Episode 206 [ Demon King’s Castle Strategy – 5 ]
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“…Zeus Ex Machina, what is that?”
It was sad to ask that question. Her question was something everyone was curious about, so all eyes were on Lee Hyun-wook.
Lee Hyun-wook pointed to the mechanical dragon that had landed right next to him.
“Like that mechanical dragon, it is a weapon being secretly developed in Laputa’s research lab. Captain Seo may also have seen it on his way to and from Laputa.”
“Ah… I guess so…”
However, Seo Eun-ha also seemed to not know much about it. Although she lived in Laputa for a while, she did not closely understand what projects the blacksmiths were working on. This was because she had been solely focused on ‘surreal training’.
“But what kind of weapon do you think can kill titans and black orcs?”
This time Edwards Woods asked.
“From what I heard, the number of them that have appeared near the camp is in the thousands… Can you really stop that?”
He seemed worried about his comrades in the camp beyond the raised mountains.
Others, including Edward Woods, judged that if they didn’t help him right away, he might not be able to last a few more minutes.
“Well, to be exact, it would be suitable for delaying time rather than killing and blocking.”
“yes?”
“…What do you think is the most appropriate attribute for suppressing multiple enemies without killing them?”
The person who answered this was Brian Thiel.
“I think you can name three things when it comes to big data.”
As the world’s best analysis player, he presented the correct answer based on reliable dates.
“… These three, including wind, ice, and electricity, have a wider attack range than any other in terms of mana consumption, but their damage is the lowest. Of course, as the level of each ability increases, the killing power is maximized.”
Hyunwook Lee nodded his head.
“There are players in that camp who have two of these abilities at their peak, and we have prepared magic engineering equipment to maximize their abilities.”
Lee Hyun-wook continued his speech by slowly launching an AD-2 into the air.
“If I were to explain it further, it would be like maxing out my metal control abilities with these metal boxes.”
It could be said that the reason Lee Hyun-wook’s ability to manipulate metal was replaced with extreme firepower was thanks to the ‘Aerial Drop Device’ series created through magical engineering.
“Ah… you mean those two people who always hang out together?”
That meant Kim Se-hee and Park Jun-mo.
They were a wind elementalist and a person with the ability to control electric current, respectively.
“Yes, that’s right. And among them, as everyone knows, Current is a so-called S-rank player. He is also one of the most powerful weapons I can handle.”
Lee Hyun-wook highly evaluated Park Jun-mo’s potential.
His ability, electric current, is ‘intangible’, ‘light speed’, and ‘projected’. And it even had range damage called ‘electric shock’… so it was quite difficult for the enemy to block the attack.
However, as powerful as it was, the growth method was quite difficult, perhaps due to balance reasons.
‘The way he grows is by being struck by nature’s lightning.’
So, they visited areas with bad weather and used all kinds of methods to induce lightning, and Park Jun-mo was struck by lightning thousands of times.
Also, the reason why Park Jun-mo had not moved with Lee Hyeon-wook for the past few weeks was because he was constantly getting hit by lightning in preparation for the final war.
‘I’m a little sorry, but I couldn’t help it.’
In that way, Park Jun-mo grew several times.
Enough to fill this area with electricity…
“So he will buy us time.”
Hyunwook Lee lifted his head and looked at the camp and the volcano that split it in half.
Although he could not see beyond the mountain with his eyes, Hugin and Munin’s transcendental senses allowed him to sense a certain ‘vibration’ coming from the other side.
Two—two—two—two——
It was the sound of something hitting the ground loudly, like a herd of buffalo running. Even without seeing it with my own eyes, I could tell that it was the sound of enemy footsteps moving towards the camp.
‘…I should be able to last 30 minutes.’
Even though he sensed a terrible omen, he believed in Park Jun-mo and Kim Se-hee, who had become stronger.
I didn’t fully anticipate this situation, but I left them at the camp just in case.
But I couldn’t help but feel frustrated in a corner of my heart.
Because there was nothing to see here.
and…….
‘…I don’t know what other variables may arise.’
