Chapter 112 Elizabeth (2)
「Only difficulty level is chosen.」
「Special challenges will be activated.」
「Kill the heathens for 45 days. The mission fails following death.」
Color recovered in his black vision, and the voices buzzing around were caught by his sensitive hearing.
‘Does it start straightaway this time?’
The clattering sound of iron and a stench pierced his nose. The scent of blood and pungent smoke. Yoon-seok checked his surroundings as his eyes shot open.
“One, two, three, four, five, six…”
Inside a large barracks that could easily accommodate dozens of people. A man on the bed was scanning the number of people and doing a headcount.
“A total of twenty-three people…”
He wondered if the man was also a recreated being like Wellington or Kanna in the previous mission. The following shout indicated that he was not.
“This is smaller than the normal average, but don’t worry too much. It means that there are more talented people. May I know what level of difficulty you all chose?”
He asked about the difficulty of the mission; that was how Yoon-seok realized. All 23 characters in the barracks were challengers.
“You look familiar. Did you know about this mission in advance?”
After receiving a question from a challenger, the man nodded without hesitation.
“Yes, I heard from the senior clan, who chose the only difficulty level. We will be joining the war here as mercenaries in the future.”
Proficient in 7 days, Expert is 15 days and Only is 45 days. Of course, the man’s explanation didn’t include general and probationary difficulties. Mission challengers wouldn’t be able to choose below the proficient level from the 10th floor anyway.
“For your information, I chose the Only Difficulty.”
Naturally, the man, who projected the atmosphere of leading the situation, revealed his difficulty first. But.
“It’s good to hear that you chose the Only Difficulty.”
“Then I won’t be the only one remaining in this mission.”
The beast-man with a giant double-edged ax and the female elf challenger with a cane chimed in one by one.
“Did you choose the Only level of difficulty?”
When the man asked, the two looked at each other, and the man seemed to understand now.
“Somehow, the number of challengers increased, but there’s less than half here, so that’s why. What about the others?”
“…Proficiency.”
“I know fire and healing magic. I chose the Expert level. I look forward to your cooperation.” Were all mission trials supposed to be carried out this way?
Or was it just because of the atmosphere created by that man? It was unknown, but they shared information as far as they could. Yoon-seok kept his mouth shut until the end. Then the man gently smiled and asked. For some reason, it was a smile reminiscent of the department’s representative in college.
“You’re the only one left. Can you at least tell us the difficulty level? So that the people who are left behind can be prepared.”
The tone was polite, and the justification of the demand was reasonable. Last time, he hid the fact because he didn’t want to get attention due to his difficulty level, but he didn’t think he had to this time. Yoon-seok answered honestly.
Well, he didn’t mention he was a duelist.
“Only level of difficulty.”
“…Really? Oh… no, it slipped out. I’m sorry.”
He had only heard it from him, and he didn’t know how accurate the estimation was, but this mission’s ratio of difficulty level had been calculated. Only 4, Expert 9, Proficiency 10. Judging from the responses of the challengers, this luxurious ratio seemed rare even though the quantity was small.
“Now, let me bother you one last time. Soon, an officer will come and ask who is the leader of the mercenaries. Can I raise my hand?”
Some frowned, some tilted their heads. However, most of them reluctantly nodded at the man’s appeal, saying they gained various information thanks to his seniority and that he would do his best to make sure everyone survives. While they were getting things sorted out…
Boom!
Outside the barracks, there was the sound of something exploding.
“Attack!”
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“Ready for battle!”
Beyond the open entrance of the barracks, soldiers were seen busily running around.
“I guess it’s starting now. Everyone, please calm down and wait. The person I mentioned will be here soon.”
There was power in his confident voice. Even those who were unsure naturally followed his words due to his carefree demeanor.
“Who’s the leader here? Why are you still here in this situation?”
Soon after, an officer in a military uniform rushed somewhere and yelled when he looked inside the barracks. The man approached him as if he had waited.
“I’m the leader. Is something wrong?”
“…Is that even a question? Don’t you have eyes? They’re heathens! The cursed bastards are here!”
“I see. We’ll get ready to head out.”
Despite the man’s words, the officer clicked his tongue with a look of disapproval.
“Squatting here as if no one could tell you’re mercenaries. What’s your troop name?”
“Red Wolf Mercenaries.”
The man replied immediately. He didn’t think there was an actual name for this mercenary group of challengers, so he probably made it up. He had a bad naming sense.
“Red Wolf. I’ll keep an eye on you, so you’d better not waste your time. Do you understand?”
