“Enemies!”

He instinctively shouted at the top of his lungs. Simultaneously, numerous red glows flickered in the previously dark forest.

“Ah!”

“Monsters! They’re monsters!”

The creatures pouring out from the forest were not humans as they had anticipated. They were grotesque and terrifying monsters, the likes of which they could never have imagined.

The soldiers, clutching their shields, hastily assumed a defensive stance. However, the civilians, unprepared for such an onslaught, found it impossible to resist the charge. Like infantry trampled by a full-force cavalry charge, the hastily formed defensive line of soldiers was crushed under the medium legionnaires-* advance.

Their steel armor was torn apart like paper under the claws, and their steel swords couldn't penetrate the creatures' carapaces.

“This is insane.”

The deputy director was so shocked he nearly fainted, but he held onto his consciousness, knowing that if he collapsed, it would mean annihilation.

“Everyone, over here!”

He channeled his magic and quickly cast a spell, striking the ground with his hand to activate it. From the spot he touched, a glowing magic circle rapidly spread across the ground, enveloping the people.

“What's this?”

I

“It's a high-level protection spell!”

The soldiers cheered. The high-level magic used by the society's executives was indeed powerful.

Indeed, the claws and stingers of the legionnaires were all blocked by this semi-transparent golden shield, creating ripples on impact.

“What the hell are these things...?”

“Is this the time to worry about that? Attack!”

He had to maintain the spell, so he couldn't take any other action.

Fortunately, the magicians from the society who came with him, including the defense captain and a few elite soldiers, attacked the monsters from within the shield using their magic and magic-infused weapons. However, these monsters retreated in a uniform and orderly manner, minimizing the damage as if they were following a command.

“Leave them be, and call for backup first!”

“Can you hear us? We need support now! We're under attack!”

They connected to the city using their communication devices.

They were barely holding on, but they were still surrounded and couldn't move an inch.

“Stay calm, everyone. Fortunately, it seems these monsters don't have the ability to break through this shield.”

“Deputy Director, I heard there was an anomaly in the labyrinth.”

“...You're right. These creatures might have come from the labyrinth.”

In that fleeting moment of standoff, he broke out in a cold sweat, glaring at the creatures. They were too alien and strange to be simple monsters.

‘Are they even living creatures?'

Having encountered various magical weapons, including the now obsolete golems, he found something familiar in the appearance of these black monsters. These quiet and alien creatures felt more like magical weapons moving on command rather than beasts.“Huh?”

“A human? A girl?”

And then, in that moment, a ripple erupted from among those who were guarding their rear.

‘A girl?'

He was too flustered to even look back. A small female figure appeared, cutting through the monsters, raising a sword made of red ore.

“No way! A sword...”

The defense captain was horrified, but a merciless strike was unleashed before he could finish his sentence. The red strike, filled with power, caused a massive explosion as it collided with the shield.

“Ugh...”

The shield, which he had been maintaining with all his might, shattered with a single blow, and the backlash caused the deputy director to cough up blood and collapse.

“They're coming!”

“Block them!”

Before he could regain his senses, the monsters charged at them again as soon as the shield disappeared.

Screams, shouts, the sound of weapons clashing, and the sound of flesh being pierced and blood being splattered. These were sounds commonly heard on a battlefield. The only peculiarity was that all these sounds were coming from their side alone.

The sight of the monsters charging fearlessly towards their weapons, coupled with the desperate screams and last gasps of their comrades, severely undermined their morale and fighting spirit.

‘I was foolish. Too foolish.'

The deputy director, writhing on the ground like a bug, blamed himself for his foolishness. If these creatures could be held off with a mere protection spell, the Moonlight Elves wouldn't have asked for salvation.

“Deputy Director?! Deputy Director!”

He crawled on the ground, reaching out for the crystal ball that had fallen. The screen on the overturned crystal ball showed a staff member from the society in the city, frantically shouting at him.

“...You, no, you...”

