The Swamp Maidens (2)

Swish—

There was no warning.

Thwack!

In the blink of an eye, Dalen’s arm blurred, and the axe that had missed its mark suddenly found its target on the blood-stained face.

“Gah—!”

With a strangled cry, the blood-stained face fell backward.

As the divine power infused into the axe blade, the red lips let out a scream mixed with laughter.

“Heehee, hehe…”

The blood-stained face met its end with a twisted grin.

As its life finally ebbed away, the creature’s transparent body began to slowly reveal itself.

“What… what is that…?”

One of the agents muttered, while the squad leader beside him let out a deep sigh.

What appeared was a figure resembling a human.

Skin so pale it was almost ghostly, and a stature that seemed to belong to a young teenager.

Emaciated limbs, a small head, and hair cascading down past the hips.

At a glance, it could be mistaken for a pretty, albeit malnourished, girl.

“A ghost…?”

If not for the axe embedded in its head, the wide grin, and the mouth filled with flesh, along with the long, blood-stained claws.

“Don’t be afraid. It’s a swamp wraith, a type of monster.”

Sasha, who had emerged from the tent, reassured the agent.

The rest of the team, awakened by the sentry, quickly armed themselves and joined the fray.

“There’s more than one.”

Dalen, peering into the forest, spoke. Sasha immediately turned to the agents, raising her hand.

“Form a circle!”

“Yes, ma’am!”

In an instant, a circular formation surrounded the campfire.

Whether they were still groggy from sleep or had witnessed everything from the start, their movements were almost identical.

Their training was ingrained so deeply that they executed their actions regardless of their physical state.

As soon as the formation was set, the next command followed.

“The enemy has ethereal properties. Switch to silver bullets!”

Shick—click, click, click!

With swift hands, they replaced the lead bullets with silver ones.

Just as with the tentacle beast, silver bullets were the most effective against these foes.

Despite being on unfamiliar ground, Sasha’s ability to make such quick decisions was due to her thorough knowledge of the labyrinth’s environment and its monsters.

She had anticipated numerous scenarios and prepared responses for each, showcasing her expertise.

‘She didn’t earn her position as an executor for nothing.’

Dalen thought, observing the orderly response.

The training of the royal unit was a testament to the power of the royal family itself.

In this journey, Executor Sasha and the special forces repeatedly demonstrated the might of the Tsar’s nation, which had reached its peak under the current Tsarina’s rule.

‘If this mission concludes successfully, they could become a far greater asset than anticipated.’

While envisioning a future where they stood against the end, Dalen stood within the circle, quietly watching over the agents.

Rustle…

Movement was sensed deeper in the forest.

Though the creatures had transparent bodies, they couldn’t escape Dalen’s eyes, which pierced through the mystical.

Physical bodies and ethereal forms. The girls shifted between these states at will, traversing space.

With grins on their faces and eyes gleaming with madness.

“Heehee! Heeheehee!”

“Kyaaa!”

Their eerie laughter echoed among the shrubs. Dalen raised his hand to retrieve his axe.

Unlike the tentacle beast, these monsters couldn’t be defeated by mere brute force.

‘Swamp wraiths.’

Known among explorers as “Swamp Maidens,” these undead creatures were one of the greatest threats on the third floor of the labyrinth.

While their physical abilities weren’t overwhelmingly superior to other monsters, their innate sorcery allowed them to take on an ethereal form at will.

In that state, they could freely traverse the gaps between spaces.

‘To be precise, they can move freely between the spirit realm and the physical world.’

The spirit realm is a dimension that overlays the real world like a shadow.

It’s a sort of hidden world.

The most challenging aspect of dealing with swamp wraiths was their ability to hide in the spirit realm and launch surprise attacks.

“Heehee! Heeheehee!”

“Kyaaa!”

Dalen waited for that very reason.

Even he couldn’t pinpoint the location of a wraith in the spirit realm.

But to attack their prey in the real world, they had to reveal themselves.

And that moment was the perfect opportunity to strike.

Swish…

A silent tear in space.

“Heeheehee!”

The first sign was the laughter that spilled out.

The faint ripple in the air signified the wraith temporarily taking on a physical form.

Moreover, Dalen’s eyes, glowing with magical light, could clearly see not just the ripple but the wraith’s form.

Without hesitation, he reached out, thrusting his axe, flickering with holy fire, into the space between.

Swish—thwack!

A girl aiming for an agent’s neck was stopped as the axe handle appeared in her head.

Dalen quickly retrieved the axe. As soon as it was back in his hand, he threw it again. Meanwhile, Sienna chanted a spell.

“Nox, Pellerem! Obex!”

Crash!

Another wraith, lunging at an agent, was crushed between a protective barrier and a shock spell.

Just as Dalen used his mystical sight to locate them, Sienna used her keen magical sensitivity to roughly pinpoint their positions.

But the two of them alone couldn’t fend off all the attacks.

“Kyaaa!”

“Aaaargh!”

Before the axe could return, a wraith emerged from the opposite side, snatching an agent by the neck and disappearing.

Tat-tat-tat!

The special forces’ barrage followed, but the wraith had already vanished into the spirit realm with the agent.

Unlike Dalen or Sienna, the others couldn’t perceive the wraiths’ transparent bodies.

They could only guess their positions after being attacked.

“Heehee! Hahaha!”

“Hohoho!”

As if just beginning, sharp laughter echoed between the shrubs.

At this rate, they would be toyed with and lose agents one by one.

This battle wasn’t just about killing the enemy; it was about protecting their allies while driving the enemy away.

