Chapter 258: Golden Dragon Formation 1

The central structure of the War Fortress.

The magic formation which pulled in the mana from the managed node and supplied energy.

The third in command, Eloa, who had been looking over the War Fortress from the control tower of the formation made a shocked expression.

"...Where did these guys come from?"

Their entire main base had been emptied because of the battle against the Ains.

And somehow they had figured out her location with extreme accuracy and were all running towards her location.

'Shit...This place cannot be taken over.'

If this place was was taken over then the formation which was built to support the Great General fighting in the distance would get destroyed.

Eloa thought for a moment and then made a decision.

Since they have been found already, it was time to fight.

Though the guards had told some of the players to gather here but it was not enough.

Eloa watched the immortals and the mysterious army in the distance as she started to alter the flow of the mana from the Golden Dragon Formation a bit.

Not coursing it through the original pathway but towards a different direction.

'Though it's unstable without the flail... We can't just sit around idle.'

This much energy should be more than enough to smash them apart.

Kiiiiiiiiing!

The entire Golden Dragon Formation started to shine and began to activate.

And one of the members of the Magic Brigade freaked out at her actions.

"Miss Eloa! This is too dangerous! Without the medium..."

The goal of this Golden Dragon Formation was to suppress the tremendous energy of the mana node.

It was already a very unstable situation but forcibly redirecting the energy like this, a problem would occur.

'No, not just a problem. In the worst case scenario...'

Eloa grinded her teeth and then shouted while glaring at the Magic Brigade member.

"...Danger. Do you know what the most dangerous thing is right now? It is those crazy bastards killing us all, killing all the players and charging in here. Which between the two is more dangerous?"

"..."

The mage naturally glanced outside at the location Eloa was pointing to.

And he saw the golden army charging towards their location.

An army coming to grind them apart.

Eloa spoke as she looked at the mage who was lost in shock.

"If we lose here then the Ains will get into the Spirit Land. Know that. You should know what would happen then."

"...Yes."

"I'll leave for a bit so calm this place down."

The mage clenched his teeth and started to focus on his own job as Eloa felt the formation stabilize and started to move.

Towards where the players were gathering.

.....................

"Woah...It's huge."

The man, who was 2nd in command of one of the 15 great clans <hydros>, was shocked as he gazed at the golden army marching in the distance.

'What the. I thought it was a jackpot but for something like this to happen.'

Krakpika was dumbfounded as he looked at the current events that were occurring around the War Fortress.

Though the War Fortress looked very active, the whole place was stagnant.

Though there were fights between clans, it was an important location to the kingdoms so their influence was very strong and thanks to this there weren't large scale wars between the clans.

So it felt more like a hunting ground more than a battlefield.

A hunting ground where people gathered Protection Elixirs and leveled up inside the Spirit Land.

And his job, being the 2nd in command, was controlling his clan and preventing friction between his clan members and 3 other clans who belonged to the 15 great clans that had also gathered here.

But for such a great event to occur.

The massacre of the Great Maze.

The war between the Great General and the Ains.

'This is already enough to give me a headache...'

Krakpica frowned as he looked at the approaching golden army and the thousands of clansmen behind him.

<krakpica> didn't really like tedious jobs to begin with.

This is why he hadn't stepped out to handle the matters in this place when the leader of the Hydros clan said that a chance to set up base in the War Fortress had been created.

But for a golden army to appear and swarm the War Fortress while it had been emptied.

And from what he could see, they weren't simple.

'Let's see.'

Kiiiiiiiiiiing.

<eye of the golden hawk> activated and zoomed in upon the golden army charging towards his location.

Smashing through those who hadn't been able to group up with the main force.

Though he couldn't hear them, he could somewhat guess what they were saying from the movements of their mouths.

<uwaaaaak! damnit!>

'Woah. That guy....He's at level 250?'

A master-level player tried to show off a bit but then got dragged in by hundreds of chains and had turned into a beehive by being pierced by hundreds of spears.

Krakpika shook his head at this sight and then turned around while sighing.

The 4 great clans of the War Fortress including his own.

And the players of those 4 clans who had hurriedly rushed over here.

Maybe it was due to the War Fortress's average number of players at any given day being hundreds of thousands, a quick and hurried recruitment had already gathered twenty thousand people.

Twenty thousand people.

Normally, this was a number he could proudly say was unstoppable.

Well, excluding the abnormal difficulty quests like the Spirit Land main quest or a continental war.

But even with this, he didn't have the confidence to beat the golden army approaching him.

And he wasn't the only one who thought this as the captain of the 2nd division of the Ant Eater clan, <apocalypto>, cursed out loud.

"Shit man. I came here because the kingdoms asked us to but what the fuck do they want us to do?"

They wouldn't be able to fight in this battle anymore if they died because the spawning point, the plaza, had been taken over.

Which meant that they had to stop the golden army with just the people here.

