7) Time Sculpting (t.i.tle doesn’t really fit)

“Stop them! Have the priests. .h.i.t the enemies with divine magic!”

“They’ve been wiped out! All dead.”

“How did this happen?”

“The enemies emerged from the shadows and a.s.sa.s.sinated them. They swept through before we could stop them….”

“We ran out of silver. We only have steel and regular arrows so what should we do?”

“Gates, block the gates! We are finished if they breach the gates!”

The city of Reinstadem in the Haven Empire!

The access point and quality wine production meant it was embroiled in sieges every day when it belonged to the Kallamore Kingdom. After being taken over by the Hermes Guild’s Haven Empire, it was subjected to heavy taxes and occasional attacks by rebels.

But the rebels were blocked by the walls and scattered after being shot by arrows. The city never imagined it would be attacked by the Abyss Knight Van Hawk and 800 Imperial Doom Knights.

Major figures in the city were a.s.sa.s.sinated in the darkness.

“The support of the cities around here?”

“I don’t know. There is no contact!”

“Such a thing….”

Most of the communication was through the guild chat or whispers. The complex tactics in a war could be implemented through such a rapid delivery system.

But Van Hawk’s dark aura spread out and scattered all types of mana, blocking teleportation and whispers.

The Doom Knights pa.s.sed through the walls like ghosts or jumped dozens of metres like they had wings.

Cheolkeol cheolkeol.

Beyond the wall, there was an army of undead wearing rusty armour that was created by Van Hawk. Reinstadem was full of many ghosts due to the constant wars. They rose up and were turned into troops.

Using the power of Van Hawk, the anguished remains of the Kallamore Kingdom rose.

The users who experienced death here also triggered a quest!

-Abyss Knight Van Hawk is calling you.

You have lost your life at Reinstadem and the chance to get revenge has finally come. Do you want to become the undead to partic.i.p.ate in the war to rebuild the Kallamore Kingdom?

If you accept the quest then you can partic.i.p.ate in the battle as an undead for a period of time.

There will be no penalty for death and you can be summoned again as an undead in the future.

The experience acquired during the battle can be kept.

The access rate of Royal Road was considerably higher because of Weed’s adventure.

“What is this? Should I accept the quest?”

“I don’t know. It sounds like something fun.”

Users from every region of the continent, including the north accepted the quest and rose as an undead near Reinstadem. The undead suited their level as the users looked around with amazement.

“Ouuwooo?”

“Kuowaaaat!”

Their tongue or jaw was rotting so they couldn’t articulate properly. The beginners became zombies with a bad smell and flies swarming around them.

However, the users with quite high levels become Death Knights and could move around somewhat freely.

‘What is this?’

‘Ah, special. It is a very special event. There is a 100% chance of being shown on the broadcast. Maybe this is a chance to become known as a combat genius.’

‘Will there be compensation if I fight well? But it is a siege. It is also against the Haven Empire!’

‘Hmm, there is nothing to lose even if I die. I’ve always been pa.s.sive about the loss in skill proficiency and experience. It is why I get cursed at in dungeon hunts. Okay, let’s try it. Kill everyone!’

‘Ah! I’m a priest but I’ve become an undead. I’m also a skeleton. Huh, there’s a flame on my hand?’

The users that had become the undead laughed as their jaws clattered.

Anyway, this was a fresh and fun experience. The users weren’t slow so they had roughly determined the situation.

Reinstadem of the Haven Empire! They had died in the vicinity of the city in the past.

‘Huu, all I need to do it fight. Even without a plan?’

Anyone with infinite life could fight heartily.

The undead users were chuckling as Doom Knights emerged to conduct them.

“…This…two…kill…this…place…all…land…”

“…In between…life…over…clothing…bow down…new life…evil sin…luck…bones…ear…live…go…!”

The Doom Knights that defended the gates of h.e.l.l led the undead forward and breached the walls.

‘Let’s go. I will miss the fun if I’m too late.’

The undead users pa.s.sed through the gates and launched a fight against the troops of the Haven Empire.

“Defend this place. Stop them at the gate!”

“I can’t endure. We will all die…cough!”

Despite blocking the Doom Knights’ attacks with their s.h.i.+elds, it still dealt havoc to their health and spirit. It meant their souls would be lost even if they weren’t killed by the Doom Knights.

The undead users dealt with the Haven Kingdom’s soldiers that fit their level.

“This is taking too long.”

Van Hawk who had been silently watching the Doom Knights finally moved. The 2 metre large bone sword that was raised into the sky showed the dignity of Van Hawk! Van Hawk might always be beaten up by Weed but know the charisma of an Abyss Knight was overflowing from him.

