Chapter 62
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 62
Chapter Title: Floor 8 - Lv. 159 Brigade Headquarters (7)
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The gap in technological prowess enables safer and more powerful firepower projection than anything else.
The Hunter was extremely reluctant, but I decided to expend most of our ammunition right here.
Guns rely so heavily on their inherent performance.
They're insanely overpowered against enemies they're effective on, but against those they can't penetrate, no matter how many bullets you pump into them, they barely deal any real damage.
Bows can shoot harder, but guns can't shoot any harder than they already do.
The defense captains commanding the defenses were generally spot-on. This fortress was on the outskirts of a human kingdom, bordering heterorace territories, and I'd heard it was manned by elites.
"Only target the ones climbing up, and the truly dangerous ones. Don't shoot the trolls. And for orcs and ogres, always aim for the head. Their thick muscles mean body shots rarely do fatal damage."
"Is it okay if I've never fired a gun before?"
"You practiced earlier."
It wasn't ideal for prone shooting, but I had them do PRI regardless.
"Guns didn't overtake cold weapons and become mainstream for no reason. They're easy to handle."
"I've actually shot bows before. Pretty well, too."
"Why are firearms banned in your family, anyway?"
"Beats me."
We started popping one bullet into each orc head swarming below.
I picked up my bow. Next to me was the mounted anti-materiel sniper rifle.
The Hunter seemed a bit disappointed but didn't seem to mind becoming an assault rifle gunner.
The youngest was grinning as he fiddled with it.
"AK feels better in my hands, but this is that K-something, right?"
"Oh, a Korean gun. You know it?"
"I've fired it."
"Korean guns even make it over there?"
"Of course. Every weapon in the world ends up there."
Hearing stories from parallel Earths is pretty entertaining.
Maybe it was time to share a bit more about myself.
Against expectations, the Girl was hitting her marks just fine.
"This is easier than I thought? It hits even if I just spray!"
Considering her physical abilities, that made sense.
The talent for gunplay boils down to eyesight and composure—nothing more.
Of course, at the extreme end, you'd need to pull off gun fu, but for anyone, handing them a gun lets them unleash lethal force with ease. That's what's so great about it.
If only we could secure guns... and a stable ammo supply.
"But isn't this a waste?"
The youngest asked cautiously, yet his shots never missed—he was a seasoned marksman.
Orcs midway up their ladders crumpled as bullets hit their heads.
"We need to build a legend. See how everyone's freaking out around us?"
"Oh."
Even our allied soldiers were staring in awe. The trained Night Crow archers were no different.
Whether good or bad, rumors about exiles spread like this.
But exiles on our side are the good exiles.
I felt mana surging sharply.
A few shamans atop the walls were trying to take out those of us dealing lethal damage first.
But the fairy mage had finished her cast.
She clapped her hands, then spread her arms wide, lightning crackling between her palms.
"Shamans can't interfere with mana, so annoying."
With her skill, she could nullify most spells just by glaring, but Greenskin mages were almost all shamans.
The bolt shot forth.
[Chain Lightning]
It roasted the shamans creating massive fireballs from afar.
Even then, it kept chaining to new impact points, tearing through their lines.
I fired into the chaos.
Great Shamans usually doubled as commanders.
One trying to erect a large-scale barrier on the front lines exploded shield and all.
After sniping a few commander-level targets, Greenskins—stubborn as they were—didn't lose morale over it. But their command structure crumbled, leading to disarray proportional to their stupidity.
As shamans and orc commanders fell one by one, the trolls—finally snapping after maintaining some formation—exploded.
Kraaaagh!
They started hurling nearby orcs. The funny thing was, it actually worked somewhat.
Half the flying orcs died on impact, but the rest went berserk, swinging their weapons.
The melee troops waiting with cold weapons engaged.
Orcs kept getting flung onto the walls.
No goblins in sight—they must've all died in last night's raid.
Enemy spells we couldn't block detonated too. Flames and lightning scorched parts of the wall.
Night Crow troops rushed to plug the gaps.
The Girl gleefully squeezed the trigger at orcs setting ladders.