In fact, even this situation was a variable that Lee Hyun-wook did not expect… If such a variable were to occur again, how he would respond was currently vague.
Therefore, he had no choice but to trust Park Jun-mo and Kim Se-hee while hoping for luck.
***
This ‘camp’ is an outpost for attacking the Demon King’s Castle, and 2,344 players have currently arrived as an advance team.
About one-fifth of them were combat troops, and the rest were tasked with supporting the upcoming battle.
For example, blacksmith analyst priest, etc…
In other words, the current camp’s combat power was bound to be significantly weak.
However, since the battle took place not here but somewhere around 2-3 km away, the players in the camp believed that they would not be attacked directly.
I thought that even if a diversionary attack were to occur, Steele Rain would immediately rescue me.
So, the camp was currently processing various preliminary tasks to support the upcoming battle while maintaining only a minimum level of alert.
but…….
Ku ku ku ku ku——!
The whole world was twisted in an instant.
In the blink of an eye, the ground I stood on cracked, magma rose, the plains rose, and mountains rose.
The opening of heaven and earth.
A drastic change in terrain that could be called that occurred.
“What happened all of a sudden?”
“…What happened to Steele?”
Even in the midst of all the chaos, the first thing the camp players thought of was inevitably Steele Lane and the others. This was because their existence was tied to their own survival.
However, because they were hidden by the rising mountain range, the Stillane group could not be seen… For an instant, they felt a chill running down their spines.
How long can they survive in this crazy land, even in the middle of enemy territory, without the direct protection of Steele Rain?
But such concerns could not last long.
Ku—gu—gu—gu……..
The entire world was covered in hazy smoke, magma rushed in like waves, and pieces of rock that rose up with the explosion began to rain down on the camp.
Right now, I had to figure out how to survive.
“Fuck it, move now!”
“Don’t lose focus and respond!”
The scene might have been similar to the final scene the residents of Pompeii would have witnessed.
In other words, this small camp was a catastrophe that could be wiped out in an instant like a lantern in the wind.
at that time—
At the exact moment, a wide-area magic shield was deployed, covering the camp like a dome.
yes–
Rocks the size of houses crashed down on top of it one after another.
Thump, thump, thump, thump!
“Wow—what’s happening all of a sudden!”
The wizard players in charge of defending the camp, so-called ‘Camp Guards’, quickly cast an area-wide magic shield.
A moment ago, a battle with an undead army was taking place nearby, so everyone was tense and waiting. It’s too bad that if they had been even a little late, the camp would have been devastated.
“What the hell is going on?”
“…I don’t know what’s going on, but I feel kind of screwed.”
At that time, a sharp voice came out from loudspeakers installed throughout the camp.
– All troops ready for battle—! All troops ready for battle—!
This voice was that of team leader Kyojun Lee.
He was the representative of Director Woo Seong-moon, who was in charge of camp operation.
He was urgently giving battle orders.
Doesn’t that mean something is approaching?
However, for them, the ‘battle’ was not a planned operation.
One by one, we raised our heads and looked around the camp.
“Huh what? That battle….”
“…What is going to happen?”
However, because everything was covered with volcanic ash and visibility was limited, it was impossible to guess what was coming.
But even though you can’t see it with your eyes, the roar is getting louder…
Two—two—two—two——
The deep sound sent shivers down the players’ spines.
No matter who heard it, it was the sound of footsteps.
A very large being was approaching.
Soon, shadows appeared one by one on the volcanic ash that surrounded the area like a curtain, and they began to grow larger.
As the figure holding a large shield and a spear taller than their height became more and more clear, the players took a step back without realizing it.
“omg…….”
One of them muttered in a low voice.
“…Ti Titan.”
Yes. They appeared to be man-eating giants called ‘Titan Hoplites’. The beings that I faced during [Titanomachia]… But they disappeared along with the Demon King before the final siege.
They once again appeared before humans.
After all, it’s in front of them right now.
“Uh, can we stop them by ourselves?”
“…Well, I guess I’ll need some steelane.”
But that wasn’t all.
Geaaaa——
Something small and black moving beneath the feet of those giants… No, it was only relatively small, but the large being much larger than a human was none other than the Black Orc Legion.
