Before him lay the bodies of a couple of monsters, already brought down and writhing in their death throes. The sight of him blocking the massive strike of a new monster with a thin sword, without being pushed back an inch, was so nonchalant that it bordered on awe-inspiring.

Yuder watched him, stretching out his hand towards the monster that appeared from Kishiar's diagonal blind spot, tearing through space itself.

'Now there.'

As soon as it appeared, the monster sank headfirst into the suddenly softened earth, reaching out its long arms in a floundering panic, its cry resounding like a bird flapping its wings. Unable to resist the monster's frantic struggle, the surrounding trees fell, crumbling with a creaking noise.

"Dodge!"

The cries and screams of people trying to avoid the huge trees falling due to the monster echoed from all around. At about this time, Kishiar, who had been fighting the monster and had just noticed the newly sunken monster, paused to look back at Yuder.

"..."

No words were exchanged, but his intention was clearly felt through the smile he revealed. Yuder continued to scan the surroundings, putting Kishiar, who was slashing at the sunken monster, behind him.

The Eldore siblings rushed towards the mages who were running around in fear, forcibly moving them to a safer rear position. The Cavalry members protected the relocated mages, confronting the monsters that appeared nearby. Some of the courageous mages stayed behind, attacking the monsters with magic tools drawn from their possession, though it didn't seem particularly effective.

'Mages who only use magic tools are probably unable to use attribute magic... Are those who are continuously preparing among them able to use attribute magic?'

In the center, under the protection of their colleagues, a few mages sweated profusely, waving their hands around as faint traces of magic spilled from their fingertips. Seeing one of them struggling to produce a flame after a considerable effort, Yuder unconsciously furrowed his eyebrows.

'Using fire in such a forest. Unless they are certain they can control it, there's a risk it might backfire...'

Shortly after, the monster hit by the hard-earned flame predictably caught fire but didn't die, instead, it thrashed around in a rage.

"Screech!"

"Ah! The fire is spreading to the trees! Quickly, use the water and wind magic tools!"

"What did you say?"

As the trees started to smoke and sway from the fire spread by the rampaging monster, the mages fell into even greater confusion.

"We're out of water, what should we do!"

Despite their strength, even the powerful Finn and Hinn seemed at a loss on how to deal with the fire, their expressions betraying their panic. Sighing, Yuder launched himself towards them, stepping on the wind.

"Step back, please."

Seeing Yuder suddenly appear, stepping on thin air, the mages' eyes widened in surprise. Immediately, he summoned wind to protect them, raising and lowering his hand. Responding to his movement, a stream of water conjured seemingly from thin air assaulted the monster and the burning trees instantly.

"Screeeaam!"

The stream, which normally could have punctured even a rock in an instant, only extinguished the fire when it touched the monster, not inflicting any significant damage and scattered in all directions. It was not an astonishing scene.

'As expected, I can hardly deliver direct damage with my power.'

That was no different from his previous life. Thankfully, he could put out the fire quickly.

With a horrible scream and the smell of burning, amidst the smoke, Yuder drew his sword and powerfully slashed the leg of the monster before him. A rough sensation, like when scratching hard stone, and the intense excitement he hadn't felt in a while exploded in his hand.

The monster's wail tore through his ears. The injured monster swung its arm to crush him like a bug, but Yuder had no intention of obediently receiving its clumsy attack. He deflected the strike and slashed once more at the opposite leg, causing another scream to ring out.

"Aargh!"

The monster toppled over, spewing black fluid, wavering before collapsing to the side. Trees that had been half burnt by the fire collapsed once again. While thinking about how to cut off the writhing monster's breathing, he heard a shout calling for him from behind.

"Yuder!"

"Are you okay?"

The Eldores, who had retreated behind the mages, cut through the smoke and quickly ran toward him like squirrels. Yuder swiftly conveyed his intentions to their worried faces.

"I'm fine. I'll leave the finishing blow to you guys. Deal with it and send the remaining mages back."

"Understood!"

