Two days passed since Leon and Caesare’s eting with Khan. It wasn’t exactly a long ti, but the scale of what occurred during that period was enormous.
The Blaine branch of the Guild issued an ergency quest to all mbers ranked C and above. Every rcenary company stationed in the city at the ti accepted the request without exception. Aside from the few with legitimate excuses, everyone accepted the quest.
Ergency quests already carried an elent of compulsion, but this one even bore the seal of the Holy Church. Refusing it without a valid reason would obliterate one’s reputation.
Unless they planned to retire, there was no choice but to accept.
“Still, to think fifteen hundred people would show up...!” Leon said, and his voice carried awe.
Below the hill where he stood, countless adventurers and rcenaries of Blaine had ford ranks. All of them were competent and confident in their abilities—a veteran force. This truly was an all-out war.
El-Cid said, —Looks like that big guy did a good job convincing the lord. The military’s deploynt isn’t bad either. Maybe the commander’s actually competent.
You think it’s the defense captain?
—Probably.
Following El-Cid’s remark, Leon turned his gaze to the outskirts and spotted the guard units encircling District Twenty-Five. Fully loaded catapults stood ready in a truly intimidating sight.
It seed they planned to use firebombs, with oil-drenched boulders netted in place. The soldiers’ armants were consistent: bows, crossbows, and ballistae installed on rooftops.
Given the military’s limited individual strength, it looked like they’d leave the close combat to the adventurers and rcenaries and focus on suppressive fire. El-Cid seed to approve of their strategy.
—That’s a wise choice. If they charge in recklessly, they’ll just beco fodder for the exolaw wielders. Better to harass them in a small and conservative way than add to their power.
Leon nodded in agreent and glanced back.
Well, we’re still the main attack force.
There were fifteen hundred adventurers and rcenaries, and even a guard force fielding ballistae and catapults. Despite the presence of a force large enough for a siege, all of it was rely support. In tactical terms, they were the anvil. The real hamr was still just the three of them: Caesare, Leon, and Khan.
There was Caesare in full plate with a flail, and Khan, now fully geared up from head to toe. Leon could feel the pressure radiating from them prickling against his skin.
He too had used however much money he had saved to upgrade his gear, but the difference was marginal. He hadn’t saved that much, and no equipnt could protect against exolaw attacks that even the Holy Sword couldn’t block.
“Soone else is here,” Caesare said as a man approached.
He wore full armor that was different from the Holy Church’s style and had a grizzled mustache. His appearance was ordinary, but anyone who felt the blade-like presence he carried would never call him average.
Having heard in advance who he was, Caesare greeted him, “A pleasure to et you, Sir Conrad.”
“The pleasure is all mine. I am Conrad, senior knight of Count Blaine. I offer my respects to the Guardian of the Goddess,” Conrad said to Caesare with the utmost respect.
Caesare replied, “A weighty title. May the Goddess bless you as well.”
At the na “Conrad,” Khan’s eyebrows twitched.
Due to the nature of the Freedom City, Count Blaine wasn’t allowed to operate a knight order. However, that didn’t an he couldn’t recruit knights—he simply had a greater need for excellent ones.
And among them, Conrad was top tier. Having built a record of achievents as a free knight, he was expected to beco a Master within the next decade. Even fearless Khan had reason to be wary.
“Tch. Definitely not a pleasant crowd for ,” Khan scoffed as Conrad passed him after shaking Leon’s hand.
The slums were tolerated at best. The Lord had never been thrilled about having an uncontrollable zone within his domain. Given the chance, he’d sweep them away, and this massive raid could easily be that chance.
Just then, another voice ca, a ghastly one, from the shadows.
“Am I... a bit late...?”
“Who is it?!” Conrad shouted, drawing his sword in a flash.
Blood-red Aura flared along the blade, consuming the air like fire. Had there been a hint of hostility, he would have attacked imdiately.
The owner of the voice rely chuckled and replied, “You called... here... and now... you ask who I... am...?”
Khan clicked his tongue at the eerie voice.
“That freakshow voice could only be you, Keeper. If you’re here, quit hiding already. Whether it’s you or , if we ss this up we’re getting slapped onto the heretic list and burned alive.”
“Kehe... kehehe... he.”
Despite Khan’s warning, the Keeper never showed himself.
