Kyle also arrived at the dwarven residential district he had been assigned to.

However, the area inhabited by dwarves was quite vast. He waited, trying to predict where the enemy might strike, but pinpointing the exact location had been difficult.

Unfortunately, there was a slight discrepancy between where Kyle had set up and where the enemies actually appeared.

Dark, who had been sent out to scout, rushed back, shouting,

“Damn it! Those bastards came in from a weird direction! They’re already fighting the dwarves!”

“Ah, this is bad.”

Kyle frowned.

He needed to convince the dwarves to flee as quickly as possible. But if the fighting had already begun, that would no longer be easy.

As Kyle had feared, the dwarves were already battling the enemies with fierce expressions.

“You bastards! Do you have any idea where the hell you are?!”

“Crush them all, now!”

“Don’t be afraid! We can win this!”

The dwarves shouted furiously as they continued to charge into the enemy ranks.

Their momentum seemed to reach the heavens, and their faces were filled with the bold spirit of warriors.

But Kyle’s expression hardened.

No matter how he looked at it, there was a hopeless gap in strength.

And yet, the dwarves were still charging in and swinging their weapons.

“Uwaaaaah!”

“We can’t back down here!”

“Get the children out first!”

It didn’t take long for Kyle to understand why they were fighting with their lives on the line.

He bit his lip as he looked toward the dwarves fleeing in the opposite direction.

“Damn it... Is this that place?”

Countless dwarf children were desperately running away.

Like the elves, the dwarves also followed a communal childrearing system. Adult dwarves were too busy with their duties as warriors or blacksmiths.

In Vallscrum, some residential areas were inhabited by parents raising children together—designed to foster efficient education and growth.

Elderly warriors or retired blacksmiths were the ones who mainly cared for the children.

Kyle had heard about that much. And now, he realized this was one of those residential zones.

“Don’t back down!”

“If we retreat, the children won’t make it out!”

“Hold the line! Fight to the end!”

It was only natural that the dwarves were throwing themselves at the enemy without regard for their lives.

Not only the parents of the children but even those unrelated by blood were doing the same. They were throwing their lives on the line to protect Vallscrum’s future.

Why the hell was I assigned here?!

With a nearly crazed expression, Kyle thrust his metal rod toward the massive sandworm.

“Ghislain!”

KWAAAAAAANG!

Though it was a bit late, the magic that burst from the metal rod was more than enough to capture everyone’s attention.

As everyone flinched from the sudden blast of magic, Kyle shouted loudly,

“Run! Head to the royal capital! Everyone is gathering there to fight!”

KWAANG! KWAANG! KWAANG!

He unleashed magic in all directions, repeating his message over and over.

But the dwarves didn’t listen. Or rather, they couldn’t obey.

GRAAAAAAAAH!

By now, the dwarves were already entangled in a chaotic melee with the monsters pouring in. Even if they wanted to pull back, they couldn’t.

Kyle couldn’t use his metal rod spells in places where the dwarves and monsters were mixed together.

All he could do was use them on the monsters that broke through the dwarves’ lines.

KWAANG! KWAANG! KWAANG!

Kyle spared no magic in his attempt to save even one more dwarf. But the more he used, the faster the metal rods broke down.

“Quick! Hand me another one!”

The mercenaries next to him passed him their own rods.

Kyle kept casting without pause, enduring the recoil with his entire body.

That hadn’t been the original plan. The metal rods were meant to be used sparingly—just enough to buy time for the dwarves to escape.

But given the situation, there was no room for restraint.

KWAANG! KWAANG! KWAANG!

Kyle hurled magic at every direction the enemy approached from.

He wished he could keep going, but unfortunately, there was a limit to how many rods he had.

Because he’d used more and faster than his comrades in other sectors, the rods were soon completely exhausted.

“Goddamn it!”

Thanks to Ghislain’s powerful magic, most of the enemies at the front had been annihilated.

Especially the massive sandworm, which couldn’t endure after taking multiple hits and was completely destroyed.

But from behind, more and more monsters were crawling in.

What do I do...?

Kyle looked around.

The situation was hopeless.

The dwarves who had been fighting at the front were nearly wiped out. And still, they refused to retreat.

