At a hidden forest buried deep within a dead one, the invisible, mystical border rippled.

Then, from it emerged figures covered in dissipating light particles.

"They're back!" announced a female orc carrying a massive crate of sustenance she had just harvested from the farm.

Hearing her voice, the wretches who were close to her immediately turned to look, excitement painting their faces.

Those who were a bit farther away relayed the news to those even farther away.

Soon, the Damnedling Army was surrounded by hopefuls and their smiles.

Daru felt a warm tickle in his heart at the sight. He felt like a hero of some sort, and he felt good about it, though also a bit puzzled.

'But it was only a small success?' he mused.

Perhaps it was, but to the Damnedlings of Egress — some of whom had been stuck here for years and had greeted a depressed, failed army multiple times — their seemingly victorious return meant so much more.

A step closer to freedom.

They've been here for so long that their real dreams had long been eroded by the unforgiving gray world, and all they could dream about now was returning to their worlds.

Their family…their friends…

How have they been doing all those years?

Unfortunately, the ones doing the mundane work in Egress Haven could only depend on the warriors.

How vexing it must be to have one's freedom depend on others?

"Hey, Hania, we're back," smiled Ascalon as the other Damnedlings rippled through the barrier one after the other, casting away their horrifying shells.

The more warriors returned, the wider the smiles of the converging hopefuls became.

It seemed that the operation was a success!

Soon, they learned that it wasn't only a success but a huge success.

There were thirteen new faces among them, a majority of them as timid and traumatized as everyone who was brought back here for the first time was.

The number of the warriors who returned suggested that they had very few casualties or none at all.

Naturally, some wretches were closer to others, especially those from the same race and, strangely, a few to their enemies in the Sword Trials.

Ascalon and Lesha were the very examples of such individuals.

In any case, the Damnedlings left behind to attend to the more mundane tasks in Egress quickly approached their closest friends in the army, greeting them with a smile and asking how the operation went.

Needless to say, everyone was ecstatic.

Thirteen new members plus the head of the ancient fart? Today was the most successful operation in the history of the village, no?

Usually, it was already a great success if the army managed to return with six to seven new members.

But double that and then some?

The non-fighters asked in utter enthusiasm how in the gray hell did they even achieve such a feat.

After that, spittle flew everywhere as the members of the army happily took the time to recount how a success of such a mind-boggling magnitude was secured, each version more exaggerated than the last.

"...and then that crazy do– dawg suddenly said, 'We need more time'. Honestly speaking, I was about to go and bury him in a grave myself. I mean, how the hell did the do– dawg need more time when they've been the ones who split off from the main group first? I couldn't help but think they were slacking. 'Preposterous!' I thought … But then, when we arrived, guess what? They were digging the sixth and seventh target graves, the mad bastards! Heck, I've known that dawg for quite some time now, and I recognized the look in his eyes after. He was contemplating whether to go for nine! NINE! In one operation!"

The atmosphere was glorious and merry, until an E-ranker human — from Neo-Earth like Daru and Ascalon — approached with an eager smile.

Elmer had been tending to the fields and couldn't stop in the middle of what he was doing, so he was among the last to arrive.

He quickly sought his close friend — someone who had been among the veterans of Egress and a decently powerful C-ranker at that.

But…he couldn't seem to find him?

Still, Elmer didn't think much of it. Even the D-rankers made it back in one piece.

There should be no need to worry.

The wretched farmer continued looking around, not noticing that the members of the army who saw him froze, their fantastic moods dampened.

It even seemed like they were avoiding him.

"Henry? Hey, Henry, where the hell are you? Come over here and tell me what happened."

Hearing his voice, the merry atmosphere faded, and not because of the other non-fighters.

No.

It was because the warriors themselves suddenly became downcast, stopping their storytelling to look at Elmer with sad gazes.

It wasn't too difficult for the others to deduce what had happened based on the reactions of those in the frontlines.

Daru, too, felt a heavy weight in his chest as he followed the fellow, older human with his eyes.

This was the first time he had witnessed the death of a comrade.

Not the usual "one-third death", but true death.

The time he had shared with Henry was short, and while their conversation seemed a bit distant due to the fact that he was a newcomer and their ages were quite far apart, they were fellow humans from the same world, fighting in the same Sword Trials.

A small bit of camaraderie had already taken root in his heart.

Unfortunately, it seemed that it was destined not to bud into a deeper connection.

Daru vividly remembered the scene of the Damnedling flying over his head, hurled into the depths of the wraith army, and Henry's harrowing death cry.

In the end, he could only exhale heavily and let the more experienced Ascalon handle such matters.

The SS-ranker explained to Elmer what had happened in the appropriate tone. Lesha even stepped forward to apologize, saying that it was her fault that this happened.

That she couldn't protect Henry well.

Ascalon fell silent and observed her for a while before shifting his attention back to the depressed soul standing before him, giving him a tap on the shoulder.

Elmer forced a smile, saying that such things couldn't be helped on a battlefield, and that everyone should cheer up for a job well done.

"W-Well then, I still have something to do at the farm, so you guys continue."

The man in his early 30s tried and managed to hide his emotions quite well.

However, everyone had a rough idea of how sorrowful he was.

Henry and Elmer had been friends, practically brothers in Limbo, for the longest time, even before more than half of them had been saved and brought back to Egress.

They could only imagine what it felt like to lose that brother, especially in this god-forsaken realm.

Unfortunately, the Damnedling warriors of Egress could only follow the forlorn and depressed figure until he disappeared in the distance.

They could not bring the dead back to life.

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