Valak’s chest pounded loudly as he ran through the forest. Chased by the beastmen they had attacked. Had he not known better, he would have mistaken those beastmen for monsters. He was sure that if those guys and the basilisks confronted each other, it would be a bloodbath. The beastmen were that dangerous.

Looking at the other hunters, he realized he wasn’t the only one panic-stricken. At any moment, those guys were going to catch up to them. The very thought of those axes cleaving them in half made him run faster.

I know it may seem impossible, but I want everyone to remain as calm as possible during our surprise attack. I want everyone to heed my instructions, no matter what.

The words uttered by the young master before they commenced the assault echoed in his mind.

“You demons! You scum! Stop hiding! Show yourselves! Where are you?!” Loud shouts echoed in the forest. Ravens flew in flocks as trees rustled.

The young master raised a hand, signaling everyone to stop and stay still. The footsteps of their pursuers were getting near.

Everyone held their breath, like when they hunted in the forest around Gahelpa Village. With their keen vision developed from hunting in the dim forest, they could see the silhouettes of their enemies despite the darkness of the night.

The young master made a fist, and on cue, everyone channeled mana into their bows and fired their arrows. The arrows whistled past the trees and struck their targets perfectly. Azura and his adjutants successfully blocked the arrows using their weapons, though some of the beastmen were pierced right in the forehead. Several beastmen fell limp and lifeless on the ground in an instant.

“Over there!” shouted one of the beastmen.

Commander Azura’s veins popped and he ran toward the hunters, his speed bordering on absurd.

Do it as we practiced, Valak reminded himself. Trust the young master.

The young master commanded, “Scatter.”

The hunters dispersed into two groups. Lark remained in his position while the rest of the hunters ran in opposite directions.

Azura shouted at his men, “Don’t let the humans get away! After them!”

The beastmen also divided themselves into two groups, each being led by an adjutant. They chased the hunters. Azura, on the other hand, continued charging at Lark.

Lark leaked out his mana, drawing Azura to target him personally. The commander of the vanguard could tell that the young human was the leader of this small private army.

Reaching Lark, Azura raised his battle-axe into the air and slashed at the human. The speed of his strike created a small gust of wind as it cut through only air.

“What?” Azura was baffled for a moment. He was sure he had struck his target, but now he realized it was nothing but an afterimage.

He turned around and saw Lark a good distance away from him.

The noble was holding a scroll. He opened it and channeled his mana into the runes engraved inside.

“The lizard we captured wasn’t lying, huh?” Lark smirked. “The commander is indeed a muscle head. With the vice commander dead, this army’s nothing but a puppet with no puppeteer.”

The runes on the scroll glowed, before bursting into flames and turning into ashes. To Azura’s surprise, the sound of footsteps around them vanished entirely. He could no longer feel the presence of his men, nor those of the fleeing humans.

In this forest, there was this young man and him. “What did you do?” Azura frowned.

Lark shrugged. “There’s no need for you to know.”

With those words, the figure of the young man slowly faded away, disappearing into the night. Only his voice remained.

“You’re strong, indeed. I have no intention of using up all my mana on a muscle head like you,” said Lark. “Let’s talk? I’ve heard that the United Grakas Alliance plans on invading the Eastern Region. Is there a way out of this?”

Azura snorted. This human was obviously trying to buy time—but for what?

“It is a decree of the Beast King.” Azura rested his axe on his shoulder, his eyes swiveling left and right as he tried to locate the human. “His will is absolute. There’s no point in questioning it.”

There was a sigh. “There’s no point in questioning it? A typical answer of a muscle head. How disappointing.”

Azura’s eyebrows twitched. He snarled, “This damn, puny human dares to—”

“It’s not even a year since I implemented the new policies in my domain. I’ve been making it self-sufficient, and it will be wholly so within the next six months, at the very least. But if the United Grakas Alliance successfully crosses over to the Eastern Region, I’ll have no choice but to postpone my plans.” The human’s voice was ice cold. “To be frank, I have no interest in your war, whatever the reason is.”

Commander Azura still could not locate the presence. How was this possible? The magic of this human was comparable to Captain Stone’s.

“Human, come out!” Azura growled. “No matter what you do, there’s no stopping this war! Like I told you, the will of the Beast King is absolute. The United Grakas will reclaim the Eastern Region.”

The human momentarily paused. “Reclaim? I see. This land once belonged to your people?”

“That’s right!” Azura grabbed his axe and swung it through the air, creating a gust of wind. “But enough with this petty talk! Come out!”

Azura heard rustling sounds from his left. Soon, three figures emerged. All of them wore full plate armor, their cloaks tattered.

There was something eerie about these figures, but Commander Azura was unable to pinpoint it.

