Season 4: Chapter 213. The Reason I Returned (2)

The next day, after the main scenario had been discovered. At the top floor of the citadel, Zelu and the One-Village Alliance discussed the monsters that would soon arrive.

“According to the records, the large wave hits when night in the real world coincides with night here.”

“If we fail to stop it, public sentiment will turn chaotic.”

“Or... it could be an opportunity for us. We can’t farm, but we can fight.

Heh.

”

Defending the village from monsters had always been one of the Knights’ biggest duties. If the Alliance failed to handle this task, they would lose the people’s trust completely. No one was too worried. With their current combat power, they could deal with monsters just fine.

“Although... there is one thing. That roar we heard along with the main scenario message... Wasn’t that some kind of monster?” Someone speculated that a new monster had appeared.

“Every time a new wave comes, it’s always a tier stronger. Even the Knights never had the luxury of relaxing during the big waves.”

“Are you sure about that, ForeverAlone?” Zelu looked toward him.

“Yes.” ForeverAlone slightly nodded while leaning against a far pillar.

He acted as if he weren’t participating in the meeting at all.

— look at that pose lol

— full chuuni energy

— this ISN’T a bit, that’s the scariest part

— ForeverAlone the Wandering Knight lmao

— man thinks he’s in a different anime

Even the Alliance members whispered about ForeverAlone’s attitude.

Onion, in particular, always complained that ForeverAlone needed to be cut loose. “Hey, you bastard! Is that how you treat the leader!? Participate properly for once!”

ForeverAlone ignored him, eyes drifting elsewhere as if Onion didn’t exist.

“That disrespectful brat. Something went wrong when that worm got injected into him.” Onion couldn’t understand why the leader kept defending someone like him.

Bang!

The door to the audience room burst open, and people rushed inside.

“C-Chief! A huge problem!”

“What?”

“T-The citizens of Cheese Village...!”

“What?”

“They’ve all risen up!!”

Zelu froze. “The Lord didn’t even come back in person. All he did was trigger some announcement.”

The Lord hadn’t truly returned. The notification simply stated that he was doing something somewhere. No one even knew what that something was.

“Yet this is the reaction?”

— fr

— what IS this?

— Cheese villagers, you traitorous idiots...

— they get riled up without the Lord even present, unbelievable

— man this is painful lol

Zelu clenched his jaw. “I’ve been working... so hard!”

— LMAO

— it’s not enough bro...

— he’s about to go full villain arc

— no matter how hard you work, you can’t beat the giga-Chad Lord

“What shall we do, Chief?”

***

A few hours earlier, in a Cheese Village alley...

“Hey. You little shit.”

Thud. Thud.

Several Paprika folk stomped on a fallen Cheese villager.

Bubblegum had gotten too excited at the Lord’s message and started handing out special editions anywhere he could. The Paprika thugs had caught him. One of them grabbed a copy of the flyer and ripped it in half.

“You think spreading this crap will do anything, huh?”

“D-Don’t... don’t tear it.” Bubblegum glared at him even from the ground.

— Oh no...

— man the acting is unreal

— Gum bro...

— wasn’t this guy a corrupt media CEO? why is this suddenly tragic?

— insane immersion wtf

Bubblegum wasn’t exactly weak-willed, but the thugs didn’t back down either.

“You dare stare straight at a Paprika villager?”

Crack!

A boot slammed into Bubblegum’s face.

“You’re a miner! I’m from Paprika! Got it!?”

— bro what lmaooo

— weren’t you guys the ones shouting “Miners are great” earlier

— these bastards are infuriating

A shadow fell over the Paprika villager’s smug grin. The goons around him snickered.

“Ah~ we are short on Fertile Soil. Want us to make some more?

Hmm?

”

Fwooom...

The flame mage among them conjured a blaze and burned the pile of flyers.

“Stop... Don’t...”

“What? Still yapping?”

“The Lord’s face... Don’t damage it!!” Bubblegum leaped up and charged.

However, he was only a storyteller with no offensive power at all. The Paprika villagers, on the other hand, all possessed combat classes.

“You crazy idiot!”

Crack!

Bubblegum’s jaw snapped sideways.

“My turn!”

Boom!

He went flying.

— oh god...

— this is brutal

— holy crap

— screw these Paprika losers

— stop hurting my boy Gum

Thud.

Bubblegum hit the ground and groaned, still trying to move.

“Oh? You awake now? This is what happens when you go against Paprika.” One thug leaned in and mocked him. “I’ll make it easy for you.”

Fire surged in his palm. They didn’t turn red for killing Cheese villagers. It wasn’t murder, but just cultivation.

“Now... become Fertile Soil.”

— no please!

— GUM BRO NO

— I hate this so much

— now that it’s happening in reverse, it feels even worse

FWOOOOSH!

The flames shot forward. Suddenly, a violent gust of wind swept across the alley.

FSSSHHOOOOOM!!

The flames scattered instantly.

“What the? Where!?”

They looked around wildly, but saw no sign of any enemy.

“Up!”

***

A massive feather drifted in the air. Riding on top of it was the wind mage, Horn Ramen. Beside him were Donuts and MiddleAgedDetective. The three of them leaped down together.

Thud!

Donuts planted himself between Bubblegum and the Paprika thugs. “As a fellow journalist, I couldn’t just sit back and watch this.”

“S-Sir... Donuts...” Bubblegum’s vision blurred.

The Bubble Daily

and

The Farmers’ Daily

had once opposed each other.

“S-Sorry... for calling yours

The Kiddie Daily

.”

“It’s fine, Bluff Bubble.”

— god

— oh my...

— Donut sensei...

— Nonghyup Union solidarity arc holy

— journalism alliance, let’s go

“You three? What are you doing back there? Think you’ll walk away alive after touching Paprika!?”

