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[Translator - Prøks]
[Proofreader - Prøks]
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Chapter 107
At that moment, Seonghyun moved some distance away.
Then he casually glanced up at the sky.
[When all members of the 『Legion of Calamity』 are defeated, the large-scale event 『Legion of Calamity』 will end.]
“Ah.”
He realized he had forgotten about that.
This isn't the time to be standing around, he thought.
He wondered if he could also test the Order of Ruin there.
“I need to go back.”
As Seonghyun uttered those words.
Leonik shouted.
-We return to the battlefield!!!
Simultaneously with Leonik's shout, the Order of Ruin rose in unison and yelled.
“Ruuuuuuuuuu-iiiiiiiiin!!!”
Excessively performing the response chant, the Order of Ruin mounted their ghost horses in unison.
The sight was quite impressive, like a scene from a movie.
However, amidst the action, only one knight stood there blankly.
'What's this? Why isn't he getting on?'
As Seonghyun looked at the knight, puzzled, he recognized him.
It was the Knight of Ruin who had first spoken to Leonik.
He wondered why the knight wasn't mounting his ghost horse.
Suddenly, Seonghyun noticed Leonik positioned among the other knights on their ghost horses.
“Ah.”
As Seonghyun made a sound of understanding,
Leonik looked at Seonghyun and said.
-My Lord! Allow me to serve you!
“Uh, ye-yes. Alright.”
As Seonghyun mounted the ghost horse with Leonik,
Immediately turning the horse's head, Leonik shouted.
-Order of Ruin!!! Advance!!! Our target is the Legion of Calamity!!!
“Our target!!!! The Legion of Calamityyyy!!!”
Responding loudly with the chant after Leonik's lead call, the Knights of the Order of Ruin followed him at the vanguard, urging their ghost horses forward fiercely.
Clip-clop! Clip-clop—!
The powerful sound of the ghost horses' hooves dominated the surroundings as they charged forward.
This speed was considerable, comparable to riding Anemor.
It was much faster than Seonghyun's own flight speed.
Therefore, Seonghyun nodded, genuinely impressed.
At this rate, it seemed they would arrive sooner than he thought.
'It won't even take 3 minutes?'
He had worried that the summon duration might run out just from the travel time, but it seemed that wouldn't be the case.
Then, something suddenly occurred to him.
He wondered how the Knight of Ruin without a ghost horse was getting here.
He glanced back briefly.
There, he could see a lone Knight of Ruin sprinting furiously.
"Huff!!! Haaah!!! Heeek!!!"
He momentarily saw the Knight of Ruin sprinting with all his might, his breath catching as if he were about to die any second, but Seonghyun quickly turned his head away.
He felt sorry for the knight and wanted to tell him to ride behind someone else, but everyone was deliberately ignoring him.
Why?
Because he was the one who had been insolent to Leonik.
‘If your seniority is low, it can't be helped.’
Feeling apologetic, Seonghyun kept his head turned forward and, like the other Knights of Ruin, forced himself to ignore the runner.
"Keoook!!! Heoook!!!"
He consciously tried to ignore the gasping sounds that kept coming from behind him.
2.
The large-scale event.
At this point, it was no different than a war.
The number of players involved was immense, and the Legion of Calamity was equally enormous in number.
The clash between the two forces was truly like something out of a movie.
However, now that the battle had entered its much later stages, it felt less like a movie and more like reality.
“Aaargh!”
“Move the wounded!!!”
“What do you mean, move them?! Tell them to get forcibly logged out!”
“Damn it! More are coming!!!”
A battlefield of utter confusion.
The chaotic atmosphere, devoid of any sense, felt just like a real war.
Such an atmosphere was fitting for what could only be called a war.
And yet, even amidst such a war, there were those who shone brightly.
Individuals who stood out to everyone, even in this panic-stricken place.
Those deserving of being called heroes.
Meiran of Eclipse Order, Kurosawa Ren of Tempest Wing, and Junhyuk of Sick Brothers.