Also, there were ice trolls measuring 5 to 6 meters mixed in between them.
A legion of monsters were literally approaching, entangled in volcanic ash.
“…….”
No matter how much he thought about it or how much he forced himself to do it, the players here were not at a level that could stand up to him.
Aren’t these just security forces to begin with?
“I can’t stop that!”
The first to spit out the truth was Antonina Grasso, the head of the ‘Camp Guard.’
She was ranked 4th in the Italian player rankings and was at level 80.
In other words, she was actually the strongest among them.
Even she was not confident that she could easily take down even one of the hundreds of titan hoplites that were approaching this place.
But having to fight with that many people… it was crazy. It was an act of suicide.
“Team Leader Tee, then what should we do?”
After a brief moment of thought, she turned her body toward her friend and gave her command.
“—Listen up everyone! Right now, pour all your mana into the magic shield to max it out, then take the mana potion and get ready to open the long-range portal. “We have to get out of here!”
In the end, the only answer is an all-out retreat.
however….
Chi—ji—ji—ji——
A deep friction sound sounded above her head and she instinctively raised her head. Then she realized that the top part of the magic shield was torn and was slowly melting.
Her only lifeline was being cut.
“…It’s a barrier collapse magic, right?”
It was a fraudulent skill that nullified magic shields or barriers.
“This crazy trash magic….”
She had only heard of it, but this was the first time she had actually seen it.
This was because it was not a normal skill, but a part of black magic based on ‘human sacrifice’.
“Oh—I’m thrilled that you realize how expensive my magic is.”
A voice rang out from above her head through loudspeaker magic.
When she raised her head, she noticed that the volcanic ash covering the sky was slowly fading away and she could spot a single zombie Hippolypo floating there.
And then I saw a woman riding on top of it.
Many people recognized who she was.
“That person is Rachel Hardy….”
“You’re the Witch of Manchester!”
That woman’s notoriety was so famous that everyone was shocked when they heard her name.
Rachel Hardy was a vicious Red Player known as the main culprit in several serial massacres that took place in England over the years.
She is also known as the Witch of Manchester.
It was known that all of her victims became victims of her black magic.
That woman had appeared as a vassal of the Demon King.
“Are you interested in becoming a part of my magic? To prepare this, I took about 20 souls and mixed them together, but for a player like you, I think five would be enough.”
Rachel Hardy smiled wryly and placed her hand on the head of her zombie Hippo Griffo as the creature began to lower its altitude.
And she lifted her staff at the same time. A ‘fairy’ was hanging on the staff like an ornament.
Red light spread from the eyes, nose, and mouth of the little mummy, and as if coming to life, she opened her mouth wide and let out a small scream.
Wow—
Then the black sphere was shot and hit the melting magic shield and it began to disappear even faster.
“Hehe—in the end, my choice was right! I’ve been running away from this damn world my whole life, but I thought a moment like this would come someday! It’s not me who has to run away now, it’s you!”
Rachel Hardy shouted with great excitement.
As one of the first generation warlocks, she endured the world’s oppression of the dark side and survived in the shadows.
Then, she gained the favor of being called the Demon King and reached her peak.
In the end, the magic shield completely collapsed.
“Come on! Let’s go kill them all!”
At Rachel Hardy’s shout, the monster army advanced.
As a vassal of the Demon King, she was given the authority to control 55 Titans and 644 Black Orcs.
Ku—gu—gu—gu—gu—
If you were to look at it from a distance, it would look like a running buffalo raising dust…or rather, a herd of mongooses about to be trampled by a herd of elephants.
It was such a precarious moment, but the players could not do anything in the face of approaching death.
“uh….”
I realized that even if I turned my back and ran away right now, it would only be a meaningless struggle.
It’s like your body freezes in front of an oncoming truck.
But that was then.
-Chik— Prepare your entire army for a storm.
Such voices came out through the mana messenger of camp guard Antonina Grasso and the mana messenger of several executive players.
“huh?”
– Chick— I say it again. every. Lie down. right now!
A woman shouted.
