No matter how weak it was, a monster inflicted fear on people. Although a monster’s strength and cunningness depended on the type of species it was, all monsters shared the commonality of cruelty. Seeing humans as food was just its basic nature, and they were capable of far greater evils. Even weaker monsters traveled in groups or used various methods to overcome their weakness when attacking. Thus, people couldn’t simply overlook them. The fact that their enemies were monsters instead of humans unconsciously affected the mercenaries’ morale.

Yet, the shocking event shook the foundation of fear firmly rooted in their human brains since birth. It started with a gigantic spell. A fireball as big as a house appeared and began burning the terrifying monsters in one sweep. Most of the mercenaries had never seen magic in their lives. Thus, when they saw a spell that they had only seen in storybooks when they were children, they were overwhelmed with immense shock. Simultaneously, big hope arose in their hearts that they would be able to win this battle if such a great mage was with them. 

However, that wasn’t the end of their hope. Three people suddenly jumped down the castle walls. Not many actually witnessed the three go down, but it didn’t take long for the other mercenaries to notice their existence. There was one person swinging a strange-looking sword that looked like a tree branch and crushed the monsters like they were rotten blocks of wood. Another one sliced the monsters in half with a sword that poured out light. The last one carried a fearsome creature who flipped the ground upside down and suffocated the monsters. Although monsters were rushing towards them from everywhere, it didn’t seem like they were being pushed back at all. Instead, they seemed to be at ease as they fought. It was as if they were watching heroes right out of storybooks. 

Crash!

Magic shot down over the monsters once again. There wasn’t only one person using magic. Next to the mage who cast the first burst of magic, they saw another mage. Although her spell appeared weaker than the first mage’s, the magic she used also had no problem burning down the monsters.

‘My goodness.’ Til clicked his tongue as he watched the scene below the castle walls. He was at a loss for words because of the unbelievable sight in front of him. 

From the beginning, Til was happy to meet Zich and his companions. Although their first meeting hadn’t been ideal, the situation was resolved well; these days, the group even played with his son often. Til had boundless love for his son, so he naturally began to think well of Zich’s group. Even Nick changed his attitude after hearing that Zich and his companions played with his daughter frequently even though he had seen Zich scornfully during their arguments. Even though Til and Nick often argued because of their conflicting ideals for the future, they both loved their children dearly. 

Of course, this wasn't the only reason that Til welcome Zich and his companion’s presence. Zich had the title of Karuwiman Honorary Holy Knight. It was a title that couldn’t be ignored by any means—not because of the title’s value, but the skills that followed it, which his underlings could witness. Thus, if Zich and his companions joined his group, they would be much more advantageous in this battle. Til became more convinced of this belief after seeing the spell that one of Zich’s companion’s shot. Although Til had experienced many things and seen a couple of mages, had never witnessed such amazing magic. 

Til had strong hopes. He could win this battle while minimizing his losses. Yet, his mind became blank when he saw Zich and the other two jump down from the castle walls. He wondered what in the world they were thinking about. It made him wonder if a Karuwiman Honorary Holy Knight would commit suicide out of fear in this battle. Yet, what happened afterward made him utterly speechless. Just three people were swiping away a group of mostly large monsters. It wasn’t a battle but a one-sided ambush. The scene shocked Til to the point he stood staring absentmindedly when he had to give orders to his subordinates. Lyla finally woke him up from his dazed state.

“Aren’t you going to take command? There are monsters crawling from other places,” she calmly said while striking down with another spell.

As she said, the number of monsters trying to climb the castle walls was increasing. Although Zich and his companions had distracted a considerable number of monsters, there was an unimaginably great number of them. After quickly regaining his senses, Til began giving out orders.

“Archers, take your bows…!” Til started and shut his mouth. Lyla noticed that his eyes were on Zich, Hans, and Snoc.

“You don’t have to hesitate to shoot just because of those guys. They won’t be beaten just by aimless arrows.”

Now that he thought about it, it seemed foolish to even be worried about those three. Til gave the orders for his subordinates to shoot. Arrows flew across the castle walls. Although some fell where Zich and his companions were, they all deflected the arrows without even glancing at them. Feeling relieved from this, Til continued to give out orders to shoot. Other mercenaries poured hot water down the castle walls or dropped down large stones. However, that wasn’t enough to block all the monsters, and one or two began climbing up the walls with their hands. The mercenaries stabbed them with their weapons.

“Hmph!” Til’s giant swords severed the heads of three monsters who lifted their necks over the castle walls. From a distance away, Nick drilled holes into the monsters’ foreheads while Til was cracking the monsters’ heads with an axe. Supported and encouraged by Zich and his companions’ feats, the mercenaries had a much easier time defending the castle walls. 

The most noticeable part of the battle was Zich and his companions by far. Including the mercenaries close to the castle walls, even Pialu’s soldiers from far away witnessed their fight. They looked at Zich and his companions with admiring eyes, and of course, Glen was deeply displeased about the situation. 

‘Damn it!’ He cursed inside his mind. He felt annoyed that the soldiers looked at Zich and his companions with eyes full of admiration. Those eyes should be directed towards him—the noble hero. 

Yet, what was the situation like? The people standing out the most on this battlefield were Zich and his companions. If the battle ended like this, no one would remember him.

