Lane was defending himself from the arrows flying through the air. The sky seemed to darken for a moment; the sharp whistling sound of the arrows tearing through the air filled his ears. Lane quickly crouched down, pressing his knees into the ground as he sat and gripped his sword tightly with both hands. Arrows howled around him, embedding themselves into the dry soil with sharp clattering sounds.
The rain of arrows finally slowed.
When the last arrow buried itself into the ground and stopped trembling, an eerie silence suddenly fell over the surroundings.
Lane took a deep breath and raised his head to scan the area.
At that very moment, something warm and sticky dripped onto his right shoulder.
Saliva.
........
Lane's body jerked involuntarily. He could feel that disgusting warmth sliding down from his shoulder. His muscles tensed.
He thought to himself.
"Damn it… there's a harpy right above my head…"
Lane tightened his grip on the sword even more. The joints of his fingers turned white. Without hesitating for even a moment, he threw himself forward.
At the same time, a shrill scream echoed from above.
The harpy had attacked.
The creature's wings beat violently as if tearing the air apart, and its claws descended toward Lane. Lane tried to stand up quickly, but the harpy was faster than him. In an instant it pounced on top of him.
Lane, half lying on the ground, raised his sword to defend himself. Steel clashed against the creature's claws and beak, producing sharp metallic sounds.
But the harpy was savage.
The creature's breath, reeking of rotten flesh, struck Lane's face, and its enormous beak snapped open and shut only a few centimeters away. Lane was having serious difficulty escaping from that horrifying mouth.
His muscles trembled.
While pushing his sword upward he thought.
"My mana is exhausted… I can't defend myself right now…!!"
Lane was slowly being overpowered.
The harpy's strength showed no sign of stopping. As it flapped its wings like a mad creature, it suddenly swung one wing sideways.
The wing struck Lane hard.
With the force of the blow, Lane's body lifted off the ground.
For a moment it felt as if the world had spun.
Lane was thrown through the air and crashed into a large tree several meters away. When his body hit the hard bark, a dry cracking sound was heard.
Because he could not defend himself with mana, the full force of the blow struck his body directly.
His internal organs shook.
His chest tightened.
Dark red blood suddenly burst out of Lane's mouth and splattered onto the ground.
"Shit… I thought I was going to die for a second… everything inside me hurts…"
Lane groaned inwardly. The inside of his chest felt like it was burning; every breath made a sharp pain tremble beneath his ribs. He remained there for a few seconds, then clenched his teeth, forcing himself to stand.
Even standing up felt like torture.
His knees were trembling. His legs felt heavy as if they no longer belonged to him. Lane barely managed to remain standing.
In front of him stood a huge harpy.
Its wings were slightly spread, its twisted body leaning forward. Its yellow eyes were locked onto Lane. A muffled growl rose from its throat as it breathed.
They were both alone.
The orcs and the other harpies had already left Lane and moved toward the noise coming from afar. The sound of battle echoed from the other side of the forest.
The poisonous mist had slowly spread everywhere.
The inside of the forest was now filled with a hazy, heavy, suffocating air.
Lane thought to himself.
"I need to kill this creature… no need to rush… I need calm."
Lane closed his eyes.
While holding the sword with both hands, he focused only on his breathing. He thought about inner stillness. He tried to empty his mind. The noise, the pain, the fear… he tried to silence all of them.
He was waiting for a rational and clear moment.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the forest, Edwick and his army were holding their defense against the orcs. The sounds of clashing echoed from afar, steel struck against steel, and war cries spread through the forest with the wind.
But where Lane stood, time seemed to slow down.
The harpy began to walk toward him very calmly.
It was not using its wings. It approached with heavy steps. Its eyes watched Lane without blinking.
Then suddenly it attacked.
..........
The creature suddenly lunged forward.
Even though Lane's eyes were closed, he felt something approaching him with incredible speed. His instincts were screaming.
Lane swung his sword by reflex.