The children fleeing were inevitably slow. So were the elderly dwarves carrying newborns.

This isn’t right...

He’d only bought them a brief moment. At this rate, the monsters would catch up to them in no time.

The biggest problem was the Salvation Order’s priests and dark mages, who were hanging back and observing the situation.

They had been momentarily thrown off by Kyle’s magic and had retreated, but once they realized he was out of spells, they would move again.

“Sir! We have to fall back now!”

“There are no rods left!”

“Deputy Commander! If we delay any longer, the enemy will catch up!”

The mercenaries urged Kyle. There was nothing more he could do here.

Kyle clenched his lips. The mercenaries were right.

Almost none of the dwarves fighting were still alive. And even they had survived only thanks to Kyle’s intervention.

But they couldn’t escape even if they wanted to. If they did, the children would be caught.

A dwarf lifted his weapon again and shouted,

“Hold out, no matter what! Just a little more time!”

“Right! If we die, we die here!”

“Save the children who are running!”

They shouted as they charged once more toward the incoming enemy.

Kyle couldn’t stop them.

Even if his magic bombardment had ended up futile, he didn’t blame them.

The dwarves were simply doing what they had to do.

“Sir! We have to go!”

One of the mercenaries grabbed Kyle by the arm.

It was time to run.

The dwarves were buying them precious seconds. This was the only chance to escape.

If they stayed longer, they’d lose that chance too.

Kyle bit his lip.

I know.

Retreating was the right move here.

Even Ghislain had told him—do what you can, then run.

And yet his legs wouldn’t move. Watching the dwarves dying, the children running... he couldn’t bring himself to leave alone.

Then, one dwarf, covered in blood, spoke to Kyle.

“I don’t know who you are, but thanks for helping. Now get going.”

With his bloodied face twisted into a grin, the dwarf added,

“It’s a dwarf’s job to protect dwarf matters. I don’t want a human dying over this.”

“......”

“What you’ve done is more than enough. Just go. We’ll do what we must.”

With those words, the dwarf grabbed his weapon and ran off again.

His staggering figure, still trying to fight in that state, clung to Kyle’s vision.

That determination, that resolve—it hit Kyle like a dagger to the heart.

Even Dark, who had been scanning the area from above, came diving down and shouted in urgency,

“This place is screwed! The operation’s a failure! We need to get out of here, now!”

Kyle didn’t say a word.

He simply watched the dwarves collapse ahead of him. Then, after a moment, he finally spoke.

“You guys—go help the kids escape.”

“Sir! The enemy’s closing in! Even if we help, they’ll catch up soon!”

“Just go! Grab the ones falling behind and carry them if you have to!”

“What about you, sir?!”

“I’ll hold them off. Now go. Don’t make this more complicated.”

At those words, Dark screamed in shock.

“Hey! Are you out of your damn mind?! You’ve lost it! You think you’re the boss here?! You suck at fighting!”

“Go! Help the kids get away!”

Pressed by Kyle’s desperate insistence, the mercenaries had no choice but to retreat.

In truth, with so few of them, there wasn’t much they could do to help the children. It might’ve made more sense for them to die here fighting.

But Kyle had sent them away to save them.

If he could hold the enemy off long enough, maybe—just maybe—everyone could make it out alive.

Of course, Dark was livid at this reckless plan.

“You stupid bastard! How the hell do you plan on stopping all of them?!”

“...I don’t know.”

“What?”

“I said I don’t know!”

“You crazy son of a—! What the hell are you thinking?!”

“Someone’s gotta buy time while the kids run!”

“That’s suicide! You’ll die out there! Don’t you get it?! You can’t die!”

“......”

“Don’t you understand how important your life is?! You’re the companion of the Hero and the Saintess who are meant to save the world! You need to survive to win the war against the Demonic Realm and save us all!”

“......”

“If you die, who knows how the future will change?! So just run! That’s why your boss told you to run! So things would stay on the right track!”

“......”

Kyle listened silently as Dark’s words poured out.

Like Julien, he never really bought into the whole “saving the world” thing.

And even if it were true... right now, he couldn’t follow Dark’s words.

Kyle slowly opened his mouth.

