Originally, Zaun, which should have been scattered and picked off one by one, had created something resembling a formation.
It began with the Family Head, Alexandra, and Rynox leading the front, using them as an invisible wall to block the entire frontline.
Because they had to detour around those three, the lizard cavalry couldn't secure the momentum to charge and had to reveal all their movements.
Moreover, before some of the cavalry could even charge, Enkrid had sent out Anahera to attack first, disrupting their formation and inducing chaotic battle.
Even so, Heskal showed no signs of panic.
'It would be better to charge Ragna instead of Anahera.'
That could have made them flustered, but it would be a waste to do that.
If the Family Head was a fortress wall, then Ragna was a catapult. He should fly in and deliver impact.
No one was expecting a catapult, so there was no reason not to use it.
Above all, he didn't have the leisure to go all the way to Ragna and relay orders.
He could only trust him to handle it himself.
Enkrid's gaze moved to one side. He hadn't heard any particular sound. It was closer to his senses spreading wide and thin, catching strange signs.
Even that sign was merely someone secretly waving their hand behind his back, but right now it felt like he could sense it even if someone just breathed from over ten steps away.
Even in the storm, his senses perceived the surroundings with utmost sharpness.
Enkrid rolled his eyes and, guided by instinct, found his opponent and captured them in his sight.
He could see some of the lizard cavalry charging toward Rilee extending their hands.
A monster covered in black scales mixed with red, with a pointed snout, came into view.
'Variant individual.'
A monster that could earn a name if it survived long enough.
Hidden among them was a monster army with supernatural abilities that made Scaler hordes look like cute children.
At the same time, Anahera also reacted to their attack and shouted.
"Someone's grabbing me!"
These words burst out even though no one was actually grabbing her arms or legs. Enkrid interpreted the meaning contained in her brief words.
'Psychokinesis.'
Enkrid thrust his sword into the ground while spreading his vision wider and opening his senses further. Several monsters moving unnaturally were caught in his senses.
He then received incoming information more sensitively. He saw, heard, smelled, tasted, and felt.
The information entering his mind recombined and arranged itself as Enkrid desired.
As clear as black dots on a white canvas, he detected all those with supernatural abilities within his perception range.
Apart from opening his senses to detect enemies like this, Enkrid didn't rest his hands either.
He drew two horn-trumpet daggers from the sheath on his chest, gripping one in each hand.
Jaxen had said they were the most detested weapons on the continent.
"You mean it makes sound louder instead of quieter? That's the worst."
It was indeed a weapon that didn't suit Jaxen's techniques or aesthetics.
His thoughts were brief, and his actions continued without pause. He also captured with his eyes the several enemies he felt with his five senses. Everything, including the Scalers extending their hands, appeared to move slowly.
A Knight's thinking speed is several times faster than ordinary people. It felt like sneaking through gaps in time to secretly observe.
This was probably why idle thoughts crept into his mind.
'Single point of focus.'
When perceiving slowed time, pressure is applied to the body as if buried in mud, but Will swirls through his entire body, adding strength.
Then he could move as desired even within mud.
What was needed now? To throw and hit the target.
He concentrated. He mixed Jaxen's techniques with what he had observed and learned from Rilee. He extended both arms backward simultaneously. After condensing enough force to hit his targets, he swung his arms loaded with Will. Both arms crossed like whips in front of his chest, and the horn-trumpet daggers in his hands flew through the air, tearing it apart.
Bang! Bang! Toot!
The daggers that flew through the air with short trumpet sounds pierced through the heads of two Scalers who had been extending their hands into the air.
The bang-bang noise was clearly audible even through the raging storm.
The daggers hadn't lodged—they had pierced through. In other words, holes larger than fists had formed in their heads.
If holes form in heads, even trolls, not just Scalers, would have difficulty surviving.
The one who had been extending his hand to use psychokinesis collapsed as his body crumbled, falling with a splash onto the muddy water.
Enkrid pulled out the sword he had thrust into the ground and said.
"Leave the variant individuals alone."
It seemed he could no longer just watch.
There appeared to be more than one or two with supernatural abilities.
Then it couldn't be helped.
He would have to dive directly into that interesting battlefield.
Moreover, the variant monsters with supernatural abilities were only the first of what they had prepared.
Rumble!
Along with lightning, ominousness was felt from the sky above. Looking up at the sky, he could see raindrops gathering beneath the dark clouds covering overhead, forming a large shape.