Finally, the officer left after mean-mugging them.
“Now, did you all hear that? Let’s get ready for battle. You have to count.”
Although the man said so, there was nothing specific to do because all of them were ready to fight at any time the moment they chose to take the trial. However, a challenger asked the man a question. It was the elf woman who chose the Only difficulty.
“But if you know this is going to happen, why do you want to get picked on by that officer?”
Yoon-seok was also curious about that. Were the other challengers the same? Everyone waited for him to speak. The man replied with an awkward smile.
“It’s meant to be.”
“I don’t quite understand.”
“Lebuck Triman, an intermediate officer of the Holy Trinity Army. The man you just saw is one of the special challenges of this trial. After this battle, he’ll be back to pick on someone again. That’s why we shouldn’t do anything to give him a reason to. Come on, let’s go!”
The moment he followed the man outside the barracks, Yoon-seok knew.
“…”
What war meant in this world.
A vast plain drifted beyond the horizon. An unidentified black meteor fell onto the plain. It wasn’t just one or two, but dozens over and over again.
Whoooosh! Boom! Boom!
He wondered if this was the crash he heard in the barracks. A huge magic square was drawn over the craters in the ground, and monsters soon began to pour out.
“Arghhhhhhh! God!”
“Kill the filthy heathens!”
The barracks where Yoon-seok was situated were located in the highlands at the end of the plain. Therefore, he could see the wave of legions from above at a glance.
“…”
In numbers, they seemed to rank in the tens of thousands. Some were smaller than humans, but others were many times larger, giving off an overwhelming presence.
The scale itself was different. There were tens of thousands of mythical creatures and hundreds of thousands of humans. The two parties collided at the borderline of the plains. Yoon-seok wondered, in the seconds that passed, how many people were dying?
“It’s been a while since I’ve done this, so I’m nervous. Is it because this is the first time I’ve been in a war like this?”
“Wow, I guess that’s the Imperial Army of the Holy Trinity Cult that used to exist!”
Unlike Yoon-seok, the challengers from other dimensions seemed quite familiar with the scene. As the troops on the borderline split up, the time to fight the mythical creatures was approaching, but they expressed a sense of superiority rather than tension. The man who treated them nicely shouted.
“Everyone, just focus on surviving. As you can see, we can’t change the tide. The mission is to focus on survival, and it is the primary goal to help the leading characters.”
It was reasonable of him to say that they weren’t the stars of this mission since the scale of fewer than 30 people wasn’t big enough to turn the tide.
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“Stop them! Stop them no matter what! The Holy War Division is coming soon!”
Was it because it was an enemy attack? Or was this how the wars of this era were supposed to be? He didn’t know, but the war was a constant dogfight. Mythical creatures flocked in, and the soldiers blocked them.
Command? Someone shouted and waved flags, but no way would work in this chaos.
“It’s our turn soon.”
“All the supports gather at the center!”
Even though no one ordered them to, the challengers naturally gathered in position. A formation where proximity fighters surrounded the outside while wizards, archers, and others were inside. Sooner or later, the border collapsed, and the enemies reached where the challengers were.
“Flag of Vitality!”
“King of the Jungle’s Protection!”
Perhaps because they were from missions rather than 1:1 duels, each of the supporting system challengers had a wide range of buff skills that overlapped numerous times and embedded themselves in the challengers’ bodies.
“Yeah, that’s it! C’monnnnnnnn!”
“X-Strike!”
“Is it because they were summoned from Killian? They’re no joke.”
The small fries were going to swarm in. However, if the mythical creatures that were difficult to handle appeared, they wouldn’t overdo it and take help from the other challengers. When injuries appeared, magic burst out from the center of the formation. It was quite impressive.
‘They’ve never seen each other before, but they’re collaborating as if they were used to it.’
It was a little awkward for Yoon-seok to fight along with someone, but he did his part as long as he didn’t interfere with their chemistry.
“What! When is she coming?”
“I think I’m running out of magic soon. I’m going to meditate, so please protect me from the side.”
As the battle lasted for more than 1, then 2 hours, the challengers were slowly growing exhausted. To make matters worse, the monsters were growing stronger. They were unrivaled among ordinary soldiers, but their limit slowly approached.
“Just hang in there a little longer! It’ll be over soon!”
If the man who decided to take the position of leader on the surface didn’t constantly encourage the group, someone would have bolted.
“Ah, so when is that going to be?!”
“He said it would be over when the saint arrives. She was supposed to be here by now…”
At the moment when he was answering a challenger’s impatient questions.
