< Preliminary Battle (3) >
Hoo—
The flow of air around suddenly shifted.
The previously composed expression of the Head of the Buncheon Society twitched several times.
The Hahoe Mask, enveloped in dark energy, had already retreated a step, but he could no longer afford to focus solely in that direction.
‘…When?’
It was only natural.
Aside from the annoying undead that had been bothering him, there were only him and the Hahoe Mask left to determine the outcome in this space…
Clink— clink—
“There you are, filthy heretic.”
A sudden unwanted guest appeared.
With the heavy sound of metal resonating rhythmically, a Knight clad in sleek, pure white armor slowly revealed himself from behind the bushes.
“I am Heinrich Saint Landgard, the first sword of the Holy God.”
The knight’s armor sparkled with the surrounding light while golden light flowed from behind the visor that covered his face.
With such an imposing presence…
“O heretic, in the name of the great Holy God—”
Swish—
“I shall eliminate you.”
A beautiful sword drawn from his hand sliced through the air, radiating brilliant light.
And the blazing aura that erupted from his entire body began to reject and push away the deathly energy surrounding them, as well as the unnatural holy power that shouldn’t exist in this world.
“…A champion of the Holy God Auterica, I see.”
The forehead of the Head of the Buncheon Society slightly frowned.
Although he had expected the other party would intervene, their speed was far quicker than he had anticipated.
‘Moreover…’
That wasn’t the only problem.
His gaze shifted to the side.
Ha ha ha—! This is thrilling!
Standing there was a muscular giant, exuding a presence as overwhelming as that of the Holy God’s champion, bursting into hearty laughter.
His mouth opened wide, revealing serrated teeth that were unlike anything seen in ordinary humans.
“Well, it’s my first time facing angels!”
The being, more resembling a beast than a human, Harley smiled sinisterly at the Head of the Buncheon Society with eyes filled with bizarre desire.
He couldn’t hide his madness.
“Hey there, can I take just one bite of those wings?”
It was clear from the drool dripping from his fiercely open mouth and his body, already puffed up as if ready for a hunt, that he was serious.
That was definitely not a request, but no one in this place dared to challenge him on it.
“…Looks like I underestimated this dimension. I never thought they could move so quickly. And now there are four… no, five such beings.”
The Head of the Buncheon Society let out a small chuckle.
And before that quiet murmur could even end, two presences hidden behind him began to reveal themselves slyly.
“Hmph, did you already suspect? How unfortunate.”
“The World Tree has decreed… not even a single breath of air shall be allowed to those who are the spawn of the invading Outer Gods.”
A bloodthirsty vampire emerged from the shadows, adjusting the collar of his black suit, and a blonde, green-eyed High Elf stood atop a tree, looking down and declaring heavily.
Alongside those who had appeared earlier, the heavy pressure from their collective presence began to rise dramatically.
Goooh—
The atmosphere violently trembled, and various energies began to boil fiercely.
In that escalating atmosphere…
Kreeeegh— Looks like you’re busy. Your popularity is truly impressive, huh?
“Hahoe Mask…”
At that moment, the Head of the Buncheon Society’s expression stiffened again at Hans’s mocking words.
No matter how he looked at it, the current situation wasn’t normal.
‘This is too organized to be spontaneous. It feels as if they had prepared in advance…’
Moreover, based on what had happened so far, it was evident that there was some connection between those four and the Hahoe Mask.
The exquisite timing of their arrival, their method of crossing dimensions, and the way these beings, who shouldn’t be in the same place due to their opposing natures, had gathered solely to be hostile toward him—all of it pointed to something unusual.
An undead black mage commanding death, a knight who appeared to be a champion of the Holy God, a shapeshifting chimera of unknown identity, a fairy radiating the essence of nature, and even a vampire with an extraordinary presence.
Surely, each of them must be at the pinnacle of their respective domains; how could they all join forces like this?
What on earth had the Hahoe Mask done?
His expression darkened with puzzlement.
[Well then, I’ll take my leave now. From here on, they’ll take care of you.]
But he wouldn’t be granted the time to ponder those questions.
