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The viewers were left in awe when they saw the God of Shields, Valentino, use his Shield’s Charge to push the fragments around seventy meters from the fortress's gates. Even Valentino felt his heart swell with pride. This was something that the others could not even attempt to do.

The triple penalty for a forced logout was too huge, even more so for high-rankers like Valentino. However, Valentino, as a member of Beyond the Heavens Empire, took the risk and bet everything on the line to defend the fate of Athenae and live up to the name of the God of Shields.

And waiting right behind the fragments were none other than the combat class players. They were all holding potion bottles as if they were carrying grenades.

As mentioned before, the Beyond the Heavens Empire had thought of hundreds of plans before the fragments arrived. And one of those plans included using the Shield’s Charge to push back the fragments.

Golden Mage Ali clenched his fists and said, “Compress.”

Fwooooooooosh–!

“Kihyeeeeeeeck!”

“Kihiiiiiiiik!”

“Keuhaaaaaaaack!”

The fragments, which had been scattered around, were gathered together in one area. However, that was not the end.

God of Fetters Bedman, who once displayed an incredible feat by binding the gods during the Succession Ceremony, threw a rope that spread like a net and wrapped tightly around the fragments’ bodies. When he pulled, the fragments were dragged until they were concentrated in the middle of the clearing.

They raised the Explosive Potion that God of Alchemists Mandala had created. The effects of the potions were not that great, considering that they were made in such a short amount of time. However, even though the number of potions and their effects were not that huge if thrown all at once, the aftermath would still be highly disastrous and inflict massive damage upon the fragments.

[Helenia is protecting her fragments!]

Perhaps it was because they felt the danger; the slumbering Helenia created layers of red shields around her fragments’ bodies.

Baaaaaaaaang–!

The shields collided with the potions and began to crack after the fiftieth one fell upon them. No matter how strong or sturdy Helenia’s shields were, they could not withstand the continuous explosions triggered by the Explosive Potions that were being thrown nonstop.

Crack– Boom–!

Ultimately, the shields broke apart, leaving the potions free to devour the fragments.

Boom! Boom! Boom! Bang–!

[You have hunted 537 Helenia’s Fragments.]

[You have hunted 575 Helenia’s Fragments.]

[You have hunted 601 Helenia’s Fragments.]

[You have hunted 609 Helenia’s Fragments.]

As the notifications rang constantly, the Beyond the Heavens Empire players followed their plans and gathered in one place. Then, Ali used Mass Teleport and immediately moved them to the front of the fortress walls.

Seeing this, Valentino quickly retrieved his shield, which he left stuck on the ground, and rushed back to the walls of the fortress. Minhyuk, on the other hand, could be seen running toward the fragments that had fallen into a state of confusion.

Since the number of fragments was overwhelmingly high, using AOE attack skills would be very effective only when they were gathered. Of course, the Beyond the Heavens Empire had also considered the possibility of Helenia having and using Recovery Magic.

So, what they were trying to do here was to inflict colossal damage and kill them before they could recover. This was also why Minhyuk waited atop the walls of the fortress.

Crackle–!

The running Minhyuk triggered the Supreme Overlord’s Technique and unleashed blazing black flames from the blade of his sword upon the fragments that were yet to recover from the aftermath of the explosions.

Rumble–!

The black flames roared to life and devoured the fragments.

[You have hunted 607...]

[You have hunted 708...]

[You have hunted 971...]

[You have hunted 1,108...]

[You have hunted 1,277...]

[You have leveled up.]

[You have leveled up.]

Minhyuk could level up twice in a row not only because of the extremely high amount of EXP that the fragments gave but also because he drank a new potion, a potion different from the One-week EXP Triple Increase Potion. This potion could allow him to increase his EXP acquisition rate by fifteen times in an hour. However, it still fell behind Minhyuk’s expectations.

‘The walls of Level 650 are very high.’

Minhyuk felt the total amount of EXP he needed to level up increased by 20% whenever his level increased by one. However, if he did well here, there was a high chance that he would be able to reach his target level today.

