The Fire Ring

There was no chance they hadn't used that scroll in the first cycle.

Even if a spell sealed in a scroll packed far less punch than one a mage cast with their own hands, the magic contained in that thing was Intermediate-tier.

Advanced-tier magic was the domain of Rankers and Archmages — the kind of spellwork used by mages who served in the first-string parties of the great guilds. If the spell in that scroll had been Advanced-tier, even with its diminished power it could have swept away thousands of goblins without breaking a sweat. An Advanced-tier mage, one of the core pillars of a major guild's first-string party, was a terrifying existence. Especially when it came to mass slaughter.

At any rate, even as an Intermediate-tier spell, it should still be able to wipe out a few hundred goblins one way or another. I'd been a little more aggressive from the start precisely because I was counting on it. I just never expected we'd actually have to use it like this.

Even at full strength, charging the Grand Goblin Settlement on the strength of a single scroll was a recipe for annihilation. That was why I hadn't even dared consider it. And then the opportunity presented itself.

The main force had poured out in droves — but this was still the point where the follow-up troops would keep gathering. The nest itself was likely a little closer in, but there was no question this was one of the key hubs.

The knights stared at me as if I'd lost my mind.

"…You're actually going to do this? In our current condition?"

"Don't we have to? It's for the castle. This would contribute more than dragging ourselves back there, wouldn't it?"

"…I cannot deny it."

Each of them was a core military asset of the castle. Throwing knights into an operation like this would have been unthinkable for a noble. But I was neither their lord nor anything of the sort, and Mellid Castle was in an extremely dangerous situation. If I could properly channel their spirit of sacrifice and their sense of purpose, the returns could be enormous.

They probably didn't want to go not just because of their lives, but because they couldn't bear the thought of being unable to return when the castle was in danger. I needed to make them understand that bringing down the Grand Goblin Settlement would contribute more to the castle than going back.

"We have to. I remember what you said before — that if they exceed five thousand, even a sturdy castle is in danger. The force that just left already exceeds five thousand. Factoring in the ones joining along the way, we have to assume it definitely exceeds that. And then the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠follow-up troops arrive? …No matter how sturdy Mellid Castle is…"

"Mmm…"

"And unlike before, the lord has already received the information and is making sufficient preparations. Of course, that doesn't change the fact that the castle is in danger. Still, we should leave that side to him and do what we can. For the sake of the castle, if nothing else."

Revo thought for a long time, then looked around at the other knights. At last, with visible difficulty, he nodded.

"…It cannot be helped. Indeed… reducing the follow-up troops would help more than our returning…"

Then, as if something had just occurred to him, he turned to me.

"…Somehow you mercenaries seem to worry about the castle more than we knights do. For ordinary mercenaries, this would be a situation where slipping away in the night wouldn't be strange, let alone returning to the castle…"

Come to think of it, he was right. We were here for the experience, but they had no way of knowing that.

"We couldn't do that. We came out on reconnaissance in the first place to repay the lord for treating us so well. How could we do such a thing?"

The acting skills I'd honed throughout the first cycle came out naturally as I laid on the humility.

At this rate I might even end up grateful to Johann.

Ah, that's going a bit far… I am grateful, though. I've gained a lot from this.

A quiet laugh slipped out of me even in the middle of all this.

We'd agreed to strike the Grand Goblin Settlement together, but our current condition made it impossible. The decision was to rest well today and go tomorrow.

I immediately told the rest of the party to stay behind. The payoff was decent, but it was too dangerous. I'd rather give up a perfect ten and settle for a nine than throw the talented kids I'd finally found into a death trap. A nine was plenty. Whatever we lacked could be filled in on the floors above. I'd only wanted to shorten that time.

But I ran straight into fierce opposition from Na-yeon and Na Seoyun.

"Why do we have to stay behind?! If we just hold out, that's enough, isn't it?!"

That much was true. If we were simply going to climb to the eighth floor, we could just hide here and endure — the way I had in the first cycle. But I couldn't afford to be ordinary. My goal wasn't mere survival. If that had been enough, I would have gone to some other dimension after the first cycle ended instead of Earth, become a mediocre Hero, and lived a so-so life. To go higher, to become something greater, I had to seize opportunities when they came — and if they didn't, I had to create them and claw my way up anyway.

Chances like this didn't come easily. If things went well, we might even reach level 11. Considering the privileges of the eighth floor, it was well worth the challenge. And honestly, making it back alive wasn't that difficult at my level.

"We need to raise our levels. You know that by now. The higher your level, the faster your stats grow. There's no telling when an opportunity like this will come again."

"Then I'm going with you! I absolutely won't let you go alone!"