Barely, but with all his strength.
The sword slashed through the air.
FSSHH!
Steel cut through flesh.
It entered through the middle of the harpy's head.
Lane's sword had pierced straight through the creature's skull.
A moment later Lane opened his eyes.
What stood before him was a disgusting sight.
The harpy stood motionless. A large sword was embedded in its head. Dark red blood slowly flowed down from the creature's head, covering its face and neck.
Blood dripped onto the ground.
Lane watched silently for a few seconds.
Then he placed his foot on the belly of the dead harpy.
He pulled hard to remove the sword from where it was stuck.
As the steel slid free from the bone, it produced a dull sound.
The harpy's body suddenly went limp and fell to the ground with a heavy thud.
Lane looked at the sword in his hand.
Blood was dripping from it.
Then suddenly his body gave out.
Unable to endure anymore, he fell onto the ground on his back.
When he hit the ground, a heavy breath escaped from his mouth.
"Fuck… my body won't move… I pushed it too far…"
Lane muttered.
He had pushed his body beyond all its limits.
Without mana.
His muscles trembled. His chest rose and fell slowly. Even moving his fingers felt difficult.
While mist drifted above the forest, Lane lay motionless on the ground.
The battle was still continuing.
But for him, the world seemed to have completely stopped for a moment.
At that moment, shouts echoed from the other side of the forest.
"AGHHHAAAAAAAAAAA!"
The scream tore through the forest.
A soldier's legs had been torn off below the knees. Blood spread across the ground like a warm and dark river. The man writhed on the ground, screaming in agony.
The moment Edwick saw this, his face hardened like stone.
"THREE OF YOU RUN NOW AND GET THE WOUNDED OUT!!!!!"
His voice was loud and commanding. It left no room for argument.
Edwick's eyes quickly scanned the battlefield. Chaos was everywhere. The orcs were attacking savagely, while the soldiers were trying to hold the defensive line.
Edwick took a deep breath.
Then he looked around.
"You five are coming with me."
He looked into the eyes of the five soldiers beside him one by one.
All five nodded.
Edwick did not wait for even a moment.
Leaving the team behind, he charged directly into the middle of the orc horde.
He slammed his foot hard onto the ground and suddenly released his aura.
An invisible pressure spread across the battlefield.The air around Edwick grew heavy.
The first orc charged toward him.
Edwick's sword flashed once.
One orc fell to the ground.
Then another.
Then another.
Edwick began slaughtering the orcs as he released his aura. Every movement was fast and lethal. Steel cut through the air, blood splattered, and bodies fell to the ground.
The five soldiers beside him were also clashing with the remaining orcs.
They were killing as well.
But they were struggling.
There were too many orcs.
Edwick noticed this.
His eyes narrowed.
He decided to use the last resort.
He reached into his pouch.
He pulled out a small signal pouch.
Edwick threw the pouch into the air.
The moment this signal pouch rose into the air, it reacted with oxygen.
Edwick had named it "zipple."
The moment the pouch rose into the air, an incredibly powerful flash suddenly appeared.
The sky filled with white light for a moment.
The flash was so strong that everyone on the battlefield instinctively turned their eyes toward the light.
Orcs.
Soldiers.
Everyone.
After that one second of blinding light, Edwick shouted with all his strength.
"WE ARE SWITCHING TO PLAN THREEEEE!!"
The soldiers moved as if they had been waiting for this command.
At the same time they all took out the bombs from their belts.
And threw them toward the orcs.
There was one second of silence.
Then—
BOOOOM!
The forest shook.
Then another one.
BOOOM!
Then another.
BOOOM!
Terrifying explosions filled the battlefield. Soil was thrown into the air, pieces of trees scattered everywhere, and the bodies of orcs were thrown around within the explosions.
The orcs who saw this panicked.
The order of the horde collapsed.
The survivors began to retreat.
They were running toward the exit of the forest.
