Right in front of Sid, the dark faction had been neatly corralled—blocked by the Central Plaza's barrier, clustered into a single, dense mass outside it.
The Plaza itself was protected. The five shelters were also far enough away.
Meaning: if Sid dropped that spell here, it wouldn't hit allies, and it would inflict maximum casualties.
"Brave… was all of this really inside your calculations?"
Sid replayed Finn's earlier orders in his head and realized something chilling:
Finn wasn't just commanding Orario—he was commanding the dark faction's movements too.
He'd predicted they would send Chaldo as the spearhead to grind down Orario's high-end strength.
He'd predicted that once they realized the shelters were a trap, they would panic and rush the Plaza to force the barrier early.
Even the spell Sid had only recently learned was a key piece in Finn's plan.
"It just happened to line up," Finn said with a faint smile, pointing at the thickest knot of enemies. "You confident?"
Finn's angle was perfect—Sid's blast wouldn't clip Orario's side.
The only victim, later, would be the city's streets… and possibly Guild Master Royman's blood pressure.
"…Of course."
Sid didn't have a reason to refuse. Inside, he was suffering.
If he killed this many enemies with one spell, how much experience would he gain?
The "distant dream" of reaching Level 3 had already become uncomfortably close because of a long chain of accidents.
At this rate, how was he supposed to keep living as a background extra?
He stalled for a moment, searching for an excuse.
He found none.
If resistance was impossible, then he'd at least enjoy the performance.
"This strike will shatter the heavens, make the earth tremble, and become the blood-soaked applause of darkness!"
Sid covered his left eye with one hand and recited an ominous chant, dripping with melodrama.
"…That's not the same as last time," Raul muttered behind him.
He had a strong suspicion Sid was yelling cool lines because he thought they sounded cool, and that none of it was a real incantation.
"Oh?"
Finn felt it—overwhelming magic compressing in Sid's hands, swelling into a searing flood of power.
He'd heard Riveria describe this spell. He'd felt the Dungeon quake.
But seeing it now, up close, he revised his estimate on the spot.
This was even stronger than he'd predicted.
"The dark faction's end is here."
The pressure in Finn's chest finally loosened.
He had looked cold and unshaken in front of Royman. Relaxed in front of Raul.
None of that had been his true feelings.
How could he not carry weight, commanding a war like this?
He had simply crushed it down and worn the face of "everything is under control."
But now—now he could finally breathe.
He knew he'd won.
"Even if you somehow survive this, you won't have the right to rule Orario," Finn murmured, eyes fixed on the enemy cluster. "Only true strength earns that right."
The Conquerors had no interest in governance. The dark faction's elite would be vaporized.
Even if they "won," as long as Orario preserved its remaining strong, it would rise again.
"I am the king!"
While Finn's thoughts drifted, Sid fired.
A blazing, explosive energy cannon erupted from his hands.
The dark faction's elites didn't even have time to dodge. They could only watch, frozen, as the heat swallowed them whole.
They didn't see what came next:
The beam punched through buildings, through streets, through the outer wall—carving a straight, incandescent line that kept going, all the way beyond Orario.
"Guh… cough—no way…"
Valletta stared at the aftermath in disbelief.
She'd been caught near the edge of the blast zone. But years of living on a knife's edge had sharpened her instincts.
She sensed death and barely threw herself aside in time.
Even so, the shockwave flung her into the distance. She slammed into a wall and spat blood.
She'd survived.
But she didn't feel lucky.
"How?!" she screamed, staring at the ruin. "Didn't 'Silence' say that spell wasn't Riveria's?! Didn't they say that mysterious adventurer wouldn't cooperate with Orario?! Why—why did it turn out like this?!"
At this point, Valletta could no longer deny it.
Her own "decision" had been steered—remotely—by Finn.
And that only made it worse.
That day, the Dungeon shook. How could she not know what kind of spell could cause that?
In all of Orario, only two candidates existed.
Exclude Riveria, the strongest public mage.
Exclude the hidden "mysterious Conqueror."
Then there was only one answer left.
"Damn Orario… there's another expert?!"
Valletta regretted everything.
She truly had not known Orario had this many hidden cards.
If she'd known, she would've hidden the Conquerors too—then brought them out at the single decisive moment to crush Orario outright.
But regret was useless now.
Because in her despairing gaze, that same terrifying energy started to gather again.
"Sid. This is the last panacea we have left. Drink it, aim there, and fire one more time."
Finn hauled the collapsed Sid up and pointed to another direction.
Just as he'd calculated: no allies were there, yet the dark faction had surged into that lane and still hadn't fully retreated.
One more blast—and the dark faction would be finished.
After that, Sid wouldn't need to do anything else. If the enemy had a brain, they'd scatter and hide.
"…All right."
Sid knew he had no reason to refuse. He swallowed the panacea.
Wasn't Orario's supply already at rock bottom?
How did they still have something like this?
But medicine in hand meant only one thing:
Round two. Same show.
As the familiar roar built again, Sid looked at the already-destroyed streets and felt as if his organs were being torn out.
At that moment, his suffering surpassed even Royman's.
He had to "eat" this absurd amount of experience… twice?
The more Sid thought, the more he regretted it.
He was wrong. Completely wrong.
He never should've joined Astraea's familia in the first place.
If he hadn't joined, he wouldn't have become siblings with Alise.
If he hadn't become her sibling, he wouldn't have been gifted that precious grimoire.
And if that cursed grimoire hadn't existed, he wouldn't be about to hit Level 3 at this insane speed.
Fueled by grief and indignation, Sid collapsed again, and Raul carried him into the shelter.
"…What a promising junior," Finn murmured, gripping his spear. "My job as commander ends here. Now I have to gamble my life."
Tonight, the dark faction would learn what Finn's fierce spear could really do.
Meanwhile, inside the shelter, Sid slipped into the shadows, suppressed his presence, found a gap—and vanished.
Background Extra Sid's shift was over.
Now it was Shadow's turn.
But unlike every other transformation, there was no thrill this time.
Behind the slime mask was a face that looked dead inside.
"O vast heavens… why are you so cruel to me?"
....
My Patreon : patreon/RuneA
If you want to read the novel in advance, you can subscribe for early access. I also have many more novels in my collection that you might be interested in
I upload ten novels a day, with 3 to 4 chapters per title depending on the length. If you're following a particular series, please wait your turn a little
If there's a particular novel you're enjoying on Patron, please give it a 'like' so I know to focus on it