the air around them shimmered with barely contained dark energy. Their presence was immediately oppressive—even experienced warriors unconsciously stepping back from the aura of wrongness they radiated.

Seraphina stood at the front, her wings spread wide in a display of dominance and power. "You need to see what corruption magic can do," she announced, her voice carrying across the assembled crowd. "You need to understand what capabilities we’re bringing to your defense. Observe."

She gestured to her minions. "Corruption Zones. Establish demonstration perimeter."

Twenty mages moved in coordination, their hands weaving patterns of dark energy. The air in designated areas turned visibly corrupt—oily, wrong, filled with energy that made observers’ skin crawl.

Weapons were placed in these zones. Within seconds, metal began rusting at visible speed. Wood rotted as if aged centuries in moments. Leather cracked and flaked. Within a minute, the weapons were completely ruined—useless pieces of corroded metal and decayed wood.

"Any human army entering these zones will find their equipment failing catastrophically," Seraphina explained. "Swords breaking mid-swing. Armor deteriorating and losing protective value. Siege weapons collapsing under their own weight. They’ll be forced to fight with degraded or non-existent gear."

Murmurs rippled through the watching defenders. That was... devastating. An entire military force rendered combat-ineffective by environmental corruption.

"Mental Corruption," Seraphina continued. "Volunteers."

Several settlement warriors stepped forward—brave or curious enough to experience the effect firsthand. They entered designated areas, and immediately their expressions changed. Fear twisted their features. One started backing away frantically. Another looked around with wild paranoia. A third dropped his weapon and began whimpering.

The corruption specialists ended the effect after mere seconds, leaving the volunteers shaken but unharmed.

"This affects enemy morale directly," Seraphina explained as the volunteers recovered. "Soldiers become unreliable. Orders are ignored. Formations break as people flee. Fear spreads exponentially—one corrupted soldier panics nearby companions, who panic others, until entire units are useless."

"And it gets through armor?" Kelvin asked.

"It’s psychological corruption, not physical attack. Armor is irrelevant. Mental fortitude is the only defense, and most soldiers don’t have that." Seraphina’s smile was cold. "Even experienced veterans can be broken with sufficient exposure."

"Physical Corruption," she said next. "Observe."

Mannequins were brought out—training dummies used for target practice. Corruption specialists touched them, channeling dark energy.

The effect was horrifying to watch. Flesh—or the material simulating flesh—began rotting immediately. Turned black, sloughing off the underlying structure like diseased meat falling from bones. The corruption spread visibly, creeping outward from the initial touch point like aggressive infection.

"Touch attacks that function like plague," Seraphina said, her tone matter-of-fact despite the disturbing imagery. "One infected soldier contaminates others through casual contact. Medical treatment becomes impossible—conventional healing can’t purge corruption. The more they group together, the faster it spreads."

She paused, letting that sink in. "This is particularly effective against shield walls and dense formations. The exact formations disciplined armies rely on become death traps."

The demonstration’s final component was Corruption Barriers.

Specialists created shields of dark energy—visible walls of roiling corrupt power. Test projectiles were fired at these barriers from multiple angles. Arrows turned to dust mid-flight. Rocks crumbled before impact. Even fire spells were corrupted and imploded harmlessly.

"These barriers don’t just block attacks—they corrupt them," Seraphina explained. "Anything that passes through loses integrity. Even magically enhanced projectiles fail."

The demonstration concluded. The settlement defenders stared with a mixture of awe, horror, and newfound confidence.

Urgak spoke for everyone: "That’s... that’s effective. Brutal as hell, but effective."

"Humans see us as monsters," Seraphina said, her voice carrying no apology or shame. "I intend to show them why that fear is justified. By the time this battle ends, the survivors will tell stories about the Fourth Seat’s corruption magic. Stories that will make future armies think twice before attacking settlements under my protection, though I ain’t planning to leave any survivors."