Chapter 143   – Colonies

The Colosseum was seized.

Several dozen Dungeons broke nearby, and the monsters gathered around the Colosseum.  It was a very important historical site, so the government hesitated in sending in their armed forces.  They wanted to protect the site.

Roused subjugation teams were formed, and they carried out mission to lure and annihilate the monsters.  The plan worked pretty well.

Whatever plan they carried out they had to do it before the colony was completed.  After a day,

the large tree that had grown inside the Colosseum started letting out a light.  Until that point, the monsters had been calm as if they were gathered for a reunion.  Afterwards, the monsters simultaneously ran amok.

No, it was closer to a march.

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The city was destroyed, and the army retreated.  The Colosseum became a foothold, and the only remnant of humans were their corpses.

Doo doo doo doo! Tee-tee-teeng!

It was a fierce battlefield where machine guns were firing relentlessly towards the charging monsters.

Kwahhhhh!

The enormous monster’s ogre leather was so hard that bullets couldn’t penetrate it.

Koong, koong!

The ogre took big strides as it ran.  It was about to reach the camp.

Kwahhhng!

Rocket launchers simultaneously launched their projectiles, and the rockets hit the target. Chunks of flesh was ripped away from various parts of the body, but as it was falling down from its charge, it threw its club.

The enormous club flew through the air towards a window that had been continuously raining down bullets towards the ogre.

“Koo-ahk!”

“Fabio!”

The soldier using the machine gun was immediately snuffed out, and Fabio, who had been off to the side, barely hung onto his life.  The club had ripped off one of his arm, and he wasn’t in a good state.

He had taken a blow to the head too, so his head was soaked with blood.  If left alone, he would die from excessive bleeding.

“Let’s go down.  Stay with me a little longer.”

“Ooh-ooh-oohk.”

Antonio supported Fabio down the stairs. The advance of the monsters were endless.  They didn’t show any signs of decreasing in number no matter how many were killed.

This battle had been continuing for the 5th day.  The entire city of Rome was lost.  There weren’t even an official count on how many civilians and soldiers had died.

The monsters continued to march forward, and the humans kept retreating.  Their territory was getting larger.

After exiting the building, Antonio searched for the medics located in the rear.

The place was filled with soldiers injured by the monsters.

“Ooh ooh.  Hurry up and heal me.”

“Ooh-ahhk! Help me.”

The final order came down amongst the screams of pain.

“Load up the injured! We are retreating.”

Since the retreat order was given, the explosives placed along the last battle line would explode in 5 minutes.

“Stay with me a little longer, Fabio.”

“Ooh ooh ooh.”

There was no space to lie down inside the truck.  The medic sitting on the bench quickly wrapped bandages around him in an attempt to stem the bleeding.

However, his friend’s eyes were fluttering as it closed.  It seemed he was almost at death’s door, and this would be Antonio’s final goodbye with his friend.

“Shit!”

Antonio let out a curse as he grabbed his gun.

He’ll get his revenge for his comrade!

We wanted to shove bullets into the monsters up until the end.

Too-doo-doo! Doo-doo-doo!

The soldiers gave a final covering fire as the troops started to retreated.

“Antonio! Hurry up and get in.”

A vehicle with a machine gun mounted on the roof stopped next to him.  Antonio got on the vehicle, and they quickly retreated.  He spoke to the soldier operating the machine gun.

“We have 4 minutes left.”

Explosives were planted in various locations.  It’ll deal a bug blow to the advancing monsters.  They had to get far as possible before the explosives went off.

“Shit.”

The territory held by active monsters was slowly expanding.

Since the monsters moved under orders, they weren’t wild animals. They were basically an alien army.

This wasn’t a monster hunt anymore.  This was the start of war between the monsters and humans.

“We have to catch the Monster Lords.”

Monster Lords.

These were beings on a higher level than the Dungeon’s Boss Monsters.

These beings were shrouded in veil, and not much was known about them.  They brought a sense of danger that rivaled the Dungeon Shock.

“Anyways, reinforcement is coming from Korea.”

“What?”

This was the first time Antonio had heard of this news, so he turned to look at his comrade. The other man’s face was filled with hope. It was a bizarre sight to see since the human army was retreating, and they had to continuously cede their battle lines.

“Where’s Korea located at?”

Antonio was unfamiliar with the country called Korea. This was the first time he heard about them.

