“Are there no surviving soldiers?”
At Jun’s question, the old knight shook his head.
“There are some trailing behind us… but as things stand, they’re in no shape to fight.”
They had barely survived the previous battle, but their injuries were too severe to be of any use in combat.
“I see. Then keep moving. We’ll hold them off here.”
“You will…? Forgive me, but may I ask your name?”
“The White Whale Mercenary Corps. We were commissioned by Lord Ron.”
“The White Whale Mercenary Corps…?”
Though their name had started to gain some recognition recently, it wasn’t yet widespread enough to be famous this far north.
The old knight asked Jun several times if he was truly sure about this, but Jun gave his answer with magic instead.
[Our Sun]
“Ah…!”
With a brief incantation, a small sun rose in the sky.
A miniature sun created by magic. Warmth radiated from it, easing the fatigue of the refugees.
“Take this. It’s a scroll imbued with the same magic. It should last about half a day.”
“This… This kind of magic lasts that long?”
“Yeah. Anyway, get moving. The refugees aren’t in good shape. We have to save as many as we can.”
“Truly… thank you!”
The old knight, with his eyes brimming with tears, bowed his head to Jun and resumed leading the refugees onward.
“Tch, if we only had more time, I could’ve treated their injuries too.”
Eleanor let out a brief sigh of frustration.
As a follower of the god of healing, she couldn’t help but worry about the many injured among the refugees.
But with enemies only half a day behind them, there was no time for compassion.
Getting to the Ron territory as quickly as possible was the best option.
“So, Leader. What’s the plan from here?”
“Like I said….we hold them off from here.”
“Hmm. The terrain… it’s not bad.”
Four people holding back thousands.
It seemed impossible, yet none of the four doubted Jun’s plan.
“First, we throw them into chaos. Second, we eliminate key targets. You’re all clear on that, right?”
“Of course.”
“Aiden, you’re with me. Maya, you’re on assassination duty. Eleanor, provide backup from the rear.”
Jun narrowed his eyes, surveying the surrounding terrain.
“Half a day. We just need to hold them for half a day.”
***
As the long-hidden sun slowly rose between the mountain ranges, the dark crimson shadow army revealed itself on the ground.
Step. Step. Step. Step.
Even with the thick dawn fog blanketing the mountains, the troops marching between the ridges moved without a hint of disorder.
Their movements were like those of machines.
Limitless stamina, unwavering obedience to commands—
And among them, a massive shadow stood out.
Mega Clover.
The monster with its oddly elongated arms twitched its nose at the fog-filled air.
Grrr.
As if something displeased it, the creature growled and the march that had seemed unstoppable halted all at once.
Step. Thud!
As though they shared a single body, every foot came to a simultaneous stop, and great rectangular shields were raised toward the front.
At the same time, countless pairs of eyes glowed through the white fog ahead.
“You’ve got good intuition.”
A voice echoed from within that fog.
“But you should’ve noticed a bit earlier.”
A massive surge of mana could be felt.
Rumble—rumble—rumble—!!
The previously unmoving army suddenly began to collapse to their knees.
Thousands of soldiers were sinking as though their strength had been drained.
And the owner of the voice stepped through the fog, revealing himself before them.
“Looks like it’s working perfectly.”
“Is this… a new spell you created, senior?”
“That’s right. Took some work to prepare.”
[Unique Magic]
[Life Absorption: Cloud Converges, Fog Gathers]
Just as the name implied, the fog that filled the entire mountain range had been conjured by Jun.
And within that fog was embedded Life Absorption. The enemy troops were unknowingly having an enormous amount of mana drained from them.
Once enough mana had been accumulated, the stolen energy was converted into mass and used to crush their bodies.
“Fighting creatures like these… truly isn’t very fun.”
“Haha, you’ve grown, Aiden. Hard to believe you’re saying it’s boring to deal with enemies this easily.”
Jun pointed toward one side as he spoke to Aiden.
“But don’t relax just yet. That one. That’s the enemy you’ll be taking on.”
“That creature is….”
Compared to the majority of soldiers who had dropped to their knees, one knight in heavy armor stood firm on both feet.
