Chapter 2479 – 2479. God’S Atlantis
“Sector 8,807, entering the Serpent’s Whisper.”
“Not the first, I see.”
Kang Myungjin said in a calm tone. The members of the A-Plan Legion following him grew more tense.
“I said this before we came to this sector, but it’s important, so I’ll say it again. In this sector, you’ll periodically hear auditory hallucinations. It could be the voice of a comrade… or a voice from the past in your memories, or even the sound of rocks falling or water pouring. Doubt every sound you hear. If you hear a sound, doubt it and confirm it with your eyes, nose, and actions. The same goes for the instructions I give.”
“Right. You’re the one saying that now, right?”
I asked Kang Myungjin. Kang Myungjin nodded firmly and replied.
“That’s right. Doubt like that. Fortunately, the hallucinations won’t be continuous.”
*Thud!*
A loud boom was heard. I reflexively turned my head to the side. There was no sign of an explosion. All I could see was the hard, black stone floor.
‘A hallucination.’
It was an incredibly realistic sound.
‘If I’m hearing hallucinations too, then it’s not a power that works on the mind.’
It was several times worse than seeing illusions.
Kang Myungjin, who was in front, stopped walking. A pile of ash that had flown from somewhere gathered together and took shape.
“It’s a monster.”
An ash knight.
It was a knight clad in full armor and wielding a greatsword. Gray ash scattered from the knight’s body. The ash itself was a curse.
“We’ll end this quickly. I’ll draw its attention, so Sung Yoojin and Joo Seohyun, you two attack from the sides.”
Kang Myungjin held a seemingly ordinary spear instead of his usual Sky Piercing Halberd. It wasn’t an ordinary spear, despite its appearance.
The Sealed Bryunak (SS).
It was the weapon that Kang Myungjin from the original story obtained in the mid-game and used until the end. Of course, he unsealed it along the way.
Joo Seohyun dashed forward. Of course, I didn’t lag behind. Since Kang Myungjin was drawing the ash knight’s attention from the front, Joo Seohyun and I could attack easily.
Soon, the ash knight staggered and collapsed. Inside the armor, there was nothing but ash instead of a person.
“Sung Yoojin! Behind you! Watch your back!”
Kang Myungjin’s urgent voice. I ignored it. I didn’t feel any presence behind me. In other words, it was a hallucination.
[Using Momentary Flash. Remaining stacks: 11]
‘But it’s a little unsettling. What if it approached while deceiving my senses?’
Atlantis was a world with all kinds of powers, so I couldn’t trust my senses 100%.
Fortunately, I could check behind me without turning around.
[Opening the Heavenly Eye.]
I checked the surroundings from a third-person perspective.
It was a hallucination. There was nothing behind me.
‘Well, I have the Heavenly Eye, so it’s not difficult to check even during battle, but… it must be very troublesome for others since they can’t do that.’
“Shut up!”
Joo Seohyun suddenly shouted. Her eyes were filled with hostility towards me.
“What? Why the sudden outburst?”
Did she suddenly go crazy?
Does she want to be punished with my dick?
Everyone looked at Joo Seohyun with puzzled eyes. Joo Seohyun seemed to realize the atmosphere and blushed, sheathing her sword.
“…Sorry. I had a hallucination and mistook you.”
“What did you hear?”
I asked. The others also focused on Joo Seohyun, curious. Joo Seohyun shut her mouth and remained silent. And then she glared at me.
‘Unfair.’
Anyway, it was unfair.
We hunted ash knights as we moved forward. The further we went inside, the more ash knights appeared.
[Defeated an ash knight, gaining 11 AP.]
[Defeated an ash knight, gaining 9 AP.]
[Defeated an ash knight, gaining 5 AP.]
AP was awarded based on contribution.
‘The efficiency is pretty bad. They’re not suitable for earning AP.’
I immediately ignored the AP acquisition notification window.
When an ash knight was defeated, it sometimes left behind about 10g of ash. We collected the ash in glass bottles before it was blown away by the wind.
[Ash of Life
Remnants of life.
Rank: D]
“The Ash of Life is necessary to conquer the sector. We need to collect as much as possible.”
How much time had passed? A notification window popped up.
[Sector 8,837, the 1st Armed Zone has been conquered.]
‘Sector 8,837… That’s where Yuria went.’
If things went according to plan, Yuria would have easily completed the conquest and gained control. This notification message alone didn’t reveal who had gained control.
‘Alterio and the Legion Alliance entered Sector 8,837 without proper preparation. Even if Yuria is alone, there’s no way she’d lose.’
There was no way Alterio could stop Yuria. In that place, you could only attack opponents with designated weapons.
‘Yuria is good at handling all weapons even without special training. The principles of weapons are similar, or so she said. The beginning of all weapons is the hand.’
I glanced at Kang Myungjin’s expression. It wasn’t good. He probably knew better than anyone that the conquest preparations were insufficient.
‘Even so, they had no choice but to send a conquest team. Because it’s a very important sector.’
A few more minutes passed, and a new notification window appeared.
[Sector 8,850, the City Where Death Passed has been conquered.]
The sector where Dario and the Legion Alliance members had gone.
