#202. No, what is this…?
* * *
“Kyaaaaaagh!”
“It is a monster!”
“Hey, save people!”
London, which a little while ago was overflowing with hopes and cheers for the disappearance of the gloomy hour.
But at this moment, all that was filling London was confusion and screams of terror.
in a secluded alley.
behind the trash can.
Or right under your feet.
London was thrown into chaos by the existence of a shadow monster that emerged from every shadow and began to rampage at will.
““Ice Ball” and “Cold Mist”!”
“『Lightning Web』!”
“Why are these monsters springing up when the time for darkness is gone?!”
Alex, a member of the Magus Guild, who had been assigned to manage the items used to destroy the gloomy hour, confronted the monster with his teammates, using skills.
However, their fight was actually more of a struggle than a resistance.
That’s also true, the shadow monster’s power is on par with the monsters that appear only on the 50th and 60th floors of the dungeon.
Alex, a high-level player of level 64, was also a strong enemy who could only handle three or four.
However, the number of shadow monsters in their field of vision was no more than five or six.
Only the numbers revealed right away are at least a few dozen. It was frightening to imagine how much it would be if the number of invisible monsters were added.
He was facing so many monsters with only two of his mid-level colleagues, so he, a high-level player, had no choice but to be cornered.
“Wall of Ice!”
“Hold on! We must persevere unconditionally until support comes!”
Fortunately, the movements of the shadow monsters were not very active.
They’re only focused on roaming around and threatening or destroying buildings. I didn’t really run into them.
Thanks to that, Alex and his colleagues were able to barely survive despite the absurd heavy overload situation.
“uh?”
“What is it?”
…the moment the shadow monsters suddenly feel like they’re frozen.
That is until the shadow monsters, whose eyes were dull all over, turned bloody, began to run amok.
Bang bang bang!
“What crazy! Why are these things like this? It’s not like I suddenly took medicine!”
“You suddenly got stronger?!”
Alex and his colleagues were perplexed.
Of course, the movements of the monsters, which were strangely sluggish just a while ago, became more active.
This is because the power suddenly became much stronger and, unlike before, actively aimed at them.
As if they had been released from the bondage that had bound them up until now.
And unfortunately, Alex and his colleagues couldn’t afford such monsters.
So they were about to be swept away by the waves of monsters.
Phaging!
The Magus Guild members widened their eyes.
It was because the monsters that were filling their field of vision completely disappeared at the moment when a blue shadow suddenly appeared in front of them.
It was too late to realize that the monster had not disappeared, but that he had been moved to another place, and he was taken aback for a while.
Alex is the one who saved him.
In other words, when he saw the knight in the blue cloak, he groaned.
“The Sea Serpent Knights…!”
“Are there any injuries?”
“Where have you guys come from now!?”
Alex inadvertently complained.
Of course, saving him was something I was grateful for, but that and this were different.
They, who were in charge of public security in London, did not show their noses in this situation overflowing with monsters, but now they have appeared.
As a person who almost died, I couldn’t help but say words of resentment.
“If you’re not hurt, hurry up and join the defense line.”
“what? what is that…?”
Alex, who was taken aback by the sudden remark, stiffened.
It wasn’t until after following the knight’s finger that he turned his gaze to realize that he had been moved to the top of the castle wall of the Countess Sea Serpent.
Hampstead Heath, where the Earl of Sea Serpent is located.
The waves of shadow monsters that could not even be counted in thousands of units filled that wide hill.
The guild members originally deployed all over London were desperately firing their skills on top of the castle walls.
And on the other hand, the knights of the blue dragon clan evacuate the citizens and slash the monsters climbing up the castle wall.
Alex’s mouth opened wide.
“Go… siege?”
Alex is bewildered by the fact that a sight almost straight out of a history book is happening in real time.
The knight explained to him coldly.
“All Londoners have already been evacuated. So we just need to defend the castle.”
“Are all Londoners evacuating? Where are you talking to?”
“It’s an underground shelter.”
“What kind of nonsense…! Could it be that there was even a shelter in the basement of the Earl of Sea Serpent that could house all the citizens of London?”
Alex was dumbfounded.
London’s population is roughly ten million.
No matter how large the Countess Sea Serpent’s family was, it was not a scale that a single shelter could accommodate.
But the article’s answer was neat.
“It’s not an earl, it’s a London underground.”
“…what?”
“The Earl of Sea Serpent is the place in charge of London’s security. Then, isn’t it natural to prepare a place to protect citizens in case of an emergency?”
“….”
A shelter built like a spider’s web underground in London after repeated expansions according to the increased population.
And the preparedness system and stockpiled materials that have been prepared so that all citizens can be evacuated quickly.
The article did not bother to explain the preparations and efforts that the blue dragon clan had made over the past hundreds of years.
I just calmly instructed.
