Chapter 44
Chapter 44
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 44
Chapter Title: Legendary Ability, Wanna Control It? - 1
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An old saying goes:
Don't attack those who've hunkered down behind walls unless you outnumber them ten to one. Anything less, and you'll just end up bleeding yourself dry for nothing.
Of course, that's only for humans who have to keep living after the war's over. Up in the sunset sky, astride his ghostly steed, the King of Storms coolly ignored the basics of siege warfare.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ [Still relying on cowardly tricks, huh. As if you could block me with that... trying to block me, of all things.] "!"
That bastard.
Couldn't break through, so he changed his tune.
'His pride might be hurt, but he's not an empty-headed fool. So why's he charging headfirst like this?'
To gauge his true intentions, I replied.
"Calling it cowardly to save our own troops? Sounds like you're the one who doesn't get the basics of being a lord."
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ [There is no mercy for those who defy fate.] The King of Storms ignored my words. The horde he'd brought were disposable fodder made for charging, so they moved exactly as intended.
The lord's blade cleaved through the sky.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ [Charge—!!] His thunderous roar echoed.
Thousands of zombies, ghosts, and monsters surged toward the 20-meter walls in a 'ㅁ'-shaped formation like crashing waves. Never thought I'd see a real-life monster wave straight out of a zombie flick.
-Grrraaaah—!
-Kyaaaaak—!
"…."
I wrinkled my nose for a moment.
Even from the height of a 10-story apartment's walls, the stench of rotting garbage wafted up. But just as he had his boss's pride, I had my lord's dignity to uphold, so I held it in.
'If the boss like me starts pinching my nose, the others might panic thinking it's poison gas or something.'
Things already looked tense below.
-Eek!? That roar—is it—!
-Savior! Please save us!
-May the Goddess of the Earth protect us…!
The faint-hearted villagers could only pray from the safe zone, gazing at the sky. Unlike Niva, the Pigeon Siblings, and me who'd zipped up in an instant, others were hurriedly climbing the stairs.
Tatata!
Archbishop Albert, the pilgrimage priests, climbers, and the lord's troops.
"Huff! Huff!"
"Walls this high out of nowhere!?"
"Man, the content never stops coming!"
"Hey! You crazy bastard, quit messing with the gallery and move!"
"Just a sec, lemme snap a pic—!"
'The one heading to post proof gets banned a week.'
I gauged when they'd join and looked ahead again. The monster horde was already right at the walls. They started clambering up, using each other as stepping stones.
-Kyaaaaak—!
-Keeheehee—!
Slow as it was,
they were climbing the walls with brute force.
The ones at the bottom were probably already paste.
"…."
'Invasion height-wise, about the 3rd floor out of 10.'
Then Niva grabbed my hand in shock.
"Lucius! Let's drop rocks and sweep 'em all!"
"No, too close. And the shockwave could hit people inside the walls."
"But…!"
Angela's eyes lit up next.
"Blessing Explosion then?"
"No, can't plant trees there. Not yet."
"But if we don't decide now!"
"Wait. Not yet."
I waved them off, calming the two women pushing for preemptive strikes out of anxiety. Then Albert and dozens more arrived.
I shouted to them.
"Groups of five, regardless of class! Five per group, spread out every 10 meters!"
"Sp-spread out!?"
"But we can't abandon our pilgrimage brothers…."
Argh, these burnouts.
Whining like high school girls separated from their friends.
'Damn it, should've brought Luciana from Baran. They're all frozen like rookies.'
The headache throbbed amid the foul stench and shrieks from thousands. It felt like the old Great Catastrophe senses waking up.
Irritated, I yelled.
"Even if we attack now, we won't hit! Better to spread a fire net now and prep wide attacks—that's priority!"
"!"
"Groups of five, now—!! When the explosion hits, open fire immediately—!! Melee-only, stand by till I give you throws—!!"
"Yes, sir!"
Orders were rough, but once grouped, they divided roles on their own. Climbers, lord's troops, and priests scattered across the walls.
I looked at Angela and Abel.
"From here, Abel takes left, Angela right. Join units short on throws and support with blood magic. Prep for a long fight—conserve blood. If they're holding fine, move to the next group and cycle."
