Chapter 1506. Extinction (16) [Illustration]

Chapter 1506. Extinction (16) [Illustration]

‘That bastard is even angrier.’

Judging by his expression, it looked like he was absolutely furious. The line about how he had failed to protect the pig had to have gotten to his head.

‘I didn’t say anything wrong. He must’ve gotten worked up because it hit a sore spot.’

Since I struck the bullseye, there was no way he could stay calm. It hardly needed to be said, but Park Deok-Gu was his weakness. The pig’s death was unmistakably his mistake. Even if that wasn't actually the truth, there was a high chance that he believed it was the case.

The thought that he held the largest share of responsibility for Park Deok-Gu’s death had always been circling inside his head. Yes, always. To make matters even worse, another version of himself reminded him of that mistake.

‘Of course, his reaction is only natural.’

Even now, he still looked like he couldn't calm down. He threw things at the wall in a hysterical fit. Watching him like that actually made me feel calmer. In a situation like this, the loser would be the one to lose their temper first.

An indescribable sense of superiority crept up in me at the sight of him losing his mind.

‘I won.’

Of course, just because I won this childish exchange of insults didn’t mean that everything was over. The situation we were in was far too complicated to explain in just a single sentence. It was true that I had the advantage in information, but it couldn’t be called an absolutely favorable position, as I had to satisfy several different conditions.

In fact, it would be more accurate to say that I was in a disadvantageous position.

The fact that he knew about Kim Hyun-Sung was part of that. Of course, I didn’t think First Ki-Young knew everything about Kim Hyun-Sung’s whereabouts, but the fact that he knew my weakness was still unpleasant.

Of course, I also knew his weakness, but strictly speaking, Park Deok-Gu was

our

weakness. He could take Kim Hyun-Sung hostage, but I couldn’t take Park Deok-Gu hostage.

On top of that, the fact that I couldn’t lead the war proactively was another uncomfortable point. If it were up to me, I'd take the human faction and wipe out those Outer Gods bastards completely, but that wasn’t easy.

The biggest obstacle was that in order to press the reset button, the continent had to fall into a completely irrecoverable state.

As planned, the Holy Sword Hero had to go mad in the North, the ladies of the Black Rose Salon and the Kingdom of Everia had to defend the World Tree until the very end, the high walls of Castle Rock had to collapse, and even Lindel’s last resistance fighters had to fall.

In the end, if I wanted to finish off First Ki-Young, there was no other way but to personally infiltrate the pigeons’ nest and chop off his head.

“...”

“...”

“It’s not an easy task,” I said.

Back in the second life, we were able to reach that bastard’s nest in an instant, and it was all thanks to the Nice Boat that Park Deok-Gu and Jung Ha-Yan had brought over.

In the first life, there was neither the Nice Boat nor Jung Ha-Ya, which was unfortunate. I couldn't expect help from those useless fools either. I was talking about the ones cowering inside the castle, trying to stop the Outer Gods.

Compromising with that bastard was not an option either.

‘That bastard absolutely has to die.’

The thought that we needed to establish a resistance line in the war unfolding in the Republic came to mind and lodged itself firmly there.

After all, the pigeons’ nest was located directly above the Republic. Naturally, I turned the Telescope toward the Republic front. Since that bastard was still feeling worked up, it was best to squeeze out as much advantage as possible.

Sure enough, I saw a busy and chaotic battlefield. Pigeons filled the sky and descended on the ground. The Republic forces resisted them fiercely, but it looked as though they would suffer a crushing defeat before long.

“Retreat! Retreat!”

“Move! Move! Don’t scatter! We have to move together...

Ugh

!”

“You damned pigeon bastards!”

“Come on! Come on!!! Come at us! Damn it!”

“Don’t engage! Move along the road! Reinforcements are coming from Castle Rock! Until then, crouch low and keep moving! Damn it!”

‘Strike while the iron is hot.’

[Creating an Average-rank Forced Quest.]