These three were such individuals.
“Follow Lady Meiran!!!”
“Secure the path Lord Ren cleared!!!”
“Lord Junhyuk is heading out!!!”
The trio acted like vanguard commanders.
The imposing presence of these three, seen as heroes, was considerable.
However.
In an area blanketed by a chilling silence, there was another legion trampling the Legion of Calamity underfoot.
They were not heroes.
They were a legion focused solely on achieving victory.
Balthar, Fiora, Barpur, and even Nocturnium—all four radiated the majesty of absolute beings reigning over this place, delivering death to all things.
They tolerated no encroachment, trampling everything and dominating the area.
To them, what was a fierce battlefield for others felt like merely swatting insects.
As if this wasn't even worthy of being called a battle.
"L-let's not go over there."
"A-aren't we going to die too?"
"W-well, according to the Demon King's live stream, th-that probably won't happen, but......"
No one dared voice the thought 'what if'.
They knew the Demon King's legion members each possessed reason.
But no one knew how they would react if they overheard such words.
Their assumptions were correct.
The Death Legion had been listening to the surrounding chatter, but for the moment, they were overlooking it.
They hadn't received orders to deal with those players.
However, the four executives among them were facing each other, talking amongst themselves.
-Hmph, we've certainly caught a lot, but the atmosphere is peculiar.
-H-hee hee. Th-there are arrogant humans here.
-Ho ho ho, well now, this looks like a chance to offer some new things to the Master, eh?
-...Do not act rashly. Everything proceeds according to the Lord's will. He will arrive soon.
At the words of Nocturnium, who had been surveying the surroundings, everyone halted for the time being.
But suspicious movements were becoming apparent.
They couldn't help but be on edge.
Was it because players were gossiping about Seonghyun or the Death Legion?
They wouldn't get so sensitive over something so trivial.
There was something else.
And Seonghyun's subordinates weren't the only ones sensing this atmosphere.
“Hmm, something’s strange? The mood here is getting really weird.”
“I’ve felt it too…”
“That’s right. All the guilds seem off.”
“Wahaha. Exactly. Most guilds, including ours, seem to be hesitating, don’t they?”
Though Meiran spoke with a smile, her expression as she addressed Junhyuk and Kurosawa Ren grew considerably cold.
It seemed some groups were plotting something secretly amongst themselves, keeping it hidden from the three of them.
The thought was distinctly unpleasant, causing all three to frown slightly.
And then, a fact came to mind.
“Come to think of it, Echo Willow, who said they would participate in the battle, hasn’t shown even a trace, have they.”
“Wahahaha! I’d like to say they tucked tail and ran.”
“But that’s unlikely.”
The so-called Karma Guilds, often known as villain guilds, mostly had their base of operations here in the Dune Wild Trail.
There was no place more lawless than this.
Wasn't that why Echo Willow operated so openly here?
Yet, until now, neither Echo Willow nor any other Karma Guild had shown even a hint of their presence.
Crashing a festival-like event like this should have been their specialty.
As all three reacted to the strangeness of the situation,
Another dust cloud began to rise from the west, the direction the Legion of Calamity had swarmed from.
It was evidence that something was approaching at high speed.
However, far from being tense, Meiran laughed heartily and exclaimed.
“Wahahahaha!!! Looks like he’s cooooming!”
“I peeked at the live stream; as expected, he’s returning right away.”
“This won’t be easy.”
As the three spoke, they watched the dust cloud.
They could see the figures of knights at the vanguard, and behind them, a single player riding towards them.
The player who could be called the protagonist of this large-scale event.
He was personally coming here.
It was at that exact moment.
[Ranker Meiran, do not act rashly. Return to the guild's position.]
"...???"
Seeing the message from one of her guild's executives, Meiran tilted her head in confusion.
What is going on?
Kurosawa Ren had a similar reaction.
"...Perhaps you were also told to return to your guild, Meiran?"
