Chapter 272: The City We Built
On the large screen of the situation room, the movement of a giant creature was visible. It was the Dragon, Manun.
The flash shooting out of the mouth of the enormous Dragon, large enough to fill the river estuary, inflicted serious damage on the Kraken hiding deep in the riverbed.
However, the Kraken was extremely difficult to kill unless it was hit with a bomb of colossal thermal energy, like a nuclear bomb. The Kraken, with its tenacious vitality, clung to Manun, trying to twist and tighten his joints.
As if the ocean and land were battling, water spouted, and riverbanks crumbled.
Fearless citizens of Orazen, despite the city's warnings, watched the scene from rooftops and on top of buildings. Everyone was rooting for Manun.
"He’s a Dragon after all! Insane! So cool!" Player Richard exclaimed.
Lim Chun-Sik, sitting next to him, laughed. "You're not just gonna watch, right?"
"Of course not. I'm watching after finishing my tasks."
Richard swiftly showed his status screen.
Considering the internal forces the city of Orazen could deploy, they could minimize damage even if a division of Deep One special forces pushed in along with wrung-out Abominations, fiends, creature creations, and the Kraken.
Lim Chun-Sik thought, 'It's not just about having abundant resources.'
The players had fought such battles countless times. If they crumbled just because of a surprise attack, they wouldn’t have been able to properly play ranked games. The ranked games in The Lost World were not easy.
Sung-Woon devised the optimal scenario from these experiences and shared it with all the players. Compared to this refined and optimized strategy, the attacks of the evil gods were too boring.
'I almost feel like teaching them. Orazen obviously has sea borders, so why start from the sea? And they are underutilizing the Fairies inside the city.'
Lim Chun-Sik clicked his tongue and looked around Orazen once more.
'However...'
He quickly checked the entire area, splitting his screen.
'It's hard to say we're just stopping it with our abilities. There's something more.'
Local firefighters were quickly evacuating citizens to safe areas, and local police were blocking and checking major roads.
Even if a division-sized special force came, if they funneled into the main path, they would be instantly annihilated by Orazen's firepower, so they had to use smaller roads, where local police firepower was sufficient for resistance.
Meanwhile, Orazen's defense forces were being rapidly deployed to designated areas. The defense forces regularly trained for the protection of Orazen. They had prepared for scenarios such as maritime attacks by the Deep Ones, receiving training more than twice a year, knowing where they would arrive, what crises they would face, and how to overcome those crises.
In fact, as soon as the Deep Ones and the Abomination began attacking the city's institutional buildings, the defense forces initiated a surrounding offensive. While the level of training each individual had received might be lower compared to the Deep Ones, their well-maintained equipment, skill in handling it, and especially the attitude of being prepared for such situations shone through.
As soon as it was confirmed that there were no hostages, grenades were poured onto the Deep Ones. Following this, as the Abomination turned around, four walking armors emerged from a vehicle and charged. Previously, it was thought that walking armors had to increase in size to match their opponents, but it was concluded that in urban operations, maximizing firepower within a size suitable for vehicle transport was more efficient. Close-range air guns shooting steel spikes instantly shattered the giant crustacean Abomination.
Lim Chun-Sik's focus then shifted. Fires set by Fairy operatives hidden within Orazen were now erupting in one part of the city. Before helicopters could arrive, Wyverns, sensitive to the smell of fire, circled above the flames with Dragon Knights on their backs. They weren’t just circling around. They dropped hand-held extinguishers gripped in their feet each time their turn came. The flames weren’t immediately extinguished, but this bought time until fire trucks and Wizards specialized in fire arrived.
The Imperial Palace exuded confidence. Since it was certain the palace was not the main target of the enemies, the palace's defense forces moved to less prepared areas for the enemy offensive. The palace defense forces, composed not only of elites but also palace Wizards, high priests, palace knights, and the Chosen Ones, were strong enough to face a squad alone, rendering the Deep Ones' spearguns ineffective.
'From the highest to the lowest places,'
Lim Chun-Sik’s view shifted to Orazen's dark alleys. An oblivious drunk Orc lay on the ground, unaware of the city's turmoil. A Halfling merchant from the shopping district, startled by the siren, ran toward the sound but stopped slowly after seeing the Orc. Normally, one would assume the Orc had collapsed drunk, but the Halfling, suspecting otherwise, approached the Orc.
A large speargun was lodged in the Orc's chest. The Orc was not yet dead, and the Halfling, after contemplating whether to remain silent or seek help, loudly called for assistance. Lights in the previously dark shopping district came on, and someone hurried out. The police were alerted, uncovering the movements of the Deep Ones that Orazen had not yet detected. The Orc remained breathing until the ambulance arrived.
'Is this the city we created?'
Lim Chun-Sik thought he loved games as much as anyone else. He had run an internet cafe on Earth and spent all his work time playing various games. However, he had never looked at a game this closely on Earth or enjoyed a game in this manner.
