Chapter 145 – LV.Fifteen Warrior Oh Haengbok – [Two]

After Arnold completed his mission and returned inside the fortress walls, the battle reached a lull. The surviving centaurs had retreated far away, likely because the skeletons had been wiped out, making it difficult to sustain a firefight.

The centaurs observed us from a distance beyond our bullets’ reach, using telescopes. They certainly weren’t planning to just stand there watching forever.

Oh Haengun muttered, “Those bastards are waiting for their main force. When the main force arrives with all the necessary troops, including artillery, they’ll try to crush us…”

We were also waiting instead of fighting immediately, for similar reasons.

Happy Village was awaiting the paladins’ support.

“Did they say they’d send a small to medium-sized unit of paladins?”

Seo Yun nodded in response to Oh Haengun’s question.

“Yes.”

“I don’t expect their Commander-in-Chief to come personally, but that old man, what’s his name… Vice Commander Sir Marshall? It’d be good if even he came…”

If a paladin unit came to support us, we’d stand a chance even against that terrifyingly powerful orc vampire. After all, vampires can’t exert much power before their sunlight. Last time, their Vice Commander had his height drastically reduced by the orc vampire, but still.

Oh Haengun expected the paladins’ support, which only required a few individuals to come, to arrive much faster than the enemy’s main force, which clearly had to move thousands together and thus would have a slow marching speed. That’s why he had also quickly expended the fire attack tactic, which could only be used once. The plan was to hold out while preserving our strength as much as possible, and then, as soon as the paladins’ support arrived, have all the village warriors rush out and defeat the reduced enemy forces.

“So when are the paladins coming?”

“They said they’re on their way now. They’ll load troops onto a Sun Ship and drop them off in front of the Dimensional Gate. Estimated arrival time is about eight hours from now? Something like that.”

After the brief Q&A, Seo Yun went around healing people. Others with the priest class, like Park Taeyang and Seo Rayeon, were also doing the same.

“Uh…”

People who received healing from Seo Rayeon were startled when they saw her, who now appeared to be about Seo Yun’s unni, but given the situation, they didn’t ask any particular questions. Seo Rayeon also seemed satisfied with that, and unlike her usual self, she silently moved around healing the wounded.

Even Park Taeyang, whose low Mental Stat prevented him from casting healing spells multiple times, was trying to do his part by carrying around a first aid kit.

“Park Taeyang—!”

A shout came from outside the fortress walls. It rang out loud and clear, as if shouted through a megaphone, and that alone made it recognizable as Oh Haengbok’s voice.

“Come out here—! Let’s you and your dad have a little chat, just the two of us, for old times’ sake—!”

It was a situation where the enemy leader wanted to talk.

Park Taeyang glanced at Oh Haengun for his reaction. Oh Haengun waved his hand.

“Answer him. We need to buy time anyway…”

Park Taeyang nodded and cautiously climbed onto the fortress wall.

Seo Yun also cautiously followed behind. Looking down from the fortress wall, sure enough, Oh Haengbok was waiting. He shouted,

“Taeyang? Do you understand the situation now?”

“What situation…!”

“That bastard Oh Haengun, thinking the world is his just because I’m gone, is acting like he’s the Chief! When I tell him to open the gates, he doesn’t, he’s holed up, and he’s dragging all the village people into this mess… That bastard’s not in his right mind now. Right?”

“Uh…”

“Right?!”

“Yes, yes!”

“So—! Are you just going to let that insane bastard drag all the village people to their deaths, or are you going to do something for your dad?”

“What should I do…”

To anyone watching, Park Taeyang seemed terrified and just answering whatever came to mind, but Oh Haengbok didn’t seem to realize it. Oh Haengbok shouted in a coaxing voice,

“Try persuading the villagers a bit! I’m not telling you to surrender to these Vannes idiots. Just tell them to open the gate and let me in! I’m the Chief here, why are they blocking me from entering? Even you think it’s strange, right?!”

Of course, no matter how much of an idiot Park Taeyang was, he wouldn’t find this situation strange. Moreover, he was probably afraid of being labeled a traitor by the villagers. The guy shouted loud enough for everyone to hear,

“No… way!”

Perhaps he didn’t expect an immediate refusal? Oh Haengbok’s voice turned rough.

“No? Why?”

“Because it’s just not possible…”

The sound of Oh Haengbok snorting in anger could be heard even from atop this fortress wall.

The next moment, Oh Haengbok raised his bow. He even took an arrow from his quiver. It was clear what he intended to do, but Park Taeyang didn’t move a muscle, as if frozen stiff rather than preparing to dodge.

“Dodge!”

Seo Yun, who was behind him, immediately yanked Park Taeyang back. And right in the next moment, an arrow whistled past with a chilling sound through the spot where Park Taeyang had been standing.

Although she had essentially saved his life, it was difficult for Park Taeyang to express gratitude. Park Taeyang, who had almost had his head separated from his body, seemed to grasp the situation belatedly and began panting heavily.