“To be precise, Kahng-woojin is coming here.  I’m talking about the King of Alandal.”

Antonio was very ignorant about current affairs, but even he knew about Alandal.  His eyes widened.

“The messiah of the Middle East!”

Everyone in the world knew about his war on terror in the Middle East. This was especially true for soldiers, and he had been a significant area of interest for Antonio.  He was more knowledgeable about the situation than most civilians.

Ggeeeeeek!

The vehicle came to a rough stop, and the people rolled around in the back.

“Shit! What the hell?”

“Oh shit. Monsters!”

“Get ready to fire!”

Airborne monsters had suddenly appeared in the air. The barricades on the ground had momentarily stalled the ground-bound monsters. This was when the monsters started to attack from the sky.

The evacuating vehicles stopped, and the soldiers readied themselves to fire thier weapons.

However, someone else shot down the monsters before they could.

Hwah-roo-roohk! Puh-puh-puhng!

Several dozen magic spells flew into the air as it shot down the monsters.

“Is it a Roused unit?”

“I…I think he is here.”

Antonio got off the vehicle as he mumbled to himself.  It looked as if he had been mesmerized.

It was happening not too far away.  It was as if consecutive rockets were detonating. The monsters couldn’t resist against the magic spells that flew into the air.  They either crashed to the floor, or they flew back from where they came from.

Heeeeeeng.

A Phantom Steed was racing across the road.

“Oh my god!”

Antonio was in disbelief.  He clenched his fists.

It was Kahng-woojin. He never expected to meet Kahng-woojin during his lifetime!

Woojin stopped in front of the vehicles, and he let off the woman riding behind him.

“Heal them. I’m leaving immediately.”

“Please be careful.”

Woojin smirked when he heard the Holy Maiden’s farewell.  He would have never thought he would hear such words from her.

Heeeeng.

The Holy Maiden reeked of Holy Power.  When she got off, Shing Shing looked as if it had expelled a 10 year old poop.

Woojin was about to charge towards the barricade holding back the monsters when Antonio blocked his way.

“Ah.  You can’t! The barricades are rigged with explosives.”

“What? Did you already detonate it?”

‘Oh my god!’

Antonio was surprised when flawless Italian came out of Woojin’s mouth.

“No.  It’ll be going off soon.”

He checked his watch then he spoke.

“There’s 59 seconds left.  It would be best if you entered after the bombs goes off.”

The advancing monsters were stacked up, because of the barricades. When the rigged bombs went off, it’ll take out a great number of the monsters.

It would be better to advance after that had happened.

“Shit! I’ll see you later, Melody.”

“Yes, monarch.”

Woojin frowned as he urged Shing Shing forward.

“The bomb is going to….”

While Antonio lamented at his hero’s recklessness, Woojin was already calculating the distance.

“I won’t make it in time.”

The explosives would go off before he could get there. It might destroy all the monsters.

“Those are my EXP.”

All the monsters bunched up in one place was going to be blown up…

Fortunately, Woojin had a familiar, who specialized in group hunting.

“Jaenis!”

Shwahhhk.

The black smoke coalesced as the Lich appeared next to Woojin.

[My lord.]

“Take them all out within 30 seconds.”

Jaenis looked at the destroyed city around him.  This wasn’t anything new, but Jaenis kind of liked what he saw.

[It is always enjoyable to be able to destroy a city.]

Shwahhhk!

Fire came out of Jaenis’ Staff.  It ignited the barricades, buildings and any obstacles in the way.

Ggwah-gwah-gwahng!

It was a large-scale explosion!

The explosion was followed by flames sweeping the battlefield.

Hwah-roo-roo-rook!

If Sunggoo saw this, he would have been surprised by the fire wall.

The wall of fire burned the monsters, and it even detonated the explosives that still had some time left before they went off.

Kwah-kwah-kwahng!

The additional explosions quickly started to engulf the city.  Woojin called out his Death Knights.

Shoo-shoo-shoohk.

[Ooh-oh-oh.  It’s war!]

[I missed this. The scent of death!]

[Death is always a noble cause.]

Woojin smirked when the summoned Death Knights spoke in an excited manner.  Their fundamental nature was to hate and envy living beings.

There was a reason why they had gotten along with him for the past 20 years…

He let out a laugh.

“Isn’t this familiar?”

The tail end of Woojin’s lips rose.

Everyone laughed. They were excited for the upcoming battle.

