Chapter 138
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 138
Chapter Title: Necromancer, Infinite Conflict - 3
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The reason why the Villains had tried so hard to assassinate the Saintess was now crystal clear.
‘As expected, the Saintess is a hard counter against death-based abilities.’
Emilia Müller... a Player who grew beyond levels, reaching the pinnacle of the divine class.
Come to think of it, Lee Hyun-wook had never seen her true power in action.
She had played her part in Seoul a few hours ago, but it had been a supporting role.
But at this very moment, she was proving why she was called the Saintess.
Woooooosh—
Standing loftily in the sky, she looked down upon the earth, pushing back the darkness that had descended upon it.
The Necromancer, the ultimate weapon the Villains had so painstakingly prepared, was unable to exert its full power.
Just as even the mightiest flames lose their strength before a flooding river...
‘And the divine blessing she's imbuing my weapons with is on another level.’
He had already gained a third-grade divine power from the ridiculously overpowered item 'Argetlam,' but with the Saintess's blessing added, each of his weapons was now imbued with a divine power as potent as one wielded by a B-rank Paladin.
‘At the same time, the undead army has weakened considerably.’
Ssssss—
The undead army writhed in agony under the holy light shining down from the sky. Their numbers still reached into the thousands and continued to grow, but their momentum had weakened significantly.
‘Now, we won't be pushed back. Not ever again.’
Lee Hyun-wook exhaled slowly and lowered his raised left hand.
Cra-a-a-ack—!
The undead in his line of sight crumbled helplessly like clay dolls.
Moreover, with 'Breath of the Abyss' lifted and his vision fully restored, the locations of the 'Death Priests' hiding in the rear were clearly revealed. The Necromancer's death authority was spreading through them to the entire undead army, endlessly resurrecting the fallen.
‘They're acting as relays, in a way.’
In other words, the priority targets were now clear.
Lee Hyun-wook launched Moglei toward that spot.
Vwoom—!
Of course, the Death Priests weren't the type to go down so easily.
Once again, a black dome blossomed and deflected the descending Moglei.
Clang—!
But as they defended themselves, the rate at which the undead army revived noticeably decreased. The amount of death authority they could use at any one time was limited, so a gap inevitably opened elsewhere.
But as they defended themselves, the rate at which the undead army revived noticeably decreased.
"Now! Now's our chance! They've clearly weakened!"
"Hah—these bastards are finally dying properly!"
Following this, the Players gathered near the Divine Tree began to push back the army of death.
And...
Bza-a-a-a-ang—!
From within the Wight Hole, that massive portal, several teleportation gates slammed down.
Emerging from within were the world's greatest order of holy knights, the 'Wight Tree Guard.'
A total of 124 members... It seemed the entire force of the Wight Tree Guard had assembled.
"All units, release your divine power to the maximum... Charge!"
At the command of their captain, Peter Clarke, the knights, cloaked in white auras, advanced.
Clank— Clank—
Merely touching the weapons they wielded was enough for the undead to lose their deathly power and collapse.
"Team 2, activate Celestial Sword!"
At this, ten holy knights raised their swords, and the beams of light blooming from their tips intertwined.
Vwoom—
A ten-meter-long, translucent white 'Celestial Sword' materialized in the air,
connected by a thin line of light to the sword of one of the ten who had gathered their power.
"Hyaah—!"
As he swung his sword, the Celestial Sword moved, following its trajectory.
With each swing, dozens of undead were annihilated.
And.......
"Look over there! Reinforcements have arrived!"
Just then, the ROK A.M.T. support troops from northern Ganghwa Island arrived. Among them was the airship 'Oryonggeo' of the 'A.M.T. Holy Knights,' a divine-class unit as famous as the Wight Tree Guard.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
Bombs enchanted with divine power were fired from the Oryonggeo, exploding in the heart of the undead army.
"Alright, this is more than a comeback, it's a full-on counterattack! Let's go!"
The Players realized that this was more than just a moment to catch their breath; the tide of battle had turned in their favor.
Meanwhile, Han Tae-san, who had been struggling in the confined area, also began to rampage as if he could finally breathe.
"Seriously, today has been one damn frustrating thing after another..."
Thwack! Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!
He beat Okita Kaito to a pulp while simultaneously wiping out the hordes of undead gathering around them. If he had enough space to move, even a high-level zombie was no match for Han Tae-san.
Crack—!
He snapped the limbs of the Okita Kaito-zombie, then finally ripped its head off, spine and all.
