by Road Warrior
“Good job, Fagan!” Deckard tossed a compliment towards the elven man, then headed to the front of the guard post with his staff in hand. Two bulky men grabbed their shields and protected him. Soon, Deckard’s eyes became dyed in a shimmering light.
“You shall feel the might of the Heavens!”
A complex magical formation appeared around his staff. Sungchul could not decipher the concepts behind the magical formation, but he could make a guess towards what magic he was trying to use.
Is he using Meteor?
The dark clouds covering the sky suddenly cleared and something fell from above.
“It’s M-Meteor!!!”
The demons pointed toward the sky and screamed out in alarm, but no salvation awaited them. Stuck in between the rear guards and the brawling trolls, they could do nothing but watch as the blue comet flew down onto their heads.
BOOOOOMM!!!
A massive explosion occurred in the middle of the enemy’s battle formation, and everything surrounding it was swept away. When the dust settled, countless corpses of demons were revealed in a concentric circle. This was the might of Meteor, the spell widely considered the raison d'être of the School of Cosmomancy.
Genghis looked at the scene with smug eyes while stroking his sideburns. “As expected of Number 23. The ace of the Suicide Unit!”
However, the assault of the demons was just beginning. The Balroqs and Baals, along with other upper-class demons, didn’t budge while looking over the battlefield with an oppressive atmosphere from beyond the Hell Siege Engines. To the upper-class demons, the death of a couple of insignificant demons didn’t matter.
“Keep sending in the insects.”
It was a tried-and-tested tactic to exhaust the enemy with inferior demons, then obliterate the enemy with the devils afterwards. They still had plenty of fodder and the night was long. On the other side of the hill hidden from view were hundreds of low-class demons marching towards them even now.
The impressive talent of the suicide unit allowed them to repel the approaching enemy, but they eventually lost their edge and became exhausted.
“There is no end to them, sir!”
The battle line moved up to where his subordinates were. The elf who had been making the trolls stumble with his impressive archery was now fighting with his blade as he ran out of arrows, and the mages were being driven to exhaustion as they squeezed out the last of their mana.
“Fuck…” Deckard let out a heavy sigh as he continued to gulp down water from his waterskin, whilst thinking that if he had been drinking mana essence instead, he could have landed another meteor on top of their heads.
“When is the main force coming? We’re defending this spot to our last breath here!” Genghis was yelling into the bright blue magic formation on the palm of a mage wearing a blue wizard’s hat. Sungchul knew what the magic formation was for. It was a communication formation. It was a convenient magic that mages of the school of Empathomancy boasted, which allowed people to transmit voices over long distances like mobile phones. An uncertain and hesitant voice could be heard from the other side of the magic formation.
“I’m sorry, but we weren’t notified in advance regarding the status of the attack strategy. If we were told ahead of time regarding this plan, we would have sent out…”
“Fuck! The order to capture the guard post came from your end!!” Genghis shouted at the top of his lungs. It was so loud that the chaos of the battlefield seemed to grow silent for a moment afterwards. “Those fucking bastards. They tell us to capture the guard post, and now they say this? A strategy report? Tell them to go fuck themselves. Fucking bastards! All of my men are about to die! What are they going to do about it? Who’s going to be responsible for this?”
There was only a sound of gulping as if the person on the other end of the magic formation was suppressed by Genghis’ rage. Genghis clenched his eyes and gritted his teeth.
“Okay, I understand for now. First off, we have taken over the guard post, and we are still guarding it. However, you have not sent over the backup forces that were promised, and we are going to lose both the guard post and my men. Do you admit to this?”
“No, Mr. Aaron. That isn’t the case at all. If only you had submitted the status report, we would have promptly…”
“Can’t you shut the fuck up?!”
“…I’ll call over the chief commander.” The voice of the speaker on the other end of the magic formation sounded like he had already reached the end of his patience. Even Genghis who was bellowing until a moment ago stopped and cooled his head.
