# Chapter 108
—
Charlie, a sergeant of the Dormund forces, looked up at the sky and cursed.
“Damn it… what the hell kind of rain is this?”
A heavy downpour had been falling without pause since earlier.
It was so cold and piercing that it felt like it was sinking into his very bones.
The fact that he had to stand watch on a night like this made Charlie let out a long sigh.
“Haah… I don’t even know why I had to come all the way up to this godforsaken north to suffer like this.”
By now, his fellow graduates were probably gleefully massacring the natives down south, racking up military merits.
‘And probably having their fun while at it, too.’
Yet here he was, dragged all the way to Arcane, stuck camping in this miserable place.
Grumbling about his lot, Charlie pulled on his raincoat.
Just as he stepped out of the barracks and made his way toward the front gate of the encampment—
—he saw a massive shadow through the pounding rain.
Startled, Charlie flinched and stumbled back, shouting.
“Wh-what the hell? Who goes there!”
At his cry, the shadow stirred again.
“…?”
The moment Charlie’s mouth opened again at this ominous sign, the world went dark.
“…Huh?”
With nothing more than a short gasp, Charlie collapsed.
He died before he even had the chance to close his eyes.
Watching him for a brief moment, Arthur muttered.
“Hmm… that makes ten now, doesn’t it?”
With those words, his gaze shifted.
Beyond the sheets of rain, he could see Dormund’s numerous barracks and soldiers.
‘At least 300 of them.’
With numbers like that, using the powers of an Undine or Gnome to launch a large-scale ambush wouldn’t be a bad choice.
But Arthur had decided to move on his own.
‘If I go with a wide-scale bombardment, some of them might slip away outside my sight.’
Arthur did not intend to let a single Dormund man here—anyone bearing that cursed name or sigil—escape.
Whether they were mere soldiers or Ian Dormund himself, he would kill them all.
Which was why large-scale magic wasn’t the right move here.
“I need to kill them properly. And for that… the right way is to cut them down one by one.”
Arthur’s lips curled into a grin as he resumed walking.
The torrent washed over both him and Charlie’s corpse.
Shhhhhh—!!
A long trail of blood spread across the mud, twisting like a crooked chain.
—
—
By the time Arthur had killed over twenty Dormund soldiers he came across, he found himself wondering—
‘When will they notice?’
Perhaps it was because of the storm, but their awareness of the anomaly was unusually slow.
But Arthur did not believe this stroke of luck would last.
In his past life, as in this one, Dormund’s army had always been elite.
‘The strongest military force on the continent—that’s Dormund’s army.’
Such an army, no matter how hard the rain fell, would never fail to detect something this abnormal.
And sure enough, his prediction soon proved correct.
By the time the count of dead had reached thirty, shouts and screams erupted from the barracks.
“What the hell—!!”
“Ch-Charlie’s dead!”
“An intruder! There’s an intruder!”
The Dormund camp erupted into chaos.
Soldiers who had been asleep rushed out of their tents.
The sounds of spears, swords, and guns being loaded rang through the storm.
Arthur watched the commotion for a moment, then began walking again.
At that moment, a huge man stormed out of a barrack, cursing loudly.
“Son of a bitch! Who the hell would launch a night raid at this hour….”
The man trailed off as he hefted a massive axe onto his shoulder.
Only then did he notice Arthur standing behind him. His brows furrowed.
“What the hell are you? Why are you lurking here?”
“……”
“Get back to your post right now! And what’s with that hood? Walking around proudly in non-issued gear!?”
The moment the man reached out to grab Arthur’s hood, something flashed.
Shwick.
It was Arthur’s demonic sword—his new treasured blade.
Its crimson edge sliced clean through the man’s arm—and his neck along with it.
Thud.
The severed head rolled across the mud and stopped in the very center of the Dormund camp.
Because of its sheer size, the soldiers spotted it immediately—and froze.
“…What the hell is this?”
With that muttered question, every gaze turned toward Arthur.
By then, Arthur had already raised Beast, his firearm, and began counting.
“Seven… eight… twelve. That makes fifty-two?”
With those words, Beast roared.
BOOM—!
With a deafening blast, the Dormund soldiers were instantly reduced to black spheres before they could even scream.
“…!”
The nearby soldiers gaped in shock.
Amidst the chaos, Arthur kept walking, still holding Beast’s trigger down.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
With each explosion, anywhere from five to ten more soldiers fell.
Again and again, Dormund soldiers died without pause.
“An intruder!!!”
“There’s an intruder here—!”
“Intruder in sector B-11, right side of the main barracks!”
Alarm bells rang out, cutting through the storm and spreading across the encampment.
The sound of countless boots echoed. Arthur’s eyes moved slowly toward them.
Clack!
Some twenty soldiers had crouched into position, rifles trained on him.
The corner of Arthur’s mouth lifted just as they pulled the trigger.
Ratatatatat—!
Gunfire filled the night, but Arthur vanished with a spatial leap.
Swoosh—!
The cloak Jeannie had given him fluttered through the air.
Arthur landed right in the middle of the firing squad, Beast in his left hand and demon sword in his right.
The soldiers gaped at the sight, and Arthur laughed.
