Again, that dream again. Time had practically lost all meaning for her.

  She watched her illusions holding no weight before that enemy.

  That enemy, whose malice seemed to stretch from the depths of hell to the heights of heaven, one that expressed a will to dye the world in despair.

  The enemy who had spat in the face of her desperation, who had not even bothered to look at her twice.

  Those last moments refused to leave her head, and it hurt. She hated the pain.

  That pain had turned into the red of anger. Every time those final moments replayed, she felt those emotions vividly and the red became deeper and deeper. Her ego had begun to fracture under the weight of it, but she could not care less. The rage only built up greater and greater and greater, and she had not a shred of intention of letting the river of it slow down.

  The nightmare replayed again.

  Ruby.

  Again. Again. Again.

  Scarlet.

  Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again.

  Rose.

  Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again.

  Crimson.

  Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again.

  Carmine.

  Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again.

  Burgundy.

  Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again.

  Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again.

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  Blood-red.

  -

  ‘First Circle - Green Flare’

  The wind whistled furiously in their ears. This high up in the clouds, it was all Evan and anyone in the mage unit could hear. They thus resorted to the Sixth Circle - Short-range Telepathy. Squinting over the back of the almost leviathan-sized wyrm with a gryphon's face only barely let them see the ground.

  They saw a U of tens of kilometres shape cleared from the forest, and all vegetation within cleared as well, leaving a vacant clearing. In front of the U shape was a wall of earth where monsters clamored to cross over, and even beyond that was Maruta Hill. Just a day ago, monsters were being shot down from the top of the wall before they could cross a certain height, but now, those positions were vacant, and the occasional monster jumped through, only to get sniped at.

  ‘First Circle - Green Flare’

  “Green flare from forward rear. Assassin unit in position.”

  Evan’s report reverberated in Noah’s head.

  ‘First Circle - Green Flare!’

  “Green flare from Alpha zone. Traps and trap unit of left in position.”

  ‘First Circle - Green Flare’

  “Green flare from Omega zone. Traps and trap unit of right in position.”

  “...”

  “Report rescue unit.”

  “...No signal yet.”

  “Hold.”

  Evan and the mages waited.

  ‘First Circle - Green Flare!’

  “Green flare from extreme rear. Rescue unit in position.”

  “Draven. Are Lirael, Seraphina, and Elara with the twenty members of the mage unit all with us up here?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Ready.”

  ‘First Circle - Thunderclap!’

  Draven released the spell at Noah’s approval, signaling their presence high up in the skies to the others.

  “All units are in position. Draven.”

  “Yes, sir!”

  ‘First Circle - Thunderclap!’

  At the sound of the second thunderclap, a team of no more than fifty on the backs of bicorns, the dark skinned relatives of unicorns with two horns, spearheaded by Ariel, emerged from behind the extreme rear and sprinted to the wall, then split into smaller groups of ten and dispersed the five teams evenly along the wall that stretched far as the eyes could see for over fifty kilometres. The five teams were in a gentle ‘V’ formation, the tail of the ‘V’ facing the wall.

  Ariel, spear in one hand, reached into a small compartment on the side of her belt, withdrew one of Evan’s spell stones with the other arm, and infused it with mana, tossing it in the air as she did.

  ‘First Circle - Green Flare!’

  In moments, the spell stone imploded above her, scattering the dust of the imploded rock and releasing a green flare as it did.

  Although she could have cast that spell by herself even without a spell stone, much like other warrior types, she did not carry a wand with her, and wished to avoid any physical strain that came with casting without using a wand before a fight, regardless of the fact that the spell strain would have been minimal due to the simplicity of the spell.

  “Cavalry unit in position.”

  The whistling of the wind seemed to die down in Noah’s ears.

  It was always calm before the storm.

  A god crinkled its eyes in amusement. Another closed hers.

  Somewhere far, far north of Maruta Hill, four Heroes looked over a cliff at a warzone beneath a stormy sky, and the Hero at the front, with his distinctive white hair flapping on the wind in contrast to the other three with black or brown hair, grinned venomously.

  ‘Second Circle - Earth Pit!’

  At five locations, five of Noah's slimes sacrificed themselves as they forcefully expended all their mana. Gate-sized entrances the size of fortresses opened up at the earthen wall, as the earth occupying it sank into the ground.

  Monsters exploded through the five gates, awaited by five cavalry units.

  The orange sun kissed the hill peak.

  I'm taking a one week break.

  This upcoming invasion arc will be ~25 chapters, and it'd be more enjoyable for you lot, the readers, if it was released over a shorter period of time. I'd like to take some time off to finish up with this arc so I can have the chapters ready to be able do that.

  Also, not uploading as I write the arc will grant me more freedom to write at a higher standard.

  Since I'm taking this break, I'll also answer some questions I’ve received here and there from different platforms about this novel

  Q: Ariel and Noah getting married feels forced.

  A: On the contrary, I think not having Noah accept Cedric's offer would have been more forced. Think of it this way. A former hero, looking to accumulate power and fame in a monarchy so as to catch the eye of the king, waltzes into a small Lord's territory. The Lord would, almost out of courtesy, send a marriage request to this person of so much higher status then himself. And as for Noah, it's free resources. Something he desperately needs. He'd be an idiot to refuse. It would be different if he had some system of overwhelming power or something to be able to not rely on such measures, but he doesn't, so he has to grasp the opportunities he can.

  Q: Noah could just sell off his organs, then regenerate them for infinite income. Why doesn't he?.

  A: Certainly possible. However, culling a leviathan would yield consistent long-term profit, and also act as a pathway for strength. He then also wouldn't have to rely on brutal mutilation. He eventually devises other methods for income as well, and will be covered at a later point.

  Q: Why did Noah and Co. just agree to go along to fight the demon lord without resisting even though they knew the battlefield was a harsh place?

  A: You have to realize that humans are more agreeable, or should I say, shortsighted than you would think. Many soldiers that enlist do it for trivial reasons without any grand purpose. For four confused teenagers, it isn't odd for them to simply ‘go with the flow’

  That's it for this short QnA, I'll answer more questions the next time I take a break. (I'll still be uploading chapters irregularly on patreon during this week.)

  Thanks for waiting, and for reading. <3