The Player Who Eats Steel - Episode 183
183fury.
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People from all over the world were watching and cheering for humanity's counterattack taking place on Mount Othris..
- ……This is truly an amazing sight..
The MCs also continued to express their admiration while broadcasting the scene live..
- Steele again, he did it again.
- Yeah, I don't know what number it is. This scene, this situation, this emotion, it happens so often, yet strangely enough it continues to shock me..
About ten minutes ago, in the first battlefield, the magic shield of the giant fortress was broken by Lee Hyun-wook's Mogley drop..
Immediately after that, Choi Jeong-cheol's 'Semi-Armageddon' was so hot that it swept away the tied titans like bowling balls..
With that alone, dozens of titans fell to the brink of death, and the 'Green Wave' controlled by Weingard completely engulfed their bodies..
In other words, I was completely defenseless.……
"—Now! All troops charge!”
The players who had been suffering so far advanced furiously, pouring out all kinds of skills at the half-dead Titans as if to vent their anger..
One by one, from the edge, the 15m long Titans collapsed like dead trees..
Then, the second battlefield, about ten kilometers away, followed a similar pattern..
- ah! Now, let's move on to the second battlefield. Special Correspondent Josh Paul, Battlefield 2, can you hear me??
At the MC's question, the screen moved to the second battlefield, showing the image of a man wearing sunglasses, Josh Paul..
"Oh, okay—this is the second battlefield where I am now..”
- Now, the first battlefield seems to have ensured victory. What is the situation there??
“Hahaha—it's going very interestingly. Up until a minute ago, they had been completely defeated and were preparing to retreat, but after Steele Rain appeared there, those damn vines conversely bound the giants here as well.!”
As he was not a professional reporter, he was unable to process gazes and looked around distractedly..
"……But here, unfortunately, there seems to be no way to break through the magic shield. Hey, Stillane—please get over there and come over here right away.!”
But that was then.
- caution! ‘The Power of Hecatoncheires—Meteo’ begins in the area.!
"huh? What is this again??"
- Josh, what's going on??
"Uh, that… … Shit, I don't know how to explain it, so just see for yourself..”
At that time, the camera's focus rose to the sky..
- Uh, in the sky... … Is there a hole??
As the MC asked, several holes were popping up in the sky..
Go—oh—oh—oh——
They were black portals..
"Oh, looks like someone is up to something big... … I've never seen anything like that before.”
Soon, huge black rocks started pouring down like rain from inside..
Whoo-ooh-ooh——!
It could be seen as a meteorite, or rather a meteor shower..
Kwa-and-and-and-and——!
When they fell into the giant's castle and hit the magic shield, strange black smoke rose as if a chemical reaction was taking place, and the magic shield began to melt like cheese..
“Damn—I don’t know what it is, but it’s awesome.!”
"Okay, let's go and sweep it up.—!”
The players waiting in the second battlefield cheered at the scene and began charging..
But that wasn't the end.
"ah! Those meteorites started flying again!”
On the hill behind, a tall wizard was wielding a huge staff..
And according to his command, aren't the black meteorites soaring into the air again??
“Oh—it seems like the gravity wizard who adhered to mysticism has been exercising his powers lately? Hahaha—it's truly a day full of things to see.!"
Lee Seong-yoon, he reversed the gravity of a specific area and caused the ‘meteorites’ to rise again..
And what goes up, is bound to fall.
"Once again, a meteor shower falls!”
He even modified the meteorites' trajectories through detailed gravity control—hitting each titan on the head..
Bur—bur—bur—bur——!
“……Oh, I'm a gravity wizard too!”
"Damn, I forgot about his performance, he's really the best.!”
In this way, the flag of humanity was able to be planted on the second battlefield, the Giant Citadel..
- ……It is said that 145 were hunted in the first battlefield and 131 were hunted in the second battlefield! It was easier to handle numbers that were twice the number caught in the giant slalom earlier. I think it's safe to say that this is all Steele Lane and his achievements.!
At that time, Lee Hyun-wook had already occupied the giant fortress and was standing on top of it, looking down at the corpses of the giants..
One of them had Lee Hyun-wook's mogley stuck in its neck. It was the most powerful elite monster in this fortress, and like other titans, half of its body was entangled in green waves..
Thanks to that restraint, even though it was a level 209 elite monster, it was able to suffocate in an instant..
‘The boss monsters, Named Titan, Atlas, and Kronos, will be in the deepest Giant Fortress..’
They couldn't be defeated as easily as they are now, so they would have to join Lee Seong-yoon and attack them together..
At that time, Lee Hyun-wook’s Mana Messenger rang..
- Chick— ah— I can hear it.?
