Paladin Corr had a meaningful smile on his face. A farmer named Bardan had approached him before saying that his hair suddenly grew. And the foreigners who visited Valhalla Territory after seeing this strange phenomena all said the same thing.
“Huh? It’s Talmor Fati!!!”
“Ddiddiddi~ Ddiddiddi~ Talmor Fati~”
And Paladin Corr had a great idea. He would ask them to call him ‘Talmor’ and he would ask him to receive a monthly grain tribute from them that he could dedicate to Lord Minhyuk. And he also knew that all of these were brought about by the effects of his Frightening Instrument and his skill Athenae’s Prayer.
“Ahem, ahem.”
Then, the Vice Lord, Old Man Ben approached him.
“Oh, will the Vice Lord join us too?”
“Sure. What should I shout?”
“Talmor Fati!!”
“Then… Talmor Fati! Ddiddiddiddiddi!”
“Hahahahaha!”
Paladin Corr smiled cheerfully. At that moment… Corr saw that the ground where he planted the seeds was shaking. He quickly left behind the people that gathered to check on it. He saw that something had already begun to grow there. And Corr, who watched it all happen, was left in shock.
‘What the hell? A weapon?’
Something clearly grew out of the ground. There were hilts of a sword or perhaps it was the end of a spear. There was even a top of a shield and a tip of a helmet. But in the midst of them all, a seed grew faster than the others. When Corr looked at it closely, he couldn’t help but be shocked.
The existence that came out of the seed which grew higher than any other seed had a pair of eyes, a nose and a mouth. In other words, it was a face.
“A, a face?”
It was clearly a face made out of stone but even though its eyes were still closed, it was still most definitely a human head.
Corr did not have a bad head on his shoulders so he could easily tell some things. He had heard about Elvenheim and the demonic races’ invasion. And there was also this seed that was said to be dropped by an Ancient Monarch that was cursed by Verus. He knew that this seed possessed great power.
‘Th, the troops will definitely……!’
Corr’s eyes were dyed with surprise.
***
Lev was one of Iris Guild’s attack leaders. He was also one of the top three talented users under the warrior classes in the country. And Lev was now currently moving together with the elites that were formed from the Ares Guild’s and Iris Guild’s 1st attack teams.
[Guild Chatting Rudy:This is the 2nd attack team leader, Rudy. We haven’t found an entrance to the Elven Forest yet.]
Lev shook his head.
The Iris and Ares Guild had maintained their alliance after they successfully captured the largest city and they had risen to the top of the invasion war. And even though it was not explicitly spoken, the attack teams were all competing against each other. They were competing over getting the honor of being the first team to penetrate through the Elven Forest.
Currently, the Elf King had arrived at Elvenheim and had taken his position as the commander-in-chief. This happened yesterday. The Elf King arrived with an extremely exhausted and fatigued state. He had told them that all the entrances and exits to the Elven Forest were blocked. So the first thing that they needed to do was to get through the Elven Forest.
And Iris Guild was trying to squeeze through the cracks and gaps to recapture and take over the Elven Forest, the heart of the event. As they continued to march forward, the troops entered a small cave.
“Don’t let your guard down!”
“Yes!”
“Yes!”
It was said that the Elven Forest was home to more powerful demons compared to those present in Elvenheim. A thick smile was plastered on Lev’s face as he entered the small cave.
‘Fi, finally……!’
A faint and feeble light was shining at the end of the cave.
Once we reach that light then we will be able to reach the Elven Forest!
Lev was leading thirty elite and well-built men. As soon as Lev entered the cave the notifications went off.
[You are the first to step foot in the Elven Forest.]
[You have received 300,000 contribution points as a reward for being the first to reach the Elven Forest.]
[Guild Master Caillan, the Guild Master of Iris Guild, the guild that you are affiliated with have received 100,000 contribution points.]
[Iris Guild Members have received 30,000 contribution points.]
[The Elf’s Artifact Treasure Chest (S) will be rewarded to the first user to step foot in the Elven Forest.]
Lev did not hesitate as he immediately checked the Elf’s Artifact Treasure Box.
[You have acquired the Ancient Elf’s Faded Sword.]
Lev immediately accessed the information about the artifact. The item that he had received was a legendary artifact. He couldn’t help but feel delighted.
Caillan together with Ares Guild’s Guild Master had decided not to partake in the rewards that were directly obtained by the users. And because of that this Elf’s Sword literally belonged to Lev!
Then, at that moment…
“It seems like some rat got in here.”
He heard a low pitched voice somewhere near him. The source of the voice was a demon with a horn that stood taller than any other demon that he had ever seen.
At the same time, the notifications rang out.
