The battle was unavoidable. Ace and Ren fought, drawing the monster away from the protective fortress, their battle extending to the forest from which they had just emerged. Various attacks were launched, but Ace held the advantage. He wasn't overly concerned about their location, as he knew the dense forest intimately; nearly half of it had already been laid bare by the monster.
"Whew, are you having fun, Ren? This monster's a real hoot!"
"Huh? You call that fun? You're just pretending to be weak and joking around. You could have easily finished it off."
"Hehehe, a little playful sparring is allowed, you know? Besides, I'm used to this kind of play from my previous life. In the end, I always come out on top, hehe."
Ren was confused and didn't know what to say to Ace, whose behavior was silly and unserious.
Due to this, the monster became exhausted and could no longer fight. It was panting like it had just run a 1000m marathon, frustrated and roaring.
"I'VE HAD ENOUGH!"
"WHY AM I LIKE A DOG BEING TOYED WITH?"
Unexpectedly, Ace suddenly attacked, sending the monster crashing to the ground. Ace stood over it, emitting a Midasi core aura.
"Hey, answer me, you gentle ferocious monster. Who's behind all this?"
"Or…"
"Okay, okay, I'll tell you."
"Good. A smart monster. So, explain!"
"Actually…"
Before the monster could utter another word, its body swelled, then shattered, leaving behind only dropped items. Ace, realizing what was happening, quickly put distance between himself and the monster.
"Goodness, I thought that only happened in my world. So, it exists here too?"
Confused by what had transpired, Ace nevertheless understood this was planned. Before leaving, he wanted to repair the half-destroyed forest, but when he looked, it was completely restored.
"Wait, wasn't half the forest destroyed? How…"
"Goodness, you really don't know."
"Um, no…"
Ren sighed and muttered to Ace.
"So, where did you go when the group gave us important information in this forest?"
"Um, I was helping Gen, so I didn't have time to discuss it, hehe…"
"Whatever. Let's go."
They went to where the others had taken refuge. Many soldiers were outside the gate, relieved to see Ace and Ren return safely.
They entered, and time passed. In a house, they discussed plans for a counterattack and investigated who was behind it all. This took a week, and they also explored every corner, both inside and outside the Second Brother's walls. Their aim was to help refugees or soldiers trapped or affected by the tragedy.
From all this, they prepared to go to the last fortress, the younger sibling's, where everyone was safe inside. The downside was the numerous monsters and minions outside the gate. They maintained distance and observed their movements.
If you think those inside were safe, you're wrong. They were essentially under quarantine. Even air travel was impossible, as the protective barrier was activated to prevent other living beings, including humans, from entering.
This wasn't without reason; they had also prepared thoroughly. They didn't intend to betray anyone, but those inside were all weak, just refugees, the King, and others.
They could only pray for their loved ones fighting this battle, all experiencing the sadness of being unable to help.
They waited for a miracle.
And today, they would rescue them and repair the fortresses from which stones had been stolen.
They discovered the source of the stolen stones three days prior during their exploration. They encountered a general, one of the people behind the tragedy.
More precisely, they were in the Northwest.
"Hmm, we should observe first. I'll talk to him and give the signal."
Their position was in the forest, on the border of a large, shallow river, high in a tree.
The general knew he was being watched, but he didn't know Ace was so close, a fact that surprised Ace, who was right beside the general and unaware of the surveillance.
Ace checked his status, seeing that his skill was active. From a distance, he spotted many enemy soldiers. The general was swiftly incapacitated, not in an epic way.
Ace then signaled the archers to shoot at his target. An arrow flew, hitting the enemy troops. Some were critically wounded. Without hesitation, Ace threw his boomerang at the opposing forces.
"Target and bisect!"
All targets were eliminated. They found a large box containing stones from the walls, used to strengthen the fortresses. Strangely, there were three boxes.
"They're serious; putting three boxes here directly, without any protection? If attacked, it's incredibly dangerous."
"Exactly! There should be some kind of warning system. This looks completely unprepared."
"Well, I thought they were really strong."
People on the Core Continent were astonished and disbelieving. The initially terrifying invaders turned out to be strong individuals with empty heads.
"They look scary, but their invasion tactics are like they're doing it for the first time, or maybe they're only strong at the beginning,"
said Ren, displeased by the unchallenging opponents.
The others shook their heads at his antics.