Chapter 28
Chapter 28
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ace
Chapter: 28
Chapter Title: Leaps and Bounds
-----------------------------------------------------------------
The battle was over.
To be precise, the massacre was over.
"Hey, check this guy out?"
"What was that technique just now?"
"His form's straight out of a Sword Master textbook."
Amid everyone's attention,
Damian felt a thrilling rush.
The moment he severed the Ogre Berserker's head.
The sensation in his hand wasn't just the thrill of victory.
The first thing he felt was a change in his strength.
It wasn't just raw power increasing.
The very 'limit' his body could handle had risen.
'I can now use all the power I've absorbed so far more efficiently.'
The powers of the countless monsters he'd devoured until now.
It felt like they were finally settling into place.
And one more thing.
A new movement etched itself into his mind.
A technique that charged at the enemy with explosive speed and rammed them.
Simple in execution, but guaranteeing instantaneous destructive power.
'This'll be useful.'
A satisfied smile tugged at Damian's lips.
He was glad he'd joined the suicide squad. Right then.
Rumble rumble rumble!
The jungle shook once more.
The sound of something approaching.
Multiple this time, too.
"Grrr..."
This time, it wasn't trolls or ogres.
Muscular lizardmen.
Over twenty of them charging in a pack.
"They're back? Don't they ever get tired?"
Lord Mikhail muttered flatly.
The other suicide squad members felt the same.
They simply prepared for mechanical slaughter.
'Perfect timing.'
Only Damian Winter.
His eyes gleamed with interest.
An chance to test his new abilities.
'Let's give it a shot.'
Damian sheathed the Elven Sword.
Instead, he drew Dawn from his waist.
Shing!
He firmly secured the newly crafted elven buckler on his left arm.
The harmony of 'Raging Charge' and 'Buckler Usage' visualized in his mind.
A brand-new technique he'd never tried, yet it already felt familiar.
"Kweeeek!"
The lizardmen closing in.
Damian didn't miss the moment.
Whoosh!
He leaped forward ahead of everyone.
"Hey, mercenary!"
Someone called out, but he ignored it.
The new ability activated.
Barbaric strength and primal mana breathing.
Buckler usage amplified the destructive power even further.
'Fast.'
Far beyond his expectations.
But he had no intention of stopping.
He slammed into the lead lizardman with his buckler.
Boom!
An overwhelming roar erupted.
And the result was.
"Kwek?!"
Incredibly, the lizardman was flung back.
Its massive body smashed into a boulder.
And it died on the spot.
Its head crushed against the rock.
'This much power...?'
Even Damian was astonished by the destructive force.
This wasn't just a simple charge anymore.
It was on the level of a powerful strike technique.
"...!"
The suicide squad members witnessing the scene.
Their eyes went wide.
"Hey, mercenary!"
The biggest reaction came from Shield Knight Balok.
His usually calm face flushed red.
"The vanguard is my role! Don't encroach on my turf!"
His eyes burned with rivalry.
He charged forward with his massive shield.
Into the chaos Damian had created.
"Haaap!"
With Shield Knight Balok Gardner's roar.
The second clash between the suicide squad and the lizardmen began.
Of course, the outcome was just as one-sided as the first.
'He's pulling his weight.'
This time, Damian didn't slack off either.
Slash!
The first.
Thrust!
Slash!
Blue text flashed before his eyes in succession.
Countless abilities seeped into his body.
'I'm getting stronger.'
He could feel his physical tier rising.
New sensations melted into his senses.
The ecstasy of predation enveloped his entire body.
'More perfect.'
Strengthening wasn't the only goal.
He'd confirmed it clearly since joining the suicide squad.
The synergy of countless techniques and abilities.
'This power doesn't give me useless skills.'
So he stacked them up.
A towering spire of abilities.
He expanded it further.
A greater vessel.
Thud!
The last lizardman fell.
The second battle ended swiftly.
The suicide squad's overwhelming victory.
"That's it? Not even enough for a warm-up."
Adnan shook off his axe disappointedly.
"Save the bravado while you're dripping sweat."
Balok grumbled curtly.
But his gaze lingered on Damian.
Still burning with rivalry.
"My Lord."
Then.
Scout Leader Kanna spoke with a stiff expression.
Her eyes turned to the Ogre Berserker's corpse.
"I have something to report."
"What is it?"
"Do you remember what that ogre shouted?"
"What the ogre shouted?"
At her words, not just the lord but everyone recalled.
Come to think of it, it wasn't a normal roar.
"It was definitely the barbarian tongue."
"...What?"
Mikhail raised an eyebrow.
"What did it mean?"
"The words themselves weren't much. 'I'll rip you all apart and kill you,' something like that."
A common threat.
But that wasn't the point.
"The problem is that it spoke a language."
Monsters don't speak languages.
Or rather, they don't need to.
They communicate in their own way.
"Doesn't that mean they're communicating with the barbarians?"
Yet it spoke human words.
The barbarian language, no less.
Whatever the reason, they were connected.
"Then..."
Mikhail stroked his chin, speculating.
"The barbarians are likely behind all this."
"I think that's highly probable too."
Kanna nodded.
"However, there are hundreds of tribes in the Great Forest. Pinpointing which one is leading this is difficult."
The Great Forest barbarians.
The kingdom's other enemy.
If they'd allied with monsters.
Or were even controlling them.
Either way, a worst-case scenario.
"In the end, we need to find those barbarians."
Mikhail concluded.
"The central force behind all this."
The suicide squad's top priority.
Grasping the enemy's true nature.
They'd obtained a faint clue.
"If more monsters speaking the barbarian tongue appear, capture them alive if possible. We'll interrogate through Kanna."
