Chapter 64

The Vanguard Approaches

Based on the quest information, the next force after Grunval’s scouts was likely the vanguard led by the mid-boss named Rangdazal. Jun-sang quickly followed the quest markers on his minimap, but the vanguard remained out of sight. It wasn’t until he had traversed the forest for nearly half a day that Jun-sang finally saw the vanguard with his own eyes.

“This is…”

The moment he first saw the enemy forces, presumed to be the vanguard, only one word immediately came to Jun-sang’s mind: Many. They were so numerous it was hard to even count them. It was almost like a swarm of cockroaches teeming towards him. While the term “human wave” is often used to describe a large crowd, seeing an enemy force so overwhelming in number, making it difficult to even estimate their count, sent chills down Jun-sang’s spine, no matter how formidable he was. The only saving grace was that, judging by their sluggish gait, more than half of them appeared to be zombies. However, this slow pace was typical; in a combat situation, things would change quickly.

“Hmph…”

Jun-sang first checked the quest markers. He thought about trying to take down just the mid-boss, Rangdazal, since it would be difficult to defeat such a large force individually. Unfortunately, the quest marker presumed to be Vanguard Captain Rangdazal was located right in the middle of those densely packed forces, leaving no room to even push through. The power of Grunval’s cloak, which granted invisibility, would be dispelled upon contact with anyone. This meant that infiltrating, taking down Rangdazal alone, and escaping was practically impossible.

“Tsk…”

Considering the faint mist that gently enveloped the entire forest, setting a fire also didn’t seem very effective. While Jun-sang was pondering, unable to find a suitable method, he suddenly saw some of the vanguard forces moving rapidly. He wondered if his position had been discovered, but upon closer inspection, he realized it was merely some of the leading forces moving haphazardly after discovering a wild animal. Their movement ended with an unknown animal, whether a deer or a roe deer, being torn apart and disappearing into the zombies’ mouths.

“This is…” Jun-sang thought. This was a tactic akin to herding locusts. Perhaps the role of that vanguard captain and his subordinates was simply to drive these hordes of zombies and release them within Iberia’s territory. These undead, filled with endless hatred for life, would scatter uncontrollably and attack the living the moment they were unrestrained. This would create an uncontrollable situation throughout Iberia. In such a chaotic situation, if the scouts infiltrated beforehand and then seized the city gates in conjunction with the main army’s attack…

Without any countermeasure, a walled city like Iberia would fall in an instant.

“It wasn’t just about taking down the vanguard captain after all.”

Jun-sang finally decided to use a method of gradual attrition, even if it took some time.

“Wolf Pack.” As a small command flowed from his lips, three large wolves appeared from thin air with a flash of light.

“Crimson Wolf, go and lure a few out.”

As the command fell, the red-furred wolf immediately moved towards the shambling zombies. The staggering zombies, upon seeing the large red wolf appear before them, were drawn by the life force emanating from its blood and flesh, and began to surge forward. Although only a small portion of the vanguard had moved, Jun-sang estimated there were nearly a hundred of them.

“There really are an awful lot of them.”

Crimson Wolf skillfully played the role of bait. Once they were lured to an area completely out of sight of the other zombies in the vanguard, Jun-sang charged towards the flailing zombies. The first skill activated was Shoulder Charge.

Whoosh!

In an instant, Jun-sang shot forward like a cannonball, splitting the air, and didn’t stop until he had completely pulverized three or four zombies. But the zombies, far from being flustered by Jun-sang’s sudden appearance, shrieked as if delighted by a delicious feast and charged at him.

Jun-sang first extended his left hand and activated Psychokinesis. This caused two charging zombies to entangle their paths and fall, and the following zombies also tripped over them, beginning to tumble. Seeing this, Jun-sang lowered his stance and activated Crushing Blow.

“Hooouuuhp!”

With a hand motion that seemed to tear and pull the air, his muscles tensed, storing power. One second, two seconds, and then three seconds. Finally, as all his muscles tautened and his power peaked, Jun-sang unleashed it towards the tangled, tumbling zombies.

Crash!

As his fist shot out, the surrounding air rapidly expanded from the force of the blow, and a flash of light, accompanied by a sound like thunder, exploded among the tangled zombies. An overwhelming power that tolerated no resistance! The bodies of the zombies caught in the explosion were torn to shreds, leaving no trace, and exploded in all directions.

“Hoooooo…” While Jun-sang, overloaded from using a full-charge Crushing Blow, emitted smoke from his entire body, the three wolves and three spirits combined forces to hold back the charging zombies. The hyena blood covering his body had already dried, so it wasn’t maximizing his regeneration rate as it had initially, but Jun-sang could still confirm that his regeneration was happening much faster than usual. At this rate, he could manage. As soon as the overload on his body subsided, Jun-sang leaped back towards the zombies.