“You said... I’m supposed to save the world, right?”

“Yeah! You’re a way bigger deal than you think!”

“I know I’m great. There’s hardly anyone as cool as me. I’m even stronger than Julien.”

“Then just run! You can think about the rest later!”

Instead of answering, Kyle dropped his scabbard to the ground with a soft thunk.

Discarding your scabbard meant you were ready to fight to the death.

Dark’s eyes widened with fury as he realized what that meant.

“You—! You’re really planning to die here?!”

Looking at the enraged Dark, Kyle replied calmly.

“Saving the world... it’s a noble and amazing thing. If it’s really true, I’d like to do that too.”

A faint smile appeared at the corner of his lips.

“But there are plenty of people besides me who can save the world.”

“What...?”

“There’s Julien, Deneb, Astion. There’s Ereneth and Lionel. And Ghislain... well, who knows if that guy’ll stick around ‘til the end.”

“Wh-what are you saying...?”

Kyle turned back and let out a short laugh.

“But right now... I’m the only one who can save those kids.”

“You...”

“Let the world-saving fall to them. I’m going to save the ones I can, right here.”

RIP!

Kyle tore his own clothes and tightly wrapped a strip around his hand and sword.

He was determined not to let go—not unless his wrist was severed.

“Whew...” 𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶

He exhaled sharply and took in the battlefield with a steely gaze. There was no longer the slightest tremble in his eyes.

Even as dwarves continued to die ahead of him, he didn’t move.

Helping them now won’t change anything.

Better to let them delay the enemy a little longer.

From here on, he would fight with cold calculation and tactical clarity—not emotion.

That was the only way to save the fleeing children.

One by one, the remaining dwarves began to fall, screaming.

“Gyaaaagh!”

“Damn you monsters! Our king won’t forgive this!”

“We’ll fight you in hell too!”

The dwarves screamed as they swung their weapons, determined to get in even one more strike.

Kyle burned their final resistance into his memory.

At the same time, he began analyzing the monsters’ movements, devising how he would fight.

Dark, who’d been staring at him in disbelief, suddenly let out a dry laugh.

“You know... you’re kinda like Kaor and Alfoy, but different.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“I mean you’re an idiot, but a cool one.”

“I’ve always been kind of cool.”

“Yeah, well, even if you’re set on dying, I can’t just let you go down easy. I’ll help you fight.”

“How?”

“Trying to manage this whole battlefield on your own’ll drain you fast. I’ll transform into a mount—ride me so we can move faster.”

Dark had been through countless battlefields with Ghislain. With that experience, he knew how to fight efficiently.

Kyle asked with a curious look,

“You’re not planning to just bolt with me on your back, right? That’d be a dirty trick.”

“Well... if it gets really bad, I might. But not right now. Relax.”

Dark’s tiny sparrow body began to swell and shift—until, cloaked in radiant blue energy, he transformed into a magnificent horse.

Kyle’s eyes widened in surprise.

“I knew you could shapeshift, but I didn’t think it’d be this impressive.”

“This is the form of the horse Aiden used to ride. Its name’s Kkokko. Alfoy rides it now.”

“Not the coolest name, honestly.”

“Just get on. We’ve got to move fast.”

As Kyle moved to climb onto Dark’s back, he paused and asked,

“Can you turn into something else?”

“Sure, why?”

“Then make it a huge, badass wolf.”

“A wolf?”

“Yeah, that’s cool, right? Every guy dreams of that at least once.”

At that, Dark let out a soft snort.

“Damn... you’re such a romantic.”

Dark instantly transformed into a massive wolf. He even added reins and a saddle for Kyle to ride comfortably.

Kyle’s eyes lit up at the sight.

His face broke into a wide grin—he clearly loved it.

“Alright!”

He climbed onto Dark’s back, bouncing slightly as he settled in.

“Perfect. Super comfy. Alright, let’s go.”

“Hell yeah, bro. Let’s show them what we’ve got.”

GRRRRAAAAAAOOO!

The last of the dwarves who’d been fighting fell.

Now the monsters surged toward the direction where the ✪ Nоvеlіgһt ✪ (Official version) children were fleeing.

And then...

Kyle and Dark charged straight at them—without hesitation.