V57C4P3 – The Great War

“Why are they like that all of a sudden?”

“Their morale is at its peak. The vibe is real.”

Neither the a.s.sault squad nor the spectators knew the reason, but they had a good idea.

It was the appearance of Bard Ray’s personal guards.

Though their melee combat with the dragon had left their armor fractured and broken, they were pus.h.i.+ng forward under the countless arrows and magic attacks.

The heroic display was totally expected.

– I will make you mere humans pay for challenging me. Howling Rage!

Kaybern’s body turned dark red and began emitting incredible power.

The Hermes Guild members on the front lines pressuring it with their s.h.i.+elds were the targets of its attack.

As its tail whipped, their s.h.i.+elds and armor were torn like pieces of paper, causing guild members between the levels 400 ~ 500 to die. The results were consistent with its foreleg kicks and headb.u.t.ts.

“What is this? It suddenly became outrageously powerful!”

“K-ugh! s.h.i.+elds press closer! Don’t give it any room to move around or we are all in danger!”

Even the warriors over level 1000 who used the brazier were severely wounded or decapitated by its attacks.

“It’s too strong!”

“We can’t block it, so don’t confront it.”

With every struggle from Kaybern, thousands of s.h.i.+eldmen were pushed away in fear.

It pressured the Hermes Guild with its phenomenal physical strength.

What happened here?

Weed asked the channel with the crucial members of the Morata defense.

Arkhim: I’m uncertain. It became very powerful after casting a spell.

Ultar: It is still manageable. If we continue as we had before, the front will hold the line and we will be able to go for its rear by circling around left and right. If we can win, the losses must be accepted.

Grenol: We must push forward and block off the front as well. We must not let the dragon have an open path!

Max: a.s.semble the s.h.i.+eld units. We must corner Kaybern completely.

A rather unsettling atmosphere dominated the conversation among the commanders and soon, Weed received the response to his question.

After careful observations, we determined it to be a magic spell that enhances strength.

It was Dain’s answer.

She too was watching from somewhere in Morata.

Weed felt a bit awkward having not spoken to her in such a long time and spoke in a polite manner.

Did it cast the spell on itself?

Yes. Though the scale is different, there is a similar spell in the Shaman moveset. With that kind of power however, it has to be dark magic.

But it doesn’t seem as though that it offered any sacrifices.

I believe it increases strength based on the number of enemies and the c.u.mulative damage taken.

Once it was empowered by magic, Kaybern’s physical prowess was dreadful.

The outrage of a dragon over hundreds of meters tall paved the humans to the ground and caused a ma.s.sacre.

It was truly a scene of a calamity.

“Uwaaaagh!”

“It’s too strong.”

Players fell like rain running down the dragon’s back and wings and got kicked in mid-air.

‘We just have to take the beast down. Even with this many casualties, if we kill the dragon…’

The Hermes Guild was united in a single idea. Kaybern’s health points are roughly at half.

Having used the brazier that cost 50 levels, one death wasn’t any more significant, so an all-out attack was the only answer.

“We must keep up the attack. There is no room for hesitation.”

Bard Ray was still mounted on the dragon’s back.

Despite the dragon’s tough movements, he spent all his stamina and mana to throw out a barrage of skills.

Over a hundred guild members were attacking alongside him and they too were in a state of frenzy. The healing and buff spells from the priests were concentrated on them.

“Just a little further! The dragon is dying.”

“The end is almost here. Everyone pull out all you’ve got!”

The commanders roamed the grounds and shouted.

The players standing on top of the enraged dragon had no time to look around, but they could hear the sounds from their comrades.

The users of the brazier too occasionally died under the dragon’s feet or spells. However, many were too deeply drenched in b.l.o.o.d.y madness to notice the increasing casualties.

Slater: We can kill it.

Heroid: Our attacks are working. Keep attacking. We are so close to the success of this hunt.

There was no need for second thoughts.

They themselves knew that their berserk state was the only thing that would help them win.

Towards the end of combat, the great city Morata would be left in severe destruction.The piles of Hermes Guild bodies had no pity.

They had lacked companions.h.i.+p to begin with, but now that they all saw the great achievement of hunting down the dragon right before their eyes they were even more callous.

Krobidyun: The dragon’s current health points are at 39%.

Kaybern was taking damage to its health points despite its overwhelming defense and magic defense

Lamifter: I think we can actually pull this off.

Boemong: For sure. Kaybern will die today.

Gaushu: Everyone hold your stations! The offense must continue until the end of this war.

Krobidyun: I will take care of the corpses as soon as they sp.a.w.n.

The spectators of Morata were getting worked up.

“There, the Hermes Guild is going to take it down.”

“It looks like it. Nice. Bard Ray really is awesome.”

“Wow, the Hermes Guild is showing its cla.s.s. The dragon is incredible too.”

“I wanted Weed-nim to defeat the dragon. Still, I don’t need to worry about Versailles falling anymore.”

