Chapter 5: Deep in Trouble – Moon 412

Before Maxim and his group arrived at Camp Star 745, they heard bursts of hoarse, desperate shouting from afar.
“Kill! Kill! Kill!” Clearly, their voices were strained from shouting, yet they refused to stop. The pace wasn’t fast—it seemed like they were practicing stabbing.
Upon getting closer and seeing more clearly, they realized it wasn’t stabbing but chopping. They were using relatively rare long curved swords, moving from top right to bottom left, twisting backward, leaning back, and swinging diagonally downward with large movements. It was clearly a straightforward technique with no room for error—either the enemy was hurt or they were.
“I heard the so-called ‘waste chosen ones’ of Phase 7 of Star 745 are in Team 1, but it seems not to be the case. They still train even on missions and seem quite enthusiastic!” The speaker was Maxim’s good friend, Nim Phalen, a Level 10 Dark Caster.
“It seems they’re being forced to do this,” saidHill, a Level 9 Archer, frowning at the soldiers who were only wearing loincloths and boots, sweating profusely, shouting loudly with red faces and throats. He had grown up in Ode and rarely seen such brutal training methods. “Young people eager for quick success will only end up crippling their soldiers with this kind of training.”
“We also need to be careful of being stabbed in the back or tripped on the battlefield,” added Manson darkly. As a Level 9 Shadow Assassin,Hill seemed most influenced by Kales’ customs, always appearing gloomy.
“However, these soldiers don’t seem like amateurs; they have the aura of elite fighters. Could it be some kind of connection or backdoor influence at work?” Vincent, a Level 9 Berserker Wolfman, didn’t stand out much in appearance, but his large Blood Tooth Battle Axe revealed his true nature—it exuded a strong sense of violence.
“The leader of Star 745 is Simon Windrunner. His father is Matia Windrunner.” The burly man, weighing over 300 pounds, with his muscular build, was clearly a powerful guardian—Eric Barton, a Level 10 Guardian.
“Oh… I’ve heard of him! Matia the Strong—quite famous.” The others all showed expressions of understanding, as if saying, “No wonder—he’s their descendant.” Matia had been extremely strict in the past. Even in obvious defeat, without his order, anyone who said, “Let’s retreat!” would be considered a deserter. Matia would execute such soldiers as a mild punishment; more often, they’d be captured later, whipped until unconscious, then rinsed with cold water before being whipped again until death. As the saying goes, if the top is crooked, the bottom will be too—Simon followed a similar brutal approach in leading his troops, which wasn’t surprising at all.
Moon 412, the 4th Phase Tactical Team of the Celestial Temple, formed in Kales, had always maintained second place in overall strength among Moon teams. With 10 years without any deaths and 5 years without serious injuries, it had an excellent track record as a team. They happened to be on mobile duty and were ordered to support Star 745 to deal with the problem of the Abnormal Venomous Spider Nest.

It was already the afternoon of the second day of Star 745’s camping. The sun was low in the sky, and the day’s combat training session was coming to an end. There would be a military lesson in the evening, taught by Neo, with materials prepared by Nancy. Without exaggeration, the combination of the two was on par with that of a chief instructor from an Alliance regular army training unit. The lessons were explained in simple terms, with vivid examples. Each class covered not much content, but it was absolutely engaging, leaving a memorable impression and helping people grasp the key points.

Unfortunately, the group of middle-aged men from Moon 412 were in a hurry. After greeting Neo, who was supervising the soldiers’ training, they headed straight for the Spider Jungle without even entering the camp.

Neo glanced at the sky and watched the six riders disappearing into the distance, thinking, “Nightfall… I hope the rescue doesn’t turn into a ‘call for help.’”

By the time night fell, around 7:30 PM, the soldiers had just finished dinner and were engaged in their rare leisure time—talking big, joking around, playing chess, and arm-wrestling.

“Whoa! I won again! Star 745’s number one!” Valrug said, beaming with pride.

Neo, passing by, glanced at Valrug and Zankin, whose clothes and demeanor exuded a rough, unsophisticated vibe, and smiled slightly. These two, just as their appearance suggested, were tough and resilient. To be fair, they were suitable as squad leaders or deputy squad leaders and military cadres, but being promoted to officers seemed a bit much.

