When the Yelan Army made their retreat, they had positioned themselves on top of a cliff overlooking a Woodland, which had countless trees that the Ammarian Army had used as cover during their night battles.
Since their original camp was stationed in the Marshes, they had only made a temporary camp at the rear of the woodlands.
A tenth of the Ammarian Army was busy taking down their former camp as per General Phobus orders and was currently on the way to their new one in order to bring along their resources and food supply.
Because of this, scouts were sent out to look for food for the army as well as to keep surveillance on their enemies.
Since the Yelan Army was short on manpower, they didn't dare to send their scouts to the woodlands and only assigned some soldiers to keep watch to make sure that they would be able to sound a timely warning if their enemy chose to attack.
In the area located between the camps of the two armies, several Ammarian Scouts noticed a dragon flying above the trees.
"A young dragon. But it looks like it has a rider..." the leader of the scouting party muttered.
"Should we shoot it down?" one of his subordinates asked.
"Let's do it!" Another one of his subordinates insisted on the idea because this was a good chance to show off to their peers. "The General might reward us if we give him the Dragon as a gift. We might even get promoted!"
"That sounds like a good idea!" The Leader nodded his head in agreement. "Let's spread out and try to shoot it down."
Everyone in the army could get promoted depending on their contribution on the battlefield. A young dragon was a very rare creature and, if they were able to catch it alive, they would certainly get great rewards from their General, whose mood had improved after their recent victory.
The Leader of the Scouting Party had a greedy look on his face as he eyed the creature from the shade of the trees.
He then crouched down and knocked his bow with an arrow, prepared to shoot the young Dragon down when it passed overhead.
However, before he could do that, a hand covered his mouth, and a dagger pierced him in the back.
Everything happened so fast that the Leader of the scouting party died not knowing how he died.
Sid carefully stored the body of the dead scout inside his Bounty Ring, which Bounty Hunters used to store the bodies of their dead targets in order to present them to their clients.
Unfortunately, the ring had a limit and it could only store twenty dead bodies at most.
Even so, it was enough as Sid went to look for his other comrades who were sneakily killing the other members of the Ammarian Army's scouting party, using Bedivere's Dragon Mount as bait.
Sid had only taken five steps, when Ishtar appeared in front of him with a finger over her lips.
"Master's former comrades are headed in this direction," Ishtar said. "Retreat for now. All of them are of the Initiate Rank. Even if you can kill five of them, the others will get you. It's not worth it."
Sid nodded his head in understanding and stealthily retreated, leaving not even a footstep behind.
"Bedivere, they are almost here," Lazarus warned his comrade through telepathy. "Fly to the western side of the valley. Master said that we shouldn't fight them right now."
"Understood," Bedivere replied as he commanded his Dragon to change their flight path.
They had already killed three scouting parties and had their corpses with them. Their goal was to cause confusion among the ranks of the Ammarian Army and make them feel uneasy at the disappearance of their scouts.
Although this wouldn't affect their morale by a longshot, it was enough to make General Phobus and his Second In Command rethink their earlier assumption that the Yelan Army was not bold enough to send their soldiers down into the valley to fight them.
Nero and the members of his Storm Dragon Guild arrived at the location where Sid had just killed the Scout Leader.
However, since nothing looked out of place, they continued to walk forward, constantly monitoring their surroundings for enemies, as well as Beasts, so that they could hunt for food.
"I've been thinking a lot lately," one of Nero's subordinates said as they walked past the trees where the members of the Scouting Party died. "After becoming an Initiate due to the rewards we got from that quest, I realized that I am lucky to be part of this expedition. However, I have this nagging feeling that we might have chosen the wrong side."
One of the girls in their team glared at her friend who had spoken negatively about the side where they were currently on.
"If you had chosen to side with Lux, you probably would have died just like him and the others who joined him," the young lady stated. "I don't have any ill feelings for Lux. In fact, I am very happy with his achievement, but after seeing how he died, I realized that every decision we make can easily end our life if we are unlucky."
The young man who spoke earlier sighed because he also liked Lux. If not for the fact that their Guildmaster, Nero, decided not to join the Half-Elf in his plan to switch sides, they might have died alongside him.
"I know that," the young man replied. "But, are they really dead? What if they decided to challenge the Dungeon again? Will they respawn in the same field as us?"
The young lady who chastised her friend didn't know how to answer this question. Unlike them, Lux and his party could enter the Domain of the Fallen at any given time.
It was highly possible that they returned and reentered the Gate of Conquest and were currently in the same field as them.
But, this time, they were no longer allies but enemies.
"It doesn't matter," Nero commented as he continued to walk. "Even if they challenge the Dungeon again, our goal doesn't change. We will kill anyone that stands in our way and clear this Dungeon once and for all."
Everyone in the Storm Dragon Guild looked at their Leader and agreed with him in their hearts. Since they could no longer go back, all they could do was move forward and complete their current mission.
What they didn't know was that on one of the branches of the tree, Lazarus saw and heard their discussion.
He even shared his senses with Lux, allowing the Half-Elf to hear their conversation.
"You're right, Nero," Lux muttered as he looked in the direction where the members of the Storm Dragon Guild were currently at. "I will also kill anyone that stands in my way of clearing this Dungeon. Since you and I are now enemies, you are one of my targets as well."
Lux didn't know whether he and Nero were truly fated to be enemies or not.
He thought that the two of them would become allies in this mission until the Dungeon was cleared. Unfortunately, they didn't share the same vision.
