Bang! Thud!
Explosions echoed beyond the walls of the makeshift fortress. The sounds of the ongoing battle between Master Ezekiel and Kane and Jake filled the air.
Meanwhile, Raul was…
“Eat up. I heard you haven’t had a proper meal in a while?”
“Y-yeah. Thanks.”
…grilling meat alongside his second brother, Lawrence.
In the mana-rich Forbidden Zone, coupled with the energy from the sealing stone and the dark gates, various energies overflowed, making the meat taste particularly vivid to Raul.
Of course, it was only Raul who felt that way; Lawrence, on the other hand, was eating slowly, perhaps out of unease.
“Can we really sit like this while there’s a battle going on outside? Shouldn’t we be out there?…”
“Brother! Just eat without worrying. Your nervous eating is making others uncomfortable.”
At Raul’s words, Lawrence turned to see that the Special Exploration Team members were quickly averting their gazes from him.
“Cough, cough.”
Some even choked and coughed.
Clap, clap.
“Alright, everyone, no need to be self-conscious. Eat up and rest. You’ve all been through a lot, so take this time to recover your strength.”
Following Raul’s encouragement, the exploration team members began to eat a bit more freely, though they still looked uneasy.
‘Is it really okay to not join the fight?’
‘What if the defenses break while we’re resting?’
‘Can they really hold this large barrier with just the three of them?’
With the wall constructed and the dining building blocking the view outside, the continuous battle sounds only added to their anxiety.
“If anyone’s too anxious, feel free to go outside and take a look around. There’s enough food here. But!”
“…?”
Thud.
Raul brought something out of his inventory and placed it in one corner of the dining area.
“This cannot be refilled, so if you’re late, you’ll miss out!”
“Ooh!”
“Wow!”
The previously tense faces of the team members lit up immediately. What Raul took out were a display case filled with various kinds of liquor and wine and oak barrels brimming with beer.
Despite their enthusiasm, no one hastily reached for the alcohol.
‘Interesting. Lawrence must have excellent unit cohesion.’
Even with five different exploration teams gathered, they waited for Lawrence’s instructions over their own team leaders’.
The unfortunate thing was that only half of the exploration team members had gathered here. Despite Raul using the highest quality potions to treat the injured, he couldn’t revive those that had perished.
Step, step.
With burning eyes upon him, Lawrence picked out an expensive wine bottle from the display case.
“You’ve all endured a lot. I dedicate this wine to our comrades who aren’t here with us.”
Glug.
The deep red wine trickled into a dented helmet lightly stained with blood.
“To our brothers who showed unparalleled bravery.”
“To our brothers.”
Thump, thump.
Lawrence emptied the wine into the helmet on behalf of the team, and the members beat their chests in honor of their fallen comrades.
“Tonight, drink and rest as much as you can. And when you wake, we’ll sweep away those demonic lackeys! Can I trust you, Raul?”
Gazing into Lawrence’s burning eyes, Raul struck his armor with his fist and declared confidently.
“I swear on our family name. Whoever they are, they won’t get past this wall without my permission!”
“You heard him? Drink up!”
“Waaaaah!”
The dining hall finally buzzed with energy. The once anxious faces of the team members now showed a sense of relief.
Thirty minutes had already passed since the battle resumed.
Despite this, the continuous combat sounds, especially the screams of demonic creatures and the wails of the undead as they were obliterated, kept everyone on edge.
‘Is he really the brother of Team Leader Lawrence?’
‘How is such a thing possible unless he’s a emissary of the gods?’
The team members glanced out the windows, peering at the sky above the fortress wall. Like a disciplined army, the legion of weapons patrolled the skies above the wall.
Every so often, a group of weapons would plunge down beyond the fortress wall, and when they returned, they dripped with black blood.
Raul was simultaneously attending to his brother and the team members within the fortress while fighting the battle outside.
This was due to the new power of the advanced psychokinetic, 『Auto Control』, being deployed by Raul. The basic elements of psychokinesis are power, control, and range (detection).
Raul’s technique, 『Auto Control』, integrated control and range.
Having surpassed a significant threshold, his enhanced detection range not only covered greater distances but also improved in depth and precision.
In other words, it meant that the ‘radar’s’ performance had greatly improved.
Moreover, his control had reached a level where he could manage individual entities with psychokinesis.
‘As long as it’s not a highly complex command, it can be repeated effortlessly.’
This was the reason Raul could maintain the battle from within this fortress away from the front lines.
‘Of course, without the sealing stone’s buff and the energy-rich nature of the Forbidden Zone, I wouldn’t have been able to manage so many entities.’
Even if a high-level demonic creature or undead appeared, it wouldn’t be an issue. Raul could engage them with weapons he personally infused with ‘aura’ instead of relying on 『Auto Control』.
In any case, the crucial fact was that Raul could effectively fend off the enemies’ attacks.
So, as he flipped meat with his brother, Lawrence, outside the dining hall, his controlled weapons were diligently butchering the enemies.
‘So this is what it feels like to be full without eating.’
Seeing the experience bar inch up in real-time, he felt an unparalleled satisfaction.
“Brother, eat up.”
Raul smiled as he placed the sizzling, aromatic meat onto Lawrence’s plate.
“Thanks. But don’t you think it’s time to explain everything?”
Lawrence had many questions, after all.
How had Raul found this place?
What were the mysterious powers he demonstrated?