The ladder wobbled and toppled.
"Watch for barrel overheat."
Forced cooling shortens weapon life, but guns are ammo-limited anyway.
Magic cooling lets us abuse them without issue.
Once expended, bury them somewhere.
A few trolls ignored all fire and charged like living battering rams.
The massive logs they carried were siege weapons in themselves. Three reached the gate alive.
They rammed like spears. The lord's mages strained to hold the barrier, mana warping under the pressure.
The trolls swung furiously until the logs splintered, then resorted to fists.
"I'm out of ammo! Hyaah!"
The Girl flying-kicked a midair orc away and landed beside me.
I pointed below.
"Gate looks dicey. You've fought tons of trolls on Floor 6, right?"
Most survivors of the meteor fallout were trolls. Cleaning up remnants meant she'd battled them endlessly.
"Yup! Just lop off those ugly heads, right?"
"Yeah. I'll cover you."
The fairy mage and I lacked stamina for prolonged combat. The Girl never tired.
If it got risky, she'd retreat, but only huge, sluggish monsters could breach the barrage.
Block magic intercepts, and she'd rampage freely.
"Should I head down too?"
The youngest eyed the Girl worriedly.
"No, you block the big stuff flying in."
Right on cue, a massive fireball hurtled toward us.
It rivaled what Trdongt had conjured alone—an elemental mass.
"Block that!"
"Can it be blocked?"
"Shield material's top-notch!"
It approached slowly, intent on melting the wall.
The youngest and I rushed that way. A melted hole through the wall would collapse the fortress.
Melee then, and humans lose.
Scorching heat hit like a second sun.
I ordered troops withdrawn via the defense captain.
Greenskins couldn't approach from that angle anyway.
Allied mages looked despairing.
The youngest raised
[Barrier]
.
Unlike
[Fireball]
, shaman fireballs projected sustained heat rather than exploding.
During the time he bought, I weakened the shamanry and seized partial control.
I sensed confusion in the enemy shamans' control.
The fireball gradually faded.
「You know shamanry too?」
'Goddess of Chaos. There is nothing I cannot do.'
After my exhaustive effort, the wall didn't melt.
I couldn't redirect it. Dispersing and weakening a multi-shaman assault stretched my current stats thin.
The cheap wand from Floor 7 cracked with a snap.
Damn. My one wizardly trait, gone.
The youngest, burned all over like last time, chugged a potion stoutly.
The shield was too hot; we set it down to cool. Durability was getting risky.
"Phew, that was close."
The defense captain rushed over, praising us profusely.
No similar attacks elsewhere—the fairy mage was intercepting them.
The Greenskins finally retreated.
Not a mountain of corpses or sea of blood, but the green-skinned monsters bled profusely and gained nothing.
The Girl scampered back up the wall.
She'd claimed nearly twenty trolls.
I told the sweat-wiping defense captain,
"Don't relax. This isn't over."
They'd expended all goblins. Greenskins were determined to end it today.
A horn blared: Pwoooo!
Something charged from the Greenskin camp.
"What're those?"
"Monsters?"
"No..."
Not clueless questions. The orc empire's land was continent-central.
No water but lakes.
Monsters thriving there: quadrupedal giant lizards. Dinosaurs, basically.
Horned ones charged, bearing equally massive riders.
"Riding trolls? Unreal."
"Good, still manageable. For now."
Even vampire reinforcements wouldn't cut it now.
But we'd survive. As I reconsidered retreat, the fairy mage groaned.
"This is really bad."
She stared skyward. I groaned too.
"Wyvern riders? That's crossing the line."
Trolls were too heavy for wyverns. Ogres with ranged attacks rode instead.
Front-legged dragon kin flapped in, mouths brimming with fire elements.
Defense captains bellowed bitterly.
"Everyone, take cover!"
Breath flames swept the walls in seconds.
Stubborn archers firing back were incinerated.
The fairy mage screamed spells desperately.
One wyvern's wings holed, it plummeted. Its ogre rider spiraled down.
