Chapter 257. War Fortress (4)

Tatatatak.

Hansoo quickly ran towards the surface from the 4th floor of the maze where the fight had occurred.

If everything went according to his plan, getting a hold of the plaza and dealing with the remaining players wouldn’t be hard.

Since most people would be busy at the battlefield where they fought against the Ains.

He needed to regroup with the others and then head out to take over the formation.

“Hmm…”

The Ain, who had fallen into silence after hearing Hansoo’s plan, spoke with a heavy expression.

“Don’t you have any thoughts of helping us? With that amount of force?”

Considering her own comrades who would fade away before they could even set a foot in the Spirit Land, the amount of power Hansoo’s group had was not low.

During a time where there’s a stalemate, such a large force helping could drastically reduce their losses and win bring them the victory.

But Hansoo shook his head.

They wouldn’t be able to lay a fatal blow in favor of the Ains even if he helped them in this current situation.

Since they would receive terrible damage if they got caught by the eyes of the Great General who was fighting against the Ains.

The humans were far weaker than the Kingdoms, Empires and the Ains who had stayed here for hundreds of years and had built up their strength.

The thing they had to do was not a frontal collision with those from the Kingdoms.

‘Us finishing our job quickly is the way to lessen as much damage as possible but…’

Hansoo pondered for a moment and then spoke to the Ain.

“If you need more help… We can separate a part of the force and send them, quick hit and run types.”

The elites of elites.

If he could separate a part of the forces and hit the players who were joining up to the battle and get some attention it would actually help.

Since the other side weren’t fully aware of how big his forces were.

Hundreds of thousands had come up at once.

Which meant more could come up without an issue.

It would cause them to slowly start focusing in the backlines and cause problems in the battle.

Though taking over the formation would be a bit harder because of the loss of those forces, the Ains would be able to fight with more ease.

‘I can’t just watch the Ains get killed off when they’ll become our allies in the future.’

The blazing Ain pondered for a moment but then shook her head.

It didn’t seem like there would be much impact overall.

Though Hansoo’s forces would really be a major help, their opponents weren’t a joke.

It was not a situation where they could afford to divide up their forces.

‘I can only trust in Karakum… At least he cares about us.’

The Ain thought about Karakum who was leading her race in the battle, glanced at Hansoo and then started to run through the dark maze while lighting the surroundings with her body.

Boom! Boom!

The Ain hurriedly moved through the maze while speaking to Hansoo.

“Your goal is to take over the Golden Dragon Formation?”

Hansoo nodded.

Golden Dragon Formation.

It was a giant magic formation the Kingdom had set up just in case.

It had two objectives.

In case the seal was broken, it suppressed the mana node so it wouldn’t explode.

Using all the energy from the mana node for their own purpose.

‘Though they wouldn’t be able to use it properly since I have the flail with me…’

Since they didn’t have the medium, it would be impossible for them to utilize all the energy from the mana node.

But even if they cannot use all of the energy, it would still have a tremendous might.

They will use all the energy they could that belonged to the mana node which flowed underneath the seal.

And he himself had to take over this War Fortress before it actually happened.

‘And use this place as a base of operations.’

Tatatatak!

Hansoo finished his thoughts and gazed at the ceiling of the first floor of the maze.

Hansoo felt the presences above the ceiling for a moment then poured strength into the flail in his right hand and smashed the ceiling.

Then.

The flail smashed apart the ceiling and created a tunnel dozens of meters long.

Of course the recoil of it exploded out and from the impact the person on Hansoo’s back woke up with a groan.

“Ugh…”

Krancheska woke up with a moan and then was dumbfounded at his current situation.

‘I’m still alive?’

And he was being carried on the back of the being who had killed him.

Krancheska hurriedly checked the status of his body.

And frowned.

‘Fuck. That’s what I thought.’

The prison had been broken and the Destruction Flame had been released.

All the bones and muscles in his body had been destroyed by the battle and he could barely move them.

The mana, which should’ve healed him at a supernatural pace, was suppressed by some mysterious force and could not even budge.

He would barely be able to handle even a single immortal as of now.

Even if he choked the man climbing up through the maze, nothing will come of it.

The only thing he could do is blabber about.

‘How did I become like this…’

Krancheska clenched his teeth.

He had been born a genius and had been victorious throughout his entire life.

Though there were a lot of people much stronger than him, there was nobody who could even contend against him in his age group.

This is why the prison and the Destruction Flame, which took the combined efforts of the entire kingdom to barely be able to complete, had been given to him.

He had even said that the great monster of the Kingdom, Tiamat, would kneel before him but for him to fall this far.

There was no reason to keep him alive.

The current status of himself is what he had despised the most.

<Hostage>

A being who only brought harm to his allies because he had no courage to commit suicide.

— If anyone from our magic brigade get captured by the enemy… Don’t bring harm to others and commit suicide on your own. Else you will get killed by my own hands. The taxes from the civilians of the kingdom is not something which should be used for things like this.