He then shattered a nearby troll skeleton and began swinging its shin bone like a hammer.
In the midst of this chaotic battlefield, Lee Hyun-wook was searching for someone.
‘I can't let that one get away.’
His target was William Bernard from the future.
The man had become a death knight after he died.
He couldn't afford to lose the item from the future that was likely on its body.
‘There he is.’
Ch-ch-ch-chain—
Lee Hyun-wook forged chains and attempted to capture him.
However, the death knight swung its bone axe and severed all the chains.
Clank! Clank!
Just then, wires shot out from the molten metal slithering across the ground and wrapped around its ankles.
The moment its movement was halted, chains flew in from all directions, binding its arms as well.
Then, Sudarsana flew in and began to grind against its neck like a rotary saw blade.
Gr-r-r-rind—!
Finally, with a *thunk*, the death knight's head was severed and went rolling down the hill.
‘Its level is high, but since it's not a boss monster, it's not a difficult opponent.’
As long as it hadn't undergone Red Ossification, even a death knight was manageable.
Lee Hyun-wook lifted the headless body and brought it before his eyes.
‘I should keep this safe for now.’
To Lee Hyun-wook, this giant pile of bones felt like a gift basket.
He wrapped it tightly in metal and carefully placed it inside Prydwen.
Meanwhile, the Players' counterattack was putting the undead army on the defensive.
"Keep pushing—they're collapsing!"
It seemed the battle would be over in a few minutes at this rate...
"Huh...? Look over there! I think they're running away!"
Gurgle— Gurgle—
From the black mire on the ground, dark hands rose and swayed like seaweed in the ocean.
Immediately after, they began dragging some of the undead into the ground.
Realizing they couldn't win, they were trying to save the high-ranking undead that had undergone Red Ossification.
"—Stop them!"
Quick-witted Players launched an offensive toward them.
But the speed at which they were sucked into the mire was much faster than expected.
"Damn it, we're too late!"
With that scene as the finale, the black mire—the Land of Coming Death—vanished as if it had evaporated.
Then, hundreds of masterless undead collapsed all at once, like puppets with their strings cut.
"...Huh?"
With their opponents gone, the fiercely advancing Players couldn't help but stop in their tracks.
An unnatural silence fell for a moment, like a party where the music suddenly stops and the lights come on.
Fwoooosh...
A wind descending from a nearby mountain whistled eerily as it passed through a skeleton's skull.
"...We won, right?"
At that moment, cheers erupted from all directions.
Waaaaaah—!
It was a feeling veteran Players hadn't felt in a long time... relief.
And they realized that relief was a more intense joy than anything else.
"Wow, if this isn't a dramatic entrance, I don't know what is."
They had been on the verge of annihilation, but thanks to the miraculous arrival of reinforcements, they had achieved a dramatic victory.
This brought a much deeper joy than receiving even the greatest of rewards.
"Hah, and it was support from the Saintess, of all people. My god..."
"By the way, that rumor about the Saintess and Steelain being close must be true, huh?"
Praise for Steelain and the Saintess followed from all over.
"I see Steelain in a new light today. He really is something else in every way..."
"Honestly, I used to find it annoying how he always hogged the items, but now I have to admit it."
"Well, I guess items are only used to their full potential when they're in the hands of someone who can actually use them, right?"
A strange sense of admiration was even stirring among the support Players who had been jealous of Lee Hyun-wook.
It was an undeniable fact that without him, they wouldn't have survived until the Saintess arrived and would have been wiped out.
But Lee Hyun-wook didn't feel relieved. He raised his mana messenger and contacted someone.
"Team Leader Lee Kyo-jun, can you hear me? The Masks should be fleeing by now."
- Yes, we should be able to capture them soon on the coast.
When the Wight Hole opened in the sky and the battle turned against them, the Villains had begun their escape. It seemed they had opened a short-range portal to escape inland, but fortunately, they were caught by the surveillance network that had been set up in advance.
"And among them is likely the Red Berserker. You need to be careful."
- Special Team 11 of the Black Tiger Unit has been deployed to handle it. We won't let them get away.
Special Team 11 of the Black Tiger Unit was a squad specializing in anti-Player operations.
They should be more than capable of capturing the retreating Red Berserker.
‘But once he realizes he can't escape, he'll boldly attempt suicide.’
Lee Hyun-wook knew his personality well. He was a ruthless man, surprisingly dedicated to the Villain organization to his very core.
