Sixth Legion. Overseer of corpses and commanders—the immortal king, Nebiros.
Though his origins lie with the Necromancers, his true role is to oversee all of Hell and possess the ability to fly anywhere at will.
Outwardly, he’s known as a beast wandering alone without a legion, but that’s far from the truth. Nebiros’s undead powers are a nightmare for enemies on the battlefield. Not only can he raise the dead, but he can restore over 80% of their former abilities. The resurrected corpses, empowered by Nebiros’s authority, even gain the ability to fly.
In other words, this isn’t just some run-of-the-mill zombie horde—it’s a newly born legion with incredible mobility, capable of aerial combat.
Flap, flap, flap, flap…
Wings sprouted from torn backs fluttered. Giants who had once died, their summoners, and monstrous birds all moved their wings, slowly rising into the air.
Even the monstrous birds already circling above noticed this sight and reacted with confusion. It was only natural—they couldn’t understand what was happening. If it were just the summoners, maybe, but now their kin, the monstrous birds, and even the giants who had turned allies were all taking to the skies.
“Ugh!”
Vivian, staring blankly at the sky from the ground, quietly shed a small tear. Her eyes brimmed with tears, but she didn’t even think to wipe them away. These were tears of joy, not sorrow. Though summoning the legion commander had only been half the achievement, the summoning itself was a success. Since acquiring the Order of Order, she had finally taken a significant step forward from a long-standing stalemate.
But the situation was far from over. In fact, this might just be the beginning. Summoning the beast legion was not the end.
Vivian wiped her eyes with a clenched fist and shouted with all her might into the air.
“Go! Forget strategy and tactics! Just charge recklessly! Show me your power!”
Inducing an aerial brawl. Given their numbers—if not outright superiority—this was the perfect tactic for Kim Soo-hyun’s orders.
Once summoned, a summoner’s command is absolute. The moment Vivian’s words fell, the winged corpses floating in the air wasted no time obeying. From all directions, they began to recklessly charge at the monstrous bird flock gathered on one side.
The monstrous birds reacted immediately—not by fighting back, but by retreating. Still shaken and confused, they had no time to mount a proper defense against the sudden onslaught.
“Hehehehehehe.”
Watching the monstrous birds scatter chaotically, Vivian laughed aloud. Her eyes still glistened with tears, but her laughter was wild and unrestrained. With the fear of failure gone, her true nature had returned.
But did Vivian realize she’d popped the champagne too soon? That among the monstrous birds were species whose intelligence had evolved over centuries?
Even as they were pushed back into the air by the corpses, one monstrous bird carefully scanned its surroundings.
Not long after, spotting the jubilant Vivian in the distance, among the many monstrous birds, only one with a blue tint let out a low cry.
Moments later.
Flap, flap!
The leader of the monstrous birds beat its wings powerfully.
Meanwhile, at the same time.
“Block them! Block them!”
“────. ────. Protect!”
“No! Run away!”
“What happened to the mages?”
Across the plains, fierce battles raged. Or rather, it was a chaotic mess.
Giants advanced with a power unlike anything before. The summoners screamed desperately, trying to halt their advance.
The situation was dire for the summoners. Despite their overwhelming numbers, their opponent was a being of even greater power. Users crushed under heavy footsteps were torn apart, and those swept by massive arms were sent flying like home runs.
The summoners fought desperately, using every trick they had, but except for a few elite squads, most were forced into repeated retreats.
Of course, there were a few squads that easily dispatched the giants.
Just one squad, in fact.
“Hng…”
Je-gal Hae-sol—or rather, Je-gal Hae-sol disguised as Pyo Hye-mi—let out an odd moan. Lost in thought, she tapped her delicate index finger against her chin, watching her comrades battle the giants.
Anyone unaware of the situation might have clicked their tongue in disapproval, thinking she was leisurely spectating while her comrades fought for their lives.
But if you looked into Je-gal Hae-sol’s eyes, glowing golden, and saw the unfathomable depth within as she observed the giants, you might reconsider. Because…
“All right! Now I get it.”
