Awakening (1)
Praam Kingdom's prisoner camp held around a thousand captives.
Over ninety percent of them were ordinary villagers from a tiny settlement.
Their village had been raided by monsters.
Fleeing the onslaught, the villagers crossed the border and were captured by the border guards.
These prisoners hadn't endured torture or human rights abuses.
They received decent meals and adequate water rations.
But they were all crammed into a single massive hall.
Eden, the former leader of the village militia that had once defended the place.
'The two kingdoms are negotiating...'
Most of the prisoners, Eden included, had already let go of hope.
Even if talks succeeded, they figured only about a hundred might be released.
So they'd tearfully selected who would return home.
"Prioritize the kids and women."
"My baby... please be happy in Goyad Kingdom."
"Sob sob, honey...!"
Just a hundred or so.
The families forced to part ways turned the hall into a sea of tears.
Then the door swung open, and a soldier appeared.
To their shock, he wore the crest of Goyad Kingdom.
The moment had finally come.
Eden let out a heavy sigh.
The sobs grew even louder, filling the space.
Kan, the soldier, eyed their weeping with confusion.
"Why the tears? You can all go back home now."
Eden furrowed his brow.
"We're parting from our families—of course we're crying... What? All of us get to go home!?"
"That's right. Everyone returns home now."
Eden couldn't believe it.
Releasing every single prisoner?
How was this possible?
And Kan—his loyalty to Hyun-soo pierced the heavens.
The release tied into the negotiations, but also his success as an instructor.
True to form, he declared,
"This is all thanks to my lord, Viscount Hyun-soo."
"W-We survived...!"
"Hooray!"
"We all get to go back together!"
The prisoners embraced in joy.
But Eden's thoughts turned to this Hyun-soo.
'Viscount Hyun-soo. What a gracious man.'
The prisoners streamed out together. A faint regret tugged at Eden.
'A viscount...'
Viscounts typically held no territory.
Even heading home, they had nowhere to go—their village lay in ruins.
Then Kan asked,
"Most of you are from Itmin Village, the miners' settlement, right?"
"Yes, that's correct."
"I see."
Kan flashed an enigmatic smile.
Eden couldn't decipher it.
'Perfect.'
Eden smiled faintly, watching families reunite in delight.
Then an incomprehensible scene unfolded before his eyes.
A black-masked figure appeared out of nowhere.
He stabbed a camp soldier's throat with a dagger and yanked it free.
"Kyaa, kyaaaaaaa!"
Dozens more black shadows emerged from everywhere.
They clashed with the camp's fifty-odd soldiers.
Red Dragon Squad assassins averaged level 270s.
The soldiers fell helplessly, one after another.
Eden charged forward.
At level 280, he was just a village militia captain, but he'd led over a hundred men.
Clang clang clang—
He joined the soldiers against the mysterious killers.
But they were outmatched.
A keen dagger sliced toward his throat.
Then—
Claaang—
A single sword casually deflected it.
Five soldiers.
Arms bearing Goyad Kingdom's crest.
Members of the Gale Squad.
The instant the five burst in,
The enemies who'd held firm began dropping.
Eden watched in awe.
'What... what is this?'
They moved like ghosts.
Assassins trained to kill from birth were being overwhelmed by unknowns.
***
Kan and the four other Gale Squad members.
Hyun-soo's trusted elites, knight-level in strength.
Sudden unknown foes.
Assassin Rook Lv.273
Assassin Red Lv.276
Kan slashed through them, shouting,
"All forces, escort the prisoners and pull back as far as possible!"
He assessed the battlefield.
Of 45 camp soldiers, 20 dead. Of 5 knights, 3 dead.
Of Hell's Cradle's 20 soldiers, 10 dead.
Total around 37 left.
Enemies: about 70.
Kan and his squad knew they were outnumbered.
All they could do was hold the line.
The assassins were baffled.
'What the hell are these guys?'
'Where'd they hide? How are mere soldiers doing this?'
Assassins excelled in speed and one-hit kills.
And as a group, they held the skill edge.
Yet these five soldiers overpowered them purely on merit.
Assassins scattered, slaughtering prisoners, shared the thought:
'Take these guys out first.'
Forty of the seventy surged at once.
Thud, boom boom boom, crunch—!
Relentless clashes.
True to assassin form, they flickered in and out.
Sometimes hurling darts or shuriken.
Wounds accumulated on the Gale Squad.
Splatter, splish splish, splish splatter—
Blood sprayed from their bodies.
