𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟐𝟎𝟒
After finishing my conversation with Aizen, I headed towards the location of the barrier without hesitation, and Yua and Sina followed me.
And after walking for a while, we arrived and as Aizen said, we could see that the barrier was deactivated.
‘Is that the wall Aizen was talking about?’
The broken wall here and there was incredibly high and long.
Also, there were numerous troops on top of the wall and on the ground below. Just by glancing at them, I could understand why Aizen gave up. It was an overwhelmingly large army.
It would be impossible to break through that army and get inside.
‘Anyway, those guys are the followers, huh.’
I was curious about what kind of creatures the followers were, but they were wearing hoods and robes, so I couldn’t see their true appearance.
However, seeing their long, nail-like fingers protruding from their sleeves, I thought they couldn’t be human.
Furthermore, looking at the wall, it was surrounded in a circular shape, but seeing the densely packed followers of Beluin, it seemed like we would have to engage in a head-on battle.
“Have you arrived?”
“Ah, you came first.”
I took my eyes off the wall for a moment and turned to look at Aizen.
I knew from the beginning that Aizen had arrived first, but I was so preoccupied with the number of Beluin’s followers that I didn’t notice him properly.
“By the way, the barrier really is broken.”
“Perhaps the intruders broke the barrier.”
“It’s only natural since none of the Emperor Guild members are here.”
However, it was strange that Lee Juho’s forces weren’t present despite the barrier being broken.
Shouldn’t they gather their troops and attack immediately since the barrier is down?
Also, since we didn’t know how they broke the barrier, it was difficult to enter recklessly.
“How did they break the barrier?”
“Perhaps they infiltrated secretly, as I mentioned before?”
“There’s no way to infiltrate secretly.”
Currently, there were two ways to break through the barrier.
One was the Apostle’s Token that Aizen had obtained, and the other was the World Tree branch I possessed. It was safe to assume that Lee Juho didn’t have either of those, so I thought he probably didn’t break through the barrier.
Or maybe he found another way.
‘Did he really find another way?’
Thinking about it carefully, it wasn’t strange if there was another way to break through the barrier, considering there were already two existing methods.
‘And if they infiltrated secretly as Sina said……’
There might be no reason to fight the followers head-on.
We could just enter through the place they secretly infiltrated.
It was a conclusion based on the assumption that there was another way to break through the barrier, but since Lee Juho’s forces weren’t here, it wasn’t entirely unreasonable.
What a flimsy barrier.
“What do you think?”
“For now, the barrier is broken, so it seems they found a way. However, there’s no need to worry.”
“No need to worry?”
“The final boss of the main scenario will be much stronger than the Apostle we met in the passage. I don’t think they can defeat the final boss, so I’m thinking of investigating a little more slowly.”
“……”
At Aizen’s words, I recalled Lee Juho’s skills from our previous fight.
His skills were certainly unique, but I didn’t think he could defeat the final boss.
The problem was that Lee Juho wasn’t alone; there were others as well.
‘Well, I guess there won’t be any problems.’
Anyway, after deciding to take it easy based on Aizen’s answer, I turned my head again to look at the followers of Beluin stationed on the wall and the ground.
‘We also have two options here.’
Attacking head-on like this, or searching for a secret passage.
However, neither appealed to me.
I didn’t know where the secret passage was, and I felt like there were still a few more conditions to meet before entering like this.
‘What I’ve found so far……’
The Mole Village and the Elf Forest.
The Ruined Village and the 18th Apostle who was there.
And finally, the Earth Dragon.
‘Should I look for more?’
At a glance, there seemed to be thousands…… no, maybe ten thousand followers of Beluin.
It wouldn’t be impossible to fight them, but considering that there were roughly a thousand Emperor Guild members in this area, it seemed like we would have to fight while accepting considerable losses.
“What do you think, Sina-nim?”
“What do you mean? About attacking that place?”
“Yes.”
At my question, Sina seemed to ponder for a moment before reaching a conclusion similar to mine.
“Attacking recklessly would be difficult. That’s something you can only do if the numbers are roughly equal. There’s probably another way.”
“Like a secret passage?”
“Yes, but someone else already found that. Of course, the best method is a secret passage, but…… if we’re going to break through this place, I suspect the dragon.”
The dragon Sina was referring to here was likely the Earth Dragon.
“The Apostle said it took time to dominate it. Conversely, there might be a way to break the domination. If we find that method, maybe the dragon will help us?”
“But the Apostle is guarding that place.”
Moreover, the Thought Monsters there are difficult to kill with normal attacks.
If we add those monsters and the raid boss, who could turn hostile and attack us at any time, wouldn’t it be more feasible to just charge the wall here?
Anyway, while I was thinking about this and that, the guild members who were summoned by Aizen started to gather.
“Wow, the barrier really is broken.”
“Wouldn’t it be good to film this for a broadcast?”
“But aren’t there too many of them?”
Murmur~ Murmur~
As people gathered, it naturally became noisy.
Moreover, listening to their conversations, they seemed very confident about attacking that place.
I didn’t have to worry about dying since I had healing abilities, but what confidence did they have?
I was curious but didn’t bother asking.
“Rudin-nim. What are you going to do now?”
“I’m thinking about it.”
“Judging by the atmosphere, it seems like we’ll have to participate in the battle if we stay here.”
“……I can’t deny that.”
As Sina said, the atmosphere seemed to suggest that we should attack the castle right away, but it wasn’t difficult to understand.
We’ve been wandering around for days without any results.
And even the Mole Dungeon and the Ruined Village that we finally found were discovered by me, not them. The only thing they did was find a Sun Stone.
In the midst of all that, a castle appeared where they could actually do something, so their eyes must be gleaming.
