Volume 20 Chapter 8: Las Phalanx's Race War

"Fight."

Weed finally decided.

Golden Bird and Eunsae, the two shared the same opinion in disregarding Weed's choice.

Since he is a human with lower level than them, they do not properly view him as their master.

However, Weed clearly expressed that he wants to join the battle so they have to voice their thoughts.

"That's suicidal."

"You just gave yourself a death sentence."

They don't have any faith in Weed at all!

"All of your opinions don't matter, we are all in this together and there is not much time left."

Upon realizing what was about to happen, both Tori and Van Hawk hang their heads.

'I've met the wrong master.'

'How could I have gotten myself involved with this man again?'

Weed's servants fell into deep despair.

Geumini and Yellowy were both stricken with fear in contrast to Seoyoon who didn't even show a hint of it.

That's because the harsher the conditions the brighter Seoyoon shines on the battlefield.

Weed shifted his gaze from Seoyoon and returns back to observing the battle.

"Though I did say we will join the battle but for now let us wait here."

The Chaos Warriors led by Kubichya that were fighting against the Inferno Knights were now divided.

Some of them broke off to fight the Fire Giants while others targeted the Baovants.

While the Fire Giants and Baovants retaliated to their attacks, the Inferno Knights were somehow granted temporary respite.

Each of the races was trying to dominate one another, truly a war to see who reigns supreme.

Whenever the Fire Giants displayed their strength, the entire dungeon would shake while the massive concentrated fire attacks of the Baovants were extremely hot enough to the point of melting the rocks.

If Weed were to make his move now together with his party and undead, influencing the flow of the battle would prove to be difficult.

Weed only has a handful of undead Chaos Warriors left and even if he has Golden Bird and Eunsae with him, they will still face enemies whose numbers are far greater than them.

"Will the Inferno Knights follow me if I command them? But even if they did, it is still not enough to guarantee our victory against the Chaos Warriors."

Weed thought of using his Advanced Necromancer skills to produce an undead legion but they will most likely not last long if pitted against the Chaos Warriors.

Making the Inferno Knights emerge as the final victor at the end of this race war was truly difficult.

While Weed was brooding over the battle, 30 minutes have passed.

By now, about a hundred Chaos Warriors have fallen but at the same time 50 more would arrive as reinforcements.

Meanwhile, the Inferno Knights had gain 70 casualties.

It was quite clear to see which side is losing even if one watched the battle from a distance.

***

"Ah!"

"Why isn't he doing anything?"

Ever since the start of Weed's quest in Las Phalanx, the staff of KMC Media were always working overtime.

The Operations Team stayed behind to edit the audios and videos. Even the completely unrelated General Affairs, Human Resource, and other Department Staff also remained in the station.

No one wants to leave because they all want to watch Weed's adventure.

The staff even have warm coffees and lap blankets prepared.

If Weed fails in his quest then the entire Versailles Continent will be greatly affected.

Therefore, everyone's interests were only focused on the quest.

Not only was Royal Road popular to the young of both genders but also to the old.

"Kill! Kill them!"

"Destroy it!"

"Items! Just now, what items did they drop?"

"Jackpot!"

Pyeon Seong Gu, also known as the beautiful female mascot of the station, has been constantly filling the entire cinema room with her yelling, cheering, and whacking to the point that everyone present has already gotten used to it.

Even though the staff are just watching from a screen, the adventure in Royal Road is still too vivid.

It was a good thing that the time in Royal Road is 4 times than that of the real world since they could just skip the boring parts like when the party is eating, walking, resting, etc.

Since they were watching the live broadcast, they were getting a lot of video materials.

That is because it was Weed's adventure so there weren't that many parts to cut out.

Also, the adventure in Las Phalanx has a lot of sudden earthquakes which leads to disastrous events such as the grounds cracking and walls collapsing which does not fail to surprise everyone each time.

"Weed, why haven't you attacked yet?"

Every one of the staff thought of the same question as Director Kang.

