Metafel had left behind other loot aside from the bones, including a red, flaming greatsword. The blade was both wide and long and looked quite crude, but its sharpness and sinister aura could instill fear in any who caught a glance.

[Eater's Flame Greatsword]

[Lv6]

[Durability: 2,350/2,350]

[Attack Power: 1,400 - 1,950]

[Element: Fire Lv6]

[Options: Strength + 70, Magic + 40]

[Special Passive Skill: Fire Eater - Absorbs all fire-related energy.]

[Special Active Skill: Countercurrent - Once it reaches its maximum capacity, the fire energy is concentrated in a single point and amplified before getting discharged.]

Why would an Eater who didn't use fire drop a level 6 fire artifact? Lee Shin-Woo wondered, but once he looked through the artifact's skills, he understood.

Fire Eater. Lee Shin-Woo thought back to Metafel, who had refused to give up on devouring his flames until the very end. His regrets and will were instilled in this artifact; no wonder the weapon would be so extraordinary.

"I got a weapon I can use when I'm a Titan."

"I'd like to see you use it,” said Kratia. “but we'll have to wait another 60 days."

Jin chimed in, "I’m afraid that you may reach level 8 within those 60 days, Shin-Woo. Aren't your total stats close to 9,000 now?"

"Even if I become level 8, it doesn't change the fact that the Titan's a powerful weapon. And if we can remodel it..."

"I’m actually scared that you didn't deny you’d level up in 60 days!" Jin yelled.

Lee Shin-Woo grinned and calmly absorbed the loot. His strength and magic went up, and the Eater's Flame Greatsword was recorded in his Bone Armory.

He had thought his Bone Armory would level up afterward, but it seemed there was still some way to go. As expected, level 10 was a significant milestone for a skill. Bemused, he turned around and declared, "Let's get out of this mountain range now. There's no reason for us to stay here any longer."

[Yes sir!]

The ice curse had been lifted. Overtime, the ice would slowly melt, and the mana's spatial distortions would fade… When that happened, the Archmage would begin to wonder why Metafel hadn't returned even after such a dramatic change had taken place, and he was likely to come investigate personally.

Even if I could summon the Titan again, I think he's still out of my league.

Lee Shin-Woo didn't know if he could escape the Archmage's spatial magic even with the Titan, and he couldn't picture himself landing a meaningful blow on the Archmage.

Moreover, crushing the Archmage’s body wouldn’t be enough; the actual container holding his life force was hidden somewhere in the Empire! When Lee Shin-Woo considered the fact that he'd have to look for said container, he realized that beating the Archmage was still a ways away.

If I want to take him down, I'll have to be really prepared. I'll ask my seniors about it later.

Of course, that relied on them overcoming the approaching danger first. Lee Shin-Woo gathered his troops and got out of Perlin Elta before finally leaving behind the gradually melting glacial mountains.

[We're finally leaving...]

[Arogan.]

The Titans were mournful about leaving the mountains that had been their base since their death, but...their purpose lay in Lee Shin-Woo, not in the past or in legends. They knew that if they remained here, they would be living with misfortune and unhappiness.

[Don't look so sad. We’re stepping forward into the future! Everyone, raise your weapons! Take out the rocks!]

[Hoo... Huaaaaaahp!]

They pushed all their regrets into their hands and broke apart the mountains as they followed Lee Shin-Woo. The Titans’ strength was truly extraordinary. Their fists shook the ground, and the sound of their punches rang through the air. The crumbling snow-covered mountain, the warming snowy fields... Lee Shin-Woo felt refreshed seeing the landscapes being transformed.

"Wait, why are they breaking everything?" Jin asked in shock.

"They're erasing all traces of us having been here,” Lee Shin-Woo explained. “It's best to not only ensure that our enemies are uncertain of what happened, but also make the aftermath seem worse than what it is."

"They sure are energetic."

Kratia was the only one closely watching the Titans breaking the mountains, her eyes shining brightly. She seemed to have found her next object of study after the Huginn's Eye. The magic lasting for centuries had transformed humans into Giants. Of course she would be interested in it.

"If we pick up the right materials, I think we can make another Titan Golem by using that unique mana pattern," said Kratia.

"Wait, we just went through all that trouble to restore the Titan. What do you mean by 'make another one'...? More importantly, how's the Huginn's Eye?"

"Mm, I don't think I've made much progress yet. I brought it with me. Do you want to take a look?"

Kratia took the Huginn's Eye out of her robe. Lee Shin-Woo didn’t think it had changed appearance wise, but then she explained that she had a lot of success limiting the item to track only Golems.

"I can limit it to only living people or undead as well. I only figured that out after studying how one can limit its targets."

"Too many would be included even if it’s limited to track only undead."

"I might be able to make it focus on high rank undead level 7 or higher if everything goes well. Then I suppose I'll start working on expanding its search range."

"What!?"

We would be able to track only undead level 7 and higher? Aside from me and Paul Zero Corps, the only ones meeting the criteria are the twelve generals and Steves!

Lee Shin-Woo knew that the Huginn's Eye could differentiate between species, but hadn't known that it could tell levels as well. He was shocked enough as he was, but then Kratia said it might not be too difficult to adjust its scope as long as she could reproduce a hero’s ability to estimate stats and gauge the density of mana. Wouldn't that be bordering on the goddess’s domain!?

[The information network is functioning properly as well. If you remodel me, I should be able to modify the artifact myself.]

"Oooh!"

If that happens, it would be much more effective than following Arema Steelworker's movements. Moreover, if Lee Shin-Woo could divide the Huginn’s Eye and use them according to the situation...

