The Ruined World Was Mistaken for a Game-Chapter 78.2: Great War (2)

The Ruined World Was Mistaken for a Game-Chapter 78.2: Great War (2)

Translator: Dreamscribe
From the fully opened Gate of Invasion, black things continued to pour in. The volume was absurdly large, to the point it looked as if sand was being endlessly scooped from a beach.
Bakal, the Great Chief of the Orcs and Commander of the Northern Village, looked at the window that appeared before his eyes.
It was a map showing the entirety of Arsilan. He could see the enemies surging in, staining the map black. They were branching off in multiple directions, heading toward cities and villages.
The quantity pouring from the gate was constant, but there seemed to be no end in sight. It felt like something even higher than the Core of Erosion was controlling them.
Thanks to the Archmage’s authority, no Erosion was occurring. That was why Bakal could once again stand on the battlefield like this. He gripped the handle of his massive axe tightly.
‘Archmage, our king.’
Through the map, he could check the status of the teleportation devices installed in each village. The amount of information being transmitted was shown in gauge form. As long as even one remained active, information would be transmitted, but the speed would decrease. Ideally, each village needed to meet its assigned quota fully.
The information gathered and analyzed in Marogo was being sent to Solion, and once the process was complete, the Magic Barrier would be deployed.
‘The pain of a soul being ground down....’
The Magic Barrier designed by the Archmage was an area even Ella could not interfere with. It was because the process from preparation to completion was an immense ordeal. The Magic Tower only assisted with magic power and computational support; only the Archmage could deploy the Magic Barrier.
The Archmage must be enduring incredible pain right now.
Physical pain has its limits, but the pain of the soul had no end. For one who had reached transcendence, whose will was immense, the pain was even greater.
Bakal saw the enemy forces surging in, black and massive. Bakal and the Heroes could see their true forms.
They were shriveled like mummies.
All of them were people of Arsilan.
He even saw Orcs who once boasted of their valor. They had fought fiercely but were eventually devoured by Erosion. They had been corrupted and turned into slaves.
Starting from the villages at the front lines, the whole of Arsilan had entered the Great War.
“So... many.”
“I’m trembling.”
“Keh! It’s magnificent!”
“We’re the first to fight, right? Ah! This is what being on the front lines is all about.”
“Long live the North!”
The Heroes gathered in the Northern Village looked tense, but there was no fear or dread. Even in the face of that overwhelming army, even as they watched that surreal flood pouring from the gate, they looked more excited than anything.
The Archmage called it Arsilan Saga.
He said it was a play for the Heroes.
He said it was a ‘game’ for everyone to enjoy. For the Orcs, too, the battlefield was the only place where they could feel true ecstasy.
‘So endure it with joy.’
Let’s enjoy this battlefield together with the Heroes.
The enemies advanced, filling the area in front of the Northern Village completely. All of them were seasoned soldiers of Arsilan.
GRAAAAH! UAAAH!
The enemies let out horrifying screams as they charged toward the fortress wall. As if they despised life itself, as if they envied the radiant souls, they ran at it like mad.
Bakal exchanged glances with the Northern Grand Duke and gave a firm nod.
“Carry out your assignments! Protect the light of the Northern Village!”
“Waaaaaah!”
“Hold the line!”
At the Northern Grand Duke's shout, the Heroes began moving busily. From atop the fortress walls, they cast spells and unleashed ranged attacks.
Kwa-ga-ga-ga!
The power of their combined magic had reached D-rank, enough to sweep away countless enemies.
“Mana recharge!”
When the commander of the flame mage company stationed on the wall shouted that, all the mages began charging their mana. Once recharged, each company took turns bombarding the enemies with magic.
“The enemies are climbing the wall!”
“Get ready!”
“Uaaaah! Coming now, yes!”
The enemies began clustering at the wall. Their bodies tangled together, gradually forming a hill-like path upward. Like a swarm of ants overcoming an obstacle, they were forcing their way up with sheer numbers.
The Heroes poured a liquid from large containers down the wall. When archers fired flaming arrows into it, a massive blaze erupted across the entire wall.
The enemies climbing the wall all burst into flames.
“They burn well.”
“The experience points are insane.”
“Haha! If we keep this up, it’s infinite level-up, right?”
“I’ll be a pro in no time at this rate.”
The Heroes laughed as they watched the enormous flames rising from the wall and the surrounding area. The enemies were throwing themselves into the fire like moths to a flame.
The experience points were incredibly sweet. That meant the Erosion energy they held was that thick.