The fragments fell one after another as the flames continued to devour them. But nothing was that easy.

[The HP of Helenia’s Fragments has been restored.]

Helenia doused their hopes of slaughtering and killing the fragments, which seemed to be feasible if only they were given another minute with cold water. Just like that, the HP of the struggling fragments quickly increased once again. Fortunately, the flames of the Supreme Overlord’s Technique could deal continuous damage and shave off vast chunks of their HPs once again.

Minhyuk frowned when he saw the jewels fall from the hundreds of fragments he had killed in that attack. Every time he saw the jewels fall, he felt strange, and it bothered him.

Meanwhile, the commentators were in awe and admiration as they watched the Beyond the Heavens Empire’s performance.

[Amazing. Clearly, the members of the Beyond the Heavens Empire, who had been lying in wait in this place, had worked together and practiced their plans several times.

[Yes. It only took a split second for Valentino to retrieve his shield and for Minhyuk to charge forward and unleash his Overlord’s Technique.]

But Minhyuk was shaking his head. ‘It’s too easy.’

Of course, if things ended like this, it would result in a sweet victory for the Beyond the Heavens Empire. They would also not need to sacrifice anyone to detonate the bombs that they had installed inside the fortress. However, there was no way that it was this easy. And this ease was stirring up an overwhelming sense of anxiety in Minhyuk. The problem was that ominous premonitions often tend to become a reality.

Until now, the fragments had foregone attacking to reach Helenia as quickly as possible. But now? The Level 650 boss mobs had changed their postures.

[Helenia has given the order to attack!]

It seemed like Helenia had decided it would be much better to kill everyone here than break through their defenses. Minhyuk quickly shook off the ominous premonition that almost devoured him.

“Viel’s Puppet Doll. Ego Chain Sickle.”

[You cannot use any of your skills or magic for two minutes!]

Minhyuk responded extremely quickly. He immediately read the flow and summoned Viel and the Ego Chain Sickle before Helenia could impose a restriction. Many expressed their shock and admiration at this.

Meanwhile, the Beyond the Heavens Empire members looked at the fierce and angry beasts charging toward them with a terrible look on their faces. With their skills and magic restricted for two minutes, they would have no way to stop these charging bastards.

“Hurry! Get inside the fortress-!”

“It’s too late!”

They tried to have those whose HP and physical abilities were lower, like the mages, get inside the fortress, but the fragments moved faster than them.

A fragment in the form of a leopard swiped Ali’s back with its claw.

Swoosh–!

Spurt–!

Viel moved and cut down the leopard with his sword. Following right behind him, the Ego Chain Sickle moved freely and cut down the incoming fragments.

“Prepare to attack,” Minhyuk ordered as he arrived right in front of the walls of the fortress.

Minhyuk gulped. Even he, who possessed an invincible body, would find it hard to resist such a force without any skills or magic. And for two minutes at that, too. It did not take long for them to clash against the charging fragments.

“Grrrrrr!”

“Kyaaaaack!”

Slash, slash, slash, slash, slash–!

Using only their basic attacks, the Beyond the Heavens Empire members kept the crowd of fragments at bay. However, three hundred people were not enough to stop them.

“...Hyung.”

Minhyuk, who had been attacking the fragments, stopped when he heard someone call out to him.

“...”

When he turned around, he saw Ace, the youngest member of the Beyond the Heavens Empire, standing right in front of the wide-open jaws of a fragment in the form of a gigantic shark with his hands raised. He was giving Minhyuk a thumbs up.

Crunch–!

[Ace has been forced to log out!]

“...”

Minhyuk bit his lips tightly. It was far too much for them, who could not use any skills, to deal with the fragments whose numbers far exceeded their own. They were already fortunate enough to have Viel and the Ego Chain Sickle, cutting down the others and lowering the numbers they had to deal with.

But it only took thirty seconds. In just thirty seconds, they were already starting to get pushed back. Each player had to deal with at least six or seven fragments.

