Episode 158: Dream in the game becomes reality

38. New era (4)

Ilgito?

I don't plan on dragging it on for a long time.

He is going to die anyway, and he is a scapegoat to continue his upward trend in this war.

His death will signal the beginning of a battle that will determine the outcome of this war, and we will push straight into the castle of the Croesian Empire.

That's why I took out the magic staff from subspace.

Now, it's a beloved bottle that clings to my hand as if it were one body.

To a wizard, a magic staff is an auxiliary tool that reduces magic casting speed and increases power, but to me, it is also a striking weapon and a means of defense.

I twirled the magic staff and looked around.

-Jiying.

Then, I saw filming drones floating here and there.

Seeing that not only those from the Kingdom of Reinharts but also those from the Croisen Empire are floating, it seems that the Empire is also very interested in this battle.

"Duke Lawrence, I already know how you fight. "Others might be taken aback by the unexpected style, but I'm not."

I lifted my finger at the words of the Marquis of Heidel.

A gesture of silently attacking.

The Marquis, who thought he had been ignored, frowned, but soon calmed down and drew his sword.

It looked like a wrestler from a fighting game and had a quick sword style using two thin, single-edged long swords.

He formed aura blades on his two swords and took a fighting stance.

"Then let's begin."

"yes."

The conversation began and there was silence between me and the Marquis of Heidel.

But let me take a step forward towards him.

-Fit!

The image of the Marquis of Heidel blurred and appeared right in front of me.

The arms holding the sword are spread out and the forward posture is tilted as if jumping forward.

His appearance reminded me of a praying mantis on a hunt.

"Sigh!"

And the Marquis of Heidel took a long breath and stamped his feet strongly.

-Quaaaang!

The swift strike was delivered, and the fragments of the auror scattered along with a powerful shock wave that shook the ground.

Then, when he stomps the opposite foot, a separate strike flies, and when he stomps the opposite foot again, a third strike flies.

As the number of shooting, five strikes, six strikes, and repeated hits increased, the speed began to increase.

-Kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa-kwak!

Each of the Aura Master's strikes has the destructive power of a missile.

As such attacks rained down like machine guns, the surrounding air and earth screamed.

But not a single one of his attacks reached me.

If the opponent is a Grand Master, then an Aura Master can be effective even with a 7th circle shield.

I unfolded the 7th circle great shield and watched his movements step by step.

Attack power, speed, fighting style, etc.

'The most important thing in battle is to understand the enemy.'

So, in order to get information from my opponent, I induced him to attack first.

-Kwasik!

As expected, the claim that he is a person on the verge of becoming a Grand Master is not an illusion. Even though my magic is more powerful than that of a typical 7th Circle Archmage, I was unable to withstand four attacks and my shield was destroyed.

Well, if you look at the frozen face of the Marquis of Heidel, the opponent also appears to be surprised at the strength of my defense shield.

"what?"

I allowed the opponent a free deal by deploying it again when the shield was destroyed, and deploying it again when it was destroyed again.

After about 30 seconds, I decided that the enemy had been identified, so I disarmed the shield and swung the magic staff.

"If you are a wizard, act like a wizard."

He laughed and said it was no use.

However, Magic Staff cleverly dodged Marquis Heinel's sword and dived into his arms, hitting him on the chin before he had time to respond.

The force armor's automatic defense function was activated, but since the 5-circle explosion magic was wielded in a magic staff, a considerable amount of shock must have been felt.

-Quaang!

"Tsk!"

The Marquis, whose chin was bright red, took a step back in disbelief.

A bewildered expression.

It was natural.

Although his fighting style is different from that of a typical wizard, he must have thought that he had the upper hand in close combat.

I admit that he is outstanding.

No matter how much I buff him, I can't beat him in terms of strength and speed, and his swordsmanship, which he has been using all his life, must also contain a lot of skill.

'But combat experience is on a different level.'

Has the Marquis of Heidel actually experienced combat 100 times as a great noble of the empire?

On the other hand, I continue to experience battles against hundreds and thousands of monsters every day in a virtual world where the sense of reality is shared by the game.

