After facing the Minotaur, Axel drove back behind the Red Zone before coming to a stop. The girls were spent after using the Ritual Curse, so it would be dangerous to continue as they were.

"Let's rest for a bit here," Axel suggested. "I'll keep an eye on the surroundings, so you girls just drink potions and rest for now."

"Thank you for the consideration, Sir Axel..."

Even their voices sounded tired.

As soon as the plan was set, everyone left the Humvee for a breather. Axel, of course, handled their safety by erecting temporary wooden barricades around them, ensuring a basic defense against monsters.

As for the girls, they seemed to be resting properly while keeping an eye on the surroundings, not fully letting their guards down.

Seeing them like this, Axel could only smile wryly.

'Well, it helps either way,' he thought.

With everything set up, he sat on top of the Humvee, gaining a good vantage point over the surroundings. Then, without delay, he began browsing the shop.

Currently, they were underpowered to take the fortress back from the demons' control. Just one boss-level monster was almost enough to send them packing. Thus, Axel had to address this issue first and foremost.

"Witch equipment for sale..."

But to his surprise, after spending several minutes browsing, the items he saw weren't really usable. They weren't anything special, with barely any bonus effects at all. In short—trash.

"At this rate, wouldn't it be better if I make some myself...?"

Such a thought crossed his mind.

Right now, he had the Low Quality Witch Staff recipe, and that alone produced better items than what was available—and affordable—on the market.

And since he was starting to realize that the items he made were better overall when compared to similar ones, the idea seemed even more viable. Furthermore, if he bought recipes for them, he could even profit from them later on.

"Alright! Let's do this!"

Without delay, he checked the basic recipes for witch equipment—staves, accessories, and clothes. He checked every category he could and bought things that he thought would help them.

In the end, he got a full Witch Set consisting of a dress, a witch hat, long gloves, and boots. Apart from that, he also bought a simple armor to wear over the witch clothes: Holy Light Armor. Finally, he went and purchased a Medium Quality Witch Staff recipe as well.

All in all, he spent 160 billion on those recipes, but with his current funds already in the trillions, it wasn't too bad.

"Then, let's start crafting..."

To do this, he first set auto-crafting for the items, setting the quantity to the maximum of ninety-nine units. As soon as the materials were bought, he canceled the auto-crafting.

Instead of relying on it—which would take quite some time to finish—he decided to craft everything manually. After all, manual crafting is faster and usually yields better results.

The only reason he activated auto-crafting in the first place was to buy the materials quickly. That's it.

Once he had everything, he started crafting the base materials first, then batch-crafted the actual items.

It wasn't complicated at all, so each item only took about ten seconds to complete a ninety-nine batch craft.

After that, he began checking the stats of the items, especially the witch staff, and was shocked.

"This... is for real?"

He couldn't believe his eyes.

<Medium Quality Witch Staff Lv. Max>

<A simple but efficient staff crafted by an unnamed meister.>

<Parameters: Resist Ignore 50%, Accuracy +100%, Range +200%>

<Material Cost: 50,480 Colts>

It had three useful parameters, including the resistance-ignoring function he was hoping for!

"With this, those big guys shouldn't be able to ignore the curses flying their way anymore!" he cheered, happy with the result.

But that wasn't all.

The Witch Set came out even better. Each piece not only added to various random stats, but it also had a set bonus that increased curse duration, effect, and damage output.

If the elite witches wore this new set he crafted, their stats would increase by at least twenty on average across all values!

"Good!" Axel nodded in satisfaction. "Then, time to distribute these to the girls!"

He jumped down from the Humvee's roof and landed firmly beside Nina, who was resting with her back against the front wheel.

"S-Sir Axel?" She turned quickly, standing at attention. "Is it enemies?!" she asked, alert and ready.

Axel smiled and shook his head. "No, no monsters around yet." He waved his hand, taking out a set of the newly crafted items.

"Rather, swap your equipment with this. If we plan to take back the fortress, this is a must," he commanded.

It wasn't a request—it was an order.

"This...?"

Nina checked the clothes Axel handed her and tilted her head. Curious, she took out the Sage's Monocle she kept with her and appraised the items.

"...!"

She almost forgot to breathe.

"T-This...! Sir Axel, I can't accept this!"

Nina stepped back, cheeks flushing. "This is far too precious for someone like me to wear!"

"...Huh?" Axel tilted his head in confusion. "What are you talking about? Everyone needs to equip these to fight the demons," he replied.

"E-Everyone?"

At her doubtful response, Axel did what anyone would do to prove his point. He pulled out several more sets from his inventory and placed them on the Humvee's hood.

Nina, the monocle still over her left eye, checked the items and nearly fainted.

'They're all Legendary Quality!'

Although Axel thought his understanding of standards was decent, it seemed he was still far from what the witches considered common sense.

"What are you staring at?"

He frowned when Nina refused to move.

Almost as if she had turned into a statue.

"If you're not doing it, then fine. Rosaria, Mimika, and the rest—come get your set and change into it now. We don't have time to dawdle."

Ignoring the flabbergasted Nina, Axel addressed the rest of the resting witches.

Naturally, they didn't disobey. Each of them took a set from him before returning to where they had been resting.

Since they didn't have the monocle, none of them reacted as dramatically as Nina did.

"This is... what a cute dress!"

"The material looks expensive and silky! I wonder how much this costs~?"

"Hey, stop chatting and start changing already!"

Light chatter quickly spread among the girls. But with a casual reprimand from Rosaria, they quickly started to move with purpose.

Without a moment's delay, they began stripping down and changing clothes.

"..."

Right in front of Axel!

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