Once, there had been a soldier who’d experienced an avalanche while skiing in a snow-covered mountain range. Now, he was overwhelmed by the feeling that an avalanche was rolling toward the royal citadel.

Bomiteka crushed through eight layers of defensive magic and the outer gate, and at almost the same moment, a god-like blade descended from the sky.

Flash――!

A gigantic sword of blinding holy light struck Bomiteka.

With an indescribable noise, the world shook. The air ruptured. The ground quaked. In that shockwave, both soldiers and siege constructs stumbled and collapsed.

It was terrifying enough that Bomiteka had shattered the gate, but to the soldier, the holy strike was even more terrifying.

“Ah...!!”

Because it looked like a single human was physically clashing against a monstrous being of unprecedented size.

In that instant clash, a part of Bomiteka’s head burst and cracked. But the momentum didn’t stop.

At that moment, for Eymon—who was perceiving a second as if it were ten minutes—an internal scream burst out.

Eymon: Professor Dante! You did it!!

Able to read the battlefield, she had tried to predict Bomiteka’s momentum. Crushing the outer gate was akin to trampling reeds; it still had the potential to roll another 2,000 meters and crash through the inner gate too.

But with that explosion of light, a massive portion of Bomiteka’s skull had shattered. A damaged sphere loses propulsion. The rolling came to a gradual stop, the dust cleared, and Eymon reaffirmed what she saw.

Thirty percent of Bomiteka’s skull had been destroyed.

Eymon: The jaw! It’s the jaw! Professor, you broke the jaw!!

That was the allied victory strategy. Breaking Bomiteka’s jaw had succeeded.

But then, something strange happened.

Dante: No.

Dante’s returning voice was laced with heaviness.

Eymon: What?!

Dante: The jaw... it wasn’t completely destroyed.

His voice trembled as he spoke. There was a dry cough. Eymon realized—it was the sound of blood being spat.

So the war commander let go of useless hope and observed more closely. From her angle, she could now see it—the hidden half of the jaw was still intact.

The damned half.

Dante: Prepare yourself, War Commander. Phase 2 is beginning.

Eymon clenched her teeth hard enough to break them. Floating midair, she looked up toward the sky. Toward the loathsome thirty-three gods said to dwell there.

If luck was going to come, why couldn’t it just come perfectly?

But in a place abandoned by the heavens, humans had to save themselves.

And she... she was the shepherd who led the flock.

She inhaled deeply.

Eymon: Entering Phase 2–!!

***

│ㅅㅇ) came here out of curiosity, to see why this isolated wall gets no attention.

│ㅅㅇ) decides to observe for now.

⋮

│ㅁㅇ)و !!

│ㅁㅇ)و is overwhelmed by the dazzling light.

│ㅂㅇ) is pleased to see Bomiteka breaking apart.

│ㅅㅇ) rushes to ⁺₊⋆ and informs them that “this” was ⁺₊⋆.

A new star enters. [⁺₊⋆]

⁺₊⋆ contemplates.

⁺₊⋆ is briefly confused and states that it doesn’t feel like their own light.

│ωㅇ) was lying.

⁺₊⋆: ???

│ㅅㅇ) runs to † and urgently reports that “this” was †.

A new star enters. [†]

† is flustered. It was a great strike, but they have no memory of ever granting that kind of stigma to that person.

│ㅅㅇ) guesses maybe it was from ⁺₊⋆ after all.

†: ??,,,

⁺₊⋆ realizes something.

⁺₊⋆ affirms. Come to think of it, such a magnificent light must be their own.

†: ?

⁺₊⋆: ?

†: ?

⁺₊⋆: ?

Then † thinks: this battlefield seems far more entertaining than the others. Plus, there’s even a [Hero] here. So they decide to stay.

⁺₊⋆ also decides to remain, thinking the battle here is absurd even by “normal” standards.

│ωㅇ) is satisfied.