"That's right, Oppa! You absolutely can't!"

"But it's dangerous for you. Look at yourselves. Finding an uninjured part of your body is harder than finding an injured one, and you're completely exhausted. I believe I can make it back alive. But…"

"I-I'm fine! My Stamina is over 20! It went up this time! I can go, I really can…!"

What?

I immediately pulled up Na Seoyun's status window.

Her skills were unchanged. Her stats, however, had transformed beyond recognition.

Level 9, and yet her Strength and Mana were at 19, her Stamina at 20. Her Agility had reached a full 23. At those numbers, her raw physical specs were on par with the knights, or only slightly below them. In an actual fight, though, she would still lose. She didn't seem able to properly convert those stats into combat yet — not with her current skills and experience. When had she gotten this strong?

From the start, throughout the guerrilla campaign, I'd mostly had them hold position or prioritize survival. I hadn't let them actively throw ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠themselves into combat. She'd only moved as much as she needed to stay alive. Because her movements had been so passive, I'd been late to notice even though her physical stats had climbed this high.

"Stamina of 20… is that true?"

"Y-yes! It's true, it's really true!"

Sensing my hesitation, Na Seoyun pressed her case with everything she had.

"Agility — my Agility is 23 too, and my Strength and Mana can hit 20 soon!"

Stats weren't something you casually announced to people. I was going to have to teach her a bit more about that.

She was certainly impressive. As expected of Supreme-grade potential.

I glanced at Na-yeon's stats. Only her Mana had hit 20; the rest were still in the low-to-mid tens. Her Stamina was 16, probably from all the running around during the guerrilla fighting.

Joo Ha-yeon and Nam Eun-ju were completely below the cutoff. That was only by our party's standards, of course — compared to the tutorials being run elsewhere, those two were solidly in the upper ranks. It was just that the Na sisters, and Na Seoyun in particular, were monsters.

I looked Na Seoyun straight in the eyes. Her pupils were trembling. It wasn't the goblins she was afraid of. She was terrified that I would leave — that I would simply go and abandon her here.

In the end, I ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠let her come. With Stamina of 20, she would be fine.

"Th-thank you, Oppa. Thank you."

She was so moved she was almost in tears.

"I'm going too. I'm going too."

"Fine, fine. Come along."

Mana of 20. Her Stamina was lacking, but Mana at that level was enough to cover the difference. She had a spirit as well, even if it was only Lowest-grade, so it would help. If things got truly bad, I could look after her myself. I figured I could manage one Na-yeon.

Joo Ha-yeon and Nam Eun-ju didn't say a word. They knew. Their physical specs weren't enough, and they were injured on top of that. Neither of them was the type to throw a tantrum, so they let it go without protest.

The moment we'd recovered our stamina with the bare minimum of rest, we headed straight for the Grand Goblin Settlement. With the bulk of their forces gone, the place was riddled with gaps, so getting near it wasn't difficult.

I asked Cory about the scroll.

"That magic — what's its range?"

"It must be loosed within a hundred meters."

The spell sealed within was Fire Ring — a technique that amounted to a lesser version of the Advanced-tier spell Fire Wall.

But Intermediate magic was still Intermediate magic. Centered on the ignition point, a ring of flame would surge outward in a rapidly expanding circle, incinerating everything in its path. For something like a goblin, mere contact meant death.

Being magic, it wouldn't vanish unless the imbued mana ran dry or it was extinguished by a spell of another attribute — or unless the target possessed a certain threshold of magic resistance. And once the mana was exhausted, the fire vanished completely, so there was no risk of the forest catching. If that hadn't been the case, we couldn't have used it here at all.

"The range is shorter than I expected."

To use the magic, we would have to get close. Since it needed to be triggered as near the village center as possible, we'd have to tear the scroll around the village entrance. That was if we could even get that far. If we couldn't, we'd have no choice but to tear it a little farther out.

The goblins currently in sight numbered in the thousands. Among them, the warrior-class and above who would go as reinforcements numbered at least a thousand. Fortunately, it didn't look like two thousand. Even that much, though, was unbeatable head-on. We would truly have to stake our lives on this. But there was no clever alternative.

"We approach close enough not to be detected, and the moment we're spotted, we break through. Once the magic is used, they'll be in chaos too, so escaping should be possible. Na-yeon. Support us from behind. Use Fireball about three times and focus on securing an escape route. Seoyun — you know you're protecting Na-yeon, right?"

"Understood."

"Yes. I'll do that."

"…Be careful."

I nodded.

We began our careful approach toward the settlement at once. This was the first time I had ever come this close to it.