This voice was Emilia Müller.
"yes, go ahead.”
- ‘Valve installation’ is now complete, so please signal at any time..
Before Hyunwook Lee left for the Dark Elf Kingdom, he had asked her for a few things to prepare for what would happen in the future..
She was now in a completely different place, doing work that only she could do..
"Yes, thank you for your work..”
- Okay, Peter is always on standby in front of Mana Messenger, so call him anytime..
"However, just in case, please raise your divinity concentration to the maximum even if it is a little difficult..”
- I'm more of an expert on that so don't worry..
thud—
At that time, the last Titan Hoplite fell and shouts of victory erupted from everywhere..
"—we won!”
The shouts soon turned into voices chanting Stillane's name..
“Wow, I kept believing, Stillane.—!”
"I used to doubt it, but now I believe it unconditionally.!”
"As expected, if he is there, we will definitely win.!”
But Lee Hyun-wook was not yet at ease..
'……You never know when or where a bomb will fall.’
He lifted Hugin into the sky and looked closely at the battlefield where the Titan's corpses were strewn about..
Tsutsutsutsu——
Sand was flowing like water between the green waves on the floor..
The one controlling it was Conor O'Neill, a villain known as the Sandcastle Ruler..
He was a member of Team Omega, the same player as Alain Giam..
But strangely, he did not follow Alain Giam and was still participating in the battle..
Some media outlets said there would be discord between the two at that point, but in fact…….
‘The reason is, they are trying to target me..’
The reason Lee Hyun-wook is not dealing with him may be because he has no justification yet, but his intention was to target the moment he attacked and make the world aware of the existence of the 'villain'..
Anyway, so far, all superficial danger elements have appeared, including the Titan army, the Dark Elf army, and the Black Orc army..
But for one thing, the villains were still not at the forefront..
‘Even though I ruined their plans when I conquered the dark elf kingdom, I will never give up..’
They probably know that if they don't stop him now, they won't be able to stop Lee Hyun-wook... … I was going to draw the last card out of here, no matter what..
That's right—
‘—necromancer…….'
Lee Hyun-wook was preparing for his second meeting with the guy..
***
Approximately 5km away from the Othrys Mountain battlefield, a camp was set up for players who had deserted from the United Human Army..
A simple studio for a broadcasting station was set up there, and some famous players, including Alain Giam, were sitting in the studio and broadcasting live..
They have been discussing and explaining the situation since yesterday.…….
"......."
There was a rather long silence now..
The reason was the appearance of Steele Rain..
The moment he appeared, the mouths of the panelists, including Alain Gidam, were closed and they had no intention of opening them..
"......."
The broadcast's stance so far has been focused on criticizing Steele Lane..
Therefore, the moment he appeared and changed the situation in an instant, they had no choice but to become mute, and the MC had to do the commentary alone throughout the battle..
In the end, the MC couldn't stand it anymore and opened his mouth while glaring at Alain Giam..
"hmm… … Monsieur Giam, this is... … How can I explain it? The reason Steelaine hasn't appeared until now is because they were conquering the Dark Elf Kingdom... … Is it true??”
"......."
“……Hey, Monsieur Giam, please say something..”
Alain Giam could not answer the MC's question..
"......."
This was because I did not know how obscene it would look to hang out here with steel rain in my mouth until the end..
And the viewers who were watching this broadcast were also suddenly turning around and criticizing Alain Giam..
He eventually got up and left his seat..
“……That's all for now..”
"yes?”
In any case, excessive envy and jealousy cloud rational judgment..
However, the reason he has kept Steelein in check until now was not because of such personal feelings, but because it was a strategic choice based on solid evidence..
‘This time, it was a structure that Steele Rain could never pull off..’
That's why they actively used the media to control the situation.…….
"But damn, I never thought the Dark Elf army would take his side... … This is a variable that is completely outside of common sense.!”
Unable to control the anger rising inside him, he let out a curse and walked out of the studio tent..
As he was walking briskly, he suddenly stopped and slowly looked back..
"huh? who called me now?”
But there was no one in sight. The moment my fever rose and I thought I was hallucinating—
- monsieur—
That wasn't an auditory hallucination.
A voice came from far away, between two tents. But the owner of that voice was nowhere to be seen..
He felt ominous and let mana flow into both hands..
If you apply a little force like this, dozens of magic missiles will be sprayed..
- Monsieur, there is no need to be on guard. Now, I have something to talk to you about. Would you please come inside the tent for a moment??
Now that I think about it, I can't hear that voice. In other words, it was not a sound wave moving through air..
This was 'telepathy', a magic that allows only a specific target to hear the voice..
"Who are you, sneaking up on me??”
