Chapter 26
She was going to die.
Without even enough time to gasp for breath, Yoo Hyun-hwa pulled back her spear and knew it instinctively.
This is it. I’m going to die.
She was completely exhausted.
She had pulled back her spear out of pure reflex, but her speed and strength were lacking.
It wasn’t enough to block the monster that was lunging for her neck.
Ah…
So this is how she dies.
They say the world slows down when you face death.
Her past didn’t flash before her eyes like a spinning lantern reel, but all her senses focused vividly…
…Slow.
And “slow” meant—
I can do this…!
This wasn’t the time to reminisce about the past.
She twisted her body just a little more, gripped her spear just a little tighter, and pulled harder.
That split-second struggle created a change—one that altered the outcome.
After the sting of pain from the ax of the boar-ogre (돈귀) grazing the back of her neck—
Shhhk!
—came the sharp sensation in her hands of the spearhead slicing clean through the enemy’s neck.
“Huff! Huff!”
Panting heavily, Yoo Hyun-hwa clutched her throbbing right arm.
She had swung the spear one-handed in the heat of the moment to kill her opponent, and it seemed her muscles hadn’t been able to bear the strain.
“Alright! That’s it for now!”
Cheon Moo-jin blew a special whistle to signal the detachment on the other side—retreat.
It was already their third raid.
Yesterday had passed in a blur.
Hyun-hwa could hardly even remember the first raid, which she’d done without the detachment.
The second raid, after resting for a few hours and syncing up with the team, had been a little better.
So why does this one feel harder…?
If anything, experience should make it easier.
Dragging her heavy body away from the battlefield under Cheon Moo-jin’s orders, Hyun-hwa tried to steady her ragged breathing.
Of course, the retreat was not smooth.
The monsters, whipped into a frenzy by the scent of blood and death, pursued them relentlessly. Evading them was no easy feat.
And then—
“Alright. Let’s finish them here.”
Once they’d pulled far enough from the main horde, Moo-jin ordered them to take out the pursuers.
He’s definitely doing this on purpose.
With his abilities, he could easily shake off the handful of monsters chasing them.
Still gasping for air, Hyun-hwa stepped forward with her spear.
When it came to cleaning up the trailing monsters, Moo-jin never moved.
The squad members had to handle it themselves.
Naturally—
Baek-woo’s already taking the front, and Do-sunbae’s on the right…
No joint attacks allowed.
Shifting to the left, Hyun-hwa charged at a frenzied boar-ogre.
This horde had not only massive numbers but also impressive variety.
It almost felt like they faced new monsters every raid.
Still, the majority were of two types: boar-ogres like this one, and fish-ogres (동어귀) like the ones from the first day.
One lived in plains or forests, the other in swamps or lakes—why they were together, she had no idea, but these two made up over half the horde.
Groooar!
Hyun-hwa’s movements toward the roaring boar-ogre were simple and precise.
The previous raids had taught her the hard way—she had to conserve stamina at all costs.
Spears were, by nature, tiring weapons.
When swung, the motions were inevitably large.
But that only applied to swinging.
Thrusting—if you could find the optimal path with minimal movement and pierce through the opponent’s guard—
Fwp!
—you could conserve stamina while keeping high lethality.
Her spear pierced the charging boar-ogre’s shoulder.
The bone and muscle were too dense to fully penetrate, but it was enough to halt its charge.
Ignoring the numbing shock in her hands, Hyun-hwa twisted the spear as she yanked it free—pulling it out in a slightly different line to widen the wound.
If she had to spend strength to pull it out anyway, she might as well make the injury worse.
As soon as the spear came free, the boar-ogre lunged again.
It was as if it instinctively knew she’d need a moment to regain her stance.
But—
Fwp!
—before anyone could tell when she’d regained her guard, Hyun-hwa’s thrust pierced it again.
And again.
Until the boar-ogre stopped breathing.
Mmh, she’s fast.
Cheon Moo-jin clicked his tongue, watching Hyun-hwa drop a boar-ogre in under twenty exchanges.
Despite its ridiculous name, a boar-ogre’s strength was no joke.
Even the weakest could manhandle an average adult like a child, with tremendous physical power and a fearless will to fight.
Normally, only high-class warriors could take one on.
Yet Hyun-hwa was dominating one outright.
Granted, the other monsters’ attention was fixed on Baek-woo at the front, making it possible—
—but still.
For someone still considered mid-class, it was an exceptional feat.
Looks like she’s about to break through her limits.
In moments of crisis, Moo-jin had been secretly channeling demonic energy into her body, strengthening her enough to survive death a few times over.
She didn’t know it, but those “overcome” moments would become priceless assets.
Even if she forgot, her body would remember—exactly where and how to apply strength in a life-or-death moment.
With her talent, she could do it.