“He’s the commander of a Thousand-Man Army.”
“A Level 6?”
“That’s right. And we’ll have to consider him an irregular.”
“He must be strong.”
Aiden’s eyes sparkled as he drew his Sword.
Gone was the boy who used to panic at the sight of a single Outer Wolf two years ago.
Now he was a seasoned Level 6 warrior. Aiden stood before the knight in blood-red armor with a look of anticipation.
The knight, as if sensing it was his turn, drew his sword as well.
Boom!
He slammed the flag he had strapped to his back into the ground.
In that moment, a whirlwind of crimson energy surged around him.
“I’ll handle the grunts. You take the commander.”
“Understood.”
The surging dark-red mana breathed new life into dozens of soldiers, who began to rise to their feet.
At best, I can probably keep this going for an hour or two. In the meantime, I have to stir them up as much as I can.
They were holding back an army of thousands.
Naturally, the mana consumption was enormous.
Even though Jun had reached the sixth circle, the strain on his mana circuit was almost unbearable.
It was only thanks to the magic circles he and his companions had set up throughout the mountain range over the past half day that things were holding together at all.
This isn’t a strategy I can use more than once. We’ve already burned through too much of our mana reserves. I need to squeeze every bit of benefit I can out of this.
Jun stared beyond the fog at a massive silhouette.
A monster so enormous he had to crane his neck just to see the top.
The siege-class monster of the army. Mega Clover.
Taking that thing down was Maya’s job.
She should be in motion by now.
Hidden within the fog, Maya was surely making her way toward Mega Clover with light, unhurried steps to finish the job.
Jun focused back on his own task.
Until Aiden takes out the Thousand-Man Army commander, I have to keep their attention.
But even that wouldn’t be easy.
Even now, the crimson mana swirling from the commander’s planted flag was expanding its radius.
Because of that, more and more soldiers were starting to move.
They were already making motions to surround Jun.
“Not so fast.”
[Flame Rage]
A sphere of wild raging fire that was breathing flames without pause was summoned.
Normally, in a space filled with mist, fire-attribute magic would have its power diminished, but Jun’s magic showed no such effect.
The two attributes, clearly separated from each other in his circle, interfered in no way and each fulfilled its role flawlessly.
Fwoooosh—!!
As the ultra-high-temperature flames burst out in an instant, the soldiers raised their shields.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
Even as the fierce flames heated their shields to a glowing scarlet, none of them let go.
The distance continued to shrink.
When Flame Rage finally expelled all its fire and dispersed, a long spear shot out through the gap between the shields.
As if releasing all the pent-up fury they had held back, dozens of spears flew toward Jun’s head yet what they pierced was empty air.
[Burning Step]
A trail of flames now marked the spot where Jun had stood a moment earlier.
A brief exchange of attacks followed, and during that time, the soldiers steadily moving forward had already completed their encirclement.
“So it doesn’t break through their fire-resistance so easily… tch, they’ve already prepared a countermeasure.”
Something within the mana swirling from that flag was completely blocking the flame-infused “Flame Rage”.
They had momentarily lowered their physical resistance and focused entirely on magic resistance.
This was yet another shift characteristic of a Thousand Man Army unit.
Jun observed it for a moment, then changed his approach.
[Ice Break]
He drew in a portion of the life-draining energy dispersed in the air and converted it into the ice attribute.
Beneath the feet of the enemies closing in, murky black ice blossomed like flowers, locking their legs in place.
Then—
[Disaster of Light]
A giant hammer of light formed in the rear, tore through the fog, and crashed down into the soldiers’ center.
Paladin Vern created this holy spell personally. The huge hammer struck the earth, sending out razor-sharp fragments in all directions as if the ground itself were crying out.
And that wasn’t the end.
The shockwave spreading across the earth was all absorbed by the life-draining Ice Break, which then transmitted the force directly into the immobilized soldiers.
Creaaaaaaak—!!
Golden cracks split open across the soldiers’ legs.
It didn’t take long for those fractures to creep up from their shins and spread across their entire bodies.
“Holy magic isn’t included in magic resistance, after all.”