The moment Edwick saw this, he realized the situation.
His eyes sharpened.
"The monsters are running from us! Chase them!"
Edwick rushed forward.
And the soldiers began running behind him.
The hunt inside the forest had now reversed.
This time, the hunted were the orcs.
The village soldiers quickly regained their formation.
They were tired, their breathing was heavy, but no one was retreating. After a few seconds of chaos, they reorganized themselves and launched another attack.
The ground was covered with mud and blood.
The losses were not very high.
But the number of wounded was large.
Many soldiers were trying to stand while holding their arms, shoulders, or legs. Even so, none of them were retreating. All of them gritted their teeth and continued fighting.
Everything had progressed according to the plan.
But one thing had turned out differently than expected.
The harpies.
Those cursed creatures roaming in the sky were almost disrupting the balance of the battle.
Lane had predicted this from the beginning.
That was why the last remaining unit had moved silently.
After a while they appeared behind Edwick's army.
No one was shouting.
No one was attacking.
Instead they began to produce strange sounds.
Muffled, vibrating sounds that echoed almost like something mechanical.
The sounds spread within a specific frequency range.
For the human ear this frequency was only an irritating hum.
But for the harpies it was something completely different.
The creatures flying in the sky suddenly began to grow restless.
They were struggling to control their wings.
Some of them lost their balance and staggered in the air.
Some of them began to scream.
The poisonous mist had already seriously weakened all the monsters.
The harpies' breathing had grown heavy.
Their wings were trembling.
And those strange frequency sounds completely disrupted their sense of direction.
Finally it happened.
The harpies were no longer able to fly.
One by one they began to fall from the sky.
Wings flapped wildly.
Screams rose into the air.
Then bodies slammed into the ground.
The moment Edwick saw this, he did not miss the opportunity.
"Forward!"
Edwick and his army moved quickly.
The soldiers swarmed the harpies.
They chased the orcs who were trying to escape.
The swords flashed in the air once more.
The creatures were being cut down one by one and falling to the ground.
The battle had now turned into a one-sided slaughter.
The orcs had finally fled all the way to the edge of the forest.
But where they fled, there was no escape.
In front of them there was only fire.
The edge of the forest was burning from end to end.
Flames were wrapping around the trees while black smoke rose into the sky. The path of escape for the fleeing orcs had been completely sealed.
Edwick looked at this scene for a few seconds.
Then his eyes narrowed.
Now he understood.
Edwick and his army had not understood from the beginning why Lane had done such a thing.
But now they understood.
Lane had sealed the escape route from the very beginning.
At the end of this battle, no one would escape.
For the orc horde trapped inside the forest, there was now only one ending left.
Death.......
Edwick and his army had trapped all the orcs and the now flightless harpies into a single point.
The monsters had retreated and gathered in a narrow area. They had nowhere to escape. Soldiers stood before them, and the burning forest was behind them.
Edwick raised his sword.
But he did not attack.
He stopped.
The soldiers around him looked at him in confusion.
Edwick spoke with a hard voice.
"No one attack. Wait."
Murmurs began among the village soldiers. Some of them looked at each other, while others held their weapons tightly. The monsters were right in front of them and all of them looked exhausted.
After a while one of the soldiers stepped forward.
He raised his voice and asked.
"Sir, why are we not attacking? If we slaughter the monsters now, we would have cleared the forest."
Edwick answered without taking his eyes off the monsters.
"Lane told me from the beginning that we would reach this point. Let's wait."
Edwick's voice was calm but firm.
Meanwhile, Lane was lying on the ground at another point in the forest.
His chest was slowly rising and falling.
After remaining motionless for a while, he felt a weak flow inside his body.
Mana.
His exhausted mana had begun to recover little by little. Energy started circulating through his body again, slowly flowing through his veins.
Lane closed his eyes.
The recovering mana moved toward his internal wounds.
It began to slowly heal his damaged organs.
