The troops had already gathered heavily at the south gate.
They were wriggling around above and below the city walls.
Above were soldiers armed with bows and crossbows.
Below, mercenaries had come to work.
And outside, people were shouting and trying to escape.
Among the mercenaries, four spotted me and waved their hands.
Old acquaintances I bumped into while passing through Jericho.
“Oh, is that Judah?”
Brown and Connor.
The two who cursed at me and Eliya while on watch during the first test.
The other two were Leo and Cooper.
They had blocked my way when I was searching for a guy named Envinil.
Those four also happened to meet in Jericho while working as mercenaries, and I got caught up in it.
After greeting each other on the first day, we became somewhat friendly.
Let’s bury the past as the past.
Yeah, what happened back then is a thing of the past.
All in the past.
“Did you all hear the news before coming out?”
“Yeah. They said it’s a Gigantic Drake.”
“If we’re not careful, someone might end up dead today.”
“That’s the nature of being a mercenary.”
A job that earns a living with one’s life.
That’s true.
Near them was Orphe.
Yurideke’s husband.
They were staying in Jericho to help me settle and adapt.
They live next door to me.
“Is Orphe also joining the fight?”
“No way to ignore it.”
He’s quite a skilled knight and has a personality that can’t stand injustice.
He always steps up whenever the city is in danger.
‘Yurideke is going to be worried again.’
Yurideke absolutely hated it whenever this happened.
But she wouldn’t show it or try to stop him.
She respected Orphe’s decisions.
The captain of the guards was giving directions to the soldiers.
It seemed they were about to open the gate.
I asked him.
“Are there any wizards in the city?”
“I told them to bring one. I think it’s a level 3.”
A total of 33 floors in the Magic Tower.
How many floors one has ascended is the measure of their skill.
‘Level 3, huh… If only it was level 6, it would have been way more useful.’
No choice now.
I might as well borrow the cat’s paw.
“Do you have any tricks?”
Seeing me in thought, the captain asked.
He had experience receiving my help while hunting monsters.
“Tell them to use heavy magic to solidify the Drake’s path. It’s heavy enough, so if the ground is unstable, it won’t move easily.”
I don’t expect much.
With its massive size, the width of land needed to stop a Gigantic Drake would be tremendous.
And it’s impossible for a level 3 wizard to pull that off.
‘It’s a situation where I’ve got nothing to lose.’
Still better than friendly fire with something like Fireball.
“I’ll relay that. Anything else?”
“Arrows go up. Don’t hit the folks fighting below.”
I said that as I donned my armor.
Compared to what I used to wear, it looks shabby.
-Creak…
The triple gate rose with a groan.
“Let’s go.”
I led the way.
Including Leon, Cooper, Brown, and Connor, various mercenaries and soldiers followed behind.
Once we stepped out of the city wall, there was a wide-open space.
In the distance, I could see the Gigantic Drake.
Under the full moonlit sky.
Against the backdrop of the desolate desert, the drake, covered in ivory scales, glowed faintly.
It looked like a dragon-shaped moon descended to the earth.
So large it seemed almost impossible.
“Wow…”
Someone gasped in awe.
It was that impressive.
Truly unreal.
“Is it… going to die?”
“We’ll have to find out.”
I drew my sword.
A shield was unnecessary.
It would be useless against this foe.
I spoke confidently, but I was uncertain myself.
The opponent was excessively strong.
We were in a vague position.
And I didn’t even have the right traits against it.
If it came down to matching elements, the Gigantic Drake would have the upper hand.
I might die in this fight.
‘But still, I’ve got to try. If things get dicey, I could resort to that…’
Every time I head into battle, Eliya’s face comes to mind.
At first, I tried to ignore it, but now I’ve just adapted.
I let it surface.
It’s hard to fight it down.
[Power Release (Lv.65)]
Ivory light surrounded my sword.
*
Eliya barely lifted her swaying body.
She used the moon’s beam as a support to balance herself.
Even that was trembling from her exhaustion.
It was a dangerous act.
Struggling to stand while using an unsheathed sword as support was precarious.
If she stumbled, she might cut herself.
Eliya knew it all but chose to ignore it.
Maybe being cut would be a relief.
For a moment, with dead eyes, she gazed at the obsidian sword.
If she were to cut herself with that sword, everything would become easier.
She quickly brushed off those weak thoughts.
She couldn’t even remember the last time she had a proper sleep.
Not that she wanted to sleep, as lying down usually ended in nightmares and bad memories.
Better off not sleeping at all.
She hadn’t eaten in weeks.
Whenever she put food in her mouth, she would vomit it back out.
Only occasionally sipping water.
It was rewarding to push through the grueling march.
She destroyed key strongholds of the Empire’s army and managed to kill Jezebel, Balak’s third spawn.
The blazing sun before her was a result of that victory.
The entire Empire might not be aware, but the Bevel Family certainly stood at the edge of a cliff.
On the brink of collapse.
“Ugh…”
As she struggled to rise, a brightly glowing orb caught her eye.
A massive light that swallowed Jezebel’s mansion.
Jezebel probably didn’t even realize how she was burning to death.
The golden eyes reflected the sun emerging from the ground.
She envisioned Jezebel suffering within it.
Screams. Struggling. Horror. Fear. All of that.