The darkness of the abyss protecting him gave off an intimidating feeling. The general users at Reinstadem watched with curiosity.

“The real deal. Isn’t that right?”

“The city will be occupied in a matter of minutes.”

“Doesn’t it look like it will take 1 hour?”

The city’s defenders would be wiped out in a few moments. The humans that lost their lives were revived as the undead.

Reinstadem was fully conquered by Van Hawk and his Doom Knights. The warehouses were burnt and the main facilities of the city were completely destroyed. Fortunately, the residents, users and general store wasn’t affected.

“These people are the poor citizens of the Kallamore Kingdom. The Haven Empire hasn’t protected them. We are sorry.”

“Kukukul, our children are here somewhere.”

Van Hawk and the undead army didn’t stay long in Reinstadem. Early the next day, they exited through the broken gate.

“Let’s go. We need to reclaim the Imperial Palace. For His Majesty, we will take back this land and we can’t be stopped.”

“Yes, Captain-nim.”

The undead moved.

“W-what?”

“These are….”

The users that b.u.mped into them on the side of the road were surprised.

In recent years, beginners started in the north but there were still users that preferred the commerce and stable development of the Central Continent.

Most of the beginners were merchants dragging their carriages so they were shocked when the undead army appeared and couldn’t move.

The undead were monsters frequently seen in dungeons or cemeteries. They were mainly at the level of ghosts or skeletons but users were familiar with them due to Weed’s adventures. The users were able to cla.s.sify the undead so they were startled to see an advanced undead army.

“Kulkulkul.”

“Kihihihihit.”

The undead users were looking forward to the next battle and couldn’t stop laughing. But after the sun rose, they disappeared like they were never there. They could only be active at night when the sun wasn’t there.

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Lafaye and the leaders of the Hermes Guild held a meeting to discuss countermeasures.

Weed’s quest was a success! In the future, Weed would be commanding the northern users directly!

And the invasion of the Abyss Knight!

Lafaye laughed calmly.

“It is surprising but variables are always expected.”

The Hermes Guild had 50 leaders.

Bardray led the army while the leaders played key roles in the Haven Empire. A sudden adverse event like this occurring in the Haven Empire couldn’t be ignored because the minor damage might turn bigger.

“Weed has fairly deep ulterior motives. Did he deliberately raise an Abyss Knight for today’s purpose?”

“Since early on in his quest, we had been preparing for any damage he might try to do to the Haven Empire.”

“According to the reports from our intelligence network, Van Hawk was an undead of the Kallamore Kingdom. When looking at the circ.u.mstances, isn’t that story fuelling this event?”

The leaders were divided into multiple departments in order to grasp the state of the vast Haven Empire. Jenis of the military department checked the map and said.

“The battle report has come from Reinstadem. The number of undead are between 3,000 and 5,000 and they will increase further in the war.”

“That number isn’t difficult to face.”

“Yes, the Abyss Knight might be a necromancer but there is a limit to how many undead he can raise. However, some users have joined this event and there are 700~1,000 Doom Knights.”

“The Doom Knights are high ranking monsters.”

“That’s right. Their individual levels are high and they are challenging to handle. However, the Imperial Knights can subdue them.”

There was a flood of high level users belonging to the Hermes Guild. They had mobilized people for the war against the north but there was still a surplus in the Central Continent. Most of the troops that the Haven Empire dispatched to the north were regular NPC soldiers. Bardray was the commander but he had stayed out of the battles.

There were many late 400s in the guild who had no work to do. In the meantime, they had competed many high level users from the other prestigious guilds in the Central Continent. The early members were the heart of the Hermes Guild but they were careful not to reject others.

The steady increase of high level users was intended for this purpose. It was meant to prevent the emergence of hostile forces.

“But one unit of the Imperial Knights contains 2,000 people so can that stop them? The Abyss Knight will continue to raise the undead.”

“I’m aware that the undead are quite strong but they are fairly easy to deal with compared to other creatures. Each religion has spells to weaken undead so they will be supported by knights. Each area will also have divine relics sent to strengthen them in advance. One unit of Imperial Knights and high level users will be mobilized.”

The huge territory of the Haven Empire also had a lot of treasure. If divine relics that increased divine magic were placed then the power of the Abyss Knights would be weakened.

It could be said that the Abyss Knight was the worst monster the Haven Empire faced so far so many high levels users were interested and would go running.

Lafaye a.n.a.lysed the information and made a decision.

