Chapter 75

The axe ricocheted off an invisible barrier, falling harmlessly to the ground. The enemy’s eyes widened in shock, while Justin’s companions suddenly remembered what had saved him.

“The ring!”

[System Message: The Ring of Protection has detected a direct attack and deployed a shield. All uses for today are now expended. Shield functionality will recharge automatically tomorrow.]

The once-glimmering ring on Justin’s finger darkened, its power temporarily depleted. So that’s how it works—its color changes when all charges are used up.

“Screee!“
CRACKLE.

The imp’s tortured body finally gave out, disintegrating into ash as its energy was fully drained. But the price had been worth it: ten full charges of Black Missile—more than enough for the rest of the battle.

“You’re all dead now.”
The color drained from the enemy pioneers’ faces.

With dual amplification activated once more, Justin aimed directly at the enemy mage still standing in the distance.
“Black Missile.“

The battle ended almost anticlimactically after that.

With twelve enemies in total, half of them were either dead or incapacitated by the time the final barrage of spells rained down. Their overwhelming firepower left the remaining enemies with no chance to recover.

As silence settled over the bloodied field, Justin and his allies walked among the corpses, searching for anything of value.

“Nothing particularly useful here,” Nathan remarked, flipping over a body.

“Most of this gear looks like mass-produced junk from the shops,” Ethan added, already becoming numb to the grim task of looting corpses. It was a harsh reality of their world—good equipment often meant the difference between life and death.

“At least we found this,” Justin said, prying the large shield from the enemy leader’s cold grip.

The dull, gray surface had lost its magical sheen, but the shield’s imposing size made it clear this was no ordinary piece of equipment. A system window confirmed his suspicion.

[Shield of Magic Suppression]

• Type: Warrior-exclusive equipment
• Rarity: Rare
• Description: A shield that absorbs and disperses incoming magic attacks. Loses effectiveness after absorbing a set amount of magic. Requires a full day to recharge after depletion.

“This’ll come in handy,” Justin muttered. Even with its limitations, it was a powerful defense against high-damage magic—exactly the kind of protection they needed for future battles.

But the scavenging wasn’t done yet.

“We should check on that mage who was flying around earlier,” Rachel suggested. “He fell somewhere down the hill.”

Gathering their loot, the group made their way toward the slope where the pegasus had crash-landed.

At the bottom of the hill, they found the mage, draped in a torn blue robe, lying motionless on the grass. The summoned pegasus had long since vanished, likely dismissed due to time limits.

Justin reached out to search for the body but froze mid-motion.
“…Still alive.”

It wasn’t impossible—but Justin hadn’t actually expected the mage to survive.

Even if Cursed Lightning wasn’t a high-damage spell, the sheer pain could have sent him into shock.

Still unconscious… I guess the magic was stronger than I thought.
By now, most people would have regained consciousness, even if only partially. But the mage remained motionless, completely unresponsive.

Justin rolled the man’s body over and tapped him a few times—no reaction. He wasn’t waking up anytime soon.

“Bro, what do we do?” Derek asked, his expression uncertain.

No one had expected to take a prisoner.

“Should we just… finish him while he’s out? One hit to the head, and he won’t feel a thing.”

“What are you talking about? We’re taking him with us,” Justin replied without hesitation.

“…What?”

“He’s from another settlement. That means we can interrogate him and find out its location.”

Had they been in a more desperate situation, leaving the body behind—or ensuring it never got back up—would have been the best course of action. But now, they had the luxury of taking a captive. And not just any captive—an enemy pioneer.

He was a valuable source of intelligence.

Their enemy’s numbers, hierarchy, strategies, and even their general temperament—information like that could be more useful than any weapon or armor.

“Of course, before that, let’s see if he has anything useful on him.”

Justin’s gaze swept over the unconscious mage, searching for anything of interest. If he had an emergency-use summoning item, it would likely be outside of his inventory for quick access. It would be too slow to retrieve from his inventory in the middle of battle.

And sure enough—

“This must be it.”

A small flute, hanging around his neck like a pendant. It stood out immediately.

Justin unfastened it and inspected it closely. As expected, an item window appeared.

[Flute of the Winged Steed]

• Type: Summoning Item
• Rarity: Rare
• Description: A small flute, no larger than a finger. When blown, it summons a winged steed twice per day. The summoned steed obeys the summoner and lasts for 30 minutes before disappearing.

A jackpot.

Even though the duration was only half that of an imp’s summon time, the sheer power of a pegasus in combat made up for it. Thirty minutes was more than enough to change the course of a battle.

With two uses per day, it essentially guaranteed air superiority in two different fights.

Justin pocketed the flute and stood up.
“We’re skipping dungeon exploration for today. We’ve already secured what we need—let’s take him back for questioning.”

“Got it. But… who’s carrying him?”

“You, obviously. You’re the strongest one here.”

“…Damn it.”

Returning to the settlement with an unconscious captive on Derek’s shoulder naturally drew attention.

The gathered young people and pioneers alike looked on with wide eyes. Anyone could tell at a glance—this wasn’t a guest, but a prisoner.

And a prisoner meant battle.

People whispered anxiously, their faces filled with worry. Justin could see it in their expressions—concern that something dangerous had happened, that their safety was now uncertain.

Before the tension could escalate, he raised his voice.
“It’s nothing serious! Get back to your tasks!”

“Y-Yes, sir!”

The gathered young people hesitated for a moment but ultimately dispersed, returning to their duties. However, the pioneers were less willing to let things go. Zachary, acting as their representative, approached with a deep frown.

“What the hell happened out there?”

“Nothing much. Just a little skirmish with some pioneers from another settlement.”

“…Wait. Another settlement? Not just Nox’s group?”

“Oh, right. Forgot to mention—Nox’s dead.”

“…What?”