Standing tall in the middle of over more than a hundred corpses like a war god, Sartan the High Troll was the last standing.
Broken blades and spears were stuck though out his body with every wound from magic having long disappeared.
In front of him was a lone soldier pointing his sword towards Sartan with a shaken grip. Even though the soldier had the aura of a 3rd-tier that could rival Danzel, the man was in the midst of despair.
"Y-You monster!!!" Yelling out loud to bring out the last courage that he had, the man raised his hand to swing his sword filled with mana towards Sartan.
"Weak." Saying so with a rough voice, the halberd that was resting on his shoulder was raised up and brought down with such speed that the soldier couldn´t react too.
"Aggggh!!" Yelling out of pain, the man watched how his hand that held the sword was cut by the massive halberd.
But being one of the elites of the Arcana kingdom that received special training and guidance in the arcana, he bypassed the pain and started chanting a spell with his remaining hand.
In a mere two seconds, the mana in his hand transformed into three lightings that imminently reached Sartan´s body.
Sertan instead of stopping the man decided to watch it all happening.
The lighting that hit his body traveled around his body, trying to fry him completely. Alas after a few seconds of the lighting trying its best, the man couldn´t keep the spell up any longer.
"You done, weakling?"
With a swift movement, Sartan gripped the man's remaining hand and brought him high enough for their eyes to meet.
"L-Let me go! You Monst- Argghh!"
*Crack.
Increasing the strength in his grip, the mans remaining hand broke.
Other than his head and two legs, the man became like a broken doll.
"A-Argh..! Why..! We didn´t hear..! It was wrong..! The info-Agh!"
Watching the man in front of him speak nonsense, Sartan decided to put an end to the man's misery.
"H-Hey! Why are you opening your mouth!? Don´t come close! Sto-!"
*Crunch! Crunch!
Watching from the distance, Agares who was carrying little Shiro, covered her eyes from the horrible sight.
The dark elve siblings who saw didn´t even pat an eye as they got used to such sight.
Danzel in turn was surprised to see someone with similar strength as him meet his fate in such fashion.
`I should refrain from challenging others from a higher tier...' Danzel thought internally.
Meanwhile, compared to their lukewarm reaction to seeing his head eaten, the soldiers of the other army looked as terrified as the arcana army was.
Not only did the ambush of the arcana army put them on the edge, but having a monster show up suddenly and begin a massacre was enough to make them wary to the extreme.
When Sartan glance at the other army, they all raised their weapons against him even though they knew that the same would befall them if that High Troll decided to make them his dessert.
Ignoring such gaze, Sartan brought back his bloodlust and walked toward his group back.
"I finished, Death Caller" Sartan referred to Velkir.
Agares gave him a harsh look for not even cleaning his mouth from the blood, but the High troll ignored him and instead stayed silent behind Velkir.
Finally noticing the group of newcomers, the other army soldier began to have cold sweat behind their back.
"Danzel, come over here." Velkir suddenly commanded.
Looking at the Lich confused, he applied to his request.
Velkir in turn pointed his staff to Danzel and started casting.
"[Item Concealment], [Hide Hidden Weapon]"
With a faint light surrounding Danzel, the Lich turned around and walked towards the wary army.
"I am the leader of the mercenary group, Deathfull Skulls! We are allies!" He said with a cold voice.
Although the wipe that Velkir was sending was totally from a wigged magic caster, the soldier relaxed for just an inch before calling their superiors.
After waiting for a few moments, an aged man with a white mustache and hair came forward.
"O Great Archmage, I give my gratitude for answering our urged call. How about we go to a more private place to talk that staying here."
Nodding his head, Velkir motioned the others to follow after the aged man.
The soldiers who saw that gulped upon realizing that Sartan was one of them. Even though they were allies, some people couldn't help but move away from the High Troll.
Arriving in a tent where it was guarded by two spear-wielding soldiers, Danzel had to make Skull Claw wait outside for convenient reasons.
The moment they went in, the first thing that the aged man did was bow his head towards them.
"Once again, I can´t thank you enough for answering our call. If it weren´t for your group. my soldiers and I would have been wiped out by the enemy Arcana."
