The War of Attrition
I listened as Henry explained the various sectors of the Narak. According to him, the Abyss was divided into four distinct zones, the most dangerous of which was the Trapped Nest. It was a place teeming with hostile lifeforms, particularly the parasitic insects that burrowed into flesh to feed and multiply. Worst of all was the fact that escaping this zone was nearly impossible. As the name suggested, entry was difficult, and to leave, one had to forcibly tear through the tangled walls—which were often alive, meaning a person could easily be absorbed into the wall and die in the process. It was a truly hostile environment, and once trapped, there was no easy way out.
The second zone was the Crimson Zone, where parasitic humans burrowed into the flesh-walls like sebum. Being discovered or becoming hostile toward these entities, whose minds were all connected, made survival an uphill battle. Furthermore, an acidic solution that melted and oxidized organic matter sprayed from the walls without pause. If it touched skin, it would turn into a skin disease unless purified immediately. This disease was infectious through inflammation, and in the end, one could die with their entire body covered in sores.
I recalled the scar on Lee Seonjae’s face from earlier. That must have been the skin disease Henry was talking about. Lee Seonjae, who had gone to rest, was caught off guard and sent to the Japanese priests. 'If he can't get treated quickly, the inflammation will spread... and if the pus from the sores touches others, it’s contagious...' If not for Henry’s head, we might have had our base wiped out without knowing a thing. I thanked Henry, and he continued as if it were nothing.
"Then, I shall continue."
"Yes... please do."
The third location, where I judged the Seeker to be, was called the Yellow Spot. It was a place where yellow mold and fungi hid in the skin or lungs of living creatures, slowly encroaching on the body until they dragged the victim to the center of the Yellow Spot to be melted and killed. He warned that wearing clothes that exposed skin or breathing without protection was suicide.
"There’s... a helper there?"
"Indeed. If you are an apostle of the Evil Gods... that is the only one you will find in the Narak."
"The Evil Gods?"
"Yes. The Evil Gods who will announce the end of the world."
"Aha..."
I assumed that was just another name for the Evil Gods. I didn't think much of it. Henry was an old-timer; perhaps back in the day, they called Indikron and Kashnakas the "Evil Gods of Calamity."
"But who exactly is he? The helper in the Yellow Spot."
"The one who fell first."
"The one who fell first... Hmm."
"He who served the Heavenly Realm more than anyone else, yet in the end, bore all the sins and fell. That is the helper who will be waiting for you in the Narak. You are the Apostle of the End, are you not? Then it can be no one else. I shall see you obtain the Apocalypse. Ho ho."
Henry nodded as he said this. However, since he was just a head, he had no neck to nod with, and he looked slightly dejected. Apostle of the End, Apocalypse... I didn't know what they were, but it seemed there was something significant waiting for me.
"Now, for the final place... there are no particular hostile creatures here. It shouldn't be that dangerous."
"Oh..! Then that’s the safest place in the Narak..."
"However, that is where I am most dangerous."
"Pardon?"
"My body is likely performing a sword dance in the fourth location. The primordial creatures there have already been annihilated by my body's slashing... only my body remains in the darkness, dancing."
Henry’s body was rampaging in the fourth location.
"How... strong is it?"
"Hmm... about as much as that woman teaching the sword over there?"
"Pardon?"
"Ah, should I say man, not woman?"
Henry said this while looking at Pharus, who was teaching swordsmanship. He had instantly realized that Pharus was originally male. How did he know? 'No, but... if he's on Pharus's level...' Pharus was a glass cannon, but a monster who could unleash an instant-death slash three times a day. To be on par with such a monster meant he was at least as strong as, or stronger than, Cheshire. 'Well... he is a freak dancing with a sword in the Narak...' The fact that he was still alive and kicking, with only his body left in the Narak, was proof enough of his strength. If I could find Henry’s body and recruit him as a comrade, it would be incredible. Merhere, Cheshire, Pharus, and Henry... it would be a true Four Heavenly Kings lineup.
The players of the Good God faction had been dropped into the worst possible location due to the schemes of the Evil Gods. Meanwhile, Jojun’s party was in a tough spot because the area where the Seeker resided was a high-risk zone. Both teams were in trouble, but because Jojun had Henry’s head, he could quickly acquire knowledge of the Narak. This seemed to give him a significant advantage. Of course, if Michael the Archsage, who could figure out strategies using 'Insight', and the Saintess, who freely used seals, barriers, and purification, began their full-scale activities, the gap would quickly close.
"Everyone ready? Below this... it’s extremely dangerous. We might really die. So, never act on your own or leave the team. And Yoo Hyeji."
"Yes."
