I Entered a Gacha Game That Had Been Abandoned for 10 Years chapter 101

101 – Invasion (5) (Revised)

Merilda and Rin surged toward the Larthania Territory with full force.

The reason was the story Agares had told about another demon legion.

Upon hearing it, the two, without even caring for the wounds on their bodies, headed straight for the Larthania Territory.

Utilizing magical powers they seldom used, they covered the distance that would normally take a day in just about five hours.

“Heuk- Heuk-“

Merilda, panting as if she could collapse from exhaustion any moment, revealed how urgently she had run.

Following her, Rin, who arrived shortly after, also gasped heavily, drenched in sweat, in a state no different from Merilda’s.

Having rushed to the Larthania Territory without even properly managing their conditions, the two looked far from ready for immediate combat.

Even at a glance, it was apparent that they were extremely exhausted from their sprint, and due to neglecting to properly treat the injuries suffered in the battle with Agares, the wounds were slowly worsening even at this moment.

However, upon arrival, they wasted no time and immediately prepared for battle upon seeing the soldiers marching toward the Larthania Territory.

Loriel and Ryu, who were assessing the situation in Larthania, tried to dissuade Rin and Merilda, but they paid no attention and swiftly readied themselves for combat.

If only it wasn’t something massive descending upon Larthania Territory.

And,

──────────beep!

Until witnessing the aftermath of that massive entity landing in the midst of the demon forces, creating a colossal light.

“…”

Merilda and Lin unknowingly wore blank expressions.

Similarly, Lorel and Ryu, who had been trying to stop them, also had blank expressions, just like them.

The vast army of demons and humans, which they had been staring at just a moment ago, a force combining an enormous number of both, had vanished by more than half due to something that came from the Laritania territory.

And.

“It’s, unbelievable…”

With Lorel’s muttering, who had a blank expression.

“Ugh, ughhh-!!”

“Run, run away!”

“Retreat! Everyone, retreat!!”

The demon army began to retreat.

####

Inherently, living beings have strong boundaries against the unknown.

In addition, the moment they realize that the unknown terror can directly cause harm, the boundaries living beings possess turn into extreme fear.

That fear stems from loss.

The substantial damage caused by the unknown, thousands of real damages caused by something completely unknown, leads to anxiety that cannot be dealt with due to lack of information, and that anxiety is directly transformed into fear.

“…”

Kairon looked back.

What could be seen behind was the corpses of soldiers.

Some lost half of their bodies, some only their hands, and others were charred corpses still burning in the fire.

“─────!!”

“─────────!!!”

“─────Attack!!!”

Next, the screams and agonized faces of soldiers whose ears seemed to have burst, making it impossible to hear properly, come into view.

The expressions that were once composed of leisure and mockery are now replaced by faces filled with anxiety, restlessness, and fear as they flee.

Watching this, Kairon felt a sense of doubt.

‘How did it come to this?’

He recalled a little while ago.

A massive hunk of metal flew in, directly hitting, and the entire legion disappeared.

That was the end.

‘…Was it a large-scale magic?’

Kairon, lost in thought, absentmindedly turned his gaze and saw a magician in front of him, looking extremely bewildered, screaming.

To minimize damage from large-scale magic of six circles or above, they had been walking from the outskirts of Lartania, using dispel fields. Clearly, they were still alive.

Moreover, seeing the staff shining, it was evident that the dispel field was still in operation.

In other words, what flew in from Lartania now wasn’t some large-scale magic.

It wasn’t something that large-scale magic could easily stop with a magician’s dispel.

Therefore, as Kairon reached that conclusion, he finally became aware of the reality, and fear began to color his face.

“R-Run! Run!!”

“All the monsters are dead!”

“Now, we have to retreat, right now!!”

Even before the commander’s order was given, the sight of soldiers turning around and fleeing was so disgraceful and pathetic that it resembled a mob of defeated soldiers.

However, Kairun did not say anything to those soldiers who showed such a sight.

Instead, he turned the reins.

…He was also a defeated soldier.

####

Kim Hyun-woo, who was watching the demon army turn around and flee in an instant from afar, thought to himself.

“As I expected, it’s difficult to kill them all with just this.”

Of course, the missile Kim Hyun-woo launched this time was not anything like a nuclear bomb.

Even if he were a scientist, which he was not in his previous world, unfortunately, Kim Hyun-woo was just an ordinary civilian and did not even know how radiation was created.

However, the reason why Kim Hyun-woo was able to cause thousands of casualties with just one missile was solely because the power of the red stone was extremely strong.

“I initially estimated it to be a few hundred people.”

At the time when Kim Hyun-woo first made the Liver and the missile, the firepower he could squeeze out with great difficulty by pushing the red stone was, at most, a few hundred people.

But the reason why he was able to increase the casualties to thousands was because of the item he purchased using the red stone.

From Noble mtl dot com

“I didn’t expect the Red Orb to be helpful.”

