‘They weren’t the only ones……?’

Cadel swallowed hard, dry heaving in Van’s arms. Outside the shop. The streets, which had been devoid of even a single rat, were lined with countless of the ‘little demons’ they’d seen in the warehouse.

They filled the roofs of buildings, the shelves of stalls, and the crevices of narrow alleys, shrieking in unison as if they were cheering.

It was like being a gladiator in a small town’s arena. Van was equally dumbfounded, his expression tinged with defeat as he watched the demons surround him in such a dense formation.

“……I’ll run, Commander.”

“What? You’re going to run through them?”

“There are too many of them to deal with one by one, and even if a handful manage to cling on, it’s best to get out of here first―”

“We don’t know how far they’ve spread, and if they’re all over the village, we’ll have to fight them anyway, even if we can get out of this street. …… Drop me off.”

“What are you going to do with that body now?”

Cadel was struggling just to keep the barrier up. If he unleashed his magic against all those demons, it would only be a matter of time before he collapsed. Van didn’t want to put Cadel down, but Cadel resolutely shoved him off his shoulder.

“The same goes for your condition, Van. If we drag on like this, only we will be at a disadvantage.”

Despite being himself, Van was in a bad condition, and rightfully so. He’d been on a rampage for what seemed like an eternity, fighting uncontrollably, and there was no way he could have been unharmed for that long.

Van hesitated but finally let Cadel down when Cadel insisted. The demons’ movements were erratic. Their screams were slowly dying down, and they were slowly closing in on the surroundings.

Their movements were haphazard, cautious, and coordinated. A moment’s lapse in attention would be a moment’s devouring.

“I’ll prepare the magic spell, just keep an eye on them.”

Steadying himself with his legs, Cadel regenerated the barrier he’d briefly lifted. Adjusting his greatsword, Van narrowed his eyes at the wind that surrounded him.

“Don’t we have the Scarlet Dragon’s armor? If you keep the barrier up, Commander’s mana will be…….”

“Oh, that. It was briefly confiscated.”

“What?”

“We can’t use it now.”

Cadel couldn’t help but look at him incredulously. As Kunra’s finalization work was coming to a close, he declared that since Cadel wasn’t going to use it now, he would return the power to speed things up. Cadel didn’t think much of it at the time, but if he had known this would happen, he should have resisted.

Smiling bitterly, Cadel readied his AoE [Ignition Bullets]. It was a gamble to deploy [Ignition Bullets] in this condition. If he couldn’t focus his consciousness until the end, the spell would fail. He could feel in his gut that he was going to break down in the middle of it. But as with any magic, there was nothing he could do about it.

One chance. Cadel knew he only had one chance left, and he was determined to fill it with his ultimate.

‘It’s all or nothing. If I fail and collapse, I’ll have to leave everything to Van…….’

It was better than trying to cast a few spells and then running out of energy and fainting. If Cadel could pull this off, it would buy them enough time to get out of the village.

As Cadel began to draw on the mana in his body. Van threw his sword energy at the demons that were slowly approaching. His greatsword scraped the ground as he tried to match their size.

“Hiiyaas―!”

“Hass!”

They leaped high or ducked into burrows they had dug to evade the sword energy. Their movements were deceptively nimble. They even giggled in amusement after dodging an attack.

‘……But their attitude towards that arms dealer is completely different.’

He’d expected them to charge with the same ferocity as when they’d devoured the arms dealer, but they were cautious, sizing up their strength.

The abominations had the intelligence to recognize strength and weakness, and it took Van a few minutes to tie up their relentless advances.

“Done.”

Cadel’s magic was complete. In an instant, fierce flames lit up the sky. With a quick wave of his hand, the hanging arrows of fire began to rain down like a shower.

The demons scrambled to duck under the massive attack, but it was no use. The creatures that filled the ground were no longer a threat; his flames burned them to a crisp, burrowing into their burrows and choking them to death.

Before his magic, the lesser demons were no longer horrific cannibals, but helpless, like a swarm of ants that had already been trampled. The attack, which completely evaded his allies, reduced the village to rubble in an instant. Of course, Cadel now had the ability to defend the village’s buildings and attack only the demons, which he did not do in order to destroy any potential spawn that might be lurking within.

‘Just this attack…… If I can finish this safely…….’

It was also because he couldn’t fully utilize his abilities. The moment he unleashed the [Ignition Bullets], his body’s strength drained away and his eyes went white. The first thing that came to mind when he realized he was in a worse state than he expected was his obsessive will to not burden Van.

