Light was Shadow’s weakness.

This was something that I confirmed when I was facing him. Using flash balls was an improvisation that I came up with en route to the dungeon, although I figured that light alone wouldn’t be enough to take him down. That was where the roundabout scheme of luring and forcing him into a tunnel dug beforehand and tricking him with Rowan and the other two came into play which had been a part of the whole plan.

“Hmm-hmm. Let me show you what a cruel world this can be,” I muttered as I watched Shadow being restrained by a mud golem that had been given countless iron plates as an exoskeleton while being engulfed under countless slimes.

Through my observations of slimes, I discovered that they could coalesce into one and form larger entities. It was just a matter of numbers for them — such useful and simple creatures.

Taking down both Jackie and Shadow was like clipping off both of the Axiom Order’s wings. With their top executives gone, the chance of winning was all but certain, as long as I could beat Zero. It would be a no-brainer to attack them at their weakest.

“All right! Now’s the perfect time to move to the last step of the plan: exterminating the Axiom Order.”

“That isn’t the matter here. Look, Vincent, showing your neck into danger like that just to lure him. If you’re going to do the same thing again and lose your life in the process, then there’s no point in doing this,” Lorelei voiced her thought adamantly, her eyes directly meeting mine.

“Yeah, I know. But the greater the risk, the greater the reward; for all the marbles, we wouldn’t be able to accomplish what we have without what I’ve done.” I turned my gaze toward the silvery-white wolf beside me and stroked her hair. “Besides, Blizzard is with me… she’s the one taking the most risk for protecting me. I can’t be more grateful to her.”

Blizzard nudged at me as if asking me for something. Naturally, I wouldn’t renege on my promise and bought a [Grilled Chicken Steak (30 CP)] from the menu and gave it to her, plunging our CP reserve into less than 20 CP. Ouch.

“Here’s your reward as promised.”

She licked my face, to my exasperation, and devoured the steak.

“But still… I…”

“Anyways, let’s switch to the more pressing matters at hand. Come to think of it, where’s Fuku?” I didn’t see her around here, so maybe she was sleeping?

“She’s been practicing and sleeping with Blizzard’s children ever since coming back, eager to strike again,” she said.

“Umm… There’s no need to bring her this time, though.” I didn’t want to implicate her in my cause against the Axiom Order. She was but a child.

“My, are you that worried about her?”

“There’s that, but on that note, I’ll end this all after I rest for an hour. My back is killing me…”

“You sound like an old man, you know…” She went silent for a bit and replied, “…Okay, but don’t do anything reckless again.”

“That is a matter of course.” That much was obvious; I’d never risk my life without the certainty of winning since I was a programmer, in essence.

***

Zero’s Perspective

In his private room, Zero sat in his chair, tapping on the desk and looking back and forth at the closed door and the window that was left open. The chilly whooshing wind kept gently brushing against his face from the outside.

Where is he? This is taking too long!

Previously, He had dispatched Shadow to search and capture the assailant that had been attacking his organization. Yet it’d been a few hours since then, and no news about him had reached his ear. Something was wrong… Terribly wrong. His many years of experience as a mercenary were screaming in danger.

With Shadow’s expertise, even if the enemy was more powerful than him, he could escape easily with his queer abilities. Not even he had full confidence to tie him down in place if he was so adamant about leaving.

Chipping away the top executives of his organization…

This was a trap. A trap so intricately planned to take down the whole of the Axiom Order. He should have realized this earlier; how had he missed such an important lead?

If this wasn’t a trap, then Zero didn’t know what else the enemy was doing. But to know the inside information so well… Were there spies within the Order?

He had made sure that the Axiom Order members were all tightly lipped. Even the lowest rungs wouldn’t spill out information easily under torture, and even if they did, not much would be known. He was a cautious man. This had never happened before, but it was of no concern any longer.

Just then, there was a knock on the door before a muffled voice of his subordinate appeared.

“Boss. There’s a woman calling herself an envoy of ‘the Cult’… What should we do?”

What? She’s here already? Zero squinted his eyes in contemplation, and then he uttered slowly, “Let her in.”

“Yes!”

He made micro-movements to adjust his posture while at the same time listening carefully to the sound of footsteps that gradually came closer.

“Boss, she’s here.”

“Mm.”

When he gave his confirmation, the door was pushed open, revealing a woman in a hood and one of his subordinates.

“You can leave us here,” he said, gesturing to him to go.

“Yes, boss!”

The woman spoke as soon as his subordinate left the room, “So this is where you are, Zero. Not waiting on our usual meeting spot. Something’s going on?”

“It’s nothing for you to be concerned about, Reina. Speak, what business do they have with me? Our agreement is to transfer the kidnapped villagers in a week.”

Reina responded, “Don’t be so hasty. Of course, our agreement is still the same, but I’ve come to you with a gift.” She took out a casket from the gap of her cloak and presented it at his desk.

“Oh? What’s this?” he inquired cautiously.

At this, Reina revealed an elegant smile. It was soft and as dark as the void.

***

Zero looked at the small box he played around in his hand skeptically.

Temporary strength meant nothing when it would be gone in a matter of moments. Especially when there would be a huge cost in getting such power. He might have been interested in such a thing in the past, but not anymore.

“‘One to increase physical strength and another for magical power, safe for humans.’ Who do you think you are?!” He slapped his desk hard, leaving a deep imprint. But he dared not complain in the presence of the envoy; that would be bad.

