Chapter 219

(1)

Right after the emergency meeting ended.

Ulan and his group finished preparing to head to the canyon. Soon, they began selecting the final members for the expeditionary force.

The lineup was as follows:

Ulan, Noa, Ivella, Delia, and Fertisha.

Professor Melt, in charge of train management, accompanied by Owen and the knights for his escort. Plus, the Henness team to manage the Magic Armor.

A small group of about twenty made up the expeditionary force.

While this was a ridiculously small number against thousands of enemies, there was no other way.

As the size of the Magic-Powered Train increased, its speed would decrease, meaning the enemies would have already crossed the canyon.

‘We’re dealing with Undead here, after all.’

And those Undead held the curse of the Immortals.

If something went wrong, they might not even be able to fight and would just end up increasing the enemy’s forces.

‘Better to have fewer enemies.’

In other words, a small elite force was the answer.

Honestly, I didn’t even want to bring along the intermediate knights like Owen.

But thinking of Professor Melt and the engineers’ safety, it was an unavoidable choice.

A little later.

“Power source activated!”

“Activating Magic Rail!”

“Train is departing!”

With the signal from the engineers, the previously locked iron doors swung open. Following that, the Magic-Powered Train carrying the group began its vigorous sprint.

“We’ll take over the operation from here.”

It was an obvious role distribution.

Professor Melt was the creator of the Magic-Powered Train and the most knowledgeable person about it among those gathered here.

Then, Owen and some knights also headed to the engine room to focus on their primary mission—escorting.

“Excuse us, then.”

“We have to collect battle data and determine damage rates depending on the situation.”

The engineers managing the Magic Armor.

The Henness team also jumped into action.

After that, Ulan’s group was left alone in the empty guest room. But just because no battle had started yet didn’t mean they could relax.

They had things to do too.

“Now, I’ll explain the operation.”

Noa unfolded a map on the desk.

It was a military map detailing the area around them. She pointed to the canyon, which was halfway to Plume after departing from the Northern Border.

“This is the canyon that Sergeant Cedric crossed with Flight Magic, and it’s where we’ll soon engage in battle.”

Meanwhile, the demon beasts chasing the sergeant couldn’t use Flight Magic, so naturally, they would have traversed the floor of the canyon to cross to the other side.

“I estimated this process took about half a day.”

“Why do you think that?”

“Because that’s about how long Cedric rested before reaching Plume.”

Unlike the demon beasts, which had infinite stamina as long as their mana wasn’t exhausted, Cedric had clear limits to his stamina and mana.

So he had no choice but to take short rests repeatedly, and adding up those rest periods gave about half a day’s time.

“Thus, when Cedric arrives at Plume, the distance between him and the demon beasts would be narrowed down again. So, I estimated half a day.”

It was a reasonable assumption.

The party, excluding Ulan, nodded as though they understood Noa’s explanation.

“Half a day means……”

“Arrival is likely to be close in time.”

“Right. They probably won’t have time to set up a defense and will just jump right into battle.”

So, discussions on operations had to happen while there was still time. Noa retrieved the map from the desk and spoke again.

“The overall flow of the operation will be the same as before. I’ll create a barrier to gather the enemies, and then Delia will blast them away.”

Next, once the battlefield was in ruins, Ulan and Ivella would deploy to mop up the remaining foes.

This was a strategy they had used several times as Noa described. Maybe that’s why? Ulan’s party all wore familiar expressions.

But then.

Noa added a new condition.

“However, this time it’s a little different.”

“Hmm? How is it different?”

“This time, there’ll be Undead mixed in. So, we need to divide our roles.”

Undead are resistant to magic.

And the Undead created by the Lord of the Immortals have even stronger resistances. In other words, they were the worst matchup for Delia.

There were two methods to eliminate Undead completely.

“Divine Power and Spirit Art.”

In short, the only ones who could eliminate the Undead were Fertisha and her contractor, Ulan.

Upon realizing this, the group immediately understood what Noa meant by role division.

“I’ll target the demon beasts as much as I can.”

“Then the Undead will be my job.”

Delia and Ulan spoke in turn.

Noa nodded as if they’d given the right answer. After that, she wrapped up the conversation.

“This concludes our basic operation plan. For any unexpected situations, we’ll handle them as we go.”

“Got it. Let’s do that.”

“Yeah, I got it too.”

How much time had passed?

After finishing the discussions, while each was tuning their weapons, the Henness team returned to the guest room.

“Everyone, thanks for waiting!”

“We’ve just completed all the inspections.”

“Let’s check it out together!”

This was the exciting news that the final inspections for the Magic Armor Ulan’s group would wear had been completed.

2.

At that moment, in the Eastern Jungle.

Sven, who had left Shulfern for reconnaissance, figured out how the situation was unfolding.

And he finally realized the reason for the recent increase in demon beast appearances.

Moreover, he understood why the demon beasts had no choice but to leave their habitats.

‘……Undead.’

When he had first set foot in the jungle, there hadn’t been a trace of Undead.

But at some point, they began to gradually appear, and now their emergence frequency was noticeably higher than that of the demon beasts.

‘It must have been since this morning.’

From the dawn hours until the sun rose, the number of Undead had increased exponentially.

