Chapter 958

It would normally be an incredibly dangerous situation—having to face even more, and even larger, monsters, while the number of defenders decreased.

But right now? That wasn’t the case.

“Those who’ve fallen back, this way.”

As they continued retreating back from the seawall, those who’d withdrawn didn’t need to be shouted at. They turned instinctively in the direction of the command that struck the ear with perfect clarity. Standing at the edge of a forest that had grown thick in just a few days, Nathan Zuckerman raised his sword and spoke in a calm, expressionless voice.

“Enter the forest and climb into the trees!”

When the humans retreated toward the forest—away from the direction of the village—the monsters naturally followed them. But what the monsters encountered there was an ambush they had never anticipated.

“They’re here. Drop it!”

As the retreating unit members and Imperial soldiers quickly scaled the trees, the waiting soldiers above threw down the nets they had prepared.

“Throw farther and harder! You call that effort? You think you're catching sardines?!”

At the end of old nets, tied with heavy stones—so commonly found on the coastline they were practically underfoot—traps fell upon the monsters, entangling and immobilizing them all at once.

The soldiers waiting above were members of the Sharloin Watch. None of them had special powers, and compared to the well-trained Southern Army, their combat ability was minimal.

But they had lived their entire lives along the Sharloin coast. When it came to handling nets, they were far more adept than soldiers from other ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) regions.

“Eliminate the monsters caught in the net!”

While the smaller monsters flailed inside the nets, those perched in the trees used their powers to finish them off. Those with projectile abilities hurled their weapons, and those without found other ways to help—each contributing in their own way.

Of course, the greatest help was a single individual who, for all intents and purposes, controlled the very domain of the trees: Marin.

“If you feel like you’re going to fall, just don’t move! I can grow the branches quickly!”

She stood at the highest treetop, sweating as she protected the trees holding her comrades and extended branches to block the monsters’ approach. There were still many monsters that hadn’t been caught in the nets, but in a forest full of trees instead of water, they only wandered helplessly. Their previously potent stealth capabilities were rendered useless.

If the exhausted fighters had remained on the battlefield, they’d only have dragged one another down, and executing the command to retreat into the trees wouldn’t have gone so smoothly. In this case, having fewer people actually became an advantage. Combat in a forest filled with trees was always better suited to smaller, more agile units.

However, the biggest enemy still remained at the shoreline.

The massive tentacle-shaped monster, formed as if multiple previous monster clusters had been kneaded into one long mass, still wasn’t dead—despite the relentless assault by the unit.

To be more accurate, the creature remained alive because not all of the cluster it was composed of had been killed. Some parts were blackened or shredded and flapping apart, yet the grotesque writhing persisted—its strange movements provoking primal human disgust.

Most had retreated to the clerics’ tent or the forest, but Kishiar remained, standing before the monster with no trace of tension. While the others fought and fell back, it was he who had kept this enormous creature pinned in place.

As the monster convulsed and attacked, releasing nightmarish sounds, Kishiar leapt and dodged with ease, glancing around mid-air. Helrem was hidden in a safe spot behind a pile of monster corpses, while Kanna and Gakein had dutifully completed their tasks and retreated at the right moment.

On the hilltop, wounded and exhausted fighters were receiving treatment in the clerics’ tent. Though the fight continued in the forest, Nathan Zuckerman was there—holding the line sturdily.

At a glance, it looked like a scene of devastating loss compared to earlier. But even in retreat, there was a right way to fall back. With the force divided appropriately, few were severely injured. This was as good a result as they could’ve hoped for.

Who knew how things were faring elsewhere? But seeing how the unit members had matured—capable of fulfilling their roles without needing to be ordered—left little room for worry.

“Having reliable cards in your hand shows its worth at times like this.”

Until now, Kishiar had prioritized minimizing harm to others. But now, there was no need for that.

And what that meant—

“Is that I no longer have to worry about the surroundings... and can make my move directly.”

—KIIIIIEEE!

As the monster sprayed some unknown liquid toward him, Kishiar lightly twisted in midair and landed softly—directly atop the monster’s body.

“Whoever sent you probably assumed I’d handle you well. I hate not meeting expectations. And I’ve been wanting to test something.”

“----!”

Realizing its situation too late, the monster thrashed to throw Kishiar off. But even as the seawall and ground cracked under the tremors, Kishiar stood as if glued in place.

His torn clothes and disheveled hair—products of the prolonged fight—almost looked like intentional flair against his composed demeanor.

Boom, CRASH! CRASH!

The monster convulsed violently, but Kishiar moved elegantly across its glowing, squirming body as if he were descending the imperial palace’s staircase. He calmly shifted his grip on his sword. A vivid blue aura pulsed and wrapped around the blade, while a faint shimmer of unseen power coiled around his other hand.

At this moment, Kishiar was wielding both aura and Awakener power at once. If Yuder had seen it, he might not have believed his own eyes.

“The defining trait of this monster is that it’s formed from countless small fragments fused into one.”

Which meant killing it outright was difficult. As long as even one fragment survived, the body could continue moving. When it was smaller, it wasn’t too hard to handle—but now that it had grown into one massive entity, its strength had become a liability. Even with multiple unit members attacking together, only portions of it could be destroyed, and the rest kept moving unharmed. Efficiency had plummeted.

While they battled the large one, the smaller monsters didn’t wait patiently either. For the exhausted fighters, this was the worst-case scenario.

“But on the other hand... that’s also its weakness.”

Kishiar stood near the center of the glowing creature and raised his sword, inverted.

That spot had shown signs of injury ever since the monster first emerged from the sea—a peculiar, wide wound that, though shallow, looked unlike any normal cut.

To inflict something so oddly shaped despite the monster’s strength... only someone like Yuder, who weakened before monsters no matter his power, could’ve made such a mark.

“My aide really is considerate. Left me a spot to hit—like he marked it in advance.”

Of course, no one was around to argue with that absurd remark.

Kishiar aimed the sacred sword Orr at the small, hideous entities within the monster’s open mouth—those that had emerged to attack him—and drove the blade down without hesitation.

—KIAAAHHHHH!

The scream didn’t sound like it came from a single creature, but rather from hundreds or thousands all at once.

The monster, deeply wounded, glowed even more violently. Kishiar’s body wavered slightly from the force—but he didn’t flinch. He pressed his hand, infused with Awakener power, to the opened wound. That invisible power surged in, plunging deep within the monster alongside the aura.

What would happen if he sliced to the deepest point using aura—then used Awakener power to “push apart” everything from within?

He’d tested something similar before, when facing smaller monsters. Dislodging the fragments of a cluster was possible, but the tough skin had to be cut cleanly to reduce the strain. But using it on hundreds or thousands of small monsters was too inefficient.

This massive creature, however, was the perfect target.

If successful, he could sever the entire network of fused fragments at once—cutting through the connection like a blade.

“What happens afterward... I still can’t predict.”

Still, Kishiar went through with it.

This was the kind of risky technique one might expect from someone who had been specifically sent to deal with him.

Blue light surged rapidly along the blade. As it pierced the translucent insides of the monster, the glowing force swelled—and for a moment, the world around them turned blue.

That light refracted across the monster’s skin, spreading so brightly that it could be seen from the clerics’ tent on the hill, from the forest, and even from out across the sea.

And at last, when the light swelled to its limit—

An earth-shaking roar exploded outward, and everything detonated at once.