"That bastard...!"

As Frondier expected, Sylvain, who was surveying the battlefield, soon spotted the Cyclops and frowned.

To take down that thing, the entire Roach Knights would need to form a cavalry formation and attack it simultaneously. Only then could they defeat the Cyclops with minimal damage.

In this chaotic battlefield, that was obviously impossible. It was already reckless to even consider leading the horses out.

'It's alright. The Lord is standing in front of the gate. The moment that thing approaches the gate, he will cut it down in one stroke...'

That's what Sylvain thought, but then.

Rumble...

The Cyclops suddenly stopped walking and headed somewhere else. What appeared before it was a massive boulder. The moment Sylvain saw it, his face turned pale.

The Cyclops lifted the boulder, which was as big as its head. It hoisted it onto its shoulder, its arm muscles bulging. The ground caved in as its giant foot took a step forward. And then.

Whooooosh!!

A boulder so enormous that it was hard to believe it was real flew through the air, crushing the wind with an unimaginable speed.

'...Ah.'

Sylvain stared blankly at the sight, as if it were a dream. If that boulder hit the barrier, it would undoubtedly shatter. At that moment, this battle would cease to be a battle and become a one-sided massacre.

However, all Sylvain had at that moment was the sword in his hand.

With this, there was no way he could—

Void Weaving, Simultaneous Replication

Imperial Armory

Spear, Homogeneous Replication x5

Suddenly, something flew towards the boulder from the air.

Spears with menacing blades shot towards the rock with brute force. The boulder shattered into pieces, and the fragments rained down on the front and top of the barrier.

"Aaargh!"

"Kwaaak!"

Screams erupted from atop the barrier. Although the barrier itself didn't crumble, the debris from the boulder still inflicted damage, causing casualties among the soldiers.

'That was Frondier again, wasn't it?'

However, if they hadn't even been able to break it, this barrier would have been finished at that moment. Sylvain looked at Frondier.

At that moment, Frondier was also looking at Sylvain.

"Commander!"

Frondier called out to him.

"I'll take care of the boulders! Please handle the fragments!"

"...!"

Only then did Sylvain come to his senses and bite his lip. He naturally gripped his sword tighter, stepping forward towards the front of the barrier.

Sylvain definitely had no means to break the boulder. He could cut it if it was aimed directly at him, but he had no way to slice through a boulder targeting the barrier.

A ranged attack with a sword was a secret technique that required extreme aura refinement and talent, something only those like Enfer with divine skills possessed.

However, dealing with the shattered fragments was something even Sylvain could do.

What had he been doing just now? He had seen the incoming boulder and thought it was the end, letting go of his resolve, which resulted in the fragments injuring the wall and killing soldiers, even though Frondier had managed to break the boulder.

Just now, even if Frondier had cursed at him, Sylvain would have had no choice but to hang his head in shame.

"Huu..."

Sylvain raised his aura. He wouldn't know exactly where the Cyclops would aim until the moment it threw the boulder. Therefore, he had to lighten his body to be able to move in any direction.

The Cyclops picked up another boulder from a distance. This time, it was even larger than before. Perhaps it felt that breaking the previous boulder wasn't enough after seeing Frondier's actions.

Once again, the giant's footsteps took a step forward.

Whooooosh!!

This time, an even larger boulder flew through the air, cutting through the wind with a more terrifying speed.

Kaboom!

The boulder shattered once again against the spears charging through the air, breaking into fragments. This time, Sylvain moved.

"Hup!"

As Sylvain swung his sword, the rock fragments lost their momentum and fell. He extended his aura to compensate for the sword's insufficient length and width, neutralizing the force of the debris.

Even though he couldn't completely separate and project his aura, Sylvain possessed sufficient aura mastery for this level of control.

And his true strength lay not in his aura, but in his swordsmanship itself.

"Wow..."

The soldiers were amazed by the sight of the boulder being shattered by the spears in midair, but they were even more impressed by how the fragments scattering in all directions lost their power and fell as soon as Sylvain's blade touched them.

The subtle art of instantly reading the rotation and speed of the stones and neutralizing their momentum. It was not something that could be achieved with just brute aura force.

The Cyclops' boulders flew several more times. It was throwing every boulder it could find in the vicinity.

However, each time, the combination of Frondier and Sylvain managed to block the boulders without significant damage.

'Alright, we can stop this!'

"Frondier! Well done..."

Just as Sylvain was about to praise Frondier for his performance.

"...!"

Frondier was leaning his hands on his knees, his back trembling.

"...Frondier?"

Although his head was lowered, preventing others from seeing his face.

Frondier felt like he was drowning in the Sanzu River, on the verge of death.

'Mana, it's...'

Up until now, he had been compensating with the mana from the black monsters. However, it wasn't a surplus. He had been using all that mana to kill monsters, merely allowing him to continue fighting.

He had already experienced mana depletion once before absorbing the black monsters. And he had pushed himself a little further since then.

And now, after enduring without recovering or fainting, it had come again.

The second mana depletion.

"Keuk, heuk, huff... heuk...!"

He couldn't breathe properly.

His muscles were constricted, preventing him from inhaling or exhaling. Muscle and internal organ spasms, hyperventilation, rapid heartbeat. Nothing was under control, everything was in chaos.

It was all a reflex to survive, but his body's uncontrolled rampage, unable to follow the proper sequence, was pushing Frondier closer to death.

Sylvain's voice calling out, "Frondier, Frondier!", felt distant. He had no time to answer, no time to listen, no time to think.

The winter at the barrier was bitterly cold, but his body felt like it was burning up. No, surely something was burning inside him. Amidst all this, Frondier had only one thought.

Just before the next boulder arrives, somehow—

"...Frondier-nim."

Suddenly.

The coldness of the barrier vanished. The burning heat resonating within his body subsided.

He had been in the midst of a desperate struggle for survival, unable to hear anything.

But a clear voice reached Frondier, and he finally raised his head.

Before him.

"I told you, didn't I?"

With bloodshot eyes, a face drenched in sweat, and a breath as ragged as his own.

"That I would protect you with my life."

The woman he believed would only arrive after sunset.

"Selena, has arrived."

She wrapped the cloth she had been tightly holding around Frondier's neck, smiling with a face that seemed about to cry.