Chapter 676

“Are you alright?”

Jinhyuk looked at Teresa with a worried expression.

“…Yes. I’m fine. I was just a little surprised.”

Teresa tried to steady her trembling arm.

She’d thought she’d grown a lot mentally and could control ‘Corruption’ to some extent, but with dark-attribute curses rising across the battlefield, the sand in the hourglass began to fall faster.

‘I can’t drag this on for too long.’

Fortunately, the members were still able to fight. And support from the Spirit Kings and the canyon was still available.

But that wasn’t enough.

The balance of the fight had been completely shattered the moment enemies on an entirely different level joined the fray.

‘First, I need time to reorganize the front lines.’

We can’t do it alone.

With that scale of force, we’d need at least the alliance’s support to have any chance of winning.

But—

Whooooom!

[A ‘Ruling’-level Barrier is currently deployed in this area.]

[An ‘11th Circle Space Distortion Magic’ is currently deployed in this area.]

Half-Dragon ‘Beitzl’ and ‘Kasimitz’, returnees from the world of sorcery.

Those two were preventing Jinhyuk from communicating with the outside world.

“I heard you’re quite skilled with Barriers, but I’m pretty confident in that field myself.”

Kasimitz clutched a set of different charms between his fingers.

“Don’t let your guard down. If the system has even put a bounty on him, he’s definitely not someone to take lightly.”

“I know. It’s not like I’ve never hunted ‘Calamity’-class magical beasts before. I’ll be as careful as possible, so you just do your job properly.”

“Who are you giving advice to? A rookie who hasn’t even been back for a hundred years.”

Swish.

Thud.

The returnees slowly tightened their siege.

“I’m going to grind you to dust.”

Clemence’s eyes flashed.

She felt like she was going insane from the constant disruption to her plans, but at last, the time had come to pay it all back in a satisfying way.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

Heavy area-of-effect attacks rained down from the very start, not even giving them time to react.

The hardest hit was the force led by Pendariel and Muhon.

From the beginning, it was absurd to face returnees with low-level mass-produced units.

Naturally, they were swept away by the indiscriminately fired area-of-effect attacks.

“Kuaaaaa. My perfect face…!”

“I’m…angry.”

The Statue of David and the Great Sage Crimson Diamond were shattered.

Broken fragments flew in all directions.

The plants that had been set here and there were swallowed by fireballs as well. Even her most cherished cherry tree didn’t survive.

“Scatter!”

Pendariel shouted at his troops.

Maintaining formation against skills with such absurd power was insane. It was better to scatter as much as possible and minimize the damage.

At the very least, if they could take advantage of their numbers, they could create another variable at the right timing.

It was a wise decision.

The problem was—

[Unique Ability ‘Curator of the Cursed Graveyard’ is activated!]

Among the returnees, there was someone who could maximize the advantage of numbers.

When the old man in a black robe tapped the ground with a skull-topped staff, another legion rose up, following Clemence’s undead army.

These weren’t troops that had been worn down here and there by Alice and Frey, but beings in top condition, freshly summoned from their own world.

The legion blocking the main escape routes began to herd them like rabbits.

BOOM! BOOM! CRASH!

A chase began immediately.

Pendariel’s zombie legion, being unilaterally massacred, tried desperately to escape the encirclement. The undead troops pressed close behind, as if they wouldn’t allow a single one to get away.

“It’s going to be a difficult fight.”

Wingrasia spoke grimly.

Now that she’d decided to help Jinhyuk, she had no intention of backing down, no matter how unfavorable things became.

She was prepared to pour everything in—if only to protect the canyon.

“The spirits will be with you. Tell me what we must do to win, no matter how difficult it may be.”

“There is one thing.”

To overcome this situation, several preconditions were necessary.

“What is it?”

“I’ll draw as much attention as possible, so gather all the Spirit Beasts.”

Defeating all the returnees was close to impossible.

Not only was their individual combat power outright fraudulent, but the experience and cunning they’d accumulated while pacifying an entire world were just as troublesome.

If they tried to force an annihilation battle, the damage would spiral out of control.

‘I have to win while minimizing our sacrifices as much as possible.’

Jinhyuk’s eyes narrowed.

“And use the gathered forces to burn the book Jack Eden has—along with him.”

“Jack Eden… You mean the man who went to that magician who merged with the Divine Seedling earlier?”

“Yes. He’s the top priority target.”

The ‘Eye of Gluttony’ had detected an extremely faint thread of Mana connected to him.

He’d handed the grimoire over to Clemence, but the true owner of the grimoire was Eden.

In the end, to destroy the bounty event and alleviate the returnees’ dark attributes, Eden had to be eliminated.

This time, unlike usual, it was their turn to be the bait.

“We will make a flashy scene and concentrate their attention to us. When the opportunity comes, you should not miss it.”

“I understand.”

“We will make sure it succeeds.”

The Spirit Kings nodded.

—

“It’s getting worse and worse.”

“I always think this, but I don’t think I’ve ever had an easy raid when I’m involved with Jinhyuk.”

“The probability of a hard road opening up is 100%, yeah.”

“I’ve picked out 100 gourmet restaurant lists, so you just have to take me to all of them later. Oh, and the condition of coming to my mansion together is also a must!”

Various reactions burst out from the members.

Being used as bait and taking the most dangerous position was obviously a burden.

But they knew complaining wouldn’t help, so they didn’t object any more vehemently than that.

