Chapter 129: Episode 25 – Those Who Face a God (3)
Veronica’s high walls. Giants filled the plains below the highlands. They were once humans but were now disasters. Gong Pildu roared as all the turrets on the castle fired. “Damn bastards. This is my land!”
There were approximately 50 Japanese people who ran through the plains. This level of strength meant that more than half the disasters of Peace Land had gathered.
Dududududu!
“Get lost―!” Gong Pildu was slightly upset as he fired the guns. He didn’t know how he got into this situation. However, Lee Jihye thought that the aftereffects of Kim Dokja destroying the Green Zones still remained.
Lee Jihye watched the great army of disasters and her fingers trembled. “Damn, I wish there was a lake...”
“Let’s do as much as we can.”
Lee Hyunsung walked over from the lookout post and stood beside Lee Jihye. Lee Jihye turned around and saw Lee Boksoon. Lee Jihye’s eyes shone. “Grandmother, can you borrow the power of your sponsor?”
“Huhu, do you want my ancestor to continue their service?”
“Ah, this is really... Soldier ahjussi, Heewon unni’s group still isn’t here?”
Lee Hyunsung nodded heavily. “There is no news of the next group. Before he left, Dokja-ssi said they would be doing a bonus scenario...”
“Damn. Then we have to stop them.”
Then dim shadows appeared above them in the sky. Lee Jihye discovered the small insects filling the sky and was frightened.
“Ack!”
There were a variety of flying monsters mixed in. Lee Gilyoung and Shin Yoosung had finished preparing the beast and insect army. Lee Gilyoung was sitting on an insect that resembled a wasp and waved his hand.
Meanwhile, the disasters arrived at the castle and started to break down the walls.
Lee Hyunsung spoke in a tense voice. “...They’re coming.”
The full-fledged siege began.
Dududududu!
On one side, Gong Pildu fired while on the other side, the small people shouted.
“Fight!”
“For Veronica!”
The voices resonated through the castle as the walls were gradually crushed by the disaster’s kicks. Now the term ‘disaster’ seemed really fitting for these humans.
‘Would I be like that if I chose to become a disaster?’
Lee Jihye remembered Kim Dokja’s words and bit her lips. The answer was still unknown.
The party held on better than expected.
There were Gong Pildu’s guns and Lee Hyunsung’s Great Mountain Smash that dealt effective blows to the disasters. The large number of insects and monsters also bought time.
At this rate, they might be able to protect the castle. This was what Lee Jihye thought until black clouds covered the horizon.
“What is that?” Lee Jihye doubted her eyes.
[The king of disasters has received the scenario buff effect.]
[Some of the probability constraints on the constellation ‘Sovereign of Eight Heads’ has been lifted.]
“Crazy, how do we defeat that?”
Something the size of a huge fortress was coming this way. There were eight heads and a tail.
‘Ahjussi! Come quickly!’
Lee Jihye inwardly screamed.
***
We left Kyrgios’ territory and moved through the rocky area towards the plains.
Asuka Ren opened her mouth, “I think the Sovereign of Eight Heads has already started acting. I can’t feel his call in this area.”
“Ren-ssi, are you okay?”
“I can resist it to a certain degree thanks to my sponsor. However, the incarnations with weak sponsors have already flocked to the plains.”
In the case of the Absolute Throne, there was a difference in the intensity of the command depending on the distance. There was nothing absolute in the Star Steam, even if it had the ‘absolute’ qualifier.
Along the way, we found the bodies of the small people. Asuka Ren spoke with a bitter expression.
“...Not everyone in Japan chose to be a disaster.”
“I know.”
I read the original so I could say it clearly. Apart from Asuka Ren, the Japanese people who became ‘small people’ couldn’t be seen because they were already dead or hiding somewhere in this world.
“In fact, I don’t think the Japanese people who choose to be a disaster are bad. They are just ordinary.”
In the original work, a number of Korean incarnations also chose to be a disaster. This was probably a normal choice for ordinary humans. Han Sooyoung also agreed.
“To put it bluntly, I didn’t choose to be a small person. Kim Dokja also didn’t make this choice to protect the small people.”
Han Sooyoung’s words were sharp.
[The small planet’s constellation is looking at you with hurt eyes.]
It didn’t matter if it was for the sake of the small people or the disasters.In the end, the fight here was a spectacle.
People became immersed in their role and forgot this fact. They sold their lives to make money. Then that money would be used to buy other stories. Maybe humans always lived this way.
Then a huge aura rose from the rocky area. It was quite far away but I could feel the formidable aura from here.
“Kyrgios has noticed. Hurry.”
I ran away after asking him to teach me. I would suffer incredible pain if I was caught. We started to run across the plains in the direction of Veronica.
In the midst of running, Asuka Ren often looked back at the rocky area. Han Sooyoung glanced at Ren and asked, “Are you sorry?”
“Huh? No.”
“Don’t you feel that it is weird? It is probably the first time you saw a character that you made.”
“...Yes.”
“Furthermore, he is handsome.”
