No matter how much power he needed, and even if they were once great warriors, he didn’t want to mobilize old, retired warriors.

“I’ll ask for help if we need it later, so why don’t you old warriors leave this glorious battle to the younger ones?”

[Hmm, if you put it that way, I guess we can’t help it.]

[But this is the only time we’re giving this up.]

“Ahaha, okay.”

‘Phew, thank god they’re not being persistent.’

The old warriors had a strong will, but weak warriors were nothing more than a burden. What Han-Yeol needed from them was not physical strength, but the knowledge and wisdom of having lived a long life as a warrior.

“Is that everyone?”

Unlike the joking look he had in his eye when talking to the older warriors, Han-Yeol turned and shot a disdainful gaze at the younger warrior who still hadn’t stepped forward.

[W-Who the hell are you to tell us what to do…!]

Pow!

One female Bastroling from the fox race had barely finished her sentence before a black mana figure attacked her. It quickly rushed toward the female fox race Bastroling and crushed her neck with its arm.

[Agh!]

[A-Argh!]

The female Bastroling struggled, unable to breathe properly.

“If you stay like this, you’re going to die anyway, so do you just want me to kill you now?”

[Argh!]

Thanks to Han-Yeol’s increase in power, Dark Avenger, a simple skill, had become stronger even though its skill level had not increased.

The freezing attribute started to condense in Han-Yeol’s hands.

“Just say the word, and I’ll end your life right now.”

[Aghhhh!]

[G-Great One!]

“Oh, stop interrupting me, Noras. There’s nothing wrong with executing just one person for abandoning their pride, right?”

The word

executing

came out of Han-Yeol’s mouth too easily. He had executed quite a few traitors during his time as Harkan, and the habit had been ingrained in him.

[B-But now is not the time for that. P-Please be patient. These guys are starved and have lived in terror for a long time, so they’re not in their right minds. Please have mercy on their foolishness.]

“Tsk, okay. I’ll forgive them just this once because of you.”

[Thank you.]

‘Phew, what a relief. Just how pathetic have they gotten? I’m starting to get annoyed.’

Noras was siding with the Bastrolings, but Han-Yeol wasn’t necessarily in a good mood.

Shhh. Thud!

Han-Yeol canceled the Dark Avenger, but the female fox Bastroling had already passed out.

“Tsk.”

Han-Yeol shot a disgusted look at the female Bastroling as if he was looking at something dirty, then immediately looked away.

“Is there still no one?”

[W-We’re all ready to take orders from you, Stranger.]

“Oh, really? You guys should’ve done that sooner so I didn’t have to waste my time.”

[U-Ugh!]

Had they regained some of their pride?

Their faces were contorted with shame as they submitted to Han-Yeol.

However, why was Han-Yeol being so forceful? Even though Han-Yeol was human, he favored Bastrolings more than humans, so why?

‘I don’t have time to convince them. Once everything is over, I’m going back to Earth anyway and I won’t see them for a long time. So it's most efficient to control them using fear rather than virtue or persuasion.’

He was willing to convince them if they had at least some pride, but most Bastrolings no longer had any pride left within them. Such weaklings would be too blinded by fear to think clearly and make the right decisions, so there was no use in trying to convince them.

‘I can see where the Great One is coming from, but he’s still too harsh.’

The elephant race had already betrayed Noras, but he still loved his comrades.

‘Dear God, please, let all things be for the good of the Bastro Dimension.’

Noras could only pray.

*

[What? Say that again.]

[T-That’s, umm… The human who killed the two senior sorcerers has entered the Tree of Beginnings region. Headquarters has instructed us to increase our guard, saying that the human might come out leading a Light Faction group hiding there.]

𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

Slam!

[Damn it! That human has beaten two senior sorcerers. There are only intermediate and beginner sorcerers here, so how the hell are we supposed to stop him?]

Only thirty intermediate sorcerers and a hundred beginner sorcerers were controlling the contamination army besieging the Tree of Beginnings region. While the power of the contamination army was great, the hyena race’s lack of sorcerers was overwhelming, and the siege was difficult to maintain.

However, no matter how hard they tried to maintain the siege, their opponent was someone who had killed two senior sorcerers. Even if they outnumbered Han-Yeol, they were still far too weak compared to the senior sorcerers.

‘There’s no way we can go against him!’

Even in this situation, the headquarters only gave orders to protect the region.

‘Damn it, damn it, damn it!’

