episode_0024

-Tadak

Quietly burning fire, casting sparks.

A tree that burns itself and shares warmth with those around it.

As Elise looked at them, she thought of a man who still hadn’t woken up.

“Mmm…”

A man biting down so hard that blood dripped from his teeth, suppressing groans.

Despite emitting a strong malevolent aura and facing adversaries blocking his path, the man regained his senses.

Elise stepped outside her room, looking inside the fortress named “Daebangbyeok.”

“Hey! Move this too!”

“You move it yourself! Can’t you see my hands are full right now?”

“I can’t move because I’m synchronizing with the spirits!”

One person moving broken items from the battle and another watching over the paused enemies through the eyes of a spirit.

“Ugh… I’m hungry. When’s mealtime?”

“Private Ferguson! Uh… I’m not sure?”

“If you don’t know, is your ranger career over? Geez…”

“What do you expect from a new recruit like you?”

“Back in my day!”

“Not even answering the sergeant’s question, just went scouting, what’s that about?”

“Hey!!”

The ranger jokingly teasing while inspecting firearms.

Despite the urgency of the battle, many remained alive, not losing hope.

Elise knew who had brought this atmosphere.

“I should have handled the sword like this here…”

“Uh…”

“Yeah? Why?”

“If you have time, could you maybe show me the map a bit…”

“Hey! You must be tired, what impertinence!”

“Yeah? Oh, it’s nothing.”

“Then let me go first!!!!!”

“Hey!!! Who are you calling impertinent!”

“The fact that Master Geom sees the sword, how can you stand that!”

Knights surrounding a woman like popular bard fans, cheering loudly.

Amidst them, a smiling woman.

Riness Noisdenn, pushing back the authority of the Southern protector, thanks to Geom.

Because of Geom, the chief couldn’t cross Daebangbyeok for slaughter,

the battlefield’s mood shifted completely,

and this temporary peace was achieved.

Riness Noisdenn, once again challenging the authority of the Southern protector, protecting the South.

Thanks to her, we could survive.

But how did she arrive so quickly?

Even if she’s a transcendent being and Geom, it would take considerable time to come from the southern edge of the last port witnessed to here.

Even if she sprinted from there, by the time the late-discovered chief crossed Daebangbyeok and embedded his axe on the citadel’s peak, it would be too late.

Elise turned her head, looking at a closed door.

Vihan Adelheid.

My fiancé, who pierced through defenses like a hedgehog, ridiculed as a lunatic, a disgrace to Adelheid.

He brought Geom.

He changed the course of the battlefield with Geom,

revealed another chief’s presence by entering the forest himself,

…breaking the birth of evil by burning his body, inflicting a major wound on the chief.

Yes,

he saved Dullieo.

Elise… Dullieo owes him a great debt.

But unlike Dullieo, who could walk away unscathed, he didn’t return unharmed.

Vihan, with twisted legs, crumbling and sitting down in agony.

Even covered in evil, he protected them.

After facing them and returning, breaking limbs, bursting blood vessels in his eyes, suffering in pain.

All these images were firmly etched in Elise’s mind.

Vihan,

why did you go to such lengths?

To repent for past mistakes?

No,

looking into Vihan’s eyes, it was clear.

While he carried guilt and remorse, his will was simply upright.

His eyes and demeanor, reaching out honestly and straightforwardly, seemed to speak to me.

“That’s just how it has to be,” Alice resented God for the first time in her life while witnessing the divine mark accompanying him.

“Did you assign such a task to someone like him?”

What responsibility did he burden him with, losing half his life to dark magic?

Why… did it have to be him?

Despite having only negative ties since the change, knowing Vihan from her childhood, Alice couldn’t help but blame God.

Realizing her own shortcomings and the truth of reality, unable to accept it, his life of self-punishment returned, but realizing he would walk a thorny path again,

However, Alice couldn’t say anything to Vihan.

To him, she was nothing more than a superficial relationship of childhood ties and an engagement, neither more nor less.

And Vihan’s eyes that she faced in the jungle were so upright and sparkling

So Alice made up her mind.

If she couldn’t bring him back on the path he walks, she would walk with him.

No matter how rough the thorny path is, even if bringing back the peeled layer meant he would be hurt again in the future,

She decided to walk by his side.

The eerie ritual and the appearing presence that made her spine tingle.

The grand sorcerer Akat, who seemed to wield the world.

The gazes of the orcs mixed with vitality pouring in from all sides.

In front of them, I could do nothing.

Doolieo, the Southern Shield.

