Beeeep—
After sending the retreat signal, he shattered the ice blocking the rampart alongside the other squad members and emerged outside.
Surprisingly, in addition to the plummeting temperature, a blizzard raged around them.
Claire was startled.
"The weather suddenly... How?" Adnan furrowed his brow.
The fiercely blowing wind felt ominous.
It was as if they were in the heart of the northern continent.
The real problem was that the temperature continued to drop.
"The longer we delay, the more our bodies will freeze and we won't be able to move. We need to get inside quickly..."
Before Adnan could finish, he sensed something approaching from behind.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
The massive sounds that shook the ground sent chills down their spines.
Turning around tensely, they saw new monsters emerging through the fierce wind.
Grrrrr—
A roar like that of a ferocious beast echoed.
Adnan recognized the monster from the sound immediately.
"Ice trolls. Troublesome ones have appeared."
They were ancient variant monsters that only appeared in remote highlands of the northern continent where few people ventured.
Adapted to cold regions, unlike regular trolls, they had thick fur and layers of fat that made them resistant to sword strikes.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
The ice trolls, which had shaken the earth, fully revealed themselves through the wind.
But Adnan's face grew even graver upon seeing them.
Their bodies were at least twice as large as those of the ice trolls he knew from the northern continent.
'Are these demon realm monsters?ʼ
Adnan drew his twin swords and said to Claire.
"While Bodmir and I hold them off, Captain Claire, lead the squad and continue ranged attacks from behind the outer wall."
Claire pulled out her crossbow and replied.
"How do you two plan to handle those things? I'll provide cover too!"
Claire raised her crossbow with determination and fired a volley of arrows at the ice trolls.
Thududududu—
In an instant, dozens of arrows embedded in the ice trolls' bodies.
Pababak!
But the arrows couldn't penetrate the ice trolls' thick hides.
Raaaaargh!
The ice troll bellowed in rage, flinging off the arrows stuck in its body.
Adnan shook his head as he kept the ice troll at bay and said.
"Arrows won't work on it. It's better to retreat quickly and request reinforcements from the knights. That would raise our survival chances."
Hearing Adnan's calm and precise judgment, Claire nodded and led the other squad members.
"Retreat from here now! We'll support from afar!"
As Claire and the other squad members withdrew, Adnan and Bodmir readied their swords against the ice trolls.
"Whew, these are bigger than the ones we caught in the Ice Mountains last time."
"We can only hope they're slower because of their size." Adnan and Bodmir leaped forward simultaneously.
Swoosh—
Adnan leaped up and swung his twin swords to obscure the lead ice troll's vision.
Groooar!
The ice troll swung its ice club fiercely to grab Adnan.
Whoosh!
Unfortunately, its speed was no different from that of a regular ice troll.
Adnan twisted his body in midair, continuing to draw its attention.
In the meantime, Bodmir slid under the ice troll like a shadow and raised his bastard sword.
"Hyah!"
Bodmir slashed at the ice troll's Achilles tendon, the one that bore its massive weight.
Slash!
Bodmir's sword severed the tendon in one clean stroke.
Raaaaargh!
The ice troll lost its balance momentarily and toppled sideways, unable to support its own mass.
Boom!
But as it was a troll, the severed ankle soon reattached.
Thus, Adnan closed in on the fallen ice troll and thrust his twin swords straight into its eye.
Stab!
Piercing the eye alone wasn't enough; he had to destroy the brain to halt the regeneration.
Raaaaaargh!
The ice troll writhed in agony and swung its hand—the size of a pot lid—down at Adnan.
At that moment, Bodmir flew in and severed the ice troll's arm.
Thwack!
Meanwhile, Adnan drove his twin swords deeper into its skull, scrambling the ice troll's brain.
Soon, the ice troll could no longer endure and slumped lifelessly to the ground.
"Whew..."
The two had barely taken down one ice troll with their combined efforts.
The real problem came next.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
A squad of ice trolls began charging through the massive blizzard.
