Became a tyrant of defense games - Episode 402
◈ 402. [Side Story] Plague (2)
Shoot ahhh!
The ferry boat we were on slipped through the stagnant water and went into the sewer..
Stumbling on the boat, I looked back at the village below..
“Wow!”
“It hurts, it hurts, it hurts……!”
“Protect the gold coins, protect the gold coins……!”
The sight of the village swept by Raven's plague was miserable..
Residents were scratching their diseased skin and, at the same time, banging their heads on the floor due to their polluted minds, collapsing both physically and mentally..
Even, besides - it is contagious.
Residents who were not yet sick rushed to save other residents, but the disease spread through an unknown path, causing both physical and mental collapse..
“Pfft…….”
It is literally a living hell..
But I didn't have time to worry about them.
《I'll chase you all the way to hell, Ash.-!》
Because Raven followed suit..
The plague beast took the form of fog and followed closely behind us..
Just by being caught in its path, the water in the sewer boiled with a putrid smell, and the sewer pipe corroded and collapsed..
“If you get caught, that's the end, honey.!”
“Don't worry! Even if you are the commander of a nightmare army…….”
Even though the situation was tense, Geomgui and Changgui calmly rowed the boat forward. The Sword Demon glared at Raven with a murderous gaze and steered the ship..
“No one can get through this cave at the bottom faster than me.!”
Shoot ahhh!
Just in time for the flooding, the black rainwater had already filled the sewer system and was overflowing..
A ferry boat was pushed into a huge sewer filled with swirling black waters..
Like a leaf floating on a stormy sea, the ship swayed dangerously..
However, Geom-gwi and Chang-gwi were amazing at steering the ship and not losing their balance..
The speed of the swirling rainwater was frightening. The ferryboat that rode the current moved at incredible speed..
《Don't miss it! Don't miss it! Come on! Give it to me! your body, your mind, your soul-!》
Raven, who had turned into fog, let out a bizarre roar and stretched out her hand towards us..
However, the ferryboat narrowly avoided the guy's hand, and when the guy's hand inevitably fell, Mason raised his huge claws and attacked, canceling it out..
“Are you okay??!”
《so so… … it's okay.》
Mason's fingernails were corroded and falling off in patter. But when Mason applied again, his new fingernails sprouted. Beast Painting is convenient..
Shoot ahhh-!
The huge sewer pipes were entangled like a maze, winding, dividing into several branches, and then merging into one..
The ferryboat continued to twist its course to escape the maze. Raven was not very agile in his movements, so little by little he fell behind us..
《Ashyyyy-!》
While riding the ferry boat and entering the sewer for a long time, Raven's voice became more and more distant, and at some point it became unheard of..
“……Did I get bullied??”
Sword Demon and Spear Demon kept their guard up and kept the ship's speed high, but I, who had been fighting with the Nightmare Corps Commanders for a long time, felt it intuitively..
We shook off Raven's pursuit..
“Phew…….”
Wiping away the cold sweat from my forehead, I finally looked at the condition of the party members..
Fortunately, Salome, Mason, Sword Demon, and Spear Demon were relatively unharmed from the plague..
Thanks to my mental defense passive skill [Indomitable Commander] and the panacea effect being applied in a wide area, it seems that they were able to protect themselves from Raven's plague..
However, just as my [Indomitable Commander] was breached a little while ago and I was struck by his mental plague,.
If they are careful, their minds will be invaded and they will experience terrible hallucinations..
Fortunately, my all-powerful side had not yet been pierced, perhaps because of its high defense score, but this side was equally uneasy..
‘It's not some kind of Pokemon, it evolves alone and shit.…….’
I gritted my teeth, thinking of Raven, who entered the hidden phase alone..
At that time, Geomgui and Changgui, who had been silently rowing, opened their mouths..
“It looks like we've shaken off the chase, so all we have to do is get to the ground like this..”
“Sit still. I'll leave quickly.”
While looking at their backs on the bow, I asked hesitantly:.
“What happens to the villagers??”
Before leaving the bottom village, I saw clearly.
