More than half had been dealt with, but the number of monsters was still overwhelming.
Even though the horde was down to thirty thousand, it was still too much for just a few thousand to handle.
Amidst the intense battle, a golden tornado rising from one boy inspired courage in everyone around him.
With a single swing, he felled over ten enemies.
In every place he passed, monsters lay fallen in a line and their vital points were pierced by a golden dragon.
Just before a warrior’s head was about to be crushed by an Ice Troll’s club, the same golden dragon sliced cleanly through the Ice Troll’s head.
The golden threads of magical power fluttering around him obliterated every enemy in the vicinity.
Such overwhelming power.
All of this was being accomplished by a boy who was only seventeen years old.
Clayton L. Klein.
Even though he was severely injured, Al Ross managed to survive and continued taking out the remaining monsters. Meanwhile, Alex who had been diligently learning Klein’s swordsmanship fought a series of varied and unpredictable battles against the smaller monsters that blocked Klein’s path.
At that moment, dark clouds appeared in the night sky, and lightning struck with a flash of light.
But was this truly a scene that a single bolt of lightning could create?
Even now, lightning continued to strike in rapid succession, leaving behind only the charred remains of dozens of monsters.
A single spell had rendered thousands of monsters unable to continue fighting.
“Aaaah!”
A sorrowful scream echoed from atop the castle wall.
A girl with blue hair screamed as she collapsed to the ground.
She was Artia, who, like Dilaila, had pushed herself beyond her limits using a magic stone as a catalyst.
The spell she had just cast, Heaven’s Thunder, was a seventh-circle spell. It was a spell that could only be used by a mage a level above her.
A spell that required a significant amount of time to cast, yet she had managed to unleash it.
Of course, it was beyond Artia’s ability to cast such a spell immediately, but after seeing Dilaila fall, a needless sense of competitiveness flared up in her heart and drove her to take action.
“Ugh… But at least I held out longer…”
Artia couldn’t allow herself to faint as disgracefully as Dilaila had, but after uttering those words, she collapsed unconscious as well.
It had been just a single spell.
But even that one spell had a powerful impact.
The monsters, who couldn’t advance due to the aftershocks of the lightning that struck from behind, gave the humans fighting at the front a brief moment to catch their breath.
As dawn began to break, the rising sun seemed to smile down on the humans. Like the goddess of war herself.
***
Before Shane regressed.
In his previous life, there were a total of seven legion commanders, including Shane, inside the organization.
Shane was the commander in charge of “Envy” and he controlled an overwhelming number of undead legions by channeling the envy of vengeful spirits toward the living.
Because of this, Shane’s legion was invincible in battle. It was known as an immortal army.
However, it was ill-suited to confront those who had reached the pinnacle of selflessness.
On the other hand, there were several units designed to face such beings, but the strongest among them was the legion commanded by the one in charge of “Wrath”.
Yet, he didn’t quite fit the name “Wrath”.
He was someone who always enjoyed battle with a hearty “Gahaha!” and a boisterous laugh.
However, there was a reason he became the commander of “Wrath”.
Just once.
When he was truly enraged, he demonstrated that he could indeed be the commander of “Wrath”.
His wrath was directed at the former legion commander of “Wrath”.
In a fit of rage after his duel was interrupted and his opponent was snatched away, he attacked his superior commander head-on, killed him, and proved himself.
That man was none other than the warrior of the Bear Beastman race, Karhu.
***
Urg─!
At the end of a long and grueling battle, a large amount of blood spilled from Felice’s mouth.
Just moments before.
Even though he had dodged Karhu’s swinging fist, the mere force of it had inflicted serious internal injuries.
“C-Crazy…”
If Anastasia hadn’t deflected Karhu’s attack with her greatsword this time, it would have struck Felice directly.
Even though the attack had been deflected, the impact was still this serious.
He would probably have faced death or hovered near death had it landed cleanly.
But the situation was steadily getting worse nonetheless.
Felice wasn’t foolish enough to deny the reality of the situation.
He realized that this opponent was beyond his ability to handle.
In this state, he was nothing more than a burden.
“Ugh… I’m sorry, Your Highness. It seems my role ends here.”
Anastasia finally nodded her head at Felice’s words.
As the injured Felice withdrew from the battlefield, Karhu who was watching the scene burst into laughter.
“Gahaha! Knowing when to back down is a warrior’s virtue!”
