Chapter 36
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 36
Chapter Title: The Second Wave
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Rustle, rustle.
The steps of the reconnaissance team were cautious as they advanced.
The recon team pushed through the undergrowth, moving deeper into the forest.
The only silver lining was that after the first swarm of monsters they’d spotted, there were no others.
However.
‘…What is this? This can’t be all of them…’
Demian felt a strange sense of unease.
He could feel a considerable pressure, yet there were no monsters in sight.
*Wooooong.*
Demian drew upon his mana as much as he could, keeping his senses sharp.
But since he hadn't yet reached the 3rd star, there were limits.
‘Damn it… I need to reach the 3rd star quickly.’
The Delft Mana Cultivation Method had starkly different stages at the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd stars.
To have reached the 2nd star in less than half a year of training was a testament to his immense talent and progress.
However, Demian was dissatisfied with his current state.
‘And I even took an elixir…’
The problem was that his mana hall itself wasn't growing fast enough to fully contain his mana.
The vessel was too small, preventing him from advancing to the next stage.
‘Focus.’
Demian focused.
He was well aware of his own shortcomings.
That's why he intended to make up for it with greater concentration.
*Thud, thud.*
The recon team pushed a little deeper into the forest. And as they looked past the obscuring foliage.
“…Insane.”
“Whoa… what is all that…?”
Bex couldn't hide his shock at the incredible number of monsters before them.
The other members of the recon team were the same.
“…There must be way over a hundred of them, easy.”
His voice trembled.
It wasn't just the numbers that were the problem.
“Trolls… the black bears from before… and what’s that? Why is it so huge?”
A massive number of monsters, waiting as if for a starting signal.
The moment he saw it, Demian knew.
‘Son of a… fucking… forest.’
It was a monster wave.
He had no idea what was controlling them.
But it was clear that ‘it’ possessed an intelligence as meticulous as a human’s.
‘What is its true identity?’
Publicly, it was known to be an object imbued with miasma.
But what if it wasn't an object, but the work of a person?
What if, as the temple suspected, a dark magician had reappeared?
For now, Demian decided to focus on the situation at hand rather than speculating on the unknown.
“These are much higher-level monsters than the ones that went ahead.”
*Nod.*
Bex nodded at Demian's words.
If the first wave of monsters were level 1, these were level 3 or higher.
“The plan must be to wear us down first, then wipe us out completely with the stronger ones.”
It was a simple but most effective strategy.
He didn't know when they would move out, but he predicted it would be around the time the first battle was winding down.
That was the nature of a monster wave.
The key was to press the attack without giving the enemy a moment to breathe.
The reason they didn't unleash all their forces at once was for spatial efficiency.
In other words, it wasn't out of consideration for their enemy.
“…Shit, this is looking grim.”
Bex said.
A force of this scale was beyond what the current subjugation team could handle.
‘Even if we killed all of them, we'd be annihilated.’
Another subjugation team would be formed then, surely.
But who gives a damn about that.
By then, they would all be dead and gone.
“Let’s go back. We need to report this and retreat first.”
They couldn't fight this.
There would be sacrifices during the retreat, but it was a far better choice than total annihilation.
The other squad members nodded in agreement with Bex.
But in that moment.
“…Huh?”
Demian’s gaze suddenly shifted somewhere else.
An alien energy he'd caught with his senses.
‘This is…?’
*Fwip!*
“De-Demian!”
Bex called out urgently.
But Demian had already dashed far into the distance.
*Fwip, fwip, fwip!*
Demian swiftly pushed through the undergrowth, running toward something. And not long after.
“…!”
Demian stopped in his tracks, his eyes fixed on what lay beyond.
“What is…?”
“You crazy bastard!”
Bex, who had hurriedly followed, grabbed Demian by the scruff of his neck.
His expression looked as if he was about to strike him. But Demian pointed a finger somewhere.
“Sir Bex, over there…!”
“…?”
His face contorted, Bex turned his gaze to where Demian was pointing.
“…Huh?”
Bex’s eyes widened in shock.
And soon, the other recon members who had caught up saw it too.
“…What is that?”
They could only swallow silently.
***
“Kieeeeeeeek!”
“Aaargh!”
“Let go, let me go! Guwaaaargh!”
A crazed goblin, still biting and tearing at a soldier's leg even as a sword pierced it.
A comrade next to him finally pried it off by completely severing the goblin’s neck.
“Are you okay?”
“Fuck… I think it tore off a chunk of flesh. Those bastards…!”
“There are too many of them. Where the hell are they all coming from?”
Hundreds of monsters had appeared.
They were at least able to prepare because of the recon team’s report before the attack.
But with numbers like these, it wasn't a matter of being prepared or not.
All they could do was kill and kill again against the endlessly surging tide.
“Hyaaap!”
*Slice!*
After lopping off a steel wolf’s head, Aaron shouted without even wiping the blood from his face.
“Captain! Do you think the recon guys are okay?”
“Bex went with them, so they'll be fine. More importantly, we need to focus on the guys to our left.”
“Where could so many monsters have come from? And what’s more…”
Creatures of different species were all mixed together.
Could miasma really make something like this possible?
And then.
*Swoooooosh!*
“Kieeeeeeeeeek!”
