Chapter 205
Slash!
Urtian split a charging Four-Eyed Bat cleanly in two.
“Damn it! There were magical beasts living inside the fortress? Why didn’t they tell us about this?!”
His face was filled with anger at the sudden ambush.
At that moment, Deborah stepped forward.
“Calm down.”
“Deborah!”
“The people here didn’t mention it because it was never a serious threat until now. It wasn’t intentional. What matters is dealing with the situation.”
“Is that even possible?”
“We have to try.”
Deborah answered with a resolute expression.
Normally, she stayed behind managing the Red Storm Corps, but she was a C-rank tamer.
Meaning—she could tame magical beasts.
Fortunately, the Four-Eyed Bats weren’t very high-level.
At most D-rank or E-rank.
If it were just one or two, she could tame them easily.
The problem was their numbers—tens of thousands.
Even a high-ranking tamer couldn’t handle that many at once.
And she was only C-rank.
She needed a solution.
Deborah quickly scanned her surroundings.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Dozens of bats were exploding and falling from the sky.
Zeon was intercepting them with his Viper.
He was the only one responding effectively—other awakened were being overwhelmed by the airborne assault.
For ordinary awakened, flying-type magical beasts were a disaster.
They simply weren’t equipped to deal with enemies attacking from the air.
Zeon continuously unleashed Viper to intercept the bats.
If he could, he would’ve wiped them out instantly with a powerful skill like Sand Storm—
—but in an enclosed space like the Steel Fortress, that would endanger everyone.
So he had no choice but to pick them off one by one.
Deborah hurried over to him.
“Please help me.”
“How?”
“There must be a leader among these bats.”
“A queen-type individual?”
“Yes! If it’s C-rank or below, I can tame it. If we calm it down, the others will stop rampaging too.”
“It’s worth trying.”
Just as Zeon nodded—
KROOOAR!
The roar of orcs echoed nearby.
Taking advantage of the chaos caused by the bats, the orcs had begun their assault.
They were climbing the cliff.
Like ants, they crawled up the steep rock face.
The awakened trembled at the sight.
“Stop them!”
“Damn it! These bat bastards…!”
They tried to attack the orcs, but the bats prevented them from responding properly.
Zeon spoke,
“Then I’ll handle the orcs—”
“That’s our role.”
Deborah looked at him directly.
“If we want to survive here, we have to fight them ourselves. Only then can we learn how to deal with them next time.”
Zeon possessed overwhelming, almost unfair power.
If he unleashed his near-divine abilities, the orcs on the sand wouldn’t stand a chance.
But relying on him would prevent the awakened from growing.
“This is both a crisis and an opportunity. If we face a common enemy like the orcs, the Red Storm Corps and the Steel Fortress can unite. So… give us this chance.”
“…Understood.”
Zeon nodded.
If that was Deborah’s will, he would respect it.
“Levin!”
“Yes, hyung!”
Levin, who had been fighting the bats nearby, responded.
“There must be a leader among them. Find it.”
“Got it.”
Levin nodded.
Finding a single leader among tens of thousands of bats would be impossible for most.
But not for him.
Swoosh—
Levin turned intangible and rose into the air.
The bats attacked him immediately, but their physical assaults passed straight through his ghostly body.
Hundreds of bats flew uselessly through him.
Floating in midair, Levin scanned for anything unusual.
After a while, he spotted one bat noticeably larger than the rest.
Unlike the others, it wasn’t attacking humans—it hovered in place.
The moment he saw it, Levin knew instinctively.
That’s the boss.
It wasn’t just its size.
Its head was engulfed in flames, emitting a faint red glow.
Each time the light from the flames intensified, the swarm of bats would circle and then attack the humans.
Levin returned to Zeon.
“I found the boss.”
“Good. Take us to it.”
“Okay.”
Levin turned intangible again and flew ahead.
Zeon extended his hand to Deborah.
“Hold on tight.”
“Yes!”
In the next moment, Deborah was lifted into the air.
Startled, she looked down—
A pillar of sand was supporting her.
Zeon had manipulated the sand to lift them both upward.
The bats did not ignore the humans entering their domain.
With sharp screeches, they swarmed toward Zeon and Deborah.
Hundreds—thousands—of bats charged at them at once.
