Chapter 413
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 413
Chapter Title: Allied Forces (1)
Rumble rumble rumble.
A massive tectonic shift occurred. Or more precisely, destruction and violence raged unchecked.
The masterless souls began to go berserk, slaughtering each other, tearing into one another, and destroying everything in sight.
The spirits, once subjugated by mental control, had lost their reins and spiraled into a frenzy.
There were three beings nearby with the overwhelming power to suppress them, but the chaos erupted so suddenly that there was no time to react or regain control. Their response came far too late.
Of the five that had united to form a vast territory, two vanished, leaving the domain itself in ruins.
And the culprit behind this devastation.
The strongest of the human race—one of the frailest species—casually surveyed the remnants left by the two departed entities from a great distance away.
[World: Do you wish to take over Night Parade of a Hundred Ghosts?]
[World: Do you wish to take over Dominion of Evil Ghosts?]
This was different from the reactions when he had simply beaten down apostles who had received a fraction of a god's power.
"Taking over worlds..."
The question forced upon Rokan was whether to absorb their divinities or to take over the worlds built by the White Flame King and Black Flame King in their entirety.
No detailed explanation was given, but he could infer the gist.
If he acquired the divinities, their worlds would be destroyed and absorbed. If he chose takeover, he would operate the new worlds in their current state.
They would likely run separately from the world Rokan had created, the Underworld Demonic Path.
Like multiple instances, perhaps.
"Though in terms of development, these might actually be ahead."
Choosing the former would increase his divinity pool, raise his level, and provide resources to pour into World: Underworld Demonic Path. The latter would mean managing three worlds simultaneously, with a massive surge in the periodic divinity supply.
"No problems there, right?"
Long-term, the latter was superior, but since these were ghost-made worlds, there was some unease.
The ghosts might not obey his control.
Or the three worlds might overlap into one instead of operating separately.
For those reasons, Rokan hesitated to decide.
[If no decision is made within 30 seconds, the worlds will be destroyed and absorbed as divinity.]
He considered pausing the selection screen to meet the gale first.
But the system allowed no such tricks.
Right here, right now, it demanded a choice.
"I'll take them over."
[World: Night Parade of a Hundred Ghosts has been taken over.]
[The world has been temporarily stored.]
[World: Dominion of Evil Ghosts has been taken over.]
[The world has been temporarily stored.]
"Whew!"
With the decision made, the worlds halted their destruction.
They transformed into miniature item forms and entered Rokan's inventory.
"This is..."
Rokan quickly pulled one out to examine it.
What kind of world it was. What state it was in.
And he discerned the possibilities within.
"This could be fun."
The worlds of the White Flame King and Black Flame King weren't populated solely by ghosts.
Ghosts originated from the souls of living beings, so perhaps it was inevitable.
Ghosts didn't eat food, but they didn't survive on nothing.
Living beings and nature were inevitable, and a world sustained purely by grudges without any vitality wouldn't hold together from the start. Even they, who had nurtured their worlds for eons, had preserved at least minimal races and resources.
But it wasn't simple neglect.
They managed and exploited them steadily.
Like farms, say.
Countless races, including humans, were confined in pens, spewing out the screams, rage, pain, and fear that served as the ghosts' sustenance.
[World: Do you wish to add Night Parade of a Hundred Ghosts?]
"Yes."
[World: Night Parade of a Hundred Ghosts has been added to your worlds.]
[As this is not a world you cultivated yourself, the divinity cost to manage it will be 1.1 times higher.]
[Attributes do not match. You cannot acquire divinity from ghosts.]
As expected.
Even after reaching demigod status with acquired divinity—beyond the limits of humanity—it was impossible to harvest divinity from ghosts.
"Well, if that were possible, there'd be no need to absorb them as divinity."
But Rokan had fully accounted for that.
It posed no issue.
After moving to a safe location, he dove into the newly added world.
"Shall we try the cheat key, then?"
Having observed World: Night Parade of a Hundred Ghosts in detail, Rokan summoned a massive amount of divinity.
Not just birthing a heroic figure or delivering a sacred weapon against ghosts.
Such measures wouldn't last long in a ghost-dominated world.
The power gap was too vast.
So he turned his gaze to the outskirts and bestowed a blessing upon one group.
[Authority: Unyielding Will has been used.]
Unyielding Will itself.
Was there anything among Rokan's arsenal better suited against ghost-types?
This near-universal authority descended upon the humans being raised like livestock.
Hope and resolve ignited in the eyes of humans who had wailed in despair and screamed in terror, having abandoned all.
[Blessing of the Berserker has been bestowed.]
Using vast divinity, he transformed them into berserkers outright.
