Chapter 72
Chapter 72
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 72
Chapter Title: Desperate Stand at the Crossroads
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Standing together on the battlefield, the gap in power between the heroes and the hunters became even more stark.
Whoosh. Whoosh.
From behind the heroes, the hunters desperately showered them with buffs. Basic skills from those who hadn't even properly leveled up yet, which was heartbreaking.
"Damn it!"
"Don't get cold feet—slam those buffs!"
"We'll focus on supporting the heroes like in the ambush! Pour max mental power into basic skills!"
The police looked like they might faint at the superhuman war unfolding right in front of them in real time, but they steadfastly held their ground, aiding the hunters and heroes.
As the heroes' attacks and attention focused on one spot, the cameras covering the scene edged a bit closer.
A site thick with tension.
A vivid scene, dangerous but one they had to capture even at the risk of their lives.
* * *
Meanwhile, in the camp with Elfer and Pada.
As soon as they entered range, they received the joint attack order and plunged into the fray.
["The cops are almost dead—pull more aggro!!"]
"Son of a bitch! This is the best we can do!!"
There was no front line here at all.
The heroes took the lead, while hunters sporadically cast skills from behind.
They charged in recklessly, forming ad-hoc formations to fight, and since the police shields had pulled aggro well, the enemy density wasn't too high.
But it was these very people who had to face head-on the likes of Helcannon and Leonhardt, counted among SpaceKing's strongest heroes.
["Whoa, damn. Even with Helcannon there, it feels like aggro isn't pulling at all?"]
["What do we do? What if Helcannon's ultimate comes?"]
"Helcannon already used his ultimate in the alley, so we estimate it's on cooldown."
["Crazy. Thank God."]
["We're saved."]
["Please go all-out DPS."]
["Don't look for God—look for Kaisha-nim. Our only god is Kaisha-nim."]
["Kaisha in this situation—"]
The hunter who was about to snap irritably about calling for Kaisha right now caught on to something and switched words.
["Makes sense. Carmen."]
It was exactly the right time to call for Kaisha.
Earlier, Elfer's testimony via voice chat that Kaisha had wiped out the heroes inside the gate had spread widely.
Now that it was known, there was no better solution than the first string returning.
["Babel Tower has opened. She'll be back soon."]
Babel Tower login.
The hunters didn't know what nonsense the message window was spouting, but since the first string had entered the gate and vanished, they figured it was either entering Babel Tower per the quest or dead—one or the other.
An alert for Babel Tower in this situation was a green light.
["Carmen."]
["Carmen."]
["We believe."]
"Ugh. Please, Guild Master."
Here too, fake Kaisha Pada, desperately craving Kaisha's return, clumsily drew the sign of the cross with sweaty hands.
With up-down and left-right swapped, it was clear he wasn't a believer.
A holy sign not for God, but for Kaisha.
Pada, who had somehow become a fake guild master and been thrown into the heart of battle, shed bloody tears inwardly.
A ranker in the top 100, but beaten down in the land of the skilled with no pride left to bruise, he'd aimed to be a bystander—yet it felt like God had grabbed him by the scruff and dropped him into the warzone.
The enemy heroes, tricked by Fullminak's scheme into believing Pada was Kaisha, trembled in fear and didn't dare approach rashly.
One of Fullminak's guild members guarding Pada like a bodyguard spoke up.
"Fix your expression at least."
"Sob, damn it, I'm scared shitless—how much more can I do?"
"...Fine, just don't cry."
Pada looked like he might really burst into tears.
Even Fullminak's guild members didn't think they could keep fooling the heroes forever.
Through overall comms centered on God Gold, word had spread that a traitor might have emerged among Fullminak's heroes.
If there was a traitor, this ruse would blow up fast.
Any Fullminak member would instantly know Pada's real nick wasn't Kaisha.
Just then, one of SpaceKing's heroes dragged over a captured Fullminak guild member and held a blade to their throat.
"Stop—!!"
The area around the center of the intersection froze like someone hit pause.
Fullminak ranker Kirin, the trigger for this full-scale urban war, had taken concentrated fire earlier—his head and body were drenched in blood.
Gasping ragged breaths, he barely opened his eyes to look at the hunters.
["Oh, damn, Kirin-nim..."]
["What do we do about Kirin-nim?"]
["He's lost so much blood."]
One of the heroes fighting at the forefront, pushing back the hunters, stepped forward.
Kaisha's vassal hero, Pyun Whistle.
"What do you want?"
"Ha! What else? Hand over Kaisha."
Whistle furrowed his brow at the absurd demand, and angry voices erupted from the hunters everywhere.
Are they insane?
The traitors were dead serious, of course.
As fierce glares focused on him, Pada's shoulders trembled finely.
"I... I knew this would happen..."
Elfer walked up beside Whistle and addressed the traitors.
"No wonder you're shaking in your boots preemptively. You got swept away by one of Kaisha-nim's skills inside the gate."
The traitors flinched hard, and Whistle glanced at Elfer.
It was astonishing.
Whistle had died early in the hero infighting at the front lines, so he hadn't seen it.
Elfer nocked an arrow.
Everyone nearby flinched, but Elfer ignored them.
He had seized the initiative.
"You think Kaisha-nim's been sitting idle because she's a fool?"
"..."