‘Let’s leave this place for now.’
Should I delve into the place where the Earth Dragon is, as Sina suggested?
Although the Apostle was guarding it, I was stronger now than I was back then, so it wasn’t entirely impossible to win.
“Status Information Window.”
[Name: Rudin]
[Title: Hero of the Present World]
[Level: 109]
[Fame: 6054]
[Guild: Emperor]
[Health: 30758/30758]
[Magic Power: 18288/18288]
[Stamina: 100.0%]
[Attack Power: 4763] [Magic Attack Power: 935]
[Defense Power: 4517] [Magic Defense Power: 3077]
[Stats] (All +20%)
Strength: 2386 Intelligence: 547 Agility: 1186
Stamina: 2035 Magic: 1376 Skill: 396
Fighting Spirit: 300 Summoning: 564 Command: 240
Luck: 277
[Attribute Attack Power: All Attributes (11%), Water (5%), Lightning (12%)]
[Attribute Resistance: All Attributes (6%), Water (49%), Lightning (2%)]
[Acquired Skills: 20/20]
‘As expected, my summoning stat has increased quite a bit.’
Increased summoning stat.
Noble Nature’s Blessing accessories.
Finally, if I used the Soul Contract title, there was a high chance that Ust would become even stronger than imagined.
If I cooperated with such an Ust, wouldn’t I be able to defeat the Apostle somehow?
If I could enhance the accessories to at least +10 here, my chances of winning would increase even further.
‘Then, for today, I’ll focus on enhancing the accessories……’
Pabat!━
‘Huh?’
Suddenly, without any warning, the barrier activated.
“What? Why did the barrier suddenly……”
“The barrier has activated!”
“Crazy, what’s going on?!”
The Emperor Guild members who were already inside the barrier started to panic at the sudden appearance of the barrier, and I looked around to see if Lee Juho was there.
“Rudin-nim! It’s a trap!”
“A trap?”
At the word “trap,” I thought that Lee Juho might be trying to trap us here and monopolize the main scenario for themselves.
Boom━
But as soon as I thought that, an explosion occurred where the followers of Beluin were on the ground, and then I saw someone running towards us.
The hostile mark above their head and the followers of Beluin fiercely chasing after them.
It was obvious that they were trying to lure the followers towards us.
“Aizen, how many guild members are here?”
“About 60%.”
That meant 60% of the guild members in the main scenario area were trapped.
Aizen and I could escape the barrier, so it didn’t matter to us, but that meant the remaining guild members were as good as dead.
No, more importantly.
“Yua-nim. Do you have the branch?”
“……No, I don’t.”
“How about you, Sina-nim?”
“I have one.”
Yua didn’t have it, but Sina did……
Perhaps it was fortunate.
Sina didn’t have any combat abilities.
“Is it possible that Return Scrolls don’t work?”
“I haven’t tried it, but I don’t think they would. If they did, the people here would have escaped already.”
‘Is it because we’re inside the barrier?’
Return Scrolls usually worked in most places, but it seemed like they couldn’t be used here because we were inside the barrier.
Also, Partner Movement didn’t seem to work either, as no guild members were escaping, and in this situation, everyone was preparing for battle.
“Uhahaha! This is the end for you!”
Meanwhile, the guy who brought the followers was shouting as if it was the end.
Of course, he died instantly from the attacks of some guild members before he even arrived, but the approaching followers didn’t stop and continued their advance.
‘Looks like we have to fight, one way or another.’
If Yua also had the branch, I might have made a different choice, but since things had already come to this, it wouldn’t be bad to wipe out all the approaching followers.
“Title Change. Summoning.”
[Summoning Ust, Who Swallowed the Bitter Cold.]
[Summoned creature’s level increased by 16……]
After summoning Ust, who was further strengthened by the Soul Contract title and the accessories I obtained today, I changed the title back to the original and prepared for battle.
“Jayer’s Guardian Shield.”
[S-Rank Skill. Jayer’s Guardian Shield activated.]
“Eliminate all the approaching followers! Giant’s Sprint!”
After giving a simple command to Ust, I used Giant’s Sprint to charge forward and collide with the followers before anyone else.
Kwaaaang!!━
[Skill Damage! 14,491.]
[Skill Damage……]
Fortunately, as I intended, the followers who collided with Giant’s Sprint were flung in all directions.
It was a natural result since the individual stats of this large army couldn’t possibly be higher than mine, but what was a little surprising was that none of the flung followers died.
‘As expected of monsters in this place, their vitality is extraordinary.’
Well, it didn’t matter.
The fact that I could fling them away with Giant’s Sprint meant that there was no chance of me dying.
However, unlike me, the situation of the Emperor Guild members who had just started fighting wasn’t so good.
“What the? Why aren’t these guys dying?!”
“Estimated health over 30,000!”
“Damn it! Even if I pour all my stamina into it, it’s difficult to kill more than one……”
Indeed, the followers’ health was too high for this battle, where we didn’t know how long we would have to fight.
If they didn’t have a way to recover their stamina like me, wouldn’t it be only a matter of time before they died?
However, if there was one thing we could be relieved about, it was the existence of Ust.
Ust was dealing with the approaching followers with his enhanced stats, and I could see the followers being knocked down by the branches he swung, as if his strength had also increased considerably.
And the Trees of Death that he summoned dozens at a time.
Just watching him silently, I thought that Ust alone might be able to wipe out all the followers here, but since there were so many of them, I could see that Ust was also being attacked from time to time.
‘Sigh, I should have dealt with Lee Juho back then.’
Remembering Lee Juho, who had escaped so quickly without giving me any time to react, I felt annoyed and continued to use Giant’s Sprint without rest.
Leave a Reply