Episode 159

1.

Fwoosh—!

Flames surged across the ground.

A ring of fire wrapped around a wide area like a barrier, spinning rapidly with a clear intent to block any further approach.

Inside that ring, a brutal, desperate battle raged.

"Watching it in person is something else."

The assembled Fly Guild didn't join the fight right away.

They had promised not to interfere and had come on the condition that they would wait, but if they decided to break that promise, Fly had the ability—and the backing—to jump in at any time.

Besides, the current state of the battle didn't look very good.

It had gotten so bad that he figured China would be grateful if they stepped in to help.

Which was exactly why they weren't joining.

They wanted to gather a little more information.

Phase 2.

The moment a barrier of fire formed over the land of catastrophe and the Flame Death Knight truly ignited, the entire flow of battle changed in a way China had never anticipated.

If they had known, they would never have so readily invited tigers into their own home.

It was China's mistake, trying to have their cake and eat it too.

Now that they had come this far, Fly would never back down.

Not only that, but several other guilds were also lurking, waiting for their chance.

One way or another, there was profit to be had.

If China succeeded, they could jump in at the end and claim a share of the glory. If China failed, they could pick up where they left off and land the final blow.

The same went for Kim Buja.

'This is going to be rough.'

That was why he could watch with such composure.

He could look at the situation more objectively.

He, too, had predicted a crushing Chinese victory in Phase 1.

They simply had too many people to lose.

Ever since dungeon breaks had started happening, people had said the same thing: the reason humanity wasn't certain that dungeon breaks meant the end of the world was precisely this difference in numbers.

Unless monsters erupted all at once across the globe in numbers exceeding the players, dungeon breaks that occurred under specific conditions and in sequence would, in the end, just be another monster wave, even if there were casualties.

China had seemed ready to provide the textbook example of that.

The nation has the advantage of having the largest population in the world.

Because so many players had gathered, there were plenty who were under-leveled, but that weakness turned into a strength, since having more hands on deck meant they could put more pressure on the monsters.

They had been pushing back not only the lesser monsters but even the army of Flame Death Knights.

That was when Phase 2 triggered.

To be honest, even if it went to Phase 2, he hadn't expected the situation to change so drastically.

The Flame Death Knight itself didn't exceed the current maximum player level.

Even if they weren't on Fly's level, China's top-ranked players were more than high enough.

As long as they didn't fall out with each other or make some fatal mistake, the Chinese players, who had the advantage in both numbers and levels, should not have lost.

"Aaaargh!"

"Gahhh!"

That was assuming all the conditions stayed the same.

However, when it transitioned to Phase 2 and the catastrophe revealed its true form, the situation on the ground became the complete opposite of Phase 1.

"It's way too strong!"

"It's so hot."

Only three things had changed: Berserk, Evolution, and Barrier.

Of those three, two applied only to a single monster: the Flame Death Knight.

Even so, the situation flipped.

Berserk and Evolution were a godsend for the Flame Death Knight, which had been struggling against the levels and coordinated attacks of the top-ranked players.

The barrier that descended over the land of catastrophe awakened the monsters within and acted as a catalyst, sapping the players' morale and abilities.

"What the hell is this stacking burn debuff?!"

"Ah, ahhh!"

The army of catastrophe monsters empowered by the fire didn't become dramatically stronger.

However, the barrier's energy erased their fear, wiped away their terror, and dulled their sense of pain.

In contrast, the players were afflicted by a deadly debuff that stacked even from minor wounds, and simply being inside the barrier created an unfavorable environment for them.

The numerical advantage of at least ten to one became meaningless in an instant.

The players tried to hold back to avoid getting hit by the burn debuff, and as time passed, the heat seeping into their bodies slowed their movements.

Fear spread like a contagion, and the monsters' madness doubled.

To Kim Buja, scenes like this were familiar.

"It's like watching the Battle of the Gorge."

That glorious moment from a Gold Mission, when he had broken through an army tens or hundreds of times larger and seized victory.

In the end, war was a battle of morale.

The top-ranked players were still doing everything they could to fight the awakened Flame Death Knight, but the tilted balance of power made the future easy to predict.

He glanced sideways at Fly.

Fly still stood there gripping his staff, making no move to act.

Seeing the faint smile at the corner of Fly's lips, Kim Buja read his thoughts.

'He's waiting for China to get completely crushed before he goes in.'

It was the right call.

Fly finally moved four hours later.

* * *

The number of Chinese players had dropped drastically.

Most had died or fled.

Even so, the ones still fighting without turning their backs were a visceral reminder of what it meant to have over a hundred thousand players.

But that was as far as it went.

The Flame Death Knight swung its sword without tiring, and the knights guarding it refused to retreat, even as they fell.

Their noticeably slower movements proved that even catastrophe monsters weren't truly invincible, but the Chinese top-ranked players were just as exhausted.

No, they were practically on the verge of collapse.

It was inevitable.

No matter how superhuman they were, they had been fighting nonstop for well over half a day.

On top of that, most of them had taken part in the first raid and hadn't been able to rest properly.

Above all, they could not see a way forward.

'Can we really win?'

There was no way the players crossing swords on the front line had failed to feel what Kim Buja felt, what Fly and his guild members felt.

