Chapter 443: A Bet with the Gods. And Cooking.

Chapter 443: A Bet with the Gods. And Cooking.

A smile hung on Duke Yverone’s lips as he looked at the 130,000 strong army that he was leading. Duke Yverone, just like Eivelis Empire’s Marquis Brad, was hailed as the continent’s Spear Master.

He could not help but chuckle deeply as he watched the situation in front of him and thought, ‘Let’s Eat Sect is falling apart.’

He was sure that the Let’s Eat Sect would fall apart under the pressure of their 130,000 strong army. After all, Valhalla looked like they had no more troops that could fight against them.

‘Although most of the troops that I’m leading are just newly conscripted soldiers.’

Still, they could at least be useful as meat shields. After all, it would be ridiculously absurd for a measly amount of troops to stop their 130,000 strong troops.

Vwooooooooong—

The loud blare of the horn signaled the advance of the troops.

Thud, thud, thud, thud, thud, thud, thud—

The ground shook and trembled with every step they took. It was like a noose slowly tightening around Valhalla, with the loud thuds of their footsteps and their ever increasing momentum.

***

Ellie gritted her teeth at the number of enemies advancing towards Valhalla. That number meant that a single release of arrows and magic would send at least 100,000 attacks towards her.

‘Even if I use and release all of my power...’

It would prove to be difficult for her to defeat them. However, she did not stop cutting down the enemies that approached her. Finally, more than 100,000 troops shot their arrows into the sky. There were only 1,000 remaining troops around Ellie, aside from these, the remaining ones were in the rear waiting for reinforcements.

‘So I only have a thousand allies?’

Ellie’s face turned ugly at the sight of the thousands of arrows flying towards Valhalla. She immediately used a huge square shield and hid behind it to escape from the rain of arrows.

“Keuaaaaaack!”

“Aaaaaaaaack!”

“Ughhhhhh!”

‘That goddamn commander.’

The commander that was leading the enemy troops was foolish. They were about to win the war with the troops from Valhalla Fortress already on the verge of death, but they were still sacrificing their own allies. Regardless, the 130,000 troops were already fast-approaching.

“Can... I do it alone?” A wry smile grazed the corners of Ellie’s lips as she murmured to herself.

Just then...

“You’re not alone, Miss Extreme Hardcore Fan,” Genie said as she approached her. Genie felt extreme admiration and respect for the woman named Ellie. When all of them had given up, she stopped their enemies all by herself. Of course, the difference in terms of the number of forces was glaring, but she never wavered nor ran away, focusing only on stopping the enemies.

“You have us too.”

Genie, Crow, Abel, Alicia, Lucia, Ace, Ghost Spear Ben, Sword Saint Conir, Best Selling Author Aruvel, and Talmor Religion’s Head Corr were all left in a situation where they did not have much MP left to cast skills. However, they all decided to fight.

“Miss Extreme Hardcore Fan, I have a request.”

“A request?”

“Please lead Ben, Aruvel, Corr, Conir, and the citizens of Valhalla away.”

“...”

Ellie could understand what Genie was saying.

‘A foreigner’s life is infinite.’

Unlike them, the guardians’ lives would be over once they died in this place. Asking her this favor meant that they wanted to protect these people.

“We’ll open a path for you.”

Ellie looked at the members of Let’s Eat Sect. Genie was completely exhausted, blood dripping all over her body. Crow’s arm was injured and completely unusable. Lucia was also using a broken dagger, since she had no time to get it repaired before jumping in the fray again.

‘I did not expect that the foreigners and the guardians would be in great harmony...’

Ellie did not believe and trust the foreigners. But now, these foreigners were trying their best to protect the guardians, to the point that they were willing to sacrifice their lives for them.

‘Minhyuk, the kingdom that you are building is completely amazing.’

Ellie nodded slowly to show her acceptance.

“Hahaha. Lady Extreme Hardcore Fan, please take good care of our Conir, Corr and Aruvel,” Ghost Spear Ben said as he stepped forward. He looked tired but he was smiling and his eyes were still shining fiercely.

“I have to open one more path to save one more person.”

“Grandpa Ben.”

“I’ve never learnt the words back down,” Ghost Spear Ben said, ramming his spear down on the ground.

Meanwhile, the kingdom troops continued to narrow the distance between them. However, Ben believed that he would be able to stop the enemies’ advance for a moment if he gave up his life.

“Conir won’t go! Conir will protect hyung’s territory!” Conir declared as he stood beside Ben.

