Lee Shin-Woo had forced his way through Metafel's troops, and once he broke the wagon, he realized that the Archmage had set up some security measures on the compass.

Well, it made sense. After all, who would hand something this precious out with no precaution? There were dozens of security spells set up, and the other spells made it difficult for him to even analyze the magical device… However, he was used to it.

"Rem!"

[Coming!]

At the same time, Lee Shin-Woo placed his hand on the compass and forcefully released his darkness mana.

He'd managed to steal a level 8 artifact from the Archmage before, an artifact that the Archmage was personally looking after. This magical device, on the other hand, was only a level 6 artifact with very limited functions. If he couldn't do as he pleased with this item, it would be an embarrassment to the Joker’s name.

"Nice. It's just like what I've learned from Kratia...! Hacking's pretty easy."

"When did you learn that!?"

[I've arrived, Master!]

"Good. I'll leave it to you."

Lee Shin-Woo saw Rem's magic completely enclosing the giant compass and knew that the first step was complete: unlocking the tracking function, which was a pain in the ass to do since the artifact had a few tracking functions that were multi-layered, as well as transferring the ownership of the item to him.

"We're done with the first step, so let's move on to the next! Leave the rest to Kratia!"

[I understand!]

[You morons, get a hold of yourselves!]

Right when Lee Shin-Woo had taken over the compass and placed it into his inventory, he heard Metafel yell in indignation in a circle of his undead subordinates.

Lee Shin-Woo immediately noticed that the undeads' rotten eyes were beginning to brighten, which meant Metafel had a skill that acted in the reverse of Instigate: a skill that cleared minds.

[Ugh... How did the trespasser get in!?]

"Hoo... Let's go!"

Rem, who'd finished its mission, flew into the sky once more and began relaying information on Lee Shin-Woo's surroundings to him. After Lee Shin-Woo confirmed that the Giants who had secured his way in had gotten to the escape route, he likewise retreated.

[You are not taking that with you!]

However, he had a tail. It was none other than the level 7 elite who usually stuck by Metafel's side to protect him.

It was a knight who could use both swords and bows. As soon as it saw Lee Shin-Woo running away with the magical device, it raised its bow and drew the bowstring to fire arrows at him!

"What a pain!"

[Keuk!?]

Lee Shin-Woo didn't have time to face it head on, so he shot out a Breath of the Lightning God and detonated it to delay his pursuer. But then Metafel threw a giant axe at Lee Shin-Woo as soon as he regained the freedom to move.

[How dare you take our corps' treasure!]

"Hah!"

There was no way Jin, who possessed agility that far outstripped even most level 7s, wouldn't have some sort of evasion skill. With his shocking reflexes, Jin managed to dodge the axe and leapt into the air. He'd transformed his rear legs into springs to give himself an overwhelming jumping and charging ability!

"T-The horse is..."

"The horse is flying into the sky!"

The pair leaped over hundreds of undead and got to the escape route. There, the most formidable Giants were ripping more undead apart.

"Let's fall back now!"

[Kuhaaaaah! Have you shown your pride!?]

"I'll tell you all about it when we get back, so make way!"

These damn Giants were looking for his 'pride' every five minutes! In any case, they'd secured their retreat, which was a relief.

He did his best to drag the Giants with him and ran. The plan was to return home safely from their excursion!

[How dare you look down upon General Metafel! I won't stop until I kill you all!]

[Kuhahk!?]

Unfortunately, when the Giants were finally listening to him and following him, one of the countless arrows flying towards them hit a Giant's forearm; it must have hurt quite a bit since the arrows were shot by a level 7 elite. Eyebrows twitching, the Gian turned around.

[Before we retreat, I have to pay him back in kind for this injury!]

"I told you not to do that, you idiot!"

[Are you going to run away like a coward!? How can you even call yourself a Giant!?]

Why now!? The arrow-firing level 7 elite was trying to buy time until Metafel could return to the front; it turned out to be super effective in provoking the Giants.

