The battlefield descended into chaos, yet for the first time, the tide of battle shifted in their favor.
The hideous creatures screeched, their warped, grotesque bodies twisting as they tried to retreat.
Their forces split apart, some still charging forward in madness, while others turned tail, only to be met with the looming wall of shadows behind them.
Liam watched it all, his expression calm, but his arms held Mize tighter.
Mize, for all his bravado, clung to Liam like his life depended on it.
His entire body was pressed against Liam's warmth, trembling.
His fingers clutched the fabric of Liam's coat, his head buried beneath his chin.
Yet despite the fear, his quivering red eyes never left the battlefield.
"Despite having a special profession, can I even do anything in a massive battle like this?"
He swallowed the lump in his throat, forcing himself to watch.
Down below, the army moved.
Thud.
Thud.
Thud…
A wall of shields rose up again, double the height, reinforced by more troops.
Mize didn't know how Liam did it, but these soldiers had several different variety, each designed for specific formations.
Like a perfectly oiled machine.
The massive barrier of shields were formed almost instinctively, looming ahead like a huge barricade.
The creatures, instinctively recognizing the threat, roared, then charged.
More than half their numbers had been separated, leaving the previous battlefront with a desperately needed moment to breathe.
But just as Mize thought the battle had reached its peak.
The situation changed again.
This time, from the sky.
"What are those?" Mize blinked, eyes peering up.
To this, Liam simply smiled...
"Fire... "
Swoosh!
Swoosh!
Swoosh!
A storm of dark fireballs rained down from behind the shield wall.
Each the size of a washing basin, but the sheer quantity was in the tens of thousands.
Mize's eyes widened.
"Those are??… they're magicians?!"
Liam corrected, his tone calm."They are not magicians... They are battle mages."
And then, the storm fell.
Like a divine judgment, the battlefield was swallowed in an inferno of black flames.
Boom!
Boom!
BOOM!
The ground erupted in a chain of explosions, swallowing thousands of monsters whole.
Bodies burst apart, limbs ripped to shreds, blood and flesh scattered in every direction.
The creatures that survived writhed in agony, the black flames consuming their bodies, clinging to their flesh like starved parasites.
And worse.
"The flames… they're spreading!" Mize's breath hitched, his voice barely above a whisper.
"The fire made out of shadows... It's imperishable by nature" Liam added in from the side.
Every second that passed, the inferno grew wilder, feeding off the creatures like kindling.
In mere moments, entire sections of the battlefield had become an ocean of black fire.
Mize could barely process it.
A few days ago, he had been an ordinary person, living an ordinary life.
Now?
Now he was watching hell itself unfold before his eyes.
If not for Liam's arms wrapped securely around him, he might've collapsed from sheer disbelief.
He didn't even realize how badly he was shaking.
Liam did.
His golden eyes flickered, his grip tightening slightly. She's afraid.
His fingers gently ran through Mize's hair, his voice calm, reassuring.
"It's alright… just a little longer. I'll end this soon."
Mize barely nodded, his gaze still locked onto the battlefield.
Down below, the black fireballs kept falling.
Even as the hideous creatures slammed against the shield wall, clawing, biting, punching.
The unrelenting artillery of dark fireballs continued to pour down from above.
Blood splattered in every direction, the earth cracked and smoldering. The shield wall remained the same, unbroken through by the enemy this time.
Despite the monstrous force crashing against it, the formation held strong.
Mize's sharp eyes caught it immediately.
"The wall is much firmer this time?"
"More preparation time for this one" Liam interjected, the first round failed due to the lack of time for me to set everything up...
Then, Mize saw it.
At the back of the formation, soldiers pressed against each other, layered over one another, reinforcing the entire front line.
"Ah… so that's how."
Even the relentless impact from the creatures' assaults couldn't budge the tightly woven wall of bodies.
And at the back of them.
The 1000 tier 3 battle mages stood silently, cloaked in dark robes, massive halberds strapped to their backs.
Each one continuously weaving spells above their heads, summoning dark fireballs at an alarming rate.
And each time, the fireballs struck the same trajectory, the same point, the same weak spots.
Precise.
For the first time, the monsters were pushed back.
The shield wall moved, the bombardment continued.
Roars filled the air, some of the larger creatures attempting to climb the wall of shields.
But.
Boom!
Boom!
Boom!
Each time they tried, the fireballs struck them mid-air, sending their twisted, deformed bodies crashing back down.
The black flames didn't just burn them.
It devoured them.
Their flesh peeled, their bones cracked, their faces contorted in silent, agonized screams.
The creatures howled in agony, their numbers thinning.
For the first time, they were being encircled. Their almost nonexistent brain couldn't comprehend on what was happening.
Their instinct that once drove them due to hunger was now slowly morphing to fear...
And finally turning into desperation.
Mize felt it.
The moment everything shifted.
The battlefield was no longer a desperate struggle.
It was a hunt, a one sided massacre despite the early turmoil on their sides.
---
---
---
The battlefield was a graveyard of fire and shadows.
The stench of charred flesh clung to the air, mixing with the acrid smoke that curled into the sky like mourning spirits.
It had been hours of unrelenting slaughter, the creatures screeching, twisting, and ultimately burning to nothing.
The once maddening tide of monsters was now reduced to a sea of corpses, their grotesque forms piled upon each other, decomposing at an unnatural speed.
