Chapter 35
Chapter 35: This Place is Insane (3)
Choosing a battlefield that works in your favor, rather than being dragged around aimlessly, is the basics of combat.
“I’ll tell you how to fight.”
As Ghislaine continued his explanation, the expressions of the mercenaries changed moment by moment.
Some still looked uneasy, but most wore expressions of admiration.
This young employer had already prepared for a situation like this.
“Woah, amazing!”
“How did you know to prepare in advance?”
“I believe only in you, young master!”
The mercenaries reignited their fighting spirit.
As long as they followed his instructions, they believed they could surely win the battle.
“Get plenty of rest during the day. Once the fight starts, it will be a long night.”
Following Ghislaine’s orders, the mercenaries quietly rested and regained their stamina during the day.
As night fell, the Palors came to take the lamps away.
The mercenaries didn’t react anymore, merely bowing their heads like frightened animals.
Soon, only a few lamps remained. People’s visibility was significantly reduced.
Chirp chirp…
The Palors left behind only laughter.
And the next night.
Whiz!
With the last lamp disappearing, the vicinity plunged into complete darkness.
Even though trees had been cut down, there were still so many that the faint moonlight couldn’t properly illuminate those beside you.
Chirp chirp…
Everyone held their breath and stayed still.
A heavy silence cloaked the area, not a single breath could be heard.
Swish, swish.
Finally, the Palors began to approach.
In this space devoid of light, the Palors had nothing to fear.
Surrounded by hundreds of Palors, the mercenaries broke into a cold sweat.
An instinctive fear arose, as they sensed something invisible standing before them.
Chirp chirp…
The Palors slowly moved before them, the chill of their presence prickling their skin.
Now, they would either kill the mercenaries or drag them off as prey.
At that moment, Ghislaine shouted.
“Now!”
At his words, everyone tore apart whatever they were holding.
Whoosh!
A white sphere the size of a child’s head shot into the sky, illuminating the area.
As over a hundred spheres floated into the air, the surroundings brightened as if it were midday.
What they had torn was the 1st circle magic scroll, “Light.”
It was a trump card Ghislaine had brought in boxes to face the Palors.
Crack!
The Palors, blinded by the light, shrieked in pain as they shielded their eyes.
Seeing the revealing forms of the Palors, the mercenaries wore shocked expressions.
“What, what’s with their appearance…?”
They had a human-like shape, but were incredibly tall and thin.
With four vertically split eyes and pointed ears, their mouths were also gaping wide with sharp teeth visible up to their ears.
And there were only two nostrils embedded in their faces, with grotesque tendons bulging on their cheeks.
Where hands should be, there were only long, sharp, sickle-like horns.
Several tentacle-like appendages writhed in place of arms.
They must have used these tentacles to steal the lamps.
“Attack quickly!”
Ghislaine yelled to the mercenaries, who hesitated at the sight of the Palors.
“Charge!”
Already, Kaor and the Cerberus Mercenary Group were joyfully stabbing the Palors with their weapons.
The remaining mercenaries also started attacking with their weapons in hand.
The weapons plunged mercilessly into the Palors’ bodies, rendering the previous night’s arrows useless.
“Kugh! I’ve been itching for a fight! You bastards!”
Kaor laughed madly, grabbing the faces of the Palors and personally slicing their necks one by one.
Gillian also swung his axe, smashing the heads of the Palors without mercy.
They unleashed the mana they had hidden away, slaughtering the Palors.
Kaaaar!
The Palors, momentarily stunned by the sudden burst of light, quickly regained their senses and began to counterattack.
The sickles of the Palors were powerful enough to penetrate human armor and clothing.
Although they specialized in ambushing in darkness, it was unthinkable that the monsters living in the Forest of Monsters would be weak due to the absence of darkness.
Whoosh!
“Ugh!”
The mercenaries began to fall one by one, attacked by the Palors.
With their numbers nearing three hundred, they were a formidable foe even in the dark.
The scattered Palors quickly regrouped, charging toward the humans. Ghislaine was no exception.
At that moment, Belinda leaped in front of Ghislaine and shouted.
“Young master! Retreat!”
Flutter!
As her robe rustled, dozens of daggers shot out, piercing the Palors.
Crack! Crack! Crack!
The daggers connected to her clothing moved like living snakes, targeting the enemies’ heads.
With dozens of daggers attacking from all directions, the Palors quickly shifted their target to Belinda.
“Hmph!”
Avoiding the attacks of the approaching monsters, Belinda bent down and brushed her hand over her heel.
Click!
With the sound of gears clicking, a sharp blade sprang out from her heel.
Swoosh!
With a single swing, the Palor’s jaw was severed cleanly.
Thanks to Belinda’s efforts, dodging the Palors’ sickles and launching counterattacks created a brief opening.
Ghislaine, leaving the enemies before him to Belinda, quickly scanned the battleground and shouted.
“You stupid fools! Maintain formation! Don’t attack recklessly!”
Before the battle had begun, Ghislaine had already arranged the formation for the mercenaries to wait.
Yet these foolish idiots, in their excitement, rushed out and disrupted the formation.
“Fight while maintaining the formation! Hold with your shields, and let the rest move in and engage!”
They weren’t trained like soldiers nor coordinated as a single mercenary group, so these issues were inevitable.
But Ghislaine was the mercenary king who led countless troops in battles.
He had experienced such situations countless times.
“Gillian, Kaor, buy time for the Mad Hounds to reform the formation!”