“—Everybody get down!”
Although she didn’t know what was going on, Antonina Grasso instinctively gave the command.
Then, one by one, the players all fell flat on the floor.
yes-
At that moment, the atmosphere in the area completely changed.
The direction of the wind, which had been mixed up due to the rise of the mountain and volcanic eruption, began to flow in only one direction.
Toward the enemy lines.
Toward the monsters.
The winds began to flow like a swollen river during the rainy season.
Ku—wa—ah—ah—ah——!
storm.
A wind strong enough to be called that blew from the upper rear and completely pushed away the volcanic ash that had been coloring the area hazy.
The rocks blown away by the volcanic eruption surfaced again.
The entire cracked ground was lifted up.
And the magma that was flowing this way reversed.
“Phew! What is this!”
Rachel Hardy, who was floating in the sky on the Zombie Hippogriffo, was also swept away by the gust of wind and was blown hundreds of meters away and crashed to the ground.
puck–
There was magma flowing there, but she did not burn or burn because she had wrapped a magic shield around her body just before she fell.
She crawled out of her magma and let out her curse.
“Fuck—what is this! What a gust of wind! “Hurricane Kodo Koshiro wouldn’t be here, so why…”
She even caused Titan hoplites, who were over 15 meters tall and weighed hundreds of tons, to stop advancing, cover themselves with shields, and place their weight on her legs.
She was like a person going through a typhoon. She was able to move forward slowly, step by step, but she couldn’t call it forward.
And the relatively small black orcs were unable to hold on and were pushed back, and some even rolled around on the floor.
The advance of the monster army stopped in an instant.
The wind pressure was that overwhelming.
Its identity is…
Ki—i—i—i——
Although it was drowned out by the sound of the wind, the mechanical sound clearly came from somewhere… Rachel Hardy raised her head and traced the sound.
She then noticed that large rainforests were rising throughout the camp.
“Huh? I must have been hit by a mana reversal grenade…”
Before this battle began, Gordon Price fired a ‘mana reflux grenade’ to paralyze the magic engineering equipment.
However, it had already been restored and started functioning properly.
Looking closely, I saw a circular device attached to the bottom of the airship.
It was an object that looked like a turbine at a power plant. Or, it resembled a fighter jet engine.
It spun at high speed, and huge blue magic circles bloomed above it, blowing all the air in the area to one side.
Ku—wa—ah—ah—ah——!
Because such a stormy wind was fired, the airships had no choice but to be pushed back in reaction. It was like spraying a propeller with enormous output in the reverse direction.
However, it did not completely fly away and was fixed at a certain height because it was firmly tied to the ground with a rope made from the ‘vine of the world tree.’
“Pfft!”
“Soo breath…….”
And with all the air blowing to one side, there was no oxygen left, so players complained of difficulty breathing.
However, this attack could not be stopped.
“Wow, once again the secret weapon pays off! How about it! A taste of Enlil’s frenzy!”
The person who shouted that was Kang Hee-seol, wearing an oxygen mask.
Those storm generators, ‘Enlil’s Frenzy’, were also designed by her.
It was an object endowed with dozens of hero-grade ‘Sylph Orbs’ collected from all over the world, and was designed solely to create powerful winds.
That is why the absurd thing of covering such a wide battlefield with a storm was made possible.
Thump—thud—
However, the Titan Hoplites were steadily breaking through the typhoon thanks to their overwhelming weight, and they soon arrived within a stone’s throw of the camp.
at that time-
Chum— Chum—
Blood burst from their Achilles tendons and the backs of their knees. The tendon had been torn as something passed through a deep cut there.
“Keuuuu—”
And no matter how giant he was, he couldn’t walk through the storm with the tendons in his legs broken.
They stopped moving forward and eventually collapsed helplessly.
Chum— Chum—
It’s already the 6th.
In an instant, the Titan Hoplites were neutralized.
The identity of the small blade hidden in the wind that was cutting them down was only one woman.
The only being that can move freely with the wind.
It was Kim Se-hee, who had already become the world’s best wind elementalist.
Hung—
“Let’s aim for the one on the right!”