‘Damn it.’

Dalen’s mind raced.

There were typically three ways to deal with swamp wraiths.

Directly interfering with the spirit realm was impossible with their current skills, and overwhelming the area with force would also endanger the agents.

That left only one option: preemptively striking when the wraiths attacked.

‘The problem is we’re short-handed…’

There was one solution. Make the wraiths visible to the agents.

“Bjorn. Deploy smoke grenades around the clearing.”

“Smoke? Now?”

“Right now.”

“Understood!”

Click! Hiss…!

Smoke grenades, hastily pulled from a bag, quickly surrounded the circle, creating a wall of ashen smoke.

In that brief moment, two more agents were snatched away.

Dalen’s axe and Sienna’s spells had taken down three, but the two of them couldn’t protect the dozens of agents alone.

However, once the smoke wall was established, the situation began to change.

Rustle…

A wraith revealed itself, opening a space.

Even in physical form, its transparent body was invisible to the agents.

But it couldn’t hide the smoke displaced by its body.

“Eric! In front of you!”

Tat-tat-tat-tat!

The smoke distorted sharply, followed by a barrage of bullets.

Thud-thud-thud!

Wherever the silver bullets struck, the ethereal bones and flesh burst apart.

“Heeheehee!”

“Kyaaa!”

The girls fell, screaming.

As the once-invisible wraiths died and revealed themselves, the clearing filled with the bodies of frail girls.

“Hee…hee…”

Even as they died, the grinning faces of the girls were chilling to behold.

But the eyes of the agents, loading silver bullets into their rifles, no longer held fear.

It was a turning point.

---

The tide of battle turned swiftly.

With the critical disadvantage of not knowing the enemy’s location resolved, the special forces began taking down the wraiths with rapid response fire.

The swamp wraiths, relying on their transparency, charged in, only to be torn apart by the barrage of silver bullets.

Sensing the unfavorable turn of events, the once-relentless assault of the wraiths began to wane.

“Heehee, hee…”

At some point, the laughter began to fade into the distance.

Just as they had attacked without warning, the wraiths departed without a trace.

The battle was over.

”…Oh my, Tsar.”

Exhausted sighs mixed with groans of fatigue, tension, and lack of sleep filled the air.

Despite the brevity of the battle, the agents’ faces were etched with weariness.

Facing an invisible enemy is always the most troublesome task.

The fact that the enemy took on a human-like form and emitted an eerie laughter was enough to send chills down anyone’s spine.

Dalen stood quietly, watching the direction where the wailing of the spirits had faded. Bjorn approached him.

“Something’s off.”

“Yes, I felt it too.”

It wasn’t Dalen who answered, but Sasha. She had left the camp setup to the squad leaders and was now loading her gun with silver bullets, just in case.

The dwarf scratched his beard and continued, “The swamp spirits are among the most territorial creatures on the third floor of the labyrinth. If I’m right, we’re hours away from the nearest of their territories.”

“My research says the same. I have a hunch the rebels are up to something,” Sasha said, biting her lip. Dalen nodded in agreement.

“You’re both right. This isn’t normal.”

“Exactly. So, we should get out of here…”

“Which is why we need to check it out.”

“What, what did you say?” The dwarf’s eyes widened in surprise. Dalen secured his axe at his waist and spoke.

“If the swamp spirits have expanded their range, it means they need more prey.”

The swamp spirits were one of the trickiest foes on the third floor of the labyrinth. Yet, Dalen and his group hadn’t been too worried because these spirits typically stayed close to their ‘source’ and didn’t venture far.

Unlike creatures like frogmen or gnolls, the spirits lacked any motivation to expand their territory or increase their numbers. If they were now expanding and seeking more prey, there could only be one reason.

“Something must be wrong with their source. As the enforcer suggested, it’s likely the rebels ahead have done something. I’ll go confirm it.”

How they managed it, or what exactly they did, was unknown. It was puzzling how the rebels, who had been fleeing, suddenly found the time and means.

But Dalen’s focus wasn’t on the rebels; it was on the demon they served.

‘Demon Kalkas.’

A ruler of one of the nine thrones under Enaxagus. From the passage leading to the third floor of the labyrinth, the demon had already been deeply involved in the rebels’ actions.

The demon Kalkas, the rebel forces that would become its pawns, and the altered source of the swamp spirits.

‘Hopefully, that insane scenario won’t unfold now.’

The puzzle pieces in his mind were already pointing to the worst-case scenario.

‘To be sure, I’ll have to check it out, no matter the effort.’

Dalen tightened the straps of his armor.

“Even if that’s the case, going to such a dangerous place alone is…”

“It’s easier alone.”

Bjorn expressed his concern, but Dalen cut him off decisively. While the one-eyed craftsman and the Tsar’s special forces were undoubtedly valuable, this situation was different.

Against the swamp spirits, everyone except the mage Sienna would be more of a burden. Even she wouldn’t be much help if she couldn’t unleash her witch’s power in the depths of their territory.

Besides, there were roles to be filled here as well.

“Sienna, do you have any expertise in barrier spells? Ones that can block or evade spirits?”

“It’s more like shamanism than magic… I learned it by watching others, but if you’re asking if I can do it, the answer is yes. However, I can’t fight while maintaining the barrier.”

“That’s enough. Since we’re in the swamp spirits’ territory, there shouldn’t be any other creatures around.”

After preparing for any potential attacks with Sienna’s help, Dalen checked his weapons one last time.

As he stepped into the thicket, he said, “I’ll bring back the kidnapped agents. If they’re still alive.”