Once again, the Count stepped forward to block the Naga with his body.
The moment the arrow exploded, another arrow flew straight into the exact same spot. It followed so closely behind the first one that it seemed to be tailing it. It had been fired, aiming for the moment when the Count's mana detonated the first arrow.
'A good attempt! However!'
The Count's mana gathered, causing the second arrow to explode as well.
"Haha! Ah!?"
The Count burst into laughter, but then a third arrow flew into the exact same spot. The arrow, arriving before the magic barrier could fully form, struck the Count directly in the mouth.
"Nice!"
Azadin cheered, but the Count rolled backward and stood up.
"Hahaha. Amazing. Truly impressive, Herald! A remarkable skill!"
The Count's mouth was torn, but soon, a snake's tongue emerged from within his mouth.
— Crack!
His body began to break apart.
"It hurts! It hurts! If I were human, I would've died!"
"..."
The Count started transforming into a Naga with pure white scales. Meanwhile, Azadin realized he had made things difficult for himself.
'Damn it. I should've aimed for another Naga instead.'
When the Count stepped forward, Azadin had fired just to see if even his triple-shot could be completely blocked. As a result, his quiver was now empty, but the Count had avoided a fatal wound and was in the midst of transforming. He became a monstrous being, far larger than the other Nagas, with four arms.
Even just his upper body was the size of an ogre, and his mouth bore the wound Azadin had inflicted. But while it might have been fatal for a human, to the Count, it was merely a deep wound.
"To think you managed to wound me. You should take pride in that, Herald!"
Saying this, the Count grabbed a sword propped against the wall.
It was an enormous two-handed greatsword, close to the limit of what a human could wield, yet he lifted it with one hand. With another hand, he picked up a bronze torch stand, using it like a spear as he thrust it toward Azadin.
A towering statue stood nearby, too high for an ordinary person to attack. However, in his massive Naga form, the Count's strikes reached effortlessly. Azadin somersaulted through the air to dodge the attack and performed a dazzling trick—unstringing his bow mid-air and securing it at his waist.
"Oh-ho! Impressive!"
The Count was exhilarated by Azadin's skill.
'This is bad. I'm out of arrows. What now?'
Even the top of the statue was no longer a safe zone.
With his arrows depleted and the Nagas continuing their spellcasting, more mummy soldiers were beginning to rise. Staying here any longer was both meaningless and dangerous.
It was time to retreat. If he retraced his steps, those untrained in climbing and the simple-minded mummy soldiers wouldn't be able to follow him up the sheer walls. He could use the terrain to shake them off.
But if he did that…
'The refugees will die.'
If the underground passage was unsealed and an attack was launched, the area outside was a refugee camp. The refugees, who had fled to Salasma due to the drought, would be slaughtered, and their blood would nourish the enemy.
The blood dripping from the blood bath soaked into the mummy soldiers, seemingly strengthening their bodies. It was clear that a vast quantity of blood was needed to sustain the undead army.
"…I have no choice!"
Azadin leapt down from the statue, landing on the ground.
"Haha. Incredible! Are you truly choosing to fight instead of running?"
The Count admired Azadin's courage in abandoning the high ground.
"Let's see what you're capable of!"
The Count swung his sword in an attack, and Azadin dodged, moving fluidly.
— 'Beauty of Nature, Twilight, Kazas Haeseo!'
A signature illusion technique of the Herald Clan. But Azadin relied on martial arts instead, scattering multiple afterimages as he weaved around the Count's strikes.
— 'Beauty of Nature, Dusk Light, Kazas Haeseo!'
Then, he closed the distance in an instant. But the Count raised his torch stand to block Azadin's attack.
— Clang!
Azadin's blade sliced through the bronze torch stand, sending sparks flying. Riding the momentum, he slashed at the Count's torso, but the Naga retaliated by swinging his tail, striking Azadin mid-motion. Blood splattered as Azadin's body was sent flying through the air.
"Hah!"
The Count let out an exclamation of admiration. He had certainly struck Azadin with his tail, yet he felt almost no impact. Azadin had twisted his body midair to absorb the shock.
— Thud!
Azadin flipped backward in midair, adjusting his trajectory before landing gracefully. However…
— Drip…
Blood trickled from his nose.
From the Count's perspective, it had been a light hit, barely registering as an impact. But to Azadin, it was like colliding with a charging bull. Even though he had mitigated the force, he couldn't have escaped unscathed.
"Hmm."
Azadin wiped the blood from his nose with his hand and examined his sword.
The blade was dulled.
He had cut through the bronze torch stand and slashed at the Count's torso, but while the Naga's scales were torn and blood seeped out, it was nothing more than a scratch to him. For a human, the wound would have been fatal, but against that massive body, it held little significance.
'This sword was quite useful. But I should have brought a few more. No, carrying too many weapons isn't practical during infiltration.'
Normally, Azadin loaded his weapons onto Kerim mountain goats, carrying an arsenal with him. But on a stealth mission, the number of weapons had to be limited.
The problem was, if he died here, his stockpile of weapons would be meaningless.
***
While Azadin was battling the Count, the Naga mages successfully revived around eight mummy soldiers.
— Grrrrr!
"Assist the Count!"
At the mages' command, the mummy soldiers rushed toward Azadin.
