Chapter 233
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 233
Chapter Title: Legion Commander
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Clement stared at the scene unfolding before him.
More than half the army camp had been obliterated.
The remnants barely numbered twenty thousand now.
And that wasn't all.
Every Myriad Commander besides himself had fallen.
To mend their souls, how many more would he need to harvest?
It was impossible without first toppling that castle.
But with the forces left, there was no way to breach those walls.
If only he'd known such a formidable mage lurked among the enemy ranks. He never would have massed the entire army in one spot.
Regret came late.
But only for a moment.
He recalled the best course open to him now and finally embraced it.
Flutter, flutter.
A Resonance Serpent winged in from the distance.
It bore the aura of Ayr, the Myriad Commander left grievously wounded after his brutal clash with Kailer.
"In the end, even he must be summoned."
An unavoidable choice, yet this blunder cut to the bone.
Still, if that vessel could be slain...
If the vessel that one coveted could be slain, it wouldn't be a total loss.
"The path to our heartfelt wish grows longer, but all is not lost."
He glanced beside the mage who had unleashed that miraculous spell.
A golden-haired, blue-eyed man.
A being who unmistakably bore the first emperor's bloodline thick in his veins.
Even across ages of history, such a potent inheritance was exceedingly rare.
Which meant that one held value worth preserving.
The 'seed' had yet to sprout.
His spirits lifted at the thought.
A chance to confirm the seed's presence and eliminate the mightiest obstacle to their aspiration.
Such opportunities were far from commonplace.
This crisis might yet serve as the springboard for a grand reversal.
A once-in-a-millennium leap toward that—the means to transcend this eternally cycling world.
Crimson mist churned through the canyon passes.
Jun's eyes followed it to where it converged.
"What the hell is that...?"
He turned to Eleanor. She bit her lip.
"Spiritual energy is gathering."
"On that one guy?"
"Yeah. The vibe... it's eerily like those Mega Clovers you named."
"Trying to summon a familiar?"
"Looks that way."
What scheme was this?
Jun narrowed his eyes, peering at the figure across the cliff.
Regrettably, no strike could reach from here.
All they could do was watch.
"Let's head down first."
"Got it."
After hastily tending Aiden and Maya, they descended into the canyon depths. Far off, Kailer came sprinting toward them.
She exhaled in relief at the sight of her unscathed comrades.
"Everyone alright?"
"Yeah. If anything, Kailer—you look beat."
"Fair point... hard to argue."
She must have rushed here; none of her adventure team was in sight.
"Breaking through that mess must've been rough."
The full Altas crew had mobilized to cover the White Whale Mercenary Corps' retreat.
Even now, the scars of their desperate fight scarred the distance.
"But... what in the world happened?"
From that earlier flash to this chaos—nothing added up.
"Details later."
"Jun, you..."
Only then did Kailer assess his state.
He seemed fine outwardly, but inside, he was wrecked.
Overdrawing his mana had pushed his body beyond its limits.
"That flash wasn't some casual trick, huh."
"...An unforeseen snag."
Ifrit's arrival had blindsided even Jun.
It flipped the battle in one stroke, true—but the toll was steep.
That fire giant's parting blow had drained his ocean-vast mana reserves dry.
"...We retreat for now."
"Thank you."
Even for Eleanor, soothing his ravaged mana was no small task.
Kailer fished a potion from her pouch, tipped it into his mouth, and took up his weight for the team.
"I'll brief you on our side en route."
"Please do."
"As you saw, that red mist surged—and the enemy advance ground to a halt."
True to her word, most troops bound for the gates had frozen, coiled like chrysalises.
That was the source of the red mist drifting toward the canyon.
"Looks like power absorption..."
"Same here."
Eleanor confirmed it.
The army's spiritual energy, plain in her sight, flowed straight to the cliff's crown.
"Their last commander standing is a summoner."
"Summoner... so this ritual's prepping a summoning?"
"Safe bet."
After the twin Myriad Commanders fell, hadn't one Resonance Serpent—gorged on a soul—flown opposite?
Now aiming higher.
What could it be?
Details eluded even Jun now.
No such pattern existed in the game.
Another anomaly beyond its script.
Yet fear didn't grip him.
Whatever. We've come this far. Not dying pointlessly.
The walls were their bet.
Jun and Eleanor had laced them days thick with mana-fluid wards.
Any summoned beast would hold only briefly.
Or their elite squad could hunt it down.
They reached the castle gates mid-conversation.
"...Sunbae!"
Aiden whipped around, jabbing at the mist's surging heart.
No mistaking it—something dire brewed.
Endless red vapor clawed skyward, warping the air into a rift.
"Already set...?"
His recovery incomplete.
The foe cared nothing for that; motion stirred already.
The warp bloated, and crimson eyes erupted from its core.
Overwhelming presence.
It seized every gaze here, surveying the earth with lofty disdain.
"M-monster...!"
"The crimson calamity descends...!"
Morale, peaked by the fire giant's portent, melted like snow in midsummer blaze.
That distant entity's aura defied mortal eyes.
"...Pommel."
Jun murmured low, recognition dawning.
Thankfully, only comrades heard.
And with it, that legend's bearer flashed in mind.
Pommel...
The old empire's Legion Commander...?
Aiden and Eleanor pieced it.
First emperor's Legion Commander.
Apex of ten million blades.
Empire's sword at the throne's side, architect of countless triumphs.
Such a figure now peered from dimensional veil.
Right... the one this army's essence calls is him.
Pommel.
Game's level 9 titan—a tearstained wall for hordes of players.
Records deemed him peerless; there he loomed.
And.
"That's the bastard."
Maya fixed her foe in unblinking eyes, clearer than ever.
The scourge of her tribe's end. Her father's final nemesis.
The toying sadist at death's threshold—right there.
Eleanor noted elsewhere.
Pommel?
Unthinkable might.
Yet his composing energies rang familiar—oddly so.
Her eyes throbbed.
Beyond concealing bandages, someone had clocked her.
Outer God.
Unmistakable signature.
Pommel ran on borrowed alien fuel.
Still, she held her tongue from allies.
Speaking now risked instant rift-suction.
White Whale Mercenaries hushed.
At last, the rift-dweller spoke.
Failure. But well done.
He surveyed his legions.
Loyal retainers self-offered to summon him hence.
Myriad Commander Clement, summoner, proved no exception.
Body misting to ether, he held prostrate vigil for orders.
But the energy is weak.
Despite the host's spiritual bounty, full incarnation eluded him.
Yet influence? Decidedly.
His soul-self lingered here, fleetingly.
I forfeit all remaining souls. Take instead what is required.