Orcs were attacking? My face instantly distorted and formed wrinkles. Gorba"s brainwas.h.i.+ng wasn"t released when Ragneos died?
"Tell me more."
-The orcs are currently destroying Windia. Kerenos asked for help because they aren"t enough!
It must be serious if Kerenos was asking for help. I knew him well. If he said so, it was clear that the damage was more serious than expected. I remembered the orc soldiers I had seen. They gave off a terrible feeling that had made me shudder. I was too complacent. I should"ve handled Gorba at that time. Seeing the orc children running and playing, it seemed they wanted to protect their peace as much as possible. Now things went wrong.
"Did the orc chieftain also come and attack?"
-No. There was no sighting of the orc chieftain.
If so, there would be a chance.
"I"ll come as quickly as possible."
-Yes, Father. I"ll be waiting.
The call ended with these words. Mido spoke from next to me, "Grandfather, what were you talking about? Orcs attacking?"
"Orcs invaded Windia."
"Huh? Grandfather, are you in Windia right now?"
"Yes. Now it is becoming a mess."
Jeongdo heard this and interrupted, "This is serious. The orcs have an average level of 100. They probably won"t last long. Windia"s knights aren"t good enough?"
s.h.i.+t. I knew this but my heart started being rapidly again after hearing it. Behind me, the beeping continued to ring out constantly. It briefly stopped when I got off the car. I raised my hand to them and approached the foreign car in front of me. The owner"s phone number could be seen through the window.
...XX. Let"s hear this d.a.m.n person"s voice. I raised my phone and called this number right away. There was a brief ringing before someone answered. The voice of the man was younger than I expected.
-h.e.l.lo.
"Is your car parked in XX alley?"
I didn"t bring up the main topic at first. This might be an infuriating situation but it was bad if it could be solved through dialogue.
-Yes. So what?
"Would you mind moving your car? The cars aren"t able to pa.s.s through here. I think you just need to move it a little bit."
-Ah, I thought you were the police and was scared. What is the car number? I have several cars.
The young man"s voice was hoa.r.s.e like he had just woken up. He was starting to speak down to me.
"It is the 2018 one."
-Ah, that... However, I can"t move it right now because I"m overseas.
Overseas?
"Then what should I do? I have to pa.s.s by."
-Can"t you just reverse?
"No, if you aren"t parked well then shouldn"t your first words be to apologize?"
I was polite to the end but the person on the other end of the phone was rude.
-This XXing old man. Why do you have so much to say? Just go back! Aish, waking me up for this. I"m so angry. I"m hanging up! d.a.m.n old man!
Dduk-
"Hah. Look at this little brat...?"
The beeping was still coming from behind me. They didn"t seem to even be looking at what was going on with me. Oh, the lid opened after a long time...
I was forced to do something else. I returned to the car and my grandchildren spoke. "Grandfather. Well?"
"Are they coming here?"
I sighed deeply as I remembered the call. At the same time, I felt a deep anger inside me. I told them, "Guys, hold on tightly."
"Huh?"
"Why?"
"Don"t ask why and just grab onto something."
My grandchildren held onto the handle tightly. At the same time, White started beeping. The cars in the back thought I was retaliating and honked. I looked at them in the rearview mirror and stepped on the accelerator. White"s wheels started to smoke from the sudden charge.
My grandchildren looked puzzled by the situation.
"W-What?"
"Grandfather?!"
Along with the rough engine sound, White shot forward and smashed the side of the foreign car in front of us! It made a loud sound. At the same time, the car moved slightly and the side mirror seemed to have fallen off. I stepped on the accelerator without hesitation. The people in the cars behind me were watching the situation. I waved at them and left leisurely.
After a while, we emerged on the other side of the road and MIdo asked with anxious eyes, "Grandfather, is this okay? It"s a pretty expensive car."
"A car driven by such a stupid guy is no better than a piece of s.h.i.+t."
Jeongdo and Mido nodded at the same time.
* * *
Kerenos continued to fight the orc warriors. The Sylphid Knights put the safety of the residents first. They were blocking the orcs in the front line.
"Wind Blast!"
Wind swept over the orcs" entire body. The orcs screamed at the sheer number of attacks.
"Kuweeoh! Human, you are pretty good!"
One orc managed to get out of the range of Wind Blast and charged over. The earth cried out with every step and the axe swung in a threatening manner. Kerenos used the second style of his storm spear. "Whirlwind!"
A giant tornado engulfed the orc. The b.l.o.o.d.y orc knelt down while still struggling forward. Simultaneously, another axe flew.
"...d.a.m.n. There is no end."
Once again, it was impossible to deal with these many orcs on his own. He thought he could hold on until the villagers escaped through the south gate but it wasn"t as easy as he thought. His magic power was half gone. Then someone showed up.
"Fast Heal, Bless, Divine Blessing, Light"s Blessing."
His health and magic power gradually recovered and he felt full of energy. He turned his head and saw someone he knew.
Kerenos opened his mouth, "You"re late."
"You should thank me for coming now."
"The old man?"
"He"ll be coming soon."
Kerenos didn"t know why he felt strength when he heard this. Perhaps he was relying on the old man without even knowing it. He was smiling and shaking his head when more orcs came running. Kerenos muttered, "d.a.m.n. They are coming again."
"Can you do it?"
"I can do it with your help."
"Okay, leave it to me."
The corners of his lips curved at her pretty reliable words. Kerenos grabbed his spear again and soon 30 minutes pa.s.sed...