Suddenly, Je-gal Hae-sol, who had been calmly watching the giants, smiled brightly and clapped her hands sharply. At the same time, the golden glow in her eyes faded.
“How is it possible? Their body structure is exactly like a human’s. Fascinating.”
Muttering to herself, she suddenly cupped her hands together.
And then.
Flap, flap!
The cheerful expression on Je-gal Hae-sol’s face shifted to a serious one for the first time. Gone was the lively, fresh vibe; instead, a mysterious, calm aura enveloped her, reminiscent of when she first met Kim Soo-hyun.
Buzz!
A bright orb suddenly formed in the center of her cupped hands—a mass of condensed magical energy. As Je-gal Hae-sol continued to pour mana into it, the orb grew larger by the second.
Then, with a gentle flick of her hand, the orb’s size shrank instantly. Though she kept feeding it mana, causing it to expand again, each time she flicked her hand, it shrank back down.
After repeating this process a dozen times, until the orb was no bigger than a grain of rice, Je-gal Hae-sol finally sighed and looked up. Sweat-dampened strands of hair clung to her pale cheeks.
Her lips parted slightly, revealing pearly white teeth.
“Reinforcement Explosion… That should do.”
Moments later, her gaze fixed on the ongoing battle ahead. Placing the tiny orb on her palm, she pursed her lips and blew a gentle breath.
“Whoo…”
The orb left her palm, tracing a strange, undulating spiral as it flew straight into a giant’s ear canal.
Did the giant sense something wrong? Just as it raised its arm to strike, it suddenly froze. Tilting its head in confusion—
Snap!
With a sharp snap of Je-gal Hae-sol’s fingers—
Bang!
A deafening explosion echoed inside the giant’s ear.
“Graaah!”
The giant screamed in pain, clutching its ears with both hands as its body began to shake violently.
Je-gal Hae-sol’s magic power was 95 points. Though the giant’s magic resistance had recovered, 95 points was no insignificant blow. And since the orb of compressed mana had detonated inside its body, some damage was inevitable. Not enough to kill it outright, but certainly enough to hurt.
The giant didn’t die, but what happened next puzzled everyone. As it staggered backward in pain, its shaking grew worse until it lost its footing and crashed to the ground with a heavy thud, as if its sense of balance had completely failed.
But the confusion lasted only a moment.
“It’s not dead yet! So hurry, hurry!”
Je-gal Hae-sol cupped her hands around her mouth and shouted. The mercenary clan members, who had been staring blankly at the giant, immediately sprang into action. Now that the giant was down, its death was only a matter of time.
Just as Lee Yoo-jung rushed forward eagerly, a figure quietly approached from the side.
“How did you do that?”
Je-gal Hae-sol flinched but relaxed when she recognized it was fellow mage Won Hye-su, and smiled.
“Oh, it’s nothing special. I just noticed their body structure is similar to humans’, so I targeted their semicircular canals and vestibular system.”
“Se… what?”
Won Hye-su frowned slightly, prompting Je-gal Hae-sol to stifle a giggle.
“It means I messed with their sense of tilt and rotation. I pushed the compressed mana orb into their ear and then—boom!—detonated it.”
“What about the giant’s magic resistance?”
“That’s why I compressed it. Honestly, I compressed it fifteen times, aiming to kill it outright, but it still held on. Shrinking the orb was a bit tricky, but their resistance is seriously tough.”
“Fifteen times?”
Hearing that, or rather, hearing that she shrank the orb while compressing it fifteen times, Won Hye-su gasped.
“So, how did you do it? Teach me.”
“Huh?”
“Hye-mi, come on. Just give me the gist. Things are urgent right now. I’ll make it worth your while later.”
“No, no. It’s not like I can teach you anything. It just worked. Why wouldn’t it? Can’t you do it?”
Jegal Haesol shrugged as if to say, “Why not?” and answered casually. But when Won Hyesoo frowned, he realized his mistake and was about to smoothly continue speaking.