"Yes, my Lord."
"And Damian Winter."
"Yes?"
"Keep scouting the surrounding terrain and sketch simple maps whenever you get the chance."
"Understood. I'm already doing so."
"Good. Keep moving."
Under the lord's command.
The suicide squad moved out again.
Deeper into the dark Great Forest.
About ten days later.
The depths of the Great Forest were a true demon realm.
The deeper they went, the stronger the monsters that poured out.
"Orc cavalry approaching from the front!"
Today was no different.
They dismantled traps, hunted swarms of monsters until sick of it.
They moved as quietly as possible, but couldn't avoid every monster infesting the Great Forest.
"Suicide squad, engage!"
However.
The biggest difference from ten days ago.
Damian Winter.
His martial prowess had advanced by leaps and bounds.
Slash!
Just like this.
"Was that guy always this strong?"
Slicing through wolves and orc cavalry whole.
Adnan Mount muttered watching the scene.
"No way. Not to this extent."
"Then he's been hiding his power until now?"
"According to the lord, he grows through real combat."
"Even so, that speed... it's insane."
Shield Knight Balok Gardner shrugged.
He accepted it because the lord said so.
Honestly, the growth rate defied logic.
"...Well, this much I get. Why the lord recruited that mercenary."
As the elder twin knight Gunther Trollbane said.
The suicide squad had come to acknowledge Damian.
His versatility, plus unreal growth rate.
Without him, things would've been rough.
"I've got a good eye for talent."
The lord added smugly, satisfied.
He'd just single-handedly cut down ten orc cavalry.
"You all were hand-picked by me too, weren't you?"
Not wrong.
From back alleys, monasteries, slums.
Even barbarians abandoned by their tribes.
All nurtured personally by the lord.
"True..."
"Impressive."
"Youth is great!"
Anyway, situation cleared.
After some cleanup.
"Short break here."
The lord ordered everyone.
"Kanna."
"Yes, my Lord."
"Scout the area."
"Understood."
Kanna wasn't frontline combat.
She'd conserved energy in the last fight.
Best to move organically now.
"Rest up, everyone. I'll stand watch."
Sweet respite.
Of course, no letting guard down.
Rest wasn't rest.
Especially for Damian, with tasks piling up.
'Time to work.'
Yet it didn't feel burdensome at all.
Scratch, scratch, scratch!
Damian unrolled the leather sheet.
Began etching with his dagger.
The 'Great Forest Map' he'd been making in spare moments over the past ten days.
Memory, spatial sense, map-making skill.
Plus countless other abilities made it possible.
The path traveled and cardinal directions etched in his mind.
"Let's see."
Before long, squad members gathered around Damian.
Watching the steadily progressing Great Forest map.
Chiming in.
"Not bad."
Balok admired, examining it.
The knight once full of suspicion.
After ten days, he acknowledged Damian.
"Where'd you learn this?"
"Picked it up naturally along the way."
"Is 'farmer' code for hiding your background?"
"No, really a farmer. Own a bit of land in Greenwell Territory."
He looked utterly unconvinced.
Understandable.
'I wouldn't believe me either.'
He didn't look like a farmer anymore.
But what could he do? It was true.
Can't lie, right?
"By the way."
Then.
Adnan Mount peering over Damian's shoulder.
The massive monster butcher murmured.
"This... not a monster kingdom, but it's territory material, huh?"
Pointing to spots on the map.
"If the whole Great Forest is one territory, and the tribal nests are villages..."
All the species-specific nests scouted so far.
Orc nests, troll nests, lizardmen nests, etc.
Treat them as big and small villages?
"It forms a picture, right?"
A massive monster territory called the Eastern Great Forest.
Maybe even with their own name for it.
"..."
No one spoke up immediately.
Adnan's idea was too plausible.
Whether kingdom or territory, one thing was clear.
The ecosystem of this massive demon lair was changing.
Rustle!
The prolonged silence broke with rough foliage.
"My Lord!"
Thankfully, not enemies.
It was Kanna returning from recon.
But her expression was grave.
"What is it? Attack?"
"Not that, but you need to see it yourself."
Kanna pointed deep into the forest.
What could shock her like this?
"I can't believe my own eyes..."
Ominous atmosphere.
"Got it. Lead the way."
The entire suicide squad followed Kanna.
Deep into the misty tree thicket.
"Beyond there."
And the moment they faced it.
"...!"
Everyone froze.
Land cleared of trees and rocks alike.
And far off, something.
"...A wall?"
No, not a human wall.
Red-brown stone and twisted giant logs intertwined.
Crude, yet towering toward the sky.
Stretching wide left and right.
A massive gate firmly shut.
"A fortress."
Lord Mikhail said.
A huge stronghold mimicking human civilization.
Clear evidence of artificial construction.
"Damian, the map."
"Yes, my Lord."
The lord unrolled the leather map.
Still incomplete, but one thing certain.
"This position isn't their rear by their standards."
The Eastern Great Forest was vast.
They hadn't even penetrated half.
"If anything, it's close to the front."
Given its size and their current location.
That fortress wasn't some capital in the safe rear.
Rather, close to the front lines.
"You mean...?"
Shield Knight Balok asked.
The lord murmured lowly.
"Forward base."
Not a capital in the safe rear.
A forward base built near the front.
"The scouts were right."
They were preparing.
For all-out war with Sobkov Territory.
Under the command of someone who understood civilization.
"Damian, Kanna."
The lord decided instantly.
Calling Damian and Kanna.
"Find a way inside the fortress."
"A stealthy infiltration method?"
"Yes."
This was it.
The true mission of the elite seven-man suicide squad.