Chapter 173: From Trust to Betrayal (5)

"The sacrifice of Little Rock must not be in vain!"

Tears fell down my cheeks as I spoke this.

I thought the troops would get it together upon hearing my trembling voice, which spread out loudly due to voice amplification magic. Although some of them knew they could also die, Little Rock had not gone down running away.

They probably hadn't even heard Song Jungwook's scream.

Unlike me, who could identify the battle situation with magic, ordinary soldiers busied themselves with dealing with the monsters in their way. Therefore, Song Jungwook's incessant cursing of my name must've looked like a war cry to them until Jungwook had died. For them, Jungwook had died a beautiful death.

He and Little Rock had become heroes of this pre-defense war.

'I did you a favor, Song Jungwook.'

I had no intention of doing the same for myself. It would be better for me to survive through dirty tactics.

Not surprisingly, many troops were impressed by Little Rock, one of the guilds representing Castle Rock. One by one, they echoed my words.

"Do not let the sacrifice of Little Rock be in vain!"

"Kill these dirty cubs, you bastards!"

"Let's protect our hometown!"

In the last moments of his death, the pre-defense's troops got alive once again from archers who had fire in their eyes as if given a buff, to warriors who did not spare themselves, and to priests who constantly exuded divine power.

I had to set an example too, so I also slowly started chanting a spell.

It was time to show the dirty monsters that filled the First City Wall how big Castle Rock's united power was.

"Let's protect Castle Rock!"

'Puh hihahiiihat!'

As if she felt my magic, Jung Hayan also started to chant spells from a distance.

If I were alone, it would be difficult to do great damage to them, but with Jung Hayan's magic, I could do a lot more damage than imagined.

'I have to gain more experience.'

The moment the spell was completed, I could see a large hand descending from the sky to the First City Wall. The massive hand of the catalyst that had been reconstructed instantly continued to expand; of course, the magical power supplied from Jung Hayan constantly infused it with magic. With a 'Kwaang!' sound, the monsters in the First City Wall were immediately crushed.

Little Rock seemed to have been crushed, too, but a small sacrifice was necessary for the cause. Eventually, the huge hand expanded and burst, causing an explosion.

It was not my work, but it was obvious as to whose it was.

'Hayan!'

"Kaw-ahhh!"

"Kadududukkk!"

"Kuh-uh-uh-uh-uh-uh-uh!"

'Nice!'

You couldn't hear any experience bar rising, but it felt like hundreds of monsters were swept away by the magic that we had chanted just before. As a result, part of the wall collapsed, and the number of monsters that fell under it was quite large.

[Some classes have been opened. Please choose the class you think you need.]

'Already?'

Considering that the higher ranking one got, the more difficult it was to grow, this was a great achievement. It seemed like I had managed to kill quite a few monsters, but I didn't expect to get a new class this early. A smile formed on my face.

Upon seeing this, Cha Hee-ra spoke.

"New class?"

"Yes. I never thought I would rank up this fast."

"How many times has this been, honey?"

"This is the fourth."

"I think that one just now was good, but it appeared pretty fast… I think the experience points from Ito Souta were also counted. Basically, combat gives one the greatest experience, but usually, all actions give experience in one way or another. I'll choose my new class after this wave is over. I'll accumulate more experience that way, anyway."

"Thank you for the tip."

"It's a fact that we all know. Rather than that, you should control your facial expressions."

"Of course. Let's focus our magic power on the First City Wall, where monsters are being concentrated! This is the last message from the Guild Master Song Jungwook!"

Of course, he had never said that.

"We must not let the will of the Guild Master Song Jungwook to protect Castle Rock in vain! Everyone! Let's hold on a little longer. Nothing can be saved without sacrifice. Let's fight together for the hero who lost his life while protecting Castle Rock! All forces, fire!"

After all, I also wanted to get rid of any possible Little Rock Guild survivor. At my words, magic and arrows descended upon the area.

A lot of magic was poured onto the battlefield, making it scary to calculate.

"Kaw-ahhh!"

"Kwajijijijijijijiji!"

