The Tower of Bones
After Eclipse left, Yusoha took a short rest. Once her fatigue had eased, she gathered the team in the command center.
“Everyone here?”
“Yes!”
She began telling them what she had in mind.
“Tomorrow, I want to strike the village Zekern discovered today.”
“Are we attacking it right away?”
“No, that’s not the plan. First we gather intelligence. How many enemies exactly, what the surrounding terrain looks like, the exact layout of the village… There are plenty of factors to consider. We can’t just charge in blindly.”
“Ah, understood.”
“We also need to prepare to build a forward base. So tomorrow we’ll scout the village and figure out how to lead the battle.”
“Yes, ma’am!”
“Sihoo and Hyeongwon, I’m afraid I’ll have to ask you two to work hard for a while.”
“Yes!”
“Shin Seongmin and Eclipse, you two should simply stay ready in case of emergencies.”
The pair stood there blankly and simply nodded. In truth, there weren’t many situations that would require them to step forward.
“Even after we take the village there will be problems. Building the forward base, moving supplies… It looks like we’ll all be in for some hard labor.”
The team members nodded. Just hearing the words “forward base” sounded tedious, but constantly traveling back and forth to base camp every day was out of the question.
“We’ll decide the details after we get a clear picture of the situation tomorrow. We won’t be fighting an all-out battle right away, so rest well tonight. There’s no telling what might happen…”
“Understood!”
“That’s all for today. Dismissed. Assemble again tomorrow morning.”
“Yes!”
Morning came. Hwanryeong Team 2 moved swiftly toward the village Zekern had scouted. Zekern briefly showed himself, offering to guide them, then took the lead.
Yusoha gave a silent nod at his appearance and followed his guidance without comment. As expected, traveling in a completely unexplored direction meant far more demonic beasts blocked their path than before. The ash-colored orcs were the same. Whether on routine patrol or not, the creatures rode flame wolves, roaming back and forth.
Encountering Hwanryeong Team 2 was almost inevitable. The silver lining was that the patrols weren’t particularly large in number.
Thanks to their numerical advantage, Yusoha and the team were able to repel the orc patrols without much difficulty. The farther Team 2 advanced, the weaker the heat rising from the ground became, until Baek Sihoo and Eun Hyeongwon’s help was no longer necessary.
“It really is getting cooler, just like Zekern said. It’s almost chilly now… Sihoo, Hyeongwon.”
“Yes, Team Leader!”
“From here on, it looks like we won’t need the heat-blocking spells. Recover some mana, and if the heat starts rising again, I’ll ask for your assistance.”
“Understood!”
“Good. The village doesn’t seem far now… Let’s take a short break, then keep moving.”
They sat on the now-cold ground, rested briefly, and soon set off again. With the constant mana drain from the heat gone, the team’s steps felt even lighter than before.
Before long they spotted the village nestled at the base of a sheer cliff. Though it was still some distance away, an Awakened’s enhanced vision easily overcame the gap.
The settlement looked exactly as Zekern had described. A solid wall of rock encircled the village, with several ash-colored orcs standing watch from the towers. Through gaps in the stone outer wall, they could see more orc patrols slipping out.
“…It really is a standard orc village,” Yusoha muttered.
The others nodded. It didn’t look much different from the orc settlements they encountered inside gates. Yet one thing stood out as particularly grotesque.
“But what the hell is that building?”
At the center of the orc village rose a stark white tower. Faded hides hung from its surface.
“That structure is made of bone,” Eclipse said after studying it closely. “And the hides hanging on the tower… are human skin.”
His voice carried a clear note of anger.
“…Bone? And human skin?”
“Yes. From the shape, they appear to be human bones. Quite old ones.”
“No way.”
“I’m afraid it is exactly what you fear. The bones and skin of the humans who once lived here.”
“…Orcs decorating with bones isn’t exactly rare, but I’ve never seen a tower this huge. These things are genuinely evil.”
They stared at the orcs with disgusted expressions. A tower of that scale implied countless humans had died to build it.
Eclipse, who had spent his life fighting to protect humans, felt his mood plummet at the sight of such evidence of mass slaughter. In the world he came from, the minions of Terror had crafted similar structures from human bones. Those malicious monuments existed to crush morale and trample hope. Seeing them again after so long made rage boil up inside him.
Yet he forced the anger back down.
“Soha. Did no Awakened appear in North Korea?”
His sudden question had a simple purpose. If there had been even minimal resistance, things might not have reached this point.
“They did appear. But Eclipse, most of North Korea’s Awakened were early-stage ones.”
“Then…”
“Right. It means they likely died before they could put up any real fight. They were thrown into live combat before they could even train properly. The North Korean government was already infamous for its incompetence. And since guns don’t work on these creatures… countless civilians must have died as well.”
Yusoha’s own expression was grim. She was hardly unaffected by the horror before them.
“A truly malicious structure. It reeks of every kind of malice imaginable.”
“…They definitely seem to harbor intense hatred toward humans.”
Yusoha suddenly remembered the leader of the ash-colored orcs she had killed the day before. The clear murderous intent in those red eyes, the absolute desire to tear humans apart.
“I see.”
She immediately noticed Eclipse’s darkened mood.
“Eclipse.”
“What is it?”
“Even if you’re angry, you can’t just rush out there.”
“I know that much. This is ultimately a trial you all must overcome. I will not move unless you are in danger. Still… the disgust is hard to swallow.”
“…Yeah. Looking at that makes me feel sick too.”
No matter how much becoming a Guardian Star had dulled his sense of sin, Eclipse’s entire life had revolved around protecting humanity. That path could not be erased so easily, and he could not hide the complicated emotions stirring inside him.
“Anyway, everyone focus. First, how is everyone’s condition?”
“Perfect. The heat is gone, so we’re not wasting any mana.”
“Everyone else?”
“Yes!”
“I was actually debating whether we should just scout, return, prepare thoroughly, and attack later. But after seeing those filthy things with my own eyes, I feel irritated for no reason.”
“Same here!”
“Me too!”
“It’s not like the situation is bad, right? The terrain clearly favors us. Why would they build a village under a cliff? It’s practically begging to be attacked.”
As Yusoha said, the orc settlement sat in terrain perfectly suited for an assault by Awakened. Normally one would build on flat ground or seize the high ground, yet these orcs seemed to lack even basic tactical sense.
“They’re orcs. They probably never needed such knowledge. Besides, bullets don’t work on them, so they might not have felt the need. And the monsters living here weren’t particularly strong either…”
“Well… it does feel off, but it would be stupid to waste this golden opportunity by overthinking it, wouldn’t it?”
Yusoha looked around at her team.
“All right, everyone ready? Mages and gunners.”
“Yes!”
“Unfortunately the vanguard won’t have much to do today. Just watch. If the enemy responds with mana-based attacks, block them. Though with a cliff this high, that won’t be easy either.”
She drew up her mana as she spoke. A massive cannon began forming on the ground beneath her. It devoured mana at a ridiculous rate but delivered equally devastating power. Now that she could handle metals far heavier than the iron from before, the shells had grown heavier as well.
The mages whistled at the sight of Yusoha’s cannon, then began casting their own high-powered spells as if they refused to be outdone.
When preparations were complete, they stared at the orc village.
“First strike for the win. Let’s go.”
Kwaaaang!
The giant cannon roared. Alloy shells of terrifying mass, propelled by mana, rained down alongside countless spells, pouring onto the orc village like a deadly storm.