The boundary betweenArea 1, TobaronandArea 2, Hell Grimecollapsed when theWitches’ Settlement, Ordor Forestwas burned to the ground.

TheGrand Barrier, the Ghost Foresthad completely blocked any interaction between the two regions. However, inBlyer’scase, the discovery of apassageduring gold mine development changed the situation.

Kamel, the regressor, knew of thispassage. He used it to connect with theBlack Marketandmage factions, rapidly amassing power.

“…But I forgot. We’re still in the early stages of that timeline.”

A sealed mineshaft.

When we arrived after pushing through the waiting crowd, I finally laid eyes on thepassage—and let out a dry chuckle.

A small crevice in a collapsed rock wall.

People were squeezing their bodies through, one by one.

Too narrow.

In the future, this passage would be expanded enough for large wagons to pass through, but for now, it was just barely wide enough for a single person.

I hadn’t expected this.

Now I understood why Heinz had brought us here with such urgency.

He wanted us to see firsthand thatescaping through this passage would take time.

"Heinz, how many are with us?"

"A little overten thousand."

“…Ten thousand? That many?”

“There were more laborers in the mines than we expected. Since all of them joined the escape…”

Hearing that number, I realized ten thousand wasn’t even that large.

The number of people captured for labor and sacrificial offerings alone must have been in the thousands.

Adding their families, Heinz’s faction, and theKorun River survivorswhom Lochter had freed from slavery, this was actuallya small fractionof those affected.

Despite the chaos, most had chosen to stay behind in the territory.

It seemed that Lochter’s presence still wasn’t strong enough to outweigh thefear of Kamel.

“How many remain?”

Heinz estimated that abouthalfhad already passed through the passage.

Still, to get everyone out, they would need to move nonstop throughout the night.

The passage itself was quite long, after all.

In the end,timewas the problem.

How much of it did we have left?

“Well… at least we got lucky.”

“Yeah. We nearly got ourselves killed.”

Lochter and I exchanged bitter smiles.

We had been disappointed that fewer people had rallied behind Lochter.

But if he had beentoocharismatic—if he had ledallthe people here—theneveryonewould have been trapped, unable to move.

Ironically, havingfewerpeople before us now brought a sense of relief.

People’s minds truly were fickle.

“Heinz.”

We needed to pick up the pace.

I whispered instructions to him, and he nodded before hurrying off.

Moments later, the soldiers began shouting.

“Once you pass through the passage,freedomawaits! You’ll no longer be oppressed, no longer starve!”

“UOOOOHHH!”

“Sir Lochterwill lead us to salvation! No one can touch us now!”

“LOCHTER! LOCHTER!”

“Hurry! Move quickly!”

The shouts echoed loudly through the mine, amplifying the momentum.

The entire mine was now chanting Lochter’s name.

With Lochter standing before them, giving them reassurance, the once-nervous peoplemoved with newfound urgency.

The passage flow sped up as well.

“Lift your head. A hero needs to look the part.”

“Don’t touch me.”

“You embarrassed?”

“No.Youembarrass me.”

What was so bad about smiling and waving?

Unlike me, Lochter stood in the center of the cheers,head down, unable to meet their gazes.

He wasn’t used to being idolized.

But he would have to get used to it.

Iwas an assassin by nature. So was Karl.

We needed aknightly heroon our side, didn’t we?

“…We need to send Lily to the other side of the passage.”

“Wasn’t she asleep?”

“She may not show it, but forcefully breaking amajor spelllike that has left her in an unstable condition. We can’t ask her for more.”

It wasn’tmyidea—it wasKeros’s request.

He had sensed Lily’s condition.

Reto had allowed me to communicate with Keros, which was convenient, though Ididmiss the charm of him just being a dumb dog.

Ever since he saw the children mixed into the crowd, Keros hadstiffened upand clung to me.

If I left him alone, he might just bite my calf in frustration.

I carefully handed Lily over to a man Heinz had introduced.

A sturdy build.

I recalled seeing him among the officers commanding the soldiers.

“He’s a skilled knight. Yourwifewill be protected with his life, so don’t worry.”

…Wife?

This senile noble bastard.

No wonder Kamel threw him aside.

Since I had personally carried and looked after Lily, misunderstandings had arisen.

And clearing them up immediately wasn’t an option.

“Hah. Hah. Hah.”

I couldn’t exactly tell the knight that the woman in his arms wasLily Base, the Witch of Ordor Forest, and that the dog wagging its tail beside her wasKeros, the Hellhound Guardian.

All I could do was laugh and wave as they disappeared.

TheHuntmembers were guarding the exit on the other side, so they would take care of her.

I turned to Heinz.

“Is there someone here who knows the mines well?”

“There’s aMine Overseer—a man who looked after the laborers.”

“Is he alive?”

“He’s not a bad person. He mostly helped the injured and looked out for others. The laborers respect him, and he’s been assisting us actively.”

“Bring him here. Now.”

While Heinz stepped away, Lochter and I arrived at thecrowded sectionof the mine.

Something was wrong.

The place was in an uproar.

As I moved closer, I spottedKarl.

He had just arrived and was searching for me frantically.

“Hey! Something—”

I grabbed him before he could finish.

I clamped my hand over his mouth and dragged him into a corner.

“How bad is it?”

“…Huh? I didn’t even say anything yet, how’d you know?”

“You came with the others. Youdidn’thave time to gather intel on Rengua, did you?”

“No, but Ididn’t need to.They’reallmoving in a tight formation—it’s obvious at a glance.”