"Since you’ll be operating as the transmission tower once we enter, take the Dawn Seven before we go in."
"Yes..."
Yoo Hyeji, a teacher at Hyosun Girls' High School and holder of the Guild Manager class. Jojun had decided to bring her along on this expedition. He planned to use the guild chat skill she possessed to conquer the Narak more quickly. For reference, guild chat allowed communication with team members from a distance, provided they weren't too far apart.
'Since they said the size of the Narak is absurdly large... we need to split into teams...' Henry had explained to Jojun that it might be fortunate that time flowed differently there than in reality. The Narak was vast, and it could take over a week just to clear one region.
"And there are three things we need to find down there. First..."
The headless body, the foreigners who entered the Narak, and the one who fell. In this Narak conquest, Jojun wanted to not only recover Henry and the helper but also hunt down and kill Michael, Anna, and Nicholas—the converts of the Good Gods. In particular, he had to make sure to finish off Michael, who could arbitrarily see through his opponent's information. 'Nicholas will be half-broken... and the woman called the Saintess is dangerous, but I have to crush Michael first...' Based on the information from the Ella and Bella sisters, Jojun created a list of those to be killed or captured, along with simplified montages, and distributed them to the personnel entering the Narak. The list also included Roy, who had contracted with Paimon.
"Everyone, memorize this roughly... *sigh*..."
The people entering the Narak were Jojun’s harem members: Lee Eunji, Kang Hwayoung, Han Aram, Han Areum, Merhere, Cheshire, Eila, Seong Harin, Lee Juha, and Nanase Sora. A total of ten people. Excluding Kang Heeseon, who would remain at the base to tend the fields, Lee Eunha, the Cursed Doll with no combat ability, and Kim Yewon, who had to play the role of nanny to the dragon that hadn't yet reached adulthood, everyone else was going in.
"First, Merhere and Cheshire are Team 1, Juha and Harin are Team 2, Eunji and Hwayoung are Team 3, Areum and Aram are Team 4. Sora and Eila are Team 5. Take care of your team members. You must stick together as if two people are one."
"Yes!!"
"Confirmed!"
Team 1 was the firepower squad. Merhere would protect Cheshire, and Cheshire would tear everything apart with her laser gatling; they were the strongest of the five teams. Team 2 was the reconnaissance squad; Seong Harin, the Blue Moon Beast, and Lee Juha, the Nine-Tailed Fox, would use their keen senses to identify enemies and clear the path by killing those they could. Team 3 was the support squad. Lee Eunji, the Shadow Hannya with top-tier combat ability among players, and Kang Hwayoung, the Carnage Vamp, would move around to coordinate the whole group. Team 4 was the sister squad. Han Areum, who had changed jobs to Sword Master, and Han Aram, the Demon Slayer, planned to move around supporting Team 3. The final Team 5 was the supply squad. Nanase Sora, the Shrine Maiden, and Eila would build barriers and defensive formations to create a base. In reality, these were just nominal teams set up to ensure they moved in pairs.
"You guys go in first. Once inside, kill every parasite on the flesh-walls you see. Haeun, give them orders too."
"Yes, Master."
Jojun dropped the mushroom humans he had kept on standby and the undead controlled by the corpse-parasite trees created by Son Haeun into the Narak. The low-intelligence mushroom humans fell into the Narak in a line at Jojun’s command, and under Son Haeun’s direction, the undead controlled through the main bodies of the corpse-parasite trees poked their heads into the entrance of the Narak.
"Let’s start by making corpses out of the parasitic humans."
Watching the mushroom humans and parasite-tree hosts filing in, Jojun immediately summoned the Jet-Black Beetle.
"Kishasha..."
Perhaps because it hadn't been summoned in a while, the Jet-Black Beetle twitched its antennae, expressing its joy. Jojun stepped back two paces from the beetle, which was trying to get close, and ordered it to stir up the interior.
"Go in and multiply. And never touch the six-armed being wearing a mask. No, don't even get close. Don't even acknowledge its existence. Understand?"
"Kisha!!"
The Seeker of the Narak must never be touched. 'Seeker of the Narak... the only merchant NPC in the Narak.' The Seeker was almost the only merchant NPC in the Narak. If he offended him, he might become hostile, and that could lead to an impossible situation. He had to get help from a friendly relationship as much as possible. To do that, he must never touch his body, and he must not use divinity-related skills in his vicinity.
'If only those guys would clear things up a bit...' Jojun waited for a while until the mushroom humans and parasite trees increased the number of corpses in the Narak and the beetles multiplied.
'The Good God side has an overwhelming number of people... so we will conquer the Narak in a similar way...' The Narak conquest—the beginning was a war of attrition.