Chapter 198
Chapter 198
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 198
Chapter Title: Victory of the Knights
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One demon contractor had butchered dozens of knight orders across Trabania.
And that by a low-rank demon contractor who could hardly even be called a proper one.
Even if they were players, it wouldn't have made a difference.
After all, just recently, dozens of players had been slaughtered by a demon contractor in reality, not some fantasy.
But.
Kwaaang!
Right here, right now.
Kwaaaang!
Against demon contractors who could be called apostle candidates—not total failures among the lowest ranks.
Kwaaaaang! Slash, slice!
Against vessels capable of manifesting parts of a demon's body.
“Keheook!”
The players were overwhelmingly dominating.
Thud!
No matter that Go Yohan stood silently behind them.
Kwang!
No matter that they had taken damage that would have reduced them to rags before.
Kwaaang!
It was nothing short of.
-Inspiring.
Inspiring.
The voice of Yusehwa echoed only in Go Yohan's mind.
[Even in Trabania, this was impossible. Only those called superhumans could stand against demon contractors.]
Now she was mimicking system messages to speak to him.
[But those born from your hands and mine...]
The interrupted message gave way to another blue window.
[They are truly worthy of being called knights.]
Beyond the blue window.
Kwaaang!
An explosion erupted amid the smoke.
The knights, now in their complete forms, were toying with the demon contractors and their minions, hunting them with ease while leveraging their unique traits.
“Yeah.”
Go Yohan said.
A blade whistled past, Kang In's black sword gleaming darkly as it ruffled Go Yohan's hair.
“This is what it takes to call them knights.”
Puhwuuk!
Kang In's black sword pierced and embedded into the forehead of Byul, who had fully transformed into a demon's shape.
Gurgle!
Divine power laced with molecular-level mana sought to destroy Byul, but the demonized body displayed even greater regenerative power.
Kwaaang!
Yet another strike followed, exploding and blowing off half of Byul's head.
Even so.
Gulp.
The grotesque demon was still regenerating.
Of course, the knights weren't unscathed either.
“Urk!”
They possessed recovery far beyond ordinary players now that they were knights, but it paled against the cockroach-like demon contractors.
The knights were visibly tiring against foes that charged heedless of wounds, even exposing their hearts.
But even that alone.
“Waaaaah!”
Had the citizens in a frenzy.
Quite a bit of information on demons had been released since their appearance.
Dark web rumors claimed they spread footage of massacres to amplify fear.
Even videos of players being utterly crushed in combat against them.
All of it a ploy to instill deeper fear and even worship of demons.
Only Go Yohan had seemed capable of truly hunting them.
“Uwaaak!”
But now, in this moment—not Go Yohan.
Not even the gods—these others were overwhelming the demon contractors and seizing the momentum.
“This should be enough.”
Then a voice tickled Go Yohan's ear.
And.
Sssrrk.
A hand emerged fluttering from the black void, pointing at the demon contractors and their minions.
“Shall I end it?”
“You don't need to ask permission.”
Go Yohan chuckled helplessly.
“Yeah, end it. Seung-ah.”
In that instant.
Puhwaaaak!
The demon contractors, who hadn't died even with their heads blown open, vanished in a flash.
“Haa... haa...”
“Huff.”
“C-Crazy bastards...”
A fight that couldn't quite be called a clean victory for the knights.
But the fact that players—long ingrained in the public mind as foes only a tiny elite could face—were pushing back demons.
“Waa... waaaaah!”
Brought even greater cheers erupting.
The event had passed its climax.
“These are the new players. The new transcendents. The knights.”
Yusehwa's introduction.
And Babel emitted an even brighter light.
She truly understood human psychology well.
“Today's excitement won't last forever. In the end, they'll think those are still the chosen ones, special like before.”
As Yusehwa's voice lingered, the citizens' gazes turned to Babel.
The barrier around the isolated players—not hostiles—had vanished, but they too stared blankly at Babel.
“Anyone.”
Yusehwa said.
“Can become a knight.”
“...!”
Truly.
“Anyone, climb Babel. And.”
A voice heralding the dawn of a new era.
“Become a knight.”
