Chapter 98: The march begins
The structure of the chalk castle is similar to that of Johann’s Dark Castle. In order to enter the castle you must first break through the garden.
When Johann and the Order entered the garden of the chalk castle, a large number of summoned Royal Guards were waiting for them. They were knights about two and a half meters tall, clad from head to toe in inorganic silver armor.
It must be the summoned beast that Kong and Johann once sold to Gilthir for a great price. The eyes behind the iron mask glow red when the Royal Guard notice Johann and his men.
Then let’s stick to the plan.
Ha! Good luck.
First Johan and his men go through the garden in three groups.
Three of them, including Lyle, are on the right.
The remaining three members of the Order are on the left.
Johann and Donald are advancing through the center where the enemy is most concentrated. And the key players of this invasion, Smokejaw P and Dirk, will follow the path they’ve blazed.
Due to the nature of this event the dragon chicks and the members of the Sacred Elysian Order cannot protect each other.
However, if Smokejaw P and Dirk form a party, they can deliver the effects of their skills to each other’s guild members.
Clack, clack, clack, clack, clack, clack.
“Hmm, you’re faster than I thought you’d be.”
Donald and his men are running through the center of the garden when they are blocked by a squad of royal guards. From this point on, the battle is on. Donald snaps his fingers as he buffs and strengthens himself.
Hinadora, evolve.
“Mokyu!”
Johan taps the Hinadora above his head and switches it from [Walking with] to [Summoned]. Then he activates [Evolution Summon] and summons his trump card, Chronodragon.
The Chronodragon lets out a yell and flies away, taking up a position a little behind Johann. When he confirms that the Chronodragon has risen to a position where he can get a bird’s-eye view of his surroundings, Johann activates his [Visual Sharing] skill. A window opens on the right side of your field of vision, displaying the view that Chronodragon saw of the battlefield.
“Looks like the right and left units are in combat too… Smokejaw P.”
Copy that… Start the music!
Johan signals to Smokejaw P in the back. Johan activates his unique skill [Live For You!] a unique skill. He chooses the song [OHMYGOD!] a song with excellent defensive abilities. This gives infinite Guts to all his allies as long as Smokejaw P sings and dances perfectly. Of course, the user Smokejyou P can’t take advantage of this, leaving him even more defenseless, but it’s Saint Dirk’s job to cover for him.
We’re ready. Come on, let’s go wild.
“Yeah, right!”
Johan and Donald, now that their buffs have finished strengthening them, attack the oncoming swarm of Royal Guards.
Donald is a melee fighter. Johan is a medium ranged fighter with long ranged attack skills.
The strength of a mid level summoner royal guard is about level 30 in player terms. It is no match for the two of you.
“Donald Magic!”
“Black Flame!”
You kill the five in front of you in an instant, saving your big move. Continue forward, aiming for the castle’s interior.
But…
“Ow…?”
An arrow pierces Johan’s shoulder. And the words [MP Unavailable] appear at the edge of his vision.
Whoa, we can’t go on from here.
We’re the ones.
Prepare yourself.
Then the players of the Sword of the Farthest Sword who had been approaching the Royal Guards appeared.
There are four of them. Judging from their weapons, they are probably a swordsman, a fencer, an archer, and a guardian. The two swordsmen in particular are dressed in the same white holy-knight-style gear [Mistek series] as Roland and Oga. I’m sure they’re the top-ranked players that Donald mentioned.
Come on, let’s go!
“And watch out for the summoner in the sky!”
“Yes, sir!”
The two swordsmen slash at Donald and Johan respectively.
“You’re not someone I can afford to let out–Genocide Wars!”
Johann activates his Metal Black Dragon skill. Johann’s armor deploys, and countless missiles are fired from it.
“Oh, no, no, no, no… Are you serious?
The swordsman who was about to attack Johann backsteps hurriedly and carefully slices through the missiles coming at him, neutralizing them.
Swordsman exclusive skill [Break Magic]. He uses this skill to nullify attacks classified as magic by cutting them off at the right moment.
But its difficulty depends on the magic value of the player who fires it. In other words, it’s no mean feat to nullify Johan’s attacks. At least, it wasn’t possible in Ogre.
That alone tells you that the swordsman you’re facing is no ordinary player.
“It seems that Guilmouth-chan’s information was false.”
“Yeah. I got your back.
Please.
The swordsman will link up with his comrades next.
(Then don’t let them work together…)
Johan activates [Genocide Wars] continuously. He carpet bombards the enemy with missiles, creating a firepower-oriented barrage that gives the enemy no chance to cut you off.
“–Luminous Eternal.”
But the enemy guardian uses an invincible defense skill. The swordsman now approaches Johan without cutting off his missiles. He gets some more reinforcement from the archer, and slashes at Johan.