Reaching high-class is only a matter of time. Maybe I should start thinning the numbers now.
There were over 300 monsters.
He didn’t know how many the other detachments had taken down, but his 13th Squad had killed just over thirty so far—most while cleaning up pursuers.
The problem was, that wasn’t nearly enough.
To let the main army fight without heavy losses, the horde needed to be reduced to under fifty.
Cutting three hundred down to fifty was no easy task.
The detachments were probably aiming to halve them, down to about 150—which would still be dangerous but survivable.
But—
Just surviving isn’t enough.
Who said this horde was the end?
The attacks felt oddly deliberate.
He had to prepare for follow-ups.
After a moment of thought, Moo-jin nodded at the corpses his squad had just taken down.
“Let’s take all of them out this time, too.”
“Whoa…”
“…Tch.”
“You’ve been picking fights with that kind of man?”
The fourth raid.
Suddenly, Moo-jin declared it was fine to help each other—and joined the battle in earnest.
Passing off rear-guard duty to the squad, he dove into the fray.
The difference was staggering.
There was no spraying blood or flying chunks of flesh.
His movements were minimal, his attacks light, his contact brief.
That was all it took to sum up Moo-jin’s fighting style—and it was pure awe.
For boar-ogres, he simply jabbed into gaps in their muscles a few times.
That alone made them freeze or collapse.
Then he’d pierce their neck or heart—over.
Even the slimy fish-ogres were no different.
The moment his fist brushed them, their grotesque faces twisted in agony—and by then, his fingertips were already slicing their throats clean open.
It was the kind of killing that looked like it had been done with a blade, robbing the target of any chance to breathe again.
“Retreat!”
The whistle sounded from the other side, and Moo-jin immediately gave the order.
As soon as he closed in, the three who had been holding the retreat path pulled back.
Phew.
Hyun-hwa steadied her breathing.
Their real fight was about to begin.
Knowing Moo-jin, he’d leave the pursuers to them again—and with how much they’d provoked the monsters, there’d be more this time.
So she braced herself—
“Squad leader, there’s no pursuit.”
“Tch.”
At Do Woo-jin’s words, Hyun-hwa turned in surprise.
No pursuit? What…?
Ah.
The moment she looked back at the horde, she understood.
Of course—
“They’re scared. The cow—”
“Tch.”
“—ards.”
Baek-woo had been about to curse, but one glance from Moo-jin made him change his words.
On any other day, he’d have blurted it out and gotten smacked.
…Yeah, no way.
After watching that fight, saying otherwise would be less “brave” and more “stupid.”
The monsters hadn’t stopped out of whim.
He hadn’t shown off flashy techniques or brute displays of strength—
—but the sheer difference in level had been undeniable.
Perfect, absolute superiority bred despair.
Despair became fear.
Fear rooted them in place.
In that short time, Moo-jin had killed over ten monsters without taking a single hit.
It was total domination.
Given time and stamina, he could probably have wiped out the entire horde.
If even their allies found him terrifying, how must the monsters have felt?
It was no wonder their feet were frozen.
“This screws up the plan.”
Once they’d put some distance between themselves and the horde, they stopped to rest.
“No pursuit means it’s harder to whittle down their numbers. Not good.”
“The other detachments will still be at it, won’t they?”
“Even if they are, so what?”
The others were too cautious, their limits clear.
Moo-pungdae’s commander had staffed them with quick-thinking, competent people—people who knew the moment they overextended and got surrounded, they were done for.
Half of them were here as bait, anyway. They wouldn’t be serious about cutting numbers.
So, with the detachments proving useless and the lack of pursuit creating a problem, the simplest fix would be for Moo-jin to hide his strength and fight “just enough” like before—
—but…
“That’ll be too slow.”
“Yes. There’s a huge difference when you fight seriously.”
Which meant they wouldn’t be able to reduce the horde enough in time.
“I didn’t want to use it, but we’ll have to go with Plan Two.”
“You had a second plan?”
“It was for emergencies. Didn’t think I’d use it this soon.”
Sighing, Moo-jin clapped Woo-jin on the shoulder.
“Take care of the squad.”
“Of course. But… wait, are you going to—”
Woo-jin froze mid-sentence as a thought struck him.
“You—you’re not going to move alone, are you?”
“Of course. If we can’t cut enough with the current pace, we just increase the number of raids.”
“That’s insane! The detachments will refuse—they’ll say it’s too much on their stamina.”
“Why would I need the detachments?”
Standing up, Moo-jin smirked.
“I’m enough by myself. I’ll move at night. You lot rest then, and hit them with the detachments in the day as planned.”
As the 13th Squad watched his back vanish into the forest, a heavy silence fell.
“Then why even bring us if you’re going to go alone— Ow!”
“Tch!”
Hyun-hwa smacked Baek-woo’s shoulder and glared, making him shut up instantly.
