“Although it is summer, it is still night at this time.”
Two guards walked around the city wall. They were assigned to Gilleon’s night patrol.
After about an hour, one of them spoke up: “Tsk. Sometimes I wonder if our jobs have any meaning.”
“Well, we are rarely attacked by monsters. The players clean them all up.”
By the time the players appeared, they had certainly stopped worrying about monster invasions. The players were obsessed with getting stronger and killed all the monsters for them. Furthermore, there was no other empire on the continent that could invade them.
“It’s a good thing. It means the world has become more peaceful.”
“…Right? Well, I guess we still have little thieves instead of monsters.
Of course. I am grateful for peace.”
“Okay. In the spirit of that, I’m going to reload a bit. I’m going to smoke quick.”
“That’s what you were looking for all along, isn’t it?”
The guard leaned against the city wall with a cigarette between his teeth. White smoke came out of their mouths. The other guard kept his distance and walked away.
“You’re done?”
“…”
“I asked, are you done?”
“…”
There was not a single word or the slightest reaction. The guard turned around, sensing that something was wrong.
“…!”
His comrade’s head had been severed from his body and was rolling around the citadel.
“Urp?!” The violent sight made them want to vomit. But a moment later, alarm bells went off in his head.
‘W-we’re under attack!’
They had to warn the citizens of the city. With just that thought in mind, the guard ran over to the bell on the wall and started ringing it like mad.
“T-It’s an attack! An attaaack!”
Ding-Dong-
The bell rang in the night, rousing Gilleon from the quiet agony of sleep.
***
The smell of burning buildings, people, and leather wafted through the city with the smoke.
“Ahhh!”
“P-please forgive me! I will do anything!”
Some naive players tried to bargain when faced with death, but the Heavenly Demon killed them all as planned, his face expressionless.
Gilleon, which had once been praised as the Starting City, was captured by the Devil Association in just one hour.
“Isaac.”
“Yes, President.” Isaac clasped both hands and bowed respectfully. The arm that he had severed himself had regenerated a long time ago.
“Has there been any contact with the outside?”
“We’ve already blocked all of them,” Isaac said with a soft smile. Drinking the blood of a gremlin had allowed him to disrupt the flow of electromagnetic waves and magical energy in a fixed region.
In other words, Gilleon currently couldn’t make contact with anyone outside the walls.
“However, there is nothing I can do to stop all Player brats from using Community,” he continued.
“You need not worry about that,” the Heavenly Demon said, scanning the city. Not a single player was left in Gilleon.
He turned around, looking at the boy who was looking at him as if he wanted to kill him. However, the boy did not have the power to do so. All she could do was stare at the Heavenly Demon with bloodshot eyes as tears streamed down his face.
“What a pity.” The Heavenly Demon wanted to say that a weakling’s anger was useless, but it sounded genuine. The boy yelled at it.
“…People like you… Once Skaya-nim and the player Seo Jun-Ho came…” His voice was laced with resentment and fear, and he couldn’t even speak properly.
Isaac smiled softly and ordered a nearby demon. “Cut out that arrogant boy’s tongue.”
“No wait.” The Heavenly Demon raised a hand to stop them. He slowly approached the boy and crouched down. “What did you say just now?”
“…Eek!” Under his emotionless gaze from him, the boy couldn’t even open his mouth.
Suddenly, Baron Vashti and his wife hugged their son close to them.
“Skaya Killiland-nim and player Seo Jun-Ho. They are great players that players like you can’t even compare to.” When Baron Vashti looked directly at the Heavenly Demon, his eyes were filled with unbridled fury. In a single night, his city had been destroyed and his precious citizens brutally slaughtered. He couldn’t contain his anger.
“Hmm”. The Heavenly Demon slowly nodded and gave an order. lock them up
“Yes sir.” Isaac understood why the Heavenly Demon didn’t want to kill them right away.
He will show you.
To these people, Skaya and Seo Jun-Ho were heroes from a fairy tale. There was no point in wasting time explaining things to these people over and over again.
Showing them a hero fighting like a bug just once was enough.
“I’m going down.”
After seizing Gilleon, the Heavenly Demon left behind only the bare minimum of his forces before heading to the Dimensional Elevator.
“So this is the Dimensional Elevator.”
