Chapter 363

Evan D. Sherden, End of the Play (1)

"Everyone, move. Gather in a formation to form a siege, like how we practiced!"

"There are too many monsters! And this...!"

Everyone in Sherden sensed the scent of death after a long time. The tide of monsters that appeared and caught the people unaware multiplied into several tens and thousands and destroyed all buildings in the dungeon's vicinity, not to mention a significant number of civilians who were caught in the fighting.

"It's time for us to step in!"

"All witches assemble! We will cast protection magic first!"

"I'll have Master Evan pay the price! With his body!"

The witches of the Bloody Apple Guild, who were contracted by Evan to defend Sherden, all came out and cast spells together. Because they didn't have any work to do with Evan's military conscription being perfect, one could understand how grave the current situation was now.

"Move aside, move! The Ironwall Knights will protect Sherden like an impregnable fortress no matter what danger falls upon us!"

"Damn! A weird-looking monster...!"

"Hold out! Master Evan will soon arrive. Hold out till then!"

The factor that worsened the situation was that most of the monsters involved in this dungeon backflow belonged to the deep floors. Strong monsters were rampaging as if someone might think all monsters from the bottom of the dungeon came out. If the witches and the Ironwall Knights didn't divide them into two, the frontier would have fallen long ago.

"Don't let the monsters invade the homes of the people! We won't fall against these petty ones!"

"The Marquis, and even the Viscount!"

"Everyone, hold your arms! Prove the dignity of the human race!"

"Ahoooooooooo!"

"The Viscount is personally leading the battle! Follow his courageous footstep!"

"Humans! Don't lose! To Monsters!"

Marquis Soline and his heir-apparent Viscount Eric joined the frontline right away. Both of them had this in their minds while valiantly leading the army and encouraging them.

'Evan, please arrive before everyone dies...!'

* * *

"Huh, What's with this ruckus...!"

It was dawn when the Great Backflow occurred. Evan was in a deep sleep after making love with Serena and Belois. Even for Evan, who had superb abilities that allowed him to clear the 100th floor of the dungeon and underwent physical reconstruction, a bit of fatigue stacked up, so it was a bit late when he realized the Great Backflow had occurred.

"Hmmm...Oppa, what's going on? Second round?"

"...Your Majesty, you have to get dressed. It's a dungeon backflow."

Serena and Belois woke up right after Evan opened his eyes. As they were looking for their underwear in a flurry, Evan looked out the window with just a robe on. Just in time, a shrine near the dungeon's entrance blew up, and it caught Evan's attention, along with the swarm of monsters that came with it. Evan instantly recognized the mana flowing in the monsters and realized that such a pattern never existed on this continent, but it was one he knew.

"...The Great Backflow. This is someone's handiwork; it doesn't occur naturally. There sure was an event like this in the latter half of Yo-Ma Great War 4. How it started wasn't shown, but the Incubus King might know about it...Ha."

He thought that the party of the god race led by the Sacred Guild and Name entered deep into the dungeon simply to gain strength to fight against Evan. The information that they only had a light battle with the sub-party made him think that they were simply keeping the sub-party in check, but that wasn't it. They were too busy achieving their real purpose, so they didn't have enough time to fight with the sub-party.

'Wait for a second, wouldn't this Great Backflow be the fair chance to take leverage for...? A right window of opportunity that they don't need to bother with its time being hastened...!'

Right after Evan thought of such an idea, his transmitter started to ring. As expected, it was a call from Miriam!

―Evan! They are telling me to leverage this opportunity to go with the plan, so what should I do!?

"Mother Miriam...so that's how things turned out."

It was a foolish idea that Evan was perfectly controlling the scenario. There are those who were willing to create chaos in Sherden without getting in contact with Miriam or Maybell, and there could be so much more which Evan wouldn't know...!

'If I knew about this, I would have taken over the Sacred Guild on the spot without being greedy.'

But even so, the Great Backflow could still be triggered by Name's people, and there was no way to rewind time by regretting it. Evan, who was momentarily lost in foolish thoughts, slapped his cheeks and took a deep breath.

―Evan?

"Mother Miriam, proceed with the plan. I will be exempted from the members, but our ace card is ready so that it can take over my place in terms of strength."

―But a lot of dungeon knights are included in this operation, so who will take care of the Great Backflow!?

"I will."

Evan put on all his artifacts and touched his boots. Serena and Belois finished equipping their weapons in no time. They could hear everyone busily moving in the corridor. The dungeon knights finished their preparation to set out.

"I will single-handedly stop the Great Backflow. I will have my members take charge in closing the curtain of this act."

―Evan...

"Leave it to me, Oppa. Our Gnar can do it. It's a precious child raised by Oppa and me!"

"Your Majesty, please refrain from saying he is your child as if you and Master begot Gnar."

Belois scolded Serena and walked to Evan, who had a serious expression, then gave him a light kiss.

"Everything will be handled well. I'll be back soon, Master."

"Nope, I guess I'll be faster."

Evan lightly laughed and opened the window.

"Arisha will take command. Tell the members that it's time for the climax. Raihan Hyeong and Jhin must set out right away."

"Understood."

"Oppa, won't you give me a kiss?"

"I will after I return."

"Alright, it's a promise!"

"Alright. You know that your role is significant here, right? I trust you."

"Trust me!"

Evan jumped straight out the window. As he set his foot into the empty air while thinking that he wanted to go to the place where the commotion was happening, he was already at the center of the Great Backflow.

"Master Evan has arrived!"

"He has come!"

"Everyone, you've done a great job!"

