Great Atlas War (Part 1) (2)
Time flew by, and the day before the Great Atlas War arrived.
Hyun-soo, having made all the necessary preparations, was now in his father's hospital room.
"Tomorrow's the day we fight those targeting Hyun's Forge."
To be honest, even Hyun-soo couldn't guarantee victory.
"I've done everything I can to prepare."
It had been ten days since Atlas had been promoted to a grand territory.
Though the time was short, Lukio had taken command as Atlas's commander.
Thanks to him, Atlas now had a substantial force, more than enough to cover their needs.
In fact, Atlas was growing splendidly.
"I think it'll all be decided in the Great Atlas War."
Whether Hyun-soo could become king.
If they lost the Great Atlas War, everything Hyun-soo had built could crumble.
For starters, there was a high chance it'd take over a year to craft those twenty artifacts.
Plus, with a record of defeat against the world, Atlas would face endless invasions.
But victory would change everything.
Atlas would gain the glory of triumphing over the strongest player alliance, signaling it had the greatest potential for Hyun-soo to become king.
After a long talk with his father, Hyun-soo stood up.
He needed a good night's sleep to face tomorrow's Great Atlas War.
-There's one clear fact here.
-What's that?
-This Great Atlas War is the first event ever hosted by players.
-That's right. Previews announcing the Great Atlas War have been airing on game channels worldwide for days now.
-And it'll be broadcast live to the entire world in real time.
-Twenty minutes until the Great Atlas War begins.
-Could you explain the rules?
-The Great Atlas War is the gathering of 'those who've always wanted to take on Hyun.' The alliance has 3,000 participants.
-3,000—that's an insane number. Even more shocking is that every single one is over level 400.
-Yes. And 20% are high rankers from their respective countries.
-Leading the alliance are the top players from each nation. A huge portion of participants joined because of them.
-How many from Hyun's Forge?
-Ah, this is both fascinating and kind of sad.
-Why's that?
-Hyun's Forge has an unlimited number of participants.
-……Pardon?
-It's from the proposal hosted by Purum Corp, relayed by alliance leader Kalli.
-Well, with numbers like that, they could target a decent kingdom's capital. It's also a show of the alliance's confidence.
-The rules: Fight until one side—Hyun's Forge, whose numbers are unknown, or the alliance—is completely wiped out. Every hour, each army advances once.
-The alliance has two armies total. Army One consists of 1,800 players.
-Is Army One the main force?
-No. Army Two has the top players, and considering their higher levels overall, it's the overwhelming powerhouse.
-And right now, the feed is switching to Atlas's walls.
The fog parts, revealing Atlas's exterior.
-Atlas's walls are impossibly long.
-This is unexpected.
Even viewers eagerly awaiting the Great Atlas War were stunned.
Five minutes to the match start.
Purum Corp's Atlas betting pool closed.
Odds: 99.1% on the alliance, 0.9% on Hyun's Forge.
Viewers were convinced there'd be no upsets.
Meanwhile.
Alliance leader Kalli and the nations' tops were chatting before logging in.
Kalli gave a wry smile.
"Bet on the toto?"
"50% of my fortune."
"Me too."
"Same here."
"Win rate's 99%, so payout's low, but it's a sure thing."
Kalli nodded firmly.
Everyone agreed.
Plus, the tops, including Kalli, were certain they wouldn't even need Army Two.
So they'd stuffed all the weaklings into Army One and saved the strong for Army Two.
'Broadcast our power worldwide in some lame event? Ridiculous.'
Of course, Army One weren't pushovers either.
They were an elite squad of rankers from major nations.
They focused on the TV screen.
Army Two would log in after Army One was wiped or an hour passed.
The screen showed Army One appearing.
[The Great Atlas War begins.]
Viewers couldn't look away.
The curtain rose on the first player-hosted event.
Along with it, the world's most renowned rankers appeared.
-Army One looks badass too.
-Unbelievable. Rankers rarely unite. Yet the world's strongest have for the Great Atlas War.
Viewers took in Army One's key figures.
[Agares's Legion Commander Pang Lv.476]
Agares.
The second-ranked archdemon.
And the man leading 400 players east toward Atlas was named Pang.
Pang was one of the world's most famous players.
The reason: A mere player serving as archdemon Agares's legion commander.
