Chapter 202
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 202
Chapter Title: No, what the hell...?
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“Kyyaaaak!”
“M-Monster!”
“Hiiik! Someone save me!”
Only moments ago, London had been overflowing with hope and celebration at the disappearance of the Hour of Dusk.
But now, in this very instant, the city was filled with nothing but chaos, terror, and screams.
From remote alleyways.
From behind trash bins.
Even from directly beneath people’s feet.
Shadow monsters burst forth from every patch of darkness like weeds after rain, rampaging indiscriminately and plunging London into confusion.
“‘Ice Ball’! ‘Cold Mist’!”
“‘Lightning Web’!”
“The Hour of Dusk is gone, so why are monsters like this still appearing?!”
Alex, a member of the Makers Guild who had been stationed to manage the item used to destroy the Hour of Dusk, unleashed skills alongside his comrades as they faced the creatures.
But what they were doing was less resistance and more desperate flailing.
The shadow monsters possessed strength comparable to creatures found on the 50th to 60th floors of a dungeon.
Even Alex, a high-level player at Level 64, could barely handle three or four at once.
Yet the number visible before them was far from five or six.
Dozens were apparent at a glance—and imagining how many lurked unseen was terrifying.
With only two mid-tier allies beside him, even a high-level player like Alex was inevitably driven into a disadvantage.
“‘Wall of Ice’!”
“Hold the line! We endure until reinforcements arrive!”
The only saving grace was that the shadow monsters’ movements were strangely unaggressive.
They wandered about, threatening civilians and smashing buildings, but they did not actively charge at the guild members.
Because of that, despite the overwhelming numerical disadvantage, Alex and his comrades barely managed to hold on.
“Uh?”
“W-What is it?”
For a brief moment, it seemed as though the shadow monsters had frozen in place.
Then their dull, murky eyes turned blood-red—
And they began to rampage like mad.
Boom! Boom-boom-boom!
“What the hell?! What’s wrong with them? It’s not like they suddenly took some kind of drug!”
“They just got stronger out of nowhere!”
Alex and the others panicked.
The monsters, which had seemed sluggish moments earlier, were now moving with frightening vitality.
Worse still, their strength had surged, and unlike before, they were charging directly at the guild members.
As though some binding force restraining them had suddenly been lifted.
Unfortunately, Alex and his companions had no leeway left to deal with such a change.
The wave of monsters crashed toward them—
Flash!
The Makers Guild members’ eyes widened.
A blue shadow flickered before them, and in the next instant, the monsters that had filled their vision vanished completely.
For a heartbeat, Alex thought the creatures had disappeared.
Then he realized it was not the monsters who had moved—
It was them.
And when he saw who had rescued them, a groan escaped his lips.
“The Cis-Serpent Knights…!”
“Are you injured?” the knight asked calmly.
“Where the hell have you been all this time?!” Alex snapped reflexively.
He was grateful, of course—but that was beside the point.
As those responsible for London’s security, they had been nowhere to be seen while the city was overrun with monsters, only appearing now.
From someone who had nearly died, resentment was only natural.
“If you are unharmed, join the defensive line at once.”
“What? What do you mean—?”
Alex stiffened.
Following the knight’s pointing finger, he turned his gaze—and realized they now stood atop the walls of the Cis-Serpent Earl’s castle.
But that was not what stunned him.
From the height of Hampstead Heath, where the castle stood, he saw it—
A tide of shadow monsters filling the vast hill, so numerous they could not be counted even in the thousands.
Guild members originally stationed throughout London were desperately firing skills from atop the walls.
On another front, knights of the Azure Dragon Clan evacuated civilians while cutting down monsters climbing the battlements.
Alex’s jaw dropped.
“A… siege?”
It was a scene that belonged in history books, unfolding in real time.
The knight spoke coolly.
“All London civilians have already been evacuated. Our task is simply to hold the castle.”
