「Time remaining 01 : 32 : 29」

Van took Lydon away from Cadel and they split to explore the surroundings. After confirming that there were no remaining monsters in the area.

Cadel was in trouble.

‘Before the River of the Death overtook the village, the monsters focused on wiping out the village instead of going for the core. Like they were trying to get rid of something that was in their way.’

They seemed to be trying to establish a wider place for themselves. And this strange action happened right after ‘Baby Devil’ made a terrible sound wave.

‘I wondered if it was a sign of something.’

What the hell were they planning?

The more he thought about it, the more anxious he felt. That feeling, close to intuition, was confirmed at the same time as he discovered Lumen outside the garrison.

Lumen drew his longsword and slashed at something. It was an arm. A bluish arm that could not possibly belong to a human. And at the end of that long arm and shoulder was none other than the ‘core’.

“Lumen, don’t tell me that’s.....”

Cadel stepped in front of Lumen, unable to hide his embarrassment. Lumen, looking back at him, was not pleased either.

“It seems to be trying to resurrect itself.”

The palm that had been pierced by the sword was twitching at the fingertips, but no blood flowed. It was the same even if Lumen twisted the blade and opened the wound.

“I can’t cut it, it seems to heal as soon as it’s wounded, so it’s best to immobilize it so it can’t move around.”

“What a gruesome resurrection.”

“If we can’t break the core, we’ll have no choice but to watch this gruesome resurrection scene.”

That was right. No matter how Ergo’s resurrection was accomplished, the end goal was the destruction of the core. There was no breakthrough beyond that.

Running a rough hand through his hair, Cadel pursed his lips.

‘Baby Devil must have sensed that Ergo’s resurrection had begun. It seems that recapturing the core will be difficult, so did they change their course to protect the resurrected Ergo?’

It seemed that Ergo was trying to bring as many monsters into the village as possible so that he wouldn’t be repelled as soon as he was revived. Luckily, the variable of Van’s awakening came into play and they were able to avoid the hassle of fighting.

‘Even if there is no monster, time is too short to kill the resurrected Ergo and destroy the core.’

There was no telling what the resurrected Ergo would do. Even if they managed to subdue him, if the core existed, everything would go back to square one. In time, all the villagers would be turned into monsters.

All the fighting was to prevent that tragedy.

“We can’t just sit back and wait for the resurrection.”

“Do you have any ideas?”

“....Well.”

It was an ambiguous answer.

If it was the magic powerful enough to break the core, there was one technique that Cadel had in mind. He just couldn’t execute it because he couldn’t guarantee success. In addition, there was no way to protect the villagers from the aftermath of the attack.

As Cadel racked his brain for the best strategy, Garuel had returned from his search for the Twilight Knight Order. At his side, a sagging Modeleine was being supported, and the knights in the back also looked ragged.

“Geez, I thought I’d check in on my subordinates and see what they’ve gotten themselves into. While I was away for a while, something amazing came up?”

Garuel’s eyes turned to Ergo’s arm and core, which Lumen held. Instead of answering him, Cadel looked through the disastrous Knight Order.

I expected it to some extent, but it seemed that they couldn’t completely block Van’s attack. It was only natural that their mana and stamina had been exhausted.

It was true that they were able to take out the rest of the monsters in one fell swoop thanks to Van. But that didn’t mean Cadel could brazenly walk away after his allies had been struck out of the blue.

‘I’ll have to apologize first.’

Judging by Garuel’s reaction, it seemed that there were no fatalities, which was a good thing.

Cadel stepped in front of Modeleine, whose face was set with fatigue. The dark circles had deepened another notch since Cadel last saw him.

“Sir Modeleine.”

“You’re safe, Sir Cadel.”

“I should have come to you first and warned you of the attack.... but the situation was urgent and it was best to protect the villagers. I’m sorry.”

“No, don’t apologize. We’re fine.”

A faint smile crept over Modeleine’s messed-up face. Garuel rebuked him, saying, ‘If you say it with that face, it’s just like a dying will’, but Modeleine was undeterred.

“You took care of the monsters that the Knight Order couldn’t stop, and while it was a close call, no one died.... In the end, it’s the best result we can get.”

“However.....”

“You don’t have to apologize individually. Aren’t you the commander? Our commander never bows his head unless he has committed a mortal sin. When Sir Cadel comes out so respectfully, it hurts my pride in Commander Garuel.”

Garuel spat out a mocking laugh and stopped supporting Modeleine, who staggered wildly but managed to regain his footing.

“By the way.....”

Modeleine’s exhausted eyes turned to the core. As if foreshadowing Ergo’s resurrection, there was even a cool sense of despondency on his face.

It was inevitable. They had fought tooth and nail, but the situation hadn’t improved at all, and Ergo was on the verge of resurrection.

Modeleine got close to the core and confirmed it.

“....We can’t do it by ourselves.”

No matter how many times they stabbed and slashed, the arm that regenerated faster than that never shed a drop of blood. Modeleine was certain.

“You sound uncharacteristically weak, Modeleine.”

“Look at our condition, Commander. It’s best to get reinforcements. Even with healing, we’ll only be able to patch up our wounds. We can’t fight.”

“Yes, if our Modeleine judges it that way. Can I run away in advance?”

“Commander!”

“What?”

It would still be a mess even if Garuel listened to Modeleine’s advice. Shaking his head smugly, Garuel looked to Cadel, wondering what his opinion would be.

Needless to say, Cadel wasn’t about to give up the fight.

“Sir Garuel. If you were to send a messenger to the White Kingdom for reinforcements, how many hours would it take to get here?”

“It’s going to depend on the size of the group. If it’s a small group of people, it’s going to be about 2 hours, and the larger the size, the more time it will take......Sir Cadel intends to stay and fight, I suppose?”

Cadel was lost in thought, narrowing his brows.

‘Approximately 2 hours for the minimum number of people to reach Baskin Village. I wouldn’t expect reinforcements to evacuate the villagers in that time.’

Twilight Knight Order, unable to fight. Lydon, unable to fight. Van Herdos grew phenomenally, but his awakening had drained him of most of his power. Lumen, too, had already reached his limit while enduring the hellish monsters’ onslaught.

Excluding this and that, all that remains was, after all, only ‘that magic’. And for the implementation of the plan, the evacuation of villagers was the top priority.

“Please call for reinforcements.”

“Umm, it’s more likely that the respawn will complete while reinforcements are coming, right? In the meantime, if you can’t hold on to the demon, the monsterization of the villagers will be faster than the subjugation of the demon. Then you will be surrounded.”

“I’m fully aware of that.”

The look in Cadel’s eyes was one of unyielding determination, one that would not allow him to take a single step backward.

“What I want to ask for is not the strength of the reinforcements. It’s the villagers’ protection. So, the Twilight Knight Order, along with the mercenary corps, please move the villagers to the White Kingdom. When you join the reinforcements in the middle, ask for protection magic on the spot.”

“Ask for protection magic outside the village.....”

Garuel’s expression grew subtle as he realized the plan was not easily understood. He couldn’t guess what Cadel was thinking.

“And in the meantime, Sir Cadel is going to take on the demon alone?”

“Yes.”

“....Are you serious?”

Absolutely. He couldn’t have been more serious.