The few minutes of breathing room created by Muhon, Pendariel, and the fairies holding out—

Jinhyuk quickly finished planning the operation and assigned everyone their roles.

He also conveyed the abilities and characteristics each manifested returnee mainly used.

“Then, everyone, good luck.”

“See you later!”

“Yeah. I understand.”

“I’ll go to the west route.”

BOOM!

Starting with scattering in different directions, the full-scale war with the returnees began.

“Unexpected. To think they’d disperse their already small forces even further.”

The man standing beside Clemence wore an intrigued expression.

“What, you were here too?”

“The rewards are too tempting. Besides, it’s not a competitive structure. We just have to cooperate and kill one guy—conditions don’t get better than that, right?”

The man shrugged.

Admiral ‘Angelis’.

A returnee from a world where interstellar wars were fought across the galaxy—an expert strategist specializing in battles of many against many.

With an ability to read the flow of the entire battlefield, he’d developed a resource planet on the outskirts into a scale comparable to an empire. In the end, he was a genius who even succeeded in unifying that world.

“Tch! It’s ridiculous. Those ancient bastards wouldn’t budge no matter how hard we tried to persuade them, but now they’re rushing in like a swarm of bees.”

“Why, does it feel unfair?”

“Of course. If it had been like this from the beginning, I wouldn’t have had to be eaten by this cursed Divine Seedling, would I?”

Grrrrrk!

Even as she spoke, the Divine Seedling was consuming Clemence.

She was slowing the flow with great magic, but it was only a matter of time.

There wasn’t much left before her consciousness vanished.

“Don’t worry too much. The system said it would grant wishes, so if we deal with them before the parasitic flowering ends, you can get your original body back too.”

“…Huh?”

Clemence’s pupils rapidly dilated at Angelis’s words.

“That’s right. That’s right. I guess that’s possible. I’ll have the right to do that too.”

“Well, let’s focus. We need to figure out why our fireflies set up a plan like this. Mingle.”

[Aye, aye, Master.]

At Angelis’s call, an AI woman made of holograms appeared.

“Display the map.”

[Mingle activates ‘3D Stereoscopic Battlefield’.]

A complex screen unfolded before his eyes—conditions, probability variables, and every factor input and calculated.

“Hmm.”

Before even a few minutes had passed, the corners of Angelis’s lips curled upward.

He’d figured out why they were sending their maximum force to the front line to draw attention.

“So that’s why they were gradually pulling the fairies out to the right rear.”

Certainly.

To land the final blow, they would naturally assume Jinhyuk would move personally or use the remaining main members. They were trying to exploit that assumption—using themselves as bait while having the Spirit Kings target the grimoire.

It was impressive they’d come up with a plan like that in such a short time.

However—

‘Too simple.’

It wasn’t enough to twist it just once.

“From that expression, I guess you’ve found a way to win.”

“Well, I’ve come up with one or two interesting traps.”

Angelis tugged his combat cap lower.

The uniform covered in countless badges gleamed with a particularly red glow.

—

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

As tasked, Chun Yoosung and Teresa, who had pushed deep inside, violently unleashed Mana.

Shattered undead soldiers rolled across the ground.

“…”

The returnee in the black robe paused.

The soldiers summoned by the gravedigger’s power were falling far too easily. The moment they’d displayed overwhelming might against Muhon and Pendariel’s forces felt like a dream.

“They’re strong.”

“One of those guys killed Gensuke. Ordinary soldiers can’t handle them.”

Gregory growled, glaring at Chun Yoosung.

“Indeed…”

The old man wrapped a dark purple flame around his staff.

Whirrrik!

The concentration of Mana shifted.

Heavy, ominous Flames of Fear spread out, swallowing the undead soldiers whole.

“Screeeech!”

“Screeeech!”

Agonized screams tore from the undead.

Their bodies rapidly melted away.

For a moment, the thoughts liquefied and were sucked into the ground—then quickly formed into a massive shape and surged upward.

“Grrrr…”

Well over 20M in size.

Hideous swords and whips, lanterns and axes filled its four hands, each weapon imbued with Mana of a different attribute.

[Named Monster ‘Degoria Balrog’ appears!]

CRACK! CRACK! CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!

The whip lashed out like lightning.

[Chun Yoosung activates Unique Ability ‘Song of the Sword’!]

The Soul Chasing Sword reacted to the whip’s trajectory.

But—

KRAAASH!

“…Keuk?”

Chun Yoosung’s face contorted.

He blocked it.

But he couldn’t completely neutralize the tremendous impact.

A gash of unfathomable depth opened across Chun Yoosung’s back.

A single strike carried unbelievable power.

“Yoosung!”

Teresa, fighting slightly off to the side, immediately used the Blessing of the Stars. The moment dazzling starlight settled on Chun Yoosung’s sword—

[Degoria Balrog uses ‘Lantern Guiding the Dead’!]

The lantern in Balrog’s hand emitted a gloomy light.

Shwaaaaaa….

In the blink of an eye, the starlight was sucked into the lantern.

“As if we wouldn’t have prepared for Divinity, which has the worst compatibility against the undead?”

If Clemence was struggling, this one was clearly powerful.

But—

The returnees were also people who’d survived by defeating opponents so nasty they made you want to throw up.

“I won’t let a single one escape.”

From different points—

The returnees unleashed their Unique Abilities.