"Urgh, urgh...!"
Any second now—they'd fall. That's when Kan gritted his teeth.
"Raaargh!"
He held ground, cleaving assassins.
"H-Hegh...!"
One assassin recoiled at Kan's demonic glare.
The others too.
Assassins suppressed fear through training.
But these men radiated unyielding fighting spirit.
Still, the assassins pressed on.
Slash, slash, slash again.
They charged every time.
'How are they still standing?'
'What the hell are they?'
Bathed in blood, refusing to yield despite mortal wounds—the assassins couldn't comprehend.
And for Kan and the Gale Squad,
The reason they stood:
'My lord, I don't want to die like this.'
All for Hyun-soo.
"Why won't you fall! Whyyy!"
They clenched jaws as their own blood sprayed.
But that was it.
Crack—
One with a shattered skull tumbled.
Splat—
One gut-slashed collapsed.
"Arghhh!"
Two pierced repeatedly crumpled.
"Kgh!"
Kan slumped.
Blood-soaked Kan saw twenty assassins lunging.
'Forgive me.'
Too many debts unpaid.
They loathed their wretched bodies now.
The entire Gale Squad had knightly talent.
But all shared one flaw: bodies unable to wield mana.
This moment, they despaired most at their feeble flesh.
'If only I had greater power...'
'If only we could use mana...'
Kan braced for the sickening rip.
But then.
"...You're late."
A familiar voice.
Kan slowly opened his eyes.
Hyun-soo approached, brown coat billowing.
Kan eyed the dagger halted at his throat.
All twenty assassins frozen mid-motion.
But Kan knew his lord's power.
Overwhelm shortened exponentially with numbers.
Twenty? Barely three seconds.
And Kan saw.
A tree branch sprouting beside Hyun-soo.
'Reversal?'
A probabilistic power, limited uses by odds.
Kan grimaced.
Failed odds meant just one Emergency Forge.
Despairing.
More artifacts could have tipped the scales.
They couldn't block or kill all.
Kan was certain.
Yet...
His lord popped a grape into his mouth.
***
Reversal activates.
One artifact can be fabricated.
Too many targets under control.
Overwhelm duration reduced to 3 seconds.
Hyun-soo arrived late, relieved to see them alive.
Situation dire.
Probabilistic Reversal allowed one artifact.
Plus, the barely seized twenty assassins—high levels, numbers straining Overwhelm.
He pondered.
'Even if I neutralize these twenty with one emergency item, what about the other fifty?'
Enemies scattered.
Not clustered.
Smart—they'd anticipated AoE.
The assassins' eyes confirmed it.
Once Overwhelm ended, he'd die, his men too. They smirked.
"Heh heh heh."
"Kuh huh huh!"
But Hyun-soo remembered.
Pushed the grape in.
You consumed Small World Tree Grape.
Overwhelm is maximized.
"My lord, get back!"
"Over seventy enemies."
"You can't handle them alone!"
Seventy foes.
Hyun-soo alone had to shred their HP.
Possible?
Frenzied Overwhelm.
Hyun-soo's choice:
Not just the twenty.
He seized the charging assassins.
And the scattered ones too.
All seventy froze. Seemed foolish.
Better to amp AoE skills with the boost.
That instant.
Spluuurt—
Hyun-soo swept his arm upward with full force.
Seventy assassins rocketed skyward.
Kan couldn't fathom it.
Nor the assassins. One yelled,
"Crazy bastard—what changes by yeeting us into the sky?"
The hold would lapse soon; no big damage.
But Hyun-soo gritted.
"Nngh...!"
Ultimate focus hurled them higher, farther.
30m from ground.
45m.
50m.
55m.
60m.
Overwhelm ends.
Skyborne assassins felt like birds.
"Assassins are idiots who forget they weigh something."
Mystical power.
Assassins mitigated fall damage from heights.
Then they saw.
The branch beside Hyun-soo formed an arrow.
He drew Thousand Catty Bow.
Nocked the crafted arrow, pulled.
Thousand Catty Time
All thought the same.
'One arrow? What for?'
That instant.
"End."
The arrow loosed skyward at the assassins.
They scoffed at the single shot.
But.
Strongest Single Shot Creator
One arrow strikes a thousand foes.
One arrow multiplied to seventy, hitting every assassin.
Assassins pondered: from this height, fall time?
At least two seconds.
But...
0.1 seconds.
Boom boom boom boom boom boom—crash!
Seventy slammed into the ground.