We slipped past the patrols and reached the treeline where the forest had been cleared. Along the way we'd killed the goblins on watch and taken their equipment, but the difference in physique was so large it wasn't much help. We could only hope they'd be fooled, even for a moment.

We forced ourselves into the goblin gear and closed on the settlement at speed.

The moment we approached, a goblin on watch spotted us. It tilted its head. The clothes we were wearing were goblin-made, so for a heartbeat it was confused. That lasted only a moment. It realized we were human.

"Run!"

"Kieeeeeeh!"

My shout and the goblin's scream rang out almost at the same time.

It was nearly a hundred and fifty meters to the entrance. For me and the knights, enhanced with mana, a little over five seconds. But before we'd even covered half the distance, the goblins who'd been standing watch up ahead came pouring in.

They were standing watch this far forward instead of at the village entrance…!

I swallowed my irritation and poured mana into my sword. Custom-forged blade in one hand, the mace I'd kept as a memento from the first floor in the other, I took the lead and split the first goblin's helmet with a thunderous crack. The mace followed in a brutal barrage. Whether it was a concussion or something worse, the goblin's eyes went vacant from the blow, and it crumpled.

That was the beginning.

I shoved, struck, and killed the goblins pouring in like a flood, trampling corpses as I drove forward. Word must have gotten through, because warriors started spilling out from inside.

Fifty meters.

A distance at once near and impossibly far.

"HRAAAAAAH!"

Revo bellowed a battle cry and drove forward with his shield.

The impact landed with crushing force. A goblin shrieked as it was thrown back — but the ground they actually yielded was almost nothing. No matter how strong Revo was, there was no way he could shove dozens or hundreds of goblins aside in a single blow. Still, the ones intimidated by that charge gave a little ground, and a gap opened. Ritaf and Tula drove into it, cutting down the goblins who'd been broken by the impact.

The death screams were hideous. And from those screams, I got an idea.

I grabbed a fallen goblin and drove my blade into its side, then twisted.

"Keh! Keeeeeegh! Kueeeeeeeh!"

A terrible, pain-soaked wail tore out of it. Frightened by that sound, the goblins crowded even further back to get away from me.

"Now!"

"HRAAAAAH!"

All four knights timed it and used Charge as one. The goblins were driven back again, and another gap opened. With the slaughter coming in wave after wave, they had begun to backpedal before we knew it.

Thirty meters.

The number of goblins that had died in those few instants already exceeded thirty. But this was the limit. Against a hundred goblins it might have been different. Against hundreds — thousands — there was no answer. There was only so much you could shove back, only so much space you could carve out. The tide of goblins had already half-encircled us.

Na-yeon's support slammed in right on cue. Goblins died in the sudden burst of magic, and a path opened ahead of us. They ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠were terrified of it. We seized the opening in a flash, and I shouted toward Na-yeon at the same time.

"That's enough! Get out of here!"

She had come out of the forest to cast and was standing in the cleared ground — she'd apparently aimed for the moment when every eye turned toward our appearance. But the instant she used magic, she became a target too. The Na sisters knew that. They fled toward the designated rally point at a run.

"You have to — you have to survive! Come back alive!"

Overwhelmed by the numbers, perhaps. The voice telling me to come back alive was trembling with fear. I didn't answer. There was no time.

The four of us put our backs together and started killing the goblins coming at us as brutally as we could. At that cruel spectacle, the cowardly ones slowly gave ground — but at the same time, they succeeded in wrapping around a wide arc. The encirclement was complete. This was it. If we started yielding our space to the slowly advancing horde, the only result would be death.

They did give ground as we kept pushing forward, but our space was growing steadily narrower. Our objective, though, was to get closer to the village. Once we'd closed enough distance, the goblins apparently decided it was sufficient — they started throwing the weaker ones at us as bait and charging in behind them.

Less than ten meters remaining. We couldn't close it. Unable to advance another step, we had no choice but to kill the goblins hurling themselves at us.

"…We can't do any more. We'll have to use it here!"

The ground around us was already a carpet of goblin blood and corpses. I said it like there was no other way, and the knights seemed to agree. But Cory was different.

"…I leave the rest to you."

"…What?"

Cory ran, trampling goblin corpses underfoot.

"Cory!"

Tula's cry rang out. Cory didn't stop. He leaped onto a goblin standing on a fallen one, then used even that standing goblin as a stepping stone and launched himself into the air.

An enemy hanging in the open sky makes a fine target for archers. Arrows punched into Cory's body — but the distance he had covered far exceeded ten meters. He'd gone past the village entrance. No — he'd entered the village itself.

Something tore.

Flames filled every inch of my vision, surging toward us in a rapidly expanding wall of fire.