Rebound Startles The Transcendents, And Kim Han Leaves Them Appalled (2)

The harsh morning sun rose over the outer wall guardians.

I got up as usual, ate a quick breakfast, and was about to head to the mansion to work on my Deicide and Destruction proficiencies.

I felt the communication crystal, which normally never rang, vibrate harshly and pulled it from my clothes.

It didn’t sound like an Earth phone bell, yet the crystal’s ringing felt oddly ominous.

“Who?”

—Ah, this is the south wall garrison.

“And?”

—Ah, well……

A long situation report followed. The more they spoke, the more I regretted, to madness, ordering Talis and Bioss to rush in with unprecedented intensity and temporarily halt Benialis’s reconnaissance.

“So what’s happening at the east wall now?”

—There are three mercenary captains and fewer than five thousand. And the Monster Wave is thirty thousand Black Oaks.

“…Damn. Got it.”

I shoved the communication crystal back roughly and took out the other one the legion used.

I infused divine power into it roughly, ordered everyone to gather quickly, and headed back to the captain’s office.

Even after I had given only the brief, essential points, not just the legion members but even Talis and Bioss couldn’t hide their stunned expressions.

Could that really be true? If the Black Oaks broke into Exorsus now, would they be safe? Who would make such a stupid decision?

Everyone’s thoughts mirrored each other.

We had to set aside frustration for now. Handling what had happened was the priority.

“We need to leave immediately. They said thirty thousand Black Oaks. At that number, it isn’t just a chieftain—at least a Lord must be leading them.”

“Then what about manpower…?”

“For now, Merus will defend the north wall and the mages will……”

When I looked at the five, including Jenit, who had just been appointed Blue Tower Lord, they all nodded resolutely.

“First, from the magic tower only elders or higher. It’s in the middle of a battle, so they might get hit by a stray arrow. And have the representatives who aren’t members… explain the situation roughly and only let volunteers follow behind. Merus, go out now, deliver the message, and prepare.”

“Yes.”

Even as Merus swiftly left the captain’s office, the situation briefing continued.

“Our legion will go no matter what. If, during combat, you get a hole torn in you or have a limb cut off, don’t leave the severed part behind—bring it with you. We’ll reattach it by any means necessary. Masters, please wait near the wall.”

After finishing the general notices, we decided to discuss the rest while moving and hurried toward the east wall.

A carriage, powered by mana developed at the magic tower and similar to a car, sped along as we discussed the urgent situation.

Leaving earlier would have gotten us there faster, but since there was much to convey we used the carriage, and conversation didn’t cease even as it jolted.

“First, Lee Hyo-ju. Her position is the issue. It’s sure to become a brawl. Hugo… would be suitable, but he must watch other representatives. Meo, Mishel.”

“Yes!”

“Yes.”

“You two block the front with Lee Hyo-ju. If a dire situation arises or an attack seems impossible to stop, shout—she’ll handle it. Discuss and make a signal with her. She’ll block it somehow.”

Watching the two answer with firm faces and Lee Hyo-ju, I briefly spoke with Naruan and Hazel as well.

Before I knew it, the clanging of armor and the flow of divine power were palpable.

I opened the running carriage door, shouted, “I’m going ahead,” and ran straight for the wall.

I could already see that more than half the wall had been breached by Black Oaks.

While running I considered how to deal with the Black Oaks on the wall and, for the first time in a while, drew on magic.

“Target set. Infinity Magic Missile. Transmute. Strike.”

Because I targeted over a thousand Black Oaks, divine power surged and roared like a raging current.

Kwak kwak kwak kwak kwak―

Countless magical arrows shot forth, tearing through the air with a thunderous roar that matched the flow of my power.

“Support.”

Declaring I wasn’t an enemy, I stepped onto the wall, vaulted higher, flipped, and drew the slender sword Manga.

I poured chaos into it until Manga stood rigid at exactly 5.30 meters.

I added divine power to the falling gravity and leapt straight into the teeming Black Oak ranks.

Kwaaang―!

As if earthquake magic had manifested, the earth screamed and the thrashing halted; every gaze turned toward me.

An opportunity.

Manga still shimmered black, imbued with chaos as if it would destroy everything.

I twisted my wrist and swung; the area within a 5.30-meter radius instantly soaked in blue blood.

“Hua. Damn, there’s an awful lot.”

I spat the words, staring at the horde that didn’t look diminished despite the hundreds I’d clearly killed.

Still, my hard-earned physical grade and the effect of the newly acquired skill War God [Ex] were undeniable. My stamina and divine power were full as if I’d just woken.

“Let’s die together.”

I might even have smiled as the messages appeared.

In fact, this battlefield suited Hazel even more than it suited anyone else, even more than Kim Han.

The moment Hazel climbed the wall, her gaze snapped to her companion rampaging below with wild joy.

Watching him sweep through the Black Oaks, she felt both beauty and apology rise at once.

‘Have we been getting in the way all this time…?’ she wondered.

Shaking off the strange feeling, Hazel returned to the cold, composed gaze she had when she first met Kim Han a long time ago.

“Battlefield Analysis. Start! Range: 200m around companion.”

The wide range seemed taxing even for Hazel; she grimaced and staggered.

Soon a black orb popped out from her arms and floated, vibrating to her right. Her delicate brow smoothed and a deep sigh escaped.

