"SKEEK SKEEK SKEEK SKEEK—"

Delaford let out a series of whistles. A massive swarm of rats poured out from every corner of Fromm and began to frantically and indiscriminately attack everyone. The goblin had just added more fuel to the already chaotic fire.

"Who in the world is behind this attack?!" Aive shouted, severing a bandit’s arm with another swing of her sword. "Quest, didn’t you say it might be those barbarians? How did things get this bad!"

"It’s not us, you stupid Half-Elf!" Sera yelled, grabbing a double-bladed great-axe and carving a path through the crowd with her companions. "There are only four people left in our tribe, and we’re all right here!"

"It’s the ones outside! The barbarians from outside!" Quest suddenly realized. He lunged behind a bandit and, with a powerful twist of his hands, snapped the man’s neck, spinning his head a full one hundred and eighty degrees to face him.

"There has to be a mastermind! They must have convinced the barbarians who were stuck outside town, and maybe even the refugees!"

"Simply preposterous! Utterly preposterous!" The Elf, already tall and now standing on a table, had drawn a great deal of enemy attention. He was becoming overwhelmed and looked to be on the verge of collapse.

"To think I’m fighting side-by-side with a Mixed-blood, a barbarian, a Demon Descendant, and even a goblin! I must be mad!"

"Somebody help me! I can’t hold them off anymore!"

Ron was the one to respond. Flames danced at his fingertips. Though his aim and power weren’t particularly great, it was enough to help the Elf break free from the encirclement.

"Thanks! I’m Ming Datiss, an Adventurer from the other side of the Delusional Land." The Elf leaped to Ron’s side, forming a new defensive line with Aive, Quest, and Delaford. The pressure on them eased considerably.

But they soon realized it wasn’t just because of their new formation. The bandits’ rear ranks had also fallen into chaos; they were scattering in every direction, as if fleeing from something.

"Harlek!" Aive cursed. In the darkness, the Half-Elf could clearly see a hulking man plowing a path with a massive club, followed by dozens of barbarians.

"Damn it, the Horror Wolf Tribe!" Sera was equally furious. "Those murderous bastards!"

"Men, charge!"

Harlek no longer resembled the common thug from outside the town the other day; he had fully transformed into a bandit and a robber. By some unknown means, he had persuaded nearly all the barbarian tribes outside the walls. After slaughtering the refugees, they had broken through the town guards’ defensive line and stormed inside.

"Kill them all! This town will be our new home!"

"In your dreams!" Aive charged forward, sword ready, and clashed with Harlek head-on.

SWOOSH! SWOOSH! SWOOSH!

In the thick of the melee, Delaford loosed a rain of arrows upon the barbarians. The veteran Goblin Hunter was clearly accustomed to dealing with prey larger than himself. His arrows targeted vital spots—eyes, Achilles’ tendons, the groin—causing his enemies considerable trouble.

At the same time, Sera and the others from the Ocher Tribe charged forward, clashing with the invaders.

Even so, Harlek’s strength clearly surpassed everyone’s expectations. His eyes were red and bloodshot, and every swing of his massive club was devastatingly powerful. He remained unfazed even when they surrounded and attacked him.

Ming Datiss, Quest, and Aive were beaten back one after another. Even Sera of the Ocher Tribe began to falter under his relentless assault.

"What kind of alchemical concoction did he take?!" Lavinia cried out, instantly seeing the truth. This was no ordinary berserker rage! "There has to be someone pulling the strings!"

"Look! His target is Mayor Viktor!" Ming Datiss suddenly shouted.

Sure enough, after knocking aside everyone in his way, Harlek revealed a different objective from the other barbarians. He flipped a long table with one hand and charged straight for Victor!

Under these circumstances, the mayor of Fromm displayed astonishing composure and... power.

"Thunder Wave!" Victor roared. A Thunderous Force Field erupted from him, the sudden blast sending everyone nearby—friend and foe alike—flying. Even Harlek stumbled back a step.

"What is the purpose of all this? Who sent you?!"

"He’s a... Sorcerer?!" Ming Datiss frowned. "The man hasn’t lifted a finger this entire time!"

"He sure kept that well hidden!"

The hair on the back of Lavinia’s neck stirred as if in a breeze. Her Spellbook floated before her, automatically flipping open to a specific page. "Magic Missile!"

Three glowing Magic Force Field Arrows shot out, striking a barbarian with pinpoint accuracy and blasting a fist-sized, bloody hole in his chest. He collapsed with a shriek, clearly dead.

The situation was dire; she could no longer afford to conserve her Magic.

"Buni! Your Divine Magic?!"

"I—I don’t have any useful Magic!" Buni’s voice was choked with tears. "All I prepared was Water Creation Magic and Secondary Restoration!"

The kind-hearted Half-Elf Priest had prepared almost no other types of Divine Magic, rendering her nearly useless in a fight.

She was so distraught that when a human bandit crept up silently behind her, she remained completely oblivious.

CRACK! A Hard Head Hammer swung in from the side, smashing heavily into the back of the ambusher’s skull. It was Victoria, the woman Victor had introduced to them earlier.

"Buni, stay focused!" Victoria’s voice was warm and steady, instantly reassuring. Her body shimmered with a soft glow, and under the protection of a Devout Shield, she resembled a veritable War God.

Once she joined the fray, the pressure on Aive lessened dramatically. She could finally break away from purely defending and launch a powerful counterattack against the surrounding barbarians.

The moonlight began its descent in the sky as the stench of blood in the town grew ever thicker. The battle was slowly but surely drawing to a close. Even Harlek, fueled by his rage and alchemical drugs, could not turn the tide of his army’s inevitable defeat.

"Shield!" Ron shouted, stepping in for the exhausted and battered Aive and using the Shield Magic to take a blow from Harlek’s club head-on.

It was an incredibly dangerous move, and the shield shattered instantly, but fortunately, aside from the force of the impact, he suffered no further injury.

"Harlek, you son of a bitch—!" Sera roared, entering her berserker rage for the second time. Her great-axe whistled through the air and bit deep into Harlek’s back.

This time, the barbarian, already a spent force, had no strength left to resist.