I had never heard of a taves monster that could move outside the living field of its own volition. Its six legs, planted on the ground, were sizzling and smoking like a crustacean on a grill, and its skin was cracking and drying up like a vampire exposed to sunlight. This was definitely not a normal reaction. It was proof of just how desperate Legion Commander Selegma was to send a key asset like a centurion commander outside its natural habitat.

"Screee!"

The centurion commander moved quickly on its six legs. I couldn't be fooled by its appearance; it was no ordinary arthropod. It could move freely forward, backward, left, and right, and could even jump and leap instantaneously.

<Ice Javelin>

First, I sent a volley of ice spears from behind me. As befitting a centurion commander, it dodged with fluid movements, swatting away the projectiles with the blades on its six arms.

Something bulging on the centurion commander's back burst with a pop! A swarm of countless insects emerged from it and descended on me.

"Ea!"

"A standard shield will not suffice. Preparing a Round Shield."

A hemispherical shield that covered my entire body unfolded from the ground. The insects immediately crashed into it, and I was enveloped in a vortex of bugs.

The insects were gnawing away at the shield's mana. Well, against bugs, this was the answer.

<Fire Gate>

It had been a while since I'd used this third-order fire spell. Two magic circles opened around me, spewing forth a breath of heat reminiscent of a flamethrower. Third-order magic might be weaker in power, but its strength lies in its sustainability. Safely protected by the Round Shield, I burned away the insects clinging to it.

My vision cleared.

He was shocked. But the centurion commander wasn't running toward me; it was heading for the fallen Squall and the other soldiers. A soldier's head had already been lopped off by one of its sharp blades.

In a hurry, I lifted my right foot, coated it in Devastar, and stomped on the ground. A black shockwave erupted, and my body shot forward, arriving right in front of the centurion commander's torso. Its three eyes looked at me, and I drove a straight right into the carapace on its chest.

<Gauntlet>

'Crack!'

The shell shattered, and its torso was crushed. Simultaneously, arms attacked me from six different directions.

-Calculating attack trajectories and deploying shields!

'I'll handle it! Ea, prepare Cutter!'

My Deva's Eye flared open. I deployed shields in the path of the six swinging blades and moved my body. The shields cracked, spitting sparks, but they bought me a little time. This time difference was everything.

First, I dodged the two blades that swung unimpeded. Second, I dodged the blade that had cut through one layer of shield. Finally, I dodged the blades that had pierced through two shields, all while watching the first attack.

Every attack in this world is a predictive one. Don't get swept up in the enemy's rhythm; make them match yours.

It takes 1.74 seconds for one shield to break. 3.41 seconds for two-layered shields. I knew the direction of the incoming attacks, and I was controlling the rhythm. There was no way they could hit me.

'Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!'

My lower body was almost fixed in place. I swayed my upper body back slightly to dodge a horizontal slash, then ducked briefly to avoid a straight thrust. Its body was larger than mine, and its arms were positioned high, so its low attacks against a human weren't very threatening.

"Krieee!"

Finally seeming to decide that close combat was futile, the centurion commander backed away and spewed foam from its mouth. As bubbles of a murky brown color poured out, I darted left and right.

'Ea!'

-It's ready!

On one side of the ground, I could see the Devastar magic circle Ea had laid down. I equipped the semi-complete Devastar magic circle under my right foot and stepped on the one on the ground.

'Whoosh!'

The two semi-complete magic circles interlocked, and the system activated. I lifted my head, aiming for the target's location and the specific body part I wanted to hit.

-It's coming!

The centurion commander, having filled the sky with foam, charged forward just as the bubbles began to fall to the ground. It was fast enough to make my eyes widen, but not so fast that I couldn't react. I spun on the spot. And the moment the distance between us closed to a hair's breadth…

'Now!'

I swung my leg in a straight line.

<Devastar Cutter>

The recoil from the kick, which had my full weight behind it, made me lose my balance and fall. The poison bubbles falling from the sky were covered by Ea's flawless shields.

And the centurion commander…

"Kegh."

Its neck, showing a clean cross-section, rolled onto the ground. The monster's legs gave out, and it collapsed to the ground with a 'thud!'

