Chapter 47
Chapter 47
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 47
Chapter Title: Creature Queen's Nest
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Zzzt! Kraaak!
Kurrr rumble! Kwadddduk!
"Wow, who knew that ability could be used like that? It's so fast and precise."
The ground split open, swallowing the creature whole, and a spear made of earth and stone shot up, piercing right through it.
The whole process happened in the blink of an eye.
A ranged DPS player who had been watching Geon-woo's exploits couldn't hold back his admiration.
"It's not easy to wield earth magic that instantly under normal circumstances. And the range is pretty wide, too."
"Right? At that level, shouldn't he be considered a ranker?"
"You might find someone like him if you look. I hear he used to operate in the west."
"True. With 400 million players, you can't know every mid-tier ranker."
"If you're done resting, quit yapping and draw your bow? You seem pretty slack."
"Slack? I'm scouting around and prepping for control shots."
"But who's that woman? Never seen armor like that before, and she's wielding that longsword so lightly—impressive."
This time, it was Paeng, shining at the front lines, who drew their attention.
"I heard she and the earth mage came over from the west together. Got lucky with this raid timing."
"That luck's not theirs—it's the raid team's for having them."
"Fair point. Teammates that skilled aren't easy to come by."
Geon-woo's earth magic and Paeng's longsword mastery inevitably drew the team's eyes.
Though Geon-woo was toning down his power, his perfectly timed bursts had saved more than a few teammates from crisis.
The earth would yawn open in an instant to devour creatures, walls would rise to block charging foes, or stone spears would erupt to skewer them.
He avoided large-scale spells, but his pinpoint activations naturally earned thumbs-ups everywhere.
Paired with Paeng's flashy yet powerful longsword work up front, Geon-woo emerged as one of the raid's elites.
* * *
"This confirms we're on the right path."
The fierce first clash with the creatures had ended.
Shamans wielding bizarre corpse revival and enhancement spells, plus far too many to handle at once, had claimed several sacrifices.
But compared to the battle's scale, the casualties were lighter than expected.
Regrettable as the deaths and severe injuries were, those joining raids lived on the edge of a blade.
They quickly reined in their emotions.
Then they hustled to clean the battlefield, gathering loot and tending the wounded.
Amid this, Gremix—the raid leader—called over Geon-woo, Paeng, and a few other standouts.
And declared they were heading the right way.
"How can you tell?"
Paeng tossed out the question, demanding evidence.
"According to our intel, the Creature Queen's nest lies ahead."
"That's why we came this way on your word. So?"
"The shaman creatures we just faced were unusual. You don't see dozens banded together like that."
"Fair enough. So that's the Queen's doing?"
"Exactly. The Creature Queen commands a type of familiar. And those familiars are fixed to one species."
"So the Queen we're after has those shamans as her familiars? That's why so many showed up at once?"
"Right. Not 100% certain, but the odds are high."
"I see. And?"
"Pardon?"
"You're not calling us here just to say we're on track to the nest, right?"
Paeng pressed him sharply, her tone prickly.
The raid leaders were demon-possessed souls anyway.
Gremix here was obviously one of them.
Paeng's temperament wasn't suited for polite chit-chat with scum like that.
"Confirming we're heading right is important, no? And if those shamans are her familiars, expect more ahead. So we need to watch for their corpse revival and buffs."
"That's it?"
"Ah, and thanks to Amy and Jason for their great work. Haha."
Gremix forced an awkward laugh under Paeng's relentless jabs.
Amy and Jason were the aliases Paeng and Geon-woo used for this raid.
He'd tried praising them to lighten the mood.
"We got paid well for our efforts, and extra loot shares to boot—no need for thanks. Right, hon?"
Paeng suddenly turned to Geon-woo.
"......Mercs like good pay—that's all. But if they skimp on rewards for performance, it pisses us off."
Geon-woo flinched at "hon" but played it cool, merc-style.
"Don't flip the table over it, though. You've got a temper."
"Don't worry. I won't cross the line unless they do first."
"Who'd mess with our Jason unless they're insane?"
Saaak!
Paeng unleashed a raw, feral aura without hesitation.
A warning shot.
"Haha. Of course we'll settle accounts fairly. No worries. Alright, that's all for now—back to wrapping up."
Despite Paeng's attitude, Gremix tried salvaging the vibe before leaving to handle casualties.
"Wasn't that a bit much?"
