---

“Tania, come out!”

I called out urgently for Tania and quickly shot an arrow.

Without Shione’s bloodline powers, all I had was my meager anti-magic strength. On top of that, with only an arrow lacking any spirit energization, it would be impossible to take down that creature in one go.

However, the arrow that would surely hit its eye would serve as a more than adequate warning. That creature, already lurking around here, would back off and be cautious for a while.

In the meantime, the newly manifested Tania looked around with a puzzled expression.

“Eh?”

With a light voice, she stepped gracefully into the air, locking eyes with me before her spirit scanned the surroundings and asked.

─It’s not even dawn yet. Did you call me too early? You were whining about lacking mana, weren’t you?

‘I wanted to, but I got tangled up with that fool, so I had no choice.’

─That fool?

‘It seems that not only the first one, but the second is also involved in this matter.’

─Ah.

Tania made a small gasping sound as if she understood.

─You’re talking about that disgusting guy, right? The one who always smelled awful when he showed up.

‘Exactly.’

That creature held one of the seats among the five most wicked demons.

If the first had been adept at handling strong poison, this one had disrupted the minds of the assault team and thoroughly isolated us with its minions, revealing itself only occasionally using its puppets.

It cleverly kept its true self hidden, making it all the more challenging to hit it down and move on to the next step.

The army of beasts it controlled, the constant whispers echoing in our heads, and the illusions had shaken the unity of the assault team. It also wasted a large amount of our limited resources.

While my individual strength might fall short compared to the first demon, in terms of overall threat, this demon was just as bizarre, if not more so.

─…Why is that bastard involved in our business?

‘Well—’

That was the problem, which was why I squeezed the little mana I had left to summon you.

It’s not like the second demon was weak either; despite its lack of raw power, its very existence transcended certain lines.

Back during our collective dungeon raids, all the major demons had conflicts with one another, often seen fighting. They were even contorted in disgrace, seemingly wishing to end themselves for being equal to one another.

‘…I can’t assert it for sure, but it must be the case.’

From what I knew, it shouldn’t be here.

And for the Great Forest to endure against the demons, it was an entity that shouldn’t even exist.

In the midst of all this…

‘However, one thing is certain at this very moment.’

I turned my head to gaze into the dark forest where no light penetrated.

‘Inside there, the remnants of that creature are waiting for us.’

Unlike the auspicious light flowing from the bright spirit flames.

Beyond the moon above, spreading its light across the world, those damned remnants of the second demon were hiding silently, which had been sent to shake the minds of our assault squad.

We couldn’t afford to lose our focus. They were the kind that would viciously seize any opportunity we left open. Who knows when they’d unleash their madness with those red eyes?

‘Tania, I need you to help out.’

─You’re talking about the remnants of that smelly creature… those red-eyed ones, right?

I nodded slightly at Tania’s words.

Then, crossing her arms, Tania frowned a bit and replied.

─Are you sure? It takes quite a bit of mana to burn those. If you’re just at this level, you’ll tire out quickly.

‘Do I really need to burn them all?’

I knew full well how many of them I had killed.

They were just moving corpses, brimming with magic, fitting for being called walking dead. To dissolve them, I’d need to burn away that dense magic. Moreover, since they operated with the magic given to them by the second demon as their core.

Burning each of them down would require a significant amount of mana.

Unlike when I had been actively hunting in the assault team, there weren’t many idle spirit mages around now.

‘All we need to do is kindle a small flame in their hearts. The rest… the elves will handle it.’

─Hmm… But what if it accidentally gets holy?

‘No way. Even so, with the flame you ignite, they should easily spot the location. There’s no way they’d make eye contact with you.’

If they were monsters skillful at exploiting weaknesses, then ours were equally well-trained elves.

As long as we ensured that they had checked on us with clarity, they could immediately light up and burn down the enemies.

Failing even this basic task would clearly reflect that the skill of the forest guardians was below my imagination. No way would they lift their heads to meet the monsters’ gazes, just waiting for a spark to hit their hearts.