Despair gnawed at their hearts in that internal struggle, dragging out their weakness.

They had killed many of the catastrophe monsters through the sacrifice of countless players, but the enemy's army had not weakened.

Their numbers hadn't dropped much compared to the beginning.

Because of the Catastrophe Gate.

The endless war of attrition created an ironic situation: thanks to the constant reinforcements from the gate, the catastrophe's army actually held the advantage.

They had reached their limit.

Watching the rankers fall one by one to the Flame Death Knight's sword, Fly finally raised his staff.

Vwoooom—

A massive storm of mana began to swirl around him.

The mana that had been quietly dormant while Fly watched from beyond the boundary of flame now surged violently.

Kim Buja suddenly felt a thrill of anticipation.

'What spell will he use?'

He had watched and rewatched Fly's spells countless times.

At this perfect moment, when all eyes were on him, what spell would he unleash to captivate the battlefield?

Crack—!

The answer was not hard to guess.

Despite the scorching heat that had already pushed the air to its limit, he heard the distinct crackle of freezing ice and could literally see the temperature plummeting.

With a calm expression, Fly muttered under his breath without pause, then swung his staff clearly toward his target.

The casting was quick.

Ten seconds at most?

However, for the world's number-one-ranked player, a Legendary-grade wizard, ten seconds was anything but short.

Crackle, crack.

The rings of flame froze over, and the speed of the charging enemies dropped sharply.

Seeds of ice spread rapidly, devouring the fire and using the flames themselves as a medium.

In an instant, the land of fire was purified into a frozen wasteland.

Under-leveled monsters couldn't even think of resisting the brutal cold and froze solid, and the shockwave didn't spare the players either.

"Wow."

It couldn't be perfect.

In a battlefield where countless players and monsters were tangled together, there was no way to distinguish allies from enemies when casting an area-of-effect spell.

In the end, there were only two options.

You either didn't care about friendly fire, or you didn't use AoE spells.

Fly chose the former.

There was only one reason.

'He doesn't see them as allies.'

Even if they were all players, all humans, they had different nationalities and belonged to different guilds. Strictly speaking, they were competitors.

There was no reason for him to go out of his way to harm them, but at the same time, there was no reason for him to hesitate to stop the catastrophe just because of them.

He had more than enough justification.

The ever-growing catastrophe army.

"This army has entered Phase 2. From our observations, the Berserk and Evolution effects show no signs of wearing off. Therefore, we will eliminate the source of the catastrophe and destroy the Seed of Apocalypse as quickly as possible."

If China were pushed back, where would this catastrophic army go?

If they just settled down here and spent the rest of their days laughing and playing among themselves, it might not be a huge problem.

But they weren't called a catastrophe for nothing.

Monsters followed their instincts.

Once they secured and stabilized their own territory, they would expand it.

And the land they were standing on belonged entirely to humans.

Wiping them out as soon as possible was humanity's shared goal.

With that declaration, the Fly Guild members charged straight toward the barrier, which had now become a ring of ice.

Fly did the same.

Kim Buja didn't miss his chance and followed right behind.

A vast battlefield.

In this place where countless players and monsters were still mixed together, what was the most effective and efficient way for the roughly three hundred members of the Fly Guild to use the opportunity they had been given?

Catastrophe Monster Raid!

They cut down the monsters blocking their path and headed for the center.

* * *

Viewers watching this new phase unfold could not help but be impressed.

—Wow, Fly really is on another level.

—Holy crap, that spell actually exists?

—Rank 1 really is different.

—Uh, but it looks like players got hit too?

—Is that really the issue right now? At this rate, all the Chinese players are going to die. This is not the time to hold back and try to avoid friendly fire.

A massive frozen wasteland that shattered the fiery barrier, which had become the sanctuary of the catastrophe monsters.

It was dazzlingly spectacular and, at the same time, undeniably effective.

Even in a world that had turned into a fantasy, it was rare to see an AoE spell like this.

Naturally, it required an enormous amount of mana to cast.

Even so, the way Fly unleashed that AoE spell and then, without missing a beat, charged straight at the catastrophe monsters was reassuring in itself.

People's expectations soared.

—Honestly, this is the moment I've been waiting for.

—I knew it from the moment China started acting like clowns with their entry bans and trying to monopolize everything.

—This is the level of spectacle a Legendary event should have.

The Chinese players had done their part, but it hadn't been enough.

They lacked the kind of spectacle that could truly satisfy the eyes and ears.

This was a single event and a catastrophe that had captured the world's attention.

People wanted a protagonist with real star power to bring down the apocalypse.

And they believed Fly was more than enough.

They were sure of it.

Which was why no one saw it coming.

GRAAAAAAAAHHHHH!

The rage of the Flame Death Knight, the supposed star of this battlefield.

The final evolution of the catastrophe monster, which had lost countless subordinates and seen its fiery barrier destroyed.

The ground trembled and shook as cracks split open.

BOOOOM!

With a deafening explosion, the Flame Death Knight vanished from sight for a moment.

Then, with a sound like the air itself being torn apart, a horse and rider three times larger than before appeared in front of Fly and swung their sword.

* * *

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