No matter how recklessly Paprikas behaved, Cheese villagers couldn’t lay a finger on them under Zelu’s rule. If they did, they’d be immediately turned into Fertile Soil.

Tap. Tap.

One Paprika villager kicked Donuts’s shin as if to test him.

Donuts didn’t so much as flinch. “You know something? We were farmers. Forcing farmers into the mines was one of the worst decisions this nation ever made.”

“And what about it? Huh? You should be grateful we made you noble miners! Lazy Cheese villagers!”

“Even with Fertile Soil, you still need to spread fertilizer at the right time. You lot don’t deserve to touch land, so take this.” Donuts pulled his straw hat, the symbol of a farmer, low over his eyes. “Farmer... farmer...”

[Super Strength]

Crack.

His arm grew massive as it shot forward.

The Paprika players’ eyes went wide.

‘What was that?’

“Bazooooooka!!”

His enormous fist smashed straight into the Paprika villager’s jaw.

— WHAM!!

— LMFAO

— holy

— viewership skyrocketing

— king moment

— beautiful

— cathartic punch of the century

Compressed air exploded out.

KA-BOOM!

The Paprika player went flying across the alley. All the other Paprika players just stared with their jaws dropped.

“You, you dare touch Paprika!? I’ll report this right now! Hellsteel troops will...”

“LONG LIVE THE LORD!!” Horn Ramen suddenly screamed.

As if on cue, every Cheese villager in town rushed out of their homes.

“

WAAAAAAAH!

LONG LIVE THE LORD!!”

“Long live the Lord!!”

Bleeding and staggering, Bubblegum rose to his feet and pulled out a carefully preserved flag from his inventory.

FLAP.

It was the Knights’ banner.

“LONG LIVE THE LORD!!!”

— holy

— it still exists!!

— knights come back pls

— the fact he kept that flag...

“Th-Those maniacs are waving

that

flag!?”

“You dare raise the symbol of Nazcheese!? That flag belongs to the tyranny of human rights violations!”

The Cheese government had deliberately branded it as a symbol of oppression, yet someone had raised it again. This time, they did it as if to say, “Screw you, Paprika clown!”

— LMFAOO

— Horn Ramen with the instant “screw you” cast

— Paprika talking about human rights? ok buddy

— Nazcheese SKSKSK

Once the mob began moving, no force could stop them.

“

WAAAAAAH!!

”

“Push them back! Push Paprika out!!”

Cheese villagers swarmed the streets. They overwhelmed Paprika in raw numbers alone. Even those who normally stayed far from the village’s core content and never fought poured outside this time.

“G-Gum oppa... Give me that. I’ll carry the flag. You’re too hurt.” Miho approached Bubblegum and gently took the banner from him.

“C-Can you? You don’t have any combat skills. You’re just... a ranch owner...”

“It’s fine. I’m pretty. I should be in the front.”

— LMFAOOOO

— she’s right and she should say it

— marketing matters

— girlboss

“I... I admit that.”

She took the flag, lifted it high, and sprinted forward. “LONG LIVE THE LORD!!”

The banner unfurled, and every villager charged after her.

“

WAAAAAAAHHH!!

”

— Awww

— this is history

— destroy Paprika!!

— Cheese Village finally assembling...

— legendary scene

“Tear down the statue!! Bring it down!”

They charged toward Zelu’s statue and attacked it with spells and weapons.

BOOOOOOM!

Smoke filled their vision.

“Did we destroy it!?”

The statue was still standing. Only now, its outer shell glowed bright red. Then, someone stepped out in front of it.

[Black Pepper]

She unfurled her black wings and laughed. “

Fufufu.

This statue’s interior is made of Hellsteel. Do you really think you can harm Paprika’s property with your pitiful obsidian toys?”

Zelu’s statue looked like bronze only because it had been painted over. Its interior was made entirely of Hellsteel.

BZZZT.

A red crack opened beside the statue as someone else stepped through.

[Hellgate]

The ruler of this land who possessed the strongest existing chakra, the inheritor of the Great Legacy...

[Zelu]

The Cheese villagers, who had been recklessly charging, hesitated the moment he appeared. Dark Knight Black Pepper and the Infernal Blacksmith Zelu, just the two of them could wipe out everyone here.

“Come now, Cheese villagers.” Zelu held out a calming hand. “If you have complaints, file a civil petition. Who causes riots in this day and age?”

— lmfaooooo

— suddenly pretending to be democratic lol

— WHERE do we file these petitions, my guy??

— Paprika running wild and you talk about paperwork???

— the audacity is insane

“Wh-Where are we supposed to file that!?”

“There’s an official responsible for that, obviously?”

“Who!?”

“I mean, look. We follow democratic procedure through and...” Zelu stopped mid-sentence and adjusted his sunglasses. “... Martial law.”

He instantly switched course.

BOOM!

— holy sh*t

— he saw the entire crowd gathered and took the kill angle

— that’s an actual dictator move

— democratic martial law is crazy

— he’s about to nuke them all

A massive hammer was already descending overhead, bigger and faster than before. If all the villagers turned into Hellsteel again, their will would shatter. This uprising would never happen again.

Miho clasped her hands and prayed. “Please... Lord. Just once more. Save us again...”

— stop i’m crying

— even now she calls the Lord

— it’s over...

The hammer’s shadow swallowed them whole. Miho shut her eyes tight.

Thoom!

Something felt off. A heavy collision, as if two enormous forces were pushing against each other, could be heard. Eyes trembling, Miho peeked through the sliver of space.

‘Huh?’

Through her blurry vision, she saw the shape of a black turtle overlapping with the silhouette of one man.

[Almond]

Almond stood there, forcing back the raging hellfire on all sides.