When Karhu turned to face Anastasia, a young girl’s voice came from behind.
“Yawn~ It’s starting to get boring now.”
“Don’t worry, clown. It’s just about to get interesting.”
Karhu turned his gaze to Anastasia as if to say, “Isn’t that so?”
“We’ve only just finished warming up, haven’t we? Gahaha.”
“…Huff.”
Without responding to Karhu’s question, Anastasia focused intently on the greatsword in her hand.
He was not an easy opponent.
In battle, it was said that the most important thing was one’s footing, followed closely by one’s vision.
This was because a warrior’s fight depended on understanding the opponent’s movements in order to execute both offense and defense.
However, the opponent before them mixed real and feigned attacks with an absurd level of fluidity; each strike carried a deadly killing intent.
The pressure stemming from this was overwhelming.
Moreover, whether it was due to some kind of witchcraft of the young girl behind them, Karhu’s movements became intertwined with illusions. This made the battle even more difficult.
Were it not for the fact that they were seasoned fighters who had encountered many different kinds of killing intent and fighting spirit, they would have perished at the hands of the creature before them.
In the end, Anastasia admitted that this was an enemy who could only be dealt with by using her full strength.
“I’ll start by apologizing.”
“Hmm?”
“I should have stepped in sooner, even though I told you to stake your soul.”
With that, Anastasia grabbed the greatsword that was heavy enough for a grown man to lift with both hands, using only one hand while her other hand rested on the hilt of the war hammer Felice had left behind.
And a blue flame flickered in both of Anastasia’s eyes.
“From now on, you’ll have to truly stake your soul. I already have.”
In an instant, the blue flame engulfed Anastasia’s body.
Then she took her stance while holding the greatsword and war hammer in each hand.
Though this combination of weapons was something he had never seen or heard of before, Karhu did not ignore the alarm bells ringing from his keen instincts.
It had been a long time since he last felt such a sense of impending danger.
Karhu’s boisterous laughter echoed loudly throughout Viduron.
“Gah, gahaha… Gahahahahah! Good, good! Then I’ll also give it my all!”
His towering frame, which had already exceeded two meters, suddenly grew to three meters.
His eyes glowed a deep red and they started resembling the monsters outside.
The aura he exuded was so overwhelming that even veteran knights, who were trained in both body and mind, could feel themselves being pushed back by it.
It was a moment of extreme tension.
At that moment, a voice broke the silence.
“Well then, I’ll keep you company.”
A figure with black hair and roseberry-colored eyes appeared from the darkness.
Karhu, who hadn’t sensed their presence until just now, widened his eyes in surprise.
Immediately afterward, rune magic activated beneath Karhu’s feet.
[Expansion].
In an instant, the space expanded, dissipating the magical power that was surrounding Karhu. It belonged to the girl.
Since it wasn’t magic Karhu had cast himself but rather the spell of the black-and-white haired girl, the magical power returned to its original owner.
“A clown who revels in chaos, are you? Why not try sowing some chaos in me as well?”
The black-and-white haired girl opened her eyes wide.
“Oh~? And who are you to know so much about me~?”
“Why don’t you take a guess? Isn’t guessing games something you enjoy?”
“Wow~? Now I’m really curious~! Shall we really play then?!”
Poof!
The girl who had been dressed in relatively ordinary clothes was suddenly enveloped in smoke. When it cleared, she was dressed like a magician.
After grabbing the brim of her large top hat, the girl spoke with a grin.
“Then, let the show~ begin!”
In an instant, a black wall formed around Shane and the girl, trapping them both, yet Shane didn’t make a move until that very moment.
***
Ever-changing.
Before Shane’s regression, that title mainly referred to Alex’s fighting style but he wasn’t the only one in the world who enjoyed such a way of combat.
There was a girl who was born with an extraordinary talent for martial arts; once she learned one technique, she would master ten more.
From a young age, she trained with a variety of weapons using her small hands.
When she grew older and reached an age where she could no longer be called a mere girl, she started wielding a greatsword twice her size and she captivated the hearts of knights.
That girl was none other than the Empire’s second flower, Zephyr D. Natasha Anastasia.
Whoosh—! Bang—!
Her punches blended reality and illusion.
Despite her size, her movements were incredibly swift and surprisingly agile. Yet, in the face of overwhelming destructive power, all her skills seemed nothing more than mere tricks.
