Chapter 268
When Act Two, Stage One began, the Guide told people that the light pillar contained forces that weakened the Awakened by stages. However, Bale’s guild didn’t have to experience it as not a single city was destroyed before the time limit ended. They had defended and broken the pillar successfully. Naturally, a lot of people died when they dealt with the giant centipede, the boss monster of the seventh floor, which was also known as the Guardian of the Light Pillar. However, he was confident that his guild would have completed the quest better than any of the others on the stage.
My Frank Guild is the strongest.
As he wiped the foam of the grain wine[1] off his mouth, Bale said, “The taste gets better every day. You must have some good skills!”
“Haha. Thank you.”
At that time, he received a call from the guild hall.
“Ah, I’m afraid I have to get up now.”
After the light pillar was destroyed and the night raids stopped, Bale moved from the city named after him, where he had been stationed, to the guild capital. People who recognized him saluted at him as he went to the city hall of the capital, the guild hall. Those who focused on production and service jobs also recognized him, although they had never joined the war.
Everyone in the city knew Bale Dron, the commander of the Bale Corps and the mayor of the city Bale. He was one of the must-know guild executives, and even the South African and Mexican Awakened recognized him. He arrived at the hall after waving his hands at the people who were gazing at him with awe. The Guide was flapping its cute wings next to the guild leader as it always did.
The System had automatically fixed its own deficiencies. For instance, the parts that used to be random were now revised. Furthermore, the information windows had become more intuitive, and the System had also replaced the cla.s.s system with a level system that motivated people to a greater extent.
Moreover, the red Guide that did evil was apparently eliminated now. There was no notification message about the change, but all the malicious quests had been canceled at the beginning of Act Two, Stage One[2]. Since then, the Guide had always stayed blue. There was no need for people to be nervous when standing in front of the Guide anymore. They could finally enjoy the beauty of the spirit, which resembled Tinkerbell from Peter Pan. In addition, the Spirits also smiled more kindly than they did before.
Therefore, there was only one thing now that could make Bale feel tense. It was the guild leader. After the guild leader received an S-cla.s.s skill from a challenger box, people called him by one name.
“Great Indra!”
Everyone who was already inside the building saluted Indra. Indra was always quiet. Rather than giving orders himself, he wanted his subordinates to think about the directions he would want to give.
Bale said, “I’ll have the Dummy ready.”
Dummy was a term they used for the monsters they had captured during previous night raids. They were often used to raise the proficiency level of the Great Indra’s skills. Handling the monsters was one of Bale’s responsibilities.
Other than the royal bodyguards, there were only two people who knew about the skills the Great Indra had acquired. He had a hunch that Indra was planning to announce his power to the world when he had increased his skill’s proficiency level to the point of mastering it. He must have wanted to show the reasons why he was called Indra.
Indra’s Blade…
Bale was in awe when he saw the blue light stretching out from the man he served. Bale also had a skill named after a G.o.d, but the difference between them was clear. Indra’s Blade was indeed an S-cla.s.s skill from a challenger box. It was certainly the weapon of the most powerful G.o.d in Indian mythology, who controlled war, thunder and lightning. Although the guild leader’s current proficiency level was low, it was easy for him to kill a medium-sized Graf. It concentrated the destructive power of thunder and lightning into one point and blasted the target apart.
It would be effective against the boss monsters, but it was also a perfect skill to instill fear in those who harbored rebellious intentions. If Indra raised the proficiency level a little more, then no commander would be able to resist the moment that lightning bolt struck them. In other words, it was the Great Indra’s lightning executioner.
***
A few weeks pa.s.sed.
[Good. Good. Yay ◝( ‾▿‾◝ )]
The commanders’ eyes were drawn to the Spirit, and it hadn’t left the guild leader’s side this entire time, acting as if it had been summoned by him.
[I, Lusah-le, was promoted to the guide of Act Two, Stage Two, thanks to the Frank Guild!]
The unnecessary comments continued, but everyone needed to focus on the guide’s voice to receive the ultimate message. It was because people had to share one stage with people from different groups during the preparation phase, and the owner of the stage was determined based on the group’s performance during this period.
The other forces that would soon merge had also pa.s.sed Act Two, Stage One, which meant that they were strong enough to survive until now. However, Bale thought that no matter which groups decided to fight with them, they would never lose control as they had gone so far. He was certain of that.
At that moment, a window popped up on the screen.
[Camp 1: Frank - 56,221 Awakened
Camp 2: Cat Food Warehouse - 43,904 Awakened
Camp 3: The World Awakened a.s.sociation (3) - 34,811 Awakened
Camp 4: The New Triad - 29,629 Awakened
Camp 5: Revolucion (12) - 9,500 Awakened]
[The scale of the expanded stage and progress are the same as Act One, Stage Two. I won’t give you a long explanation as you have already experienced it before. I’m sure that the people in other stages would agree that the Frank Guild, which starts in the central area, needs privileges.]
