V58C7P2 – The Last Savior
“Did you hear? Demon king Cletta wants to take over the world.”
“Somewhere in the continent, a devastating plan is being plotted which none of us are aware of…”
“The true savior doesn’t appear at the brink of destruction. He prevents the crisis before it occurs.”
“Have you heard from the priests? There is a rumor of a savior blessed by the gods. I fear that we are facing war.”
Weed’s adventure lifted the spirits of the people of Versaille.
“Hmm.”
“Sherwood-nim. Are you thinking…”
“I don’t know. There were no reports of Weed’s activity… This ominosity.”
“Should we strike Tulen as we agreed on before?”
“Let’s set that aside for now. We need to see how the situation will turn out.”
The slightest suspicion of Weed’s return had put a break on the great lords’ ambitions.
Oberon, who was in charge of the empire, ordered a ceasefire and suddenly, they all abided obediently. No one wished to make the mistake of crossing Weed outright.
***
The tainted lands of Caolrya!
This was the worst location of the 10 forbidden regions where living creatures endlessly turned into monsters and multiplied.
Weed mobilized the sculptural creatures.
“I have some work for you all after a long while. It must have been good to relax for so long.”
– I will devour anything in my path.
– I will freeze them to death.
– No monster can stand under the might of the Phoenix!
King Hydra, Bingryeong and Phoenix.
A trio of massive sculptural creatures that reigned both land and the sky.
Thanks to all the hunting, they went through significant growth and were in the level 800s to 900s.
‘These guys are really an overpowered bunch.’
At first, Bingryeong didn’t even have proper motor skills after just being brought to life.
This makeshift dragon screamed that it would melt down when travelling to places where it was just a bit warmer.
It became consistently stronger through monster hunting over a long period of time.
It dominated the sky and bombarded the monsters on the ground. Almost nothing posed a threat as it possessed tough skin and the ability to freeze nearby enemies.
Furthermore, it travelled great distances with its large wings, capable of hunting thousands of monsters in a single day.
Bingryeong’s presence dropped the temperature of the entire region by 4 or 5 degrees.
But the Phoenix was a level above even that.
Since birth, it was more powerful than the other sculptural creatures and hunted the most efficiently. It set fire to the land and massacred its enemies.
It had the polar opposite environmental resistance and roamed around Jigolas, hunting monsters without rest.
Plup!
Once it was out of stamina and mana, it recovered by diving into a lava lake.
Its overflowing pool of health points displayed insane capabilities as it increased in levels.
King Hydra was also formidable.
Nine heads attacked independently and the increase in levels unlocked the ability to turn enemies into stone and cast shamanic spells.
Several heads striking with magic and shamanic spells simultaneously was truly fearsome.
Weed mobilized the three bullies all at once.
“The final imprint of Cletta should be somewhere in the corrupted land of Caolrya. The way to find it is…”
He also proceeded with the information from the great library and quests because he was given the savior quest of slaying Demon King Cletta. Even then, there wasn’t a detailed description of the location other than the fact that it was in Caolrya.
“Let’s just wipe this place out entirely. I’m sure we will come across something.”
– I like that.
– I will freeze everything.
– I will set everything ablaze.
When King Hydra, Bingryeong and Phoenix exterminated the monsters, Weed summoned the Undead. Even after having become the savior, the gods did not favor the summoning of the Undead. Still, Matallost the god of death rained down his blessings.
< Matallost bestowed powerful health points and defense on the corpses.
The corpses become stronger as more of them rise from their graves, they will gather together and curse the enemies that stand in their way. >
Matallost was the god of death who guided the dead.
There was a time where he was neglected by humans and had to cooperate with the Embinyu Church to overcome the weak link between worlds, but through the casualties of war he recovered his divine power. He supported Weed fully, with high expectations for the future!
“We are here too.”
“You can’t have a fight without me!”
Pale, Python, Marinated Crab, Irene, Geomchi and the other Geomchis arrived and began to cleanse the land of monsters. Monsters spawned endlessly from the void in the earth and places welled up with chaotic powers.
As the war waged, even more monsters spawned but they were taken care of one step at a time.
< Goddess Freya offers her blessing.
Her authority empowers your body.
Strength is increased by 2. >
< Goddess Hestia is mesmerized by your valiant courage.
Your abilities that use fire are increased by 2%.
You can create eternal fire. >
The longer they fought against the demonic servants, they were bestowed more and more blessings of the gods. Some offered temporary empowerment and others provided permanent stats and skills.
“This is a little uncomfortable.”
Pale spotted Weed’s frowning face.
“What’s the matter?”
“The way they are pouring down on us makes me think this mission will be a great challenge.”
“No way.”
“Millions of people get caught off guard. I have special memories like this particular occasion.”
Typical players rarely visited Caolrya!
In the final area, they encountered the hegemon of the region.
The right hand servant of demon king Cletta!
Blink!
< Defeat Demon Butler Mahilgorta.
Mahilgorta is the commander of the demonic legion, Cletta’s most trusted subordinate.
He is a warrior that knows nothing but war!
If you are captured or killed by Mahilgorta, your soul will be corrupted.
If you wish to avoid becoming part of the demon legion, you must prevail or escape this instant.
Difficulty: S >
“…”
The battle quest appeared before Weed and his comrades at once.
“It says here that if we lose, we will become demon soldiers.”
“Isn’t that like losing your character?”
Pale and Surka were astonished.
If one were to turn into a demon legion soldier, he would lose physical control.