As a result, the Eastern Jungle filled with the death energy exuded by them, and the demon beasts, unable to withstand it, had left their homes.

This was Sven’s conclusion.

‘And there’s more.’

There was one more thing he discovered.

Namely, the Undead had moved in groups out of the jungle. They seemed to be moving with a clear purpose, scurrying about.

‘They looked like an army.’

Illogically, they weren’t just ordinary Undead; there seemed to be a leader, indicating a coordinated movement.

This fact instinctively made Sven feel uneasy. So he decided to halt the reconnaissance and leave the jungle immediately.

‘I must inform Millena.’

Undead couldn’t be taken down by ordinary means. Only those with silver weapons or possessing Divine Power could hunt them down.

So, before the Undead struck Shulfern, he had to devise a countermeasure as soon as possible.

Just when he was about to leave the jungle.

“……!”

Suddenly, his expression hardened.

At that moment, while hiding in the trees, Sven abandoned his concealment and jumped to the ground.

And at that instant.

Bang! Crunch!

The very tree where Sven had been sitting was crushed entirely. It was as if squeezed by some invisible giant hand.

This was no natural phenomenon.

Just as he sensed someone’s attack, a strange voice suddenly rang in his ears.

【Who would’ve thought you’d come here on your own.】

A voice like metal scraping against iron.

What appeared next was a gigantic eyeball.

This was the mysterious monster Sven had encountered in the jungle after finishing a fight long ago. He hadn’t been able to catch it since he couldn’t find its weakness.

‘And…….’

It wasn’t just the eyeball that appeared.

A group of unidentified figures clothed in gray robes.

Sven squinted as he searched for those hiding behind the eyeball.

‘Humans? Mages?’

The distinctive scent of mana tickled his nose.

Quickly, Sven scanned the area at a rapid pace, observing the assailants meticulously. He aimed to confirm their numbers and positions.

‘There are a total of eight.’

On either side of him, two eyeball monsters were positioned to the north and south, while six men surrounded him.

What on earth are they? They’re neither demon beasts nor Undead; why are they attacking me?

Questions kept bubbling up one after another. However, he had no time to keep pondering.

【Sixth star, Sven Isaac.】

【By royal command, I shall exterminate you.】

Following the cold declaration,

he felt a menacing energy closing in. Sven quickly planted his feet on the ground, and soon the spot he had just occupied sank again.

‘Certainly, the attacks are invisible.’

Yet, Sven was able to dodge it, thanks to his body responding to the instinct of danger.

Truly a troublesome ability.

In this scenario, running away was the best course of action, but he couldn’t do that because the gray-robed men were pressing him.

‘In that case, I might as well…’

Even if it meant giving up flesh to save bone, he had to secure an escape route.

After making his decision,

Sven immediately created some space for himself.

Then, he evaded the ongoing intangible attacks and swiftly pulled back his bowstring.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

A rain of arrows poured down in the blink of an eye, heralding the start of combat.

3.

Shortly after.

The place Ulan’s group arrived was the last car of the train. It was the storage area for supplies necessary for the expedition and the Magic Armor brought from Plume Workshop.

“Now, I’ll open the door!”

The engineers had proud expressions on their faces.

After a moment, when the thick iron door opened, three Magic Armors appeared.

These were the masterpieces created by the Henness team prepared for Ulan, Delia, and Ivella. The first one they introduced was Delia’s Magic Armor.

“As you can see, all repairs are completed.”

“Additionally, we’ve reinforced the helmet and head section that broke during the last test.”

And there was something more.

There was a difference from before. The engineers, with shining eyes, continued their enthusiastic explanation.

“Ah, and we’ve realized that there’s no need to enhance mobility in the Magic Armor worn by mages.”

“So instead of increasing mobility, we’ve significantly boosted the defense of the exoskeleton.”

From the previous test, they learned that the Magic Armor for mages didn’t need to be made the same as for knights.

Thus, they modified and adapted it to maximize the mage’s characteristics and benefits, successfully completing Delia’s unique Magic Armor.

“Next, this is a lightweight Magic Armor specially made for Cadet Ivella.”

Shortly after it was revealed that Ivella reached Expert through Ulan, the Henness team showed additional Magic Armor for her.

Although it wasn’t made from scratch, it was merely a modification of the existing Magic Armor.

“Unlike Delia’s Magic Armor, we’ve reduced defense and maximized mobility.”

“But don’t worry.”

“Even if the defense is low, it can withstand attacks from the Undead easily.”

This was also the fundamental reason for equipping the three of them with Magic Armor. Thus, the engineers plated the exoskeleton of all Magic Armors with silver.

To prevent attacks from the Undead from penetrating the Magic Armor and reaching the wearer.

“Now, finally…”

“This is the Magic Armor for Cadet Ulan.”

At last, it was Ulan’s turn.

Before long, the appearance of the Magic Armor revealed itself, and everyone except Ulan widened their eyes in surprise.

“……!”

The reason was simple.

The size of the Magic Armor had roughly doubled compared to before. While the others looked shocked, Ulan silently grinned.

It was a thoroughly satisfying smile.

Chapter 51. Unexpected Reinforcements