Lee Shin-Woo had successfully stolen the compass—it was a [Lv6 Mana Guide]—and gotten away from Metafel. He then told the Giants to get ready for their next mission. After that, they used a giant cave near their domain as their command center.

Because the outskirts of their domain was quite a ways away, it wouldn’t make a good base of operations.

"Wow, it's deep. And this chill..."

"It'll be worse if you go outside."

This cave, on the other hand, allowed the Giants to communicate whenever they pleased and was situated in a place that would be difficult for the enemy to find. Therefore, Lee Shin-Woo planned on gathering his subordinates here.

"It's really nice."

"I thought you'd say something like that."

To be honest, there was another reason Lee Shin-Woo hadn't set up the command center directly inside the Giants' domain. It was because of Kratia.

Under the influence of his Command, his undead subordinates had long overcome their instinctual hatred for the living. However, the Giants had merely acknowledged Lee Shin-Woo rather than pledged their loyalty to him. There was no reason to provoke them by letting them see Kratia.

“Took you long enough,” Jin spoke up sullenly. “What have you two been doing?”

Lee Shin-Woo had used Bone Gate to go find Kratia and then bring her over to the cave, the ad hoc command center. Ever since he realized that the Bone Gate evolved the more bones it ate, Lee Shin-Woo had had no qualms feeding it bones. Jin was reasonably annoyed about being left behind due to the Bone Gate's maximum capacity.

"You'll be surprised. Can’t you tell? This blinding and brilliant bone compass...!"

"...Is this what you were telling me about?” Jin asked. “Did you shrink it... Huh?"

Lee Shin-Woo extracted a few small compasses from his inventory like he had been waiting for Jin to say that.

They were very different from the original compass in size, but they looked so similar that one would believe it if Lee Shin-Woo said he'd shrunk down the original. Kratia gave an explanation from the side.

"The compass turned into bone because of Shin-Woo’s Bone Reinforcement, which also made it easier to analyze. Despite being split into six pieces, each of them is still a level 6 artifact. The effect is the same. Only the rage has decreased by a little."

"That was possible...?"

Originally, the Mana Guide was an artifact that could cover Metafel's entire army. Kratia studied the artifact with Lee Shin-Woo and split it into several pieces.

It wasn't easy, of course, but she had improved her crafts during her study of Huginn's Eye. Combined with Lee Shin-Woo's magic, they created the Mana Guide's new form.

"You can resist spatial magic with it."

"Anyway, I should give one to each of the Pauls' leaders."

Lee Shin-Woo would give one compass to Kratia, keep one for himself, and the rest would go to Shino Rendu, Chi Paul, Bester Moon, and the group of Golems. If the Archmage knew about this, he'd hit the floor wailing.

Why, one might ask. Well…

"We didn't completely remove the tracking function; the enemy forces would surely fall into chaos."

"It must feel like looking for the scattered dragon balls..."

His satisfying monologue was interrupted by Jin.

"I know about Dragon Ball!"

"I suppose there was a similar comic in your world too."

"Shin-Woo, you won't always be able to use that excuse to get away with things!"

Lee Shin-Woo did his best to ignore Jin's heated gaze before passing a few compasses to Rem. He heard a report that his subordinates would arrive soon.

"Come back after you've passed them around. While you're at it, find out where the general’s main forces are."

[Understood.]

By the time Lee Shin-Woo was done seeing Rem off and turned around, Kratia was already analyzing things around the cave. Then again, Kratia would be curious about the great flow of mana that hid the mountain range, the overwhelming cold, and the Giant Tribe.

"Kratia, I've already told you before. You mustn’t provoke the Giants."

"I'll leave the Giants to you, Shin-Woo. I'm interested in the cold."

"The cold is probably connected to the Giants."

"Huh...?" Kratia tilted her head and threw herself into her study, but quickly realized that Lee Shin-Woo was right.

"The center of the Giants' domain...is the source of the cold."

"Metafel called it the Frozen Titan's Heart."

"You're saying that a single item caused all this? Freezing the entire mountain range?"

"Probably."

"Oooh...!" Kratia's eyes glittered. Lee Shin-Woo knew she was silently asking him for something. Still, he couldn't possibly bring her the Titan's Heart.

"Be patient for now. And even if we do get it, it won’t be yours."

"But it's an artifact that really, really suits me! It really, really, really, suits me!"

Kratia grabbed both of his hands. Lee Shin-Woo had thought of a way he could use the frozen Titan's Heart, but...he supposed he had to throw out some bait. He put on a benevolent smile and said, "I'll give it to you afterwards. I promise."

Kratia snorted and agreed to cooperate for the 'big picture' for now; she started taking control over the surrounding cold.

As she was able to use ice magic, the colder her surroundings got, the more powerful her magic became. It was the same for Lee Shin-Woo's lightning; in an area filled to the brim with lightning, his element would be even stronger. Moreover, Kratia was able to use Catalyst Magic to influence her surroundings...

"It's tremendous. Perhaps this area was a battlefield created for me alone."

"Yeah, yeah."

"Grrraaaaa...!"

Kratia ran across the snowy fields with her orb, which had gotten even smaller than before. Lee Shin-Woo couldn't help but laugh. It was like watching a little kid run wild, but the way the environment changed wherever she went was a little scary.

