Chapter 405: Last Battle (2) |
“That bastard…!” I cursed.
I finally discovered the demon summoner’s goal.
It was chaos in the chain of command.
In some ways, it felt like I was struck in the back of my head. I couldn’t imagine the amount of confusion the field commanders and some of the troops on the battlefield were feeling. The communication that had always been maintained was cut off, so we couldn’t inform them of the seriousness of the situation.
‘We got too reliant on it.’
It was a way to move the entire army systematically as if it was one body, but that method was too one-sided because it was up to one command center to control that many troops. I didn’t think this strength could be a weakness as well. Basically, the advantage we had was no longer there because the enemy already knew that we were controlling the troops through the goddess’ mirror. He was smart, so he would naturally figure it out, but I could have never imagined that he would come up with a plan for it.
I realized this was his primary goal, and the previous battles were just a part of his strategic moves. I was curious about how he was able to completely shut down our command center. Other than magic, I had no idea know what method he used. He could have used an artifact created through magic engineering to nullify it, or he could have disconnected our magic that was systematically connected with each other.
The demon summoner Jin Cheong was an archmage, and there was a high chance that he investigated the previous battle. Many thoughts filled my head, but the important part was the process rather than the result and how we could take revenge rather than how they screwed us over. However, the desperate situation made me curse.
“Shit…”
“Is there no way to repair it?” I asked.
“The magic hologram is your specialty, oppa. You should’ve brought that son of yours. Well… I don’t think he’ll be much use even if he comes. I don’t know when it’ll come back, but that is not what’s important right now. Calming down the troops is the priority. I was starting to get used to it as well, so this is kind of annoying. It really feels like—like I just got backstabbed,” she replied.
“...”
“I’ll be honest, oppa,” she continued.
“Okay.”
“There’s no guarantee that we’ll win. It feels like the enemy commanders are looking five steps ahead of me. It’ll be worth fighting them if we had the goddess’ mirror, but from this point on, it’s unreasonable. We can try to hold out as much as possible, but—”
“That’s not good news,” I interrupted her.
“I also want to confidently say that we can win, but I’m telling you this in case things fall apart because we have to consider the worst case scenario. We have to consider the possibility of us receiving major damage here,” she added.
An unknown sense of anxiety filled me as Lee Ji-Hye left the command center. It was a relief that she was prepared for something like this, but it was just a substitute. It wasn’t efficient, and we weren’t used to it.
Right now, the masked scum had the upper hand, and Lee Ji-Hye’s words also made me think that there was no way we could guarantee our victory at this rate. I thought that she was just overestimating them by saying they were five steps ahead of her, but since she knew him better than I did, I couldn’t say she was wrong. Unlike me, who coincidentally met him, she played a simulation game that contained data about Jin Cheong hundreds of times before. Without the goddess’ mirror, she would be at a disadvantage against him. I walked outside and saw an anxious Lee Ji-Hye biting her nails with a frown.
The situation on the battlefield also proved that my assumption was correct.
‘Shit.’
The enemy was moving strangely, and as if this was their chance, the enemy troops opened their arms as if they were trying to wrap all of the allied forces. I had no idea about the details of our military strategy, but I realized that our troops were currently in danger.
In addition, the named players on standby had to have jumped into the fray because I started hearing large explosions. The enemy forces surrounded the allied forces as if they were saying that they weren’t going to miss this chance.
“I’ll fix it now.”
Lee Ji-Hye started controlling the troops through hand signals and flags, but it was difficult because the enemy troops were closing in on them. I was worried about our troops—yes, but I couldn’t help but be curious about how Kim Hyun-Sung was doing. I focused mana on my eyes, but I couldn’t see him. I was sure he wouldn’t be defeated so easily think, but he was definitely in danger. The enemy troops weren’t that strong, but if he had to fight named players on top of the ordinary troops, then he would be in danger. When I thought about how our lovely regressor was probably waiting for my order, I couldn’t just stand by and watch.
‘If Kim Hyun-Sung goes down…’
The story would end here. Setting the outcome of the war aside, the true issue was what would happen afterward. I already knew what would happen to the continent if the regressor of a transcendent being died.
‘I can’t let that happen.’
My plan to stay next to him and profit as much as I could while enjoying wealth and honor would get ruined if he died.
‘I can’t let him die.’’
I had to do something because I was the one who put him in that dangerous situation.
‘Shit… Kim Hyun-Sung!’
I organized my thoughts.
“Noona.”
“Yeah?”
“I’m going down there,” I told her.
“Okay, do that… What? Are you crazy?” asked Lee Ji-Hye with her jaw on the ground.
“Prepare the reserve because I’m leaving right now,” I ordered.
