Chapter 215

Esther knew exactly what the five enemy wizards were up to and what their intentions were.

This was because she herself was a wanderer who indulged in the world of spells. Above all, the enemy group consisted entirely of wizards of a lower tier than herself.

‘Illusion magic and mental magic.’

A combination of the two.

Although she couldn’t know the exact name of the spell, she understood how it operated.

It was the essence of a spell called ‘Dream of the Abyss’.

It creates an illusion that makes the target feel comfortable, followed by a sense of peace.

The idea was good.

It’s difficult to drive someone mad, but it’s very easy to give comfort to those who are under mental pressure.

Because they themselves are craving peace and comfort, and that’s the nature of mental spells.

The more the target wants and desires something, the more easily it is accepted.

Disrupting it was even easier. She just had to scatter the magical energy. But Esther didn’t do that.

She intended to let those who would fall asleep, fall asleep.

She had no intention of showing them that she could transform into a human.

Of course, that didn’t mean she would kill them to silence them.

‘Just because I am originally human, it doesn’t change anything.’

She was a devotee of the spell world.

A body that had resolved to walk a different path from ordinary humans.

So, even if others discovered that the panther was a human, it would still nestle in Encrid’s arms. She wouldn’t stop that.

‘It’s amusing to worry about this at such a moment.’

There was no reason to give up the power that blurred curses.

She couldn’t help but be bothered by the fact that there were more women around him.

Ordinary humans tend to be jealous and envious, so if a woman appeared next to him, he might start to avoid her.

If that happened, she’d have to force her way into his embrace.

It was better to prevent that in advance.

‘If it doesn’t work, I’ll just subdue him by force.’

She even considered knocking Encrid down and nestling in his arms.

Various thoughts flashed through her mind in an instant, and Esther rationalized them.

The conclusion was that it didn’t matter who knew.

Her blue and deep eyes, similar to but different from a panther’s, turned towards the owner of the voice.

“I thought you were my beauty.”

Rem, who had a sly smile, appeared. He was a handsome man with gray hair.

He was on the shorter side, but his capabilities couldn’t be underestimated.

“Really?”

Esther responded nonchalantly.

At the same time, she roughly figured out why he had resisted the spell.

‘He’s mastered mysticism.’

It wasn’t magic but a different system.

She didn’t bother to act like she knew.

He wasn’t the only one awake.

“Interesting brothers have come to visit.”

Audin, a human-shaped monster whose size didn’t lose out even compared to a bear beast.

He had pale yellow eyes and was also outstanding in appearance.

Seeing his well-balanced body, she thought it wouldn’t be bad to have such a golem.

‘I didn’t even have a chance to bring out Bonehead.’

The flash golem she had obtained through Encrid previously was still sleeping peacefully within her world.

Of course, it was something that needed a lot of modifications and tweaks, so it wasn’t time to use it yet.

In any case, she roughly understood why Audin was awake too.

‘Divine power.’

It was a repulsive power. Something derived from a God.

Afterward, both Jaxon and Ragna were awake as if they were unaffected by the fainting.

“Go back to sleep.”

Ragna seemed to have mastered some degree of willpower.

Jaxon? That guy was truly unpredictable. It felt like he had surpassed his limits through extreme training?

While she observed everyone,

“Umm.”

Encrid let out a groan in his sleep.

“Sleeping soundly, huh.”

“To be so dull, it means his training is lacking.”

“There’s no need to disturb someone who’s sleeping. As long as he fights well when he’s awake.”

“Haha, our Company Commander brother must be tired. It’s because his body lacks strength.”

Starting with Rem, Jaxon, Ragna, and Audin each commented on the sleeping Company Commander.

In the meantime, Rem added another comment as he looked at the sleeping beastwoman.

“She’s going to be a nuisance if left like that.”

While Finn respects the Ranger’s skills, the beastwoman is only good at fighting.

And yet she’s sleeping soundly in a situation like this?

Even though beastfolk originally have magic resistance?

This was, in fact, inevitable.

Dunbachel had very low self-esteem, and the spell of comfort and peace was a critical weakness for her.