Meanwhile, │ㅅㅇ) still doesn’t understand why no one cares about this [Isolated Wall]. So they start aggressively promoting it again.

⋮

A new star enters. [火]

A new star enters. [ж]

A new star enters. [♥]

⋮

│ㅅㅇ)و urges the stars to donate Star Shards, nudging their backs. But offers not a single shard of their own.

***

Gula collapsed with a gasp. His role had ended—for now—but there was still more to do. His legs had given out; he couldn’t stand.

“C-Captain Gula!”

“Medic! Over here—!”

When he first hit his head against the rock, he hadn’t realized how bad the wound was. Now he knew. Half his face was covered in blood.

“P-Please sit down.”

“Out of my way, kid!”

Amidst the pouring holy energy, Gula leaned against the fortress wall as a tactical officer and looked out at Bomiteka.

It’s starting.

Phase 1 had been an overwhelming success. Just as Professor Dante had said. Because they’d managed to protect the inner gate.

However, between the outer and inner gates lay two kilometers of urban terrain. Filled with buildings, and civilians who hadn’t been able to flee due to lack of space in the inner city.

Urban warfare was beginning. And Gula realized something.

Among the twelve special abilities of assassins, the most dangerous is [Throwing]. Cadets often didn’t get it.

“Why? Isn’t [Magic], [Combat], [Stealth], or [Sniping] more dangerous?”

But any high-level warrior knew. [Throwing] is the most dangerous.

The reason is simple.

You never know what or when something might come flying.

And—pure firepower.

─── !

─── !

─── !

Having rolled into the center of the city, Bomiteka opened its mouth wide and started spewing shards of metal and stone in every direction.

Each projectile was the size of an elephant. Buildings, defensive spells—none of them mattered. They were pulverized on contact.

In those gaps, sniper units, cannons, and magic battalions launched attacks. The blows started to destroy Bomiteka’s skull bit by bit.

But even while being hit, the blinded Bomiteka began retaliating, throwing in random directions.

─── !

─── !

─── !

It was like a demonic cannon forged to fight the gods. The sheer size of the projectiles was insane. One bad hit, and even a magical battalion would be wiped out before they could call for help.

Eymon: Switch to guerrilla tactics! Fire and move! Don’t stay in one place!

Eymon: And Python—FIRE!!

Python: Yes!!

A fully charged Thunderclap was fired straight at Bomiteka’s head.

A bolt of lightning crashed from the heavens, aiming directly at its jaw.

This was it.

This would kill it for sure.

But then—Python froze in horror.

Bomiteka, clamping what was left of its jaw—

Tur-UNG!

—suddenly flung itself into the air, skull and all!

The entirety of that absurdly massive head launched skyward!

Crack—!! BOOM—!!

The lightning struck empty ground a moment later.

And then, Bomiteka began devouring everything in reach. Buildings, vehicles, humans, carts—anything that touched its remaining jaw went down its gullet.

“Magician Gillion!!”

“Aaaaagh!!”

Some were simply unlucky. A high-level mage from the Count’s estate was swallowed whole.

It was a relief that half his body spilled out, but the soldiers were terrified. What if Bomiteka started regenerating again?

But the wounds left by Professor Dante’s [Stigma†] did not heal.

Bomiteka was trying. Trying to restore its left cheek, skull, jaw—but every attempt crumbled into dust.

It only managed to recover part of its eye. Likely because of the refined mana crystal embedded in the swallowed mage’s staff.

Bomiteka changed tactics. It began spewing siege constructs from its mouth—new ones, reinforced with stone and steel.

“Stop them!”

“They’re coming again! Don’t let them reach the city!”

Then, using its half-shattered jaw as leverage, Bomiteka started bouncing. Each leap covered tens to hundreds of meters. The soldiers’ attacks landed in vain. Its giant head was disturbingly agile.

“Shit! We’ll never hit it like this!”

A commander despaired.

The bombardments kept missing. But Eymon continued to order them to fire. The commander was frustrated—until—

BOOM!!

