Rumors abounded that Arilai had deployed eight hundred lightly armored infantrymen, including two prototypes of a new weapon called Demon Arms. Combined with the personnel from the countries of Toshgard and Ninai, they had nearly five thousand soldiers. It was the first war that had spurred the armies from both sides into action.
A soldier removed their mouth cover and looked up at the glimmering morning star as the temperature in the desert dropped to about ten degrees Celsius. In two months, his breath would turn white with cold. He stood shoulder to shoulder with the others as they marched forward, unable to enjoy the fresh morning air. Feeling resigned, he put his mouth cover back on.
Coarse sand crunched underfoot as they continued walking forward. The repetitive motion was quite tedious. Strangely, the soldier’s words vanished when he expressed his boredom aloud. Everything from the shuffling of feet, horses neighing, and clinking armor were drowned by howling wind, which was an unpleasant sound for those who had joined the forces from other countries.
The soldier rubbed his bearded chin and muttered, “How strange... All sound seems to disappear. I guess the rumors about magic in highly specialized desert countries were true. They prioritize concealment over firepower.”
“I moved away from the group earlier, and what I saw shocked me,” said his colleague. “Our army suddenly disappeared. I could hardly believe my eyes, but concealing our sound and appearance maximized our firepower. As the head of a mercenary group, I’m sure you would understand how terrifying it would be if an enemy suddenly appeared and charged at you from close range.”
The man sighed with relief at the sound of his friend’s voice. Amid their suffocatingly close-packed march, communicating via Mind Link Chat was their one saving grace.
He was a leader of a mercenary group of over a hundred men. They had joined because it was a well-paying job, and this battle would differ from any other. Their opponents would have monster blood running through their veins.
“If our enemies are part monster, we’re going to get a ton of levels by beating them. We wouldn’t have a perk like that against human opponents,” he said.
“It’s going to be pretty sweet getting money and levels, boss. And there’s gonna be a bunch of them, right? This is gonna be way better than exploring a dangerous labyrinth. I can’t wait!” said a newcomer.
The mercenary leader would see how he performed in the upcoming battle and determine how he would fight moving forward. Although the newbie spoke as if he weren’t taking their situation seriously, he was a promising talent who had guts and never slacked off or turned his back on battle.
He looked up at the night sky to find it was turning a shade of navy, signaling the approaching dawn. At that moment, he appreciated the heavy silence hanging over them. The desert sky looked like an endless void that was about to suck him in. While he was the leader of a band of mercenaries, he had a soft spot for beautiful scenery.
As the sky brightened, strong gusts blew through the desert.
The man stood on the sandy surface as the wind howled around him, no longer able to enjoy a conversation via Mind Link Chat. He was in a cold sweat with the enemy army’s camp now only fifty meters away, but they couldn’t see or hear them.
That demonstrated the power of the desert country’s technique known as Haze.
At the head of the densely packed troops, Sorcerers stood in a circle at even intervals. The translucent film spreading over them had been unilaterally blocking out all sight and sound. The mercenary leader could hardly believe their opponents hadn’t noticed them from so close.
The campgrounds before them looked very simple, with no tents and only some food in the center. It seemed they had just chosen a place with somewhat solid ground that could hardly be called a camp. Somehow, the enemy troops had varying equipment, standing completely motionless five meters from each other. This was the first time the mercenaries had seen the enemy army.
They couldn’t help but wonder why they were just standing there and positioned so far apart. Despite their confusion, the Arilai forces prepared their crossbows as planned. They lined up in three rows of fifty men, readying to charge in after firing a volley of bolts at their unsuspecting targets.
“Oh, that soldier has one of those Magic Stones I’ve heard so much about. Make sure you keep records,” said the mercenary leader.
“Yes, sir. I’ve heard that Arilai has developed several new weapons since obtaining Magic Stones. Even though they’re a part of the alliance, they overthrew the former royal family without regard for their agreement. We’d better receive a handsome reward for keeping an eye on them and fighting the enemy army.”
Naturally, other countries were highly interested in Arilai’s armaments, as they had steadily built their military presence since discovering the new catalyst called Magic Stones from the ancient labyrinth. There were even rumors claiming that other countries had requested this entire assault so they could scope out Arilai’s new weaponry. The mercenaries would even have additional payment for scouting them out in addition to their regular duties.
