Sword Art Online Volume 16 – Alicization Exploding Chapter 18 – War of the Underworld 53 * * * The waves of attacks from the never-ending stream of plains goblins sank Deusolbert into impatience. There was no chance he would be defeated or even challenged by some average goblin soldier in one-versus-one combat, no matter how many times that was repeated. The mountain of corpses burnt by the flames from the arrows he shot earlier served as actual proof of that. However, he could not take on all of the enemy troops alone as they came as a wide, horizontal wave. He could only leave most of those on the sides to the guards from the Defense Army. In terms of individual expertise, the guards surpassed the enemy troops by a significant gap. Their sword techniques, polished through half a year of strict training, were certainly faster and sharper than the goblins who relied on their strength in swinging their machetes. But that strength difference was far less sure than the overwhelming gap between an integrity knight and goblin soldiers. It would be tough to overcome those numbers, several times their own, with purely skill. Deusolbert keenly felt the desire to share with all of the guards the great strength his body was endowed with. But naturally, there was no art capable of that. The guards under him lost their lives one after another, one jumped upon by multiple goblins, another collapsing from exhaustion. Deusolbert felt as though his own Life was shaved away each time he heard their shrieks echo through the battlefield. So this was «war»? It was utterly different from the old fights: sweeping up intruders on the ground while atop a flying dragon or a one-versus-one duel with a dark knight. It was an ugly war of attrition with each moment certain to add to the number of casualties.