He complained, "Sigh, it"s so hard that I"m going to die."
"You are truly amazing. I knew you were strong but I didn"t expect it to be like this."
"I also didn"t know it would be this much."
"You"re lying." She smiled as she looked around at the signs of fierce fighting.
Kerenos" mouth was dry.
"The vibrant market is in ruins."
His hometown, Windia, was devastated. Black smoke rose everywhere and sound kept entering his ears. The burning smell pierced his nose. Then someone came rus.h.i.+ng over. "Captain! Are you okay?"
"It is the vice-captain."
"I"m fine, Becker. Were the villagers evacuated?"
"Yes, they all fled south and some of the knights are guarding them. However... the lord came with me."
"What?"
The lord emerged from behind Becker. "Kerenos."
"No, My Lord? Why are you... I told you to be with the villagers."
"This is the place where my father risked his life. I don"t want to run away."
"s.h.i.+t."
Maybe Kerenos knew that Edward would be like this. His father, Earl Calia, had risked his life and died fighting for Windia. Edward had watched from the sidelines so his reaction was understandable. Even so, he was still young.
"No, what can you do even if you come here?"
"This is my heart! I"m the lord! Can"t I do what I want?!"
"No, that isn"t it. This place..."
Tang tang tang tang!
"This sound?"
Kerenos turned toward the east gate. A soldier could be seen squeezing out the last of his strength as he waved a bell. He was shouting something that couldn"t be heard.
"Becker, Sir Chonly."
"Here."
Chonly wore magic battle gear and pointed to something. Kerenos followed his finger and saw a group raising dust while running. This was...?
"I"m going crazy."
"What is it? What"s going on?" Edward asked anxiously.
"The orcs are coming again."
* * *
The A.S.L community was buzzing. The reason was the orcs" invasion of Windia. It was currently full of stories about Windia.
-t.i.tle: Windia at War!
-t.i.tle: Orcs have attacked Windia!
-t.i.tle: Windia is now completely devastated.
-t.i.tle: S-rated difficulty!
Posts rose around the clock. One of the hottest posts was about the contents of the quest. It was an article that was quickly recommended tens of thousands of times.
[t.i.tle: Quest content currently in progress in Windia]
[Difficulty: S
The orcs, who live in the north of Windia, have led their soldiers down to the east. If you fight against them and stop the orcs with the soldiers of Windia, you"ll earn great rewards according to your contribution.
-Quest Completion Conditions: Death of the orc chieftain.
-Number of Killed Orcs: 0
-Orc Warrior Contribution: 500
-Orc Champion Contribution: 1,000
-Orc Chieftain Contribution: 100,000
* Rewards: Unknown (The compensation will differ according to the contribution)
* If the quest fails, Windia will become the land of the orcs.]
[The orc war quest is currently in progress in Windia.
I formed a party to fight the orcs and was logged out when an orc ripped my limbs off.
Like the S-rated difficulty, the orcs" level starts at 100.
Perhaps Windia will perish soon.]
There were tens of thousands of comments.
-Crazy. Isn"t this originally a level 45 raid area?
-Right. Yet level 100? It is crazy.
-My friend is currently there and he was killed by an orc.
-Windia will perish.
-This is messed up. Where will you hunt at low levels now?
-I agree.
The responses were varied. There was a fight between the "destroyed faction" who believed that Windia would be destroyed and the "non-destroyed faction", who believed Windia couldn"t be easily ignored. "Windia" became the top search rankings of various portal sites.
1st. Windia.
2nd. Windia War
3rd. Orc Invasion
Simply put, Windia was now the hottest pot in Arkstar.
* * *
On the other hand, some users considered this an opportunity. They were at the "Trade City Fortren." The distance between Windia and Fortren was around an hour at a running pace. Most of them were close to level 100. The players who heard the news formed parties and headed toward Windia.
"A chance to build up contribution and become a n.o.ble!"
"I"m going to get a manor!"
"Can I finally be a n.o.ble?"
Their purpose was clear.
If they obtained a manor using the contribution, they would gain huge wealth and influence. This was an opportunity they might never gain again. However, this wasn"t the case for some people.
"Amazing. Isn"t that person the Gyeonso Dragon?"
"Right. He"s famous in China these days!"
"I didn"t expect to see one of the Eight Supernovas!"
The Eight Supernovas—they were the eight people who recently ate star fruits and gained the power of the constellations. Gyeonso Dragon walked unconcerned with the stinging gazes of the users looking at him.
[The fist star, "Raitra," says he wants to fight quickly.]
"This guy wants to fight quickly as well."
The Star Fruit he ate was a second-grade one. The moment he ate it, the second-grade constellations kept an eye on him. It was this one who stood out among the constellations with various nicknames.
"He who emits lightning."
Gyeonso Dragon felt it was fate the moment he saw this nickname. He might"ve risen to stardom as an actor by mastering Wing Chun (South Chinese Kung fu), but he was more of a martial artist than an actor. By the time he neared his 40s, his body became slower. He was forced to give up his childhood dream of punching faster than lightning. In order to escape this sense of loss, he started Arkstar and ate the Star Fruit by chance, meeting Raitra.
"Let"s go, Raitra. We"ll go to meet the strong."
[The constellation skill "Lightning Footwork" is activated.]
[The energy of lightning has stimulated your nerves.]
[Instant acceleration is increased by three times.]
The blue lightning headed for Windia.