A hit.

“...What?”

How?

He shouted anyway. “Now! Fire!!”

Other commanders were just as confused.

“Huh!? We’re landing hits!”

“What’s going on? Magic’s connecting again!”

At some point, spells and bombardments had begun hitting Bomiteka’s face again. Its movements had become linear.

“Why’s it running in a straight line?”

There was a reason.

Bomiteka was chasing tents in the distance.

“What the hell? What’s it after?!”

Bomiteka charged at the cloth like a lunatic.

The large tents pulled away or veered off.

It looked exactly like bullfighting.

Eymon: Read the motion! Bomiteka’s moving in a straight line! Time your attacks—fire!!

Eymon clenched her fists again.

—“Bomiteka has two win conditions. One is burrowing into the inner city, where food is abundant and high-quality.”

The second condition, as Professor Dante explained—

—“The second is eating cloth.”

Cloth was the core of Phase 2.

If Bomiteka consumed and processed cloth, Phase 3 would begin.

Why?

—“Because once it processes cloth, it gains the ability to form wings.”

From this point, Dante had only briefed high-ranking officers.

Bomiteka, among the One-Horned Demon race, was a lower-ranked specimen. But sometimes, rare exceptions would allow one to become the strongest among them all.

That form was Bomiteka with Wings.

Each time it launched itself, strain accumulated in its jaw. Every bounce resulted in tens of kilograms of loss.

Rolling like a rugby ball gave it no consistent trajectory. It couldn’t refine its path.

But the moment it grew wings, Bomiteka would gain mobility in three-dimensional space—turning into an airborne bomber capable of hurling hundreds of kilos of rock from above.

That was why it sought “tough cloth.” It was obsessed with military tents.

And that was Phase 3.

The birth of an unstoppable disaster that this garrison could never contain.

Dante knew this. So he said:

—“I’ve prepared one countermeasure.”

That “countermeasure” was now causing Bomiteka’s movements to straighten.

It was the Dante Assassination Squad.

Cadets so fast and strong it was hard to believe they were in their twenties.

They were now running through the battlefield, dragging enormous mana-infused cloth—perfect bait for Bomiteka!

Eymon: This is the time! Finish it—FIRE!!

Eymon screamed and prayed.

Right now, Bomiteka was chasing the bait.

So far, it seemed things were in their favor.

But bait... always ends up inside the fish’s mouth.

So all she could do was pray.

Don’t die!!

That the four cadets carrying the cloth would survive.

***

A commander stepped in front of me.

“Professor. Please, go to the medics!”

Who?

I couldn’t tell who it was—only half his face was visible. Maybe one of my eyes was covered in blood.

“Step aside, Commander.”

“Professor! Your condition is extremely dangerous right now! Please, stop and go to the medics! ...I said, don’t go!!”

The commander moved in and wrapped his arms around me, physically trying to stop me. I remembered now—he was the one whose comrade had died, and whom I had saved with Giant Soldier’s Sword○.

“Your condition is seriously bad!!”

Was it? Seemed like it. I had managed to destroy roughly half of Bomiteka’s health, but unleashing that kind of strike wasn’t something a human body could handle easily.

[Bleeding], [Internal Bleeding], [Contusion], [Headache], [Organ Damage], [Nerve Damage], [Systemic Contamination], [Demonic Status Ailment] detected.

Status windows scrolled down endlessly.

I was, quite clearly, in terrible condition.

[HP]: 324 / 2,156

Still, it seemed I could move for now.

I grabbed the horsehair crest of the commander’s helmet and said:

“Move.”

“......”

Half of his face contorted. He looked like he couldn’t understand why I was doing this. But I knew. I had a role to play. And I was the only one who could play it.

This wasn’t about good intentions. If someone else could do what I did, I’d be more than happy to lie down in the infirmary. But there was no such person.

From a purely combat-efficiency perspective, there was no choice.

I had to move.

Balmung: Professor! Next order!!

