Hard Carry Support

Chapter 157 - Devil's Voice (2)

'Grr… Servants of the Holy Kingdom…'

Scothanatos looked at what was happening in the town.

The black sun shining over the town was his eyes, so it was easy to realize that the Heavens were trying to invade.

The Heavens were trying to contaminate the sacred place of the Darkness.

The cries of his underlings, the skeletons, and the ghosts dying made him angry.

'How… dare you invade my territory… the land of Darkness…!'

The Duke's strength shook the entire place.

The moment he moved, he would be able to eliminate all those weaklings under the black sun.

It didn't matter how many enemies came from how many sides, he would be able to turn all of the opponents into dust with one hand gesture.

'But it's weird…'

The skeleton Duke didn't mindlessly move.

He knew how to put reason before emotion.

'Users… I can only see users… Why are only… users coming…?'

He wasn't sure how the Holy Kingdom had learned how to get there.

But were they planning to invade by using only the users?

The Holy Kingdom had Knights whose strength couldn't be compared to those people, but why were they sending only users?

They were clearly hiding their main force, but for what reason?

The skeleton Duke began thinking.

'I see… That's what they were after… Heavens… I can see what you're trying to do.'

Scothanatos realized that there was probably a follow-up unit.

He had correctly guessed the Pope's plan.

The users that were appearing were pawns of some sort. After they safely created a road, the main army would move.

'The long-standing peace… is about to break.'

Scothanatos sighed while hiding within the black sun.

It wasn't just another incident.

It was no small thing that they'd targeted the 'Land of Darkness.'

'How did they reach this place… and why are they targeting this place…?'

Had they received an oracle from Light that talked about the Darkness reincarnating?

No. Scothanatos decided that, rather than falling deep into thoughts, he should focus on the reality in front of them.

At that moment, it was more important to put out the fire.

'If you want war, I'll give you one…'

It didn't matter the reason.

The Heavens were trying to invade for the first time in hundreds of years.

'But… things won't go as easily as you think…!'

Only users had appeared, but others would probably appear.

Concentrating strength and using it in a decisive moment—that was what war was about. Both the Abyss and the Heavens had to hide their cards at the moment.

They would answer users by dragging in other users.

Scothanatos was planning to use the same card as the Heavens.

He would gather the strength of users!

Scothanatos's voice was spread to every Duke that served the Darkness.

All of the Dukes knew they had to follow the orders of 'The one who served the Darkness.'

It didn't take long before that order appeared in the form of a quest before the users of the Abyss.

It was done in a similar way to the Holy Kingdom, and once again, it shook the community.

* * *

「For how long are they going to be summoned?!」

「Ain, should I help you?!」

「It's not at that point yet!」

Even if users were being devoured by the fog and the devils and dying at the hands of Hyun and Ain, they kept moving toward one goal.

"We just have to pass that point!"

"Don't be afraid to die. If we go through that place, we can receive the reward!"

What kind of quest had the Heavens users received?

How they charged without fear of dying made them look like they had lost their minds.

"I'll be the bait!"

"See how hard the devils try to stop us from passing through? We can receive a huge contribution reward if we enter the town!"

"Kill them all!"

Hyun and Ain kept killing the Heavens users as if they were monsters.

Users and devils were scattering away as if the fog was devouring them.

「Hyun, the fog around me is clearing…!」

「Same here, but the number of opponents is increasing…!」

It seemed like the battle wasn't going to end.

Hyun realized how desperate the situation was after looking around.

The places they had to defend were increasing, but there were only two of them.

'Should I try to defend Louise as much as I can… and give up if I can’t?'

They could still make Louise return to the private room, so they could technically give up on the main quest.

Hyun was thinking about that when they heard an unexpected voice.

"Woah. What's your job? That skill looks cool."

Hyun was surprised at the voice he'd suddenly heard, so he turned around.

It was a user. Based on his clothes, he didn't seem like a Heavens user but one that belonged to the Abyss.

Before Hyun could open his mouth, he presented himself.

"By the way, my job is 'Death Knight.'"

"Yes…?"

Translator - Daniel Shin

Proofreader - ilafy

* * *

"It seems like you've received the same quest… If you're okay with it, would you like to form a party with me?”

Hyun had used all of his Demonic Energy, so the other user thought Hyun was a user instead of a devil.

"Quest… What do you mean?" Hyun asked back in confusion.

"Didn't you receive the quest to defend the Duke's territory?"

He heard Ain's voice.

「Hyun, users of the Abyss came!」

「What…? Over there, too?」

「I don't know what's going on, but they seem to be on our side.」

Choo-

Another sound could be heard. That time, it was the train.

Hyun saw a new train stopping at the station connected to the town.

The people getting off the train were definitely other Abyss users like him.

'What's going on?'

After seeing what was happening, the Abyss users nodded as if they understood the situation.

…And then they joined the devils and fought against Heavens users.

They'd definitely received a quest without him knowing.

「What's going on?」

「I have no clue.」

Ssrrr.