“Karrrrrrrrgh!”
As a brilliant light once again spread out in all directions, the miasma-poisoned monsters screamed and recoiled.
“Everyone, now! While they’re weakened, quickly…!”
Holy power, spreading with the prayers of the priests.
As the monsters staggered, the subjugation soldiers charged them ferociously.
“Dieeeee!”
“Just die already, you bastards!”
It was a battle with no end in sight.
After hours of continuous fighting, Tarone’s arm was trembling slightly.
‘If there’s another attack after this…’
That was what he feared.
Not the current fight, but the possibility that another attack of this scale would follow. That could truly be the end.
Tarone couldn't hide his anxious expression even as he slew monsters.
But at that moment.
“Captain, to your side!”
“Kraaaaargh!”
An orc that had lunged in a surprise attack raised the axe in its hand high.
A creature he thought was dead had gotten back up and attacked.
“Captaiiiiin!”
“Captaaaaain!”
A moment of mortal peril.
Just as the orc’s axe was about to strike Tarone.
*Thwack!*
“…!”
With a dull thud, a single dagger burst through the orc's head.
*Thump!*
Blood sprayed from the creature's head, drenching Tarone’s body.
Tarone looked at the orc collapsed on the ground, then raised his gaze.
“Are you alright?”
Demian asked Tarone.
Seeing him drenched in sweat, it seemed he had been running for quite some distance.
“Captain!”
Finally, Bex and the rest of the recon team ran up from behind, panting heavily.
“Hah… hah… hah… I… have something to report. Hah…”
“A report?”
Bex was gasping for breath.
Seeing this, Demian spoke in his stead.
“We've found the abomination imbued with miasma.”
“…!”
“However…”
Tarone’s eyes wavered at Demian’s next words.
***
The battle raged on.
Naturally.
The monsters numbered in the hundreds.
It wasn't just a matter of a hundred or so.
But amidst such a fierce battle, Tarone quickly sought out Wilkis and requested an emergency meeting.
“Is that really true?”
“The unit’s reconnaissance team found it. But… there’s a problem.”
“What is it?”
At Wilkis’s question, Tarone glanced at Demian, who was standing beside him.
Demian stepped forward and spoke.
“Demian of the Neokalitz Unit.”
“He is the soldier who undertook this reconnaissance mission and discovered the miasma-imbued abomination.”
“Hmm, impressive. But what's the problem?”
“I will report in his stead.”
Demian looked at Wilkis and the other officers gathered around and said.
“The miasma-imbued abomination currently in the center of the forest is… a crystal about the size of a person.”
“A crystal?”
“Yes.”
Demian continued, briefing them on the monsters swarming around the crystal.
“In the formation before it alone, at least a hundred more monsters were on standby. They were much larger types than the ones attacking now, including trolls and black bears.”
“Trolls and black bears…?”
The expressions of the others hardened.
In terms of simple combat power, a dozen of the current attackers were equivalent to just one of them.
“And you say there are a hundred of those things?”
“Yes.”
Though their numbers were far smaller, it was no exaggeration to say their combat strength was two to three times greater.
Not just Wilkis, but every officer’s face grew grim.
Basel spoke urgently.
“We must retreat. If a force like that attacks us in our current state, we could be annihilated.”
“Are you saying that we, the elite soldiers, must retreat because of a mere hundred monsters?”
“It’s not just a mere hundred monsters!”
Basel shouted.
It was that serious a matter.
But as Basel shouted, Wilkis’s eyes widened and he roared.
“How dare you raise your voice!”
“Commander, you don't understand the gravity of the situation. A single black bear is a match for ten of our soldiers!”
Basel pointed toward the fighting soldiers and said.
“Look. The ones poisoned by miasma are much stronger than they originally were. Even a mere goblin is fighting on par with our soldiers.”
“Silence! That's only because you lot are weak!”
*Shing!*
Wilkis drew his sword and pointed it at Basel.
“Say one more word. I'll separate that head from your body.”
“…”
Basel bit his lip hard.
How could he just close his eyes to the reality of the situation?
But then.
“Is what he said really true?”
Hemeren, who had been listening quietly, asked Demian.
Demian nodded in response.
“I swear on my life, there isn't a shred of falsehood in my words.”
“Hmm…”
Hemeren let out a small breath.
If the recon team’s report was true, then retreating was the right call.
Many soldiers had already died in the first monster attack.
The number of wounded was even greater.
But if an even stronger force of monsters were to attack.
“Even if we kill them all, we will ultimately be annihilated. Retreat is the best option.”
“There will be no retreat.”
Wilkis said forcefully.
At his words, Basel and Tarone scowled at him.
“There is absolutely… no retreat. This subjugation must succeed.”
Wilkis spoke with a desperate expression.
He, too, believed that retreating was the right thing to do given the current situation.
But despite that, Wilkis could not retreat.
As the commander of this subjugation.
Though he had been given command authority, it was a form of demotion and a test.
*Grind.*
But if they didn't retreat, the reality was they would all die here.
He was caught between a rock and a hard place.
Wilkis could only tremble, his fists clenched.
But in that moment.
“There is a way for the subjugation to succeed.”
“…?”
At Demian’s words, everyone turned their gaze to him.