The same was true for Best Selling Author Aruvel. He stood beside them and declared, “I’m going to get good inspiration today and create a great work. A story about a knight who fell in love with the enemy. What do you think?!”

“I will free these poor and pitiful souls from hair loss!”

The guild members also realized the situation that they were in. The enemies would not let the NPCs escape easily.

“What do you mean by protect us? We’ll protect you!”

“You can’t!!! Please don’t be stubborn!!!” Genie pleaded with Ghost Spear Ben. Ben could hear the sincerity in her voice, but he never once backed down in his life, so he tried his best to ignore her words.

“Minhyuk... Minhyuk will be sad!!!”

“...”

Ghost Spear Ben gritted his teeth. That was his lord, the person that he treated like he was his own son! As his vassal, leaving this world without seeing him for the last time would be very unfaithful. Ben silently went back and blended in with the guild members. The guild members gave their all and threw everything away to protect the NPCs. But then, the kingdom troops began their full-scale attack. The knights sent hundreds of sword lights while the mages kept on sending magic bombs.

“Ugh!”

The guild members guarded the NPCs and blocked the enemy attacks with their own bodies. Crow threw himself in front of Ghost Spear Ben and blocked the arrow that was aiming for Ben, watching as it impaled his stomach.

Stab—

“Keuhaaaack!”

One of the knights’ spear pierced through Genie, while Abel and Lucia continued to fight desperately to create a path of retreat for the NPCs. However, one of the mage’s magic would reach Lucia and force her to disappear.

“Lucia!” Abel shouted in despair.

At the same time, one of the Pinnacle Strong Men aimed for Conir with his powerful sword strike.

Flaaaaash—

Abel immediately threw himself to block the sword light.

“Keuhaaaaaaaaack!”

Abel, whose body was split in half from the attack, slowly disappeared.

“Conir... Conir is sad... Abel... sorry...” Conir said, fat droplets of tears lining his cheeks.

“Protect them! Protect every single one of them! You can’t let any of them die!!!”

“Uwaaaaaaaaah!”

The guild members screamed loudly as they made their final struggle.

***

Joy Co. Ltd.’s president, Kang Taehoon, watched the video inside the conference room with the rest of the executive members. He felt his heart tremble and shake as the thought, ‘The Athenae that I dreamed of...’ flashed in his head.

A world where everyone accepted the NPCs as people and became friends with them, and not just consider them as some measly artificial intelligence. This was the world that he wanted to create. However, it proved to be difficult since most people only considered the NPCs as simple artificial intelligence.

However, on the screen in front of him, Let’s Eat Sect was making their final stand to protect these NPCs.

Regardless of their struggles, it seemed like they could not hold out any longer. They eventually collapsed. Genie, with a spear stuck in her abdomen, retreated while vomiting a mouthful of blood. Even Crow was covered with swords and slashes. However, they did not back down and even went so far as to rush forward.

The worst part? Ben had to step forward and fight too. But soon, he also could not hold out and was forced to kneel down on one knee.

‘My heart aches.’

Athenae was, after all, a dog-eat-dog kind of world. It seemed like Let’s Eat Sect would eventually collapse. Loki, one of the Pinnacle Strong Men, approached the collapsed Ghost Spear Ben and tried to behead him.

“...”

President Kang Taehoon shut his eyes. Ghost Spear Ben cherished Minhyuk like he was his own son, so he did not want to see him die.

“He’s going to hit...”

President Kang Taehoon unknowingly clenched his fists when he heard the voices of the executives around him. But then, at that moment...

Claaaaaang—

A clear and loud sound of iron meeting iron rang out loudly. Was it the sound of a sword blocking the attack? No.

“Where did that arrow come from?”

“A small arrow was able to block Loki’s sword?”

Hearing the commotion that started to brew among the executives, President Kang Taehoon slowly opened his eyes. What greeted him was the flustered Loki who was busy looking around trying to search for the enemy that sent the arrow. Just when Loki gave up on finding the source and was about to swing his sword again...

Thud, thud, thud, thud, thud, thud, thud—

...arrows appeared again and pierced his heart in quick succession.

“...?!”

“...?!”

“...?!”

The door suddenly slammed open while the executives were still trying to reel in their shock. Team Leader Park, with a messy head and red eyes, barged inside the room. His dead eyes, which looked strangely similar to Dongtae[1], was burning with life and determination once again as he smiled subtly at the monitor. He said, “They’re finally here...”

Everyone, including President Kang Taehoon, looked at the monitor as Team Leader Park continued to say, “...Player Minhyuk’s miracle.”

1. The protagonist of DICE, someone with very dark undereye ☜