Suddenly, Won Hyesoo’s face twisted into a strange grimace, and her gaze shifted over Haesol’s shoulder. Instinctively, he turned his head.
The first thing that caught his eye was a massive monstrous bird flying low through the air. And just barely within reach ahead of the creature, a woman was sprinting for her life, arms flailing wildly.
“Ahhh! Aaaah! Aaaahhh!”
A piercing scream rang out, echoing in everyone’s ears.
It was Vivian.
Everything happened in an instant.
The lightning-fast Mjolnir had already passed me by.
Kushan Thor’s body leapt into the air.
Following the giant, I reflexively slammed my foot into the ground with all my might.
It all unfolded so suddenly.
As my body lifted off the ground, the view of Kushan Thor began to shift. Like watching in slow motion, everything before my eyes seemed to move sluggishly.
Users rarely leap into the air during combat. Movement is heavily restricted midair, making evasion difficult. Without abilities like Shape-Shifting or powerful ground kicks, it’s basically a death sentence.
Yet Kushan Thor’s jump carried three usual implications:
He’s trying to dodge.
He’s underestimating his opponent.
He intends to close the distance in one bound.
Considering Hwajeong’s earlier words, Kushan Thor’s goal was likely the third. My body reacted instinctively, leaping up as well. Now that I’d figured out his intent, I had to stop him.
Watching Kushan Thor rapidly close in, I crossed my two swords.
I didn’t feel I was too late. Though I’d missed Mjolnir, with Baek Hangyeol and Ansol’s defense, at least no one would die.
Not just me—Gong Chanho had also leapt from the opposite side. If my guess was right, Kushan Thor would twist his trajectory midair. If he stubbornly kept his course without dodging, we could land two critical hits.
Yes. Knowing this, Kushan Thor would be satisfied with throwing Mjolnir and focus on defending against me and Gong Chanho’s attacks.
With that in mind, I gripped my sword handles tighter. Hwajeong seemed to sense my resolve and silently channeled strength into the blades. Before long, Kushan Thor was almost within reach.
Then, at that moment—
Shing!
The sharp sensation of my blade slicing into shoulder flesh.
Blood spraying into the air.
“Huh…?”
Through the mist of flying blood droplets, I saw Kushan Thor’s face—bleeding tears, eyes burning with a fiercer light than ever.
I’d landed a critical hit.
No—I had landed a critical hit.
Kushan Thor took the blow but stubbornly maintained his leap.
His body passed right by me, and Mjolnir struck again and again.
Then, helplessly, he landed on the ground.
At that instant, my slow-motion vision snapped back to normal.
Almost simultaneously, a deafening roar tore through the sky as Mjolnir exploded.
Clang!
“No!”
The sound of something shattering, followed by Ansol’s agonized scream.
Thud!
A tremor from Kushan Thor’s landing shook the ground.
I could only turn around in stunned disbelief.
Perhaps from the shock of the landing, a thick cloud of dust rose behind me, obscuring most of my view.
Only one figure caught my eye.
Through the dust, a lone user staggered weakly upward, blood spurting like a fountain through the fluttering robes.
Her short hair whipped in the wind, white robes soaked in streaks of crimson.
Only then did I realize—the user floating in midair was Ansol.
At that moment—
“Damn it… that bastard…”
I felt sparks fly behind my eyes.
---------------------------= Author’s Note =---------------------------
Ah, I’m sorry for the delay today. I thought I was on a good pace lately, but this feels like a step back. ㅜ.ㅠ
Actually, I could have posted earlier, but I got a stomachache halfway through writing. Thinking it over, it was probably dinner’s fault. On my way back from an afternoon appointment, I was starving. Figured no one would be home anyway, so I stopped by my favorite snack bar for some cheese tteokbokki—and that must’ve done me in. I probably made twenty trips to the bathroom in the middle of the night. -_-a
I’ll be more careful from now on. (__)
Also, I crunched the numbers, and it looks like the giant arc will wrap up in the next chapter. I thought it might take two more, but it should finish within one. Thanks so much to everyone who’s been reading. Please look forward to some great rewards! ’- ^*