Rebound Startles The Transcendents, And Kim Han Leaves Them Appalled (3)

Three commands left Lee Hyo-ju’s lips.

First, “Flower Rain,” a skill embedded in the Strong Wind Blue Dragon Fan usable only once per day.

The granted power, “Time Stop — Limited,” bestowed as Aetas’s representative.

Finally, another fan function: “Release.”

Kwak kwak kwak kwang―! Kwang! Kwak kwak kwak kwang―! Kwak kwak kwang!

The sorcerers hiding behind the elite Black Oak warriors and around them were engulfed by an eardrum-shredding blast and annihilated.

Not only the targeted sorcerers but also warriors across a wide area were pulverized, reduced so completely they left no corpses.

The attack had already been amplified by the item’s effects, and because the time stop was limited to the fan, evasion was impossible.

Was it a mercy that they could die without even knowing how?

Not all sorcerers had gathered in one place, but where the most crowded, a green rain fell and settled the dust that had risen.

Then, breaths of flame and cold issued in succession from Lee Hyo-ju at the pivot—so forceful it could be mistaken for a dragon’s breath.

She released the two elements she’d absorbed from spells and sorcerers’ magic at once. The recoil sent Lee Hyo-ju flying back against the battlement.

“Empress…”

A murmur ran along the battlement.

Naruan moved like a fish in water. Her red side severed two or three Black Oak necks at once; she was a little grim reaper.

Seeing Kim Han leap from the running carriage toward the battlement, Naruan also jumped, following him.

Lee Hyo-ju or Hazel might have had reservations about Kim Han’s recklessness for some grand principle, but Naruan had none.

She was a woman who, at Kim Han’s command, could slaughter all Exorsus citizens right now.

So it was perhaps natural she followed him.

After Naruan landed from the carriage and raised her head, Kim Han had already jumped down from the battlement.

“As expected… the captain is the best!”

Seeing Kim Han jump down, she jumped too, without planning her landing.

She lacked Kim Han’s exceptional movement techniques and his way with divine power, yet she acted without hesitation.

Orcs she always hunted teemed around, and she loved the battlefield with Kim Han so much that her excitement simply froze her mind.

Only when her feet found empty air did she realize what she’d done.

Fortunately, luck favored her (her luck stat was indeed high).

Beings below gaped up to catch her.

Naruan’s expression shifted from embarrassed to mischievous at the sight.

She gripped her sickle, focused divine power into her feet, and used the flesh of a Black Oak more than twice her size as a cushion, landing safely.

The problem was that hundreds of Black Oak eyes fixed on her.

Naruan didn’t care. She drew out “True Flame” again—the red side Kim Han had gifted her, which she believed was made especially for her—and swung.

Like cutting millet, each arc of her giant sickle severed Black Oak necks cleanly, bodies rolling to the ground.

Still, Black Oaks packed around her like soldiers blocking a pop group, eyes flashing and drooling.

To anyone it was a crisis, but Naruan smiled with satisfaction.

“I’m going to the captain. So get out of the way!”

In a cute voice, an intimidating blaze erupted from her side. The force she drew took on a flame element and something like magic happened.

Gripping the blazing side with both hands, she lightly leapt and twirled her small body in the air like a rhythmic gymnast.

A brief whirl of flame burst up and hurled the surrounding Black Oaks backward.

She landed, beamed innocently, and reveled properly.

Naruan’s instinctive divine power—circulating force around her body for speed or shielding—produced a strange effect while she held True Flame.

Fwoosh―

“Heh?”

The force running through her muscles and bones took on a flame attribute under True Flame’s influence, producing an odd phenomenon.

A function even Kim Han, who had made the weapon, didn’t know about.

A flaming armor enveloped Naruan—not ordinary fire, but a thick, potent flame.

No wonder she rampaged even more; the viscous heat made approaching Black Oaks flinch and back away.

After a spree, Naruan inhaled deeply, tightened her small belly, and shouted.

“To the captain! Come with me!!”

Her clear voice cleaved the battlefield, creating a straight path toward Kim Han.

From that moment, Kim Han redoubled his efforts and began cutting through the Black Oak lines.

Kim Han’s back, which only Naruan failed to notice, seemed to say: You’re kind of embarrassing.

Inex’s greatsword was literally unstoppable.

He proved why he was Inex the Charger, faithfully breaking anything that blocked him.

Only forward, forward, forward! Eyes fixed ahead, Inex pressed on.

He could keep moving forward because two representatives slightly behind him charged recklessly, as if their only purpose was to advance.

Half-orc Ostum wielded a massive blade, and Hipoli handled the heavy halberd—a blend of axe and spear.

Ostum, with half-orc strength honed by Kim Han’s guidance, split Black Oaks in half with decisive force; his clean, exuberant strikes drew continuous admiration from the watching mercenaries.

Contrary to her delicate looks, Hipoli handled the heavy halberd masterfully, skilled enough to parry and defend against ranged assaults.