It was different from the dirty, rickety elevator the demons had been riding in all along. It was much bigger and well kept. He went down in the Elevator to Earth alone.
“Welcome back to Earth…” Just as the Players’ Association employee bowed in greeting, his neck burst like a balloon. The other nearby players couldn’t understand what had just happened, so they just stood there, blinking.
“Peace has made you weak.”
If a teammate was hurt, you had to draw your weapon and launch a counterattack. But these idiots couldn’t even do something that simple.
The Heavenly Demon gently waved his hand.
Pop! Pop! Pop!
He started walking through the headless corpses, his face expressionless.
“Isaac.”
“Yes, President.”
The Heavenly Demon turned around. There were dozens of elevators and hundreds; no, thousands of demons fell every second. “Use Teleport to attack cities around the world.”
“Yes sir.” As he responded, cheers came from behind them.
“Ahaha! It is the Earth! We are back on Earth!”
“Heh… Even if you kill people in Frontier, there’s no emotion in it.”
“New York! Please send me to New York! I really want to attack the Statue of Liberty!”
The evil desires of the demons began to well up after being suppressed for a long time.
Isaac seemed a bit worried as he turned to the Heavenly Demon. “If we release them, we won’t be able to control them.”
“It doesn’t matter. There’s no need for us to do that.”
“…Where will you go, President?”
“I don’t know. I’ll find my own way there.” He added something else. “Dig up their roots and destroy their minds.”
“…I will pay attention to your words” Isaac left, leading the demons.
The Heavenly Demon took a deep breath.
Haa…
‘… Is not very different.’
In his memory, the air on Earth had been warm and clean. But now that she was experiencing it in person, she realized that her memory of him had been romanticized. After all, the familiar smell of blood still stung his nose.
He waved his hand slightly. Dark red magical energy twisted and attacked the Dimensional Elevator.
Baaaang!
“…”
The Dimensional Elevator was more fragile than he expected. However, if the floor manager were to interfere, it would be fixed in no time.
‘I do not have much time.’
The Heavenly Demon clasped his hands behind his back and briefly considered where he should go.
The best player training academy in the world, Nest? It would be nice to uproot their roots and kill off young talent. Going to the Pentagon in the United States and massacring the politicians was not a bad idea either.
‘No, that is not.’
It shook his thoughts. None of those things would give her what she wanted.
‘Yes, that’s the only one.’
South Korea.
It was known as the land under Spectre’s protection, and even setting foot there made demons nervous.
splash splash
Having decided his fate, the Heavenly Demon stepped through the pools of blood.
***
Twenty three demons entered the Nest. They were members of the Squad, so they were exceptionally powerful.
“Kyaaaa!”
“Everyone go to the main auditorium! Now!”
The students couldn’t even say anything, and the only thing their teachers could do was endure the attacks.
bam!
The auditorium door slammed shut and fear began to spread rapidly through them.
“Wh-what was that? Those monsters.
“Not even the teachers were up to them.”
“Instructor Newt is dead…”
“We are all going to die?”
The teachers tried to go around and calm the students down, but to no avail.
“…Instructor Jewel. What do you think of the current situation? Elliott Nelson asked. The old woman was the director of Nest, as well as a retired gamer.
“Scarlet eyes and black magical energy. Those are the characteristics of demons,” replied Joya Vishuta.
“As expected…” She squeezed her eyes shut. She had hoped that her initial guess was wrong. “Do you think we can stop them ourselves?”
“We can not. It’s not just one or two of them; there were more than twenty… It would be faster if we asked for help.’
“… I’ve already tried”. Elliot bit his lip. He looked at the startled students for a moment before lowering his voice. “Listen to me. Nest is not the only place where this happens.”
“…What do you mean?”
“Demons are carrying out terrorist attacks all over the world. Help probably won’t come, but if it does, it will come later than usual.”
“That’s ridiculous! The children here are the future of humanity!” Joya’s eyes were on fire, yet she knew that arguing with the director wouldn’t change anything.
Blow!
At that moment, someone began to knock loudly on the door. He was protected by powerful magic, but it was only a matter of time before it broke.
After arguing amongst themselves, one of the teachers spoke up.
“…That means we must hold out until help arrives.”
