A hot wind blanketed Ómskor, the Echoing Woods, on what should have been a peaceful afternoon. Yet today, the air was unusually heavy. A faint stench of sulfur drifted with the wind, something that shouldn't be there.
Giant trees with twisted trunks creaked against one another, creating a hollow, reverberating sound, as if the entire forest was whispering a warning of impending doom.
"The air around here... has gotten much hotter," Alan muttered softly, crouching to lean his back against a tree. His eyes swept the surroundings before turning to speak to the young girl in a pinkish-red outfit.
Amanda gripped the staff in her hand tightly, her expression tensed instantly. "Alan... I can feel it. The ground is shaking. They are coming... and it's not just one."
"Calm down," a still-indifferent voice rang out from the other side. A young man in white trimmed with green, leaning behind another tree, warned them. His tone was surprisingly calm.
Lagarth, in his green-trimmed white attire, beckoned with his index finger toward himself before twirling his hand as a signal to flank around the other side—a tactical movement needing no words. But before anyone could move—
Boom! The tree behind them exploded into splinters.
"Roar!!" A high-pitched roar echoed throughout the forest, making its origin impossible to trace. Three colossal, brownish-green figures burst through the treeline—a pack of Drakes.
"Amanda, use a protection spell!" Lagarth commanded immediately. However, Amanda didn't wait for the order. A yellowish-orange magic circle appeared before her, spreading out to absorb the impact of the three charging Drakes in advance.
At the same moment, Alan lunged to the side, pulling the trigger of the crossbow in his hand. His weapon was the work of dwarven craftsmen—its firing power was strong enough to pierce the thick scales of an earth dragon, and its mechanism could also fold and transform into a greatsword for close-quarters combat.
The bolt tore through the air, precisely piercing the neck of the leading Drake.
"Screech!!" It let out a howling cry. The giant body staggered before collapsing to the ground. But the remaining two didn't hesitate in the slightest; they lunged straight at Alan.
He flipped the crossbow in his hand, morphing it into a greatsword in the blink of an eye, and slashed out with all his might. However, the third Drake twisted its neck, narrowly dodging the blade, and immediately countered with a snapping bite.
—Slash! An emerald green light flashed through the air. Its neck was severed in a single stroke, leaving only its head to crash heavily into Alan's left shoulder, driving him to one knee, momentarily stunning him.
Amanda seized the opening instantly. Two more magic circles were conjured and hurled like chakrams, slicing through the air toward the remaining Drake. The magical blades tore through its chest and torso, leaving behind gruesomely deep wounds. But—it still didn't fall.
A low growl sounded once more as the Drake charged relentlessly. Not only that—the first Drake, with the bolt still lodged in its neck... began to stir and rise again.
The situation flipped in an instant. Two more colossal shadows burst out from behind a large tree, near where Alan was standing.
"Alan! This is bad, there are five of them!" Amanda cried out before rushing toward Alan, deploying a magic circle to brace for the impact.
The two newly appeared Drakes were noticeably larger than the previous three. The sheer force of their charge slammed into the magic circle, numbing her entire body instantly. The arm she used to brace herself trembled almost uncontrollably.
Alan seemed to understand the situation without a word. He scooped up Amanda's small frame with his left arm, pushing off to retreat and carrying her back toward Lagarth's position.
Lagarth stood waiting for his two companions to reach him while his eyes swept the surroundings, assessing which of the two earth dragons would reach him first. The two injured Drakes arrived first.
—Flash! An emerald green arc of the sword instantly slashed back in a counterattack.
Meanwhile, Amanda, still in Alan's arm, didn't miss a beat. She drew two bolts from her quiver and handed them to him without a word. Sensing that Amanda had regained her footing, Alan immediately let go of her.
The greatsword in his hand flipped back into a crossbow in a flash. Alan took the bolts, loaded them—and fired!
Swish! The bolt shot out at high speed. Amanda raised her hand to cast a spell, layering another protection circle to absorb the incoming impact. But—a miss. The bolt regrettably grazed past the leg of the target Drake.
A split second later— Boom! The two Drakes slammed into the magic circle again. The collision was so forceful that Amanda's bracing left arm shuddered violently. Her body was thrown off balance, stumbling backward.