This was a difference that could never be ignored.

-Cow!

"Tsk!"

Just as prosecutors overcome the wall known as the state when the time comes, at some point my eyes opened and my thinking became clearer.

Now if only I could follow it with my eyes... I was confident that I could block or deflect any attack with magic.

As he quickly swung his sword, a condensed shield formed on his wrist, blocking the path of the attack, and my magic staff dug into the gap again and struck his chin one after another.

"Damn it!"

The Marquis of Heidel swore in humiliation.

He must have been familiar with my fighting style and had some confidence in it, so he applied for a daily battle.

"Is there anything else?"

But when you open the lid, you can really feel the gap.

If the magic in my magic staff had been 7th circle magic rather than 5th circle explosion magic, his head would have been blown off long ago.

The Marquis of Heidel gritted his teeth at my provocation.

"It was an absurd monster."

Conflict flashes through his eyes for a moment.

[Injecting medication.]And then an unexpected situation occurred.

"Ha, you came out to die in the first place."

As soon as the Marquis of Heidel touched the bracelet, a drug-related message appeared and his appearance began to change.

My whole body turned red as if it were burning, and my veins stood out unsightly.

It is a type of doping.

-Quaaang!

The drug he had just ingested not only increased his physical abilities, but also the quality of his auror.

The shield that had withstood four attacks was destroyed at once.

I've heard about these drugs.

"Berserker potion."

It is a potion that forcibly raises one's level to the next level and is as difficult to obtain as elixir.

Instead, it was a drug of last resort because its duration was short and the body was damaged once used.

It has no effect on Grand Masters, and only works on Aura Masters and lower knights.

In other words, he was able to use grandmaster-level force, even if only temporarily.

-Ji-ing!

As if he was awakening, slight sparks flew around him, and each time he exhaled, steam and thick breath were released.

Unusual energy, unusual atmosphere.

I looked at him like this and said this.

"good work. "Let's end this."

"what?"

And just before the Marquis of Heidel's momentum reached its peak.

-Kwasik!

It blew his head off in one fell swoop.

It was a vain ending that belied the fierce momentum.

-thud!

The headless body of the Marquis of Heidel fell like an old tree.

"… … ."

Thanks to this, Yanggun, who was watching Ilgito, did not react at all.

After a while, I waved my hand at the filming drone, and the reactions of both groups were sharply divided.

There were cheers from the allies and sighs from the enemies.

-Ji-ing!

"Oh right."

But then, a signal sounded that the battle was not over yet.

This is because I could feel the Force fluctuating from the headless corpse.

The Marquis of Heidel's self-destruct device, which he had saved until the very end, began to run away.

-Quaaaaaaaaaaa!

Soon, a powerful explosion engulfed the entire area, accompanied by an impact sound that seemed to shake the heavens and earth.

Since it was a suicide attack using the Auror Master's body, the power was beyond what was imagined.

[Your Excellency Commander-in-Chief!] [Your Excellency!]Of course, our Reinharts Kingdom army was astonished and kept calling me over the phone.

However, I leisurely left the explosion area as if something had happened, snatched up a filming drone, and held my face up as if taking a selfie.

"Ilgito is my victory."

I had already confirmed with a full-scope that the guy had a hidden self-destruct device, so it was natural that he was fine.

Now all that's left is to advance.

"Is today the 20th day since the start of the war?"

Now it is time to put an end to it.

* * *

The emperor of the Croesian Empire was called the Iron-Blooded Emperor and a cold monarch without blood or tears.

A true example of an emperor who is always rational, firm, and undisturbed.

However, such an emperor has recently been losing his original appearance.

The emperor, looking disheveled and looking as if he had aged 10 years in the last few days, placed his palm on his forehead and bit his lip.

"ha… … . "I'm going to be thrilled."

Should we say that there were no surprises?

Or maybe you didn't expect to be defeated so easily?

The Emperor sighed deeply at the death of the Marquis of Heidel.

It was not a pity for the death of a loyalist, but a lament asking why he died like such a fool.

