Chapter 1507. Extinction (17)

— Die, loser.

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

‘I. Will Never. Die. You. Bastard.’

BOOM!

The door burst open in an instant, and several soldiers came charging at me. I looked at them as if I were startled, but I knew this was going to happen. The chaos breaking out meant there was no way Mikael would leave this precious place of his unattended.

The soldiers in front of me were probably stationed here solely for escort duty.

At a glance, their level didn’t seem bad. Of course, they were nothing compared to the named beings, but their stats were excessive for soldiers assigned merely to protection.

‘They’re usable and disposable.’

I judged that it would be fine to move together with those four for a short while. They looked capable of taking a spear strike or two in my place, and with that level of power, they could barely deal with a single ordinary pigeon. The problem was...

“

Grrrk... grrk...

D-die!”

One of them was a pawn. I didn’t know whether he had been hit by a psychological spell or if a seed had been inside him from the very beginning, but he foamed at the mouth and charged straight at us with his sword. Of course, the misfortune of his blade reaching me didn’t occur. I had already sent an obvious hint to the men in front.

Immediately afterward, one of the soldiers rushed forward and shoved a dagger into the attacker’s neck. With a wet

squelch

, a fountain of blood burst from him and splattered across my face.

‘Ha, damn it. That’s disgusting.’

“D-did you hear that just now, George?”

“Yeah. I definitely heard it too...”

“The voice of God... How come we're hearing the voice of God here?”

“Alex... you heard it, too?”

“Yeah, I definitely heard it. It was the voice saying Bellingham is the spy.”

“Damn it... I don’t get it... What the hell is going on...”

They had to have been so shocked that they didn’t even have the time to care about me, who was completely drenched in the blood fountain. The sight of them suddenly holding what was basically a debate was something else. As absurd as it sounded, the scene looked rather familiar. Even their names sounded familiar to me.

“...”

“...”

‘These guys... aren’t they Big Boy’s friends?’

I remembered seeing them during the second life. I couldn’t remember exactly where I saw them, but for some reason, their faces felt familiar. Especially that guy called Alex. I was sure I remembered him working somewhere in the Continental Protection Management Committee.

I felt like I saw the three of them in Stragglers’ Lane during the second life, and I even had a faint memory of giving them a reward in the name of the Blue Guild.

‘At this point, these guys are basically living witnesses of continental history.’

I didn’t know why guys who were originally from Lindel were in Castle Rock, but they were probably swept around by the war and somehow ended up here. Considering they were still alive here in both the second and the first life, their survival instincts had to be incredible.

They probably ran and ran again before they eventually arrived here by sheer accident.

‘So when the hell do I get out of here, damn it?’

𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺

The one who looked the most normal among the three stared at me in surprise.

Boom!

Another explosion occurred, and the guy called Kennen even shouted, “S-sorry about that!”

Then, he started wiping my face with a cloth.

“Everyone outside! Get outside! All units prepare for battle. Send the noncombat personnel down to the basement immediately!”

Kaboooooooooom!

Drip. Drip.

“...”

“...”

“W-we will escort you this way.”

“Oka, but w-what is happening?” I asked.

“We’re under attack. I'll explain the details after we get down to the basement. Kennen, George, get ready,” Alex ordered.

“Got it.”

“Alright, fine, let’s go... A mission is a mission after all. But...” Kennen trailed off.

“What?”

“Doesn’t he look familiar?” Kennen asked.

“What are you talking about?” Alex asked.

“You know, the one Big Boy used to take around...” Kennen replied.

“Stop talking nonsense and move, Kennen. Damn it, don’t bring up a dead guy. You're making people uneasy,” Alex complained.

“R-right?”

“I’m not sure, but I heard he’s the child of some important family in the Republic. There’s even a rumor he’s the hidden son of the President...” George said.

‘What are you guys whispering about?’

“Anyway, let’s move quickly. It looks like the pigeon bastards really came prepared this time,” Alex suggested.

“More than just prepared. Alex.”

“...”

“...”

“It’s Dominions,” Alex said.

“What?”

“I said it’s Dominions. Damn it. I don’t know if they finally decided to finish off Castle Rock or if they have some other plan, but it looks like they’re pouring in an air assault that’s practically a full-scale offensive... Maybe word leaked that our main force headed toward the Republic...” Alex said.

“Wait, say that again,” George said.

“...”

“Did you say Dominions?” George asked.

“Damn it, what did you think you heard, George? I said it’s Dominions. At this rate, we might all end up dead here. Before long, that blond pigeon will probably show up too...” Alex said.

“...”

“...”

‘Still, it looks like at least one of them has a brain.’

Alex and Kennen were making a huge fuss, spouting nonsense that Dominions and Seraphim were going to come and kill them all. They rambled anxiously about how the pigeons had finally drawn their blades, and it was to the extent that even I started to feel uneasy just listening to them.

However, the guy called George looked as if he simply couldn’t understand the very fact that Dominions had come here together with troops.

‘You think it’s strange too, don’t you?’

It wasn’t that he was curious about why Dominions had come here. His expression said he couldn’t comprehend how Dominions could be here at all. It was something anyone could figure out with just a little thought. Sending Dominions to Castle Rock was certainly an excellent surprise attack by First Life Ki-Young, but considering the current front lines of the continent, sending her here was...

