A Small War on Bukhan Mountain (6)
"Just as I thought."
The Chief Instructor muttered as he studied the leaf-strewn mountain path.
He had roughly mapped out the maze's shifting patterns. Two more sectors and the summit would come into view.
He was checking his gear when he sensed someone behind him and turned.
"Everyone's back on their feet, sir."
He nodded at the male student's report.
"Good."
They had secured roughly twenty survivors. And wrapping around them like a living shield were more than a hundred teddy-bear golems that had just joined up.
These, too, had been guarding survivors — the moment they spotted the instructor's group, they had come swarming over in a rush, as if they somehow understood that sticking together was the smarter play.
How had anyone managed to build golems of that caliber and smuggle them in? What was the maker's intent?
The questions itched at the edges of his mind, but he pushed them all aside with a light sigh.
All right. Now what?
Only this many survivors meant the rest were either dead or taken. Trying to whittle the enemy down with guerrilla tactics was a gamble — the sacrificial rite could start at any moment. Charging head-on meant hostages in the crossfire.
"…This may be as far as we go."
The Chief Instructor swept his gaze over the students. Most were wounded and exhausted. There was no way they could handle A-class or higher magical beasts.
The Party Bears were there, sure — but even they would be hard-pressed just keeping the injured safe.
"Lee Taeyoon."
The Chief Instructor called the male student by name.
"Yes, sir?"
"You've been mapping this place, right?"
"Yes — here."
The student unfurled a mini recording scroll. Blue lines sketched themselves across the blank white surface, forming a maze.
The Chief Instructor's finger stabbed the map and moved without hesitation.
"From here, three consecutive moves east, then one south. Wait until the space twists, then move east again — that's the safe zone."
"East three times, south once… got it."
"You're in charge of getting the hostages up there and out. My signal is a big slash. You've got the Party Bears with you, so it shouldn't be too hard."
The male student stared at him, startled.
"Weren't we all going to fight together?"
Even an S-class hunter was still one man against many. The specters were one thing, but taking on Grave Wardens as well meant they needed a proper party.
But the Chief Instructor only looked down at him, expressionless.
"…"
"…"
The student's pupils slowly widened. The Chief Instructor settled his greatsword across his shoulder and asked,
"On the way here — how many specters did you run into?"
"Uh… two. Both half-dead already."
The Chief Instructor nodded.
"The enemies didn't vanish because they all died. The boss sensed something was off and pulled the whole legion together."
"…!"
He already had a read on their strength. Through mana pulses, he had roughly estimated the beasts' numbers and levels.
More than fifty individuals straddling B-class and A-class. Around ten upper A-class. And one S-class.
If a fight broke out now and he got pinned down by the boss, the students and Party Bears would be swept away in seconds. That much was obvious.
Better for one person to hold the line while the hostages got out.
The male student frowned for a moment, then dug into his pants pocket. His fingers found stone lumps the size of ping-pong balls.
"We've got ether stones we secured. If we're lucky, we can open an exit. Just hold on a little longer."
"That would be— mmph!"
The Chief Instructor's eyes suddenly changed. He seized his greatsword. Something glittered ahead — and he swung both arms before it could fully form.
KAAANG!
The impact numbed his forearms.
A long purple cone, about a meter in length, spun through the air.
The male student and the rest of the group flinched and stared. The Party Bears drew their steel needles as one.
Looking at the cone embedded in the ground, the Chief Instructor muttered,
"A Grave Warden's spine thorn. They're telling us to quit dawdling and come already."
He leaned his upper body forward. His thighs swelled as if about to burst, then drove into the earth and launched him with a sonic boom.
KWAANG!
In the blink of an eye the scenery hurtled backward and the summit appeared.
Black shapes were charging from the front. The Chief Instructor brought the greatsword on his shoulder down in a vertical strike.
KUUUNG—!!!
The instant the tip touched the ground, the earth sank waist-deep. A red light surged up in a ten-meter streak and tore across the land.
KWAKWAKWAKWANG!!!
Clods of earth bucked and scattered left and right from the shock. Trees and boulders that met the slash dissolved into smoke.
The attacking specters screamed. Anything the slash touched directly evaporated completely; others had their skin melt away, leaving bare bone.
A dozen specters tumbled across the ground like that.
A pitch-black trench marked the path of the slash. Along its edges, the underbrush crackled and burned.
The Chief Instructor walked the hell-road he had just carved and spoke.
"You took that hit nicely. A gift, Specter King?"
A figure sat insolently on a throne of bone. Even with the Chief Instructor's arrival, it kept its legs crossed and its chin propped on one hand.
"Come."
Pale, translucent skin. Two eyes slit horizontally, deep and dark as empty sockets.
Inside those eyes, faintly glowing blue flames burned… and staring into them made the whole body go cold and stiff.
Its hair was hazy and fluid like black smoke, drawing in dark particles from the surroundings.
