...Gather more Undead from several villages, would have given enough strength to attack the Hermits for me. This is so irritating…
Kalanath, after some time to ponder, decided to test his luck. He was tired of hiding from both the Prewood Hermits and the Atezians. Sooner or later, his army had to face the enemy. If he defeated the opposing party today, he planned to rise to the top of the Revarent, and no one could stop him.
…Come here…
Kalanath telepathically reached out to Mantodiavas and the rest of the army.
Devan had dealt with all of the Fogi who had turned into zombies. He did not count them carefully, but estimated that there were more than three hundred. The person who had turned them into Undead must have gathered them from different factions.
Although the number of enemies had decreased, Devan's workload remained the same. More types of Devals had joined the fray. He was attacked from behind by a giant musk-like devil. Realizing this, Devan somersaulted onto its back and stopped it with a flaming sword.
The numerous herbs that had been prepared were quickly consumed. Devan narrowly avoided being bitten by a zombie snake on the leg. He had to stuff almost all the antidote herbs into his mouth at once to suppress the symptoms. Fortunately, the last Deval with poison was the only one left. Except for the special type of zombie venom.
In that era, they did not know much about germs. Dogma was the one who discovered that zombie venom was associated with both viruses and later magic. Magic acted to animate a lifeless corpse, while the virus that bred later infected those exposed to zombie secretions, turning them into zombies.
Devan was unaware that the holy spell he used had a direct effect on the virus, destroying it every time he wielded the magic of light. This was why, even if bitten by the Undead, he would never succumb to their ranks. But that was when he still possessed the power of a paladin.
Unknowingly, Devan stood naked in the midst of a poisonous forest, where a single bite could prove fatal.
Hours had passed, and the true catastrophe had arrived. The army summoned by Kalanath had reached a village where scarcely any survivors remained. The last remaining group congregated in the village center, with Devan at their core. They resolved to hold their ground, despite being cornered. With the morning approaching, they fought valiantly, hoping against hope for a chance at survival.
"Hey, there's more coming!" the villagers shouted, scaling heights to survey the slopes. It was unnecessary, however, as the majestic figure of Mantodiavas loomed on the horizon.
"What in the hell is that?" the village headman gasped. In all his years, he had never beheld such a terrifying presence. This village was surely not going to escape its fate.
"Stand behind me! Quickly!" Devan ordered, but no one heeded his call. Fear had taken hold of everyone, and not a single soul believed they stood a chance.
Taking a deep breath, Devan remained calm and composed, with his breathing and pulse steady. Though his resolve had been fueled by thoughts of revenge, he would not regret his actions even if this was his final day. He was simply doing what he believed was right, without any lingering doubts.
"I may no longer be a paladin, but I'll fight to protect those in need," he muttered, a determined smile crossing his lips.
Devan rushed out alone, his determination taking his sword skills to the next level. With a single blow, he could take down more than ten Undead. Even though he had no more chanting powers left, he was as strong as he was before.
The villagers, who were desperate to witness the incredible battle, started to come to their senses. They had not lost yet, and Devan, an outsider, was fighting valiantly. How could they just stand there and watch? The first one ran out, and then the second and third followed. Even the village headman, who had been in despair just moments ago, got back up.
"I won't let you fight alone," the girl said as she picked up a rake. She was already the youngest among the survivors. And when even a child like her had not given up, all the adults felt ashamed. Everyone rushed to help Devan.
"Very fast, and his sword skills are excellent too," Kalanath watched with concern. The army he had gathered in the thousands had only managed to eliminate a fifth of the undead, and the battle speed was increasing. Devan was unstoppable, even Mantodiavas could not stop him.
The pseudo-fragrance sword consumed all its energy. The blazing fire was extinguished and then re-ignited from the spare battery. Devan knew that he was running out of time. But he did not feel rushed. The more he fought, the calmer he felt.
The flames caught the Undead's body and spread out over a large area. Mantodiavas, who was troublesome, missed its body and set itself on fire. Devan did not let this opportunity slip away. He ran up to its insect-like head and sliced down from the top to the bottom. Its burning body was instantly torn in two.