Quickly understanding the battlefield, he personally moved the mercenaries while swinging his sword.
Hearing Ghislaine’s call, the Cerberus Mercenary Group stepped forward, and the other mercenaries began to retreat.
Kaor, licking his lips in disappointment, moved to assist the mercenaries whose formation had fallen apart.
Gillian also moved actively, helping the forces reestablish their lines.
The Cerberus Mercenary Group, with individual skills and good teamwork, sufficiently held off the Palors’ attacks.
“Move faster!”
Ghislaine, Gillian, and Kaor poured out their mana without restraint, dashing between the Palors.
Only Belinda, without caring for the mercenaries, shattered any Palors that came into view.
Roar!
As the three and the Cerberus Mercenary Group obstructed them, the Palors moved more ferociously, attacking the mercenaries.
However, the mercenaries also had their share of experience fighting monsters.
As the Palors’ attention was divided, they managed to slip away bit by bit from this precarious situation.
“Hurry up!”
“Shield! Raise the shields!”
“That’s it! Move in! Move in!”
The shield-bearing mercenaries stepped forward to block the Palors’ attacks.
As the remaining mercenaries entered behind them, the shield bearers moved in a way that encircled the area.
Once several formations were established, the mercenaries’ losses began to decrease rapidly.
Seeing this, Ghislaine shouted loudly.
“Mercenaries, hold your ground! Mad Hounds, Gillian, Kaor, fill in the gaps!”
After issuing the order, Ghislaine sighed deeply.
Now that the mercenaries could move on their own, it was time for him to sweep up the battlefield.
Ghislaine exploded two cores to release his mana.
Soon, his eyes shone red, and mana began to rise from his body like crimson mist.
Swish!
Ghislaine moved at incredible speed, cleaving through the Palors.
In the dark space, every time he moved, red lines flared like lightning.
With each red line that passed, a Palor’s head was severed.
The mercenaries, seeing this, forgot about the battle and murmured.
“What, what’s going on? He’s stronger than usual?”
“I thought he was amazing before, but he’s even more powerful than that?”
Throughout the fights with monsters, Ghislaine had only used one core.
Exploding two cores was supposed to be reserved for desperate situations due to the strain it put on his body.
But now, even at the cost of his body, he had to exert his strength.
The sheer number of Palors was overwhelming, and if he didn’t expend his power, the mercenaries would end up dying.
Swish, swish!
With each flash of red, the number of Palors began to decrease rapidly.
The Cerberus Mercenary Group, inspired by this, continuously pushed the monsters back.
“What are you doing? Just watching? We need to fight too!”
As one mercenary shouted, the formation started moving toward the enemies.
With the shield-bearing mercenaries blocking the Palors’ attacks, the others dashed in with spears and swords.
Of course, they weren’t perfectly trained soldiers, so their coordination wasn’t flawless.
There were times when shields would be pushed back due to timing issues, and attacks wouldn’t land properly.
But with Gillian and Kaor assisting them, they managed to hold the formation while attacking, albeit clumsily.
“Push forward! Push forward!”
The mercenaries, growing accustomed to the coordinated attacks, applied pressure toward the Palors with their shield wall.
As time passed, the number of enemies began to visibly dwindle.
Roar!
The Palors realized they had fallen into a trap.
In the darkness, they had no opponents, but if this situation continued, their race could face extinction.
Roar!
The leader of the Palors, hiding at the back and attacking the mercenaries from the shadows, signaled to its kin to retreat.
It didn’t look like a leader at all, being smaller than the others, but it was the strongest individual among them.
The leader glanced left and right, sending the signal before retreating.
As long as it was safe, there was hope for the race to flourish again.
Just as it tried to escape, a human charged in, destroying everything in its path.
With terrifying red eyes shining, the human came at them like lightning.
It was already too late to dodge.
The leader, deciding to kill the human before escaping, swung its sickle while howling.
Yet, the sickle merely swept through empty air.
The leader looked up, sensing something in the air.
The human, eyes shining red with a cruel smile, was plunging down with its sword.
“So, you were the leader.”
Ghislaine was convinced that this creature had been in charge of hunting the Palors.
While fighting, he had absorbed the whole battlefield, and the leader had appeared as if issuing commands.
Slice!
With no mercy, Ghislaine’s sword cleaved the leader from head to waist.
There was no way an average monster could withstand the mana unleashed by exploding both cores.
Roar!
With the leader dead, the Palors fell into confusion, shrieking and scattering in panic.
“Everyone, stick together!”
“Whoa! Let’s kill them all!”
The mercenaries, tossing aside their shields, charged at the Palors.
While a few mercenaries were wounded by the glowing movements of the Palors, enraged, they pressed on, busy stabbing their weapons in.
Rraaaw!
In the end, the Palors transformed into mere rags, most of them falling.
Only a few who escaped into the darkness managed to flee from the light.
“Stop! Don’t chase after them!”
Even with only a few left, the mercenaries couldn’t win in the dark.
The excited mercenaries halted at Ghislaine’s warning.
“Huuh…”
Ghislaine let out a deep sigh.
In that moment, his body swayed. The aftermath of exploding two cores was catching up to him.
The battle was over, but everyone was silent, gazing only at Ghislaine.
Soon, the mercenaries, as if on cue, erupted with cheers, encircling Ghislaine.
“We won! We actually won!”
“Hahaha! We survived! We’re alive!”
The mercenaries jubilantly shouted in excitement.