"Kill the hostage and we all die together, or come up with a proper negotiation—"
Things were going smoothly when someone shouted.
["Rear flank!!"]
"Behind!"
"?!"
Everyone facing off there, including Elfer, whipped their heads around simultaneously.
As a group appeared, voice chat grew noisy.
["C-Civilians?"]
["Not civilians! SpaceKing heroes!!"]
["Illusion or what?! How'd they suddenly pop up out of nowhere?!"]
"Those guys from the alley!"
Traitors in front at the intersection, and now the western traitors from the alley in the rear.
["Evac—!!"]
AoE spells flew in right away.
The heroes who had turned and started running threw up shields, but they couldn't fully block the massively amplified AoE, boosted like it had vassal aid.
Boom—!!
Kaboom kaboom kaboom—!!
Several hunters exposed at the rear took hits and tumbled.
With serious casualties from the surprise attack, the already shaky lines completely crumbled into chaos.
"You bastards! No orders?!"
["Uh, ha, damn."]
["Run for it!"]
"Damn it! Tend to the wounded!"
["Suggest linking up with the police. They're struggling too, but..."]
"Grab the wounded and run!"
"Cast AoE!!"
The AoE-bombed hunters retreated toward the police, while heroes charged in, casting AoE in place of shields.
The western traitors who ambushed, blessed by some unknown grace, emerged from between buildings.
A message appeared before them.
[The constellation 'Darkness Observing the End' warns to beware, as those bastards gain massive power boosts when they believe themselves righteous.]
[It commands to exploit the gap now that their sense of justice is shattered.]
"Their sense of justice is shattered, huh."
"Those damn eastern pricks. Acting all high and mighty— as if their 'justice' means shit."
"How about it? Fake confirmed?"
When a SpaceKing hero asked, Fullminak's traitor glanced at Pada fleeing with the hunters.
"Fake."
That's not Kaisha.
The traitor was a hero close to Hiron, the prince of Diperonta who betrayed Fullminak in this siege.
He'd long spied for SpaceKing, trembling in fear of execution by the gods after their defeat.
When heroes entered the 'World of Gods' and started killing vassal lords, this traitor seized the heaven-sent chance and immediately joined SpaceKing's rebels.
"Not even first string, it seems."
With confirmation, the traitors sighed in relief.
"Of course."
"If Kaisha's not here, the rest aren't either."
"Hope they all croaked in the gate."
The heroes grinned.
"Without those bastards, this world is fully ours."
The northwestern lords' ambitions to conquer the mainland from Midgard still burned strong.
While SpaceKing's eastern heroes sought revenge fueled by justice and a return home, the western heroes craved revenge and dominion over this world.
The hunters watching from afar looked flustered.
["Damn."]
["Why so many?"]
["Now that they're all together, I get how the factions split."]
["Eastern with Helcannon, and western trash."]
SpaceKing guild members not at the scene remotely monitored the intersection and analyzed.
With hunters and heroes thrown into Dangshan Station intersection, civilians were relatively safer, and cameras filmed more aggressively.
["Western camp, currently..."]
The western traitors split into two: one toward the intersection's eastern forces, the other toward the police.
Hunters had mounting casualties, police even worse.
Into the site where police and allies barely held, the brutal western traitors—worse than the eastern heroes—charged.
["..."]
Voice chat went silent.
Everyone's minds went blank; no words came.
["Ha, damn."]
["We're all dead meat."]
["Can't we retreat?"]
Retreat talk sparked clashes among on-site hunters.
["Hey, you fuck! Shut up! Retreat now and hunters bail while police and civilians die!"]
["Better than all dying!"]
["Shut your trap, asshole!"]
Curses flew in rage.
As western and eastern heroes clashed before the police, things worsened.
Doubled enemy forces clashing with massive power; skills splashing toward police doubled shield needs.
["Argh! Aaaah!!"]
["Turn off the noise?! Only on when you're about to die!!"]
["Sector 8 breached! Shields!!"]
["When's Kaisha-nim really coming?! Our god guild master—!!"]
As things got dire, Fullminak guild members habitually cried for their guild master first.
["Hold the line! Hold!!"]
["Channel that ambush vibe! Babel popped—soon!"]
["Kaisha-nim will come for sure!!"]
["Please! We believe, Carmen!"]
["Carmen Carmen! Hold onnn—!"]
["Uwaa, Guild Master!!"]
["Fuck! If Kaisha comes now, I'll worship her as god till I die!!"]
["Cameeeen!!"]
As hunters united in religious fervor amid crisis, crying for Carmen.
Hum.
Suddenly, a sound like space warping echoed from thin air.
["Damn..."]
["W-What is this? Not another monster gate opening, right?"]
Thump thump.
Hunters' hearts raced.
As a sub-space vortex formed like a monster gate, even SpaceKing's heroes paused to stare.
Someone stepped out.
"!?"
Kaisha emerged, startled, looking around.
Following was Mino.
"Whoa, but the S-rank gate closed for sure, right? What if it's not shut properly and the city's a sea of fire or something..."
Mino, excitedly chattering about finally going home, shut his mouth upon crossing the gate.
"..."
Not quite a sea of fire, but an eerily similar sight to his joke unfolded before them.
In the silence, someone muttered.
["...Carmen."]