Chapter 23
Chapter 23
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 23
Chapter Title: #6 Hidden Card
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“Why are the bastards who were holding strong suddenly crumbling?!”
Just as expected, as Fullminak’s forces appeared to be collapsing, Spaceking’s troops from Weichen began converging on Iscasha.
Gilgamesh was dumbfounded.
“These fuckers are stabbing us in the back like this?!”
Gilgamesh immediately suspected that Kaisha had orchestrated the situation to draw Spaceking’s forces to Iscasha.
Credit spoke up.
“As much as it pisses me off, there’s nothing we can do. War Mode’s about to start soon. They’ve gotta protect their参战 heroes too.”
Credit had anticipated such scheming.
He just saw it as inevitable.
Siege warfare ultimately came down to each guild fighting their own battles.
Once the siege system opened, Goldbunker’s situation would improve, but Fullminak had even less to worry about once War Mode kicked in.
There was no reason for them to honor some bullshit loyalty to Goldbunker that never existed in the first place.
Of course, even if Kaisha had stepped in personally to rescue Iscasha for this exact purpose, it was still a strategy that benefited both guilds.
As Gilgamesh fumed beside him, Credit spoke in a voice of reason.
“Get a grip.”
This wasn’t the time to wallow in betrayal.
If they broadcast this moment, the video title would probably be something like ‘Iscasha in Peril! Goldbunker’s Crisis!’
Hella appeared in the skies above Iscasha.
And it wasn’t just Hella—the lineup of enemy heroes rushing in from Weichen was no joke.
It was an all-out assault.
They’d pulled out all the stops to completely crush and occupy Iscasha.
Soon, a summoning circle glowed, revealing one of Hella’s famous heroes.
Click.
“!”
Hella’s loyal slave—no, her hero Ashtan—raised his gun.
The moment Ashtan aimed, countless mana bullets spread out across the sky.
Ashtan’s ultimate move.
[Rain of Mana Bullets lv99]
[Fires mana bullets like falling rain. The formed mana bullets have the same base effects as standard ones, but with an added proprietary lightning effect.]
The crimson mana bullets brimmed with Hella’s mana, bubbling like lava.
Ashtan’s wide-area ultimate had a long cooldown, so using it the moment they arrived at Iscasha meant they’d been saving it for this.
In the end, Spaceking had planned from the start to shift their main forces from Weichen to Iscasha.
Gilgamesh muttered.
“Goddamn it.”
Kaisha had foreseen this from the beginning and laid the groundwork by resuscitating Iscasha.
A frantic Goldbunker guild member shouted.
[“Shield skill activating!”]
Bang—!
The instant the gunshot rang out, Goldbunker’s soldiers on the ground raised their defensive barriers.
Kwarung! Kwarururung—!!
Boom! Kwaboom—!!!
The bullets blocked by the shields vanished with a burst of noise, but those that slipped through slammed into the ground, unleashing massive mana explosions.
Iscasha was engulfed in flames.
Since Goldbunker had pulled their main forces back to play it safe, their front lines were wide open.
[“The impact zone’s too broad!”]
[“Front lines and civilian sectors taking heavy damage!”]
[“Not sure if it’s lucky or not that we pulled our main heroes back.”]
“......Hah.”
For a moment, Gilgamesh’s expression turned dizzy.
What Gilgamesh cherished most wasn’t items, surprisingly—it was the civilization itself, meticulously cultivated through lavish spending and cultural development.
The city he’d poured his heart into was being torn apart.
Whoooosh—
Credit flinched at the ominous aura radiating from Gilgamesh and reached out a hand.
He barely managed to grab Gilgamesh, who was gripping his sword and about to charge into the battlefield.
“Snap out of it!”
As agonizing as the mental torment was, they had to endure.
Gilgamesh’s eyes blazed red with fury. His immense brainpower flickered, warping the graphics.
Kwang! Boom! Boom—!
Even as Credit held him back, Spaceking’s relentless attacks continued unabated.
* * *
Meanwhile, the live broadcast.
The casters, who had fallen silent watching Iscasha’s plight, finally spoke up.
[...It’s playing out exactly as expected.]
Exactly.
[“As Weichen turns in their favor, Spaceking’s forces shift to Iscasha.”]
[“This is the final push. Spaceking’s dumping everything into capturing Iscasha before War Mode hits.”]
The game footage showed Iscasha as a sea of fire.
Midgard’s eastern hub of commerce and the pinnacle of artistic civilization burned brightly.
Boom! Kwaboom!!
Goldbunker’s front lines broke through, and with Spaceking’s reinforcements, sporadic attacks turned into a rout.
As Spaceking’s main forces moved from Weichen to Iscasha, Goldbunker—which had barely been holding on—began to crumble.
[“Yes, Spaceking’s getting desperate because the official siege countdown has started. The key now is whether they can seize Iscasha before War Mode.”]
Worst-case scenario for Goldbunker.
Losing Iscasha before War Mode meant they couldn’t compete evenly in the three-way siege battle.
[“......”]
The casters fell silent for a moment.
Spaceking, hell-bent on taking Iscasha, was overwhelmingly dominant.
Even with their main heroes held back for the participant-limited official siege, their second-string heroes were too strong.