But what stood out most were the runic characters covering its face — some kind of embedded magical formula. The moment they lit up blue, the Chief Instructor's slash simply vanished.
When the Specter King opened its mouth, white breath spilled out and frost spread across everything nearby.
"I have a question. I would like an answer."
The Chief Instructor ignored it and lit his greatsword red again.
The Specter King paid no mind and asked anyway.
"How did you seduce the Queen?"
"The Queen?"
When the Chief Instructor echoed the word as if he might actually engage, the Specter King lifted its chin slightly.
Lee Taeyoon's group was already creeping toward the fallen students. Sensing the Specter King's gaze, the Party Bears snapped into combat stance as one.
"…It's truly unusual, you see. Even for a Royalty doing as they please, this crosses a line. Are you declaring war on a fellow Royalty?"
In that same moment, the Chief Instructor's attention locked onto the purple hulks arrayed behind the Specter King. Hairless gorilla-like bodies, two fangs jutting from the lower jaw, and bulk the size of a small truck. Grave Wardens.
The boss was distracted by something strange. This was the opening.
Shring…
This time he went for a silent ambush.
The greatsword left dense afterimages, quietly multiplying into a dozen blades that all raced toward the Grave Wardens at once.
The Wardens swept their arms and scattered the afterimages — but one forearm was run clean through, and the greatsword's edge buried itself deep in a sternum. The flesh around the blade flushed red and swelled.
PUNG!
Through the explosion and the hole blown in the chest, the Chief Instructor was visible. The greatsword flew back to his hand like a witch's broom.
"Grrraaagh…"
The massive body collapsed without even managing a proper death cry.
The remaining Grave Wardens bellowed in low, heavy voices and charged the Chief Instructor.
The moment combat began, the Specter King wordlessly extended a finger.
Dozens of specters streaked toward the students like a swarm of bats — and a hundred Party Bears answered, plunging the field into chaos.
Gray claws punched mercilessly through Party Bear bodies. Even as they were torn apart, the Party Bears flung steel needles at the specters' throats and eyes.
"Don't take that. That's ours."
"Shut up!"
PUNG! PUNG!
While the magic-track students laid down covering fire, the rest hauled the people collapsed on the magic circle to safety.
The power gap nearly tipped the scales in an instant — then a specter's scream tore from the north, and a severed head went flying.
The Chief Instructor checked with a sidelong glance. Kang Jihun of the prestigious house had appeared over there. A swarm of teddy-bear golems and several upperclassmen filed in behind him and began helping with the evacuation.
I misjudged.
But the Chief Instructor couldn't smile.
Even with this, they were barely holding even. Worse — the Specter King still hadn't moved.
If he could just clear the Grave Wardens right now, there might be a sliver of hope. But he had already burned through a lot of mana, so even that was no easy task.
"…I'll just freeze everything and think later."
The Specter King rose from its seat, brown robe flaring.
Dozens of smoke masses swirled above its fluid hair, and from them long blue ice spears began to form.
Ice Spears…!
But just then — Toy Soldiers burst out from the Specter King's front and flanks, rapiers thrust forward.
Titing!
The Specter King casually flicked a hand and knocked the attacks aside. But the half-formed ice spears dissolved into smoke.
The three Toy Soldiers began circling the Specter King like ninjas.
One would thrust its rapier in a clean, honest line while another trained a gun on the Specter King's back.
But the instant their eyes met the Specter King's, they dropped the aim and resumed circling, scrambling its focus.
From the start, it seemed they were operating on the premise that their attacks wouldn't land.
Even pure harassment like that would be a huge help.
TAANG!
A soldier that had vanished from sight for a moment fired its gun.
Amazingly, the bullet not only punched through the Specter King's barrier — it left a gash on its cheek.
A straight line of blue blood welled from the wound. The Specter King wiped it away, and for the first time its expression twisted.
"…I'll take that as a declaration of war."
The Specter King's form flashed — and a shockwave of devastating force slammed outward in every direction.
KWAAAANG!
The Toy Soldiers that took the hit head-on were all blasted away.
One of them lost its left arm. Once they recovered, they looked at each other, nodded, and moved again.
Two charged the Specter King once more. The one missing an arm sprinted toward the Chief Instructor.
Pook—!
"GRRAAAAAAGH!!"
The Toy Soldier that joined by stabbing a Grave Warden through the chest spoke.
"Sturdy beasts, these. Allow me to assist."
"…"
The Chief Instructor let out a short laugh.
An A-class golem rewriting its own tactics mid-fight to take on an S-class boss. It was absurd — but at this point, nothing really surprised him anymore.
He said dryly,
"I'm grateful, but are you sure? Your comrades look like they're in trouble."
The Toy Soldier grinned and answered,
"Our Queen seems quite furious. If you don't want the sparks to hit you, we'd better kill that thing fast."