“What…”
“You said that there is no other way, and you’re the only one who can control the troops right now. I don’t really have anything I have to do, so this is the best I can do for now. They need a commander on the battlefield who can deliver orders to all the troops,” I explained.
“That’s not the problem. Can’t you see the situation right now? I’m trying to fix it as much as I can, and the issue is to get out of their encirclement, but you actually want to crawl in there? You’ll die. I’m sure of it,” she said.
“If we lose the war, we’re all going to die.” I pointed out.
“...”
“I can protect myself, so don’t worry too much about me, noona. I still have a long life to live as a parasite. If I die here after achieving so many things, I probably won’t be able to rest in peace in the afterlife,” I added.
“I know that, but—”
“I’m leaving,” I said, interrupting her.
“...”
“...”
“Do what you want, you shitty idiot. I won’t take responsibility if you die,” she said.
“I won’t die.”
I was telling her the truth. If I died here, I would feel too aggrieved to rest in peace.
I bit my lips and started moving. When I left the command center, I saw the detachment protecting the rear. I was sure they were having pessimistic thoughts because they looked gloomy, and I was sure they were even more anxious after seeing the chaos in the command center. We somehow figured out the situation, but all they saw was chaos. I was sure they got even more worried when they saw me walking outside.
I glanced at them, I noticed Park Deok-Gu running up to me.
‘Ah, right, he’s a member of this detachment.’
“H-Hyung-nim!” Park Deok-Gu called out.
“...”
“What’s going on? Did something happen?” he asked.
“I’ll tell you the details later. We have a problem, Deok-Gu. Prepare the troops. We’re going down now,” I ordered.
“We’re going… there?” he asked.
“Mr. Hyun-Sung, Miss Hye-Jin, and Ye-Ri have been isolated. I think they’re okay for now, but they could get overrun by the enemy pretty soon,” I replied.
“What happened—”
“It’s a long story. Anyway, right now,” I said, interrupting him.
“D-Do I have to go, too?” he asked.
‘This pig…’
Naturally, I glanced at him. I expected him to tell me that he was going to come with me, but I could have never imagined that he would say that without any hesitation. He pretended like it wasn’t affecting him, but he looked like he felt bad.
“I-I don’t know if I’ll be any help, but I should go down with you. Something could happen to you, and I’m sure you’ll feel safer with me next to you. I told you before that I won’t let anyone lay a finger on you,” he said.
“Yeah, thanks.”
“You don’t have to thank me. I-I’m sure that others would have done the same thing. So what you’re saying is that we’re leaving to save our guild members, right?” Park Deok-Gu asked.
“That’s the most important reason, but that’s not the only reason,” I answered.
‘They need a commander on the field.’
We had a lot of things to do, but going down there and adapting to the situation was the top priority.
“O-Okay. Then, the troops…”
“I’m sure—no, Miss Ji-Hye will prepare that. We’ll leave the minimum amount of troops in the rear. This detachment isn’t big, but we’re big enough to break through and join them…” I said.
“Got it. We should hurry, then,” he said.
‘At least he’s quick when it comes to getting things done.’
While Park Deok-Gu was looking around, the detachment members approached me, and it didn’t take me long to repair my equipment. I looked at the battlefield and saw explosions, which made my heart race. Still, I had to do something rather than waste time doing nothing.
I looked back and saw the soldiers nodding.
“Let’s go.”
“This is too sudden… Are you sure it’ll be okay?” Park Deok-Gu asked.
“It’ll be fine,” I answered.
“It won’t be a problem if that’s the case, but… I’m nervous. Maybe it’s just me, but I can’t remember the last time I fought beside you, hyung-nim,” he said.
“It’s not just you. It has been a while since we fought,” I told him.
“Standing here like me reminds me of the tutorial days… I’m just saying,” he added.
“No more chit-chat. Let’s go.”
Park Deok-Gu slammed his shield, and the soldiers had to have taken that as the signal because they started hitting their shields with their swords in response. Cold sweat started rolling down my face when I saw the soldiers fixing their helmets. I seriously thought I was doing something unnecessary here, but I was sure that this was more helpful than doing nothing.
I honestly couldn’t believe how I was keeping up with the soldiers who were running at full force toward the enemies. I wasn’t yelling with them, but I could finally understand why soldiers always yelled while charging. Arrows and spells kept falling down the sky, and I got even more nervous as we ran even faster. Actually, I got too nervous that I even forgot how I got here.
‘Shit.’
I started to become increasingly dizzy the closer I got to the enemy, and when the allied forces and the enemy forces collided with each other, a tremor ran through me, as well as through the other members.
Craaack!
“Aaaahhh!”
“Bastards! Die!”
“For the Goddess of Benigoa!”
The constant explosions and curses told me that I was officially on the battlefield.
‘Shit!’