[The Commander-in-Chief, the Alchemist, Count Rufel has appeared!]
[Dark Magi has constricted your breath.]
[You are experiencing difficulty in breathing due to abnormal states.]
[Your breathing has become unstable.]
“Keoheok!”
“Keuaaack!”
At that moment, the users felt that their breaths were running out as if something was holding their necks up.
Commander-in-chief Rufel!
He had never shown himself so far. As far as they had heard, Commander-in-Chief Rufel was also the highest-ranked noble in Elvenheim. And of course, Rufel was currently the most powerful demon present above ground.
“Get to your positions!”
Lev hurriedly gave his orders. Then, he lifted his newly acquired Ancient Elf’s Faded Sword. But the extremely huge 2-m tall Rufel just moved and spoke to them nonchalantly.
“You would do for my experiments.”
“Kihaaaaack!”
“Kieeeeeeeck!”
With the end of his words, strange, unidentified cries emanated from deep within the darkness behind Rufel. Not long after, the being soon emerged. To explain them simply, those creatures were just like giant dogs. However, they only resembled dogs since their shape and form were horribly melted that they looked like they were spilling out of their bodies.
“Hellhound……?”
The hellhound was one of Hell’s demonic beasts and they were considered to be rare presences in the Rank A areas. However, the creatures in front of them felt a bit different from the hellhounds that they knew.
Then……
Dash—
The hellhounds started running towards them.
“Grooooowl!”
“Grrrrrrr!”
The fiercely rushing hellhounds were faster than the normal hellhounds that they had seen before.
Lev quickly lifted the sword up high.
[Lethal Sword.]
[The tip of the sword will stab straight at five vital points.]
Pipippipi—
His sword moved in a flurry, creating afterimages. In every sweep of his sword, holes would appear all over the bodies of the hellhounds that tried to rush at them in all directions.
Baaaaang!
One of the hellhounds exploded.
“It’s not that big of a deal, isn’t it?”
“What the hell. This much is nothing.”
“I got scared for no reason!!”
Everyone shouted after being scared off by Commander Rufel. However, something extraordinary happened not long after they shouted their words of confidence.
Flaaaash—
Green gas rose and scattered from the body of the exploded hellhound. It was akin to a bomb exploding that they did not have any time to avoid it.
[Abnormal State. You have inhaled the ‘Demonic Beast’s Gas’.]
[All abilities and skills will fall by 15%.]
[The probability of your attack to fail has increased by 30%.]
“……Heok?!”
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“Wh, what the hell?!”
And it was not just Lev. Killing off just one had given debuffs to seven of his attackers. And the debuff was even extremely powerful. Their capabilities had decreased by 15% and their chances at having failed attacks had increased by 30%.
Then, another one rushed in while Rufel just looked at them from the rear with his hands behind his back as if he was watching something interesting.
“Fire arrow! Fire arrow! Fire arrow!”
The mage, Batarin, released all the fire arrows that he had saved before.
Bang!
[Your attack has failed.]
But the first magical attack had become useless. It bounced off of the body of the hellhound. However, the second attack exploded which was followed immediately by the third.
Baaaaaaang—
And just like before, the gas erupted and scattered once more.
Splurt!
“Keuaaaack!”
“Ugh. Aaaaaargh!”
The users shrieked.
[Abnormal State. You have inhaled the ‘Demonic Beast’s Gas’.]
[Your HP will drop at a rapid rate of 1% per second.]
[A terrible poison will start to melt your skin.]
“……!”
It was only then that Lev realized something.
‘Th, this……’
They were the suicide squad. And whatever the future would bring was dependent on Lev. Almost 90% of the villages in the Rank A region had been recaptured by the users. If the passage was opened in this state, then the users would be able to enter through it. However, Rufel laid a trap that could wipe them out easily. So their situation right now was just like a ‘suicide squad’.
“Grrrrrrr.”
“Groooooowl.”
Suddenly, hundreds of giant hellhounds appeared behind Rufel. No, perhaps there were still more to come.
Not long after, dozens of hellhounds stormed in.
Bang!
[Abnormal State. You have inhaled the ‘Demonic Beast’s Gas’.]
[Your sight has temporarily turned blurred and hazy.]
Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang!
[Demonic Beast Explosion.]
[A powerful explosion will devour and engulf the surrounding area.]
Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang!
There were many people that got swept in the explosion and exploded together with the gas. In just an instant, his troops of 30 elites had been wiped out.
Then, Rufel moved his sword.
Slash—
Plop.
And the remaining person, Lev, was easily decapitated under his hands. Then, Rufel moved forward. What he saw outside the cave was none other than Allentian.
“After doing some maintenance, I’ll sweep right over there.”
