Chapter 415

The battle came quickly.

Before tens of thousands of monsters and the thick fog rolling over the wasteland like waves, a black-skinned Grand Mage stood tall, stepping on empty air, and uttered a single word heralding the beginning of the battle.

“Fire Cannon.”

Fwoooooosh.

An immense torrent of mana swirled around him. Five flames sprang to life in midair, swelled to enormous size, and shot forward like cannonballs.

Fwoooooosh—BOOM!

The black tide of tens of thousands of monsters split apart. Blistering heat burned flesh and bone and melted the ground.

An area-of-effect spell that reduced at least a thousand soldiers to ash.

But the monsters did not stop.

Neither did Magic Johnson.

“Water Blaster.”

The air, dry as sand after the Fire Cannon, grew heavy with moisture.

Magic Johnson spread his arms, and an enormous wave rose behind him.

The sight defied every law of the world.

It was magic in the truest sense—the supernatural power of the greatest War Mage among countless mages.

“Engulf them.”

The cheerful, ever-laughing man was nowhere to be seen.

Magic Johnson flung both hands out, his gaze grave. A wave dozens of meters¹ high cast a broad, dark shadow over the tens of thousands of monsters.

Roooooar!

Brimming with mana, the wave crashed down. The tremendous water pressure crushed the monsters, bursting their bodies and tearing them apart.

The flames left behind by Fire Cannon went out, and the surrounding area was flooded with water.

Magic Johnson knew exactly what to do next.

“Strike. Lightning Rain.”

It happened in an instant.

Black storm clouds gathered over the monsters’ heads, and dozens of bolts of lightning came crashing down.

BOOM! Crackle!

—Kraaaaaaar!

—Kyaaak!

The lightning struck without distinction, tearing through targets both in the air and on the ground.

Blackened Gargoyles and Griffins plummeted from the sky, while the ground, soaked by Water Blaster, carried the current.

The living monsters trembled violently and dropped to their knees with a single shriek. The undead collapsed into piles of ash.

At the unbelievable sight unfolding before our eyes, a groan escaped someone’s lips.

“So this is a Grand Mage…”

The results of only three area-of-effect spells were staggering.

At least several thousand monsters had either died or been rendered incapable of fighting, and one flank of the monster army had collapsed.

But even the Grand Mage who had single-handedly unleashed a natural disaster could not escape the crushing fatigue.

“Fuck. If I’d known this would happen, I would’ve saved a few more spells.”

Casting magic was no simple task. Area-of-effect magic in particular—Magic Johnson’s specialty—consumed mental strength and mana on a scale proportionate to its destructive power.

Considering how much magic he had already poured into the front lines before coming here, this was his limit.

“Mrs. Chen. I guess I’m getting old too.”

“Move aside. We old folks have to look out for each other. And…”

Faye Chen tossed aside the whiskey bottle in her hand, drew the bow strapped at her side with lightning speed, and pulled back the string.

An arrow of mana formed against the empty bowstring.

“It’s not Mrs. Chen. It’s Miss Chen. Who decided I was married?”

Faye Chen snorted and released the string.

The mana arrow, scattering a dazzling radiance, shot forward with a sharp whistle. It erased the space in its path and split through the thick fog.

And then—

BOOM!

A tremendous explosion erupted.

After confirming that the Death Knight hiding among the countless monsters had vanished without even managing a final cry, Faye Chen pulled back her bowstring again.

Thrum-thrum-thrum!

Arrows loosed in the blink of an eye became streaks of light across the wasteland. Thunderous explosions followed, each arrow sweeping away and annihilating dozens of monsters.

If Magic Johnson was one of the world’s three greatest Grand Mages and its finest War Mage, Faye Chen was the finest archer alive.

But…

—Gwooooooar!

—Kyaaaaa!

The monster army, tens of thousands strong, ignored it all and charged.

Cut down dozens, and dozens more filled their places. Cut down hundreds, and hundreds more took their place.

