Chapter 268

Chapter 268. Promised Counterattack (5)

It was not difficult to kill the players inside the vault.

Though they had all been promoted to Gold rank, they were merely empty shells inside.

The mana they wielded wasn’t gathered by their own power.

Through the records left on their corpses, I saw mages handing over monsters to them.

“Irel thought increasing a player’s rank would boost the experiment’s success chance.”

In other words, the players here had only been repeatedly killing half-dead monsters to raise their ranks without actual combat.

Naturally, their combat skills were at rock bottom.

“Well, thanks to that, I managed to fill up my mana quite nicely, so it’s not all bad.”

I already knew some players had defected to the enemy.

Whether by their own will or not, it didn’t matter.

“I’m no saint to care for those who flit to whichever side suits them.”

Pushing away the familiar stench of red blood that never became comfortable despite how many I killed, I let out a sniff through my nose.

“Cough, argh…!”

Just then, the guy I had impaled with my spear coughed fiercely.

Brown hair, height around 170cm — the symbol of Palao.

He was a player I had seen in Irel’s records in the past.

Although he appeared a bit more haggard than the image I remembered, I could still recognize him.

Even then, I looked at his face a bit more closely.

For some reason, his blood-soaked face seemed familiar.

“Aha.”

No surprise, as I kept staring at his face, a forgotten memory surfaced.

“Isn’t this the guy who picked a fight with me back then?”

There was one guy who spread rumors within the Order of Palao, talking about discrimination and mentioning Rashar’s actions.

I remembered beating him badly back then.

“It seems my warning wasn’t helpful for you back then.”

“K-K…!”

Perhaps due to my voice or the electric-type mana, he instantly recognized me even without my magic tools.

Not that it would change anything.

「Would you like to seize the divinity? (Y/N)」

Gripping his throat, I pressed the YES button.

“Heek!”

He let out a grotesque sound and twisted his body.

At the same time, I felt the divinity accumulating within me.

“There’s nothing particularly different.”

Whether when I completed trials and obtained divinity, absorbed divinity in Santorna, or right now, it all felt essentially the same.

After seizing the divinity.

‘Dead already.’

I tossed aside the limp body of the player.

‘There’s no message about absorbing status.’

That meant the player didn’t know how to use divinity, only store it.

Just like I was before my status began to sprout.

Reflecting on that similarity, I was amazed anew.

“A mere human without status or divinity created something like this.”

Irel truly seemed to be a genius.

It was wise to eliminate her before she created something even more dangerous.

Securing the divinity, I shoved the vault filled with gold and silver into my inventory.

Planning to buy some expansion packs with the mana gained this time, to stockpile as much as possible.

“Protoram’s funds will soon reach a critical level.”

It was time to make an additional investment.

I summoned some of Lily’s people to hand over part of the funds for the association’s operating expenses.

After collecting ample spoils, I once again moved to a different place.

I planned to support Lily’s faction at Tower 1, where the concentration of mages was highest.

“Especially since purification is due.”

What a perfect situation to stage, wasn’t it?

It seemed like a perfect opportunity to practice purification amidst combat.

I promptly activated a trait as I hurried back to the battlefield.

「The Alpha declares his domain!」

The purification trait, which had leveled up again since the last disaster, covered a range of 500 meters.

Seeing myself grow stronger and evolve with each battle.

“I’ll sweep them all away.”

With extra strength in my steps as I tread the void.

* * *

In combat, blood will inevitably splatter.

Because of that, players were generally used to the smell of blood.

Moreover, many carried the scent all over them.

“Once it sticks, it’s hard to get rid of, so there’s nothing I can do.”

It was a whole different level than ordinary food odors.

No matter how much you wash, the fishy smell hovers around, leaving a trace.

Especially to me, red blood’s smell was exceptionally jarring.

Due to the Slayer effect, the Damned System had inconveniently bestowed upon me.

Perhaps that was why I couldn’t ease my scrunched-up expression throughout the fight.

Even with Mana Domination, it’s practically impossible to eliminate or block all the blood flying around the battlefield.

I had no choice but to wield my spear, stained with blood.

As I swung it for quite a while, I muttered, noticing an oddity.

“… Not a single one.”

Players around, receiving purification, glanced at me, perhaps from the absurdity of my statement.

Of course, I had no intention of explaining anything to them.

“No blood mages around.”

I had heard that the relationship between mages and blood mages was unfavorable.

However, didn’t Irel conduct research based on blood magic?

I thought there would be blood mages assisting her studies.

Despite moving around to purify, I couldn’t find a single one.

It seemed like they had separate bases.

“I wanted to wipe them out as well.”

But it wasn’t in the cards today.

“Tch.”

I clicked my tongue in annoyance, causing the players around me to flinch as a group.

They even stole glances, observing me cautiously.

Ignoring their gazes, I intercepted incoming magic from the front.

Launching a spear, I pierced the newly materializing prey.

Though it was unsettling to be surrounded by unfamiliar players, what could I do with all the effects of my cloak artifact used up?

“I’ll just have to endure it.”

Tower 4 had already been partially destroyed due to the wide-area attack Yul had casted.

