We had formed the Expedition and succeeded in making it all the way here.
But there was one thing I regretted more than anything else.
If only we could have gotten here a bit sooner...
The potential Gyeonggi Province possessed was by no means small.
It did not fall short of Gangwon Province at all.
After I arrived here, I had thrown everything I had into making sure that potential could be brought out properly.
Even so, it was impossible not to feel regret.
If only the strength they lost were still with us.
The Chair’s Assault Team, which had gone missing.
If the Assault Team—once the strongest force even within Gyeonggi—had not disappeared.
Then this battle might have been wrapped up in a far more overwhelming fashion...
The Chair’s Assault Team.
The power they had possessed was evaluated as being on roughly the same scale as what our Expedition had when it first set out.
If you took into account that the Expedition was armed with military firearms and equipment.
It was not hard to infer just how strong the Assault Team had been despite lacking such gear.
Of course... it would not be on the same level as what we have now with the food and my [Ingredient Management (Degraded)] stacked on top.
They, too.
Could no longer be judged merely by how strong they had been back when they were the Assault Team.
Because those souls, the [Belsnickels], have added their abilities on top.
Even the monsters alone were like that.
Powerful ice shields protecting their weak points.
Monsters that once had no abilities at all now conjured massive spears and hurled them.
In this world smothered in blizzard, they not only suffered no penalties to sight whatsoever.
They also completely erased penalties from the extreme environment—like slick ice, or thick, frozen snow piled up high.
If you added all that into the equation.
No matter how strong the Expedition had become thanks to my presence.
The Assault Team’s overall power would hardly fall short.
On top of that...
BABABABABABANG!!!
Barrage rained down from the sky.
“Scatter and suppress the fire!”
“Damn it, everyone take cover!”
To evade the enemy’s barrage.
The Expedition scattered in all directions, avoiding the firepower.
...Completely different enemies from the monsters we had been facing.
These enemies not only stole others’ bodies.
They perfectly mimicked the knowledge and memories held inside those bodies.
Even their combat styles.
No matter how many there were, the enemies we had just been fighting.
Had still been nothing more than mindless monsters.
Beasts that happened to be strong.
And such beasts could never truly match a properly organized military force.
But these were different.
The Belsnickels had dominated the minds of elites the Association had painstakingly raised.
And turned them into—
An army unified like us.
A single elite legion that had stacked up its own combat know-how over long years of fighting together.
Was now coming for us.
Along with countless monsters.
*****
“All units, scatter and suppress fire!”
[Command Order – ‘Disperse Formation’ resounds across the field.]
In the rear of the battlefield where the fighting was taking place.
General Jo Beomseok continued to shout orders toward the allied forces.
“Squad 1, move to support Squad 4!”
In the rear were General Jo Beomseok and the rear support unit.
Plus a small number of guards.
They were the ones farthest removed from the front lines.
But in terms of influence on the battle, they were the greatest of all.
Precisely because of that.
They had taken up a safe position so far to the rear that the enemy could hardly approach them.
And from there they had been issuing orders like this...
—SHFF.
At that moment.
There was a single dark shadow approaching them.
Among the enemies in the rear we need to pay attention to... General Jo Beomseok and Kim Jongdu, I suppose.
There were a total of five executives in the Association.
Among them, exactly one.
A man who did not properly interact with the rest of the Association members.
And who was known by guild members only by name.
A figure known solely to the upper ranks of the guild.
His role...
Was to single-handedly take care of the Association’s dark work.
[Intermediate Assassin Lv.28]
[Jin Sahyeok]
He was Gyeonggi Province’s greatest assassin.
Ideally, we should take them alive...
Their goal was not to kill these people.
If possible, they wanted to secure as many bodies as they could.
And.
This body seems to find it quite a shame that it can’t kill them.
They existed as spirits.
But they were heavily influenced by the memories and temperament of the bodies they possessed.
The body Jin Sahyeok had left behind deeply regretted the fact that it could not kill its targets.
The [Belsnickel] inside that body thought.
True, they are all necessary bodies. But if I had to choose, the most important ones are Jo Beomseok and Kim Jongdu.
A grin curled across his lips.
Killing a few... will not be a serious problem.
In this world darkened by blizzard, it was the domain of assassins like him.
He melted into the shadows.
And moved toward the commanders in the rear.
*****
After finishing his conversation with Shin Youngjun and parting ways.
Park Junggu was still in the middle of fighting monsters when—
“...!?”
He suddenly felt killing intent.
And swung his weapon toward his back.
Then.
CLANG!
With a massive impact.
A sharp and heavy sword strike slammed into his axe.
VRRR...
Feeling his axe trembling from the strike he had just blocked.
Junggu looked toward the source of the blow.
And there.
Was a face very familiar to him.
“Sanghyun...”
“Haha, long time no see, Junggu.”
Park Junggu was a head taller than most big-built men.
But his opponent was even bigger than Junggu.
And unlike Junggu, who could not wear heavy armor due to the penalties of [Intermediate Barbarian].
The man wore full gleaming armor, a picture-perfect knight.
One of the five executives of the Association.
The man who oversaw the warrior classes among those executives.
And.
...The warrior second only to the Chair.
[Park Sanghyun]
[Intermediate Knight Lv.28]
It was Park Sanghyun.
