99 Ch-100: Apocalypse (4)

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"He.. Hero..?"

She stared in disbelief.

Contrary to the expression, there was a hint of anticipation in her voice.

Expectations as to whether he was real than just a fragment of her desperate imagination.

Cloud looked at her face instead of answering.

Tears of blood flowed from her red, bloodshot eyes, and her skin was torn in several places. Her pure white robes were covered in dirty shoe marks.

"Potion."

Shedia hurriedly took out a potion from her small backpack and handed it to him. Crouching on his knees, he slowly applied it over Ophelia's wounds.

"Agh..!"

"It'll hurt, I know, just a little patience."

"Yeah…"

As he healed her with potions, someone among the murmuring citizens called out aloud.

"Are you the hero?"

He was a strong middle-aged man with a mustache.

Cloud did not stop applying the potion and answered.

"That's right."

The murmurs grew louder among the citizens.

In such a desperate situation, the hope had appeared in the form of a Hero. No doubt, they were thrilled.

So the middle-aged man requested Cloud with a relieved expression.

"Then come and save us."

"That's what I'm for, I will do it anyway. Please wait a moment until I have healed her."

"It doesn't look like she's seriously injured, so why not first placate the situation, then heal her?"

"It will only take a moment."

"And that moment is dangerous for us!"

"That's why my teammates are guarding you all, aren't they? If you want to avoid getting hurt, stay still."

Cloud answered as his voice adopted a slight chilly tone.

The middle-aged man shut his mouth and the citizens stopped murmuring.

He asked her again, focusing on Ophelia's treatment.

"What were you doing here? Why were you being beating by these people?"

Ophelia's pupils trembled, and guilt appeared on her face.

"Because of me, the barrier was broken, and many people were injured or died. It's all my fault. They are right, I'm worthless…"

"So you mean that the barrier broke because you ran out of divine power? Why is that your fault?"

"No, I-I mean, that's… my, my fault. I couldn't…"

She lowered her eyes and trailed out.

Cloud narrowed his eyes.

Everything seemed suspicious in bits. What had happened anyway?

"We can have our blame game later, where is Erina and Neria?"

He asked as he set the empty potion glassware on the floor. In actuality, he wanted to know how Kreas was summoned, but he could always listen to it after solving the problem.

"They both went to rescue other citizens. It's been a while since they left, they haven't come back yet…"

"Alright, I see. And are totally juiced out of divine power, now?"

"Yeah? Yeah…"

"Then wait here."

Cloud got up and drew his sword.

He took in a breath and hit the ground. Three tentacles homed towards him as he jumped up to the wall of a building.

A blue-black flame rose from his sword.

As the blue line gently continued, the three tentacles fell thickly.

When his legs came in contact with the wall of the building, he sprinted along the length of the wall and hopped towards the other building.

Arriving at the wall of the new building before the limp form of tentacles could even hit the floor, he cut the tentacles wrapped around the building in half.

Then he ran again towards the wall of another building.

He bolted around the building in a zigzag pattern like a pinball, slicing the tentacles along with his speeding.

He hadn't dispatched them all, but that much was enough for the time being.

He kicked off the wall towards the roof of the building where he last set his foot. It was quite a tall structure, so he had to dip in a couple of hops to reach atop.

From the tip of the tall building, he could properly see the monster that occupied the palace.

A monster with a round head like an octopus, but unlike an octopus, it has dozens of eyes and thousands of large and small limbs.

The ruler of the vast sea of ​​demons and a faithful servant of the Demon King.

One of the Four Heavenly Demon King, Kreas.

'There's definitely a different grip off the screen.'

It was a little creepy to see dozens of eyeballs rolling around and many more limbs wriggling.

'How was it subjugated in the game?'

Oh, yeah. The Four Heroes and the Platinum Knights of the Empire subjugated the monster together. It was Mars who endured until the subjugation army arrived.

'But now, both are unavailable.'

Kreas had just been summoned, and the rest of the countries were unaware of the news.

Even after getting the news, it would take quite a while for the Heroes and the Platinum Knights to be dispatched.

In the game, Mars had dragged the time until then, but today Mars was not here.

Because he had changed Mars's fate.

'But I can't subjugate that alone… it looks impossible.'

As he shook his head, he saw the city collapsing from the corner of his eyes.

Tentacles protruding from the palace engulfed the city and its citizens. Buildings collapsed and citizens screamed to death or fled.

Cloud replaced his Ring of Offense.

'It's not like there is no way at all, but…'

If he used his skills rather than the skills of this world, he may be able to solve it.

But that was stupid.

What was the reason for hiding his arsenal until now?

Wasn't it to hide his identity and, above all, to avoid the Goddess's sudden reaction?

So, why reveal it just because a few people were dying?

It was just plain stupid to scribble away the meaning of the actions he had carried out so far.

{Glyph of Behemoth}

(Buffed)

– 50% reduction in accuracy

– All stats increase by 100%

The moment Kreas was summoned in the first place, the death of most of the citizens was confirmed. That was something even Mars couldn't stop. All Mars was able to do was drag the time so that Kreas wouldn't leave the city to wreak havoc across the Kingdom.

So, thinking rationally, it was intellectual to leave the city and join the subjugation army.

{Glyph of Ogre}

[Active]

-Temporarily doubles strength.

– 50% armor penetration buff

Actually the situation was better than concerned to the one in the game.

He didn't know why, but the Heavenly Kings's subordinates, his minions, hadn't made an appearance.

""

Maybe quite a number of people would survive.