It was as if a giant snake had appeared in the sky. Not a dragon. A long-bodied serpent floated overhead, taking the monsters' side.
The ominous sensation striking the back of his head confirmed it was sorcery.
"I wondered when you'd show it."
Enkrid muttered.
The effect of the sorcery was clear. From the moment the snake floated in the air, the monsters became stronger.
Hissssss!
As the noise the Scalers were emitting rang more clearly in his ears, his senses sounded an alarm.
"Hold on."
Enkrid said as he passed by Rilee's side.
"I'm already doing that without you telling me!"
As Enkrid passed Rilee, he smoothly swung his sword. Tri-Iron traced a curved line from bottom to top, sweeping the neck of a lizard that had been secretly approaching from the ground.
Slash, crack!
It was as if he had grabbed and yanked out the neck with a bladed whip.
The blade circled around the monster's neck, cutting and severing it.
It was a creature excellent at hiding its presence, but the sound of rainwater hitting the ground was different, and some form was captured following the rain streams, so he killed it.
'Heskal.'
Enkrid seemed to understand what he wanted.
If people like Krais or Abnier could see the current battlefield, they would have said this:
"In the end, you want to settle it with a decisive blow."
To add to that, he intended to drain all of his allies' strength before that decisive blow.
Both physically and metaphorically.
Charge monsters to drain the strength of those who had reached Knight level, and if necessary, charge the remaining Zaun forces to kill their families. Thus shaking even their hearts.
Knights were asymmetric forces. If he could kill them, throwing thousands of monsters would be profitable.
'Excellent.'
Heskal was also outstanding as a tactician.
Enkrid had no choice but to follow Heskal's intentions to some extent.
He had tried to fight while draining strength, and he couldn't ignore that. However, he had only prevented killing everyone including Rilee under the pretext of shaking their hearts.
If they were breached, the path to Zaun would open. Then he couldn't protect the rear either.
Through instinct conveyed by senses sharpened to a keen edge, Enkrid cast his gaze to a distant place and suddenly shouted.
"Duck your heads!"
Wasn't this going a bit too far?
Such thoughts briefly crossed his mind.
The serpent form summoned by sorcery enhanced the monsters' physical abilities like muscle strength beyond normal levels.
Mixed among them were variant individuals. Monsters with supernatural abilities, no less.
On top of that, a monster far larger than other monsters—one difficult to see even in the Demon Realm—raised its head from behind.
Shaaaaa.
Hundreds of snakes attached to its head were that monster's symbol. That symbol encompassed the battlefield. A monster that spread petrification curses when eyes met—Medusa.
Its body seemed five times larger than a Scaler. A monster even larger than giants.
Medusa's petrification curse wouldn't work unconditionally. If one possessed Will, it was possible to endure it to some extent. Though the premise of having to endure it was problematic itself.
Because that much Will used for fighting would be insufficient.
He had to block the monster horde mixed with supernatural ability monsters while enduring the curse that mixed stone dust into blood.
When just fighting, allies had the advantage; when supernatural ability monsters mixed in, it was even; when the sorcery snake floated in the sky, they were at a disadvantage; and with Medusa's appearance again, defeat was confirmed.
Moreover, Heskal had used his head here too.
'He used Medusa as a tactical tool.'
Rather than charging her, he made her exert coercive force over the entire battlefield.
From here, he could also understand where the sorcery's power originated.
Medusa was a tactical tool, a medium for sorcery, and a symbol.
The enemy's forces were clearly superior to their allies. Along with this were a sorcerer and a legendary alchemist.
If that specter called Dremül became a god as he desired, would he be called Dremül of Disease or something like that?
Enkrid thought it was better to fight without looking rather than consume Will. Even if Will overflowed within his body, part of the momentarily available Will would be mortgaged.
And he knew that Zaun's swordsmen could also fight without looking. These were people who had blindfolded sparring matches since they were ten years old. He also knew that such training existed among Zaun's sword sense training.
"Duck your heads and fight! You just don't look!"
Enkrid shouted again. Though he himself kept his head held high.
He was taking a final look around to see if there was anything left that needed to be confirmed with his eyes.
Medusa cursed the act of seeing itself.
Above this, flapping wing sounds were heard in the air overhead.
Heskal had deliberately held back the winged ones and only now released them. He used them in pairs with Medusa.
'He aimed for synergy between tactical tools and flying units.'
Or perhaps those winged creatures needed sorcery to encompass the battlefield in order to fly through the storm.
Enkrid ignored Medusa's curse and still looked ahead. He trusted his ceaselessly flowing Will and also trusted his Will of Refusal.
