Season 4: Chapter 207. Ancient Ruins (2)
The Civil War split the nation into two sides. Like all civil wars, it ended brutally.
Countless Lackeys and Scrubs had died. The head of the Knights, Lord Almond, had fallen into a coma. His subordinates, the Servants, barely managed to rescue him.
The one who bought them time to escape was none other than the traitorous knight, Lackey ForeverAlone.
“Kugh...!” ForeverAlone collapsed, coughing up blood. “L-Lord... Almond... I think this is as far as I go...”
His sudden shift of loyalty did little to improve public opinion.
— when did this guy switch sides again? LOL
— this is unreal lmao
— he turned good because Almond called him “Lackey ForeverAlone” ONCE, legendary
— you should’ve just killed Almond and awakened your Mangekyo Sharingan dude
— the prime victim of lackeylighting...
— this is why cult brainwashing is dangerous, folks!
[Current Viewers: 37,000]
He once wielded nearly 200k viewers and a flood of Chakra, but those were all anti-Knight viewers. The ones who actually stayed to support him were barely a fraction of that. The last of his Chakra drained away, and his knees hit the ground.
‘Even so... I don’t regret it.’
Lackey ForeverAlone didn’t regret his choice. He had tried to stand by his beliefs.
Zelu approached him. “Hey, Lackey ForeverAlone. Are you possessed or something?”
WHAM!
Zelu kicked him square in the face.
“Gah!”
The shockwave hurled him across the hall and slammed him into the wall. The difference in power was overwhelming.
[Current Viewers: 567,000]
After absorbing nearly every anti-Knight viewer’s chakra, Zelu boasted astounding power.
— holy crap
— his viewer count is insane
— actual Chakra monster
— Zeluto Sage Mode popped off
— the Heavenly Demon... the Art of Absorbing Chakra!!
Lackey ForeverAlone’s journey finally came to an end.
“P-Please... take care of the rest... Nonghyup Union...”
Thud.
He lay on the ground, only to notice someone else lying beside him.
“Huh?” He blinked. “Why... are you here?”
“I got here before you, Lackey ForeverAlone.”
It was Horn Ramen.
— LMAOOOO
— he’s already dead??
— when did he even die?
— the Nonghyup Union’s combat power is tragic...
‘No way...’
The Nonghyup Union performed catastrophically. Donuts and MiddleAgedDetective had already been yeeted by the rebel forces just like him.
“D-Damn it!”
“Why can’t we win!”
BOING!
They bounced away like popcorn kernels exploding.
— these uncles have negative mechanics
— I regret donating
— why are they like this? LOL
— they got paid to perform this badly, respect
— should’ve sent their money to the enemy team instead, more efficient lmao
Zelu mercilessly said, “Make sure these farmers are... fertile.”
— fertile LMAO
— what kind of mafia boss is that?
— LOL
“Yes! And what about Lackey ForeverAlone?”
“That one...” Zelu hesitated.
Lackey ForeverAlone had been a powerful weapon... and also the largest symbol of the Fertile Soil suffering.
“Lock him up. He’ll undergo re-education.”
— LMAOOOO re-education
— PTSD incoming
— cult 2.0 incoming
— LOL
“Yes, sir!”
The rebel fighters dragged Lackey ForeverAlone away.
Shrimp, the leader of Paprika, approached. “Lord Zelu, what about Almond? Shouldn’t we pursue him?”
— LORD Zelu???
— wasn’t he your nephew??
— the title changed real quick
— natural born leader energy
“Chase Almond?” Zelu considered it, but shook his head.
‘If we chase him now, I might lose all this Chakra.’
Almond had to be executed properly, not simply killed. It had to be on a stage worthy of finishing him.
“He’s as good as dead. No need to chase.”
“Understood.”
“We seek profit, not waste. Go straight to Cheese Village.”
“Ooooh!”
Zelu’s ambition wouldn’t end with just Paprika. He wanted to swallow Cheese Village too.
“Let’s begin. Destroy that moldy Cheese Village.”
Fwhooooosh...!
His halo blazed brighter as his chakra roared with excitement.
— this is peak Zeluto
— the legendary dark-side version
— the ruined iron-miner boy returns from hell
— Koreans LOVE this archetype
***
Outside the Governor’s Hall...
“Fufufufu!” Black Pepper had cornered Green Tea.
SLASH!
CLANG!
Thanks to her Dark Knight buffs, she was powerful even without any chakra. Green Tea, however, was just a Druid mage. Once she got in close, he had no answer.
“T-Tangle Vines!”
All he could do was bind her with vines and run.
“Vines whatever!!”
— another vine bind LOL
— should’ve picked bear form
— this is suffering
— but he’s good at wasting time at least
Still, buying time was a valid strategy.
‘Gotta run... as far as possible...!’
Green Tea focused only on stalling. Ironically, it countered her perfectly.
“I’LL TEAR YOU APART, YOU GREEN-HEADED BASTARD!!” She only grew more frantic the longer it took.
[Prepaid time: 5 minutes remaining]
Her capsule time was about to expire.
“Tangle... Bind!!”
CRACK!
The thirteenth vine caught her ankle.
“My... my allotted time... it’s...”
[Your prepaid time has ended.]
Ding~
Black Pepper froze in mid-motion. Vines slipped off her, but she didn’t move.
— ?
— ??
— why’d she freeze
— hello???
[Black Pepper has logged out.]
The server announced her disappearance.
Green Tea had achieved the strangest victory of his life. “Wooo! I won!!”
— LMAO
— victory by timeout
— GOAT of time-wasting
— clutch
— Green Tea champion arc LOL
He was the only surviving Nonghyup Union member with an actual win.
[Eagle Form]
FWOOOOSH!
