Early the next morning, the convoy set out.
The caravan advanced steadily toward the northeast.
Raine and the other four were assigned to a wagon transporting supply crates.
On both sides of the road stretched barren plains, broken only by the occasional abandoned village or overgrown farmland.
"I heard that Iron Dragon Fortress is one of the three major strongpoints on the eastern defense line,"
Matthew whispered, a near-reverent light flickering in his eyes.
"There are thirty thousand defenders stationed there. The walls are fifty meters high—taller than the oldest spruce trees!"
"And there are Arcanist Towers nearly a hundred meters tall! I heard their spires glow day and night, like guiding stars!"
"It's hard to imagine… what kind of sight that must be."
A look of longing appeared on everyone's faces.
They simply couldn't picture what a structure nearly a hundred meters tall would look like.
Even a fifty-meter-high city wall was already beyond their imagination.
Kyle added from the side,
"I've heard people say that since Iron Dragon Fortress was built, it's endured hundreds of battles, large and small."
"It's never been breached from the outside by alien races."
"They say once the Iron Curtain Barrier is activated, it can withstand attacks even from Master-rank enemies."
"…"
Raine listened quietly while resting with his eyes closed.
Yet from time to time, his half-lidded gaze swept across the surrounding landscape.
Before long, the convoy reached its scheduled rest stop—
Anvil Village.
Most of the village's buildings were constructed from massive blocks of gray stone, giving them a rugged, heavy appearance.
The village was renowned for its skilled blacksmiths and stonemasons, and served as an important equipment supply point for frontline forces.
However, the sight at the village entrance caused everyone's hearts to sink.
Stone houses lay collapsed and tilted, and a faint scent of blood lingered in the air.
There was no cooking smoke.
No noise.
Only deathly silence.
"Captain, there are traces of alien race activity here!"
A soldier spoke grimly as the detection device in his hand flashed red.
"All units, stay alert!"
"Search the village for survivors!"
Aaron's expression was as indifferent and vigilant as ever.
A squad spread out into a defensive formation and advanced cautiously into the village.
Raine and the others were ordered to remain with the supply wagons.
The tense atmosphere made them grip their weapons tightly.
Crunch—
The soldiers carefully searched the empty village, their boots crunching softly over rubble and dust.
As expected, they found nothing.
No living beings.
Not even a single corpse.
"Report! No signs of life detected in the village!"
"Maintain vigilance!"
Aaron frowned deeply.
It was too quiet.
His instincts screamed that this was anything but a good sign.
Just as one soldier approached the village square—
The anomaly struck.
The surface of a stone statue suddenly cracked and peeled away.
Two eyes blazing with green flames snapped open!
Claws shot out toward the soldier!
"Damn it!"
"Gargoyles! Get down!"
The shout exploded like a signal.
Crack!
Crack—crack!
In the center of the square, along the streets, atop shattered courtyard walls—
More than a hundred stone statues underwent violent transformation at once!
In the blink of an eye, the snarling roars of gargoyles merged into a deafening chorus.
These gargoyles varied in size—some no larger than hunting dogs, others as massive as bulls.
Their claws and fangs were razor-sharp and venomous, their defenses formidable.
Their weaknesses lay in their sluggish perception and vulnerability to light, fire-based Nex, and physical strikes.
These beings—once confined to legend—had flooded the world after the descent of the Crimson Moon.
"No wonder the life detectors showed nothing—so they were gargoyles!"
Compared to ordinary lifeforms, gargoyles were more like creations of an alchemical god.
In their petrified state, they emitted almost no life aura, relying solely on their energy cores to function.
"Form defensive positions! Barrel formation!"
Aaron barked orders, his saber flashing free as blue Nex coiled around the blade.
CRACK—!
With a single strike, several lunging gargoyles were cleaved into stone fragments.
But the attack came from all directions—and in overwhelming numbers.
The elite soldiers at the front handled themselves well, but chaos quickly spread among the recruits at the rear.
They had never faced a charge of alien races on this scale.
Panic set in.
"AAAH—!"
A shrill scream rang out.