It actually worked out that way. Medusa's curse didn't affect his body.
If he were an ordinary person, by now his entire body would have stiffened starting from his skin.
"I guess those should be called air troops."
As he swept up his wet hair, his thought was that this would be quite dangerous.
Unless this side could also pull out something hidden and create a reversal, they would definitely lose.
He knew this through instinct and also perceived it through calculation.
Well, then he just needed to do that.
Luagarne-style tactical swordsmanship isn't completed by watching from behind. Instinct draws out what lies dormant in the unconscious and combines it to provide answers.
That included one's own military force as well.
Enkrid drew a path in his mind through instinct and intuition.
His heated mind and concentration showed him the path he should walk and advance on. This was also related to insights he had recently gained.
Enkrid lowered his head.
'Rynox uses restrained Will to create waves.'
He applied what he had learned by watching his swordsmanship. Though Enkrid wasn't a genius, it could be said he had talent when it came to handling Will.
Actually, moving Will was less about talent and more about being able to train unlimited repetitions with overflowing Will.
That's why learning advanced techniques was easier than Zaun's basic training.
'Restraint.'
He wouldn't look at Medusa. Then he hid his Will. Simultaneously matching his wavelength with his surroundings—this was assimilation.
Ironically, only after coming here did he awaken the assimilation that Azpen's Knight Jamal had shown before.
If Rem saw this now.
"No, fuck, I really don't understand—why can you do that only now?"
Wouldn't he get angry like that?
He could almost hear the voice of that guy questioning why he couldn't do it when taught long ago but could do it now.
Enkrid melted into the battlefield as he was.
Then, distributing his breathing thin, long, and evenly, he stuck his tongue out slightly to taste the air and falling rainwater.
Sweet-bitter scents conveyed information through taste. He gauged distance, direction, and position. It wasn't precise. He could only sense existence.
It seemed it would be fine to close his eyes entirely. So he closed his eyes.
Instead of seeing with his eyes, he opened his ears. Hearing replaced sight.
There was no need to use echolocation. The sound of rain would substitute for that.
Whoosh.
The sound of rain disappeared, and soon Enkrid's world turned black and white. Only then could he see everything.
Enemy positions and locations, even what they were doing.
Following the path drawn by Luagarne-style tactical swordsmanship in his mind, Enkrid ran.
None of Zaun, including Rilee, could capture his movements. Naturally, neither could the enemies.
He moved in an assimilated state, only awakening the Will hidden through restraint in front of his targets.
First was another Scaler who was just raising his hand to use psychokinesis.
Enkrid drew Penna and stabbed upward from beneath the creature's jaw.
Thunk!
The blade penetrated the head, displaying black blood, brain matter, and pieces of brain outside the skull.
Faster than stabbing, he withdrew Penna, shook off the blood, sheathed it again, and leaped eighteen steps to the side. It looked like walking but the speed was the same as running.
Moving to the side like that, an Owlbear that specialized in hiding its presence was just about to scatter poisoned feathers.
Thud thud thud. Feathers that could pierce through storms raised their heads like angry beasts.
Each feather covering its entire body was like a poisoned dart. If left alone, someone might get hurt. Of course, the Owlbear couldn't achieve its intended purpose.
Tri-Iron's true-side blade cut through the Owlbear's steel-strength-equivalent feathers and neck.
Black blood fountained from the severed neck's cross-section, but rainwater pouring from the sky mixed with the spurting blood, diluting it.
To Enkrid's auditory vision, it only looked like two different-textured liquids mixing.
Enkrid kept moving. While in an assimilated state, detecting enemies through hearing and waves, using restrained Will only at necessary moments.
Stab!
The next Scaler had a particularly hard body, but Penna, stabbing through the eye socket, split the head directly.
Though it didn't die immediately, there was no need to intervene again.
Next again.
There were roughly three types of supernatural abilities.
Those who used psychokinesis, those with particularly hard bodies, and finally those with the specialty of hiding their presence.
Among these, Enkrid mainly killed the third type—those who hid their presence.
The black and white world was like a training ground permitted only to him.
It was also like being the only one free on a spider's web.
Aker's web—establishing order for everything and extending the sword. Mixing the orthodox sword style he had learned and mastered with Luagarne-style tactical swordsmanship. From then on, this wasn't such a difficult task.
It was just something he could do.
And with just that something he could do, Enkrid could ensure that not a single person with the surname Zaun near him would die.