Someone from the Royal family made a deal with Demon.
This was a huge scandal.
Even Oliver, who was still new to the world, was aware of the magnitude of the situation, as were others like Arthur.
The news sent shockwaves, with emotions running high with fear, surprise, and shock.
Their emotions fluctuated like lightning in shock, surprise, and fear.
"..…explain exactly what you're talking about."
In response to Arthur's urgent inquiry, Willes explained,
"A member of the Royal family made a sacrifice, stabbing a young boy in the heart with a dagger and smearing his face with the blood of the boy. This was witnessed by Hewitt through the World Tree."
"Who is it?" asked Arthur.
Willes shook his head, saying,
"That's all the information I have for now. I'll share more details once the job is completed successfully."
Arthur couldn't ask more questions, faced with Willes' unwavering response and piercing gaze.
Instead, he turned to Oliver, seeking confirmation with his eyes.
Oliver nodded, confirming that there was truth in Willes' statement.
"Haaaa."
Arthur, after taking a deep breath, quickly made a decision.
"What do you want us to do?"
What Willes wanted was support.
McBore, armed with magic equipment, was asked to scout and provide support.
Arthur, with his golem prosthetic arm, and Donna, with her sniping abilities, were asked to provide cover.
Oliver, the Warlock, was asked to play the role of reserve firepower.
Hearing their respective roles, the entire party agreed and there was a positive atmosphere.
The fact that they were not directly attacking the Kingdom's army but only playing a supporting role helped ease their psychological discomfort.
Perhaps that was Willes' intention all along.
From their first meeting in the basement, Willes had a direct gaze and sharp judgment.
'They seem to be serious.'
Oliver thought as he looked at Arthur and other colleagues waiting in the back without a word.
McBore, who took out numerous small golems from the magic bag, manipulated the golem by lifting his finger in the air, focusing on the image projected from the goggles.
Meanwhile, Donna finished preparing for the cover– equipped with various types of guns, from simple sniper rifles to magic guns that used chemicals instead of bullets, and had various types of grenades ready for quick replacement in case of an emergency.
'
Oliver didn't stand idly by, either.
He harnessed his magic to summon minions and placed them around for defense.
Though not especially powerful, they were sufficient to fend off most attacks.
"…Dave."
"Yes, Mr. Arthur?"
"Let me ask you again, was it real?"
Arthur, who had been quiet all this time, suddenly posed the question to Oliver.
"Yes. I can't verify the story, but Mr. Willes was sincere," replied Oliver.
"You mean…?"
Arthur, with a serious tone, trailed off.
"If I may," Oliver asked, "can I ask you a question?"
"What?"
"I thought only warlocks made deals with demons, can anyone else do it?"
Oliver lied partially. He was aware that wizards also made deals with demons, but he saw no reason to mention it.
"Well… What does a veteran soldier like me know?"
"I'm sorry, I thought you knew more than me,"
Hearing Oliver's reply, Arthur spoke with a sense of responsibility.
"It's just like an urban legend."
"Urban legend?"
"Yeah, it's on par with stories like the evil witch who cooks and eats people for youth, health, and energy."
"But Mr. Willes spoke of it with sincerity, isn't it true?"
Arthur sternly interjected,
"Hold your tongue. It's a matter that could shake the entire world-ruling empire. Be cautious of what you say."
"… Sorry,"
Arthur's tone grew serious again, revealing his inner turmoil of conflicting emotions- greed, nervousness, and fear.
The revelation of the royal family's connection with demons was a big shock to him.
As Arthur's anxiety increased, the surroundings were draped in darkness and silence.
At that moment, McBore, who was using a small golem to monitor and support Willes' group, spoke up.
'
"It's starting."
As he said this, intense flames burst forth with a loud noise from below.
The target of Willes' attack was none other than the Kingdom Army's reserve troops stationed for support.
Originally, he intended to attack and lure small troops guarding each road, not them, but when Arthur's party was added, he changed his plan and immediately attacked the reserve troops.
The risk increased, but it also attracted more attention.
'They figured out the location of the hidden kingdom troops. It looks like the Kell Liberation Army is more spread and capable than I thought.'
The fire roared once again, creating a huge column of flames that swayed in different directions like a shell.
The fire spread to the nearby forest, burning the air and creating a deafening roar.
This caused the majority of the Kingdom Army soldiers to fall into chaos, shock, fear, and panic.
Not only the soldiers, but the forest animals too ran away in distress.
The nearby troops were also in confusion, overwhelmed by the sudden attack.
'There are also people who are not overwhelmed.'
As Willes and his group utilized the spreading fire to escalate the destruction of the reserve unit, another reserve unit from a distance raced towards them.
Due to their swift decision-making and fast action, Willes changed his plan from quick withdrawal.
He conserved his energy by focusing mana and the fire to himself, waiting for the kingdom's army to arrive, in an effort to draw more attention.
Papabababababat——!!
As the Kingdom Army advanced to provide support, a white flash exploded in their path and triggered a landmine, hitting them.