"Got it!"
"Understood."
The battle-hardened siblings got it. Now the walls had 13 standard parties lined up ready, with two named NPCs patrolling.
Perfect. Season complete.
Defense wins sieges more than half the time.
I checked below again.
'Current invasion level… 5th floor out of 10!'
Plenty of room.
I glanced at Niva.
She swallowed hard, gripping her staff with both hands. Composed again, aside from that brief panic.
I pointed down the line of parties.
"Alright, Niva. Listen close from now on."
"Yeah!"
"Leftmost party's number one."
"Yeah."
"Rightmost is thirteen."
"Yeah."
"Get it now?"
Niva grinned confidently.
"Duh. You call a number, I warp there and handle it? Trim numbers enough to pass the pinch, then big magic from behind to thin 'em out."
"!"
I smiled faintly.
"Where?"
"The weak spot, obviously! If that skullhead's got brains, it'll send flankers past the main push."
"Haha…."
🔔 Ding! [Lord Lucius's favorability has increased by 5!] Sudden urge to hug a bunny. No time now, so I just grinned.
Niva asked.
"We going now?"
"Yeah. Let's smash 'em without taking a single hit."
"Ooh? Romantic. You know your stuff."
"Lord and all."
We clasped hands and moved in our familiar formation.
"Warp!"
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ The lord and the bunny warped around the square fortress's flanks, leaving massive explosions in their wake.
-Exterminate!
-Manifest, Flare—!
⚡ SKILL ACTIVATED ⚡ Flare Kwaaaang!
Giant flames swept through,
and the King of Storms' raiders vanished into thin air without a trace.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ [Such cowardly scum! Defying fate, are you—!] The lord and bunny quietly flipped him off.
-You knew about this?
-Uh… yeah. Climbers told me—.
-Sigh, you pick up all the bad habits.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ [Storm's horde, charge! Surround and bind the king of the living—!] With solid rear support, the frontline stabilized fast. The 13 parties mopped up the horde in range.
"Fireball—!"
"Loose! Loose arrows!"
"Holy Smite! Feel the Goddess of the Earth's wrath!"
"Ugh, damn it, warrior life's got no plays. Guess I'll chuck these slingshots from Galju!"
Projectiles accelerated downward with gravity hit hard. The horde climbing the walls had no choice but to eat them.
Fwhoosh—!
Whiiish—!
Kuuung!
Fireballs, holy prayers, rocks plummeted.
To monsters without proper siege gear, unavoidable projectiles meant instant death. They scattered like dandelion seeds on the wind.
Blood streaming from heads—
-Kyaaaaak—!!
-Groooaaar—!!
-Kurrrgh—!!
Hundreds of stinking dandelion seeds fluttered amid the rot.
Two avant-garde angels flapped in to support precarious spots, leaving red afterimages in their wake.
"I'll help you!"
"Thanks, Saintess!"
Angela landed unlucky with a melee-heavy group and hurled a blood spear.
"Hya!"
Blood magic's strengths shone. The red spear pierced a zombie, exploding rotten blood in a chain that spawned thorns.
Shoooo!
Dozens impaled by the life-infused thorns lumped and fell together.
-Kyaaaaak—!
The more clustered the foes,
the brighter blood magic shone on blood-splashed fields.
But flaws showed too.
Stamina drain.
"Hoo…."
Angela wiped cold sweat. Her crimson eyes dimmed from before.
Especially,
hunger sapping focus.
"…."
'…I'm hungry.'
She glanced at Abel. He calmly thrust his spear, using physics efficiently to down foes.
'Brother's always been good at conserving strength. Me? Can't even use Flower Blessing right. Half-baked saintess.'
-Saintess!
-Over here!
"!"
Her thoughts snapped.
Angela turned. Safe zone folk held a massive bowl brimming with blood.
"Ah…!"
She fluttered down lightly.
"What's this!?"
"Blood we gathered with gratitude. Not much, but drink up and keep fighting. Former Archbishop Paul said to offer it like this…."
"Archbishop Paul?"
