Chapter 43: Archon Conquest (5)

Welcome.

The King’s Legion.

–Kiiiiirrk!

The chorus of gargoyle screeches slammed into my eardrums.
Were they responding to their king’s call?

Wings spread wide, bodies inflated—
not just one or two, but all of them hanging from the ceiling began to move in unison.

Like crashing waves.

Black wings beat the air in rhythm, forming a crimson tide that swept across the ceiling.

–Kiyaaaak!
–Grrrr…

They roared.
They responded to their king.
Their grotesque, hellish bodies—like they’d crawled up from the underworld—stirred to life.

This wasn’t just intimidation.
They were moving tactically—forming a circle, surrounding us in a full enclosure.

Like heat haze rising from burning stone.
The undulating swarm of monsters radiated overwhelming force.

“H-Hiiik…!!”

“……”

“Hic, hhic… G-Gr-Great O—“

“Shut up.”

Was the whisper of a “Great One” more terrifying than the entire legion?

Rookie clamped her mouth shut, but her gaze remained locked on the nightmare unfurling before her.

The hiccups bursting from her throat wouldn’t stop, thumping against her hand as she tried to muffle them.

Hic… Hic…

Even more grating than earlier—but I didn’t care.

Because truthfully, the fear Rookie felt…
I felt it even more.

Veteran? Player?

Even with my sleep-only cheat skill, the enemies before me were the embodiment of terror.

There were more monsters than empty space.

Which is probably why—

I said something that wasn’t very “me.”

“Rookie.”

“Y-Yes?!”

“Get lost. You’re in the way.”

I didn’t say anything more than that.

Because there was nothing more to say.

Rookie was only going to be a liability here.
I’d never once considered asking for her help.
This wasn’t some sense of responsibility as a seasoned player—it was pure survival instinct kicking in.

I have to live.
I have to survive this.

Even though I knew better than anyone this was a game—

Even though I also knew this was real.

Heh.

A bitter, hollow laugh slipped out.

At my command, Rookie activated her Stealth.

Even for the King’s Legion, finding a stealthed Rookie wouldn’t be easy.

In fact, they likely wouldn’t even bother.

I tore open the packet of sleeping powder—roughly.
No hesitation.

This was the first skill I’d acquired since coming to this world—for reasons still unknown:

[Passive Skill: Sleepwalking (EX)]

I left it to that.

The hiccups wouldn’t stop.

What must that man be feeling right now?

Just looking at him made my legs tremble.

The howls of the monsters pulled my head downward—again and again.

And yet—

The Great One.

The dragon.

He stared at the battlefield with a blank, unreadable face.

Was he annoyed by the hiccuping?

Maybe that’s why he told me to leave.

Instinct took over—I moved before I could even think.
Unconsciously, automatically.

It wasn’t reason.
It was experience burned into my skin.

Get out. Watch.

Dragons are beings beyond reason—mad, incomprehensible creatures.

I knew that better than anyone.

So I pulled back.

I retreated to a safe distance.
Far enough to escape if I needed to—but still close enough to watch.

I heard him.

“Get lost.”
He hadn’t said anything else since.

But I heard the unspoken meaning in his voice.

–KRAAAAH!

The monsters howled.

Mouths wide open, saliva dripping as they prepared to lunge.

My heart trembled.

Every roar shook the cavern.

Every cry of these twisted abominations told me to run—
To flee for my life.

But—

Contrary to that fear, my body stood still.

Not frozen in terror.

But for a different reason.

Contempt for the weak.

And its natural counterpart:

Reverence for the strong.

At that moment—
The body of the Great One staggered.

The strangeness lasted only a second.

Then the man seated on the throne shouted:

[Attack.]

Something was different.

The tone was similar—low, commanding—but the urgency in it was unmistakable.

It wasn’t the same composed and stately voice from before.

Of course it wasn’t.

The mana pouring out of the Great One’s swaying body—
The thick, choking mist he emitted was enough to make even the crimson beasts take a step back.

The shockwave of mana he unleashed…

The moment it hit, a distant memory surfaced—

A myth from the ancient past.

A tale of how the Great One taught magic to the lesser races.

And within that tale… a saying about the origin of power.

–KRAAAGH!
–KYYYYAAAH!

The legion—

The King’s Legion began to move.

At a single gesture from the man on the throne, the red-eyed, black-winged monsters surged forward like harbingers of death.

Gargoyles lunged.

Wings fully extended, eyes burning red, they streaked through the air at terrifying speed, closing in on the Great One.

Gigantic beasts and modified monsters charged as one.

Chains clinked around their necks with a sickening rattle.