However, if they ignored the orders from headquarters and did as they pleased, they would be severely punished. They had been put in a difficult situation and were not really able to do anything.

[S-Sorcerer!]

[W-What!]

This sorcerer was already irritated, but when the beginner sorcerer called out to him, the intermediate sorcerers eventually exploded and yelled back. If the beginner sorcerer had called him for no reason, he was going to kill this sorcerer. Fortunately or not, the beginner sorcerer had called out to the intermediate sorcerer for an urgent reason.

Kwang!

[Huh! W-What was that?]

[T-The Light Faction members are coming out of the Tree of Beginnings region in unison!]

[W-What?]

It was really an emergency.

Normally, one senior sorcerer was stationed there at all times in case of an attack by the imprisoned Light Faction members or by the independent army from the outside Light Faction members. But at the moment, all the senior sorcerers had gone off to capture the human from another dimension.

Yet, for some reason, the human had been in the Bastro Dimension for who knew how long, and it drove them nuts.

[W-What are you waiting for!]

[Sorry?]

[Hurry up and stop them with the contamination army!]

[Y-Yes, sir!]

The beginner sorcerer scurried off.

[What an idiot!]

The intermediate sorcerer’s eyes were filled with contempt as he watched the beginner sorcerer run away.

In truth, there was no reason for him to be annoyed at the beginner sorcerer, since he hadn’t done anything wrong. But he was irritated at everything due to his circumstances.

‘I won’t die like this!’

He clenched his jaw and tried to prepare himself for all that was to come, though he wasn’t sure if it would work.

*

[Slaughter all those dirty, smelly bastards!]

[Ahhhhh!]

At Han-Yeol’s signal to fire multiple shots, the Bastro Warriors who could fight burst through the Tree of Beginnings region in unison.

Crush! Crack!

“Khaaa!”

Though the Light Faction warriors had been outclassed by the contamination army so far, they were incredibly powerful when they pushed forward with a strong mindset.

[Slay the rest of the Light Faction! We are an army of victory!]

[Ahhhhhh!]

The contamination army wasn’t the only one surrounding the Tree of Beginnings. Warriors of different races from the Dark Faction were also there in large numbers. Gray hyenas and jackals were the main warriors. They blended in with the contaminant army and began to move quickly.

[Let’s ambush the rear.]

[Good idea.]

Tap, tap, tap.

The jackals, a race characterized by agility and not strength, moved stealthily and quickly to get behind the contaminant army and Light Faction warriors.

Whoosh!

[Huh!]

[W-What was that?]

But just as they thought they were being discrete, a golden being appeared in front of them.

[Wings?]

[It's not a Bastroling?]

As far as they knew, no Bastroling race had wings, except for monsters. They had heard from a fellow merman inhabitant of a second-rank dimension about Chozos. They had wings and lived in nests, and they acted independently.

‘Can it be a Chozo? But there’s no way a Chozo would show up here.’

There was a moment of hesitation. Nonetheless, they still had a job to do.

[Whatever they are, they’re blocking our way. Kill them and clear the way!]

[Okay. Kill it!]

[Ahhhh!]

The jackals were the second most populous race in the Bastro Dimension. Unlike other races, they were also a race that didn’t have much of a sense of belonging, so they didn’t have a lord either.

Currently, the Lareterus were slaughtering some jackals in other parts of the land, but the jackals here followed orders from the hyenas without any trouble.

Clank! Swoosh!

Tayarana also unsheathed her sword in her golden armor.

[...]

She was still silent, or rather, she didn’t have much choice since she didn’t speak the Bastro language and couldn't really hold a conversation.

The jackal warriors felt that they weren’t being overpowered across the entire battlefield, so they charged at Tayarana with great vigor. They courageously attacked her only because they had no information about their opponent or Tayarana’s capabilities. Rather, it wasn’t courage, but arrogance.

Tap, tap!

The jackals were also Bastrolings, so their basic physical abilities far surpassed the physical abilities of humans. They swung their curved blades at Tayarana in unison.

“Kha!”

[Die!]

Whoosh! Pang!

Tayarana lowered her sword to her side and activated the booster under her wings, swooping down toward the jackals.

They collided fast and hard.

Boom!

But the results were overwhelmingly one-sided.

Pow!

[Agh!]

Warriors on both sides used swords—they were specialized in slashing.

But their leader, the first to swing his sword as the head of the jackal race, was completely annihilated before he could even finish. He had literally burst open, and blood scattered in all directions.