“Segmentation. Sequential compression.”

She was like a conductor directing an invisible orchestra.

But the result of Hazel’s graceful gestures was brutal.

In the direction she pointed, starting from the far left relative to Kim Han, regions of space folded.

The folded space kept folding in half and then in half again before returning to its original state.

When the folded space recovered, all that lay there were Black Oak corpses cleanly split open at random.

Only after the space fully restored did green blood spout like fountains from the sliced bodies—like replaying a paused video.

As Hazel’s gestures moved gradually to the right, the space compressed again.

Passing Kim Han, it took less than ten minutes for the space around him to be cleanly altered.

Even Kim Han hadn’t anticipated this.

The sudden surge in Force and increased Spirit clearly reduced the burden of her spatial powers.

Before this, she couldn’t have sequentially dominated a 200m radius around him like that.

Moreover, the stamina Talis’s hellish training pushed toward 100 was making Hazel more capable.

Her beauty shone brighter as she matured, and Hazel’s skill inched toward perfection.

Did they realize Hazel had done something incredible?

Before long, guards and mercenaries stood beside Hazel, and Ver, the mercenary captain who had halted the Black Oak advance with magic, was there too.

“Take a short… rest.”

Hazel barely squeezed out the words and collapsed onto the ground. The mercenaries watching her were full of reverence.

Ver plastered defensive magic around Hazel before returning his gaze to the battlefield.

The purpose of a defensive siege had already faded.

Hardy folk had appeared from who knows where; representatives leapt down from the wall and charged the Black Oaks one after another.

Ver, breathing heavily with a hint of hope, asked Hazel.

“You… could it be Rebound?”

“…You know about us?”

Ver couldn’t answer; instead, his gaze fixed on the man cutting the Black Oak horde in two.

Lee Hyo-ju could move faster. But she was issuing instructions as she briefly waited for Meo and Mishel; they were about to coordinate as a trio for the first time.

“…Lastly, as Mr. Kim Han said earlier. If you think you absolutely can’t stop it, scream. Even a shriek will do.”

“Yes!”

“Yes.”

“Then let’s go.”

When Lee Hyo-ju descended below the wall, a blue coin gleamed in her right hand and a folding fan mottled blue and red in her left.

Meo and Michel, having confirmed Lee Hyo-ju’s full combat readiness, felt even more tense.

Despite Talis’s brutal training and berating, Lee Hyo-ju finally produced that tremendous fan she’d never used before; her momentum carried a Kim Han-like aura—not just the sharpness of a finely honed stiletto, but a will to destroy everything.

Perhaps because of that aura, the two standing beside Lee Hyo-ju drew two swords each and focused solely on defense.

Their defense wasn’t mere blocking; as preemptive danger prevention, it became an apt offense.

To the mercenaries and representatives, the offensive power from Meo and Mishel’s four swords was overwhelmingly formidable—calling it merely “appropriate” felt inadequate.

It only felt that way relatively because Lee Hyo-ju’s attacks alongside them were so terrifying.

The ‘Refined Blue Dragon Scale’ literally cleaved through the battlefield.

The speed was too great to block with a weapon, and even if someone managed to block it, the blow pierced the Black Oak’s hide and bone harder than metal, passed through three or four behind, and only then lodged into the body.

The white tails attached to the amulets became unpleasantly stained green before I knew it. Still, the procession of amulets leaving Lee Hyo-ju’s hand continued.

Lee Hyo-ju’s indirect support made the Rebound Legion members’ movements much easier.

Any sudden attack, surprise strike from an unnoticed angle, or hard-to-block blow was intercepted by strikes imbued with Lee Hyo-ju’s power—and then pierced through the attackers’ bodies.

Moreover, the Strong Blue Dragon Fan’s fire- and frost-absorption properties defended excellently against dangerous Black Oak shaman attacks.

It also created the strange circumstance of water- and fire-tower mages focusing their attacks on Lee Hyo-ju.

When the two late-arriving tower mages cast spells toward her, three transcendants nearly attacked them; without Hazel’s restraining voice and the exhausted defensive magic, they might have.

Then a comedic incident occurred: the mages’ spells appeared to be absorbed into Lee Hyo-ju—more precisely into the fan she held—before anyone lowered their weapons.

Most of all, Lee Hyo-ju’s physical abilities had changed as she jumped directly into combat.

Lee Hyo-ju’s body stats, honed without wasting a single day, increased faster than anyone else’s.

It was the result of taking Talis’s training—without complaining even once—and giving her all.

Interestingly, there’s a rumor that Arun greatly influenced the level-up of her Protection from Evil skill.

Anyway, strengthened and wielding a powerful weapon under Meo and Mishel’s thorough defense, she completely bloomed.

Lee Hyo-ju was more threatening and radiant than anyone. Aside from Kim Han, she drew the most attention.

Her gestures were as beautiful as a legendary fairy’s dance, but they carried lethal poison.

With one flourish, four or five blue amulets with white tails fluttered into the sky.

More than twenty Black Oaks died wherever those divine-filled blue amulets swept by, leaving fist-sized holes.

As the regular Black Oaks comprising the assault force slowly revealed the ground and elite Black Oaks appeared, Lee Hyo-ju’s clear voice rang out as if what had happened so far had merely been practice.

“Flower Rain. Grant Time Stop Limitation. Release!”