A force had appeared atthe northern gates of the territory, moving toward the mine.

Aluxurious carriage.

A group ofshamansprotecting it.

And at the front—200 to 300 warriors clad inblood-red armor.

All of them had their faces covered.

Karl had felt anintense dangerjust from seeing them.

Not ordinary soldiers.

“Did you fight them?”

“Hell no—Iranbefore I could.”

Karl cursed and gestured toward something.

The others he had returned with.

…But there were onlythreeof them.

Two were beingcarriedby the remaining pair.

I frowned and approached.

“What happened?”

“They weretoo fast.I tried to slow them down, hit them twice and retreated.”

“Did they use magic?”

“…I don’t even know what hit them. They justgrabbed their heads and collapsed.”

Black magic.

If it was strong enough toincapacitate two 3-star warriors, then it had to beRengua’s handiwork.

I knelt and placed my hands on their wrists, channelingSacred Powerinto them.

As color returned to their pale faces, Karl let out a relieved sigh.

“I didn’t get to test their skills, but my gut tells me they’re the real deal. Not just some random nobodies.”

“Is Rengua leading them?”

“There was an old shaman with a staff. It must beRengua Field. Even the other shamans were bowing to him.”

“Is Kamel inside the carriage?”

“I couldn’t confirm.”

“For now, let’s move. From the looks of things, we’ll needtimeto handle this situation, won’t we?”

“Yes.”

“Then we need a plan. They’re movingfasterthan I expected.”

Karl’s intel was useful, but it wasn’tenough.

‘I need to see it for myself…’

As I considered our opponent’s forces, Heinz returned with an elderly man of similar age.

He was theMine Overseer, the one who had been looking after the laborers.

Unlike Heinz, who lacked awareness, this old man seemedsharp.

“Do you have any explosives?”

“…Explosives?”

“Something shamans might have used tobreak through tough rockinside the mines. Kamel must have brought something like that.”

If Kamel had access toshamans’ lairs, he would have had themcreate explosive tools.

Mining operations required them, after all.

As expected—

“Oh! Yes! The shamans broughtbagsof something…”

“Bring them.Now.”

While the overseer left with a few men, I asked Heinz to move our unconscious comrades to the other side of the passage.

Moments later, the overseer returned, carrying aheavy sack.

I opened it and found a pile ofred daggers.

Aroundtwentyin total.

Each dagger had asmall gemstoneembedded in the hilt.

The energy radiating from them wasthickandfilthy.

‘Clown Daggers?’

A type ofsuicide attackweapon used in shamanic rituals…

Had these originally beenprototype mining explosives?

“How do they work?”

“You drive them into the ground and press the gemstone. Then theydetonate… but there’s a problem.”

“…Don’t tell me the activationrequires a person?”

“…Yes.”

Ah,fucking black shamans.

They needed to be rounded up like fish and tossed into agrinder.

Sons of bitches.

“Theycanbe triggered by impact, but…”

“That’s good enough. What’s the blast radius?”

I gathered the daggers into a bundle and led my team outside the mine.

After a moment, I stopped at the entrance, stroking my chin in thought.

Karl glanced at me.

“What’s up?”

“We need to leavesomeonehere.”

“…You meanat the entrance?”

“Yes. We don’t know their exact objective.”

I was preparing for theworst-case scenario.

TheFlash of Death—Teremore.

If Kamelhad another oneof thosefucking wide-area bombs, we wouldn’t stand a chance.

Especially if it detonatedinside the mine—the passage would collapse.

With our retreat cut off, all that awaited us wasdeath.

We had to prevent them from evenapproaching.

We needed someone who couldhold the narrow entrance alone.

Someone who could withstandhundredscharging at once.

Someone whowouldn’tlet them pass easily.

“Lochter, hold the entrance.”

“Understood.”

“What about weapons?”

“Karl picked up someuseful thingsfrom where he fought Lyon. Not sure how effective they’ll be.”

I raised an eyebrow as Lochter pulled out a weapon.

Amagic sword—Bega.

It wasn’t enough to contain Lochter’s full5-starpotential, but it woulddefinitelybe useful in the coming battle.

Looked like he had also grabbed ashield ring.

“You can use both?”

“Yes. I tested them.”

Was it lack of time that kept him from checking thoroughly?

Or was he just beingwarybecause they came from theMagic Tower?

Either way, they weren’t cursed.

‘But wait… I killed two of Lyon’s lieutenants, didn’t I?’

I silently glanced at Karl.

He smirked anddramatically turned his head away.

Proud of himself, huh?

Judging from his reaction, it seemed heonlymanaged to take one.

“Don’t letanyonethrough.”

“Don’t worry.”

Before leaving, I planted aboutfive Clown Daggersaround the entrance.

Then, taking Karl and three others, I started descending the mountain path.

“Leave the navigation to me.”

Karl took the lead, his eyesserious.

Withthousandsof lives at stake, he was radiating agrimdetermination.

…But then.

Karl sprinted ahead.

I hadn’t noticed it earlier in the dimly lit mine, but under the brightmoonlight—

I saw it clearly.

Thetop of his head.

Barren.

A completelybaldcrown.

[So… grabbing one’s hair while using Burst Strike results in this. Good to know.]

The others turned away, pretendingnot to notice.

I couldn’t laugh.

No—Imustn’tlaugh.

This was aseriousmoment.

‘Is this… some kind of test from the gods?’

I clenched my jaw.

“The sky issobright tonight.”

Karl tilted his chin up, gazing at the night sky.

…In the end, Ilowered my eyes.

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