“What is this…?”

The enthusiastic cheers seemed to ring in his ears, and Jilian, annoyed, ruffled his hair in irritation.

Perhaps due to his mood, immediately after, the movements of the Grace Worm became faster and more intense.

The Sixth Castle collapsed without a chance to defend against the brute attack that didn’t care about his body.

“Ha…”

Jilian let out a heavy breath.

Several times, the ground rumbled with a mighty vibration.

As the hazy mist rose from the falling debris and settled, surviving arthropods and cephalopods waited as if to flood through the collapsed castle.

It was staggering, but there was no time to hesitate.

If they couldn’t fend them off here, it was certain that those who had come leaving the Fourth Castle behind would pay with their lives.

Jilian let out a sigh-like groan and gripped his sword.

Although the Grace Worm was slowly crawling towards the Fifth Castle as if targeting its prey, Jilian didn’t pay any attention to that side.

He gave up the castle.

While the castle could be rebuilt, a broken life was something he couldn’t fix.

With the whip-like stretch of the auras, Jilian waited for the approaching monsters.

‘Can I clear everything before it collapses?’

His gaze briefly touched and fell on the walls of the Fifth Castle.

Built tightly with thick stones, but hadn’t he just witnessed the Sixth Castle crumbling helplessly?

He might not know, but the time given to him was undoubtedly short.

Suddenly, Jilian turned his head and glanced at the Fourth Castle.

The flying fireballs had stopped a while ago.

However, he also found himself looking at them.

He hoped that he had somehow hindered the Grace Worm while he was organizing.

Even though it was his duty.

For the first time in his life, he asked for help.

“What is this…?”

As if it was foolish.

Jilian absentmindedly brushed off his frozen cheek.

In vain, his cheek itched.

“Anything wrong?”

In an instant, two castles flew away.

Now, after the continuous events that were hard to believe, there was no strength left to be surprised one by one.

Their gazes were fixed on Jilian, standing firmly on the Fifth Castle.

Even though the Grace Worm was approaching, the reason Jilian didn’t avoid it and held onto the Fifth Castle was obvious.

If he stepped back, he knew too well who would have to deal with those things.

So, unable to run away, he endured on the crumbling Fifth Castle.

“Lord Marquis, you really have no tactics.”

Blat, who had been grumbling, asked Jilian with a sniffle.

“Do we really have nothing?”

“Nothing.”

“Ah, do we just have to watch that?”

At Raymond’s words, Jilian looked regretfully at the empty oil lamp.

“I thought I found something useful in a long time…”

The oil-soaked lump they prepared had fallen long ago.

Although it was quite effective despite its shabby appearance, the problem was that there weren’t many hastily made fabric bundles because this place was originally a castle.

They gathered only twenty.

It seemed clear that there were none left.

“Good grief. I won’t self-destruct.”

The clanging sound broke through the strange silence.

Suddenly, Raymond began to throw off his armor.

Raymond’s actions were not the end of it.

He started taking off all the clothes he was wearing under the armor.

He froze and turned pale skin appeared soon.

Although he clashed with the stiff skin, Raymond finally stripped off everything except for one piece of underwear.

“Hey. What are you doing?”

“What? I’ll try throwing this.”

Everyone thought at least someone would say something.

However, what came back was not laughter but a clanging sound.

With the sound of clanging, armor fell from all directions.

Elizabeth was no exception.

A trio of oil bombs made from everyone’s clothes.

“If we catch at least one, it’ll be a good business.”

“Where did this magpie come from?”

Looking at the shivering Raymond in the cold, Kilian made a joke without answering.
Everyone was frozen in a bluish hue.

All that covered them were chillingly frozen armors.

Exposed flesh, as not a single cloak was left, was freezing in real-time under the harsh cold.

However, they had to endure.

What they held onto as the last defense was the Fourth Castle where they were.

Since all trebuchets were here, shooting the projectiles would be the last.

“Why isn’t this freezing faster? It should freeze quickly before we get frozen to death.”

Raymond’s face was already covered in frost as he muttered in a shivering voice.

How long had they been waiting?

The moment when the skin, numb from the biting cold wind, became dull, and the curtain-like snowstorm that obscured their vision lifted, the Grace Worm was vaguely visible.

It was the awaited moment.

With a trebuchet holding an oil-soaked projectile skillfully controlled, just before it flew to the target, Elizabeth shot a flaming arrow into the fuse.

Just before Kilian was about to cut the rope holding the projectile with his high-arched axe, “Stop!” Black suddenly blocked Kilian’s axe.