Inside the Douglas Manor, Sofia looked up from the documents on her desk.
Umber had just sent a signal.
Her expression didn't change.
But the quill in her hand snapped between her fingers.
"Aleph."
The commander appeared immediately.
"Gather every troop you can mobilize.
We're leaving at once."
"Yes, Duchess."
Aleph asked no questions.
He had never seen Sofia issue an order so quickly.
The moment he left the study, Laurence hurried inside.
"What happened?"
Sofia walked toward the door without slowing down.
"Lusian."
She spoke only his name.
It was enough.
Laurence understood immediately.
Something had happened.
With the Lich's fall, the pressure at the cave entrance eased.
But the relief lasted only a few seconds.
More undead began pouring out from inside the cave.
They weren't skeletons.
Nor were they decaying corpses.
Fresh blood still stained their bodies.
Some were even wearing the same clothes they had been abducted in.
Charles felt a chill run down his spine.
"...The villagers."
Lusian understood the situation instantly.
He clenched his teeth.
"They've started executing them."
Every new corpse meant another soldier for the cult.
Every minute they delayed...
more innocent people would die.
"Move in now!"
His voice echoed across the battlefield.
"Don't give them time to create any more undead!"
Meanwhile, deep inside the mountain...
Jerges watched the battlefield through a surveillance spell.
His expression remained calm.
Until another alarm barrier shattered.
He slowly turned his head.
"...They've breached the western entrance as well?"
A cultist dropped to one knee.
"My lord! The Douglas knights have broken through the second entrance!"
Jerges clicked his tongue.
They could no longer hold the base.
"Begin the retreat."
"And the sacrifices?"
Jerges glanced toward the chained villagers.
"Kill anyone who can't walk.
Turn them into undead.
We need time."
Magic circles lit up throughout the cavern.
The villagers' screams echoed through the entire complex.
One after another...
their bodies fell.
And rose again.
At that very moment, Albert broke through the last defensive line.
Ahead of him, dozens of undead blocked the main corridor.
Farther back...
the cultists fled through the inner tunnels.
Albert didn't even slow down.
"Don't stop."
His sword cleaved an undead in half with a single strike.
"The knights will clear the way.
Mages, destroy the corpses.
And you..."
He raised his sword toward the tunnels.
"Hunt down the cultists.
I won't allow a single one of them to leave this mountain."
One of the knights hesitated.
"And the young master?"
Albert kept walking without looking back.
"Charles is with him.
That is enough."
"Don't waste time worrying about someone you'll never be able to protect better than he can himself."
At the eastern entrance, the battle had become completely one-sided.
The adventurers were being pushed back step by step.
Every spell cast by the cult's mages tore another gap in their formation.
The Douglas knights immediately filled those openings, raising their shields to keep the line from collapsing.
Even so...
they continued losing ground.
Saul watched the battle from the rear.
He didn't even need to move.
He extended one hand.
Dark mana descended upon Cain like a mountain.
The adventurer dropped to his knees.
His armor groaned beneath the crushing pressure.
He tried to stand.
He couldn't.
Every breath was harder than the last.
"So this..."
"...was the difference."
For the first time, he understood why Jaiden had ordered him to stay in formation.
It hadn't been cowardice.
It had been experience.
He had mistaken pride for strength.
Grinding his teeth, he thrust forward with every ounce of strength he had left.
His sword barely grazed Saul's hand.
A thin line of blood appeared across the mage's fingers.
Saul lowered his gaze.
Annoyed.
Nothing more.
Not far away, Keitaro was fighting as well.
The Gold-rank adventurers were barely holding back the cult's warriors.
Their numbers were dwindling.
"Keitaro!"
One of his companions narrowly deflected an axe swing.
"Do something!
If this keeps up, we're all going to die!"
Keitaro hesitated.
His hand tightened around his sword.
"I can't...
If I use that ability...
everyone will see it."
Iris looked at him.
There was no reproach in her eyes.
Only concern.
"If you don't...
they'll die too."
Keitaro followed her gaze.
Cain was still pinned to the ground.
The Douglas knights were beginning to fall.
Jaiden was the only one capable of holding the front.
But even he couldn't reach Saul.
Keitaro closed his eyes for a brief moment.
"...Whatever happens, happens."
He ran toward Jaiden.
"Sir!"
The commander never stopped fighting.
"Fall back!
This front isn't for Gold-rank adventurers!"
"I can get you to that mage!"
Jaiden knocked another sword aside.
"How?"
"Just prepare one strike.
Leave the rest to me."
The commander hesitated for only an instant.
Then he nodded.
"Do it."
Keitaro placed a hand against his back.
A radiant seal appeared beneath the commander's armor.
The next instant...
Jaiden vanished.
Saul barely had time to turn his head.
A sword pierced straight through his neck.
The mage's head fell to the ground.
Before anyone else understood what had happened...
Jaiden disappeared once more.