I tackled the fairy mage rolling from incoming flames. Fire scorched where we'd been.
The already shaman-heated wall grew hotter.
Many wyverns focused breath on the superheated walls.
"Let's pull back quick."
"No! Damn it! We can't! God of Magic! Damn it all!"
The fairy mage's face twisted.
Divine power stirred. God of Magic?
Amplified mana blanketed everywhere.
"Didn't you say not to get outed as exiles?"
"Does that matter now?"
A cryogenic barrier enveloped the walls.
Some Night Crow archers gawked our way.
Direct wall cooling risked shattering from thermal contraction.
No choice; I lent my power too.
But this was bad. The battle was lost.
How pissed was the God of War? Was the declaration of war too much?
No—the core rage was Karkrish's death.
I didn't provoke this attack.
Who dunked Karkrish in what shithole so fast, enraging the orc empire?
Even-layer luck dependency sucked. Other exiles' actions affected me too.
Out of my hands.
Shouldn't have let Karkrish wake on Floor 2 undisturbed.
If I'd let Trdongt finish the hero memorial rite, it'd be a full 1,000-level [Hero Unit], unkillable.
Hah, damn it all.
The goddess whispered.
「Hold out a bit longer. Negotiations are underway.」
First time hearing that.
"Negotiations? What?"
「The God of Nature can wield more authority than I.」
Before grasping it, I wondered what she was up to.
'Praying to the God of Nature right now?'
「Damn it, don't phrase it like that. It's true, though. You like that guy too, right? Nothing I can do, so I bowed my head to him.」
'No need to go that far. Why? We can just run.'
「That girl in your party. Luck's involved, right? Dragging that around without solidifying your position now could be dangerous later.」
She meant it was dire enough to warrant this.
The goddess fell silent.
Without a map reroll, even Chaos authority couldn't fix it. Fair point.
Considering even-layer 10 boss maybe?
Boss evens so far: unpredictably hellish.
Other parties' help meaningless. Needed achievements here for Labyrinth resident aid.
Planned Night Crow pendant use, but felt lacking.
Damn, how to read this? Never had a god this favorable.
Meanwhile, the cryo barrier steadily cracked.
Worse, Greenskin dino cavalry nearly arrived.
A wall breach, and they'd charge ignoring heat.
Trolls on dinos plowing molten rock—majestic if allies.
I cried to the goddess.
'Tell the party to fall back NOW. We gotta run. This place is breached.'
「Wait. Nature finally said okay.」
'Huh?'
Holy power differed from mana.
Both mana-based, but gods imprinted their hue deeply.
Space resonated hugely.
Massive divine acts always vibrated space.
The Labyrinth god couldn't transcend runs but existed everywhere, anytime, beyond time-space.
Manifested via relayed worshippers if out of sight.
「Lending you briefly.」
Chaos link severed.
Instead, the Floor 6 priest-hand message appeared.
[The God of Nature wishes to assist you.]
I'd worshipped the God of Nature before.
I knew this authority.
Holy power swirled around me; I channeled it per the god's will.
[The God of Nature is satisfied with your proficiency.]
Green waves shimmered like heat haze. Space froze, battlefield halted.
Ogres and trolls silenced their roars.
Defenders shut their mouths.
Even arrows hung midair.
A god descended.
Nature's authority specialized in utility.
Its handiest: [Paths of the Forest], teleporting devotees anywhere with woods or nature's aura.
Trees sprouted wildly.
Between charging trolls and dinos, trees erupted bamboo-like.
They crashed, tumbled, vines binding fallen trolls.
Fighting Nature's kin in woods under its gaze? Suicide.
In moments, a radiant green forest bloomed.
Trees parted like a path.
Spirits danced.
Fire and ice, wind and earth shimmered faintly.
Magic manifested.
Pointy-eared fairies emerged, red flames and blue frost at fingertips.
Behind, animal-eared fairies with spirit companions followed.
I chuckled dryly.
Not the turnaround worrying me—what had Chaos's goddess promised Nature for this?
Couldn't ask the severed link.
[The God of Nature declares war on the God of War.]