“It’s fine. I’ll bring up this incident another time. The situation is urgent at the moment. Over and out,” said Genghis and gripped the shoulder of the mage wearing the blue hat.
“Sir Genghis!” A voice could be heard from the magic formation, but he had waved the formation away.
“Bastards. It’s always like this! This is why they’re losing all the major points!” Genghis spat onto the ground and turned his eyes again toward the battlefield. The battle was taking a turn for the worse. The trolls were all killed, but the gaps created by the Hell Siege Engines allowed the imps to flood in like the tide and the lower demons to climb the watchtower with ladders.
The casualties of soldiers were minimal, but the conclusion of the battle was becoming clearer as time passed.
Arkaard spoke with urgency. “Commander! We must pull back!”
It wouldn’t be a retreat in reality, but rather a final attack to create an escape route. Genghis nodded. “Okay! We’ll just have to give up the guard post at this point. I’ll lead the way, so, everyone, follow me!”
Genghis held his violet-tinted magic sword and stood at the front. It was timed right after they had repelled another wave of assault from the enemy. The imps and demonkind soldiers climbed up ladders to reach the watchtower while eighty or so soldiers fought with their lives on the line to defend against the attack. Sungchul was also in the centre of it all.
“...”
Two imps with steel tridents rushed toward Sungchul, but he burned them away with Glare. Next was the Demon soldier. The plum-skinned lower demons with horns played a pivotal role in the demon army as they had little magic power, but had decent abilities and greater physical prowess and stamina than the average human.
“Kwaaa!” The demon soldier swung a scythe weighing several dozen kilogrammes toward Sungchul. Sungchul dodged the blade with minimal movements, then placed a beam of light within its open mouth.
“Kwaaaaaaak!”
Glare’s beam pierced through the roof of the demon’s mouth and seared its brain. It couldn’t penetrate the helmet, but the demon’s crimson eyes turned white, and it fell at Sungchul’s feet.
“Quite impressive.” Deckard approached Sungchul and covered his back.
“It was nothing.”
Another demon soldier leaped at that moment. This time, it was an assault from the skies.
“Die! Human!” A winged demihuman with the skull of a bird dove in from the sky with a shout. It held a long spear in its hands covered in steel gauntlets and aimed toward Sungchul’s head.
“Watch out!” Deckard extended his staff in an effort to cast a spell, but his mana was already exhausted. Glare didn’t materialize. Deckard could only watch with eyes filled with horror as the aerial soldier ambushed Sungchul. Sungchul only continued to look forward and it wasn’t clear whether he was aware of the ambush.
However, Sungchul’s body moved fluidly like water right before the spear could have pierced his skull. His figure appeared like a mirage to the flying demon. There was no impact behind the demon’s spear, and its prey was standing off in the distance.
CLANG!
The trusted spear made sparks as it hit the floor of the watchtower, and the demon flopped onto the floor with all of its momentum.
“Guuuuh…” The aerial soldier flapped its large wings and tried to fly, but Sungchul’s Glare blew away both of its wings.
&
nbsp; “Kwaaa!” The wingless demon rolled about on the floor. Sungchul grabbed an iron mace on the ground and executed the demon.
POP!
The demon’s skull splattered along with its beak.
“Amazing.” Deckard looked at Sungchul with disbelief. “You. You don’t look like a beginner? Who are you?”
Sungchul was about to turn around to reply, but Genghis’ powerful voice swept through like a typhoon.
“Now! Soldiers! I will open us an escape route. Follow my lead!”
Genghis swung his violet-tinted magic sword and jumped from the watchtower. Demon soldiers wielding long spears tried to fend him off, but they fell away like leaves from a tree as Genghis’ blade flashed about in the air.
“Let’s go!” Genghis kicked away the demonic dogs and imps with his feet as he opened up a path.
“Looks like story time is over. It’ll truly become dangerous from this point on, so take care of yourself,” Deckard advised Sungchul.
