Chapter 311 – Rome is Burning (2)  

“It’s an honor to serve you.” A man bowed deeply to a woman. The man had a sword and was wearing armor. And since everything on his body was from a popular player band, he was undoubtedly a player.

“Kwerrrk!” In front of them, monsters with grotesque appearances raved. The monsters were covered in mucus, their rotting flesh was falling off their bodies, and their crimson eyes made those around them shudder.

“Kyaaaa!” people screamed as these monsters destroyed everything around them. The beasts mauled countless non-players, and the players died fighting them bravely.

There were just too many monsters around them.

“Kerrrrk!” the monsters screamed. Initially, there was only one monster, but their number was increasing.

Boom!

Rome was now riddled with explosions.

The player mumbled to the quiet woman, “Our brothers must be doing very well.”

“The purification fire doesn’t discriminate.” The woman finally opened her lips. “Get ready. Soon, he’ll arrive.”

Her words were akin to a prophecy.

“He? You mean…”

Just then, the male player’s face turned rigid.

Whir.

A giant wave of energy, powerful enough to make everyone shudder, began enveloping Rome.

“That’s…” the player whispered. Every player could sense the power’s origin. The player looked up at the sky. Above the Colosseum, a huge blue gate was opening.

“The evil that needs to be purified from this world will arrive. It is our nemesis, and we must destroy it,” the woman announced.

Whoosh.

Four pairs of gorgeous wings sprouted from her back; she plucked a feather, gave it to the man, and ordered, “We will get ready to capture ‘him.’ You…”

The man bowed and accepted the feather as if it was the greatest treasure.

The woman continued, “Must lead God’s warriors.”

Flap.

With a single movement of her wings, the woman disappeared. Even the man, at least a ranker, wasn’t fast enough to see her fly away.

“I knew it…” The man’s eyes shone with pleasure. The figures he served were indeed truly divine.

‘God’s apostles.’?And he was a blessed follower of these figures.

The man raised his feather as madness filled his eyes. “Kill them all! Purify!”

“Kwerrrk!” The already-wild monster began acting even more frenzied.

***

Despite being surrounded by confusion and destruction, the citizens couldn’t help staring at the giant gate in the sky. Even those running away from the monsters gazed at it as if mesmerized.

Whir.

The gate glistened like a jewel; it resembled the ocean and the sky. But soon, the people realized what it was.

“Kyaaaa!”

“Fuck! That’s a gate!”

“What the hell is happening?!”

“Help us! Save us!”

The citizens of Italy screamed for help. The structure floating in the sky wasn’t a jewel. It was a gate, and it didn’t make sense that a gate this size was opening.

Its appearance wasn’t the end of the strange phenomenon.

Dun dun dun dun dun.

The vibration from the gate’s energy was enough to shake the ground; now, the people below could hear terrifying beastly roars from the sky.

“Kirrrrk!” a giant griffin screamed as it exited the gate. And this was just the beginning. Dozens—no, hundreds of monsters lept out from the sky.

“Chweek!”

“...!” It was then that people began to calm down. They quickly realized the monsters coming from the gate weren’t their enemies.

“Morningstar! It must be Morningstar!”

“We’re saved!”

People cheered even as the explosions and screams continued.

Kaboom!

As countless players were making their way to safety, the player leading them shouted, “It’s the Colosseum!”

“...!” those around him gasped.

The player at the front used his magic to convey his message. He screamed, “Run to the Colosseum! That’s the only way we’ll survive!”

The player was from one of the large guilds that had come to help. He was responsible for evacuating people, and he knew what to do when he saw the gate. The only safe location here had to be Morningstar’s gate, Eden.

“Ackkkk!” The people began to run.

The numerous players calmly helped the citizens. While they stayed behind and kept the monsters engaged, the non-players ran toward safety.

“Kwerrrk!” Finally, Eden’s army arrived.

The being riding a Griffin King said in his dark, gloomy voice, “Dark Spear.”

Next, darkness rained down on the area. A

***

Hart, Hal, Gi-Gyu’s army of monsters, Botis, and even the Drake Knight's order rushed to save the citizens. In addition, Eden’s creatures, including Lou, El, and Go Hyung-Chul, were still in the Colosseum. Choi Chang-Yong and the Blue Dragon Guild members had also arrived. Their group also included the members of the Morningstar-Child Guild, now renamed Morningstar Guild.

“Thank you for coming all this way,” Gi-Gyu bowed to the players. Turning toward Sun-Pil, he added, “You’re doing me a huge favor.”

“Not at all, Gi-Gyu. I’m just happy that I get to help,” replied Sun-Pil.

Other guilds had also offered to help and had arrived in Italy through Gi-Gyu’s gate.

Gi-Gyu announced, “Your job will be to keep the citizens safe from the monsters.”