We are in the first camp as expected…
[The attack captains of Frank Guild will receive platinum boxes, corps captains will receive diamond boxes, and the guild leader will receive a master box. What is the point of waiting until later? I’ll give them to you now.]
Boxes were always welcome. However, there had been cases where curses came out from the boxes that were given to those in the central area in Act One, Stage Two. Everyone, including Bale, was reluctant to open the box, recalling what had happened.
[You must be concerned about obtaining a curse. That doesn’t happen anymore. Do you think we like seeing you suffering? That kind of past is over. Please trust me and choose between items, skills and insignias. It’s up to you.]
It was true. There were no reports of curses popping out of the boxes. In addition, the System had carried out the evil quest, Potential Threat, during the preparation time from Act One to Act Two and made the Awakened hunt each other. Fortunately, nothing like that occurred this time. The Guide actually offered boxes and left without doing anything evil.
The System had likely been completely fixed, but he couldn’t afford to enjoy the happiness as there were urgent matters he needed to attend to.
“Cat Food Warehouse on Camp 2… Their name is funny, but we shouldn’t underestimate their numbers. The best-case scenario is to form an alliance with them and merge the forces in different camps, but there is no possibility that they will accept it.”
“We should first figure out whether World Awakened a.s.sociation (3) in the third camp is real or if they’re a bunch of fraudulent punks.”
“New Triad in Camp Four are shamelessly using the name of an international criminal gang, so they must have tight governance and brutal tendencies.”
“Revolucion (12) in Camp Five must have barely pa.s.sed Act Two, but we should pay attention to them. They are German, and their group name isn’t common enough to have the number 12 behind it coincidentally.”
The commanders of Frank Guild were quite serious. Some of them were from the center stage and were good at defending, whereas the others were attackers. Therefore, they all knew that the four other camps would eventually advance toward the center if they just waited for the next stage to unfold without any plans.
Bale said to the guild leader, “Great Indra, I would like to check the movements of Revolucion (12).”
He was planning to win the weakest force over first. There were fewer than ten thousand Awakened in that group. It was an opportunity to contribute, and he wanted to confirm why there were twelve groups with the same name. That was probably what the Great Indra hoped for.
Bale got down to work as soon as Indra granted him permission. He moved toward the north after he discovered that they were located there. He was confident that he would defeat them immediately if they encountered a problem. Therefore, he only brought one attack squad with him.
***
[You have entered the territory of Revolucion (12).]
Bale broke through the spot where the monsters had run out during the night raids. His first impression of the north was that it was definitely a territory that had barely pa.s.sed Act Two, Stage One. Even though he had come down to the safe zone, he couldn’t see a single person.
Only around 9500 survived here. Well, they must be better than the others who couldn’t even make it this far.
It was a barren land filled with the aura of death. He couldn’t compare the situation of the other guilds with his perfect guild, but the fact that there was no one taking care of the precious grain here was quite telling. This was why people needed a good leader because the number of survivors clearly depended on the capabilities of the leader group.
Tsk, tsk.
He immediately commanded the people in his attack squad, “Don’t act aggressively until you guys get an order.”
“Yes, sir.”
A few minutes later, he noticed a skull half embedded in the ground. It wasn’t a human skull. However, it also wasn’t the skull from the Kciphos found in Act One nor the Grafs that appeared in Act Two. It resembled a cow’s skull with its bifurcated threatening horns. In addition, the skeletons they found in the surrounding area looked like bipedal monsters, so he could infer what kind of monsters they were. They would have looked like a Minotaur when they were alive.
I have never seen something like this before.
When Bale looked at his henchman, he shook his head. The same skeletons were all over the place on their way. However, they couldn’t find the hard sh.e.l.ls of any Grafs at all.
Did they fight against other monsters here? They seem easy to defeat.
The Grafs in Act Two, Stage One were on a different level from the Kciphos in Act One. Not only were their appearances disgusting, but they also became overwhelmingly huge starting from medium-sized Graf.
You guys were destroyed by these things?
To Bale, Revolucion (12) was a pathetic group. If his guild had received such a privilege of fighting such easy monsters, then they would have saved at least sixty thousand more people.
Soon, a city came into his sight. There was no sign of people coming and leaving, and gigantic thick walls surrounded the city. At first, he thought they were normal exterior walls, but he realized they were something else as they got closer. They were built like walls, but it wasn’t made by using the System. They were all monsters’ bones.
He had thought that nothing would surprise him anymore in this world, but that thought vanished instantly. The countless rough and huge bones were warning them by casting gloomy shadows.
Do not come closer.
The name of the city gave the same warning.
[City: No Entry
Defense Level: 1
Jurisdiction: Revolucion (12)
Residence: 1 Awakened
Mayor: Kwon Seong-Il]
No Entry?
Bale thought that the name was ridiculous. He was embarra.s.sed that he had been briefly intimidated by the dreary atmosphere and appearance of the city.
Their defense level is only one?
That was right. It was a miracle that such a city had not been destroyed yet.
1. Story specifically said that it’s not beer… ☜
2. Apparently different groups had started Act Two, Stage One at different times ☜