The pain was still there.
But it had become bearable.
Lane clenched his teeth and forced himself upright.
His body was still injured.
But he could not stop.
With quick but uneven steps, he began moving toward Edwick and the others.
He followed the traces left on the ground. The dust rising after the battle and the broken branches showed the way.
After about fifteen minutes, Lane finally found Edwick and the soldiers.
Edwick was the first to see him.
When he saw Lane's condition, his face changed instantly.
He immediately ran to him and supported his arm.
"What the hell happened to you? What did you go through over there?"
Lane let out a tired breath.
"I was trying to kill one bastard harpy, that's why I'm in this condition. My mana ran out."
Edwick nodded.
Then he gave a short report.
"Everything followed the plan. Our losses are very low, but the number of wounded is extremely high."
Lane smiled slightly.
"Man, I'm not controlling a fully disciplined army, but I won't deny the village soldiers their credit. The military techniques I taught them were all special techniques of our dynasty, and we are very successfully about to clear this forest."
Edwick paused for a moment.
Those words had genuinely surprised him.
He raised his eyebrows and asked.
"Those techniques were from the Skydrane dynasty? The spear formation with the sequential thrust?"
Lane nodded.
Yes.
Then he picked up his sword from the ground.
When he grasped the sword again, his gaze hardened once more.
With slow steps, he began walking toward the place where the creatures were gathered.
The monsters no longer had any trace of their former strength.
The poisonous mist had weakened them so much that they were barely able to stand.
The orcs were staggering, while the harpies were crawling on the ground.
Some of them were making wheezing sounds just to breathe.
Lane took a few more steps.
His eyes were watching that exhausted horde.
The final act of the battle was about to begin.
There were at least one hundred and fifty creatures in front of Lane.
Orcs and flightless harpies had gathered in a narrow area. The poisonous mist had drained their strength. Most of them were barely standing while staggering, and some were crawling on the ground.
Growls, broken breaths, and cries of pain hung in the air.
Lane said nothing.
He simply watched them in silence.
There was neither anger nor mercy on his face.
Only cold determination.
He slowly raised his hand.
There was a small pouch in his palm.
Zipple powder.
Lane threw the pouch into the air.
The moment the powder made contact with the air, a powerful flash appeared for the second time.
Suddenly a blinding light exploded.
Everything turned white.
The soldiers' eyes closed involuntarily. A few people lost their balance. The monsters began screaming in panic.
Vision had completely turned into chaos.
At that exact moment, movement began from the tops of the trees.
Shadows slid down from the branches.
Archers.
One by one they began descending from the trees.
They were silent, fast, and disciplined.
Their faces were covered with black cloth.
At the same time, the soldiers who had been producing those strange sounds earlier also appeared and descended to the ground from between the trees.
Edwick froze for a moment.
He was trying to understand what was happening.
His eyes moved around.
Finally he turned to Lane.
"What is going on? Who are these people with their faces covered?"
Lane answered calmly.
"They are the secret archer unit I trained in the village. And the ones making the strange sounds are the homeless children."
Edwick's face suddenly changed.
He lowered his head.
He thought to himself.
"Why did Lane hide this from us… I don't understand…"
Indeed, Lane had hidden this from everyone.
From the council.
From Edwick.
From everyone.
He had not wanted to reveal these units until the final moment.
But now the time had come.
Lane stepped forward a few steps.
He raised his hand into the air.
The entire area suddenly fell silent.
Then Lane said only one word loudly.
"Close."
That word echoed through the air.
Suddenly the children who had been producing the strange sounds dropped the devices in their hands onto the ground.
Then they reached to their backs.
And in an instant they threw all the grenades they were carrying on their backs toward the creatures.
The grenades spun through the air.
Then they fell to the ground.
There was one second of silence.
Then—
BOOOOM!
Explosions began one after another.
Terrifying screams filled the forest.
Flames rose into the air.
The monsters were shouting in panic.
