Chapter 180   – Defense (4)

Koo-roo-roohk.

The imposing sounds of the monsters advancing was heard between the spires.

There were rhinoceros-like monsters on the march.  There were also several thousand Minotaur warriors amongst the army. One could see occasional rhino monsters that were larger than elephants.

As expected of something so large, a massive amount of luggage was hanging off their enormous body.

On an exceptionally large rhino, a platform made out of wood was strapped onto the back of the monster.  An unusually handsome man, who looked out of place in this monster army, was lying on top of this platform.

Koo-ooh-oong, koo-ooh-oong.

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Every time the rhinoceros monster took a step, the wooden platform rolled as if it was on a large wave.

The man vacantly looked up into the sky as he lay there. There was no guardrails to the platform, yet no one was worried about him falling off.

He wore his long black hair loose, and he had thin lips.  He was the 36th Throne Unon.

He was using his two hands as a pillow, and he had his legs intertwined.  If it wasn’t for the sight around him, he looked like a farmer taking a break during a picnic.

Shwahhk.

The small dot in the blue sky was getting larger, and something was approaching him.

It was Harpy Queen Shirao.  She had black wings, and a sharp face.

When she dropped out from the sky, she gripped the edge of the platform with her bird’s feet.

“Shirao?”

“This isn’t the time to be lounging around, Unon.”

Unon discreetly opened his eyes to look at Shirao, then he closed his eyes again.  As if she was frustrated, the Harpy Queen puffed out her cheek.

“Those bastards cut off the road again, Unon.”

“You don’t have to be in such a hurry.  They’ll all die eventually.”

“The Immortal is getting closer by the minute!”

Unon unfurled the arms he was using as a pillow, and he sat up. The platform was made from ash trees.  It was his longtime hobby to smell the fragrance of the wood as he lie on top of it.

“We’ll have to fight that bastard eventually.”

“What if he goes back to earth?”

“I don’t think he’ll be able to.  He still doesn’t have the key.”

“Hmm.  How can you be so sure?”

“If he had it, it wouldn’t take him this long to get here.”

The effect of the Thrash’s set items were huge.  It was able to amplify the power of Undead army by several magnitudes.

When the Immortal had Thrash’s set, the Dimensional lords had no choice, but to give up a huge part of Alphen to the Immortal’s army.  This was how powerful the effects of the items were.

Even if the Dimensional lords were focusing their attacks on him, the Immortal would have halted their progress already if he had those Items.  It was evidence that the Immortal haven’t acquired all his qualifications yet.

“Aren’t you worried, Unon?”

“Of course, I’m worried.”

“I would have never guess that he was a human from earth.”

Unon smirked at Shirao’s words.

“True.”

If he had known the Immortal was from earth, he would have eliminated the Immortal immediately.  Many Necromancers pined for Thrash’s set, and Unon had thought the Immortal was one of those Necromancers.

If he originated from Alphen, there was no way he could obtain the most important piece of the set.  He wouldn’t be able to acquire the Executioner.

“You lived for a very long time, so you probably know about it.  Weren’t you there when Thrash was sealed?”

“No.  I wasn’t alive back then.”

“I guess it happened in the far distant past.”

Harpy Queen Shirao had already folded her wings, and she modestly sat on one side of the platform.

“You aren’t going?”

“My heart has calmed down after talking with you, Unon.  Anyways, we just have to prevent the Immortal from getting back to earth.”

“Yes.”

If the Immortal died, he would be revived.

He was now a Dimensional lord.

The immortality was a rule and a promise that had to be kept for anyone that earned the Dimensional Fragments.

It felt as if the Immortal had slyly entrenched himself by exploiting a crack in the system, and he was trying to pull a fast one on them.

If they couldn’t eliminate him, they had to deny him the opportunity of reaching his goal.  Alphen would become that bastard’s jail.

“So when are you going to earth, Unon?”

“Earth has only one code.  I’m not interested.”

“So you want to keep staying on Alphen?”

“It isn’t too bad here.”

Alphen still had four Codes left.  Only one Dimensional lord was able to earn the Code for this place.

Only a single great lord of the 72 Thrones were able to get his hands on a Master Code of Alphen.