Seeing this, Adnan and Bodmir readied their swords against the approaching foes.
As Highlanders destined to battle magical beasts and monsters, they always fought with the full resolve that they might lose their lives at any moment.
"Alright, let's go."
Just as Adnan and Bodmir, having steeled themselves, prepared to charge at the ice trolls—
Raaaaargh!
One of the ice trolls suddenly roared and attacked the others.
'What the hell?ʼ
Adnan and Bodmir were bewildered as the ice trolls started fighting among themselves.
Amid the confusion, they noticed that the attacking ice troll had red-glowing eyes that seemed strange.
Raaaaargh!
It screeched madly, assaulting the other ice trolls.
Bodmir said to Adnan.
"I don't know what's happening, but let's head up top. Staying here just makes us snacks for them."
Adnan agreed with Bodmir and immediately turned back toward the outer wall, climbing it.
For ordinary knights, scaling the nearly seamless outer wall would have been impossible, but it was no challenge for the two Highlanders.
Whoosh!
Adnan and Bodmir reached the top of the outer wall and scanned the surroundings.
They saw children of the Third-Eye Clan who emitted an unfamiliar aura, their eyes glowing red.
Rumble—
It was Titus and Yulina of the Third-Eye Clan.
Thanks to Zeke, they had awakened their true Third-Eye power and used the Blood Eye to manipulate the ice trolls into fighting each other.
Adnan immediately realized the nature of the power they wielded.
'To think they had such strength. Impressive.ʼ
As the two kept the approaching ice trolls at bay, Adnan and Bodmir observed the battle from atop the wall.
Then, their jaws dropped.
"Crazy..."
With Hades's protective barrier gone, tens of thousands of monsters from the gate swarmed toward Mycenae City.
It looked like a wave of monsters crashing toward the city.
Adnan recalled an ancient term that described such a sight from long ago.
'Monster wave.ʼ
That was the term for when monsters surged forward like waves.
The sheer volume of the monsters that poured out endlessly made his head spin.
At that moment, Xeros, the captain of the mage unit, flew in and landed near the outer wall.
"Adnan! You're safe. That's a relief."
Xeros, who had been sniping from the watchtower with magic, looked quite fatigued.
He glanced at Bodmir and Adnan and said.
"The number of monsters is beyond imagination."
Adnan hadn't seen such numbers since the horde that had attacked the Forest of the Forgotten.
Back then, with the help of the Hermit of Stories and the powers of High Table members like Nigel, they had managed to hold out.
No matter how well-trained ordinary humans were, they alone couldn't stop a monster force of that size.
Adnan clenched his teeth as he searched for a way.
'At least we need to hold until Sir Zeke arrives.ʼ
In the Forest of the Forgotten, Zeke's power had repelled the swarming beasts.
Though the numbers were greater now, Adnan had a vague faith that Zeke could stop them if he arrived.
'The problem is that monster waves are coming from all four directions of the city.ʼ Even experienced fighters like Bodmir and Adnan couldn't defend all four sides.
As Adnan pondered deeply— Rumble!
Dark clouds gathered over the north gate, and massive lightning bolts of light struck down.
Boom boom boom boom boom!
Accompanied by enormous heavenly thunder, the lightning swept away all the monsters heading for the north gate.
Adnan was startled. "Has Sir Zeke arrived?" Xeros shook his head.
"No. Lady Arina is guarding that side."
The strongest mage in Zeke's camp, Arina, firmly defended the north gate.
Boom boom boom—
This time, a massive gale rose from the east gate.
Duke, having reclaimed his Black Knight power, used the Gale Technique to blow away the monsters attacking the east gate.
Any monsters that broke through the gale were instantly bisected by members of the Black Spirit Unit in powered suits.
At the west gate, Hades blocked the monsters' movements with magic while Yellin led the Ishtar and Salmak assassins in handling those that climbed up. 'Incredible.ʼ
For a city's garrison, they possessed overwhelming combat strength.
