The Horde Outside the Command Post
The camp outside the command post was in such chaos that you couldn't see an inch ahead.
The Duke's army, traitors, and orcs all tangled together in utter madness!
“First, we have to break through the front lines.”
Fafnir bit down on the orcs crowding around him and spoke.
“I can't do that. I have to save His Majesty!”
The princess declared firmly.
'This damn thing, the king is going to die soon?'
Since Fafnir knew the future, he let out a string of curses in his mind.
'If I die helping them like in the novel, it doesn't matter. But if I lose contribution points here, it'll be harder to follow the other named users.'
“You! If you're here to rescue the young lady's camp, you should focus on saving the king!”
But not obeying the princess's orders here was also a problem.
“Yeah, let's listen to the princess first.”
Kindorhan chimed in from the side. He must have thought it was a quest.
“Make sure the gangsters over there don't speak without permission!”
“What? Why only me…….”
Royal and noble NPCs were completely different from regular NPCs in conditions and standards.
It was strange that Kindorhan, a level 170+ gang member with no relevant stats, was interacting positively with them.
“Hmm…….”
Fafnir squeezed his eyes shut.
'Tch…… Still, we're a party right now. Maybe we can turn this situation around.'
After forcing his thoughts, an answer came to him.
“It would be impossible for us alone to rescue the king. It would be better to absorb the nearby noble armies and go rescue His Majesty.”
Fafnir calmly organized his thoughts and laid out the outline.
“That's…… You are right. Looking at the current situation, Grand Duke Gwin…… There's no doubt that that snake betrayed us. Let's do as you say.”
-New hidden quest 'Save the King' has been generated!
[Save the King.]
-Grade: Unique (Hidden)
[Objectives]
-Rescue noble: (1/??)
-Rescue the king: (0/1)
-Reward: Experience points, ???
A quest that was impossible to avoid!
“Then let's go. We'll join the princess's forces.”
Following Fafnir's advice, the princess's forces did not rush straight to their home camp.
The front lines were still being held by the Kingdom's knight army.
The internal front line was already in chaos from the surprise attacks by the Grand Duke's army and elite orc units.
“For command structure, I'll speak plainly from now on.”
“Yes.”
“Hoo, first we need to rescue Baron Korvo. Let's move.”
The princess, leading the army from the front, ordered Fafnir.
“Huh? But in this area, it would be better to rescue Baron Bertrand and the Black-and-White Knights.”
“Oh? An adventurer remembering our army's formations that well. But that's impossible.”
Baron Bertrand and the Black-and-White Knights were each unmatched one-on-one fighters.
If over 300-level knights joined, it would be a huge help.
Fafnir tilted his head.
“Why is that?”
The princess looked coldly at the front line and said,
“Baron Bertrand is not to be trusted. He might have allied with the Grand Duke. And I don't fully trust scoundrels like you.”
Fafnir narrowed his brows.
'What nonsense is this? Why is the princess acting like this? In the novel, when Flush met her, she was all sweet and obedient… Why is she so stubborn? She doesn't match any character I remember from the story.'
Just as Fafnir was thinking that,
“Kiyik!”
“Protect the princess!”
The princess's personal guard formed a human wall, but the orc horde broke through and rampaged through the internal camp.
Some of them even approached right up to the princess.
“One! Two! Protect the princess!”
Clang, clank!
Following Fafnir's command, skeletons erupted from the ground.
“Kiy, kiyik!”
The sudden ambush of elite skeleton soldiers shocked the orcs.
Fafnir had buried the elite skeleton soldiers underground to prepare for any surprise attack.
“Kiyik!”
The orc warriors couldn't withstand the skeleton soldiers rising from the ground and died bleeding.
“That is…….”
“Skeleton soldiers.”
The princess, watching from horseback, frowned.
“Are you a necromancer?”
“Yes, though I am inexperienced, I follow the laws of death.”
Tsk, the princess clicked her tongue.
-Elisabeth, the princess's favorability has decreased by 1!
“It's one thing for the situation to be like this, but borrowing the hands of a dirty necromancer… It's disgraceful even for a royal.”
'……?'
Only then did Fafnir realize why the princess was reacting this way.
'It was because I was a necromancer.'
In the future, Flush was an apostle of the Goddess of Luck, a holy knight.
Holy knights were classified as knights, and the Goddess of Luck was a goddess who maintained good relations with the mainstream gods.
She could be favored, but she was never ignored.
