Chapter 60 -60-Passive Defense? I Prefer Taking the Offensive!

Alyssa froze in place, her eyes filled with disbelief.

She simply couldn’t understand it—why would the Northern Sector, one of the Ironclad Legion’s four core regions, send out a distress signal?

What the hell had happened over there?

Just as Alyssa stood there dazed, a magic-type assassin seized the opening and drove a strike into her back.

By the time Alyssa snapped back to her senses, it was already too late.

It’s over. Everything’s over!

In this [Arena of Races], the Ironclad Legion was about to suffer an unprecedented collapse!

And she, Alyssa—the leading figure of the Ironclad Legion’s youngest generation—could only be forced to leave in regret.

So... was this really the end!?

Alyssa was unwilling to accept it, but with the magic assassin right in front of her, it was too late to react—

Yet just as she resigned herself, giving up all resistance...

The icy, piercing pain she imagined never came.

Instead, she heard a crisp, clean sound—the sharp whistle of a sword cutting through air.

At that moment, Caelan’s voice sounded from behind her—helpless, and a little impatient.

"I told you to be careful. Why are you so stubborn?"

Alyssa blinked, stunned. She was just about to speak when Caelan continued calmly.

"The enemies in the C4 zone don’t need your help. I’m enough on my own."

"The Northern Sector seems to be in trouble. Take people over there immediately and support them."

"Once I’m done here—if there’s nothing unexpected—I’ll head over as well."

The reason Caelan hadn’t immediately used a skill to one-shot all those caster-type awakeners was simple: he wanted to observe their attack methods.

After all, in the foreseeable future, his opponents would be powerful awakeners too.

For Caelan, collecting information now was part of preparation.

Alyssa didn’t hesitate at all. She nodded decisively.

"Alright. In that case, I’ll leave the C4 zone to you."

"You’ve helped me twice. In return, from now on, I’ll have your back inside the Ironclad Legion!"

Caelan’s expression turned a little strange.

He glanced at Alyssa and chuckled softly.

With Alyssa’s strength... she probably couldn’t "have his back."

The next moment, Alyssa swung the command-spear in her hand. A summoning magic circle appeared beneath her feet.

"Sacred Gryphon—come forth!"

Light flashed.

A majestic figure descended onto the battlefield!

The Sacred Gryphon wasn’t just handsome—its fiery-red neck feathers hit like a visual shockwave, dazzling and imposing.

Holy crap... that’s cool as hell?!

Caelan froze for a second, then watched as Alyssa mounted the gryphon and charged straight toward the Northern Sector.

Wait—tell me where you got that Sacred Gryphon.

I think I need one too!!

...

In the blink of an eye, the C4 zone suddenly felt much emptier.

Under Alyssa’s lead, many Ironclad Legion members withdrew from the fight and set off to reinforce the Northern Sector.

The Supreme Staff Legion members were stunned by what they saw.

Is the Ironclad Legion insane?

They actually left that swordsman here... alone?!

Just as they were wondering whether to chase after Alyssa’s group—

A sky full of sword-light burst into existence before their eyes.

"Wait—what is that!?"

"Damn it—how is this possible?!"

In the next instant, Caelan snapped his fingers lightly.

[Thousandblade Rend]—annihilate.

Under the overwhelming storm of sword-light, more than a hundred Supreme Staff Legion members were instantly one-shot!

The sheer force of the attack even carved terrifying fissures into the ground.

Rumble—!!

Dust and shattered stone exploded upward, spraying into the sky.

Only after a full three minutes did everything finally settle.

Caelan swept his gaze across the area, then scratched the back of his head awkwardly.

Yeah... the power of skills is still a bit too ridiculous...

At this moment, there wasn’t a single intact building left in the entire C4 zone—only emptiness, and huge cracks split across the earth.

The legion won’t blame me for making this mess, right?

I mean, I was repelling the enemy attack...

I just... used a slightly bigger move.

Caelan shook his head, forcibly pushing all those chaotic thoughts down.

He looked in the direction of the Northern Sector. After thinking for a moment, he didn’t head over there.

Alyssa and the others were already on their way. The pressure over there should ease up soon.

And since the Supreme Staff Legion was the one who started this...

Caelan wasn’t the kind of awakener who would sit back and take hits passively.

You want to stir up trouble?

Fine.

Let’s see who’s better at stirring up trouble.

So the next target...

Caelan narrowed his eyes, his gaze turning west—locking onto the Supreme Staff Legion’s headquarters.

If we’re doing this...

Then let’s do something big.

But before that, he needed to completely finish [Class Mutation Quest: 3-Star].

After settling his plan, Caelan suddenly felt a headache coming on—because he remembered something:

He still hadn’t completed [Quest 2].

According to [Quest 2], he needed to take someone along and help them level up once.

But the problem was—

In the [Arena of Races], aside from Alyssa, he didn’t know anyone.

And now Alyssa had gone to the Northern Sector, so teaming up with her again wasn’t realistic.

Just as Caelan was feeling troubled, a timid voice came from behind him.

"B-big boss... could you take me to the camp ahead?"

Huh??

Caelan paused, then turned around with a baffled expression.

He saw a sweet-looking girl—pretty, but shy, standing there hesitantly.

"You’re... the assassin from the Abyss back then?"

The female assassin’s eyes widened with excitement at those words.

She never imagined that a big shot like him would still remember her!

"It’s me, big boss! My name is Vina. Could you please—"

Caelan’s eyes lit up instantly.

"Party up. Follow me."

Vina: "???"

And just like that, Vina ended up stumbling along behind Caelan, utterly confused.

"What level are you right now?" Caelan asked.

Vina blinked, then answered weakly, "Level 107."

Caelan didn’t even turn his head. He brought Vina along and started rapidly blinking across the [Arena of Races] with [Flashstep].

"When you hit level 108, call out to me."

"O-okay!"

...

After that, a very amusing scene appeared across the Arena of Races.

As two figures flashed past, countless awakeners were launched into the air—then burst into showers of experience points.

"Big boss—I’m level 108 now!"