Of course, Rem didn’t care about that.

He just thought he had to do something about her.

Esther had no intention of showing off her spell, but she also had no intention of leaving corpses lying around.

She waved her hand in the air.

Using an invisible force, a basic telekinesis spell any wizard would use, she rolled the five corpses to the entrance of the tent.

“The perception-blocking spell will break soon.”

Then she spoke to the remaining ones.

While Rem said something, the other three didn’t even pay attention to her presence.

Did they notice in advance?

Partly, but also because,

“I’m going to sleep.”

There were people like Ragna who wouldn’t care if she turned into a human, a panther, or suddenly transformed into a giant covered in fur.

‘It’s peculiar.’

Esther felt truly peculiar.

She thought they would at least show some surprise, if not shock, at seeing her.

Maybe she was secretly hoping for that reaction.

These people were tied together in one group.

At the center of this group was the black-haired man who was sleeping soundly even in this situation.

The time limit ended. Esther transformed back into a panther and nestled into Encrid’s arms. The black robe that had wrapped around her scattered like smoke and disappeared into the ground.

She turned back into a panther after the perception-blocking spell had dissipated.

“What’s this?”

Vengeance, who seemed to be part of the patrol team, entered the tent and exclaimed in surprise.

Seeing the smell of blood and the corpses, he was at a loss for words.

“Hey, since you’re here, can you clean this up?”

A commander who loses a battle may be forgiven, but a commander who fails in vigilance cannot be forgiven.

Vengeance couldn’t understand how they had gotten this far.

He had no way of knowing that wizards had been involved.

“What? Oh, oh.”

He simply thought that assassins had targeted them.

However, as he examined the dead bodies, they didn’t seem like well-trained individuals.

It was just a bizarre night.

Reporting this would probably make Battalion Commander Marcus furious.

But not reporting it wasn’t an option either.

Vengeance conveyed the message through the captain’s guard during the night.

And in the morning, when Marcus woke up,

“Leave it. Any assassin who comes here is just stepping into a death trap.”

He dismissed it nonchalantly.

In fact, Marcus had intentionally set up Encrid’s company tent on the outskirts.

He thought that Martai’s Olf might send assassins in a last-ditch effort.

At the same time, he considered it a futile attempt.

‘We even captured a half-Fairy before.’

That assassin was supposedly quite renowned too?

Marcus was keen on gathering information. He believed that such efforts led to victories on the battlefield.

“Tell them to send more. After all, some people only learn by getting burned.”

Marcus said with a smile. Although he didn’t know that a wizard had come, he had developed an inexplicable, absolute belief.

That Encrid would somehow survive and prevail.

At the same time, he had another thought.

“A Knight, huh.”

It was a dream that Encrid had mentioned.

Back then, he thought it was mixed with absurdity, but now it really seemed possible.

So, what should he do for him?

If he becomes a Knight, if he truly joins the Knighthood,

‘Under Cyprus?’

It didn’t seem like a fitting picture.

Who knows. It’s a future matter, and they will find out when they get there. Until then, Marcus would do what he had to do. He might die before he sees Encrid become a Knight.

He was actually on the verge of stepping into such dangerous work.

“So, everyone should look after their own lives.”

Marcus was doing the same.

Pitch black, darkness, a canvas painted black, devoid of any starlight or moonlight.

There was only the flowing river and the boat, with the ferryman sitting on it.

What had changed from before was,

‘I can see an eye.’

Encrid saw something resembling an eye on part of the ferryman’s face. Only one side, though.

If someone asked if it looked like a human eye, he would probably say he didn’t know.

The moment he saw it, he just knew it was an eye.

It was a dream.

The ferryman stared intently at him. That’s how he knew it was an eye.

To perceive a gaze, there must be an eye.

“You’re really a strange fellow.”

The ferryman spoke. Encrid found it difficult to open his mouth, as if someone had sewn his lips together with thread.

So, he mustered strength in his mouth to open it. The threads could be torn away with force.

“So, when does the wall appear again?”

He asked abruptly.

The wall was a curse, something that torments humans and drives them into corners.

