The Fairy Queen hung beneath a leaf, armored like her warriors.

The sound of wings might give them away.

Ian had said the key to this operation was secrecy, and she had no intention of accepting even the slightest risk of exposing their presence.

As a result, the fairies clung tightly beneath thick leaves.

The weight of their armor caused the leaves to sag slightly, but not enough to attract attention.

Moreover, the fairies wrapped their wings around themselves, making them resemble caterpillar cocoons.

Even if a mamool spotted them, it would likely dismiss them as just another part of nature.

Rustle. Rustle, rustle.

The Fairy Queen's ears twitched.

She heard the movement of an arthropod creature.

Not one.

Several.

The mamool they were supposed to face.

The Fairy Queen recalled the operation briefing.

"If the enemy is large, use the fairy race's small size to strike and retreat repeatedly until you anger them. In that case, the fairy race serves as bait."

"If the enemy is small, let the main force pass. Then cut the middle of the formation. You don't need to kill them all."

Their size...

The Fairy Queen widened her eyes and looked carefully.

She still couldn't see them from her position.

Then one of the fairies hanging farther forward turned back toward her and waved a hand in front of their forehead.

A size similar to fairies!

The Fairy Queen was about to send a signal.

One tap on the leaf meant make them angry.

Two taps meant cut the middle.

The movement of a leaf meant nothing to the mamool, but to fairies who lived in harmony with nature, it was a special signal they could perceive with all their senses.

However, there was a problem.

From Ian's perspective, would something our size count as a "large enemy?"

She hesitated.

No matter how unusual Ian was for a human, weren't humans fundamentally inclined toward human-centered thinking?

What if he had only meant enemies larger than humans?

She should have asked for clarification.

If she had bitten her nails like the Mermaid Queen, Ian would probably have spent plenty of time explaining it.

No. I can't bother a busy man like that.

The Fairy Queen shook her head.

Then her eyes sharpened.

There was no more time to think.

She had to decide.

Ian would have thought like this.

A king could not afford uncertainty.

Resolutely, she struck the leaf.

Once.

Every fairy present felt the vibration.

Their role was decided.

Bait!

Their task was to lure the enemy toward Point Two.

Rustle. Rustle, rustle.

The mamool came into view.

Their bodies were long and lined with countless legs. Their eyes protruded like antennae. Their exoskeletons gleamed beneath hard shells.

The weak points appeared to be the joints between shell segments.

And their eyes.

The creatures passed beneath the leaves where the fairies lay hidden.

The fairies exchanged glances.

Without anyone giving the order, they dropped.

Thud.

"SKREEEE!"

The mamool screamed.

The Fairy Queen's spear pierced precisely between the creature's armored plates.

These centipede-like mamool had evolved exceptional vision to identify predators.

Their eyes could rotate a full three hundred and sixty degrees, allowing them to spot enemies approaching from behind.

But they could not detect attackers descending from directly above.

The fairies spread their wings and repeatedly struck and disengaged.

They soared up and down, diving and ascending while gleefully stabbing the creatures.

"Hyaah!"

"Take this!"

The mamool, however, did not simply endure the attacks.

Once their initial panic faded, the inherent aggression of the monsters surfaced.

The fairies attacked in a predictable rhythm.

The mamool ignored the fairies who struck and fled.

Instead, they attacked during the moment the fairies descended.

Crunch!

"Aaaah!"

One fairy, who had been darting around the monster as though dancing, had a leg caught by an unexpected charge.

The Fairy Queen raised her spear.

"Retreat!"

The fairies abandoned their enthusiastic punishment of the monsters and immediately flew upward.

"SKREEEE!"

The swarm instinctively recognized that their enemies were fleeing.

But catching fairies already high in the air was impossible.

The monsters furiously swiveled their eyes before moving on.

Rather than waste time chasing fairies, they chose to continue toward their original destination.

That left the fairies panicking instead.

"Y-Your Majesty?"

"No! We can't let them go!"

But half the main force had already passed them.

Warning bells blared in the Fairy Queen's mind.

"Attack again!"

"Waaah!"

The fairies had already been upset by their friend's injury.

They wanted to punish the enemy far more than they wanted to flee.

The attack order arrived at the perfect moment.

Nothing stopped them from charging.

The fairy race dove at the enemy once more.

But the prepared mamool reacted immediately.

"SKREEEE!"

Their sharp jaws snapped menacingly.

Sixteen legs rose into the air in a threatening display.

The sight chilled the fairies.

But they did not retreat.