“I didn’t expect you to be able to evade that just now. Looks like your skills have improved a lot since I last saw you?”
“Kahahaha... Don’t act friendly with me, you Stray Specter.”
“Hmm?”
When Junggu bared his teeth and showed hostility.
Sanghyun spoke with a slightly taken-aback expression.
“Haha... I have to say, it’s a bit surprising to see you act like that toward me, Junggu.”
“What?”
“Well, you see.”
The man shrugged his shoulders lightly as he spoke.
“You were always pathetically servile toward anyone stronger than you, weren’t you?”
“...”
Park Junggu was one of the strong whom everyone in the Association acknowledged.
The only one they could confidently say was clearly stronger than him was the Chair.
But.
Even as everyone in the Association acknowledged him as a powerhouse.
They also held this thought at the same time.
Compared to the five executives...
He’s definitely a bit behind them.
No matter how strong he was.
Unlike the five executives—battle-hardened veterans who had fought alongside the Chair—
He was still only one of the leaders of the Northern Branch.
And that perception had been cemented.
All the more firmly by Junggu’s own behavior.
“...I suppose I really did act that way before.”
He was someone who obsessed over strength more than anyone.
Yet when it came to the five executives, he had always been unfailingly deferential.
*****
On one side of the battlefield where fierce fighting was underway.
—GRRK!!
“...Here they come!”
“Damn it, move!”
“It’s too late, idiot!”
Just as an enormous horde of monsters was about to hurl themselves at the Expedition.
FWOOM!
“!?”
A massive root suddenly sprang up beneath the monsters’ feet.
And bound their legs and movements.
“This is...”
“It’s Mr. Jaeho from the Northern Branch!”
While the monsters’ movements were sealed.
The Awakeners were able to cut them down easily.
“Th-thank you...!”
“No need to thank me, we’re busy, move on to the next front quickly.”
As he fought on the battlefield.
Gang Jaeho thought.
It has been a while, but... this really is my specialty.
By a twist of fate he had ended up taking charge of food production.
But originally, Gang Jaeho had been a combat-class Awakener.
On top of that.
He had been acknowledged by Park Junggu—himself a leader of the same group—as an equal.
[You have defeated an enemy!]
[You gain experience!]
[You have displayed tremendous prowess on the battlefield!]
[You gain a large amount of experience!]
In other words.
He was a powerhouse with the skill to match.
Not only in terms of sheer individual combat power.
But especially as a support-type combat class that aided his allies, he displayed even more outstanding ability.
If Jo Beomseok was the one who exerted the greatest influence as a buffer.
Then the one who was making the biggest contribution on the battlefield as a combatant was Gang Jaeho, who was supporting the suddenly empowered Expedition at exactly the right places.
Perhaps because of that.
The enemy did not simply leave Jaeho alone.
WHOOSH!
“...!?”
The tree roots Gang Jaeho had conjured suddenly burst into flames.
And from beyond them, a woman began to walk forward.
Seeing that.
Gang Jaeho let out a wry smile and said.
“...I never thought I’d get to see your magic again, Hwayeon.”
“Hehe, long time no see.”
The woman who walked leisurely through the burning trees looked at Gang Jaeho and smiled as she asked.
“Reho... can I call you ‘big brother’?”
“Haha. There’s no way that’s going to happen.”
“I figured as much.”
The Association’s strongest mage.
And an overwhelmingly efficient fire mage in wide-area combat.
[Jung Hwayeon]
[Intermediate Fire Mage Lv.28]
“Well, it’s not like we’re in a situation where we can just chat about how glad we are to see each other...”
As she lightly waved her hand.
Flames that radiated intense heat gathered «N.o.v.e.l.i.g.h.t» around it.
“Shall we get straight to the point?”
“...”
Seeing that.
Gang Jaeho furrowed his brow and thought.
To be fair... she is the most efficient opponent they could send against me.
Gang Jaeho was a wood-attribute Druid.
Even survivors who had not Awakened knew that fire magic was basically his natural enemy.
VRRR...
Gang Jaeho broke into a cold sweat.
And began to attempt his transformation into a bear.
And.
Watching the battlefield from above, I thought.
...So there are about four executives whose bodies they’ve stolen.
One of them was already in our hands, subdued.
Beyond that, it seemed like three of the executives were active among the enemy.
A definitely dangerous set of foes.
Part of me wanted to step in and help.
But unfortunately, I’ve got plenty to do myself.
Taking them down.
Was the job of the Expedition’s Awakeners, who had once been their fellow Association members.
...Still.
That did not mean the situation was purely bad.
The fact they’ve deployed them means the enemy has begun to see this raid as a threat.
The monsters’ goal had never been to annihilate us.
Having realized the overwhelming potential human bodies possessed.
They clearly wanted to capture us alive and secure as many human bodies as possible.
But now they were sending those precious human bodies they had worked so hard to secure into such a dangerous battlefield.
Which also meant that, from their perspective, the Expedition had become a serious threat.
Besides...
Sure, they were powerful enemies.
But if you asked whether it looked like we were going to lose...
“That’s not really how it looks, either.”
We had already found out quite some time ago.
That the enemy had seized the Assault Team’s bodies.
And even so, we had still pushed all the way here.
The reason for that was obvious.
Because I am confident.
Because I was sure.
We had more than enough.
To win.
