Stop, Friendly Fire!
chapter-31-6

Lee Shin Woo had forced his way through Metafel's troops, and once he'd broken the wagon, he realized that the Archmage had set up some security measures on the compass.

Well, it makes sense. After all, who would just hand something this precious out for free? There were dozens of security spells set up, and the other spells made it difficult for him to even analyze the magical device. ...However, he was used to it.

"Rem!"

[I'm coming!]

He'd managed to steal a level 8 artifact from the Archmage before, an artifact that he had personally looked after. Whereas, this magical device's performance had been so limited that it was only a level 6 artifact. If he couldn't do as he pleased with this item, then it would be an embarrassment to the Joker name.

"Nice. It's just like I'd learned from Kratia...! Hacking's pretty easy."

"When did you learn that!?"

[I've arrived, Master!]

"Good. I'll leave it to you."

Lee Shin Woo saw Rem's magic completely enclose around the giant compass and knew that the first step was complete.

"We're done with the first step, so let's move on to the next! Leave the rest to Kratia!"

[I understand!]

[You morons, get a hold of yourselves!]

Right when Lee Shin Woo had acquired the compass and placed it into his inventory, he heard Metafel, who had once been completely surrounded by his men, yell, as if browbeating them.

Upon hearing that, Lee Shin Woo immediately felt the surrounding undeads' rotten eyes begin to brighten, which meant that Metafel possessed a skill that acted in the reverse of Instigate: a skill that cleared their minds.

[Ugh... How did the trespasser get in!?]

"Hoo... Let's go!"

Rem, who'd finished its mission, flew into the sky once more, and began relaying information on Lee Shin Woo's surroundings to him. After Lee Shin Woo had confirmed that the Giant, who'd secured an approach route for him had safely gotten to the retreat route, he likewise retreated.

[You cannot take that!]

However, there was someone tailing him. It was none other than the level 7 elite that usually stuck by Metafel's side and protected him.

It was a knight who could use both swords and bows, but as soon as it saw Lee Shin Woo running away with the magical device, it raised its bow, drew the bowstring, and began firing arrows at him!

"What a pain!"

[Keuk!?]

Lee Shin Woo didn't have time to face it head on, so he shot out a Breath of the Lightning God and exploded it in order to buy time. But then, Metafel threw a giant axe at him, as he was able to move again.

[How dare you take our corps' treasure!]

"Heup!"

There was no way Jin, who possessed agility that far outstripped even most level 7s, wouldn't have some sort of evasion skill. With his shocking reflexes, Jin managed to dodge the axe, and leapt up into the air. He'd changed his back feet into springs, gaining an overwhelming jumping and charging ability!

"T-The horse is..."

"The horse is flying in the sky!"

They briefly jumped over the heads of hundreds of undead, and then got to the escape route. There, the most formidable Giants were ripping apart the undead.

"Let's go back now!"

[Kuhaaaaah! Have you shown your pride!?]

"I'll tell you all about it when we get back, so make way!"

These damn Giants were looking for his 'pride' every 5 minutes! In any case, they'd secured their retreat, which was such a relief.

He attempted to drag the Giants with him and retreat. The plan was to return home safely from their excursion!

[How dare you look down upon General Metafel! I won't stop until I kill you all!]

[Kuhahk!?]

But when he though they were finally listening to him and following him, one of countless arrows flying towards them (they were shot by the level 7 elite, so it should've hurt quite a bit) hit a Giant's forearm; the Giant's eyebrows twitched and it turned around.

[Before we retreat, I have to pay him back in kind for this injury!]

"Like I was saying, I told you not to do that, you idiot!"

[Are you going to run away like a coward!? How can you even call yourself a Giant!?]

Why did they have to provoke it now!? The arrow-firing level 7 elite was trying to buy time until Metafel could return to the front, but it turned out to be super effective against the Giants.

[Giants do not retreat... Kuhahk!]

"We'll be going now! But next time, it won't be this easy!"

[Y-You bastards! All you did was trick my troops from start to finish, so what do you have up your sleeve now!?]

The magic words, which would allow them to safely retreat from any situation, was on the tip of his tongue, and the Lee Shin Woo pulled on the Giant's arm and ran (the Giant had opened up the retreat path, yet it was primed to charge into enemy lines).

Though his entire body's mana was used to strengthen one arm, it couldn't hope to compare to the size of a Giant's arm; dragging its arm and running atop a horse was quite the sight.

[T-The Titan's Pride...!]

"It's too heavy! I can't run like this!"

"You hear? Apparently, you're really heavy. So... umph!"

Lee Shin Woo lifted the Giant with a single arm, and forcefully threw it. The level 7 Giants, who had safely retreated ahead of them, caught the Giant.

[How dare you!?]

Of course, the Giant was really pissed, and wanted to argue with him, but Lee Shin Woo wasn't one to be taken lightly.

"I just saved your lives. How many times do I have to tell you that we had to retreat to win!? You idiots. How can you claim to be descendants of the Titans!? Do you really think that you can become a Titan with just those rotten muscles of yours!?"

[Keuk, I-I got it. Sorry...]

The Giants, who had briefly experienced Lee Shin Woo's rage, shrank, despite their levels. Lee Shin Woo clicked his tongue when he looked back to see the undead chasing behind them, especially Metafel and the level 7 elites at the front.

"If you're sorry, then run! Just keep running until we reach the place we talked about!"

Was the operation over with them breaking through enemy lines and acquiring the artifact? Obviously not. They had just stolen the artifact from the enemy forces right under their noses, so they wouldn't just sit on their asses and do nothing!

From the very beginning, Metafel's pursuit had been expected. No matter how well the plan progressed they couldn't avoid pursuit. ...Because of that, Lee Shin Woo had set a trap beforehand with the help of the level 5 and level 6 Giants.

