Chapter 9: Into the Endless War.
Alseace climbed down the rope ladder from the helicopter and then jumped down when he thought it would be safe for his legs. Sierra and the others were waiting for him in front of the vortex since they had already jumped off the helicopter earlier.
The vortex had become bigger than before, and it started to ooze some eerie aura around it. The surrounding areas had been protected by agents from the Emissary and forbid the people from exploring the forest.
"Are you really okay with just that?" Elenoir looked at Alseace in his black coat, a short sword behind his waist, and a backpack on his back.
"She told me that I don't have to do anything and just try to survive," Alseace tightened his black gloves and pulled his sleeves down.
"Miss Red, before we send him in, can you at least give us a reason why he should be the one to enter?" Katya asked because she hated the idea of letting Alseace enter the most difficult vortex in Dasmein. "If it's just for survivability, Elenoir is the best option for that," Katya pointed out as she gave a stern look at Sierra.
"I know, but she can't stop the war," Sierra answered as she unwrapped a candy bar. "Can you stop a war if there's a whole army that might be as strong as me or even stronger than me?" Sierra looked at Katya as she took a big chunk of the candy bar.
Katya went silent for a moment and hid her face. "What makes you so sure that he can?" Katya asked with her head down.
"I don't, but I'll take responsibility when a breakout happens," Sierra answered as she grabbed Alseace on the shirt. "Either he dies or comes back stronger," Sierra pulled and then pushed Alseace into the vortex.
Sierra whispered something before Alseace entered the vortex.
They were dumbfounded when they saw Alseace disappear into the vortex and stood there with their eyes and mouths wide open.
"I'll be staying here and waiting for him to come back," Sierra stood in front of the portal and looked at them with a cold expression.
Alseace was thrown away and rolled over until he hit a boulder of rock on the head and making him fall unconscious. He was unconscious for two hours until he was awoken by the sound of trumpets in the distance.
The first thing he saw was a notification in front of him.
[The Endless War]
[Difficulty: Extremely Hard]
[Objective: Stop the Cresta Clan army and the Sikar Clan army from killing each other and sending them back to where they came from. You have 7 days to stop them, and the longer it takes, the harder it will be. You can use every method by all means to stop the war]
[Failed Condition: On the 7th day and the war is still ongoing, the bloodbath will attract a dangerous army. Both the Cresta Clan army and the Sikar Clan army will be annihilated by them and the world you came from will be next]
[Reward: Optional Packages]
[Timer: 6 Days 59 Hours 59 minutes 59 seconds]
The sound of the trumpets could be heard again, and Alseace slowly walked toward the sound. He was still dizzy and his left eye was covered with his own blood. He looked around and heard the sound of a river. He washed his face before he continued to look where the battlefield was.
"Whatever you see, don't interfere..." Sierra whispered into Alseace's ear before he entered the vortex.
"Of course, I won't interfere. Do you think I'm a Saint?" Alseace looked at his own reflection in the river. "For now let's find a place to stay for the next seven days," Alseace walked away as he fixed the backpack.
Alseace checked the battlefield which was not quite far from where he came from, and it was a vast field with hills and cliffs surrounding it. There were at least 50,000 knights and mages on the battlefield, and they were using different skills.
He looked at the cliff and decided to go there so he could look at the situation of the war from above. On his way to the cliff, he looked at all the notifications that appeared in front of him.
[0.000431% EXP gained]
[0.000465% EXP gained]
[0.000416% EXP gained]
[0.000481% EXP gained]
[0.000399% EXP gained]
...
...
...
"That's a lot of EXP..." Alseace looked at the flooding notifications in front of him. "Are these at least from C-Rank Candidates? To think there are so many of them dying like flies is quite disturbing," Alseace continued and climbed up the hill.
He managed to climb to the highest point in the vicinity and looked at the armies that looked like ants. Even though he was far away, he still got a few EXPs which was nice. He then found a perfect spot inside the forest to use as a resting place.
The moon lightened up the night sky, and Alseace managed to get some sleep even though the sound of the screams and the trumpets woke him up a few times. He decided to go and check his surroundings to see if there was any deserter around him that could threaten his position since he was so weak compared to those soldiers.
After he made sure that his surroundings were safe, he went to the cliff to check the situation on the battlefield.
"So they're resting at night, and they're collecting the bodies. It's my opportunity to leech their EXPs," Alseace looked at the soldiers having a truce to collect the bodies on the battlefield. "Looking at the number of knights, is it really need 7 days? One of them might lose tomorrow with only that many knights," Alseace could tell there were only a few hundred of them left.
