By spreading his aura across a vast area around himself, he became capable of striking any target the moment it entered his domain.
This...
Was the power of those who had reached the higher ranks.
Having Asterion with us raised everyone’s morale tremendously.
His strength was simply overwhelming.
According to the plan we had prepared, he and Jackson would eliminate most of the weaker monsters along the way.
That allowed the rest of us to preserve our strength for the battles that actually mattered.
But they would not handle every Saint-rank enemy or anything above that.
Asterion could not afford to waste even a small amount of unnecessary strength before fighting the Golden Dawn Knight.
The same logic applied to Jackson.
As for the giant Hunter—
He had effectively become our guide inside the Cathedral.
He had already entered this place once before alongside the Hunters of the old generation.
"We’re almost there."
"Soon, we’ll reach the commander of the Black Knights responsible for all of these soldiers."
Jackson’s words immediately caught my attention.
The Black Knight Commander...
That was the target assigned to me.
Turning my head slightly, I found Raiden running beside me while looking back at me in return.
We nodded to each other.
The Black Knight Commander was the first major target we needed to eliminate.
According to Jackson, it stood near the very peak of the Saint rank.
In other words...
It was close to becoming a King.
A full rank above me.
And if I translated that into game terms...
There were more than ten levels separating us.
"Now!"
Jackson shouted while extending his right arm toward a separate corridor branching away from the main path leading toward the final boss.
That was my signal.
That was the route I had to take.
At that exact moment, I separated from the main group together with Raiden, our incredibly durable tank.
Chai, the talented archer.
Luna, the Mage.
Alicia, the swordswoman.
And Schierke, the only remaining Mage besides Luna.
Two other knights joined us as well, survivors from squads that had already been completely wiped out.
In other words...
More than half of the main force had broken away.
To the point that we almost looked like the main group ourselves.
But that much manpower was necessary.
Eight Elite-rank Hunters were required just to deal with a single monster standing at the peak of the Saint rank.
The moment we split apart, Moon turned toward us.
Her gaze was intense.
Almost as though she were silently ordering us to survive until the very end.
We understood her perfectly.
So all of us nodded deeply in return.
Silently wishing each other luck.
Moon was the only member of the Third Squad who did not join us.
Aside from her, the Third Squad had been brought back together because we were already accustomed to fighting alongside one another.
But Moon was needed elsewhere.
On a different battlefield entirely...
The Black Knight Commander was only the third most dangerous enemy.
There was another one even worse than him, standing beside the Golden Dawn Knight.
According to Jackson, a King-rank monster guarded the path leading to the Golden Dawn Knight, and it was even more formidable than the Iron Demon we had faced before.
To deal with it, every remaining Hunter except Asterion had been assigned to the task.
Jackson and Moon.
Gustav, along with the surviving members of the First Squad.
Five Hunters in total.
But Jackson himself was a King, so he did not need many people fighting beside him.
No Mages had been assigned to his group either, since magic from people like Luna and Schierke would not have much effect against a King-rank monster.
With that division settled, only Asterion remained.
The uncrowned Emperor would face the Golden Dawn Knight alone in a one-on-one battle.
And that was only natural.
Everyone except Jackson would merely get in his way in a battle of that level.
"Let’s go."
Raiden and I took the lead as the entire group moved toward our target.
The Black Knight Commander.
Given how dangerous the enemy was, I had no luxury to worry about everyone else.
So instead of wasting my thoughts on things I could not control, I decided to focus entirely on the mission assigned to me.
That damned old man had placed me in charge of this team.
So I had to take responsibility for it.
"Chai, from this point onward, I want you to keep all of us connected through your telepathy."
I turned toward Chai, who nodded immediately before linking all eight of us through his Blessing.
It would place some strain on him, but telepathy allowed me to give orders instantly in the middle of battle.
And that was necessary.
As we moved deeper into the dark corridor, cold air began brushing against our backs.
Along with it came a threatening aura.
Every single one of us felt it.
Which confirmed that we were close.
Realizing that, I took a deep breath before addressing them all.
"Listen to me, everyone."
As I spoke, I looked at each of their faces one by one before continuing.
"I won’t say much, and I’m not going to give you some inspiring speech either."
"Lord Asterion already handled that."
"Anything I say after him would probably sound dull in comparison."
After exchanging another look with them, I moved straight to the point.
"Some of you know me well."
"Some of you don’t."
"But all of you have at least seen what I’m capable of."
"I may seem unreliable sometimes."
"Or say things that sound completely unrealistic."
"But I promise you this..."
"I’ll give everything I have to make sure we walk out of the coming battle as victors."
"Alive."
I paused briefly before continuing.
"So no matter how insane the instructions I give you may sound..."
"And no matter how unrealistic my words seem..."
"I want you to trust me."
"And follow my lead."
That was the one thing I needed to make absolutely clear.
I knew almost nothing about the Black Knight Commander we were about to face.
Which meant I would most likely end up improvising in the middle of the battle after analyzing his abilities through Wise Crow Sight.
And when that happened—
I needed them to move according to my orders immediately.
Without hesitation.
Without doubt.
A single mistake could become a disaster.
All of our lives were on the line.
Among the seven members who had come with me, the members of my squad, along with Luna, showed reactions that made it clear they trusted me completely.
But I noticed the expressions of the other Hunters stiffen slightly despite their agreement.
The moment Raiden noticed that, he quickly stepped in.
"There’s a reason Lord Asterion put Ethan in charge of us."
He spoke with clear enthusiasm.
"If that means anything..."
"It means he trusts Ethan."
"And if a great knight like him can place his trust in Ethan..."
"Then there’s no reason for us to doubt him."
Fortunately, Raiden’s words seemed to erase whatever resistance the other Hunters might have had.
And I found myself genuinely grateful for it.
"Good."
I nodded.
"Then let’s go."
Gathering every ounce of courage we had left—
We charged toward the battlefield waiting for us.
Hoping to survive.