‘That’s the sector Milyung is in charge of.’
I wasn’t worried about Milyung either. She might seem carefree about everything, but she does what she needs to do when the time comes. And she has the ability to do so.
Milyung is also a genius. Not to mention her magic skills. She’s also good at almost everything else.
“We just need to do our job. Let’s go.”
Having collected enough Ash of Life, we headed to the altar in the center of the sector. The conquest would be complete if we put the Ash of Life in the large bowl on the altar and burned it.
‘It looks simple, but if you don’t have any information, you wouldn’t even know where to start.’
There, we encountered three masked men.
A cracked lion mask.
A mask studded with jewels, sparkling dazzlingly.
An octagonal white mask with no eyes, nose, or mouth.
Kang Myungjin’s expression hardened more than ever when he saw them.
“Helten! Why are you here?”
Samuel, wearing the octagonal mask, stepped forward.
“Haha. It’s obvious why we’re in an unconquered sector. For conquest, of course.”
“You’re going to conquer the Volcanic Island? Even a dog passing by would laugh. What’s your real purpose?”
“Is this our first meeting? You’re so cold… That’s too much.”
Was this the first time Kang Myungjin and Helten had met?
I was reminded that things had changed from the original story.
Samuel slowly looked over the A-Plan Legion members behind Kang Myungjin. He only paused his gaze when he looked at me and Joo Seohyun.
It wasn’t that he recognized me. Although I am the Heavenly Demon, I use my unique trait, Deception (SSS), to conceal my identity when I’m active as the Heavenly Demon. To see through my deception, you need a skill or item of SSS rank or higher.
“…Helten. Where did you get the information about conquering the Volcanic Island?”
Kang Myungjin asked, gripping his spear shaft.
“You’re asking something important so casually.”
“Answer me.”
“Haha. Even so, there’s no reason for me to answer that.”
“……The Red Dragon of the Apocalypse is sleeping on the Volcanic Island.”
“Yeah. So?”
“The Red Dragon of the Apocalypse will awaken in three years. And the moment it awakens, Atlantis will end. The end. Atlantis will collapse, and all living things in Atlantis will die.”
“That’s a really terrifying thing. But it’s fortunate that we have three years.”
“…I know what your purpose is, Helten. The destruction of Atlantis wouldn’t be the ending you want.”
“At this point, I’m curious. How do you know that information?”
Samuel stared intently at Kang Myungjin. His gaze was filled with interest.
“Helten. If your goal is the complete conquest of the Volcanic Island… we can cooperate. We’ll even concede the conquest of this sector to you.”
“A decision to give up gains for the sake of a greater cause. Impressive. It’s a judgment that ordinary people can’t easily make. Seeing your decisiveness, I’ll tell you our purpose. The complete conquest of the Volcanic Island? Sadly, we’re not interested in that. On the contrary, we’re in a position to hinder the conquest.”
“……Hinder? Is hindering the goal itself… no, is hindering a means? Your real goal is a deal with the Emperor.”
“Wow, you reached that conclusion with just that? You’re smarter than I expected. That’s right. We’re going to make a deal with the Emperor. There’s something we want among the things the Emperor has.”
“At the cost of the destruction of Atlantis? That’s a pretty big hostage.”
“If we want to get the Emperor’s item, it has to be that much, right? Well, that’s enough talk. We’re all busy.”
*Clap.*
Samuel clapped his hands.
*Whoosh.*
Flames erupted in the bowl on the altar. Green flames burned, using the Ash of Life as fuel.
“We have to put out that fire!!”
Kang Myungjin shouted and ran forward. It was also an order to put out that fire.
“I heard you’re good with a spear? Let’s have a go.”
The lion mask blocked Kang Myungjin’s path. *Clang!* Two spears clashed, vying for power.
*Clink.*
Joo Seohyun drew her sword and rushed at Samuel. Samuel dodged Joo Seohyun’s sword with light movements.
*Clap.*
When Samuel clapped his hands, a shockwave occurred, sending Joo Seohyun flying. Joo Seohyun gritted her teeth and charged at Samuel again.
‘If I slack off here, I’ll become a traitor. Should I take on Harmo?’
Then the A-Plan Legion members would put out the fire on the bowl.
‘It’s not good… but it can’t be helped. It’s better than being branded a traitor.’
I approached Harmo, who was wearing the sparkling jewel mask.
Harmo took out jewels from his pocket and scattered them in all directions.
“I will rent the top-tier mercenary group for 10 minutes.”
The scattered jewels disappeared, and seven mercenaries appeared in their place. Each one was a mercenary with considerable power.
The mercenaries attacked me and the A-Plan Legion members. Two to three members were assigned to each mercenary.
‘Astrape.’
*Crackling.* I admired the sword imbued with lightning as I swung it.
‘These guys are pretty good?’
They weren’t opponents I could just ignore.
About three minutes into the battle.
The flames burning in the altar bowl died down.
[Sector 8,807, the Serpent’s Whisper sector has been conquered.]
It was the moment when the A-Plan Legion, when Kang Myungjin, had been defeated.
“That’s it for here. I think we’ll see you again later.”
*Tear.*
Helten tore a space-time travel scroll and disappeared.
