Chapter 164.
“Didn’t you say I was still unworthy?”
‘I did.’
The relations.h.i.+p between Nudar and Seon-Hyeok was neither solid nor close. The provisional contract they entered had no influence on one another.
“But?”
‘You seem a bit better now.’
But unexpectedly, Nudar reached out to Seon-Hyeok first. It also came at a time he desperately needed more power.
“You’ll help me?”
‘This time.’
Seon-Hyeok laughed when he heard Nudar’s apathetic voice.
“Then I’ll leave it to you.”
As soon as Seon-Hyeok finished speaking, an earthen giant, standing 10 meters tall, rose in the middle of the battlefield.
The giant looked shabby compared to the ma.s.sive torgos but possessed an intimidating aura. Everyone cheered at Nudar’s appearance.
However, Seon-Hyeok could not celebrate alongside them.
“Why are you…!”
The giant wearing loosely-fitting robes looked almost scruffy and closely resembled someone he knew.
Aria Eisen.
The other earth spirits he entered contracts with at that time all looked like the crazy mage, but Seon-Hyeok never imagined that even the highest-tier Nudar would be the same. He wanted to cry.
But regardless of the dirty aesthetic unbefitting of such a formidable being, Nudar’s performance was incredible.
Thud!
Nudar tore apart, trampled on, and dismantled the torgos’ body. The earth spirit had succeeded in singlehandedly blocking the ravenous beast after all others failed.
The visibly daunted torgos wobbled and tried to merge back into its original state. However, the earthen giant did not sit back and watch.
The torgos was torn apart, regenerated, then torn apart once again.
The fighting looked like it would never end, but of course, the battle soon concluded.
Ping.
Seon-Hyeok staggered from the sudden onset of a headache and dizziness. In an instant, the world took on a yellow hue, and his consciousness drifted away.
‘So this is your limit.’
Just before he completely lost consciousness, he heard Nudar’s sighing voice.
“Ugh…”
And with that, his focus returned.
Through his clear field of vision, Seon-Hyeok saw Nudar falling apart in the distance.
“Ah…”
It was clear he still lacked the strength to call on a highest-tier spirit for an extended period of time.
His most powerful ally had disappeared sooner than he antic.i.p.ated, but the earth spirit had still played a major role. The torgos’ body, torn and trampled into a complete mess, was still trying to regenerate, and even this healing process took a significant amount of time.
Thanks to this, Seon-Hyeok and the foreigners were able to buy yet another day’s worth of time.
Another fierce battle took place on the following day. They lacked the a.s.sistance from this highest-tier earth spirit, but Seon-Hyeok and the foreigners desperately stood in the torgos’ way.
But this was not enough.
The torgos was exceptionally resistant to slas.h.i.+ng and stabbing attacks, and thus, the spears and swords predominantly used by the foreigners were of no match for it.
It was incredible that they had successfully overcome such disadvantages in delaying the torgos’ progress to this extent. The gluttonous beast’s physical resistances and regeneration abilities were simply that extreme.
“d.a.m.n it.”
Lee Soo-Hyuk and the other two-handed swordsmen, guardians, and snipers did their best, but it was difficult slowing down the determined monster.
Nonetheless, they did not give up.
Seon-Hyeok continued to summon all the spirits he could in support of the others, and he alternated between Redvern and Goldrake as he fought the torgos.
The foreigners likewise showed a surprising level of determination as they a.s.sisted his efforts.
Their hands and feet remained unfrozen despite their fear, as they ensured that their skills were not compromised by maintaining their fighting spirit.
Even though their first real battle was against a terrifying monster capable of swallowing a large fortress whole, there were surprisingly no deaths among the foreigners.
It was after this second battle that Seon-Hyeok realized their successes were thanks to Choi Min-Young’s powers.
“You d.a.m.ned goat b.a.s.t.a.r.d!”