On the other hand, necromancers were a despised class that manipulated corpses and darkness.
Ordinary people had difficulty even talking to nobles.
'Even though I had the highest contribution points and my reputation was much higher than average, it was because of that that people at least spoke to me.'
Originally, Fafnir had planned to rescue the princess first and rescue some nobles along the way, but things were turning out worse than expected.
Probably the future wasn't going to be smooth.
***
The night before the Duke Gwin's army betrayed the kingdom.
A table leg snapped in the royal army camp.
“Kyaak, damn it!”
Park Cheol-deok, CEO of Daesanmul Group.
Iron Blood Patriarch Cheolhyeolpaegun, leader of the Iron Blood Guild in Horizon, was furious enough to spit.
'Lowlife bastards.'
He had earned a lot of money, been popular, and lived a smooth life.
But his real life wasn't that bright.
He was estranged from his wife and ignored by his children.
They hadn't even shared a bed, and instead of warm words, the daily life was filled with silence.
But in the virtual reality game Horizon, it was different.
He was like a king there.
Although his real family relationships were disappointing, in the game it was different.
He bought items with overflowing money.
With his skill, he rose to the CEO position and led the guild.
Thanks to his reputation as a prosperous middle-aged man, he gathered elite members.
He placed Jang, an ex-military captain, as internal officer, and a school army captain as military officer, and the Iron Blood Guild was steadily climbing.
But he had always thought too realistically.
'Now there was only left to climb within Horizon…… What a disgrace!'
The second day, noon, the guild alliance that the Iron Blood Guild belonged to suffered catastrophic damage from the orc army's surprise attack.
And more.
The last Five Star's purple-haired pretty boy.
Throughout, he had snatched away the achievements that the guild members had bled for, and taken the guild alliance's military power as well.
'There's nothing left for me except Horizon.'
Cheolhyeolpaegun trembled with humiliation.
Compared to being the CEO of Daesanmul Group, a career that could be called the Ohsung Group successor, he was nothing but a drop in the bucket.
“Sir, if you keep drinking like that, your stats will decrease.”
“We have to fight on the battlefield tomorrow too.”
The guild members patted the Iron Blood Patriarch, who drank like water even though he was actually sober.
“It's fine! In Horizon, you're called lord!”
“No, it's Patriarch!”
“Still, you need to gain contribution points on the front line tomorrow.”
His subordinates scratched the back of their necks.
In real life, he was a middle-aged man who had to comfort the boss when he drank too much. It was difficult.
“Hahaha…… You're the Iron Blood Patriarch whose name is known among adventurers?”
Then.
A voice came from the darkness.
“Who is it?”
The subordinates drew their swords.
In real life, they were employees who had to take care of the boss's drunkenness, but in Horizon, they were strong players in their 170s.
Something shot out from the darkness.
It moved in a zigzag pattern and was as fast as lightning.
“Kyeok!”
The 170-level masters instantly vomited blood and fell to their knees from the attack.
“W-what?”
Cheolhyeolpaegun finally came to his senses and drew his greatsword.
One hand couldn't possibly lift a greatsword that huge.
The lord was supposed to use a double-handed greatsword, and Cheolhyeolgeomsul had chosen his own weapon.
“Hahaha…… Your guards are surprisingly weak. I didn't kill them.”
Cheolhyeolpaegun felt the liquor completely gone. Of course, he wasn't actually drunk, and he had no such function.
It was as the monster said. In the party window, the subordinates' HP was 1.
It was harder to make HP 1 than to just kill them, so the monster was an insanely high level.
Swoosh, the monster took off its robe.
“You, you are…….”
Cheolhyeolpaegun's double-handed greatsword trembled.
The monster was a pure white lizardman.
A famous named monster.
One of the four kings of the orcs, Lizardman Ialtir!
“W-what? Not even on the front line, how did this thing appear?”
“Put away your sword. I came to talk.”
“What?”
“There's someone who wants to talk to you. Will you come with me?”
“Talk?”
“If you refuse…… It doesn't matter.”
The lizardman flicked his snake-like tongue.
'If I die here…… The experience loss would be too great.'
Cheolhyeolpaegun sent an anxious look and sheathed his sword.
“Good. What's the matter?”
“Hahaha…… I'm going to make a pretty good proposal.”
At that moment, a quest popped up on Cheolhyeolpaegun's retina.
-Will you betray the kingdom?
-Grade: Legendary
***
Baron Korvo's command post was holding off the orc horde's constant attacks.
