Episode 174: Crack (4)
“Oh, here it comes! “The monsters are coming!”
“This is crazy! Everyone run!”
A quiet rural village on the northern edge of the continent, but now it was not quiet.
This is because the enemies attacked them as they was hastily preparing to evacuate. The enemies are mutants who twist their horribly mutated bodies in grotesque ways, with flashing eye lights and drooling saliva.
After Baal’s death, the mutants who lost control and ran rampant according to their instincts were the main culprits who were pushed out to avoid the Demon King’s army and made it even harder for the locals who were already struggling.
“Hurry and run! “I can’t stop it!”
“no! Sera!”
The village chief urged the residents. However, it is not easy for them, many of whom are ordinary people, to escape from the rampaging monsters.
Those who fell behind were hunted by monsters one by one.
His limbs were torn off and his throat cut by those sharp nails, knives, and teeth.
“Hey… … Argh!”
From Noble mtl dot com
Moreover, if you are unlucky enough to be captured, you will face a more terrible end than dying from a single blow.
Those who inhaled the vapors emitted by the mutants screamed and mutated into another monster.
They try to kill the family or colleagues they were trying to protect and turn them into the same person as themselves.
‘Is it hell?’
Chief Lucas looked at the scene blankly.
Hell, it was literally hell. I have experienced the great war against the Demon King’s army and the fight between the Church and the Alliance.
But I can assure you that it has never been as scary as it is now. A sense of despair that I had never felt before came over me like a wave.
It was a true disaster that even famous heroes collapsed.
“no!”
Soon, they came all the way to where Lucas was. Those next to him screamed and closed their eyes as they sensed the end.
It was the same with Lucas.
“uh?”
At that time, something different from what he expected unfolded. A large spear that came from somewhere pierced the body of the enemy who was trying to kill him at once.
“Hit it. “They are mutated monsters!”
A group of knights rushed to save the villagers who were being attacked. Whether they had repeated the battle or continued to run, their condition was not that good.
Nevertheless, they gritted their teeth and attacked the mutants to save people.
“You monsters!”
Chris was one of them. After the lord abandoned his territory and fled, he eventually abandoned the city with his knights and took refuge.
“chris! Back!”
“Tsk.”
The knights, including Chris, fought with all their might against the mutants, which numbered in the dozens and were still increasing in number.
Although I was already at my physical limit, I had to save people. In addition to simply saving lives, it also means saving those who will become mutants in the future.
‘How long?’
He swung his sword and killed one of the mutants, gritting his teeth.
The most frustrating thing is that this is not the end. In the end, mutants are kicked out of their places and are constantly driven to the frontier.
The real giant monster had already devoured most of the continent.
“Bow! “It’s magic!”
At that moment when the knights were having a hard time, an explosion of magic hit the charging enemies. Frowning against the debris and heat, Chris looked at the person who had cast the spell.
Yuria suddenly disappeared and recently returned. If it weren’t for her magic, the knights wouldn’t have come this far with the refugees.
“Okay, is it finished?”
“Don’t worry. “I don’t know when it will come again.”
Soon all the enemies were overpowered and killed. The villagers who survived, at least half of them, sat down and wept, and the exhausted knights also took a breath and gathered their strength for a moment.
“There are more and more mutants, Chris.”
“I can’t help it. “In the end, they were kicked out too.”
Yuria approached and opened her mouth. Chris sighed at those words and looked at the distant horizon. In fact, there was no time to delay even now. I had to get out of here quickly and join the cult forces.
“It’s not that far. All you have to do is cooperate with the denomination. Then you can live.”
Chris, as well as everyone else, was only thinking about joining the church in the current situation of the apocalypse itself.
In fact, the church had been unconditionally accepting refugees from the moment mutants ran rampant and the Demon King’s army began to increase its power.
There was no such thing as conversion or coercion of faith, as had previously been claimed. This is thanks to the fact that the ruling class of the church, led by Evelia, also recognized how serious the current situation was.
“Let’s move quickly. “The leader gave the order to move.”
At that time, Naan approached them. Officially, it is known that the elves also abandoned their occupied territories and returned to the Great Forest after the emergence of mutants.
It is true that he actually returned, but he did not run away. Some mutants who had no idea what they were doing crossed over to the Great Forest, but in a place already occupied by the Demon King’s army, they died without even realizing it, including rats and birds.
‘Even if you arrive, it’s a problem. What will happen to this world in the future, and will we be able to resist that huge army?’
Chris’ expression, which started moving again, was not so good. Anyone who saw how strong the Demon King’s army was could not help but naturally think that way.
‘okay. ‘This is better.’