The enemies fell to the ground in a flurry of magic that was fueled solely by his mind, and when the [Ignition Bullets] finally came to an end.

“Commander!”

Cadel, having done his duty, could take no more. His body, which had been burning hot a moment ago, was now chilled to the point of coldness. Van scooped Cadel into his arms as he collapsed into a heap, unable to utter a single groan.

“Commander, Commander! Wake up!”

“Quick, run…….”

The mumbling, almost unconscious, stopped. Van shook Cadel’s limp form a few times, then bit his lip.

The charred bodies of the demons that had once been in the area lay in a heap. He didn’t know if they were all dead or if they’d sensed the danger and taken cover, but if they didn’t flee now, there would be no point in Cadel buying them time. So instead of chastising Cadel for his reckless behavior, Van threw his arms around him and hurried out of the village.

The sickening sensation of demon corpses breaking and popping beneath his frenetic pace was vividly felt, but he ignored it all. He was more concerned with Cadel’s faint body heat, which was rattling helplessly against his back.

‘How far is it to the next village? If there are no healers there……. No. Can Commander hold out until then?’

Van’s heart grew impatient. If he had known Cadel’s condition was this bad, he would have traveled to another village as soon as possible to seek medical attention instead of spending the night in the cave. Van consciously avoided looking at Cadel’s wounds, refusing to look at it, because the idea that he had hurt Cadel was sickening.

He should have looked more closely. He had doubts that this had happened, scared to start over, but when he thought about it, it always had. Cadel, Yeohwan. They both put their comrades before themselves, and Van always felt protected and saved by them. It was a very one-sided relationship indeed.

Van couldn’t be satisfied with the same sacrificial relationship anymore. Yeohwan had to know that.

“Damn…….”

They traveled for a while, but there was no new village in sight. The plain ended, and Van could see mountains in the distance. He wondered if he had to cross that mountain to find a village.

‘If only I could have contacted the others.’

In his desperation, he couldn’t think of a way to call for help. At least if he had been able to use his magic, he could have gotten him to the village somehow. All Van had was a damned aura that ate some of its master’s life force, and it was useless.

The helplessness continued as he trudged up the mountain, carrying Cadel on his back. He huffed and puffed his way up the mountain, but the slope was steeper than he’d expected, so he didn’t get very far. After fighting demons for what seemed like an eternity, his stamina was wearing thin, and the sound of Cadel’s fading breathing was eating away at his sanity.

“I’m just going to wait until the sun comes up, so please hang in there.”

Van didn’t stop climbing until it was completely dark and the visibility was poor. Unable to find a suitable campsite, he spread a cloth under a thick tree and laid Cadel down.

Sweat dripped from Cadel’s bloodless face and shivering body. Van picked out a clean piece of clothing, tore it off, and wiped Cadel’s face with water from his water bottle. There was an occasional grunt of pain. For now, even that sound was a relief.

Cadel kept shivering, probably from the drop in temperature. Still, there was nothing to cover him. Van increased the flames of the barely lit campfire, but the shivering showed no sign of abating. Hesitantly, Van soon lay down beside Cadel and hugged him tightly. He rubbed his arms, hoping to get a little warmer, and concentrated on his ragged breathing.

For hours, they lay awake, waiting for daylight. Slowly, the darkness lifted, letting in the damp air of dawn. Sharpened eyes scanned the deep blue sky.

‘……This should be enough to get me moving.’

It was enough to get a clear view of the ground. Not wanting to waste any time, Van hesitantly pulled himself up. Cadel’s face looked more relaxed than before, thanks to the shared body heat, but it was far from reassuring.

With a hasty touch, Van lifted the untied bag. The potion inside tumbled out with a splash.

“……?”

It hadn’t fallen through the opening, it had fallen through the bottom. When he looked at the bottom of the bag, he saw a hole the size of his palm.

‘When is there a hole?’

At least not in the village, because if it had, everything in the bag would have been lost on the way here, and that would have been true on the mountain as well. Van’s expression turned grim as he checked the contents of the bag.

‘The item is intact. There’s no way I could have dropped anything with a hole this big.’

That would mean the hole was created within the first few hours of camping here. His senses were on high alert, but there was no sign of anything approaching.

An unpleasant tension creept up his spine. He had a bad feeling, and it was soon to be proven true.

“Hyaat!”

A scream he never wanted to hear again rang in his ears. At the end of his reflexive glance, Van saw a sight that made him doubt his eyes.

A small demon that had managed to survive the endless bombardment of fire. The tenacious creature was spawning.