Villagers suffering from Raven's baptism of plague.
what happens to them?
“…….”
The two highwaymen who were silent answered reluctantly..
“All the people in our village are cursed with eternal life. we can't die.”
“So, if the plague doesn't get better, we'll have to suffer until the end of the world.…….”
I was startled by their casual words..
“How can you say that so calmly??!”
“What's different??”
The Sword Demon smiled and looked back at me..
“I think the life of searching for gold coins on this floor for 500 years will be fun and happy.?”
“…….”
“In any case, it's the same as surviving with a stick that is worse than death. It's just adding a plague to it..”
Changgui received the message..
“I don't know about you, but we've been through worse than that plague..”
“plus……?”
“Five hundred years ago, when the Lake Kingdom here suddenly sank beneath the lake. What happened to everyone??”
Chang Gui stared intently at the black water flowing from the sewer..
“In a sunken city, drowned.”
“…….”
“But no one could die because they were all cursed with eternal life. I couldn't breathe, my lungs were in pain as the water filled them, and I suffered endlessly in the water..”
I think about the size of the Lake Kingdom that I once saw from above..
It was a city-state of enormous size, almost as large as the ecliptic New Terra..
If an entire city like that had sunk beneath a lake, how many people would it be?…….
“The devil made a suggestion to us who fell into such a living hell..”
The Sword Demon continued speaking..
“I will help you escape from this painful reality. I will let you sleep comfortably. Instead, your nightmares are mine.”
“…….”
“The overwhelming majority of the residents of the Lake Kingdom surrendered to the Demon King at that time. and… … Wrapped in a black cocoon, I was reduced to a nightmare for the devil..”
Black cocoons in the shape of humans have been visible ever since we entered the depths of the Lake Kingdom..
That's all... … They were once people who lived in the Lake Kingdom..
“Then, the survivors who did not become the black cocoon……?”
“I endured it. One hundred years, until the water drains from the lake kingdom..”
a hundred years.
He endured the pain of drowning and survived for a hundred years.?
“We have endured a hundred years of drowning. Looks like I'm going to succumb to the plague?”
“…….”
“We eternal beings have our own way of living. So, don't worry, let's get out of here safely... … Bring a lot of gold coins.”
Geom-gwi and Chang-gwi began to focus on driving the ferry again..
“…….”
I clenched my fists and looked at their backs.,
Make up your mind... … said.
“Go back.”
“……?”
“what?”
Everyone sitting in the small boat looked at me. I said emphatically one more time.
“Let's go back. Go back, that plague... … Let's Defeat Raven.”
The one who stopped me was Salome, who was looking at me with a blank expression..
《What nonsense, Ash! That guy is the one who broke your mental barrier! Even I, the succubus queen, couldn't overcome that wall, that guy overcame it.!》
“…….”
《If it's just a mental barrier, don't say anything again! Its essence is a plague that corrupts the body! You may have been lucky enough to eat one of those fruits and gain resistance to plague, but if this part were to break through, you would experience the pain of hell.!》
Mason also objected in a hoarse voice..
《I know you're usually reckless, but this time I can't understand it any more..》
“…….”
《Even if I go back... … How are you going to defeat the plague commander, who will be difficult even if he brings an army, with only five people??》
I lifted my tired eyes and looked around at the people on the ferry..
It's not that I don't want to get rid of it right away. The vision I got from that guy a little while ago was truly terrible..
The death of the comrades I had lost, the thing I most wanted to see. If I see something like that again, my mentality might not be able to withstand it..
But I am someone who aims for the true ending. I am a player who has to plan the ending of this game..
‘We have to defeat it here..’
Raven's plague has evolved in a strange direction..
It is already a shitty enemy that leaves permanent injuries to allies and spreads corruption and pollution throughout the city if it invades the Crossroads, but now it has become an even more terrible entity that even damages the mind..
If that plague were to leak out of the Lake Kingdom,.
Crossroads, no, the whole world… … It may collapse in an instant.
When he was still here in the Lake Kingdom.
