CH 37.1

About 50 people are gathered around the portal. This strategy uses Warp Portal, so only the players who can enter the party are present. Maybe they’re expecting a tough fight, because there are a lot of people here with heavy equipment who look like they have high defense. Some of them are even wearing helmets and full plate armor. It’s a bit late to be thinking about this, but since the only armor I have on is my robe, I’m worried about whether I’ll be alright storming the place while so lightly equipped.

Three people can use Warp Portal including me. There are also other people who seem like they’re Magicians, but maybe their level is low or they haven’t acquired the skill, because apparently they can’t use it.

The number of people Warp Portal can send at one time is limited to the maximum party members, so you can only send 5 people including yourself. In other words, after some basic math, that leaves us with four round trips at most. The last party is supposed to be sent by me. I form a temporary party just for teleporting with some people I’ve never met.

“You remember the plan, right?! Our first priority is securing the area around the portal! All members, begin transfer!” the tough-looking leader of this siege squad commands as I start casting Warp Portal. In an instant, the magic circle forms. The next moment, the view changes to some familiar scenery. There’s no doubt about it, we’re inside Clermont. It feels just as deserted as before.

“Mage, return as soon as you’re ready. Your priority is transferring reinforcements. Everyone else is to follow the plan and remain here on stand-by. We will defend this place to the end,” the leader orders in a low voice to make as little noise as possible.

It’s a race against time. I disband the party and wait for the recasting delay to wear off. Standing around unable to do anything like this gets me really impatient. How about now, is it done yet?

After the recasting delay is over and I’m finally able to cast spells, I cast Warp Portal again to party up with the next group and continue the cycle. But after repeating this three times, the situation changes. When I transfer the third party and cast Warp Portal again to transfer the last one, I see a soldier on the edge of my vision. There’s already more than 40 people gathered here. There’s no way we wouldn’t be noticed, even from a distance.

“Proceed with the plan! Fortify our defenses! They’re coming!”

All at once, my allies hold up their shields to protect the Magician. I want to give them support, but I can’t really cancel the spell, so I teleport and prioritize the plan.

“This is bad, we were noticed. If we don’t hurry, the guys that went first will get killed,” I say in a panic.

“Calm down. They won’t be defeated right away. The next group is the last one. We’ll proceed as planned,” a calm player admonishes me. I know that, but I can’t help feeling impatient. Though, that doesn’t exactly shorten the recasting delay. All I can do is pray for the safety of the players who have already been transferred.

I finally transfer the last party, but the battle has already started. A few vampires dressed as soldiers are attacking the group of players who were sent beforehand.

Were the soldiers in Clermont turned into vampires? The vampires we encountered in other cities were dressed like townspeople, so maybe the vampires change appearance depending on the location.

After the heavy-armor players ready their shields and parry the attack, the vampires are defeated one after another. The vampires aren’t gathering in this spot just yet. Only a few of them were attacking. Because of this, we were able to subdue them easily.

“Alright, everyone’s here! Let’s move to the city gate, and quickly!”

The heavy-armor soldiers split into two groups acting as the vanguard and the rear guard, surrounding the mages and clerics and hurrying to the city gates in that formation. As we approach the city gates, the vampires’ opposition grows fiercer. A shield-wielding player hits a vampire with his shield, and the vampire is sent tumbling, breaking the door of a nearby house.

“Eek?!” someone shrieks. It’s a child’s voice.

I turn in the direction of the voice. There’s a little boy in the house sitting on the floor. He was probably startled by the door suddenly being broken. But anyway, why is there an NPC in a place like this? Considering the circumstances, it seems accurate to say that the NPCs are taking refuge inside their houses, but didn’t the NPCs disappear when the event started? Maybe they were just staying inside their houses. But there weren’t any NPCs in the other towns. Why is Clermont the only one that’s different?

As these questions pass through my mind, the vampire stands up. The battle isn’t over just yet. I dismiss those thoughts and focus on the vampire.

But the vampire isn’t looking at me, it’s looking down at the boy. It swings its hand towards the boy. Is the vampire targeting the NPC?!

“S**t, Mana Bolt!”

Even if he’s just an NPC, I won’t let it attack a little boy! Casting the spell I’ve used countless times in the past, I hit the vampire in the face. It’s not very effective against a high-level vampire. Even so, the hit to the face causes it to flinch. It steps back, and I take the opportunity to grab the boy and run. Meanwhile, another player lands the finishing blow on the vampire.

“Are you alright?”

The boy trembles, unable to speak in the midst of all this chaos, but my words seem to have gotten through to him, because he nods his head. I put him down, and someone who seems like the boy’s mother comes out of the house and hugs him. It’s kind of heartwarming. After they’re done, I go back on the road to the city gates.

As I approach the city gates, I hear a commotion from outside the walls. Apparently, the main unit outside is pretty close to the walls. We made it through the vampires’ opposition, and as a result, we were able to occupy the city gates without losing anyone. I thought they would put up more of a fight, so I’m kind of disappointed.