Krancheska thought back to the words he had shouted to the Magic Brigade in the past, clenched his fists and tried to bite down his tongue.

He couldn’t fight but he could easily bite his tongue.

But he didn’t have the courage.

It wasn’t fear but rather hope which grabbed onto him.

The reason why this guy had kept him alive was because he was still useful to a degree.

A hope of a successful negotiation and him being able to live.

He thought of the path which he should’ve been walking on.

The expectation of his bright and alluring future caused him to fall into despair.

‘Shit… Fucking hell! Fuck!’

Hansoo felt Krancheska flinch behind him and muttered to himself.

‘He should be useful. I’ll keep him alive for a bit longer.’

There was a reason why Hansoo hadn’t suppressed Krancheska’s body.

If Krancheska had decided to bite his tongue the moment he woke up, Hansoo was ready to just kill him off here and leave.

Since somebody that dedicated would try anything to bring harm to him even if he held him down.

But somebody who still clung onto the sliver of hope even in a situation like this would still be useful.

Though he was powerless, he still had a tremendous amount of information within his head.

He just had to regroup with the main army who came up from below.

As Hansoo finished his train of thought.

Whooosh!

As if it was welcoming Hansoo, light shone down the tunnel onto Hansoo.

Then.

Kuoooooo.

He could see the blazing War Fortress which had been destroyed in numerous places as well as the countless players and guards who were running around.

“Immortals! This is not the time to go to the War Fortress! There’s a second quest! The rewards are good so gather at the Great Northeastern Barrier!”

“Everyone who doesn’t attend will be recorded and receive penalties! Hurry!”

But even without the guard’s shouts, the players were running in glee.

The rumors have long spread.

“Hahahaha! Jackpot! Did you hear? Apparently everyone who came this time are all bug players.”

“What? That many? Don’t joke around!”

“You slow bastard! The Ant Eater clan has long spread the news! With videos!”

“Shit!”

Due to the player’s shouts, the eyes of players who were pondering on which location to go to shone.

The Kingdom’s rewards were the same.

Which meant that they had to consider between who gave the better rewards when killed between the bug players and Ains.

And this was obvious.

Of course the bug players would be of much more profit.

And for the bug players, who were hard to find and hard to catch, to appear in hundreds of thousands.

Even if they get logged out after killing a few, it would still be a tremendous profit.

And Hansoo muttered to himself.

‘… I guess the Golden Dragon Formation is around the Great Northeastern Barrier. Time to regroup.’

Seeing everyone preparing for a frontal clash, it seems Einchel and the others from the Ant Tunnel clan have found the location of the formation perfectly.

The moment Hansoo was about to move.

Krancheska snickered from his back.

“Hahaha. How amazing. Hundreds of thousands came up in an instant but nobody suspects anything. What an amazing power.”

He didn’t talk about a specific target but it was clear.

God.

The existence which got rid of the people’s suspicions and caused them to act in a crazed manner.

Krancheska looked towards Hansoo while snickering.

‘… He wouldn’t kill me if he needs me.’

Though he was originally going to stay still, he couldn’t handle the person who was carrying him.

Krancheska decided to make fun of Hansoo as he spoke out.

“Did you drag them out just for them to become like this? You brought out the Ains just so they could get tired from battle and get killed?”

They will all get killed by the countless players from the chaos.

Only the size of the battles have grown, nothing else would change.

Only the number of casualties will increase astronomically from the release of the seal.

But the ones who would suffer was his people.

They, who weren’t immortals, would get killed by the war against the Ains.

“Huh! You bastard! Speak! This is why you released them? Do you know how many will die because of what you’ve done.”

And as if people heard Krancheska’s enraged shouts.

The surrounding players turned their heads.

Towards the suspicious looking group of 3 people.

Then.

“Woah… Woah! Woah! Woah! What the fuck!”

“Wow!”

The players who did not know about Hansoo’s battle power but knew him from the blacklist started to gather around.

And Hansoo scoffed at these players as he held Krancheska by the collar and lifted him up.

Crunch.

“Kuaghh…”

“Though I’ve kept you alive, it’s best for you to stay silent. There’s still a lot of places I can break.”

Hansoo threw Krancheska onto the ground and asked himself.

Why had he released the seal and turned the entire Green Zone into a mess?

Of course there was an answer.

For him to gain the power to win and find a safe haven.

But there was another personal reason.

‘I cannot watch us get hunted anymore.’

He thought of his wretched memories of the past.

The memories of when he had been in the Green Zone.

And the extremely selfish himself from back then.

Boooooooooom!

As he remembered, the rage grew and and that rage flowed into the weapon in his hand.

From the flail which swung through the air with a huge noise, six players were smashed apart and got turned into golden light.

“Uwaaaaak!”

“What the fuck! What is this!”

‘It’s time for things to change.’

Hansoo muttered as he glared at the players who were backing away while screaming.