Chapter – 103
The moment the explosion faded—
“Cough! Cough, cough!”
“Ugh…!”
The scout squad members were sprawled all over the place, coughing nonstop in pain.
“E-Everyone alright?!”
As soon as Begman regained his senses, he immediately checked on his subordinates first.
“No issues!”
“I’m fine too! Ngh!”
Fortunately, the explosion hadn’t been very powerful.
They were all scorched pitch-black, but no one seemed to be badly injured or dead.
“Lieutenant! Are you okay?!”
“I—I’m fine. Kugh!”
Melvin, the culprit behind the blast, was also charred black and had some burns on his arm, but he didn’t seem seriously hurt.
It seemed that since it was a magical explosion rather than a physical one, the damage hadn’t been as severe as the spectacle suggested.
“See? I told you I had a bad feeling about this.”
“S-Shut up!”
At Carlyle’s remark, Begman flushed red and snapped back.
“This happened because you jinxed it!”
“…….”
Carlyle stared at Begman in disbelief.
Magic wasn’t some superstitious folk ritual…
“Anyway, looks like we’re f**ked. So what now?”
“……?”
“They’re swarming from all sides. Like a pack of dogs.”
Vrrrrrmm!
As if to prove Carlyle’s words, Grimungandr vibrated nonstop.
“C-Captain! It’s bad! The barbarians stationed on the other sides are rushing here too!”
Marder relayed what he learned from aerial scouting to Begman.
The situation was obvious.
Barbarians mining in nearby areas had seen the explosion and flames and were running toward them.
“S-Sh*t…”
Begman’s face turned pale.
This was practically the worst-case scenario for a recon operation.
Not only had the ambush failed—now they had alerted the surrounding enemies as well.
“You rat-bastard continent dwellers!”
“We’ll slaughter you all!”
Meanwhile, the group of barbarians they had originally intended to ambush had already raised their weapons and were charging up the hill toward the scout squad.
“Everyone fall back! Retreat!”
Begman shouted urgently.
The scout squad abandoned the fight and sprinted at full speed toward Bowden Fortress.
Fighting was out of the question in a situation like this.
Even if they could win—retreating was the only correct choice.
If they were to fight, they would only be buying time for more enemies to arrive.
Thus began a chase: hunters and hunted.
Their retreat was anything but easy.
“Die!”
“Where do you think you’re running?!”
Barbarian warriors sprang out from all directions and attacked the retreating squad.
“This way!”
Using Whispers of the Earth, a gift from Evangeline, Carlyle guided the squad toward a safe route.
But Whispers of the Earth didn’t remove threats—it only guided them down the safest path.
Even then—
‘Let’s see if they can still follow us now.’
Carlyle muttered under his breath.
“Come on, get up. I’ll help you.”
That was Gwen’s dying message.
Vwoom!
The noble will of the young soldier who died trying to save her comrade wrapped around Carlyle and the squad.
[Coexistence]
Come on, get up! I’ll help you!
Effect:
When retreating or returning, party movement speed +50%
When retreating or returning, party HP, stamina, and mana recovery +150%
“Run. Now.”
Carlyle shot forward at an inhuman speed.
“M-My body suddenly feels so light!”
“I’m full of energy!”
“Don’t know what this is, but just run!”
The scout squad, boosted by [Coexistence], sprinted after Carlyle at a tremendous pace.
Thanks to Carlyle’s efforts, the scouting unit seemed to have escaped the danger zone unharmed.
But—
“W-Why’d you stop?!”
Begman asked when Carlyle suddenly halted.
“We can’t go on.”
“Why not?”
“There are enemies ahead.”
“……!”
The reason he stopped was because red arrows had appeared in every direction.
Vrrrrrrrm…!!!
Grimungandr buzzed so hard it was numbing his hand.
“Then what do we do now?”
“We fight.”
Carlyle steadied himself as he answered Begman.
“We just need to clear the ones right in front of us.”
“R-Really?”
“They’re here.”
No sooner had Carlyle spoken than dozens of barbarians burst out of the bushes and charged the squad.
“Heh heh heh!”
“Who do you think you are to trespass here?!”
Combat broke out.
“Ugh!”
“S-Sh*t! There’s too many!”
The enemies were too numerous—of course the scout squad was quickly pushed into a defensive struggle.
Whoooosh—BOOM!
Begman fired a flare into the sky to request reinforcements from the fortress.
But that might have been pointless.
It would take at least 30 minutes for support to arrive.
The barbarians were already at their throats.
By the time reinforcements came, all they might find would be corpses.
“So damn annoying.”
Carlyle scowled and gripped Grimungandr tightly.
“Just die.”
Shrrrk—SHRRAAA!
PUCK!
As Carlyle swung Grimungandr, black blades erupted from the ground, skewering the barbarians.
Blade Hell.
The one who opens the great gateway of death.
The herald of judgment.
The vanguard of hell.
The power of Grahim, the First Lord of Hell, manifested—turning the battlefield into a literal hell of blades.
Perhaps because he had grown stronger after taking the elixir, the range of Blade Hell was now vast enough to blanket the entire area.
“Gyaaaah!”
“V-Valhalla—! gurgle!”
