Everything happened too quickly for anyone to react.

However, once the first boulder hit its target, officers started yelling for soldiers to retreat.

They were on a very thin road and could only choose to retreat or rush forward.

Unfortunately, the path forward was blocked, and they didn’t have time to clear it, so they went back immediately.

Illyan looked outside the carriage to see which carriage was hit, then observed the mountain for other boulders.

‘Seems to be one of Ujir’s wagons.’ Confirming this, he turned his attention back to the mountain, watching for another boulder.

“We need to get out quickly!” Korin yelled as he quickly left the carriage, and others followed him.

The carriages and wagons couldn’t be turned around in such an awkward place and had to be left behind.

However, Illyan didn’t bother coming out. He knew that this guy wouldn’t allow the landslide to destroy the entire expedition.

“Stop running. Get closer to the carriages.”

At that moment, Aziro’s cold voice resounded in everyone's ears.

It didn’t matter how far they were or if they were panicking.

The moment Aziro spoke, it was as if everything else came to a standstill.

People also calmed down after this.

Acolytes started to come out from the carriages, holding some kind of tools with serious expressions, while the Heart Bearer members took out their blood-colored weapons.

Illyan was also staring upwards, waiting for the inevitable.

Crack

Just then, a loud crack resounded as dust flew everywhere.

“Boulder on the right!” one of the soldiers called out.

The boulder was clearly falling to the right, where it would seal their escape route. This made Illyan suspicious. Looking upwards, he noticed that some of the rocks above were moving erratically, so he focused his sight on them.

After a while, he noticed the patterns—the ugly faces with gray skin and the long sticks in the creatures’ hands.

‘It’s the goblins, huh.’ Realizing this, he was dumbstruck. These weak creatures he could kill with a wave of his arm were causing such a disaster. If the boulder hit the carriage he was in, he wouldn’t die but would definitely be grievously injured.

He saw the goblins gibbering about something as they used the sticks to loosen some of the rocks, making them fall off.

Since the weather had been quite bad recently, the water softened the ground and turned it into soft mud, creating a perfect opportunity.

Illyan looked down at the acolytes who were preparing.

One of them had a magical binocular and then explained the situation above.

Another team of five started chanting something.

While Illyan didn’t understand, he realized it was similar to the chant of [Mana Barrier].

And he was right, as a slightly blue but still transparent barrier appeared above the head of the entire group.

What Illyan was surprised about was that it wasn’t a five-layered barrier or something but rather a completely upgraded spell that used the mana of all members.

When the boulder hit the barrier, the power and speed were so great that the boulder immediately shattered into many small pieces.

The barrier itself also barely held on as the acolytes nearly fell to the ground.

However, nobody was mocking them, not even in their minds.

Illyan guessed that this boulder was around two meters in diameter. With rough calculation, he guessed that it weighed over eleven tons. And with the velocity…

No matter how strong his body had become lately, it would be smashed and ground until only a blood stain remained.

But they withstood it.

If Illyan were to guess, then these guys were not much stronger than the centipede trio he and Aurelia fought. They were just more coordinated and decisive than those guys.

Illyan felt that especially the old man Havren could have done better. Instead, he still didn’t use many spells and closed himself in that reflective barrier, sealing his fate.

On the other hand, at this very moment, Illyan could see how effective magic spells were when they could be calmly prepared.

If Illyan could guess, then the acolytes were at a disadvantage against body combat warriors in the early stages. At least, the weaker ones who did not strengthen their bodies and could not defend against the onslaught of relentless fighters.

This disadvantage should disappear soon even for the least powerful Magisters as they would be able to move the mana as fast as their bodies, and their chanting would be minimized too.

But that was just Illyan’s speculation that he couldn’t prove in any way.

Meanwhile, the moment the acolytes blocked the boulder, other acolytes completed their chants too. What they did, however, was different from Illyan’s expectation.

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He thought they would throw magic projectiles at the boulders, but they actually pointed their spells at one of them.

That man glowed for a moment before using [Mana Rope], which he tied around a hook he had and threw upwards at the cliff, where it got stuck between some of the rocks.

With one simple tug, he immediately flew upwards with unprecedented speed.

Meanwhile, the Blood Bearers didn’t just wait, as they slashed down the smaller rocks that could hurt the people, while some of them took out big crossbows and loaded them with bolts.

Illyan could see the red symbols on them and thought to himself that they were on a different level than the Venomous Viper Gang.

Glancing at them out of the corner of his eye, Illyan could see they didn’t care about the situation as they didn’t move at all.

However, Aziro suddenly glared at Varel, who stared back without a shred of fear.

This situation lasted several seconds before Varel snorted and beckoned with his finger to one of the middle-aged men next to him.

“I understand, Father.” The man respectfully bowed as he rushed toward the cliff.

He didn’t use any hooks or spells like the acolytes did. Instead, the dark green aura sprouted from his being as he jumped up several meters and started to expertly climb at high speed.

The soldiers gawked at this sight, as this was something they strived for. Especially Terren, who almost jumped in amazement when he saw it.

Illyan also heard the Vanda next to him clap her hands as she cheered. It was very strange that she didn’t lose her smile despite everything happening. That made Illyan even more wary of her. But his attention wasn’t on her for long.

‘His aura is deeper than Caleb’s. Is he the oldest son?’ Illyan pondered as the man elegantly used any protrusion to propel himself at high speed towards the peak.

What surprised him the most was the usage of the aura. When his feet made contact with the wall, their soles exploded with green fire, and when he reached with his hands, the flame extended from his arm to hold onto a higher protrusion.

While the man’s constitution wasn’t on par with Illyan's, his abilities were definitely superior despite both of them being warriors.