And what about the family—they must be worried?
“Well, I’ll explain everything slowly, one by one. We have plenty of time after all.”
Thirty-six hours is a longer time than you think.
***
“Damn it!”
Crash!
Returning to the tent, Master Ezekiel furiously threw down his helmet. The red tattoos on his face gradually disappeared, revealing an aged visage that seemed ten years older than usual.
‘What a disgrace!’
He hadn’t realized it at first, but he figured it out as the fight went on. The two knights who stood against him weren’t true Masters—they were temporary ones.
Their understanding of aura, which any Master should naturally possess, was woefully lacking. Yet, he still couldn’t break through them.
‘How is this possible? Two high-level Experts managing to hold me back?’
It was commonly understood that at least five top-tier Experts were needed to face a Master. Only then could they take turns manifesting temporary aura to block the Master’s attacks.
Moreover, with his tattoos activated, Master Ezekiel wasn’t a low-level Master; he was intermediate-level.
Even with temporary aura, two Experts shouldn’t be enough to hold him back. But that’s how it was.
‘It felt like they’ve faced many Masters before.’
They weren’t well-known knights, and they were younger than what their skill levels would suggest.
“Having trouble?”
At that moment, McClanahan entered the tent, sneering slightly.
“Shut up! What do you expect me to do when the situation has changed?”
Regardless of the process, there were now three—no, four—Master-level fighters inside the barrier.
While he could handle two if he pushed himself to the limit, it could put his life at risk, so he had to be cautious. McClanahan knew this, casually shrugging and changing the subject.
“We’ve received a message from HQ. D-day has been determined, regardless of our situation here. We need to hurry, or things will get messy.”
“Isn’t the miscalculation of our strength HQ’s fault? It was their strategy too. Now we have to clean up their mess?”
“Calm down. Nothing’s final yet.”
But Ezekiel frowned and shouted.
“Nonsense! If anything happens to the main force, where do you think His Majesty’s wrath will be directed? I’ll kill those bastards right now!”
He grabbed his sword, ready to storm out, but McClanahan stopped him.
“Listen to me. HQ said they would send reinforcements.”
“Reinforcements? Who?”
“I don’t know. It won’t be the high-ranking ones, but maybe top-tier mages like us.”
“Damn it. I don’t trust HQ as far as I can throw them.”
“Anyway, they’ll arrive tomorrow, so we need to keep up the pressure. If we let them rest, this could turn into a prolonged battle.”
“Alright, alright! Easy for you to say, you just play with corpses in the back.”
Bang!
Ezekiel stormed out of the tent. Seeing the typically easygoing Ezekiel so angry indicated how furious he actually was.
‘Well, I’m not exactly at ease either.’
Far beyond the tent, near the makeshift fortress within the barrier, the undead and demonic creatures McClanahan sent were being cut down by an unknown mage’s legion of weapons.
Though it was a new form of magic, it was particularly troublesome to deal with.
It felt merely like a numerical replacement for soldiers at the moment, but the initial destructive power it displayed was still vividly remembered.
‘In the end, it’s a one-time technique. There’s always a limit to what one can do alone.’
Moreover, controlling that many weapons must be mentally exhausting. By now, whoever that mage was, they must be sweating and struggling.
‘Keep struggling. The moment your power runs out will be your end.’
With an arrogant smile, McClanahan looked at his elite undead army, secretly prepared behind the main force.
***
“Yaaawn.”
Raul yawned as he lay sprawled atop the watchtower he had set up in the middle of the fortress near the sealing stone.
Though designed to be inconspicuous from the outside, the interior of the watchtower was filled with various amenities.
On the small dining table, luscious, glossy fruits gleamed invitingly. Next to Raul’s sunbed was a side table stocked with chilled juice and snacks.
Clink.
“Checkmate.”
“What? How did you—? Let’s go again!”
A little further away, Rabel and Caldenas played chess. Despite initial expectations of Rabel’s victory, Caldenas was actually winning.
While Rabel knew the theory, Caldenas had played chess frequently with visiting royals or knights even while bound by his seal.
‘How peaceful.’
Clang! Swish!
Grrrr.
Battle noises continued outside, but after hearing them all day, they began to sound more like a lullaby.
In fact, the exploration team members were having a good rest in the temporary quarters. Had it not been for Master Ezekiel’s frequent outbursts, one could almost forget they were in a war zone.
Ezekiel, undeterred, showed up nearly every hour to vent his frustrations at Kane and Jake before storming off.
Initially, Kane and Jake seemed to struggle a bit, but after more than ten long confrontations, they now seemed to handle him with ease.
‘Although it doesn’t seem like he’s going all out either.’
Raul had considered testing his skills against Ezekiel driven by competitive spirit but decided against it. He had ample experience dealing with Masters through training with his mentor, Caldenas, and his father, Count Melvin.
And Caldenas’s assessment played a part in his decision.
“Giving a child a precious sword. He’s being led by the sword rather than controlling it himself; he doesn’t deserve to be called a Master.”
It appeared that Ezekiel had used some unconventional means to reach his rank.
‘Though that doesn’t mean he isn’t a Master….’
In any case, Kane and Jake were racking up valuable experience, and Raul had no intention of stealing their progress.
Now, with less than half a day remaining on the quest timer…
‘It’s a bit boring, but at this rate…!’
Raul’s eyes sparkled with anticipation.
(To be continued…)