The coalition army fell into confusion.
They couldn't understand it—why were the soldiers they'd killed yesterday back on the battlefield today?
Even if they hadn't truly died, shouldn't they at least be severely wounded?
How had they become so lively again overnight?
And when they noticed today's newest anomaly, they grew even more bewildered.
What on earth are those flying drones with mechanical arms overhead?
Why does each arm have a needle attached?
What in the world is it used for?
As this bizarre scene unfolded before them, the soldiers felt confusion quickly turn into fear.
A fear born from witnessing the utterly inexplicable.
They couldn't comprehend how these mercenaries kept coming back from the dead, nor could they imagine what else might await them if the fighting continued.
This phenomenon shattered their understanding and forced them into a terrified speculation: if this continued, what more dreadful things might happen?
Though fear briefly overwhelmed them, the soldiers were still elite professional troops. They quickly regained their composure and threw themselves back into battle.
It was during this fierce clash that they finally discovered the drone's purpose…
Kazdel's mercenaries had adopted a shamelessly defensive five-to-one tactic—five mercenaries protecting one drone behind them at all costs.
They tightly encircled these drones, ensuring nobody could easily destroy them. As soon as a mercenary was killed by the coalition forces, the drone immediately thrust its needle into the fallen body.
And in mere seconds, the fallen mercenary was literally resurrected—even if only a severed head remained, new limbs would instantly regenerate from thin air.
It utterly defied any known law of physics or biology.
Facing such seemingly immortal enemies, the coalition troops finally understood why they had encountered the same mercenaries repeatedly.
This was an undying army.
After three grueling hours of fighting, the mercenaries finally retreated. The coalition quickly noticed a troubling fact: apart from a few weak soldiers killed instantly without hope of revival, most mercenaries had survived with almost no permanent losses.
Whenever critically injured, these mercenaries were immediately healed by K Corp's drones and thrown right back into battle. In other words, unless the coalition could guarantee an instant kill, they faced an endless war of attrition.
The prospect of countless battles against an enemy that essentially had unlimited lives rapidly crushed the coalition's morale.
The opponent seemed to possess infinite retries, but the coalition had no such luxury. Even a single major defeat spelled certain disaster. Meanwhile, Kazdel relentlessly harassed them, chipping away at their strength and psychological resolve.
Under such conditions, it would have been stranger if morale hadn't collapsed.
---
"What do you think they'll do next, Heal?"
Inside Kazdel City, Theresa stood atop the high platform, overlooking the city and the enemy camp beyond.
Heal stood lazily beside her, casually leaning on the railing. Hearing Theresa's question, Heal smiled gently.
"Who knows, Your Highness Theresa. But if you ask me, their next move…"
"…Would either be launching an all-out assault, or temporarily retreating to find some solution to this mess."
"If it were you, what would you choose?" Theresa turned to face Heal, genuinely curious.
Heal pondered briefly, then finally replied:
"They haven't given up yet. After all, there are still reinforcements that haven't arrived."
"So, I'm guessing they'll push recklessly one more time."
...
Heal's guess was accurate.
On the second day, Victoria's rapid-response fleet was finally assembled and dispatched to Kazdel's border battlefield.
With this news, the coalition army's spirits briefly surged.
Fine, you soldiers might survive unless instantly killed—but can you withstand the destructive firepower of our fleet's war machines?
Eager anticipation spread throughout their ranks. By tomorrow afternoon, their first fleet would arrive.
Yet…they were destined never to witness that moment.
Early next morning, startling news arrived: the approaching rapid-response fleet had suddenly stopped in the wasteland, now completely devoid of crew. Seeing this disaster unfold, Victoria panicked and suspended all further fleet movements, withdrawing their deployed forces immediately to reassess.
They took no risks for one simple reason—it was simply too horrifying.
Footage retrieved from the now-abandoned ships showed exactly what had happened:
On the decks, a gentle rain had fallen.
And immediately after, every crew member who touched even a single drop vanished silently and instantly. Bodies rapidly liquefied, shrinking down into clear, harmless puddles flowing across the decks, watering the wilderness below.
It was nothing short of an unprecedented natural disaster.
Some high-ranking officials within Victoria, shaken deeply, even began praying—believing this was divine punishment from an unknown god. Whether or not this was truly the case, deep fear had undeniably taken root.
Thus began a secret investigation, followed by…the final meeting of the three-nation coalition.
...
"What do we do now?" Victoria's representative slammed the table, voice heavy with frustration.
Ursus's delegate shook his head helplessly, offering no good solutions.
Deploying the Internal Guards might help… but Ursus had no desire to use them here.
"If this continues, we'll have no choice but to withdraw our support…"
"Wait a moment," Leithanien's representative suddenly raised his hand, calmly interrupting:
"Recently, we've uncovered new information."
"Aren't you curious where Kazdel got hold of such bizarre and powerful resources?"
"…That Kazdel has a hidden ally shouldn't surprise anyone," the Ursus delegate replied, exchanging cautious glances with Victoria's representative.
But Leithanien's delegate simply smiled knowingly, continuing slowly:
"What if I told you we've already found out who their ally is?"
"We've confirmed it. The extraordinary power Kazdel displayed originated entirely from a recently emerged mobile city known simply as 'The City.'"
"If we prioritize attacking this 'City' first, cutting off Kazdel's support supply lines… then wouldn't defeating mere Kazdel become trivially easy?"
"In short, the advantage is ours!"
"I wonder… what your thoughts are on this?"
As Leithanien's delegate finished speaking, he looked expectantly at the other two representatives. After a moment's consideration, their eyes began to burn with renewed hope.
---
Meanwhile, far away in The City, in a humble wooden cottage.
Obsidian suddenly felt his nose itch and rubbed it absently, then scratched the back of his head with an amused sigh.
"How strange… Is someone talking about me behind my back?"
"Surely no one's foolish enough to actually attack The City, right?"