Two minutes had passed since they began to fight in earnest. The Beast General, who had transformed into a Thorn Werewolf, was taking hit after hit from the two heroes.

"Begone!"

"Huoooooh!"

[Thorn... Kuaaahk! Interrupting my technique? Impossible!]

The Beast General was able to keep attacking while mending himself by controlling his bones, but the two heroes would always break his bones immediately after! Like a lightning storm, Retadane and Lee Shin-Woo attacked him relentlessly as one.

[You bastards are... Kuahk! I am...! Kuahk! I'll kill you with my own hands... Kehehk!]

"Huooooh!"

"How dare you turn my seniors into undead? I'll never forgive you!"

'Yes, what lively acting.'

Retadane tightened her grip around her flail, attacking like a berserker while making a strange battle cry. Lee Shin-Woo covered the many openings she left while making big swings, and together, they pushed the Beast General back. He continued to act as though he were a hero with a strong sense of duty. Jin nonchalantly took in his performance, knowing full well what Lee Shin-Woo was doing.

"Senior, I'll go a bit faster!"

"Alright... Let's make sure we kill him here and now!"

Unfortunately for the Beast General, their attacks intensified as time went by; the reason was simple: while the two of them had never fought together before, they had observed each other’s techniques and movements in battle, and were thus able to fight together with more precision! The fact that they could move as one after only a short period of time proved just how talented they were.

[Die!]

The Beast General realized that things would become unfavorable for him at this rate, and he threw punches after punches anxiously. His skeletal fists covered in bone thorns instantly swelled in size before he made a swing at Retadane!

"Oh no you don't!"

However, she didn't back off an inch and took his attack head on. Her flail, infused with her light magic, clashed with his fist, triggering an explosion!

The light was so intense that it would blind even a high-level hero, albeit for a short period of time. And the light was expanding in scope. Nevertheless, Lee Shin-Woo could move and make decisions without sight, so he boldly charged into the diffused light and swung his sword.

"Heup!"

[Keuk!?]

Although the Beast General's multi-layered bone armor had offset the majority of his swing, a lightning bolt then discharged from the blade, striking the Beast General's main body. It was indeed an attack befitting the name of Breath of the Lightning God. However...

...Huh?

The moment his attack worked, a chill ran down Lee Shin-Woo’s spine, and he stood still; he hadn’t felt any resistance whatsoever. The Beast General had used the force of the strike to push himself backwards and retreat.

To escape? No way. Even if he tried to run, the Beast General wouldn't be able to get away from Retadane and Lee Shin-Woo on such a crowded battlefield. He was probably just trying to buy a bit of time. Yeah...about 2 seconds worth.

[That really hurt... Let me return the favor!]

With the 2 seconds he'd bought, Jilun Pelta attacked with his most powerful skill. The bone thorns all over his body dropped to the floor, as if he were connecting to the planet itself.

[This is the power of the Beast General! Bear witness and die!]

Immediately after, thousands or even hundreds of thousands of sharp, very sharp bone thorns sprouted from the ground simultaneously, each running five meters long. The Beast General had created a perfect enclosure so that none of them could escape!

They weren't simple thorns. Each and every one contained a high concentration of darkness magic, and they wickedly drew one in to stab or bind them. This was the Beast General's—now a Thorn Wolf—most powerful technique. And he called it...

[Garden of Thorns...!]

"Tch!"

If Retadane were level 7, she might've died then and there. Regardless of how powerful the thorns were, their speed alone was overwhelmingly impressive, and the area of effect was much too wide!

However, as a level 8 hero, she was able to perceive and dominate the mana around her. The moment she sensed a bizarre mana coming from under her, she created a light shield and was able to protect herself.

Light magic was the magic of severing. The moment the thorns touched the shield, their link to the Beast General was severed; they then returned to pure mana and dispersed in the air. The thorns that hadn't touched the shield attempted to surround her, but those were also taken care of soon after.

[Kuaht!?]

Her light magic worked on Jilun Pelta's main body as well, causing him to stumble. For just a moment, his eyes were filled with fright. Lee Shin-Woo realized then that light magic was indeed the most frightening type of magic for all undead—no, to all beings that existed. On the other hand, Retadane seemed relaxed.

"Did you really think you'd be able to hurt me with that?"

[Retadane, your power's not a good match for mine. But that’s fine. I’ve at least taken your companion down. No matter how much you struggle, you won't be able to best me... Huh?]

That was right. The Beast General hadn’t been trying to kill Retadane, but to resolve the unfavorable 2-on-1 situation by taking down the weaker of the pair in his eyes, the level 7 Lee Shin-Woo!

When a hero died, they would be resurrected as an undead, making it a 2-on-1 fight in his favor. That was what he had expected to happen, at least, but when he looked for Lee Shin-Woo...