This was tougher than I thought. It was estimated to be rank-6, but it was definitely no ordinary rank-6. Hong Yeon had managed to take down a monster like this in the heart of enemy territory? That woman was something else.

"Tower Master!"

Yusin froze. The decapitated monster's body suddenly lunged forward. The middle of its torso split open, revealing a set of teeth.

'So that wasn't its head…!'

Before I could react, the centurion commander chomped down on my right arm.

"Gaaaaah!"

It hurt. It hurt like hell. I clenched my teeth against the excruciating pain, feeling like my arm could be torn off at any moment. Thankfully, it was still intact.

"Suit emergency force field durability loss: 40%!"

Was it thanks to the suit? To think the day would come when I'd have to rely on my gear.

"Fire!"

"Help the hunter!"

'Rat-a-tat-tat-tat!'

The special forces fired their magic rifles at the centurion commander. Most of the rounds ricocheted off its carapace, but the creature writhed in pain whenever a bullet managed to burrow into a soft joint. I felt its grip on my arm loosen slightly.

-Life signs detected! Seven approaching! Ea warned.

The ground churned on all sides as something approached. I desperately maintained my focus. After creating four auxiliary magic circles modeled after a vehicle's instrument panel, I deployed Gaia beneath my right foot. But the throbbing pain caused me to miscalculate one of the formulas, and the ecosystem shattered.

"Tsk."

Left with no choice, I activated my Deva's Eye and raised my index finger toward the company captains burrowing into the ground.

<Earth Claymore>

Swords of earth shot up from the ground like a thorny hell. With each one that erupted, the howls of a company captain could be heard.

Some burst from the ground, bleeding, their numbers steadily decreasing. Four. Three. Two. Then the last one—'Crunch!' The head of a one I'd missed shot out and sank its teeth into my side. I squeezed my eyes shut, gritting my teeth against the pain.

-Tower Master! Are you all right? Tower Master! Ea's voice rang in my head.

"Hah… Hah!"

I wrung out the last dregs of my focus and activated the fourth-order magic circle again, desperate to finish before I lost all feeling in my right arm.

<Frozen Heart>

I manifested the fourth-order magic from the imprinted circle. I clenched my jaw and pressed my index and middle fingers together.

<Ice Javelin> ×10

'Gurgle!' The centurion commander's body twisted violently. One more time.

<Ice Javelin> ×30

'Craaaaaack!' An erupting glacier blew the centurion commander to pieces. I looked at my freed right arm; it was drenched in blood. My gaze shifted to a company captain still biting my side. The creature's eyes darted around, but there was no escape. I raised my fist.

<Gauntlet>

With a sickening squelch, the creature's head was slammed into the ground. I followed up by triggering a series of Earth Claymores, tearing its body to shreds.

"Haaaah."

I managed a few steps before collapsing to the ground.

"Hunter Kim!"

"Are you all right, sir?"

Two special ops members rushed to my side. Swallowing hard, I pointed with a trembling left arm.

"…Block that area… now."

At the edge of the living field, Karim was fighting a desperate, solitary battle. Covered head to toe in monster blood and slime, she swung her sword device with frantic energy. Behind her, the southern living field crept closer, the two on the verge of connecting. The members joined her, firing their mana rifles.

"We're out of ammo!"

"Draw your daggers and follow me!"

The entire Hornet-1 team switched to close-quarters combat. I silently retrieved a high-grade red elixir from my pouch, popping one into my mouth and pouring the other over my wounded arm and side. 'Sizzzzzle!' I shut my eyes tight against the maddening pain.

[You have acquired the trait Pain Immunity.]

'Oh, thank you. For tossing me this, at least.' With the new trait, the throbbing pain finally began to subside.

'Ugh, I'm such an idiot.'

As the pain faded, a wave of self-loathing washed over me. I had been too complacent, too careless. As my stamina dropped and fatigue mounted, I'd started making mistakes I never would have otherwise. The pain had even shaken my mental state, causing me to miscast my magic.

'Get a grip, Kim Yusin. Dammit. Who the hell do you think you are?'

I took the red elixir from my mouth and splashed the rest of it on my face.

