Chapter 50: Ruthless Action (2)

Eve Wyler led five teams as they moved through the forest.

Their target was the Lizardman Settlement.

About a dozen or so Lizardmen lived there, crude but somewhat armed, making it a rough terrain.

Eve’s eyes flashed coldly as she hid among the tall grass, waiting for the perfect moment to strike.

“Alright, just a little more.”

Her small fist raised just outside the grass was the signal. At any moment, they would unleash their attack all at once.

‘If we strike during the Lizardman sentries’ shift change, we can finish this without any casualties.’

Everyone under her command was a girl.

Because of that, they were physically at a disadvantage and seemed vulnerable in battle, but—

“Strike Team, attack!”

“Attack!”

[Attack Magic: Small Fireball]

[Attack Magic: Fast Shock]

[Attack Magic: Fearless Wave]

[——]

Ten attack spells, large and small, rained down all at once.

“Shield Team, deploy!”

“Deploy!”

“Yaaah!”

Ten tall girls charged forward, shields raised, crashing fiercely into the Lizardmen.

Stunned by the earlier magic barrage, the lizard creatures tangled among themselves and collapsed.

Then, in the next moment,

Eve rose to her feet.

“Let’s go!”

The last five surged forward, rushing fearlessly toward the fallen Lizardmen.

In their hands were sharply honed swords and spears.

“Tear them all apart!”

The battle ended in an instant.

Amazingly, not a single person was injured as they easily took over the Lizardman Settlement.

The advantage in numbers—25 to about a dozen—and a well-coordinated ambush made it possible.

‘Thank goodness. Another success.’

Eve sat down on a tree stump, letting out a breath.

Her pounding heartbeat was slowly settling.

Following the Kobold Encampment and Goblin Camp, the Lizardman Settlement was the third conquest today.

The girls assigned to hunt Lizardmen had all completed their objectives.

“Good work, unni!”

“Thanks to you, we did it again.”

The young witches from the Strike Team approached her, chattering excitedly.

“It’s because you led us so well.”

The female warriors from the Shield Team were removing necklace-like tokens from the dead Lizardmen.

“Here, this is yours.”

Elaine Holt, a 19-year-old rookie swordswoman with long hair tied back, handed Eve a token from a Lizardman.

She had remembered and prepared the token for Eve’s assigned target—the Small Lizardman Sentry.

“Thanks, Elaine.”

“I’m the one who should thank you, Eve. Who would have thought you’d wipe out half of them? Everyone’s grateful to you.”

“Haha.”

Eve laughed awkwardly at the compliment, but it was true.

As Elaine said, Eve was leading 25 girls, rapidly advancing through the ritual.

The girls assigned to hunt Kobolds and Goblins had finished their objectives in just one day, and now the Lizardmen too.

That made up half of all the girls.

‘Only the Orcs and Grolms left to hunt.’

Even taking precautions, they could finish collecting all the girls’ targets within two days.

But Eve had other plans.

‘It’s time to strike the Orc side now.’

The sun was setting, and the girls were starting to tire, but…

[Quest: Saviors of the Sons is in progress.]

‘I have to go. Tonight.’

She was a Player of this world, and she knew what they didn’t.

The Order of Kishiris’ conspiracy.

‘The Ultra Wave will happen at midnight, after sunset when the moon rises.’

At that time, all the boys would be slaughtered.

“I have to stop that.”

Drinking a potion to recover her depleted stamina, Eve started moving again.

“Alright, if you’ve gathered all the tokens, let’s move out!”

“Strike Team, move out!”

“Shield Team, move out too!”

They planned to enter the girls’ dormitory first to regroup.

‘First, we’ll attack one Orc Barracks and awaken the Shield of Balance.’

Then, they would head to the Orc Shaman’s Cave where the Ultra Wave would begin.

There, they would defeat the Kishiris Order’s priestess and stop the Ultra Wave.

“……”

It wouldn’t be easy, but that was Eve’s plan.

Next to her, Elaine shouted to the girls.

“Everyone, get into the dorm and unpack! Get ready!”

“Wow! Let’s hurry and lie down!”

“I’m dying because my back hurts from holding the shield all day!”

“It’s not because you missed that handsome boyfriend, right?”

“Hey! What are you talking about!”

The girls, at that age, burst into giggles at the slightest thing, like falling leaves.

But Eve, at the front, wasn’t amused.

‘Gilloshian……’

Thinking of the Shield of Balance in her inventory and the Orc Shaman’s Cave, that face naturally came to mind.

That stiff expression resurfaced vividly.

“…I should have tried talking to him at least.”

He had openly refused to talk last night at camp; he would surely try to block their Special Task Force’s strategy.

But Eve didn’t know what form that interference would take, and she was uneasy.

And his expression as he turned away—

‘Like a forsaken puppy.’

That troubled her mind, making it all the more complicated.

‘Yeah, I was like that when I first fell into this world. I needed a place to belong.’

But not anymore.

There was no other choice.

Her top priority was the safety of the girls here.

Quest completion rates didn’t concern Eve at all.

Her only goal was to get these girls out of the hunting grounds safely without shedding a drop of their blood.