Alan quickly grabbed another bolt, loaded it into the crossbow, and prepared to fire again—but suddenly, a hand rested on his back.
"This is bad..." Lagarth's voice sounded evenly. "We're surrounded."
Alan froze before sweeping his gaze around again. The sight made him halt for a moment. There weren't just five Drakes, but... an entire pack. Dozens of massive figures—twenty—no less than thirty of them, slowly closing in to surround them from all directions.
Amanda, who had just managed to prop herself up, looked up at the scene with trembling eyes. A massive horde of Drakes... was caging them in like prey with no means of escape.
"..." She was speechless, unable to utter a single sound.
Amidst the suffocatingly tense situation, "Amanda... are you still holding up?" Lagarth's voice rang out, harboring a teasing tone entirely unfitting for the circumstances.
Amanda remained stunned, offering no reply.
"In that case..." Lagarth continued with a faint smile, "Please keep your head down low. I suppose I'll have to use my ultimate sword technique."
Alan didn't hesitate. He pulled Amanda down until they were almost flat against the ground. In the very next instant—an emerald green light erupted from Lagarth's body, and the arc of his sword spread out frantically in all directions.
This was the ultimate sword technique Lagarth had once mentioned to Alan and Amanda, known as "Hurricane Slashes." It was a relentless chain of strikes like a raging storm, battering without pause. One... two... three... ten times... eleven... twelve!
But then, Lagarth's body dropped to his knees, panting heavily. It seemed using this technique had drained almost all of his energy.
"Didn't you say you could slash sixteen times in a row?" Amanda immediately protested, her voice still trembling slightly from panic.
"How embarrassing. Back at the village, I could still pull off fourteen strikes," Lagarth muttered to himself.
Even so—the "Hurricane Slashes" technique from a moment ago wasn't in vain. Four Drakes—the ones remaining from the previous clash—were utterly slaughtered. Furthermore, the sweeping force of the blade pushed the encirclement wide enough to create an opening.
However... the remaining Drakes paused for only a brief moment before their low growls began to harmonize terrifyingly. Their eyes blazed with even greater ferocity. The death of their kin didn't instill fear in them; conversely, it only ignited their frenzied instincts.
"Amanda, use your necklace to go back to your mother, right now," Alan urged hastily. He knew full well that the necklace Amanda wore could instantly transport her back to the village.
"No!" Amanda shook her head vehemently. "You want me to just leave you guys here!?"
"If you won't use it..." Lagarth interjected, forcing himself back to his feet, "Then send me instead. I'll go find your mother myself."
The roars of the Drake pack echoed in unison. The ground began to tremor from the movement of their incoming charge. "Amanda, there's no time!" Alan shouted. "Hurry to your mother and have Lady Berlynda come help us!"
Amanda gritted her teeth tightly. Though her eyes were filled with hesitation, she ultimately yanked at the necklace hanging around her neck, clenching it in her hand, ready to chant the spell. Yet, the Drakes that were hurtling towards them suddenly stopped dead in their tracks, as if something invisible had pinned their bodies down.
The chaos from moments ago was extinguished in a flash, leaving only an unnatural silence blanketing the entire forest. And amidst that silence, the silhouettes of two women in witches' garb gradually appeared, stepping into the encirclement of earth dragons without any haste.
The one walking in front was an elderly, plump witch. Her face was calm, but the aura around her felt heavy, as if suppressing everything. The other stood diagonally behind her, clad entirely in black. Her crimson hair concealed almost half of her upper face, and in her hand, she gripped a staff topped with a dragon's head—silent, yet exuding an undeniable pressure.
The two witches came to a halt in front of Amanda's group. "You're from the West Witch Gate village... aren't you?" the plump witch asked in an impassive tone.
"Was it your doing... making them stop dead like this?" Lagarth didn't answer the question, but instead retorted with one of his own, his eyes still carefully fixed on the other party.
"Not I... but her." The old witch shook her head gently, then pointed a finger toward the red-haired witch standing behind. Lagarth suddenly gave a thumbs-up, praising the red-haired witch's ability to control the dragons.
"Judging by that child's attire..." The plump witch glanced at Amanda. "You must be people from West Witch Gate."
Amanda furrowed her brows slightly, paranoia evident in her eyes. "You are also witches... so what business do you have with our village?" Though Amanda looked young, her demeanor was steadfast and unwavering, fitting for someone who had served as the interim village leader many times when Berlynda went on journeys.