'Back to the basics.'

Once the wounds healed, I pushed myself to my feet.

"This is HQ! Commander Hong has defeated Iringa's centurion commander! Confirmed destruction of all thirty-four plants! A great victory! This is a great victory! The south has been completely liberated!"

Hong Yeon hadn't disappointed. Their side was boisterously proclaiming victory, but we still had a long way to go.

"Here I go."

I focused my gaze and raised both arms, unfolding a magic circle on each side of me.

-Tower Master! I heard Ea's shocked cry. -There is no reason to use fifth-order magic here! The fourth-order Prometheus is more than sufficient!

I just chuckled darkly.

'Sorry, Ea, but I'm in too foul a mood to let this slide.'

The four magic circles began to spin rapidly as a new one manifested on the ground. Formulas flooded my mind. 'Come on, fifth-order. Now it's time to pay the price…'

"Meshara."

'…Huh?'

Suddenly, the intricate magical formulas vanished from my mind as if wiped clean, and the world dissolved into pure white. I found myself floating in a hazy sea of consciousness.

"Meshara. Meshara."

We met again. The adrogynous being with long, white hair, whom I had briefly seen during the fourth-floor trial. It approached me and smiled.

"Were you planning on throwing your life away?"

I was startled. This was the first time I had heard its voice.

"Of course not."

I might have been overdoing it, but I had been certain it was possible with my current level of focus.

"That was a close call." It gently placed a finger on my forehead. "Be more careful from now on."

I was confused.

And then, the pure white light faded, and my surroundings returned to normal.

'What was that?'

The formula in my head was suddenly complete. The fifth-order magic—a spell so taxing it should have knocked me unconscious—was solved as cleanly as a calculation on a machine. I didn't know what had just happened, but there was no time to hesitate. I raised both arms above my head.

<Supercell>

'Rumble!' Pure white clouds poured from the magic circle. A powerful, rotating updraft whipped into existence, and the clouds developed around it with the explosive speed of cellular division. 'Rumble! Kra-kroom!' The clouds gradually shifted to a dark navy blue. Calling it a simple tornado would be a gross understatement; its sheer size was in another league entirely. It looked as though a castle floating in the sky was being devoured and expanded by a shroud of black clouds. Lightning flashed constantly within. Each time it struck, the dark clouds would flare blue before returning to their original color.

"It's his magic! Fall back!" Karim yelled.

She and the commandos retreated as the massive supercell, accompanied by lightning, torrential rain, and hail, descended to the ground. Up close, its sheer scale was staggering.

'Go!'

'Rumble!' The violently rotating vortex of clouds began to advance, its winds scouring the very earth. Any monsters caught in its radius were swept up without a chance to react, torn to shreds by the lightning striking within. The superheated bolts that struck the ground also scorched the living field in the supercell's path, leaving not a single trace behind.

"Whoa…!" one of the commandos breathed.

The supercell tore forward, shredding the living field and every monster on it as it advanced. With only a few meters left before it reached the southern living field, this colossal storm was utterly shattering the legion commander's lingering hopes. It was overwhelming. As expected, the scale of fifth-order elemental magic was simply insane. Legion Commander Selegma had gambled on this point—the one where they had made the most progress—by sacrificing one centurion commander and seven company captains, but this was the result. 'So, you want to try again? Do you have any more centurion commanders? I'll push back as many as you send.'

'Kshht!'

"Th-This is Hornet-3! The monsters are retreating!"

"Hornet-6 reporting the same!"

"Hornet-8! The monsters are falling back!"

"W-We're saved!"

"Woooooah!"

It was the same at our position. Selegma had given up the fight. While the soldiers cheered, I walked alone into the ruined living field. A centurion commander, little more than a head, was gasping for breath. I crouched down to meet its gaze. The creature looked back at me, its pupils dilated as its breathing stopped. I moved my fingers, ostentatiously writing words in the air with mana.

ʜʖʧ ӂθ. (Wait until I find and kill you.)

The monster's pupils rapidly expanded. 'What, you thought you were the only ones who knew this language?' A corner of my mouth twisted up as I stomped on its head.

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