"They're coming straight at us!"
Through the trees and thickets, the enemies approached to within visible range of the new models.
Two scouts spotted Seowoon's group and watched warily. Behind them, dozens more enemies surged forward.
Two Sword Emperors led the charge with their knights at the front, while the remaining two Sword Emperors and unmanned units guarded the rear alongside the mages. Their positioning was far from poor.
Seeing that the enemy wasn't charging in recklessly like before, Seowoon clicked his tongue.
"Tch. They've improved."
Even at a distance where they could clearly see each other, the enemy didn't retreat or act carelessly. It wasn't arrogance—it was caution, and that made them harder to deal with.
— Looks like they're not going for a full encirclement strategy.
Limin spoke over team comms.
In a jungle with restricted visibility, being surrounded by superior numbers would have been fatal.
— Must be Carmen's Eyes. She probably only has one.
Seowoon guessed that they couldn't split their forces due to a lack of Carmen's vision in unfamiliar terrain—and he was right.
The oppressive silence of a storm brewing settled over the jungle as both sides glared at each other.
The one to break the silence, as if signaling the battlefield's descent into chaos, was the Ferrel formation.
— Charge!
With the shout, eleven knights rushed with Ferrel at the lead toward Seowoon's formation.
Support spells from mages flew overhead as the knights stormed through the jungle.
— KWA-KWA-KWANG!CLANG!
— ZJJJK!ZZZHUNG!
Barriers shattered in succession. As they broke,ferrel's lips twisted in a scowl.
The pressure of facing someone wielding aura (qi) was intense, but it wasn't the first time they'd dealt with an aura-wielder.
With three Sword Emperors, he figured they had a real chance.
That confidence led him to charge without hesitation.
Especially when the enemy before him showed tense, hardened expressions—it was all too familiar to him.
He had seen those faces countless times across numerous battlefields—faces twisted in fear.
'Huh? Afraid? That guy?'
But as he sensed unease at seeing the aura-wielding enemy tense up at his approach—it was already too late to back away.
As he lunged and slashed down at the enemy commander with his flaming aura blade, the unease turned real.
— Fall back—
With a sensation like slicing through mist, the commander vanished like a mirage—and then, between the charging knights, a blinding light erupted.
A deafening roar followed as it consumed every knight around.
— KWAAAAANG!
A shrill ringing—ZIIIIING—echoed in the ears, followed by a crushing pressure from all directions.
Screams of comrades sounded distant and unreal as dull, hammer-like impact thudded through their bodies.
— ferrel!
A comrade's voice barely registered in ferrel's dazed mind.
— KRRRRACK!
The strange sensation of time slowing passed, and ferrel, slammed to the ground, lifted his head—sharp pain surged across his body.
"Guh!"
"You okay?!"
Seeing the knights crawling up from where they'd been thrown helped him piece the situation together.
"What kind of magic explosion was that…?"
"That wasn't just one or two magic bombs. They must've stockpiled a ton… and used them all at once."
Behemore, a fellow knight from the same order, grabbed his arm and helped him up while drawing his sword and scanning the area.
As expected from knights—they were damaged, but none had died.
"We overlooked that he could transform."
They hadn't expected Seowoon to transform his entire team and use that as bait to draw them in.
"Not all of them were illusions. I saw them tearing scrolls for teleportation as the blast hit."
"Seems like there's a limit to how many illusions he can make... ugh."
ferrel groaned, holding his pounding head.
— KWA-KWA-KWA-KWANG!
— GAAAH!
— Archer!
— His arrows are short-ranged! Keep your shields and barriers tight!
Turning his gaze through the pain, ferrel saw exploding arrows rain down, followed by more in quick succession.
The arrows targeted mages specifically, and the knights who'd barely regrouped quickly surrounded their spellcasters.
— kichan, position?
— Thankfully, not far. Zone D.
— Good. Don't come too close—prep in the planned location.
Seowoon could create three clones.