Unless he is killed in battle several times or cleansed, he must act as a demon soldier.
It was a devastating penalty, even more so for the higher level players.
“This is a huge risk.”
Weed thought briefly about leaving Mahilgorta, but that did not last long.
‘I’m different from before. If I die while hunting, my daily life is unaffected.’
He was the owner of Unicorn Corp!
Though he did pick up all the items on the ground out of habit, his life was completely different. He did not have to sell footage to broadcast stations or put equipment on auctions.
People often will say generosity comes from full pockets. If things go south while doing things out of good will, he could always recover from the losses.
“Then, I guess I’m going fir…”
While Weed was still preparing to set out, the Geomchis were already charging ahead.
“Wahhhh!”
“That punk is mine.”
“Let’s get rowdy.”
Python and Marinated Crab were also spotted after them.
It was a boss level monster they were up against, but they were just immersed in the heat of the battle.
– For Cletta-nim!
Black smoke emerged and demon warriors about 4 meters tall were summoned one after the other. Mahilgorta wielded a curved sword and a whip in his hands.
– Cletta-nim will recreate this world!
Crash!
Mahilgorta’s whip striked the air, splitting the earth and causing surges of poison clouds.
“That’s quite something.”
“This one will put up a good fight!”
Geumchi and the apprentices commenced battle.
Their priority was to penetrate through the lines of demon warriors while Mahilgorta continued to crack his whip extending dozens of meters.
The battlefield was a shallow swamp and full of rotten trees.
From the black smoke, a stream of demon warriors continued onwards.
“I will provide backup.”
Pale opened his palm and an arrow sprouted from the ground into his hand.
Having completed various elven and the World Tree quests, he was able to create wooden arrows anywhere.
Pale swiftly loaded his bow and fired.
“Forest Arrow!”
Pew-pew-pew!
Arrows landed near Mahilgorta. They seemed to have missed the target, but soon the arrow spots began rumbling and trees sprung out of the ground.
The trees with thick vines and leaves started attacking Mahilgorta and the warriors.
– It is futile.
The sudden forest could not push back the demons but it did cause chaos among them.
Still, the battle was unfavourable.
The demon warriors kept spawning and getting captured by them would mean losing control of their bodies and becoming one of them.
“We have to kill them first before they get to us!”
“Attack! We must kill the big one over there first!”
The thrill and excitement from hunting a boss level monster was insane!
“This is sweet. You can never get enough of this feeling.”
Weed grasped the Dragonslayer Axe in his hand.
It was the best axe of all for splitting demons apart.
As his Blacksmithing skill reached Advanced level 7, his racial limits were released and stat penalties were reduced to half.
“Sculptural Destruction! All will become Strength.”
It was time for a battle of merciless power.
***
Weed and his comrades worked hard and overcame Mahilgorta together.
– It’s a shame. Still, Cletta-nim’s return is inevitable…
The last words of the villain were somewhat ominous.
Mapan walked over with his swaying belly.
“Weed-nim, you have done a lot.”
“It wasn’t as bad as I expected.”
The demon butler. In the worst case scenario, he was even expecting to take on Cletta himself. He prepared the Brazier of Sacrifice just in case, and Mahilgorta had tried to summon the imperfect Cletta but he lacked blood and sacrifices. It was because Weed’s adventure was earlier than they anticipated.
“Weed-nim. We cleared out all the debris left by the demons, so what now?’
“What do you mean?”
“The Arpen Empire. Are you just going to let the great lords slide?”
“Hmm…”
Mapan wished for Weed to subside the chaos within the empire.
The entire continent was headed for war, but if Weed were to appear before them, the situation would turn out differently.
Since many still followed Weed and many more were fearful of Weed, he believed that the signs of a rebellion would disappear like they never existed.
“I’m just going to take a good rest. I have to play with my daughter too.”
“What about the empire?”
“Like I told you before, I am leaving it entirely to the players. The future will be shaped by them.”
“Not everyone wants that.”
Indeed there would be a great number of players who wanted Weed the emperor to lead the continent to an eternal era of peace. In fact, the Arpen Empire united the continent and recovered all the losses from the Embinyu Church, the war with the Hermes Guild and the Kaybern outbreak. But now, the extended age of peace was about to burst due to tension between the colliding factions. If he were to suppress them with force, the future would probably be far more stable.
Royal Road was a different reality than the real world and war was not necessarily a bad thing.
“Peace has lasted long enough. We need room for conflicts and reconciliation. We all contribute to the result and accept it for what it turns out to be.”
The real world of Lee Hyun became more peaceful. With money, he could accomplish just about anything.
“Are the children having proper meals?”
– Most of the world seems to have transitioned away from starvation.
“What about the crime rate?”
– In South Korea, it has gone down to a tenth. Japan and the US are also reinforcing patrols and prevention via their security departments.
He was commencing a global project for crime prevention.
Lee Hyun’s idea of Russian prison cells had not been thought out particularly well. However his unimaginable influence meant that it was adopted almost instantly, with countries across the world collaborating to send criminals to Russian prisons.
It naturally led to a reduction in crimes. In the past, there were many prisoners boasting about the number of charges. Many more considered a prison sentence some kind of work experience and their life in prison did not convert them.
It was common to see prisoners befriending one another.
However, once the announcement about the Russian prison was released, the crime rate dropped steeply and so did cases of drunk driving.
A society where people willingly upheld the law was taking form.
(To be continued…)