Chapter 74
Chapter 74
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 74
Chapter Title: The Enemy God Descends
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'Whispering at a time like this?'
If it had been any ordinary player, Seong-un wouldn't have even considered accepting the whisper.
The battle was all but won.
For the enemy to initiate contact in a situation like this could only be interpreted as some kind of tactic.
If Seong-un wanted to talk, he would wait until after victory—after killing Shaiven, at the very least.
'But the other side is a player whose very existence is suspicious. Strange nickname, appearing long after the game started, and now this unprecedented vampire race.'
Seong-un permitted the whisper and switched to video chat as usual.
Jeolubi appeared on the screen from beyond.
'What terrible taste.'
At first, he'd thought the awkward face was just a poorly modeled avatar.
But no—it was a human face flayed and worn inside out.
Through the gaping hole in the skin, cloudy, milky-white eyes stared at Seong-un.
Beneath them hung a ragged patchwork of faces from various people, worn as clothing and adorned with skulls and collarbones.
Jeolubi said nothing.
Seong-un spoke.
"What should I call you? I've been calling you Jeolubi. That okay?"
"......"
"You started the conversation. If you have nothing to say, I'm hanging up."
Only then did dark, grimy lips part and wiggle between the open mouth of the face-skin.
In a low, sinister voice, Jeolubi spoke haltingly.
"Do you... think... you've won?"
"And?"
"You're wrong... You will... lose."
Seong-un shrugged.
"Nah. I'll win. Even if this had been a field battle instead of a siege, I'd have taken it. We chose the mountain fortress just to minimize casualties. Even at half strength, Heukrin's lizardmen have maintained elite forces for over a decade with almost no losses. The composite tribal army is great if they have commanders matching their skill, but Shaiven wasn't up to that level."
"I am not... speaking of... your dull, lowly... two-legged... things."
'Dull and lowly?'
Seong-un assumed the other was at least a role-player.
Seong-un said,
"Or are you talking about the fight between Rakrak and Shaiven right now? But even alone, Rakrak's holding his own. One thing I was worried about was you using Possession, so I was on guard for that. But I can just counter with my own Possession."
"Not that... either."
"Then what?"
Jeolubi stammered,
"You... cannot change... anything... in this world."
Seong-un pondered the meaning.
If the other was a player—more precisely, a human from Earth like Seong-un—they would have said something like 'I'll win the game.'
'But saying I can't change anything?'
Seong-un decided to provoke further.
"Wrong. I'll win. Right now, only lizardmen and humans follow me, but give it a little time and that changes. I'll advance civilization, connect all continents by sea and air routes, and if I feel like it, build undersea tunnels beneath the oceans. Temples in every city, excavate every ancient ruin..."
"Enough!"
Jeolubi raged.
"That power... was never... yours to begin with!"
Seong-un figured another odd phrase had slipped out.
Calling players 'you lot' meant the other definitely wasn't a player.
"Then whose was it originally?"
"Ours!"
"Ours? Who's 'us'?"
Seong-un's question seemed to fluster Jeolubi, who fell silent.
Seong-un said,
"You're not human, are you?"
Jeolubi hesitated briefly, eyes downcast.
Seong-un felt he'd hit the mark, but the silence unnerved him.
'The reaction confirms it. If not human, then what?'
Jeolubi raised its head.
"We... were the masters... of this world."
"Masters of the world?"
"We will... take it back... from you."
The video chat window vanished.
'Some manners.'
Seong-un grumbled.
Then he saw the empty air split from top to bottom.
'...What's this?'
Rakrak's silver spear blade severed Shaiven's right arm.
"Argh!"
The flying arm was snatched by the beak of the cockatrice, Anakse.
Anakse reared its head and swallowed Shaiven's right arm in one gulp.
'Is it over?'
All the giant weasels guarding Shaiven lay dead and scattered, and Shaiven could barely stand with his arm severed.
His eyes blazed with venom, but the fight was decided.
To finish Shaiven, Rakrak kicked Anakse's flank and charged.
'...!'
Rakrak felt a chill and yanked the reins.
Faster than Rakrak, Anakse looked skyward and screeched.
-Kyaooo!
A massive silver wall appeared between Shaiven and Rakrak, then vanished.
Rakrak urged Anakse up the slope.
Only then did he realize it hadn't been a silver wall.
It was a massive blade.