Clermont’s city gate is a drawbridge. We go up to the second floor of the gate and operate the winch to lower the drawbridge. …If it’s a drawbridge, why were they using barricades? Well, thanks to that, I was able to get out of Clermont, though.

With the gate open, the main unit comes rushing into Clermont. Having executed the plan, we come down from the second floor to rejoin our allies, but it’s already turned into h**l on earth. A group of surviving vampires counterattacked and plunged the gate region into a violent battle.

When we first come into contact with the enemy, our strength is equally matched. Even though the area around the gate is wide enough for carriages to pass through, a road with a limited width is unsuitable for a large-scale battle. The only ones who can fight directly are the ones in front. In a straightforward battle where the back row is unable to participate, it’s no surprise that the front row would be struggling if there’s no difference in ability.

Although, this struggle only lasts a short time. Perhaps breaking through the city gates has put the vampires in a state of confusion, because their movements are slow and they have little military strength, and the difference in ability between them and the player alliance with plenty of military strength is incredibly large. When the soldiers at the front lines fall back and the soldiers at the back come forward, the successive battles leave the vampires exhausted and they fall one by one. In the blink of an eye, the vampires are pushed back further and further until they’re cornered.

The soldiers who invaded Clermont keep going, heading for the castle. The city is easy to hide in and vampires could suddenly appear at any moment. We can’t let our guards down.

I look at the map, watching for any enemies we might have overlooked. Just then, something catches my interest. Amongst a crowd of allies heading towards the castle, there’s a single marker that’s separated from the group. When I look in that direction, I see a person in full plate armor heading somewhere off the road to the castle. Is there a vampire over there? But all allies are heading towards the castle. Not a single one of them is off the road.

I’m worried. Will that person be alright on their own? We can push through because we’re in a huge crowd like this, but a single person on their own is concerning. There could be vampires hiding nearby.

I follow them. I don’t know if I’ll be of any help on my own, but two people would be better than one. More importantly, this is an event with a reward attached. I’m sure everyone wants to participate, and it’s hard to approach people you don’t know.

The person in full plate armor tries to enter a house. I look at the map, but it doesn’t seem like there are any vampires.

“Is there a vampire in there?” I try calling out to them. The person startles and then turns around.

“Ch- Chaos?!”

Huh? Do they know me? But they’re wearing a helmet, so I can’t tell who it is. More importantly, isn’t that a woman’s voice?

As I stare in confusion, the person takes off her helmet. Her long hair hangs down over her armor. The person’s face is one I’ve seen many times before.

“Roseline?! Why are you here?”

Roseline should have been in the main unit. I can’t imagine that the overprotective Raoul would let her leave his side. She can’t beat a vampire at her level. He’d never send her out by herself where there are vampires on the prowl.

“You didn’t come here without telling Raoul, did you?”

Roseline keeps silent and doesn’t answer. Bullseye, huh. Well, it is a game, so she can’t help wanting to play freely rather than being restricted.

“Chaos, please just overlook this! No matter what, I want to see the conclusion of this battle with my own eyes!” Roseline pleads desperately. I guess it’s human nature to want to see the battle up close even if you can’t participate in it. Even I’d be curious. Hmm, I guess there’s no choice. At worst, we can get scolded by Raoul together.

“Alright. I’ll go with you. But don’t wander off. There could be vampires around.”

“Alright, sorry. No, thank you!”

“But the castle is the main battlefield. It doesn’t look like there are any vampires around here, but where are you trying to go?”

“There’s a secret passageway to the castle here.”

When we open the door to the house and head inside, there’s a hidden staircase leading underground. I look at the map, but I can’t find a passageway leading to the castle inside this house. Was that info on the wiki? Why does Roseline know about something like this? She wouldn’t have had any time to explore Clermont because of the event, so maybe she found it beforehand during the testing period? Or maybe Raoul told her about it.

When we enter the castle basement, I hear a lot of noise from outside. The vampires seem to be fighting back against the group of players outside while the inside of the castle is empty. Roseline runs straight up the stairs to the next floor of the castle. I run after her so I won’t fall behind. She’s not hesitating at all, so maybe she’s been here before. Where the heck is she going?

When we head deeper into the first floor, we enter a huge room that looks like an audience chamber, with a red carpet leading straight to a pair of thrones. Are these players who made it here before us? There are already several people gathered in this room, surrounding the thrones. A man and a woman are sitting on the thrones. The man is wearing a crown, so maybe he’s the king of this country. Which would mean that the woman next to him is the queen.

Despite the fact that he’s surrounded by enemies, rather than panicking, the middle-aged king has a bold attitude, not even so much as quivering. The queen, who’s about in her thirties, is looking at her surroundings with a somewhat cold gaze. But what bothers me even more than that is the fact that the queen looks a lot like Roseline.

Roseline’s roleplay backstory is that she’s the princess of the Allied Commune. Maybe she modeled her character’s appearance after the queen. She looks just like her. So much so that it’s almost like she really is the princess.

The king glances at Roseline. Then, he smirks.

“So you’ve returned, Roseline.”