When he entered the main tent, he saw Mary sitting at a rough wooden table, carefully checking the exam papers for any copying errors. She had typed these papers, with questions drafted by Neo, to assess the soldiers’ military skills. The top three would receive gold coins as rewards, while the bottom three would be punished. This was the first small exam, and a quiz would follow soon.

Neo treated Mary coldly. In his view, it was already cruel enough for a woman to work in a military role. He wasn’t discriminatory against women; on the contrary, he respected them more than most men in Fury and Ord. However, whenever he thought of the humiliation women suffered after failure or how they sometimes used their gender advantages to succeed, or simply put, when he saw weakness but failed to see—or deliberately ignored—cruelty, that’s when he treated them differently. Since Gretis had mocked him as a “naive boy” on the night of the eastern migration massacre, Neo had reflected on this, but it clearly required more than just time. Most people only realized the true meaning of pain after suffering a severe beating.

Mary was okay. Though she was a problematic girl, she didn’t cause trouble—she just kept her issues to herself. She was also very determined, working hard in secret. After a few days of interaction, she became less shy, but still gave off a sense of insecurity, as if avoiding everyone, though to varying degrees.

Kokar was a ‘donkey’ whose vocabulary wasn’t too crude. Just as Nio had guessed, his ability to recite spells was problematic—Kels’s spellcasters’ spells all derived from the language of the GuniSar hybrids, a language even the vampires found obscure. For a donkey like Kokar, who couldn’t even speak Emira fluently, reciting such spells was naturally difficult.

But this clearly posed no challenge to Nancy. Spells weren’t true mantras; their texts contained no magical power. Instead, the power came from the rhythmic vibrations created by recitation, combined with mental focus. So long as one could produce similar rhythmic vibrations, it would work.

Thus, Kokar was now learning a book of ‘donkey language’ tailored to his vocal cords and pronunciation habits—basically a series of strange donkey and horse noises. Kokar had already reaped the benefits, showing signs of intelligence. In the main tent, he read with great interest, a book borrowed for him by Nio. It covered the origins and history of the horsemen, helping him understand their culture and himself—a supplementary read for a donkey spellcaster.

Sensing the tent flap lift, Mary instinctively shrunk back, but seeing it was Nio, she didn’t react further. At night, Mary stayed in this main tent, as did Nio. In fact, ever since the conscription drills began, Mary had shared a room with Nio, thanks to his status as captain, which granted him certain privileges. Otherwise, she would have had to share a tent with Zanjin and the others. There were only a few privileges for women in the army: coming to the army for glory, being exceptionally strong, or having a superior’s protection. Mary could barely qualify as the third category, but Nio never took advantage of her, which made her somewhat grateful to him. Unconsciously, she became somewhat closer to him, relatively speaking.

“Mary, put down your test paper for now and get ready for battle,” Nio said as he headed toward his armor, adding to Kokar, “Kokar, review and prepare two spells—Soul Curse and Evil Spirit Entanglement. We might need them.”

“What happened?” Kokar asked, closing his book and standing up.

“Moon 412 still hasn’t returned? I’m a bit worried.”

“No way!” Kokar said in disbelief, his donkey face drooping. “They’re all at level 9 or above, some even at level 10. Even if those Poison Fang Spiders mutate, they’re still just a bunch of monsters that weren’t even considered magical beasts before.”

“Don’t underestimate tonight’s darkness. The power of decay is more active and powerful than you think—plus, it’s eerie! Yes, eerie!” Nio said as he began putting on his armor.

At that moment, Karnito rushed in excitedly, wearing sunglasses on his forehead. “Simon! Simon! It worked! I succeeded!” Karnito was practically dancing with joy. These past few days had been incredibly happy for him—new designs, new ideas, new concepts, new challenges. Even a little mechanical knowledge from Nancy was enough to delight him like fine wine or heavenly music. If not for Neio’s pressure, Karnito would have long forgotten about that ridiculous Blood Guardian thing. He now felt as if the great master craftsman had taken possession of him. Karnito believed his name would one day be known throughout the entire Aemera continent—but certainly not through shields and one-handed swords.