‘Then why do I keep…?’

Strangely, that face kept appearing.

“…Sigh.”

“Why do you keep sighing? Everything’s going smoothly. What’s wrong?”

Elaine’s words made Eve give a bitter smile.

“Oh, it’s nothing. By the way, you went to see Erqua oppa last night, right? How is he? Is he doing well?”

“Don’t even mention it. Since becoming the Vice Head’s attendant, his pride’s through the roof. I almost hit him once. Oh, and he said to say hi to you.”

“Oh, really?”

“Seems he still likes you. Well, there can only be a few like that.”

Eve chuckled softly.

Elaine continued chatting about this and that—family, friends, swordsmanship, romance, hobbies…

From trivial things to deep conversations, they shared everything, becoming very close.

In fact, their bond had formed long before they participated in this ritual.

‘I’ve been living in Aurax for three years now.’

After falling into this World Forsaken by God, she escaped the Wyler Principality and had lived here ever since.

She no longer saw the locals as NPCs but as truly living people.

‘More than that… family, maybe.’

“Unnis! Look at this! Aren’t the flowers pretty?”

“Huh? There’s a bug there!”

“Eek!”

“Hahaha!”

All the girls following Eve were children she had known for a long time.

The boys were the same, though their familiarity was relatively lower.

So, even though she was a Player, it was only natural that Eve didn’t obsess over quest rewards and focused entirely on their safety.

‘They’re all my friends, my little siblings. I can’t let them get hurt.’

Letting any of them die was unthinkable.

That’s why Eve had to take the Special Task Force route.

This was something Gilloshian could never have predicted.

‘Maybe I should have tried talking to him.’

…No.

After thinking it over, Eve shook her head.

‘It would only cause more confusion. Anyway, Gilloshian can’t be mixed in with the Revolutionary Army Camp.’

He must be driven out soon.

Though she had many conflicts about it, Eve’s conclusion was that she had to get rid of Gilloshian eventually.

‘He’s dangerous.’

That much was clear.

As the Special Task Force route was a ‘half-baked strategy,’ he was a dangerous presence.

‘So I tried putting pressure on him little by little while he was in the Cold Sun, hoping to push him out.’

I gave information bit by bit to the City Guard, hoping his group would leave on their own, but…

The result was a complete failure.

Gilloshian’s group shook off every pursuit and came all the way here.

‘Honestly, it’s impressive.’

Not only does he know this world better than anyone, but he’s bold enough to use that knowledge cleverly.

Seeing him blaze through impossible paths, you can’t help but wonder what route he’ll take next.

But…

‘There’s no way we can coexist.’

Eventually, they’d compete.

They would have to fight, shedding blood.

That was the fate of players who fell into this world.

‘Because he was like that too.’

Not much different even now.

Gilloshian and Eve were stubbornly pursuing their own methods over the same quest.

As long as they stayed in the same area, this conflict would keep arising.

And eventually, it would end the same way it did three years ago.

“…So there’s no other choice. This is my decision.”

Eve muttered as she trudged down the forest path.

Above the plains, the crimson sunset was settling.

Far ahead, a massive rocky hill loomed, standing tall.

Two cabins were firmly built on either side of the hill.

Though still far away, about the size of a finger’s width, they could see it clearly.

“Ohh, that’s our cozy dormitory!”

“Is our girls’ dorm on the east side or the west side?”

“East! Ah, I can’t wait to wash up!”

“Can we run there, unnis?”

The girls who had spent the whole day roaming the hunting grounds were very enthusiastic.

“Don’t be too noisy.”

“Hey, who’s that running? Hey, Shield Team leader! Kids these days.”

Eve and Elaine at the front chuckled softly as they calmed them down.

Of course, they understood the girls’ eagerness to rest, so they didn’t stop their excited chatter.

As the 25 girls walked the forest path toward the dormitory, a sudden—

Z……

A muffled, heavy rumble struck the ground.

“What? What was that?”

The shock was so clear that all the girls immediately stopped.

And in the next moment, Eve couldn’t believe her eyes.

The largest rock at the top of that rocky hill was slowly tilting.

Majestic and surreal, like a giant collapsing.

But as soon as the tilt ended, the rock plummeted with terrifying speed.

“Whaaa?”

“Unni!”

“Waaaah, woooah! Waaah!”

The startled girls screamed.

The moving giant rock dragged countless heaps of soil, rushing down the hill.

“No, no!”

Although the landslide wouldn’t reach where they stood, Eve shouted in alarm.

The direction of the falling rocks was the problem.

The avalanche covered the dormitory to the east.

That was the girls’ cabins.

Bang!

The massive rock struck, and the log house was instantly wiped out.

Dust billowed up, leaving everyone agape.

Seeing that scene, Eve suddenly recalled a strange memory.

‘Ah, the black market…

When we rolled the hoodlums out in a giant ball.’

“…Gilloshian.”

There was no doubt.

Nothing else could explain it.

Only that guy knew the secret of this rocky mountain.

Filled with rage, Eve shouted.

“Hey! Gilloshian! You crazy bastard!”