"No, there is no need to give us any gratitude or what so ever. Though the call forced me to mid-way stop a project of mine, it is but our obligation to answer the call of our employer." Velkir said with his cold voice.
If Danzel's face wasn´t just that of a skull, he would have a funny expression on his face.
`It seems like Velkir can be pretty petty, huh?´
Although Velkir's words were that of a model employe of the month, to Danzel it sounded different.
It sounded like `You made me waste my precious time just to come and finish some of those insects? If you don´t pay us extra, then forget about our deal´
Danzel wasn´t the only one who noticed that, Azrael and Agares as much as the aged man had a similar expression, with the latter being more of a frown than a funny face.
It was as if one made an order to a friend and hasten the delivery within short notice and your friend comes and ask you to pay more for the trouble it created for him.
"That can´t go, Great Archmage. Our Kingdom will be sure to compensate you for your troubles." The aged man said with a smile on his face, but the clenching of his fist betrayed his true emotions.
"If that´s the case, it would be undoubtedly rude for me to reject such gratitude." Velkir said with his cold voice.
`Uwah...´ Azrael, Agares, and Danzel thought internally about the shamelessness of Velkir.
"I will notify my superiors so that the arrangement of your reward can be done as soon as possible...But Great Archmage, I was notified only that 4 of you will be coming to our assistance, but the number of your group is..." The aged man said while gazing at the new members, Danzel, Agares, and Shiro.
The man's gaze showed only suspicion towards them, especially the grandpa and small girl duo.
With their clothing but nothing but usual, it screamed of being an outsider.
Danzel dark armor also attracted his attention, but the clothes of the other two by far surpassed the exotic factor.
Though Velkir didn´t show any reactions to the aged man's gaze, the gray light behind his eyes turned slightly darker than usual.
"It seems you have noticed. Since the job this time is quite big, I decided to recruit some more hands. The one with the weird sword is Agares and the new member of our group. I can confirm his strength to be no less that of Sartan over here."
Gazing at the old man with a silver mask on his mouth and then towards the High Troll that singles handily defeated a small army, the aged man couldn´t help but shed cold sweat from his back.
But remembering that they were two other unknown people, his complexion turned into fear and excitement. Fear of turning this group into enemies and excitement to have them as allies.
"Then those two are also-" Before the aged man could continue, Velkir shortly after interrupted him.
"Those two aren´t part of our group."
Once those words came out of the Lich, Danzel stared at Velkir as if asking if he heard wrong or not.
"???"
The aged man also seemed confused by Velkir's s answer.
"Then..."
"Those two, in particular, are different than the other members. The two of them are instead my apprentices."
Hearing what the Great Archmage just said, the aged man's eyes widen to the extreme.
`I need to report this to the higher up! Especially that girl over there!´
Ignorant, or at least pretending to, Velkir continue the introduction of his two apprentices.
"The little one there is called Shiro, while the one with the dark armor is Abdiel. Both hold the power of a 3rd-tier with the latter being at the peak of his tier. I brought them here to gain more practical experience. You know, raising the next generation before the old-aged hits the mark, haha."
`You are a damn Lich, you damn liar! Old age my ass! You are an undead and immortal being! Und don´t go out there and decide the name of others!´ Danzel cry to Velkir´s nonsense was only inside his mind. He knew what Velkir was going for and secretly he was amazed at his nonsense.
As if biting the bait, the aged man laughed with Velkir together and nodded his head while saying "There you are right, the age of our old bones is bound to reach the limit´. Unknown that the Velkir´s bones were most probably a few centuries old for all that Danzel knew.
"I see, I see~ the more hands the better I dare to say. I welcome the two if they are willing to assist us in the war. I will arrange you a place to stay-"
"There would be no need to trouble you at such difficult times, I can use this opportunity to show my two apprentices how to build their own place to stay. I hope this is alright, no?"
The aged man's face frowned for a split second before showing back his fake smile.
"Of course, suit yourselves in our ranks."
Nodding his head, Velkir voice echoed through everyone's minds.
`Let´s go.´
Following their leader's command, all of the Deathfull Skulls went out of the tent, leaving the aged man who was glaring at Danzel and Shiro with an ice-cold expression.