[Move the troops to Mesla Castle and establish a defensive line. (0/1)]

[Delivering the Average-rank quest to King Rin.]

"W-what?"

[Creating an Average-rank Forced Quest.]

Plus...

[Delivering the Average-rank quest to King Rin.]

"A quest?"

[Creating an Average-rank Forced Quest.]

"

Huh? Huuuh?

"

[Delivering the Average-rank quest to Jay Pritchett.]

"It’s the voice of God!"

[Creating an Average-rank Forced Quest.]

[Delivering the Average-rank quest to Cheong Jeon-Myung and 99 other people.]

"W-what is this...?"

"Damn it, they didn’t abandon us! The heavens haven’t forsaken us yet!"

"What is this... What do we do? They told us to follow the road!"

"What are we supposed to do?! Captain!

"I don’t know what’s going on, but listen to the voice! Listen to the voice, you bastards!

"Listen to the voice! Listen to the voice!"

𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮

"Fire!! Fire!"

‘At least they’re quick on the uptake.’

I sent quests to the ones who looked like commanders, the ones who looked like named figures, and the ones who seemed the loudest. The soldiers reacted immediately.

They instinctively followed the voice in their head. However, the results unfolding before their eyes made me confidently say that they had no choice but to keep following my instructions.

After all, pigeons began dropping from the sky one after another. The chaotic battlefield rapidly cooled down. Arrows that hadn’t hit anything before began piercing the pigeons, and the spears thrown by the pigeons were blocked by shields and protective spells.

Since I was prioritizing the pigeons that were continuously firing spells from the sky, our ranks began retaking spaces.

Just a few minutes ago, the battlefield looked as though it had no hope at all, and now it could only be described as if a ray of light had descended upon it. The problem was that I sent them a message telling them to head toward Mesla Castle.

[Move the troops to Mesla Castle and establish a defensive line. (0/1)]

[Delivering the Average-rank quest to King Rin and 140 other people.]

"Mesla Castle... They say head to Mesla Castle! Move all the troops!"

"Damn it! Just move! Move first!!!

"Weren’t we supposed to follow the road?! Right now, Mesla Castle is..."

‘Yeah, that place is completely isolated.’

If I were to exaggerate a little, I'd say that I had just ordered the troops to walk straight into a pit of fire. The front lines there had already been pushed back by the pigeons.

At the moment, their ways of communicating with others were limited, but they definitely knew that heading into Mesla Castle wasn’t a particularly wise decision.

[Move the troops to Mesla Castle and establish a defensive line. (0/1)]

[Delivering the Average-rank quest to King Rin and 140 other people.]

"Just move where the voice tells us to go!!! We’re heading to Mesla Castle!"

"T-this is insane..."

‘What do you mean, insane, you bastard. I have a bigger plan behind all this.’

“I said this is insane... We’re going to Mesla Castle?! We’re all going to die there! They're basically telling us to commit suicide!"

"Who cares?! It’s the same wherever we go! Move to Mesla Castle!"

‘Yeah, that will probably give you a higher chance of survival.’

Rather than moving because they had thought it through, it looked more like they were moving with the crowd. The commanders who had received the quest and the loudmouths were all shouting for everyone to head to Mesla Castle, so the ordinary soldiers had no time to think rationally.

In truth, they were already overwhelmed just trying to carry out the quests appearing right in front of them.

They cast spells to designated locations and moved to designated spots to raise their shields. Some were firing arrows into empty space, while others were moving along routes that made no sense. The parts were simply performing their roles as best they could. The commands seemed incomprehensible, but the results were unmistakable.

The pigeons were thrown into confusion. The battlefield that had been collapsing was starting to stand back up. The troops finally realized that their attacks were actually working.

"W-what kind of situation is this?"

"This is impossible... This really... makes no sense..."

‘Yeah, everyone says that first.’