When the village soldiers saw this brutality, they swallowed involuntarily.
No one could speak.
The creatures tried to attack one last time.
But at that moment Edwick shouted.
"Kill anyone who tries to escape!"
The soldiers rushed forward.
The flames from the exploding grenades rose up to six meters high.
The orcs and harpies were writhing within those flames.
The smell of burning flesh filled the forest.
The screams gradually weakened.
And finally they stopped.
About fifteen minutes later, there was no creature left moving on the battlefield.
The orcs and harpies had burned to ashes.
Inside the forest, only blackened soil, smoke, and a heavy smell of burning remained.
Lane silently looked at the scene.
The battle was over.
But the forest was still burning.
Lane turned his back.
Smoke was still rising from the battlefield. The smell of burned trees had mixed into the air. The ground had turned black, and in some places small flames were still flickering.
Lane spoke in a heavy but clear voice.
"The plan has been successfully completed. Now go and gather the soldiers who lost their lives on this path and the wounded. Our work is not finished yet. We will cleanse this forest from the poisonous mist and leave it only in a foggy state. Everyone do their duty!!… Come on, come on."
As soon as his words ended, the soldiers moved.
Everyone began rushing around.
Some were carrying the wounded, some were checking the burned areas, and others were pouring water on the places that were still smoking.
The battle had lasted exactly four and a half hours.
That time had drained everyone's strength.
Fatigue could be read from the soldiers' faces.
But there was still a sense of relief within them.
They had achieved what they wanted.
The forest had been cleared.
Sara and Gorn's team were also on the way. They were only one day away from arriving.
Lane walked a little further.
Then he walked toward Edwick.
He carefully examined his face.
"Something is bothering your mind, I guess."
Edwick stayed silent for a few seconds.
Then he asked directly.
"Sir… do you perhaps not trust us?"
Lane was genuinely surprised for a moment.
He raised his eyebrows.
Then he put his hand on his head and spoke.
"Edwick, are you serious? Why would I not trust the men who are moving forward together with me?"
Edwick still could not suppress his curiosity.
"Then why did you hide that you created such a unit?"
Lane paused for a moment.
Then he smiled slightly.
"Haaa."
He shook his head and continued.
"I had no choice about that. Because if I had told you, there would have been comfort inside. The soldiers would have loosened themselves. That was already the reason I attacked without letting them rest. Weakness inside means death. Remember this. Revealing every trump card is something only fools do. A man who hides all his cards does what a normal person would do. But a man who reveals his cards at the correct moment is a wise man."
When Edwick heard these words, he felt relieved inside.
He was beginning to understand Lane's way of thinking.
At that moment one of the soldiers quickly approached them.
He saluted and began presenting a report.
Eight soldiers had lost their lives.
But there were forty-five severely wounded.
Almost all of the remaining soldiers were lightly wounded.
Lane listened to the report silently.
Then he replied shortly.
"Alright."
After that he gave a new order.
He ordered the bodies of the fallen soldiers to be brought to the deeper part of the forest.
The soldiers began slowly moving toward the center of the forest, carrying the wounded on their backs and supporting one another.
The secret unit had already dispersed.
They had spread to different points of the forest to cleanse the poison.
The mist was still there, but it was no longer deadly.
Nearly ninety percent of the forest had been cleared of monsters.
Lane and his army finally reached the center of the forest.
Lane looked at the ground and thought for a while.
Then he asked for the identities of the seven soldiers who had died.
The names were spoken one by one.
Lane nodded.
Afterward he ordered them to be buried in a place slightly away from the center.
A short but respectful burial would be held.
After the orders were given, Lane looked around one last time.
The soldiers were exhausted.
Fatigue was visible on their faces.
Lane spoke loudly.
"Everyone can rest now. Tonight we will sleep in the forest."
After these words, many soldiers sat down where they were.
Some lay on the ground.
Some silently looked at the sky.
The battle was over.