It was now the soldiers’ turn. They followed Genghis’ lead down the watchtower onto the opened path. The unlucky few were skewered by the raised spears of the demons, while the injured were left to their gruesome fates against the assault of imps and demonic dogs. The survivors fended off the constant assault of the demons as they followed at Genghis’ rear with the violet flashes of his sword’s aura guiding their desperate escape.
Deckard was fighting with a sword and shield instead of his staff.
STAB!
A demon soldier fell as it bled out green blood. To the right, Arkaard was slaughtering imps with his axe swinging it like a windmill, and Fagan the elf was decapitating demonic dogs in a dance. Deckard looked toward the rear. There was a single black-haired man wearing the number 34 on a ragged coat following silently. There was no fear or confusion on his face. It was completely neutral.
That man… just who is he?
He was definitely not any new recruit. That level of leisure and skill ingrained into every fibre of his being was not something that happened overnight.
“Let’s go! I see the end! Keep at it ‘til the end!” Genghis, who was leading the charge, shouted noisily. Shrill laughter and shouts of mockery could be heard from the rear. The guard post fell back into the hands of demons, and Balroqs and Baals arrogantly flapped their wings in the moonlight while descending on the top of the watchtower. The heads of the dead were propped onto skewers, and their flesh became food for imps and demonic dogs. Of more than eighty men of the suicide unit, there were only twenty-five survivors.
“Gasp… Gasp…” Deckard, who was among the survivors, was heaving for breath, trying to relax. It was a frantic escape against impossible odds.
Once he had a moment to catch his breath, he sought out the man who was following behind them. But the man himself, number 34, already stood before Deckard.
“I have survived the battle as promised. It is time to keep your end of the deal.” He spoke casually without a single hair nor breath out of place.
***
Even the veterans were in a state of panic after the massacre that led to the death of over half of their unit. However, Number 34 was indifferent despite how recently he had been recruited.
“Just what are you?” Deckard asked the question with honest curiosity in his eyes. Sungchul figured out his intentions.
Was I too hurried?
It looked as though he earned himself some undue attention, so there was now a need to make up some explanation. A brilliant idea formed in that instant. Sungchul spoke in a low voice. “I am a Former Returnee.”
Among those who returned to their original world, there were those who had chosen to come back to the Other World. These were people that had tasted bitter failure after being unable to re-adapt into the modern world. Unable to forget the overwhelming power they once wielded, they made the choice to return.
Whatever the reason was, that brought them back here, they were widely regarded as being much more powerful than their status points would otherwise suggest, and a good majority of them actually were.
“A Former Returnee…” Deckard couldn’t hide his surprise at the news.
“I was at the Demon Realm Battlefront before I returned. I fought at the Forest of the Lichen Fog of the Varan-Aran alliance.”
“It has been long since that forest got taken over by demons.”
“In any case, the battle just now was just one of countless that I’ve already experienced on a daily basis. It also looked like the demons were keener on recapturing the guard post than our annihilation.”
In reality, the Balroq and Baal that led the demons never stepped forth nor did they release their elite troops. It was nothing more than expending their easily replenishable pawns to chase out the meagre humans, although it would have taken at least the Balroq himself to take out the frenzied Genghis Aaron.
“Mmm…” Deckard didn’t appear to be completely convinced, but there was some logic to follow in what Sungchul was saying.
Sungchul spoke further. “The reason I want to find a way to get stronger quickly is to survive.”
“If you wanted to survive, this is the wrong place,” Deckard said curtly.
“I am being chased by a nemesis. If I don’t quickly gain strength, I’ll lose my life.”
As Sungchul pressed on, Deckard let out a sigh as he formed a shining orb and handed it to Sungchul. It was an Orb of Knowledge. Those that placed their hands on it would gain the information within.
“Take it. These are all the quests that are appropriate for you.”
