Chapter 1110

〈 Episode 1110 〉 1110. Dark Moon

The stiffness didn’t last long.

They gripped their guns, pressing backs together as they kept watch in all directions.

“Who’s there!”

“Show yourself right now!!”

“Shit….”

Captain Orock dismissed the commotion of his subordinates with one ear while quietly surveying the surroundings. There was not a single sound of movement. The regular chirping of bugs hiding among the plants somewhat calmed his nerves.

“Don’t move recklessly. This is an Air Trap.”

“Sir… I’ve never heard of such a thing. What kind of trap is it?”

“It’s a magical trap. Military-grade non-visual magic, I believe. I don’t have much experience with it myself. Damn it. That woman, who’s supposedly a combat magician, sure knows how to make things troublesome.”

As he recalled the details of the Air Trap, he explained to his men.

An Air Trap is invisible. Once triggered, it unleashes shockwaves or Wind Cutters. Private Gralton met instant death when a Wind Cutter split his head clean open.

‘I’ve heard that Air Traps have sensitive triggers… damn, but this one’s been set up pretty well.’

The crucial part is dealing with the Air Trap.

The first method is mana detection. If you can use mana or have an item with a mana-detection effect, things get easier.

‘…But neither of those options are available to us.’

To detect mana, you need to sense it.

In other words, you need the talent for mana affinity.

‘If I had mana affinity, I wouldn’t be here messing around like this.’

Most people can’t sense mana—it’s normal.

‘Another option… wait until the Air Trap dissipates. I’ve heard that Air Traps can’t last long without a medium.’

However, stopping the pursuit for an hour would mean losing the enemy. This is the Rumel Forest. Even if he knew it well, venturing too deep would raise survival concerns.

Images of money and women flickered before his eyes. He was far too hungry to let either go.

‘…The trigger for the Air Trap is contact. It activates upon touch. Since magic power isn’t infinite, there must be limits to setting up Air Traps… if we don’t pursue directly but instead zigzag, we should be able to avoid them.’

Captain Orock led his men forward, resuming the chase. The smiles that once graced their lips had long since vanished.

One of the soldiers following behind Orock felt something strange. When stepping on the ground, he felt something soft being squished beneath his foot.

BOOM!

The ground exploded. No flame arose—just the air bursting, creating a shockwave.

“AAAAAAAAAAH!”

A subordinate screamed as his legs were blown off, rolling on the ground in agony. Orock coldly looked at him before pulling the trigger of his rifle. BANG. The soldier perished instantly.

“He was already beyond saving. All I did was spare him further suffering.”

“But sir…”

“Think about Colonel Vag. Do you really think he’d send us to a hospital if we got injured?”

“…”

There wasn’t a soul who didn’t know what kind of person Colonel Vag was. Everyone fell silent.

“There’s no time to hesitate. Just follow me closely. As long as you don’t touch the Air Trap, you’ll be fine. Carefully observe the ground I step on and my movements, then mimic them. Understand?”

“Yes, sir.”

Captain Orock could feel his nerves on edge.


The air trap wasn’t just for the ground—it could also be set in mid-air. Meaning, if you were extra unlucky, your head might just go flying off.

“Hmm… I’m avoiding places where traps are likely to be set, but it’s not perfect. Dammit. If only I could send one of my underlings ahead… But these guys have no loyalty or anything…”

If he did that, there was a 300% chance his three underlings would turn their guns on him. Kill him, turn around, and run away.

*Peeeeeeng.*

A chilling sound rang out as the air trap activated. This time, it was a Wind Cutter. Ollok realized he was safe and turned his head back.

Two of his underlings were cleanly sliced and fell to the ground. Blood and guts spilled out from their neat cross-sections.

“EEEEIIIIIIK!”

Ollok’s last remaining underling let out a shriek like a wounded bird and collapsed on the spot. He was definitely the most cowardly of the bunch.

“…What happened?”

“T-That guy stumbled a bit, and then we heard a whooshing sound…”

“Indeed. Unbelievably bad luck.”

Ollok wiped the cold sweat from his brow and forced a smile. Strangely, he felt this was for the best. He aimed his rifle at the trembling underling.

“You go first now.”

“M-Me, sir?”

“If you don’t want to die, follow my orders. Don’t take it personally. Haven’t I been shouldering all the risks so far? Now it’s your turn.”

“P-Please spare me!”

“Don’t be an idiot. Move.”

With a face that looked ready to cry, the underling shuffled forward. Ollok watched his subordinate’s back while plotting grand plans in his mind.

‘Once I find them, I’ll unleash a hail of bullets and suppress them. Kill the guy, leave the girl alive (as long as her torso is intact), then kill this guy too. Grab the expensive gear and bolt. Military life is exhausting. Might as well defect to the Republic while I’m at it.’

•••

Lexi Instructor and I leaned against a large tree, resting. Our eyes were fixed behind us. Someone was walking this way.

“H-Haha! Finally found you!”

A lieutenant with a rank insignia dangling from his neck approached. His uniform was soaked in blood. His right arm was missing, and chunks of intestines clung to his chest and legs—probably someone else’s.

