50 – Head-On Collision, Part 2

“Myaaang!”

I heard Daisy wail sharply from my shoulder as I ignited fires everywhere.

Intense flames that melted everything they touched.

Waves of fire rippled out, consuming the surroundings with ferocious force.

‘Definitely stronger than before.’

Just igniting a spark produced this kind of power, my attack strength was simply incomparable to what it used to be.

I smiled as I watched the undead melt, then took a light breath, infusing my mace with mana and Daisy’s power.

‘Let’s start with a simple point-blank explosion.’

I was curious to see how potent I had become, so I channeled as much power as I could and slammed the mace into the ground.

KWAhhh!

The instant the mace struck, an earth-shattering explosion erupted, unleashing a torrent of fire in every direction.

I was smiling at the sight of the undead crumbling to dust from my single blow when…

Liana, her voice full of disbelief, spoke from behind me.

“This is… low-tier Expert level…?”

Even Riana, a cadre within the Information Guild, would be astounded, meaning the power I displayed far surpassed the limits of common sense.

I nodded, confirming once more that the immense flames did not burn our allies.

“To be precise, it’s not my power, but Daisy’s.”

“Myaaam.”

I stroked Daisy’s head, who seemed quite proud of herself, before turning my gaze to the undead gathering towards me and spoke.

“Then, we’ll break through, so follow closely.”

“Yes, yes!”

Gathering my strength once more, I surged forward with speed.

*

A small village perched atop the Pernoah cliffs.

Reaching it, a multitude of emotions crashed into my vision.

Relief, hope, sorrow, shock, gratitude.

Perhaps because we were the only hope to appear in a crisis, their gazes were deeply amiable, or so I thought.

Then, from afar, I spotted Lwuen and Desun shouting.

“D-Damian-nim!”

“Hey! You! Good timing, dammit! Guess you’re useful after all!”

They dragged a wide-eyed, young paladin towards me, quickly approaching and showering me with praise.

“We saw this huge pillar of fire from way over there…! What was that? I don’t know what it was, but it was so amazing it made everyone cheer!”

“Woah, man, that was somethin’ else. But it was supposed to be mine anyway. Nah, nevermind! You saved us, that’s enough!”

Clearly overjoyed that a desperate crisis had been averted, they couldn’t contain their excited voices, their eyes shining.

I watched their reaction, unsure how to respond, offering an awkward smile.

“Mya mya mya mya!”

Suddenly, Daisy, the plump spirit on my shoulder, puffed out her round belly and spoke with an air of importance.

“Muh-yang!”

Judging by the way she placed a hand on her chest, speaking with such confidence, she seemed to be wanting praise herself.

So, I presented Daisy to the others, giving her a platform to receive compliments.

“Ah, this is the Spirit of the Sun? She’s so adorable, but incredibly powerful!”

“Muhehe.”

Daisy, happy to be praised by Lwuen, let out a silly little laugh.

Thinking those chubby cheeks made her look like a hamster as she smiled.

This time, the paladins nearby swarmed, expressing their gratitude.

“Wow, thank you so much for coming! How can we ever express our gratitude…”

“No lie, I thought you were a saint. Wow, I’ve never felt so overwhelmed.”

“It’s cold over there, come this way quickly! It’s a little warmer here!”

Unaccustomed to such a warm welcome, I felt flustered and didn’t know what to do.

Liana, behind me, calmed the paladins, shaking her head.

“I know you’re grateful, but the situation isn’t exactly ideal yet. Let’s celebrate after it’s all over.”

The atmosphere shifted, though.

The undead horde was still as formidable as ever, so it was hard to say the situation had improved.

So Liana insisted on wrapping things up first, more or less forcing the paladins to return to their posts.

I was just thinking I could finally breathe a sigh of relief.

Liana gave an awkward smile and said to me,

“Please understand. When people are driven to the edge of a cliff, they’ll grab onto anything.”

I understood how she felt, having been there myself, and nodded.

This time, Dale beside me spoke in a more subdued voice than usual, explaining the situation.

“Plainly put, we’re screwed. The undead are tougher than they look and don’t die easily. They’ve got nine lives, so unless you completely pulverize them, there’s no stopping them.”

“Really?”

“Yup. So, just as we were about to be wiped out, you showed up and saved us. Damn. So glad to see you.”

I chuckled wryly, listening to Dale’s speech laced with expletives.

I knew that when she spoke with Elysia in the past, she used to be docile and proper.

Ever since she became Dale-soon, though, it seemed like the reins had been cut loose, and she kept swearing.

‘Well, whatever.’

Thinking it wasn’t a big deal, I turned my gaze away and said,

“At this point, it might be better to give up this place and run.”

This time, Lewen replied in her stead.

“At first, we tried to escape together, but as we fled, the undead swarmed from all directions… we were pushed and pushed until we were trapped.”

Abandoning this place wasn’t a matter of choice, but of circumstance.

What mattered was that we were trapped here, and if we didn’t deal with those undead, we would all die.

As I nodded, reminded of this grim reality, Dale-soon urgently spoke.

“Anyway, that’s why I was thinking. If we want to turn this situation around somehow, it’d be best to take down their boss.”

