As I ran through the forest, I thought to myself.

The hero of Chapter 1—Lochter Felice.

Until his escape from the mines,Tobaronhad been in a recovery phase, regaining its strength after suffering losses from the chimera hordes.

But—

"Things have progressed this far..."

Lochter’s escape had been the turning point, setting off a chain reaction.

The battle at theKorun River, theHunter Purgethat followed, the burning ofKamel’s manorandWailing Hill—all of these events had led to the situation now unfolding.

"We’ve clashed with the Executioner indirectly multiple times, haven’t we?"

There had been moments where I was a step away from death, and gambles that could have gone terribly wrong.

"And yet, we’ve won every time."

It felt likeluckhad been on our side.

We had even seized the initiative, drawing in forces that would serve as the foundation for ananti-Kamel alliance.

Now, all that remained was toescape the mines safely.

"If we can just survive this crisis, nothing could be better."

WithBenetastill intact, we could form anallianceand launch a decisive campaign against Kamel.

It was unfortunate that we couldn’t preventEtor’sfall, but we had already destroyed the Executioner’skey strategic points.

One of them wasWailing Hill, a massive burial ground filled with corpses used for dark magic rituals.

With the hill burned and the hidden stronghold destroyed, the shamans’nestwould be crippled for a while.

"Now, all that’s left is the mine."

Thegold minewas Kamel’sfinancial lifelineand hisonly passagefor dealing with outside factions.

If we destroyed it, it would be adevastatingblow—severing his limbs, so to speak.

Not even aregressorcould recover from that easily.

"We need to destroy it and get out—but of course, things aren’t that simple."

I sighed, adjusting theheavy bagslung over my shoulder.

TheClown Daggersthe overseer had given me.

If our evacuation had gonesmoothly, I would have used them tocollapse the entire mine.

But the delay in evacuation hadcomplicatedeverything.

Now, we had tobuy timeagainst thepursuers.

"A narrow field of view at night, a mountain filled with natural cover..."

The mine was deep in the mountains, surrounded by steep cliffs and dense forests, with only a fewcleared roadsfor access.

If they had a carriage, theyhadto take this path.

Karl had also been moving along thismain roadrather than cutting through the woods.

That meant we werebound to run into the enemy soon.

After descending for some time, I scanned the area, trying to sense any movement.

It felt like we had been descending for awhile.

I turned to Karl.

"Where are they now?"

"They should beabout halfwaydown by now."

"Halfway? Faster than expected."

"It’s becausewe ambushed them. They’re beingcautiousabout our forces."

"Cautious?"

I thought for a moment, then nodded.

"Kamel must haverealizedthat wedidn’tsuffer any losses."

"How the hell would he know? That explosion erasedeverything.Or… wait—did Lyon wake up?"

"It’s more likelyArcane. He’s a damn good fortune-teller."

IfArcanehad checked theDead Gods’ Hosts, he would have realized thatnoneof our hosts had died.

Unlike us, their side had suffereda major loss—Lyon.

Not knowing our exact condition, they had no choice but totread carefully.

"Then why don’t we just ask theLittle Witchabout Lyon’s condition? Isn’t she supposed to be gifted too?"

"We haven’t had a chance to ask her."

Lily had beenasleepever since I woke up.

I’d have to ask herlater.

Just then, one of our companions pointed ahead.

"Master, enemies ahead."

We stopped mid-slope and peered down.

In the distance—

Through the trees and along the descending road,moving lightsflickered.

Torches.

A large group carrying torches wasascendingthe road.

"Kinda weird, isn’t it?"

"What do you mean?"

"They’refully exposingtheir position."

"It’s actually thesafestapproach. Sticking together like that makes itharderfor us to launch an attack."

"They’refast. If we leave them alone, they’ll reach the minebeforethe evacuation is complete."

It was definitely themost troublesomeway they could advance.

"Let’s start here."

I chose aflat sectionof the path as our battleground and pointed toward thetowering trees.

"You wanna cut those down? That’ll take forever."

"Not withthese."

I pulled ablood-red daggerfrom my bag.

Karl blinked at it, then looked at his own dagger.

"...Wait, withthat?"

"Somethingsimilar, but different."

These wereClown Daggers.

BOOOOM—!!!

A thunderous explosionshatteredthe silence of the dark forest.

CRAAACK—

One by one, massive trees collapsed,blocking the road.

Amid the falling dust and debris, I saw the torch-wielding troopshalt in place.

Karl fanned away the rising dust with his hand, peering down the road.

I could sense unease in him.

"Isn’t this way too obvious?"

"I wanted to see how they’d react."

"What if they just charge straight in?"

"That would be difficult for them."

The tangle of fallen trees completely blocked the road.

Normally, no one would even consider trying to push through.

But this was Kamel we were dealing with.

To him, this was probably nothing more than a minor inconvenience.

"They can break through this easily."

"But they’ll have to stop the carriage for a while."

"You got a bad feeling about this?"

"Not yet."

Even with that massive explosion, there was no immediate reaction from them.

Despite our small numbers, we had managed to take down Lyon.

Kamel knew he was the target.

So, of course, he wouldn’t split his forces.

