"You still have a chance. Come under me. I will make your desires come true."
Though it wasn’t clear where the voice came from, the words of the alchemist named Drmule seemed to pierce everyone’s ears.
Perhaps he had used some kind of spell, for a sweet scent wafted through the air—but only Encrid could smell it.
"Give up, Tempe. Like Drmule said, what can two swordsmen and a girl possibly do?"
Hescal spoke as he raised his left hand. Then, from the distance, another group of monsters slowly emerged.
He raised his right hand next, and the number of monsters increased even more.
‘He split them by unit.’
Encrid’s gaze moved left and right.
It was surprising enough that the monsters were lined up like a military force, but now it was clear they were even divided into classes.
When Hescal lifted his left hand, the ones that appeared were Scalors riding lizard beasts.
The lizard beasts ridden by the Scalors flicked their tongues. The pouring rain streamed down their foreheads, over their snouts, creating rivulets of water.
The bulging brows formed a long crease in the center of their faces, creating a visible channel where the water flowed.
Because of the storm, it was hard to distinguish colors, but separate from the Scalors, the lizards' scales weren’t completely black.
Even if they looked that way now.
Their number easily exceeded three hundred.
Though the Scalors sat on the beasts without reins, it didn’t look like they’d fall off or smash their heads even if the lizards charged forward.
Their heads weren’t that soft to begin with, and if they lacked the confidence to ride into battle, they wouldn’t be doing it at all.
Hescal had betrayed Zaun, but he hadn’t betrayed his own brain. In other words, he wasn’t a fool.
‘There are too many.’
The number of monsters had already neared two thousand.
A few more clumps squirmed along the gently sloping descent. The monsters would continue to rise endlessly. You didn’t need a Knight’s insight to know that.
From Encrid’s vantage point, to the right, there were over three hundred more crouched Scalors and Owlbears. Not a small number.
‘Well hidden.’
Those were probably Hescal’s doing too, right? Most likely.
He was skilled at manipulating information.
Even the monsters crawling up from below were forming lines. They were moving in formation.
Encrid thought that if the instructor who had trained these monsters was human or a sentient race, he’d ask them how they did it before killing them.
It was impressive just to look at.
As he observed the dark shapes forming amidst the storm, he noticed that some of the smaller ones gathering on the right had something like bat wings attached to their backs.
‘Can they fly? They probably can.’
They wouldn’t have wings on their backs just for show. Assuming that, the creatures on the right seemed noticeably lighter.
To fly in the first place, they’d have to be light—maybe monsters with hollowed-out bones or something.
Encrid kept his eyes on the monster horde, checking where his allies were positioned, estimating the distance to the enemy, and comparing overall strength.
In other words, he was loading and mixing everything he needed for battle into his head.
"The flow of battle is organic. Even if you become elite troops through training, the variables that arise in combat are unpredictable. Of course, there are those who calculate every aspect and fight accordingly. Like Big Eyes."
These were the words of Luagarne as she taught tactical thinking.
And then she added,
"But in battles that I’m part of, I can do something similar."
She said it like that.
"That’s how I can kill opponents stronger than me."
She exuded confidence as she spoke.
Do you always have to fight purely with skill? Is that important in a fight meant to win?
"Not important at all."
Encrid muttered to himself as he continued calculating in his head.
Luagarne possessed a rare talent, even across the entire continent. Encrid acknowledged that. The more he learned from her, the more he realized it.
"I am Frog, the challenger who has decided to break through my limits."
The words of her—Frog Luagarne—lingered in his mind.
Her battles always began with tactics. And the essence of tactics was deception.
What Hescal had done was the same. He had hidden his true strength. Drmule was within expectations, but the rest wasn’t.
Especially the monsters organized into an army—that was completely unexpected. In short, a battle between large forces was about to begin.
At this moment, what Zaun needed most was a single stream of control to unify the unruly mob.
"Feel the flow. Enki, you can do it. You’ve already commanded the battlefield by instinct before, haven’t you?"
That’s right. He had blocked Aspen’s army with an intangible wall. That time, Encrid had moved by instinct. This wasn’t any different.
Boom.
An angry god roared through thunder.
Crash!
A gesture to the ground summoned a bolt that scorched and shattered the earth. The storm surged again.
To Encrid’s eyes, every single raindrop looked split.
One of his split thoughts assessed the situation, the other calculated. It was a variation of the Wave-Blocking Sword.
On top of that, thanks to learning from Jaxon, his intuition beyond the five senses activated, intuition that rummaged through his mind and revealed the answer.
What needed to be done. The flow that needed to be created.
‘What must I do to win?’
The enemy had targeted the veteran soldiers on their side, preventing them from forming up.
Therefore, the most important thing now was formation—a shape that wouldn’t collapse.
Huuuph!
Encrid gathered a deep breath into his abdomen. Then he expelled it.
The air, pressurized in his belly, passed through his vocal cords, transforming into sound and meaning. Of course, it was laced with Will.
"Head of the house—! From that spot—! Wall—!"
Short and sharp. Would they understand? They would. If not, they’d ask.
The head of the house didn’t even turn around. All Encrid could see was the back of his head, but he answered with action.
Thunk!
He stabbed his sword into the ground and drew a line.
"Since it’s raining, the moat will fill with water on its own."
A rare joke.
He meant he was the wall, and the line he drew with his sword was the moat. And that the monsters gathered here would not dare cross his line.
The head of the house spoke with his back.
"We are—!"
"Za—un!"
"Those who walk the path of the sword!"
"Seekers!"
At Riley’s lead, someone else responded, and then Kato shouted, and a nineteen-year-old girl brimming with talent finished the chant.