A recruit was effortlessly impaled by a gargoyle, his body torn apart in a brutal instant.
Seeing this, Raine's pupils contracted as his mind raced.
Terrain.
Gargoyle attack trajectories.
Ally positioning.
His own weapon.
All information merged rapidly in his brain.
At that moment, a gargoyle locked onto the frozen Matthew.
As it leapt—
A flicker of violet light flashed through Raine's eyes.
Bewitching Eye!
The gargoyle stiffened mid-air, its movements turning sluggish.
With Raine's current mental strength, he could barely disrupt such an alien race for half a second—
But in a moment where life and death hung by a thread, it was enough.
"Down!"
Pros yanked Matthew to the ground just as claws swept past his scalp.
"Idiot! Get your head straight!"
Raine moved at the same time.
He slipped past the gargoyle's slashing claws and drove his short sword with surgical precision beneath its left rib.
There—where stone skin was thinnest—led straight to the energy core.
Psshh!
"SKRRRAA—!"
The gargoyle let out an inhuman shriek.
The green glow in its eyes extinguished as its body collapsed into a heap of rubble.
[Gargoyle slain. Bloodstone +30.]
The system prompt echoed in Raine's mind.
"It works!"
A flash of excitement crossed his eyes.
He didn't truly understand gargoyle anatomy—only what he had inferred from observation and the soldiers' attacks.
With a confirmed kill, he withdrew immediately, scanning the battlefield.
He didn't retreat to the rear, nor did he charge recklessly into the melee.
Instead, he prowled the edges, targeting wounded and isolated gargoyles.
"Raine! Don't do anything stupid!"
Kyle shouted from the back.
"Relax, old man—I value my life!"
Raine didn't bother explaining, vanishing behind a stone wall.
"Tch… that kid!"
…
A gargoyle was pierced through its wing membrane by a spear and slammed into the ground.
In the next instant—
A figure burst from behind a low wall, a short sword stabbing upward into the exposed throat.
It was Raine—covered in blood.
Two gargoyles lunged at a shield-bearing soldier.
Raine interfered with both, buying the soldier precious reaction time.
At the same time, he ducked low and slid forward, driving his blade into the gaps between their wings.
His movements were clean and decisive—no wasted actions.
Every dodge was based on predicted attack paths.
Every strike aimed directly at a vital weakness.
After several precise engagements, multiple gargoyles fell to his blade.
[Ding! Eight gargoyles slain. Bloodstone +250.]
Raine checked the numbers.
To advance to the next rank required 4,372 bloodstone.
This amount wasn't even close.
As expected—rapid leveling was only possible on the battlefield.
…
At the heart of the fight, the elite unit led by Aaron displayed terrifying combat prowess.
Facing the frenzied assault of over a hundred gargoyles, their barrel formation held firm like iron.
Shieldbearers blocked and rammed with steady precision.
Spearmen calmly pierced exposed weak points.
Assault fighters cut down enemies efficiently, harvesting gargoyle lives with ruthless speed.
Their coordination was flawless—often a single glance was enough to understand each other's intent.
Aaron himself fought like a war god.
Blue blade-light flared, and almost no gargoyle survived a second strike.
Even the Elite gargoyle leader—towering in size with a wingspan over four meters—failed to last three moves against him.
The battle ended swiftly.
"Those damn alien races!"
"Clean the battlefield! Count the casualties!"
Aaron sheathed his blade, his expression dark.
He stepped toward the pile of rubble left by the gargoyles Raine had killed and nudged it with his boot.
Throughout the battle, he had been observing the rear of the formation.
What surprised him was that compared to the panicked recruits, the young man who had tried to play hero earlier was far calmer and more stable.
Much of the rear line had survived because of him.
Otherwise, the casualties would have been far worse.
Aaron lifted his gaze and looked deeply at Raine atop the wagon.
"Gargoyles appearing along a rear supply route…"
A sergeant spoke heavily.
Aaron snorted coldly.
"Anvil Village was wiped out, and we received no warning whatsoever."
"What the hell were those idiots at Bloodhowl Highlands doing?"
…