“Is the Light Thunder ready?” Neio stopped what he was doing and turned to look at Karnito. He was somewhat surprised. He hadn’t doubted Karnito’s success, but he hadn’t expected it to happen so quickly. After all, this place wasn’t Shelter Valley Town, and the materials and equipment here weren’t as convenient.

“Yes, three pieces!”

Neio nodded. “It seems that after this mission, the Artificers will have their own specialized instrument carts.”

“Yay! Haha!” Karnito jumped for joy. “Thank you, Simon, my generous patron!”

Given Neio’s relentless investment of gold in Star 745, Karnito had started calling him that toward the end of the training. Specialized instrument carts meant more equipment and materials, allowing him to better engage in his research, manufacturing, and experiments—of course, this was the best news Karnito could hear.

Neio, fully dressed, took the three Light Thunders. These objects, which looked like polished metal rods, were only as thick as a small cup and 30 centimeters tall, but they contained 1,200 standard units of light energy—a synthesized energy of sunlight, fire elements, and holy light, prepared specifically by Neio for dark creatures.

“The equivalent is over a thousand. Be careful when using them, especially protect your eyes. Don’t forget your dark vision is extremely sensitive to light,” Nancy reminded him.

“Understood!”

The team assembled, and Neio clearly instructed the soldiers, “The operation ahead is somewhere between a drill and a combat mission. This mission will count toward Star 745’s internal assessment. Now, standard combat readiness, level 3 alert—get moving, quickly!”

The soldiers rushed to their tents and positions. It had to be said, the result wasn’t very good; things were chaotic, with several taking half a day to remember what they were supposed to do in such a situation. Neio observed everyone’s performance. He didn’t need to memorize everything. With Nancy’s help, he knew every soldier’s name, height, characteristics, and even preferences. Reaching this level in just a few days was undoubtedly a remarkable—and somewhat terrifying—ability for an officer. With his fifth-level mind and AI assistant, managing an enhanced team was child’s play for him. Still, it wasn’t without value. After all, he still lacked experience leading troops. Starting as a low-ranking officer wasn’t so bad.

“Karnito, take your men to the siege spider’s frame and connect the auxiliary energy supply to the siege spider’s energy compartment.”

Karnito was startled. “Our auxiliary energy supply is still in the testing phase. Its energy output is unstable, which will cause extreme overload on the Siege Spiders. Besides, the Siege Spiders can’t withstand prolonged extreme use—after all, many of their components are still substitutes.”
“Go do it! It’s just a precaution; maybe we won’t need it. But remember, we can earn money if we run out, and machines can be repaired. But once people die, it’s not easy to bring them back to life. Don’t hesitate when it’s time to sacrifice. I think you know what to do!”
“Alright!” Karnito shrugged. “We do have some ways to burn money…”
Neo nodded with a smile. “Maybe the Temple will cover all our losses?”
Karnito rolled his eyes. “Is that possible?”
Neo set off with the 1-Warriors. They carried plate armor and long curved swords. In addition, they had magic-powered pistols and crystal-powered torches—small gadgets designed by Nancy and completed by the tech monks led by Karnito. A beam of light emitted from these torches, covering an area of several square meters up to 20 meters away. They were durable and far more useful than torches.
“Light up some large torches along the way!”
This time, the group brought 4 flamethrowers. The dry wood was hard to ignite, but once lit, it burned like a candle wick for a long time. As more and more dry trees were set on fire, the warriors felt much more secure. Especially when looking back at the path, illuminated by the flames, it was quite spectacular.
What gave everyone more confidence was Neo leading the way. Simon, in his wolf form, was a towering figure far larger than ordinary werewolves—3.1 meters tall and weighing over 175 kilograms (even more now), with heavy armor on. Just his width was enough to block two adults standing side by side. What was most impressive was his presence. As he walked, it was as if mountains were shifting and tides were surging. His movements, the rhythm of his steps, his steady breathing, and his resolute expression combined to convey a strong sense of power. With such a formidable figure leading the way, crossing Kyles’ graveyard at night didn’t seem too problematic.
After going about 400 meters deep into the Spider Jungle, they could see magical lights emerging from the darkness ahead. Soon after, faint explosion sounds could be heard. Then, the magical lights appeared again, with more frequent explosions. It seemed they could even hear shouts, getting closer and closer.
“Attention! There’s a retreat ahead. We’ll provide support. Stay focused and follow my commands. If I say ‘Flashbang, close your eyes,’ you must close your eyes until I say it’s okay to open them. Understood?”
“Understood!”
“Understood!” The responses weren’t uniform.
“Repeat what I said.”
The warriors spoke one after another. Neo confirmed they understood and nodded. “There’s nothing to fear. Wild beasts and monsters are afraid of fire. We can retreat calmly along the burning path. Set fire to both sides of the road and advance slowly. Put away the torches and grab your swords!”
Click, click, click! The warriors took out their swords. Many of them gripped the handles tightly, nervously swallowing saliva or licking their tongues.
“If you’re feeling anxious, chew on an olive! Chew hard!”