Who in the world could match the strength of Karhu of the Bear Beastman race?
Karhu’s strength was so great that even a Cyclops would be overpowered by it.
But the blue flames that blazed like a noble fire within Anastasia’s weapon forced even someone like Karhu to retreat.
How can a human possess such strength?!
Since he was part of the organization, Karhu had already figured out the power the woman in front of him was wielding.
Origin power.
The power that manifested in only a very select few humans was now unfolding right before his eyes.
When he realized that, a question popped up in Karhu’s mind.
Most humans couldn’t use Origin with such clarity.
At best, they could mix magical power and Origin power like the Judgment Knights of the imperial family.
However, the woman before him swung her greatsword and war hammer without any concern for such things.
Her unconventional style rivaled even Karhu’s.
One moment, she used the greatsword like a blunt weapon, and in the next, it transformed into a sharp blade.
She pretended to swing the war hammer, only to hurl it instead, and when Karhu barely dodged the attack, the greatsword came flying at him like a club.
Every movement flowed as naturally as water.
Anastasia wielded those huge weapons as if they were light as twigs.
But Karhu was someone who had relished countless battles, wars, and bloody fights.
He skillfully dodged every one of Anastasia’s attacks by a hair’s breadth. He was conserving his strength while preparing for a final blow.
He had to admit that her destructive power was immense, even by his standards.
But it was clearly an overuse of power.
Surely, if he waited long enough, an opening would present itself.
So even in this life-and-death situation, Karhu remained calm and ready to strike at any moment.
How many exchanges had passed like this?
At that exact moment Anastasia’s greatsword slammed into the ground and her war hammer swung upward,
“Ugh!”
Karhu focused all his strength on his right hand.
His muscles swelled as if they were about to burst, and with the speed of sound, he drove his fist toward Anastasia’s solar plexus.
This was it, it had landed.
The destructive power of his punch, which could shatter rocks as easily as tofu, was an attack that even a Cyclops wouldn’t withstand. It would tear apart her entire body.
But then—
“Guh?!”
As if merely swatting away a mosquito, Anastasia stepped back without the slightest tremor and brought her war hammer down.
What in the world?!
No matter how skilled Karhu was, he couldn’t help but let his guard down after executing a perfect attack.
Despite the crushing impact of Anastasia’s war hammer, which felt like it was about to shatter his entire body, Karhu’s mind was filled with nothing but questions.
How was this possible?
An impact strong enough to reshape small hills—how could a woman like her endure it?
Burt Anastasia still appeared fine and continued to bring down her war hammer several more times.
Each strike carried the force of a wall crashing down.
As she hammered down repeatedly, the bloodied mass that was once Karhu vanished from the ground.
At some point, the black wall had disappeared, and a black-and-white-haired girl had moved Karhu to her side.
“…Ah! Monster, monster!”
However, she didn’t pay any attention to the fallen Karhu and instead, pointed a trembling finger at Shane with a pale face.
“How does it feel, clown? To feel chaos for the first time in your life?”
“…Ugh, I don’t know, you monster! I’m not playing with you!”
“Oh dear. It’s disappointing to hear that already.”
“Take that, you stupid monster! Hmph! Let’s go, bear!”
“G-Guh… Is that… really me…?”
Even with all the bones in his body crushed and every tooth broken, Karhu still looked at Anastasia with undying resolve in his eyes.
It was truly a remarkable display of determination.
“Yeah, you lost! You dumb mutt!”
“I’m a bear, not a d-dog.”
“That’s right, you stubborn bear! And you, monster! Don’t think this is over!”
With that, the two vanished from the spot as suddenly as they had appeared.
They disappeared from sight as if folding away into nothing.
“Hmph…”
Shane watched them vanish without a hint of regret.
Perhaps Karhu was a different matter, but that black-and-white-haired girl was beyond even Shane’s current power to eliminate.
The harbinger of chaos.
Even though she wasn’t a commander of any of the 7 Legions, she was known as the 8th Evil, a force of true chaos that even the organization couldn’t control. She wasn’t something that could simply be extinguished just because one wished it.
Yet, there was no need to be worried too much.
With that recent encounter, Shane had effectively introduced a poison into the organization.
Now, it was just a matter of waiting to see what time would bring.
As he thought this, Shane turned to Anastasia who had by then extinguished the blue flame and he spoke to her.
“You seem to be dying, Your Highness.”
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