Alseace managed to get down the cliff and snuck around the military camp. He looked at hundreds of dead bodies being piled up, and there were at least a dozen piles that he could see. They were being prepared to be cremated to avoid disease and plague.
[0.000472% EXP gained]
[0.000480% EXP gained]
[0.000458% EXP gained]
[0.000389% EXP gained]
[0.000416% EXP gained]
...
...
...
"So this is what war looks like," Alseace looked at the corpses being tossed into the pit of fire. "There are at least 20,000 people being cremated," Alseace slowly walked away and made sure he didn't make any noises after he no longer got any EXP from them.
Alseace hurriedly went to the other side and leeched the EXPs from the casualties. The condition was the same. There were at least 20,000 people being prepared to be cremated. He got a lot of EXP, but when he looked at his status screen, he was underwhelmed by the amount that he had gotten.
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Name: Alseace LaRoze
Level: 1 (19.449372%)
Karma: 100/100
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Status
Strength: 5.36
Agility: 8.42
Dexterity: 7.57
Vitality: 5.91
Mentality: 6.43
Sense: 7.25
Magic: -
Stamina: 7.16
Extra Point(s): 0
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Skill: [Leftover] [Pain Resistance] [Leech] [Sword Art] [Spear Art]
[Dagger Art] [Axe Art] [Staff Art] [Bow Art] [Martial Art]
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Sub-Skill: -
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Achievement: [The One Who Did Nothing]
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While Alseace was looking at his status screen in disappointment after he got all the EXPs from the dead bodies, he saw a giant translucent portal come out near him. He was surprised and immediately ran far away to hide and see why a portal suddenly appeared.
Dozens of knights came out at the same time with banners they brought with them. Alseace was surprised that those people could open a portal so easily, and wondered how they did it. But his attention was distracted by dozens of knights that looked different from others. They wore full plate armor that looked expensive with good-looking weapons on their waists and backs.
Alseace was staring at the specific group of people, but then one of them was looking in his direction as if that person could feel Alseace's gaze. Alseace then hid behind the tree and slowly crouched in the bushes as he walked away.
"He could feel my gaze, which means his sense is high. Maybe equal to Katya," Alseace's heart pounded as he retreated to the hill. "Let's just go back and sleep for today..." Alseace said as he breathed heavily and looked around to make sure nobody noticed him.
Alseace's hands were trembling, and he forgot when the last time he felt his heart racing. He started to breathe heavily as he went back into the forest where he set up his tent. Before he went back, he saw the same portal that came from the other side, and they had at least the same amount of S-Rankers on their side as well.
"Now I know why the war will last for 7 days. These people have prepared sets of armies in their original world just like a game of chess," Alseace stared at the stars. "How many soldiers have they prepared? 50,000 on each side?" Alseace said with his right hand pressed on his chest because his heart was still pounding fast.
Alseace fell asleep before he could find the answers to the questions he had in his head. He was then awoken by the sound of the trumpet, and it felt like he had just closed his eyes, but it turned out it was morning already.
After observing and listening to their prayers and taunts, Alseace understood the situation and why they were at war. The Cresta Clan represented the Saint while the Sikar Clan represented the Saintess. Although, Alseace didn't catch the reason why both were at war. There were 100,000 knights down there, killing each other and bath in their enemy's blood.
"Is it a conflict between the Saint and the Saintess that they both share the same grudge? If so, how both of them knew each other if they didn't come from the same world?" Alseace was thinking as he lay on his belly and stared at the war from the edge of the cliff. So many unanswered questions came into his head.
Alseace didn't realize that it was nighttime already, so he decided to go down to leech some EXP. He tried to lurk around the bushes and was close enough to be in the radius for his [Leftover] skill. It was the same as last night. There were only at least a thousand of them that survived the war, but this time he had to be extra careful.
While Alseace was leeching for EXPs, a notification appeared in front of him which made him speechless.
[You have unlocked a Sub-Skill of [Leftover]!]
[You learned [Scavenger (F)] Sub-Skill!]
[Scavenger (F): An ability to take a tiny portion (0.5%) of one of the highest status points of the dead bodies that are affected by skill [Leftover]. The chance is very low (1%)]
[0.000372% EXP gained]
...
[Agility has increased by 0.19 points]
...
[Strength has increased by 0.21 points]
...
[Magic has increased by 0.18 points]
...
[Sense has increased by 0.17 points]
...
[Stamina has increased by 0.18 points]