He transformed them into himself, Namsagwang, and Jinryung—leaving them behind with the rest of the team as bait.
This was only possible thanks to a teleportation scroll that randomly moved them within a 2-kilometer radius.
It was a risky plan. A slight mistiming could've meant death for all five teammates—but they all followed without complaint.
In fact, rather than worry about the risk, they smirked at the potential damage to the enemy and executed it flawlessly.
Especially kichan, who detonated nine planted magic bombs perfectly and evacuated everyone safely.
— Lingyu. How fast does the poison spread?
— Normal people, instantly. For warriors or thick-headed knights, maybe half to one full rotation of the clock.
Seowoon listened to her briefing as he fired his third arrow.
— THWANG! BOOOOM!
The third shot struck a barrier and erupted into a vortex, whipping the area into chaos with violently swirling wind, vines, and debris.
— There!
At that moment, Tilemoor, a regular knight guarding the mages in the rear, pointed toward Seowoon.
Seowoon put away his bow, watching as his vortex was slashed apart by an aura sword.
"Sharp eyes."
He had hoped to drag things out and take out more mages, but even the one he'd killed had been revived—and now they had his location.
Seowoon clicked his tongue.
— Now, I'll draw them in.
Seowoon dodged the incoming magic and dashed through the dense jungle, drawing aggro from furious enemies who gave chase without looking back.
— Don't lose that bastard!
ferrel knew exactly how important Seowoon was to his team. He forgot about traps, forgot about caution, and shouted with all he had.
Naturally, the warriors and knights, with their superior mobility, began to outpace the mages and rapidly closed in on Seowoon.
Even then, a minimum number stayed behind to guard the slower mages, showing the team's discipline and coordination.
"Damn it! If only I could ride an airboard!"
One of the mages grumbled, but those who had at least learned some basic movement techniques surged forward ahead of the others.
Because of the difference in mobility, the formation naturally stretched out. Just then, a sudden blur fell from the sky like it was slicing the formation in half—Namsagwang, sword in hand, landed squarely in their midst.
"ferel!"
At the very moment the formation was split, Tilemoor, who had been protecting the rear mages, shouted.
Namsagwang, exuding a terrifying aura, leaped from a tall tree and rushed straight for the mages, completely ignoring the knights.
Slash! Slash!
With just two swings, he cut down two mages along with their shields. Then, without pausing, he dashed off in the opposite direction of Seowoon, making a run for it.
"Damn it!"
Seeing Seowoon sprinting ahead like a wagging tail, ferel cursed, voicing his frustration.
When he stopped, the entire formation came to a halt as well.
They rushed to the site where the mages had been struck down, now in pieces, and the teammates stood tense, vigilantly guarding the area.
"No way to save them… right?"
Tilemoor shook his head.
In Squad Games, there were several conditions to revive a fallen teammate:
The time limit to perform a revival.
The extent of physical damage.
Whether a finishing blow was dealt.
In this case, with their torsos severed and guts spilled out, even without a finishing strike, there was no way they could be saved.
"We got too worked up. Our formation was a mess."
At Tilemoor's words, ferel nodded grimly.
"With Carmen's Eye still active, we should regroup and pursue in formation."
As Behemor approached and patted his shoulder, ferel nodded again, his face twisted in frustration.
"Jin Seowoon…!"
Grinding his teeth, ferel spat out the name and led the group forward again in pursuit of Seowoon, keeping formation.
Feeling the exact presence of his pursuers, Seowoon shook his head.
– Mission failed. Carmen's Eye is still active.
– That's unfortunate.
Namsagwang, after hearing the briefing, muttered briefly and ran toward the designated rendezvous point.
Seowoon, meanwhile, yanked two arrows out of his back and moved swiftly again.
Even during his escape, two arrows had managed to pierce through his protective barrier.
– Ding! Forest's Breath has been activated.
As the alert rang out, blood from his stinging wounds began to clot rapidly.