This was the work of McBore, the magic equipment expert who monitored the area and rearranged the golem.
The Kingdom Army was thrown into disarray by McBore's unexpected attack, and in no time, a wizard with high-density mana approached and unleashed a cross-spreading column of fire.
Oliver focused the energy on his eyes and looked around. Numerous emotions and Life-force believed to be kingdom troops seemed to be rushing to this side at once.
As if confirming his prediction, McBore's voice came from the communication device,
"Distraction successful. Retreat. Retreat."
As Willes started retreating, the Kingdom forces hastily regrouped and pursued, but Willes' group, boosted by mana, increased their lead as the Kingdom forces lagged behind.
Donna provided cover for Willes with a sniper rifle.
Thud! Thud!
Kingdom soldiers pursuing Willes fell as they were shot in the legs by Donna's dull gunfire.
The Kingdom army had to pick up their injured comrade and seek cover to avoid the sniper, buying time for Willes' group to escape.
But suddenly, they heard the sound of a machine.
'
Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
A high-powered mana source emerged quickly from the bottom of the slope.
A Kingdom soldier in exoskeleton gloves, 1.5 times larger than the model Oliver saw in Landa, appeared.
The exoskeleton was powered by complex mana flowing through it and he had mechanical devices emitting large amounts of mana on the chest and shoulders.
The soldier deployed a blue, hexagonal shield, providing protection for himself and his allies.
Donna switched to a magic gun, but the shield was so tough that even high-power mana bullets wouldn't penetrate it.
Oliver focused the energy on his eyes and looked closely at the mana shield of the exoskeleton gloves.
The amount of mana was also high, but when receiving an attack, mana instantly rushed to the area to be hit, increasing the defense by three or four times that of the existing shield.
A truly great skill.
Arthur muttered as if to prove this.
"Those are exoskeleton gloves imported from Gallos. They're very determined."
"Do you know about that?"
"I've fought. If its full potential is used, it's something that even wizards struggle with. If we can't drop it now, we'll be in trouble."
At the same time as the answer, Arthur stretched out his prosthetic arm and aimed at the soldier who came running with the exoskeleton gloves.
Mana moved, creating a hole in the palm of the prosthetic arm.
Wurrrrrrrrrrr
As the mana started gathering at the palm, Oliver cut in.
"Wait a minute, Mr. Arthur."
"What is it?"
"I'll do it. You have to save your strength for later."
With those words, Oliver extracted emotions from the test tube and processed them into black magic.
The target was a little far, but it did not matter.
Emotions, which transformed into black smoke, passed Willes and activated in front of the soldier armed with exoskeleton gloves.
[Outcry]
The black smoke clung together and turned into numerous faces with furious looks.
Eyayayayayayayayayayayayayayayayayayayayayyayayayayyayayayayayyayayayayayayayayyayayyay.
Angry shouts unleashed a shockwave that hit the soldier with an exoskeleton glove.
The soldier quickly reacted by fortifying the shields, avoiding the shield's destruction but causing it to shake– Like a glass resonating with high notes.
'
That was enough.
Oliver focused the energy on his eyes, collected emotions at his fingertips, condensed them, and fired hate bullets, targeting the shield's weakened points where the mana particles were vibrating.
The bullets penetrated the weakened shield, creating small cracks that ultimately shattered it like a window breaking.
"Minions."
With Oliver's command, the minions previously buried around, rose and exploded like bursting water balloons.
[Blister], which remained in the minions spread in all directions, hitting Kingdom soldiers who were pursuing, including those inside exoskeleton armor.
Kingdom soldiers who were directly hit had purple blisters appear on their faces, while the exoskeleton-clad soldier also became groggy as the Blister seeped through armor gaps.
"It's enough, let's follow the plan," said Arthur as he surveyed the halted pursuit.
Everyone agreed without hesitation.
Oliver, Arthur, and Willes have grabbed the attention of nearby troops to increase Hewitt's chances of escaping.
Now all they had to do was shake off the chase, get the balance from Willes, split up, and escape.
From now on, it was a fight against time.
"Um…??"
Suddenly, Oliver felt something strange and stopped running.
"What's going on?"
Instead of answering Arthur's question, Oliver invoked black magic, very quickly.
The group was surprised by his sudden action.
[Targeting] spell was cast on himself, Arthur, and Willes.
Soon, their bodies scattered and flew toward nearby rocks and trees.
The activation was so fast that everyone except Willes flinched and failed to respond, but fortunately, this worked, because they managed to avoid a ground explosion.
BOOM—! Boom! Boom! Boom!
Thanks to the explosion that exploded like an active volcano, the trees were torn from their roots and thrown into the air, and the soil fell like rain.
A man walked out of the ground while the fire moved around and dyed the surroundings red, just as when Willes attacked the kingdom troops.
A man with dark hair and red skin.
Oliver saw him for the first time today, but he knew him very well.
When Oliver first met Willes and fought, he felt his energy from afar.
"You're a war wizard."
Oliver asked the red-skin wizard who looked at him silently with cold eyes.