Several soldiers new to battle followed Neo’s advice: they put olive pits in their mouths and chewed hard. The slightly astringent and bitter taste, along with the aroma of fruits and sweetness, stimulated their senses. Chewing vigorously helped distract them and release stress, indeed making them feel much calmer.

“You’ve trained hard all these times. Now you get the chance to fight real enemies—aren’t you excited?”

“Excited!”

“Say it louder!”

“Excited!”

“Louder still!”

“Excited…”

“Good, that’s the right attitude. Hold on to it and kill those bastards! It’s time to test our combat strength!” …

Thus, while encouraging themselves, they moved forward. The sounds of battle and the glow of magic grew closer. The opposing side was indeed retreating, while on the other side, Neo, with his keen ears and sense of smell, knew there were a large number of enemies—not as many as during the Night of the Earthquake and Blood Battle, but still quite significant, at least for this wave.

As the battlefield moved closer, it suddenly stopped, with both sides clashing in place for several minutes. Neo knew something must have gone wrong—the retreating side was trapped. If this continued, they would be completely surrounded.

“Speed up! Fire continuously—don’t worry about fuel!” Neo ordered loudly. In fact, with Nancy around, he could accurately gauge the fuel consumption of the flamethrowers and make corresponding arrangements. In other words, their situation was under control, with no surprises.

Moving forward, they finally saw the enemies. It was hard to describe exactly what kind of creatures they were! Not only because their composition was diverse, but also because many of them were essentially plants and stones given life—their bodies made of poisonous green vines wrapped around stones, or pure, living wood and stone. Additionally, the monsters seen during the Night of the Earthquake and Blood Battle were among them, though they had all undergone some changes. The most noticeable changes were ironification and musculization—like thin people turning into muscular men, then becoming steel-like, making them much harder to deal with.

“Damn!” Neo spat angrily. Not for another reason—he saw the ‘Black Butcher’ among the monsters, scientifically known as the ‘Obsidian Guard.’ This creature immediately brought back memories of the past: the air raid on Sol’s City, with the Evil Fire Puppets chasing relentlessly. The dark forces had allied with demons—what a disgrace!

The monsters, of course, weren’t saints. They didn’t care who came—they would simply eliminate anyone they deemed different. Dozens of monsters rushed toward Neo’s group. Under the light of the flames, their frenzied attacks appeared especially ferocious.

“Is that all?” Neo turned to his soldiers with arrogance. “This wave probably won’t leave many enemies for you!”

Aaaahhh…

This wasn’t a battle cry of faith, but a battle cry of blood—a technique using blood energy, not a skill of the guardians.

Almost continuous, the second half of this battle cry is the “Roar of Survival,” also known as the “Will to Survive.” It can temporarily increase the health of those around it, acting as a form of energy protection. This energy is consumed when under attack and can also be penetrated. Overall, it effectively raises the total life value of the recipient, making them more resilient. With the same intensity and target area of attack, the damage caused before and after using this ability is significantly different.

As the soldiers felt their fighting spirit, strength, and stamina surge, Neo already activated his charge skill and rushed at the monsters. With his heavy armor, along with the silver protective energy and blood energy he had unleashed, Neo didn’t even consider the potential damage the monsters could inflict on him. His shield and serrated blade became deadly weapons, and he was like a charging war chariot. Monsters that collided head-on with him were either blasted away like by a sledgehammer or severed by the blazing red blade light—there was no third possibility.

Amidst the loud crashes and sharp slicing sounds, the monsters let out various screams as they died. From the perspective of the soldiers behind them, it seemed like some glowing giant mech was constantly throwing people around with seven or eight arms. The air was filled with flying limbs and splashing blood.