With injuries like this, there was no need to waste a recovery scroll.
– Ready on my end, hyung!
At that moment, kichan's voice rang out, and a wide grin spread across Seowoon's face.
ferel, who was tailing Seowoon, finally caught sight of him. Raising his hand, he halted the group.
This time, learning from past mistakes, they stayed cautious and alert.
"What's got you so scared?"
Seowoon, also stopping and turning back, smiled provocatively at ferel.
"You coward! You don't even know honor!"
Behemor, furious, shouted from the side. Seowoon just looked at him incredulously.
"Honor? You guys set traps and throw numbers at me, and you call that honorable?"
"Hmph! That's strategy on the battlefield!"
"Oh, so when you do it, it's strategy, but when I do it, it's cowardice? Did you get shot in the head or something?"
Unable to respond, Behemor simply drew his sword.
"Let's finish this here!"
"Your mom's butt."
As Seowoon turned around and ran again, Behemor's face turned beet red.
"What does 'mom's butt' even mean?!"
He looked around at his teammates, but none responded. Judging by the disgusted looks, though, it clearly wasn't a compliment.
"Don't lose your cool. He's used to fighting dirty. If we get dragged into his rhythm, the damage will pile up."
At ferel's calm words, Behemor took a deep breath and forced himself to relax.
And so, the dull chase resumed—until finally, Seowoon's group revealed themselves.
"One's missing."
Seeing the enemy gathered with one warrior absent, ferel raised his hand, and the mages began casting spells to break Seowoon's barrier.
Then came the volley of arrows and magical attacks.
Seowoon's teammates responded calmly, dodging and concealing themselves as they returned fire.
"They're real! Let's go!"
ferel shouted and led the knights in a charge toward Seowoon's group.
– Uwaaaargh!
As the knights charged in with battle cries, a blue mist began to rise around them—Lilingwi's burst poison.
The blue vapor, which triggered an agonizing reaction from those already poisoned, crept up from all sides. But the knights, crazed, kept charging Seowoon's group.
– BOOM!
– RUMBLE!
– FWOOSH!
Magic exploded everywhere, tearing through the dense jungle and turning it into a battlefield clearing.
Then, something unexpected happened.
Three Sword Emperors, who had just reached Namsagwang, were suddenly attacked by one of their own knights.
"What the hell are you doing?!"
"Die, monster!"
Behemor knocked out the frenzied knight and looked around, sensing something wrong. That's when he finally noticed the faint blue mist rising all around them.
"ferel! Something's wron—"
He tried to report it to ferel, who was fighting Seowoon, but ferel himself looked… off.
His eyes were bloodshot, saliva dripped from his mouth. He clearly wasn't in control.
Seeing ferel's deranged state, Seowoon's lips twisted into a smirk.
– Everyone fall back!
Just as Seowoon gave the command over team voice, his team rapidly retreated. Ten knights, including ferel, suddenly went berserk.
"Restrain them! Don't pursue! Prioritize subduing the crazed knights! Tilemoor, Xeras—stick with ferel!"
– Aghhh!
– What are you doing?! We're on the same side!
By the time the team-killing madness ended, four knights and three mages were dead.
And at that exact moment, the sun set in a red blaze.
"You back with us?"
"W-What… what happened?"
"I'm not sure. But you went full berserk—magic, poison, drugs? Who knows. You killed two mages with your own hands."
"Argh!"
Clutching his pounding head, ferel collapsed and slammed his fist into the ground.
"Jin Seowoon!!!"
"ferel, face the truth. We can't beat him here. We need to fall back while we still can."
"But—!"
"Think rationally! There are still more than a hundred left to survive."
At Behemor's words, ferel finally looked around.
Scattered across the darkening jungle, teammates hovered near glowing orbs, their faces worn and exhausted.
They had spent half a day planning and executing an attack strategy… and the result was devastating.
They'd lost ten teammates—and not killed a single enemy.
