The bright midday sky.
Suddenly, a black hole appeared.
From within the hole, reminiscent of a black hole, gigantic shapes were writhing.
“What… what is that…?”
A mercenary gasped as he looked up.
The expressions of the mercenaries who had been confidently surrounding the prince shifted to shock in an instant.
“Your Majesty!”
“Do not panic!”
Pria, who had collapsed, barked an order.
The dimensional sword that had been glowing in her hand had completely vanished.
Pria coughed and stood up.
“Yoshua, I have a request.”
“Speak, Your Majesty.”
“Gather the troops and move them outside the capital.”
“What? What do you mean by that…?”
“Those creatures won’t only attack the capital but all of Townia. If not us, then who will protect the people?”
Pria half-opened her eyes.
“Evacuate as many imperial citizens as you can. That is an order.”
“And what about Your Majesty…?”
“Do not worry. I have heroes by my side.”
Yoshua looked at me, and I nodded.
After a moment’s struggle, Yoshua bit his lip.
As expected from a mercenary background—quick judgment.
“I will follow your command. Elan, gather the mercenary groups and assemble all forces at the south gate! Prepare to move out!”
“Yes, sir!”
“I entrust this to you, brother.”
Yoshua bowed to me and left the garden with his adjutant.
The hesitant mercenaries followed after him.
“An evacuation, huh?”
The prince smirked.
“Do you think it will matter, Pria? They cannot escape the black reapers. It’s a futile effort.”
“We won’t know unless we try, Your Highness.”
“I speak from experience.”
“Your Highness might have tried before, but I have not!”
Pria pointed her broken rapier at the prince.
The prince narrowed his eyes.
“You said it was seventeen attempts, right?”
“Yes.”
“And you’re giving up after only seventeen attempts?”
Pria clenched her teeth.
A thin stream of blood trickled from between her pink lips.
“I will resist, even a hundred, a thousand times… as long as I am alive. That is my decision, Your Highness!”
“Still as stubborn as ever. Let’s see how long your obstinacy will last.”
The prince sneered and leaned back on the throne.
Thud, thud, thud.
I turned around.
The mercenary forces were moving out through the southern gate.
[Human Mercenary Corps Lv.???] X 2264
[Allied NPC ‘Mercenary Coalition’ is retreating from the field!]
Pria gave a bitter smile.
“This scene… I’ve seen it many times in my dreams.”
“…”
“It was hell. A living hell. Under the black sky, countless citizens screamed as they were devoured. All I could do was watch.”
“Was I in that dream?”
“No, I was alone.”
“Then things will be different this time.”
Pria looked back at me.
“Han!”
“Speak.”
“Help me.”
“Of course.”
Sring.
I drew my sword and stepped forward.
The incapacitated status had long been lifted.
‘First, assess the current situation.’
Even if this felt close to reality, it was just a game after all.
I scanned my surroundings once more. What was present and what was absent.
‘Apart from Pria, our forces consist solely of heroes.’
The mercenary corps had retreated to aid in evacuating the citizens.
The residents who had stayed in the city had already fled as soon as the imperial occupation was completed. It was fortunate that we could fight without worrying about them.
‘Now, let’s assess the enemy’s situation.’
I looked ahead.
The prince sat on the throne, looking down at Priya and me.
Beside him stood two ancient beings, side by side.
Tuk.
I lightly kicked a stone at my feet.
The stone bounced along like a skipping stone before hitting an invisible wall and falling.
No access.
It seemed the prince wouldn’t intervene in Phase 1.
This meant our immediate targets were the incoming fragment series.
‘A message should pop up soon.’
I narrowed my eyes.
[Warning!]
[Warning!]
[Warning!]
Red text appeared on Anytng’s control panel.
It didn’t stop at just three warnings. The alerts multiplied until they threatened to cover the entire screen.
[Warning!]
[Warning!]
[Warning!]
[Warning!]
[War…]
The warning pop-ups that filled Anytng’s display began disappearing one by one.
A composite warning message—one that only appeared in ultra-difficult missions.
[Rett321: Look at this difficulty rating. LOL. Is this a bug?]
[Andante (andant): Doomed game? It already is doomed.]
The chat filled with the usual jeers.
I took a deep breath.
[Floor 80.]
[Mission Type – Composite]
[Objective – Unknown]
[Sub-objective – Survival of special NPC ‘Priasis al Ragnar’]
A composite mission type.
It didn’t specify what needed to be done.
‘So, it’s like this.’
I touched my earpiece.
“Is reconnaissance complete? Any noticeable objects?”
<Nothing stands out. No statues of goddesses, no peculiarities.>
Rodrick’s response came back.
It was what I had expected. Before starting the mission, I had told them to scour the field to see if there was anything that could aid the mission.
‘So there’s nothing, for now.’
At least, nothing at the moment.
In that case.
“Gather the forces at the imperial palace. We’re going to defend for now.”
<A siege?>
“Yes.”
The main objective was unknown, but the sub-objective was clear.
The survival of Pria.
“Do you remember the mission on the 5th floor?”
I muttered, looking up.
“Oh, surviving against thousands of goblins?”
“Think of it as something similar. We hold out until variables arise.”
“Those aren’t goblins.”
“Well, that depends on what we do.”
Phew.
I took another deep breath.
The heroes scattered across the capital were gathering.
Then.
[※Warning!]
[‘Chaos’ is beginning to descend!]
Uoooooo.
Something surged out of the black hole.
[Fragment of Chaos Lv.113] X 795
“They’re coming!”
The fragments, shaped like massive blobs of slime, fell to the ground.
[Random Trait Activation!]
[‘Chaos’ initiates hyper-evolution!]
Boom!
I'm currently Translating the following novels: Pick Me Up! | A Frontline Soldier Awakened as a Gamer In The War! | The 100th Regression of the Max-Level Player. If you want to support me and read more chapters please subscribe to my Patreon!