Only after Fafnir's group joined and cleared the orcs was there finally a moment to breathe.
“Baron Korvo, you're safe.”
“Your Highness!”
Swoosh, Korvo knelt.
“The area will soon become dangerous. You must escape quickly, Your Highness.”
“I can't go alone. I have to help His Majesty, so you should join too.”
“Understood. Then I will lead the army……”
Momentarily, Korvo's eyes widened at recognizing Fafnir.
“No, you're Fafnir? You were here too!”
“Do you know him?”
“Yes, I suppressed the orcs in the underground of the capital, and also thwarted their plans at the southern fortress.”
“Oh……”
Elisabeth showed a look of seeing him for the first time. In the meantime, Fafnir checked the situation.
'Not much time left.'
The kingdom's army, which had over 100,000, was nearly half gone.
The green waters full of orcs were pushing to the ground!
Fafnir had known it would fall, but it happened much faster.
'No choice.'
Fafnir told Elisabeth.
“Next, we head south.”
“South?”
“Yes, according to my subordinates' information, there are reserve troops there.”
“……Hoo, I understand.”
Unlike before, the princess followed obediently. Even while going south, battles continued.
“Kiyiyik! Humans in armor!”
The orc bloodline and berserkers who had penetrated to the command post.
Fafnir didn't avoid them but advanced by smashing them head-on.
It was dangerous, but it was the fastest way!
-Rescued Baron Celon.
-Rescued 1 additional noble.
-Rescued Baron Twalkan.
-Rescued 1 additional noble.
As a bonus, they rescued several more nobles.
Despite the orcs swarming from all directions, through all sorts of hardships, they achieved astonishing results.
“Fafnir-nim!”
“I'm here!”
In the distance, Hilde's group was waving.
“As expected, the adventurer who saved the capital. You worked hard.”
“No.”
Baron Korvo praised Fafnir with a look of admiration.
“If we overcome this crisis, I will definitely recommend you to His Majesty.”
Not only himself, but also the princess and several nobles' savior!
Even in the chaotic battlefield, the ability to stabilize the situation made him worthy of recommendation as a necromancer.
“Five nobles and rear reserve troops joining together.”
Flick, Elisabeth checked the soldiers and said.
“This is enough to rescue His Majesty.”
Fafnir approached Elisabeth and reported.
“Now, while guarding the front, you can slowly retreat.”
“Are you telling me to run away alone now?”
“No. Actually, His Majesty was the first to escape.”
“R-really? The information this adventurer gave me allowed me to prepare His Majesty's escape perfectly.”
“……”
Elisabeth stared at Fafnir with suspicious eyes for a long time.
“Understood, we'll go first.”
Fafnir wouldn't have believed it if Baron Korvo hadn't joined.
“Hilde-nim, please escort him and escape.”
“What about Fafnir-nim?”
“I'm a necromancer, so I have to stay a bit longer.”
“But……”
“Let's go, Hilde. I sent a message for Secret to come out soon.”
“……Fafnir-nim, be careful too and come out before it's too late.”
Hilde, following Drexler and Veron, mounted her horse and departed.
In front of Fafnir, a message appeared while watching the departing Elisabeth's group.
-Completed the 'Save the King (Unique, Hidden)' quest.
-Unfinished quest objectives remain.
-Although the king was not rescued, they succeeded in rescuing Princess Elisabeth, who carries the royal blood, and the nobles. When the Kingdom of Baran perishes, they will become embers to lay the foundation for the kingdom's restoration.
-Experience points gained.
-Level up!
“Thank you. If what I said just now wasn't a lie, the princess would still be here.”
“What about you, Baron? Aren't you leaving?”
“Haha, I'm a greedy man, so I need honor to feel satisfied.”
Suddenly, the baron looked up and asked.
“By the way, what are you going to do? How are you going to fight?”
“No special plans.”
Fafnir smiled wryly.
“I'm just going to go in and fight while holding out as long as possible.”
The enemies had already approached here.
Fafnir looked at the approaching orcs and thought.
'In real life, I rode one horse and swept across such a battlefield alone.'
He wasn't particularly regretful or nostalgic. In fact, compared to the data that VR gave off, the orcs in front of him made him sweat tens or hundreds of times more.
'This is a good opportunity.'
His level had risen quite a bit, and the abilities and coordination of the skeleton soldiers had grown even more than that.
The front line full of dangers in front of him was the perfect place to test Fafnir's current abilities and limits.