After quietly surveying his comrades, ferel finally made up his mind.
"We retreat. Back to the ship. Fast."
Lowering his mask to hide his twisted face, ferel rose to his feet.
'Who said you could retreat?'
From a short distance away, Seowoon's eyes gleamed as he watched them.
– Krrrraagh!
While distracted by the magic flying toward him, Seowoon tore apart a knight along with his armor and disappeared into the darkness with his back turned.
"Damn it!"
That made three already.
It hadn't even been 30 minutes since they decided to retreat, and three were already dead.
"Can we save him?"
"It's no use."
Through the torn breastplate, the knight's chest was wide open, and his heart was gone — an empty cavity remained.
"Goddamn bastard!"
They cursed, but in truth, it was just a cover to hide their fear.
'We're the prey?!'
It was undeniable now.
They weren't the hunters. They were the prey, helplessly picked off one by one with no choice but to flee.
"I didn't expect so many of them to have cloaks of invisibility. Maybe we should just set up a perimeter and wait it out until sunrise?"
At Zeras's suggestion, ferrel shook his head.
"Then we'd just be sitting ducks, attacked all night without knowing their position. We've got a better chance if we pick up the pace and head back to the ship."
There was no time to reflect on how things had come to this — ferrel simply sped up.
'If only we'd protected Carmen's Eye!'
– Screech!
"This way!"
"They're here too!"
"Over here! The mage's been poisoned!"
After a hellish, seemingly endless night, only 16 team members remained when they finally reached the coast.
They had only managed to hold out because the attacks had subsided about 30 minutes before sunrise.
Watching the sun rise, ferrel and his comrades were filled with despair.
Behemore patted ferrel's tense back, trying to comfort him.
"We can make up for it in the next stage. At least no squad was completely wiped out — everyone managed to save at least one teammate."
Nodding silently, ferrel boarded the small boat that had washed ashore and returned to their ship.
They had originally operated eight boats, but now all survivors fit into just two. As they slumped down on deck, exhausted—
Seowoon's squad suddenly burst out of the cabin on ferrel and Behemore's ship and attacked them.
"Jin Seowoon!!!"
ferrel hastily drew his sword to fight them off, but two Sword Emperors weren't enough to handle both Seowoon and Namsagwang.
Other teammates on the second ship rushed over to help, but caught off guard by the ambush, there was no way they could hold out long.
Then, just as the second ship turned its bow and tried to flee—
– Crack! Crackle!
As planned by limin, who had arrived at the beach the night before, the enemy's ship began to fall apart.
The hull had already been nearly destroyed, so the enemy ship barely made it any distance before it slowed and came to a stop.
It didn't take long for Seowoon's squad to jump aboard and annihilate the remaining enemies.
"Phew."
"This thing's about to sink. No time to sit around — loot everything, now."
Seowoon urged the team, looking at Dump slumped on the floor.
After gathering all the loot, they moved to another intact boat they had spotted earlier and finally sat down, exhausted.
"I'm beat,"
Dump said, collapsing on the deck.
The night's hunt had been anything but easy.
Drawing the enemy's attention, assassinating, and fleeing — the whole process had been filled with danger at every turn.
Looking around at his weary teammates, Seowoon spoke up.
"There might be more enemy boats on the other side of the island. Let's check that out, then take the rest of the day off."
He clapped limin on the shoulder as he finished speaking, and limin, dragging his tired body, set their caravel in motion.
They had upgraded the speed somewhat, so it wasn't too much slower than a caravel.
After scouring the coastline and destroying or looting the remaining ships, the team circled the final corner of the island to find one last boat — and Kichan's eyes went wide.
"Bro...!"
"Yeah."
Looking at the lone ship majestically floating in the distance, Seowoon and Kichan exchanged glances and clenched their fists tightly.
[T/L: Read extra chapters on my ko-fi page "Pokemon1920" : https://ko-fi.com/pokemon1920 ]