The slaves who had been blocking the Hellhounds with their bodies started dying one by one.

Each time that happened, Lee Shin sent in another slave from those who had been gathering magic power to join the fight.

“Aaaah!”

It took the sacrifice of four slaves just to stop the six Hellhounds. Fortunately, two more archers had been summoned to aid the battle.

Even when two additional Hellhounds attacked, they barely managed to hold on.

‘I can’t believe it’s this hard to hold them back.’

Lee Shin was disappointed by how weak the archers’ attacks were.

He wasn’t sure if the bows were simply crude or if the Hellhounds, as monsters, had naturally thick hides.

“We won!”

“Yeah!”

The four archers and the two surviving slaves shouted in victory.

Lee Shin sent the two surviving slaves back to gather magic power like the others.

Then, he began analyzing the battle.

‘Our losses: four slaves. Gremory’s losses: eight Hellhounds.’

Since Hellhounds were summoned at a rate of two per 50 magic power, both sides had spent 200 magic power in total.

However, Lee Shin’s losses were actually much greater.

Slaves were production units.

By sending too many into battle, he had fewer gathering magic power, and with the four slaves lost, magic power collection had slowed down even more.

‘Still, the fact that eight Hellhounds have already appeared is strange.’

His instincts as a pro gamer were giving him an eerie premonition.

Just then, two more archers were summoned from the barracks.

“Archers, six in total, and four slaves—move out and attack!”

At his command, the six archers and four working slaves automatically set out.

The troops moved beyond their formation, stepping outside the entrance.

Although he hadn’t yet confirmed where Gremory’s base was, Lee Shin had a good guess.

[The four possible starting points in Battlefield 1: Asteia are at the 11 o’clock, 1 o’clock, 5 o’clock, and 7 o’clock positions.]

[Lee Shin’s base is at the 11 o’clock position.]

‘So it’s at 7 o’clock.’

He had figured it out thanks to the scouting slave who had been the first to be killed by the Hellhounds.

Those five Hellhounds had come charging in from the 7 o’clock direction.

Gremory, who was personally leading her monster troops, was taken aback.

[The enemy has appeared!]

‘What?’

She was stunned to realize that she was being counterattacked.

After her previous assault had inflicted damage, she assumed Lee Shin would focus on defense and spend more time studying the ranking battles.

But an immediate counterattack? That was unexpected.

‘It doesn’t matter. Human archers are weak.’

At the moment, she was focusing on gathering magic power, so she only had two Hellhounds.

However, she believed that by summoning more Hellhounds now and using her Claws—who were gathering magic power—to defend in the meantime, she could handle the situation.

But then she saw the enemy forces: six archers and even four slaves.

‘Slaves too?!’

The four slaves formed a scrum at the front to block the path, while the six archers fired from behind them.

With precise tactics, Lee Shin’s troops tore through Gremory’s camp.

To make things worse, one of the slaves had started constructing an Arrow Tower on the spot.

[Arrow Tower: A defensive structure of the humans. Up to four archers can enter and fire from inside.]

Building an Arrow Tower in the middle of her camp?! She had never encountered such a tactic before.

By the time the tower was completed, Lee Shin’s remaining forces were down to two archers and one slave.

The two archers moved to enter the Arrow Tower.

“No! Stop them!”

Just then, six newly summoned Hellhounds charged forward.

“Aaaah! You bastards!”

The last surviving slave shouted as he threw himself in their path.

“Ignore him!”

Gremory shouted angrily.

But the slave screamed and stood his ground against the Hellhounds.

“Grrr!”

Crunch!

“Ghk!”

The slave’s throat was torn out instantly, and he died on the spot.

However, his desperate resistance had bought a little time.

Just a tiny bit of time.

Enough time for the two archers to enter the Arrow Tower.

From the Arrow Tower, the archers began shooting.

And as fate would have it, the Arrow Tower had been built near the magic stone.

Because of the arrows raining down from the tower, gathering magic power became impossible. It was too precise to be mere coincidence.

‘It was a calculated strategy!’

This was only the first mock battle…

Gremory felt a chill run down her spine.

But at the same time, she felt an overwhelming thrill.

She was now certain—she had chosen her contractor well.

[Demon Lord Gremory has declared defeat. Lee Shin is victorious.]

[Since this is a mock battle, there will be no changes in magic power or ranking.]

‘I won.’

Lee Shin clenched his fist in triumph.

Flash!

Soon, his body was summoned somewhere once again.

At his destination, Gremory was waiting with a smile.

“That was truly impressive.”

“I was just lucky.”

“Luck? Luck doesn’t align so perfectly. Are you sure this was really your first time?”

“Thank you.”

Lee Shin couldn’t help but feel good from the continuous praise.

“But what made you decide to launch a counterattack?”

“When I finished building my barracks, you already had six Hellhounds with you.”

“That’s right.”

“That means you squeezed out your early magic power to invest in a surprise attack. Am I correct?”

“You are.”

“And yet, you didn’t push for a complete victory and instead stopped your attack. If you had more Hellhounds, you wouldn’t have stopped attacking.”

“So you realized I had no more combat monsters and decided to counterattack?”

“Yes. I figured you were looking at the long game and focusing on gathering magic power. You were probably being considerate, giving a beginner like me a better chance to learn about ranking battles.”

“Oh my, you even turned my consideration against me? How mean!”

“I’ll take that as a compliment.”

As Gremory showered him with praise, Lee Shin had a thought.

‘She’s really bad at this.’

For her to lose to a complete beginner like him…

“Oh my, you just had a rude thought, didn’t you?”

Gremory suddenly pointed it out.

“Not at all.”

Lee Shin immediately put on a poker face and lied. Gremory narrowed her eyes in suspicion, but even that expression was so charming that his heart skipped a beat.

“Ahem, rather than that, I have something I’d like to ask.”

“Hoho, ask away.”

“What happens to the people who were summoned to the battlefield?”

“Do you pity them?”

“…Yes.”

“Fufu, you’re kind.”

“I’ve never really thought of myself as kind, but as a fellow human, it does bother me a little.”

“Hoho, as I mentioned before, they were originally people who suffered in hell. Compared to that, being summoned to battle and following your commands is a much happier fate. And if they achieve merit, they even receive rest as a reward.”