Chapter 160 - 160)Charge For Vraun's Sake.

Useless. Unworthy. Better of dead. Trash.

It was always one thing or the other. You would expect these words to be used against a criminal who's probably in his/her 40's, but no. These were the words used to describe a young boy who was barely 10. Did he deserve it? What kind of deeds would a kid of that age have to do to be called such words?

Was there anything one could do to be called such things at such an age? Of course, there was. It was to fail the lottery of life. Since he was born, the young boy was often blamed for every unfortunate event that took place, it wasn't just his peers at school or the kids in his neighborhood, it was his family as well.

He was a smart kid, perhaps it was all the trauma but there was that plus point. He could understand why everyone blamed him, after all, his luck was horrible. Almost to the point where he was tagged with a title of his own.

'I understand. It makes sense that everyone would blame me. I should work harder.'

A small isolated town in Montreal with a population of 1000 or lesser. The basic amenities were scarce. A mini-clinic in the stead of a hygienic hospital. A grocery mart or shop that sold vegetables and fruits as well as meat and other basic necessities, perhaps this was one of the only reasons the town survived. 

In such a small town, with a population of less than 1000, the most important policy was to stick together and never leave each other alone. In a way, the entire town was like a huge family. However, on one day, a couple gave birth to their second child. Unfortunately, little did the baby know he was going to be treated like the dirt of the "family".

'It's alright. Everyone must be so stressed from the work. I understand. I understand it all.'

Weeping while bleeding from the forehead isn't a situation any kid should ever find himself or herself in. As a matter of fact, it is something that shouldn't happen to anyone. However, the ill-fated boy found himself in the unlikeliest of situations. His eyes were wide open, one hand on the wound on his forehead, the other pulling his hair back, revealing his pure colourless eyes.

'But it hurts...why does it hurt so much? Why am I the only one with this burden?'

"Snap out of it. You got this buddy"

'Huh? who is that? What have I got?'

"Come on buddy...you got this.."

The colour in the boy's life slowly reappeared. Everything around him slowly gained color. The broken-down stable that he currently was in, the stacks of hay thrown around, the trees and their leaves that danced around with the breeze.

"Finally, you were starting to worry me there," a familiar voice entered his mind.

"Hmmm? urgh, my head... S-senior Night?"

"That's me alright, come on, let's get you up," Night said as he helped Everzone stand up while Noctis imitated him as he sat on his shoulder. 

"Ah...thank you..."

"That's alright but I think you should log out and get some rest," Night replied as he patted Everzone's head.

"W-wait! What about the..." he looked around to see the bloody mess, the church was obliterated and the followers were all killed, and the ones that were unconscious were tied up to be imprisoned. However, once he looked at Night's condition his face lost all its color. He was covered in blood, cuts on his skin, his armor was in tatters.

"Don't you worry about this. I needed new armor anyway. Go ahead and log out, call it a day."

"Alright..." Everzone replied in a low tone before logging out.

"Okay then, time to see what the notifications were all about...."

[A/N: Hope you like this cliffhanger :) ]

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"I just got a few interesting messages from Night and Everzone...." Nate muttered as he looked at the messages curiously.

They were currently on route to meet with the monster wave in an attempt to completely stop it. According to Nate, they couldn't be allowed too close to the walls, which would result in a devastating loss.

"Hoh? Already? Well, what is it?" Eve asked in a slightly pompous tone.

"It seems that there's a bit of a complication there. The Pope and all the followers there attacked Night...."

"What?! I must immediately go to My Lord! Please forgive me, Sir Nate, you hav-"

"Shush that. Wait for me to finish. He's fine. They won. The issue was that the Pope was a level 200 rare grade NPC. So....." Nate said as he looked at everyone's blank expression.

"He killed a level 200 rare grade NPC?"

"He killed the Pope?....."

"To think he would actually kill the Pope and the followers..."

"Truly The Anomaly....."

"Well, there you have it. I wonder what happened that the Pope attacked him. You know? You would expect the Pope of all people to be rational and impulsive..." Nate replied as he massaged his chin.

"Not really, I believe, the behavior of the head and the followers simply depends on the God they believe in. If it were the Church of Ares then I assume, they would've attacked Night just for the reason that he carried a weapon. Similarly, I would assume the Goddess Artemis definitely played a role in the Pope's behavior. However, wouldn't this mean Night is on bad terms with her?" Layla mused as she looked into the sky.

"That makes sense, I guess it truly is like reality. I don't think we need to worry about that honestly. the church barely attracted enough attention to matter to the Goddess. Even if it did, the number of followers plays a huge role, and compared to the other churches of Artemis, this one was nothing but a small room."

"However, I can't say for sure. The other churches might find it as an issue as well. You know? The excuse of "brotherhood" and stuff. I don't really know anymore man, let's just focus on these huge ass creatures..."

As soon as he said that, dozens of winged creatures appeared in front of the group, startling all the soldiers that followed them. There weren't many, just a few hundred. Initially, Nate didn't want anyone other than the group but after the continuous requests he received, he couldn't help but agree. 

"Don't falter!!"

"For Your Highness! For Vraun!!"

"Kill the beasts!!"

[Morale of soldier increased. All damage dealt increased by 10%]

While the soldiers chanted and raised their own morale, Nate couldn't help but sigh as he looked at their reaction. They were Harpies, the most basic of monsters that posed no threat to most players. However, they were quite dangerous when they fought in a pack.

"Calm the fck down!" Nate screamed as he looked back, "they're just Harpies! You can't go on cheering yourself up for every monster we fight. Watch" 

He summoned multiple blades of Mana and sent them flying into the harpies. In just a second, half of the pack were dead, leaving the soldiers completely speechless. The group could just sigh as they witnessed the power that almost consumed Night.

Eve's eyes shone, that was her goal. She wanted to learn how to manipulate mana, she yearned for more. She needed more firepower, literally as well. After all, she was completely destroyed when she fought Ken, however, Eve was sure that Nate could beat Ken, and for a mage to beat a speed-user was something extraordinary.

[Morale of soldier increased. All damage dealt increased by 10%]

[Morale of soldier increased. All damage dealt increased by 10%]

[Morale of soldier increased. All damage dealt increased by 10%]

[Morale of soldier increased. All damage dealt increased by 10%]

"....50% damage boost...." Nate muttered as he looked at the notifications.

"Wahhhhh!! Sir Nate!! Beautiful Display!!! As expected of Sir Night's Friends!!"

"Long Live the Royal Family!! Long Live Your Highness!"

Nate looked around with a blank expression as the rest of his group killed the harpies. He was confused, just how did the soldiers of Vraun function? What was their fundamental personality like? He tried to show them that simply raising morale was pointless. While it was great and all, it had its vices. It meant that in the face of danger, there was a possibility for the soldiers to lose their motivation and will, and that was a risk Nate couldn't take.

However, after witnessing what just happened, he was starting to rethink if his core thought process was slightly off, at least when it came to leading this army. Even though it was his first time, Nate forced all his nervous thoughts down and focused on being a leader. After all, that was his promise to Night. There was nothing left to do. It only then did he realize how important diversity was, he was learning regardless of where he was or what he was doing.

Nate looked ahead to see dozens of monsters appear in front of them, more harpies, some were a new kind of species but the common factor was that they were all quick speedy monsters which explained how they were already here. He looked at the wave and took a huge breath. One word, loud and clear enough to send the entire army forward.

"Charge..."