Two huge powers clashed. Wild currents of mana collided and exploded to destroy one another. Each side let out a power that no ordinary person could endure, but the two powers weren’t equal. One side was clearly getting pushed back and like it had been recently, Glen was pushing Zich back. Glen’s mana tightened around Zich and his sword as if it was trying to crush them both at once. Zich moved the flow of the mana behind him and tried to target Glen’s weak spots, but it wasn’t easy.
Bam! Another commotion arose, and Zich was pushed back a couple of steps back. His hands felt numb while the muscles in his elbows felt like they were going to convulse. Zich’s mana was like a giant hale that arose from circulating throughout his entire body while Glen’s mana felt like a hale big enough to swallow the entire kingdom. In the end, Zich’s mana couldn’t withstand Glen’s.
Clang!
Glen’s sword forcefully twisted Zich’s sword. Like a snake full of venom, the end of his sword aimed for Zich’s chest.
Whoosh! Zich hurriedly bent down, but Glen’s sword sneakily altered its trajectory and continued to aim for his chest. Zich placed more pressure on his feet then.
Flash! Glen’s sword missed Zich’s body by a hairbreadth. Glen’s eyes were filled with regret but he soon retracted his sword skillfully and attacked again. Although he thought it was a shame that he missed the last opportunity, he didn’t think he would be able to defeat Zich that easily anyway.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Glen’s sword continued to bare its fangs and threatened Zich. Meanwhile, Zich continued to block Glen’s attacks with his clean swordsmanship and genius instincts, but he couldn’t bridge the gap between the fundamental level of powers. Usually, Zich’s companions made up for the gap, and even the powerful Glen was pushed back the moment the others joined Zich.
Yet, there were no signs of Zich’s companions joining him this time.
Baaaam! Glen swung his sword widely and Zich backed away a couple of steps. Glen laughed at this sight and said, “It seems like your friends aren’t here to help you today.”
“They are all occupied with other matters,” Zich said nonchalantly, but Glen instantly realized what was going on.
‘They went to block the Bellids from raiding from behind,’ Glen thought. The majority of the Steelwall's main army was facing the allied forces from the front. If they took some troops away to block their rear, their frontlines could be penetrated. However, it wasn’t like they could do nothing as their enemy—who all seemed like elite fighters by their movements—also attacked from behind. Thus, Glen was sure that the ones who usually helped Zich had gone to block that side now.
‘The best outcome!’ Glen celebrated internally. “Okay, so did you come by yourself to block me? Even during such an important time?”
“It seems like you are misunderstanding something. I was planning to deal with you alone this time. Now that you bring it up, I realized how embarrassing it was that all my companions joined me to just deal with someone like you.”
“As expected of Zich Moore. Your mindset is truly one of a Demon Lord.” Glen outrightly called him ‘Zich Moore’ now. There was no need to hide anything now, and Glen raised his sword again.
“However, unlike you, I plan to become a true hero,” Glen said and shook his finger slightly. Zich felt the temperature around him dramatically fall and he also swung his sword.
Crunch! Frozen white ice cracked under Zich’s mana. Magic didn’t cause much damage to Zich, but it was enough to give Glen an opening. Of course, Zich was fully aware of his own predicament, and he didn’t draw his eyes away from Glen. Yet, it wasn’t Glen didn’t aim for Zich’s opening this time.
Whoosh!
Zich sensed the next attack with all his senses and simultaneously swung his sword at his new opponent. Pwsh! His sword pierced into his opponent, but instead of cheering that his attack succeeded, he scowled.
‘He took it?’ Although Zich had immediately counter-attacked, he had swung his sword while his stance was broken; rather than an attack, it was more like a way to prevent his opponent’s second attack. Considering the first attack, Zich knew his opponent’s skills were quite high and didn’t belong to someone who would easily receive an attack like this one. This meant his opponent was either caught off guard or…
“Had no intention to block.’
Whoosh! Zich quickly retracted his sword and arched his torso lower to the side. His opponent’s sword pierced the previous location of Zich’s body. It was an attack made with no consideration of their own injuries, and Zich stared at his opponent to see a familiar face.
‘Halton Byner!’ He was one of the people Zich had first stomped after his regression along with Hans. Byner was scowling deeply, not because of the injury Zich just made on his shoulder, but because he failed to end Zich just now. Zich placed more pressure on his legs and kicked off the surface.
Crunch!
A sharp air blade made a hole where Zich used to be. Thud! Zich softly landed back down on the surface and glanced at his elbow. Blood dripped from his forearm and fell to the floor. He hadn’t been able to completely escape the last attack. It wasn’t a serious injury, but the air blade had slightly scraped his skin.
Zich pulled his eyes away from his injury and stared at where the attack had flown from. Glen was retracting his sword with a sour expression on his face.
‘He brought along a companion,’ Zich thought. He saw Byner move to where Glen was while warily facing Zich. The injury on his shoulder began to heal rapidly, and Zich looked farther away. There, he saw Pina holding her icicles in the air and Chelsea raising her hand toward Halton.