From the perspective of a single part, it was an impossible feat. They had only been turning a gear or playing around with bolts and nuts, but now, they could see the whole car moving for some reason.

Their field of view was simply too narrow. If they could look at the battlefield from a bird's eye view, they would have a clearer look at what was happening right now. This wasn’t the only battlefield where changes were happening.

Across the entire Republic, I saw the troops moving organically as a whole. It had been quite a while since I moved this many troops across such a wide area using quests. No, in fact, this was practically the first time, even for me.

Unlike the second life, where they understood everything with just a single word, the people here had to be spoonfed.

‘The bleeding is pretty severe.’

It added up before I even realized it.

[Delivering the Average-rank quest...]

[Delivering the Average-rank quest...]

[Delivering the Average-rank quest...]

I could practically feel the money draining from my account in real time. Watching the numbers go down was not exactly a pleasant feeling, but I felt a bit gratified when I saw the changes on the battlefield.

Across the Republic, humans were moving around like ants within my field of view.

[Delivering the Average-rank quest...]

[Delivering the Average-rank quest...]

Each had its own objective, and they moved perfectly according to their role. They were moving as if they were in an invisible maze, almost colliding yet never quite coming close to each other. Their paths never overlapped. They'd split apart, merge, divide, and combine. It was like watching tiny cells doing something. Every single one of them was shouting themselves hoarse, telling others to follow the voice.

Naturally, the pigeons had to have noticed that something was strange.

After all, their vantage point was a little higher.

‘But so what?’

"They’re lowering their altitude!"

"Drag them down to the ground! Prepare the nets! They’re coming!"

The difference in combat power was overwhelming, but...

‘The intelligence gap between the pigeons and us is overwhelming, too.’

"Entering the Nelle Coniferous Forest! Move in!

"Sir?"

"It’s the voice of God!"

"

Ah...

yes, sir!

‘From that far away, you can’t see deep into the forest, can you?’

In other words, those playing in the sky had no choice but to come down to the ground.

‘Our people in the first life are lacking in many things, but they’re damn good at a brawl.’

In a small skirmish in the mud, the advantage was on the Republic's side.

"Hold position!

"Sir?"

"Hold your position!"

"What do you mean... Weren’t we heading to Mesla Castle?"

"The voice of God is telling us to hold here. It seems our role is to defend this place.

"Isn’t that... basically telling us to die?"

"Who's going to die? Them? Or us? The forest is our hunting ground. Here, they’re the prey, and we’re the hunters."

‘You sound pretty cool.’

"Prepare yourselves!"

‘You get extra points for having some style.’

"This is the chance to carve into those stupid pigeons’ heads just how terrifying rangers can be in a forest!"

‘Rangers and assassins are nice. Solid, stylish, and they follow orders without complaint.’

Countless troops passed through the coniferous forest. One would think the pigeons would follow them without hesitation, but they actually wait above the forest before swooping in for the kill.

The moment they descended, assassins with daggers leaped out from the trees, grabbing them and slamming them into the ground. Afterward, holes would appear in their throats as they were killed in just a few moments.

Having finished their roles, the assassins melted back into the forest. They were so good at hiding that they were nearly impossible to spot with the naked eye.

‘For now, the troops will gather at Mesla Castle.’

In less than an hour, the tide of the battlefield turned. This happened while First Ki-Young was raging in anger. Even now, through the Telescope, he was still breathing heavily.

‘This is why you lose when you get angry.’

It was right when that thought crossed my mind...

Kabooooooooooom!

“Enemy raid! The pigeons are here! Prepare for battle!! Prepare for battle!!!”

“Damn it! It’s an enemy raid!! Enemy raid!!”

“It’s Dominions!!”

Just as the opposing side thought the same thing as me, the pigeons suddenly warped to Castle Rock right before my eyes. I turned the telescope at First Ki-Young.

‘Dominions?’

“So you’re just going to go straight for the heart,” I said.

— Die, loser.

“A loser like you thinks I’m going to die?”