NOVEL NEXT Chapter 223
Chapter 223 – The Final Moment (3)
“I wonder if those guys know we’re digging tunnels.”
“Probably. That’s why they’re trying to break through at all costs.”
Rakum said this, and one of his companions, Hachi, smiled as he pointed towards the front. There, once again, the Bugs were attempting to thwart them with their attacks.
“Looking at it another way, it means they don’t have the means to block our tunnels.”
“That’s true. If it were back in the day with all those bizarre monsters, maybe, but now it’s tough for them.”
The Bugs didn’t have many options. When they formed colonies, they would evolve and modify individuals to specialize in various roles, but now such modifications were impossible.
They had sacrificed versatility for powerful close-combat capabilities.
In the past, they could have mass-produced specialized diggers to stop their tunneling operations, but currently, the Bugs had no way to impede the rapidly digging tunnels.
“But this can’t be all there is.”
Rakum furrowed his brow as he observed the Bugs circling around them, unable to push them back.
Each individual might be stronger than an average warrior, but it wasn’t enough to overcome the united residents resisting them.
Having already fought these guys before, Rakum was convinced the Bugs were hiding some secret weapon.
“Look over there. Seems like they have some wicked schemes up their sleeves.”
His prediction turned out to be correct. The Chimeras, deployed to erect large defense barriers around the imperial palace, began to stir.
Once wizards, these monsters, transformed into Chimeras, could now cast magic with faster speed and even stronger magic power.
“It’s a magic bombardment!”
“Prepare the defenses! Hide your bodies!”
They began to bomb the residents, who had to hold their ground from a distance using their magic.
Of course, the Mages among the residents stepped up to intercept the enemy’s spells or form barriers, but the difference in firepower due to numerical superiority was hard to bridge.
‘Is this not enough with my help?’
Watching this unfold, Junyoung joined in to provide assistance.
He hurriedly constructed Defense Towers and leveled them up to secure range, firepower, and cover, all while sniping the enemies using the demolition skill.
However, the enemy numbers were too overwhelming, and their firepower was slightly lacking.
It was a challenging battle where losses were continuously piling up in a situation where they had to hold out until the tunnel was completed.
‘I have to trust the reinforcements that are joining soon.’
Junyoung’s eyes darted to another screen. There, a group of reinforcements riding on horseback was rushing to assist the advance team.
“That person keeps urging us on. We have to hurry!”
Eve shouted urgently as the Slayers quickly moved to the portal through mouse clicks, rushing across the grasslands to reach the Empire’s territory instantly.
Having charged frantically from the occupied territories, they finally joined the main force led by Balun, but Junyoung continued to hurry the Elves.
“It seems like the situation there is getting critical. That person keeps pushing us on.”
“Hurry up! Quickly!”
Balun, who was about to move with them, was surprised and rushed to send the Elves ahead.
Junyoung also felt the urgency, repeatedly clicking to issue commands to the Elves, forcing them to keep running without even dismounting.
“Shouldn’t we also send support quickly?”
“If it were that urgent, that person would have given us orders too. The fact that they haven’t means Elves alone are probably enough.”
Others, anxious, suggested to Balun that the main force should hurry as well, but Balun regained his composure and shook his head.
“We proceed according to plan. First, we’ll use the potions to recruit the surrounding imperial soldiers and citizens, then thoroughly prepare to eradicate the Black Monsters from this land.”
Stopping the Emperor was left to the advance team. Balun’s and the main force’s roles were to begin with the surroundings, cleansing the plague and rescuing citizens trapped in fortresses and castles to recruit them.
By doing this, even if the Bugs escape and survive somewhere else, they could root them out early without incident.
Originally, it was tangled due to the Emperor, Rihir’s rampage, but Balun’s system was intended from the beginning to be this. Conquest and plunder no longer held meaning to them.
“I assure you, everyone will understand His Majesty’s will. This war is no longer a conflict between humans. It is a battle with monsters that bears the fate of the entire land.”
The sincerity behind this claim resonated with those refugees who had surrendered, granting them a sense of hope. If they united, Balun’s assertion would gain even greater strength.
“There’s the advance team.”
“Indeed, they are under attack from all sides. I know, but that person wants us to take out the monsters casting spells on us from afar.”
Though exhausted from running, the adrenaline kicked in, making the fatigue vanish in an instant.
Eve instructed her fellow Elves to draw their weapons.
What they aimed at from their galloping horses were the Variants that continued to lay down unilateral magical bombardments from a distance.
“Fire at will!”
They unleashed their weapons, brought from the game world, without reservation. Shooting a sniper rifle from a galloping horse was absurd, yet they turned that ridiculous feat into reality with their own strength.