‘I’m also gonna go.’ This was the only way. Even though he wouldn’t be able to hoard all the attention, he would at least be able to gather all the remaining attention.

“Chelsea!”

“Yes!”

“You walk around and heal the injured soldiers.”

“What? What about you, Sir Glen?”

“Do you think I’ll receive an injury in a skirmish like this?”

“Hmm, unexpected occurrences can occur, so I don’t feel really comfortable about this, but I understand.”

“Pina!”

“Yeah.”

“You use your magic to help the soldiers.”

“Got it.” 

“I’ll be going down the wall.” Glen tightly held onto Tornium. 

Lara quickly tried to stop him. “It’s dangerous, Glen!” 

A woman who ignored his advice was annoying him—Glen glared at Lara. She had no choice but to close her mouth at his cold gaze.

“You think I won’t be able to do what they’re doing?”

“I-it’s not like that. Those people are fighting in a group. If you really want to, I can also go with y—”

“It’s fine.” Glen coldly cut off Lara’s words. “I can’t fight while protecting you.”

“You don’t need to protect me! I also have skills of my own ri—!”

“I said it’s fine.” Glen interrupted Lara again. 

“T-then what should I d—”

“Help the soldiers nearby.” After saying this, Glen jumped down the city wall. 

Lara stared at Glen’s departure with a dumbfounded expression. 

“…I’ll go first.” Pina seemed uncomfortable by the awkward silence as she held her staff and ran towards the front of the wall. 

“Ms. Browning, take care!” After Chelsea encouraged Lara with her trademark smirk (considering Chelsea’s personality, it was probably closer to mockery than encouragement), she went to the nearest soldier with injuries.

Lara was left by herself. Even though screams and shouts were everywhere and bloody battles between humans and monsters were going on all around her, she stood still as if she couldn’t feel anything. Fortunately, the time she spent in this state was not long. Even though the monsters had not landed on top of the walls yet, it was not a good idea to be dazed in the middle of battle. Lara took out her sword. Then, she stuck tightly to the front of the wall and swung her swords at all the monsters climbing up.

Slice! Her sword followed a clean trajectory and cut off an ogre’s neck. The ogre that lost its neck fell to the bottom of the wall.

Slice! Slice! Slice!

Lara continued swinging her sword. Every time she swung her sword, a monster lost its life. Lara’s sword style was extremely clean; it was not something to be taken lightly. It was to the extent that Zich even nodded and thought she was pretty good. However, Lara’s face was expressionless. She steadfastly cut off the monsters’ heads as if she was an emotionless machine.

*      *       *

The soldiers celebrated as they saw another person jump straight into the sea of monsters. Unlike Zich’s group which was made up of three people, the person was killing monsters by himself. Of course, since there was a difference in numbers and gaps in skills, Glen was unable to kill as many monsters as Zich’s group. However, the fact that he could survive after jumping straight into a sea of monsters was extremely impressive.

Lyla also stared at this sight. ‘Is that Glen Zenard?’ It seemed as if Glen jumped down because he didn’t want Zich to steal his spotlight. Lyla precisely guessed Glen’s inner thoughts.

‘Should I pretend it was an accident and shoot him once?’ The desire to shoot him with magic suddenly rose inside Lyla’s heart, but she forcibly repressed it. ‘He’s Zich’s prey, so I should just leave him be.’

Suddenly, Lyla felt a surge of mana next to her. Her gaze naturally headed in that direction.

Bam! A completed spell shot out and hit the monsters. A large fireball burned the monsters.

‘Hmm.’ Lyla stared at the person who cast the spell; the girl looked like she was around Elena’s age. It was Lyla’s first time seeing her, but she immediately thought of someone.

‘Zich said that Glen Zenard got new comrades.’ He definitely said one of the comrades was a mage from the magical tower in Sunewick, and her name was Pina Acous.

“…Acous?” Elena looked at the girl with wide eyes.

“It’s been a while, Dwayne.”

“Ah, yeah. It’s been a while.”

“You’re now able to use magic.”

“Yep.”

Pina stared at Elena’s staff. A strong flame was burning at the end of it. Even though Elena had stopped her incantation in surprise, there was no sign that the flame would disappear.

“You also learned incantation suspension?”

“Hmm? Ah, yep. I learned it from my teacher.” Pina’s gaze shifted towards Lyla. At the magical tower, Lyla was extremely famous and she was labeled as a genius magician. Like the rumors described her, she also possessed an unearthly beauty. 

Lyla said, “Hey, you two, catch up with each other later on. We need to finish off the monsters in front of us right now.”

“Ah, yes!” Elena shifted her gaze back to the front and used her magic. Pina watched this sight for a bit and then began attacking monsters again. 

The battle was reaching its end. Even though monsters continued to rush forward, the humans were not pushed back even a bit and killed all the monsters. When the sun slowly started to set, their long battle finally ended. In the end, humans won. At the bottom of the city wall, there were only dead monster corpses, and not a single monster was alive.

The soldiers let out their cheers. This was their way of celebrating their victory and surviving a harsh battle. Moreover, it was also a tribute to those who played significant roles and left a deep impression on everyone in this battle. These people were Zich and his companions and Glen—they stood between countless monsters as they back their weapons. Meanwhile, the other companions let out a small sigh on the top of the city wall. People looked at them with eyes full of admiration. 

The birth of the heroes was in full swing.