He gritted his teeth as he looked at the shameless faun. However, the shrewd creature disappeared as soon as they made eye contact and did not materialize again.
Pan reappeared the following day as they began their battle against the torgos.
Seon-Hyeok pretended not to notice despite seeing the troublesome half-goat half-human creature. Given that they were dealing with such a powerful enemy, he desperately needed Pan’s abilities.
Let’s put out the fire first.
He swore he would deal with the faun later. After all, it would not be too late to reprimand Pan even after taking care of the grotesque torgos.
The battle continued.
Seon-Hyeok and the foreigners proved surprisingly resilient, but their efforts were not enough.
As they forcibly fought against an opponent with an intrinsic advantage over them, every moment was a potential crisis waiting to happen. They nonetheless continued to fight, and constantly struggled to draw the illusory beast’s attention.
There were two days left until the torgos would return to its own world.
“Is this the end…”
After fighting frantically, they found themselves near the territories ruled by local lords. It was fortunate that the royal family had issued a warning in advance, as there was not a single living creature within the village.
But perhaps those feelings had been premature.
“Why are there still…!”
Just as they reached the outskirts of the lord’s estate, Seon-Hyeok noticed dust being kicked up from afar and soldiers rus.h.i.+ng towards them.
“Go back! I said to go back!”
He had fought harder than anyone over the past several days. In addition to tearing apart the torgos’ body, he focused on ensuring that not a single person was sacrificed in vain. Both his physical and mental strength were at their limits. As a result, there were no spirits supporting him right now.
“Clark! I leave these people to you!”
“I will do my best!”
Eventually, he was forced to leave Clark with the other foreigners and depart the battlefield.
Idiots.
Even for these foreigners, with their collective strength exceeding that of an average group of knights, the fight required constant vigilance. There was no way an ordinary lord’s soldiers would be of any match for the monster. Their partic.i.p.ation would simply mean an increase in unnecessary sacrifices.
Perhaps those soldiers were full of ambition, as they charged in despite seeing this ma.s.sive beast. Seon-Hyeok quickly moved to intercept them.
“Huh?”
But something was amiss.
Even from a distance, the unit’s equipment and aura seemed extraordinary. There were far too many well-equipped cavalry riders for this to be the ordinary soldiers maintained by a single lord.
“It can’t be?”
There were no cavalry units in Adenburg with such excellent equipment. The only possible exception were knights.
Whoos.h.!.+
While Seon-Hyeok was distracted by the sudden appearance of the knight division, a red flash travelled through the air.
Boom!
The arcing projectile exploded upon contact with the illusory beast, blowing apart the torgos’ body.
Whoos.h.!.+
Whistle!
That was just the beginning. Red and blue missiles rose up from behind the group of knights. These deafening attacks rained down on the torgos.
It was then that Seon-Hyeok noticed the group of individuals clad in golden robes behind the knights.
“Royal Mages?”
As he stared blankly at the appearance of these unexpected figures, the man at the forefront of the knights shouted into the sky.
“Earl Drachen! We are here to a.s.sist you at the orders of His Majesty!”
When he heard this loud shout, Seon-Hyeok realized that the commanding knight was someone of note even among the powerful senior knights.
“Tell your men to back off! The Royal Mages will soon begin their attacks!”
He immediately turned around and headed towards the foreigners fighting precariously in close quarters against the beast.
It was not important why these reinforcements were here or even who they were. All that mattered was that they had backup.
“They’re reinforcements! Retreat!”
“He said to retreat!”
The foreigners were already looking for an opportunity to pull away from the battle, having noticed the sudden magical attacks. They immediately retreated upon receiving the command.
“More! Back off more!”
Seon-Hyeok and the foreigners put even more distance between themselves and the torgos upon hearing the loud roar from afar.
“Brace yourselves for impact!”
As soon as the warning was given, the Royal Mages began their ruthless magical bombardment.