With a single word from Hans, the combatants finished preparing for battle and began to radiate their energy.
“…As expected, just flapping your gums, Hahoe Mask. Now you decide to skedaddle…”
However, just as the Head of the Buncheon Society lightly opened his mouth to provoke him, a loud Kwang—! interrupted.
Breaking the tension, the impatient wild warrior, Harley, stomped the ground and rushed forth first.
Ha ha ha—! Now pay attention over here, brother!
Armed with a mass of scales and bulging muscles, he charged with a terrifying ferocity that combined madness and bloodlust.
Crack! Boom—
The sharp claws erupting from his oversized hands created deep craters in the ground, slicing through the air.
Anyone else would have been ripped apart in an instant, but the unfortunate truth was that his opponent was not such an easy target.
Rumbling—
Just after Harley’s attack missed, the atmosphere exploded in a sonic boom as his body broke the sound barrier, causing tremors with monumental physical force.
However, that aftermath was merely a small precursor to the scale of what was to come.
“Now, let the heretic judgment begin.”
“What does the author’s blood taste like? Intriguing.”
“By the will of the World Tree…”
Following Harley, Heinrich and Heinz II, along with Harris, immediately threw themselves into the fray.
[Uninvited outsider. You, the intruder who will never be welcomed in this world.]
At that moment, Hans’s last words echoed in the battlefield as he prepared to leave.
[Remember.]
A voice resonating like a whisper from demons in hell, spilling over from the abyss.
[There is no place for you on this land.]
It was a declaration in which he vowed to ensure that would come to pass.
*
The Undead King Hans had vanished from the battlefield.
In truth, he had considered fighting alongside the other avatars, but for more efficient combat, this was indeed the best course of action.
After all, the energy Hans utilized was entirely incompatible with the other avatars, especially the Holy Knight Heinrich and the High Elf Harris.
‘Rather than creating a synergy, we’d just sap each other’s strength.’
It was better to operate in rotation like this than to risk it.
With that, Hans distanced himself from the battlefield, focusing on maximizing his condition in preparation for a possible second deployment.
‘Things are going smoothly on the other front as well. I don’t know how much it will help, but it’s better to prepare for any possible scenario.’
He subtly checked the movements of each faction through his “Authority of the Monarch” and nodded.
This should suffice, he thought, reflecting on whether it was better to overprepare than casually presume it would turn out fine—especially after what happened in Ganghwan Realm.
‘Now then.’
And the battle that had turned into a 4-on-1… no, technically a fair one-on-one duel was ongoing in the battlefield.
Kwang—!
It continued without pause.
*
The mountain that had been turned upside down by the battle between the Head of the Buncheon Society and the Undead King Hans was now facing disasters in real-time.
Several peaks had vanished without a trace, and valleys were appearing to the extent that the very geography had become unrecognizable.
Hoo.
Understandably, Harris, the High Elf, was not particularly pleased with the situation, but there was nothing he could do.
He took a deep breath to clear his mind of distressing thoughts and quickly resumed his sprint through the trees.
Having finally reached an appropriate vantage point, he retrieved an arrow crafted from the branches of the World Tree from his Spatial Dimension Magical Equipment and nocked it on his special weapon, ‘Themis’, drawing back the bowstring.
Whooooo—
A kaleidoscope of colors ignited in the form of an arrow.
Skills like “Soft Eight Trigrams Secret Skill (Revised)” and other nature affinity skills activated simultaneously, causing an immense amount of energy to be sucked into the arrow in an instant.
Even the great energy of nature that had gathered around was becoming visible.
‘Now.’
When it reached a critical point, Harris released the bowstring while humming a soft tune.
In the very next moment, it had already reached the front of the Head of the Buncheon Society.
Rumble—
Thunder roared loudly, shaking the atmosphere.
The attack, like before, was blocked by the wings that had now covered its front, causing little damage, but even that restriction in movement was sufficient.
This type of coordinated attack was his specialty.
“Holy God!”
“Just one bite! Really, just one bite!”
In that brief moment of hesitation, both Heinrich and Harley rushed in, fueled by fervor.