The barbarians thrashed inside the blade field, dying like meat skewered on spikes.
“M-Mon… Monster…”
“Told you—Sigmunds are still Sigmunds…”
The scouts stared in disbelief at Carlyle’s spell, stunned.
But they were celebrating too soon.
“You sniveling continent cub! I’ll take you on!”
A heavily tattooed barbarian charged at Carlyle.
‘Four-star.’
Carlyle instantly recognized that this barbarian was on par with the Butcher Clan’s Jarkan and Bjornsen brothers he had fought before.
“I am Vargarr, Centurion of the Executioner Tribe! I’ll face you!”
Vargarr leapt high and spun midair with his massive greatsword, combining Thunder Leap and the barbarians’ trademark Spinning Slash technique.
WHOOOOSH!!!
He spun so fast he was nearly invisible as he tried to cleave Carlyle in half.
‘Focus.’
Watching calmly, Carlyle swung Grimungandr.
KWOOM!
With an explosive sound, Grimungandr pierced Vargarr’s opening mid-spin.
Slice!
The blade cut Vargarr diagonally in half.
Thud!
His bisected corpse fell to the ground.
Sonic Sundering.
A super-speed slash combining the elegy sword techniques Yearning and Genesis.
“C-Centurion Vargarr!”
“N-No way!!”
The barbarians were horrified—Vargarr, considered one of the strongest in their tribe, had been killed with a single strike by a frail-looking noble-born dandy.
The scouts were no less shocked.
“H-He killed a Centurion with one hit?”
“When did he get this strong…?”
To ordinary soldiers, Carlyle’s growth speed was beyond comprehension—bordering on the supernatural.
But Carlyle showed no emotion toward Vargarr’s death.
He cared nothing for the reactions around him.
He only intended to kill.
‘Gotta break through quickly.’
All he thought about was escaping the encirclement.
Thanks to Carlyle’s incredible performance, the scout squad returned to the fortress without a single casualty.
“You really saved us. We owe you our lives.”
“Our kid’s the best! The best! Oh—guess he’s not the new kid anymore, huh? Haha!”
The squad showered Carlyle with praise.
He had dragged them out of a worst-case scenario by the scruff of their necks; admiration was only natural.
“Good work.”
As always, Carlyle responded blandly.
Meanwhile, treatment of 2nd Lt. Melvin and the recruit Adrian was… brutal.
“Tch!”
Wilson spat a yellow wad of phlegm at Melvin as he passed.
“I expected something when they said ‘mage,’ but this is peak dead weight.”
Other scouts joined in.
“That’s a mage? Really?”
“As if a real high-grade mage would be assigned here. They sent us trash—makes sense.”
Melvin shrank, head hung low, unable to respond.
His spell failure had caused the mission to collapse and nearly got them all killed—he had no defense.
“…I’m… s-sorry.”
Melvin apologized in a tiny voice, but no one answered.
“They’re just mad because they almost died. Don’t let it get to you,” Begman said—the only one to offer him any words of comfort.
Adrian wasn’t treated much better.
“You wanna get kicked out of the scouts? I know it’s your first real battle, but freezing and shaking like that—what the hell was that?”
“You little sh*t! Get your head straight!”
“I’ll let it slide this once since it’s your first. Next time, freeze like that again and I’ll kill you myself before the enemy does.”
Adrian had simply trembled with his sword, doing nothing.
It was his first real combat—he seemed to have shut down completely.
But since he was a young, brand-new recruit, he wasn’t treated quite as harshly as Melvin.
“Were you very scared?”
“I—I’m sorry!”
“It’s alright. Everyone has a first time. You didn’t run off alone to save your own skin—that’s what matters.”
Kudo comforted him gently.
“Yeah. Freezing isn’t great, sure—but you didn’t run. Do better next time. I was the same on my first mission.”
Private Russell also shared his own first-time experience to help Adrian regain composure.
‘One hell of a first mission…’
Carlyle was thinking that when—
“Oh! 3rd Company!”
“Heard you botched your mission and almost died!”
“Boo-hoo!”
The scout squads of 1st and 2nd Company, returning from their own operation, jeered and mocked 3rd Company.
“We’re not in the mood to deal with you idiots. Walk away while I’m asking nicely,” Begman growled.
“Oh? Someone’s touchy.”
“As expected—weaklings with big egos.”
Wilson snapped.
“You motherfu—What are you looking at?! Huh?!”
The other companies didn’t flinch.
They were scouts—scarred veterans of the battlefield with more than enough “guts” for a brawl.
“What? Wanna throw the first punch? Go ahead!”
“Pffahaha!”
“Big mouth for failures!”
One by one, 3rd Company stepped forward.
“You done talking?”
“Wanna die?”
The atmosphere turned violent as both sides closed in—
“Our incompetent captain nearly got you all—”
SMACK!
“Argh!”
“Say one more word, you bastard!”
“You little—!”
Begman punched 2nd Company’s captain across the face, and a full-on brawl erupted.
“…Unbelievable.”
Carlyle shook his head and quietly slipped away—only to have someone block his path.
“So you’re that Sigmund brat?”
“……?”
“You’ve got some nerve showing your face, you little sh*t!”
The 1st Company captain swung a fist at Carlyle without warning.