'But watching closely must improve skills, like Nebula does.’
Just as Richard watched the Dragon's fight, Lim Chun-Sik watched the citizens of Orazen resist the enemy.
***
Shortly after Ramin arrived, the Orazen defense forces rapidly reached key facilities. The Imperial Aeronautics and Space Agency was also placed under military protection.
The surprise attack planned by the evil god Deep Light, specifically players Sha-Cha and Jeolyo, was effectively being blocked without any significant damage, thanks to the response of the Pantheon's situation room alone.
But of course, Ion, who had experienced a startling event, was quite worried.
"R...Ramin. We shouldn't just be standing here."
"What?"
"Mando is fighting a giant Hermit Crab."
"A Hermit Crab?"
"Yes, a house-sized one. I think it's some kind of Abomination..."
"Oh, that thing?"
Ramin pointed toward the hilltop with a gesture. A figure was walking up toward the parking lot. It was Mando Hwae-Sa. Underneath their clothes, their sturdy protective armor was torn, and blood was dripping from their chest, but their breathing and posture were steady.
Ramin asked loudly, "Did you catch it?"
"I had to break a sweat, Ramin."
"You should carry a bigger gun."
"Rather than that, I should deepen my faith."
Ramin laughed at the joke about wanting to become a Chosen One.
"Well, that's one way."
Ramin turned around and checked the map on her phone. She was not adept at using it, so Ion had to help.
"Ah, so the defense forces have secured here to here. The Imperial Aeronautics and Space Agency was a top priority, but... Well, I guarantee they won't be able to break through now."
"Even with the evil gods?"
The stories about the evil gods were exaggerated. There was still an element of fear involved.
Ramin glanced at the sky as if sharing a secret.
"Well, you know. I've heard something. It's safe from here onwards."
"Then I'll trust that."
"Still, we need to check on everyone and follow the procedure, so don't go far. You can wait inside the Aerospace Agency building. You don't need to go into the air-raid shelter though."
"Oh."
Ion understood Ramin's intention. He turned to Lide and then entered the annex again with the Fairies.
The Orazen defense forces began to stand guard, and while the outside was somewhat chaotic with the removal of the dead Abomination and Deep Ones' bodies, the inside of the annex was quiet since the staff had also gone into the air-raid shelter.
Then Lide and Ion headed to the annex's storage room saying they would get blankets and food.
Lide said, "What do we do now?"
"The boxed lunches from the administrative department are good. We should use the packaged blankets."
"You’re doing that on purpose, aren’t you?"
"Are you talking about after all this is over? Yeah, when I almost got shot earlier, I thought when I opened my eyes, I'd be in the Prairie of Beginnings."
Lide laughed. "Really?"
"I believe in both the Empire and the Pantheon. I admit it, I'm a half-hearted secularist. Honestly, I can't sell the apostle figures I have at home."
"Why, you think I'd ask you to sell or throw them away?"
"Honestly, I did consider that."
"You thought that far. When we were under the same roof, this unpleasant species...who dislikes gods..."
"It seems you've picked up some bad habits while we were apart."
Bright light shone into the dark corridor from the outside.
Ion stopped walking and said, "Ask me one more time."
"What?"
"What are we going to do?"
Lide shrugged and replied, "Alright. Fine. It's safe outside, and we are the only two on this floor. If we pretend to be lost in the storage room, no one will blame two people who went out on an errand. What should we do?"
Ion said, "I’d been through a rough time, and someone barely managed to help me out of it."
"Really?"
"That person wasn't a Wizard, but helped me in a way that was no different from magic. Want to see how?"
"Hmm. Okay."
"Watch this closely."
Ion clenched something in his palm, looking at it as if something was wriggling inside. Curious, Lide naturally leaned in closer. When Lide had gotten close enough, Ion opened his hand. There was nothing. Now the two were facing each other.
Then Ion skillfully caught Lide's slightly surprised face and kissed her. In the way Lide had taught him.
***
In the skies of Orazen, something small and dark was floating.
-....
It appeared to be a formless creature. It looked like a giant black blob of slime, but each time the red light inside it pulsed, the dense network of nerves filling the inside of the slime became apparent.
The slime spoke.
-Our attack is failing....
This blob of slime was the evil god Jeolyo, as the players of the Pantheon referred to them as. Jeolyo, the god of the Fairies, seemed unfamiliar with system control, stretching and contracting their body to look around different parts of the city Orazen, rather than looking at the system window.
-Ah, there too...
A small shadow appeared beside them. A white, plain mask covering the face made it hard to determine their species, but it was definitely the body of a child. It was Sha-Cha. A member of the Black Order, Sha-Cha had troubled the players of the Pantheon for a long time and had made a demonstration of power during the middle stage of the game, being the god of the Deep Ones.
Sha-Cha quickly manipulated the system window.
Then the blob of slime exclaimed.
-No!
Just before hitting the last button, Sha-Cha stopped at the sound of that voice.
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