2. Refugees of Serabourg Citadel

Translated by EE and Adoxo. I don't have a new translator, my brother pitched in and help finish off the last 3 pages.

Proofread by Britsch, Xandaar

The players’ eyes were br.i.m.m.i.n.g with determination,

‘I must not die.’

‘Whatever happens, I will follow Weed-nim.’

‘Focus. I will come out of this place alive. I can’t die like this or I will be stuck being a newbie. I won’t even be able to get a girlfriend!’

Weed yanked the wooden lever affixed to the wall.

Du Du Du Du!

The stone gate blocking the exit began to rise, slowly unveiling the path leading to the surface.

“Now is the time. Let’s head out.”

The break was brief, but it was enough for the players to recover some of their vitality. Weed headed out first, wriggling his large frame through the opening. As soon as he surfaced, the rest of the players began to jump out through the clearing one by one.

“Don’t leave any humans alive.”

“It’s just for all who do not believe in the G.o.ds of Embinyu to die.”

“Purge Serabourg Citadel!”

Upon surfacing, the players were struck by the piercing cries of the fanatics and dark forces of the Embinyu Church. Even though the exit was well hidden with overgrown bushes, it was a mere 2km away from the Serabourg Citadel. A horse could cover that distance instantly.

Weed’s gaze turned to the Citadel. Swarming with Embinyu forces, the area now resembled a large black ma.s.s at a distance. Smoke billowed from the buildings as they burned fiercely while large demons could be seen encroaching the Citadel.

The soldiers of Rosenheim Kingdom were slowly being forced back into the palace where they would make their last stand. Weed noticed various groups still within the Citadel’s using this moment to escape.

It was absolute pandemonium! This was a true battlefield.

‘Please come out. Now is our chance.’

Players continued to materialize from the exit. Even nearby escape routes began to spew out players. Over tens of thousands newbies and NPCs had followed Weed, and for all of them to escape would take time.

The first group of players that poured out from the escape route had a fairly decent high level and could fight. Over 200 of these warriors exited, followed by the newbies. The group tried to covertly escape as they possibly could, but with so many people it was inevitable the Wyvern Knights circling in the sky above would detect them.

“Humans!”

“Kill them! Use them as sacrifice for the G.o.d of Embinyu!”

Players cried out in surprise.

“It’s the Wyvern Knights of the Embinyu Church!”

“We are spotted!”

Archers, Rangers, and anyone else possessing a bow began loosing their arrows at the Wyvern Knights. A chaotic stream of arrows flew from newbies and high archers alike, and rained down onto the enemy.

“Humans are offerings!”

“Praise the Embinyu Church!”

The Wyverns gracefully evaded the arrows as they dove toward the ground.

The mobility of the wyverns was astounding! To strike them in the air would be difficult, and spells were practically useless against them since they took too long to prepare.

“Evil Spear!”

The critical situation was when the Wyvern Knights came closer and closer as they primed their spear skills!

Weed accelerated furiously and leaped high into the sky.

‘Will it work? My strength and agility have increased radically so it just might be possible.’

BANG!

The ground cratered as the Ice Troll jumped with unbelievable might!

Weed suddenly thrust his sword mid-air. The low flying wyvern attempted to evade the Ice Troll that had abruptly appeared before its eyes, but its efforts were futile, it was already within range of Weed’s sword.

“Gyaak!”

You have dealt a great blow to the Wyvern Knight.

Wyvern Knight is unable to partic.i.p.ate further in battle.

The overflowing strength of the Ice Troll!

Weed had not aimed for the Wyvern, instead striking the knight riding the Wyvern. The Wyvern Knight plummeted to the ground as Weed’s attack had toppled him from his steed. In a swift and smooth motion, Weed quickly s.n.a.t.c.hed the reins as he mounted the Wyvern. To display such incredulous quick and fluid movements despite having the ma.s.sive body of an Ice Troll, one would think the scene had been ch.o.r.eographed.

“Gyaaa!”

The Wyvern staggered, nearly cras.h.i.+ng, from the sudden brunt of the full weight of the Ice Troll. This was the Ice Troll’s weight attack! As the Wyvern came closer to the ground that its underside could literally sc.r.a.pe the surface, it gave it a one last ditch effort to fly back up.

Weed peered down. The high level players had scattered and were resisting the Wyvern Knights’ attacks but the beginners and the NPCs were still being slaughtered.

The resident Darium, living some distance behind the palace has died. Fame decreased by 2.

Vortuga the blacksmith has pa.s.sed away. Fame decreased by 6.

While he didn’t mind the players dying, every single NPCs death affected Weed personally. The nature of the quest to lead the refugees to safety had the potential to earn or lose an enormous amount of fame.

Weed could have never imagined the astronomical magnitude of this quest when he was first approached by Selina. The scale of the quest grew exponentially as the abandoned residents of Serabourg Citadel gathered and placed their faith in Weed. Fortunately, Seo Yoon was finally displaying her true ability as she slaughtered the Wyvern Knights, sending them into the grey light.

“Let’s go. We’ve more b.a.s.t.a.r.ds to hunt!”

