Chapter 27
Chapter 27
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 27
Chapter Title: Suicide Squad
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"...Wow."
Beyond the Spine of Sighs.
The entrance to the Eastern Great Jungle.
It was a completely different world.
'Is that a tree?'
Trees incomparably massive to anything from the outside world.
They towered toward the heavens, filling his entire field of vision.
Waist-high weeds and moss.
Unpleasant fog to top it all off.
He felt utterly overwhelmed by nature.
Krurrr...!
Even unidentified growls echoing from the distance.
Everything was gloomy, humid, and repulsive.
"I'll guide us from here."
The man at the lead spoke up.
Kanna, the scout leader born and raised in the jungle.
'As expected.'
Damian followed behind her.
To stand watch with the vanguard group.
'Proficient Tracking, Sensitive Senses.'
Dozens of other abilities shone brightly.
Senses that detected changes in the forest and pinpointed dangers.
More than enough to serve as a solid backup guide.
"..."
Kanna glanced back at Damian.
A strange emotion flickered in her eyes.
"Not bad."
A short phrase.
Tone impossible to read as either praise or wariness.
"Familiar with the woods?"
"To some extent."
"Hunter background or something?"
"I was a farmer."
"But you're familiar with the forest?"
"I've picked up a few tricks."
"..."
Kanna's gaze swept over Damian once more.
The famed mercenary personally brought by the lord governor.
How impressive could he possibly be?
'Let's see how far you can go.'
Not outright hostility.
Just the attitude of a forest expert sizing up his skills.
Tension crackled between the two guides.
Sabak, sabak, sabak...
How much farther had they gone?
Just as they reached a stretch where the fog thickened.
"Hold."
Damian halted the column first.
"...?"
Kanna froze almost simultaneously.
Her eyes narrowed.
'At the same time as me...?'
Nearly identical reaction speed to her, a forest expert.
She was inwardly surprised.
"What is it?"
The lord governor following behind asked.
"A trap."
Damian answered.
His eyes scanned straight ahead.
'Understanding of Traps, Sensitive Senses.'
Not just those two.
A complex interplay of countless abilities.
Detecting an invisible threat.
"...Impressive."
Kanna cautiously examined the path.
And finally confirmed the trap's nature.
"Arachne silk."
Threads of mana, thinner and more transparent than spiderwebs.
They blanketed the entire path densely.
"High-level trap."
Kanna concluded.
She murmured softly.
"Touch it, and it'll shred everything around."
The suicide squad members' faces hardened.
"Can you disarm it?"
"Yes, but it'll take time."
"Detour?"
"I'll look."
Stuck between a rock and a hard place.
No time to waste.
"Why not just charge through?"
Adnan Mound, the battle-axe knight watching on.
A solution unclear if joke or serious.
"Lunatic."
Shield knight Balrog Gardner spat.
"What? Lunatic?"
"Wanna get us all wiped out from the start?"
"Your shield can block it all, right?"
"We're on mission. Cut the stupid talk."
The brief spat between the two knights.
No one reacted.
They were all used to it.
Everyone except Damian.
"Uh..."
Damian, who'd been gauging the moment amid their bickering.
He stepped forward cautiously.
"Mind if I try disarming the trap?"
All eyes turned to him.
Even Kanna—disarm a time-consuming trap?
"Confident?"
Mikhail asked.
"I'd have to try to know for sure."
He'd never disarmed a trap in his life.
Yet the abilities he'd absorbed so far whispered to him.
Combine them right, and he could pull it off.
"Not without confidence."
"Then give it a shot."
The lord governor's permission was absolute.
Damian approached the trap.
"Hmm."
His eyes rapidly scanned the surroundings.
Understanding of Traps revealed the structure.
Heightened senses and affinity read the mana flow.
'Power source is under that big rock crevice.'
Cutting the threads alone wouldn't do it.
Had to sever the mana source powering the trap.
The problem: the connections were devilishly intricate.
'Like some magitech lock.'
Forcing it would trigger a backlash.
As Damian pondered deeply.
'Proficient Lockpicking.'
Another skill synergized.
Fingertip sensitivity maximized.
He felt faint mana vibrations.
'Proficient Elf Blacksmithing.'
And more.
Senses for reading metal grain activated.
Instinctively knew where and how much pressure to apply.
'I can disarm it.'
All the abilities and skills absorbed thus far.
Providing answers in real time.
Not mere disarming—total neutralization.
'To pull it off...'
Damian drew two throwing daggers from his belt.
Slid the blade tips into the crevice hiding the power source.