“Wow. That’s one hell of an effect.”
Eleanor’s satisfied voice came from behind; it was her first time using this spell in real combat.
“All that trouble paid off, huh? Right, Leader?”
“It’s a good spell. What about Maya?”
“She’s already on the move.”
“Good. Then support Aiden.”
“Leave it to me.”
Immediately after, Eleanor’s holy magic enveloped Aiden who was still locked in a fierce battle with the Thousand-Man Army Commander.
“Phew…!”
The enemy, wielding a huge greatsword nearly two meters long, wasn’t about to let Aiden close the distance easily.
But near the end of last season—
The time spent with the sword soul Aden had sharpened Aiden’s animal-like instincts even further, allowing him to spot and seize even the briefest of openings.
Now!
[Charge]
He kicked off the ground and shot forward like the wind.
At that exact moment, Eleanor’s holy magic strengthened Aiden’s body, accelerating him even more.
A streak of wind cut through the mist, aiming straight for the enemy’s neck.
But the enemy wasn’t one to go down so easily.
He boldly abandoned his sword and blocked with one arm.
Clang!
A burst of crimson flame erupted as the Sword sliced through the enemy’s wrist.
It wasn’t a clean hit, but instead of panicking, Aiden kicked off the ground again to gain some distance, then shifted his stance like a breeze and charged once more.
The Thousand-Man Army Commander belatedly yanked the greatsword from the ground and swung, pushing back Aiden’s Woon Gwang Sword.
A clear upper hand.
Perhaps due to the previous strike, the amount of magical power flowing from the flag the commander had planted was now noticeably reduced.
“That one’s about to be over too…”
As Jun said, the Thousand-Man Commander, now missing an arm, didn’t last much longer before his head was severed.
Now, only Maya remained.
Jun, having vanished into the mist, moved swiftly, tracking Maya’s presence.
By then, Maya had already used [Shadow Step] to conceal herself in a sub-dimension and reached the front of Mega Clover.
But whether it was sensitive to magic or not, the creature stomped toward the direction where Maya was hiding.
Whooosh.
At that moment, Maya sprang from the shadows and hurled a dagger.
Thud!
The dagger embedded itself squarely in the creature’s shoulder. At the same time, the glimmering thread attached to its hilt went tense.
Maya infused the thread with mana and zipped along it, instantly closing the distance.
“One strike.”
By the time Maya’s silhouette passed the creature, the semi-transparent Acanthus Fang had already sliced through its skin.
“Four will be enough.”
Unlike before, Maya who was now with significantly increased mana muttered as she released a wave of killing intent.
Kuwaaaah!
Sensing that bone-chilling killing intent, Mega Clover let out a frenzied roar and pounded its chest with both fists.
It didn’t seem to care in the slightest about the military camp beneath its feet, which was too damaged to even move, and instead swung a fist straight toward Maya’s direction.
Baaang!
In an instant, the fist slammed down, caving in the ground and sending dust flying.
But the creature felt no resistance from the impact.
Which meant the target had vanished.
Kuwaa?
As it let out a dumbfounded grunt and tilted its head, soft footsteps echoed from behind its back.
A sound as stealthy as a cat’s.
If not for the chilling killing intent, even Mega Clover might not have noticed.
The problem was that by the time it did notice, it was already too late.
Maya, having moved silently into the surrounding shadows, ruthlessly tore into the back of its neck with two blades.
In the blink of an eye, she had landed the remaining three strikes, and at once, she unleashed her mana.
[Spirit Rampage]
Fwoosh—!
The soul of Mega Clover, already shredded and slashed repeatedly, burst in an instant under the pressure of Maya’s mana.
Incredibly, the giant creature crashed face-first into the ground almost instantly.
Its soul had been completely extinguished.
“Target neutralized.”
[Good. Return.]
Following the first defense, the first raid had also ended in success.
Afterward, Jun and the others took down another Thousand-Man Commander who was still wandering through the mist, and only then withdrew.
Several hours later—
What the military camp, barely able to lift itself from the vanished mist, finally saw… was the state of their forces shredded as though torn through by a razor-sharp blade, again and again.
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