“That goes the same for me.”

The Absolute Solar magic was long gone and the fire burning down the buildings were almost all extinguished.

The only thing left was to push the dragon to its end.

Weed wasn’t the least excited watching the scene.

‘But this is the dragon. It seems all too easy for it to end like this.’

There was no need for complications.

He did think that it was all because the Hermes Guild forces were extremely well prepared.

The dangerous plan of luring the dragon into Morata succeeded in the end.

Ranged attacks against a dragon were considered to be not the most effective, but the c.u.mulative damage would be significant.

The decapitated players were recovered quickly under the concentrated healing from the priests. The users of the brazier survived resourcefully and led the battle well.

If it weren’t for them Kaybern would have gone on a rampage without a leash.

‘I need to prepare for Kaybern’s final moment. I need to get closer for the last hit.’

***

“Ch-eeeek!”

Seechwi.

She had discovered the existence of the demon king Cletta and had become very famous.

“Is there anything we could help you with?”

“Ch-cheek!”

The adventurers who returned from the Ring of Fire joined with her in Orcland.

“The Flames of the Champion. Ch-k! We will head there. Chu-ek!”

“Understood. We will figure it out together.”

Seechwi knew that even if they succeeded in hunting down Kaybern at Morata, it wasn’t the end. In order to stop Cletta, they had to take care of the Red Dragon as well.

‘If Kaybern disappears, the possibility of Cletta sp.a.w.ning would be near zero… It would be difficult for Landony to retrieve all the sealing stones.’

Seechwi, instead of rus.h.i.+ng to Morata to be of little help, decided on travelling to the Flames of the Champion with a composed mind.

It was a ma.s.sive fortress defended by patrolling orcs.

“Human. Ch-k!”

“You guys. Smell is bad. Ch-chik!”

The adventurers alongside Seechwi were frowned upon, but they were used to such treatment.

“Don’t worry. We just have to cover up the scent.”

The adventurers rolled on the ground and wore old animal hides so that their scent didn’t disturb the orcs. Truthfully, the orcs were not that sensitive.

“By chance have you seen Landony…”

“Do you know anything about a sealing stone…”

“What is the origin of this city?”

The adventurers diligently gathered information. The orc players were aware of Seechwi’s fame and so they were quick to offer a.s.sistance and with their help; they were able to collect the rumors rapidly.

The battle arena in the Flames of the Champion!

Every two years, there is a tournament held to pick the king of the orcs.

When the orcs fall in danger, the great tribal leaders appear.

They will uphold a special ceremony at the battle arena as they promised Batalli.

“The orc warriors fight and the last one standing becomes king.”

“That king reigns over all orcs.”

“Also, the survivor absorbs the soul of the dead orcs and the power of the losers to be reborn as the orc hero…”

Orc hero!

The king who appears at the crisis of the orc tribe is awarded with immense power.

It was that same orc king that would fight against Landony and prevail.

The adventurers were quite skeptical about it.

“The orcs develop the slowest compared to other races.”

“It can’t be helped since they have harsh appearances. If Weed-nim didn’t play as Karichwi, it would have been much worse.”

“The overall standard of orcs is on the low end, so even if they find a king in the arena, I a.s.sume that it would be impossible to fight against Landony.”

“The tournament is still a year away. No one can tell for certain what will happen during that time. Also, we have orc Karichwi.”

The adventurers nodded in agreement.

They also thought that it was natural for orc Karichwi to appear and rule over Orcland.

“The compet.i.tion among the orcs will become intense.”

“Wouldn’t it be worth a shot? Since it is for the dragon slayer achievement.”

“Elves, Dwarves and Orcs. They are all excited. The humans had their cities ruined.”

“I don’t think we need to divide this up into which race is favored the most. Isn’t it true that humans are the most developed of all?”

The adventurers were trying to round up additional information.

They would be grateful for any information on Landony, and there was a chance they could b.u.mp into a rare quest at the Flames of the Champion.

“Ch-eek! Ch-k!”

“Dragon! Dragon is coming. Ch-Ch-Chik!”

The orcs at Flames of the Champion were scrambling everywhere.

“No way…”

“Coming here?”

The adventurers panicked and ran over to the fort walls with the other orcs.

An enormous crimson dragon had risen over the horizon.

“It’s real!”

“Landony!”

The Red Dragon flew through the curtain of clouds.

“Chhhhh-eeek!”

“This is, this is bad. Ch-ch-ch!”

The orcs on the wall shouted frantically.

The orcs felt their throbbing hearts but soon felt something strange.

The Red Dragon wasn’t headed towards the orc fortress.

It was flying from the east to the northwest.

It was visible from the fortress, but it flew right past.

“What? Is it to chase down another orc tribe?”

“Then that’s fortunate…”

“It’s trying to recover the sealing stones. But, there is the special orc tribe in that direction… Could it be…”

Adventurer Andol imagined something in his head and s.h.i.+vered.

(To be continued…)