“We are free. Let’s show them the grandeur of the Empire. 3 troops of Imperial Knights, 20,000 users from the guild that are at least level 410 and 4,000 knights will be dispatched. And offer a reward for any ordinary users that want to give support.”

One of the lords gave a dissenting opinion.

“Isn’t that too much? The security and internal affairs in the occupied territories still isn’t perfect. It is inevitable since we are using so much power to conquer the north.”

“It is worth it to conquer the north early on. The Embinyu Church means there was a delay in sending troops to the north but there has been steady results. This is required in order to stabilize the areas affected by the event. We will show that the Haven Empire doesn’t budge even after an Abyss Knight appears.”

It would be difficult if the power of the Haven Empire weakened. The vast amount of territory meant there was bandits and rebels but they had a minimal influence on the Empire.

Lafaye wanted to make the fight with the Abyss Knight a festival in order to show off the power of the Haven Empire.

“This is a good opportunity so prepare Bardray-nim.”

“Of course.”

Bardray decided to take part in the fight against the Abyss Knight.

The damage to 3~4 cities in the Haven Empire wasn’t insignificant. The grand battle between the Abyss Knight and Bardray would provide the best results.

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The day that Weed’s adventure ended, each broadcasting station recorded unbelievably high figures.

The total audience ratings was 19.8%. It was higher than a popular drama being aired.

And even more surprising was the audience ratings from the moment he rode the dragon. 34.1%.

Of course, Royal Road was gaining sensational popularity around the world but they hadn’t expected such great ratings. It was due to the overwhelming scale and fun of the scenes showing Royal Road.

Users that watched the screen could really feel like they were exploring or on adventures.

The wind blew through branches in an eerie forest and there was the sound of leaves breaking. The fantastic natural scenery and scary monsters became the trend as the ratings increased.

“The ratings achieved by our station is unbelievable.”

“Head Director-nim, there is a storm of demands for reruns on the bulletin board!”

“Start the reruns immediately….”

“Head Director-nim!”

“Is there something else?”

“The advertisers are inundating us with requests for meetings. There are calls asking when the next broadcast of Weed will be!”

Weed’s adventure didn’t end just like that.

Significant changes occurred to the Versailles Continent that made the broadcasting stations work all night.

And the next day, the office workers and students’ eyes were bloodshot red.

“Kya, did you see it?”

“Yes. Cool!”

“Very cool.”

“By the way, I didn’t sleep until 2 a.m. yesterday so what happened to the Embinyu Church?”

“They are completely gone. Not a single trace remains.”

Weed had finished the final secret sculpting technique quest. But the quest information meant a lot of people knew that the Embinyu Church would be eliminated. They couldn’t see any traces of the Embinyu Church on the Versailles Continent.

Including the Rosenheim Kingdom that had been destroyed, many areas of the Central Continent were fully restored to their former glory.

People waited for the end of their day. And connected to Royal Road as soon as they got home. They first headed to the market in their hometown to hear the news.

Horse drawn carriages were moving through abundant, golden fields that had previously been a dark red colour from curses.

That wasn’t the only impressive and exciting thing.

Residents met beloved people that had been in cities destroyed by the Embinyu Church.

“Hey, it is Grandfather’s grocery store! It has been a long time.”

“Huh, you are talking nonsense. I’ve sold to you just a while ago. Did you want anything good today? My child is to be married in a few days so I need some money. Don’t be particularly cheap, yes?”

The residents sold products to the users like nothing had happened.

Users also returned to Serabourg Castle in the Rosenheim Kingdom that had been completely destroyed by the Embinyu Church. The Embinyu Church were like bandits living in forests or caves so it was no longer necessary to worry about them.

“Eh, I gave you a simple errand but you came back so late!”

“Ajuss.h.i.+, I finished it early on but you left to became a fanatic.”

“What are you talking about? Did you have a weird dream? Anyway, you came back later so I will decrease the reward from 5 gold to 3 gold. If you are late again then you can forget about being asked to do any special errands!”

Rewards were received for quests that couldn’t be completed in a long time. A number of users gave up in the middle of the quest but those with high intimacy could receive some time of reward.

The pyramid and sphinx that Weed and the users had built also returned.

The users who received a lot of damage from the Embinyu Church couldn’t get rid of their smiles.

“Will Weed-nim come back now?”

“It seems so. Won’t he be greeted by a huge crowd?”

“The final secret sculpting technique! I wonder what technique he received.”

“The stations are a mess because of that.”

“But what will happen now? A huge quest was finished so will he now defeat the Hermes Guild?”

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[TL Notes]

Hey guys, the poll to vote for the teasers is up. You can vote

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