I didn’t say it before but Kyrgios was handsome. In Ways of Survival, a handsome person was often described as ‘comparable to Yoo Jonghyuk’ and this was a perfect way to describe Kyrgios.
The problem was his height and his temper...
How did it feel to see a person you created breathing and talking? If the author of Ways of Survival was alive somewhere then wouldn’t he feel something similar when looking at Yoo Jonghyuk?
Asuka Ren spoke to me. “Ah right, Dokja-ssi. I have a question.”
“Yes.”
“How did you gain Kyrgios’ favour?”
“His favour?”
“I got the impression that Kyrgios liked Dokja-ssi.”
“...Huh?”
“Kyrgios acts angry when he likes someone.
[The constellation ‘Demon-like Judge of Fire’ is listening.]
That reminded me, Kyrgios treated me quite well despite me not having talent. Despite all the times he swore at me...
“Dokja-ssi.”
I looked back at Ren’s words and my expression stiffened along with the two women. Dark smoke was rising from the place where I was looking. It was in the direction of Veronica Castle. We glanced at each other and started running.
Not long afterwards, the battlefield of Veronica Castle was revealed. There were the bodies of the fallen monsters as well as the trampled corpses of the small people. I also saw people whose heads were crushed. Perhaps this was Lee Hyunsung’s work.
As we got closer, the number of small people corpses increased and the bodies of the Japanese incarnations decreased.
No way, I couldn’t be late. Then after a while, we witnessed a terrible scene at the back of the shattered palace.
Dududududu!
Gong Pildu’s cannons fired.
Fortunately, all the party members were safe. Lee Hyunsung was badly injured while Lee Jihye and the children were exhausted, but their lives were intact. However, it was dangerous. They were fighting...
“Crazy!”
Han Sooyoung shouted and stepped back towards me.
“Ahh! Izumi...”
Asuka Ren groaned with pain as she grabbed her temples and fell down. 20 Japanese people were united around one being.
Behind the body of a man whose pupils had turned black, there was a shadow of a huge monster that covered the whole sky. The heads and tail were reminiscent of a blood red valley. The king of the disasters was in a streamlined form.
Suddenly, one head bent down towards the nearest small person. Th small person turned white with terror and the snake smiled at him. There was a crunch and only the lower body of the small person remained.
“S-Save me! Save me!”
The flesh of the small person was sucked into the mouth of the red snake. Nobody was able to stop it. All the small people, including my party moments, stood like hardened mannequins and watched the scene.
I belatedly realized. It wasn’t because my party members fought hard that they were unharmed. The gunfire continued but it was resignation, not killing intent that filled Gong Pildu’s face. It was the same for Lee Hyunsung, Lee Jihye and the others. The reason they were still alive because they were meals for the narrative grade constellation.
Every time the mouth of the snake opened, a few small people would disappear.
[The small planet’s constellation is struggling with pain.]
[The small planet’s constellation is screaming.]
Han Sooyoung muttered. “Shit... what the hell is this?”
One of Japan’s three great villains, the father of Shutendoji, a flood control mythical monster. That monster was the ‘Sovereign of Eight Heads’, Yamata no Orochi. Maybe I would be torn apart by his teeth if I fought against him.
“D-Don’t fight. We absolutely can’t win.” Asuka Ren mumbled and the entranced Han Sooyoung grabbed me.
“Kim Dokja. Surely we aren’t going to fight that? Let’s run away. Yes?”
I didn’t answer. The giant head once again swept over the small people. It was a natural movement, like taking fish out of a fish tank.
Han Sooyoung kept urging me, “It isn’t too late. Now we can save the kids. Quickly bring them and run...”
Kwaduduk!
“Ah!
They’re all going to die!”
I shook my head.
“Let’s wait a bit longer.”
If I acted now, that guy would never move. Just a bit longer...
Then the snake’s mouth headed towards Lee Jihye. Damn. I reflexively got up and ran forward. However, the snake’s head was moving quickly towards Lee Jihye.
At this moment, something moved faster than me. One of the snake’s heads fell to the ground with a pained scream. The cloud of dust was lift and a man could be seen standing on the snake’s head. He looked at me with a distinctive cold expression. “...Kim Dokja.”
Yes, why did he always show up late? I smiled at him. “You are late, Yoo Jonghyuk.”
He had become a small person like me but I felt a strong energy from Yoo Jonghyuk. This person was holding a violet and glossy ornamental knife. As expected, he obtained the knife.
We stared at each other without speaking before simultaneously turning towards the disaster.
[The constellation ‘Sovereign of Eight Heads’ has revealed killing intent towards to you.]
Yamata no Orochi has his mealtime disturbed and his body started to swell up.
“Stay away Kim Dokja. I will catch this guy.”
“No, not this time.”
I stepped towards Yoo Jonghyuk.
[The exclusive skill ‘Bookmark’ can now be activated.]
I felt the strong white energy seething in my heart.
“This time I have to catch him.”
In this scenario, I would break the principle of no killing that I had been maintaining.