[He's not there...?]

"...I guess he was able to get out in one piece."

No matter how great her light magic was, Retadane wasn't skilled enough to cover both herself and Lee Shin-Woo in that split second. Because of that, she had been nervous that she might've lost a comrade, but now that she got a chance to look around, she realized that Lee Shin-Woo was gone.

He was definitely influencing the mana around him with his breathing before... I don't know how that's even possible with a level 7 body, but it didn’t surprise me that he was able to sense the incoming attack and avoid it.

Indeed, it was possible for one to avoid the Beast General's attack, but once trapped inside the area of effect, one could only do so for so long. Lee Shin-Woo must have reached that exact conclusion and retreated before he got caught.

It was a smart move. The giant thorns had created an isolated battlefield like a zone magic, and the effects of the Garden of Thorns were still active. If Lee Shin-Woo had hung around, he would've been caught by the giant thorns sooner or later and gotten in her way. He had actually helped her by getting out in time.

It kind of bothers me that I'm taking all the credit when we fought him together, but...I suppose I just need to pay him back for all that he did.

Retadane finished organizing her thoughts and gripped her flail. Her light magic had completely encased the iron mace, and its size doubled. She had been using her mana during the battle, but she still had enough to defeat the Beast General, who had been battered and now exhausted much of his mana to use his most powerful technique.

"You look tired, Jilun Pelta."

[You do too... Don’t you know? You were only able to hit me with that crude iron mace because of that man. What do you plan on doing now that he’s run away?]

"Hoo… I'll show you."

Retadane completely ignored Jilun Pelta's foolish taunt and closed in on him. The Beast General was inwardly screaming, fearful of her light magic, but on the outside, he put on a calm expression and managed to block her attack. However...

Kwajik!

[...Huh?]

"...?"

It happened instantaneously...faster than the activation of the Beast General's Garden of Thorns. Neither Jilun Pelta nor Retadane know how it happened, but they could definitely see the end result...

All the thorns that comprised the Garden of Thorns simultaneously struck Jilun Pelta. It was truly a horrifying sight for dozens, hundreds, even thousands of thorns to turn on their master.

[What...happened...?]

Jilun Pelta shook. He tried to control the thorns and extract them from his body, but for some reason, it didn't work. It was truly bizarre. He was definitely the one who created these thorns, so why were they disobeying him? Why were they attacking not his enemies, but him? Moreover...

[Why are they even stronger than before...?]

"Keuk!?"

Retadane felt a fleeting chill in the air and quickly backed off. It was a wise decision, for the bone thorns that had stabbed the Beast General soon blew up all at once! The impact shook heaven and earth, causing Retadane to lose her balance and fall.

It was such a loud boom that anyone on the battlefield would've heard it. And a concise message that explained what had happened soon followed.

[You have defeated a member of the twelve generals, the Lv7 Beast General Jilun Pelta! All contributing heroes have acquired 30,000,000 Perium, and all stats have increased by 100. You have acquired 10 permits to Goddess’s Secret Shop. Proficiency in all combat related skills has increased dramatically!]

"How is this possible?"

It was the clearest evidence that Jilun Pelta was dead. However, despite her succeeding in taking down one of the twelve generals for the first time since becoming a hero, she wasn't overcome with happiness, but fear.

"What just happened...?"

The Beast General had been ambushed by his own thorns, and then there was the following explosion. She hadn't done any of that. That meant someone else had killed the Beast General with her none the wiser despite her proximity.

She couldn't stop the irrational fear and insistent curiosity. Whoever did this was unlikely to be a hero. There wasn't anyone among them who could do such a thing. It would be impossible for even Ethan Cruz to pull off.

Then who was it? Who would've been able to secretly blow up the Beast General, and why would someone who wasn't a hero do such a thing?

"...Could it be?"

At that moment, a name came to her mind. A name she had learned recently and heard quite often. An undead who attacked other undead, who led a formidable corps and possessed boundless strength...

"The Heaven Defying General."

She muttered silently and shuddered. It was an assumption made without a shred of evidence, but the moment she voiced it, she was sure that it must be them. The Heaven Defying General must've caught a whiff of the battle and intervened!

I'm scared. I'm really scared... But…

It didn't change the fact that she would kill them, so long as they were undead. No matter how strong they were, what their character was, or even if she had some sort of deep relationship with them in the past!

"No matter what."

She gritted her teeth and forced her weary body to stand up. Now wasn't the time to space out. She had to first collect the loot the Beast General dropped and then rejoin the battle.

Retadane ran over to the center of the explosion site. Because so much mana had exploded, no other monsters approached. Were they instinctively afraid? In that case, they weren't much different from her. Retadane sneered and checked the loot.

The Beast General had dropped a level 5 artifact and tens of millions of Perium, but aside from that, nothing else was there.