‘Still, if we can capture a few of them, it'll be helpful when the day comes to reveal the Villains' existence to the world...'
The Chinese Player Xiao Jun, who had come to assassinate Lee Hyun-wook, was currently in custody after having his latent magic dispelled.
If he could accumulate more people like him, they could one day serve as the 'smoking gun.'
However, Lee Hyun-wook's judgment was that it was still too early to reveal the Villains' existence to the world.
‘Doing so could result in a political backlash.’
There was still no way to prove that Gordon Price was a Villain.
The man was still the world's wealthiest individual, a heavyweight in the political arena, and a key figure in the Guardians.
He had to be patient until he could expose the man's true face to the entire world.
‘Still, I need to share the secret with those who are on my side now and prepare.’
It was at that moment.
Screeeee—!
A clear bird's cry filled the sky, and a massive shadow fell from above.
"What... is that?"
Everyone looked up at once.
The first thing they saw was the 22-meter airship, 'Ship of Theseus,' hundreds of meters in the air.
But, far above it, a pair of wings large enough to dwarf the airship spread wide.
Fwoooooosh—!
Massive feathered wings, easily forty to fifty meters across, were descending toward the ground.
"Gasp! Wh-what is that!"
"A bird... but it's that big?"
A bird with a size that rivaled a dragon...
And with its appearance, the Wight Hole closed.
"Is-isn't that 'Hræsvelgr'?"
"Huh? The bird that lives at the top of the World Tree?"
The story of such a giant bird living at the crown of the World Tree was quite famous. However, the branches of the World Tree were so vast and dense that even a creature of that size could not be seen.
"Wait, does that mean... the Guardian of the World Tree has appeared?"
The Guardian of the World Tree and S-rank Spirit User, Donald Harris...
Public opinion held him to be the de facto most powerful person in the world at this point in time.
‘And that man is one of the reasons the Villains have to tread carefully.’
The two titans of the Republic of Chad, the 'Guardian of the World Tree' and the 'Saintess,' were hard counters to the Villains.
Even after assassinating the Saintess, as long as the Guardian of the World Tree was alive, the Villains couldn't run rampant.
In the future, the Dark Elf army, having completed its conquest of Europe, invades the Republic of Chad.
‘And that's when Donald Harris falls in battle.’
At that time, the World Tree falls into the Villains' hands, and the divine tree transforms into a demon tree.
Perhaps if they had lost to the Necromancer today, the Divine Tree would have become a demon tree.
Whoosh— Whoosh—
As Hræsvelgr beat its wings to land, a powerful gust of wind swept across the ground.
Thud—!
"Gah— it's huge!"
The golden eyes of the giant hawk that landed on the ground scanned the Players.
When its large beak opened slightly, low groans escaped from here and there.
A hawk of that size looked like it could peck and eat people as if they were insects.
And from its back, near the nape of its neck, someone stood up. It was a bald old man wearing a white shirt and jeans. He walked down Hræsvelgr's left wing as if it were a staircase.
Step— Step—
At this, the Players parted to the left and right without a word, clearing a path.
"...Mr. Harris, hello."
Kang Seo-yoon, who seemed to be acquainted with him, cautiously approached and greeted him.
"Kang, it's been a while."
After that brief greeting, he walked past her toward the Divine Tree.
"......."
He scanned the Divine Tree, then turned his head to look at Lee Hyun-wook.
"......."
A silent, steady gaze... Everyone followed his line of sight and looked at Lee Hyun-wook.
Feeling uncomfortable, Lee Hyun-wook couldn't help but approach Donald Harris as if drawn by a magnet.
The man opened his mouth, which was covered by a white beard.
"Steelain, I've been watching your progress with interest for some time now, but this... this is quite unexpected."
He frowned deeply and approached Lee Hyun-wook.
"But the appearance of this Divine Tree is not a blessing... it's a disaster."
At those words, Lee Hyun-wook couldn't help but wear a perplexed expression.
"What do you mean by that?"
Just then, a leaf from the Divine Tree swayed and fell.
Donald Harris reached out his right hand and snatched it from the air.
"You averted one disaster and grasped a blessing in your hands, but..."
At that moment, a flame sparked from his fingertips and engulfed the leaf.
Being a leaf from the Divine Tree, it didn't burn easily, but—
Fwoosh—!
Soon, it turned to a handful of ash and scattered.
"...do you realize that you've only invited an even greater disaster?"