It was the speed.
Even with Lilith running flat out, without casting a single spell or taking a single detour, she couldn’t catch up. Even worse, Cordelia was slowly pulling ahead.
“Ridiculous. This is talent. This is what it means to be chosen as a Hero.”
There was bitterness in her voice. She didn’t try to hide it. The words slipped out like a curse as she forced her legs to pump harder, her boots tearing through the forest floor with renewed urgency.
Cordelia was beyond her limit now, burning through her reserves with everything she had, racing headlong into the enemy’s center without a single glance back. If Lilith lost sight of her and Cordelia reached her breaking point deep in enemy lines, isolated…
That would be a disaster.
Because Ryuto had entrusted Lilith with Cordelia’s safety. And Lilith knew one unshakable truth about Ryuto Maclaine: he never left anything to chance. He only entrusted tasks to people he knew could complete them.
Which meant she couldn’t fail. Wouldn’t fail. She had to see this through.
“But still, this speed… This is absurd. She’s a walking musclehead.”
She clicked her tongue in frustration.
Cordelia’s silhouette was shrinking ahead, her figure growing smaller with every passing second. At this rate, she’d vanish completely.
Lilith felt a bead of cold sweat roll down her spine, and then, suddenly, Cordelia’s sword stopped.
Up ahead, the highway stretched out in the distance. Standing at its center was Cordelia, motionless.
Around her, roughly two hundred ogres loomed, closing in from all sides.
It wasn’t the kind of force that should’ve given her pause. Not under normal circumstances. That many ogres wouldn’t have even slowed her down. But Cordelia hadn’t stopped for no reason.
There was something else.
Mixed among the lesser monsters, she’d spotted them: about fifty Ogre Generals, grouped tightly around the center.
That alone was enough to make any borderland lord pale and start begging the capital and the Adventurer’s Guild for reinforcements. It was the kind of force that spelled doom for small nations.
But for Cordelia, in her current state, even that wasn’t enough to justify stopping. Unless her body hit its limit, she wasn’t going to lose. Not today.
Still, she was on a timer.
With Magic Overdrive pushing her beyond human limits, her body was burning through energy like a collapsing star. The longer she waited, the more time she lost. Under normal logic, she should’ve already thrown herself into the thick of it, struck fast, cut deep, ended it before her window closed.
But she didn’t. Because even Cordelia knew what would happen if she misjudged this charge. If she rushed in carelessly, she wouldn’t walk out. Not even her.
The threat wasn’t just the Generals. At the center of the ogre formation stood something much larger… like an Ogre General that had been inflated grotesquely, grown bloated and monstrous. It was an Ogre King.
Two of them, in fact.
Cordelia’s eyes narrowed. Ogre Kings were rated B+ to A-rank threats. A single one could level a frontier fort if left unchecked. And now, there were two.
From behind, Lilith cursed under her breath. “So even dragons’ stealth arts can’t fool something that powerful…”
The moment the Ogre Kings appeared, Lilith had cloaked herself again, layering herself in every concealment technique she had. But it was no use.
One of the Ogre Kings was still locked onto Cordelia, muscles tensed, ready to strike.
The other had turned.
Its eyes were locked on Lilith.
Cordelia noticed the shift. She didn’t turn around, but her voice was calm and steady, carrying easily through the air.
“Well, I figured you were nearby. No one drops pinpoint spears from orbit and isn’t close.”
Lilith finally caught up, panting as she slowed to a stop beside her. Her breath came in short, irritated bursts.
“Of course, I’m close,” she muttered. “Ryuto told me to keep you alive.”
Cordelia tossed her head with an irritated flick, running a hand through her crimson hair as her gaze swept over the battlefield. Her voice, low and edged with disdain, cut the air like a knife. “Guard me, huh? That whole ‘looking down from above’ thing doesn’t sit right with me.”
Lilith didn’t flinch. Her own tone, flat and unapologetic, answered without pause. “Cooperation? Spare me. Let me be perfectly clear while I have the chance. Cordelia Allston, I don’t like you.”
The bluntness made Cordelia blink, her lips parting slightly. For a moment, she seemed genuinely taken aback. Then, slowly, a grin spread across her face, sharp and wicked. “Oh? What a coincidence.”
Lilith narrowed her eyes. “Coincidence?”
“Yeah.” Cordelia chuckled, the sound dark and oddly delighted. “I don’t like you either. Not one bit. And I sure as hell don’t plan on getting along.”
There was a beat of silence, then both women nodded, a mutual smirk tugging at their lips, though the chill in their eyes betrayed the truth. Nothing about this was friendly.
Cordelia folded her arms, surveying the still-thick horde of ogres ahead. Her voice had cooled, slipping into something pragmatic. “Alright. Setting feelings aside for a moment… This situation. We both know neither of us can handle it solo. If we’re not going to team up, how do you plan on surviving this?”
Lilith exhaled, her tone flat and bored as ever. “The answer is simple.”
Cordelia raised an eyebrow. “Simple, huh?”
Without another word, Lilith thrust her staff forward. A sharp hum filled the air as a current of magic flared to life, gathering in a brilliant, razor-thin crescent. With a flick, she loosed the spell.
A Vacuum Blade tore through the center of the ogre formation, ripping the air apart with a scream of displaced pressure and leaving a bloody furrow in its wake.
Cordelia watched in silent awe before letting out a breath. “Vacuum Blade? Tell me, what are you trying to do?”
Lilith offered a single, deliberate nod. “This,” she said flatly.
Her finger traced the gouge in the earth, an unmistakable scar etched into the ground by pure magical force. She pointed to the right half of the wound. “Everything on this side is under my control.”
At that, Cordelia’s eyes lit up. She tilted her head, accepting the line Lilith had drawn. Then, with a playful glint, she grinned and gave a hearty nod of approval.
They both knew what the line meant: territory. Alliance. Strategy. They might not like each other, but divided as they were, together, their combined might could swing the tide.
What remained now was simple: coordinate without words and act as one.