“Lord Ian! Demons spotted in Sector 12!”

“Moiken. Stop engaging and move to Sector 10 on the right.”

[What? We’re winning here!]

“Take your kills and stop letting them near the base.”

[...Fine.]

“Lord Ian! Biological reaction detected in Sector 3!”

“Genea. Have the spirits block the routes connecting Sector 3 to Sectors 10 and 11.”

[Understood, Lord Ian. Oh, spirits of the trees...]

[Oh, spirits of the wind, let your lush branches cast shadows of darkness...]

Ian stared into the jars reflecting the elves’ surroundings.

The mages he had been feeding experience points to had finally leveled up their Water Mirror skill.

Large bronze jars had been placed before each of them. Once filled with water, the containers looked like ancient relics from the Bronze Age.

As the mages cast their spells, scenes from various parts of the elf village surfaced across the water’s surface.

Ian had assigned numbers to each location to simplify communication.

It wasn’t CCTV—

It was a network of Water Mirrors reflecting the key points of the Forest Dungeon surrounding the elf village.

A choke point capable of transforming the entire area into a labyrinth.

The principle itself was simple.

The moment something moved within a mirror’s field of view, the mage assigned to it would immediately report it to Ian.

Ian would then calculate the positions of both the elves and the invading demons, determine where the rangers needed to move, where the enemy needed to be blocked off, and issue commands accordingly.

The spirits carried those orders across the battlefield.

Sometimes they carried unnecessary commentary too...

But regardless, the system worked perfectly.

‘Long live modern civilization.’

[You filthy little creatures, where are you hiding?!]

[Cowards! Show yourselves!]

[AAAAAH! Sylar!]

[Ghk—Aaaah!? Huh...?]

[W-What the hell?!]

After Ian ordered Moiken’s squad to move toward Sector 10, demons from Sector 12 attacked them from behind while they passed through Sector 11.

But the demons had already been divided into scattered groups by the traps set throughout the forest by the spirits. Unable to move as a united force, they couldn’t unleash the overwhelming brutality they normally possessed.

Still, demons were demons.

Each individual was stronger than an elf.

One of the demons lunged forward and pierced an elf clean through with its tail.

But before it could drag away its prey, Genea and her group sealed off the pathways throughout Sector 11 with spirit magic.

Plants driven by desperate vitality exploded from the ground and wrapped around the demon’s tail, constricting it so tightly that even the demon was forced to release its captive.

“Moiken. Move to Sector 7.”

[Wait, where was Sector 7 again...?]

“The place where your youngest hung the tree decorations. Didn’t you memorize the map?”

[Right, right... Sorry.]

‘...Why am I apologizing?’

Moiken ran forward with a bewildered expression.

As far as he knew, the “plan” consisted mostly of the human hero rambling on about things like:

“Sector 1 is the dungeon entrance. Sector 2 is the central corridor...”

Frankly, Moiken was proud he had managed to memorize more than half of it.

In his vision, Sylar staggered around in a daze while checking his own body.

Until last year, Sylar had been the youngest ranger.

Then Zelo—the boy captured during a scouting mission by the demons—had taken that title.

‘First Archer.’

A prestigious title granted only to the bravest and most skilled ranger.

And yet two juniors had been lost under Moiken’s watch.

Unacceptable.

And this time, it had clearly been Hero Ian who saved Sylar’s life.

‘The youngest... the tree decorations...’

Moiken clenched his teeth.

He did not want to think about what had happened to Zelo.

When the new village was built, Zelo had hung up the amulet he always carried along the patrol route, insisting:

“This will protect the village.”

That location was Sector 7.

Moiken remembered it clearly.

[Ambush.]

The wind spirit imitated Ian’s commanding tone perfectly.

Moiken still couldn’t understand why the spirit copied Ian’s posture too—arms folded, chin slightly raised, even frowning exactly like him.

Spirits, beings overflowing with the essence of nature, rarely associated with creatures outside its embrace.

Only elves, children of the great forest, could naturally communicate with them.

Humans and dwarves stood in opposition to nature. They altered it constantly instead of preserving it as it was.

It should have been impossible for spirits to favor a human.

And yet many of them adored Ian, enthusiastically imitating him whenever they could.

The hero who brought the World Tree back to the elves had spoken.

[Slow down the demons’ movement. Aim for their legs, their mounts, whatever you can hit. Then retreat back toward the village.]

“And if they pursue us?”

Moiken asked reflexively, though by now he no longer doubted Ian had already anticipated the answer.

Throughout the battle, following Ian’s commands had given him an almost surreal experience.

The Dark Forest might have been corrupted by demonic energy, but it was still a forest—

Still the territory of nature.

The domain of spirits.

Everyone knew spirits could unleash extraordinary power when united with nature.

What they had not known was how far that power could go.

To think they could manipulate grass, trees, and even stones to create traps...