Liam's expression remained unchanged, his golden eyes sweeping across the battlefield, searching for any remnants of life.
Mize, however, was barely holding himself together.
He was still clinging to Liam's warmth, his small fingers gripping the sleeve of his coat, unwilling to let go.
Then.
Ding!
The sudden announcement echoed throughout the world.
[Congratulations to the Lord Liam, and his partner, Lady Mize, for successfully becoming the first to conquer a forbidden secret realm in this server!]
[Rewards Obtained:]
1 Golden Chest, 3 Silver Chests,10 Copper Chests!
Mize flinched, his already pale face draining of all remaining color.
"A-A forbidden realm?" His voice came out in a hoarse whisper.
His ruby eyes trembled, barely able to lift as they met Liam's gaze.
"This place… this wasn't just any secret realm… Such a thing never existed in the game."
His grip tightened, fingers twisting into Liam's sleeve, his voice barely above a whisper.
"I'm just glad we're alive."
Liam exhaled softly. "It's fine. Everything's fine now."
With that, he sank back onto his throne, pulling Mize with him, positioning him carefully onto his lap, cradling him like something fragile and precious.
A gentle green light hovered over Mize's forehead, a soft, intricate diagram forming in the air.
Mize blinked, his breath hitching. "W-what is this…?"
Before he could protest, a refreshing sensation washed over his body.
It was light as air, cool as mist.
The weight pressing on his chest eased, his heartbeat slowing, his fingers unclenching.
The exhaustion, the silent panic he hadn't even realized was suffocating him, melted away like snow in the sun.
His body felt lighter.
Liam watched intently, his fingers brushing through Mize's hair, before finally retracting his hand.
A small sigh left his lips. "Despite being a tier 3 lord, your physical attributes are seriously lacking"
"Your profession is quite lacking in this aspect"
Mize pursed his lips. "I'm not that weak…"
Liam arched a brow. "You nearly fainted just from watching the battle"
"…Fine. Maybe I lack a little physical strength," Mize muttered, cheeks slightly puffed.
Liam sighed again, rubbing Mize's head with slow, deliberate strokes.
His touch was gentle, almost absentminded.
Yet in his golden eyes, a shadow of guilt flickered.
"Maybe I shouldn't have brought her here…"
Meanwhile, below them.
The battlefield was being cleaned up.
The soldiers pushed the corpses into large pits, digging trenches, and burying the remains.
The monsters, despite their grotesque forms, had once been humans.
Their fate had been forced upon them.
And that, at the very least, deserved a burial.
Mize's voice suddenly broke the silence.
"…How many?"
Liam glanced down, golden eyes meeting red.
"How many soldiers… did you lose in this battle?"
Then, his gaze flickered to his system panel.
A single number appeared.
"Roughly 80,000."
Mize sucked in a sharp breath.
"That's… a lot."
But Liam simply shrugged. "It doesn't matter. My power hasn't decreased in the slightest."
His hand gently brushed Mize's hair.
Mize, still slightly shaken, turned his gaze to the ocean of dark soldiers.
And there, he saw it.
The army was nearly double what it had been before.
"…You summoned more," Mize realized, his voice carrying a hint of disbelief.
"Of course," Liam said casually. "And another thing"
He gestured toward the battlefield with a careless wave.
"I didn't technically lose them."
Mize tilted his head. "What do you mean?"
Liam merely smiled and pointed.
Mize followed his gaze.
And froze.
The soldiers weren't just burying the corpses of the monsters.
In another pit, even larger than the others, Liam's own soldiers were being thrown in.
The same shadows. The same armor.
His own troops were burying their fallen brothers in arms.
Mize's stomach twisted.
"They're… having a burial too?"
"Just watch," Liam murmured, his smile mysterious.
Mize swallowed, his eyes glued to the pit.
The trench was full.
A black void in the battlefield, crammed with unmoving bodies.
Then.
The ground stirred.
One by one, limbs twitched.
Fingers curled.
Armor rattled.
And suddenly, as if obeying an unseen command, the once-dead soldiers rose.
Some were dismembered, some half-crushed.
But all of them… stood.
Armor restored. Weapons intact.
One by one, they returned to the formation, completely unharmed.
Mize's jaw dropped.
"W-what—"
His voice failed.
Liam chuckled.
Mize whipped around, his eyes wide.
"This is"
"A passive skill of mine," Liam admitted.
Mize stared at him, dumbfounded.
Liam continued, his tone light, almost amused.
"After every battle, 50% of my fallen soldiers will automatically be resurrected."
"At the cost of the other 50% being consumed."
Mize felt his brain short-circuit.
"…That's so broken."
Liam laughed.
"It's efficient," he corrected.
"Especially now that the warp just broadcasted to the entire world that you're my partner lord"
Mize grimaced. "Is that really bad?"
Liam's golden eyes flickered toward the global chat.
The messages were flooding in.
Some were curious.
Some were hostile.
And some… greedy...
"It's not bad, necessarily…" Liam murmured.
Then, he smiled.
A dangerous, predatory smile.
"It just means…"
His fingers tilted Mize's chin up, golden eyes locking onto ruby.
"If anyone dares to make trouble"
His smile widened.
"I'll crush them to ashes."
Mize snorted, half-exasperated.
"You're really starting to sound like a villain."
Liam only grinned.
"And you're the wife of a villain."
Mize huffed.
"…I guess I am."