She flew at incredible speeds along the wind path opened by Hani in a powerful storm that no one could resist.
As if she were gliding down a canyon in a jet suit.
She also wore a cloak made from the black dragon’s wing membrane, an item that allowed her to fly more freely.
However, as time passed, the Titan Hoplites began to sense her movements and pursue her.
Hung—
Even just now, she narrowly avoided his huge hand.
“Pfft! Pfft!”
If I didn’t come to my senses, I could have been crushed by her huge hands.
“Uh— uh—”
Then her two hands flew towards her and she did her acrobatics, narrowly digging in between her hands as if she were passing through a narrow ravine.
She barely made it through, but it hit her little finger, causing her to lose her balance and spin around in the air.
Still, with the help of her honey, she was able to quickly regain her balance.
But it was dangerous as it was.
“How long do I have to hold out!”
she shouted.
Her mission was to buy time in the first place.
Then Kang Hee-seol’s voice sounded in her ears.
– The final boss will arrive soon. Please hold on just a little longer!
There are only 30 seconds left!
Meanwhile…
Clap—clack—
The center of the camp.
The 14 airships, including Friedwen, that were parked there started up all at once.
And there were a lot of thick cables attached to their mana engines, but those cables were connected to only one place.
A huge amount of power, or mana, was flowing along that cable…
yes–
“Alright Zeus Ex Machina starts!”
Kang Hee-seol shouted and pulled the lever of the control box.
OK-
yes–
A 25-meter-tall, magenta-blue metal giant that seemed to have been carved from blue sapphire stood up.
Chijijiji——
I could see an electric current flowing through its body.
A giant soldier, one of the crystals of magical engineering.
Among them, Talos, who was considered the best, was Orichalcon, and the remaining mass-produced giant monsters produced after that were Adamants.
So what is the body of that blue light giant soldier made of?
Cheoncheol (天鐵).
It was a 1558-ton metal giant made of ‘cheoncheol’, a magic metal that generates electric current when given mana, and various lightning-related orbs.
In other words, if there was a huge amount of mana supplied, this 1558-ton lump of iron could produce an absurd amount of current.
And its engine part was none other than ‘Mjolnir’…
It contained the mana of as many as 14 magical engineering engines and was replacing it with very strong lightning energy.
Pa—ji—ji—ji——!
Even though no action had been taken yet, an electric current began to burst out around the body, threatening to glass the ground it was on.
And in its chest there was a cockpit, or cockpit.
The person in it was Park Jun-mo, the controller of the electric current.
And now he was caught up in a huge amount of electrical current.
In other words, an environment was created in which he became the most powerful.
He slowly opened his mouth, feeling an overwhelming strength.
“Hu— Team Leader Kim. Hurry and avoid!”
– Oh, Park Jun-mo! Are you ready now?
“Yes. Now there is…”
thud-
Zeus of Deus (ZeCis Ex Machina).
The thunder god of machinery.
The 25m tall giant soldier with that name took a step forward.
“…it will become a place where life cannot live.”
With just that small movement, a large amount of electricity was discharged, turning the floor in the area into glass, and although it was invisible, the angry electric current was spreading wildly, causing electronic and magical engineering equipment in the area to malfunction.
And even though they were hundreds of meters away, the players’ hair began to stand on end.
magnetic field.
Electric current began to cover this entire space.
It was a harbinger of a catastrophe.
Its huge body slowly rose into the air.
Pa—ja—ja—ja——!
The current spreads out like an explosion every time the altitude increases little by little.
Pa—ja—ja—ja——!
The torrent spread through the volcanic ash that filled the sky, drawing colorful rays of light in the sky.
It was a strange and mysterious appearance, as if an unknown nebula from deep space had appeared, so everyone could only stare in fascination for a moment.
And when the single figure floating solidly in the center slowly raised both hands, more electric current dispersed, electrocuting a wider space.
The whole world was colored with a strange light that could only exist in imagination.
Soon its hand slowly tilts and points to the ground as if giving some kind of revelation—
The whole world was dyed blue
The movement of all living things was forced to stop.