A knight of light, adorned with an even more dazzling glow, wielded a sword of light over five meters long, while a grotesque creature nearly four meters tall thrust its massive mouth forward.
As they relentlessly charged at the openings, the Head of the Buncheon Society, unlike during his fight with Hans, had no choice but to move actively.
Hoo, bothersome things.
The moment he muttered that, Harley, who had been charging forward, suddenly came to a halt.
His movements were blocked by an invisible barrier stretched across the air.
Bang bang bang—
In the meantime, Heinrich’s Holy Sword clashed with the radiant, sunset-colored holy energy behind his hand, connecting tens of times in fleeting moments.
The once pristine white armor, freshly repaired after the earlier battle with the Undead King, had scratches appearing all over again, and everything around that had been touched by the shockwaves was cracking and exploding.
“Graaah! Let me in too!”
Zzz—!
At that moment, as Harley’s eyes erupted with red and green light, the barrier before him was torn apart by his claws.
Then, having fully transformed into a monstrosity, Harley plunged into the fray, complicating the movements of the Head of the Buncheon Society.
But he forced several holes through that enormous body and twisted his wings to strike both opponents away.
Hoo.
However, even though he had maintained the upper hand in the skirmish several times, the Head of the Buncheon Society’s expression didn’t reflect satisfaction.
As he glanced downwards, he noticed that the wounds on his hands, cut by the Holy Sword, were slowly healing.
The degradation of his bodily endurance and drastically lowered regeneration power was apparent due to the consecutive battles since fighting the Hahoe Mask.
“…What a bother.”
Moreover, while Heinrich’s sheer physical power itself fell short of that of the Hahoe Mask, in terms of their opposing natures, he was indeed superior to the Head of the Buncheon Society.
Regardless of the equivalent holy power, this was the enemy’s domain, which left him with no choice.
Moreover, that wasn’t the only thing making him uncomfortable.
“Looks like you’ve been wounded.”
A suddenly cold voice resounded from beside him.
Wruuuum—!
Immediately afterwards, a vast storm of energy surged from the center of where they stood.
Combat resumed without pause, and long-range sniping resumed, seeking gaps in their defenses.
The Head of the Buncheon Society attempted to counter the sniper with holy artillery fire, but his opponent scurried about like a cockroach, incessantly prickling his nerves.
‘What an annoyingly persistent bunch.’
He regenerated slowly, licking the pristine blood off his hands, and scowled at the disappearing vampire.
Although he wouldn’t completely lose track of them, if they emerged during the chaos of battle, his reactions would inevitably be delayed, which irritated him.
Without the advantage of holy power, he might have been in an even tighter spot.
Yet still, he had no moments of respite.
Before he knew it, Heinrich had arrived right before him, thanks to “Blessing: Leap.”
That meticulously calculated wheel of battle was designed solely to chip away at the Head of the Buncheon Society’s power.
Intended to hold him down so that they could unleash everything they had.
*
Thud thud!
Crack— crack!
“Geez, time to hurry.”
Harley brushed off the dust from his body as he stood up, cracking his neck to the side.
The holes punched through his body had already left only faint traces behind.
Wriggle wiggle—
As he loosened his body, a few stray white feathers popped out from the corners of his mouth.
Even in the moment of being hit, he had managed to snag a chunk of feathers.
“What a waste! If only it had been a bit deeper!”
Of course, since it was merely a chunk of feathers without any blood or flesh, it wasn’t particularly high in value, but it was better than having none at all.
If he continued to attempt things like this, surely he would eventually succeed.
Additionally, durability was one of Harley’s strengths, so it wouldn’t be a problem.
‘Not much left now.’
It wasn’t just about driving the enemy from this land.
This fight was merely a preliminary battle.
To prepare for a proper clash with the enemy later, he needed to obtain as much as possible now.
“Alright! Time to go!”
Suddenly, Harley’s leg muscles bulged as if they were about to burst.
Kwang—!
Once again, his body hurtled toward the battlefield, echoing with a tremendous roar.
< Preliminary Battle (3) > End
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