This was now the last stage of the S-class difficulty quest. If Weed succeeds then his name will go down in Versailles Continent's history.

But the viewers in the room are now beginning to worry since the quest might end in disappointment.

KMC Media couldn't help but place low expectations after seeing that the final adversary was a hard wall to break through.

But if it can't be done by Weed then who else is there that can clear such difficult quest?

"Hmm, aren't you going to make a move soon?"

Director Kang was feeling anxious so he tried calming himself down by guzzling his glass of water but his secretary that was watching beside him got him bewildered when she suddenly said a few words.

"I think he gave up."

"Gave up?"

Director Kang asked in doubt.

"Weed having gotten this far, going to give up now? If he wins this battle then he will gain tremendous rewards so I don't think there is any reason for him to just give up."

"However, it is now certain that he cannot win. He has no options left except giving up."

"That may be the case but......"

Director Kang had a bitter expression on his face.

Despite the hopeless situation, he can't help but have these vague expectations that want to root for Weed!

Chaos Warriors, Inferno Knights, Fire Giants, and Baovants, if you look at the situation, it's like Weed's party is a group of lobsters challenging a sea full of whales.

"It's best to abandon the quest and come back alive."

Even a kindergartner would have arrived at this rational and reasonable conclusion.

But even still, Director Kang and the staff of KMC media were still feeling tense in anticipation for Weed's actions in the video.

'Quest is too difficult. Just give up on this one since there are still other quests out there.'

It was common to see players doing a challenging quest abandon it midway due to high difficulty but the current adventure right now involves Weed so they want to see it until the very end.

Because Weed would always produce extraordinary results!

***

Weed's eyes never left the battlefield, always calculating his next course of action. He continues to assess the battle without taking any breaks.

'Not yet....'

The Chaos Warriors led by Kubichya were slaughtering the Inferno Knights one by one.

The Fire Giants were still running rampant and swinging their swords fissuring the ground and making the ceiling and walls collapse.

Due to the ceiling collapsing, large numbers of Baovants in the lava lake were killed by the falling debris.

In the midst of this pandemonium, Weed still remained focused so as not to miss the opportunity to strike.

Kubichya's skills in fighting were very diverse.

During the battle, he picked up an axe and was now wielding two different weapons in both hands.

He even performed a seven consecutive combo strike using the axe.

And whenever he swings his axe in empty air, a powerful blast would hit an Inferno Knight.

"Wrath of Fire."

Fire magic of the Dragon Sword Red Star was used.

The Inferno Knights tried to block the fire magic with their shields but the destructive power was so strong that they were blown away.

Kubichya was even able to knock down a Fire Giant. He then launched a flurry of attacks by alternatively striking the Fire Giant with his axe and sword.

"RAAAAAAAAA!"

The moment the Fire Giant collapsed, the nearby hordes of Chaos Warriors shouted in unison signalling the charge for their attack.

The dying Fire Giant was rolling back and forth due to severe pain!

By the time one of the Fire Giants finally died, about less than half of the original numbers of the Inferno Knights were left guarding Imbeol's Circle.

The other Fire Giants rages even more intensely and the Inferno Knights wielding their swords and shields were yelling and desperately struggling.

Once Kubichya absorbs the mana of Imbeol's Circle, he will evolve into an even more powerful monster.

Weed having superhuman patience still continued to wait even with the worsening situation happening before him.

"Still... It is not yet the time."

Waiting just like a robber preparing to rob a bank, Weed culminated his concentration.

In the sea of fire, about a thousand fire attribute monsters were still engaged in the chaotic war.

After a while, Kubichya again was able to kill another Fire Giant.

Passing for even more time here will only let the Chaos Warriors gain the upper hand so it was now the time to act.

"Now."

Weed finally made his move.

"Yellowy, Geumini, you two will not engage in battle so stay here. If things don't look good then run away."

"Understood, golgolgol!"

"All of the undead shall follow my orders. Undead Commander!"

Necromancer skill!