This force could surpass the military might of most kingdoms.
As he surveyed the area, Xeros said to the admiring Bodmir and Adnan.
"The issue is the south gate. The terrain favors defense, but its defenses are the weakest overall."
Adnan asked Xeros.
"How many troops remain?"
"The Barbarian unit waiting below, and the Third-Eye Clan like those two."
The Barbarians and Third-Eye Clan possessed strong power, but aside from Zeke, no one could properly command them, so they remained on standby.
At Xeros's words, Adnan's eyes gleamed.
"If it's the Third-Eye Clan, can they disrupt the monsters like those two?" "Yes, those two are the strongest, but the others can use their power too." A plan finally formed in Adnan's mind.
"Good. Xeros, when I signal, instruct the Third-Eye Clan to disrupt the monsters." Xeros was surprised.
"Are you planning to go down there?" Adnan nodded.
"I noticed earlier that the south gate has uneven terrain with plenty of cover spots. If we avoid direct clashes, we can handle them."
Bodmir nodded and stood beside Adnan. Adnan continued.
"Please guide me to the Barbarian chieftain. I know a bit of their language, so I'll try to secure their cooperation."
*
'This place...ʼ
As Zeke entered the cavern, he scanned the interior with sunken eyes.
In the center of the dark cavern stood a massive pillar that emanated an ominous aura.
He had sensed something before entering, so it must have played some role. But with the inner world destroyed, the pillar now seemed dormant, its mana supply cut off.
Still, Zeke didn't let his guard down and approached the pillar cautiously. 'If he hid Abel here, it would be this way.ʼ
Then— Swoosh—
A tentacle extended from the darkness toward Zeke.
Swoosh—
The shadow blade moved and severed the tentacle before it could reach him. Sizzle—
Acidic fluid oozed from the cut end of the tentacle.
Soon, the tentacle fell limply to the ground, as if drained of power.
'A final spasm?ʼ
Zeke used shadows to clear away the fallen tentacle and approached the base of the pillar.
At the pillar's base lay organic masses like tumors that formed a nest.
They pulsed weakly, but with the chaos spirit gone, they seemed to be dying out.
As Zeke drew near, a few tentacles stirred, but just like before, the shadow blade sliced them all apart.
As he drew even closer to examine the grotesque nest, Zeke surprisingly found sharp cuts that split it open.
'This is...?ʼ
The cuts looked as if they had been made from the outside, not from within.
This meant that someone from outside had entered and tampered with this nest.
'Narak, perhaps?ʼ
Zeke raised shadows to pry open the split wall of the nest and entered inside.
The nest's interior, made of organic matter, resembled the innards of a massive creature and was filled with repulsive flesh and tentacles.
Zeke ventured deeper, tracing the signs of the intruder.
Then, he spotted something in the center.
There was a stone sarcophagus wrapped in tentacles.
'That?ʼ
Abel Draker had suffered fatal damage from the Godslayer Stone Zeke had thrown at his heart.
Chaos had tried to heal Abel Draker with its power and hand him over to Narak.
That sarcophagus was likely the site where the healing had taken place.
Zeke extended shadows to inspect the sarcophagus.
Sizzle—
The shadow blades severed the tentacles and organic matter connected to the sarcophagus and lifted it toward Zeke.
He reached out toward the sarcophagus.
'Abel, let's end our grudge here.ʼ
Creak creak creak—
Zeke's Will-Forged Strong Qi Field forcibly twisted open the tightly sealed sarcophagus.
Crack—
With a loud noise, the sarcophagus opened.
Holding Ascalon at the ready and on his guard, Zeke peered inside.
But contrary to his expectations, nothing happened. Instead, something inside the sarcophagus fell limply toward the bottom.
Thud!
With a dull sound, what fell was the corpse of a slumped man.
'What?ʼ
Zeke raised a shadow to flip over the sprawled corpse.
He immediately recognized its identity.
It was none other than Abel Draker.