From down below, Oh Haengbok’s furious voice rang out.

“You fucking bastard, I should have stomped you to death back when you were playing at being a pathetic bully… Why did I bother kneading you back together and telling them to heal you, you idiot bastard who steals girls’ chocolate pies?”

Oh Haengbok was referring to the incident when Seo Yun first arrived at the village. Park Taeyang seemed to understand, his face turning pale.

And just like back then, Oh Haengbok lost his self-control and continued spewing anger and contempt from his mouth.

“You ungrateful bastard. You fucking unfilial son of a bitch. Did the prophecy say the sun would kill me? That sun must definitely be you, right? I should have just locked up that brat who’s supposed to kill me someday, but I pretended to be magnanimous and let him go, and now I have to watch him try to kill me, what the hell?”

Oh Haengbok’s curses continued, all sorts of words flying out. That when his parents committed suicide back then, leaving only Park Taeyang behind, they should have taken their child with them; that he shouldn’t have adopted him as a foster son but just left him to die on his own.

He even said he regretted to death the snacks he gave him back then, and finally, these words flew out:

“Adopting you as my foster son was the most idiotic decision of my life, you bastard!”

There was no reason to keep listening to that kind of talk. Seo Yun grabbed Park Taeyang’s wrist and pulled him down from the fortress wall. She tried to calm down the guy, who had turned deathly pale.”Don’t take it to heart. You know how he is, right? He’s not in a good state right now…”

Seo Yun thought Park Taeyang would cry like that, but he didn’t.

It seemed the 1-point bonus to his Mental Stat from his Class Change to Priest wasn’t entirely ineffective. Or perhaps it was because he was now a year older than the age Seo Yun remembered from those days.

Park Taeyang bit his lip hard, then, surprisingly, gave a rational reply.

“I’m fine, so go do your thing…”

“You’re fine?”

“What if I’m not? The fight’s not over yet, is it? Go, hurry.”

Since that was certainly the right thing to say, Seo Yun couldn’t insist on comforting him further. She just patted his shoulder a few times and then busied herself again with her duties as a Priest.

Time passed, and the day grew dark. The fighting didn’t resume at night, but it was by no means a quiet night.

“Those fucking traitor bastards! They don’t know who’s been grabbing them by the scruff of the neck and leading them so they could survive this long! If it weren’t for me, you’d all be dead the moment the world changed, you sons of bitches!”

Oh Haengbok’s anger shifted from Oh Haengun to Park Taeyang, and from Park Taeyang to all the people of Happy Village.

“Me, become a Vampire’s lackey? Maybe I did! But how did it come to this? Wasn’t it because I gritted my teeth and fought to protect you all that I ended up like this?!”

In that manner, Oh Haengbok roared and shouted all night long, and Seo Yun wondered if he was trying to vent his own anger or if his intention was to prevent them from resting.

And if that night’s incident had been the only one, it might have been fortunate. But it wasn’t.

In the still pitch-black dawn, about two or three hours before the Paladins’ reinforcements were due to arrive, an ominous sound was heard for some reason.

The sound of engines. The sound of numerous vehicles approaching, a sound hard to hear in today’s world.

Then, blaring horns grated on everyone’s ears, and headlights, which felt almost dazzling in the moonless midnight, flashed from beyond.

Seong Juri muttered, her soul seemingly gone.

“It’s the Dawn Corps…”

The Dawn Corps seemed to have plenty of oil reserves. Their forces had arrived here not on foot, but in vehicles.

Oh Haengun let out a sigh. A deep sigh, a sigh of resignation.

The enemy’s main force had arrived before their own reinforcements.

Soldiers moved about outside the Fortress Wall. Among them, the Vampire soldiers, whose presence could be felt even in the darkness, their eyes glowing red, were particularly conspicuous.

One of them shouted through a megaphone.

「Ah, uh. Mm. This is Lieutenant Colonel Lee Hoon.」

Seong Juri remembered the soldier from the Dawn Corps who had looked after them.

“Lieutenant Colonel Lee Hoon? That person…”

「As you all know, the world is harsh. In this state of emergency where the government cannot protect its citizens, our Dawn Corps has taken the lead in protecting civilians.

About a year ago, we succeeded in placing two young girls under our protection, but I understand you took them back. And then you kept giving them bizarre Cold Weapons and made them fight risking their lives? It was truly an unforgivable, heinous act. Even now, repent and return the two girls you are holding…」

Listening to that booming voice, the village Players exchanged words.

“Two girls?”

“Seems they’re talking about Seo Yun and Seong Juri.”

“They came to get them back? Are they joking?”

“Probably not. They probably just want to state a pretext because it’d be awkward to attack without any reason.”

At a glance, the conversation seemed devoid of tension, but Seo Yun could tell they were all too exhausted to even feel tense.

Seo Yun stepped out to the edge of the Fortress Wall.

As she lit her Halo to make her figure clearly visible, she could feel the gazes of the Vampire soldiers in the darkness focusing on her.