“Guns don’t scare me much anymore… but just in case, I’ll kill you first.”
With those words, his sword flared.
Or rather, its crimson blade gave the illusion of fire—but the effect was no less fearsome.
Whirr—!
With a single sweep, Dormund soldiers’ heads flew.
Blood fountained skyward.
To anyone watching, it truly looked like his sword was spewing fire.
Startled, soldiers shouted.
“…What the hell! This bastard!”
“H-his sword is on fire!”
“Where’s the mage? Get the mage!”
Just then, Arthur himself flinched.
BOOM—!
A blast of flame surged up.
Arthur barely leapt clear before it swallowed him, letting out a whistle.
“Oh… so the mages finally showed up?”
He turned to see ten robed figures glaring at him.
The mages ground their teeth.
“What the hell is this lunatic?”
“Attacking Dormund’s army in the middle of the night?”
“Is he alone? Or does he have others with him?”
Soldiers hastily answered.
“S-sir, so far it looks like he’s alone!”
One mage clicked his tongue.
“Then this bastard killed all these soldiers by himself?”
“W-well…”
“Hah… if Lord Ian hears of this, heads will roll.”
The mage barked.
“Capture him alive no matter what! Hold him until we finish casting!”
“Yes, sir!”
With the mages’ appearance, the soldiers regained discipline.
Clang!
Shields rose, spears and swords at the ready.
Behind them, musketeers leveled their rifles.
The formation was tight, leaving no gaps this time.
Arthur let out a delighted sigh.
“Oh… this brings back memories.”
Memories of the time he’d been nothing but a madman.
Memories of fighting the Dormund army alone, slaughtering them.
‘It was just like this back then too… their spears and swords aiming for my limbs, their mages blasting at my heart and head…’
Recalling those distant memories, Arthur smiled brightly.
“This feels kind of good.”
What he thought were old ghosts of the past didn’t feel bad to face again.
His chest thumped. He even felt a thrill.
“Dormund… just facing you like this brings back that feeling.”
He reloaded both his demon sword and Beast.
Click!
Watching this, a Dortmund officer gave the order.
“…From this moment, capture or kill the intruder.”
He bellowed.
“Use any means necessary! Neutralize him!”
—
—
Haerbin awoke from a shallow sleep, groaning.
“Ugh… my head.”
The night before, Ian had left with half the troops in secret, leaving Haerbin to handle matters—forcing him to stay up until dawn.
“Haa… this is why I hate being put in command.”
Muttering, Haerbin forced down the throbbing headache with a gulp of cold water.
Then a voice called from outside, far off.
“…Sir Raine!”
It was his adjutant.
Haerbin tilted his head and shouted back.
“What is it!?”
“S-sir, it’s terrible!”
“Terrible? Out here in the mountains, what could possibly—”
Before he could finish, the tent flap burst open.
Haerbin’s eyes widened.
“Y-you! What happened to you!?”
His adjutant staggered in, clutching his bleeding shoulder.
“I-it’s… an intruder! Y-you need to go, quick—”
The man collapsed mid-sentence.
Haerbin’s mouth fell open in shock.
‘What the…? What the hell is going on?’
An intruder? Attacking Dormund troops here in the mountains?
‘Could it be… the Black Cross fanatics?’
He shook his head. Now wasn’t the time to wonder.
Haerbin strapped on the sword Cain Dormund had bestowed upon him and donned his armor.
Stepping outside, the storm assaulted him.
Shaaahhh—!
He turned his head, rain streaming down his face.
Where? Where was the intruder?
He sharpened his senses—
BOOM—!
A massive explosion echoed.
Vrrrm—!
Six glowing rings spun into being, flooding his body with power.
With superhuman speed, he sprinted—and then stopped in disbelief.
“Wha—what the hell….”
His jaw dropped.
The rain was washing over more than a hundred corpses—every single one of them Dormund soldiers.
And atop that mountain of dead stood a man, his sword dripping with blood.
“Oh. Another guest.”
“……”
“Huh? You look… kind of familiar. Who are you?”
Haerbin clenched his teeth.
“Was it you…? Did you do this?”
“Do what?”
“This…! Did you slaughter these Dormund soldiers?”
Arthur nodded.
“Yeah. That was me.”
Haerbin’s face twisted.
At once, raw mana flared from his entire body.
Arthur’s eyes narrowed.
“Oh… Fifth Circle? No—Sixth?”
He tilted his head.
‘He looks younger than I expected… and yet he’s already at the Sixth Circle?’
Someone like that—Arthur would never forget.
As his brows furrowed, a memory suddenly flashed across his mind.
“…Ah. You’re Haerbin Raine, aren’t you?”
At the name, Haerbin stiffened, sword raised.
“How do you know my name…?”
“Oh, so it really is Haerbin Raine? Wow, this is great….”
“…?”
“Seeing you reminds me. That day you drove your sword through my chest.”
Hae
rbin’s eyes went wide.
“We’ve… met before?”
“Yes. A bit farther in the future, but we’ll meet. And then—”
Arthur raised his blade.
“I fall to your sword. To meet my mortal enemy here, like this… today really is my lucky day.”
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