Boom! Boom! Boom!
As Jerome cast magic, breaking through the mana fields dominating the area, he furrowed his brow.
'This isn't as easy as I thought.'
The resistance from the enemy mages was formidable. A considerable number of them seemed to be pouring all their strength into amplifying their mana.
Although Jerome was crushing their efforts with overwhelming power, his magic's effectiveness was reduced. The range of his attacks had also diminished.
Moreover, the enemy numbers were simply too large. While Jerome had gained the upper hand with his magic, many of the enemy troops had already climbed onto the fortress.
"Hold them back!"
"Get over the walls, quickly!"
"Knights, clear the path!"
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Enemy knights swiftly scaled the walls, and the fortress defenders struggled to fend them off.
As the battle raged on, the clashes grew increasingly fierce. Screams echoed everywhere, and more and more fell to the ground.
Jerome stretched his arms out to his sides.
"Hrrmph!"
As he took a deep breath, something extraordinary happened.
Whoosh!
"Huh? What? What's happening?"
The knights who had climbed high into the air were suddenly pulled backward as if yanked by an invisible force.
Not just the knights—all the enemy forces clinging to the fortress walls were swept away.
It was as if a giant tree had been shaken, instantly dislodging all the bugs clinging to it.
"Aaaahhh! What is this?!"
Everyone screamed and flailed helplessly in midair before crashing to the ground, sustaining severe injuries.
"T-this is insane..."
"That's magic?!"
"How is that possible?"
Both attackers and defenders stopped fighting momentarily, stunned by the sight.
Only those clinging to the walls had been flung back, making the scene all the more surreal.
The mages within the fortress were so shocked that their mana flow nearly faltered.
Still, witnessing the miracle firsthand boosted the morale of the fortress troops. With this mage on their side, victory felt within reach.
But Jerome didn't see the situation as optimistically.
'Ugh, this is exhausting.'
He secretly grimaced. The situation was so one-sided that it felt like he was single-handedly fighting an army of 200,000.
Frankly, his allies were of little help. If anything, they were more of a hindrance.
Yet he couldn't flee. Without him, the fortress would fall in no time.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Flames and gusts of wind erupted across the battlefield, conjured by Jerome's magic.
Though the power of his spells was limited to around the 6th-circle level due to the mana fields, it was still enough to annihilate clusters of unprotected enemies.
Even so, there were simply too many of them. Before long, the enemy forces began clinging to the fortress walls again.
"Ugh..."
Jerome groaned internally.
The strain on his mana was growing. Protecting his allies while fighting alone was truly draining.
The stalemate was broken by the appearance of new superhuman figures.
Whoosh!
Two priests unleashed a rain of black energy from above. They poured all their power into a devastating initial attack.
"Damn it!"
Thousands of strands of black energy shot downward. The fortress mages, focused on maintaining the mana fields, were unable to block the attack—or even capable of doing so.
In the end, Jerome abandoned his offensive to deploy a massive shield.
Whoosh!
Crash! Crash! Crash! Crash! Crash!
The black energy collided with Jerome's shield and dissipated. Despite the restrictions on his mana, Jerome had managed to block the attack from the two superhumans.
The two priests looked on in astonishment.
"What is he?!"
"A mage unaffected by the mana fields?!"
In truth, Jerome had simply overwhelmed the mana fields with sheer power. But the priests, unfamiliar with his capabilities, couldn't comprehend what they were witnessing.
Of course, the rebels' mages weren't particularly skilled. Even a 7th-circle mage would have struggled to fight as Jerome did.
As the priests hesitated in shock, Jerome extended his hand.
"Ice Spear."
Crack!
Moisture in the air froze rapidly, forming two enormous spears of ice.
The spears shot forward like beams of light before the priests could recover.
The priests summoned their energy to block the attack. With no time to dodge, they focused solely on defense, intending to counterattack afterward.
Boom!
"Urgh!"
The priests barely managed to block the spears and immediately prepared to retaliate.
However, as artificially enhanced superhumans, they lacked the ability to simultaneously attack and defend.
The priests widened their eyes.
"Huh?"
"Where did he...?"
Their target was gone.
Sensing a presence behind them, the two priests spun around in panic.
Slash!
A massive mana blade extended from Jerome's hand, slicing through both their necks simultaneously. The two priests died without much resistance.