‘A stupid decision.’

It would be more accurate to call it a strategy, closer to a gamble. It was practically the same as abandoning the Everia front, where the Allied Races, the Keepers of the Moonlight, and the Black Rose Salon were holding the line.

He had to have pondered for quite a while about whether to send Dominions here or not. He had to have weighed what could be gained and what could be lost. In the end, he...

— I-I hear a voice... Peneloti’s voice!

— Dominions disappeared.

— Move out! Open the gates!!!

— Move out! Charge out!!!

— Charge out!!! Open the gates!!!

— It’s the voice of God! I can hear the voice of God!!!

It was like burning down an entire house just to catch a single bedbug.

‘Right. Since Dominions left her post, the balance of the World Tree front is going to collapse. You brought this on yourself.’

Under normal circumstances, the front lines wouldn’t be pushed back that much, but soldiers who believed they were hearing the voice of God would have no trouble driving back the forces that had been tightening the noose around the World Tree.

The quality of the troops wasn’t low to begin with, after all. In addition, the Allied Races and the ladies of the Salon had grown into quite capable fighters.

Naturally, the allied forces began their move, a sight that soon came into my view. It wouldn’t even be a bad idea to carve a path all the way to Lindel. No, they had to push through as far as they possibly could. After all, I had lost something, too.

‘With this... he must have realized that I have a telescope.’

“...”

“...”

‘And it looks like he figured out that I can send messages to an unspecified number of people, too...’

I felt a bitter taste in my mouth. Had First Life Ki-Young believed that extracting information from me was more important than losing the initiative on the Everia front and the World Tree front? Of course, he probably already expected it to happen, but it felt like he wanted information he could be more certain about.

I believed there was no reason to cling to information that would eventually be discovered, anyway... In the end, it was as if we had exchanged what each of us could trade. What mattered here was how much each side could take away.

First Life Ki-Young wanted more information. If possible, he wanted to erase me completely, but he likely didn’t believe he could kill someone like me so easily when I could presumably travel through time.

Still, there had to be a mountain of things he wanted to know. Second Life Lee Ki-Young had clearly transcended mortality, and he appeared to be hiding many things as well.

He was even under the mistaken belief that I possessed something like the Sage’s Stone. What conditions were required for time travel? What process had to be followed? And could it truly be done without any penalty? I was sure he was curious about these.

He definitely wanted to uncover everything that could possibly be discovered, but no matter how curious he was about me, I could guarantee that he wouldn’t keep Dominions planted in Castle Rock forever.

‘The expeditionary forces will return eventually anyway.’

I had to extract everything that could be gained during this short window of time. I needed to make him realize just how big a mistake it was to pull Dominions away from the battlefield.

‘You have probably never seen anything like this before.’

'First Life Ki-Young is capable. I hate to admit it, but in some ways, he might even be better than me.'

However, I had more things and more experience than him. This was neither arrogance nor exaggeration on my end. At this very moment, he had to have realized that I had more assets than him as he stared at the Allied Races of the Kingdom of Everia pushing forward through the front lines in virtually an instant.

The sight of the troops advancing across the battlefield like a single fine spear was impressive even to me. If given exactly three hours, I'd dare say that they could establish a bridgehead linking the Kingdom of Everia and Lindel. Even the large and small guerrilla units that had been lying low in various places were being drawn in.

The same was true of the Republic front. The Republic’s forces, which were destined to be lost in a pointless way, had already reorganized their lines and reached Mesla Castle, preparing a defensive battle against the pigeons.

“...”

“...”

‘You picked the wrong fight.’

Of course, the fact that the expeditionary force that had only recently left Castle Rock would now have to turn back was painful. It was unfortunate, but only half of them could be dedicated to the Republic and Mesla Castle.

On the other hand, First Life Ki-Young probably sent Dominions here, drawing the expeditionary force back because he didn’t want the Republic and Castle Rock to become connected to each other.

Still, it was an undeniable fact that he had let his emotions drive him.

‘So what are you going to do now?’

“...”

“...”

The dead pigeons across each front suddenly stood up once again.

‘Necromancy, right? So you’re planning to stall for time with this.’

They looked like low-quality undead. Of course, the individual units themselves were excellent, so even that alone would be enough, but I could still tell that his real objective was me. The biggest proof was that Dominions hadn’t turned back yet. I could even see Seraphim landing in Castle Rock with a miserable face.

We were essentially locked in a contest of nerves here.

It wasn’t the most elegant comparison, but we were like two eight-ton trucks stepping on the accelerator straight toward each other. It was as if each side was telling the other to turn the wheel first or to hit the brakes before the collision, but...

— I’ll never back down.

“I’ll never back down either, you bastard,” I said.

At times like this, a single small variable could have a huge impact on the overall picture.

BOOM!

Beneath the castle, explosions and roars echoed, and there, I saw a small variable.

‘Looks like...’

“...”

‘The goddess of luck just sided with me.’

“...”

‘To think I’d run into them.’

“...”

Crouched like a cripple in a corner somewhere, I saw the figure of a doll staring at the wall with lifeless eyes.