I got tired of looking at the monsters that were approaching from all directions. The monsters didn’t look strong, but since there were so many of them, I couldn’t help but constantly remind myself that we were in a dangerous situation.

I understood why Kim Hyun-Sung felt that we didn’t have enough people before coming in here.

No matter how strong Kim Hyun-Sung and Park Deok-Gu were, they wouldn’t be able to handle these many monsters by themselves. Jung Jin-Ho’s party also looked as if they didn’t want to be here. Jung Jin-Ho looked like he was thinking about whether they would be able to get out of here alive, however, he didn’t seem like he was panicking.

‘We can survive.’

We would definitely survive.

Of course, I was going to save the mana that I was going to use for the spells, and even while constantly reciting the spells, I tightened my grip around my spear.

“Deok-Gu,” I called out.

“I know,” he said.

Park Deok-Gu, Kim Hyun-Sung, and Jung Jin-Ho moved to the front. Park Deok-Gu properly blocked the center and maintained close formation. The two parties that were thinking about how to survive this started to converge. I was worried about our backs, but these guys weren’t dumb enough to stab our back in a situation like this. It was the same for Kim Hyun-Sung.

Getting out of this reality that was about to hit us was a priority, so everyone grabbed their swords and charged into the monsters.

Boom!

“Gyahhhhh!”

“Disgusting bastards!”

Monsters charged at us in groups of twos and threes. Park Deok-Gu was trying his best to block them by crouching down and holding tightly onto his shield. I didn’t have to worry about my spear missing because there were targets everywhere.

I felt my spear piercing into them, but I didn’t have the luxury to notice the odd sensation because I had to repeatedly stab them so that both Park Deok-Gu and Kim Hyun-Sung in front of us wouldn’t be overwhelmed.

“Concentrate as much as you can! As much as you can!” Kim Hyun-Sung shouted.

“Hyung-nim and noonim, stay right behind me! If you fall back, I can’t do anything about it,” Park Deok-Gu said.

“O-Okay,” I answered.

“Gyahhhhhh!”

I guess it was getting difficult for them to continue holding back the monsters because it felt like we were getting pushed back towards the iron gate.

Park Deok-Gu used his large body to swing his shield. He created space for us to move in while Kim Hyun-Sung and Jung Jin-Ho either swung their swords or pushed away the monsters that charged towards them.

‘They’re strong.’

These two were definitely strong. Not only was Jung Jin-Ho blocking them using his small shield and then stabbing them, but Kim Hyun-Sung was taking care of me and Jung Ha-Yan while watching Jung Jin-Ho at the same time. He was worried that his party might attack us.

‘You don’t need to worry about them, Hyun-Sung.’

“Ahhhhhh!”

“Ahhh!”

Jung Jin-Ho’s lackeys were in a panic, so of course, they didn’t have the luxury to target us. While biting their lips, they were trying their best to block the monsters that were trying to kill them.

The monsters’ blood kept splattering on my spear and face and when their organs fell on the ground, the ground became slippery. I couldn’t help but frown after smelling the foul odor, but because of the chaotic situation, I barely had time to process it.

“Gyahhhhh!”

In order to overcome the disturbing cries of the monsters and our fears, we all screamed.

“Heup!”

Boom!

Seeing a monster flying off whenever Park Deok-Gu swung his shield was a sight to see.

‘You pig! You’re doing great.’

Even though his potential stats weren't that high, the current Park Deok-Gu was really strong. Park Deok-Gu’s strength was a type of strength that was different from Kim Hyun-Sung and Jung Jin-Ho’s. I was speechless when I saw how his endurance points were in the mid to high 30s. He endured any attacks that grazed past him.

‘I underestimated him.’

I judged him based on his stats, so I underestimated him. The Park Deok-Gu that I was seeing right now was more intimidating than both Kim Hyun-Sung and Jung Jin-Ho combined. His large frame created an overwhelming presence.

Even though the strength of his stats wasn’t high and his magic was basically nonexistent, the shieldbearer that was standing in place wasn’t a simple meatshield. He knew where to block, as well as how and when to attack. He didn’t seem to be in trouble even while blocking an unknown number of monsters.

‘Is this guy even human?’

He was so strong that I couldn’t help but think that. Of course, it wasn’t that Park Deok-Gu wasn’t scared. After all, he was kind-hearted and when we had gone out on our first hunt together, he had been busy running away from the monster. However, despite his predicament back then, he wasn’t leaving me on my own. Right now, even though he looked overwhelmed and terrified, he didn’t run away like the first time. This was probably because he wasn’t worried about the formation collapsing or because he suddenly felt confident. His head, which was filled with muscles, wasn’t capable of having those thoughts. It was nothing more than an assumption, but the pig Park Deok-Gu looked like he didn’t want me and Jung Ha-Yan to either get hurt or die.

“Stay close to me, hyung-nim! Stay close to me no matter what!” Park Deok-Gu yelled.

“I have been behind you the entire time, you pig. Concentrate,” I told him.

“You have to stick right behind me! Behind me!” He yelled again.

“Got it,” I said.

I could tell by how he kept on checking in on us.

‘This pig…’

Even though he didn’t have any large injuries and the injuries he suffered were mostly shallow cuts, I was a bit worried about how the monsters kept focusing their attacks on Park Deok-Gu. After considering the things that could happen after this fight, I concluded that this fight wasn’t going so well.

That was when I heard Jung Ha-Yan’s spell.

“Wind Bomb.”

Boom!

