◈ 494. [STAGE 23] Face
that night. Temple.
Torkel stood at the entrance of the messy front door.
With a broom in hand.
Torkel began to carefully clean the area around the collapsed front door, but Priest Janice ran out from inside.
“No Thorkel!”
Thorkell narrowed his eyes and looked at Zenith.
Zenith, who stood in front of Torquell, gestured as if it were absurd.
“I wasn’t in the hospital room, so I looked for it just in case. What are you doing here? It’s absolutely safe today!”
“… It hurts to stay still.”
“The patient should stay still. What are you talking about? Hurry in!”
Both Thorkel and Zenith were covered in bandages, and the aftereffects of the petrification had not fully recovered.
Even though Janice wasn’t supposed to be in a good condition, she was worried about Torkel and ran out.
Torkel shook his head awkwardly even as he felt grateful to Janice.
“sorry. But somehow today… … I feel good.”
Thorkel slowly looked up at the sky.
Zenith looked up at the sky as well.
“The wind is cool, the sky is clear… .”
“… .”
“The stars shine like this.”
The dark clouds that covered the top of the crossroads were clearing up brightly before I knew it.
The clean starlight sprinkled like salt in the black sky was honestly beating down.
Zenith forgot what she was trying to say to Thorkel and involuntarily looked up at the sky together.
Thorkel looked embarrassed and bowed his head to Janice.
“I’ll clean up a bit and go in.”
“That’s true.”
Janice scratched the back of her head and asked for trust.
“all right. Instead, never overdo it and go back to the hospital room in 30 minutes. Got it?”
“yes. I will.”
Torkell bowed his head and started combing again.
Janice, who had been watching Thorkel like that, before long smiled and went back to her room.
“Is it okay if I don’t listen to the confession anymore… .”
After cleaning the front entrance, Thorkel’s brush continued along the hallway.
The broom that was pushing away the broken stone walls, pillars, and various pieces of furniture suddenly stopped.
Torkel suddenly realized that he was standing in the hallway of the central hall inside the temple.
It was there that Marherita died.
“… .”
Looking down at the place where the saintess had fallen and died, Torkel slowly raised her head.
There, as always, the statue of the goddess stood.
After that day, it was a goddess statue that I couldn’t face because I didn’t have enough courage, but what kind of courage did I have today.
Thorkel raised his eyes and met the goddess’s face.
“… ah.”
Is it an illusion?
At that time, the face of the goddess who had a sad expression on her face as if she was looking down on something pitiful and pitiful… … .
Very little now, but no doubt.
He seemed to be smiling at Thorkell.
“… .”
Inside the helmet, Thorkell also smiled faintly.
Torkell started to brush again.
The cheerful sound of brushing, contrasting with the sound of his heavy footsteps, slowly left the corridor of the concourse.
The statue of the goddess was still standing there silently.
It was a clear, calm winter night.
***
[STAGE 23 – CLEAR!]
[STAGE MVP – Lucas (SSR) Evangeline (SSR)]
[Level Up Character]
– Ash (EX) and 30 others < Expand list >
[Dead Character]
> Sub Party ‘Blacklist’ ‘
– Buckler (SSR)
– Smart Idiot (SSR)
– 19 others < Expand the list >
[Injured character]
– Lucas (SSR) and 20 others < Expand the list >
[Acquisition item]
– Gorgon sister magic core (SSR) : 3
[Stage clear rewards have been paid. Please check your inventory.]
– SSR grade reward box: 3
> > Get Ready For The Next STAGE
> > [Next STAGE: White Night]
***
About a week has passed since then.
Crossroads was in the midst of restoration work.
Most of the citizens who fled as well as the members of the production unions returned and took part in the restoration work.
Before the official funeral, I was looking at the names of the newly created tomb owners one by one.
“… .”
Among them, the names of those who were newly hired and went to the front caught my eye.
‘Blacklist.’
The reason I originally built a casino in this city was to catch high-level heroes.
And these blacklists were a representative high-level hero party that was attracted to this casino.
Among them, there were two people I wanted to recruit.
