Hatching (1)
Standing atop the roof, Nel was swept up in euphoria.
Amazing...
She had thought Guild Gwangmyeong wouldn't hold out.
Guild Gwangmyeong's forces numbered only ten right now.
The Stormwind Squad members and their leader, Knight Lookk.
The other users besides them.
Just ten in total, yet they'd taken down forces that rivaled a territory's army.
Of course, Guild Gwangmyeong's members were already battered beyond recognition.
They looked so wrecked that dropping dead on the spot wouldn't have been surprising.
-Kwachak!
Riesel collapsed after felling the last remaining knight.
"Huff... huff."
"Urk!"
"Ow, I'm done for."
"Hehe, but we survived!"
It had been possible only because their teamwork was better than expected.
Individual strength mattered, but they'd each faithfully carried out their roles.
Riesel was the strongest dealer, Bak the sturdy tank.
Bellia the ultimate priest, and Ian raced across rooftops, repeatedly saving guildmates in peril.
The synergy from those four was tremendous.
Right then.
A black aura from the Alhyunsil swept across the sky, blanketing it in darkness.
The whole of Ballus Territory was dyed black.
[Dark Calamity]
[Ronso's subordinates become demonized.]
[Only instincts for slaughter and destruction rage within them.]
[The dead rise again, recovering to 30% HP.]
Soon, Riesel saw the knight he'd just felled rise with eerie movements.
-Ududuk!
Ignoring the grinding of broken bones, the figure rose, its skin turning black.
Demonization.
The grotesque power bestowed by the demons worshipped by the Calamity Church.
It stripped away fear and terror.
Low-tier demonization robbed reason; mid-to-high tiers preserved it while granting immense power.
The knight Phon, whom he'd just downed, was now at least 10% stronger, pressing Riesel hard.
"Urgh!"
Already battered to hell, they struggled against the empowered demonized foes.
Especially tricky since the enemies charged without fear of being cut down.
Then.
-Jee-ee-eek!
A rift tore open suddenly, and around twenty Hellhounds burst forth.
Grrrrowl!
The Hellhounds tore into the throats of nearby territory residents.
-Kwajak!
"A-Argh!"
Then they began pouncing on residents everywhere.
In an instant, the entire territory descended into pandemonium.
Ronso's subordinates had originally targeted only Guild Gwangmyeong.
But with slaughter and destruction instincts raging, the demonized and Hellhounds started massacring residents indiscriminately.
"Aaaah!"
"Ugh!"
"Kyaaak!"
Guild Gwangmyeong's weary fighters made a snap decision.
"Move to defend the residents!"
"Hurry!"
The residents, fleeing Hellhounds and demonized, clustered in one spot.
Guild Gwangmyeong stood before them, holding the line with grim determination.
And Nel joined them there.
Nel was speechless at the shocking carnage.
She saw the huddled residents and the over a hundred demonized and Hellhounds targeting them.
Soon, the demonized and Hellhounds surged forward.
"Bak!"
Tank Bak stepped up front, blocking the onslaught, his body shredded to rags.
Riesel advanced to shield Bak, only for Hellhounds to maul his body.
"You fucking bastards!"
-Pew-pew!
Ian fired Baby Arrows at demonized and Hellhounds, but soon his right arm was bitten.
-Kwazak!
"Gah!"
With his right arm mangled, Ian could no longer shoot.
Then Bak plunged deep into the Hellhounds and demonized.
"I'll buy time—get the residents out!"
"Bak!"
Bak was a tank.
He had unique aggro skills like no other.
A huge number, but he could hold their attention long enough.
Krahahaha!
His tank shout activated, drawing all nearby aggro to him.
In that instant, Hellhounds and demonized swarmed Bak.
The sight was grotesque.
"Go, quickly."
Bak, buried amid over a hundred demonized and Hellhounds, gritted his teeth and activated a skill to endure.
[Unyielding]
Defense triples for 5 seconds—a miraculous power.
Bak gave a wry smile.
I have to save as many as possible.
Through his narrowing vision, trapped by demonized, he took in the terrified residents.
Representative, you look happy these days.
Happy? At my age, getting a new goal is pure joy, haha!
A new goal: Make Guild Gwangmyeong the best.
This territory was precious for that.
A place we'd built together. A place to build further.
-Waduk!
Chewed by Hellhounds, Bak smiled bitterly.
Maybe we rushed too far, too fast.
Others would take a year; we'd done it in months.
We were still sorely lacking.
Then Bak's dying eyes widened.
-Chingclang!
Glass shattered from the Alhyunsil.
A window frame flew straight, piercing several demonized and Hellhounds.
-Pusheok!
-Chiiik!
The massive holy power pouring from the window frame made them writhe in agony.
"...!"
Finally, Hyun-soo leaped through the window.
[Calamity Leap]
Fly freely through the sky.
A necklace he'd never worn before hung around his neck.
Bak realized.
That fourth calamity alert earlier... Did he kill it and take this?
Bak's eyes shook.
The ability to fly? Truly miraculous.
Hyun-soo's coat billowed as he flew straight to Bak, landing in front of him to block the way.
Thud!
Keh-eek!
Kraaak!
Chiiik!
The monsters around Bak recoiled from the holy power emanating from the window frame.
Hyun-soo yanked out the spear.
"You okay?"
"Y-Yeah, yeah."
Bak was flustered. Hyun-soo's back looked like a massive mountain shielding him.
For a moment, he recalled the pitiful young man they'd first met—shoulders hunched, flailing in despair.