Even the Orcs laughed as they watched the scene.
Bakal grasped the battlefield situation and issued commands nonstop.
He looked toward the light surging from the center of the village. In front of it, a mage was busily moving his hands.
[Mage! What’s the situation?]
[One of the villages has fallen! We’re receiving that area’s data and transmitting it together from here! We need to meet the full quota here! If it takes any longer....]
The Archmage might not be able to endure.
Bakal turned his head and looked to the side. The beam of light that had been rising in the distance dimmed and then vanished.
[How much is left?]
[I’ll display it clearly for you!]
In front of the pillar of light, the quota was displayed.
13%.
There was still a long way to go. Though it hadn’t been explained directly to the Heroes, they instinctively understood that they had to hold out until that filled completely.
The enemies had encircled the Northern Village, continuously pressing in, but the fortress wall held firm.
“We might actually be able to hold them off.”
At the Northern Grand Duke’s words, Bakal nodded.
They were pushing with sheer numbers, but they didn’t have siege weapons. The supplies brought in by the staff were more than sufficient.
Then it happened.
Gr-grk! Thud! Thud!
At the sudden tremor, Bakal and the Heroes looked straight ahead. They thought the enemies were just piled up into a hill at one spot. But that wasn’t it.
Something as massive as the fortress wall was rising up.
It was clad in tattered armor, wielding a dull, rusted sword and a shield as large as the fortress gate. Its entire body looked shriveled like a mummy, but the pressure it exuded remained the same as before.
“Giants...!”
Bakal spoke the name of the race. They were a race that had been entirely consumed by Erosion and driven to extinction. Siege weapons weren’t needed, those giants were siege weapons themselves.
“Th-that’s....”
“Wow....”
“It’s on a whole different level from Twinhead Ogres.”
The expressions on the Heroes’ faces went blank.
They had seen boss monsters bigger than that before, but the issue was the number. The number of giants approaching the fortress wall exceeded ten.
“Stop them!”
"Pour everything out!"
They poured out every kind of magic and attack, but the giants raised their shields and continued their advance. Only then did Bakal realize how the other villages had fallen so quickly.
The giants approached the fortress wall and raised their rusted swords. They swung those massive, rusted blades toward the wall. Bakal raised his axe to block the strike.
KWA-AAAAAM!
A shockwave surged forth, blowing away all the flames swirling below the fortress wall. The giant pressed down on Bakal with immense strength, but Bakal held firm.
“Bakal!”
Northern Grand Duke raised her two-handed axe, surrounded by swirling red currents, and struck the rusted sword. As the rusted blade shattered, Bakal immediately swung his axe, generating an aura and launching it. The giant fell backward but rose again.
Boom! KWA-A-AANG! KWAANG!
The fortress wall, which had seemed unbreakable, burst apart. Under the giants’ assault, the wall cracked and openings formed. The Northern Grand Duke glared at the giants, then looked toward Bakal.
When Bakal gave a nod, the Northern Grand Duke raised her two-handed axe.
“Valhalla!”
She leapt straight from the wall onto the body of a giant. Countless Heroes on the wall followed her lead and jumped toward the giants.
“Uaaaaaah!”
“Die! Die!”
“You asshole!”
As the Heroes attacked wildly from atop the giants, the giants threw down their shields and rusted swords, trying to rip the Heroes off their bodies with their hands.
“Ugh!?”
“Gah!”
The giants grabbed the Heroes and slammed them to the ground.
The Northern Grand Duke ran all the way to the giant’s head and embedded her two-handed axe into its crown. As she leaned her weight back and yanked with all her might, the giant, unable to bear the excruciating pain, let out an agonized groan and opened its mouth wide.
GoldSilverAward and his squad leader jumped into the mouth.
“Ugh! The smell. The breath is insane!”
“Can’t believe we’re really doing this.”
“Well then, see you in an hour.”
The two pulled out magic bombs and crammed all their mana into them.
“For Arsilan!”
“Uaaaaah! For Arsilan!”
KWA-A-A-AANG!
The explosion blew the giant’s head clean off.
It was a self-destruct worthy of placing in the top ten of Arsilan Wars’ periodic “Suicide of the Month” rankings.
As the giant’s body began to collapse backward, the Northern Grand Duke jumped back down to the fortress wall.
She looked at the wall. Several massive breaches the size of fortress gates had formed.
“Everyone, close in!”
“Uaaaaah!”
“Regroup at the breached sections!”
At Bakal’s command, the Heroes inside the Northern Village formed ranks at the shattered parts of the wall. Inside the Northern Village, tens of thousands of Heroes had set up a formation. However.