[Giants do not retreat... Kuhahk!]

"We'll be going now! But next time, things won’t go this easily!"

[Y-You bastards! All you did was trick my troops from start to finish. What else do you have up your sleeve!?]

Lee Shin-Woo had said the magic words that would allow them a safe retreat in any situation, opening an escape route for them. However, the Giant rushed toward the enemies instead, leaving him with no choice but to grab its arm and run.

While Lee Shin-Woo had exhausted his mana to strengthen and enlarge one of his arms, it still paled in comparison to a Giant’s. It was quite a sight for him to drag the Giant along while riding a horse.

[T-The Titan's Pride...!]

"It's too heavy!” Jin yelled. “I can't run like this!"

"You hear that? You're really heavy. So... Umph!"

Lee Shin-Woo lifted the Giant with a single arm and forcefully threw it. The level 7 Giants, who had safely retreated ahead of them, caught the Giant.

[How dare you!?]

Of course, the Giant that got thrown was really pissed and wanted to argue with him, but Lee Shin-Woo was no pushover.

"I just saved your lives. How many times do I have to tell you that we had to retreat to secure our victory!? You idiots. How can you claim to be descendants of the Titans!? Do you really think that you can become a Titan with those rotten muscles of yours alone!?"

[Keuk, I-I got it. Sorry...]

The Giant cowered under Lee Shin-Woo’s wrath despite their similar levels. Clicking his tongue, Lee Shin-Woo looked over his shoulders at the undead chasing them, in particular Metafel and the level 7 elites at the front.

"If you're sorry, then run! Just keep running until we reach the place we talked about!"

Was the operation over with them breaking through enemy lines and acquiring the artifact? Obviously not. They had just stolen the artifact from the enemy forces right under their noses. Their enemies wouldn't just sit on their asses and do nothing!

Metafel's pursuit had been expected and taken into consideration from the beginning. No matter how well the plan progressed, they couldn't avoid that outcome… Because of that, Lee Shin-Woo had set a trap beforehand with the help of the level 5 and level 6 Giants.

Regardless of how low their levels were, it didn't change the fact that the Giants possessed large enough bodies and great enough power to transform the mountainous landscape!

"Get past it! Jump over it!"

[Huaaaah!]

There was a huge break in the middle of the path. Of course, an opening a dozen meters wide was nothing for the level 7 Giants, and Jin was able to jump over it without even using his springs.

"Run forward. Run even faster!"

[Keuk. Us Giants are...]

[F-For the Titans!]

These Giants made Lee Shin-Woo's life hell today; whenever their pride was damaged, they would habitually hurl the word 'Titan' around.

If they had to memorize that one word in order to overcome danger, he'd bear with it as much as they wanted! Lee Shin-Woo checked to make sure the Giants had gone past the cliff before looking behind him.

[Ha, is that all?]

[General, we'll join you immediately!]

[You sure gave us some trouble...]

A level 7 could cross several hundred meters in 0.01 seconds. Metafel and the other two level 7 elites—one of the Corps Commanders had, at some point, joined up with them—were staring at him.

[Did you think you could stop us from following you with this cliff alone? I wondered what kind of man you were to have caused so much chaos amongst my troops and stolen the magical device, but this was all you amounted to?]

"If you're really that confident, why don't you just come on over?"

Lee Shin-Woo stood on the other side of the cliff without moving an inch. As if he had resolved himself to fight them head on! However, Metafel didn't attack in haste. Instead, he threw out more questions. His bandit-like rough face was etched with rage.

[Whose orders are you following? How did you get those Giants to act? And how did you know about the magical device?]

"Ha..."

Lee Shin-Woo laughed wickedly, as if he had been waiting for him to ask that very question. This was how things went most of the time. The twelve generals had too much pride to think that Lee Shin-Woo had done this all on his own!

And if he could divert some of Metafel's hostility to another party, he was prepared to say anything!