Sticking together and advancing quickly was the best option for him.

But still—

"This is too predictable."

Kamel Blazer was following my expectations too well.

That was what felt off.

I needed confirmation.

I handed Karl the bag of remaining Clown Daggers.

"If they break through, plant all of these behind the barricade. The moment I signal you—detonate them."

"All of them?"

"Yes."

Karl nodded and, along with two others, moved behind the fallen trees.

Meanwhile, I summoned the Blood-Drinking Chalice and leaped into the dense forest, moving around the road.

I silently approached the enemy’s formation from the side, keeping hidden among the trees.

Then—

The halted troops began moving again.

At about 100 meters, I could see them clearly under the flickering torchlight.

Just as Karl had reported.

Hundreds of knights in blood-red armor.

Behind them, a luxurious carriage, guarded by a unit of shamans.

A massive difference in strength.

With that tight formation, we had no openings.

I activated Divine Hunter’s ability—Keen Sight.

My gaze locked onto the center of the knights.

A dark-red aura seeped from between them.

An elderly man wielding a massive staff.

Rengua, the Master of the Nest, was among them.

‘Not close enough.’

I needed to get closer to read the divine glyphs around him.

I crept forward—

80 meters.

70 meters.

Suddenly, Rengua turned his head.

I froze, pressing myself against the tree.

He tilted his head, puzzled… then turned back and continued moving.

I let out a slow breath.

‘That’s my limit.’

Still, I had gottenclose enough.

[Rengua Field – Descendant of the Blood Oak Shaman (Madness)]

[Madness Control]

[Madness Infection]

[Madness Explosion]

I carefully read throughRengua’s divine abilities.

Madness…?

I had never seen this divine power in the novel before.

But one thing was clear.

I recognized the staff he was holding.

The Blood Oak Staff.

It seemed that this ancient relic had been the key to Rengua awakening as a Host of Divinity.

I had heard that Etor had fallen due to an outbreak of madmen.

Now, it was clear that Rengua was behind it.

Power inflation is ridiculous.

When I first met him, Rengua was nothing more than a somewhat skilled shaman.

But now, he had the ability to turn an entire territory upside down.

Just like Lyon had overwhelmed Lochter, this was the terrifying power of a regressor like Kamel.

With knowledge from his past life, he could accelerate the growth of his subordinates to absurd levels.

I shifted my gaze from the blood-red knights to the luxurious carriage at the rear.

A strong, unmistakable divine presence.

Thick and overwhelming.

"It’s not just one person."

I couldn’t pinpoint the exact number, but based on the concentrated aura, there were at least two divine hosts inside the carriage.

Most likely Kamel and Wiley.

But then—

“…What the hell?”

As the carriage passed closer, I instinctively rubbed my eyes and looked again.

Through Keen Sight, I examined the aura leaking from the carriage.

But the divine glyphs were blurred, as if hidden behind a thick mist.

Like looking through a mosaic.

Something was interfering with my abilities.

Should I get closer?

Or—

Creak—

I pulled back my bowstring.

An armor-piercing arrow infused with full power, aimed directly at the carriage.

70 meters.

Could I kill Kamel?

I calculated the odds—then shook my head and lowered my bow.

Among the shamans escorting the carriage, I spotted several shield-bearers.

I would only get one shot. If it wasn’t a guaranteed kill, it wasn’t worth the risk.

That formation was a hornet’s nest.

If I made a reckless move, it could backfire.

And my first objective was to buy time.

I watched as the carriage passed, then remained in my position.

I needed to confirm whether any additional forces were following.

I waited in silence.

But no matter how long I stood there, I sensed nothing.

“No reinforcements…?”

I quickly returned to Karl’s position.

As soon as I arrived, he nearly jumped out of his hiding spot, scolding me.

“Damn it! You disappeared out of nowhere!”

“I needed to confirm something before they arrived.”

“Confirm what?”

“There are no reinforcements. Etor’s 3,000 cavalrymen are missing.”

“…Maybe they stayed behind? Etor is a mess right now.”

“What kind of lord keeps another region’s army stationed inside their own castle? Especially a massive force like 3,000 cavalry?”

“…So what are you saying?”

“There’s only one route cavalry can take to get here. And yet, they aren’t coming. That’s when I knew something was wrong.”

I turned my gaze toward the forest.

Beyond the fallen trees, knights clad in blood-red armor began emerging.

Rengua’s knights.

“The Etor Knights?”

More accurately, Rengua’s puppets—driven mad under his control.

“…Those guys?”

“Yes. If Etor’s actual cavalry were here, people might realize the truth. That’s why Kamel left them out. He can’t afford for people to find out that he was the one who destroyed Etor.”

This meant that Kamel still hadn’t completely secured control over Etor.

“Then we just need to stop these guys, right?”

“You make it sound easy.”

“…Shit. What’s the plan?”

I raised my bow, staring at the approaching carriage.

Kamel was definitely inside.

But something felt… off.

I needed to see what was in that carriage.

“For now—”

I drew my bowstring.

“—let’s prod them a bit.”

Even if I couldn’t hit Kamel, I could destroy the carriage.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by lotustale.com