‘Buckler’, an SSR-grade tank that freely spreads the force field barrier.
An SSR grade dealer who specializes in both magic bullets and magic, ‘Smart Idiot’.
They were promising characters with the potential to play an active part in the first team until the end of the third year, but… … died in this battle.
“Try to treat them as politely as possible.”
It was the first time he participated in the monster frontline, but the funeral service was the same as those who had served for a long time.
It is the same because they gave their lives for the cause.
After giving the instructions, I said as I handed the rest of the documents to Lucas next to me.
“And try to seduce the other three surviving friends. So that I can remain on the monster front.”
SR rank black magician. ‘chain’.
SR-rank Golem Master. ‘Candler’.
SR level inspection. ‘Nobody’.
These three are recuperating in the temple.
After reading the report, it seems like they fought pretty hard, so if possible, I wanted to keep recruiting.
“Especially Chain and Nobody said they fought together in four parties. how is it?”
Lucas lost all the Wandering Knights belonging to his original party in this battle.
At the last minute, when we dealt with Medusa, we organized a temporary party with the remaining heroes, but it seemed that the breathing went well in its own way.
‘Lucas Janice Thorkel Chain Nobody.’
All-around knight, combat priest, pure tanker, magic dealer, physical dealer.
The combination alone isn’t bad.
It is an all-weather party composition that can be put anywhere.
‘Dealers are a bit unstable compared to the strong avant-garde… … .’
Chain is a black magician who fights by converting life force into magical power.
During non-battles, if you recover your vitality to a large extent, you will live in the form of a child.
However, if you use up this vitality during battle, you gradually get older, and when your vitality runs out, you become an old man.
The problem is that the power of black magic is strong, but the magic consumption is ignorant.
It is a difficult character to operate, requiring careful timing and use of magic.
‘And the Nobody… … .’
blind swordsman.
Instead of being blind, it is a swordsman who fights by grasping the surroundings with his senses.
There are almost no defense or evasion abilities.
And no matter how sensitive he is, his ability to hit is terrible because he is basically blind.
Even a normal flat hit is to the point where it misses.
However, there is one way to offset all these disadvantages… … It is the special skill ‘slashing’.
This sword attack, which can be used once every 3 turns or 10 minutes, completely ignores the opponent’s defense and inflicts fatal damage.
‘If you get it right, if you get it right… … .’
In the game, he was a lucky character with an ideal fighting style.
If the lottery explodes, the boss mob’s head is also cut off, but if it misses, it is killed immediately because there is no defense or movement.
Anyway, although they are unstable dealers like this, the high point is certain, and more than anything, the other three are heroes with a very solid base, so there was a possibility that they would get along well.
When I asked how he felt about the party members, Lucas put his chin on his chin and made a m-sound.
“It certainly wasn’t bad… but.”
“but?”
“If we were to organize the party like this, I would like to change the name of the party… .”
“huh? Party name?”
What was the name of the party of these five people?
I blinked curiously, and Lucas waved his hand.
“No no… I’ll do it anyway, lord. I will recruit them well.”
“Yes and… .”
I flipped through the paper and skimmed through the report on Torquell.
“Thorkel is now fully capable of playing as one person in the elite first team.”
At the end of the battle with Medusa, Thorkel awakened his ultimate skill.
He used this to gain time against Medusa alone.
Ultimate [But man is not made for defeat].
It’s a very cool sentence type skill like a phrase written by Hemingway… … In the broadcast, it was shortened because it was too long. Was it ‘infait danger’ by taking only the first letter… … . I also remember the evil viewers who used to call me BMI after the first letter in English.
Anyway, the effect is simple and powerful.
Invincible for 3 turns or 10 minutes. Does not receive any damage for 10 minutes, becomes immune to all types of status ailments, and resists most CC attacks.
For 10 minutes, even if the entire universe is beaten up, Thorkel can survive.
It can be said to be an open fire ultimate skill that completes Torquell, whose skill set is only focused on holding out, into a terminal-class tanker.