Woojin summoned the Steel Staff while he rode Shing Shing.

Chwah-roohk!

He transformed it into an axe.  Woojin lashed Shing Shing’s reins.

“Let’s go boys.”

<Battle Roar has raised the fighting spirit of the allies.>

<Battle Roar has increased the allies’ fighting power.>

The Death Knight’s followed Woojin’s lead as they rode their Phantom Steeds.

He had named Kiba the captain of his Dimensional Domain’s defense.  It was unfortunate, but he had left Kiba behind just in case.

[Ooh-oh-oh!]

[It is a Festival of Blood!]

The excited Death Knights were galloping as they summoned the Skeletons.  There was a trail of Skeletons being summoned behind them. The Skeleton ran in a line behind the Death Knights, and they were swept up by madness.

Kee-kee-keek!

As the Undead army charged, Lich Jaenis laughed as he used his flight magic to float into the sky.

[I heard you awakened as a Warrior.]

When Woojin looked at him, Jaenis’ red eyes gleamed.

[It really has been a while.]

Jaenis held his staff with one hand, and he used the other hand to caress the embedded gem on top of the staff.

Pah-jee-jee-jeek.

An ominous black energy clashed and sparked. Jaenis spread both his arms.

Chwah-ah-ah-ahk!

The black energy crawled like snakes as it shot up into the sky above the city.

The black energy disappeared as if it had been melted into the air.

<The Lich’s Curse has descended on the battlefield.>

<The fighting powers of the enemies will be decreased.>

<The enemy’s ability to act will be slowed.>

[Goo-ha-ha. Would my lord like to show me his fighting capability?]

Didn’t he say he was a Dual Class?

There was no coincidence in this world. Maybe he would become the key to Jaenis’ greatest desire.

[Goo-uh-uh-uh!]

As the Undead army charged, Dolsae formed himself from a pile of concrete. The enormous golem started to rage.

As always, the Titan of Destruction took on the role of the spearhead.  The Undead army advanced.

They headed towards the bold Dimensional lord, who dared to form a colony inside the Colosseum.

***

“My god.  This must be a dream.”

Antonio was so flustered that he just clutched his head with his hands.

He was so surprised that he was having a hard time speaking.

He had met the world’s greatest hero Kahng-woojin!  He even exchanged words with him!

“Impossible.  This doesn’t make any sense.”

“Hey, Antonio.  Come back to your senses.  We are still in the battlefield.”

“Ah.  I’m sorry…  I was too surprised.”

Antonio realized his mistake.  He hardened his expression. He was an honorable soldier, yet he had acted like a fan girl going wild over a star.  Moreover, he had done it in a battlefield where life and death was determined.

“Everyone please listen to my words..”

At the Holy Maiden’s words, all the soldiers directed their attention to her after they got out of the vehicles.  She was a beauty, who had accompanied Kahng-woojin here. Her face looked quite familiar….

“My name is Melody I serve the goddess Aria.  My power can touch you only if you believe in the existence of Aria.”

It wasn’t required for them to become worshipers of the Aria church.

However, they had to acknowledge her existence.  This would allow her Holy Power to flow into them.  Unfortunately, this was the restriction that had been placed on her.

“This is for all of you.  I hope my heart will be conveyed to you all.”

Melody gathered her two hands, and she closed her eyes.

Chaaaaahng!

Light exploded forth from her, and it brightened the surrounding.

“Ah….”

The light emitted by her didn’t hurt the eyes. The energy surrounded one’s body in a snug manner, and it purified the energy within one’s body.

It felt as if the mental stress from the battle, various wounds, and depleted stamina was all restored.

No, it wasn’t just a feeling.  It was happening for real.

The light emitted from her bodysurrounded the wounded soldiers being transported.

It happened when the light started to lessen.

The transport trucks had been used to move the injured, and people poured out from these vehicles.  One of them was Fabio. He looked for his best friend and comrade Antonio.

“Antonio!”

“Oh, Fabio! My god!”

Antonio’s eyes turned round when he saw Fabio. Fabio’s arm had been torn off yet a new one had grown in its place.  Moreover, Antonio couldn’t see any wounds on him….

“My god! This is a miracle.”

Antonio and Fabio looked at the praying Melody with absentminded eyes.

He finally remembered her.

She was the first human to be found inside a Dungeon.  It was the SS Rank Roused from the US.

She was the Holy Maiden Melody.