With the skill active, it was now possible to gain complete control of the undead ignoring their wills as if puppets connected to strings.

After waiting silently in the side line for more than one hour, Weed began his attacks.

"Blink!"

Raising their axes, the undead Chaos Warriors began to run.

Using their teleport skill, they went straight to Kubichya's location.

But that was not the only thing Weed had in mind.

Before his undead arrives he aimed his magic towards the body of the Fire Giant Kubichya just killed.

"Corpse Explosion!"

From the body of the Fire Giant, a large deafening explosion occurred spreading all throughout the area.

"Keuaak!"

Kubichya got hit by the explosion and the other nearby Chaos Warriors was blown away.

Hostility from the Fire Giants increases by 55%.

A lot of system message windows were popping out.

That's because Weed has been casting curse magic to Kubichya in rapid succession. About two-thirds of those spells were resisted and only the Blinding Jinx and three other curse magic took effect.

Before the smoke and flames even disappeared in the area, the undead Chaos Warriors began hitting Kubichya with their axes.

"Kuaaa!"

Assault of the undead!

The undead commenced an all out attack before the enemy Chaos Warriors could intervene.

Kubichya was able to counterattack with his sword and burn some of the undead but not before taking some damage.

After all, Weed was very fast in conducting the undead.

"Golden Bird, carry me and fly. Eunsae, you go straight to Kubichya. Tori, Van Hawk, you two follow."

""Understood""

Using both of its feet, Golden Bird grabbed Weed in the shoulders and began flying over the battlefield.

Passing through between the legs of the Fire Giants, superb flying that could even avoid the teleporting Chaos Warriors chasing them!

Tori with his black cloak spread out followed suit in flying carrying Van hawk with him.

"Put me down now!"

They were still 10 meters above were Kubichya is but upon hearing the order Golden Bird released its claws that was holding Weed.

Passing through the smoke and flames, Weed successfully crashed onto Kubichya.

Weed had used his undead to draw Kubichya's attention while confusing him with his curse magic. This was Weed's plan in order to take advantage of Kubichya's huge build and successfully land on his back.

However, Kubichya also has long arms so he uses his axe to swing it upon Weed that was clinging on his back.

"Damn it! Equip shield, Closed Eyes!"

At this moment, Weed can only rely on his endurance.

The axe smashed through the shield and struck Weed.

An extremely powerful impact!

You lost 38,900 Health Points.

Until you have healed and make a full recovery, you will have a 2,590 decrease in your maximum health.

You are stunned for 7 seconds.

You cannot use magic due to the loss of sense of balance.

Even upon receiving such damage, Weed still persisted in clinging onto Kubichya.

He made a desperate struggle to stay there by grabbing Kubichya's giant helmet.

If he falls here, he will die with a useless death.

Even if he was not killed by Kubichya it is still possible that he might be stepped on by a Fire Giant or get caught up in the bombardment of fireballs by the Baovants upon falling.

Weed was desperate to avoid the variety of death that awaits him.

To Weed, it was the longest 7 seconds in his entire life.

Kubichya was very fast, Weed could feel it due the intense movements of his body.

The undead continued their distraction making the target of Kubichya's axe and sword switch to them instead of Weed.

With the support of the undead Weed barely manage to endure the 7 seconds!

Weed's vision and his sense of balance have now returned to normal.

So far, he was still clutching on to Kubichya's helmet.

And while his hands were still on the helmet he activated his magic.

"Life Drain! Mana Drain!"

These spells of the Lich were very useful but the downside is it can only be activated in close proximity but Weed just pulled off an insane stunt and was able to utilize these spells in battle.

Hanging onto the back of an ultra-high level monster, the Chaos Daejeonsa wielding the Dragon Sword, and absorbing its health and mana, a move no one would dare think of!

"Annoying and cowardly skeleton, you're still not dead?!"

Kubichya was still busy fending off the undead unable to stop Weed.

If the undead weren't there parrying and disrupting Kubichya's attacks, Weed wouldn't have lasted this long.Weed chained down Kubichya on the spot with such a risky move!

