Declaration of War (1)

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<City of the Estranged Wolves>.

A special dungeon that can only be entered with related items within a limited time.

Three men were standing at the entrance.

Their faces were covered by hoods, and robes hid their entire bodies.

They seemed to be deliberately concealing their identities with their outfits.

“……”

As if by agreement, none of them took a single step from the entrance.

In this open area with nothing around the entrance, a desolate wasteland.

A vast expanse where no monster appeared.

They quietly entrusted themselves to that expansive area.

And…

Not even 10 minutes passed in this state,

When the man with the largest build among them impatiently threw off the hood over his head.

“This is boring.”

It was Hwang Seong-yeon.

He had been planning to enter this dungeon from long ago, and finally followed the <Ripple Raid> inside.

To him, a robe-wearing man exuding an eerie aura replied, “I can understand your impatience. You haven’t done anything for a long time. Aquilen, you can also take off your robe if you’re feeling restless.”

“Thank you.”

With blond hair, blue eyes and a neat Western appearance,

The other ‘defector’ called Aquilen also removed his robe.

Watching this intently, Hwang Seong-yeon turned his gaze back to the robed man.

“Dave. Isn’t it time for you to show your face too? Aren’t you tired of living in that robe?”

Dave.

Whether that was his real name or not, it was the name the robed man used to refer to himself.

While Hwang Seong-yeon now knew his name, he still did not know what Dave looked like, as even after making a contract with him a long time ago, Dave had never once taken off his robe.

“Haha. As I told you, it’s not a face worth seeing. And it’s not like we’re the kind of people who need to see each other’s faces to build trust, right?”

He wasn’t wrong.

From the beginning, their relationship was formed out of mutual need.

Dave had a chance to realize the plan he had been making for a long time.

Hwang Seong-yeon had a flashy tool to satisfy his desires…

As long as they got what they needed from each other, that was enough.

But Hwang Seong-yeon took out his magic sword, stabbed it into the ground, and said in a bored tone, “It must be really boring then. Even at the dungeon entrance. Did you really have to just incapacitate those people? I wanted to just kill them all, since other humans can’t enter here anyway.”

Right before entering the dungeon…

The three of them, including Hwang Seong-yeon, had subdued the Hunters’ Association Holders who were guarding the entrance and protecting the rights to attempt the <City of the Estranged Wolves> dungeon.

Hwang Seong-yeon wanted to kill them all to kick off the party, but Dave used a complicated ‘wide-area sleep spell’ to minimize casualties instead.

For someone seeking more diverse killings and greater pleasures…

It was an act close to a waste.

“If we had done that, we wouldn’t have been able to enter the dungeon in time.”

“But you extended the entry time with your magic anyway, didn’t you?”

The <City of the Estranged Wolves> is a dungeon that can only be entered with a special item.

When the entry condition is met with the item, the dungeon entrance opens for about 30 seconds, and if you don’t enter within that time, the dungeon closes.

However, blindly following the attack squad makes it highly likely to be spotted.

That’s why they quietly subdued the dungeon security personnel, and used Dave’s magic to ‘extend the entry time’, allowing them to leisurely enter the dungeon.

“Which is why, as I’m saying, minimizing attention was crucial for that time extension. If we had committed indiscriminate killings and word somehow reached the S-grade Holders, it would have been difficult for us to enter the dungeon.”

By now, there must be chaos outside the dungeon.But since there’s no way to contact the attack squad inside, they can only wait patiently.

Of course, all these strategies were only possible thanks to the spy infiltrated within the attack squad.

“And you can kill people as much as you want in here too, can’t you? Just wait a bit. You can even hunt some stray wolves as an appetizer if you’d like.”

Even with his face hidden, his tone conveyed everything.

Dave was trying to persuade him with a smug attitude.

Seeing this, Hwang Seong-yeon turned his body while resting his magic sword on his shoulder.

“…This is a boring conversation.”

For those whose goal was not dungeon conquest…

But human conquest.

The moment they took their first steps into the battlefield.

***

Ippotranslation

***

All the warriors of Baraten! Advance!!

The warriors of Baraten and the <Ripple Raid> alliance.

Our attack direction has been decided as ‘all-out war’.

We have already employed countless other forms of strategy.

Further reconnaissance and guerrilla tactics are meaningless.

And to win a war, we must eventually destroy and sever the enemy’s core.