The sight was so horrifying it could haunt one’s nightmares.
Deborah instinctively shut her eyes tightly.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Explosions rang out around her in rapid succession—but she felt no impact.
Zeon had created a barrier of sand to protect both of them.
The Four-Eyed Bats that collided with the sand wall were unable to withstand the force and were flung backward.
The entire scene unfolded vividly before Deborah’s eyes.
What an absurdly overpowered ability…
Experiencing it firsthand made her realize just how unbelievable Zeon’s power truly was.
Even amid the bats’ relentless assault, Zeon safely protected Deborah while following Levin.
After a moment, Levin pointed at a particular bat.
“That one.”
“It does look like the leader.”
Zeon nodded and looked at Deborah.
She agreed.
“That’s the queen.”
As a tamer, she could tell.
That special individual was the leader of the swarm.
“How do we tame it?”
“We need to subdue it first.”
“With force?”
“Yes.”
“That won’t be difficult.”
“…What?”
Deborah tilted her head in confusion.
At that moment, Zeon called out,
“Levin!”
“Yes, hyung!”
“Fry everything around it.”
“Got it!”
Crackle!
Purple lightning burst from Levin’s entire body.
A wave of Purple Lightning struck the bats flapping nearby.
Low-grade magical beasts couldn’t withstand Levin’s power.
Like wet leaves falling, the bats dropped from the sky in droves.
Only the queen remained hovering in the air.
Even she was disoriented, writhing under the powerful high-voltage current.
Seizing the moment, Zeon carried Deborah and leapt onto the queen’s back.
Realizing their presence too late, the queen bat thrashed violently, trying to throw them off.
Bang!
Zeon slammed his fist into the queen’s head.
For a moment, its consciousness went blank.
The queen plummeted downward at terrifying speed.
The other bats went into a frenzy, rushing to save her.
Crackle!
Levin unleashed Purple Lightning again, holding them back.
Thud!
The queen slammed into the ground.
Zeon jumped down from its back and said to Deborah,
“Your turn.”
“Leave it to me.”
Deborah placed both hands on the queen’s head, which was still struggling in a daze.
She focused her mind, trying to establish a connection with it.
It was ironic—beating it into submission and then trying to communicate—
—but this was the best option right now.
Flash!
A bright light burst from her hands.
Even then, the bats continued trying to rescue their queen, but Zeon and Levin blocked them.
Meanwhile, Deborah finished her work.
“It’s done.”
She stepped back from the queen.
After a moment, the queen shook its head and regained consciousness.
Deborah spoke gently,
“We’re not your enemies.”
…
“I know—you were startled. But we didn’t do that.”
…
Zeon and Levin watched with fascination as Deborah continued speaking with the queen bat.
They hadn’t expected her to actually communicate with a magical beast like that.
After a moment, Deborah gently stroked the queen and said,
“That’s right. Thank you for understanding. We’ll respect your territory, so could you calm your anger too?”
Kiii!
The flame on the queen’s forehead emitted a glow.
At once, the chaotic swarm of bats calmed down.
The queen rose into the air and looked at Deborah.
After holding eye contact for a moment, it turned and flew back into the vertical cave.
The swarm followed behind it.
Whoooosh—
Tens of thousands of bats returning all at once was a spectacular sight.
Zeon asked Deborah,
“If you’ve tamed the queen, couldn’t you have them attack the orcs?”
“I can’t control it perfectly with my ability. If it weren’t for you, the queen wouldn’t have listened to me at all. For now, respecting each other’s territory is the best option.”
“I see.”
Zeon nodded.
A queen that commands tens of thousands would naturally possess strong willpower and self-awareness.
Completely dominating it and issuing commands was beyond Deborah’s current ability.
For now, calming the swarm was enough.
At last, all the bats that had flooded the cavern returned to the vertical cave.
But there was no time to sigh in relief.
“Chiiit!”
“Graaah!”
The orcs were pouring into the fortress entrance.
While the awakened struggled with the bats, the orcs had climbed the cliff and arrived.
Among them, one stood out.
A massive orc wielding a huge war hammer—
Ashanka.
Crack!
Ashanka smashed an awakened charging at him with his hammer and roared,
“Kill all the humans!”