Overwhelming Contribution

For the first time, the people cheered.

"That monster's just taking it? Completely helpless?"

"Whoa, insane!"

"Go, Blade Queen!"

"Please!"

The Empress with wings of blades.

People scrambled over one another, praying desperately for her victory again and again.

Without her, there was no hope left.

Isera, who had even devoured Lucaria, was a monster of pure calamity — a natural disaster you couldn't even dodge.

But the moment the Blade Queen transformed, Isera could do nothing but take the beating. He couldn't attack. He couldn't even defend. He was left completely exposed to a Dragon God's assault.

Still, Isera's survival ability was exceptional in its own right.

"At that level, you'd have to call it Super Regeneration."

"Yeah. Looks like he's pouring every scrap of mana into regenerating."

"So it's a war of attrition — who drops first."

A few recluses who hadn't joined the war offered brief assessments of the duel.

Whenever the Blade Queen swept her blood-red claws and shredded Isera from head to toe, he threw every ounce of his mana into regenerating again and again. He couldn't run. He couldn't dodge. Sensing he had no other option but endless regeneration, he abandoned defense entirely and poured everything into reconstructing his body.

A pure contest of who would collapse from exhaustion first!

The problem was that the process dragged on far longer than anyone expected.

"W-what the hell is that…"

"It's horrifying!"

"Ugghhh!"

"Just stop already…!"

This wasn't a matter of a few hours. A day passed, then several more, and the brutality repeated without end. Flesh tore. Organs burst free. Brain matter sprayed. His face was carved into pieces, his form crushed beyond recognition — and still Isera regenerated.

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"…Turn the broadcast off."

"We're dropping the feed!"

When the savagery crossed every line, several networks abandoned the coverage altogether. Keep watching scenes like that and even a sane person would lose their mind.

And so a full week passed.

After seven entire days of relentless exchange, a verdict was finally reached.

"What happened?"

"D-did we win?"

"For real? This isn't a dream?"

"Hooray!!"

"Everyone worked so hard!"

"Yaaaaaah!"

Isera stopped regenerating. At the same moment, the words of Victory bloomed before every player's eyes. With the result locked in, the entire world roared in celebration.

But the afterglow of victory did not last long.

Those watching the war were soon forced into sheer horror.

"W-what?"

"Why is she suddenly doing that?"

"Wasn't she on our side?"

…Because the Blade Queen had begun attacking the warriors and players still left on the battlefield.

Park Taewoo's eyes flew wide open.

He wanted to burn Isera's death — the victory of this war — into his own two eyes.

…We'll get stronger. Strong enough that no one can ever look down on us again.

This war had driven home the importance of power with brutal clarity. The weak were discarded and left behind — he had learned that in his bones. He had to become strong. Strong enough that no one could dismiss them. Strong enough that he would never suffer this kind of humiliation again!

And then—

Thump. Thump.

His chest swelled with pride. Contribution rank: second. It meant he had been the second-greatest factor in killing Isera. Every player alive would have seen his name. They would know that the Indomitable Hero who awakened the Dragon God Lucaria was Park Taewoo.

Looks like the title gets assigned automatically.

The moment he engraved his name, the system generated a title on its own. Even so, Park Taewoo couldn't help tilting his head.

Who's in first?

Among the players, he had been certain he'd put on the greatest performance by far. And yet he was second. Park Taewoo carefully studied the rankings that appeared next in the Hall.

Isera's Treasure Vault. The feeling was good. Depending on the choices, he might even secure treasures of Myth grade at minimum. A smile rose to his lips unbidden — the sensation of every effort so far being repaid all at once.

This is only the beginning.

If Hudson kept his promise, the Ruins City of Rundela would fall into his hands as well. Korea would gain a foothold — a starting point of its own. No one could dismiss the potential of a nation that held a base. The benefits of simply owning a city defied imagination.

CRACK!

"Aaaagh!"

"Somebody help me!"

Screams cut through the air without warning. Park Taewoo turned toward the source and scowled. The newly born Dragon God had begun attacking the people still remaining.

