Chapter 196
Chapter 196
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 196
Chapter Title: All-Evil Duke Chernobolg, Southern Tribes' Protector God, Northern Tribes' Dragon God
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All-Evil Duke Chernobolg, Southern Tribes' Protector God, Northern Tribes' Dragon God.
The armies led by the three great commanders advanced into the valley.
The valley cliffs were deep, but it didn't matter.
To them, who had transcended the limits of the flesh, the valley was little more than a mere field ditch.
Boom—!
As soon as they entered effective firing range, merciless barrages rained down on the beastkin.
The beastkin warriors took the shells they couldn't deflect in time with their own bodies.
The blood-soaked warriors howled.
"It doesn't matter to me!"
"Trample over me and keep going! We can't stop the hunt!"
The beastkin army leaped across the valley in a single bound.
A machine god firing shells was cleaved in two by the Protector God's halberd.
"Kill them allll!"
Brown oil soaked their tawny fur.
The Protector God's halberd sliced through the knees of the iron men firing iron cannonballs.
Protector Art Fierce Strike: Roaring Tiger, Bloodied Bamboo Grove.
As one flank of the artillery unit was blown away, machine gods from the rear charged forward.
'Here they come!'
The Protector God's eyes gleamed.
Against the machine gods, the Northern Tribes had always struggled.
The Dragon God he knew wasn't some pathetic creature that would struggle against worthless hunks of metal.
The reason the Northern Tribes' Dragon God had requested aid from the Southern Tribes was because, hidden among those pathetic hunks of metal, there lurked a 'special hunk of metal.'
Whoooong—
A white giant aimed its massive blade at the Protector God.
[You. Quadrupedal organic being. Do you have a name to reveal?]
The white knight, clad in heavy armor, cape, and helmet, vibrated its speaker diaphragm.
[I, the Holy Sword Machine God Orlando, shall face you.]
"Oh ho! Not bad for a scrap heap—you've got a silver tongue!"
The Protector God bared his fangs and assumed the starting stance of the Protector Arts.
'Boom!' With that sound, in the corner of his vision, he saw winged warriors being flung away.
A massive horse head—the swift steed machine god, Red Hare, made its appearance.
The Dragon God was locked in single combat with the wind-slicing machine god Saladin.
The scrap heaps calling themselves machine gods appeared everywhere, effortlessly blocking the beastkin charge.
They were the machine gods' greatest forces.
Once lords of their own domains, they had been reduced to mere limbs of Machina after the machine god world was unified under Gigal.
"Think you can hold without running?"
Before exchanging blows.
The Protector God asked, hand resting on his blade.
Machine God Orlando's synthesized voice rumbled low.
[We have no reason to forfeit victory.]
"Victory, huh. Admirable for scrap heaps not to run, but you have no chance of winning."
[State your reason.]
"We have the Demon Grand Dukes and heavenly knights joining us. You don't."
[Demon Grand Dukes.]
The Holy Sword Machine God raised its blade to the sky.
[You mean those things?]
The warp gate of the machine gods hovering in the sky rippled violently.
Beyond the blue barrier, demons had been watching the battle.
One of them extended a finger.
Rip—
The barrier tore like tissue paper, and demons rained down.
The goat-headed demon who tore the barrier, Evil Duke Baphomet, sneered at the foolishly charging beastkin.
"What!? Impossible!"
The Protector God gaped at the newly opened dimensional gate.
The power plant had already summoned the beastkin's grand duke, Chernobolg—unless there were two power plants, Baphomet shouldn't have appeared.
[Shine. Durindana.]
The white knight slashed down at supersonic speed.
A blinding white lightsaber plummeted toward the Protector God's head.
"Urk!"
The massive blade, larger than his body, unleashed tremendous energy, grilling the Protector God from head to toe.
Lose your focus, and you lose the initiative.
The Protector God was once again reminded of this basic law of combat.
'Unbelievable, but it's already here!'
The other beastkin were just as confused.
"How? Our demon came out of the power plant!"
"What trick have these scrap heaps pulled!?"
Amid the intense heat, the Protector God drew up his full latent power.
A clear misjudgment—the situation was dire.
'But no turning back now!'
The battle lines were engaged. The armies intertwined.
All that remained was to fight without regrets.
Boom!
He deflected the massive blade and swung his halberd like the wind.
Protector Art Severing Strike: Flying Tiger Gut-Ripper.