Charging through the thick fog, they were stronger and more ferocious than ordinary monsters.

All that remained was an unavoidable head-on battle.

Facing the oncoming monster army, two men stepped forward at the same time.

“Ares Guild. Formation B. Break through them.”

Clatter-clatter-clatter!

At Lee Jungryong’s quiet command, the elite Guild members who had made it this far without a single casualty moved as one.

Jin Taekyung studied them closely, then addressed the suicide squad he had brought from the Western Front.

“Everyone, Formation J.”

“Yes, sir!”

“Formation J! Get into position!”

The suicide squad moved swiftly, repeating the command in thunderous voices.

Behind Jin Taekyung, Wu Heixing had been gathering the handful of Red Guard Gang Hunters who remained. He grabbed one of the Western Front suicide-squad members and asked,

“Hey, rookie. What the hell is Formation J?”

Recognizing Wu Heixing, Xiao Shen frowned before answering.

“Hyung² came up with the formation himself.”

“So what does it mean?”

“Nothing special. He said it means, ‘Just fucking fight.’”

“…”

Wu Heixing was momentarily speechless, and Lee Jungryong and Jin Taekyung launched themselves forward at the exact same time, as if they had planned it.

Prince Felix and ten thousand Hunters surged fiercely after them.

“Aaaaaaaaah!”

—Kraaaaaaaargh!

Humans and monsters.

Monsters and humans.

Deafening battle cries and killing intent erupted. Racing across the wasteland at blinding speed, the two sides bared their teeth and leveled their spears and blades at one another.

Fwoooooosh—Kra-d-d-d-d-k!

The great battle had begun.

I leaned back and put my shoulder into it. The movements flowed seamlessly together as I whipped my arm forward with all my strength.

Whoosh—thud-thud-thud-thud!

White Flame shot from my hand, piercing dozens of monsters and opening a path.

A gap appeared in an instant.

Without hesitation, I plunged into it and lashed out with my arms and legs at everything within reach.

Crack!

My fist shot forward too fast to see, crushing the head of the charging Lycanthrope like a watermelon.

Before the brain matter spilling from its skull could hit the ground, I leaped into the air.

Tap—whoosh!

A four-meter-tall³ figure loomed before me. My reflection appeared in its pale pupils, long since drained of light.

But before the Undead Troll could swing its club, my palm slammed into its chest.

Boom!

Smoke curled from the Undead Troll’s seven apertures⁴ along with a surge of tremendous heat. Its insides had suffered catastrophic damage, and it met its final death before its extraordinary regenerative power could even come into play.

“Wicked human! Behind you!”

I know, idiot. Who asked for your advice?

I turned my head. A lance wreathed in pitch-black magic grazed my neck and hurtled into the sky.

It had been thrown to catch me while I was suspended in midair. The timing was good, but the enemy had made one mistake.

It had underestimated me.

“Fuck. Why are there so many Death Knights? What is this, a chicken joint?⁵”

I landed lightly after evading the lance, and a Death Knight mounted on a skeletal horse charged straight at me.

“This. Is. As. Far. As. You. Go!”

Fwoooooosh!

With that shout, it swung a sword wreathed in ominous magic. The energy it gave off could not compare to an S-rank Hunter’s, but it was on par with that of a top-tier A-rank Hunter.

Or perhaps…

This Death Knight must have been a Hunter once too.

Maybe that was why.

The sight of the Death Knight reminded me of Lei Fei, leaving a sudden bitter taste in my mouth.

The Skeleton Warlord screamed when it saw my reaction.

“Dodge, human!”

Thud!

The magic clinging to the Death Knight’s sword vanished without a trace.

The Death Knight stared blankly at the transparent spearhead that had pierced through its chest and emerged from its back. Then it muttered weakly,

“How…”

“This is as far as you go.”

I returned the Death Knight’s own words to it and brought down the edge of my hand.

“I don’t know who you used to be, but you’ve suffered enough.”

Slash—thud!