But not anymore.
"You're safe now."
No trace of that despairing youth remained.
When did he...
Change like this?
His level was nearly at 300, the benchmark for high-level players.
But the battle situation was dire.
Too many enemies.
Then, peering past Hyun-soo, Bak sensed something from the spear.
What the hell is that spear?
Vast holy power swirled around the spear Hyun-soo gripped.
Myeolak (Exterminate Evil)
Additional attack power against evil rises by 660%.
Then Bak spotted a Hellhound aiming for Hyun-soo's flank.
"Watch—"
Hyun-soo swung the spear, cleaving it in one motion.
-Kwazak!
In one hit!?
-Swaaa!
Bak gaped as the Hellhound scattered to ash in a single strike.
And he understood.
It wasn't too soon...
We hadn't come too far too fast—Hyun-soo had grown too much.
He'd become a completely different person.
"I'll be right back."
-Flutter!
Hyun-soo moved.
***
[20 seconds.]
[19 seconds.]
The spear combining Four Signs Sword and trident held the strengths of both artifacts.
Some skills were newly born from the fusion; others carried over.
Among them, Myeolak was the original power of the Four Signs Sword.
Its base 400% boost against evil had strengthened to 660%.
Can you imagine?
Even normal attacks dealt 660% extra damage to evil.
Plus, Hyun-soo's new Calamity Necklace granted 30% attack and defense boosts against evil.
And this spear's raw power surpassed anything he'd wielded before.
Hyun-soo's eyes scanned the surroundings.
Some fifty demonized knights, twenty-odd Hellhounds, a hundred soldiers.
Guild Gwangmyeong in combat-incapable state, residents gripped by fear.
Legend above legend.
This spear even had aggro power.
-Kkidik!
The screeching scrape of metal from the spear made every being turn toward Hyun-soo.
Swish!
Swish!
One fortunate thing.
They're all under 30% HP right now.
Lord Quest: Save the Residents
📍 Rank: A
📍 Restriction: Lord
📍 Reward: Faith in the lord, +2 to all stats
📍 Failure Penalty: Ballus Territory destroyed
📍 Description: You've become the new lord of this territory. Save the residents and become the true master of Ballus Territory.
[16 seconds.]
[14 seconds.]
"Kraaa!"
"Grraa!"
"Grrrrowl!"
The scraping sound drew every foe charging at Hyun-soo.
He swung the lowered spear, reducing them to ash in single strokes.
-Swaaaa!
But foes swarmed from all directions, and with Hyun-soo already battered, everyone trembled in anxiety.
"H-Hyun-soo...!"
"What are you gonna do?!"
Hyun-soo was single-handedly drawing nearly 150 evils.
He kept running to evade the evils trailing him.
Even amid that.
-Kwajik!
-Pew-pew, pew!
-Kwazak!
"Cough!"
Fear and chaos mounted.
The foes chasing Hyun-soo had formed a circle, turning residents' faces ashen.
The blacksmiths and Ger watched him, eyes trembling.
Hyun-soo made no move as enemies closed in.
Then Ger realized.
He's not frozen—he's waiting for them to come.
And almost simultaneously, the evils surged.
[7 seconds.]
[6 seconds.]
"Hyun-soo!!!"
"Kyaaak!"
Many screamed or called his name.
[5 seconds.]
While combining the two artifacts, Hyun-soo had heard the alert.
[You can imbue a skill embodying the strengths of both artifacts.]
Hyun-soo looked far ahead.
Not just the encircling enemies, but his guildmates and residents outside.
One inspiration struck him.
It stemmed from childhood, holding his father's hand at a festival in Haman, Gyeongsangnam-do.
This game is a folk play held to pray for the people's peace.
Watching the beautiful fireworks from that festival, Hyun-soo had thought.
What a beautiful game.
"D-Dodge!"
[4 seconds.]
Hyun-soo slammed the spear in both hands into the ground with all his might.
Pook!
In that instant, the dark territory grew even darker, as if someone had drawn blackout curtains.
His voice pierced the pitch-black darkness that blocked even adaptation.
"Falling Fireworks Play."
Then, in that inky void, something bizarre occurred.
Thin, threadlike strings connecting rooftops, buildings.
The faint glow of those tiny threads briefly pierced the dark before it swallowed them again.
In that split-second glimpse, the foes were already upon Hyun-soo.
And then.
Fires bloomed from hundreds of threads.
Those flames began dropping embers downward along the strings.
-Hwaaaa!
Tiny as dust, the embers lit up the darkness like sparks.
Tens of thousands of embers fell, touching the evils around Hyun-soo.
-Chiiiiiik!
All those evils began melting away.
And soon.
-Hwaaak!
As if someone parted the blackout curtains, the world brightened again.
At the center stood Hyun-soo, gazing at evils scattering to ash and the spear dissolving away.
The moment he smiled reassuringly at the relieved residents.
An anvil-and-hammer emblem began etching onto their clothes everywhere.
Ger, leader of Ballus Territory's blacksmiths.
He approached Hyun-soo, holding the Lord's Sword he'd forged for his lord, leading hundreds of blacksmiths.
And he offered it reverently.
[Ger offers the Lord's Sword.]
"Hail the new lord."
The surviving residents followed suit, bowing respectfully.
[Respect for the lord is instilled in 10,310 territory residents.]
Hyun-soo stared at them silently for a long while.
He couldn't quite grasp the reality of this moment, when the lowliest among them had truly become their sovereign.