There was a clocktower on the outer wall. Once I climbed up to a decent height, Balmung’s communication came through.

I looked over the terrain and troop placements, then gave the command.

Dante: Head to 105.

Balmung: Confirmed!!

Far off in the distance, Balmung dashed through the air. He jumped from rooftop to rooftop. Behind him, a giant head the size of a building smashed through the city in pursuit.

Dante: Gray, keep scrambling Balmung’s position until it’s Elize’s turn.

Gray: Copy!

Balmung, holding the cloth, split into three—then six—then nine illusions. Bomiteka spewed metal constructs at all of them. Only the real one twisted his body and dodged.

Dante: Kendreik. Kill the reinforced faceless demons in Balmung’s path.

Kendreik: Got it!

The beasts blocking Balmung’s path were smashed to pieces by Kendreik’s battle axe.

After all our sporadic joint training, we now moved as one. This was the result of that synergy.

But things wouldn’t go smoothly forever.

Thud—!

A metal pillar launched from Bomiteka’s mouth smashed into Balmung. My heart skipped.

Elize: Balmung!

Balmung: I’m fine!

Balmung was flung far off, staggered for a moment midair, then caught himself and launched upward again. Just then, Elize darted in like lightning, snatching the cloth baton-style and flying off in another direction.

Dante: Balmung.

Balmung: I’m still good!

By now, Gray had already broken an arm under the constant bombardment. One leg was also dragging.

Kendreik, too, was moving soaked in blood, a dozen shurikens embedded in his back.

And yet, even with these losses—victory was drawing near.

We were in the final stage of the battle. I could feel it. Bomiteka’s HP was below 10%, its body shattered in multiple places. And it still hadn’t formed wings.

If things stayed this way...

Elize: Professor! It’s heading somewhere else!!

But Bomiteka, on [Hell Difficulty], turned out to be smarter than I’d hoped. Realizing its own death was near, it gave up on the bait.

Dante: Confirmed.

I immediately jumped from the clocktower and activated [Glider Wings].

Bomiteka had started moving strangely.

What is it doing?

Where is it going?

Straight line.

It’s headed for... the Virgin Church cathedral.

I thought hard.

Why?

The cathedral in the outer city was a designated evacuation site. It was filled with civilians.

During earlier war preparations, under my direction, all “refined objects” had been buried underground there—so that nothing could become food for Bomiteka. There shouldn’t be anything edible for it there... except people.

Is it because demons seek human death?

A desperate lunge?

Trying to kill as many as possible before it dies?

I didn’t know.

This was the [Hell Difficulty] algorithm. A situation even I had never encountered.

...Goddamn it.

I was furious that the 【Script】 wasn’t triggering due to a bug. Not just because I couldn’t read people’s thoughts—things like [Skills], [Stigmas], even internal effects of enemy monsters normally appeared in the 【Script】 if they were targetable. But it wasn’t showing anything.

Dante: Eymon! Stop it from reaching the cathedral!

Eymon: Understood!!

I didn’t know what was there, but we had ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) to block it.

Stop whatever it’s after.

Prevent people from dying.

But just a few seconds later, as Bomiteka bounced toward the cathedral—something began to unfold from behind its skull.

Wings.

How?

I looked closely at the wing membranes. At the color—flesh-toned.

And then it hit me.

“Shit.”

At last, I understood Bomiteka’s plan!

It was human skin—inpi!

Eymon: Professor!! Why’s that thing headed for the cathedral?! I can’t figure it out!!

Eymon asked in a panic.

Dante: Eymon, you must stop it. It’s inpi! That bastard’s trying to make wings out of human skin!!

Eymon: What the hell?!

That insane monster had started processing the skin of the people it had eaten—into wings!

And there were over 400 civilians inside the cathedral!

Dante: You must stop it, Eymon!!

Eymon: Roger!!

I flared my wings as hard as I could and raced ahead. At the same time, I saw a man shooting across the city toward the cathedral like lightning.

It was the Hero.