*
*
*
The tower's existence, Babel's emergence.
And.
-Knights.
Nothing wasn't shocking.
Go Yohan, who had been lying low, reappearing sparked a storm once more.
-If you prove yourself, anyone can become a knight.
Players had always been those chosen by fate.
The choosers unclear, dismissed as mere flukes for a lucky few.
Even becoming a player meant nothing without good jobs or skills.
They ended up as errand boys for stronger players or consoled themselves as better than normals— the fate of fallen players.
But.
[All Korean nationals receive 3 Babel entry tickets.]
System messages invisible to non-players appeared before every Korean national.
[Death within the first 5 floors of Babel allows revival up to the number of entry tickets held.]
The opportunity given equally.
[Entry ticket purchase methods will be announced later.]
Truly.
[The existing player system will undergo major changes.]
[Level adjustments are planned.]
A game-like era.
[Climbers own all rights to acquired items from Babel, excluding 10% for acquisition.]
The massive magic tower that suddenly appeared, throwing Korea and the world into chaos.
And Babel standing tall amid it.
“Please line up here if you've reserved Babel entry!”
“Those without reservations, over here!”
The line before it far exceeded the two million from the event.
“Move!”
“Don't block the way!”
Such chaos was entirely expected.
The entire Korean Association, now fully independent from the World Association, handled guidance before Babel.
Sacred and Sanctuary guild members did the same.
Managing that many was impossible.
“Fight breaking out!”
Add the belligerence of existing players, and it became pandemonium.
“What the hell is Go Yohan doing!”
“Goddess! Goddess!”
Citizens screaming amid it.
One might think Babel's launch a failure from that sight alone.
Ssswk.
But before long.
“...?”
“The line suddenly?”
“L-Look over there!”
The chaos ended by the sudden arrivals.
What unfurled from their hands was unmistakably magic.
Charrk.
Like Yusehwa, they manipulated earth, grew plants, created new queuing spaces, and divided sections.
“What!”
“Who are they!”
Robes cloaking them in strange garb.
Their mystique and eerie aura gave no sense of ordinary folk like themselves.
[Guides have been added to the magic tower area.]
In that moment, Yusehwa's message appeared before the tower's massive facade.
The robed guides removed their hoods simultaneously.
“Uh...!”
“Huh?!”
[Please follow the guides' instructions within the magic tower area.]
They seemed to glow.
Varied appearances resembling humans.
But distinctly different, they were.
“El-Elves...?”
Races never seen in reality, unmistakably like elves.
“An-Angels!”
Their radiant looks made one wonder if they truly were angels.
At last, Yusehwa's fruits planted on Earth had ripened and fallen.
Those who traversed worlds in slumber now emerged on this land, bearing Yusehwa and Earth's memories.
“What can I assist you with?”
A radiant golden-haired elf—no, a new race with human-like ears.
-Elven.
An Elven approached an association staffer.
“Uh... uh...”
The staffer, flustered by the brilliance, quickly composed themself.
“Could you extend the entry line that way? Too many people, accidents might...”
“Certainly.”
Extended hands poured forth vines that raised walls and formed paths.
Awe at their feat, harming no citizens, was only natural.
“Everyone, please heed Mother's words.”
*
*
*
Magic tower, Babel, knights, and now guides.
All connected, long prepared by Go Yohan, the apostles, and Yusehwa.
Ziiing.
Mana rippled atop massive wooden walls, projecting screens.
-How do you even catch this thing!
-Save me!
The panicked, terrified.
-Goblins?
The familiar, smiling like at home.
-Haa, haa... Got it.
Even those bare-handed, bare-fisted, succeeding in goblin hunts.
[Babel entrants have surpassed 450,000.]
[1st floor: 430,250...]
[2nd floor: 2,000...]
Real-time screens, numbers, messages.
“The opening is a success.”
Yun Seung-ah appeared beside Go Yohan, watching the screens.
“Seems so. But it's not over.”
Go Yohan said.
“Just the beginning.”
Magic tower, Babel, knights.
These long-prepared elements.
“Will pierce the demons and the demon world.”
And one more.
“Everything blocking that path too.”