Chapter 123: Chapter 123 - Reinforcements!
Inside the circle, several wounded mercenaries sat slumped against the barrier, either catching their breath or too injured to keep fighting.
"Sit down," one of the hunters said, noting Logan’s condition.
Logan gave a weak nod and let himself collapse to the ground.
The hunter crouched beside him right away, his eyes falling on the bloody stump where Logan’s arm used to be.
"You cauterized it yourself?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Yes," Logan said, glancing around.
He counted seven people inside the inner circle, all bloodied and breathing heavily.
The hunter gave a nod with respect in his eyes as he held both of his hands above Logan’s bloody stump.
A white light shone from both his hands, flowing towards Logan’s shoulder.
Logan felt a strange warmth flow into his shoulder, easing the damaged nerves bit by bit.
’The pain... it’s disappearing?’ he thought, surprised.
"I’ve numbed the nerves in your shoulder for now," the hunter said, standing up. "You’ll need to get it properly healed later."
Logan nodded, breathing heavily. ’I’ll just regenerate it myself later.’
Glancing at the wave of creatures still approaching, he couldn’t help but shake his head.
’If I even make it that far.’
He looked around at the other injured.
Some were missing limbs; others looked pale with immense bloodstains on their armor.
None of them made a sound, except for the occasional grunt of pain or a low curse whispered under their breath.
All of them watched the wave in silence, terror in their eyes as they prayed for it to finally end.
"How long until the next group reaches us?" Arnar’s voice shouted above the chaos.
The man who had just numbed Logan’s pain stepped forward, shouting out to everyone. "Around two minutes left!"
Many of the mercenaries who were still actively using techniques to kill D and C-rank creatures cursed.
"We need to kill this wave faster!" someone shouted. "Anyone who still has more than half their mana needs to step up!"
Chaos ensued between the hunters as two people stepped forward.
One of them tossed a dozen metal knives into the air. With a flick of his hands, the knives hovered and spun in a circle around him.
At the same time, the other hunter slammed both of her hands into the ground. Seconds later, large tree roots shot up from the ground, ensnaring multiple C-rank creatures.
The metal knives spun like a tornado, slicing towards the bound C-ranks.
The knives tore through five C-ranks before getting lodged in an earthcrab’s thick shell.
"That’s good!" Arnar shouted, swinging his axe at a D-rank Thornshell.
His axe split open the spiked shell in an instant, plunging deep into its skin.
Logan watched as they killed creature after creature, some getting injured in the process, but no one died.
’Amazing,’ he thought, eyes wide open. ’These are absolute strangers... working together so well.’
Standing up, Logan let out a deep breath.
’I’ve recovered about a tenth of my mana,’ he thought, glancing at the wave of creatures. ’Let’s make it count.’
The man who’d healed him just now looked at Logan in surprise, giving a nod before quickly calling out to the group.
"Got one coming in! Someone swap!"
A girl slightly older than Logan fell back, her military armor damaged and her face pale from the blood leaking down her elbows.
’So there weren’t just mercenaries here,’ Logan thought, surprised, before quickly filling the hole in the formation.
He locked his eyes on a C-rank Thornshell heading straight for him, his glaive in his remaining hand.
The Thornshell splashed purple liquid on its shell before lunging at Logan.
Logan stood still, calmly sliding his hand near the glaive’s blade.
As the Thornshell flew within one foot of him, he stabbed up.
His glaive pierced into the crack on the bottom of its shell, green blood leaking down on Logan’s hand.
No mana, just pure physical strength and timing.
Still holding the corpse, Logan’s instincts screamed at him as a massive water beam shot his way.
’I can’t dodge,’ Logan thought, glancing at the injured people behind him.
Gritting his teeth, Logan raised the Thornshell corpse in front of him.
It was heavy, but he had no other choice.
The water beam collided with the corpse, a loud bang echoing as the corpse’s shell exploded, the water drilling deep into the corpse’s body.
The impact dragged Logan’s feet through the sand, nearly knocking him off balance.
Suddenly, the water beam stopped.
Tossing what was left of the corpse aside, Logan saw the fishman that had shot the water wave struggling to breathe, an arrow lodged deep in its throat.
Summoning a tiny bone spike, Logan shot it toward the fishman.
As it penetrated deep into its skull, its body collapsed.
Logan continued forward, gritting his teeth as he cut down creature after creature.
But something had changed.
Time seemed to slow around him. Not just in the way things moved, but in how he saw everything.
Every enemy’s motion felt slower than before, every opening clearly visible to his eyes.
He moved as little as possible, delivering clean, exact strikes, only using mana when absolutely necessary.
’Only what’s needed,’ he told himself. ’No excess.’
His breathing slowed, the noise around him fading away.
All that remained were his enemies and his instincts.
Bodies piled up around him, but Logan’s eyes stayed locked on the battlefield.
"Who is that guy?" a resting military officer asked, watching in disbelief.
Others murmured the same question, stunned as Logan killed C-rank creatures without wasting a single drop of mana.
’Every swing, every burst, every thrust,’ Logan thought, his mind working faster than ever before.
Logan didn’t think anymore—his body moved purely on instinct.
He struck down seven C-ranks in just thirty seconds, barely using any mana at all.
Suddenly, a loud hum shook through the air.
Far ahead, a wave of pressure rippled over the battlefield.
The monster wave near them froze.
An A-rank earthcrab was fighting what appeared to be a massive silver wolf.
Logan came to a halt, eyes narrowing as he looked into the distance. ’Two A-ranks?’
That’s when it all clicked.
"Reinforcements!" Arnar shouted, pointing in the distance.
Following his gaze, Logan spotted ten figures dressed in sleek military armor.
"We are saved," someone wearing torn military armor said beside Logan, his voice growing louder. "The military sent an officer squad!"
Logan let out a quiet breath in relief, a wave of exhaustion washing over him as he turned his gaze back to the creatures approaching once more.
"It isn’t over yet!" he shouted, snapping everyone back to reality.