Kim Han himself had said after watching her, “Among the warrior representatives, Naruan’s patron deity is the best, but Hipoli’s combat sense is clearly the best.”

Hugo had been separated from his usual companions Meo and Mishel, taken by Lee Hyo-ju, and now formed a formation with Kitas and Joel.

They’d trained together before, so there was little difficulty.

Since Kitas and Joel focused on speed, Hugo only had to raise his shield to block attacks from all directions, making this fight less draining.

Their combination was simple: Hugo blocks; seizing openings, Kitas of Swift Fang or Joel of Piercing Strikes cut throats or carve out hearts. One step forward. Hugo blocks again. The two attack and advance.

This simple, effective pattern repeated.

Beside the battlement—especially in skirmishes against small monsters—Amazoness Liru shone. Her bow fired relentlessly, and above all, her shooting speed stunned the three transcendants watching.

So impressive that Ensir even cast a scan spell to see if her bow fired on its own.

Stephan, who handled familiars, summoned one.

The familiar assumed human form, causing others to tilt their heads, but only three transcendants stared at Stephan in stunned horror.

The mage Ensir, disguised as a warrior with a greatsword, grabbed Perr’s robe—Perr wore a wizard’s staff and robe—with trembling hands and asked,

“Pe-Perr. Th-that, could that possibly be that Vir?”

“If it looks that way to you too, Ensir, then it must really be the familiar Vir. I never thought I’d see it again in my life.”

“What kind of bastard is that, summoning that terrifying thing!”

What was Stephan’s summoned familiar—later called the master of familiars—that prompted such reactions from the three transcendants?

There are various ways to contract with a familiar, but the key is raising intimacy.

Some familiars like the meat or blood of specific monsters; some love gold. Some even like corpses.

The familiar summoned now, which resembled a human, preferred pork—specifically, pork belly.

Among summoners, Vir was said to be one of the hardest familiars to summon because, as if knowing its worth, it required high-quality pork belly to raise intimacy.

So there’s a laughable tale that, money aside, getting pigs and pork belly is too difficult.

But with Kim Han’s help—advising that samgyeopsal tastes better grilled—Stephan raised intimacy with Vir faster than expected.

What power did Vir possess?

Vir was the pig’s natural enemy. Any species resembling pigs couldn’t stand before it—domestic pigs, boars, wild boars, even orcs.

For facing Black Oaks—common on the Battlefield of the Gods and forming in the thousands—there was no better familiar.

Vir appeared, eyes gleaming, moved its massive body, grabbed three or four Black Oaks in one hand, and brought them to its mouth.

It chewed briefly, spat out only their armor, and struck again.

It seized about ten Black Oaks in both hands, stuffed them into its mouth, and once more spat out only armor.

Whether warrior, shaman, or elite, Vir saw them all as delicious meat. Today Vir was truly happy.

That crude but efficient sight of the familiar Vir made Perr, the mage among the three transcendants and mercenary captains, who had been staring blankly from the battlement at the Rebound Legion’s warrior members performing beyond expectation, speak up.

“Rumor has it the Rebound Legion kids are similar to us who used restriction?”

“Yeah… that’s the rumor.”

“Crazy. How is that anywhere near our level of restriction? You think that girl with the fan could do that while under restriction? With one blow she wiped out hundreds of elite Black Oak warriors including sorcerers! Could you do that?”

“No…”

To Perr’s agitated question, Encia answered uncertainly.

“That tiny one wielding the little red side? Look at that cute act. She doesn’t get tired. She’s smiling!! Hey, Muscles. Could you go down there under restriction and face that many Black Oaks while smiling? Now she’s even saying to go with the captain. This is just a trip out for them.”

“I don’t know.”

The other mercenary captain, all bulk and muscle, held his tongue.

“And… yeah, that girl over there. Did you see her fold space? Gave me goosebumps! Thinking about it again gives me chills. Look at that.”

Perr, unusually talkative, couldn’t stop.

“So what!”

“What, you pattern-warrior. Them? Ha! When under restriction, there are plenty we three couldn’t beat even if we jumped them. Especially that one up front. Damn, what the hell is that guy? I can’t guarantee even if we fully lifted restriction. Who starts first might be the issue. And that thing right now… doesn’t it look like that?”

“…Yeah, the breaker. It’s the skill of Deicide Bioss.”

“…Christ. How do we beat that? Where did that monstrosity come from!”

Perhaps the mage’s curiosity—faced with fury at an incomprehensible situation—felt the knocking of the barrier of their divine power.

Knock knock―

“Hm?”

“Hm?”

“Oh?! You?”

Ensir, the greatsword on his back, patted the thick veil that prevented voices from leaking and looked surprised, as if recognizing the laughing man.

When the veil vanished, a golden-haired youth bowed politely and greeted them.

“Long time no see, Encia.”

“Oh? Oh, right. You… from back then…!”