It can only be used once a day, and when this ultimate is turned off, there is a minor drawback to the degree that Torquell himself gets a debilitating debuff… … It’s useful enough to be ignored.
‘This is how I secured one more end-line tank.’
Torkel must have suffered a lot in the meantime, but it’s fortunate that he seems to have overcome it well.
I’ll have to compliment you later.
and… last.
I looked at the next report and cautiously chined my chin.
“What about Priest Zenith?”
“… Following the lord’s instructions, I looked closely to see if he had a different intention… … .”
Lucas was speechless.
“To me, he was just a hard-working priest.”
Before I left for the Battle of the Empire, there were two people who were on the list as suspects of Fernandez’ spies.
Metallic of the 1st Corps of the Imperial Army and Zenith, the new priest.
In the end, Metallic was confirmed as a spy and we used it well in reverse… … .
Janice had no clue whatsoever.
It seemed that this man was really firmly imprinted in the church and was going through a punitive demotion.
After reading the report on Zenith one more time, I put it on my desk.
“… I think it’s good to believe it sooner or later.”
Although Fernandez, the head of the secret service that used to operate the spy in the first place, has disappeared, I wonder if it makes any sense to be more vigilant.
Even so, he’s still a man who doesn’t know what’s inside.
There’s nothing wrong with being a little more careful.
“I asked Serenade to investigate Janice’s back one more time with the Winter Silver Merchant. Let’s see the results and then make the final decision.”
“I understand, sir.”
Funeral arrangements and other tasks were left to Lucas.
Lucas gave me a respectful salute and then rushed outside.
It was time for me to take out the file folder to finish other tasks.
“majesty!”
I opened the door and Serenade came in panting.
The rest of the key personnel, including Serenade, had arrived two days later than we did on the flying ship Geronimo.
Ever since then, Serenade has been walking on its arms and helping to recover the crossroads.
I smiled at the serenade.
“serenade. what’s the matter?”
“ah… That is… .”
The serenade that I watched my smiling face for a while is hot?! He made a sound and came to his senses, then slapped himself on the cheek and came to his senses.
And he said to me with a serious face.
“From now on, please show me a smile every morning… … no! Isn’t this?!”
Serenade, who spewed out some honest desire, waved her hands wildly with a red face.
I covered my mouth and laughed.
It’s just a smile, it’s not expensive, so I can spread it all over the place.
“I’m sorry, Your Highness. I stopped talking because I was out of my mind.”
Big!
The clearing serenade looked at me with a serious face.
“A little while ago, all the leaders who joined the World Defense Front gathered at the hotel.”
“Ohh. Everyone is finally here.”
Originally, it was a world defense front where only some fallen kings and border kings gathered.
While I was in the ecliptic, there were quite a number of messengers who approached me, expressing their intention to join.
And I accepted them all, no matter what.
The crisis facing the world now is an unprecedented evil.
It is right for all living beings to join forces together.
It was decided to have a meeting at the Crossroads, including the newly joined kings, and today it seemed that the secret ships dispatched to various parts of the world had arrived here with the kings.
“Yes and… Those kings… … As soon as we gathered in the hotel lobby… … .”
Serenade rolled her bright silver eyes from side to side, puzzled, then hesitantly said,
“You started fighting.”
“… ?”
The accident stopped for a while.
“what?”
“It is as you say. The kings gathered… … Regardless of age… … .”
The serenade had a face that showed that he didn’t know what he was talking about, but he conveyed it anyway.
“Now you have started a great brawl! The hotel is in an uproar!”
“In this crazy world.”
I hurriedly left my seat and stood up.
“Let’s go now!”
“Yes, hurry up and dry-”
“Bring popcorn and drinks!”
“Yes! I will take the popcorn and drinks… yes?”
The serenade stopped with a creak, then blinked blankly.
As I quickly put on my coat and left the office, I shouted at such a serenade.
“Then you just want to watch this hilarious event?!”
A battle royale of crowns from around the world!
It’s not a national rule to watch this once-in-a-lifetime event while wearing 3D glasses and chewing popcorn!