They wielded crude iron-blade swords with a savage design, their bodies emanating a black mist—a cursed aura. The moment they began moving, they spread a curse of enfeeblement.
"Kh…!"
Azadin slid across the ground, dodging the approaching soldier's attack, and slashed its torso with his sword. However, it felt like slicing through a bag of sand. Despite having its side cut open, the mummy soldier simply turned to face him again.
The blood seeping from its wounds was absorbing into the severed area, repairing the damage. It was clear now—this blood bath had been constructed to empower the mummy soldiers.
'Damn it! My sword….'
Azadin, while focusing on his dulled sword, noticed another mummy soldier charging at him. There was no time to dodge. In desperation, he kicked the approaching mummy soldier.
Upon contact with the cursed being, a surge of black mana seeped into Azadin's body.
— Bam!
The force was terrifying, nearly tearing the mummy soldier's cervical spine apart. However, Azadin also suffered a backlash.
"Ugh!"
Fortunately, Azadin had an exceptionally high resistance to magic, so the impact was minimal. But even for him, engaging in hand-to-hand combat with mummy soldiers was foolish.
"Hm!"
The Count, unwilling to damage the mummy soldiers he had painstakingly created, had no choice but to step back. Now that he had transformed into a massive Naga, if he joined the fray, the mummy soldiers would undoubtedly be crushed under his weight.
Meanwhile, the Nagas continued raising more mummy soldiers.
'I need to take down the mages…'
Azadin dodged the charging mummy soldiers and moved toward the Nagas. However, the Nagas transformed into their snake forms, slithering effortlessly between the mummy soldiers while continuing their incantations to awaken more of the undead.
'Fighting here any longer is dangerous. But escaping isn't an option either…'
Azadin glanced up at the wall he had climbed down earlier. His ascent would be slower than the enlarged Count's ability to simply swat him off the wall with the torch stand or the greatsword.
As the mummy soldiers slowly encircled him, the Count began to gloat, convinced that Azadin was now fully subdued.
"Hoho. Have you finally reconsidered, Herald? What do you say? Will you serve me? Do you still refuse?"
"Hm. Serve you? Kill people alongside these mummies? And in return, what? You'll feed me well? Let me sleep with Naga women? That doesn't sound like a very appealing offer, does it?"
"Then why didn't you run? Why are you still fighting here?"
"To prevent civilian casualties."
"Civilians? You mean the refugees? That garbage? Why? Are they worth anything to you?"
"I don't want my world to be overrun by the undead."
"A world that isn't even yours?"
"You Nagas only believe something belongs to you when you conquer and seize it. How narrow-minded and crude."
"You Nagas?"
The Count realized that Azadin was seeing him as someone else—someone he had encountered before.
"I don't need to conquer the world to call it mine."
"Ridiculous. That's nothing more than the self-consolation of a loser who has conquered nothing. Hm?"
The Count noticed Azadin picking up his bow and stringing it again, despite having no arrows.
"What are you trying to do?"
"You talked just long enough for me to recover a little stamina. Now I can do this!"
At that moment, Azadin placed his sword on the bowstring and, without even looking, fired it backward.
— Thud!
The sword impaled the chest of an unsuspecting Naga mage.
"Kyaaah!"
"S-Sister!"
A shriek erupted as another Naga mage gasped in horror. Though the sword's edge had dulled, it still flew with incredible force, piercing through the Naga's chest and inflicting a fatal wound.
Even more astonishing was Azadin's archery—launching a sword, far heavier than an arrow, at tremendous speed, and doing so with such accuracy despite its irregular shape.
"This wretch dares!"
The Count was outraged. In his greed to recruit Azadin, he had let his beloved Naga woman suffer a grave injury. Just as his fury reached its peak and he lunged at Azadin—
"Over here!"
An arrow shot down from above, striking the Count's head.
A blonde-haired girl was hanging upside down from a rope, having descended into the underground chamber from the blood-soaked halls above, firing arrows while dangling mid-air.
"You still alive, Azadin?"
"I told you not to come here…."
"But aren't you glad I did?"
"…I am! Damn it!"
Azadin was genuinely grateful for Midiam's support. He had ordered her to wait outside, but she had recklessly followed him in. Still, thanks to her, a chance to counterattack had emerged.
"You impudent brat!"
Midiam's arrows continued to rain down on the Count, but her bow lacked the power to pierce his thick scales.
"Midiam! Arrow Reversal!"
"Got it!"
Upon hearing Azadin's command, Midiam changed her target and shot an arrow toward him instead.
"Are you insane?"
The Count, furious, was momentarily stunned by the sight. But Azadin snatched Midiam's arrow from the air, set it onto his own bowstring, and fired it back.
Now launched with far greater speed and power than before, the arrow shot straight into a Naga mage.
"Kyaaah!"
"Rapid-fire!"
"Can you really catch them all?!"
Midiam questioned him but still obeyed, firing multiple arrows toward Azadin.
Azadin kicked the first arrow into the air, caught the second, and shot it back at the Nagas. Then, grabbing the arrow he had just kicked up, he fired it immediately after.
One of the arrows struck the head of a charging mummy soldier, snapping its skull apart. Another arrow embedded itself in a Naga mage.
Azadin was systematically targeting the mages who were raising the mummy soldiers.