The armies of the Drung Kingdom took a position in the trench Audrey made and aimed at the backs of the magicians and warriors that appeared from time to time in the chaos. With the help of their high-tech optics, they were able to see through the dust cloud and hit only their opponents. There was a slight problem, however. The magicians had defensive barriers around their bodies, so the energy bullets were melted down or bounced before reaching their targets.

Elena and co. appeared behind Salem in the blink of an eye, startling him so much that he tried to attack them by swinging his weapon towards Elena’s head. “You don’t want to attack me, do you?” she said with a smile, grabbing the shoulder stock of his rifle.

Pulling back his weapon, he squatted down and looked up at Elena, who stayed standing. “Don’t sneak up on me like that, girl. What do you want?”

“Salem, you are so cold to me,” Elena joked with him, making a pouting face, which turned serious in the next moment. “Talking seriously, I can see that you can’t get through their barriers this way, but every hit consumes their Mana. Instead of shooting many of them, try to focus fire on a single one. I know that it’s not really effective, but it will be much better than your current performance.”

“You are far away and your guns are rather silent so they can’t hear you and since you aren’t using Mana, they can’t even sense you this far from the city. Thankfully, their warriors destroyed the walls in the beginning so you have a good sight on most of them. We killed the scouts, so they shouldn’t be a problem either. Just make sure to stay here and notify me through this modern gadget you gave me if somebody was to come here.”

“We will go help in the city, so good luck!” she patted his shoulders and then left in another flash, along with her friends.

Frowning slightly, Salem crept up to the edge of the trench and pulled out a small device. “I’ll mark the targets, you will focus fire. If anyone spots any of our opponents leaving the city, immediately contact me or we will be done for.” Taking out another pen-like device, he pointed it at one of the magicians. It was visible only with their optics, so the magicians had no way to notice it.

A rain of fire poured on the targeted woman. Looking through a binocular, Salem saw her face turn panicked in a few seconds under the heavy rain of bullets. Turning around, she looked their way before her barrier broke and her body got riddled with holes.

“Good, on to the next target, but let’s wait or they will notice us. We have to stay out of their sight,” Salem reported through the communication device.

---

Elena and her group trod through the plain and got through the lines of magicians without their notice. Entering Woodland Inn, they rushed up to what used to be their room and took a breath. The Inn was completely empty and only the sounds of battle cries, explosions, and crumbling buildings could be heard nearby. Elena looked out the window and then sat on the side of the bed.

Looking at Cor, she asked, “What’s your current level? You devoured powerful magicians after all.”

“Hmm, I reached the two hundred and fiftieth level thanks to minor devour and eating their hearts. I also have to pick a specialization for the hundred and eightieth level. Here,” he replied, swinging his arm.

Forsaken (Epic)

Lv.

Untouchable

Hollow

Shell

180

You can increase the precision of your movements, increasing your chance to evade any attack.

Dread: Use this spell on others to make them live through their most dreaded nightmares. They will be nothing like their former self if they can’t break out. They will be hollow inside.

You can increase the durability of weapons, armors, symbiotes or anything that is related to defense by using the Protection spell on it.

“I will pick Protection this time since it could help all of us. Dread would be a good spell, but I’m not really good with external magic, even if I had a spell woven for me,” he replied with confidence.

“That sounds good,” Audrey remarked, looking at the description of Protection. After picking it, knowledge flooded Cor’s mind, integrating a new spell into his mind. Even if his class was to evolve into a stronger one, he wouldn’t lose his spells and skills gained from his specialization since his class would be of a higher grade. That was how it worked in the world. If his class was a Legendary one, he could have the same spells, but with even more or better effects.

“Shouldn’t we move already? We are really slow,” Jake commented with furrowed brows.

“I know, I’m sorry, but we have to know how much we can rely on each other,” Elena raised her hand defensively.

“That much is obvious to me too, anyway, enough chit-chat, let’s proceed. Mine and Audrey’s levels are at the two hundred and ninety-fifth, while you two are three levels ahead of us. Do you have any inborn memories about what kind of strength people have at higher levels?” he asked, crossing his arms in front of his chest.

“No. I had only some basic stuff. I guess the Progenitor Shadows before me, found it too convenient for me to add more or they just never lived long enough.” She shook her head.

“Huh? That’s rather depressing,” Audrey remarked with a surprised face.

“Well, it is, but I’m not them and stop distracting us,” Elena rebuked them for interrupting her every time.