To freely open and close pathways...

To limit enemy movement while maximizing the mobility of the rangers...

Of course, none of this would have been possible before.

The Dark Forest had been purified considerably. Nature tainted by demonic energy did not listen well to spirits.

But Ian’s recent campaigns through the forest had drastically reduced the corrupted beasts, and even the elves—sensitive to the air itself—could feel the darkness thinning.

If not for the Demon Archduke’s invasion, Moiken would have already sent Ian a message saying:

Take me with you on the next expedition. You’re incredible. You may be human, but I respect you. Take good care of Genea.

Instead, the message he actually sent through the messenger elf had been:

Are we all going to die?

Even so, Moiken was still a ranger.

And unlike ordinary elves, rangers were accustomed to using spirit magic in combat.

Most elves built shallow connections with many spirits.

Rangers, however, forged deep bonds with a single spirit and fought alongside it directly. In battle, there was no time to chant long invocations like:

“Oh spirit, grant me this power...”

This method had been refined through countless real battles and passed down since ancient times.

It was the most practical form of combat spirit magic.

But now—

‘A forest dungeon...’

Wasn’t that exactly what this was?

Mother Nature protected them, and they protected Mother Nature in return.

For an elf ranger, there could be no greater battlefield.

Even if he died here, Moiken felt he could accept it.

[They won’t chase you.]

The wind spirit spoke in Ian’s voice again.

Moiken had no Water Mirror skill.

But he could perfectly imagine the expression Ian was making right now.

The wind spirit stiffened its lips exactly the same way Ian did whenever he spoke with certainty.

If Ian said it, then it would happen. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶

Every instruction during the battle had been flawless.

Enemies ahead in ten seconds.

Exactly ten seconds later, enemies appeared.

Retreat in five seconds.

Five seconds later, demons stumbled directly into traps after the rangers had withdrawn.

Moiken had no idea how the noncombatant elves in the rear were coordinating with the spirits.

But one thing was certain:

They were safe.

Because the rangers—and Moiken himself—were keeping the Demon Archduke’s forces occupied and dragging them away from the village.

Moiken raised his fist, signaling the rangers.

Breathing ceased instantly.

The elves’ presence melted into the leaves around them.

Even the accompanying spirits vanished from sight.

Twenty-three rangers remained.

The original number had been twenty-four.

One scout was dead.

The youngest ranger had tried to recover a captured spirit and was caught by the demons instead.

‘He should’ve let it go.’

A spirit devoured by demons disappeared forever.

The youngest ranger had tried to save the companion spirit he had lived beside his entire life—

And failed to escape in time.

But ever since Ian took command...

Not a single additional casualty had occurred.

If even the front-line rangers were surviving like this, then how could the elves stationed in the rear possibly be in danger?

This human hero—

No.

The hero sent by the Elf Goddess herself—

Surely he was not exploiting them.

[Five seconds.]

The wind spirit whispered in Ian’s voice.

Moiken clenched his fist.

Five fingers.

Then one.

The rangers simultaneously drew arrows onto their bowstrings.

Those partnered with earth spirits quietly pressed their hands against the ground.

Exactly five seconds later—

The Demon Archduke’s palanquin appeared.

‘He’s never wrong.’

Though the procession had diminished in size, the palanquin remained lavish, still carried by enslaved servants.

As the demons passed, the forest withered.

A suffocating perfume spread through the air.

One of the noble demons at the front stretched out a hand.

Leaves browned and shriveled instantly. Branches sagged lifelessly before blackening and collapsing into ash.

The forest itself transformed into a land of death.

Moiken swallowed his rage.

These monsters were the hero’s responsibility.

His own role was simply to follow orders.

The earth spirits moved first, furious beyond restraint.

Massive arms of soil erupted upward and seized the demons’ legs.

The noble demons sank into the collapsing ground just as dozens of arrows descended toward them.

“Again?”

Would they really fall for the same trick twice?

Black demonic power exploded outward from one of the nobles, scattering the incoming arrows into smoke while the corrupted earth caved inward.

“Run while you still can, insects.”

Leaving the demon’s mocking laughter behind, Moiken sprinted through the trees.

‘Damn it... guess I didn’t hit hard enough!’

“Move!”

He shouted fiercely, though cold sweat drenched his back.

Had he seen it correctly?

That thing inside the palanquin...

That monster...

Was that truly the Demon Archduke?

‘How the hell are we supposed to fight something like that—huh?!’

Moiken prided himself on being fearless.

Ordinary horrors no longer startled him.

But what unfolded next surpassed even his imagination.

THUD! THUD! THUD! THUD!

A massive herd of miryam charged through the devastated forest.

Like an enormous flock of cloud-colored sheep, they surged directly into the demon procession.

“......”

“......”

“Captain... that’s the thing the captain brought back before...”

“Shut up already!”