Swoooosh—

The waves crashed in.

The unpleasant, fishy smell of the sea stabbed deep into my nose.

The refreshing quality of the blue sea was nowhere to be found, and instead, ultramarine scales repeatedly appeared and disappeared, skimming the surface of the water.

The sea was heavily polluted.

“…This is a bit… no, quite different from the sea I had imagined.”

“……”

“The books certainly said the sea was a place filled with the color of green jade, where embroidered lights would beautifully shimmer…”

Hmph—

“This is rather foul. It’s like a pit where all the garbage has gathered to stink.”

“…It’s not usually like this.”

Fwooh—

To think the first sea she sees in her life is in this state.

Seeing the sea for the first time should naturally be met with an overwhelming gasp of admiration and wide eyes.

Seeing her furrow her small brow and pull down the corners of her mouth didn’t sit well with me.

…Of course, I wasn't in a position to say that, being the one who dragged her to a battlefield right after bringing her out.

Anyway, that was just my sentiment.

Fwooh—

As I took another drag of my cigarette, exhaled the smoke, and made a complicated expression.

Loxy shot a question at me, her eyes filled with disbelief.

“Are you really planning to block all that with just the two of you?”

“Three, including you. Why leave yourself out?”

“…I have enough trouble just protecting myself. In the first place, if you die, I’m running away immediately. Without a single look back.”

It seemed like 99% sincerity with a single, forced drop of a joke mixed in, so I let out a chuckle.

“Don’t worry. That probably won’t happen.”

“…That’s a shame. I couldn’t ask for more if that happened.”

Indeed, it was true that this looked reckless.

After all, the difference in numbers was what it was.

Even if the 5,000-strong horde of Magical Beasts couldn’t rush in all at once because the passage was narrow, with a little exaggeration, it was still a 3 vs. 5,000 battle.

No.

Ssk—

Considering that the rabble from the New Demon Cult, standing awkwardly with their swords drawn, wouldn't be of any help, it wasn't much of an exaggeration at all.

Still, since no titled Demons were involved in this battle, someone like Namgung Soso, who had experience in the War against Demons and had been active as a Hero, would probably have no trouble protecting herself.

But that was it.

Even she wasn't enough manpower to be of much help in stopping that horde of Magical Beasts.

Moreover, even if we could gain a geographical advantage from the narrow terrain, there was no other strategy besides holding the chokepoint.

To put it bluntly, this battle was indeed a 3 vs. 5,000 dogfight.

Kkuueeeek—!

“…One has come up.”

“So it has.”

But that didn’t mean I was standing here without any thought.

The meaning of my Regression wasn't so light that I would risk my life simply to take responsibility for and block the Magical Beasts before me.

I could do it.

Even in the Suicide Squad, which was overflowing with specialists in every field, I was second to none when it came to a ‘dogfight’.

And here, I could even.

“I followed you here, but this is my first time in a battle like this, so I don’t know what to do. Therefore, Brother, if you could show me an example first—.”

Thud—

“What should I do? If you don’t say anything, I’ll just run—”

Thud—

[ is activated.]

[The property ‘Augment’ is granted to .]

[Temporary forced body manipulation occurs!]

“…Wait a minute. I have a bad feeling about this—.”

[ is activated.]

[The property ‘Augment’ is granted to ‘Subordination’.]

[Temporary forced body manipulation occurs!]

“Brother…? Something is strange. My arm is moving on its own again…”

…because I could exert three times(?) the power.

* * *

Gulp—

Although they weren’t clearly visible, Namgung Soso couldn't help but swallow dryly at the countless shadows flickering beneath the sea.

The coastal bay, which usually seemed so narrow, looked exceptionally wide today.

‘…Is it possible?’

Looking back at the members of the New Demon Cult lined up behind her, trembling, Namgung Soso asked herself.

Of course, the answer was already there.

‘…No way it's possible.’

There was no way it was possible.

She couldn't tell the exact scale, but just from a glance, it was a massive horde of Magical Beasts that seemed to number in the thousands.

She didn't know where such a number of Magical Beasts had been hiding, or for what reason they were suddenly swarming in like this.

But it was certain that this was a number she had never experienced before on the Shandong Peninsula.

The Magical Beasts the New Demon Cult had dealt with were just stragglers that came in one or two at a time; the total number they had handled so far didn't even reach 100.

The only variable she could hope for was.

Ssk—

The mysterious Hero candidate, ‘Seo U-jin’, who had told her to ‘do a good job blocking any that slip through’ before heading to the center of the bay, and his two companions.

She, who had crossed swords with him directly, acknowledged that he was no ordinary man, but honestly, it was hard to have high hopes.

In the first place, a number in the thousands wasn't a gap that could be filled by the extraordinariness of one or two people.

Whether it was a 1-Star or 2-Star, they only became meaningful when gathered; a single Hero couldn't handle such numbers.

Moreover, what was needed here wasn't killing individuals, but a ‘defensive battle’ to prevent the Shandong Peninsula from being devoured by the horde of Magical Beasts.

The burden from the numerical disparity was bound to grow even heavier.

‘…….’

Namgung Soso, who had briefly glanced at U-jin and his party, soon looked past them toward the sea.

Swaaa—

The movements swimming just under the water's surface, the ultramarine scales, the distinct fishy stench.

She could tell the type of Magical Beast swarming in without even needing to look into the sea.

“…Deep Sea People.”

They were the Magical Beasts she had constantly fought off in this land, the ones that had appeared most frequently on the Shandong Peninsula since her father's time.