Whatever you do now, it won’t shake us.
That’s what the wall raised by the head of the house meant. It went beyond what Encrid had asked for.
But it still wasn’t enough. The head of the house alone couldn’t stop the wave of monsters. He had just established the central axis.
Encrid brought his right hand to his mouth and shouted with focused breath.
"Alexandra! Ten paces to the head’s right! Lynox, how well can you fight?"
"You’re asking me how well I can fight? Cut the arrogance. I’ve been wielding a sword since before you were born."
"Doing it for a long time doesn’t mean you’re good at it."
He cracks a joke in the middle of it all. Even as veins bulge in his neck, he still throws in a joke. Why?
It was the same reason the head of the house had made that out-of-place quip.
Upon seeing the monster army lined up in formation, the tension in his allies’ shoulders eased.
‘He's lifting the morale of his allies.’
Of course, it was deliberate.
‘Next, he reads the enemy's flow.’
He guides that flow, trapping the battlefield's situation within his intentions. A sharp jolt of intuition stabbed through his skull. It felt like lightning had splintered and was scrambling his brain.
"Anahera, go wild if you must!"
At Encrid’s shout, the restraints on the beast that held red blood were undone.
"Hahahahaha!"
Normally, Anahera suppressed her giant instincts. If she didn’t, she would have already killed several of those around her. But on a battlefield full of enemies, there was no need to hold back instinct.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
The giant stomped across the muddy ground. Wherever she ran, mud sprayed high to both sides.
By the time the fan-shaped mud splash hit the ground again, Anahera had reached the frontlines of the monster horde. Right before the lizard-mounted cavalry.
Seen from above, it would look like a mad giant recklessly charging into enemy lines alone.
"Intercept her!"
Someone on the enemy side shouted. One of those aligned with Hescal. At his command, more than a dozen arrows were released.
They weren’t shot in arcs—hidden among the monsters, they were fired straight at close range.
Pik, Puk, Thunk.
Some barely grazed her and bounced off her thick skin. One struck her head but deflected off her iron helmet.
Only one arrow embedded itself in her forearm, but her violent movement quickly tore it free and dropped it to the ground.
It had only barely pierced the surface of her skin. A giant’s skin is thick and tough. Ordinary arrows don’t penetrate.
Those trapped in Zaun had probably forgotten that.
Encrid knew the Hunter’s Village was among the enemies. Was there not even a single master archer among them?
Unlikely.
But was there any guarantee that their arrows would work on a giant? Now, several of those archers hesitated, fingers frozen on their bowstrings.
A ripple of panic spread through the enemy ranks. Anahera then clashed with a Scalor riding a lizard.
The lizard opened its jaws, baring its saw-like teeth. Atop it, the Scalor gripped a black-stained short spear in reverse and thrust it.
Encrid couldn’t see, but Anahera twisted her lips into a wide grin and swung her sword.
She was a giant, but even in the grip of instinct, she never forgot that she was a sword of Zaun. Thus, the blade she swung followed Zaun’s swordsmanship.
Fwoosh.
Her left foot dug ankle-deep into the ground, and the power transmitted through her rising step was channeled into a downward slash.
It was a Middle Sword Technique crescent slash, infused with immense Will.
Fwaaang!
The fusion of a giant’s strength and Will vertically split the lizard and its rider in two.
Splat!
Black blood splattered over her helmet. But the endless rain quickly washed it away.
"Die allll of yooouuu!"
The giant tilted her head toward the sky and roared. Did he expect all of this?
No. Encrid had simply followed his intuition.
"Kato! Follow and cover Anahera’s rear!"
As he gave the command, Encrid’s head whipped left and right.
Somehow, during the chaos, the enemy monsters had begun charging toward the head of the house as well.
‘If I were Hescal, I’d also use monsters to exhaust their strength.’
A tactic difficult for a human army, but for a monster horde, there was no reason not to use it.
Monsters don’t feel fear. So, wearing down their enemy with monsters would be a profitable trade.
‘Did he foresee this too?’
Not at all. He had built the wall purely on intuition. He’d done it to drastically reduce the number of deaths here.
Scalors on lizards, those with red and black scales, Owlbears with steel feathers, even flying creatures above. These monsters charged in formation.
Blocking their way were the head of the house, Alexandra, and Lynox.
Just three of them? No—three of them was plenty.
A Knight is a calamity. One alone can cut down a thousand. They could surely do the same.
Anahera rampaged, and Kato covered her rear. He let those two be. They had very specific strengths, unsuited for group combat.
Anahera had to unleash her full instincts, ignoring friend or foe, to exceed her limits.
‘Kato hides weapons all over his body.’
That meant being surrounded was the most efficient way for him to fight. He had honed his skills by sparring with many across numerous villages.
Eventually, he evolved into what he is now.
Sometimes, people were better suited to real combat than practice and Kato was exactly that.
Encrid sent them out first with that in mind. If you strike first before the enemy charges, their formation breaks.
That holds true, monster or monster grandfather alike. The vanguard would inevitably get caught up in chaos.
Encrid’s plan worked.
Hescal pulled out units not caught in the chaos and reformed their ranks for a flanking maneuver.
‘He’s really clever.’
Hescal was intelligent, that became more apparent. But while Hescal fought with his brain, Encrid relied on intuition.
There was no need to be shaken. So what if his intent was seen through?
They’d just respond to Hescal’s next move. His aim was clear.
‘Force us to fight alone, while they attack in formation.’
Zaun had lost many of its veteran soldiers.
But in their place stood a commander who had clawed his way up from the bottom, a former Border Guard soldier who had seen countless battles. And one who had learned tactical swordsmanship from Frog, Luagarne.
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