Though Weed may have the advantage in position it was still hard for him to attack or activate offense magic such as Dark Spear.

"Kuaaa!"

Kubichya yelled as he channelled all of his anger on his attacks reducing the numbers of the undead!

It was never easy for Weed to maintain his position in Kubichya's back.

Whenever Kubichya moves, Weed would need to apply more force to continue clinging and when Kubichya swings his axe at the back of his head Weed would narrowly avoid it by nimbly moving back and forth.

Like a cicada clinging to a rampaging rhino!

The act of riding on the back of Daejeonsa Kubichya was so full tension that the hair in one's skin would definitely stand up.

Also, even just touching him is already enough to burn someone.

"Blink."

Kubichya tried to use his teleportation skill but failed.

Since Weed has been constantly draining his health and mana, he could not use any of his skills.

"Damn skeleton! You dare make a saddle out of my back, I'll kill you next!"

Kubichya now intends to focus on killing Weed but just like before, he was able to avoid his attacks which constantly annoys him.

Suddenly from within the smoke, Golden Bird and Eunsae appeared.

Using their transformation ability they turned into a spear and a sword.

Attaining their maximum speed, the transformed weapons were aimed at Kubichya!

The attacks were like two beams of light flashing through the air.

Though the attacks might deal a huge damage, the conditions weren't enough to warrant a hit.

Kubichya would definitely try to evade the attack so Weed needed the undead to pin him down.

Weed calculated the time before Kubichya starts his evasive actions. Planning to be one step ahead, Weed shouted his command.

"Undead, rush him!"

The undead Chaos Warriors made a mad dash and crashed into Kubichya obstructing him from doing any necessary actions.

Unable to evade, both the spear and sword stabbed him in the shoulder and flank.

"View Status!"

While being a Necromancer, Weed was able to use a skill that can reveal Kubichya's status.

One of the boss class monsters in Las Phalanx.

By chance, he was able to acquire the Dragon Sword during his childhood. Since then, he was able to win myriads of battles in Las Phalanx and became the Chaos Daejeonsa. Possessing great power, he has a burning desire for domination.

*Able to use a part of the magic that was sealed in the Dragon Sword.

Whenever in a fire attribute area, health regeneration shall increase up to 3 times.

*Clouded vision, near death, tired, and confused due to the effects of curse magic.

* Due to severe injuries, combat efficiency is slightly reduced.

Health: 21%

Mana: 9%

Having high leadership, Kubichya was able to lead the Chaos Warriors killing two Fire Giants within just a span of one hour.

But the accumulation of damages he received from that fight plus from the Corpse Explosion, the pincers attacks from the undead, Tori, Van Hawk, Golden Bird and Eunsae reduced his health to 21%.

But even so, the boss class Chaos Warrior still proved to be a formidable opponent because of its insanely high recovery rate!

However, Kubichya was also getting desperate so he called for reinforcements.

"Kuaaaaa! Enemies are attacking me. Warriors, come here!"

Nearby Chaos Warriors responded to the call.

"Daejeonsa is in danger."

"Annihilate the new enemies!"

Using their teleportation skill, the Chaos Warriors rushed to where Kubichya was however, Inferno Knights and Fire Giants obstructed their paths.

Weed needed to deal more damage to Kubichya before his reinforcements arrives since there was no guarantee that those monsters can hold them off for long.

But having taken the situation into account, Weed already thought up of a countermeasure beforehand.

"The situation is getting worse by the second. Corpse Explosion!"

The body of the first of the Fire Giants to die was used for the spell.

The shockwave shook the entire dungeon leaving behind smoke and flames to fill the area.

Hostility from Fire Giants has reached maximum value.

The effect of items that lowers hostility will be weakened.

It is advised that you should avoid attracting the Fire Giants' attention.

Some of the debris that came from the Fire Giant's corpse flew towards Weed's location.

Because of the huge explosion that occurred, six Chaos Warriors were killed.

