Chapter 172
Chapter 172
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 172
Chapter Title: Wish Village, Ideaya Peninsula (5)
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9.
“Reinforcements? Hell, even elites? But you didn’t need to bother.”
What the hell.
What in the world is going on here?
“Look at this [Conquest Quest]. It’s almost done already. Easier than I thought? Or are we just that good?”
A chill ran down my spine in an instant, every hair standing on end.
Even if what I was seeing right now were horribly torn-apart corpses... it wouldn’t scare me this much.
Something’s wrong.
Something terribly wrong. I shook Bell’s shoulders in a panic.
“You said you saw it with 《Clairvoyance》. That the treants were massacring players.”
“I did... I definitely saw it... B-but how in the world...”
No way. Did someone overlay an illusion on 《Clairvoyance》?
Then what the hell did I see?
No... For a split second, I turned to the hunter.
“You detected enemies, right?”
“Huh?”
“You said seven treants were coming, right?”
“Huh?”
“Right? That’s what you said!”
When I asked that.
The elite hunter picked his nose and replied flatly.
“Hmm. Did I say that?”
This bastard just... what did he say?
My thoughts stopped there. Because then—clap, clap, clap... eerie, cold applause echoed out.
“Impressive. Very impressive!”
This psycho.
That voice... no way...
“Player Alliance? Ragtag Union? Whatever. Your combat prowess is better than expected.”
In that instant, all our capes fluttered wildly. An alien arctic chill whipped up from the direction the voice came from.
“Well, it’s probably just because you’re up against trash like these abyssal scraps.”
From somewhere... a wolf howled.
In that ominous cold, the forest twisted grotesquely, as if sobbing.
No way... no way...?
Did the forest get blanketed in frost all at once?
My breath came out heavy, white mist rising from my mouth.
I slowly turned my head.
Please... let this ominous feeling be a hallucination... But from that direction.
The elite knight, Richard Hu, was approaching.
Flanked by his legions of winter.
Demons. Demon rats. Wolf packs.
A scene of them mercilessly slaughtering the abyssals.
“Richard Hu...!”
His real name as an elite knight.
It surged up from my gut like vomit the moment it hit me.
“Oh? Who do we have here?”
I unleashed my mana with full force.
Magical formulas unfolding in my mind in an instant. Parsing. Calculation. Manifestation.
“The great union leader of the Ragtag Union? How long’s it been?”
The moment I opened my palm.
Six blood-red magic circles bloomed above it, interlocking like gears and beginning to spin.
[Player GodSpring casts 6-star magic, 《Inferno Lightning》!]
The moment I gripped it.
Crimson flames flashed like lightning from the parched sky, slamming down to earth.
──Kwarrrrrrrrrrrrum!
As the flames exploded and engulfed the winter legions, the wolf packs and demon rats writhed in the fire, turning to charred husks.
The epicenter of the thunderbolt was Richard.
“Done?”
“Nothing to it, you crazy bastard!”
“As expected of the union leader! A 6-star spell in that instant!”
No way he came out unscathed.
He got hit dead-on because he let his guard down. The moment I thought that.
“Huh... hahaha... uhahahahahahahahaha...!”
Richard Hu’s mad glee.
At the same time, the winter legions began laughing in their own voices.
[Player Richard Hu casts ???, 《Absolute Frozen Earth》!]
I could only gape in stunned silence.
“How is this possible...?”
The flames...
Freezing solid in the exact shape of the fire... a sight defying the laws of this world...
“Truly nothing to it, huh?”
《Absolute Frozen Earth》...?
There was no such skill in [For the Princess] anywhere?
“Pathetic of me. I was flinching from mere sparks like these... ahahahaha...!”
Through the frozen flames, Richard strode out, laughing maniacally.
“With this power, I got cocky. Nearly got properly done in this time.”
“Done in...? By me?”
“By the likes of you? That’s a century too early, pup. I meant that damn elite sorcerer.”
Richard Hu raised his left hand.
The wolf packs howled chillingly, closing in on the players step by step.
“I’m genuinely impressed. The strategy of using Bryuka’ruk’s legions against my summons.”
And the moment he snapped his fingers.
“If I hadn’t known and gone to [Devoured Temple: Reinall]... I might’ve died.”
The alien wolves charged, tearing into the players’ necks.
「GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!」
Their gleaming white fangs.
Ripped through chainmail in one bite, shredding flesh and bone beneath.
“......Gaaahhh!”
“......Front, front!”
“......Sides too! Everywhere, they’re everywhere!”
Demons’ roars.
Players’ shouts and screams.
In the midst of it all, the elite knight laughing in delight.
“But what can you do now that things have turned out like this? The sorcerer’s face must be a sight.”
In an instant, the world became a blood-soaked field of carnage.
“Richard, you bastard!”
How the hell did he know?
Jung Chul’s plan was perfect. If Richard had just gone to [Devoured Temple: Reinall]───
────Huh?
A cold blade-edge.
Sliced across my back in an instant.
Pierced my shoulder blade and jutted out the front.
An arrowhead gleaming red with blood.
From behind... what the...?
Agonizing pain choked my breath.
I... I barely managed to turn my head back.
“Should’ve never trusted me, kid.”
I saw the elite hunter.
Grinning wickedly.
Nocking a second arrow on his bowstring.
“You and that elite sorcerer are both idiots beyond belief.”
“You... betrayed... us...?”