Even so, Jerome's expression remained grim.
The fact that the Salvation Church's superhumans were incomplete was now widely known. He had exploited that weakness to kill them with relative ease.
His combat skills, honed through years of training in the mind realm, far surpassed those of the priests.
Still, incomplete or not, a superhuman was a superhuman. Exploiting their weaknesses had required an immense amount of mana.
Without doing so, the battle would have dragged on much longer.
'My mana... it's already down to half.'
Looking down from the fortress, Jerome bit his lip.
'There are too many.'
While he dealt with the priests, more enemies had swarmed onto the fortress walls like ants. As the battle dragged on, his allies were suffering increasing losses.
"Hmph!"
Jerome unleashed his mana again, pulling the enemy forces off the walls. He was careful to minimize damage to his allies.
Boom!
At the same time, he extended his other hand to create several massive pits in front of the fortress. The enemies fell in, flailing helplessly.
Even as he fought, Jerome couldn't understand the enemy's behavior.
"Why...?"
Under normal circumstances, they should have retreated by now to reorganize their forces and devise a more efficient strategy.
As long as he was here, recklessly throwing troops at the fortress would result in catastrophic losses—even if they succeeded in capturing it.
But the enemy didn't stop. They charged forward blindly, driven by fear and desperation.
'Is their commander insane?'
He must have been a lunatic with no regard for strategy. This was beyond incompetence; it was madness.
"Waaahhh!"
The enemy forces let out a deafening roar, trying to shake off their fear as they continued their assault. It was nothing short of madness.
At this rate, even the fortress forces would suffer severe losses. Despite their defensive position, casualties were piling up.
Jerome made a decision. To minimize losses, he would take a greater risk.
'I'll kill their commander.'
He stopped supporting his allies and slowly rose into the air.
Whirrr–!
A golden magic circle appeared in Jerome's eyes. His field of vision expanded, as though he were looking through a telescope.
Far in the distance, someone sat leisurely, resting their chin on their hand. They wore a tattered, gray robe, their face obscured by shadows.
Around them, many others stood in formation. Jerome immediately understood.
"That's the one."
This was the mastermind behind this reckless assault.
As Jerome locked onto the figure, the person in the gray robe raised their head and looked straight at him. Their gaze met Jerome's, and he smirked.
"Can you sense my mana?"
He had thought the commander was insane, but perhaps they were more capable than he realized.
"Fine, let's see what you've got."
Jerome set the coordinates and began casting teleportation magic. It would drain a massive amount of mana, but he intended to end this quickly.
Behind him, the air distorted as the spell took effect, pulling him through space in an instant.
Whoosh!
Jerome appeared directly in front of Hellnik, having traversed the vast distance in a single leap.
This magic had once made him an exceptional assassin in Ghislain's past life.
Boom!
As he materialized, Jerome released a shockwave of mana. The enemy strategists around Hellnik were killed instantly, unable to even scream.
But one person—only Hellnik—had already retreated to safety.
"Well, well... To think you'd be this strong. Impressive. Which magic tower are you from?"
The magic Jerome had used was completely different from a short-range Blink spell.
Using a wide-area vision spell to locate coordinates and then teleporting was no ordinary feat. In fact, few people even knew such magic existed.
It was the kind of magic one might attribute to the legendary dragons.
Jerome did not respond. Instead, he extended his hand. His mana had already been significantly depleted. He needed to eliminate the enemy quickly.
Whoosh!
It was a simple energy bolt, but cast by Jerome, it was different. A massive surge of power shot toward Hellnik.
Boom!
Hellnik deployed a shield, blocking the attack. At the same time, dozens of dark portals emerged around him, radiating with shadowy energy.
From these portals appeared knights clad in black armor, mounted on horses that seemed to ripple with dark energy.
"Death Knights?"
Jerome took a step back in surprise as the Death Knights swung their swords at him.
Boom!
When Jerome unleashed his mana, the Death Knights and their Phantom Steeds were ripped apart and pushed back.
But...
Creak!
Hellnik waved his hand, and the Death Knights' torn bodies instantly reassembled.
"Well... This one's tougher than I expected."
Jerome gave a wry smile.
Each Death Knight possessed the strength of a high-level knight. Even with area-of-effect magic, they wouldn't be easily destroyed.
