Turning
chapter-677

Once again, Sunz, sensing something, looked up and shouted.

"Someone else is coming from that direction!"

The already tense atmosphere shifted once more at his cry. The faces of the Cavalry members and the Awakener Brigade members lost their composure, showing distinct rigidity, while on the other hand, the faces of the guests and Nukijo's gang, who were just waiting for an opportunity to escape, lit up with relief and hope.

Whoever was coming, only a few people on Nukijo's side knew and could use this secret passage.

'Has the boss sent additional personnel to protect us? That's fortunate.'

'Maybe the boss himself is coming here. Since the building is in such disrepair, we'll have to escape as soon as the situation settles...'

'If Nukijo comes, we'll find a way to break through these guys. No matter how strong, one can't take on a thousand.'

Nukijo's men, their spirits visibly lifted, didn't miss this opportunity, nor did the stealth Awakener among them. Suns, noticing the silent onslaught about to start again, struggled to open his mouth and yell.

"They're coming again! Crouch down and defend your lower body!"

It was a difficult task for many to move haphazardly to avoid the attack of one who was hidden. The Cavalry members cursed and grumbled aloud, dodging the attacks with great difficulty based on their instincts. The pressure of potentially attacking a comrade if they made a wrong move was immense.

"This is maddening. I need to see something to fight it."

"Dammit. I wish I could burn them all like Yuder!"

Suns and Emon both thought the Cavalry members were truly remarkable as they managed to avoid fatal injuries while screaming, yet dodging quite skillfully.

'In fact, that they can curse while avoiding unseen attacks means they have some leeway... To be able to do this much just on instinct without the ability to see through things, how much effort must they have put in their training.'

In truth, it was just a habit developed by the Cavalry members accustomed to extreme training. But they did not realize this.

The most emphasized thing in the hellish training of the Cavalry was one thing.

'Increase the chance of survival in any situation.'

Combat does not choose the situation. How nice it would be to always fight in favorable circumstances, but situations like now, where they can't use any of their abilities, are bound to occur.

Therefore, Yuder trained his members mercilessly under various hypothetical situations. Throwing a fire user into water, making someone who needs a weapon fight empty-handed were just a part of it.

Thanks to those times, the members could hold on in this deadlock situation where no solution seemed visible. They were surprised themselves that their bodies moved before they could think, avoiding attacks by just the slight change in air flow caused by the movement of the hidden assailant.

'This is crazy. I can't believe I'm dodging this.'

'I don't know what's happening, but my body just rolls and dodges on its own... Reminds me of our training.'

The members didn't see the current situation, rolling on the ground to dodge attacks due to an unfamiliar ability, as a humiliation. If they ended up with mere scrapes instead of fatal wounds, that was indeed a job well done.

The only frustration was not being able to find a solution before Nukijo's reinforcements arrived.

In the midst of the turmoil, a realization dawned: "This can't just end with us dodging attacks, there must be a way out...!"

As urgency crept into their minds, the movements of the members began to falter. Eventually, a couple of them, trying to evade the attack of the stealth Awakener, collided with each other in the darkness.

"Ugh!"

The enemy didn't miss this opportunity and launched an attack. It was at that very moment, as the members bit their lips and tried to dodge with all their might, that a blade, its arrival unnoticed, clashed sharply against metal, perfectly blocking the invisible attack in mid-air.

At the end of that blade, the one clutching the hilt was none other than Nathan Zuckerman, who had been quietly observing the situation.

"Sir Zuckerman!"

The Southern knight, who had forcefully pushed back the invisible attacker's weapon, glanced at the Cavalry members and spoke.

"I've roughly figured out the attack pattern. I'll hold them off, so step back for a moment, assess the injuries, and regroup."

"But...!"

"We are all starting to lose our composure and get weary. If we don't act now, someone will definitely get seriously injured..."

Clang. Mid-sentence, Nathan Zuckerman moved like lightning in another direction, his sword raised.

With a short burst of sparks in the air and a collision sound, it was evident that Nathan Zuckerman's opponent, unable to handle the difference in the skillfully deflected force, was flung away. Zuckerman turned his gaze in the direction of the sound, feeling no mercy.

The Cavalry members, who had thought of Nathan Zuckerman as an ordinary knight they had to protect, were shocked at his agile response and piercing gaze, moving as if he could see through the darkness.

'What? It was fast, but didn't seem like a forceful move...?'

'He figured out the invisible attack pattern? How?'

However, the rigorous training of the Cavalry had also honed their ability to make quick judgments in battle.

'If someone else can do what I can't, don't try to help unnecessarily. Just step back. Clumsy help can sometimes be worse than a hindrance.'

Recalling this lesson, they set aside their questions about Nathan Zuckerman's mysterious strength and quickly withdrew, following his request.

"Understood, Sir Zuckerman! Everyone, fall back! Assess your condition first!"

Meanwhile, Nathan Zuckerman engaged in several more light exchanges with the opponent. 'Light' by his standards, as the opponent was repeatedly thrown against the ceiling or walls, yet stubbornly not making a sound and quickly hiding again, making it hard to pinpoint their location.

Nathan Zuckerman, opening all his senses, walked slowly, deeply exhaling as he tried to determine the opponent's location.

'A foe more difficult to capture alive than to kill. Quite tricky.'

Even he, who could elevate his senses far beyond that of ordinary people, had never encountered an enemy who could erase their presence so completely. It seemed certain that the opponent was not professionally trained, yet it had taken a long time to figure out the pattern of their attacks.

Based on what he had deduced so far, the stealth Awakener was definitely small and not particularly strong. They were likely keeping low to maximize the effectiveness of their attacks in this invisible state, but they didn't seem accustomed to this kind of approach. Their movements and attacks were simple, lacking anything extraordinary, which only confirmed his suspicions.

If only their forms had been visible, the Cavalry members could have easily dealt with them. However, that extraordinary ability to erase not just their presence and sound, but even their weapons into the darkness, compensated for all their vulnerabilities. This very weakness made predicting their movements all the more challenging.

'Even so...'

It wasn't impossible to find them.

Even the Cavalry, honed by training, could narrowly evade the attacks with their heightened senses. For Nathan Zuckerman, whose senses were intensely sharpened, the slightest changes made by the enemy's movements were as clear as thunder and storms.

'It's coming from that direction this time.'

Nathan Zuckerman, catching the subtle shift in the air, turned his head. Realizing that he had roughly pinpointed his location, the stealth Awakener tried a different attack this time.

'If they can make their weapons invisible, it's likely they've hidden something like a magic-infused dagger or a poison dart as a last resort.'

In a brief moment, Nathan Zuckerman, anticipating the enemy's possible actions, raised his sword to protect the Cavalry members.

Just as a bright blue aura began to emanate from his hand, a sharp voice echoed from somewhere.

"Stop!"

Along with the voice, things previously unseen revealed themselves before their eyes.

Nathan Zuckerman boldly discovered a woman, who had approached close enough to launch a dart, and swiftly lowered his raised sword, retreating back. The dart she fired helplessly embedded itself in an empty wall.

"What's happening? My power isn't working!"

"Sir Zuckerman! Are you alright?"

The Cavalry members behind Nathan Zuckerman, intending to assist him, cried out in surprise.

The stealth Awakener, realizing she was visible to others, was just as shocked.