The old witch chuckled softly in her throat. "We've come to see your village leader," she stated simply. "I am Grimora—Witch of the Night, one of the Nine Unicorn Witches, and leader of the Village of Eternal Night. As for her, she is Bjarka—Witch of Dragons, my disciple, and leader of the Village of Solitude."
Just that introduction was enough to immediately weigh down the surrounding atmosphere. Because they were part of the "Unicorn Witches," the founders of the Einhyrningur Kingdom, of which West Witch Gate was also one of its nine villages.
Amanda didn't drop her guard. "And what is your purpose?" She chose not to reveal her identity as Berlynda's prime disciple.
Grimora looked at the young girl before her for a moment. "I come with good intentions... Even though we just lent a hand and saved your lives, you still won't trust us?"
"Saving us is one thing," Amanda replied immediately, bowing her head once. "I thank you, but to bring outsiders into the village, I need to know your true intentions first."
For a moment, silence pressed down once more. "Ha... Ha..." A laugh arose from Grimora. "Little children like you... think you can bargain with me?"
She raised her hand dismissively before pointing at the pinned Drake pack, aiming right at the largest one. Her lips then moved to utter a single word.
"Untora."
Boom!! The explosion swallowed everything in an instant. Flames of power immediately engulfed the bodies of the Drakes. Over twenty of them were obliterated without a trace left behind. The tremors shook the entire forest.
Amanda froze, her body trembling slightly involuntarily. But deep down in her eyes, a stubborn refusal to back down remained. No matter how strong the other party was, she still had no intention of easily leading them to the village anyway.
"Are you going to take us to Berlynda..." Grimora spoke up, her voice growing colder, "or should I blow you all into dust first?"
At those words— Click!
Alan pulled the trigger of his crossbow, firing a bolt straight at Grimora without hesitation. But before it could reach its target— Whoosh! A streak of black shadow intercepted it. Bjarka appeared in a flash, the dragon-headed staff in her hand effortlessly swatting the bolt away. And with a backhand swing, the staff whipped right back, striking swiftly at Alan's neck.
But— Clang! An emerald green blade swept up and blocked the attack just in time. Lagarth stood bracing in front, his expression more strained than ever.
Simultaneously, Amanda raised her hand, casting a bright orange magic circle on her palm. But before she could unleash it, Grimora stepped close and reached out to touch the magic circle. In that blink of an eye, the color of the magic circle abruptly shifted from orange... to pitch black.
"Stop!!" A resonant shout thundered from above.
All eyes looked up. The figure of a woman floated in mid-air, her fiery red hair fluttering. Beneath her feet was a dark red magic circle that supported her body. "Master!" Amanda cried out in relief.
Berlynda had rushed to this place after hearing the explosion. Seeing the two strangers, she asked, "You are able to cast the 'Untora' spell...?"
"Ha... Ha..." Grimora laughed softly. "You probably still don't know. Our master is a former Valkyrie. Her name is Sigyn. Among the nine Unicorn Witches, only Hjördí and Samantha cannot use this spell."
Berlynda fell silent for a moment, thoughts racing rapidly through her mind—if Lady Sigyn was behind this, then absolutely anything was possible. Especially since the Untora spell was a magic that this very first Valkyrie had created herself.
"Then for what purpose have you come here?" Berlynda asked directly.
A faint smile appeared on Grimora's face. "I merely wanted to converse with you... Berlynda, the Valkyrie known as the 'strongest'. I want to know whether you can cast the 'Ultra Untora' spell."
Berlynda immediately frowned. "Ultra Untora...?" She repeated the word softly. "I have never heard of that spell before."
That answer brought the surrounding atmosphere to a standstill. The silence expanded as if something that should have been there was suddenly missing. Grimora stared at Berlynda for a moment before her expression changed slightly. "Even you don't know of this spell?" Her tone clearly carried a hint of disappointment.
For Grimora at this moment, "Ultra Untora" was the ultimate goal she had devoted her entire life to pursuing. But it seemed that hope was in vain. She closed her eyes for a brief second before sighing softly.
While Berlynda watched her thoughtfully. "Very well," she finally spoke up. "Let us return to the village first. We shall discuss the rest at my home."