Sungchul touched the orb to acquire the information within. A quest soon appeared before him in shining letters.
[No Title]
Grave Cleaning – Clean out the swarm of imps that are disrupting the grave of Elven Warriors. / Reward – 5 Magic Power, 1 Mid-Grade Magic Power Essence.
Deckard pointed toward a rocky mountain off to the distance with his staff. “The graves of Elven archers of the Aran tribe are in that direction. The quest itself might be possible if you really try your best, but the problem lies in getting there.”
“Is it demon territory?”
Deckard nodded at Sungchul’s question then turned his back to walk away.
“Get some shut-eye. Something might suddenly happen at any moment.”
Despite the warning, Sungchul headed off toward the rocky mountain by noon. Despite it being labelled as demon territory, the opposition was mostly small patrols. Sungchul lightly evaded their efforts and arrived at the grave of the Aran tribe, then proceeded to clean out the imps that had built their nest there.
Once the imps were cleared away, the spirits lingering within the gravesite rewarded Sungchul 5 Magic Power and a mid-grade mana drink. It wasn’t anything impressive, but Sungchul knew the advantage of stacking up these unimpressive rewards. He leisurely returned to base and proceeded to start another job past his sleeping comrades. It was Alchemy.
Sungchul pulled out Eckheart’s portable alchemic cauldron behind the barracks and began gathering ingredients from his surroundings as indicated by Bertelgia. He then proceeded to synthesise everything. Genghis Aaron approached him as he finished his third Alchemic item.
The well-built man stretched out his arms with a lazy yawn as he walked over to Sungchul and spoke with a look of wonder on his face. “Recruit? What is it that you are doing?”
“As you can see, I am in the middle of synthesising.”
“I can see that, but I’m asking why you’re doing it.” Rockhead’s response was unusual. It looked as though it bothered him that Sungchul was synthesising alchemic items.
“I wanted to create some useful items for battle. I learned a lot from the previous battle.”
Rockhead didn’t press the issue any further after listening to such a model response, but instead, he made a gentle expression and gave a word of advice before leaving. “If you want to survive, I suggest you keep up your physical strength. Anyways, it looks like we’ll have plenty to eat toda
y? Seeing as we’ve cut down on the number of mouths to feed.”
Seeing him spit out such tactless remarks, it was obvious how he earned his nickname. However, Sungchul got the impression that Genghis Aaron wasn’t as simple as he appeared. He was especially cunning when making his report to headquarters. He was fully aware of the organizational problems long plaguing the front lines of the Demon Realm, and even seemed to be actively taking advantage of them. It wasn’t something he could do if he were truly an idiot.
It soon became evening. Genghis had started up a raucous party. The portions of food and alcohol allocated for the dead were given out to soldiers. The mourning for the dead lasted a full ten seconds.
Sungchul chewed on the tasteless but overly abundant food while sipping his drinks by himself. The night sky of the Demon Realm Battlefront had a reddish tint. It was because of the light emitted from the flames of hell that never went out.
“Status Window.”
He pulled up his status window, which he hadn’t seen in a while. The unadjusted screen of the full status window overwhelmed his vision.
[Current Status of Sungchul Kim, “The Destroyer”]
[Blessings]
1. Covenant
(Unknown)
2. Unshakeable
(Immune to Mental Attacks)
3. Blessing from God of Chaos
(10% Bonus to Strength, Dexterity, Vitality)
4. Heir of Heracles
(+100 Strength)
5. Bloodline of Zealot
(Major Bonus to Regeneration when Below 10% Vitality)
6. Champion of Humanity
(+ 50 Resilience)
7. Rapid-Bow of the High Elven Kingdom
(+ 30 Dexterity)
8. Heart of an Ancient Warrior
(+5 Strength, Resilience, Vitality / Resilience)
[Curses]
1. Covenant
(Unknown)
2. Final Declaration of Grand Mage Balzark
(-10 Intuition)