Seo Yun shouted.

“Soldiers of the Dawn Corps? One of the girls the Lieutenant Colonel just mentioned is me!”

Lieutenant Colonel Lee Hoon reacted.

「Seo Yun?」

“And I do not need your protection. Of course, that includes your protection, Sir! Leave immediately!”

「Don’t worry too much. I’ll be there soon.」

Seo Yun tried to ignore the insane words coming from the soldier she remembered as rational. She continued what she had to say.

“In the past, you committed atrocities that wouldn’t have been tolerated in the old world, like seizing people’s supplies or arbitrarily capturing people, but it was true that you fought to protect people.

Now it seems you are driven by those monsters to fight? I understand the feeling of having to fight to avoid death. But in the end, you will all die. For our sake and yours, I earnestly beg you to flee and avoid a fight that benefits no one—”

Of course, Seo Yun didn’t expect them to run away just because she spoke nicely. It was just a ploy to buy time somehow until the Paladins arrived.

But ‘Boom!’ Eventually, the enemy’s bombardment began.

It was a bombardment aimed at the fortress. They weren’t shelling inside the fortress but were pounding only the Fortress Wall with direct-fire cannons. Seeing this, it was clear that, just like last time, the Centaurs were limiting the bombardment to avoid injuring the girl with 10 points in Charisma.

Seo Yun thought to herself self-deprecatingly. Well, at least using my Halo and making a fuss earlier had some meaning.

But still, it was hard to consider this situation fortunate. At this rate, the Fortress Wall would collapse any moment now.

The voices of the villagers, intermittently audible amidst the continuing Cannon Roar, could be heard.

“To the Underground Parking Lot—” “Get down—” “Get off the wall, it’s going to collapse, damn it—”

Seo Yun had also taken shelter far from the Fortress Wall and was waiting for the bombardment to stop.

Arnold approached and spoke urgently.

“Should I go out again? If you just cast the Non-Magical Weapon Immunity Spell on me…”

“Please stand by for now.”

To anyone, it was clear this was not a situation where anyone could do anything.

Didn’t the enemy overwhelmingly outnumber and outclass them in troop quality? They couldn’t charge outside the wall like last time. They didn’t gain much from doing that last time, and unlike last time, the enemy side now included an enraged Orc Vampire.

‘Rumble…’ A loud roar sounded, and a section of the Fortress Wall collapsed halfway. Seo Yun looked through the gap in the collapsed wall at what lay beyond.

Outside the wall, military lights were shining. Those lights illuminated countless Skeleton riflemen.Seeing that horrific scene, an involuntary, resentful thought brushed past my mind.

What on earth was that troll, who now claimed he would act as the GM instead of the meteorite, doing? Shouldn’t he be preventing the monsters from using modern weapons? Did he not have the authority to stop them? Or perhaps, with grand magnanimity, he had decided to just let both humans and monsters freely use modern civilization…

Though I didn’t know the exact reason, I was frustrated to the point of death.

Moreover, wasn’t the support from the Paladins, which the troll-turned-god had promised to grant, terribly late? At this point, I even began to think it would have been better if he hadn’t Ascended at all and had just stayed in the Mortal Realm as I’d suggested, helping me with his fancy Spells. That’s when it happened.

A blue light flickered in the distance.

Seo Yun glanced over unconsciously, then her eyes widened. That blue light wasn’t unfamiliar. Had she seen it somewhere before?

Ah, right. That’s probably what the blue light of the Dimensional Gate looked like.

The one leading to the French Village.

However, the blue Dimensional Gate had been placed far away among the collapsed buildings, so it couldn’t be seen from Happy Village. But now? It was clearly visible.

And the Dimensional Gate was becoming even more visible; not only was its light growing brighter, but the gate itself was gradually enlarging.

Seo Yun wondered. What’s happening over there?

First, she recalled one fact. That Dimensional Gate was created by the Troll Mage. Even though that Troll Mage had left the Mortal Realm, the Dimensional Gate hadn’t disappeared but remained preserved here.

Later, after rummaging through the Rulebook, it was speculated that those Dimensional Gates had likely become a kind of holy relic. Because it was something a god had directly left behind in the Mortal Realm…

Based on that speculation, she grasped the phenomenon unfolding now.

The Troll Mage, now a god, was manipulating the Dimensional Gate he had created earlier. He was infusing that Dimensional Gate with divine power, causing it to expand.

So, it was a divine Miracle.

It wasn’t because of reasons like it being a holy relic or anything; it just looked that way at a glance.

The continuously enlarging Dimensional Gate had, before anyone knew it, expanded to the size of a skyscraper. Perhaps sensing danger from its absurd size, even the soldiers’ artillery fire ceased.

And from the gigantic Dimensional Gate, something reflecting that blue light, gleaming in an ashen gray, emerged.

Everyone in Happy Village recognized that gray hull tinged with ash.

A village Warrior shouted in a voice brimming with ecstasy.

“It’s the Sun Ship!”