Weed pulled the rein on the Wyvern with his left hand. To tame a Wyvern, a player would need high strength and fighting spirit. In these aspect, Weed already qualified. And he had a lot of experience taming a Wyvern through Wy-Three.

But to completely subdue and tame a monster, high intimacy and time to understand one another was required. Weed did not have any of this. But the Wyvern Weed was riding on top obeyed his command and flew towards the other Wyvern Knights.

“Faster!”

Pa-dak, Pa-dak, Pa-dak!

The Wyvern flew as fast as possible. It wasn’t due to its submission and obedience to Weed, but a silent plea to the other Wyvern Knights to knock off the heavy Ice Troll on it’s back. Furthermore, the cold emanating from the Ice Troll frosted the wings, causing fear to seep into the Wyvern from the possibility of cras.h.i.+ng.

The Ice Troll was heavy and it was cold. It was truly evil.

“Well done.”

The Wyvern’s desperate measure to save itself went up in smokes as Weed exchanged several blows with the Wyvern Knights and emerged victorious. Weed was used to aerial battles where attacks were exchanged in a flash.

The Wyvern flew toward its other brethren for salvation, but Weed came out victorious in every single encounter.

GYAAA!

The Wyvern Weed was riding on was quickly becoming exhausted as it flapped its wings harder and harder to prevent its fall. But because of the cold coming from the Ice Troll, soon the whole body of the Wyvern was covered in ice.

Weed waited for his Wyvern to completely freeze over before hijacking another Wyvern in mid air. The sight of a ma.s.sive body leaping in the air was a truly mind boggling and dazzling performance. The players were dizzy from the heart dropping display above.

“Call Death Knight Van Hawk! Call Vampire Lord Torido!”

Summoning of Van Hawk and Torido!

“Master, I want to fight.”

“This place has the lingering scent of blood. Nothing is refres.h.i.+ng as the blood in the air, it’s much better than any exquisite perfume.”

“Kwaaak!”

The Wyvern was in greater agony as the number of pa.s.sengers on it’s back increased.

Weed gave them a simple command

“Fight however you want”

Back when they were battling in the Yurokina Mountain, he had to constant supervise and direct them. But now, these two had experienced all kinds of battle with Weed.

Before the weight could overwhelm the Wyvern, Van Hawk and Torido jumped off. Van Hawk flew around, fighting on his summoned Phantom Horse while Torido spread his cape and became one with the darkness. Torido would then appear out of nowhere, behind the Wyvern Knights, plunging his fangs into their unprotected necks.

Woos.h.!.+

The pure blood vampire clan that obeyed Torido was summoned as bats and attacked the Wyverns Knights. The Wyverns did not fear the bats, but their movements were hampered as the bats clung everywhere on the Wyverns, sucking out their blood.

“It’s that Ice Troll. Retreat to the base!”

“We need to come back with more troops!”

Eventually the Wyvern Knights retreated. Van Hawk and Torido gave chase and returned with considerable amount of loot.

The Wyvern was spent and crashed to the ground with Weed still on top.

BOOOM!

The combined ma.s.s of the Ice Troll and the Wyvern ploughed through the ground as they crashed. Because of the extensive injuries the Wyvern sustained during battle and the additional trauma of the crash, the Wyvern turned into a grey light and disappeared.

Weed’s health also dropped considerably but thanks to the priest’s Healing Hand spell, he recovered in an instant. The novice priests and all alike who could use healing magic darted toward Weed and a cascade of Healing Hand spells was used on Weed.

The players continuously streamed out from the two exits points, clearing out the overgrown thickets as they took flight away from Serabourg Citadel. Already, several thousands of refugees were out of the tunnels.

Even though the Wyvern Knights retreated, in no time at all, another contingent of cultists were heading toward them.

“Torido, Van Hawk, did you have enough?”

“The scent of blood is delicious. My thirst has not been quenched yet.”

“I want to keep fighting.”

Weed sheathed his Demon Sword and took up the long spear he s.n.a.t.c.hed from a Wyvern Knight. Because his arm was longer and his body became bigger, Weed was able to exert greater force with a spear rather than a sword.

He did not have the Weaponry Skill like the Geomchis, as Weed’s spearmans.h.i.+p skill level was low the attack damaged followed suit. Even with the spear’s negative points, it outweighed the sword basic attack damage and Weed’s strength stat as an Ice Troll further increased the damage. Also Weed thought that it would be much better to confront the early to mid level 200 cultist with a spear.

Weed with the spear in hand marched forward. The cultists of Embinyu numbered more than 500! The cultists were a scant group equipped with long pickaxes or b.a.s.t.a.r.dized bows, swords and axes without any armor.

“Van Hawk, Torido. Take the front.”

"The throng I wanted."

“This is the dawn to get drunk.”

Van Hawk charged the cultists flank on his Phantom Horse.

Pooo he hing!

The Death Knight on his

Phantom

Horse galloped into the cultists and slaughtered them. Torido with his pure blood vampire clan clung onto the cultists back and sunk their fangs into their necks. The pure blood vampires had to drink human blood for quick growth. This was a once in a life time opportunity for the vampires as such opportunities were few and far between since they started following Weed.