“Damn–“
Johan, concentrating on his missile barrage, can’t avoid it. It’s been a while since he’s taken damage, and his gauge turns red.
Johann’s current defense is over 1500. It’s a number that rarely takes damage, but the enemy used a [Defense Penetration] skill.
If your attack hits, you can pass through some damage unimpeded by defenses.
“Oh, no!”
You get hit again, and Guts is activated. 1 HP is left, and you are invincible for 10 seconds from here. If you follow the theory, the enemy will leave at this point, but…
“Not yet!”
The bowman pursues him here. At the same time Johan’s body stops moving. He seems to have suffered some kind of an anomaly that you’ve never seen before.
“Oh, no… [petrified]?
Johann had heard of it. It’s an extremely powerful condition that was added at the same time as the third layer was added, and if you’re affected by it, you won’t be able to move for a long time unless you cancel it.
Looks like Gorgon’s arrow worked. Then I’ll take care of those perverts back there while I still can.
“Oh.”
It seems that the enemy has been aiming at P. Smokejaw and the others behind Johan from the start. That’s probably why they aimed to petrify him with the Gorgon’s arrows.
But Johan couldn’t lose like this and he wasn’t good enough to lose in a place like this.
“Chronodragon!”
When Johan asks the Chrono Dragon for help, the skill [Space-Time Reincarnation] is activated. This rewinds the two of them back to the state when the Chronodragon is summoned. Johan is no longer petrified, as if he had returned to the time before he was affected by the abnormality.
“What…?”
Wait, wait, wait, wait. Wait.”
Just as Johann is about to run past a nasty archer. Johann activates his Sword Angel skill [Excalibur]. A beam of light extends from the gauntlet. He activates ten of them simultaneously.
You swing your light sword, which has five claws on each side like the claws of a beast, and obliterate the bowman who was too startled to move with a single blow. Now you don’t have to worry about being petrified by the Gorgon’s arrows anymore.
The swordsman who had been ahead of him returns with a cluck of his tongue and confronts Johann with his sword at the ready. He activates his Transmutation skill and switches swords.
A snake…? Well, that makes sense.
The swordsman held a sword with a large number of snakes on it. Perhaps that sword also has the ability to petrify.
“All right, make him invincible… Petrify him again. Next time I’ll choke him out.
“Oh, I got it… Agh?
The swordsman asks his guardian to grant him invincibility, but Johann will not allow it. He has activated Warfenrir’s skill [Grapnir].
The guardian is suddenly bound by chains that extend from beneath his feet, and the [Demon Freeze] blocks the activation of his skills. He can only break the chains by himself or have his comrades cut them for him.
“Damn… What the hell… I can’t cut it into a thousand pieces!”
“Don’t move, use your skills first.”
“I can’t… Please, break the chain.
I’m not gonna let you do it, Black Flame.
“Oh, no!”
Johann makes the guardian disappear with a familiar motion.
“Damn… How dare you take my people?
The remaining swordsman looks at his comrades who were facing Donald as if to cling to him, but it seems that they too are outnumbered. The swordsman sighed and looked away from Johan. He sighs and backsteps away from Johan, keeping his eyes on him. He seems to be planning to break away and regain his position. He seems to be a very fast player.
“Chronodragon!”
“Guru-oh-ongo.”
Johann sends a command to the Chronodragon in the sky above and immediately launches [Geoside Force] at the swordsman. The swordsman is swallowed by the energy wave that comes down from above with a “I can’t do it…” look on his face. and he vanishes.
Johan watches and then relaxes a little.
“That… That was strong…”
No wonder Donald and Smokejaw P didn’t look too good. They’re on a different level from the guilds that have attacked us so far.
You recover your HP with the time-space reincarnation and then look at Donald. He waves at you with his usual crazy smile.
“Hey, Johann? Are you tired already?
“No, I don’t. But I don’t think we should keep fighting our way through this. So…”
Johann activates his newly acquired skill [Soul Convert] here. This skill prevents him from attacking enemies while it’s active, but instead adds a number equal to his own to his summoner’s stats.
Johann activates [Geocide Force] on his Chronodragon with his overwhelmingly high Stats, and burns down the enemies on the path to the entrance. This succeeds in eliminating many Royal Guards and a few players.
You’re still a mess.
We don’t have time for this. Let’s just keep moving.
Johann and Donald, with Smokejaw P. and Dirk following behind them, ran across the yard at once before the enemy could regain their positions.
And stop at the entrance to the castle.
Whoa. You can’t go through here.
The thirteenth of the furthest sword cadres [Royal Numbers]. A girl in a blue uniform, Chrystar the Summoner, stands before you.