Swaaaaaaaa-!
A white light began to rise from the floor. It didn’t just happen where they stood, but it was a phenomenon manifesting throughout the vast plain. The challengers were suddenly flustered by what it was, but the regular soldiers around them were different.
“It’s the saint!”
“God, miracle…!”
Even with their limbs torn apart and holes in their stomach, they knelt on the floor with tears. Before long, the holy white light flashed, and when the light disappeared, all the monsters had disappeared somewhere. The challengers, who thought it was over, also breathed a sigh of relief.
“If it had lasted for another half hour, someone would’ve died.”
“This is way more difficult than I thought….”
It was only the first day, yet even the lowest level of difficulty, Proficient, required seven days of combat. After getting fed up with the first battle, which was more fierce than expected, they were worried about the future. The man, who played the leader, gathered them together and returned to the camp.
“Can you hear the horn over there? It’s a return signal. Let’s go back and get some rest. The next battle is tomorrow morning.”
“Tomorrow morning…that’s good news. By the way, it seems like we haven’t introduced ourselves yet? My name is Kang Dae-woon.”
“Millerion Rohanden, please call me Miller for short.”
The challengers were friendly toward Miller. It might be a given because he had skills and knew a lot about this mission. Well, it seemed like some people didn’t like it, but they remained quiet for now. Even after his return, he didn’t say much as he posted combat reports to officers of the military unit as a representative of the mercenary corps and did all the disturbing things, such as picking up supplies.
“Wow, you got this for us to eat?”
“Does anyone have cooking skills? I’ll give you the ingredients!”
After returning to the barracks, the challengers spent time eating or chatting until the next battle. Some people even asked around and received information about the mission, just like Yoon-seok.
“Stop, stop…! Argh! Arghhhhhhhh!”
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The battle was over, but there were screams everywhere. These noises weren’t only caused by the sick and injured, however.
“Hahaha! Are you sick, too? Huh? Does it hurt?”
Looking around the barracks, many wooden piles could be seen. The piles were all tied up with prisoners, and around them were groups of rejoicing soldiers.
“Are you angry? Then why don’t you summon the mythical creatures as you did earlier?”
Tap, tap.
Throwing stones was still considered noble. Some tied them to piles and stabbed them with the tip of their spears or set them on fire. Yoon-seok approached the soldiers with disgust.
“Who are these people?”
“Heathens, but… who are you?”
The soldier, who looked as if he was asking a strange question, answered and asked who Yoon-seok was.
“A mercenary passing by. I asked because it was strange that there were prisoners. I could only see monsters from my position.”
“Oh, well, maybe that’s why you don’t know. These men were captured by the Holy Warriors hiding at the Summoner’s Altar. They’re dirty heathen bastards who can’t do anything on their own.”
“If you’re referring to heathens, do you mean the Trejan Bridge?”
Yoon-seok’s question made the soldier’s eyes sharpen.
“Heathens are heathens. Do you think they have a name? Don’t call these barbarians with whatever name you want.”
“I understand.”
Yoon-seok answered so and turned his back. And at that moment.
Slash-!
The head of the suffering prisoner was cut off.
“Who is it?! Who killed him!”
The soldiers shouted in a fury, like children whose toys were taken away.
“…”
Yoon-seok left and continued to roam the army. At the same time, the heads of the tied-up prisoners were all sent rolling. Soon, when no tortured prisoners were left, Yoon-seok returned to the barracks of the mercenaries and approached Miller.
“Oh, you…”
“I’m Choi Yoon-seok.”
“Are you from Moorim?”
Yoon-seok nodded roughly at Miller’s question, then asked his own. He wanted to confirm if the heathens on this mission were the Trejan Cult.
“Elizabeth Lorwen, do you know about her?”
“…It must be one of the two. Either you heard about this mission in advance like me, or you were interested in history. But there’s no way you’re from Moorim…”
Miller’s voice hardened.
“How did you know? You chose the Only difficulty. Did you start with information like me?”
He didn’t know why, but his eyes were full of vigilance. Yoon-seok shook his head.
“When I was walking around, I heard people talking about her. So I asked.”
Did that make sense?
“Oh, I see. That’s possible. She is quite famous.”
Miller’s expression changed, and the usual smile worn around his mouth returned.
“I’m a little surprised to hear her name all of a sudden.”
“Why?”
“The Lady of Liberation, Elizabeth Lorwen, is the ultimate goal of this mission. She’s a strong woman.”
“…”
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Elle seemed to be the final boss for the 14th-floor mission.