Deep Sea People.

Also known by another name, ‘Fishmen’, they were common Magical Beasts that could be found on any coast of the continent.

It was a collective term for Magical Beasts that had the unmistakable appearance of a fish for their head and torso but possessed arms and legs like a human.

Although they had slightly different characteristics depending on the region and type, they were classified together because they shared enough traits to be called by a collective name.

When a distinction was necessary, it was usually just by adding a description of their appearance based on their features, like ‘Red-Headed’ or ‘Black-Spotted’.

Among them, the Deep Sea People that appeared here on the ‘Shandong Peninsula’ had the prefix ‘Hunchbacked’.

Their only distinguishing feature was the long spinal thorns extending from their hunched backs; they were otherwise unremarkable Deep Sea People.

That is.

…at least, that’s what they were to other people.

‘…A mutation.’

Namgung Soso didn’t think the difference between these ‘Hunchbacked Deep Sea People’ and other Deep Sea People was simply their hunched backs.

It hadn't been long, but as a 1-Star Hero who had participated in the Anti-Demon Front on other coasts several times, she could be sure.

There was some more fundamental difference between the Deep Sea People from other places and those of the Shandong Peninsula.

How should I put it?

Would it be right to say that the Deep Sea People appearing on the Shandong Peninsula were a bit more ‘unpleasant’?

It wasn't because of the stench, nor their appearance.

It was a judgment made in the realm of ‘intuition’, so it was difficult to explain to others, but she felt an inexplicable unpleasantness every time she killed a Hunchbacked Deep Sea Person.

Like someone was cackling with a piercing laugh in her ear, like some unknown entity was voyeuristically watching her.

As if she could be devoured by someone at any moment.

A strange and unpleasant sense of fear.

Of course, given that none of the other New Demon Cult members who were with her had the same experience, it was highly likely that it was just a matter of her own feelings.

But strangely, her intuition told her it wasn't a lie.

…She could only hope that at this moment, the unknown fear she had been ignoring wouldn't return as a reality.

Whoooosh—

The wind blew fiercely once.

Before she knew it, the black shadows that had filled the distant sea floor now loomed just off the bay.

Creatures with repulsive appearances, covered in ultramarine scales, began to pull their bodies out of the water one by one.

Gulp—

With the battle imminent, Namgung Soso shifted her gaze back to U-jin.

‘…….’

Normally, at this timing, the standard procedure would be to advance and push up the initial line to start the battle early.

Regardless of the timing, it was painfully obvious that the front line would be pushed back while trying to stop a horde of this size, and they didn't have a strategy that would benefit from pulling the line back like this.

Nevertheless, the reason she was waiting like this was.

‘…What on earth did he prepare?’

Of course, because of U-jin and his party, who were standing far ahead of the front line with their backs to her.

They wouldn't be standing in such a dangerous position without any basis, and if he went so far as to ask her to ‘catch any that slip through,’ she figured he must have prepared something.

But just by looking, she had no idea what it could be.

Of course, some ideas came to mind.

‘…A large-scale hidden trap device?’

The trap of a strategist that collapsed half of the Empire's northern Anti-Demon Front, which she had experienced as a soldier before being appointed a 1-Star Hero.

‘…A tremendous technique that requires a great sacrifice?’

The secret weapon of Jinwonjingi that she had only heard of in rumors.

‘…Or, the magic of The Order?’

A mass-destruction Magic Circle from The Order that could overturn a numerical disadvantage in an instant.

Having participated in the Anti-Demon Front, she had heard and seen many things, so such thoughts flashed through her mind for a moment.

But she knew better than anyone that all of those things were ‘impossible’ to appear in the current sudden battle situation, so they were soon erased from her mind.

Gulp—

And so.

As Namgung Soso waited with great tension, trying to figure out what on earth U-jin had prepared,

Paaak—!

The sound signaling the start of the battle finally reached her ears.

“……?”

Namgung Soso tilted her head.

Paaak—!

It wasn't the sound of a large-scale trap device activating.

It wasn't the sound of a great technique requiring a huge sacrifice being unleashed.

Nor was it the characteristic resonance of a mass-destruction Magic Circle from The Order being deployed.

It was just.

Paaak—!

The sound of U-jin's impact, smashing a Deep Sea Person's head with his right fist without any particular weapon.

The scene that followed was also not something she had imagined.

In the blind spot created by U-jin's first strike, his companion smoothly took the position.

Ssaek—!

She simply cut down a Deep Sea Person in that direction with an ordinary black sword.

A basic attack.

An evasion, and then another basic attack.

A series of unremarkable, concise attacks, optimized only for striking the vitals of the opponent in front of them, continued.

This simple battle scene, so common it felt almost boring, was something Namgung Soso had seen and done to death as a soldier participating in the War against Demons.

In other words.

‘…A dogfight.’

Yes.

With no particular strategy, no plan, no cause and effect, nothing.

Just a reckless battle, moving one's limbs simply to survive and kill in the immediate moment.

It was truly a plain and chaotic battle that perfectly fit the term ‘dogfight’.

But.

Namgung Soso, who was quietly witnessing this unremarkable battle,

“No way…”

Couldn't help but let a gasp of astonishment escape her lips.

“How on earth…”

The reason was simple.

The repetition of that unremarkable battle she had seen countless times.

Strangely.

Truly, strangely.

Was holding back the thousands of Deep Sea People.

Literally, ‘without letting a single one through’.