Even if Jerome managed to annihilate them, Hellnik would surely resurrect them endlessly.
This opponent was no ordinary superhuman. Defeating him would take a considerable amount of time, even at full strength.
In his current depleted state, Jerome couldn't take him down in one swift move.
Even if he tried to prolong the fight, Hellnik wouldn't engage in close combat. Necromancers were not foolish enough to fight on such terms.
Rumble.
The scattered bodies of the dead began to merge chaotically, forming grotesque shapes as they rose again.
"Kill the enemy!"
Knights and soldiers from the rear also charged forward.
No matter how strong Jerome was, he couldn't fight all of them alone.
'This is a failure.'
It was impossible to kill the enemy commander now.
However, Jerome had learned their intent. Hellnik didn't care if all his troops perished.
They would simply be reborn as an immortal army of the undead.
Of course, no matter how much mana Hellnik possessed, he couldn't possibly resurrect all 200,000 troops.
'Even so, if he's using this strategy, he must have a plan prepared.'
This made him one of the most difficult opponents to face in war.
Before retreating, Jerome addressed Hellnik.
"What's your name?"
"Hellnik. And yours?"
"Jerome. Let's meet again. It's a hassle, but I'll be the one to kill you."
"I'll be waiting eagerly."
Both knew they couldn't kill each other at this moment, so neither pushed further.
In Ghislain's past life, it had been Parniel who confronted Hellnik. But because Ghislain had altered the future, the two had met earlier than intended.
Whoosh!
Jerome's body disappeared as he teleported away.
Hellnik watched him go and smiled.
"The world really is full of fascinating people."
Jerome felt similarly. He hadn't expected to encounter such a formidable foe so soon after stepping into the world.
Of course, unlike Hellnik, Jerome didn't feel any joy in the encounter.
Unlike the necromancer, who thrived on death, Jerome was on the side of saving lives.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
While Jerome was gone, the fortress was already engulfed in intense combat. Jerome immediately sought out the fortress commander.
"Retreat."
"What are you saying? We must defend this place!"
"You can't hold it. The enemy has a lunatic monster on their side. You won't last half a day."
"But, with your help, can't we hold out for at least a few days? If you use your magic like before, we can win—"
Before the commander could finish, Jerome pointed outside the fortress.
Grooooan.
The corpses were rising. The enemies who had died on the walls were staggering back to their feet.
Soon, the soldiers began shouting in terror.
"The dead are rising!"
"It's dark magic! Dark magic!"
"The ones we killed are coming back to life!"
Grooooan!
As Hellnik began using his full power, countless corpses rose and started attacking the soldiers again.
The troops were gripped by fear. This was no longer a battle against the living.
The undead continued to move even after their heads were severed or their hearts were pierced.
With the fortress commander pale and trembling, Jerome repeated himself.
"Retreat. You can't hold this with your current forces. You need far more soldiers and priests."
"B-but we're supposed to buy time until the kingdom's army gathers—"
"It's meaningless! It's better for even one of you to escape and join the main army sooner."
The commander still hesitated. Or perhaps it was more accurate to say he was too stunned by the absurdity of the situation to make a decision.
Jerome urged him again.
"Go! I'll buy as much time as I can. Just run!"
Finally, the commander nodded.
"Understood. Please, I leave it to you."
Bwooo!
The retreat horn sounded, and the soldiers began withdrawing from the fortress in haste.
Grooooan!
The undead spread in all directions, indiscriminately attacking the living.
Left alone, Jerome let out a deep sigh.
"Whew... I shouldn't have come out. The world outside my blankets is dangerous."
The world was exhausting. He already missed the days spent lounging at the tower, eating delicious food, and reading entertaining books.
But there was no avoiding it.
With great power comes great responsibility. That was how he had been raised.
"Alright. I'll retreat too, but... not without playing a little longer."
Jerome clenched his teeth, and golden light shone from his eyes.
At the same time, an immense surge of mana erupted from his body, engulfing the undead.
BOOOOOM!
[T/L: I am in dire need of support. I will give discount to all those who will buy the rest of the chapters all together, so please support me the reader on my webnovel platform and read ahead chapters on my ko-fi page "RevengerScans" : https://ko-fi.com/revengerscans ]