At the decisive moment, Enrichten and the warriors of Baraten accepted our strike force’s proposal.

“Waaah!!”

“Let’s take back the city! Fight and win!”

“Tol! Tol! Tol!”

With the Lycan’s raucous cheers as the signal, the advance began.

Baraten warriors including Enrichten and some 150 Lycans under their command.

Here are the soldiers leading the charge at the front lines…

Some 800 Werewolves, known to humans as Virgens.And 32 members of the <Ripple Raid> as well.

A massive force of nearly 1,000 moved together.

‘Damnably many, aren’t there.’

Such an uncountable number moving at once is a true spectacle.

Thinking of the wars of the past that moved in units of tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands, this may seem an insignificant number…

But if we shift that perspective to the Holder realm and dungeon conquest, views change.

Over 1,000 monsters of A-grade or higher.

And that’s just counting Baraten’s side.

I’ve heard Clark’s forces are nearly double this force.

So roughly around 3,000 in total.

,000 experts capable of easily killing C-grade monsters, clashing over a single city.

The term war was inevitable.

“Tol. Enemy scouts have been spotted near the border line.”

As we were moving, a Lycan on scouting duty approached and reported.

Not even 10 minutes after crossing Clark’s border line.

The enemy appeared in less than 10 minutes.

Just as we discovered them, they must have discovered us too.

And the advantage of a preemptive strike…

Is not giving the enemy time to prepare.

“We advance as is. We must capture them before they can flee, as quickly as possible. There may even be awakened warriors among them.”

Enrichten commanded in a low voice.

In a way, it’s a fortunate situation.

We’re moving with full force on a large scale, and the enemy scouts showed up obliviously.

If we can capture them, we can whittle down Clark’s forces, even if just a little.“Tol. Let me and the 8th Unit take the vanguard.” Schilten, who previously had an argument with me, spoke up.

To take the vanguard and pin down the enemy unit.

At his proposal for this crucial role, Enrichten nodded readily.

“Permission granted.”

“Our strike force’s B-Team will also join.”

I quickly followed suit, not wanting to miss out.

Not the vanguard of massive forces clashing, but the vanguard to hunt down enemy scouts.

It’d be foolish not to join such a guaranteed hunt without risk.

“Ugh…”

Schilten, somewhat ill at ease with me, grimaced, but Enrichten nodded just the same.

“That too is granted. Schilten’s 8th Unit and the Ripple Raid Force’s B-Team will take the vanguard, and hunt the enemy scouts. Most important is speed. Do not let even a single Virgen escape, push those Clark bastards into a corner!”

“Yes…!!”

With Enrichten’s orders, we immediately took the lead and moved out.

The Lycans and Virgens began moving in droves.

And I too moved alongside Schilten and said, “Hey, no need to look so displeased. We’re a team now, aren’t we?”

“…I wasn’t displeased!”

Together with the somewhat adorably stubborn Schilten, we immediately utilized our charge abilities.

Something I only learned after coming to this dungeon, but all the wolfkin Lycans and Virgens possess the ‘Charge’ rune type.

The rune is called [Wolf’s Rush].

A rare-grade rune superior to the normal [Sprint], it allows far greater charge speed when ‘quadrupedal’ beast-dashing.

I too acquired it during the previous Virgen hunt and naturally incorporated it into my superior rune, [Greatest Racehorse Under Heaven].

And of course, the wolfkin can transform into wolf form at will.

Kookung- Gookung-

Koogoogogoo-

Owoooooo-

The 8th Unit at the vanguard, all the wolfkin began running with arms and legs uninhibited.

The quadrupedal sprint for more effective charging.

Nearly 90 wolves…

No, charging wolves.

Watching their sprint, I felt an inexplicable surge in my heart.

Though the war situation remains unfavorable, its end is uncertain…

There was no fear in Baraten’s charge signaling the start.

Advance, fight and win.

That alone seems to occupy their minds.

Perhaps they had been waiting for this All-out war, I thought.

“We too will accept maximum buffs and move swiftly!”

“Yes, Captain!”

Our B-Team has no Charge runes except me.

Instead, we’ll use holy buffs and haste to move as quickly as possible.

I matched the team’s pace, following the 8th Unit’s speed.

And I quietly thought,

‘…I want to run too.’

I could even use [GreatestRacehorse Under Heaven]’s [Quadrupedal Charge] if need be…

But the captain running on all fours to charge?

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