Indeed, few monsters were lucky enough to avoid Neo’s killing range. And even those that managed to do so were still attacked from the forests on both sides. Four flamethrowers created a wall of fire, causing many monsters to hesitate in fear of the flames. Those that rushed forward were turned into moving bonfires by the soldiers’ flamethrowers or killed with slashes. Only then did they realize the power of this attack—no matter how you fought back, he would just attack like this: powerful, forceful, fast, and decisive in one strike.

Neo completed his three charges smoothly, with no one able to threaten him. As he slaughtered mercilessly, the monsters died at a rate of over one per second. None of them could withstand a single strike from him. Anyone within range of his blade and shield was either killed or thrown away, quickly leaving a trail of corpses. However, Neo knew that the monsters could trap Moon 412’s group not just through sheer numbers. The Black Butcher used to be a formidable enemy even he couldn’t afford to provoke, but now he seemed insignificant. Just with the shockwave from his serrated blade’s blood energy, he had shattered a Black Butcher into dozens of pieces. But the existence of the Black Butcher meant that certain dark forces with low ranks within their organization were also here. Judging by the hierarchy of power among the devils, this being was likely the more difficult opponent.

“Kill!” Neo was brimming with energy, as if on fire. Instead of charging forward, he fought backward to consolidate the expanded path through the forest. This time, the chaos was even greater. Many monsters that had just emerged from the forest, along with twisted trees, were cut to pieces by Neo. Earth and stones flew, thundering sounds echoed, blood sprayed everywhere, and limbs rolled around—creating an extremely terrifying scene.

Seeing their leader go berserk in a terrifying manner, the soldiers’ fighting passion was completely ignited. Following the training they had received, they coordinated with each other and charged forward. With powerful shouts, two swords would flash like fierce lightning, slashing through the enemies. Thanks to Neo’s intense training, these soldiers had risen from around level 2 to mid-level 3. Already possessing strong overall combat capabilities, coupled with Neo’s skill enhancements and their own near-killer techniques, dealing with the disorganized monsters was a piece of cake for them.

The four men with flamethrowers were also obsessed with setting things on fire—burn! Burn! They wanted to ignite even the soil, with the blazing flames illuminating everything in their path.

At that moment, amidst loud explosions and flying debris and blood, Neo returned, stepping through the flames in a truly awe-inspiring sight. The soldiers’ eyes lit up at the sight.

“Follow me! Charge forward!” Neo waved his sword, and blood-red light fluttered like banners in the wind.

“Kill!” The soldiers roared and followed closely behind Neo.

Boom! A burning log was hurled out, knocking several monsters that were charging at them back with screeching cries.

Boom! A conical blast of earth energy sent tree stumps, dirt, gravel, and monsters flying into the air, only to be shredded by the relentless blood-red light that followed.

Whenever he could use his charge skill, Neo would launch a diagonal, three-stage charge, slashing wildly ahead before retreating in the opposite direction. With his continuous roars, the soldiers were amazed—so many battle cries, some for their own benefit and others to weaken the enemy. They always felt their strength surge and their blood boil, eager to fight. Fear? Pfft! Come at me! Watch my double-cut with this sword…

Neo and his soldiers carved out a 200-meter-long, burning corridor strewn with corpses.

Finally, Neo spotted the group from Moon 412. Well, each of them was in a worse state, clearly cut off from the rest. On this side were the archers, casters, Berserker, and Guardian, while on the other side was the nearly unconscious support mage and the Shadow Assassin, who could only defend themselves.

Between the two groups stood a mountain giant about 6 meters tall. But judging by its appearance, it was nothing short of a corpse puppet—having the durability of a construct and agility comparable to that of a gorilla. For a creature of that size, such agility was truly terrifying. This corpse puppet wielded two giant wooden clubs, keeping the level 9 Guardian under strict control.

Berserker, who used to be a powerful attacker, now had to protect the archers and casters, who couldn’t use their skills effectively due to the enemy being too close. The situation on the enemy side was even worse—the Shadow Assassin used daggers and short swords to block the heavy attacks from all sides, relying solely on his high evasion skills. Otherwise, with his meager health, he would have already been crushed to pulp.