“I... will move... to my own accords... I’ll keep... up... with you all... my way. I am an... assassin... I don’t... sh with you...”
“Suit yourself,” Caesare snapped. “As long as you do your part, I won’t interfere. But if you think you can get by hiding in the shadows, you’ll learn that no place is hidden before the Goddess’s radiance.”
“Terrifying. Kehehe...”
And with that, the Keeper said no more.
I can’t sense anything... Leon shivered inwardly.
Even using his Aura Sense and Rodrick’s Vision, he couldn’t detect the man’s presence. An A-rank assassin was just that frightening.
Soon, the final mber of the strike team arrived.
“Hello! Sorry I’m late! Since the location’s got no blueprints or anything, I had a lot to prepare.”
It was Karen, the A-rank adventurer dispatched by the Guild. She had her gray hair tied in a single tail, and her pupils were so faint they barely showed—but her voice and expression were so bright and cheerful that it felt surreal. She looked like a human in her early twenties, but with A-rank skill, she might have been a half-elf or other mixed blood.
“Well, that’s all six of us.”
Conrad sighed as he looked around the team that didn’t have a shred of unity. A thug, two adventurers, a Holy Iron Inquisitor, a knight, and an assassin. Expecting cohesion from that lineup was absurd. Every mber had been gathered based solely on personal ability. This was inevitable.
Then, a thunderous roar shook the ground.
“Oh! It’s started!”
Following Karen’s voice, the others turned toward the foot of the hill.
Just as she said, the operation had begun. The catapults—longest in range—had fired first. Oil-soaked boulders soared in arcs toward District Twenty-Five.
Most of the buildings in the slums were poorly built. If they held up to even one strike, it would be a miracle.
With explosion after explosion, dozens of buildings collapsed instantly, sending shockwaves through the area. Crumbling structures were being hit with siege fire ant for fortresses.
Then ca the fire arrows, streaking through the sky. They ca not only from the guards but also from adventurers who knew fla magic.
“Keh... What a sight.”
Khan forced a bitter grin as he watched the destruction. Even if it wasn’t his turf, it was still part of the slums. Seeing it turned to ash couldn’t have been pleasant.
Whether he liked it or not, the assault continued. The destruction that began at the outskirts of District Twenty-Five soon spread inward. The entire area beca an inferno, black smoke rising into the sky. At this rate, they might raze the district without ever needing to go in.
“Hm,” Caesare mused a short sigh.
Evil wasn’t going to go down so easily. Just as Caesare let out a short hum, sothing burst forth from the cloud of dust—sothing that looked like blood and flesh crudely kneaded together like modeling clay.
If the word “grotesque” could be turned into a monster, this would be it. A few who laid eyes on the creature imdiately retched, and those who managed to hold it in still had their faces twisted in disgust.
El-Cid’s cold voice snapped Leon out of his daze.
—Abomination, huh. Must be getting desperate. They’re made by clumping together the flesh and blood of living beings. Neither creature nor object. They’re not viable life forms in this world. They’ve got no special powers or intelligence—they’re simply failures. But they’re durable enough to be used as at shields.
How do we take them down?
—You either dispel the sorcery maintaining their bodies with sacred spells or destroy them faster than they can regenerate. Since they’re just at with no brains or hearts, it’ll take so brute effort.
They were literal stall tactics. They barely had limbs. Their eyes, ears, and mouths were attached in warped, nonsensical ways—if they were even there at all. And yet, they ca charging toward the encirclent at frightening speed.
“Fire!”
With the defense captain’s booming shout, a hail of arrows rained down.
Direct fire, not arched volleys, aid to kill instantly. Hundreds—perhaps over a thousand—arrows pierced the grotesque flesh masses.
However, the Abominations kept charging forward, completely unfazed by the arrows embedded in their bodies. Rolling, crawling, staggering—they scrambled forward in any way possible.
It was a frenzied charge that couldn’t be stopped. Arrows weren’t enough. By the ti everyone reached the sa conclusion, the front-line rcenaries had already stepped forward.
Pikes over five ters long skewered the Abominations head-on. Though they were pushed back a few steps by the creatures’ mass and strength, the previously unstoppable charge was halted.
“Now’s our chance! Cut them down!”
“Watch your spacing—don’t let the weapons get tangled!”
rcenaries and adventurers wielding lee weapons charged in.