"That's really cool..."

"I think I can guess what you're imagining right now, Shin-Woo..."

"In any case, we're still researching on that front, and we've made good progress in limiting its scope to Golems. It's paramount that we figure out how to use the excess energy to increase the search range. Nevertheless, even though it's a level 8 item, I don't think it'll work just yet. I'll add more materials and remodel it later."

It seemed that Kratia had learned much in the process of restoring the Titan Golem. Thus she was feeling more confident in improving the artifact. She was so trustworthy!

Lee Shin-Woo would've expressed his happiness to Kratia if he could, but decided against it since Jin, who was preoccupied with Kratia, would get pissed at him.

"I'll leave that to you. We'll probably get a chance to use it in the field soon."

"You still haven't contacted that senior?" asked Jin.

"Now that you mention it, I think it's time I check in on them."

"But Shin-Woo, are you going to keep these guys with you?"

Jin was referring to the troops. He had thought Lee Shin-Woo would send his troops away once they left the mountain range, but Lee Shin-Woo had instead instructed Jin to move slow enough that they could keep up.

"Mm, well..."

"I'd really like to start running now..."

"Just wait a little while longer. I'm thinking right now."

"About...?"

As if he had been waiting for Jin to ask the question, Lee Shin-Woo explained readily, "I've been thinking about this. It became clear to me when I accepted a portion of Metafel's troops and the Titans that...I can't keep them hidden anymore."

"...Yeah, that's true."

Metafel's defected troops amounted to 3,000, and each and every Titan stood out too much to be overlooked. Unlike the Golems, the Titans had to live with their large size; they had no means of miniaturizing their bodies.

"I’ve made my subordinates move around in small teams thus far, but I have too many troops for that to be a viable option anymore. Even so, I can't just keep them holed up in a safe base. If I don't use them, I'll be losing out on my investment."

"So...?"

"I'll have a few teams of elites like I’ve done before, but the rest I’ll keep as a big army."

That was quite a rational decision... Actually, it was the only possible decision with the army growing as much as it had. Lee Shin-Woo knew this would happen eventually. That was why he had been seeking an item like Huginn's Eye.

"What if they're spotted by a hero?"

"Normally, heroes wouldn't choose to fight them."

"Shin-Woo, so you do realize you're not a normal hero yourself..."

If it were Lee Shin-Woo, he would've agonized over the amount of level 7 elites among his enemies, but he'd charge in and sow chaos before retreating with the spoils of the battle.

Jin’s words hit a little close to home, but Lee Shin-Woo continued, "The twelve generals are the problem. Because of them, I’ve been hiding my forces for as long as I could, but...when you think about it the other way, commanding such a huge army would make for a great bait for the twelve generals."

"Only you would think about it like that, Shin-Woo."

"You have already killed two of the twelve generals. The other heroes are just cowards."

"Right."

Lee Shin-Woo's goblin fire intensified. He always looked like that when he was being serious.

"I think Paul Zero will meet with the heroes soon."

"You're going to try?"

"Yeah. Since I'll have to do it eventually."

He was still bothered by what Lee Man-Bok had told him, but even so, he had to at least make an attempt. To Lee Shin-Woo, nothing good could come out of maintaining the three-way stalemate.

"But Lee Man-Bok's concerns had merit, so I'll have to approach them as cordially as possible."

"How?"

"As reinforcements."

"!?"

If an undead suddenly showed up in front of the heroes as they enjoyed their peaceful days, asking, 'Can I hang out with you too?' the heroes would definitely be alerted.

But if they were struggling against one of the twelve generals, and his righteous undead army suddenly showed up to save them... No heroes would rally the group to kill them too without thinking, would they? Even if there were heroes like that, wouldn't they focus on killing one of the twelve generals first?

"If we fight on the same battlefield on the same side, it’ll be less likely for them to attack us. That's how we'll gradually change their perception of us."

"But how are you going to make such a convenient situation for yourself?"

"Normally, it would be hard, but we have Ethan Cruz, don't we?"

"..."

Jin was speechless, and Kratia silently applauded. It boggled the mind how many birds Lee Shin-Woo was going to kill with the one stone that was Ethan Cruz.

"We already know how Ethan Cruz thinks. Who knows, he might've allied himself with one of the twelve generals already. If that's the case, it’s all the more reason for him to put the heroes in a difficult situation.Think about it. That's when we’ll show up! What happens after the Paul Zero Corps comes in to save the day?"

"Shin-Woo...have you ever lost before?"

"I have. When I was negotiating with the goddess and got stuck in an undead body."

"..."

Honestly, that wasn't so much a negotiation as stubbornness. Nodding, Lee Shin-Woo thought back to that conversation and calmly assessed himself.

Back then, he'd tried his best to remain level-headed, but he had just died and come face to face with a deity. Moreover, he would have to fight an Empire ruled by undead as a hero; all the factors piled up to prevent him from staying calm. All things considered, he thought he did pretty well back then.

"It's a good thing you're not our enemy, Shin-Woo..."

"I feel bad for Ethan Cruz."

While Jin and Kratia muttered, Lee Shin-Woo came to a decision and announced, "Let's practice moving as a corps."

"How?"

"We're going to charge into a level 3 danger zone. Wouldn't it be cool if we split the army into two and conquer two regions at the same time?"

"..."

"Why don't you just split your troops into five and attack, making a cute star on the map or something?"

"Oh, that's a good idea."

"..."

It was almost time for the 'Paul Zero Corps' to spread their name far and wide throughout the Empire.