And a lot of the other enemies were lying on the ground.

Weed has now gained more time so he cannot afford to waste this chance.

Van Hawk began his attacks taking advantage of the opportunity together with Tori.

Weed also manipulated the undead to charge at the wounded Kubichya while Golden Bird and Eunsae prepared another pincer attack at both sides.

"Cut him down!"

Golden Bird and Eunsae came flying down at an extremely high speed clawing Kubichya and dealing huge amount of damage.

"How could my warriors easily fall here? Damn dogs of the Inferno Knights! I shall thoroughly crush you and you're undead here."

The undead continued their attacks but this time Kubichya made a powerful counterattack with his axe.

The undead could do nothing but die in vain.

Only about seven undead Chaos Warriors survived.

"Aerial Bind!"

A tempest formed surrounding the area with Kubichya as its center. It was like a barrier that confined the area preventing Van Hawk and the undead from escaping.

"Keuheuheuheu, I'm going to kill you first!"

With Van Hawk trapped inside the wind barrier, Kubichya initiated a one on one battle.

Kubichya swung his axe with tremendous speed. Seeing the attack, Van Hawk focused into defense but he was unable to handle the power and was blown away.

Finally Kubichya, after disrupting Van Hawk's stance, slashed him with his sword.

"Ku... uugh."

After countless battles, Van Hawk finally died.

But since his body and soul was sealed by black magic inside a necklace it was still possible to resummon him after the item's cooldown.

However, since he had died early, a major force in Weed's party had disappeared from the battlefield.

But at the very least, he was somehow able to decrease Kubichya's health by 3%.

'We're completely isolated.'

Weed already deemed that the odds of winning were now very slim.

Kubichya's remaining health is still very high and he having a high level and high defense is only making things worse.

'I should let Golden Bird and Eunsae retreat before it's too late.'

With the situation as is, Weed is unable to escape so he instructed Golden Bird and Eunsae to fly through the gaps of the wind barrier before they join him in his impending death.

As for Seoyoon, she immediately rushed towards Kubichya passing through the dense smoke created after the Fire Giant exploded.

Her sword was now emitting an intense red light.

While Kubichya had his health and mana constantly drained, a meteor shower like barrage went hurling towards him.

A volley of attacks that ignores all sorts of defense.

***

In the cinema room of KMC Media, everyone was busy working.

"I want that part cut off. Focus at the direction where a lot of monsters can be seen on the screen. The view from the lava is too bright."

"Should I lower the brightness?"

"Let's make the lava part a little darker. We should avoid having the viewers hurt their eyes."

An enormous amount of video material was being transmitted from Weed's battle.

So KMC Media was trying to cut as much unnecessary parts as possible.

During this time, Drinfeld and Haven Kingdom's 2nd fleet together with Griffith and his pirate crew were still hunting above ground in Las Phalanx.

A video clip was then suddenly aired on television showing a volcanic eruption then shifting the scene to where a lot of Chaos Warriors gathered.

"Chaos Daejeonsa Kubichya instigated a race war."

"If they win this war then they will become the dominant race of Las Phalanx. Currently the Inferno Knights, Fire Giants, and Baovants are in engaged in a battle royal with them."

Afterwards, two huge explosions occurred in the underground of Las Phalanx.

***

Underneath the sky of Las Phalanx war clouds are gathering.

"We are interfering with that skeleton."

"Gather more of the troops!"

"We will not let him stop Kubichya."

***Everyone who saw the video immediately recognized it as Weed's quest.

Audience of CTS Media flocked over to KMC Media's forum requesting to broadcast the whole show.

Rumors of the continuation of Weed's quest went viral on the internet.

***

Director Kang deemed that both Drinfeld and Griffith can neither interfere with Weed's quest at this point.

"The problem is whether he will succeed or not......"

Whether the quest will be a success or a failure, it was still worth to broadcast.

And if he does not broadcast the quest soon, the viewers that kept on asking when the show will air will soon start flaming them.