“Ah…”
The hundreds of projectiles with their trailing tails of red, white, and blue light were a spectacular sight to behold.
Boom!
The intense flashes of light were painful to even watch, and naturally, the torgos could not possibly remain intact after being directly targeted by the attacks.
The hundreds of hot and cold explosions quickly turned the torgos’ mucous body into a mess.
This is the true power of mages…
Seon-Hyeok and the foreigners barely managed to buy some time despite their efforts, and yet, the torgos was being torn apart in front of their eyes after just two magical bombardments.
For the first time, Seon-Hyeok realized why these magic-crazed mages were treated as more valuable than the loyal and courageous knights.
Their concentrated attacks were close to natural disasters, and they showed comparable firepower to the tactical weapons of the other world.
It was fortunate that these terribly destructive attacks were not levied at him, but at the torgos.
“My name is Liechten Ludwig, and I am the leader of the Secundus division of the Central Knights.”
An older knight approached and introduced himself as Seon-Hyeok stared, mesmerized at the magical onslaught.
“I would like to offer my respects to the earl’s struggles and the foreigners’ willingness to put their lives on the line.”
Knight Ludwig, the second highest ranking member of the Central Knights, was eloquent in his praise.
“It was because the earl and the foreigners worked together to stop the monster that the kingdom was spared from the Dark Lord’s creature. I would once again like to salute your valor.”
What the h.e.l.l is he saying?
Seon-Hyeok was bewildered by the knight’s sudden invocation of the Dark Lord.
“Secundus! Salute Earl Drachen, he who put his life on the line to fight the evil being!”
“Hup!”
Before he could even process the situation, the knights were lined up and raised their swords to their chests to pay tribute.
“You may now back away and rest. Mages are better suited than knights like us to deal with such an amorphous foe.”
“What the h.e.l.l is going on? Could you please explain…”
“Nine days ago, His Majesty urgently gathered the knights and told us…”
“So what did he say?”
Seon-Hyeok still looked dumbfounded, unaware of the preceding events. Liechten Ludwig explained further.
“He told us to help Earl Drachen in killing the demonic creature sent by Nordic’s evil lord!”
In a completely different scene from when Seon-Hyeok and the foreigners desperately battled the torgos, the current fight ended one-sidedly.
Though almost completely resistant to spears and swords, the torgos proved particularly vulnerable to the mages’ spells. It collapsed in vain after nearly an hour of continued magical bombardments.
However, despite the fact that it was split and burned into millions of fragments, the torgos demonstrated its incredible vitality by struggling to put itself together.
“Don’t miss a single piece!”
“Mages specialized in fire magic, incinerate the fragments to prevent regeneration! Rest of you, freeze the pieces and seek help from others!”
The members of the Royal Mages busily moved about, burning and freezing the yet-moving parts of the torgos’ body.
“Hm…”
Silently watching the scene, Seon-Hyeok was both dispirited and amazed. The power of the Royal Mages was incredible, but even more surprising was King Theodore’s response to the crisis.
As soon as the king realized it would be impossible to completely cover up the disturbance caused by the illusory beast, he immediately blamed the situation on the Nordics.
As a result, the gluttonous torgos was viewed as a demonic creature sent by the evil Nordic overlord, and Seon-Hyeok and the foreigners fighting the monster became heroes willing to risk their lives to protect the kingdom.
Foreigners in the Adenburg Kingdom had been denigrated as potential traitors and colluders with outside forces, but this negative public sentiment had been immediately reversed.
The crisis was thus a blessing in disguise, as the royal family was given the opportunity to quell the troublesome public opinion.
He really is shockingly shrewd.
Seon-Hyeok once again admired the Adenburg royal family’s abilities in coming up with such a maneuver in such a short period of time.
“My lord…”
As he watched the mages and knights searching for the scattered remnants of the torgos, Min-Young approached. Behind her was the terrified faun.
“Pan, you son of a…”