As his thoughts continued, a crying girl came into the corner of his field of vision. Perhaps the child had lost her parents, as she wept and wailed bitterly.

However, no adults passing by were willing to take a look at the stranded child.

'Huh, that's right.'

Favors are always given as long as they do not harm thyself.

Helping others even at a disadvantage?

That's an act of stupidity.

{Glyph of Heroes}

(Blooming)

– Unleash the full potential within a short period of time. At the end of 'blooming', the user will lose consciousness.

Cloud kept a watchful eye on the crying girl. When a boy sprinting by stopped upon spotting the girl.

The boy looked to be of the same age as the girl.

The boy moved his head back and forth, and then approached the girl with a determined expression on his face.

The boy said something to her. The girl shook her head and did not stop crying.

Cloud expected the boy to give up and run away alone.

But the boy did not run away.

The boy grabbed the girl's hand and started running, pulling her along in tow.

That was stupid.

The girl did not resist, so they were running together, but he was significantly slower from when he was making a run on his own.

He would end up at more risk.

The boy knew as well.

Still, the boy did not let go of the girl's hand.

Cloud saw a familiar figure in the boy.

A poor paladin, adamant not to listen to a single word from others.

"It's really stupidity."

Cloud smiled and drew his holy sword.

{Glyph of Heroes}

(Abloom)

– Can be used in the 'blooming' state. Unleash more than what your inherent potential allows. When 'blooming' ends, all stats are permanently reduced by 10%.

* * *

She was a devout believer.

Her only thought was to praise God and be grateful for what was given.

She kept her desires at bay and did not covet what was others.

She was a knight too.

Loyal only to God, vowed to protect the weak.

Although she possessed excellent skills, she was humble and knew forgiveness.

She was an extrovert as well.

And never made exceptions when it came to doctrine and chivalry.

The day an army of tens of thousands of demons besieged the holy land, Atria.

When everyone was talking about retreat, she stood alone in front of tens of thousands of demons.

Brandished the sword in both hands in a praying position.

Everyone who saw it criticized her.

She was stupid.

A single-minded fool who operated on ideals than brains.

And everyone saw it.

The divine light that fell on her sword.

A miracle created by the golden light.

The holy sword with golden light shining brightly.

The light lifted the darkness that had descended on the city and enveloped the people.

Those who escaped from darkness turned to the source of light one by one.

So was Ophelia.

She, who was drowning in muddy despair, raised her head and looked.

A dazzling golden light.

It was dazzling and divine.

Ophelia no longer felt afraid.

She no longer felt anxious.

Her inner self, at last, was at peace.

Because it did not doubt the light would save everyone.

And it did.

The tentacles that chased them all gathered towards the light.

Thousands of tentacles covered the source of light.

Darkness descended once again.

The moment when everyone lost hope and was about to despair once again.

– Kwagwagwang!

The light flashed and split the sky.

They closed their eyes shut. Moments later, when they slowly opened their eyes, there was neither the divine light nor the darkness to cover them.

Patches of clouds floated.

The sunlight that filtered through them illuminated a man.

"Ah…"

Drip!

A drop of water ran down Ophelia's cheek.

She knelt down and orderly put her hands together in a prayer.

Seeing this, the citizens followed her and prayed together.

Other citizens, who saw the citizens praying, did the same, and the action continued to spread. Soon, most of the citizens were praying towards the man shining in the sunlight.

Pound.

A new divine power bloomed inside the empty Ophelia. Although it was so feeble that she could not even feel it herself, it was clearly divine power.

* * *

"Hey, Cloud are you alright?!"

"Does he seem alright to you? Come on, let's get some potions and pour them!"

"Ah okay!"

Katarina and Leslie each took out a potion and lathered it across Cloud's body.

They were full of smiles, until they reached the rooftop, seeing Cloud dripping blood from every orifice — eyes, nose, and mouth — putting them in a frenzy.

"Spraying on the body alone won't heal the internal wounds. He must drink the potion. Cloud, please open your mouth."

"…"

"Cloud? It must be hard, but can you please try?"

"…"

"Cloud..? Huh? Did he pass out standing?"

"What? But his eyes are open. How does someone pass out with eyes open?"

"How would I know? Lay him down. It will be easier to feed."

The two women carefully laid Cloud down. Leslie lifted his torso and grabbed his nose. When he gasped to breathe, a potion was tipped in his mouth.

"Hey, take it slow!"

"What slow? The potion's already trickling inside very slowly, just keep your mouth shut…"

– Puck!

Cloud vomited a mouthful of blood.

"Damn?! You, you crazy fool! I told you to put it in slowly!"

"Why is this my fault? It's just backflow of blood! Now we have a bigger problem, in fact."

"Why? What?"

"The potion won't go in because of the backflow of blood."

"Huh?"

"What 'huh?' Gosh… if the potion is not used, the internal wounds won't mend up. This is bad."

Katarina's complexion turned white.

"Hey, isn't that a bit problematic, then?"

"It's not a little, but very problematic. If the potion doesn't work, we'll need a priest, but the only priest nearby is a woman with low divine power…"

Leslie bit her lips, showing a distressed expression on her face.

No suitable solution seemed in sight.

Just then, Katarina opened her eyes wide, as if she had realized something.

"Why don't you incision his stomach and pour in the potion?"

"…"

Leslie stared intently at Katarina.

"You've come up with a good idea, not like you."

Instantly, she conjured an ice dagger.

"Just watch."

You can read fully translated chapters, including the last chapter, for $20.

p(a)treon.com/Daoist02