"Merchant, I'm here." Arriving at the impasse, I sounded.

"Shepherd!? Thank the heavens! The Shadows are holding on, but I don't think they can do it for long." Exclaimed Margareth.

"Calm down. Everything will be fine. James, keep her safe and stay back." I ordered.

"Yes, Shepherd!" Answered the man, shielding the frail-looking Margareth behind him.

"You five, guard them. The rest. On me. Let's make a short work of them." I addressed the Shadows.

"By your will, Shepherd!" Saluted the Shadows.

"What a load of piss! So you're the bigshot rookie everyone's been talkin' about? What a pathetic-looking sods we got 'ere. Look at them, wearing masks and shits." Mocked a man on the opposite side.

In front of us stood a number of people wearing grey uniforms, scars riddled their faces, and all of them, I mean, every last one of them had this nasty-looking grin plastered on their faces.

"I see that the horny dog had brought his own squad." I mocked back. 'Well, calling thirty or more people a squad is a bit of a stretch, I guess...'

"Ptoey! Looks like we got ourselves a talker. Will be nice to have yer tongue hangin' on the base as a souvenir from this trip." Spat him in reply.

'Lasers...' Wasting no more breath in the useless banter, I started the assault.

Zing!

Blinding lights pierced the night, illuminating the world. Rays of lasers with extreme heat and high speed popped off from above my head and found their targets with pinpoint accuracy.

Everything happened all too suddenly, and none of them was even close to keeping tabs on what was happening.

Thud, thud, thud!!

What followed afterward was the faint sizzling from scorched meat and the sound of our enemies' lifeless bodies falling dull into the ground.

Each had a finger-sized hole, still red and scalded, drilled through their heads.

"Yeah, I don't exactly enjoy talking with you either. So how about we get this over with, shall we?" I nonchalantly replied, invoking a mix of inexplicable rage and fear that bubbled up from their guts.

"Squad five! Gather on me, and stay on your fuckin' toes! Pull up a barrier as soon as you see him doing somethin' strange. Squad Six, be on the lookout and finish off the little rats when you get the chance. And you! Call for squads seven to ten and have 'em assist us. Tell 'em the Black Nightmare is here, and tell them to fucking come right now!!"

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

The man with the top knot hair and a face full of piercings, the psycho bastard who liked to collect people's tongues, barked order after order. And seeing how responsive the rest were to his orders, it did seem like he was the leader of this squadron, I suppose.

"Shadows. Go wild..."

And the battle between the two parties began once again in earnest. Knights charged in, stomping the ground like mad bulls with their armors and swords. Assassins danced around throwing poisons and engaging their opponents with blades, daggers, bows, and all sorts of weaponry.

From the distance, the glows of sigils were lighting up in full glare.

Summoning, conjuring, healing, and even illusion magicians could be seen in their midst.

Putting the Knights alone with our Shadows might be good since they could pull off their weight. Maybe even win, given enough time.

But that would change when the enemy magicians and their crafts came into play.

All the more so, the dude with the loudest mouth wasn't even moving a muscle yet. He was waiting for me. Judging by the warped look on his face, it was clear how eager he was to bury me six feet under.

'Hm...Let's keep 'em busy.' I raised my hand and gathered my thoughts. And while I was doing that, a familiar buzzing rang deep in my soul, sending a warning.

"Barrier...Triple them." I whispered in quick succession, still closing my eyes, trying to picture the image I wanted vividly in my mind.

An overkill of a barrier, but it is what it is.

The sound of metallic clanking and explosions came in a row near me. And thanks to my layered barriers, none of the spells and attacks from the enemy had grazed the hem of my cloak.

Then, I opened my eyes, staring at the disgruntled enemies hiding within their dome.

To my surprise, they were able to do quite a number on my barrier. They weren't called the Phantom Squad for no reason, after all...

'Yeah, I shouldn't have closed my eyes like an idiot during a fight...' Criticizing my own shortcomings, I brought my hand down to the clumping magicians as if I were passing judgment on them.

"Hammer of Terra..." I whispered.

A tiny dot manifested at the end of my word. And those tiny dots began to greedily suck in the ground, tiled floor and dirt alike; none was spared.

Little by little, the figure of a humongous big ass hammer, as big as a small house, floated leisurely in the air.

The enemies froze in shock at the display of such a thing; some were gaping with their jaws opened loose.

"B-Barrier...Barrier, you cunts! Burn your fuckin' mana now!!" The leader shrieked his guts out hysterically.

"How about we get some beating done, huh?" Like a conductor waving around his baton, I swung my finger, and the hammer of death moved along in a similar trajectory.

BOOM!

The air shook and screamed from the impact. Dust billowed, and the ground bent out in shambles.

Unfortunately for me, they survived. They looked as haggard as drunkards that have been hungover for years, but sure, they hung on just fine.

But unfortunately for them, I wasn't done yet.

Thus, the sound of music rang so fucking loud and gorgeous that night. I composed the rhythm, and the poor bastards would sing the melody for me. A bit sadistic, I know, but it was nothing personal...

Well, the dude in the front kinda ticked me off a bit, to be honest. But still, I was not lying.

I meant what I said.

And to bridge the end of the first act from my impromptu music performance that deafened the ears and souls alike. The so-called reinforcements from their side arrived just in the nick of time before their fellow colleagues got flattened to the dirt.

"What a timing. Say...? You'd like a beating too?" I smiled and kindly invited them to join the concert.