But the information about the program that will feature Weed's quest was still hidden with strict confidentiality, he even told the advertisers to just prepare.

Even enterprises that don't usually advertise favourably complied.

"Our company is affiliated with several groups now... So which five should we advertise first?"

"How many hours will it take to finish editing? And what time can we start the broadcast? As for the ads, process the ones from our new sponsors, I would like to have them air first."

"The ones with high advertising rate, understood. With this, our rival companies can't beat us in the ratings."

The advertising contracts were already done all that was left was to balance out the broadcasting time.

The program will start from where Weed's party started exploring Inferno Dungeon to volcanic eruptions to eating stir fried beans and finally the participation in the race war.

After awhile, several teams were having difficulty doing the last minute editing of the broadcast.

"Begin the broadcast at part one. After the opening, insert the ads in-between every ten parts intervals."

"Starting the show now."

The program that was about to air was the one the staff prepared beforehand.

As for the rest of the quest, since it was still ongoing, it will be edited while they simultaneously do the broadcast.

"Hit!"

"Ahhh, it wasn't enough to deliver a fatal blow."

"Such a pity!"

The Operations Team were having a hard time while the other staff that had nothing to do were all busy watching the video.

***

President Jeong Deuk Soo was reading the report submitted by Dr. Cha Eunhee from the Saemaul Rehabilitation Hospital.

"She has made quite a lot of improvement. It's like a miracle."

The daughter that he had thought would never say a word again had spoken to someone.

Though it was awkward and short, the act of speaking has a special meaning in and of itself.

The doctor had written all of Seoyoon's progress in the report. If she is able to put her trust on people again then eventually she will regain her voice.

It's only a matter of time until she fully recovers.

President Jeong Deuk Soo was smiling upon seeing the results.

"Does Seoyoon really spend most of her time with that man?"

He had received all sorts of information relating to Seoyoon from the members of her bodyguards.

From the time she visited Lee Hyun in his home to any other relevant events were reported without exception.

"Yes, she does."

"So, not once had they gotten into a dispute?"

"Seoyoon seems to have a friendly relationship with him."

Without meeting Lee Hyun directly, the bodyguards did a thorough background check on him.

Lee Hyun had a miserable childhood due to the huge debts his poor family accumulated. He had developed a skinflint personality due to being constantly harassed by the loan sharks. But despite all that, he seems to deeply care about his family's well being.

He seems to despise the prospect of dating any woman since he thinks it is just a waste of time and money. In a sense, his character was somewhat similar to Seoyoon in that he does not easily opens up to others but in Seoyoon case, she is just afraid of getting hurt so she tries not to get involve with other people isolating herself in the process.

He had trained in swordsmanship in a dojang. Has been raising a lot of animals at his home but rather than having them as pets they were raised as food supplies. Seoyoon seemed to have taken a liking to his dog named Mohm Boshin and is currently taking care of it and the vet didn't seem to find any health issues concerning the dog.

He doesn't have any particular hobbies and his life seems to be just a repetition of going to the dojang from his home then to school then to the market afterwards.

On a special note, he has a character named Weed in the popular virtual reality game Royal Road and seems to be quite famous.

The data gathered for his character was relatively huge and all the records show that he had performed quite a number of impressive and unbelievable feats.

President Jeong Deuk Soo played Royal Road a few times when he was on vacation but during those times he had never heard of the character named Weed.

"He seems to be a good companion for Seoyoon."

"I think so too... So should we continue to allow them to meet?"

"I'll allow it for the time being. I don't want to forcefully separate them and end up hurting Seoyoon."

President Jeong Deuk Soo does not wish to see Seoyoon getting hurt and suffer again.

However, he will put a complete stop to their relationship if that man decides to become a couple with her later on.

Appearance, wealth, lineage, there is a vast difference between the two in those aspects.

"According to the investigation, his weakness is money so I can just give him money as thanks for being her benefactor. I'll give him enough money to last in his entire lifetime. I'm sure he'll come to an understanding to never cross the line and just stay as being a good friend."