He reappeared beside Keitaro.
The young man's legs gave out.
His mana had been completely drained.
He struggled to breathe.
Jaiden caught him before he collapsed.
He looked at Saul's corpse.
Then at Keitaro.
A smile appeared beneath his helmet.
"Kid...
That was impressive."
With Saul's death, the enchantments empowering the cult vanished instantly.
The cult's warriors began to lose cohesion.
"Advance!"
The Douglas line charged once again.
Five minutes later...
the eastern entrance belonged to the kingdom.
But the victory came at a price.
Ten adventurers.
Five Douglas knights.
None of them would ever rise again.
On the northern front, Leonidas stood motionless before the cave entrance.
He placed a hand on the ground.
Earth mana spread beneath the knights' boots.
Everything was ready.
They only needed the enemy to appear.
They didn't have to wait long.
The first cultists emerged from the cavern alongside dozens of undead.
"Now."
The earth roared.
Massive stone pillars erupted from both sides of the mountain path.
At the same time, enormous boulders crashed down from the slope.
The thunderous impact shook the entire mountain.
When the dust finally settled...
only mangled bodies remained.
The path had been meant as a secret escape route.
But Charles had forced its location out of the captured cultists.
The ambush had been perfect.
Even so...
Jerges barely frowned.
He turned toward the Lich walking beside him.
"Do it."
The undead raised one hand.
A dark mist enveloped the corpse of a fallen knight.
Its body twisted violently.
Muscles swelled.
Its rusted armor groaned under the strain.
When it opened its eyes...
a crimson glow burned within its empty sockets.
Jerges pointed ahead.
"Fifteen minutes will be enough."
Then he looked at Elio.
"Strengthen all the others.
We don't need to win.
We only need to open a path."
More than a hundred undead surged forward at once.
Leonidas raised his staff.
"Mages!"
The magic circles they had prepared in advance flared to life.
Rocks.
Spikes.
Walls.
The entire mountain answered his call.
Forty-six undead were crushed before they reached the defensive line.
But the rest kept advancing.
They marched over the remains of their own comrades without slowing down.
The Douglas knights lowered their spears.
The collision was brutal.
Steel crashed against dead flesh.
The shield wall was forced back one step.
Then another.
And another.
Leonidas left the rear lines.
"He's mine."
He charged straight toward the enhanced undead knight.
Their swords collided.
The ground trembled once again.
The very first exchange told him everything he needed to know.
"He's strong..."
"Too strong."
Every strike left behind a trail of corrupted mana.
Breathing it felt like inhaling smoke.
His lungs began to burn.
Even so...
Leonidas refused to retreat.
If that monster broke through...
the entire northern front would collapse.
The exchanges continued.
One.
Two.
Five.
Ten.
Then a voice rang out behind him.
"Fall back, Leonidas!"
He recognized it instantly.
He didn't question it.
He simply leaped backward.
A rain of fire descended upon the undead knight.
Flames engulfed its body.
The monster kept walking.
Leonidas breathed heavily.
"Stubborn bastard..."
He tightened his grip on his sword.
Mana surged through his body.
Veins bulged beneath his skin.
With a roar, he charged one last time.
His blade came down.
The undead knight was split cleanly in two.
But even then...
it managed one final swing.
Its sword tore through Leonidas's breastplate.
A deep wound ripped across his chest.
Two knights caught him before he fell.
"Get him out of here!"
Leonidas tried to rise.
He couldn't.
As they carried him toward the rear, he looked back at the battlefield.
The knights were still holding the line.
The mages continued casting spells.
But fewer and fewer men remained standing.
Albert arrived just as the battle was drawing to a close.
The last surviving cultists were fleeing down the mountain, abandoning even their own comrades.
Jerges didn't look back even once.
He shoved two of his own subordinates toward the pursuing knights, buying himself a few precious moments.
It was enough.
Using the confusion as cover, he disappeared into the forest alongside the Lich and a handful of survivors.
Albert didn't pursue them.
He watched the escape route for several seconds before sheathing his sword.
Then he walked over to where several knights were tending to Leonidas.
He looked him up and down.
"Well...
One simple mission, and you're already half dead."
Leonidas let out a tired laugh.
"And why did it take you so long, old man?
You swore you'd be here right away."
Albert snorted.
"My lord decided to make things complicated.
I had to change my route."
He reached into his spatial bracelet and tossed over a small black sphere.
Leonidas caught it by reflex.
He studied it for a few moments.
Then he raised an eyebrow.
"Only one?"
Albert smiled.
"I only found one."
Leonidas tossed the bead back with a snort.
"Then you've got no excuse.
That skeleton should never have delayed you."
Albert burst into laughter.
"The skeleton didn't.
The fanatics determined to die for it did."
The two veterans fell silent for a few moments.
Finally, Leonidas shook his head.
"I hate it when you're right."
Albert crossed his arms.
"I know.
That's why I'm still alive."