That was the curse, the wall.

The ferryman knew this very well. But the person in front of him was asking for the wall.

What a crazy bastard.

The ferryman muttered, then looked at Encrid with his eye and said,

“Madman.”

With the familiar title, Encrid opened his eyes. The dream faded away. The river, the ferryman, and the pitch-black darkness all disappeared.

Rumbling.

As soon as he opened his eyes, he felt warmth in his arms. It was Esther.

When he opened his eyes, the panther also woke up. Somehow, her eyes seemed even more human than yesterday.

“Did you sleep well?”

He greeted her and got up to start the morning training. There was no reason to skip training just because they had surrounded the enemy city.

“Did you sleep well?”

Rarely, Rem asked about his sleep.

He lay down, fell asleep, and woke up properly. So, he slept well.

Dreams? Even if you have nightmares, as long as you shake them off and get up quickly, it’s fine.

“Is there any reason I wouldn’t sleep well?”

“…You’re surprisingly annoying.”

What was that supposed to mean?

“Your sensory training is lacking.”

This was also a rare occurrence. Jaxon nagged him about it from the morning, and Audin was more enthusiastic than usual.

“One more! You can do it, brother!”

Did this guy forget they were on the battlefield? Was he trying to overwork himself to this extent?

He repeated the motion of sitting down and getting up while carrying a large stone on his back.

It felt like his thigh muscles were tearing and breaking, but as Audin said, he could do it.

“Didn’t you feel anything last night?”

Rem approached and asked again.

“It was a nice night.”

It wasn’t too hot or too cold, so he slept soundly.

When he woke up, there was a faint smell of blood in the tent, but he thought it was just remnants of the battlefield.

Encrid only heard about the assassins after lunchtime.

Thanks to Vengeance who came and told him.

“I didn’t even wake up?”

“They were wizards, wizards.”

Rem finally opened his mouth and spent the whole day teasing him about how he didn’t wake up even when assassins came, wondering what was wrong with his nerves.

Encrid was somewhat bothered by this.

‘Why didn’t I wake up?’

A spell? Some kind of sleeping scent?

Then, what about them? Why were his comrades awake?

There was something he lacked. Something different from them.

He already knew what it was.

‘Will.’

What they call willpower.

He wasn’t in a hurry, but he still wanted it. He also knew what he had to do to get it.

Swing his sword every day.

In the midst of the battlefield, he devoted himself to training and conditioning. No one frowned upon seeing this.

Knowing your shortcomings means you want to go further.

His enthusiasm and passion flared up again. A certain heat that pounded his heart filled Encrid’s insides.

“When do we fight?”

Encrid’s newfound passion made him abruptly ask the approaching Fairy Company Commander.

“We are advancing this afternoon.”

“No ladders? What about the gates?”

“That’s all I was told. Will you lead the vanguard?”

Encrid nodded.

He didn’t know what Olf was planning inside Martai, but given the situation, why not try a strategy to break through the gates?

Contrary to his expectations, the battle was quite anticlimactic.

“Raise your shields!”

Encrid, Rem, Audin, and others raised their shields and advanced.

Large rectangular shields. They looked hastily made, but they were enough to block a few arrows.

And they advanced.

The reason the battle was anticlimactic was simple.

Rumble, clank!

As they approached, the sound of pulleys turning was followed by the gates opening.

Arrows raining down from the towers and the gallery atop the walls became meaningless as they pressed close to the gates and walls.

By sticking close to the wall, they moved out of the range of the arrows.

“Why are these gates open?”

Rem muttered. Encrid was also puzzled. The troops split to the left and right of the gate.

The first Company Commander who had followed them spoke to Encrid.

“It’s the Battalion Commander’s magic.”

It really did seem like magic.

Encrid had a rough idea of the reason.

‘They planted agents.’

Not just any agents, but those with enough influence to open the gates from inside Martai.

Quite a feat.

But that wasn’t the end.

As Encrid entered through the gates, he had a brief revelation.

He had learned from both allied and enemy swords, but he also realized something from Marcus’s strategy. It was a brief, electrifying epiphany in his mind.

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