Lux chose the Yelan Army because he had fought with them once, while Nero chose the Ammarian Kingdom because they had the advantage in the war.
Both of them believed that they had done the right thing, and the outcome of the battle would prove who made the right decision that day.
Just as the sun was about to set, the Ammarian Camp started gearing up for another night raid.
None of them knew, aside from the commanding officers, that all of their scouting parties had been killed several hours ago.
General Phobus rode a Tiger in the center of the formation.
His Vice-General, who went by the name Second, was right beside him, seated on a warhorse.
As they made their way near to the Yelan Camp, all the soldiers formed their ranks in preparation for the battle.
"Tonight is the night that we will annihilate this side of the battlefield," General Phobus said. "I can't wait to see Rafael's face once he finds out that I was the first among the Generals of the Ammarian Kingdom to break through the final defensive line of the Yelan Army, allowing our forces to attack their main force from behind."
Second nodded. "It is as you say, General. I'm sure that your Grandfather will be proud of this achievement. If we win this war, you will be the one who will get the highest merit."
General Phobus smirked after hearing his Vice-General's words.
"Is everyone in position?" General Phobus asked his Aide at his side.
"Yes, Sir!" the Aide replied. "We are simply waiting for your orders to advance."
General Phobus raised his right arm as he gave the order to attack.
"Kill!" General Phobus commanded. "Show these lowly Yelanians no mercy!"
Currently, he had over 80,000 troops because more reinforcements were sent to their camp earlier that day after the higher-ups heard that he had made significant progress in his campaign.
Because of this, he was confident that he would be able to overwhelm their enemies with sheer numbers.
The moment the Ammarians broke through the cover of the trees, the battle began. Both sides exchanged spells and ranged attacks, breaking the quiet of the night.
The Ammarians advanced steadily as their barriers resisted the barrage that came from the top of the cliff.
After breaking past their first hurdle, the Ammarian Soldiers started to scale the cliff, while those with flying mounts baited the Yelan Soldiers into targeting them instead.
Eiko and Fei Fei, who were perched on top of Lux's and Cai's heads, watched the chaotic battle from on top of the cliff with calm expressions on their faces.
"Do we do it now?" Cai asked.
"Not yet," Lux said. "Let them get in deeper first."
Lux's eyes were calm like a viper's, waiting for his prey to come within his striking range.
The moment when most of the Ammarian Soldiers had scaled halfway up the cliff, Lux finally gave the two baby Slimes the go signal to start making things blow up.
"Boom Boom Boom!" Eiko shouted as she glared at the Soldiers who had stepped on the Blast Bombs that Lux had buried earlier.
"Boom Boom!" Fei Fei also shouted along with Eiko, as she also activated the Blast Bombs that belonged to her.
Suddenly, the ground under the Vanguard of the Ammarian Army, who was responsible for keeping the barriers in place, suddenly exploded, taking them by surprise and causing them to lose their concentration, dispersing the barrier that was keeping the rest of the Army safe.
The Blast Bombs weren't strong enough to kill, but they were able to injure most of the Soldiers on the front lines. However, something happened that made General Phobus, and his Vice-General gasp in surprise.
The cliff gave way and an avalanche of rock and rubble crashed down upon the Ammarian Soldiers, burying them alive.
The Yelan Camp had already been informed about this part of Lux's strategy, so the moment the Half-Elf gave the signal, all of the range fighters and magicians hastily retreated from their posts and ran a good distance away from the edge of the cliff.
At the same time, they prepared the deadly bombardment they would unleash the moment the Ammarian Formation went into disarray.
"Open Fire!" General Fahad ordered a deadly rain of spells and arrows to descend from the sky, which landed on the retreating Ammarians who had escaped being buried alive by the avalanche.
As the dead bodies piled up, Lux spread his arms as he channeled his spell throughout the entire battlefield.
He was like a mastermind that grasped the entire battlefield on the palm of his hands, and it was time for him to show the Yelan Army, as well as the Ammarian Army, just what he was capable of.
"Corpse… Explosion!"
As soon as these words left the Half-Elf's lips, a nightmarish scene took place.
All the dead bodies that he had buried earlier exploded under the Ammarian Army's feet, sending flesh and bone fragments flying in every direction.
This deadly chain reaction killed people, and those who died killed more people, creating a cycle of carnage that only a Necromancer was capable of creating on the battlefield.
General Phobus looked at this scene with horror as his subordinate's bodies exploded like grenades one after the other.
"Retreat!" Second ordered. "All forces, fall back!"
After hearing their Vice-General's orders, all the Ammarian Soldiers ran back towards their camp as if their lives depended on it.
Lux, who was watching this development from on top of the cliff, slowly curled his fingers into his palms as he looked at the retreating tide of people.
"Who gave you all the permission to leave?" Lux asked once his hands had finished closing into fists.
"Corpse Explosion!"
The bodies that had been buried at the rear of the Ammarian Army started to explode, instantly killing those that were the first to retreat… including some of the members of the Storm Dragon Guild, who were immediately sent back to the entrance of the Domain of the Fallen.
All of them gasped for air as they lay on the ground and tried to calm themselves from the nightmarish experience that they just encountered.
The young man and the young lady who were chatting in the forest earlier raised their heads and looked at the projection that most of the people were looking at.
In that projection, they saw the back of the red-headed teenager, who had his arms spread wide as if embracing the entire world, and killing all of those who stood in his way.