Zero stood up leaving the box, then looked out the window, sighing. Against the dark backdrop of glittering stars, several large shadows pierced the heavens: the Obsivel Mountain Range. While marveling at the sight, his hand had reached out for a locket in his pocket. Opening the locket portrayed a photo of a small girl with a wide smile, Cecilia, his daughter.

“Cecilia… Elise… Have I done right?” With a look full of melancholy, Zero closed his eyes, reliving the good days he spent with his wife and daughter in his mind.

Really, he only missed what he had when he lost it!

Zero handheld the locket into a palm and grabbed the hilt of his sword he kept near the wall to be inspected. The cold blade reflected his face that had been eroded by time and pressure.

“The arrow has been set loose, there’s no going back at this point…”

He was forced. His little daughter had been used as a “hostage” by them — the “Doomsday Cult.” Therefore, he could only push forward and regain what belong to him by becoming their lapdog.

***

Vincent’s Perspective

In the same manner as before, I led the march into their main base, sitting inside the roofed transport golem. This time, however, I was alone without the company of Fuku, making the six-hour-long journey rather lackluster in itself.

To relieve my boredom, I inspected Jackie’s magic sword. It had the shape of a long two-edged sword with a fancy hilt and a guard that was inlaid with a red gem — an elemental magiclum stone. It was kind of disrespectful to take the deceased’s belongings, but I didn’t care; this sword would be put into good use in my hand.

Pyro magic sword

A double-edged sword made from fine steel and coated with magiclum stone. The Pyro elemental stone inlaid on its guard will release fire when channeled mana into it.

Magiclum stones were the foundation of every magic tool and weapon, among other magic items. Plus, for all I knew, elemental magiclum stones, or elemental stones for short, were high-quality magiclum stones that had been transformed through an alchemical process. But the knowledge pertaining to elemental stones and alchemical processes thereof wasn’t publicly available.

Never mind. At least I was aware that the gem absorbed the surrounding mana and turned it into their respective element. In this gem’s case, it would be fire or Pyro. Observing the brilliant red gem that was unlike a ruby but more crimson and transparent, reignited the fantasy flame within me. Feeling my hands somewhat itching, I gently stroked the red gem. It was warming hot… and filled me with endless passion!

Time passed as I took a rest and readied up my preparations, and before I knew it, the Obsivel Mountain Range gradually came into view. The mountain range itself was large and imposing, like a bunch of shades covering part of the starry sky. Unlike last time where the mine was located somewhere on a distant hill, this time we advanced toward one of the closer mountains, making the scenery even more astounding. While it wasn’t the largest among the many, it was still at least a thousand meters tall.

“Rowan said, ‘There’s only one path leading up to the main base.’ Now that I look at it, there’s indeed only one path up the mountain, and it’s not very wide…”

On top of that, there were barricades set up along the way and an imposing wooden stronghold guarded by dozens if not hundreds of men… Even while I brought all fifty iron golems with me, they wouldn’t be enough to take down such a heavily defended place.

However, such was futile when I had a way to get past that. Not by making a tunnel leading to their base; not by going around the mountain to find alternative routes; not by barricading them below until they ran out of food — it was simply a frontal assault.

I used my phone’s camera to inspect the condition on the other side. There were movements of lights moving toward the top; It seemed they had realized my position. Well, it would be hard not to stand out when bringing more than fifty iron golems with me even under the cover of the night. That was of no concern, though.

Heh. I don’t even intend to have an “ordinary frontal confrontation.” I made a condescending smile.

That being the case, I got out of the transport golems and went for the other four situated right behind. Their storage parts were covered with sackcloth, which had numerous small holes as if used for ventilation.

“Rise and shine, O birds!”

I had the golems open the sackcloth, revealing numerous eagles with slate-black feathers and white underside within. Each of them cost 10 CP from the “Animal Creation” category in the Dungeon Menu, and I purchased like one hundred of them; it was such a substantial expense.

“Cause chaos upon them, drop these sacks amid the enemy line, then freedom shall be upon you.”

They started making high-pitched whistles, filling the forest I was in with a rhythmic sound. They were eager. Almost immediately, the eagles soared into the night sky, bringing with them small sacks filled with a dozen or so explosive balls with their talons. They weren’t just any explosive ball, but something I’d asked Cornelia to specially make filled with gunpowder — gunpowder balls.

“Whoa there, don’t drop it here.” Even a single one would have a huge explosion equivalent to ten kilograms of TNT after being amplified with [Programming].

Currently, there were still a couple of hours before dawn and no moon to speak of, so the surroundings were almost pitch black, and the enemy's visibility was at its lowest. Also, I’d been informed by the phantoms that the kidnapped villagers were kept together in several man-made caves near their main base, so there was nothing to worry about the blast getting to them as long as I ordered the birds to avoid that spot.

“Time to show them hell.”

The eagles flying high above their puny stronghold began dropping the sacks one after another. To me, it only looked like a bunch of dots dropped from the sky that became numerous bright lights as soon as they hit the ground, but to them, it would be a never-seen-before calamity.

Air raid bombing. In this world that had barely any rudimentary guns, there was hardly anyone who wasn't vulnerable to such attacks.

And the result was…

It was almost a total massacre — a foregone conclusion.

Tonight was such an endless night.