“Since all entrances to other evacuation routes have already been sealed, all we have to do is prevent the castle from being captured. So risk your life to defend the walls.”
“No wait! With what qualifications do you give us orders?”
“It is a qualification as a knight of the Countess Sea Serpent who can issue a forced mobilization order in case of emergency.”
“We, Magus Guild members, have the right to reject that forced mobilization order!”
“I will not accept protests.”
“What is that…!”
Alex was furious.
No matter how the situation is, he is a high-level magical player who is respected everywhere.
In particular, such a coercive order was absurd for Alex, who was usually clinging to psionics and ignoring the article of the count family, who behaved like a pet.
Swoop.
But the next moment.
He couldn’t help but stiffen.
“The reason you have received many benefits is that you have also been given the duty to come forward in this situation.”
“Then do your duty.”
“I will never tolerate the injustice of running away from the people I need to protect.”
I didn’t even have to ask what would happen if I refused the order.
An ice cold voice.
Most of all, the sword the knight was aiming at his throat gave the answer more clearly than a hundred words.
‘This crazy…!’
Even in the midst of this, Alex realized as he looked into the knight’s eyes, which were still full of righteous and merciful convictions.
To be just is to not tolerate injustice.
To be merciful is to help and protect the weak.
Conversely, if there is a high-level player who does not fall under the weak, but neglects his duties, it is also their ‘justice’ to punish them immediately.
And the Blue Dragon clan was also the world’s largest smuggling organization that had been slaughtering the ‘evil’ against them mercilessly until decades ago.
“Ah, okay, I will fight as you command! You can’t just fight!”
“That’s it.”
Phaging.
Seems like there’s still a lot to do.
As soon as he heard his answer, the knight of the blue dragon clan disappeared beyond space.
After a while, Alex’s face distorted as he saw the guild members brought by another blue dragon knight acting similarly to them.
And he shouted annoyedly, pouring his skills at the shadow monsters that were climbing up the wall.
“Damn it! The blue dragon clan is rampaging like this, what the hell are our guild officials doing?!”
* * *
Palak.
Meanwhile at that time.
Dark red-haired witch Sir, who was looking into the crystal ball, flipped over a card.
Then, looking at the picture of the collapsed tower drawn on the card, he laughed coquettishly.
“This is my point.”
[…Witch sister, didn’t you say that witches’ predictions weren’t that accurate?]
“Of course I did.”
[I think the accuracy is too high for something like that? Didn’t the prophecy that London would be swept away by disaster come true?]
Yuna-kyung muttered nervously as she looked at the crystal ball illuminating London covered with shadowy monsters.
Seeing her like that, Shir laughed.
“Instead, you didn’t know what that disaster was like. I just knew it was an unavoidable disaster.”
[That’s what’s amazing. Are there originally unstoppable prophecies and blockable prophecies?]
“Of course.”
Sir nodded his head willingly.
And he spoke in a languid voice.
“The magic prophecy is to peek into the fate of the world. So when you get used to fortune telling, you will be able to tell the difference between a fate that can be changed and a fate that is not.”
[I don’t know what you’re talking about.]
“Think of it as the difference between an overwritable floppy disk and a non-overwritable floppy disk.”
[…I can roughly understand what it means in terms of tone. What is a floppy disk?]
“Don’t you know? It’s a cutting-edge technology that kids use these days.”
[I don’t know if such a technology was created before I knew it while I was dead.]
Whether or not Yuna-gyeong tilted her head at the oddly familiar yet unfamiliar word.
Sir calmly continued to speak.
“Of course, there are no exceptions. There are monsters like the baby who will split the disk and change the contents of the disk if it can’t be overwritten.”
[But in the end, the team leader couldn’t stop the prophecy, right?]
“Instead, the result of the prophecy changed. Londoners who were originally destined to die are alive.”
[That’s thanks to the hard work of the Countess and the Blue Dragon Clan sisters and brothers.]
“From my point of view, that’s also thanks to the baby.”
Cyr tapped the crystal ball, to be exact, the count’s landscape reflected in it with his finger.
“Because it was originally impossible for the stubborn blue dragon clan to evacuate all Londoners without any clear reason.”
[…Well, that’s right.]
Yuna-kyung reluctantly agreed.
The reason Londoners were able to evacuate so quickly was thanks to the early start of the evacuation.
Limon’s credit for making Rose make such a decision with just a few words was by no means insignificant.
‘That’s why it’s even more strange.’
Yuna-kyung is suspicious of what happened between Limon and Rose while she was here.
Sir, who had no way of knowing what she was thinking, continued with a carefree attitude.
“Besides, our fortunes are so moderate that sometimes really weird things happen.”
[Is it weird?]
“It’s really weird. For example…”
Quaang!
“Like these wicked witches! What the hell are you trying to do in London?”
“…that bastard is attacking us in the middle of this?”
[No, something like this bottle X…?]