It wasn’t particularly pleasant.
Even though it was something she once longed for, it now felt empty.
The surviving remnants burst forth outside the land.
They looked like a swarm of bugs being attacked.
Flames blocked their escapes, confining their routes.
A futile escape.
At the end of that path were elite soldiers, including Eliya’s guards.
It was just like hunting them down.
Those who frantically fled brandishing weapons put up a momentary stand, but it was just for show.
As the battle reached its conclusion, the sun in the sky began to fade as well.
Darkness quickly enveloped the surroundings.
This was the original scenery.
A night where stars lit up the sky.
Eliya approached her guards and issued orders.
“Check for any survivors inside and take care of them. Leave not a single one alive.”
Her golden, glowing eyes and sharp tone.
Yet the skin around her eyes was darkened, and her lips were parched.
Her limbs trembled faintly.
Dillon simply nodded as he looked at her precarious state.
Advice to take a break fell on deaf ears.
Not just him but many had said the same multiple times.
Still, Eliya paid them no mind.
Since the day she declared war, she had been moving like a machine.
A killing machine to slay enemies.
Nothing else mattered, and everything else seemed like a luxury.
Though she was called a re-embodiment of a mythic era, she was no god.
Her body was accumulating fatigue.
Magic was not something that could be used endlessly.
Using magic consumed her body over time.
Without sufficient rest, it was dangerous.
But Eliya rejected all forms of rest.
As if wishing to die, she drove herself to her limits as if she was going to die tomorrow.
“…Understood.”
Even knowing all this, Dillon couldn’t stop Eliya.
He simply obeyed her orders.
He just remembered Judah’s last words.
He asked him to take good care of the lady.
He was failing at that.
‘Where are you… Judah?’
Swallowing a sigh, Dillon led the guards.
*
Eliya felt the need for rest.
She attempted to cover the entire grounds of Jezebel with sunlight.
But her fatigue diminished the spell’s power.
She could only envelop a few mansions.
Habitually, she pulled her scarf up to her nose.
She didn’t even know why she carried this tattered blanket with her.
Had no clue why she compulsively searched for it every time.
Eliya felt an unexplainable thirst at every moment and tried to soothe it with this scarf.
It was utterly meaningless, yet she couldn’t understand why she felt the need to do it.
Especially that thirst.
She wanted to absorb something cold and serene into her whole body.
In her life, she’d never experienced such a thing.
Perhaps it was just a hallucination from exhaustion that she desperately suppressed.
It seemed the war was beginning to show results after only a few weeks.
The battle was different from conquering lands where soldiers wielding spears and swords fought each other.
It was a brutal bombardment of mass magic employing the asymmetrical power known as Eliya.
The enemy was too busy trying to defend themselves.
So far, they hadn’t been completely wiped out since Balak and the head of the Royal Wizard Order, Geist, were on her tail.
The head of the Royal Wizard Order, Geist.
He was much stronger than any other Royal Wizard Order member Eliya had slain until now.
Yet even so, he wasn’t capable enough to stand against her directly.
‘Not much left.’
This war was essentially a civil war between Eliya and the Bevel Family.
The Empire hadn’t suffered any significant damage.
It didn’t matter.
Eliya condensed her war objectives.
The destruction of the Bevel Family.
That was all that mattered.
And afterward, she would visit her mother’s grave and wrap everything up there.
‘As for the remaining world, I couldn’t care less about what happens to it.’
In truth, she even thought it wouldn’t be so bad to die before achieving her goal now.
That was why she felt the need for rest yet chose not to.
She had some leeway until the next operation time.
Eliya used teleportation.
A dark space.
A place carved out of the mountain at the back of the mansion.
She didn’t know why she came here or the adjoining bedroom every time she had the chance.
It wasn’t even a conscious action.
She just did it.
Every time she came to this place, she found it odd that she brought furniture and living supplies.
A bed over there, big enough to fit two people comfortably.
She’d brought it here not long ago.
Today, she also brought two cups and placed them on the shelf.
Items suitable in quantity and size for two to use, she collected them every time she visited this place.
She had no idea why, but she wanted to, so she didn’t hold back.
Though her actions were weird, she didn’t delve deeper into it.
But she found that coming here brought her more peace than usual.
Eliya unfolded a map in her mind.
She wasn’t here to rest.
She came to calculate the next operation in the tranquil space.
In this situation, she drew the enemy’s routes and escape paths.
‘It’ll be a long way, but if we use the roads and mountain paths near the entrance to the demon realm, we can move without being caught by our side. That won’t work. We have to kill them all without skipping anyone.’
She drew lines along the routes on the unfolded map.
She then paused at one point.
A location like a separate island from human lands.
A fortress city situated at the entrance of the demon realm.
A perfect spot for the enemy to use stealthily.
As either a midway checkpoint or a hideout for key figures.
‘Should I check it out?’
Using teleportation, she moved to a point where she could view the location from afar.
There, she saw a walled city in the distance.
For some reason, there was a cold aura emanating from that direction.
Something that might quench her thirst.
But, just as always, she dismissed it as a mere hallucination.
‘I’ll have enough time to inspect the insides.’
Calculated on her time, Eliya moved without hesitation.
Towards the walled fortress city.
Towards Jericho.
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