Chapter 30
Chapter 30
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 30
Chapter Title: The Alliance's Shield Assault
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Fullminak and the Goldbunker alliance forces began their assault on the shield.
Spaceking's defense, ambushed from both sides while waiting for PKs, was breathless.
Even as his guild members fought frantically, Dart stood motionless at the edge of the deck.
His gaze looking down at me was piercing.
“…….”
VFA's ranking number one.
Was this because of Neuroforce too? Or was it Dart's unique overwhelming charisma?
A thick tension hung in the aura of the supreme ruler crushing the area, but my mind cleared sharper and bluer, like gulping down ice water.
Kali asked me through voice chat.
[“You okay? You're the one itching for PK, but handing Iscasha over to Goldbunker—fucking hurts, man.”]
“I upped the settlement ratio in exchange.”
[“25% was already plenty.”]
An additional increase in Fullminak's settlement ratio.
And entrusting me with overall command of the alliance forces until the end of this 99th siege.
Those were the contract terms I proposed when I directly contacted Gilgamesh and agreed to hand over Iscasha.
Even so, Kali still seemed unsatisfied.
He was the type who valued the game over money too.
“Think of it as an investment. We've still got Kalba, Tereb, and Avrilia up north.”
Under the premise that Goldbunker wouldn't stab us in the back, this alliance would hold until the end of the siege.
Though I wasn't sure it'd last that long.
For now, our alliance's primary goal was to defend the front line connecting Iscasha and Wichen from Spaceking.
The secondary goal was to push Spaceking out of Midgard's eastern region as much as possible.
[“You think Goldbunker will keep their word?”]
“We've gotta trust them once. Anyway, even if we took Iscasha in this situation, it’d be..."]
I mumbled as I glanced down at Iscasha.
Iscasha was practically in ruins right now, so even if we claimed it, rebuilding and managing it would be incredibly tough.
Especially since Goldbunker had taken all the NPCs with them.
But if we returned Iscasha to Goldbunker, their funds and rear supply lines would restore and revive the city in no time.
And we could lord it over Goldbunker for a while, flaunting our leverage.
As I mentally tapped the calculator one more time, Dart—who'd been standing like a statue at the deck's edge—summoned his weapon.
[Dart-nim has challenged you to a duel.]
“Challenge popped up.”
[“Good luck.”]
With that, Kali turned his voice chat mic to ‘off’.
[Accept?]
[Yes]
* * *
Dart and Kaisha didn't clash right away.
Dart stood at the edge of the black fleet's deck, while Kaisha hovered in the air before Iscasha's shield.
Even as the shield-breaking began, their standoff dragged on, so the broadcasters put up a poster again in one corner of the screen.
Click click.
[Dart vs. Kaisha]
Guess they hated wasting the hype money.
[“Dart and Kaisha's fourth PK. This is exactly the fourth official duel within a siege.”]
[“That's right, and so far—”]
[“Uwaaak! The duel starts!!”]
The poster that had been up briefly vanished in a flash.
Dart leaped from the deck.
Whoosh, gone.
Note that outside the shield was beyond firing range, allowing teleportation.
Flash!
As Dart appeared right in front of Kaisha's nose, blue eyes and green eyes both blazed.
The two swords clashed, cracking the graphics massively.
Then it burst.
Boom,
KABOOM—!!!
Rumble rumble rumble—
[“Whoa......”]
[“The heavens and earth are shaking......”]
Even witnessing it firsthand, the unbelievable skill effects—no, the majestic graphic response—left the broadcasters gaping, and users in the siege below froze, looking up.
Users who couldn't afford to get distracted resumed fighting right away, continuing the shield battle.
The hosts looked stunned.
[“Uh, the graphic response seems even more intense than last time?”]
BOOM!! KABOOM—!!
[“Kaisha unleashed her hidden shy Neuroforce. No cameras further back?”]
This siege's peak highlight wouldn't have just one or two cameras prepped.
Soon, with an OK sign, the on-site staff moved.
The footage switched to one from even farther back, as the host requested.
The hosts' faces went blank.
[“Whoa, insane......”]
[“......What the hell is VFA?”]
It went beyond awe at the power of mere ‘Neuroforce,’ evoking wonder at the game VFA itself.
The zoomed-out feed revealed a staggering spectacle.
[Holy shit.....]
[Nature's going berserk...?]
[No way that's from Kaisha and Dart fighting?]
[High Neuroforce users cause stuff like this, but the scale is insane]
[It's a game, but is this even possible?]
[It's reacting to Neuroforce]
[Damn, but the rankers down below adapting to the ground getting fucked while guild masters fight up top—class act lol]
[The scale is off the charts]
[Oh god]
[Why isn't HP dropping when they're using skills? Damage is landing??]
[Look close—they're self-buffing and healing at insane speeds. Probably chugging potions like crazy too]
[If it drains faster than heals, they lose]
Every time Kaisha and Dart collided, the heavens shook, and the massive lake near Iscasha's capital sprayed up with booming splashes.
The footage kept distorting repeatedly.
[“Graphics are getting wrecked.”]
[“Whoa, epic. Can't even imagine what that feels like.”]
[“Like using superpowers, maybe.”]
[“Superpowers?”]
A fairly high-ranked host replied.
[“When you focus, some force moves at your will with invisible weight, and when you use a skill, it shows as effects.”]