But the moment he reached out, the crystal ball was crushed under a stomping foot.

A monster's foot with sharp claws stood over the crushed crystal ball, and looking up from there, he saw a woman in black armor, her mask-covered face looking down at him, her black bobbed hair swaying.

“Oh, let's end this.”

Sensing defeat and annihilation, he struggled to get up. At the same time, he prepared a spell, channeling his magic. It was a technique close to self-destruction, overloading and utilizing all the magic in his body.

‘I have to take down these creatures, no, that monster woman.'

He had already given up on survival. There were hardly any people left around him who were resisting.

Begging for mercy or pleading for their lives in despair did no good; these black monsters ruthlessly massacred them all.

“Even though I'm just a middle manager at the society, this attack will be hard to block.”

It was an attack where a magician poured out everything, including his life and his entire magical career. The air around him twisted with his magic.

‘I'll thin them out here. That way, the city can hold on. There are only a few hundred of them. If the defenses are sufficient, they can be stopped.'

He, who was bleeding from his eyes, nose, and mouth, aimed the completed spell at the front.

The spell was a high-level fire magic called Fire Bombardment, which he had mainly studied for use in combat. The power of the spell was amplified by overloading it, and the pillar of fire that erupted lit up the dark forest like daylight.“Did it work?”

He had cast a spell that consumed even his own body, flinging him backward. He watched his opponent create a crimson shield around herself.

“What the hell...are you...”

The forest had fallen silent once again. The only sound was the crackling of burning trees and grass.

With one arm completely burned away, he lay sprawled on the ground, swallowing his pain and staring blankly at the moon.

“At least I've taken down a lot of them...”

The red glow in the eyes behind the mask looking down at him remained unchanged. There wasn't even a hint of moisture.

His heart sank at the sight, but most of the other monsters had been incinerated by his spell.

Although he was the one lying miserably on the ground, he couldn't help but smile, feeling as if he had won.

“Did you plan to...attack the city? Ha, with just a few dozen...it's impossible. Foolish...creatures of the ancient labyrinth...”

He chuckled weakly, mustering the last of his strength to mock his opponent. Whether they understood or not didn't matter.

“Soon...the reinfor cement s...will...”

His opponent raised her sword. He nodded, as if he had anticipated this.

But he felt at peace. He felt like he had done everything he could. He believed he had done all he could. Thus, he was ready to face his death with dignity, preserving the honor of a mage.

“Funny.”

“I can't believe it.”

“You've achieved nothing, creature.”

His final moments, however, were ruthlessly crushed. Another masked figure emerged from the shadows, mocking him in human tongue, its dark hair dancing in the wind. In that instant, he saw hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands of monsters erupt and shake the heavens and earth as they charged towards the city...

A sword pierced his throat, and with a single stroke, he was decapitated. His world was filled with deep emptiness and despair.

*

[The legionnaires you dispatched are heading towards the city. Is your goal to raid, wage war, or devour?]

“No.”

The legion chuckled as they watched their soldiers rush off.

The battle just now was not a simple hunt.

It was their first encounter with the indigenous species. As invaders by nature, the legion had already grown weary of such wars.

And they had grown through these wars. The recent battle was merely a taste test to gauge the level of the indigenous species.

“The prisoner worth capturing blew himself up...but that doesn't matter.”

[Weren't you trying to learn advanced magic?]

“There are plenty of mages. And...plenty of time.”

The legion scuffed the dirt beneath their feet. Their true objective, now that they had matured, was not war.

‘I will devour everything in this forest, everything within my sight, everything in this world.'

Their real aim was not invasion, but erosion. While the world was preoccupied with the legionnaires, who were nothing more than teeth and claws, the legion planned to consume the world, leaving not a single ant behind.

[With that nourishment, more legionnaires will be spawned, and any resistance will be crushed.]

The first step had already been taken. The dirt beneath the legion's feet began to darken. The erosion that had begun in the labyrinth was now spreading to its surroundings.