As soon as I left the palace, the remaining hunters were being summoned.
"Whoa. Where's this?"
"Good thing it's not a messy port."
The hunters looked around like they were tourists.
"Huh, is this holy rain? The color is…"
"Go under the roof! Quickly!"
"Hey. It says to choose a role as my reward."
"Role? What's that?"
The hunters didn't understand the situation. Was it because they arrived later than us?
'Even the highest rankers suspected and fought each other.'
3 people had died just because they were doubted. How bad would it be for the remaining hunters! Not much could be expected from the hunters who just entered the stage.
'There's no time to convince the players.'
Because the Devil King's Army was coming even now.
'We need to stop the attack with NPCs first!'
I ignored the hunters and ran down the street. It became even more crowded. But thankfully, I had to mini map with me. I took the fastest path to the city walls.
"Kim Gong-ja."
It was when I left the palace. Someone appeared next to me.
"Witch?"
"Call me Black Dragon Master. I don't like my nickname that much."
Witch. The Rank 2 hunter and I were running together. Did she have Aura on her feet? She ran the streets like she was sliding on it.
"Why did you suddenly come here?"
"…it's my skill. I can teleport to where I can see."
It was a damn cheat skill.
-Hey. Zombie. You should die by this guy once! Teleportation Transference is lit! I don't know about anyone else, but if it's by this guy, I'll acknowledge it. Quickly die!
I ignored what Bae Hu-ryeong said and asked.
"Then what are you doing here not at the city walls?"
"I came to get you. Obviously."
She answered emotionlessly. We were running, but she didn't look tired at all.
"I saw on the 11th floor. You have a sword that works on NPCs, right? I don't know what kind of sword it is, but it can raise their morale. What they need isn't me, but you."
She looked at me.
"Agree."
"What?"
"Agree that you'll teleport with me. If not, I can't teleport you. That's the limit of my skill."
I was a bit taken aback.
"Wait. Teleportation Transference has gotta be at least an S Class skill. Is it ok for you to reveal its limits like this? It's your secret weapon."
"Funny."
She wiped her forehead. Above us, the red rain was endlessly pouring. Hair was stuck on her white forehead because of the rain.
Her black eyes looked at me.
"Like you said, I'm the chancellor of this empire. Isn't it natural for a chancellor to reveal their secret weapon?"
"······."
"There's no time. It doesn't matter how you do it, so agree quickly."
I nodded my head.
"I agree to the use of the Black Dragon Master's skill."
It was an instant. The Witch held my right hand. Grip. The wet hand covered mine. Her fingers intertwined with my fingers so as to not slip from the rain.
"Huh?"
"-There's another limit."
The Witch whispered while holding my hand.
"Transference."
In the blink of an eye, we were on top of the city walls.
Like I expected, it was a mess. Monsters were coming, but the soldiers weren't fighting back. No, they couldn't. They were hiding behind the walls or praying to their god.
"It's the end…"
"God. Please pity us and…"
"Sob, sob…"
NPCs were no different than people who were alive. Even if they were illusions, the fear they felt was real.
"Black Dragon Master. Thank you for bringing me here. From now…"
"Wait."
The Witch sighed.
"I can't just leave like this after showing my junior a pathetic side of me."
"Sorry?"
"I didn't become the Guild Master for nothing."
She took a deep breath and opened her mouth.
"-Soldiers of the Aegim Empire!"
Black Aura exuded from her body. The black was a bit darker than the red.
"Rise! What are you doing here? Are you thinking the walls made of stone will protect you? Don't you know what's protecting the empire isn't that pile of stones, but you all?"
The soldiers crouched behind the wall lifted their heads.
"Chancellor…?"
"It's the chancellor."
To them, the Witch was a chancellor. Someone recognized the chancellor, and what he said quickly spread like the rain that was pouring.
The Witch nodded her head.
"Rise!"
The Witch looked mad. She looked angrily down at the wall, and the soldiers followed her gaze.
"Rise, soldiers of the empire! The last wall of Aegim! Grab your shield! Lift your swords. Until you aren't able to! Rise for the empire, and for you!"
The Witch grabbed my hand.
"The goddess is protecting us!"
She raised my right hand.
I realized what I had to do.
Kashing!
The Holy Sword came out from its sheath.
I lifted the sword up high. It shined down to the city walls on the soldiers' faces.
"The sword of the beginning…"
"It's the Holy Sword. The Holy Sword that the goddess has proved!"
And.
[The Goddess of Protection expresses gratitude at your choice.]
[The Goddess of Protection musters out the last of her power.]
There was light.
1.
No one knew. Just where these things came from.
-Pitiful things.
Only, when it appeared, it rained red rain.
-Things that don't see humans as humans.