‘I need to get the flow as soon as possible.’ To be honest, his progress was quite fast considering that he hadn’t fought often during this year.

But Illyan wouldn’t be at ease until he had at least some other means besides physical violence.

That was also the reason why he tried several times out of boredom to feel the mana.

Whenever he did that, he used the incense he got from Arwen to sharpen his instincts. Unfortunately, he couldn’t feel the mana.

Even the spiritual energy perception he painstakingly built up wasn’t as hard to develop.

So, in the end, Illyan decided to give up on this endeavor for now.

However, that didn’t mean he wouldn’t continue in the future.

He thought that he should focus on it after at least condensing the flow within his body. He was sure that with his strong body and the power of the flow, he would be invincible in the apprentice stage.

Or at least, at the peak of regular acolytes. He could see that each acolyte was unique, and even the weaker ones could be a fatal danger if he was not careful.

On the other hand, they were also still very vulnerable.

A warrior’s power was mostly constant, but on the other hand, acolytes had so many variables going on that most of the time, they weren’t able to fight to their fullest potential.

At last, both the acolyte and Varel’s son arrived at the top.

A flash of dark green almost blinded the people below as the man slashed down his sword.

The acolyte wasn’t as flashy.

He waved the hook he tied to the mana rope as he swung it around.

But it didn’t fly the way others expected.

At one point, it was like a whip slashing through the masses of screeching goblins, and at another time, it was like a fish in the ocean changing direction mid-flight.

Illyan couldn’t see the fight properly, but he could hear the echoing screeches of the creatures. At one point, the Heart Bearers raised the crossbows and shot their salvos.

It was at that moment when his ears twitched. He was always wary of his surroundings out of habit, so he noticed the small noise coming farther from behind them.

If in front of them was the entire mountain from which the boulders were falling, then behind them was a slope they could easily fall off right back into the valley—not in one piece, though.

He didn’t waste time and slowly moved farther from the slope.

He waved his hands at Nord and Cara, who were watching the fight above in horror.

When they saw him, they decided to get closer. Garran, who was nearby, also decided to move toward them.

Terren couldn’t talk with them at the moment as he was a soldier, but he was already far from the slope, so he should be alright.

What was interesting was that Aurelia also started to move farther from the edge. She was the one who saw through his [Nature Breath Method] after all, so it wasn’t surprising she noticed what he noticed.

Both of them could stop whatever was happening. But they didn’t. Life wasn’t fair, and they weren’t heroes.

“Hm?! Don’t you dare—”

Aziro felt something and suddenly turned around, manifesting the green flame. But this time, it formed into the shape of a fireball as he furiously threw it.

What he didn’t expect was that a huge creature jumped from the edge of the slope right in front of the fireball, only to spit white mist.

The fireball and mist collided, scattering the blast of fire around.

Screams of pain and terror resounded as some people were hit by the green flame, while others started to run from the creature.

It was humanoid-looking with pale white skin, completely hairless with elongated limbs and long claws.

Its eyes shone with a red, malicious glare as it bared its fangs.

“Mi-issed….” The creature created a voice as it mocked Aziro’s attempt. Its voice reminded people of a small girl, but the thing definitely wasn't a small girl.

Illyan froze for a moment. This was too similar.

“Toooo late!” It grinned as it revealed one of its hands that was covered in dark rods.

The hand pulsated with blood and darkness as it swelled.

But it didn’t care as it swung its hand down.

“No!” Aziro immediately waved his blood spears and beckoned his undead army, while Brynjar, who had stood there the entire time, suddenly rushed at high speed with his saber in hand.

But neither of them was fast enough as the darkness collided with the ground.

The ground started to collapse as the already terrified horses became even more uncontrollable, falling to their deaths.

People at the edge also started to slip, while the wagons and carriages began to fall as well.

The creature grinned, but it didn’t last long as Brynjar cut off the dark hand before making another move.

Meanwhile, the blood spear pierced through the creature’s joints, while the undead soldiers hung onto its body, biting the flesh out of it.

It cried in pain but quickly shook them off before stomping them with its long skinny legs.

On the other hand, Aziro’s eyes flashed as he forced the people falling to stop with his mind power.

It was the power of telekinesis. He couldn’t move living things, but he solidified the air surrounding them to bring them back.

He then broke the blocking trunks on the road and pushed the people aside.

Unfortunately, many still died under the rampaging creature. Its long limbs gave it an advantage as it ran from Brynjar while massacring the soldiers.

No matter how many bolts hit it, it didn’t stop fighting.

“It will detonate itself! Use the blood seal!” Aziro called out from a distance, making Brynjar change his expression.

The beast started to swell unnaturally as tumors grew on its body, and it glared at them with visible resentment.

Brynjar rushed in and muttered some incantation before plunging his hand into the monster’s entrails.

A blood-red light shone upon the wound as several blood runes appeared on the creature’s body, and it writhed in pain, trying to bite him.

But Brynjar didn’t waste time as he used his other hand to decapitate the creature in one swing.

Crack

The beast’s headless body fell to the ground as he breathed heavily.

The others didn’t stop, though, as they scurried away.

When they finally sighed in relief, thinking it was over, the cliff on their right started to crack.

“Rush forward!” Brynjar could only roar as he rushed forward with his gang members.

Before that, he looked around for his daughter.

She stood in a safe place, unharmed, so he beckoned her to move.

When Illyan looked upward, he saw that the entire cliff seemed to be slowly collapsing, falling upon them. But his mind was still focused on the creature. Still, that didn’t stop him from running to safety along with the others.

As everyone rushed, they just got out of the danger zone as the entire path behind the last couple of soldiers completely collapsed.