The sorrowful cries of humanity wailing in despair.
Even amidst the spreading pain, Angie quietly glared at the wall.
“Healing…”
“It’s fine.”
Beyond the wall she glared at, there was an enemy.
An enemy that writhed blackly, resembling shadows or liquid.
These enemies could be called specters, monsters, or beasts—complex creatures embodying all of these.
Indeed, they were specters. They surged like specters, emerging from the sea and attacking the fortress.
In the end, Angie, her traveling party, and the empire’s army retreated into the fortress after abandoning the first wall.
Boom!
Retreating to a distance where they could overlook the first wall, they held their ground while firing arrows.
At the center of it all, Tiamat was unleashing arrows everywhere, shattering something.
Arrows with the sheer power of death itself, fired endlessly without rest.
With their prepared arrows depleted, soldiers were instructed to fire sharpened stakes instead.
As Angie watched this, her thoughts turned to beyond the wall.
More precisely, to what had happened beyond the wall.
Angie recalled what she had seen—the massive sea bordering the frontier suddenly turning black, and countless monsters spilling forth from that darkened sea.
The swarm of monsters charged relentlessly toward the fortress, and Angie, as planned with the imperial army beforehand, rushed in with her weapon drawn.
Together with the soldiers, Angie and her traveling party held back the monsters.
No monster could withstand Angie’s brute strength. With every swing of her greatsword, the monsters exploded into pieces wherever it struck.
Even so, during the fight, larger or more troublesome monsters were dealt with by Tiamat and Phey.
Wherever Phey darted, severed heads rolled across the ground, and the bodies of monsters preparing to attack were pierced and fell by arrows the size of short blades.
Behind them, Richard and Lumel followed.
Richard fearlessly received any sharp claws and retaliated by smashing them, while soldiers swarmed individual monsters to eliminate them decisively.
Monsters that took advantage of gaps in the soldiers’ defenses couldn’t escape Lumel’s spear.
Swinging, thrusting, piercing, and tearing apart with his spear technique.
The crushed or shattered monsters scattered on the ground, and the liquid that spread either reformed into monsters or returned to the sea they originated from.
Naturally, cheers followed. Many rejoiced at the thought of an easy victory.
Angie felt the same way, and so did her traveling party.
Everyone present felt things were going well.
Until the sky suddenly darkened.
The dimming sky. Darkness approaching even though the sun was directly overhead.
Only after everyone looked up in confusion did they realize that the darkness was a colossal membrane—and wings.
Very large wings.
And attached to those wings, something even larger.
Emerging from the sea, leaving trails of black liquid on the ground, the entity revealed itself.
A monstrous creature so enormous it obscured the sky and cast a shadow over the fortress.
Everyone stared upwards in awe at its size, forgetting even to feel fear.
Then someone voiced what they were, and they understood its identity.
“Dragon…?”
It was a dragon.
Not the dragons of the current era.
Not the dragons that can’t breathe fire or lack wings.
It was the mythical transcendent being known as the dragon, said to have vanished entirely during the mythic age.
And as if affirming that statement, the creature twisted its body.
What followed was a simple tail swipe.
But as that tail swept through, Angie and her companions recalled another presence.
The Divine Being’s Sword.
That tail swipe performed by the entity, which carried a human torso as its upper half.
The devastating strike that shattered walls and destroyed fortresses with a single blow.
The tail swept across the ground, uprooting trees, churning the earth, and battering the fortress.
The first stone wall collapsed, and the fortifications in its path were scattered.
Hundreds of soldiers caught in its path died instantly.
The traveling party moved to minimize the casualties.
Phey leapt and slashed, but the scales weren’t even scratched.
Tiamat’s powerful shots, wrapped in thunder, failed to pierce through.
It merely recoiled slightly, its flesh torn, and scales scattered.
The arrows didn’t even reach the heart.
The most they could do was for Angie to swing her greatsword with all her might against the incoming forelimb.
Though Angie’s arm exploded from the recoil, and black blood dripped from the struck limb, creating new monsters,
they managed to make it retreat.
However, the impact was clear.
Most frontline commanders were either dead or injured.
Almost everyone capable of giving orders was either hurt or killed.
The situation was so chaotic that they needed to bring in a magician from the fortress’s central area for advice.
Given how enormous the dragon was, even visible from there, he would likely come to offer counsel and assess the situation.
Angie stepped back nominally for recovery, observing the situation while thinking.
Intercepting the swarming monsters was the job of her traveling party and the soldiers.
As Angie watched the soldiers restraining the monsters trying to climb over the fortress and those approaching it, she only managed to meet the magician after her arm regenerated.
Probably a fairly renowned magician from the imperial army.
Upon arrival, the green one spoke in fear.
“We must flee.”
“What?”
Looking at the bewildered Angie, the magician’s gaze was filled with deep terror.
It wasn’t just the fear from its size.
“That… That’s not just a dragon. That’s the god of void and chaos.”
Stammering out the unfamiliar name, he trembled in fear as if uttering it would kill him.