Preferring shields over offense, I chose the sword because the family’s shield-focused technique didn’t interest me.

But now?

Wiping her misty eyes, Alice picked up the dusty shield lying in the room.

– Humming

The shield made a welcoming sound as mana was infused into it.

Alice grasped the shield and walked towards her father’s study.

If she couldn’t stop him, she would at least protect him from harm.

Even if she had to wield a shield instead of the heavy sword embedded in her flesh, she would stand by his side.

Alice decided that day to become Vihan’s shield.

And if Vihan saw her like that, he would think, ‘Oh, our tier-one tank, Alice, has returned!’

Vihan always included Alice, who skillfully tanked while shielding the party, in one of his ‘Alice’s Favorites.’

…

Dreamily,

“It’s an unfamiliar ceiling.”

Hmm

Should I only say this line once after all?

Although this line ranks among the top five lines that should be said when using Binghwantra, saying it twice made it less moving.

When I woke up in a place like the office after meeting Sola, there was a strange emotion.

Stretching my stiff body, I raised my eyebrows at the flood of messages pouring in front of me.

Yes!

While winning battles is good, it’s always delightful to see the rewards received after the battle in the reward window!

Vihan scrolled through the achievements that came in, feeling pleased, then stopped after checking all the messages.

With the raised corners of his mouth now lowered.

His perseverance had strengthened, and although there were achievements worth noting even without immediate rewards… it wasn’t enough.

The achievement he obtained on the first day of possession.

The achievement gained by slaying the Seven Evils was missing.

Checking his status window, his rank remained the same.

He knew Transcendence was the final stage, but still, nothing had changed.

From the moment he checked the achievement message, a hypothesis that had been nagging at him came to mind.

“No way..”

That bastard of rage..

“Is he alive..?”

No, how in the world??

Vihan felt dumbfounded.

How in the world is he alive after having his head cut off?

With his extraordinary memory, he vividly recalled the red orc’s head rolling out of his hands.

If a pig’s head like that could fetch a fortune when put up for auction, he thought, it must be clear.

“But he’s alive?”

Damn, how?

Even AlphaGo and Sedol, whose weakness was their heads, why does rage persist?

Of course, there were superior enemies like AlphaGo in the game who wouldn’t die even if their heads were cut off, but that wasn’t rage!

When the protagonist landed a critical hit, in-game footage showed Ellis swinging the sword she had been carrying, slashing the enemy’s throat, saying, “Finally killed him…”

Do they really have to land a critical hit separately and slash the throat to kill?

No way, that’s not true, right?

Amidst confusion and chaos, I pondered various hypotheses alone, thinking, “Could it be… Akat?”

The one who went wild claiming to be a supreme sorcerer, with green skin and a face flushed red.

Recalling the guy who was beaten up in a state of delusion or arrogance, I muttered, “..What did he do?”

Despite being backstabbed and ridiculed by himself, he was a transcendent being.

Even without any tricks, he was someone I couldn’t defeat now, the prime instigator of rage in this world.

Then how many trump cards does he have?

If there were any trump cards, wouldn’t he have used them when he was ridiculed? But still, I didn’t know.

Sorcery demands a heavy price, often yielding tremendous results as you sacrifice more.

Unlike magic with a systematic approach or martial arts honed through practice, sorcery was truly inscrutable.

Though there was a sorcerer character at the academy, I had some knowledge about the spells she used, but…

“Ugh…”

Halting my wandering thoughts, I shook my head, groaning in pain.

I must seize that anger here, but… Oh, it’s really impossible…

While time made everyone infinitely stronger, anger was different; it was special.

How does he get stronger?

As the name suggests, through anger.

He grows stronger the angrier he gets.

Who attacks him?

Oh, getting mad? He gets stronger.

Who does he attack?

Die in one hit? Oh, getting mad? He gets stronger.

Not dying in one hit? How dare you? Getting mad? He gets stronger.

Who doesn’t bow before him?

Getting mad? He gets stronger.

Who stands in his way?

Blocking my path? Getting mad? He gets stronger.

It sounds insane, but it’s true.

Unlike other beings, he wasn’t inherently strong, but literally a scam character who ‘gets stronger just by breathing.’

Even if I barely manage to capture a few transcendent beings and annihilate him with great difficulty, what then?

Anyway, I held my head, groaning in agony.

Oh, what should I do…?

I really have to catch him…

While having such thoughts,

-Boom! Boom! Boom!

Along with the warning bell ringing, someone’s voice burst out, their throat torn.

-The orcs are counterattacking!!!!

The green wave of chaos surged once again.