Andika, one of the Manggot's shepherds, was seething with rage.

As soon as the Manggot forces had gathered, two women had started a fight within their ranks, and then, out of the blue, the knights had stormed in and turned most of them into mush.

"Those... damned... bastards...!"

Amidst the chaos of the battlefield, his sword blazed red. His surging killing intent, transformed into aura, targeted the knights.

Most of the Roach knights sensed his bloodlust and glanced his way, but their priority lay with the other knights around them and, above all, the enemies before them.

"I'll kill those bastards right now!"

Just as Andika was about to charge forward in his fury, someone grabbed him.

"Calm down!"

It was Beso, another shepherd.

"Calm down?! You want me to just leave those half-baked tin cans alone?!"

"Look over there!"

Beso pointed towards the barrier.

The very reason why the Manggot had gathered in this place. The northern barrier had already been breached, and the hasty ice repairs wouldn't hold for long. It was already on the verge of collapse due to the monsters.

"Even though we were lured here by those bastards, the fact remains that the barrier is broken! Most of the shepherds are gathered here right now! We have to cross the barrier!"

"...Leave the Manggot's flock here and just cross the barrier ourselves?"

Andika's voice was filled with displeasure. If the shepherds left, the remaining Manggot forces would all perish at the hands of the Roach knights.

However, in response to his words, Beso grabbed him by the collar and shouted,

"Yes!! Aren't we the Wildfire!!"

"..."

Andika gritted his teeth and looked around at those words.

Many other shepherds had already arrived besides the two of them.

Looking at it objectively, Beso was right. The monsters were currently swarming towards the broken barrier. Naturally, the soldiers and knights would also be drawn there.

Even with just this number of people remaining, they could easily break through the gaps in the Imperial forces. Although they had suffered significant casualties, none of the shepherds were injured.

"...Indeed, I was lacking in resolve. Let's go!"

Andika wasn't particularly a leader among the shepherds, but his change of heart served as the starting signal.

They all ran towards the barrier. For shepherds of their caliber, a barrier of this height was easily surmountable.

Under normal circumstances, they would have faced considerable resistance from the knights, but as expected, the broken barrier left them no time for that, allowing the shepherds to reach the top of the barrier with ease.

"There's no time to hesitate!"

The Imperial soldiers belatedly noticed them, but the shepherds ignored most of them and leaped over the barrier.

Finally, the Manggot had crossed the barrier.

'I can't use Shadow Transfer yet!'

Now that they were across, he wanted to gather all the Manggot forces, but it wasn't possible yet.

They had only just crossed the barrier; there was still a long way to go before they could bring down the Empire.

First, they needed to escape to an uninhabited area and scatter all at once to completely erase any traces of their movements.

"It is said that the Empire has someone who can share the vision of key individuals! Don't let even a single one of us be tracked!"

"Right!"

The shepherds advanced rapidly.

Right in front of their path, as luck would have it, a lone man was standing there.

The shepherds' eyes met quickly.

In this situation, there was no need to distinguish between enemies, whether they were knights, soldiers, or ordinary citizens.

Just one person. They could kill him in an instant and move on.

The shepherds decided on the order to eliminate the obstacle and drew their weapons as they ran.

Swish!

The shepherds slashed at the man blocking their path as they passed by.

It was a bit strange that they felt no resistance, but as long as he wasn't in their way, it was fine. They just had to keep moving forward. They had no time to spare.

However.

"...?"

Roach Swordsmanship

Azier Original

Falling edge

No matter how urgent their situation was, no matter how prepared they were to sacrifice their lives for the Wildfire.

Clang!!

With all of them dropping their weapons to the ground, things were not going to go as planned.

"!!"

The shepherds turned back to look at the man they had passed.

All of them had dropped their weapons on the ground around him, even though they had run quite a distance.

Just as they had mentioned earlier, 'without feeling anything'.

"The Manggot, I see."

The man who had stopped them, or rather, forced them to stop, was...

He extended his long spear to the side and gently placed it on the ground.

"I heard they were comparable to the Empire's Zodiac."

His sharp eyes scanned each of the shepherds one by one.

That appearance, that skill... the shepherds knew exactly who he was.

'Azier de Roach!'

The mystical technique that caused opponents to drop their weapons, the Drop.

They had heard of it, but they never imagined it would be such a silent technique.

A pinnacle of skill that made those who were affected unaware of what had happened.

As they belatedly raised their guard against Azier, he spoke with a dissatisfied tone,

"Are you all stronger with your bare hands?"

It was a perfect provocation, but Azier was completely serious.