"...It seems something is definitely going on."
Meiran, who had been laughing heartily just moments before, felt her expression freeze coldly, and Kurosawa Ren's did the same.
Junhyuk, on the other hand, spoke up.
"I got a message too. It looks like both your guilds have teamed up with Echo Willow."
At Junhyuk's words, Meiran and Kurosawa Ren's faces flushed red with shame.
They had contracts with their guilds.
They couldn't refuse orders.
But to think they had joined hands with Echo Willow...
It was obvious what those villains intended to do.
"Chiksho!"
"It's frustrating, but there's nothing we can do. Even if he's the Demon King, can he really face Echo Willow without anyone's help?"
Meiran's concern was natural.
The Demon King?
He was incredible.
But hadn't he already defeated the event's boss and achieved so much here?
To have to face Echo Willow on top of all that?
Could he actually win?
It was only natural for such worries to surface.
"Junhyuk, what about your side?"
"Umm."
At Meiran's question, Junhyuk scratched his head, looking perplexed.
"My guild seems to have put in an inquiry to the Rapid Guild..."
"Ah, so support is coming?"
"Ahem, support from Rapid would certainly be reassuring."
Junhyuk gave an awkward smile at Meiran and Ren's words.
"Ah, no... there's no support. They said the Demon King will handle it himself, so just leave him be?"
"...???"
"...???"
‘Has the Rapid Guild abandoned the Demon King too?’
‘Without support, even the Demon King would struggle against Echo Willow, wouldn't he?’
Lost in such thoughts, the trio watched the approaching Echo Willow forces, swallowing hard.
Their numbers appeared to be well over several hundred.
Isn't this a number impossible for one person to handle?
No matter how strong Seonghyun's legion was, their mana wasn't infinite.
It seemed impossible for them to prevail.
‘Did the Rapid Guild really abandon the Demon King?’
Unable to comprehend the situation, all three stared blankly at the advancing guilds.
3.
Seonghyun, who had always been quick to read the atmosphere, immediately sensed the strange mood.
Using flight, he rose into the air from his position riding behind Leonik.
He saw some players capturing Legion of Calamity members and pulling back to the rear, while the remaining players cleared out the last of the Calamity mobs and simultaneously moved to surround his position and the nearby Death Legion.
It was a puzzling development, but he understood when he saw their nicknames glowing red and recognized their guild emblems.
‘Echo Willow, was it?’
He recognized them as the ones he had encountered before.
They were gradually encircling Seonghyun, forming a tightening siege, while other players knowingly pulled back.
Looks like they want to capture me, huh?
As Seonghyun thought this, a message arrived from his guild.
[Rapid - Looks like Echo Willow intends to get revenge. Need support?]
Seonghyun smirked at Rapid's slightly worried message.
Roughly estimating, their numbers seemed close to a thousand.
No ordinary player could possibly handle a 1 vs 1,000 fight.
What about other Almighty rank classes?
Under normal circumstances, they might stand a chance, but after a large-scale battle like this one? It would likely be too difficult.
However, Seonghyun wasn't just any Almighty rank class user; he was an Overlord, reigning at the very pinnacle among them.
So, he wasn't worried.
[Seonghyun - No way. I'll record this too.]
After sending the simple reply, Seonghyun pressed the record button and stepped forward.
From Echo Willow's side, someone who appeared to be their representative also came forward.
It seemed they intended to talk.
Alright, let's hear what they have to say.
With that thought, Seonghyun moved forward.
Their very first words were utter nonsense.
"Surrender obediently and hand over all your items."
It wasn't even worth listening to.
Seonghyun shook his head, amused, then snapped his fingers.
-Order of Ruin!!!!!! Strike down those arrogant and insolent fools!!!!!!
“Raaaaaaaaaaa-uuuuuuuuuuuuin!!!!!!”
Filled with sharp military discipline, the Order of Ruin charged forward.
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[Translator - Prøks]
[Proofreader - Prøks]
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