“Hmm.  Should I stay here with you?”

“You don’t have to.”

“Hmmph.  Even you are giving up on earth, so how will I be able to compete over there?  Moreover, that places hasn’t gone through a proper synchronization yet.”

The planet hadn’t gone through synchronization yet.  Even if they did find the Code, it would be useless since the earth hadn’t flowered yet.

“Well, you can stay if you want to.”

“Hmmph.”

Shirao let out a sullen sound at Unon’s apathetic words.

“Let me ask you this, Unon.  Do you think he’ll really be able to acquire Thrash’s Executioner?”

“It is impossible.”

“…?”

Her eyes turned round.

So why did they have to work so hard to kill him?  They even had to waste a lot of Points.

Shirao saw Unon’s most serious expression, since she started this conversation.

“Still, it is dangerous.  We have to keep Thrash asleep.”

“Unon….”

“We can never let the god of Destruction to appear once again.”

“….”

She could feel the fear hidden beneath the surface, and she unconsciously shuddered.

The great lord Unon, who had 36 Master Codes, was speaking this way.

It was like the story of old.  She felt the terror of the god of Destruction indirectly through him.

***

Kwahhh!

“Block them!  Aim for their eyes!”

The Saurus Colony was on fire.

The soldiers were were fighting a desperate battle, but the enemies were being pushed towards them like a wave.  Siege equipments weren’t even necessary.

The corpses piled up like a mountain, and it acted like a ladder.  None of the defenders could stop the enemies from coming over the wall.

Before a proper siege could even take place, several hundred defenders were already killed.

“This won’t work.”

“The outer walls are at its limit.  We have to retreat to the inner walls.”

Their enemies were using their overwhelming numbers to send continuous waves of attack.

“If we retreat to the inner castle walls, we’ll be completely cut-off.  It isn’t too late.  Let us charge through their lines.  We have to get away.”

The opinions on what to do was split, so Tauric searched for Do-jaemin.  He was the only one, who was able to contact Kahng-woojin.

“He is almost here.  Please wait a little bit more…”

“…he has already exceeded his promise by two days.”

“That’s right.  We can no longer trust his words.”

Graham and several other heroes revealed their foul mood.  They had trusted Kahng-woojin’s word without a hint of doubt, and they had been waiting as they prepared for the defense.

However, two days had passed since the promised time.  The enemies were much stronger than they had expected, and a lot of people had already died.  This was their lives on the line, so they were showing resentment now.  It was inevitable.

“…but he really is almost here.”

Do-jaemin didn’t have anything else he could say.  Woojin had promised that he’ll be back in a week, but two days had already past.

Fortunately, Sunggoo’s remarkable activities were able to delay the army’s progress by over a day.

The enemies had started their attack only five hours ago.

In just five hours time, the outer castle walls were practically in ruins.  Moreover, the Dimensional lords still hadn’t attacked in earnest.

Basically, there was no guarantee that they’ll be able to last for a day.

“Oh, Skia’s Monk!  If we don’t run away now, we’ll all die.”

Tauric put on a pained expression at Archmage Graham’s words.  He would be committing several hundred to several thousand lives to this decision.  Of course, he felt afraid and tormented.

Hwah-roo-roohk.

At that moment, a flame erupted from the middle of the mountain where the research facility was located at.

Kwahhhhng.

The burst of flame rose into the air like fireworks, and it exploded.  Rain of sharp fire started to drop to the ground.

Poo-shoo-shoo-shoohk!

It was as if several thousand archers were shooting fire arrows.  When the magic fell into the enemies, the effect was incredible.

“….”

Tauric gritted his teeth as he watched the sight in front of him.

Hong-sunggoo.

If it wasn’t for the Fire Spirit King from earth, they wouldn’t have been able to resist against the enemy’s advance.  They wouldn’t even have a fighting chance.

They probably would have pushed the fight into the future, and they would have run away…

Tauric’s lips opened.

“Even if we do manage to get away, we won’t have any future.  If we break right now, we’ll just be walking down the road towards destruction.”

Some will run, and some will stay to fight…

However, he no longer had full control over his men.

“Let us abandon the outer walls, and we should retreat towards the inner walls.  Let us focus on defense.”

