Chapter 70
Chapter 70
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 70
Chapter Title: Guild Master Isn't Enough with Just the Game
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Those covering Kaisha—no, Parda—quickly drew their weapons.
Click.
Shing.
But the place where Hellcannon drew his sword and charged at breakneck speed wasn't Kaisha. It was the Spaceking heroes right in front of her, the ones the hunters had been fighting.
Slash—!!
He swept them away like it was nothing.
“Eek! Why me of all people?! Is this a warning that you're coming for me next?!”
Parda shuddered at the horrifying thought.
It was famous among the guild members that Kaisha was a huge Hellcannon fan.
But at the same time, it was equally famous that Hellcannon was an impenetrable fortress with zero openings, showing not even a hint of reaction.
Even though he'd lost his family to Spaceking, one might expect betrayal or anger, but Hellcannon was like a textbook NPC—a hero who obeyed orders without resistance.
The hunters from Fullminak and elsewhere darted their eyes around sharply.
“Hey, why's Hellcannon doing that? Suddenly attacking Spaceking's heroes to help us out.”
“Weren't they on the same side?”
“We can't let our guard down no matter what. He might've decided to attack everyone.”
“Looking closely, it seems like Spaceking and Goldbunker's traitors are splitting into two factions. The ones dressed like modern people and the ones who look normal.”
Just as someone keenly observed, the heroes emerging from the alleyway and those coming from the intersection were actually from different factions.
The constellations' intervention had torn them apart into two groups, though of course the hunters had no way of knowing the details.
Meanwhile, Hellcannon hadn't joined any faction yet, having wandered far from the vicinity of Dangsan Station.
That's when a voice came over the comms.
["Heroes from the intersection are entering. Moving at high speed right now."]
The hunters froze as one.
Having firmly believed Hellcannon would be on their side, the Spaceking heroes scattered in panic when he turned on them instead.
The ground behind the buildings was stained with blood.
Hellcannon's ultimate move lived up to its reputation with devastating lethality, creating countless casualties.
After wiping out the heroes who posed a threat to the hunters, Hellcannon glanced at Kaisha.
“......”
Parda, pretending to be Kaisha, looked like she might faint, her legs trembling at the real warzone unfolding before her eyes.
A guildmate close to Parda whispered ever so softly, “Get it together, man.”
The hunters tensed up.
Seeing no real reaction from Kaisha still, disappointment flickered in Hellcannon's eyes.
Ever since seeing his little sister held in Kaisha's arms back in Kalba, he'd been thinking of her nonstop, but now he felt utterly deflated, wondering what he'd been expecting.
After what happened in the gate, it was natural she'd be on guard.
The heroes who'd been rolling on the ground between life and death after taking Hellcannon's merciless ultimate began coming to one by one.
Healing came from somewhere.
The heroes contracted with the constellation Ashin looked toward one direction in unison, as if on cue.
“Damn it! Fall back!”
Their injuries were too severe to fight back.
The heroes from the alleyway and some from the open area withdrew like the tide.
Voices reporting the situation came over the hunters' voice chat.
["Intersection heroes incoming!"]
["Kirin-nim is currently unconscious and captured at the intersection."]
["Additional allied heroes have appeared and are heading to the intersection to rescue Kirin-nim. Could you buy us some time? Just a little."]
The hunters swallowed hard.
“Absolutely impossible.”
“If Kirin-nim survives but everyone here dies, what's the point?”
Some of the heroes from the intersection strode in with an ominous aura.
The murderous, overwhelming presence radiating from them felt distinctly different from before, though it was hard to say exactly how.
Parda spoke up.
“Hyung. Doesn't something feel off?”
“......Like what?”
“The heals poured on those heroes earlier, the factions splitting into two, the ones from the alley wearing modern clothes. It feels like there's some overlord supporting them.”
The hunters glanced at Parda.
Similar talk had come up in the group chat earlier. And looking at the heroes in front of them now, it was hard to disagree.
The leader among the intersection heroes smiled at Hellcannon.
“Hyung Hellcannon. Long time no see.”
The prince from Tereb.
Leonhardt.
In the warrior nation of Midgard's north, royalty fought on the front lines themselves, so their prowess was renowned.
Tereb bordered Hellcannon's homeland and touched Lowguard.
Hellcannon had been set to marry Tereb's princess and deploy to the eastern frontlines.
Because of that, Leonhardt had admired the exceptionally skilled Hellcannon since childhood, treating him like an older brother.
Hellcannon knew the man well and held no particular grudge against him.
But Leonhardt spoke with a unfamiliar face.
“The day of judgment has come.”
Ding!
[The constellation ‘Light Arbiter Promising Salvation’ boasts that Leonhardt is a remarkably upright and just incarnate.]
[It expects you, who has been unfairly treated, to stand on the side of justice.]
[The ‘Light Arbiter Promising Salvation’ promises to grant you the power and authority befitting one who enacts justice.]
Hellcannon tore his eyes from the message window and looked at Leonhardt.
Glorious golden hair mixed with Wirentia bloodline.
Leonhardt's warm, bright golden locks were the appearance Hellcannon—who'd been born with red hair and teased for it since childhood—had always envied most.
Someone blocked Leonhardt's path.
“Leon, it's dangerous.”
“It's fine.”
The heroes who'd been badly beaten by Hellcannon were extremely wary of him, but Leonhardt stepped forward without a care for the mood.
Leonhardt wore a regretful expression.
“How aggrieved and exhausted you must have been, losing your beloved older sister and fighting for your enemies. Naturally, you'll take my hand.”