“Tower 1 is still intact.”

Yet, more than half the mages gathered there were reduced.

In light of these utterly one-sided outcomes, they were only natural.

“While it’s true that mages have superior skills compared to players.”

No matter how, physical constraints like troop differences can’t be ignored.

“There are a staggering 1.3 million players camped outside the tower.”

Whereas, it’s estimated there are only about 200,000 mages on the island.

With the defensive magic dispelled, it’s a battle we cannot lose.

“Once we’re done here, only the Tower Masters and the mages who left remain.”

Those in the war would likely possess greater skills.

But reducing the overall count is undoubtedly a noteworthy achievement.

Seeing the prospect of a clear victory, I sharpened my skills even further and thrust my spear into the ground.

Crack.

Lightning burst from the earth and raced forward.

Soon, it reached a spot teeming with mages and spread wide.

“Kyaaaa!”

With my mana sufficiently restored, I used the Lightning Prison once again.

Players nearby didn’t miss the opportunity I created.

As if prearranged, they struck the paralyzed targets with various weapons.

Each time, mages fell mercilessly.

The acrid smell of burning flesh and hair was overlaid with the pungent odor of blood, prominent in the air.

Even covered in red rather than black blood, there was no feeling of guilt whatsoever.

I merely found the fishy scent unpleasant.

It didn’t affect my spear thrusts one bit.

Kill, and kill, again and again.

It was a mission intended as a blitz from the start.

Following instructions from the association, players poured out their firepower without considering a long-term battle.

Thanks to this, the blue dots marked on the island had reduced by more than 70%.

Right before a flawless victory.

I suddenly withdrew my spear and looked up at the sky.

I wasn’t the only one; several prominent gold-rank players and familiar frontrunners were fixing their eyes on the sky.

The chat window of Club 249 was in a frenzy.

And rightly so, as the mana pulse sensed in the sky was unusual.

“Considering the flow and density, it looks like a 5th-grade magic.”

One of extensive scope capable of enveloping the entire sky.

“That magnitude probably requires about a million mana.”

With all four magic towers toppled, the only possibly capable entity was a Tower Master-level mage.

‘I’m told the Tower Masters on the mage’s side are roughly on par with Gretman.’

It wasn’t only among knights that champions bound their mana entirely.

There were those among mages who succeeded in mana domination.

‘Purely in terms of skill, we might be at a disadvantage.’

It’d be wise to avoid a head-on confrontation.

Fortunately, they wouldn’t drop a wide-scale attack suddenly from above.

After all, surviving mages and players were still chaotically entwined.

“We’ll retreat in the meantime.”

It seemed Lily and the association were of the same opinion.

「Title: Retreat(1) _ Author: Lily

Content: Hello, players. I am Lily Evans, the Director of the Player Association.

While progressing through Act 2, scene 1, we have detected a wide-range magic of danger. We will enforce mandatory recall for all players.

The lack of cooperation in evacuating players may feel uncomfortable, but it was a decision to save a greater number of people.

I hope for your understanding with a generous heart.」

-Comments are not allowed on this post.

Almost instantly after she posted, the players surrounding me vanished in white light.

The messeo, which was used for entry, had been destroyed.

“There’s no need to go back the way we painstakingly carved out.”

Even from the mission’s inception, those in charge of messeos were waiting at the island’s perimeter.

For the safety of player withdrawal from Biharin in case of emergencies.

It was a retreat plan leveraging the downside of entering Biharin through the Hole.

There are still some blue dots left on the map, but.

‘Well, they’ll die soon anyways.’

The resolve to eliminate every mage wasn’t just idle talk.

I came prepared with thorough arrangements to fulfill that promise.

-Kj: We’ll head out first!

-Pudding: Don’t overdo it too much.

After my party members also retreated, I turned to look at Lily standing afar.

She nodded as soon as our eyes met.

Thus I raced, setting mana beneath my feet through the air.

Unlike others, I had entered through a gate and come here on my own feet.

So, leaving that way was my responsibility.

To secure the next phase of the plan, I needed to get as far away as possible.

Upon leaving the site, Rice Cake established a connection.

“Direction at 12 o’clock.”

I sped toward where Rice Cake was.

Spotting the barking pup, I swiftly snatched it up using mana.

Shouldering the pouch it held in its mouth, I increased my pace.

-K: I think we can start.

-Lily: Not until you are sufficiently safe.

-K: I’ve made it far enough. Remaining here longer might lose us the chance.

Due to the sudden disappearance of players, the wide-area magic swirling in the sky had calmed, but.

Leaving Lily exposed there was dangerous.

Pointing this out led Lily to a decision after a brief silence.

-Lily: Alright. Prepare for impact.

Even as we exchanged messages, I sped further onwards, glancing back momentarily.

One second, two seconds, three.

A colossal explosion unfurled, seeming to tear the sky apart.

To counter the shock, I poured out abundant mana.

“Hup!”

Red mana surged, supporting beneath my feet.

As I resisted the shock, the brilliant light engulfed everything momentarily before fading.

What appeared first afterward was a mushroom cloud, previously only seen in documentaries or photos.

Damned System