The skeletal horse and Death Knight split in two and vanished.

As before, I used Seizing an Object Through Empty Space to draw White Flame back toward me, cutting down a monster along the way. Then I abruptly asked,

“How come you’re not pestering me for food today?”

“Ahem. What do you take me for? How dare you mistake this commander for—”

Slash!

“A freeloader. You call yourself a pacifist, but you only start drooling at times like this. Shameless bastard.”

“What did you say?”

“Why? Was any of that wrong?”

“You, wicked human, agreed that I should not participate in the battle! And were you not the one who said the other humans could not find out about me?”

“Quit making excuses. So, are you going to absorb that mana or not?”

“…”

Crack!

“Hey. You hear me?”

“Hmm. I don’t particularly want to absorb it.”

“…What?”

Fwoooooosh!

I was so startled that I nearly let an attack through.

I swept my spear in a wide arc, wiping out a dozen monsters, then asked in all seriousness,

“What’s wrong? Is it time for you to vanish?”

“Hmm… I do not know either. I simply feel that way.”

“You feel that way?”

“Yes. I am undead too. Sometimes even I feel unsettled. Leave me be.”

“…Since when do the undead feel unsettled?”

Normally, he would have charged in like a Beggars’ Sect disciple who had not eaten in four days. Why was he acting like this?

Can undead go through puberty too?

Even for an oddball monster like the Skeleton Warlord, that made no sense.

I gave up trying to figure him out and continued cutting down monsters.

That was when it happened.

Rooooooar!

Aura—no, Sword Energy—blanketed a radius of more than ten meters.⁶

One person landed lightly at the center of the front line, now suddenly empty.

“There are too many monsters. We can’t clear a path for the entire suicide squad.”

I knew exactly what Lee Jungryong meant.

“You’re saying we should go with a small elite force?”

“Precisely. Duck.”

I bent backward at Lee Jungryong’s warning. A crescent of Sword Energy flew over me and sliced three or four enormous monsters apart like cheesecake.

What if that Sword Energy had been aimed at me? If Lee Jungryong and I fought…

“You, me, and Wu Heixing. The three of us should be enough.”

I licked my dry lips before answering.

“That’s a strange thing to say.”

“What is?”

“You never know until you fight. We won’t know how strong the Arch Lich is until we face it.”

“There are three S-rank Hunters here. No matter how powerful the Arch Lich may be, it cannot stand against us.”

Us…

It was a wonderful word. So why did I dislike the way it felt rolling off my tongue?

Maybe it was because of the people included in it.

But I had already made up my mind when I proposed the suicide-squad operation. In that sense, Lee Jungryong’s suggestion was the best option.

“Let’s do that. Where’s Wu Heixing?”

Kra-d-d-d-d-k!

Before I had even finished speaking, Wu Heixing tore his way through the monsters and appeared.

Unlike Lee Jungryong, who remained so immaculate that it was hard to believe he was in the middle of a battle, Wu Heixing looked terrible. But the fierce light in his eyes proved he still had plenty of strength left.

“Good. You made it in time.”

Wu Heixing let out a ragged breath. “Mere monsters could never stop me.”

Didn’t that bastard nearly die to those same mere monsters about an hour ago?

I was inwardly clicking my tongue at how little Wu Heixing had changed when a shout came from far away.

“Mr. Jin!”

It was Team Leader Choi.

Beyond the hundreds of monsters between us, his face briefly appeared before vanishing again.

Then something gleaming spun through the air and embedded itself in the ground nearby.

This is…

I recognized it immediately.

It was Hero’s Soul.

From somewhere beyond my sight, Team Leader Choi shouted,

“I’m not going to say I’ll go with you, so take that sword with you instead. And… be careful!”

Those words carried a great deal of meaning.

Without a word, I pulled Hero’s Soul from the ground.

Beyond the countless monsters still filling my vision, I could see a city shrouded in darkness.

“Let’s go.”

Lee Jungryong smiled gently.