Season 4: Chapter 227. The Closing Show (2)

Fwoooosh!

Violet flames surged and carved a path through the monster wave. Everyone sprinted down the corridor that momentarily opened.

“R-Run! Everyone, run!”

“

Waaaaaah!

”

They managed to escape the library, but couldn’t continue.

Thud!

“!?”

Things were even worse outside the library.

“A-Are you kidding me? What is this, some kind of doorcrasher?”

“What is this scale?”

Monsters, waiting for them, completely packed the underground tunnel.

— DAMN

— Holy shit

— That wasn’t even all of them!?

— LOL we’re done

— Damn you!!

— They’d go this far just to collect usage fees?

Even Almond felt shaken.

‘If there are this many... This might not work.’

His Guardian skill had a cooldown. Without it, he couldn’t output enough firepower to open another path.

“It’s... There are too many!”

Like trying to cut the sea with a blade only for the water to rush back in, the monsters kept pouring forth.

“Damn it!? What the hell?! Even though we’re boosted by Treevy!”

“

U-Uaaaaah!

My lord!!”

Kwaaang!

Almond’s arrow split the monster sea once more.

“

Grrrraaaah...!

”

However, their numbers continued to increase. The stronger Treevy’s power grew, the more monsters were drawn to it.

They no longer looked like the cute

Survival Craft

monsters from before. Their bodies had all turned black. They melted into something ghostlike and flapped about like living black cloaks.

A violet flame, the Expedition Squad, burned within the boundless black ocean. They struggled desperately through the sea, but the dead black waters kept grabbing at their legs.

“

Uuuaaaah...!

”

“Moooneeey... Pay up...”

The monsters began to speak.

“You crazy bastards! I don’t have any money!”

Smash!

Zelu crushed the head of a monster clinging to him with his red hammer. “Why does it feel like you’re all targeting me in particular!?”

The monsters focused especially on Zelu.

“No, seriously, how many hours has this been going on!?”

No matter how many times they broke through, the monsters blocked them again.

It wasn’t just Zelu. The amount attacking Almond was high as well, but Almond deflected and countered everything.

“Why is it only the Lord and me...?”

Zelu realized something.

He adjusted his sunglasses and muttered, “

Hah...

So it comes to this in the end.”

— ?

— ??

— What

— Ah...

The monsters reacted to chakra. It was painfully obvious.

Zelu turned around. “Someone has to stay behind.”

“S-Scrub Zelu!?”

“Zelu!”

Everyone in the Expedition Squad turned to look at him. At some point, Zelu had fallen to the very back. The monsters had obstructed him from advancing.

Clack.

He hoisted his red hammer onto his shoulder and gave everyone else a thumbs-up. The black sea surged forward and swallowed him bit by bit.

“My father once said... the grandson’s name would be... Zel... Huh? I have no wife? Just let that slide.”

He tried to leave behind words about who would succeed him, but the viewers were heckling him for having no wife.

“Nooooo!!”

Thud!

Parsley, from Paprika, collapsed. “The kid’s name!? You have to at least tell us the name! Zelu, you bastard! W-What am I supposed to do!?”

Sob, sob.

Parsley’s acting was a little too intense. Everyone began to catch on.

— ?

— Parsley is the one giving birth? Lol

— They’re really doing this hahaha

— Zelu’s will lives on!

Potato Servant played along, grabbing Parsley and pulling her back. “D-Don’t go! If you go, his sacrifice will be for nothing! We, we have to save the child!”

Fully committing, Potato Servant switched to a tear-streaked expression with gritted teeth.

Zelu grinned. “Then I can go without worries.”

Clack.

He raised his red hammer high as the black sea swallowed him whole.

“The child’s name... is Zela.”

A massive hammer appeared in the sky.

[Hell’s Forging]

It fell and crushed countless monsters beneath it.

Kwagwang!

Hellfire erupted, and the sea of monsters violently heaved.

— NOOOO

— What a sacrifice...

— Just like his father, leaving through art...

— The Legend of Zela

— Zelu!!

Countless monsters turned to dust, and a huge hole opened in the black sea.

Shooooo!

As fast as the hole opened, an even faster tide of monsters rushed in to fill it.

“

Grrrraaah...

Moooneeey...”

“Payyy up...”

Kwagwang!

Bang!

Several more massive tremors rang out. Then, the sea grew still again.

Kwadudududud...

Only a dreadful sound seeped faintly from the depths of the abyss.

“

Aaaaaaah!

”

Potato Servant hoisted the screaming Parsley onto his back, and the Expedition Squad ran forward again.

At the very front, Almond kept firing arrows to open the path. Zelu’s sacrifice and Almond’s advance overlapped, carving a path forward.

Orange sprinted with the Saintess on his back. “The path is completely open!”

The Knights and the three Paprika members followed behind.

Shrimp, the leader of Team Rocket who once tried to rescue Zelo and brought back Zelu to raise him, wiped away his tears. “You grew up well, Zelu.”

He sniffed.

“You were just like your father.”

— So sad...

— Leaving like art again

— Damn it!

— Zelu...

***

After pushing through the monsters that surged like a tidal wave, the Expedition Squad arrived at the ruins of the ancient city of Treevy.