An impossible feat.

Then.

A voice came out from among the players.

"Don't worry. I didn't ask you guys to come here for no reason."

"Woah, what an honor."

Apocalypto smirked at the voice.

'Magic Brigade huh. The third in command."

Third in command meant that she was directly below Arthus Krancheska.

Level 300.

A super high-class NPC who was hard to find.

A seed of greed sprouted inside him.

Bug players and NPCs, the stronger they were the better their rewards.

'But not yet.'

Apocalypto shrugged his shoulder at Eloa who was walking towards him with vicious eyes and spoke.

"Can't you at least tell us? As to what you've been doing back there."

Apocalypto glanced towards the inner parts of the Great Barrier where Eloa had come from.

'...I never heard of a such an important construct being located here.'

Eloa scoffed as she replied.

"Why do you guys care? You guys just care about what to kill and what you can receive."

"...How pleasant."

Krakpika mumbled from behind but he didn't deny it.

Since she wasn't wrong.

'Why the hell did you stare at an NPC with such greed.'

Krakpika glanced at Apocalypto.

It was obvious that such a reply would come when one looked at the NPCs like that.

Since he often felt that they were actually alive.

Krakpika judged that Apocalypto's ramblings weren't helping anymore walked in front of Apocalypto and spoke.

"But we can't handle the opponent with just our strength. I don't know what the hell you guys are trying to protect but you should know that this is a bit far-fetched."

Eloa laughed coldly.

"Of course I know. That it'll be hard with just you guys. This is why we're going to use a useful ability you guys have."

"...?"

Eloa laughed as she looked at the players who were staring at her in confusion.

They didn't have the flail.

But they had a medium.

Weak, but it was a medium that didn't worry about being destroyed.

"Feel honored to taste the power of the mana node."

Eloa laughed coldly towards the players.

....................

Kwadddududk!

Kuduk!

"Ugh...This is annoying."

Karhal mumbled as he looked at the players disappearing into golden light after being pierced by spears throughout their entire body.

"These bastards really are fearless."

Running away was the logical action against an unbeatable force.

And all the players whom he had met up until now were like this.

Small groups who hadn't been able to join up with the main army had no hope of defeating them.

But their actions were all shocking.

Fighting back.

Even moths who jumped into flames would think more than these guys.

Einchel mumbled miserably next to Karhal.

"Why should they be afraid when they can't die?"

Running away against bug players who used hacks to play would ruin their pride.

Even if there was a penalty from dying, it would be profitable to at least get a few kills before they die.

And some of the actually powerful players actually died only after leaving behind important damage.

"Ugh, tough bastards. I'm going to destroy them the moment they pop out once we take this place over."

Karhal mumbled while looking at the Great Barrier.

He didn't know what the Golden Dragon Formation was exactly but he was clear of one thing.

That it being in the opponent's hands would turn it into a threatening blade and that it would be a trustworthy weapon in his own hands.

In a poor situation like theirs, they should be taking anything that came their way.

"And just this much... It's not bad right?"

Karhal shrugged as he looked at the players' forces gathered in the front of the Great Barrier.

And apparently Hansoo became strong as hell again.

If they just wedged into their forces to surround them, cut them apart and then digested them bit by bit, a force of this size would easily be dealt with.

Then.

Koooouuuuuuu!

A tremendous amount of energy poured out from beyond the Great Barrier.

An amount of energy that even gave the chills to the members of Hansoo's forces who had assimilated with the mana pools.

Shiver.

"This... This is the energy of the mana node."

Then.

"Fuck. There's no easy way through anything huh."

Karhal cursed out as he looked at the players in the distance who had started to shine brightly.

...............

"Uwaaaaaa! Jackpot!"

"Yo! There was a buff like this?"

Overflowing strength.

A burning body.

Krakpika looked at his body that had been glowing brightly with a shocked expression.

'...Amazing.'

The buffs they usually had were a joke compared to this.

Of course there were issues.

"Fuck! This drains our health too quickly!"

"God! Even just standing still would kill us!"

A giant spell using the player's bodies as mediums and the energy from the mana node.

The overflowing strength of the mana node gave the players tremendous strength but it gnawed through their life as the cost.

And Eloa smiled as she looked at the players.

"What's the issue? It wouldn't matter for you guys to die."

This spell would definitely kill them once it was cast.

And a spell which was guaranteed to fail if the mediums resisted.

This was why she couldn't use something like this against the soldiers of the Kingdoms.

Since they wouldn't accept their lives falling into danger.

But for these guys, the story was different.

Eloa spoke with a cold expression.

"It's time for you to prove your worth. Since we'll handle the penalties... Kill as many as you can before you die."

"Kuahahaha! Oh my! Let's go!"

"Uaaaaaaaaaaa!"

Apocalypto and the other players roared towards the golden army approaching as they felt overflowing strength inside them.