“About time,” said the human. His figure slowly appeared from the darkness. “This is war. Four versus one is fair, right?”

Azura finally understood. This puny human had been stalling to allow these guys time to arrive. But what difference would it make? At the end of the day, humans would still be humans.

The suits of armor walked to the young man and, in unison, knelt down. The one in the middle groaned.

As though he understood, the human nodded. “You’ve successfully completed the mission. Good job.”

He placed a hand on the one in the middle, and the dents, scratches, and holes in the armor closed up. He did the same for the other two, returning them to their original state.

“Let’s start,” the human said. “I still have to annihilate the rest of the army, so I can’t spare you all of my mana.” He spoke to the three suits of armor, “Kill him.”

The suits of armor groaned, stood up, and charged at Azura. It was a direct attack, without strategy or tactics.

“These guys are confident about their strength, huh?” Azura snorted. It was funny that these three humans would even try to contest him using only brawn. “Come!”

The suits of armor swung their swords at him, and Azura blocked them with his battle-axe, one after another. Using his other three arms, Azura struck the suits of armor with his fists. He managed to dent the armor several times, but his three opponents did not show any signs of weakening.

What is happening? Shouldn’t the human inside the suit have some of his organs crushed by now?

Azura shook off his thoughts. It didn’t matter. As long as he kept pummeling his opponents, they would eventually die. No matter how tough, they were still mortal.

Azura gnashed his teeth, raised his battle-axe, and struck the suit of armor closest to him. His axe cleaved through the armor. His opponent’s feet sank several inches into the soft dirt from the tremendous impact.

But to his surprise, the suit of armor simply glared at him. It groaned, and stabbed him in the thigh with the sword.

Azura looked where his battle-axe had struck. There was no blood. It was hollow inside—these guys were not human.

“Damn it!” Azura roared and punched the suit of armor in the face. It flew into the air, hit the nearby tree, then stood without hesitation and charged at the commander.

Azura pulled out the sword that had stabbed through his thigh; his blood spurted down his leg. He tossed it onto the ground. This was nothing. He had been in more perilous situations.

“There’s no way you guys are immortal!” roared Azura. “Come on!”

The battle continued. The three suits of armor continued their attacks despite the dents and cuts to their bodies. Even through his injuries, Azura parried the attacks, retaliating with deathblows. He could not even charge at Lark, who commanded these puppets. Just blocking the attacks from these three monsters was taking all of Azura’s strength and focus.

After half an hour, the three suits of armor finally fell limp on the ground. Their bodies cut and dented in several places. One tried to stand, but it quivered and fell back to the ground. The light inside their visors dimmed as faint groans escaped their lips. They kept trying to stand and fight for their master, but their bodies refused to move.

Azura, on the other hand, was still standing. He was huffing hard, his chest rising and falling rapidly, but he was standing. The battle-axe he held had several chips in the edge of the blade, and his body was riddled with cuts and bruises. Blood dripped from the wounds, covering the ground under his feet. Despite the injuries, the bloodlust in his eyes continued blazing.

Azura wiped the blood dripping from a cut on his lip. “You’re next, brat.”

Lark, who had been standing in the same place for half an hour, did not reply. Instead, he pointed a finger at the suits of armor on the ground. A thread of mana flowed from his fingertip until it enveloped the suits of armor.

The suits of armor groaned, the metal clanked, and they started to stand. The cuts on their bodies started closing and the dents reverted.

Although this consumed a lot of mana, it was far more efficient than using middle-tier magic to confront this commander.

When the suits of armors had recovered their original state, Commander Azura was stupefied. It had taken everything he had just to survive the nonstop onslaught, and now he had to do it all over again with his battered body?

Azura was livid. Humans loved to play dirty.

“This damn coward,” he growled. “Stop hiding behind those puppets and fight me! Damn human!”

Lark again did not reply. He flicked his fingers and the suits of armor began their charge.

The assaults continued against the injured commander. This time, the battle went more quickly. In just a few minutes, Commander Azura’s head was severed from his body. It flew into the air, then dropped and rolled on the ground.

Lark noticed tears in the corners of the beastman’s eyes. Was it rage? Frustration? Regret? He didn’t know. There was no need to find out.

This was war. He needed to destroy these invading beastmen before they came any closer to his town.

Lark ordered one of the suits of armor to retrieve the commander’s head and put it in a small leather bag.

Lark looked at the sky. “The moon’s beautiful tonight.”

Two down, one to go. It was finally time to hunt that lizardman—the one who almost killed Gaston.

Lark had reserved his mana for this moment.

“Now, Captain Stone,” said Lark. “Where are you?”

Accompanied by his puppets, Lark disappeared into the shadow of night.