The mercenary silently lowered his helmet and gripped his sword, waiting for the battle to begin.
But the rumored Magic Stone weapon made its appearance without warning. Countless beams of light appeared in the sand, and before anyone could wonder what they were, a chain of explosions and raging plumes of blue fire followed them. The dune was lit until a second and third wave torched the skies. These explosions blew away the enemy forces, leaving a fan-shaped trail of destruction.
All the mercenaries stared wide-eyed at the power of the infamous Magic Stones. They were special catalysts made of crystallized monster eggs, supposedly dead Magic Stones that hadn’t circulated through the cycle of life. They knew little about this “circulation” process, but some Magic Stones were practically alive and brimming with life energy. But Magic Stones other than those “live” ones were used for their explosive energy, as they’d seen demonstrated. They had launched those from regular crossbows, although both armies had witnessed how terrifying their destructive capabilities could be.
The blast undid the army’s concealment, and the cavalry units immediately rode forth. These units comprised specialized mounted soldiers from Ninai and rode horses capable of running freely across sand. A barrier protected the riders as they charged, and they swung their weapons down upon the enemy infantrymen and archers, crushing their heads like ripe tomatoes. Upon hearing the thundering hooves of the riders, the Gedovar army was not only unafraid, but their expressions lit up with joy.
“Aha! Humans!”
“Yesss, humans! Smells good!”
“Devour the dogs of Arilai!”
The childlike glee in their smiling faces sent a chill down the mercenary leader’s spine. Just then, they realized this battle would be no cakewalk.
There was no time to waste. The mercenaries readied their next volley of Magic Stone arrows and shot down the enemies before they could transform. Yet they heard bones cracking as their foes grew larger before their eyes. The mercenaries realized the enemy soldiers had been standing so far apart because they would need room to expand into their monster forms.
The Arilai forces nearly lost their intensity as an elephant-sized abomination looked down upon them with a giddy look in its eyes. One swing of its massive arm left the ground shaking and three men dead, all of whom were veteran fighters around level 30 or so.
Then the leader clenched his teeth and shouted, “Charge! Crush them as if they’re monsters in the labyrinth!”
Indeed, they were no different from the monsters they’d encountered in the labyrinth. The enemies were only part monster, but they shared the same roots. Some significant differences between this battlefield and the labyrinth were that there were no obstacles to hide behind and two thousand five hundred monsters to fight against.
Cavalry forces arranged themselves into a formation to focus their collective firepower. They pushed forward from the left side, engulfing the small- and medium-sized monsters and reducing them into lifeless lumps of flesh.
It was a scene straight out of hell, but one of the younger soldiers cheered joyfully at the repeated sounds of leveling up chiming all around them. Leveling up was usually long and arduous, so it was satisfying to hear it so many times.
The mounted forces avoided the sinister monstrosities that were obviously too powerful to take down and pressed forward, riding the thin hope that they could make it out of this alive. Many of them planned to bail if things went south, even though doing so would be a violation of their pact. Their swords, enhanced with buffs, swung as if they had the weight and force of one hundred kilograms. The acceleration from their horses amplified their power, and one of them cut through an enemy’s arm and torso as another soldier tossed a knife into the creature’s eye.
Now the battle had shifted in the mercenaries’ favor. They had fought monsters, and the freakish appearance of their foes didn’t cripple them with fear. Their leader looked around the battlefield, then felt horrified to find the soldiers at their right flank were ineffective. A raging bull monster charged right through them, trampling men underfoot as if they were nothing. They were like a dam being crushed pitifully beneath a pitch-black tidal wave.
“Second volley! Fire!”
Immediately after the call, the mercenaries unleashed Magic Stone arrows. The commander was calm yet cruel. A blue explosion engulfed the enemies and trampled units, sending a mixture of red and black blood and flesh flying everywhere.
“Leader, we need to move or they’ll get us too!”
An older soldier’s panicked cry snapped the leader back to reality. This battle was challenging and more gruesome than he had imagined. The volley he had just ordered defied conventional logic, but everyone knew he had no choice. He wondered if those brave fallen souls could reach paradise as he took the lead.