He looked back at Byner. Thanks to Chelsea’s healing magic, Byner’s injury had completely healed in the blink of an eye. Despite her lack of integrity, she really was talented enough to have been one of the saint candidates with Lubella.
‘Did he gather everyone he could?’ Even though Glen was the strongest fighter in the allied forces, he didn’t have the authority to use the allied forces’ troops however he wanted to just kill one person. Moreover, Glen had already made a bunch of reckless plans and caused a great strain on the allied forces’ troops to annihilate the Steelwall army. He did all this with the firm belief that he could always rely on his power of regression.
Pina and Chelsea were originally part of Glen’s party and considering that Zich saw Byner at Yuras with Glen, it was clear that he was also quite close to Glen. Even though it was definitely a dangerous situation, Zich felt like laughing because their presence was evidence of how desperately Glen wanted to kill him.
“Hasn’t the situation been completely flipped?” Glen mocked Zich. “Don’t tell me I’m being cowardly. Isn’t this what you usually do?”
“Of course, I won't tell you off.” Zich shrugged.
“I guess you at least have a bit of conscience.” Glen glanced at Byner, and Byner’s eyes burned with hatred. To Byner, Zich was his enemy who had taken away his brilliant future. Byner felt that he could give up everything he had for the sake of revenge. However, Zich didn’t look moved at all by Byner’s intense desire to sacrifice everything he had to kill him. Zich had faced tens and hundreds of people like Byner before he regressed that he could fill up wagons with people like him and still have people left over.
On the other hand, it was also true that Zich was in a precarious position. Glen’s current abilities were definitely above his, and Byner’s skills also couldn’t be looked down on. Moreover, Pina’s magic aimed for Zich at every possible chance, and even if Zich managed to land an attack on one of them, Chelsea’s healing reversed all the damage he did. However, Zich wasn’t very nervous. Rather, he thought this whole situation was funny and felt very familiar. It made him recall Glen’s past party that defeated him before his regression. Even now, he would unconsciously shake his head whenever he thought of Glen’s past party with their overwhelming skills and balanced abilities. However, not a single person from his memory was in Glen’s current party.
“If you lack in strength, it’s not a bad idea to make it up with numbers. But isn’t this party too shabby considering your original members?”
Glen’s expression stiffened. In contrast, Zich leisurely checked each and every member of Glen’s party as if he was comparing their faces with another party inside his mind.
“Are you satisfied with this?” It was a question out of the blue, but Glen instantly grasped the meaning behind his question.
“…Die!” Glen rushed towards Zich. At the same time, Glen’s party members also started moving.
Bammm! Zich blocked Glen’s sword, but Tornium pushed back Zich’s sword with its heavy and destructive power. Zich couldn’t handle all of Glen’s power this time as well and was pushed back. Halton was aiming for this gap. While Zich was using all of his concentration to block Glen’s sword, Halton pushed his sword toward Zich’s side, which was now clearly exposed. It seemed as if Byner was going to carve a huge hole on Zich’s side, and a cruel smile appeared on his face. However, a sudden light flew across and blocked Byner’s attack.
Baaaam!
“Ugggh!” Byner tightly clutched his sword. He wanted to hold onto his sword and stop it from bouncing off, but it was also because of his anger toward the person who prevented him from seeing Zich’s blood.
‘Who the hell…!’ Byner looked at the person who blocked his sword, and his eyes widened. “…Hans.”
He muttered his opponent’s name without realizing it.
Hans replied, “We meet again, Sir Knight Byner.”
“You…!” Byner was about to say something but quickly moved back as a sword slashed toward him. It was Lara’s sword. She stood beside Hans and pointed her sword at Byner. Her gaze briefly landed on Glen, but her eyes quickly left him and nailed Byner.
Swoosh! While Lara pushed Byner back, Hans used that opportunity to swing Estellade toward Glen.
Bamm! It was extremely unlikely that Hans could successfully attack Glen, and Zich couldn’t currently push him back either. Estellade was all too easily blocked by Tornium and was even pushed back. However, Glen couldn’t rush toward Hans to slice his neck off since Zich was by his side.
Swoosh! Zich aimed his sword at Glen. Despite wanting to at least cut off one of Hans’ arms, Glen had no choice but to withdraw. However, Glen’s party wasn’t finished with their attacks yet. Icicles began to fall toward the spot where Zich, Hans, and Lara were. Pina had launched a magic attack. However, all of her magic was soon destroyed by a gigantic fireball.
“…Elena.” Pina strengthened her grip on her staff. She looked at Elena as she came riding on Nowem with Snoc and landed next to Zich.
“They have quite a few people over there too.” Chelsea frowned and clicked her tongue.
Their fight that could have been easily over became much more difficult. However, she tightly clutched her staff to use holy magic at any time. Glen coldly looked at the people gathered beside Zich. His gaze lingered on Lara for a while but didn’t stay long. He said, “Didn’t you say your friends were busy?”
Zich calmly replied, “You asked about my ‘usual’ friends.”