Slobber and foam sprayed from their mouths.

They chased him without hesitation.

The King’s Legion moved—

All for the sake of catching a single man.

And once again, I remembered.

Long ago, in the distant past.

The gift the Great One had bestowed: the knowledge of magic.

Those who awakened to it came to be called mages.

But there was another term.

One-Man Legion .

A mage—acting alone—possessed power to rival an entire army.

And now—

That truth had once again taken form, through the hands of the Great One.

[8-Star Magic: Elemental Burst]

The battle began.

An eruption of condensed mana swept through the battlefield.

–BOOOOOM!

Spherical ripples of shimmering light expanded outward.

It engulfed the legion.

A divine force that cleansed the crimson beasts.

No screams.

Not even the typical crashing sounds of destruction.

Only trembling voices filled with terror at the magic they were witnessing.

And with that, the bombardment commenced.

[8-Star Magic: Elemental Burst]

To use magic, one must form a spell structure.

That was a truth—undeniable and absolute.

But now, that truth was shattered.

Just like flipping open a scroll—
Fully formed spell circles blinked into the air and vanished without effort.

A cratered dome of space remained.

No corpses. No blood.

It was as if the existence of the attacking monsters had been denied.

No cries. No splatter.
No traces left behind.

It was a power that reverted everything to nothingness.

An invisible force detonated.

The swarming monsters—

Gone in an instant.

The damp, suffocating darkness lit up in blinding flashes.

The ground heaved.

A senseless, overwhelming wave of destruction blanketed the battlefield.

The pressure of that mana surge alone made it hard to breathe.

And in fewer than ten spells—

More than half the attacking legion was annihilated.

“Is it over…? H-HIIIK!”

At that moment—
I felt killing intent.

A sudden pulse of bloodlust directed this way, triggered by a brief tilt of the Great One’s head.

I instantly shut my mouth and bowed my head.

All I could see was the damp, filthy ground.

And then—a heavy voice echoed in my ears.

[…Such power… beyond humanity.]

Now that sheer numbers were useless,
Arcon—left alone—was no longer overwhelming. In fact, he looked downright vulnerable.

And yet—

His voice carried nothing but supreme confidence.

The realization that his legion couldn’t touch the man before him—

It didn’t seem to bother him at all.

He remained calm. Steady. Unshaken.

–Fwoom!

A greatsword rose into the air.

With a single motion of Arcon’s hand, the massive blade floated.

This was the legion.
A crystallization of all the minions that once walked beneath his feet.

As if limbering up, the sword began to drift and twirl in midair.

A mere flick of the wrist.

Anyone could lift a sword with magic.

But—

The moment that crimson-black mana began to radiate from the blade—

–KU-GOONG!

The ground buckled.

Compressed to its limits, the mana choked the air like a noose.

And then—
That same mana rippled across the bodies of the gargoyles still perched on the ceiling.

[This is the end. I’ll take your body for myself.]

Arcon rose from his throne.

As if ready to conclude everything.

He stepped across a battlefield where not even corpses remained.

–Tok… tok…

Heavy footsteps.

With each step Arcon took, the greatsword hovering behind him quivered.

Crimson afterimages radiated outward, as if blooming from his aura.

A power that claimed monsters, turned them into his legion—
And now, that power oozed from his weapon.

–GRRRRR…

The sword growled.

No—it snarled.

Like a beast recognizing its master.

[8-Star Magic: Elemental Burst]

And in that moment—

The first to strike was the Great One.

As the spell activated, a crimson-black force poured from the greatsword and swallowed Arcon whole.

The ground cracked. Killing intent filled the air.

But—

A glowing red sphere had formed around Arcon, shielding him.

Like a prison being opened, the sphere split with a hiss—

And from within it, Arcon burst into laughter.

A mad, cackling howl.

Why he was so delighted, I couldn’t begin to understand.

But he looked right at Luke—
Grinning.

Was it greedy? Deranged?

You could call it many things,
but one truth was undeniable:

He was ecstatic.

[You’re… intoxicating.]

Arcon sneered like he was amused.

That crimson power he wielded…

The force that allowed him to enslave monsters and build his legion—

[I’ll make you mine.]

The one who obliterated his entire army.

A being so powerful, so alluring, that Arcon now wanted him in his ranks.

[Come now! Struggle as you like! If you can’t kill me… you become mine.]

A power that forces all living things into submission.

If even a fragment of consciousness remained, resistance was impossible.

And yet—

‘…What the hell?’

Rookie, her face blank with disbelief, stared at the man walking forward.

Then muttered in a hollow voice:

‘…Is he even awake right now?’

Something was off about his condition.