The white knight's shoulder was half-severed, exposing a gap.
The Protector God snarled and leaped onto the white knight's body.
"Nothing's changed! Fight! Kill! Tear them apart!"
Crunch!
Wind-Slicer Machine God Saladin lost a wing and crashed to the ground.
The Dragon God thrust his spear into Saladin's chest.
"The only way to survive is to advance. In the hunt, the fearful die first."
Rooooar—
It wasn't the cheers of allies.
It was the enemy humans roaring.
The Dragon God pointed his spear at the newly approaching hunters.
"The hunt has just begun. Advance."
* * *
"Just beginning, huh."
Hunter 'A-4' sent the signal.
One hunter group, three thousand strong from Illivatus, opened their inventories in unison.
Metal parts poured out from the inventories, forming small mountains.
"Illivatus Anymus, orders from Lord Sigmund have arrived."
"The Commander King has appeared on floor 43. As promised, take out the parts."
Before clashing with Cluesti on floor 39, Ju Gonghyeok had informed Sigmund of the plan in advance.
It was obvious contact would be difficult for years once they infiltrated the beastkin.
'You are the factory. Make what I need, bring it when I need it, die in my place when I need it.'
They had diligently manufactured the parts according to the blueprints Ju Gonghyeok provided and brought them to floor 43.
Hundreds lifted parts in unison.
"Confirm direction and elevation."
"Launch."
Pang!
The parts soared high into the sky.
Hunters fired them with bows, cannons, every weapon they had.
Intent on turning the small mountains of parts into stars in the sky, the hunters relentlessly launched them.
* * *
[Achievement 'Summon Baphomet Demon on Floor 43' accomplished]
- 100% completion. 100 yellow coins awarded as reward.
- 70,000P war contribution awarded.
- War contribution 1st: Commander King 90,500P
- War contribution 2nd: Christina C. Mahadeva 85,550P
[Achievement 'Summon Chernobolg Demon on Floor 43' accomplished]
- 100% completion. 100 yellow coins awarded as reward.
- 70,000P war contribution awarded.
- War contribution 1st: Dragon God Yahoo 129,080P
- War contribution 2nd: Wolf-Headed Gonghyeok 80,740P
Messages continued to pour in.
[1 dragonkin successor dead, 2 demonkin successors dead, 1 primal successor dead…….]
[Machine god-summoned demon 'Evil Duke Baphomet' racks up consecutive kills.]
[Beastkin-summoned demon 'All-Evil Duke Chernobolg's' forces have destroyed 0 Deus-class machine gods, 15 Titan-class machine gods, 98 Dreadnought-class units.]
[War contribution returns to summoner Ju Gonghyeok.]
- War contribution affects legion control rights; if no legion acquired, converts to other rewards.
- War contribution can be traded with other hunters at legion control meetings.
Ju Gonghyeok looked down from high above at the canyon where the battle raged.
The three tribes and two demon legions were locked in chaotic melee.
Among them, the machine gods were tanking while minimizing human casualties.
'The reason's kinda funny, though…….'
The Twilight Dungeon entrance was 3 meters high and 2 meters wide.
Powerful combat machine gods couldn't fit through that size.
Even mid-sized Dreadnoughts started at 10 meters, Titans and Deus-classes at tens or hundreds of meters.
Small, high-performance units were inefficient, limited to a few machine gods or special models.
In other words, only humans could fight inside the dungeon, so they were protecting them as much as possible.
Crackle!
A flash of light beside him.
[Warp gate open!]
[Babel basement level 1 sub-space connected!]
A third dimensional gate opened, and squat machine gods emerged.
From basement level 1—the 'King Maker Cluster' machine gods who had sworn to become Ju Gonghyeok's slaves.
[Greetings. Entity Ju Gonghyeok. 462 days, 15 hours, 13 minutes, 11 seconds.]
"Yeah."
Whoooong……
A massive shadow emerged from the gate.
The squat machine gods gestured lightly as they explained.
[Report. As instructed, we have procured Type 1 combat armament 'Staff of God' and 'Photon Cannon.' Additionally, one of the few mega-Deus-class machine god cores our King Maker salvaged during escape…….]
"Yeah, yeah."
Ju Gonghyeok retracted his arms and floated through the air.
Just then, parts from the surface began arriving one by one.
"Time to move to the next phase."
"Um, excuse me."