Grrrrrk! KWA-A-A-A!
The enemies pouring in through the breaches were overwhelmingly numerous.
“Don’t fall back!”
“Grgh!”
The traps and defenses they had prepared were breached one after another. The pressure was closing in from all sides. Multiple layers of barriers were forming around the pillar of light, barely slowing the advance.
Bakal looked at the number displayed above the pillar of light.
45%.
Still far to go.
Far too far.
[Please hold on a little longer! We’ve found a way!]
The mage’s voice came through Bakal’s magical communication.
Sensing something ominous, Bakal ran toward the pillar of light.
“Mage!”
The mage, as if having made up his mind, was drawing a magic circle on his own body.
“What are you doing?”
“I’m expanding the core. That’ll speed things up.”
The mage was attempting to use his own heart as a secondary core. All of Arsilan’s resources had already been exhausted. This was the only method to increase the speed.
The heart used as a material would disintegrate in the end.
“One of the villages fell faster than expected. If we take care of everything here, it will ease the burden on the others.”
The defensive line had already been pushed right up to the pillar of light. The number of Heroes was rapidly decreasing. The rate of resurrection couldn’t keep up with the rate of casualties. The giants were destroying everything around them as they advanced.
The final barrier around the pillar of light was now active, barely holding back the enemies.
“It’s an honor to be a disciple my master wouldn’t be ashamed of.”
The mage said this with a sly grin. There was not even a trace of hesitation on his face. Just as he was about to carve the magic circle into his chest.
Grab!
“You still have many things to do. You are the Archmage’s disciple, after all.”
Bakal grabbed the mage’s arm.
“I’ll do it. I’ve spent countless years on the battlefield. I’ve accumulated more than enough experience to be used as material. My magic power will be no less than yours.”
“But…”
“This is the Northern Village. Everything here is my responsibility. That includes you too, mage.”
The Orcs also approached.
They were veteran Orcs who had spent many years alongside Bakal.
“I don’t know much about this core thing or whatever... but anyway, the more the better, right?”
“We’ll join as well!”
“Where could there be greater honor than this?”
Each of them possessed a heart strong enough to serve as a support core. Hearts that had endured through the years were as tough as steel. The weight of guilt they had borne had even brought flexibility to their strength.
They would not collapse before fulfilling their mission.
The Northern Grand Duke and the Heroes watched the scene.
“Bakal…”
“Bakal-nim.”
Neither the Northern Grand Duke nor the Heroes could bring themselves to stop their decision. It looked far too noble.
The mage engraved magic circles onto the bodies of Bakal and the veteran Orcs. Then light began to radiate from the inscribed circles, flowing along their bodies.
Each one of them became a small pillar of light.
Bakal’s breathing grew rough.
As his stamina drained quickly, he began to stagger. But he stood firm and raised his axe.
Bakal raised his axe as he looked at the shattering barrier.
Paaah!
The Heroes saw it.
The light flowing from Bakal and the Orcs began to trace along their skin, gathering into the sunken scars. It moved across the scars carved into their muscles, finally reaching their faces.
The most deeply carved scar on the face.
The scar of atonement, symbolizing the despair of the Orcs.
The most light gathered at that spot, forming a brilliant X. At this very moment, it stood as a symbol of valor greater than anything else.
The Orcs bearing scars, the Heroes marked with Xs on their faces, all felt a swelling pride in their hearts.
“They say if you die fighting bravely on the battlefield, you go to a warrior’s heaven. A myth of the Heroes, and I really like it.”
If this life could buy even a single minute for the Archmage, there was no greater honor. They would gladly become the fuel for the Magic Barrier.
“Valhalla!”
Bakal shouted as he laughed.
Every living Orc stood in formation, facing the barrier. The Heroes stood beside them. Even those who had just resurrected joined in. They gathered around the pillar of light, staring at the final barrier as it crumbled.
“For Arsilan, let us march to Valhalla!”
No longer cowards, no longer repentant sinners, and die as symbols of valor!
The situation was dire, but no one allowed dark thoughts to take hold.
“Valhalla!”
“Haha! So does that make the Creator our Odin?”
“Hey, the Creator is far greater than Odin!”
“For Arsilan!”
“Uaaaaah!”
This moment, this very battle.
Everyone was too busy pouring out every ounce of emotion and strength they had.
The Myth of the Scar.
A myth symbolizing valor was being born here and now.
So they would endure to the end and complete the end of that myth!
*****
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Chapter 78.2: Great War (2)