"Who else? You can't even figure that out by yourself?"

[Ugh... It must be... That bastard, Seagald...!]

Lee Shin-Woo hadn't even said anything, but Metafel opened his eyes wide and yelled furiously. At that moment, he felt a tremor under his feet. It wasn’t on Lee Shin-Woo's side, but Metafel’s.

[You..!?]

Realizing Lee Shin-Woo must have done something, Metafel leapt from the cliff towards Lee Shin-Woo, but before he could get to him, five giant shields blocked his path. Metafel's helmet crashed into the shields.

[Kuhahk!?]

The thick and durable shields blocked Metafel's advance, as well as his and his subordinates’ vision. A-Another trick! Metafel thought as he swung his axe in anger to free himself from the shields. With a single blow, the shields cracked.

[Kuaaaaaaah!]

There's no way you can get away from me! I'll break this damn wall and chase after you...! His thoughts, however, were interrupted when the five shields blew up simultaneously.

[Kahat!?]

Metafel was the one hit by the explosion, yet the ones screaming were the two level 7 elites that followed him. The narrow hill that had been shaking began to crumble under the impact of the explosion!

[Kuaahk!]

[General, please hold on! The entire cliff is collapsing...!]

There was no way Metafel would be hurt by the explosion or the resulting earthquake, but he couldn't fly, and he was losing his foothold.

Metafel, his elites, as well as his soldiers who had hastily followed him in their pursuit of Lee Shin-Woo all fell off the cliff. Of course, this was all the Giants' doing.

[Keuk, how disgraceful...!]

[General, are you alright!?]

[W-Where is he!?]

Despite him falling several kilometers down, Metafel and his level 7 elites were unharmed. Of course, there were a few elites that had died, but they were just expendables that could be replenished at any time.

[General, I can't find him...!]

[Did you lose him!?]

[I-I'm so sorry!]

It would be impossible for them to find Lee Shin-Woo again, as they had lost time from the explosion and had dropped several kilometers below the cliff.

Moreover, they were now stuck between two cold, icy cliffs. No matter how much they strained themselves to look up, they couldn't even begin to figure out which direction the Giants and Lee Shin-Woo had run off in.

[In a single instant… It was definitely an organized operation. Anti-Skull... To think those damn bastards and the Giants had formed an alliance! Even the frozen Titan's Heart...!]

[You don't need to worry so much, General.]

His loyal soldier, Setoin Miletus, calmed him down. Setoin was always on his side and could get through any adversity with his archery. He was the only one amongst Metafel's troops that hadn't been tricked by Lee Shin-Woo's Instigate and had instead tried to put a stop to the chaos.

[There's a tracking function on the magical device. The Archmage anticipated something like this could happen, and gave us a separate device that would allow us to track its location. Unlike the compass, which only points us to the right direction, this device will tell us the exact location of the compass!]

[Ha... As expected of the Archmage. He makes it so I don't have to feel embarrassed about my mistake!]

Metafel had been indifferent about the Archmage, Feotane Von Seldin, but he suddenly had a newfound respect for the man. If the skeleton and the Giants had taken the magical device with them and returned to their base, Metafel and his troops could use this opportunity to get them all in one fell swoop!

[Alright. Let's get back. We'll begin our pursuit immediately, right after we've re-organized the troops. Let's show those careless bastards what it means to anger the Empire!]

[I understand, General!]

Metafel gritted his teeth as he sensed the general direction the Giants and Lee Shin-Woo had run off in. Before becoming one of the twelve generals, Metafel had fought in countless battles, but this would remain as one of his most humiliating experiences.

[How dare he? How dare he screw me over like this... I'll show you how much of a mistake it is to anger me, the Mercenary King...!]

By using the magical device that the Archmage had given Setion to track them, he would kill them all: the one who had stolen the magical device from him, as well as those Giants!

...And thus began the arduous journey of the 50,000 troops under Metafel's command.