Lilianne swam up in front of Ju Gonghyeok.
"Customer, aren't we a bit too high up?"
"If we don't go this high, they'll all spot us. Some have probably already sensed us, even if they can't figure out what it is."
Where Ju Gonghyeok was wasn't just the sky.
47,000 km altitude.
Outer space, where planet Hetrae was visible at a glance.
Gonghyeok basked pleasantly in the solar radiation and cosmic rays that normal lifeforms couldn't endure.
"More importantly, handle the 'Power Plant Seizure' achievement."
"Yes, yes~ Of course I will."
Lilianne rubbed her palms together coquettishly.
Unlike power plant defense or capture, this was a hastily made quest, so the reward hadn't been set.
"Dear customer, what do you want? Just say the word."
"Venom Flame Duke Arachneia's poison. She's under Cluesti, so you can get it, right?"
"Y-Yes~ Well, sure."
Lilianne affirmed with difficulty.
In her position as a traitor, getting poison from the Venom Flame Grand Duke was awkward in many ways.
'But whatever, my performance this time wasn't bad, and as long as I ride Ju Gonghyeok's coattails…….'
Gonghyeok's words poured out like a machine gun.
"And Berserker Seeds, the strong ones. Plus Dark King Numezar's tombstone, Moebius's Little Labyrinth, Garden of Spatial Duplication……."
Over ten item names spilled out in one breath.
Lilianne blinked, then awkwardly sweated.
"C-Customer, at least five of those sound like SS-grade items or skills?"
"Most are one-use anyway. Bring 'em now."
"That's the thing, customer. Rewards like this probably can't be fronted…… it'll be tricky."
"Lilianne."
Ju Gonghyeok spoke without turning.
"I've done plenty for you. I've shown you all my abilities. I've met every tough demand and condition."
"Y-Yes…… that's true."
"If you don't show your abilities too…… won't that be a problem?"
"……."
Gonghyeok's voice was as cold as thin ice.
"You think I'll keep you around just because you're cute and I grope your ass?"
"......"
"Don't you have more value than that?"
Lilianne bit her lip.
She steeled herself.
No matter how much her enemy-like comrades and superiors bullied her, she'd bring the rewards no matter what.
That way, she'd prove her worth to this damn human for sure, and once his exploits were done, shut up her comrades for good.
"Understood, customer. I'll 'definitely' bring them."
"Good. Within 8 minutes."
"Pardon?"
She let out a very familiar retort.
Gonghyeok scratched his ear.
"Assembly should be done by then. Plus, I burned too much mana on that divine synthesis up there. Refill the spare mana tank—about two Lucifer's Wings worth."
"Oh~ Lucifer's Wings, the new mana storage feature? Y-You're so clever, contractor~"
Lilianne desperately held onto her crumbling smile.
"But that's proportional to the master's mana…… My mana rank is SC, so filling up an SS-rank contractor like you is, um, quite the challenge……."
"You've got a talent for making me repeat myself."
Crunch—
A part in Gonghyeok's hand crumpled.
"Fill it if I say fill it, you bitch. Scared of your comrades? Want me to show you worse?"
"……Sniff"
Lilianne turned her head, swallowing 'fucking bastard.'
"7 minutes 30 seconds left."
Her form vanished faster than light.
* * *
Kwaaaaa—!
Rain was pouring from the sky.
A rain of annihilation called the 'Photon Cannon.'
Interspersed were 'Staff of God' railguns firing asteroids at optimal size at high speed.
Good thing the planet was reinforced for Babel beings' battles. Otherwise, this barrage would have vaporized the mantle and caused a million dinosaur extinctions.
"Destroy them! Smash before the meteors hit!"
"Raaah! Focus on the fight!"
"Which is it! Demon gods! Wonder gods!"
The battlefield had long been reduced to scorched earth.
They clawed desperately to enter the Twilight Dungeon first.
The army-slaying machine god Baiwars, clashing with the demon tribe's strongest successor Mo Jung-in, received analysis via photon comms.
[Artillery trajectory analyzed.]
[Hostile entity confirmed in satellite orbit 36,000 km above.]
[Camera zoom, target identified.]
[Database search and countermeasures computed.]
Alarms blared in the machine god combatants' circuits.
[Emergency alert!]
[Mega-Deus-class satellite machine god Copernicus appears!]
[Interception success probability: 2.17%]