With that sound, the monsters were pushed back. They either hit the ground or the ceiling and because of the pressure of the wind, they splattered all over, but the situation wasn’t all that great.

‘She needs to save it…’

Jung Ha-Yan and I needed to save our mana as much as possible and even though she possessed more mana than me, she didn’t have an unlimited amount of mana.

Our party couldn’t fall before Jung Jin-Ho’s party and even though they were trying their best to block the monsters, we needed to minimize our mana consumption.

While I was thinking about what to say, I couldn’t help but smile discreetly while watching the battle.

‘Haha.’

It was probably intentional because, considering the range of Jung Ha-Yan’s magic, I found the answer I was looking for. Jung Ha-Yan’s magic landed exactly between the monsters that Park Deok-Gu and Kim Hyun-Sung were blocking. To make things clear, Jung Jin-Ho’s party, who was fighting on the left side, didn’t get any help from her magic, so the burden only increased for Jung Jin-Ho and his lackeys. I did feel a little bad because they were doing their best to hold them off and compared to them, we had it a bit easier.

Thanks to Jung Ha-Yan’s magic, the number of monsters decreased a lot and even though there was a brief respite, we still had no time to catch our breath.

‘Nice, Jung Ha-Yan.’

There were times when I thought she was slow-witted, but she was smarter than I thought. Park Deok-Gu and Kim Hyun-Sung were able to relax a bit and of course, they weren’t thinking about supporting the party on the left side.

“We need to maintain our line!”

There was no way we could maintain our lines because the party in the left area continued on their attacks.

“Catch your breath, Deok-Gu,” I told him.

“I-I was just about to do that. I survived thanks to noonim,” he said.

At this point, Jung Jin-Ho’s party was the busy one. Jung Jin-Ho was able to use magic, but since he wanted to hide the fact that he was a magic swordsman, he didn’t use his magic for his lackeys. In the end, they released hysterical screams.

“Please help us!”

“Help us out!”

“Please use the same magic you just used!”

They wanted her to use the same magic, so I glanced over Jung Ha-Yan and discreetly shook my head.

Since they had Jung Jin-Ho, they could easily block them. They might get their arms bitten or be at a disadvantage during the fight, but in this situation, they should be able to endure through all these and survive.

Yoo Seok-Woo also shouted towards Jung Ha-Yan. “Miss Ha-Yan!”

“H-Hold on. I-I’m recharging my mana…” she said.

“Damn it…ahhhh!” Yoo Seok-Woo yelled.

In the meantime, I couldn’t help but exclaim when an awesome monster injured his arm, but despite that, he didn’t stop swinging his sword.

Why?

Because he knew that he would die if he stopped. The situation was starting to become interesting, but it was unfortunate that I couldn’t laugh out loud.

“You can do it!”

Wounds started to form on the members that were in Jung Jin-Ho’s party.

‘This is great. Very good.’

Even Jung Jin-Ho started getting injuries as well. He might be stronger than I imagined, but this was a place that even Kim Hyun-Sung didn’t want to enter on his own. Jung Jin-Ho couldn’t do everything by himself so I screamed out loud once more.

“You can do it! I believe! In all of you!”

“Are you still not ready Mr. Ki-Young?” Jung Jin-Ho asked.

“A little more…”

“Hurry!”

“You can do it. I’m sure you can block them! Please wait a bit longer,” I said.

When I screamed while attacking with my spear in a more relaxed manner, they seemed to think that we were in a really critical situation. The left party already looked away since they found it difficult to even look in our direction.

“Ack! Damn it!!”

A monster bit one of their legs, so they would probably have to participate in future fights while limping.

“Damn it, hurry! Hurry!! Your magic!” they shouted.

“I-It’s almost done!” Jung Ha-Yan said.

She already finished casting it a long time ago, so I thought it would be best to use it right as the monsters broke through their defenses, but I kind of didn’t want to help them out.

I was able to use my magic twice at most, and if I didn’t consider the things that could happen afterward, three would be my limit.

Based on the situation, it was right to help them out, but at the same time, I wanted to put pressure on them. When five people gather, there was always one person that was trash and I had a feeling that I was going to be that trash today.

“Fire ball!”

Boom!

“Gyahhhhh!”

Large balls of fire started raining down on the left side and with a loud roar, the left side obtained a moment to relax. Not only did my magic turn the monsters into balls of fire, but those that got touched by the debris were also affected. It seemed like fire-type magic was useless in this terrain.

Since I had used up a large amount of mana, I would feel slightly disappointed if it didn’t have that much of an effect, at the least.

After seeing my fire magic rain down, Jung Jin-Ho’s party looked a bit relieved because they thought that they could finally relax a bit. However, the aftermath of the magic didn’t end there.

“Gyahhhhh!”

A frown appeared on their faces.

Everything was perfect.

They were able to relax because of my magic. They finally had the chance to rest for a moment. But there was one problem. The fire was moving between the crowd of monsters and as they got tangled up, they created an impressive fireworks display.

But the monsters only felt the pain for a moment for the only thing the monsters could think about was eating, so they started rushing towards where they were originally headed and they seemed a bit more furious than before.

“Gyahhhhh!”

I couldn’t tell whether they were screaming or were excited, but the way they charged towards Jung Jin-Ho’s party while being on fire was a sight to see.

‘It’s a burning monster, you murderers!’

“Damn it!!”

“I-I’m sorry! I-I didn’t know that something like this…” Jung Ha-Yan said.

It was a type of monster that didn’t exist here, so they were now facing a new type of monster.

“I’m sorry,” I said.