An ability with the best synergy to Unyielding Will, as it allowed distinguishing friend from foe even in berserk state.
It would suffice to let them unleash the pent-up fury and rage from years of torment.
It would grant them strength to contend with ghosts, even in their emaciated states.
The aftermath of berserk would be an issue, but it beat dying in feeble combat a hundred times over.
The world wasn't utterly uninhabitable for humans; they could manage somehow.
Besides, they had Rokan, the god managing this world.
[Quest: Great Escape has been assigned.]
They couldn't see it, but Rokan had full visibility on the ghosts' statuses, movements, and positions.
Like playing with map hacks enabled.
Rokan issued quests to prepare their escape, timing their uprising perfectly.
Being a remote fringe area, the overseeing ghosts were low-level, and the berserk-empowered humans could break out with minimal sacrifices.
Guiding the escapees to safety and shaking off pursuers was also Rokan's role.
He felt substantial divinity drain from indirect aid, but fortunately, he had billions from scavenging Yanken.
A few million lost was something to laugh off.
He had them establish a base, conduct guerrilla warfare to rescue not just humans but other races, and form what amounted to a "resistance army." Like a true god, he manipulated them via quests and immersed himself.
He navigated moments where a single mistake would wipe them out and undo all progress, stubbornly rallying them until they formed a small city.
"Alright, now then..."
The next step was obvious.
Creating his own avatar.
Thanks to Berserker's Blessing and Authority: Unyielding Will, they held out so far, but at their current level—humans and other races alike—even a mid-sized ghost army from a small city would annihilate them.
He never forgot that survival hinged on this being a tiny fringe.
And that now was the time to build strength.
Expending another massive divinity haul, Rokan birthed a hero identical to himself, finally tearing his gaze from World: Night Parade of a Hundred Ghosts.
Now it was their turn to forge ahead.
If they played it smart, repeated victories would build power to resist the ghosts. Recklessness meant annihilation.
Rokan could watch and spend divinity to save them if needed, but that held no meaning anymore.
A world that couldn't grow on its own was a bottomless pit.
Viewing it as a discardable card if necessary, he shifted to the next world.
World: Dominion of Evil Ghosts.
In a world strikingly similar to Night Parade of a Hundred Ghosts, he began rescuing humans and building a resistance force anew.
Meanwhile, as Rokan claimed these two worlds, massive changes unfolded on the surface.
***
"Splöe Territory is under attack!"
"Irs Territory too!"
"Damn it! Where now?"
"England, sir."
"Have they all gone mad as a group? What the hell is this?"
Steel Legion Guild Master Steel was on the verge of losing his mind.
Not just one spot—over a dozen strongholds were under simultaneous assault.
A guild war with rivals? Or territory skirmishes from grudges? Those would be preferable.
As one of Korea's top guilds, they could defend two or three bases if focused.
But this was different.
The US, China, Japan, France, the UK, Italy—countless nations, too many to track, invading at once.
Until now, they'd targeted Southeast Asia and weaker nations, but suddenly, they'd all turned on Korean territory.
"Any word from Rokan?"
"No. No movement at all. The NPCs and players are resisting, but they're no match! Aren't you friends with Rokan on the list? Still no message reply?"
"Damn it. Yeah. No idea if he's logged off or has messages disabled—total radio silence. What the hell is he doing alone while shit hits the fan? Other guilds—no, other races? We requested support ages ago!"
"They're in the same boat as us. You know it's not just us getting hit!"
It was a stark contrast to how they'd ignored—or outright avoided out of fear—anything Rokan-related.
They'd united deliberately, striking Golden Lion Alliance and Black Dragon Legion simultaneously without overlap, turning the surface into a wasteland.
Major strongholds held for now with guild focus, but it was temporary.
No single guild could repel a nation's full might.
Worse, they had multiple "apostles"—off-the-charts entities—deployed.
Korea had a few apostle-blessed players, but not enough to match the numbers.
At this rate, colonization like other nations would hit in hours, not days.
Yet the sole hope, Human Emperor Rokan, was nowhere to be seen.
No contact on what he was doing, and his territories fell one by one to enemies.
"No way?"
Doubts crept in—had Rokan fallen first?
Unless they had, they wouldn't dare hit a place he held.
They must have killed him or felt confident they could.
It was grim.
Even with not all weaker nations fallen, Korean players' surface was about to fall to the International Guild Coalition.
"Please... hurry up and come...!"
Even if Rokan appeared, could he turn this tide? Still, in this mess, Korean players had one lifeline.
Rokan.
All clasped hands, praying he'd show, unleash monstrous violence to punish them, and open the counteroffensive.