The soldiers, who were desperately fighting, cheered as soon as they saw Evan. Even the witches loosened up their shoulders with relief as they saw Evan.

"Haa, Master Evan has arrived. We can win now!"

"Master Evan, these monsters only appear in the deep floors of the dungeon! It's weird, and there's too many of them!"

"Master Evaaaaan...!"

"It's strange. But good job, there were only a few casualties thanks to you guys."

If it weren't for the power of the witches who had extraordinary magical abilities, it wouldn't be surprising for the defense line to have been breached and for the territory up to the house of the Marquis to be swept away. Evan expressed his gratitude by raising an arm to the witches who were concentrating their mana with all their might, and to the Ironwall knights who risked their lives in stopping the monsters' advance.

"Everyone, step back...hyaa!"

And Evan struck the air, turning the endless swarm of monsters that were climbing out from the deep giant hole into a meaty pulp in a second. The pressure from the Annihilation that dealt AoE damage ignored all resistances and precisely killed only the monsters. Such power was seen as an authority rather than a skill.

"...Ha?"

"What was that?"

"Huh, the swarm of monsters in front of us was..."

The people fighting for their lives seconds prior weren't able to accept the reality before them now. Furthermore, the monsters from the floors below the 50th floor of the fused dungeon, which were equivalent to the level of a disaster, were all wiped out in one strike. The range and the power of the skill were beyond anyone's perception. Actually, it was Evan's first time using the skill since it had been advanced to Annihilation, so he was also surprised, but he couldn't let people see through him. Moreover, the situation was far from over.

"Ha, so it keeps on flowing out. It seems like the mana contained in the dungeon is all bursting out...!"

This time, Evan sliced downward after making his fingertips sharp. A giant lance of destruction that was created in the empty air spiked through the hole, killing the swarm of monsters that flowed out of it. The monsters were obliterated without a sound, just like the slimes.

"Hurrraaaay!"

"Master Evan killed those monsters, the absurdly strong monsters...!"

The cheers became louder, but Evan knew this couldn't be the fundamental solution to the problem. Typical methods didn't work in stopping the Great Backflow, even in Yo-Ma Great War 4. The mana that dwelled in the dungeon for a long period of time was dense; this Great Backflow happened because something resonated with the source of the mana, which was dormant, thus making the source go berserk. So, it couldn't be stopped until the person who meddled with the source of mana was killed, or someone kept on killing the monsters until the source was completely depleted...the latter is too much, so the alternative would be...

"Louise."

He started transmitting the communication to Louise right away, and the reply came instantly.

―Master! Maaaster...!

"Are you in the middle of a battle?"

―Name! The party we encountered before...argh, the Sacred Guild is attacking us from behind!

"Be calm. With your abilities, you can win!"

So, things turned out as expected. Those who didn't escape from the dungeon as fast as possible when the dungeon backflows occurred had their lives threatened by the monster waves. Probably Louise's party was under attack while trying to escape from the dungeon. The Incubus King, who was keeping their achievements in check, planned to bury them inside the dungeon.

―Master, I want to see you. Master...!

"You can see me any time when you get out of there. Stay calm, Louise. They aren't that difficult to handle. You can deal with them using your puppetry."

―But my puppetry isn't effective against charmed humans...!

"But the monster backflow is happening. Use the monsters."

―...All right, I'll try.

Louise barely replied to Evan in a stiff voice. Evan clearly wiped out the monsters in all directions as he fought while speaking.

"This Great Backflow was their work of art. So, after defeating them, it can somehow be solved. Do remember, you have to kill them all."

―Understood. All of them will be killed.

"Great. I'll reward you once you come back."

―Reward...! Yes!

Louise was simple-minded despite being the same age as Evan. With this, her mental state would recover.

If she, the commander of the sub-party, was holding her ground, her party would never be defeated by anyone. It was because the party members included not just the protagonist and the heroine from the Yo-Ma Great War 3, whom Evan put all his efforts to teach, but also Lin and Lan, who were infamous as middle bosses of Yo-Ma Great War 4!

'Although the final stage where they shine the brightest became a bit different with the actual scenario.'

These guys were supposed to appear in front of the villains and elegantly crush their plans which would have them successfully play the role that will draw in the most attention in this act, gaining them fame as well. But the current situation wasn't all bad. A party where the protagonist of Yo-Ma Great War 3 belongs and the opposing party where the protagonist of Yo-Ma Great War 4 belongs...for Evan, who played both games, there weren't any events that can outmatch this dream team-up.

"Good, then next...Maybell?"

―My apologies, Master. I'm a bit busy right now.

"Huh?"

However, Maybell didn't give him the answer he expected.

―Right now, I have someone to kill, all right? I've made Ms. Serpina take over the scenario, so I believe she will do well. She has become stronger as well.

"Maybell...?"

―Just give me a few moments. I've done my best not to cause civilian casualties, but I found the culprit that ruined my plan...I will get back at you after killing him right away. So please wait for me.

"...Okay."

...Really, is that how things turned out? With Maybell's short explanation, Evan understood everything. Evan nodded and replied to her.

"I wanted to kill him myself, anyways. Please beat him to a pulp for my sake, too."

―This is why I love you, Master. Chuu!

And the communication ended. Evan raised his head after activating his skill once more, which crushed thousands of monsters at once. He saw the witches, knights, and the soldiers who were able to take some rest thanks to him.

"Everyone, don't let your guards down; the night isn't over yet!"

Although the schedule went forward too fast, today was the last chapter of the act with Sherden as its stage.

Everyone shall dance on the stage while biting their knives. And Evan shall close the curtains for the act.