“Let’s begin.”

And so started the cycle of repetitive labor.

With the little commotion gathering attention here, I quickly nocked another arrow and pulled back steadily.

I was aiming to pierce the arrow right into its heart to deliver a substantial shock. More importantly, to show our allies the light shining from its heart.

I adjusted my stance.

Closed Stance. A posture ready for warfare akin to a longbow.

Left foot forward, gently bending my left knee while leaning my upper body forward. As I pulled the bowstring back more accurately and forcefully, the tension built in my hands and arms enhanced by mana created a strong rebound.

─Now!

No sooner had Tania cried out that brief command with a flame on the arrowhead…

The arrow surged forth with confidence, having absorbed the maximum tension.

As it flew through the air and came to a stop in the pitch-black void, flames began to spread from the arrow, illuminating around it.

The remnants of the second demon, hidden in the darkness, began to come into view with their putrid corpses and crimson glows.

“We need to ignite—”

“You mean we need to burn that!”

Before I knew it, Airine had summoned her fourth spirit behind me.

Unlike the other spirits, this one was intermediate, and quite skilled among intermediates, swiftly engulfing the walking corpses that the summoner had conjured into flames, as her spirit’s abundant mana began to dissolve the enemy’s form.

‘Four spirits, right?’

For an elf, that was quite a rare case.

Unlike the usual two contracts elves form, the thought of Airine, who had succeeded in binding four, briefly flitted through my mind.

But I forcefully suppressed it and refocused on the current situation, concentrating all my attention on the darkness.

In the meantime, Airine glanced at me, then gave the newly summoned fire spirit fresh instructions.

Soon after, Shione, whom I had held back, moved closer to my side again.

“Ray, one is to the northeast.”

It seemed she had finally grasped how to detect their locations. Slowly closing her eyes, she began to track their positions through her senses.

I couldn’t help but wonder what good knowing just one in the northeast did, but…

But still, after spending a good amount of time together, shouldn’t we be able to understand even clumsy remarks perfectly?

With certainty, I released my arrow in the direction Shione’s index finger indicated, her warning resonating clearly.

“Northeast, one far away.”

“Burned!”

“Southwest, two are close together.”

“Confirmed!”

“…I think we’ve made eye contact. The situation feels ambiguous, so I’ll retreat for a moment!”

The elves, drawn to the arrow I shot, began igniting flames, brightening the forest around us.

The chain reaction of igniting flames and melting puppets was underway.

Though a few had gotten a bit disoriented due to some crafty attacks, they were sharply aware of the models and had a strong will to resist, thanks to Friel’s sharp slap and Airine’s punch to the gut.

‘They’re likely to pay more attention now as they avoid that fierce beating.’

Zsh!

Perhaps due to the presence of visible enemies or the intense, resonating sounds of striking and groans from our allies, our forces maintained a sharp momentum…

The problem lay with the sheer number of those damned remnants.

“…At this rate, I might be doing this all night long…”

“……I’ll wait for Changsik. I just separated briefly to bring Orna along.”

“……”

The unending series of discoveries and assaults drained not just the body but also the mind into fatigue due to the repetitive toil.

“Princess Shione?”

“Ah… right now, there are two to the northwest.”

While Shione was giving accurate summaries, she began to wear down slowly.

Following Airine’s adept command, the reactions of her intermediate spirit stirring the flames began to gradually falter.

The breaking dawn, shyly approaching, made those who dared not come into the light slowly retreat, including the crazed moon.

Even as those remaining enemies were pinpointed one by one, standing as a focal point of the battlefield, the increasingly bright twilight merged, and as the crimson sun rose to illuminate the world and bring an end to the battle, the elves couldn’t help but erase the misconceptions that had subtly lingered in their minds.

The ones who solidified our focal point in this absurd conflict and achieved the most considerable merit were none other than Shione and I.

 

---