Before it can gain power in earnest, it must be eradicated..
“……I have a strategy to defeat him..”
Even though I took a strange evolution stone and mutated at will..
If its true nature is Plague Corps Commander Raven, then I have a way to defeat it. The extermination method established during the game is.
“On the contrary, if there are a lot of people here, it will be difficult. A small group of elites is appropriate..”
The greater the number of Plague Legions, the more damage they inflict exponentially..
As few as possible... … No, to be honest.
“……Ideally, the party should be made up of castaways who don't mind being hit by the plague..”
I spoke honestly and looked around at the party members..
Eternals who cannot die, sword demons and spear demons.
Mason, a half-human, half-beast on the verge of death.
Salome is the one I always have to get rid of... … If the situation arises, he will run away by escaping from reality..
With this party composition, you can mobilize for the Raven Repulsion operation without feeling guilty..
I'm being blunt - I'm going to put you all on a suicide mission..
Salome, who had been quietly listening to the story, looked at me with trembling eyes..
《We think so. But, Ash… … you?》
“…….”
I sighed and nodded..
“Raven's plague has the characteristic of disappearing once Raven is defeated..”
Damage already inflicted cannot be recovered, but the plague itself disappears. No matter how widespread it is, it loses its source and motive force and disappears..
“This is probably because the basis of the plague is Raven's malice..”
《…….》
“So, before I die, just kill him.”
Salome seemed shocked and tried to say more, but I looked away..
Before I knew it, the ship had stopped and the Sword Demon and Spear Demon were glaring at me with their fierce eyes..
“A very funny guest..”
“Why do you think we will follow your orders??”
I silently took out a piece of paper from my pocket and waved it..
This is the pledge we wrote and shared with each other at that time..
- The Disaster Remains helps Ash until he escapes the dungeon. If Ash escapes the dungeon, half of his wealth will be paid to the Distress Resurrection Corps..
Yes.
‘It's not about helping you escape. We'll help you until you escape..
Whatever I ask you to do. Whatever you do. they need to help me.
“Can you see the stamp here? You two, you must cooperate with me until I escape..”
“What are you doing??!”
“Oh my goodness……!”
Geom-gwi and Chang-gwi, who quickly checked the oath they had, grabbed the back of the head as if they had been hit..
I looked at them blankly and opened my mouth..
“When the Lake Kingdom sank, other survivors gave up on reality. I chose to run away into a nightmare rather than live and suffer eternity..”
“…….”
“But you in the village below have chosen a reality that is more terrible than the nightmare. Why??”
The sword demon and the spear demon, who were muttering their mouths, exchanged glances.,
“……People.”
“Because I wanted to become a person.”
He said, crumpling the pledge and putting it back in his arms..
“So I collected gold coins all my life..”
“Living in a cocoon and having nightmares for the devil was not our dream..”
“Me too.”
I nodded..
“I still want to remain human.”
Just now. When I last looked back at the bottom village.
I made eye contact with the little brother who was sharing fruit with me..
He quietly waved his hand at me as our eyes met..
Even though his entire body was stained red and consumed by a plague... … Like greeting a departing friend. with a peaceful face.
……If I don't kill Raven in time.
The villagers, and the kid, may struggle in pain for the next hundreds of years, their minds and bodies consumed by the plague..
“after.”
I exhaled and slowly got up..
i am afraid.
The nightmare Raven showed me.
Everyone I caused to die. This guilt weighing down on my shoulders.
But, but- I know something more frightening..
- brother!
I could have saved it.
I could have held out my hand.
The little life that I turned a blind eye to and ignored.
I painfully know that the regret I have after not being able to fight and losing the opportunity is greater than the regret I have after fighting and losing..
‘I want to save it.’
People within my reach.
still, i want to save.
therefore. Even though this fight is long, terrible, and painful-
i don't back down.
“let's go.”
Keep your body upright and your back straight..
I gather up all the courage I don't know how much I have left..
i said.
“……To kill monsters and protect people.”
I hope that the flag I once threw away still remains in me..
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