If he died long-windedly while showing the appearance of a commander-in-chief, even if he lost in a close match, it would not have much of an impact on his morale, but it was a pointless defeat that seemed to reflect the current state of the Croesian Empire.

"What are the dynamics of the Reinharts Kingdom army?"

In any case, the status of commander-in-chief that the Marquis of Heidel held was granted temporarily for the sake of diary discussion.

There was no disruption to unit operations.

"Still waiting… … oh! "We are advancing now!"

"I guess so."

The morale was at its peak as we won game after game, and even won the first game, so it was natural to make a move.

"What is the current strength of both armies?"

"Our forces have the upper hand by about 55:45."

"The enemy has two grandmasters, right?"

"If you add those two together, it's almost half and half…" … ."

The emperor shook his head at the intelligence chief's story.

How did they end up like this?

To the Kingdom of Reinharts, who had ignored that too.

Even when the emperor thought about where he had put on the wrong button, he couldn't remember.

but… … .

Although I wasn't sure of the wrong viewpoint, one person's face came to mind clearly.

'The Duke of Lawrence.'

That was the face of Adrian, the commander-in-chief of the enemy army, who had just killed the Marquis of Heidel as a joke.

-Quaang!

The emperor hit the handle of the throne nervously.

Part of me wants to rip him to death, but the problem is that there are no gaps.

I don't know how it happened, but the opponent had the upper hand in information warfare, and the opponent had the upper hand in elite military power as well.

'Would the outcome of this war have been different if we had not let our guard down from the beginning?'

No, I don't think so.

It was clear that Adrian would have harassed them in some way.

The problem was that not only the emperor, but also the ministers could not see a clear solution.

"Is there any news from the crown prince yet?"

In the end, the only thing the emperor could trust was the arrangement of Dragon Land, which the crown prince had gone looking for.

Although it was a bit dangerous, it was enough to turn the tide of the war if you could get your hands on it.

"Yes, it is. "We must have entered the Gray Mountains, and both communication and location signals were lost."

There are many areas in Dragonland where mana is unstable.

A representative place is the Gray Mountains, which are said to be the resting place of the corpse of the Demon King who descended on earth thousands of years ago.

Losing contact isn't necessarily bad news.

It meant that the crown prince was on his way to the right place.

"after… … ."

The emperor looked at the ceiling of the Imperial Palace and remembered his son's face.

'Andre, we don't have much time.'

If things continue like this, the country will be ruined.

The emperor looked forward to the crown prince's performance.

"Your Majesty, what should we do with the battle?"

"Let's take the time by pushing the military back little by little."

"If that happens, the capital will soon become a battlefield."

"It can't be helped, right? If the capital becomes a battlefield, the imperial castle will be moved to Endmion City."

Fleeed after abandoning the capital.

This was a choice that was tantamount to announcing defeat.

The ministers expressed their anxiety as to whether the arrangement would be the card that would turn the tide of war as the emperor wished.

"Your Majesty!"

But then.

The door to the imperial palace was opened roughly, and the Minister of the Interior came running in with an urgent expression.

The emperor and other ministers expressed their expectations, wondering if the crown prince had returned.

-Quaaaang!

With the sudden sound of an explosion.

"There's an intruder!"

The expressions of the emperor and his ministers hardened at the scream-like shout of the palace minister.

"You mean an intruder? Did you turn some of your troops around while Duke Lawrence was drawing attention with his diary?"

The emperor narrowed his brows, and the answer could be heard not from the Minister of the Palace, but from the Heavenly Fortress.

[Intruder occurs. An intruder has occurred.] [Currently, a small number of armed troops have broken through the defense line above the capital and invaded the castle.] [The intruders are Duke Adrian El Lawrence and 8 others from the Kingdom of Rheinharts.] 

However, the moment they heard the identity of the intruders, everyone gathered at the Imperial Palace of the Croesen Empire had to swallow their breath.

"There are degrees of things that are unexpected… … ."

Why is Adrian here?

The diary discussion just ended.