As the bullets, enveloped in Mana, shot forward, they flew kilometers, breaking through the enemies’ carapaces and stopping their life functions.
“They have arrived. Did they leave early!?”
Rakum cheered as he witnessed that scene. Even a small number of Elves could exert inconceivable firepower, and he could visibly see the pressure on the Bugs’ line of defense receding.
Even Bugs, who had learned and evolved, could not grasp such power.
“Clear them all out!”
After joining the frontline, Eve put down her sniper rifle and opened the shop window to pull out a machine gun.
The overwhelming power of the machine gun, capable of mowing down countless rushing enemies, provided a sense of relief for the entire side.
The Bugs’ intentions to use magic to diminish their defense while pouring in infected individuals and ground troops to penetrate the advance team’s defenses were thoroughly thwarted with the timely arrival of the Elves.
‘Now, the tunnel is completed, and our elite troops will be inserted into it. What remains for you now?’
Junyoung faintly smiled as he watched the Elves fight brilliantly according to his intentions.
Every time he blocked the enemies’ carefully prepared strategies with his own appropriate game mechanics and rewards, it filled him with an immense thrill.
“The tunnel has been breached!”
“Everyone, move aside! Miners and Transporters, hurry and withdraw!”
Before long, the tunnel, which didn’t take long to create, penetrated into the palace. Even the toughest rock or soft soil was uniformly excavated by the miners’ might, and the first to enter the imperial palace, their destination, were the strongest: the Paladins, including Shura.
‘This is the imperial palace… the center of the Empire.’
Shura, who had been born and raised as an ordinary girl from the grassland, felt a moment of awe upon seeing the colossal imperial palace for the first time.
Although she had seen grand structures in games like Dark Blood, the sensations felt different here in a world akin to her hometown.
That majestic palace was now a horrifying nest filled with the Bugs’ cocoons.
“Everyone, prepare. They are coming.”
“Are they… different from usual?”
Receiving the Paladins who had come to clear the path were beings clad in slightly darker red carapaces, mutated versions of the strongest guards among the Empire’s knights.
The unique cold and damp aura of the Bugs, combined with the seasoned knights’ restrained movements, radiated an intimidating atmosphere.
“But we have to hold fast.”
Shura gritted her teeth as she wielded her weapon. Just like the Elves had proven, it was time for the Paladins to demonstrate themselves.
Proving they hadn’t merely succeeded in advancing to the Paladin class by luck.
“They’re coming!”
Immediately, the battle commenced. The knights’ unique swordsmanship, combined with the accumulated experience and knowledge of the Bugs, was undeniably formidable.
A powerful strike that an ordinary knight or warrior would struggle to withstand. The Paladins matched that with the skills they had gained from the game.
‘Faster.’
In an instant, Shura leaped forward to evade the enemy’s blade, swinging two daggers to draw blood from their foe.
At her youthful and inexperienced age, she could only count on her fingers the battles she had successfully fought, demonstrating her talent by rapidly adapting to the skills system.
In a straightforward one-on-one duel, she might be overwhelmed, but when it came to using her acquired skills in just the right spots, she was the strongest.
“…!”
The Bug that was slashed by her dagger collapsed, its body torn in pieces. Another immediately lunged at her, but she held her ground without faltering during the successive battles.
“Hold on! Reinforcements are on the way from the tunnel!”
A Paladin whose arm had been severed by an enemy’s lethal blow grit his teeth and shouted. As he said, their arrival was a matter of time. The Miners and Transporters waiting at the tunnel’s exit were hurrying towards them.
‘Sacrifices… cannot be avoided. I’ve taken this too lightly when it’s not over yet.’
Junyoung sighed as he observed the bloodshed from beyond the screen.
The enemies were mercilessly slaughtered by the Paladins’ skills, and likewise, some Paladins fell, bleeding on the ground or, without the chance to scream, had their throats sliced or bodies split apart.
“We won.”
After what felt like minutes of that gruesome battle, Shura, panting heavily, threw a dagger into the body of the last remaining enemy, piercing it through.
The high-ranking variants that had rushed in to thwart them were ultimately eliminated and reduced to a pathetic state on the ground.
“Thank goodness. You made it through safely.”
“I didn’t expect you to be the first to arrive.”
Rakum, who had hurriedly come up from the tunnel, saw Shura and smiled faintly. Today, they had saved their strength, so Rakum, still full of energy, arrived with his fellow comrades to assist first.
“…Look behind you!”
“Huh?”
But at that moment, Shura turned around at the unexpected presence she felt.
The Paladins who had cleared the path were all exhausted, and the following squad had just started to emerge from the tunnel, when one more enemy suddenly revealed itself, releasing its concealment, with a massive spear already falling towards her.
My Background is a Village – Chapter 224