Once Gremix left and the other mercs scattered to tasks, Paeng whispered to Geon-woo.
"What?"
"Lots of possessed teammates bit it. Total deaths are just over ten—over half possessed players."
"Could happen. They fought the opposite flank from us. Not my fault."
"We took the side without them."
"How would they know? We fought hard, kept casualties low here. Didn't target their side—we just did our best, and they happened to be elsewhere."
"Still, play it careful. Don't be too obvious."
"You think I'm an idiot?"
"Nah, wouldn't say that."
* * *
Omniroad natives and players didn't know about the Queen.
But demon-possessed had spread word of her to fetch her egg, across Omniroad and Earth.
The raid team formed around those players.
At its core: raid leader Gremix, demon-possessed.
"Plan's on track."
"We took some tribal losses in a few fights, but that's acceptable."
"Good. The nest is near."
"Then we'll split attack routes into four, as planned."
"Even if objections arise, steer the mood that way."
"Yes, my lord."
"Alright. Let's hold the full strategy meeting."
"Oh, what about that western couple? Stick with us as planned?"
"Yes. No route's a cakewalk. They'll help us plenty."
"Understood. I'll set the vibe for that."
"Good. Let's go."
Gremix finished checks and exited the tent with his subordinate.
Outside, raid members awaited.
"As you know, the Queen's nest is right there. That whole mountain is it."
Gremix pointed to the distant peak.
A massive stone mountain, barely any trees.
"Holes everywhere, obviously creature entrances."
"Looks like a ton of them. What's the plan?"
Someone interrupted mid-speech.
A native merc rep, surrounded by his crew.
"We eat steel for breakfast, right? Was gonna say fair shares, but nah. Players revive on death—Omniroad natives don't."
Gremix poked their weak spot.
"So what's your point?"
The rep flushed red.
"For the main push, maybe natives support from rear?"
"What? You dissing us?"
The rep bellowed at Gremix's words.
He'd anticipated it from the start—reaction was instant.
"No diss—minimizing losses."
"Bull. We live on the blade's edge. If death scared us, we wouldn't merc."
"We're vets, not rookies—that's an insult."
"Yeah! Cut the crap, judge by skill!"
"Right!"
Natives felt slighted, voices rising.
Seasoned mercs, proud of skills—retreating stung.
Gremix smirked inwardly.
Never planned favors for natives.
This provocation lured them into the fire.
They'd normally grab smart gains, but fell for his ploy.
"Can't fit everyone in one tunnel anyway. Natives take one—we take one too."
A possessed player nailed it home.
"Fine, we'll take one. Rest go with leader team."
With natives hooked, plants stirred the crowd from planted groups.
Geon-woo and Paeng watched, smirking.
"So obvious. Most loudmouths are possessed."
"Yeah? Splitting into four teams for entry?"
"Yep. Up to tricks now. Possessed grouping means dumping burden on others."
"Probably."
"But taking some loners means they see our use?"
"Our skills—they wanna drag us along."
"So not fully safe?"
"Better than other routes, though. What's the play?"
Paeng eyed Geon-woo.
They'd reached the nest.
With will alone, they could raid it sans team.
Asking if they'd keep hiding and tagging along.
"We follow the possessed. Send jiangshi to the other three routes."
"Jiangshi?"
"Yeah. Attach one death jiangshi each to Amryeong, Gongryeong, Dokryeong. For natives, add Shilleryeong and an extra death jiangshi—their death penalty's harsh."
"If not wrecking the place, sounds good."
"Yeah. Reveal jiangshi on crises there. We watch what these guys do."
Geon-woo glanced at the four forming groups, then led Paeng to the demon-possessed cluster.
Soon, teams picked four entrances at the nest.
Surprise: Gremix took the widest, biggest.
"We called the raid—can't hang back. We take the riskiest. Natural."
He strutted.
Others yielded it reluctantly.
"See you in the Queen's spawning grounds."
Gremix greeted all before entering first.
Others followed to assigned holes.
Creatures attacked the approaching humans, of course.
"Collapse entrances after entry. Plenty of exits anyway."
Gremix reminded of the plan, heading in.
"Charge!"
Paeng overtook him, drawing creature aggro.
"Seriously! Tone it down."
Geon-woo shook his head, ramping earth magic to support.
*Ilryeong, scout what the demon-possessed are up to. Mind the jiangshi in other paths too.*
= Yes, my lord. No worries. Surveillance tight.
Geon-woo did his final checks before the nest.