The fog cleared even more, and another part of the town became defenseless.

If only the two of them were there, they'd be in trouble, but the situation had changed.

The 'Pitch Black Lighthouse,' a town of the Symmetrical World, had become a battlefield between users.

「I'm not sure what happened…!」

「Let's ask someone!」

「Who? Oh… Yes!」

Hyun quickly called Salon.

If it were something that big, there would've probably been a huge commotion in the community boards, and the person who reacted the fastest to what happened in the community was Salon.

「Woah, Hyun, did something happen?」

「Can you tell me what's going on?! Let me know if there's a quest related to a Duke going on!」

Hyun quickly explained their situation to Salon, and Salon didn't betray his expectations.

A reply came only 10 minutes later.

「Hyun, when did you receive such a quest?」

「Quest?」

「Yes. Aren't you doing this quest?」

Paf-!

The screenshot he received from Salon had the contents of a quest.

Hyun quickly read the community boards.

To summarize, the quest was about protecting the Abyss's land from invading the Heavens.

He couldn't fully understand what was going on with just that screenshot, so Hyun asked again.

「Isn't there anything on the Heavens side?!」

「Ah, yes. They were also quite noisy because of a quest.」

Thanks to Salon's explanation, Hyun could understand what was going on.

「Invading the Abyss's 'Black Town'…? I'm not sure what the Black Town is, but the rewards are… skill points and even a legendary item! A legendary item has appeared for the first time, so the community boards are full of news related to it.」

「A legendary?!」

The Heavens had offered a huge reward. The goal was to invade a certain territory.

「But the funny thing is that a similar quest also appeared on the side of the Abyss. All users who have a close relationship with a Duke have received the quest, so TarrTarr should've received it, too. I think. Oh, on this, they didn't offer a legendary, but it seems like the other rewards are good.」

Simultaneously, a quest appeared on the side of the Abyss that asked users to protect the 'Black Town.'

It was because Scothanatos had given an order to the other Dukes of Darkness’s forces.

The users soon realized that the quest each had received was in the same place.

That's right. It was the first war between factions in Asrian.

A war between users, with no NPCs involved, had started.

'The main quest…'

After understanding what was going on, Hyun read this quest window again.

The main quest made you become involved in the flow of history. That's why, whether you liked it or not, you got trapped in the middle of a big incident.

If he weren't planning on making Louise live in hiding, he would eventually have to face all sorts of enemies.

Chooo-

Once again, another train came.

Just like the users of the Heavens, an endless amount of Abyss users were starting to appear.

'It isn't a simple quest about finding a ruin anymore. The scale is getting bigger…!'

If users from both sides increased, numerous variables would appear.

For example, someone could recognize Ain. Although she'd turned into a vampire, it wasn't that her face had changed.

Ain was known as a user from the Heavens, so if someone recognized her, things could get bothersome.

«Invisibility», «Acceleration»!

Hyun «Assimilated» into Ain and returned to the town.

Since the fight between users had begun, there was no need for them to be at the forefront. They also had to recover from the tiredness they'd accumulated from fighting those past few hours.

Looking at it from a distance, it seemed like all the devils that lived in the town had disappeared. Only users were left under the red sky.

Every time the fog moved, numerous users died, and a new fight started in another place.

「Is it okay if we don't fight?」

「Let's rest for a bit. It's okay if we don't fight right now.」

Hyun returned to the inn Louise was staying at along with Ain.

They could see the battle from the window on the 2nd floor.

Pandemonium…

If Asrian weren't a game, the entire city would be covered in blood.

The town that was so peaceful a few hours prior had turned into a battlefield between humans.

'Did all of the devils die…?'

Fiiu… Fiiuu…

A ghost sat on the frame of the window.

It was about half the size of a normal ghost. Half of the white cloth on top of him had been torn apart.

'They didn't all die.'

Hyun, who had turned into a vampire, could understand the language of the ghosts.

It was at that time that he first realized that the emotions devils had were more primitive than humans.

Fwoosh-!

The crying ghost soon turned into light and scattered away by itself.

While he was quietly looking at it, Louise returned to her senses and spoke.

"Did it die…?"

"Yes."

"Is the fight over…?"

"No. Not yet."

Louise carefully clung to the window frame that was on the second floor.

She was looking outside when she mumbled.

"It seems like those who used to live in the town… have all died."

"Yes, probably."

Unlike before, Louise showed no reaction.

* * *

The dust on the window settled down.

The inn was quiet.

Thanks to a soundproofing magic circle, all sounds coming from outside were blocked, and all the fragments caused by the battle bounced away thanks to a defensive magic circle.

[Remaining time before the road that leads to the Ruins of Darkness opens: 2 hours 32 minutes]

Almost a day had passed since the group stayed in the inn.

Ain had already logged out a while ago, and Louise fell asleep around that time. She was gasping while sleeping.

If it weren't for the soundproofing magic circle, Louise wouldn't have been able to comfortably fall asleep from the noise of the battle outside.