'Here.'
The critical nexus where mana flows intersected.
He wedged into the tiny gap and twisted the dagger.
Delicate as handling metal.
Precise as picking a lock.
Kigik!
In that instant.
A tiny sound.
Passss...
The taut Arachne silk lost power and scattered.
"...!"
Trap disarmed.
Kanna's eyes went wide.
'How in the world...'
The suicide squad was equally stunned.
Amazed by Damian's versatility.
"Ha!"
Mikhail grinned in satisfaction.
Useful guy.
Beyond expectations.
'Hope I can keep him around long-term.'
A touch of greed mixed in.
"Move out."
The suicide squad pressed on.
Through the trap zone, deeper into the jungle.
Right then.
Shiiik!
A sharp whoosh cut the air.
Arrows. No—massive javelins.
"Fall back!"
Balrog reacted instantly.
Slamming his massive shield into the ground.
Woooong!
A blue mana barrier bloomed across the shield's surface.
Not mere defense—a perfect 'fortification'.
Kang! Kang! Kaaaang!
Dozens of javelins smashed against the barrier and ricocheted.
Not a single one got through. Overwhelming defense.
"Battle stations!"
Moments later.
The enemies finally appeared.
Gigantic silhouettes emerging from the jungle shadows.
'...Troll Berserkers.'
Damian's body stiffened.
Elite specimens that had nearly killed him days ago.
Their kin now revealed.
Several of them.
'Five.'
Elites pouring out like common monsters.
Extreme tension gripped Damian.
'Stay calm. I'm not the same as before.'
Primal Mana Breathing.
That feral power surged through him.
He'd even downed a Sobkov secret elixir before departure.
No longer a match for troll berserkers.
Sring!
The cold hilt of the Elven Sword.
As he assumed combat stance.
"Wipe them out."
With Mikhail's command.
"Haaap!"
The rest of the suicide squad charged.
Their prowess defied imagination.
Sek!
Mikhail's greatsword cleaved a troll berserker in half.
Kwajik!
Adnan's axe shattered another's skull.
Chaeng! Chaeng! Sek!
The Trollbane twins' swords danced, severing troll limbs.
"Kreaaak!"
Damian blanked out briefly at the sight.
Overwhelmed by the suicide squad's might.
'This is Sobkov's strongest force.'
He needed to stay sharp.
No chance to even land a finishing blow at this rate.
They'd be diced before his turn came.
"...Ha."
Skill beyond words.
Right then.
Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!
No sooner had all troll berserkers hit the dirt.
A monstrous roar erupted from deeper in.
Kugugugu!
Something enormous crashing through the forest.
The sound closed in on the suicide squad in seconds.
"rA kUS rAbaYA hOO - !"
An unintelligible bellow.
And the monster revealed.
'...Ogre?'
No, not a normal ogre.
Gray skin, far larger build.
A massive axe instead of a club.
'Ogre Berserker.'
Intimidation dwarfing the troll berserkers.
The beast charged, swinging its axe mercilessly.
"Suicide squad, battle ready! Ogre berserker ahead!"
Yet the squad stayed cool.
Like proper prey had finally shown up.
"Haaap!"
Balrog moved first.
Meeting the ogre's axe head-on.
Kaaaang!
Not just blocking—he redirected along its arc downward.
Kwaang!
The massive axe buried deep in the ground.
Using the ogre's strength against it—a sealing technique.
"Now!"
The squad seized the opening.
Adnan and Mikhail lunged simultaneously.
Sek! Sek!
Axe and greatsword severed both wrists.
"Kraaaak!"
As it writhed in pain.
The Trollbane twins flanked from the side.
Sek! Sek!
Swords hamstrung the knees.
Perfectly sealing mobility. Seamless teamwork.
Thud!
The ogre berserker dropped to its knees.
Limbs neutralized in seconds. Under ten.
'Perfect.'
Artistic coordination.
"Hup!"
Damian regripped his Elven Sword.
Couldn't afford to space out.
'This time for sure.'
Time to test it.
The range of Devouring.
'Primal Mana Breathing.'
Feral breath flooded his body.
'Ogre's Raw Power.'
Explosive strength loaded into the blade.
'Finally, One Flash!'
Technique compressing all power into a single strike.
Shuaaaak!
Silver flash rent the air.
Sek!
The defenseless ogre berserker.
Its hideous head flew trivially.
And that moment.
A blue message appeared.
Visible only to Damian.
'...It works.'
This time too.
Without a millimeter of error.
Crystal clear.