Evaluations of legion commander Pang went like this:
'Most terrifying as an enemy, most reliable as an ally.'
Pang was a raider and invader on the US server.
His demon legions had razed multiple territories—infamously so.
Pang had inherited Agares's power, able to demonize every subordinate for greater strength.
"Can't see ahead, and it's humid."
Atlas had disadvantages, so Purum Corp granted various perks.
Most were trivial, so the alliance accepted.
Atlas, briefly visible, vanished back into fog.
Pang advanced east with his 400, slipping into the mist.
They began demonizing at rapid speed.
These were Ares's top dealers from the start.
'This many could sweep 5,000 regular soldiers or knights.'
Not arrogance—certainty.
Pang glanced back with a mocking tone.
"Let's wrap this quick and grab food."
They just needed the elixir boosting all stats by 5.
Then, arriving at the east gate, Pang froze.
"……?"
Pang was baffled—absurdly so.
He'd expected hundreds guarding the east gate.
-What is that?
-Why just one guy?
-Mask hides his identity.
-Even with the mask, the info block suggests Hyun's gear hides all player data and artifact appearances.
-……Did Hyun not take the Great Atlas War seriously from the start?
-How with just one?
Pang reacted the same.
"What the fuck."
He cursed outright at the lone man.
To him, this was utterly ridiculous.
Unknown Identity Lv.???
The masked, robed man seemed skinny.
His eyes, visible through the helmet, were alluringly beautiful despite being male.
"Who the hell are you, guarding alone? Fuck, annoying. Gonna kill you quick. Buncha bullshit no-names acting tough these days."
Shing—
The robed man blocking the way slowly drew his sword.
This man had made a promise with Hyun-soo months ago.
He'd grant three requests. This was the last.
'Not some bullshit no-name.'
He was world rank 1, Bahala.
Meanwhile, west gate.
Grand Mage Rund, world mage rank 1, also called the Golden Mage, led the top mage guild Golden Mage.
400 top mages' firepower defied common sense.
They could inflict 200,000+ casualties on a kingdom capital in one strike.
"Wind."
Whoosh—
True to a grand mage, he casually blew away the fog with wind, then frowned.
'Assassin?'
A single masked man holding a dagger stared him down.
Assassins could typically hide their info.
Locking eyes, even Rund flinched briefly.
Mages and assassins had bad matchups.
"A skilled assassin can take out 20+ high-level mages."
Hard for mages to land hits on assassins.
Assassins had sky-high attack power; mages had low total HP.
"Pathetic. What's one guy gonna do to us?"
The blocker thought:
'Whether to reveal yourself is your choice.'
Recalling his friend's words, he removed his mask.
Bokdeongi had given him new life.
And thanks to his friend, days were joyful now.
"……."
Such thoughts.
He wanted to protect his friend without hiding.
And punish them.
They'd endlessly threatened Atlas, exploiting weak forces, sparking this absurd Great Atlas War.
"Nice to meet you."
"……!?"
"……!?"
Rund's face hardened upon seeing the unmasked face.
He'd just said a skilled assassin could kill twenty.
And this skilled assassin was:
"I'm Asura Kabel."
Assassin rank 1, second legend Asura.
Meanwhile, south gate.
Sword Emperor Fond, who'd suffered much humiliation from Hyun's Forge.
He arrived with Riu and 500 troops.
They too found one mystery knight.
Fond, finding it laughable, sneered.
"Scared?"
"……."
His overt mockery turned to shock.
Pff—
"……?"
[Critical hit triggered.]
Pff-pff—
Three more daggers slammed precisely into his forehead.
Then he began crumbling to ash.
Finally, north gate.
"Kahaaak!"
"Grrr, kahaaak!"
World tamer rank 1 Relli was panicking.
She led 2,000 monsters with fellow tamers.
But something bizarre happened.
Reaching the fog-shrouded north gate, anomalies struck.
[Drake cowers in fear.]
[Twin-Headed Ogre cowers in fear.]
[Giant Troll cowers in fear.]
[Orc Chieftain cowers in fear.]
Nearly 2,000 monsters.
They sensed the aura of one being hidden in the fog.
And then.
Thud.
Thud thud.
Thud thud thud.
Unbelievable—the monsters knelt or prostrated before the fog-hidden entity.
[They revere it.]