“

Huff... huff...

Is that it? Are they not coming anymore?”

“Who knows? They might come back.”

For now, the monsters stopped pouring in.

[08:53:12]

The remaining time had dropped into the eight-hour range.

Orange gently laid the Saintess down on the ground. “From here on, I’ll handle it.”

He picked up the Treevy orb and headed deeper inside.

“There’s a hidden space beneath Treevy’s temple.”

He descended underground and found a massive machine with a circular slot left empty.

“It goes in here.”

He inserted Treevy, and a heavy vibration rippled outward.

Kuuung.

Gradually, the underground space began to brighten.

“T-The lights are coming on!”

The temple lit up. Not only did every candle ignite, but even the powered lighting systems activated. Most striking of all, violet flames burst to life atop the chalice held by the goddess’s statue at the temple’s center.

“

Whoa...!

”

Starting from the temple, nearby buildings also lit up one by one. The ancient city of Treevy was restarting.

— DAMN

— Watching this beauty in 720p

— Damn

— The retro quality makes it feel like real nostalgia...

— Did they actually revive it???

Orange jumped up and down in excitement. “

Waaaaah!

We did it! We really did it!”

Plenty of time remained.

“

Waaaaaaaah!!

”

“As expected! The Orange of sheer obsession! World First Kill Orange!”

His Paprika teammates cheered him on enthusiastically. The Cheese villagers felt happy too, but Almond alone looked dissatisfied.

— The Lord’s expression doesn’t look good LOL

— Does Almond not get what’s been solved?

— What is it??

Even some viewers noticed Almond deep in thought. It didn’t take long before everyone wore the same expression.

“Wait... but don’t we have too much time left?”

“And nothing’s happening after the lights came on.”

“

Hmm...

Do we just go back to Cheese Village now?”

[08:31:41]

Eight hours and thirty minutes still remained.

‘This is strange.'

Treevy had lit up, and the buildings became operational again. They had clearly accomplished something, but nothing followed.

At that moment, Almond turned to Orange. “Orange, why did we have to revive this place anyway?”

“Huh?”

“Treevy City, why bring it back?”

— ?

— ???

— What is he saying? LOL

— Why revive it??

The chat exploded in confusion as well.

“Because the Saintess asked us to? She said we should bring it back. She asked if we’d help save Treevy...”

“No.” Almond shook his head firmly. “She didn’t ask us to revive Treevy. She asked if we’d fight for nothing.”

Was that so? Orange’s eyes widened.

‘Wait. No, that’s not right...’

However, Almond wasn’t entirely wrong either. For a split second, Orange almost got fooled.

Almond had only recalled the first thing the Saintess said.

After finding the Treevy orb, she had clearly said, “With this, we must raise the city of Treevy, buried underground, back to the surface.”

And just before collapsing, Treeana had asked, “Why did he completely forget that part?”

Obviously, Almond hadn’t heard it because he was eating dinner.

“That’s right,” Almond said with absolute confidence, “Our quest is to stop the dragon, right?”

Sometimes, great discoveries were born from coincidence.

Orange felt as if he’d been struck in the head.

‘Holy shit. Almond is right.’

He checked the quest again.

[Main Scenario Quest #3]

[World Boss Raid]

[Description: The Dragon of Streaming Destruction has revealed itself. This is earlier than expected. It seeks to conquer and dominate everything. You must stop it.]

[Objective: Drive away the Dragon of Streaming Destruction]

[Failure: Server Shutdown]

Saving Treevy and driving away the Dragon of Streaming Destruction... At present, no direct connection existed between the two. Reviving Treevy hadn’t strengthened their chakra. The Dragon of Streaming Destruction hadn’t come here either.

“The quest is to drive away the Dragon of Streaming Destruction... Treevy has nothing to do with it...”

— DAMN

— What is this accuracy rate, Almondoyle!?

— Holy shit

— Almondoyle! Almondoyle! Almondoyle!

— Wait, that’s true??

— External walnut installed?!

Ironically, Almond could see the core of the problem more clearly because he had a gap in his memory. The viewers busily chanted, “Almondoyle!”, but the truly important point lay somewhere else.

“Then, where did the Dragon of Streaming Destruction go?”

He wasn’t anywhere near the Expedition Squad.

***

“

Waaah!

” Zelu was reborn in his house. “Hello. I’m Zela?”

He was now Zela.

— Zel family trait: the father always dies

— Feels familiar LOL

— Breaking: Cheese Village birthrate surpasses Korea

— LMAO

— Hi Zela

“Please don’t say scary things like my father died. I’m still a baby, you know?” Zela stepped outside. “I think I’ve done enough. I’ll just farm the land my father left behind... Huh?”

He planned to greet the villagers first. With that peaceful thought, he walked out of the house.

In that moment, he learned what primal fear was.

“What... is this?”

Half of the village had disappeared. It had vanished as if a colossal blade had sliced horizontally through the village, erasing everything above a certain height. Above it all, only an utterly alien presence remained.

“The Dragon of Streaming Destruction...”

A massive dragon blotted out the moonlight. The night grew even darker, and only its ominous magic circle glowed.