It was comforting to have reliable comrades to depend on. Yuder moved away, listening to the sound of the Eldores eagerly beating the fallen monster into the afterlife, now that they were finally allowed to fight. The moment he escaped the smoke, he felt an increasing sense of massive presences surrounding him.

'...It seems to be occurring sporadically not only around here but also in distant places. It must have something to do with that crack I saw earlier.'

The peculiar crack that had revealed itself before the disaster. He couldn't shake off the feeling that the monsters appearing rapidly after its disappearance were somehow connected.

'Everyone seems to be managing for now, but they're not defeating the monsters fast enough. We don't know how many more will appear, so we should clean up quickly and move...'

Just then, a bright blue aura flew past above Yuder's head, piercing through something before disappearing.

"Aaargh!"

Following that, a monster about the size of a child fell from a tree, its body torn in half. It looked like it had died the moment it had appeared, with its bat-like wings, attached to its limbs, not fully spread.

"Be careful."

Yuder bowed his head a little, feeling somewhat strange as he turned to Kishiar, who had somehow gotten close to him.

"Thank you."

When Kishiar shook his hand once, the black fluid of the monster dripped from the end of his sword and stained the ground. Despite most of the dead monsters around them likely being his work, he didn't seem out of breath, which made the scene seem unreal.

"Currently, there's no problem handling them, but the speed at which these monsters are appearing is strange. There have been few reports of large monsters appearing in such large numbers in a short time."

"Yes, I was thinking the same."

"That crack that disappeared earlier also bothers me. As you said, there might indeed be a close connection between the crack and this unusual event."

As expected, Kishiar had been observing the surroundings and shared Yuder's thoughts. The fact that he didn't dismiss his words made something deep within his chest resonate strongly once again.

The man, oblivious to what his assistant was feeling, surveyed the crumbling forest around them before quickly making a decision.

"We can't stay in one place, or we'll risk being surrounded. We need to force our way through."

"As soon as a mage is appointed to guide us, I'll cut down the trees to make a path."

"Then, it'll be my job to cut down anyone who blocks our way."

"Will you be alright?"

At Yuder's question, Kishiar wore a peculiar smile beneath his hat.

"Well, I think it's I who should be asking that."

"Pardon?"

"Didn't you avoid mentioning that your powers don't fully work against monsters, because you didn't want to expose a potential weakness?"

Yuder's eyes twitched for a moment. He had thought he was fairly good at fighting without revealing his weaknesses, thanks to the plentiful experiences from his past life, but he hadn't expected his secret to be discovered so soon. The fact that Kishiar had accurately pinpointed and prodded at something that even the Eldore siblings, who had dealt the final blow to the monsters on Yuder's behalf multiple times, seemed to be unaware of was incredibly shocking.

"...How did you figure it out so quickly?"

"I figured there must be a reason why my reckless assistant, who never hesitates to step forward, would yield only when it comes to monsters. I was certain of it when I saw you use water earlier."

"..."

"Indeed, revealing a weakness prematurely is not good. The others still seem unaware, but it would've been better if you'd told me before we entered the forest."

At these words, Kishiar once again swung his sword toward Yuder's back. From the lingering smoke, another scream could be heard, followed by the sound of something hefty splitting and falling. As the trees continued to fall in succession, Yuder realized that Kishiar had poured even more strength into this attack than before.

He wondered if Kishiar was angry, but it was hard to gauge his emotions from just the lips concealed under his thick hat.

"I apologize. I thought it wasn't necessary to mention such matters."

Yuder made an apology. To him, not revealing his weaknesses was such a natural act that he hadn't even considered mentioning it, but he belatedly realized that Kishiar may have perceived this as intentional.

'Kishiar informed me of his potential weaknesses beforehand, while I did not. Could he have felt suspicious about that?'

Yuder, unusually flustered, added more to his words.

"I didn't intend to make you uncomfortable, Commander. Still, I won't be a hindrance in this mission."

Kishiar, turning to face him, let out a soft sigh.

"I'm not uncomfortable."

An unknown emotion echoed in his low, resonant voice.

"I just thought that being too competent could be a problem as well."