Hellcannon looked down at the hand extended toward him.
“......”
The hunters watching from a distance grew rowdy.
“They're definitely split into factions, right?”
“Weren't they all Spaceking?”
“Can we just let this play out? What if Hellcannon switches sides?”
“We're all dead, fuck.”
“Is there any way we can stop it......”
Kaisha's bound hero, Elfer, who had been silently watching the flustered, anxious hunters, finally spoke up.
“Why aren't you fighting?”
Heroes didn't usually speak much.
They didn't know the exact meaning of 'NPC,' but they understood it as a derogatory term users used to distinguish heroes and gods from themselves.
At Elfer's question, Parda—who wasn't actually the overlord but pretending to be—replied.
“Uh, well, our levels dropped, so.”
Elfer said,
“Hmm. That's weird. Kaisha-nim fought heroes just fine inside the gate. Though I guess you can't expect much from mere third-rate.”
“......”
Blatant disdain.
A chilly silence fell over the area, scratching the rankers' pride, but Elfer ignored it and stepped forward with her bow.
Whisl apologized on Elfer's behalf.
“My apologies.”
Rianon silently bowed her head to the hunters in respect.
Elfer, Phyun Whisl, Rianon.
All three were Kaisha's bound heroes.
Like their master, Kaisha's bound heroes were generally composed, but Elfer was the exception.
The fairy-race ranger boasting an elfin face and strikingly shiny golden long hair was infamous even in Fullminak for her rudeness.
But she backed it up with her skills.
She was the strongest from the military empire Diferonta, teeming with elite heroes.
With Elfer trash-talking—her dual personality only respecting first-raters—and the other heroes cleaning up after her, the hunters snapped back to attention.
“Kaisha-nim's level dropped like ours, but she beat heroes?”
“Wow, as expected of Kaisha-nim.”
Hellcannon, who caught Kaisha's name clearly from the hunters murmuring in the distance, turned his head.
But what met his eyes was Elfer.
“Annoying prick.”
Elfer, out front, immediately picked a fight with Hellcannon, making the hunters behind her gasp.
Far from stopping him from joining the other side, she was straight-up insulting him.
Elfer glared at Hellcannon and said,
“You strut around relying on your face and skills, but I've never liked you. Kaisha-nim shows you some favor and you get all high and mighty.”
It sounded so much like a self-introduction that someone from Fullminak muttered, “In-group hate?”
Leon smirked and said,
“Kaisha's dog is barking.”
“Imitating its master's speech patterns.”
Leonhardt's expression hardened briefly at Elfer's cold sneer.
That was definitely Dart's manner of speaking.
Elfer continued,
“The Wirentia priests all know. How the eastern nations colluded with the north to betray Wirentia.”
Flinch.
Hellcannon, Leonhardt, and the other heroes all startled and looked at Elfer.
“You don't seriously think Spaceking turning the north into a wasteland was a coincidence. And of course, Kaisha-nim receiving Wirentia's blessing wasn't one either.”
“!!”
“The ones who need judgment are you trash.”
As Elfer nocked her bow, the Fullminak heroes positioned behind her all activated their skills.
The moment the Spaceking heroes were stunned by Elfer's words, she fired without hesitation.
Elfer's AoE.
[Forest's Wrath lv99]
Colorless arrows spawned in the air, scattering faint green light as they rained down indiscriminately.
Boom boom boom—!!
The front was devastated, dirt and cement dust billowing thickly.
“Argh! Don't break the buildings!”
One of the hunters behind shouted loudly, and wide-area heals rained down on the rebels who'd taken the hit.
Elfer muttered irritably as she pursued the fleeing rebels.
“You think I wouldn't account for that much?”
Their organized retreat, like they'd received orders, was definitely suspicious.
Among the retreating Spaceking heroes, Hellcannon—whose arm was grabbed by Leonhardt—was being practically dragged along after them.
* * *
In the tense situation where the heroes had occupied Dangsan Station intersection and even taken hostages, breaking news kept flashing nonstop.
At lunchtime, crowds flocked to the Gotgold channel.
["Urban warfare is beginning."]
A full-scale siege was underway at the intersection.
Police, usually only deployed for riot control, formed lines with [POLICE]-marked shields, while heroes and hunters warily guarded the front and advanced slowly.
["Isn't this dangerous? I'm worried about the police's safety."]
["Ah, but it's kinda poignant."]
["Everyone's banding together to resolve the situation."]
Tense police and hunters.
To rescue the hostage Kirin-nim and protect civilians, they had to push out the heroes hunkered down at the intersection somehow.
["They've calculated the radius based on those heroes' defensive skills."]
["All heroes are converging on Dangsan Station intersection right now. Word is Spaceking's heroes have split into two factions too."]
["I hope they kill each other off, but waiting for that risks Kirin-nim's life—"]
["Whoa. Kirin-nim's awake."]
Foreign major news cameras were gathering at the scene.
Heroization among hunters had exploded especially fast in the US over Korea, and the American government had quickly elevated its image by treating hunters well.
The plight of Korean hunters would surely be portrayed as incredibly cool and heroic by US media.
But the hosts didn't look kindly on the foreign outlets.
["Those bastards are still outside the gate, sending cameras to see how our country's faring."]
["Reporting how modern weapons failed spectacularly, no doubt."]
["I desperately hope our Korean first-raters come back alive and smash them all."]
["Obviously. If they return, Korea sweeps the world rankings."]
Then suddenly,
Ding!
An alert rang out not just for hunters, but all Koreans.
『Congratulations, Korea!』
『Korea installs the world's first Babel Tower system!』