“Betrayed?”
The elite hunter burst into loud laughter, as if the word was ridiculous.
“Last tip, kid. In battle royale, there are no teams. Only the duped and the dupers.”
[Warning: HP -37%]
As my HP dropped below 40%, the vision UI flickered chaotically.
Magic...
Can’t calculate the formulas...
“Aaahhh!”
Then excruciating pain as my kneecap shattered. I screamed.
The second arrow.
Then the third. Fourth. Fifth. I spat blood and collapsed in a heap.
Hunter class 《Rapid Fire》...?!
What kind of arrow damage is this...
Does being elite give him some special power...?
Then Bell rushed over, cradling my slumped form.
“L-Leader! H-how, how did this happen...”
“Run... you idiot...”
“Get up, let’s go together!”
The elite hunter’s voice came from afar.
“Nice shot!”
Ah...
I... I was the fool.
“Perfect, stay right there guarding him.”
Just like Jung Chul said.
This is battle royale... no allies... even teams require constant suspicion...
“I’ll skewer you both nice and cozy right now.”
Me too.
I should’ve abandoned being ‘human’.
Jung Chul’s face flashed before my eyes.
- Do you have that resolve?
Dad...
Sorry... I should’ve... for you...
[Player Rivione casts ???, 《Spacetime Rift》!]
As my consciousness faded.
Strange dark-purple beams wrapped around me.
Rivione...?
Another bizarre power I don’t know.
“The Apostle of Magic personally asked me.”
Rivione stood between me and the hunter.
“To protect GodSpring from the other apostles at all costs.”
Apostle of Magic...?
Right... now that I think about it, Rivione always called Jung Chul the Apostle of Magic.
“I will fulfill that promise.”
What...?
Wait, then sis is...?
“Please convey my utmost loyalty to him.”
In that instant, the beams turned to tentacles, wrapping me and Bell.
“N-No...!”
One arrow pierced Rivione’s chest and burst out the back.
───Zzzzzzzzzzzt!
With sticky, searing light.
My body was sucked into somewhere not of this world.
Everything was chaos itself.
When the light faded.
I had no idea how I ended up at the northern outskirts of Bryuka’ruk’s forest.
One thing was clear.
I survived that slaughterhouse... through Rivione’s sacrifice.
Or... did I...?
Echoes of death resounding from all sides. Screams. Wails. Demonic noises.
I’m still... right in the heart of [Bryuka’ruk’s Forest].
“Bell... listen to me... carefully...”
Somehow, I tore my cape.
And.
With it, I drew a magic circle in blood.
“This is... 3-star magic. A makeshift scroll... it’ll work for self-defense against trash mobs...”
“No. I-I won’t go! Not without you, Leader...!”
“Not telling you... to abandon me...”
Bell froze, tears welling up at my words.
“Gather the survivors with this... don’t go too far, it’s dangerous...”
“......?!”
“I’ll hold here... if we’re gonna survive... might as well together... And someone to heal me too...”
The Player Alliance was a group formed by my call.
Even in battle royale... shouldn’t I take responsibility for at least this much?
“O-Okay... but don’t die! Promise me!”
Bell wiped her tears and dashed into the forest underbrush.
“Ha... damn it...”
Groaning, I snapped off the arrows embedded in my body one by one. How am I staying conscious...?
[HP: 15%]
[HP: 14.9%]
[HP: 14.8%]
Checking the player UI suddenly, I panicked.
What?
HP keeps dropping.
That bastard... poison on the arrows...?
Damn... damn... damn...
I bit my lip to stifle a sob.
Soon... I’ll be done for too.
Bell ran like hell.
In less than 10 minutes (felt like millennia to me), she brought four survivors.
“U-Union Leader... you’re alive...”
“Fuck... [A] squad’s... wiped out. What the hell happened...”
“The elite sorcerer... where is he? Not coming...?”
All in wretched shape.
So many questions, but no answers from me.
I spammed magic to defend this clearing, the wounded, desperately.
《Inferno Lightning》.
《Flame Goat Halo》.
《Fire Bird Swarm》.
Enemies attacked from both sides.
Abyssal undead and winter legions...
[HP: 11.3%]
As mana and stamina dwindled in despair.
One hope remained.
Belief that Jung Chul, the elite sorcerer, would come...
[HP: 8.8%]
But Jung Chul didn’t come.
[HP: 7.3%]
The elite sorcerer never came.
- This is battle royale.
I see. Take the gain, ditch the loss.
[HP: 6.1%]
Yeah, that’s how it is.
[HP: 5.4%]
As I prepared to give up everything.
The underbrush parted, and a horse’s head emerged.
“Who goes there?!”
Calculating a spell in my head, I pointed my finger at once.
“U-Union Leader! He’s not an enemy!”
“That voice... Bell?”
“He said he’d help us!”
Help?
Us, worthless now?
I raised my arm, signaling the survivors to lower weapons.
“No Eastern NPC in my memory anywhere...”
Mid-to-late 20s?
Huge build.
At least 190 cm tall... like a building astride a horse.
“Who the hell are you...?”
Then.
In that final moment.
The light that came to me was not the elite sorcerer.
“I am...”
A man who, in the near future.
Would be chosen as successor to the Blade of Light, Verkensia.
“...Park Hyun-su.”
And.
In this ruined world.
The man who would illuminate [Tarhye Rondel].
He was... that kind of ‘person’.