The old advisor among them, Paul, nodded. Not to the saintess, but for their fighter, he apologized honestly.
"Sorry, Angela. This is all this old man's got. Sorry we old folks are always dead weight."
"…No."
"We're fools, doubting the savior right in front of us, clinging to false peace. Kairos and I couldn't stop it, passing the burden to you young ones. Foolish to make innocents pay."
"…."
He staggered, pointing skyward.
"Look. The Savior. Our savior, wrapped in the goddess's grace, flies the skies."
"!"
She looked up.
In pitch-black dusk, a ghostly steed charged trailing blue flames. Chasing it, a hero unleashed red fire.
Through black clouds,
his flames blazed like suns.
Kurung—!
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ [—!] "—!"
They shouted at each other, locked in fierce combat. For the earth's plight they could've ignored, he fought at the forefront.
His army,
even the climbers following him.
All of them.
"Savior…."
"Hahaha—!"
Paul muttered through tears.
"Your Holiness, other archbishops. Why try to control a hero like that?"
Regretful,
resentful.
Angela watched Paul, then looked up. He still fought.
"Savior…."
-If my 'Blessing of the Earth' means we never see that flower again. And folks only remember it as ominous…. Feels kinda sad. So even if I leave some barren land on purpose, I wanna keep the memory.
"…."
This land, where even Paul and Kairos despaired, Abel and Angela gave up on.
He saw as memory.
Maybe even
the ominous blood-drinking girl….
He meant to keep her as memory too.
Angela saw that as salvation.
"May salvation come to this land—."
She prayed, drank the blood, and flew back to fight.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Midnight skies rang with furious rage.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ [You fucking bastard—!] "Whoa, straight to swearing?"
I fired love's flames at the fully enraged King of Storms.
"Exterminate!"
⚡ SKILL ACTIVATED ⚡ Exterminate Flames flashed in the dark sky.
Kwaaaang—!
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ [Graaaah—! You bastard, let me hit you at leas—.] "Exterminate!"
⚡ SKILL ACTIVATED ⚡ Exterminate Kwaaaang—!
Melting-armored skeleton king and steed reeled in the blasts.
"…."
'Still not down.'
True to world quest boss form, the King of Storms was tough. Lesser undead popped in one Exterminate; he'd tanked all day with just rage mode.
'Boss is boss, even rotten. Hit-and-run it is.'
I patted Niva's back, clinging to my neck.
"Fortress!"
"OK!"
Poof!
My trusty cowardly bunny pal thrust her staff forward on arrival. I snapped my fingers in sync.
"Manifest, Flare!"
"Exterminate!"
⚡ SKILL ACTIVATED ⚡ Flare Exterminate Our flames cascaded down the walls, swallowing undead in waves.
Climbers and troops cheered. They even had breathing room for breaks now.
"Kaaah, assist XP is sweet!"
"Best! Lord is the best!"
"Galju forever—!!"
The horizon-packed horde thinned to patches.
I sensed it.
"!"
It's over.
'With the saintess, shove trees in the ground and finish with Blessing Explosion!'
A war where I hadn't taken a hit—finally ending.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ [Graaaah! You little shit! Damn earthly fate! Driving me this far!] "Hm."
…Or so I thought.
Far off, the raging skeleton king blazed blue. The flames swelled to blanket a sky corner, like a storm of fire.
He cried out unjustly.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ [Two hundred years! Expanding the realm of the dead across the goddess's sanctuary and seven forests, it took 200 years to wield this 'death aura'! I was one step from guardian of this land—!] "I see."
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ [And you! Not a speck of holiness in you, ruining me! This wasn't my fate! I was destined to be the king chosen by the stars—!] "Oh dear."
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ [You bastard! Let's all die together!] Goooooo—!
He became a massive storm.
And advanced slowly.
Not toward us,
but the sanctuary.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ [I swear to the Black Serpent and the Throne of Death! I renounce my fate!] Pachiiing!
Something shattered in the sky.
The blue-flame storm erupted in fury.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ [I'll stake everything! And destroy your sanctuary!] Oh no, he's gone dark side.
"…."
'Maybe should've tanked one hit.'