“The chief deity of war and knowledge, the brother of fire and metallurgy, and one of the creator gods.”
He claimed that a mythical existence had been resurrected to kill them.
*
Astrid and Ereta fought.
Even though their weapons and means weren’t entirely complete, there was no reason to retreat.
And at the end of their battle, Astrid and Ereta stood steadfast among the black liquid scattered by the monsters.
Without even heavy breathing, Astrid wiped the sweat from his forehead.
It had been a tough battle for the previous Astrid.
But now, having parted ways with Astrid, things were different.
Accelerating, wielding wild magic, and responding defensively maximized ease in combat.
Especially because Ereta was there.
Astrid’s old fighting style relied on Budonggong’s equalization, giving up bone and flesh to cut throats.
It was close to fighting while taking risks.
But the current Astrid realized he needed to fight differently.
He knew that throwing away his life now would only lead to terrible outcomes, and he realized there were people who trusted and loved him.
Thus, Astrid fought while prioritizing his own safety.
Fighting as much as possible without getting hurt.
So while his lethality had undoubtedly decreased compared to before, fighting was smoother.
Ereta reliably protected Astrid’s rear.
When Ereta swung her double axes to sever arms, legs, and waists, rendering them powerless,
Astrid passed by, swinging the borrowed hand axe and mace from Ereta.
Conversely, when Astrid charged in, blocking abyssal monsters, slicing wrists, or sweeping legs to knock them down,
Flare!
Ereta finished them off with her flaming axe.
There were others besides Ereta and Astrid.
Although the soldiers in the campsite didn’t provide significant help visually, they showered endless arrows to assist Astrid and Ereta.
Accurately speaking, it was for protecting themselves.
Nevertheless, even the abyssal monsters, numerous with regenerative and resurrection abilities, were nothing more than familiar and easy foes for Astrid.
It didn’t take long to finish clearing them.
After the cleanup ended, Astrid saw an approaching soldier.
The first soldier he had spoken with. His name was Ed, right?
Seeing him approach, Astrid greeted him with an awkward expression.
“Thank you for your help. Thanks to you guys, no one got hurt.”
The soldier awkwardly started talking. Astrid looked at the soldier and replied calmly.
“It wouldn’t have been like that. Didn’t everyone respond well? Certainly…”
“Just now, your covering fire was the last. The same goes for our weapons. I’m not just saying this. Really… Without you guys, we might’ve all died.”
Only then did Astrid notice the soldiers and their families trembling in fear behind them.
“Astrid…”
Even Ereta noticed.
Their words were true.
To them, there was no more strength left to fight.
Thus, the next words were predictable.
Astrid looked at the soldier, and the soldier looked back at Astrid and said,
“You mentioned looking for work, right?”
“Yes.”
“We want to hire you.”
As expected. While pretending to think with a hidden expression, Ereta naturally took over.
“There isn’t much time left, is there? Do you really have the budget to hire us?”
“Ereta.”
“Let me handle it…”
Ereta naturally steering the conversation. Astrid silently acknowledged her words and looked at the soldier.
The soldier who looked at Astrid and Ereta anxiously.
It was unfolding according to plan.
‘Good, then…’
If Astrid were a real mercenary, he would have refused, but Astrid wasn’t a mercenary.
Thus, Astrid opened his mouth neither rejecting nor accepting, indicating he wanted to hear more before deciding.
“How much can you offer?”
“Not much… We don’t have much since, as you know, we’re people with nothing to plunder…”
The soldier trailed off, lowering his head with a troubled expression. Then he spoke with some certainty.
“But! After the escort ends, we will all definitely work to repay you. Definitely…!”
It wasn’t a very practical proposal despite his resolute appearance.
Therefore, Astrid shook his head.
As the soldier’s face showed despair at the shake, Astrid made a counteroffer.
“I don’t know where you plan to flee to, but I don’t think crossing the border alone will solve everything simply. Rather, I think it would be better to cross the border into the Empire.”
The puzzled soldier looked at Astrid, who continued calmly.
“So my proposal is this: Go to the territory of the Empire that borders the Pervere Kingdom and request protection from the Imperial Army. Meanwhile, we’ll protect you.”
“Ah… Thank you…”
“But during this time, we’d like to entrust you with our food, lodging, maintenance of our equipment, and night watch. How does that sound?”
It wasn’t an unreasonable proposal.
Simultaneously, it was a suggestion that instilled confidence in the soldier.
This mercenary, Astrid, believes that joining a group is more survivable than traveling alone.
Such a suggestion gave confidence.
Astrid, seeing the soldier’s face subtly change, knew his intentions were working.
If things went this way, he could evacuate them as safely as possible and reunite with his group quickly and naturally.
Since they were refugees fleeing due to unusual circumstances, they wouldn’t attract excessive attention.
Ultimately, the soldier acted as Astrid intended.
“Alright. Please take good care of us.”
Shaking hands, Astrid smiled contentedly.
All the while ignoring the faint sense of unease creeping in.
Thinking about what Lewena might have tried to warn him about, Astrid soon withdrew his hand.