- Monsieur, meeting secretly is very important and beneficial to both parties..
After a moment of contemplation, he opened the tent where the telepathy was coming from and entered..
This is a space connected to the studio and seemed to be a place to store broadcasting equipment, but there was no one there right now..
Whoa whoa——
Black smoke billowed from one corner, and a man wearing a purple mask appeared..
he approached slowly.
“Monsieur, please take this..”
What he held out was some kind of letter..
- ‘You have obtained the ‘Black Invitation’.
"……What is this?”
[Item information]
- Name: Black Invitation
- Effect: Unknown
“Monsieur, we would like to invite you to our organization. Infuse mana there and you'll get an invitation..”
“……what? What organization are you talking about??”
However, the other person did not answer readily, and at that moment, Alain Giam realized the identity of the organization..
"no way… … Is this the organization that Stillane exposed??”
"Yes, that's right. But it's a little different from his argument. If Monsieur Giam hears about our cause and what we are doing, he will never think negatively of us..”
At those words, Alain Giam felt an instinctive rejection and took a step back..
"What is this?……."
No matter how much I hated Steelane, no matter how much I hated it, I couldn't carelessly get involved with such unidentifiable crazy people..
Then the masked man took a step closer and stuck his head in..
“Monsieur: We are not a society with an unstable structure like now... … We are trying to complete a player-led world..”
At that moment, Alain Giam's eyebrows twitched..
Because that was his goal too.
The reason he ran a private organization was to create a player-led world..
Today, players are effectively a new class, but the vast majority are still 'ordinary people', so laws and policies that limit and check player rule are taken for granted..
He believed, and often argued, that such a trend was ruining human security and hindering progress..
"However, this goal requires some violence. That's what happens with all system changes in the first place. Isn't that so, monsieur??”
"hmm… … That's kind of interesting..”
"Yes, I expected Monsieur to agree with this opinion.."
Yes, Alain Giam strongly sympathized with what this masked man said, but he did not show it. But I couldn't help but notice that my aversion to him gradually began to turn into curiosity..
"But the biggest obstacle to that ideal view of the future is… … It's definitely steelane..”
"So you tried to remove it several times, but failed? Like in Dresden a few days ago.”
At those words, the masked man took a step closer..
"Yes, but this time, it won't fail..”
"what? If this is the time, when will it be again? … Of course you want to hit the back while in battle.?”
A strange laughter came out from behind the mask..
“……So Monsieur, will you help us? I will do everything possible to create a net so that he cannot escape in any way. Now, if you agree with me, imbue that invitation with mana..”
At those words, Alain Giam thought for a moment and then gave mana to the invitation..
“Villain Questra……."
***
- 1Captured the Victory Flag!
* All abilities temporarily increase. (+10%)
- 2Captured the Victory Flag!
* All abilities temporarily increase. (+10%)
With the completion of the victory flag capture of the first and second battlefields, a buff effect was granted to all players participating in Titanomachia..
On top of a fort in the first battlefield, the commanders of each group were gathered to discuss future operations..
“……First of all, it would be a good idea to join the players on the 2nd battlefield at this point and then attack the 3rd battlefield step by step..”
And the design of that operation was definitely led by Lee Hyun-wook..
"Now we have the ‘Vingard’, an elite unit of the Dark Elves. And since we can use the item neutralization chain that blocked my Mogley drop, we can also block the titans' javelin bombardment..”
The commanders nodded silently at his explanation..
"It would be perfect if it stayed that way..”
“……Stillane, I only trust you..”
Lee Hyun-wook looked at the commanders one by one. There was more courage in their eyes than ever before..
They must have doubted Lee Hyun-wook even for a moment..
However, when confidence is gained again after doubt, faith becomes stronger..
These were now Lee Hyun-wook’s weapons..
"Now let's go.”
The commanders nodded at Lee Hyun-wook's words and took out their Mana Messengers to issue orders to their respective groups..
But then—
“……No, you can't go anywhere.”
A voice intervened and poured cold water on the person, and everyone turned their heads in that direction..
“—huh?”
"what do you mean?”
The person who said that was Connor O'Neill, a young white guy with a ginger look..
“Ugh—you should all be buried here together..”
He stretched out his hands to the sky, opened his palms, and smiled..
"I'll make that grave—!”
At that moment—the giant castle they were standing on collapsed, and everyone lost their balance and scattered..
“Pfft!"
"shit—”
Soon, sand rose up from all directions and turned into a huge hand... … It fell on Lee Hyun-wook’s head..
Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu——!
"omg! Still Rain……."
They all realized what this scene meant..
There was another assassination attempt by an evil organization..
"Oh, no! we have to save him!”