According to Desun, she came up with the idea herself, but in truth, it was a strategy lifted straight from the source material.

Since the enemy numbers were so overwhelming, making a head-on assault impossible, the plan was to form an elite squad, sneak into the enemy base, and kill the Durahan.

However, one concern lingered.

“Aren’t there just too many of them to do that?”

The enemy forces were even larger than depicted in the original story, so even setting aside capturing the Durahan, it was questionable whether those left in the village could even hold out.

I voiced my concern, pointing out this very issue.

“…Ah, but! There’s no other way, is there?”

Desun, seemingly at a loss for words, finished her sentence with a burst of frustrated energy.

After a moment’s contemplation in response to her outburst, I offered a small smile and spoke.

“What if there was a way?”

“Huh? There is?”

I nodded, continuing.

“We set them on fire.”

Desun stared at me, a look of utter bewilderment on her face. Seeing this reaction, I chuckled softly.

“The fire Daisy makes isn’t just any fire.”

Not ordinary fire, but the fire of the sun.

Mentioned in the original, and further reinforced by her use of the Point-Blank Explosion,

the sun’s power has the ability to ‘purify’ the undead and demonic, allowing it to melt them away in a way normal flames couldn’t.

‘So, if we can just create the conditions for the sun’s fire to take hold.’

That would mean we could eliminate a large number of the enemy forces at once.

After I explained this, everyone, perhaps due to having witnessed the pillar of fire earlier, seemed to grasp the concept and started offering their own suggestions.

“We don’t have oil or anything… but we do have straw and dried wood that burn easily. Would it be okay to throw those?”

“Hmm, or how about creating a wall of fire in front? The important thing is protecting the people here, so that might be better.”

“Anyway, there’s a way, right? That’s a real relief… I thought we were done for.”

However, due to the village’s small size, the materials we could gather were limited. We decided to compromise and focus on defending the village first.

With that in mind, we revived the plan to form an elite squad and take down the Durahan.

*

We gathered all the physical resources within the village and erected a defensive wall.

Then, we set it ablaze with Daisy’s sunfire, preventing the undead from approaching.

“Considering our limited resources, they estimate we can only hold out for perhaps three, maybe four hours.”

Lhuvain, her voice laced with worry, announced the time constraint as she gazed at the haphazardly stacked wooden wall.

I nodded, offering a silent reassurance, and was about to turn my gaze calmly elsewhere when…

A little child, clutching a doll, rushed towards me and pressed something into my hand.

“This… for you!”

A small flower, fitting snugly within my palm.

Seemingly a gesture of encouragement, I was about to express my gratitude when…

A man, presumably the child’s father, came rushing over, apologizing profusely as he swiftly pulled the child away.

“S-sorry for the disturbance.”

“It’s alright.”

I wanted to thank him for the flower, but the father, apparently thinking this interaction was a hindrance, vanished as quickly as he had appeared, almost in flight.

I gazed at the flower in my hand, paused for a moment in contemplation, and then nodded to myself, looking forward.

‘Then we should depart immediately.’

With time so scarce, it was crucial to leave at once and dedicate every effort to capturing the Dullahan.

Therefore, let us not waste time on frivolous matters, I thought, as I called out to Daisy.

“Myaang.”

“Could you start a fire here? And, if possible, make it burn for as long as you can.”

“Myaang!”

Daisy, her eyes sparkling with confidence, unleashed a blaze of fire.

I confirmed the wood was alight, then immediately turned my gaze towards Lhuvain, Liana, and Daesun, who waited behind me.

“Let’s go.”

Watching them nod in unison, I strode forward without hesitation.

An endless legion of the undead stood amassed.

I stared at them, pouring mana and Daisy’s power into my mace until it was overflowing, and then slammed it into the ground, unleashing a colossal explosion.

KWAhhh!

A raging inferno engulfed the undead, melting away all those within its reach.

Pointing towards the momentarily cleared path, I shouted with a booming voice.

“Run!”

At my cry, we surged forward, our movements swift as we assessed the situation.

“Ugh, this is creepy. How many are there, seriously?”

Desoon spat out a curse, watching the zombie horde writhing, tangled together.

Liana, behind her, nodded in agreement and shouted loudly,

“Just keep going forward!”

I melted the encroaching undead with fire, letting out a light sigh.

The sheer number was secondary; I doubted if we could truly catch the Dullahan within four hours.

‘I can only struggle as much as possible.’

Now that we’d started, there was no turning back.

So, deciding to do the best I could, I ran in the direction Liana guided, and just then,

in the distance, I spotted a black and white knight, easily over two meters tall, standing with a massive sword.

A mid-level undead Dullahan, its head severed.

I watched as all the plants around him rapidly withered with each step he took, and pulled the hammer from my chest.

‘It’s best to start by tossing the hammer lightly.’

Whether it lands a hit or not, it will create an opening, so it’s not a bad play.

Thinking this, and about to throw it forward, filled with Daisy’s power, I heard Desoon’s flustered voice from beside me.

“… Isn’t, isn’t that b*stard holding a holy sword? It looks exactly like the one I have!”