Gi-Gyu had determined that human players, instead of his monsters, would be better for evacuating the citizens. Hal and his army of monsters would focus on dealing with the beasts, while the players were to help the non-players escape.

“Then we’ll get going now,” Choi Chang-Yong announced, leading his players away.

Gi-Gyu had already informed Alberto about this, and he had also contacted the large Italian guilds regarding his plan. All the Korean guilds would not have any problem doing their job.

“As for us…” Gi-Gyu looked at the players running out to help. “We need to take care of the Vatican players.”

His eyes glowed as he added, “Let’s go capture those angels.” What was happening in Rome was all their doing. If Gi-Gyu didn’t stop them, those angels wouldn’t stop doing this. He needed to destroy the Vatican’s deep-rooted power in Italy and Europe and reveal their crimes to the world.

‘And I’m coming for you too,’?Gi-Gyu said to Michael, although he wasn’t sure if Michael could hear him.

Lou announced, “Then we’ll take our leave too.”

Lou, El, and Go Hyung-Chul left at an incredible speed. Their goal was to communicate with Choi Chang-Yong and the other players to find the angels and capture them. Gi-Gyu had planned and ordered this. Their goal was to evacuate Roman citizens, kill the enemy monsters, and capture the angels.

Just then, a group entered the middle of the Colosseum. The group included some non-players, and powerful players guarded them.

“Guess they’re finally here,” Gi-Gyu muttered.

These were politicians seeking safety in the Colosseum. Alberto had approved Gi-Gyu's plan, but the Italian government wasn’t informed about it. Consequently, the influential government figures and the association members that backed them were baffled. After all, they had just witnessed the abrupt appearance of unidentifiable monsters. Next, they saw a giant gate appear in the Colosseum, the Italian Association’s headquarters. And as if all that wasn’t enough, countless monsters had swarmed out of that gate.

They approached Gi-Gyu. Before they could protest, Gi-Gyu announced, “The Vatican is behind all of this.”

“What the hell are you talking about…?! Nonsense! You may be a powerful player, but you still can’t do something like this…!” a man, likely the one with the biggest title in the group, protested. But he couldn’t finish his sentence because Gi-Gyu shut everyone up with his energy.

The bodyguards took this as a threat and ran toward Gi-Gyu, but they could barely make a single step.

“Ugh…!” All of the guards groaned while bleeding from their mouths.

Gi-Gyu continued patiently, “You are also partly responsible for this situation. The poison spread by the Vatican has taken deep roots in the people of Rome.”

Alberto finally arrived. “I’m sorry I’m late.”

“Albert! Explain this to us! What is happening here?!” the leader exclaimed.

Alberto gave Gi-Gyu a look before stepping forward. “What Mr. Morningstar said is true. The monsters destroying Rome and killing our people are our citizens. The Vatican turned them into monsters.”

Several political members flinched.

‘They obviously know what’s going on,’?Gi-Gyu thought in disgust. Marchetti had informed him that the Vatican had already bought off numerous politicians. They were promised immortality in exchange for the lives of the people in Rome.

“Ha,” Gi-Gyu smirked.

His face tense, Alberto said to Gi-Gyu, “I’ll take care of the rest here. Mr. Morningstar, you can go do what you need to do.”

“...” Gi-Gyu studied Alberto quietly. The energy Alberto gave off was different from before. He could also sense Alberto’s emotions, but now wasn’t the time to ponder the issue.

“All right.” Gi-Gyu kicked the ground and disappeared.

“Tell us what’s happening! No, never mind!” The leader pointed his finger at Alberto and ordered his guards, “Arrest that man right now!”

Gi-Gyu had only caused minor damage to the bodyguards, so they slowly stood up while groaning. “Ugh…”

But Alberto stood still without even attempting to escape.

The leader who had ordered his arrest bit his fingernail nervously. ‘Why isn’t he running? He doesn’t look scared. Is there something else I don’t know about?’

The leader wondered if Morningstar had made preparations to protect Alberto. But when he turned toward his guards, they nodded confidently.

The leader thought, ‘I need to clean this place up quickly.’

He couldn’t afford to anger those he served, or they would renege on their immortality promise.

The leader was about to scream for Alberto to be arrested again when he looked up at the sky because it was suddenly turning dark. It was nighttime, but the fire burning Rome should have kept it bright. However, it was as if a dark curtain had closed all around them.

“...” Alberto closed his eyes. It was clear he knew exactly what was happening.

A voice announced in Alberto’s voice.

-Grandmaster asked me to protect you.

“What the heck is that?!” the politicians yelled when they saw a black sphere floating down from the sky.

Fwoosh!

The black sphere opened to form two sets of giant wings as black as conceivable. The figure looked down at the humans from above with a blank expression.

“T-the great being…!” The politicians gaped at the man floating above them.