Damn it!

He had been absolutely certain she was an ally! He didn't understand what was going on, but he couldn't just stand there watching comrades who had fought beside him die.

There was no chance of winning — and yet Park Taewoo's body was already moving.

Shing.

He sprinted forward, drawing his sword.

Ziiing!

But he never got the chance to swing it.

"Th-the Guardian of the Black Egg?!"

Hell, Guardian of the Black Egg, had opened a warp and forcibly relocated Park Taewoo.

-Kakakaka?

Hell himself was just as startled by the warp he had opened. He had managed to snatch the survivors off the battlefield by a hair's breadth — but he had never dreamed that Hana, the Blade Queen whose consciousness was linked to Randolph, would turn on the people as well.

"…"

With her targets gone, Hana lifted her head. A face cold beyond measure. An expression and gaze utterly devoid of emotion. The Hana who had killed Isera was different yet again from before. She had killed, she had consumed, and she had utterly transcended the rank she once held.

Her armor of bone had become blood-red plate covering her entire body. In each hand she gripped a sword. One was a pure-white blade born from the blood, flesh, and heart of the Dragon God Lucaria. And the other—

Fwoooooosh!

—had become a Hellsword forged from Isera's very existence, eternally spewing the fires of hell.

A rank so deranged that merely looking at her sent shivers down the spine.

But the state of Frenzy had not lifted. Once triggered, Frenzy would not release until Hana herself was dead.

Then Hana shifted her gaze and swung Lucaria's sword toward Hell.

And—

KRRAAAAAAAAAANG!

Lightning powerful enough to punch through the sky poured down the blade and struck at Hell.

-Kakakakaka?

Hell, who barely escaped through a rapid warp, was terrified out of his mind. That was an ultimate attack that burned everything it touched — even the soul. If it hit, Hell would die. Not just Hell. Everything would be annihilated.

FWOOOOOOSH!

-Ka…!

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This time it was the Hellsword born of Isera's existence. A colossal pillar of hellfire painted the sky.

BOOM. BOOM. RUUUUMBLE!

The flames of that karmic fire melted the earth with heat alone. In an instant, the ground for kilometers around Hana melted, burned, and became hell itself.

Hana was relentlessly targeting Hell.

-Kakakaka!

Rage surged to the top of Hell's skull and he spat curses. But at this rate, even Hell would be consumed by that lightning and flame. In the end, Hell had no choice but to leave the battlefield entirely.

Hell.

Was there any other word that could describe that sight?

But the Blade Dragon God Hana, who had been rampaging like a madwoman, suddenly stopped cold.

"The Dragon God… the Blade Queen has stopped!!"

"…It seems she won't move as long as no one approaches within a fifty-kilometer radius."

"But inside that range, she appears to attack anything that still draws breath."

"We issued an emergency evacuation order, so fortunately there are no civilian casualties, but…"

The entire world was in a state of emergency. The moment Isera died, the newly appeared Dragon God had become the next headache. The one hopeful observation was that she remained still so long as nothing entered a fifty-kilometer radius — a conclusion drawn by countless supercomputers.

"So we just don't go inside the radius?"

"We'll need to put up a barrier."

"Hah. So she was never a true ally after all?"

The world's leaders let out heavy sighs. They had barely begun to celebrate victory. If a Dragon God more powerful than Isera turned against humanity, it was as good as the end.

But if she only moved within a fifty-kilometer radius, the danger was less than expected. All they had to do was raise a long barrier and keep everyone away.

Before long, however, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠everyone learned that this was a delusion.

…Because the Blade Queen suddenly began to move again. And she was leaving the radius behind.

"Wasn't she only supposed to move within the radius?"

A natural question. The recalculated results were shocking.

"H-her recognition range seems to be expanding bit by bit!"

"…What?"

"U-until yesterday it was clearly… the range just expanded drastically all of a sudden! A-at this rate, she'll reach the American mainland within three days!"

…An unprecedented state of emergency.