From here on out, it was a chaotic brawl. Against monsters with no vital points, the best strategy was to turn the entire body into minced at. Flails, spears, blades, hamrs—countless weapons rained down on the flesh monsters.
“Hmph, the line’s starting to stall,” Conrad gave a terse assessnt of the situation.
The response had been excellent, but Abominations were far from being easily defeatable. They’d hold for at least dozens of minutes.
The catapults were still firing, but visibility was poor from the dust clouds, and it was unclear if their attacks were landing on the enemy or were being wasted. According to their strategy, the enemy should begin retreating into their shell once they realize they were losing in open combat.
Right then, smoke from fire and dust from collapsing buildings whipped together into a spiral, forming a tornado centered on a specific area. The shape was obviously unnatural.
A rock hurled by a catapult struck the wall of the twister—but instead of breaking through, it bounced back and smashed into the very catapult that launched it. No one could call this a natural phenonon.
“It’s ti for us to move,” Caesare said, but even without his words, everyone was already on their feet.
This was the mont the six-man rush team—the true protagonists of the battle—had to act. With Karen in the lead, the group charged down from the hill.
It had been the plan from the start, so the guards had been inford in advance. Through alleyways left standing even after waves of attacks, they rushed forward.
They’re so fast... Or am I just slow?
Leon ran with everything he had, but he was falling behind. Well, it made sense when he thought about it.
Leon had been included in the team because he could break through the barrier—not because of his rank or power. He wasn’t even B-rank. Trying to keep pace with A-ranks was inevitably grueling. If not for his honed body and the regenerative power of his Sun-type Aura, he might have collapsed already.
“Hah... Huff...!”
After just a few minutes, they reached the base of the whirlwind, and Leon was nearly spent. Only then did the others realize his condition and slow down to let him catch his breath.
“My apologies. I didn’t account for you,” Conrad said with an awkward expression.
Leon could only shake his head in response. If anyone was at fault, it was him for being underpowered. The others had done the right thing by hurrying. His top priority now was to recover as quickly as possible.
anwhile, the rest of the group began examining the whirlwind. They wanted to test the strength of the sorcerous barrier. Conrad swung, but his sword bounced off harmlessly.
“What a preposterous barrier,” he remarked.
Even with Aura Fire activated, his blade felt like it was a club striking at thick rubber—it didn’t even begin to cut. It wasn’t just strong—it nullified attacks entirely. The unnatural sensation alone was enough to irritate.
The others fared no better. Khan’s fists and Karen’s daggers had no effect. Caesare’s sacred spell might have worked, but it had to be saved for the fight inside.
“Phew. Sorry, everyone. That was a bit embarrassing.”
Leon finally approached with a sowhat steadier step. The others turned to him with curiosity, wondering how he would break the barrier.
Even Aura Fire hadn’t worked. And while they’d heard about it beforehand, it was still hard to believe the Sun Aura could truly be that powerful.
Standing before the barrier, Leon raised the Holy Sword high.
El-Cid, Leon called inwardly. Do we have enough power stored?
—More than enough! Thanks to all those exolaw wielders we cut down, it’s overflowing. A single heretic is worth a thousand monsters, you know? Don’t hold back—blast it wide open.
All right.
Leon shut his eyes and focused his mind.
Golden Aura surged across the blade of the Holy Sword El-Cid. The power of the sun, bolstered by the divine strength sealed within the sword itself, wasn’t just visible—it was warm to the touch.
It was different from the heat of Aura Fire. It was a kind, radiant warmth, as though the sun itself had risen—sothing that nourished life.
“This is...” Caesare muttered as he stared in awe at Leon’s back, sensing sothing in that light.
Leon opened his eyes, fully charged, and he cried, “Haaah!”
The blade, dyed gold, slashed forward, and the whirlwind split apart along its arc, revealing what had been hidden within. The exolaw barrier had been torn open!
“Now!”
Led by Karen, the strike team jumped in at once. The Keeper still wasn’t visible, but at least five of them had definitely made it inside.
Just to be sure, Caesare called out into the air, “Keeper, are you in?”
That eerie voice returned at once.
“Of... course.”
All six were in, and just like that, the first phase of the operation was complete. Next ca the true mission—eliminating the exolaw wielders inside and stopping whatever ritual they were attempting.
Silently concealing their presence, the rush team infiltrated District Twenty-Five.
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