“If it’s only 500 cultists, it’s easy.”

Van Hawk and Torido had the characteristics of an Undead for limitless stamina, no matter how long it took, they could take care of it. But right now, time was not on their side. Before Embinyu Church sent a greater force, they had to clear out the cultists and allow as many refugees to escape as possible.

“I tried my best not to use it, but… Sculpture Destruction! Turn everything into strength!”

Weed took out a Fine sculpture, ‘The Evil Merchant Holding A Beating Stick’, he carried around in his backpack and destroyed it.

Sculpture Destruction has been used.

The pain! The agony of destroying a Fine sculpture.

Art stat decreased by 5 permanently. Fame decreased by 100.

Art stat transformed into strength with 1:4 ratio for the next 24 hours.

The additional converted strength has been applied to an unaccustomed body due to Sculpture Transformation, 30% penalty has been applied.

Your Art stat is too high. Because your original strength stat is too low, the conversion will not happen instantly.

870 strength has been converted into Advance level 8 skill, ‘Crus.h.i.+ng Blow’.

The enemy will be flung far if you hit it precisely with a full powered strike.

Increased chance of enemy falling into paralysis and confusion.

950 strength has been converted into Advance level 6 skill, ‘Piercing Spear’.

This mighty attack will completely destroy the opponent's armor and s.h.i.+eld.

1,430 strength has been converted into Advance level 9 skill, ‘Momentary Herculean Strength’.

For a short period of time, it will triple your maximum strength. Requires immense amount of vitality.

690 strength has improved the Ice Troll’s traits.

The cold will now affect up to 15m.

Mastery of Sculpting skill increased.

Weed greatly increased the strength of the Ice Troll with Sculpture Destruction. Indeed strength was the only thing to put trust in. By using the strength properly he could leap through the battlefield with ease!

“Well, let’s have some fun.”

Weed twirled his spear. The spear felt disproportionate to his body and was light as a feather. He felt he could do anything.

“Hyaa!”

As Weed whirled his spear, he leaped into the cultist’s flank.

Pa Pa Pang!

Everytime he spun his spear, the enemies flew several meters back! But, at the same time, all sorts of weapons the cultists held were targeting the large Ice Troll. As the enemies had him surrounded, defending was impossible.

But defending was not part of an Ice Troll’s dictionary. Only attack. Weed swept away the enemies with a whirl of his spear. Every cultist within the range of Weed’s spear turned into grey light. Weed’s attack was foolish, daring and full of fighting spirit!

The weak cultists could not content with Weed’s high level and strength. It was like watching the strong violently suppressing the weak! The eyes of the low level newbies were wide as they watched in disbelief.

“Ah, I also want to be like that.”

“The Ice Troll is so cool!”

“How many times do I have to level up to fight like that?”

Watching Weed rea.s.sured the players, some even momentarily forgot about their escape and began to eat peanuts as they watched the spectacle.

Seo Yoon began to flex the frightening temperament of a Beserker. The cultists within her vicinity were swept up in a mana explosion and disappeared.

“Go!”

“Let’s increase our level quickly to eat a gourmet meal and find a boyfriend!”

The great escape!

While Weed, Seo Yoon and the other players halted the cultists of Embinyu, they had to flee as far as possible. The players and the NPCs came one after another from the underground pa.s.sage and continued their escape beyond the hill.

The residents of Serabourg Citadel who have managed to escape gave their heartfelt grat.i.tude.

Fame increased by 34.

The residents are in your debt, your reputation among them improved.

Your intimacy with the residents of Rosenheim Kingdom improved.

Texts kept popping up on Weed’s message window.

The number of refugees were enormous, even now only several thousands had managed to pa.s.s the underground pa.s.sages and climbed over the hill. Weed had to buy more time for the rest of the refugees to escape to a safe area.

‘I don’t know how much longer I can withstand this.’

Looking toward Serabourg Citadel, he saw that it was covered in an inferno and was burning brightly. Soon, the Embinyu forces would chase after the king and his knights and would discover the refugees. It was only a matter of time till the large army of the Embinyu Church would come after the refugees Weed was leading.

“Sister!”

In the chaos a newbie slipped his hand and was caught on the edge of the rock, struggling to get out. At that place, a seriously wounded cultist was standing with his pickaxe.

“Death is the only option for those who refuse to follow the Embinyu Church!”

For a newbie, a cultist was no different than a boss monster.

“Chad!”

The moment the sister who cried out upon looking at the scene, the cultist who was about to bring down his pickaxe turned into a grey light and disappeared. Behind the point where the cultist was standing was an Ice Troll holding a spear.

Weed who was fighting at the front line saw the boy Chad was in danger, he ran toward the scene at an extreme pace.

“Please hurry.”

Weed personally grabbed hold of Chad’s hand and raise the boy up. The players escaping in a flurry saw this scene.

“Thank you.”

“It’s no problem. I did what I had to do. ”

There was no hint of hypocrisy or pretense on the wicked looking Ice Troll’s face.

‘Whew, that could have been a disaster!’

Weed never missed a j.a.ptem! He found himself fortunate that he spotted the sapphires at the place Chad fell before anyone else.