[Lucia has been forced to log out!]

[Crow has been forced to log out!]

[Bedman has been forced to log out!]

[Root has been forced to log out!]

[Purcell...]

Minhyuk’s heart ached with the notifications that constantly rang in his ears. They had all been working hard for days to gain more EXP and obtain better artifacts, yet they still stood here with those precious things about to be taken away.

Thirty Beyond the Heavens Empire players were forced to log out in just under a minute. Minhyuk gnawed on his lips while the viewers discussed this disastrous battle.

[But why didn’t the Beyond the Heavens Empire bring their NPCs? If the NPCs of Beyond the Heavens Empire had been here, they would have been able to hunt all the fragments in one go, right?]

[Just hunt? No, even if their magic and skills had been restricted, they could still overwhelm the fragments.]

[Do you want to know why they did not bring their NPCs? It’s simple. Players would only end up with penalties for being forced to log out. But NPCs? They would die an actual death.]

[The battle against Helenia’s Fragments has a lot of unpredictability and variables. It’s far too dangerous to bring their NPCs here. It’s nothing but our greed to think of having the Beyond the Heavens Empire bring out their precious people to fight for us.]

[Now, we can see that they are fighting even at the risk of a penalty for being forced to log out. It’s safe to assume that Helenia had adjusted and increased that penalty. So, we should all be grateful that they are willing to sacrifice for our future.]

The viewers cheered for them in their hearts.

Hang in there; you can do it! You are all the leading forces that will carry the Third Era of Athenae!

Nevertheless, the notifications for forced logouts continued to ring. In that short moment, the initial 300 players had decreased to 200.

And Minhyuk? He began his countdown, ‘Eight... seven... six... five...’

Of course, all of the Beyond the Heavens Empire members were also counting down along with him. They would make sure to repay them for their brave and noble sacrifice.

Bichor told them, ‘If Helenia sees any signs of a bomb going to explode, she might use her magic to put restrictions upon you.’

They did not only install bombs inside the fortress. They also installed a bomb at the entrance in case of an emergency.

‘Two seconds. We only have enough time to detonate the bomb and leave the radius of effect.’

The Beyond the Heavens Empire had been working together for a long time. Even if others only met them briefly, everyone remembered what Bichor had told them.

We will not end just like this in this place.

They only had one shot. Everyone counted down to make that one shot work.

‘Four... three...’

The viewers and commentators sighed as they watched the increasing number of people with severe injuries and the staggering numbers of people who had been forced to logout.

‘Two...’

At that moment, the players fighting the fragments ran toward Ali as if they had been waiting for this moment.

‘One.’

Beeeeeeeeeeeeep–!

With only one second left, the bomb that they had buried deep underground began to ring, signaling the fact that it was about to explode.

“Mass Teleport!!!”

A bright golden light engulfed all of the players. There were only 0.3 seconds left. Their timing was too narrow, but they made it. As the light disappeared, the bomb that Bichor had started to explode.

[Helenia’s magic restricts...]

It was just as Bichor had expected. However, the bomb buried underground had already exploded even before the notification ended.

Baaaaaaaaaang–!

Just like a nuclear bomb exploding, the bomb blew away the fragments that crowded around the gates of the fortress. The best part about this bomb was that Bichor focused on increasing its explosive power instead of increasing its radius of effect.

Although the explosion blew the fortress's gates into smithereens, it did not spread inside.

Boom, boom, boom, boom–!

Thud, thud, thud, thud–

Thump, thump, thump, thump–

[...the use of bombs!]

When Helenia’s notifications ended, around a third of the fragments had already died. Many of the surviving ones were also ripped and torn apart to the point where they couldn't move.

[The number of Helenia’s Fragments that the Luvien Empire has hunted has reached 2,109!]

[The total number of Helenia’s Fragments that the Beyond the Heavens Empire has hunted has reached 1,975!]

Minhyuk grew closer and closer to taking the position of the true Battle God.

Updat𝓮d from freew𝒆bnov𝒆l.co(m)