Green Tea transformed back into a giant eagle and soared toward the Governor’s Hall.
“The uncles should still be alive somewhere.”
***
Green Tea perched on a window ledge and cautiously peeked outside.
“Eeek?!”
The sight below looked horrifying. The three Nonghyup Union uncles had been tied up and set on fire.
Fwoooosh!
“Aaaargh!!”
“I’ll... I’ll get my revenge! Zelu, you bastard!”
“You fatherless swine! I bought your iron ore and raised you. This is how you repay me!?”
— lmao Donuts is wild
— he’s kinda right tho LOL
— this is so messed up
— help I’m crying
“Sir, didn’t you just bargain the ore price down and buy it from me yourself?”
“Wh, what?! That... that was me teaching you fiscal responsibility!”
“Hey!!” Zelu barely even listened. “Turn the flames up. The soil is still talking.”
“Yes, sir!”
Fwoooosh!
“I was comrades with your father! DO YOU KNOW WHAT THAT MEANS, YOU BRAT!? We fought side by side!” Donuts launched his last desperate offensive through sheer talk and guilt.
It meant nothing to Zelu, whose eyes had already completely fallen into darkness.
“What kind of comrade blows the whistle and joins the Knights? Hm?”
“Ugh... Th-That’s...!”
“No need for excuses. Becoming fertile... Isn’t that every farmer’s dream? Hahahahaha!”
FWOOM!
Flames surged from the harsh Paprika soil soaked with the rendered fat of the Nonghyup Union members.
[Fertile Soil]
Revenge tasted so sweet.
“Delicious, Zel~lu.”
— LMAOOOO
— holy crap
— this villain arc is insane
— he’s unhinged
“Now we move to Cheese Village.”
Green Tea’s eyes widened. ‘Ch-Cheese Village?’
He spread his wings, pivoted sharply, and took off in a rush.
“This is bad.”
He had expected Zelu to pursue Almond. The real goal wasn’t Almond at all, but Cheese Village.
The village was now at its weakest with no knights to defend it.
***
Meanwhile, in the underground tunnel, the Servants trudged forward with heavy steps.
“Good grief... my lord... just hold on a little longer. We’ll find something to heal you.”
Lord Almond was still on the brink of death. They had stuffed him with every herb they had, but the near-death condition simply wouldn’t disappear.
“What... what kind of status effect is this, Sir Radish Servant?”
“No idea... I-I’m not that familiar with Survival Craft.”
“What about you, Black Tea?”
“I dunno...”
“Huh? Me neither.”
The Knights’ greatest weakness was that not a single person here actually knew the game.
“Should we go back to the village? Maybe the herb shop has something?”
Black Tea shook her head. “No, we can’t.”
“Why not?”
“We’re... red players now.”
Escaping the siege had turned them all red.
“So... we can’t enter town...?”
“The warning message will pop up, yeah.”
“What about sneaking in?”
“No clue.”
Radish Servant interjected, “We don’t need to go back. There must be a way. Just wait. We can gather herbs outside the village.”
“How, exactly?”
“Listen to the whispers of chakra.” He glanced at the chat.
— ??
— what “whispers of chakra” LMAO
— this guy...
— he really doesn’t know anything
— zero clue lol
Chakra, of course, refused to help at moments like this.
“Damn it. They backseat all day, but now they’re silent,” Radish Servant muttered in disbelief.
[Omedetto has donated 3000 won.]
[There’s a specific herb that cures near-death, but it's super rare. It's honestly easier to just die and respawn...]
— oh?
— he finally said something useful
— in original Survival Craft, dying and reviving is too risky tho lol
— what herb is it though??
“What is that herb then? Tell us...”
“KYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!”
A bloodcurdling scream echoed through the tunnels. It bounced off every surface.
“What was that?”
Thump.
The Knights stiffened.
“N-No way. There shouldn’t be anything down here.”
“Right? The miners all rebelled and left, didn’t they?”
Gulp.
Luckily, the screams stopped.
Thud... thud...
Something was knocking, and faint voices whispered beyond the stone.
The Knights set Almond down and drew their weapons.
“These filthy bastards. They followed us down here?”
“This place is too tight! If they ambush us first, we’re done for!”
— oh no...
— wtf is that
— this feels like a trap
— I’m scared for them...
THUD
THUD
KUGUNG!
The collapsing sound grew closer.
‘There.’
‘This way.’
A crack split across the wall.
“They’re coming!”
“I’ll go first, sis!”
CRASH!
Lemon Servant rammed the wall with her shield and burst through. Someone was behind it.
WHAM!
Her shield slammed the figure into the opposite wall.
“You bastard!” Black Tea leaped overhead and thrust her spear.
FWIP!
“W-Whaaa! What are you doing!? Why are you attacking me!?” Orange barely twisted his head in time to avoid getting skewered.
“B-Black Tea?”
“Orange?” Black Tea also felt stunned.
Not because it was Orange, but because no one else was with him.
“What the, you're alone?”
“In this remote wilderness, who else would be here? I’m just down here mining and trying to get rich. Wait... Oh?” Orange still addressed them with proper knight etiquette as if he hadn’t abandoned his old role as their underling. “Oh~~~ Lord Almond?! What happened!?”
He simply seemed shocked at the sight of Almond unconscious with no ill intent whatsoever.
Almond, however, did not agree.
‘He’s clearly a traitor. Kill him.’
Fortunately, nobody heard him. He was too weak to speak.
— WHAT
— why is Almond so sure? lol
— Orange didn’t even join the rebellion
— he IS a Paprika officer tho
— lmao Almond just hates him personally
— fyi Almond still mad that Orange spread his wanted posters
— he’s so petty LMAO