‘This guy’s snapped.’

His pupils were dilated, saliva dripped from his mouth, and his head glistened with cold sweat. Unable to withstand the invisible death brought by the air traps, he’d gone completely insane.

‘Not all soldiers have weak minds. Some, like me, became soldiers out of necessity…’

No sympathy here.

This guy wanted to kill me and steal my gear. He probably intended to violate Lexi Instructor too.

He raised his rifle with one hand. The barrel pointed directly at me.

No need to waste a moment.

The air trap had already been triggered by my will.

BOOOOM!

The shockwave erupted as the air trap responded, blowing apart the man’s upper body and scattering his remains across the ground. I stood up and checked his equipment.

“Hey… This guy has magic bullets. Forty of them.”

“Yeah. Cheap stuff. Still, they’ll come in handy. Let’s grab what we can.”

My backpack grew heavier.

•••

I desperately wished for a variable in this mission, and Heaven granted my wish.

“…Damn. The intel was wrong.”

12 hours into entering the Rumel Forest, Lexi Instructor’s shoulders slumped as she stared at the completely empty enemy camp.

The moment I saw the situation, I understood what had happened but deliberately played dumb and asked her,

“Did the info leak?”

“Nope. Look around. The signs of human activity are faded. It’s been abandoned for at least a month. The intel was fake from the start.”

“The one who faked the info… it must be Captain Vag from Unit 105.”

“He didn’t want to look incompetent to higher-ups. And one of the reasons he tried to kill us was probably to cover this up. Frustrating. If only we could use radios, things would be easier…”

But the Rumel Forest emitted a special frequency that rendered radios useless. There was no ordinary way to communicate with the outside world.


It was no mysterious occurrence. There were plenty of other areas aside from the Rumel Forest where signals didn’t reach.

“Should we abandon the mission and return?”

“Normally, that would be the case. Given this mission was due to a mistake from higher-ups, even if we abandon it, there won’t be any reprimands.”

“…The problem is Lieutenant Bagh.”

By now, he’d have realized his subordinates had been wiped out.

Would Lieutenant Bagh just back down? If he had, he wouldn’t have started in the first place.

“With our full strength, can’t we handle at least Task Force 105?”

“Lieutenant Bagh isn’t stupid enough to only deploy Task Force 105. He probably has accomplices who’ve been smuggling with him. Likely an entire organization. Their strength is unknown. Chances are, we can’t handle them alone.”

“Sneaking away… seems impossible then. They’ll surely keep their eyes peeled.”

Lieutenant Bagh was reassigned to Task Force 105 after some incident—I don’t know what. This is his last chance. The moment we escape the forest alive, his military career is over. He’ll be dragged straight to the military tribunal and sentenced to death.

“…What do we do now?”

“How should we proceed? What’s your opinion?”

Instructor Lexis often asks for my input. She considers it part of the training. I deliberately give answers that are either wrong or only 80% correct to hide my abilities.

“I think we should hold out. Strategic Command values us more than Task Force 105. If we go missing, they’ll come looking for us.”

‘I’m one of the most successful cases from the Battle Mage Project.’ My existence represents its success. Strategic Command wouldn’t easily give up on that success.

Most importantly, I have a slave mark on my right arm. Once they realize I’m still alive, Strategic Command will definitely track me down.

“That’s a sound judgment. To Strategic Command, you and I are too valuable to discard.”

“How long do you think it’ll take for Strategic Command and Unit 667 to respond?”

“About ten days?”

“Longer than expected.”

“While performing missions, we’ve built up certain connections. Strategic Command will trust us initially. They’ll notice something’s off later and start investigating. By then, Lieutenant Bagh will be finished. Until then, we can calmly continue the mission. There are likely other Resistance groups hiding elsewhere.”

“Ten whole days stuck in this forest… Worst-case scenario.”

SLAP!

I slapped my neck. When I pulled my hand away, there was a mosquito corpse. I used the Water spell, a level 1 magic, to wash my hands with conjured water while frowning.

Though I acted annoyed, inside I was cheering.

‘Just when I was wondering how to stay longer in the Rumel Forest, things blew up perfectly. Lucky.’

Instructor Lexis took out a map and marked it with a pen.

“There are six suspected Resistance bases. Let’s check them out one by one, starting with the closest.”

“Right now?”

Night had already fallen. While I don’t know about Instructor Lexis, I was exhausted. My legs ached, and my eyelids felt heavy. Thanks to mana manipulation, my body was better than an average person’s, but compared to warriors of the same level, it was still inferior.

“Let’s take it easy. We’ll rest at night and move during the day.”

Fortunately, Instructor Lexis was flexible in many ways.

We prepared our sleeping area. We found a relatively plant-free spot, flattened the ground with wind magic, and laid down a magical blanket provided by Instructor Lexis—not standard issue. It repelled water and small bugs. Above it, we set up a makeshift tarp using wooden sticks and cloth. Even if it rained, we wouldn’t get soaked.

While I prepared the campsite, Instructor Lexis set up alarm magic around the perimeter. It would alert us if anyone or anything approached.

We both lay down on the magical blanket simultaneously. It was surprisingly comfortable.