Nobody spoke. His enemies were demons, monsters that had given up their humanity for power. Furthermore, these demons were especially powerful and had brutally torn through Nest’s strong defenses.
“I’ll go first.” The director, Elliot, pulled a Claymore from the Inventory on him. She had long since given up her sword, but she was still a first generation player who had fought alongside Spectre. “Although I look like this, I killed quite a few demonic bastards in my prime.”
“…I think you’ve already told us a hundred times.”
“Oh, and you fought alongside the 5 Heroes? Yes of course.”
“Excuse me! It’s the truth!” Elliot scolded him, pretending to be angry.
The teachers chuckled faintly when they saw his ridiculous expression, which wasn’t quite suitable for the current situation.
“Then, I’ll go with you.”
“Me too.”
“I can’t let you have all the glory, Director.”
Finding her confidence, the teachers supported her and rolled up their sleeves.
They were adults before they were Players. It was his duty to protect the frightened children.
“Instructor Jewel, stay here and take care of the injured children.”
“Reprieve? But if everyone is going to fight, I can’t just…”
“…M-Mom.” Joya’s daughter shook her head and clutched her sleeve tightly. When Jewel saw her expression, she couldn’t help herself. Elliot smiled softly when he saw that.
“We won’t be able to fight to the fullest if we don’t leave at least one adult behind to protect the children.”
“Director…”
“Then, we will move.”
The headmistress had a determined expression on her face as she led the teachers forward, each with a gun drawn.
The students silently bowed to them as they passed.
Baaang!
Right on cue, the auditorium door shattered and twenty demons strutted in.
The man in the lead scanned the auditorium before speaking: “It’s good to see you.”
“I have nothing to say to a dirty demon.”
“Really? That’s too bad.” He smiled.
He was immediately able to judge the abilities of the players blocking his path.
They are all garbage.
His name was Lust, the leader of the Envy Squad.
‘Not bad.’
He nodded slowly. The young students in the auditorium were new players. They were young shoots that had not yet flowered.
“It will be fun to stomp on them.” He smiled, showing his teeth.
His subordinate stepped up behind him, also smiling. “Since this is a school, we must treat it as such. Now, raise your hand if you want to die first.
The teachers gnashed their teeth as he radiated powerful demonic energy. If that was the power of the subordinate, how strong was the leader of him?
Just as they were about to concede defeat, Elliot smashed his Claymore into the auditorium floor with a loud thud. “This old lady will face you!”
Although his body was old and frail, his heart was as passionate as a soldier’s. “You pee your pants every time the 5 Heroes are mentioned. But I once hunted demons with them.
“…” Lust’s eyebrow twitched. The topic of the 5 Heroes was still a sore point for the devils. “Old woman. You shouldn’t have said that if you wanted a peaceful death.
“I will not go down quietly. I’ll play dirty and crack your skull.
Elliot got into a fighting stance.
‘That’s all.’
He knew very well that he wouldn’t last a second against the demon.
But time waits for no one.
Suddenly he remembered the old days. Those days alone were enough to set her heart on fire. Those were the glory days when she had gone around catching demons while she followed the Valorant 5 Heroes. Her memories and feelings of her then gave her courage.
“I am the Great Sword of Chicago! Elliott Nelson!
He lunged forward and his claymore sliced through the air. He was much faster than the demons expected, and his faces were filled with shock.
‘Now!’
Although her memories had grown hazy over time, her body still remembered. Elliot forced his decrepit body to sway as hard as he could. Just once.
“…”
“…”
She stopped.
Everyone in the auditorium was silent.
“…Sorry. They are too strong.
It looked like the claymore was about to cut the demons in half, but it fell weakly to the ground. Elliot looked at the dagger buried in his solar plexus.
“You should act according to your age.”
“Ugh…” Bright red blood spilled from her lips as she fell to the ground.
Jewel screamed and ran as fast as she could to treat Elliot’s injuries. The faces of the students and teachers darkened.
‘Yeah, that’s it!’
That hopeless expression when the people of Earth were up against someone stronger than themselves. These demons could not have the same emotion in Frontier.
The demons trembled with excitement. They had been wanting it for so long.
They wanted to kill more, more, more.
They wanted to see more of those desperate faces!
Just as they were beginning to fill with ecstasy, a loud voice echoed through the auditorium.
“Who dared to touch my old friend?”