A sword tens of meters long had slashed through the air toward him.
Had Rakrak not noticed, he and Anakse would have been bisected.
Rakrak looked up.
"No doubt about it..."
The sword's tip had a hand.
Behind the giant hand, its owner emerged.
Its height seemed over a hundred meters.
Its head was too distant for torchlight to reach, visible only as shadow, but its eerie crimson eyes gleamed vividly.
"...Their god."
Seong-un examined the giant's form.
It resembled the figure he'd just seen in the video chat with Jeolubi.
Especially the flayed face-skin part was nearly identical, though the body below the neck differed.
This giant had three pairs of arms, each armed with sword and spear, axe and hammer, bow and arrow.
'Manifestation.'
A skill unlocked at Divinity Level 16.
Not borrowing a priest's body or summoning a creation—this was the god descending to the earth itself.
Players could customize the 'Manifestation form,' with combat abilities based on the god's domains.
'Good tactic, but it seems inexperienced with the game system. I hoped it wouldn't know how to use it. That was too greedy.'
Seong-un figured Jeolubi was Level 16 or 17, and since it hadn't used Faith resources until now, it could afford the skill.
'Set it to an enormous size. Even summoning Slatis would barely scratch its thigh. But that form must devour Faith resources. It doesn't know the system inside out.'
Seong-un checked on Heukrin's lizardmen.
Rakrak, now atop the walls via Anakse, was issuing orders to the troops.
Obviously: retreat.
Open the fortress gates and take the eastern slope path to bypass the enemy toward the auto-fortress.
Vampires had originally guarded the path, but the siege had depleted them, leaving it empty.
'Good, sensible.'
Anyone could see that thing was beyond them.
Even brave souls might challenge a ten-meter monster.
A near-hundred-meter giant laughed off thousands of arrows.
'Yes. Just escape.'
Manifestation at Level 16 consumed more Faith than Possession right away.
To maintain it, real-time sacrifices were needed.
'But it has no ongoing ritual. No offerings. So it has to gather them on-site.'
And Jeolubi moved as Seong-un predicted.
Shaiven thought his god would charge the fortress and strike, but Jeolubi didn't.
A few steps alone would deplete Faith.
So Jeolubi crouched, reached out with empty hands, and seized slaves and the vampires fighting them.
It opened its maw and shoved them in alive.
Screams pierced the night air.
Shaiven sweated coldly at the indiscriminate grasp.
He realized this was the god he'd chosen—and that he wasn't so different from it.
Slaves and vampire soldiers fled at the sight.
But no matter how fast, escaping the god's reach was impossible.
The god scooped the farthest runners with ease.
Terror-stricken, they fainted or screamed skyward.
Shaiven collapsed, praying his turn was last.
'Just wait it out. We'll lose some lizardmen, but by the time it fills its belly with slaves and vampires and recovers Faith, few troops will remain in the fortress.'
Regrettably, the battle would fizzle out like this.
Shaiven would likely survive, and Jeolubi would retake the empty fortress with remnants.
But shattering the vampire army and draining Jeolubi's Faith was a fine result.
Vampires couldn't use the fortress properly anyway.
'Jeolubi's no fool. It'll abandon the fortress, leaving minimal troops to buy time, while sending Shaiven continent-hopping to rebuild forces.'
Meanwhile, the five players would keep reclaiming villages.
'The other players will suffer more, but that's not my responsibility.'
Someone else reached the same conclusion as Seong-un.
Rakrak.
But Rakrak acted differently.
"Hurry! We don't know when that evil god will charge us!"
At Rakrak's shout, the lizardmen moved in perfect order.
Lizardmen warriors with minimal weapons exited the gates and raced down the eastern slope.
Quezel said,
"Rakrak, I'll hold here now. You go down the slope first."
"Fool. What leader abandons his warriors and flees first?"
"This time, listen. You're not just any leader. You're the 'king.'"
"I know that. But what do you think a king is? A coward, maybe?"
Quezel interjected,
"No. The most precious one."
"Why so precious?"
"Because... you set the example and lead us where to go."
"So you think my life matters more than yours?"
"Is that even a question?"
Quezel laughed in disbelief, and Rakrak joined in.
This time, Quezel seemed right.
If the king died, chaos would follow.
Rakrak knew.
Those kneeling before him secretly aspired to his place.
They'd resolved not to act while he lived.
'But if I die?'