VFA's devs had introduced ‘Neuroforce’—one of the in-game stats—as applying real-world tech that lets concentrated brainwaves move or manipulate objects.
You could control or amplify skill activation with ‘Neuroforce,’ but skills worked fine without it too.
Still, the power gap between Neuroforce users and non-users grew wider.
Far from disappointed, the vast majority of Korean players flocked in droves at news of this intriguing mechanic.
Countless users攻略ed the game, trained their ‘Neuroforce,’ and poured effort into climbing ranks.
But some were born with innate grasp of that intangible force, others grew easily with minimal effort.
While some saw no growth no matter how hard they tried.
A chance to become gods, conquering and ruling a vivid second reality in VR.
Myriad users challenged it, but VFA sieges became ever more a playground for top rankers.
And so, the 99th siege.
Two users waged deathmatch for VFA's true throne of strongest.
[“Neuroforce's ultimate bosses, Dart and Kaisha's duel. And below, the fight over Iscasha.”]
[“A war of the gods.”]
BOOM!! KABOOm!!
Screee—
At some point, the area's graphics stayed warped, barely recovering before distorting again.
The aura pouring from Kaisha and Dart felt like planetary gravity crushing everything around.
A world where power was visible to the naked eye.
BOOM!! KABOOM!! KABOOm!!
One-on-one duel.
Melee skills exploded endlessly, occasional teleports creating distance for AoE spells, but pursuit led back to close quarters.
Not a single moment to stop.
Hesitate even briefly, and your head flies.
* * *
The two swords clashed without respite.
Boom! KABOOM!
Clang, claclaclclang!!
KABOOm—!!!
Skill effects kept bursting.
Both ultimate veterans, their skill chaining never paused even for a second—near perfection.
Block over dodge.
Dodging broke the next skill link.
Melee specialist skills detonated at suffocating speeds, then suddenly Dart's eyes flashed electric blue.
Dart vanished before Kaisha's eyes.
Swoosh.
Teleporting far off, Dart cast a massive AoE spell toward the ground.
Kaisha's eyes widened.
“!”
Some Fullminak guild members sieging Iscasha on the ground caught on and retreated in panic.
[“Above!”]
Guild members looked up, but.
KABOOm—!!
“Fuck.”
Seeing the devastated ground below, Kaisha teleported straight at Dart.
Green sword energy slashed through the air.
Kaboom!!
“Urk!!”
Dart grunted.
Their full-force clash locked seamlessly, the two pairs of eyes glaring point-blank ablaze like they’d ignite.
Zzzzzing—
The swords trembled, infused with two different auras.
Neuroforce clash.
A pure Neuroforce battle over weapons, said to require over 100 million Neuroforce.
Hard to use other skills during pure Neuroforce exchanges, so this blocked Dart's AoE.
One-on-one voice chat activated.
[“Moved to 9 o'clock position. Linked up with Goldbunker.”]
Fullminak guild members below evaded the duel entirely, relocating.
Kaisha's lip twisted.
Clang!
Kaisha slammed Dart's sword away hard, retreating far while instantly stacking buffs.
Whoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!
Countless magic circles layered up.
Buffs and various healer skills were surprisingly one of Kaisha's strongest suits.
Normal users picked one class and leveled recommended skills, but siege-specialized top rankers usually had two or three classes.
Skills were classified by class in the system, but users could pick freely.
Skill trees for all classes unlocked stepwise per user level.
Users typically specialized in siege roles, not leveling randomly.
Yet Kaisha was a power jack-of-all-trades who'd tinkered with every class out of curiosity.
Kali had tsked at such noobish cluelessness, who knew?
That jack-of-all jack-of-all-trades build would birth an unprecedented monster via genius Neuroforce.
Kaisha spoke.
“Hey.”
Whoosh. Swoosh. Whoosh.
Self-buffs kept stacking amid it all.
The endless variety in buff colors and circles suggested pulling from healer and multiple other classes.
One reason jacks-of-all flop: even three classes overwhelm skill management in combat.
Links and synergies usually stay within one class, and Neuroforce grows attuned to one class's skills.
Thus, mages pair with healers, warriors with tanks or assassins.
But that common VFA wisdom didn't apply to Kaisha.
She shoveled skills like a buffet, and Neuroforce covered it all.
No clue how her links always crit, and her ‘Neuroforce aptitude’ seemed universally perfect—like the concept didn't exist for her.
The monster spoke.
“Let’s not touch each other's guild members, human to human.”
After inhumanly backstabbing, Kaisha declared it boldly; Dart's eyes chilled as he watched what nonsense she'd spout.
Dart charged instantly.
Swoosh!
“!”
Dart closed gap with teleport, but Kaisha teleported back.
Kaisha spread her arms wide.
Rising high, gazing down dizzily at the world below.
Skill motion heralding an ultimate: heavens roiled, graphics warped, green mana bubbled like smoke.
In the vast range one Neuroforce dominated, mana beads condensed.
Rumble—!!
Dart looking up had eyes blazing blue.
He surged mana instantly.
Directing sieges and fending endless challenges as rank one pushed him to melee main, but magic was originally Dart's longest mainstay.
No signal needed—the spread mana erupted into attacks simultaneously.
[Gunfire Tearing the Darkness]
[Superwide Blue Thunder Burning Light]
Hyper-dense green mana bullets and blue lightning devouring AoE graphics crackled toward each other.
RatatataTANG—!!!
KABOOm rumble rumble—!!!