They were natural pranksters and endlessly curious explorers.

Tell them not to go somewhere, and they wanted to go.

Tell them not to do something, and they wanted to do it even more.

A race like that did not frighten easily.

The fairy who had first met Ian in the kingdom happened to be particularly eccentric, even by fairy standards.

Instead of gripping her spear in a proper thrusting stance, she held it like a club.

If she couldn't get close enough to stab, why not attack from farther away?

Besides, the monster even possessed a target that practically begged to be hit.

She swung with all her strength and smashed the antenna-like stalk supporting one of its eyes.

Whack!

"...!"

"That's genius!"

The fairies were amazed by their friend's brilliance.

Then they rushed the monster that had been stunned by the blow to its eye.

"SKREEEE!"

Five spears struck the thrashing creature.

Stab!

Stab!

Stab!

Stab!

Stab!

"Again!"

"Send it flying!"

Working in teams of six, the fairies eliminated three monsters in an instant.

The centipede mamool did not remain passive.

Whenever a fairy attacked one of their kind, they wrapped their bodies around the attacker, preventing wing movement and causing the fairy to crash.

The moment a fairy hit the ground, jaws snapped around their neck.

"Retreat!"

The Fairy Queen screamed.

The fairies grabbed their fallen friend's limbs and took to the air.

Intentional or not, they had succeeded in cutting the enemy formation in half.

Then reinforcements arrived.

"!"

The human mages riding on the elves' backs cast their spells in unison.

The centipede mamool normally grew stronger when gathered together.

But after being ambushed during movement and scattered by the fairies' attack, they had no way to regroup.

They were struck by water bombs as hard as boulders and flipped onto their backs.

Hundreds of legs flailed desperately toward the sky.

More magic descended.

"!"

The liquid soaking the monsters transformed into oil.

"Fire."

Momisia's specially crafted fire arrows flew from the elves' bows.

Fwoooosh!

Crackle, crackle...!

The scent of roasting centipedes filled the forest.

Their bodies writhed in agony, dancing within the flames.

"Mage! Save our friend!"

The fairies scattered tears as they flew toward Sema.

"M-me?!"

Sema panicked.

Seeing this, a priest quickly jumped down from an elf's back.

"."

The wounds of the fallen fairy closed, and their breathing became steady.

"Are there any more injured?"

"Thank you, Priest!"

A fairy patted the priest's head.

"...?!"

"I guess that's how fairies express gratitude."

"I want one too."

The mages whispered among themselves.

The fairy tilted their head in confusion at the unexpected reaction.

"But humans are supposed to show thanks like this."

"Who told you that?"

"Ian."

"...!"

"Ian did it again..."

A brief commotion spread among the mages.

It wasn't particularly important.

Whether Ian had fooled the fairies or not.

The mages extinguished the fires, and the elves asked the elementals to restore the damaged vegetation.

The beautiful wilderness was restored so perfectly that no trace remained.

Then everyone moved on.

Toward the next battlefield.

Ian and Keith had watched the entire battle through a bronze mirror.

"How's Malveric doing?"

"Not bad. It seems he never neglected his training, even while imprisoned."

Why do you sound proud?

Ian had once played a route where Keith died at Malveric's hands.

Though that Malveric and the current one were different people.

"You sure he doesn't need support?"

"Malveric will do well."

While playing Keith's route, Ian had often cursed him.

You claim to hate all mamool, so why can't you attack the disciple serving the demons? 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

Now he understood the answer.

Keith was a kind and good person.

As though he already understood Ian's anxiety, he asked:

"Do you not need me?"

"I do."

This defense absolutely had to succeed.

Whether Ian could entrust the later defense battles to the forces remaining in the dungeon and leave depended on the outcome here.

If not...

He would have to choose.

Choose what he himself would protect.

Ian licked his dry lips.

But he never had the chance to bite them from anxiety.

Maintaining the posture he'd been standing in behind him, Keith bent down and kissed him.

The tension drained from Ian's neck.

Tilting his head back, he accepted the gentle kiss.

Short kisses followed along his cheek, jawline, bridge of his nose, and forehead.

When their lips finally parted, Ian let out a breath.

What is he even doing?

What exactly was going through this man's mind?

But he couldn't ask.

At least not now.

Ian had no room in his head for anything beyond clearing the game.

This helped him.

That alone was enough.

As the breath left his body, the pressure squeezing his ribs loosened.

His mind settled as if by magic.

Ian turned back toward the bronze mirror.

The next battlefield...

The deep sea.