Yuria also found it difficult to feel at ease after seeing her younger brother like that. However, there was one difference between her and Chris: she could rather think of this situation as a good thing.
The moment Lucy decided to leave the survivors, including the church faction, in a corner of the continent rather than annihilate them, Yuria was given a new mission.
Working as a spy within them and collecting data was not much different from what I had been doing so far.
Even though he would continue to deceive the people around him, including Chris, it was much better than standing in the vanguard and killing them all. So she wanted to protect their hearts, even if it meant lying like that.
“Later, mutants followed suit again. Everyone speed up! “There are hundreds of them, so it’s impossible to fight them!”
“Holy sh*t! Everyone, use your strength! “I have to walk for three more days!”
It was at that time that the scout who had been watching far away urgently reported the news.
Together with numerous refugees, they increased their marching speed to escape from the pursuing monsters.
* * *
“excuse me! Refugees are coming again.”
“But then there are monsters again!”
This is the border area that Chris and Yuria’s group arrived at with difficulty, absorbing refugees.
They saw a group of refugees approaching from here and hurriedly took out their weapons.
“It’s an order from above. “Rescue the refugees!”
They, a mixture of paladins, priests, and even militia, had to rush out when they saw the mutants chasing after the group.
“There is no windy day.”
But there was one special person among them. He is different from the others in his attire, a blonde man wearing sunglasses.
Liam deflected his sword and ran forward, passing the screaming refugees running backwards.
Liam passed by Chris, who was completely exhausted from fighting all the way up to this point, and Yuria, who was supporting him. He pulled out a sword blazing with magical power and swung it, cutting the mutants into pieces in one go.
[Now there is no message coming from these monsters.]
“under!”
Each time, he, who did not have the power to grow, felt his strength increasing little by little, but he snorted when a voice echoed in his head telling him that even that would be difficult now.
“If these crazy monsters aren’t enough, who are we going to catch?”
[You know, right? Beings that are stronger and more violent than these monsters that humans only mutate and run rampant.]
The Constellation, which steadily helped him grow, encouraged him again this time.
Stronger, more fearsome enemies that can create mutants, etc. Liam, who already knew them, sighed.
“Even the great saint Evelia can’t do anything about those monsters. “But what should I do?”
[Do you think it would be possible for you to kill all those enemies by yourself? All you have to do is resist and struggle. like now. Then one day you will see a way.]
The constellation that spoke to Liam’s cynicism also responded with cynicism.
It’s not that he doesn’t have any complaints, but Liam, who had never lost anything by following the Constellation’s advice, had no choice but to follow it this time. In the meantime, my mouth was aching to ask what the hell it was, but I couldn’t get the words out.
‘I don’t think I can bear it. I don’t know either.’
Support continues to be sent from Earth through Marisa, the owner of the game app.
Even if they did not contract with a special constellation like Liam, the awakened people from Earth became stronger by receiving proper combat training and receiving skills in a place filled with skilled warriors.
But even so, it is not enough. The status of the Demon King’s army, which achieved immediate victory over mutants, has already risen to that level.
* * *
[Liam Anderson was spotted in the Polas region in the northern part of the continent.]
Of course, Lucy, who could be said to be the demon lord itself, was also keeping an eye on them, including Liam.
Even now, Liam’s information observed through Yuria’s eyes was being tracked in real time.
“I heard that a lot of it is just picking things up, but will there be a big difference?”
[Except for some cases like Liam, the majority of awakened people are not even at the hero level yet. However, what can have the greatest impact on them is their experience, so we don’t know how they will grow.]
Lucy coolly evaluated the awakened people. To be honest, the only awakened person Lucy was wary of was Liam.
Because the rest could have been swept away.
“Then you’re leaving me alone? “I’m not saying I’m specifically sniping or anything.”
[It’s true that it’s interesting. Even though most of the growth principles have now been mastered, their power is still unknown.]
Lucy was interested in awakened people. Because it was possible to copy various combat methods such as magic, mental techniques, swordsmanship, etc., using any means or method.
The Succubus’ techniques, such as the magic eye of fascination, were copied by cloning specific body parts, and for magic, it was learned through torture.
However, it was impossible to replicate the power of the awakened ones. They exercise their power through a strange law called the status window, and this is because they do not require special body parts and use their power without even knowing the principle.
[There may be something to be gained if we continue to fight and extract data from Kim Seo-yoon’s power, which we did not know about even after analyzing her.]
“Hmm, I hope I don’t kill him. “They are going to fight for their lives.”
Lucy wanted to get data from them. Changhyun was not happy about losing them, who would become an important force upon returning to Earth, but he was not to the point of tearing down Lucy, who claimed that she was more helpful than them.