334 - Knights' Valor Poem 4
TL/Editor: raei
Schedule: 5/week
Illustrations: Posted in discord
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The name of the Knights quickly drew a crowd.
People flocked to the 43rd floor, hoping to establish connections with the Knights or get hired and make some money. The situation was overwhelming.
When the Adventurers' Guild officially started recruiting, it took less than half a day to fill up with people, not even a full day.
We didn't need to worry about gathering people; we needed to worry about filtering them. Han Se-ah even discussed with her viewers how to sift through so many people in just one day.
"Are we taking in everyone?"
"The numbers will sort themselves out."
Of course, there was no real need to filter anyone. If they were overly ambitious compared to their actual skills, the harpies' fierce spear attacks would filter them out for us.
Riding on the reputation of the Knights, the mission was to attack the harpy city and loot the mountains of jewels and ores. Neither the Knights nor the Adventurers' Guild intended to pay any advance fees, and the people flocking in were eager to gather and sell mana stones, not to demand money from the Royal Knights.
Thus began the blitz.
"Push forward! Don't stop!"
"Above! They're coming from above!"
"Rooftop at eleven o'clock!"
There were no tanks, mechanized infantry, aircraft, or airborne troops, but there were mercenaries and adventurers driven by gold, and 5★ characters who could cast wide-area buffs.
Human forces, eyes red with greed, rushed out of the caves toward the city, and the harpies, startled, took to the skies to meet them. Spears rained down from the sky, and arrows shot up from the ground, starting a chaotic battle.
Naturally, the humans had the upper hand. Although the harpies had superior numbers, they lacked practical experience, just like the city.
Some harpies, guided by seemingly smart commanders, put up proper resistance, but most harpy soldiers, without proper orders, floundered and fell to the ground.
And those few smart commanders...
"There! There's a commander over there!"
"Aim for the big ones, the big ones!"
"Even if you don't hit many, target the big one with the spear!"
Because they were much larger than the regular harpy soldiers, they became targets for magic and arrows. If they scattered, the aura-wielding knights would flank them. If they gathered, they were caught in the gusts conjured by intermediate-level mages.
In this unreasonable strategic mismatch, several mercenaries died, but dozens of harpies turned into mana stones. It was clear why mages, despite being holed up in the Magic Tower for research, were treated like nobles, respected by their superiors, and feared by their inferiors.
Not that mercenaries or adventurers didn't die, but that was their choice. If a intermediate-level adventurer without the skill went to the front lines, they had to risk their life.
Old Bobo, visibly angry despite having no facial features, followed the knights with the precious Vacuum Stone, breaking through passages, reopening collapsed caves, and pushing aside makeshift barricades.
"Following the Knights, we're already at the 50th floor. How can we clear a floor every two days? Is it because we don't have to wander outside when we use the Vacuum Stone? The speed is insane."
-We’ve been digging underground for days without seeing the outside. Is this okay?
-If there's a hint somewhere above the mountains, we're screwed.
-We can’t not follow a 6★ OP character pushing forward, lol. Gonna lose out on the last hit?
-Didn't it take less than a week to get to the 50th floor? Just follow along, yeah.
-Forgetting the last hit, if the Knights lose to the harpies, will the kingdom fall?
The game would be messed up if there’s a kingdom collapse scenario.
The fallen mercenaries and adventurers were replaced by those lured by the promise of gold, making their way up the tower. The Royal Knights, trained for war, wouldn't tire after just a week. The mages were replenished with new recruits as the higher-ups were satisfied with their performance.
The harpies' forces dwindled while human losses remained minimal as we reached the 50th floor. The only ones with dark expressions in the ruined underground city were two.
While everyone else was filled with visions of gold and dreams of glory to present to the royal family, the only two who couldn’t share in the joy were, naturally, Han Se-ah and me.
"But what are we going to do? We haven't found anything except two altars... Do we really have to search the city on the 50th floor? I already have a bad feeling that I've messed up the quest."
-Accept it, it's the fate of a frontrunner. If you've drawn in millions of live viewers with this, you should be ready for a headache too, lol.
-It feels like just yesterday you were celebrating 300,000, now you have millions of followers, damn.
-But seriously, we haven't found anything since the 46th floor. Are we screwed?
-There are identical temples on the 47th to 49th floors, but that's just the standard for each city, no hints there.
-If we fail, your strategy will just be in a guidebook five years later when someone finally reaches the 50th floor.
As the Knights advanced rapidly, there was no time to look around, making her expression increasingly dark, like a college student who drank the night before a final exam.
Feeling anxious, she kept repeating her concerns, more like muttering to herself than actually talking to her viewers. She probably thought that she could find a hint in each city to hunt the boss and complete the quest.
Viewers had mixed reactions to her repeated complaints—some were annoyed, while others teased her, hoping for her first quest failure. But I couldn’t laugh at it.
I had a quest too. Not one made by the game company, but one given by a transcendent being that turned human souls into NPCs.
'Awakening quest... Damn it, what do they expect from someone who can't even use aura without the Holy Sword or skills?'
We had arrived at the 50th floor so quickly that it felt almost surreal. Edward Aquitaine showed no signs of stopping, and seeing the bloodshot eyes of adventurers and mercenaries, there seemed no way to stop their advance.
So, the only thing left was to pray together with Han Se-ah.
You're a player, right...? Can't you find something for us?
Using the quest window and mini-map, please.