Rhys returned to the tent carrying a cup of hot water.The military camp had provided them with temporary accommodations, and Carmichael had personally arranged for them to stay there while everything was being prepared. The tent itself was simple. There were only two beds, a small table, and a lantern hanging from one of the poles.Meave sat on one of the beds without moving.Her knees were drawn up to her chest, and her face was buried against them. She hadn’t said much since they left Carmichael’s tent.Rhys stopped beside her and held out the cup.“Drink first.”Meave shook her head.She didn’t even look up.Rhys let out a quiet sigh.He understood.After all, he couldn’t stop thinking about that conversation either.The moment Carmichael had mentioned her father, it felt as though the entire atmosphere had changed.“What? Asura Face?”Meave’s body had visibly trembled.“Yeah.” Carmichael nodded. “Aside from me, there are probably only a few who know about it. Nevertheless, I don’

The next morning, the entire camp was in motion.Soldiers poured into the central assembly ground, forming rows that stretched across the open space. Many were still recovering from the previous battles, and a number of injured knights remained confined to their beds. Even so, nearly two thousand soldiers had gathered.The sheer number made the operation difficult.But Carmichael had already made up his mind.The hidden Abyssals would be rooted out today.Standing on the raised platform at the front, the Sword Saint surveyed the crowd in silence. His gaze swept across the gathered soldiers before finally settling on the officers behind him.“I’m proud of all of you.”His voice carried easily across the camp.“You’ve followed me into battle and fought against the Abyssals for a long time. Because of that, I’m entrusting you with an important task today.”The soldiers exchanged confused looks.An important task?Carmichael turned and gave a slight nod.The officers immediately moved.Th

Out of the two thousand knights still capable of fighting, Carmichael left one thousand behind to defend the camp. Only two officers remained with them, but that was more than enough under the current circumstances.The other thousand marched out with him.The army advanced through the wilderness in disciplined formation, steadily closing the distance to their enemy. Ahead of them, scouts moved through the forest in every direction, searching for any sign of Abyssal activity and reporting back as quickly as possible.One scout soon returned.“Sir. The enemies are currently gathering around the Elite class Abyssals. I don’t see any Abyssals around, so all those Abyssals might have been recalled by the Elite class Abyssals.“We also have located the Elite class Abyssals. If we continue in this direction, we will find its trail in another ten minutes. We will have to follow the trail a bit.”“That’s good.” Carmichael nodded. “The Elite class abyssal has done us a favor by bulldozing all

“Kill them!”The Abyssals found themselves caught in a situation they could no longer understand. The orders from the Common Class mutants were clear, yet every second they obeyed those commands, more of them were dying. They kept surging forward, but the humans had already turned the battlefield into a trap.The two mutant Abyssals quickly realized something was wrong. More and more of their forces were being squeezed together until movement itself became difficult. The formation Carmichael had prepared never broke. The shield wall held firm from beginning to end, and because of that, the Abyssals had unknowingly marched straight into a prison.Carmichael wasted no time taking advantage of it.Under his command, the knights advanced little by little, tightening the circle around their enemies. The space available to the Abyssals shrank with every passing moment. What began as a battlefield gradually became a slaughterhouse.Soon, the monsters packed so tightly together that many of t

“Meave!” Risa shouted.The warning was unnecessary.The instant the blade came down, Meave reacted. Her hand grabbed the edge of her robe, and Mana flowed into the fabric.The cloth hardened instantly.Clang!The blade struck the reinforced robe and bounced off.The sharp metallic sound echoed through the battlefield.She was unharmed.The mutant’s attack had failed.Which meant it was now their turn.Without wasting a second, Meave raised her hand and condensed an explosive bullet.The projectile shot forward and exploded against the mutant’s chest.Boom!The blast launched the creature straight toward Yin Zhen.Yin Zhen had already prepared himself.Mana surged through his body and gathered around his leg. As he kicked, the image of a tiger’s head formed around his foot and roared toward the mutant.The abyssal reacted quickly.It crossed one arm in front of itself to block.Even so, the impact was terrifying.Crack!Its arm bent at an unnatural angle as the force traveled through i