“All evacuated? To where?”
“The underground shelters.”
“That’s absurd! Don’t tell me there’s some shelter beneath the Cis-Serpent castle big enough for all of London!”
London’s population numbered roughly ten million.
No single castle could house that many.
The knight’s reply was crisp.
“Not beneath the castle. Beneath London.”
“…What?”
“The Cis-Serpent family is responsible for London’s security. Preparing a refuge for citizens in case of disaster is only natural.”
Over centuries, as London’s population expanded, shelters had been constructed like a spiderweb throughout the underground.
Evacuation systems and stockpiled supplies had long been prepared.
The knight did not bother explaining further.
“All other evacuation entrances are sealed. As long as the castle does not fall, we prevail. Risk your lives to defend these walls.”
“Wait! What authority do you have to order us?”
“As a knight of the Cis-Serpent family empowered to issue emergency conscription.”
“We of the Makers Guild have the right to refuse!”
“I will not accept insubordination.”
“What—?!”
Alex bristled.
He was a respected high-level magic-type player.
To be ordered about—especially by knights he often dismissed as psionic fools—was infuriating.
But in the next instant, he froze.
“The privileges you have long enjoyed come with the obligation to act in times like this.”
“Fulfill your duty.”
“If you abandon the people you are meant to protect, that injustice will not be tolerated.”
The blade resting at his throat made the consequences crystal clear.
Even now, the knight’s eyes were filled with righteous conviction.
Alex understood.
Justice meant not tolerating wrongdoing.
Mercy meant protecting the weak.
And if a high-level player neglected that duty—
Punishment was also justice.
“F-Fine! I’ll fight! Is that what you want?!”
“That will suffice.”
Flash.
The knight vanished across space as soon as he heard the answer.
Moments later, another Azure Dragon knight appeared with more guild members, issuing similar commands.
Alex grimaced and unleashed his skills at the monsters climbing the wall.
“Damn it! The Azure Dragon Clan’s running wild out here—what the hell are our guild executives doing?!”
Flutter.
At that same moment, elsewhere—
The crimson-haired witch, Shir, turned over a card while gazing into a crystal orb.
The image of a crumbling tower was revealed.
“So far, everything follows my divination.”
[Didn’t you say witches’ prophecies aren’t usually this accurate?]
“They’re not.”
[Then why is this one so precise? You foretold London would be swallowed by disaster—and it’s happening exactly like that.]
Yuna-kyung muttered while staring at the orb showing London engulfed by shadow monsters.
Shir chuckled softly.
“I only knew it would be an unavoidable disaster. I did not know its exact nature.”
[So some prophecies can’t be stopped, and others can?]
“Of course.”
Shir nodded lazily.
“Magic prophecy is like peeking at the world’s destiny. With enough experience, you learn which fates can be overwritten—and which cannot.”
[I have no idea what that means.]
“Think of it as the difference between a floppy disk that can be rewritten and one that can’t.”
[…I get the tone, but what’s a floppy disk?]
“Some cutting-edge technology young people use.”
[Did that get invented while I was dead?]
Shir ignored her confusion and continued serenely.
“Of course, there are exceptions. Some brats smash the disk itself if they cannot overwrite it.”
[But the captain didn’t stop the prophecy, did he?]
“He changed its outcome. London’s citizens were fated to die. They live instead.”
[That’s thanks to Countess Rose and the Azure Dragon Clan.]
“I would say that is also thanks to that brat.”
Shir tapped the image of the castle within the crystal orb.
“In the original fate, that stubborn clan would never have evacuated London’s entire population without concrete proof.”
Yuna-kyung reluctantly nodded.
Rimon’s few words had prompted Rose to act early.
That much was undeniable.
Before she could dwell further—
Boom!
“You wicked witches! What are you plotting in London?!”
Shir smiled lazily.
“For example… something truly unexpected.”
[…What kind of idiot attacks us at a time like this?]