“Audrey, you will look for rooftops or preferably towers where you will have a good sight of the city and can help us from far away. In the thick dust cloud they won’t notice you anytime soon and thanks to our blood connection, we can sense each other. Just help us from far away. Cor can’t take too many hits at his current level, so you too be careful and protect your head.”

“Jake will have to take on the role of the front fighter for now, while Dred and I will harass our opponents. Make sure to stay close and don’t get separated. This is my first participation in a war so I’m not sure what to expect. Are you ready to go?” she asked.

Seeing everyone reply with a silent nod, she jumped out through the window. The dust cloud started dissolving as they got closer and closer to the front. “I’ll leave now,” Audrey whispered as she turned to the left and jumped up to the roof of a smaller building. In a few seconds, she reached a smaller tower where she sensed a presence.

Turning around, she was met with Cor’s face. Before she could scream in her surprise, Cor sealed her lips with his hand. “Shh, Elena changed her mind. She told me to help you if somebody got close to you. With my current strength, I’m not much of a help for them anyway.”

Pushing his hand to the side, she used Water Magic to wash her mouth and lips, while looking at Cor with begrudging eyes. “I wouldn’t have screamed and your hand is bloody! At least wash your hands, damn it,” she grumbled through gritted teeth, keeping her voice low.

“Ah, sorry. You don’t like blood, do you? You’re strange. Anyway, let’s go to that tower.”

“We can’t yet. There is a person there. Can you draw their attention when I signal you? I want to check their level first.”

“Alright, I’ll wait here in that case,” Cor nodded his head.

Audrey turned towards the tower and got closer in her Shadow Form, hiding her presence with Cosmological Constant. As she crept up on the wall of the tower, she saw the back of a long, blonde-haired woman. Inspect.

Name: Elena

Race: Human

Level: 343

Threat Level: 7

Huh? She has the same name. Hahaha, but her strength is no joke… I’ll need Cor’s help, after all, she thought while looking at a few barely visible threads connect the blonde girl’s fingers with her targets. I wonder what she is doing. It must be some kind of binding or manipulation spell.

Retreating, she found Cor standing in the alleyway, chewing on the corpse of a dead warrior. Looking up, his mouth covered in blood, he grinned, “This place is akin to a Gold Mine! Devour has a six-hour limit and we haven’t left even a single body on the ground for that long.We are free to devour as many of these meaty, juicy humans as we want!”

Audrey’s mouth twitched while looking at the disgusting sight. Rubbing her temples, she closed her eyes as she said, “You should have gone with Elena in that case, damn it. Come and help me or we will be useless.”

“Coming,” he whispered back and after Audrey told him what to do, he charged towards the Elena in the tower.

Why does it feel wrong to attack somebody with that name? It must be Elena’s fault… Audrey shook her head. Using her Sense, she felt the girl turn towards Cor. One of the blonde girl’s Mana threads broke and latched onto Cor. He felt her sucking away his Mana, which was a terrible thing as an undead.

“Go back whence you came, stupid corpse,” she said, kicking Cor in the face. He fell back down to the rooftop with a loud thud. “Hahaha, this is funny. Hey, come again!” she chuckled, taunting the ‘stupid corpse’.

Cor gave out a stupid sound and started climbing the tower again. When she was about to end her game and kill Cor with a simple fireball, she sensed a projectile flying towards her head. Turning to the right, she saw a thick branch ring back and forth, and a flying knife. She panicked, used Wind Magic to create a barrier since she was lacking in the earth and creating it would have taken too much time.

The dagger sliced through the barrier, but lost its momentum. As it fell to the floor of the tower with a loud clang, she felt a stinging pain in her chest. Looking down, she saw a short sword sticking out of it, which penetrated her heart. She turned around with trembling lips and her eyes met Audrey.

“Y-You…” her words fell short as she fell to her knees and lost consciousness.

“Why?! Why her heart?! Why not her brain? Her heart is the most delicious!” Cor whined as he crept up to the tower and fell on his knees beside Audrey.

Cleaning her bloody hands with some water, she rebuked him. “Shaddup! Let me concentrate.”

“Meh, fine.”

Closing her eyes, she used her Sense once again and turned towards Elena’s direction. “I’m ready,” she said, knowing that Elena would hear her through her bacteria. She sensed Elena, Dred, and Jake rush out of the building they were hiding in, straight into the crowd of warriors.

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