Regardless of how low their levels were, it didn't change the fact that the Giants possessed large enough bodies and power to change the mountainous land!

"Get past it! Jump over it!"

[Huaaaah!]

There was a huge break in the middle of the path. Of course, an opening a dozen meters wide was nothing for the level 7 Giants, and Jin was able to jump over it without even using his springs.

"Run forward. Run even faster!"

[Keuk. Us Giants are...]

[F-For the Titan!]

These Giants made Lee Shin Woo's life hell today; whenever their pride was damaged, they would habitually mutter 'Titan'.

If they had to memorize that one word in order to overcome danger, then he'd listen to it as much as they wanted! Lee Shin Woo checked to see the Giants were past the cliff and then checked behind him as well.

[Ha, is that all?]

[General, we'll join up with you immediately!]

[You guys sure gave us some trouble...]

Several hundred meters could be crossed within 0.01 seconds with a level 7's strength, and Metafel and the other two level 7 elites (one of the Corps Commanders had, at some point, joined up with them) were watching him.

[Did you think you could stop us from following us just by using this cliff? I wondered what kind of man you were to have caused so much chaos amongst my troops and stolen the magical device, but this was all you amounted to?]

"If you're really that confident, then why don't you just come on over?"

Lee Shin Woo stood on the other side of the cliff without moving an inch. As if he had resolved himself to fight against them head on! However, Metafel didn't attack in haste, and asked him some questions first. His bandit-like, rough face was etched with rage.

[Whose orders are you following? How did you get those Giants to act? And how did you know that we had a magical device.]

"Ha..."

Lee Shin Woo laughed wickedly, as if he were waiting for him to ask that very question. That's right. Most of the time, this is how it would go. The 12 generals had too much pride to think that Lee Shin Woo had done this all on his own!

And if he managed to divert some of Metafel's hostility to another party, then he was prepared to say anything!

"Who else? You can't even figure that out by yourself?"

[Ugh... It must be... that bastard, Seagald...!]

Lee Shin Woo hadn't even said anything, but Metafel opened his eyes wide and yelled furiously. At that moment, his feet shook. Lee Shin Woo's side wasn't shaking at all, but the side that Metafel was standing did.

[You..!?]

Metafel realized that Lee Shin Woo had done something, and leapt up from the cliff towards Lee Shin Woo, but before he could get to him, five giant shields blocked his path. Metafel's helmet and the shields crashed against each other.

[Kuhahk!?]

The five thick and durable shields blocked Metafel's advance, as well as his and his subordinates’ vision. 'A-Another trick!' Metafel thought. Metafel stuck to the shields and swung his axe in anger. With just a single blow, the shields cracked.

[Kuaaaaaaah!]

'There's no way you can get away from me! I'll just break through this damn wall and follow you...!', he thought, but at that moment the five shields blew up simultaneously.

[Kahat!?]

Metafel was the one who'd been hit by the explosion, yet the ones screaming were the two level 7 elites that followed him. The narrow hill that had been shaking began to crumble due to the pressure of the explosion!

[Kuaahk!]

[General, please hold on! The entire cliff is collapsing...!]

There was no way he'd be hurt by this explosion or this earthquake, but he also couldn't fly in the air, as he didn't have a foothold any longer.

Metafel, his elites, as well as his soldiers that had hastily followed him in their pursuit of Lee Shin Woo fell. Of course, this was all because of the Giants' work.

[Keuk, how disgraceful...!]

[General, are you alright!?]

[W-Where is he!?]

Despite him falling several kilometers down, Metafel's level 7 elites were unharmed. Of course, there were a few elites that had died, but they were just consumables that could be replenished at any time.

[General, I can't find him...!]

[Did you lose him!?]

[I-I'm so sorry!]

It would be impossible for them to find Lee Shin Woo again, as they had lost time from the explosion and had dropped several kilometers below the cliff.

Moreover, they had fallen between the cold, icy cliffs and were stuck, so no matter how high they raised their heads, they couldn't even begin to figure out which direction the Giants and Lee Shin Woo had run off in.

[In a single instant... it's definitely an organized movement. Anti-Skull... to think those damn bastards and the Giants were allied together! Perhaps even the frozen Titan's Heart...!]

[You don't need to worry so much, General.]

However, his loyal soldier, Setoin Miletus, who could always get through any adversity with his archery and was always by his side, calmed him down. Setoin was the only one amongst Metafel's troops that hadn't been tricked by Lee Shin Woo's Instigate skill and had tried to stop him.

[There's a tracking function on the magical device. The Archmage actually planned for this, and gave us a separate device that would allow us to track its location. Compared to the compass, which will point us in the right direction, this one will tell us their exact location!]

[Ha... as expected of the Archmage. He makes it so I don't have to feel embarrassed about my mistake!]

Originally, Metafel didn't really feel anything for the Archmage, Feotane Von Seldin, but he suddenly came to respect him. If they took the magical device with them, and returned to their original location, then they could use this opportunity to get them all in one fell swoop!

[Alright. Then let's go back. We'll begin our pursuit immediately, right after we've re-organized the troops. Let's show those careless bastards what it means to anger the Empire!]

[I understand, General!]

Metafel gritted his teeth, as he sensed the general direction that the Giants and Lee Shin Woo had run off in. Before he'd become one of the 12 generals, Metafel had fought in countless battles, but this would remain as one of his most humiliating experiences.

[How dare he? How dare he screw me over like this... I'll show you how much of a mistake it was to anger me, the Mercenary King...!]

He would kill them all: the one who had stolen the magical device from him, as well as those Giants! Using the magical device that the Archmage had given Setoin to track them!

...And thus began the arduous journey for the 50,000 troops under Metafel's command.