Several people complained about Tauric’s words, but they didn’t argue against him.

“Graham.  I want you to put up a barrier, so our forces can retreat.”

“Understood.”

The Archmage Graham’s magic was a necessity.  If not for him, they would have fallen in the initial moments of the battle as the dragonfly-like monsters had attacked from the sky.

Tauric turned to look at Jaemin.

“Count.  you should inform all the heroes about the retreat.”

“Yes.”

Jaemin waved his hand once.  A flock of bats exited from his ripped sleeves, and they flew in all directions to deliver the news.

“Let us make our last stand at the research facility and the barrier around the Colony.

There was the barrier erected by the World Tree, and the research facility had the magic amplifier, which Sunggoo was using.  They’ll be able to hold out for a little longer.

Since this was a fight they couldn’t win, the only important thing right now was for Kahng-woojin to return before their losses got too big.

‘Please hurry up.’

Jaemin sent his desperate desire towards Woojin.

***

Kwah-kwah-kwahng!

The Soul Spears, which had extended out from Woojin’s body, was flying all over the place as they pierced through the bodies of the enemies.

It took only a flash for the enemies to become corpses, and the corpses exploded in a chain reaction.

It was an endless chain of Corpse Explosion.

Koo-kwah-kwah-kwahng!

The advance of the Immortal was followed by blood, pieces of bodies, screams, and the crazed laughter of the Undead army.

“Oh my goddess…”

Melody trailed behind him, and she witnessed live the Immortal that had been a fixed concept in the minds of the Coalition.

He was cruel, domineering, and inexorably strong.

His army expressed their instinctual and unfettered anger towards the living beings.  It even made her feel sympathy towards the monsters being slaughtered.

As she continued to follow behind him, she felt a sense of distance and dissonance with the Kahng-woojin she had recently come to know.  She wasn’t confident as to whether she would be able to speak naturally with him.

The advance, which had been filled with poison, corpses and the cries of the souls, came to a stop.  They were only a day ride from the Colony.

There were monsters lined up in front of them, and there was a red-haired man standing in the front.

“Koo-koo-koohk.  Who is this?  Im. mort. al!  The king of the dead!”

He made invidious remarks as she slowly walked towards Woojin.

Woojin was thankful, since this being came to him on his own.  Woojin wouldn’t be satisfied even if this being was killed over and over again.

“Celrak.”

Trahnet’s 27th Throne.

This bastard has been successful in clearing his Dungeon two days ago.  Kiba wasn’t able to stop him from clearing Raht’s Temple.

Celrak let out a mocking smile as he looked at Woojin’s angry face.

“Why are you so angry? Isn’t it your fault for leaving behind your Domain?”

“…”

He had a better understanding now.

He never understood why the Dimensional lords rarely exited their Dungeons.  He understood why the exploration and hunt of the surrounding was done by the Domain residents and the forces of the Domain.

This was especially true on a planet where one didn’t have the Code.  One couldn’t use the Return Portal, so one had to stay near one’s Dimensional Domain to protect one’s Dungeons and Colonies.

Or one could put several trusted defenders to defend the location.

Since Kiba had fallen, it seemed he had consumed all of Alandal’s Points in its defense.

“I don’t get you.  Why do you search for the whereabouts of the forgotten god of Destruction? Don’t you have the means to become a god?  It is eternal life.”

At Celrak’s words, Woojin changed the Warrior’s Weapon into its axe form.  He wanted to split open Celrak’s head.

Celrak grinned at Woojin’s murderous intent.

“It seems you really want to protect your home planet.”

“Isn’t that obvious?”

“There are many ways to protect it.  You could become the god of your home planet.”

“What?”

“On the day when my home planet was synchronized, the first thing I did was to kill my god.  Then I became the god of my home planet.  Koo-koohk.”

“….”

“You should forget about the god of destruction.  Just become a god.  This is the fastest way to protect one’s home planet.  Those on my home planet are living very rich lives.  Sacrifice is only momentary, but peace is eternal.”

“…”

“My words won’t fill your ears right now, but you should take my advice to heart.  There will come a time when you’ll thank me someday.”

Woojin let go of the rigidity he had expressed in his initial greeting.  He let out a broad smile.