In less than an hour, the sun would rise. Kalanath knew that he had made another mistake. They had only managed to eliminate less than half of the remaining army. He ordered a retreat, unaware that Devan had already reached his limit a long time ago.
As the final Undead opponent retreated, the restless figure collapsed, his consciousness blacking out from the overwhelming fatigue.
**-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------**
Devan had slept for several days before waking up again. It was not surprising, considering that he had just recovered from Fogi's poison and had fought the Undead Army overnight. What surprised him was waking up not at the point of his fall or in the village headman's residence, but in the same tent that the Atezian soldiers camped in outside the city.
Devan sat up, perplexed, and looked around, wondering how he got there.
The red-haired man walked in, and Devan recognized him as Alkaiser. Though younger than Devan at the appearance, Alkaiser was over a hundred years old and a strange man.
"Congratulations on surviving," he said, but his tone lacked sincerity.
"You… Alkaiser," Devan said, remembering how the man had attacked his subordinates.
"Calm down, we're not enemies now," Alkaiser reasoned, trying to stop Devan's impulsiveness. Devan raised his eyebrows, unsure whether they were still enemies or not.
"Doc told me that you are hunting Waldo," Alkaiser said.
"..." Devan did not answer, but his gaze still held resentment towards Alkaiser. Perhaps it was a different grudge against Waldo, but Devan had no desire to be friends with this person.
"Doc told me that you're hunting Waldo."
"So what?"
"Unfortunately, if you find Waldo, you're as good as dead. Your revenge will have failed."
Devan wanted to argue, but he was left speechless. The truth was that Waldo possessed a formidable technique with his nine swords and many magic swords, making him virtually unbeatable. Devan, who had lost his power and sword, could not compare to him. There was simply no way to win.
"You let the darkness take over, until your holy power was lost. It was good to develop more sword skills until it came back near the original point, but that original point was not comparable to Waldo now."
"I'll practice more," Devan replied sternly.
"In what way?" Alkaiser asked, his tone sounding faint.
"That's none of your business," Devan replied simply, displaying his ignorance. The only thing he could think of right now was to keep hunting Deval or Revarent.
"Hurry up. There will be a great war soon."
"I'll take Waldo out before that time," Devan declared, forcing himself to sound confident.
Alkaiser listened and shook his head. He could tell that Devan did not have any methods or plans, only bigotry.
"Go outside," Alkaiser ordered
**-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------**
Devan followed Alkaiser out of the tent without understanding his purpose until Alkaiser pretended to use magic that Devan realized he was being taught something. Devan did not want to be indebted to his former enemy, nor did he want another teacher, so he tried to refuse. However, Alkaiser would not take no for an answer.
"Stop it, whatever you're doing, I won't…" Devan shouted.
A white fire formed in Alkaiser's hand.
"I want to point out that this isn't possible," the red-haired mage sneered.
According to paladin common sense, what was happening should not be happening. The white flame was a special feature of Holy Flame magic that even Devan could not use without a magic sword.
"Hmm," Devan gritted his teeth, gazing at the white light, thinking it was a gimmick. But it was definitely a real holy fire.
"Two elemental magics are quite difficult for you right now." Alkaiser held onto the white flame until it disappeared. "But if you just raise your fire magic level, I can teach you."
"I...don't want a teacher again."
"Then don't call me Master," Alkaiser replied earnestly. "I don't want a disciple. I'm just going to teach because we don't have time. A great battle is approaching, and as a working man, you have to level up in three days."
Despite feeling hurt, Devan had to admit he had no choice. Alkaiser was the greatest fire mage of his generation and one of the people he had wished he had crossed paths with. But he had to deal with Waldo and keep the promise he made to Doc to become a force. So, Devan reluctantly accepted the offer.
Alkaiser's training was not complicated, as Devan already had the basics of using magic. Alkaiser was simply helping Devan's magical energy flow better and gave him a trial by using fire magic as much as possible to break through his original limit.
"Mega Fire, one hundred and forty-fifth time," Devan chanted. A huge fire burst out of his hand and collided with the body of the demon Alkaiser summoned. But the heat had no effect on it because its body was already made of flames.