Quagwagwagwagwa——!
However, with pillars of sand rising from all directions and hitting the ground like drills, they had no choice but to survive individually..
"Damn it, boss.—!"
Kim Se-hee chased Lee Hyun-wook by creating wind and pushing sand away, but the sand and dust filled her field of vision, making it difficult to see properly..
Wow!——
"Hahaha— Stillane, I finally got it! You didn't even have time to take out that moglai and swing it, so I held it down and grabbed it, so you're finished.!”
Only Connor O'Neill's fishy voice rang out..
The guy was floating in the air with dozens of layers of sand wrapped around his body. Kim Se-hee threw a blade of wind at it, but was unable to pierce a few of them..
"You can never break through this 'sand armor' like that, so don't lose your strength.!”
Then, he opened both his hands and joined them together, forming two huge sand hands.…….
Qua—ang——!
He slammed his palms together as if catching an insect, but as expected, it was an attack directed at Hyunwook Lee..
As many as three sandy hands were grabbing Lee Hyun-wook..
"Phew— Did I do something that no one else could do: subdue Steele? Ugh, this is it, that brilliant necromancer made a fuss.?”
And every time he waved both his hands, sand spewed out from the jar on his back and wrapped around the three hands that grabbed Lee Hyun-wook..
"You know that not even titans could break my sand restraints, right? Ugh—you'll never get out of it..”
He smiled arrogantly.
But then—
Pfung—
"......huh?"
He felt a strange sensation; it was a strange pain..
At that moment, blood poured out of my mouth..
"Ugh—"
I lower my head slowly... … There was a stick stuck in the left chest and heart..
it was a silver arrow.
"Uh, how……."
This was a phenomenon that he could not understand..
The 'sand armor', which surrounds the body with thousands of layers of sand, could not be penetrated by most attacks..
Of course, he wouldn't have the talent to block a reckless blow like a Mogley, but even if he fired a hundred or a thousand arrows, he wouldn't be able to remove even a single layer of sand..
"uh… … T, gap?”
Only then did he notice that there was a hole in his sand armor, almost as if it had been drilled..
"uh? why……."
But I still couldn't understand it.
His sand control ability will never tolerate such a gap..
I have never made this mistake before..
Sissi Sissi——
He looked around with red, bloodshot eyes and noticed that some of his sand was moving against his will..
That place is towards the three grips where Steele Rain is held.…….
Sissi Sissi——
He was passing through the sand restraints naturally..
"Don't, don't, don't even... … not……."
With each step he took, the sand, controlled by Connor O'Neill, scattered up, down, left and right, opening a path..
"Uh, how could you take my sand……."
And the power to move the sand was flowing from a sphere floating behind Lee Hyun-wook..
that.......
"Damn it, ta, it's an earth spirit……."
A grade A, no, higher land spirit was following Lee Hyun-wook..
「Tsk tsk—You’re such a piece of shit, are you? Would you be able to build a sand castle without that much detail??」
Yes. Hyunwook Lee was hiding Maru's identity for this time in order to catch Connor O'Neill off guard..
“Ugh——!"
Connor O'Neil let out a curse and tried to manipulate the sand to sweep Lee Hyun-wook away, but he couldn't do it because of Maru's interference..
If his body had been fine, he would have been able to control sand stronger than a grade A earth spirit, but now there was an arrow stuck in his heart....…
Just like that, it was not possible to stop the flow of sand from creating holes here and there, and Hyunwook Lee's steel weapons passed through them..
Puff-puff-puff-puff——
And his body was thrown all over the place..
"Ugh—"
In the end, the sand curtain that covered the entire world fell in the direction of gravity..
When Hyunwook Lee gestured, the metal embedded in Connor O'Neill's body turned into rings and wrapped around his limbs, and when he gestured again, the guy was dragged like a dog..
“so……."
He grabbed Connor O'Neill's neck and whispered in a low voice:.
“……Other than a bridesmaid like you, where is the real one??”
“what? What is that……."
at that time—
- caution! A 'death haven' has been declared in the area!
“……You came at the right time..”
After discovering such a system message, I looked at the surroundings from Hugin's perspective..
Before we knew it, the ground in the area had turned into black mud and was bubbling..
Coo! coo!
What it means is simple.
'……It is the emergence of the controller of death..’
Hyunwook Lee broke Connor O'Neill's neck, then lifted his body into the air and looked down at the ground..
Coo! coo!
Several kilometers of the area were overflowing with the power of death, and the corpses of titans lying on top of it began to wriggle..
"yes, welcome……."
This moment was the moment he had been waiting for..
"I have prepared a gift for you... … I hope you don't go back empty-handed this time..”
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