***
A notification rang for all the users present in Elvenheim’s Rank A area.
[Commander-in-Chief Rufel is preparing to attack.]
[A full-scale aerial strike will shortly take place in Elvenheim’s Rank A area.]
[You can earn 1.5x contribution points during the attack period.]
And along with those notifications, an unidentified video popped out in front of the users. It was the video showing Commander Rufel as he muttered to himself while looking at Allentian. Then, information about Rufel came to their minds.
[Rufel. Alchemist and Commander-in-Chief.]
[Those who will be able to successfully hunt Rufel will be rewarded with enormous contribution points and rewards.]
That was when the users realized that Rufel’s first point of attack was none other than ‘Allentian’. It was the largest city that was ever recaptured by users. It was even recaptured by two of the largest guilds in the country, Ares and Iris Guilds. This was also the place where the strongest defenses were being created by forming alliances with each other.
***
Caillan and Ares were both delighted.
It was the Commander-in-Chief and they would even be given enormous contribution points and rewards if they successfully hunted them.
What the two of them did was simple. Currently, they acquired four cities so they gathered and concentrated all of their troops in Allentian leaving only 20% to protect their other cities. Their ideas were that simple.
“If we completely stop the attack here, then we’ll be able to hog all of the contribution points and rewards.”
“Huhuhuhu. That would be great.”
There were currently more than 300 guilds present in Elvenheim. This number included small, medium and large guilds. Among all of the guilds, all of the contents were under the ‘monopoly’ of Ares and Iris Guild with support from their ‘allied’ guilds.
The total number that gathered for him alone was 800. What was more was that the individual users from Iris Guild had earned 30,000 contribution points each as a reward for being the first to reach the Elven Forest. And Iris Guild also purchased something special from the Elf’s Shop. It was none other than the ‘Blood Sticking Alliance’. This alliance would allow the other guilds allied to them to purchase goods from their Elf’s Shop. So they were all heavily armed with elven artifacts.
They were literally confident of their power.
“Their movements are extraordinary. It seems like the invasion is about to begin.”
“I heard that Rufel killed them himself. He even caused debuffs and explosions.”
“That’s a simple method. It seemed like even if they attacked weakly, they would still explode. Let’s bring forward those who can attack from afar and let the mages prepare for a wide-area-of-attack magic. We’ll first start with the suicide squad when they come in.”
They planned the operation. Suicide squad? If they did not let them near them at all, then that was all. There were plenty of bandits and assassins that set up countless traps in the city with the help of Robi, a user with the Hidden Class, Master of Traps.
They must first be within the reach of the traps. And if they get caught in the trap, then, the trap would in and of itself exert a stronger force than any other attack. That was how they set it up.
Even Twilight Chef Black began to distribute his most cherished buffed dishes to the best of the elites. It was a tremendous amount of preparation for the upcoming battle.
And along with those preparations, the network started broadcasting about them.
[‘Caillan’, the alliance of guilds in Elvenheim Rank A Area, is now fully prepared.]
[There are plenty of troops currently waiting in Allentian right now. I think there’s at least 30 of the top rankers in our country present in the area too.]
[All of the users are watching in anticipation. It seems like Rufel’s camp is starting to make its move. Will Caillan be able to successfully defend the city?]
Boom— Boom— Boom—
The magnificent sound of drums began to ring loudly. Then……
A huge cloud of black mass covered the sky as it scattered down on the ground. The falling black mass slowly turned into hundreds of creatures. It was none other than the hellhounds.
“Kiheeeeeek!”
“Kyaaaaahaaaack?!”
“Graaaaaaaack!”
Hundreds of hellhounds suddenly appeared! And there were even three beings in front!
[The Deputy Commanders seem to be in the Elven Forest. The beings that appeared right now are Commander-in-Chief Rufel’s loyal men.]
[They are Commander Rufel’s Slayers. Kenny, the Slayer of Anguish. Rhond, the Slayer of Death. And Conir, the Slayer of Failure. According to the information released, the Slayers are between Lv 500~550 or even higher. They were even said to be among the most powerful in the Demon World that they can dominate the creatures in there!]
And at that very moment……
Vwooooooooooo—
The hellhounds started to run as soon as the horn blared loudly.
Caillan and Ares, who were standing in front of their troops, saw hundreds of fierce animals rushing towards them.
***
Meanwhile, the members of Legend Guild were also watching the broadcast as they climbed the highest point of their newly acquired Philip Village.
Not long after, Ascar mumbled……
“If Allentian is breached……”
She turned her head to look at Genie. Genie’s face stiffened as she raised her head.
“Our Legend Guild will be smashed……”
***