Blood flowed where the rain was.
-You kill humans after being born as humans. Do you say that that's the fate of humans? I think that's the accomplishments of a wild beast. What is the reason why I shouldn't kill beasts?
Rain of nightmare.
I saw the trauma of the general when I was killed by the NPC general on the 11th floor. In the nightmare, the general was screaming.
Not only the general, but civilians.
-Turn back!
-Rain, again…
-Run away to where the rain doesn't pour!
The small countries in the rural lands fell first.
After that, empires started to fall.
Other small countries and empires fell soundlessly. Every time a land collapsed, the safety zone of humans decreased. The history of humans became shorter when a king disappeared.
Only the rain poured.
-Where it doesn't rain…
The rain poured.
-It's the end. The finish.
The rain poured.
-Goddess, please don't abandon us…
And the rain poured.
Eventually, there was only a small strip of land for humans, and only a piece of human history left. The historians used their pens preciously. They accepted that they would write 'And humans went extinct.'
Only the empire was left on the continent.
-Pitiful things.
The owner of the nightmares.
The king of all demonic creatures.
And the last historians gave it a name.
-Be swallowed up in your evil.
Devil King魔王.
2.
The rain poured.
Light shined.
It rained on the ground, and light soared up to the sky.
"Whoa…"
Where the light shined, the blood rain stopped coming down.
The soldiers looked up at the sky with bloodied faces.
The rain had stopped.
"Goddess…"
That was it.
The blood had stopped pouring.
And it wasn't like it had completely stopped.
It only stopped where the Holy Sword shined.
It was a light rest. A small light.
"The Goddess…"
"The god is protecting the empire!"
However, there were times when small things excited people.
It happened to people who only had small things left.
This land was the only safety zone for the people of the empire. It was the last page of history books. The citizens of the kingdom knew, the generals knew, and the Directors of Security and Education knew.
That was why there hadn't been any NPCs in the reception room.
Because the chancellor had quit politics.
Because the Supreme General had quit the army.
Because the bodyguards didn't guard the Emperor anymore.
Because the knightages didn't do the duty of knights.
It was an empire that everyone had abandoned.
That was why the tower had chosen the empire as its stage.
Like an estate of the 10th floor with children that everyone had abandoned.
"Rise!"
The Witch of Black Dragon shouted.
The soldiers all stood up. There were some who gripped the wall to stand up. There were some who barely stood supporting themselves with their spears. There were some who raised themselves with the help of their comrades.
"Rise!"
The Witch ordered them for the last time. Yes, they would be the walls of the city. They all echoed her command like they were enchanted.
"Rise!"
"The chancellor is here! With us!"
"The sword of our ancestors is protecting us!"
And so the city walls became the city walls, spears became spears, and soldiers became soldiers.
"Rise, quickly rise!"
"What are you doing in front of the chancellor!"
The higher-ups smacked the backs of the soldiers. The soldiers all came to attention. They fixed their helmets.
Red rain poured on their heads. But the rain didn't cover their eyes anymore. They looked forward.
"Sigh…"
The Witch quietly sighed.
The black Aura from her body slowly faded away. Did she go overboard? There weren't just drops of blood rain on her forehead, but also sweat.
"…What?"
"Is it you're first time seeing an Ukrainina give a speech?"
"Uh…"
"In our country, reds do it."
The Witch lifted a corner of her mouth.
She realized too late that she was smiling.
"I don't like communists, but they're good at speeches. There were things I could learn."
"Pardon?"
"…Never mind."
The Witch's face became expressionless again. Huh? I didn't understand what the Black Dragon Master just said.
-Wait.
Bae Hu-ryeong inserted himself in the conversation.
-I think she's just embarrassed that her dad joke didn't work.
'Eh. That was a joke?'
-I don't know. Seeing the atmosphere, it seems like it. But if you react like how you did…never mind. Zombie. Don't plan on getting along with any higher ups in an organization. Just be a hunter like you are. Okay?
I didn't know what he was talking about.
I didn't know, but one thing was clear.
"Kim Gong-ja. What are you going to do from now?"
The situation had somewhat gotten better with her speech.
"We'll have to hold up at the city walls."
"Right."
I narrowed my eyes at the red horizon.
Countless monsters were around the Devil King. Even if the Witch's teleportation skill took me there, there wasn't any guarantee I would be killed by the Devil King.
First, there needed to be a 1:1 confrontation with the Devil King.
"We need to bring hunters while the NPCs hold up. Then we won't fall back on fighting. If the Devil King tries to put more monsters in by forcing them in the city walls…"
"The city walls?"
"Teleport the Devil King in front of me."
The Witch openly peered at my face.
"Commando."
"Yes."
"Are you planning on dying?"