She was attempting to put the entire area's mana under her control. The shocking thing was it was actually working!

"...If we were to fight here, Kratia might be our greatest asset."

"Even so, don't get careless… Someone like her is rare."

"Of course. I got through that pandemonium too, remember?"

Lee Shin-Woo nodded. They'd managed to outsmart Metafel once, but the plan could’ve failed if Lee Shin-Woo fell short even a little. That just proved how great their opponent was.

Metafel's Command is the worst match for my Instigate. Even if I can trick his troops, it won’t last very long. No, it might not even work a second time.

During their previous encounter, Metafel had proven with his impressive strength that he had more than earned his post; he didn’t just get lucky in a card game. Not to mention, his skill to command his troops was even more impressive than his strength! Lee Shin-Woo's Instigate, which shone the most when facing an army, was therefore rendered useless. That was a pain in the ass in multiple ways.

Moreover, according to Shino Rendu, Metafel's true strength lay in a Ghoul's innate ability, which he had yet to use...

Plus, his subordinates are no joke...

There was an even bigger problem: the unexpected presence of powerful elites. Especially his level 7 elite guard, Setoin Miletus.

Lee Shin-Woo had never run into a high-level archer like Setoin. The undead had at the minimum High Rank Archery, allowing him to attack from long range with unbelievable precision and ferocity. Lee Shin-Woo had managed to dodge the arrows because of Jin's exceptional agility, but the level 7 Giant who'd been hit in the forearm was still complaining about its wound despite its size.

"If you take all of that into account, it's not a battle that can be won with wit alone."

"Yeah. That's why I brought Kratia over. Moreover..."

Lee Shin-Woo nodded in satisfaction after locating Metafel through Rem. He had split the general’s troops into dozens of smaller groups, and they were wandering around the mountain range.

If a single, unified army was too powerful to face, all one needed to do was split it up! Even now, the moving corps didn't realize that they were getting increasingly far from one another. It was all because the compass that had been blocking the mana interference was gone! Once they found a trace of Lee Shin-Woo, they moved towards it; the more they moved towards that trace, the further they got from each other, leaving them isolated!

[Paul Zero, we’re here.]

[Paul Zero, we’re here as well. We were spotted by heroes halfway through, so we had to take a detour, but...]

[As per your instructions, Master, the Golems are opening a path.]

[Paul Zero, we've come to stomp on any insects who follow the Emperor's command!]

As if it was all part of his plan, Lee Shin-Woo’s subordinates reported to him at that moment. They were all at least level 6 elites. Lee Shin-Woo planned out how they, Kratia, and the Giants would move, and a grin spread on his skeletal face. He had many forces on his side, as well as precise information. He didn't think he'd lose at this point.

"Rem, hurry up."

[I've found our comrades. I will now begin handing out the items.]

The level 7 Wolf Avenger, Bester Moon's force consisted of 50 level 4 and higher Pauls.

The level 6 Undead Avenger, Shino Rendu's force consisted of 50 Pauls as well.

The level 7 Chimera Avenger, Chi Paul's force consisted of 31 level 6 Chi Pauls.

And finally, the Emerald Corps consisted of 10 Silver Golems and 200 Dark Emerald Bone Golems!

They had all received a compass from Rem and entered the mountain range. There were some who didn't possess Ice Resistance and were thus weakened as they entered, but the enemy forces would be similarly hindered. It wasn't too big a deal.

Plus, I've prepared something for that as well.

Three hours later, his subordinates had quickly scaled the mountain and arrived in front of the command center. Lee Shin-Woo then laid down hundreds of bones in front of them. His subordinates watched vacantly as he did so. He explained his actions kindly.

"These are the bones of monsters which had previously inhabited this area. If you each pick one up, it'll make you stronger. If you don't get Ice Resistance from that, you'll be hunting until you do."

"Shin... Paul Zero, you're really scary."

Half of his troops received Beginner Ice Resistance or higher from the absorption, but before they could go on to fight the Imperial Army, they would need to hunt the monsters inhabiting the mountain range and grow stronger through reinforcement.

Before night fell, all of Paul Zero’s troops had gained at least level 5 Beginner Ice Resistance.

"It seems like you're all ready for battle."

[Of course.]

[As you command, Master.]

[Thank you very much...for giving me this opportunity, Paul Zero.]

Lee Shin-Woo looked at the assembled undead before him and the goblin fire filled with death energy burning in their eye sockets. Shino Rendu was especially formidable among them. Lee Shin-Woo suddenly wondered how he had come to lead all of these troops, but soon grinned and discarded that useless thought.

"As I've already told you, our enemy's strong. And there are many of them. But we should be able to sow chaos in their ranks… This is for the Giants, who may become our comrades in the future. Be prepared for death, but don't die."

[Roger that!]

"Paul Zero... You really are cool."

"Humph!"

Everything was now in place. All they had to do was execute their plan.

As his subordinates yelled vigorously, Lee Shin-Woo imagined the moment he would prove his 'pride' to the Giants and how they would react. A wicked laugh escaped his mouth.

"Good. Shall we begin?"

Finally, the curtain had been drawn; they would go after one of the twelve generals in earnest.

In a place unknown, most secretly and splendidly.