They were steamrolling.
[“Ha. War Mode not here yet?”]
[“About 20 minutes left.”]
[“Time’s running out, so Spaceking’s going berserk.”]
Twenty minutes wasn’t long.
With War Mode still pending, to truly claim Iscasha, they needed to breach the walls, secure positions inside, and clear out enemies.
Weichen flashed briefly in one corner of the screen.
[“Weichen’s stable. Fullminak’s shaky lines have fully steadied in the meantime.”]
[“Lucky them.”]
Then.
In the Iscasha footage, Gilgamesh shook off Credit and leaped high onto the ramparts.
[“What?!”]
The moment Gilgamesh appeared on the battlefield sword in hand, Dart—as if he’d been waiting—drew his own sword and warped swiftly into the air above the walls.
And then.
Kwa—ang!!
[“?!”]
[“Uwaaaah!”]
[“Oh my god! How is this happening?!”]
With War Mode right around the corner, Dart and Gilgamesh clashed in a blaze of power.
* * *
Fullminak’s voice chat erupted in chaos. An absurd report had come in.
Gilgamesh and Dart clashing.
[“Holy shit, this is huge.”]
[“Puhaha! Guild masters duking it out with 20 minutes to War Mode?! If they were gonna do this, why not earlier!”]
[“No way they’re going all out. Probably just posturing to scare.”]
[“Even for a dick-measuring contest, I’d freeze up trying to intimidate in this situation.”]
[“Ugh, just imagining it gives me chills. Getting logged out right before War Mode means 24 hours banned.”]
[“Goldbunker and Spaceking members must be shitting bricks right now.”]
[“Glad we’re Fullminak.”]
They shouldn’t laugh, but their lips kept curling up.
Perfect situation to sit back and watch.
Gilgamesh might go berserk without a care, but Goldbunker’s morale? Questionable.
Anyway, it was someone else’s problem.
Just then, Mino posted [Siege Countdown] in the guild notice.
I turned on my mic.
“Prepare for War Mode.”
* * *
Kwa—ang!!
The guild masters’ swords clashed fiercely, and as expected, Goldbunker went into collective shock from Dart’s assault.
Every Goldbunker member froze.
Dart’s lips twisted.
“Pathetic.”
“!”
With a savage, cutting sneer, the area flashed brilliantly with lightning.
Flash! Kwaboom!
Kiiing—!!
Dart feigned a furious assault on Gilgamesh, then suddenly pulled back and soared upward.
He landed gracefully.
Then Dart’s sword tip aimed past Gilgamesh—straight at Iscasha’s still-magnificent royal palace behind him.
Dart stepping up with sword drawn meant one thing.
Iscasha occupation. All-out war begins.
Kwarung—!
Dart’s menacing effect skill [Heaven’s Punishment] once more scattered intense electric sparks and thunderous booms, striking the ground.
Soap, looking down, muttered.
“Even with all-out war, nothing’s really changed, but Goldbunker’s totally spooked.”
Dart’s sheer presence.
No wonder, with Goldbunker cornered—why’d Gilgamesh jump out now?
Charging into battle without regard for his guild’s fragile morale was downright foolish.
What were they supposed to do if Gilgamesh died?
Nyx countered Soap’s words.
[“All-out war isn’t that different? It’s hugely different. I sent a ton over.”]
The forces shifted from Weichen to Iscasha were substantial.
Soap asked.
“War Mode’s soon. What about Weichen’s defense?”
[“What defense? That’s how it works. We took Weichen early, it’s so advantageous it won’t fall. Once War Mode starts, we’ll slap double shields on the walls right away.”]
“Living the dream.”
[“Pretty much.”]
Waaaaah—!!
On the ground, Goldbunker’s NPC soldiers were collapsing.
With Dart in the fray, Spaceking pressed forward even more aggressively, punching through the front.
On the all-out assault order, users charged ground and air alike, raining support on allies.
Soap and Nyx bantered leisurely.
“The dawn raid was a masterstroke.”
[“First strike’s always right.”]
The end was in sight.
* * *
[00:10:00]
[“Ten minutes to War Mode.”]
[“Spaceking’s acting like they’ve won the siege already, but this is when the real game starts. Get cocky, and you’re fucked.”]
[“Exactly.”]
Despite their bold words, Goldbunker’s casters looked grim for a moment.
After all, they were the ones getting wrecked right now.
Two screens popped up side by side.
Iscasha, where Goldbunker was getting crushed by Spaceking.
Weichen, stable under Fullminak.
[“Fullminak, having stabilized Weichen, now gears up for War Mode.”]
[“Equipment swapping one by one.”]
[“Meanwhile, Spaceking and Goldbunker users fighting in Iscasha are already in full War Mode gear.”]
[“Raids like this, users can’t shine much, so they set for defense.”]
[“Right.”]
In Iscasha footage, user gear was purely offense-focused.
No user clashes yet, but it was basically War Mode already.
As tension mounted, the Iscasha screen expanded, pushing Weichen aside.
No reversals.
Spaceking threw everything at it, shattering Goldbunker’s front and exposing Iscasha’s main gate.
[“Whoa......”]
[“Less than 10 minutes left, and they give it up.”]
The casters sighed.