What Kim Hyun-woo bought with the red stone was the Red Orb, which the Blue Merchant sells as a gacha or a material.

To put it simply, this Red Orb could be said to be an enhancement stone, which is easy to understand.

Not an enhancement stone that enhances weapons, but an enhancement stone that probabilistically raises the level of a building.

In other words, this item Kim Hyun-woo bought could be called the trash cash item of the century that the BM team of Arteil, which was slowly declining, created in order to somehow draw revenue from Arteil, but most users did not use this cash item.

No, they even hated it.

The red gemstone produced by the Artail’s BM team was referred to as dynamite by users, not a red gemstone.

In the event of a successful enhancement, it would have been fine, but if the enhancement failed, the building exploded.

Not just a large-scale explosion, but the reinforced building was completely incinerated, flying away to the extent that it caused damage to other nearby structures.

In addition, considering the enhancement success rate was only around 20%, users never attempted the insane act of reinforcing a building with the red gemstone.

As all buildings started requiring substantial resources from level 5 onwards, using the gemstone to blow up a building at that point would incur significant costs.

This led to debates among Artail users.

The BM team at Artail, known for always breaking users’ heads, was questioned for creating such a worthless cash item without any apparent response.

After days of debate between new and old users, the prevailing opinion at that time was that BM emerged because of friction with the ‘Territory Team.’

The character development team, one of Artail’s development departments, mass-produced thousands and tens of thousands of heroes without duplicates like a photocopy machine. On the other hand, the Territory Team was sincere about the game.

The speculation was that the BM team clashed with the Territory Team, intending to disrupt the balance of territory growth with what was supposed to be a scam. However, due to unbelievable nerfs, the item emerged in the world.

In reality, users’ speculations seemed correct. Since then, the BM team has not released any cash items related to the territory, except for those related to the labyrinth and alternate dimensions.

Anyway, the red gemstone, capable of generating explosive power when rolled up, was now in their possession.

However, despite launching missiles of that magnitude, the number of demon troops was still quite significant.

About half, or slightly more.

In other words, even in their current state, they could attack the Lartania Territory if they set their minds to it.

However, despite clearly realizing this, Kim Hyunwoo maintained a calm expression.

The demon troops visible in his eyes had already lost their morale.

Morale, or what is called spirit, played an extremely important role in warfare.

As morale increased, soldiers exhibited maximum efficiency even in unfavorable battles. However, as morale decreased, the probability of group panic increased.

And in that sense, the demon troops had already lost morale with just one missile.

From Kim Hyun-woo’s perspective, a missile was the ultimate last resort, risking everything. But from the demon army’s perspective, a missile was an unknown entity that could take away the lives of thousands with just one shot.

Already, their minds were filled with thoughts of avoiding another missile strike from Lartania.

That’s why Kim Hyun-woo, who had been letting out a light sigh, suddenly saw the horrifying corpses near the missile.

It was a grotesque sight that a modern person like him couldn’t bear.

In addition, the thought that he had killed those people by his own choice started to weigh on his conscience.

“…Ah.”

Just as his conscience was about to take hold, Kim Hyun-woo realized that his skill, Immovable Heart, had been activated, bringing a sudden sense of calmness.

At the same time, he felt a strange emotion, as if things had always been this way, and Kim Hyun-woo made a peculiar expression.

“Phew.”

Of course, Kim Hyun-woo didn’t think that he was an idiot, so he didn’t think this situation had gone wrong.

If he hadn’t attacked, he would have been the one getting attacked. Kim Hyun-woo’s choice was a highly rational one.

Perhaps, even if a similar situation arises in the future, Kim Hyun-woo will make the same choice repeatedly and strive to annihilate the enemy as much as possible.

Victory in war will ultimately benefit the Lartania territory, and the accumulated achievements from victory will protect Lartania from unseen threats.

However, even with all that in mind.

Still, his heart wasn’t at ease.

####

A few days later.

In the underground chamber of the Randalon Duchy, where the heart of the machinery throbbed, Kelba’s body was reconstructed, and he woke up.

“Ugh…”

Kelba grimaced in endless pain, furrowing his brow.

With his special ability, he could revive himself a few times as his body was not here. He let out a deep sigh and touched his own neck, grinding his teeth.

Without even blinking, Kelba was killed by the two heroes.

“Ha…”

Kelba sighed in annoyance, but soon released the irritated expression and let out a small sigh.

In the end, he had achieved his goal, even though he was killed in an unfortunate accident.

“They must have had something to do with Larthania.”

Kelba came to that conclusion through a brief deduction at that time and thought that it was the right choice for him and Ageres to capture them.

If they hadn’t held onto those two heroes, they wouldn’t have been able to kill the Outliers.

“I’m glad the objective was achieved.”

Therefore, Kelba took a rest and went up to the Lord’s Castle to receive reports.

“…What?”

“…We failed to destroy the Larthania territory. And all of our soldiers were killed.”

…

Kelba could hear the report from Duke Randalon, which made his stomach churn with anger.