The roaring sound that rang through my ears sounded just like music. As much as I had to focus on reserving magic power, chanting flame-based magic was worth it. As a result, everything within its path burned into ashes, setting off an array of mini-explosions.

'Whoa…'

"Kieeeeeek!"

"Kuh-uh-uh-uh-uh!"

In an instant, a huge hole filled up from within the mob of monsters trying to get past our defenses. Of course, the rest of them continued to run, yet they had also gotten inflicted by tremendous damage.

'All of this is thanks to Song Jungwook!'

At this thought, a smile formed on my face.

"This might be easier than I thought…"

I couldn't deny Cha Hee-ra's words.

Our people were effectively driving away the monsters, though new ones kept appearing.

Some of them had managed to climb over the wall, but they were quickly taken care of. Even my own Blue party was doing the same thing.

Kim Hyunsung flew from wall to wall, steadily arranging the monsters just like a god of war.

I didn't know how he managed to cut off the neck of such a large monster with a single sword slash, but he managed to do that and much more.

'Kim Ye-ri, too…'

Even the kid was showing off his immense talent. Jung Hayan's magic accurately hit the monsters, and Hwang Jeong-yeon assisted her as much as possible. Sun Hee-young focused on sprinkling her divine power in all directions.

The only commoner at our party was Park Deokgu. However, even he was doing more than average, so I could feel the impact of such a well-trained and capable party on the battlefield.

'They've grown a lot.'

I could say the same about me, but our party was completely different from before.

It was then that a man wearing a Red Mercenary's insignia quickly approached us.

"Cha Hee-ra-nim."

"Huh? Oh. Did you take care of it?"

"Yes. As you said, we've got all the remaining items in the underground auction house. Besides, I also checked the cry of the monster we heard before."

"Report it."

"In the guild warehouse of Little Rock, I found a baby born from a monster's egg in a form I have never seen before…"

"What?"

"It was a type of monster that I have never seen before. First of all, we are securing new recruits since we occupied the Little Rock Guild House… You will have to come and check it out yourself. Perhaps…"

'Hm?'

"Perhaps it is the cause of the monster wave."

The Red Mercenary member nodded as I made this assumption.

'I was right.'

There would be no effect without a cause.

When my speculation was confirmed, my head started to ache. If we were to assume that the wave started because of a monster's egg, we might have to deal with its parents.

Cha Hee-ra appeared to have thought of the same thing.

"Did you check where the eggs were found?"

"I interrogated the Little Rock warehouse manager, but he gave no clue other than finding it in a deep forest."

"Huh… They're crazy guys. It is not illegal to bring in monster eggs, but it's still taboo. I knew they were doing illegal things in the first place, but I didn't think they were stupid enough… At this point, I feel like those damn guys died too honorably…"

"Then, the monster wave…"

"There is a high probability that it's happened because of that baby, only now it can be explained. The beginning of the monster wave was clearly that howling…"

"Is this a dangerous repayment?"

I could realize it was a stupid question even as I spit it out.

Of course, it was dangerous.

"No. There won't be a big problem. First of all, it would be nice to go inside the city and check it out. I think I need to sort out a bit of appetizer before the main dish comes. Don't worry too much. Now, we have to deal with just one more guy."

I was a little disconcerted to hear that Cha Hee-ra had to start moving now. Of course, it wasn't bad timing, but it was evident that the situation was urgent.

"I'll come back."

"Ah… Yes."

She waved as if it was not a big deal and jumped down the wall. Just in case it wasn't dangerous, I looked at the member of the Red Mercenary. He spoke right away.

"She prefers to fight alone."

"I see."

"The master often shows excitement when she concentrates… It would be better to say that she actually ends up losing her head."

I knew that much. If one were to think about Cha Hee-ra's attribute, the answer came quickly.

[Attribute: Bloodthirsty Woman (Heroic)]

[Intelligence stats are temporarily reduced to increase attack power.]

This attribute made Cha Hee-ra the way she was. Considering that her original strength was already 97, her appearance in a state of increased attack power was like a god of war, and even that was not enough.

Kaaduuuuuk!

Baaaaaaanng!

As I looked down at the bottom of the wall, I saw the monsters being ripped apart, just as I had expected. Though Cha Hee-ra calmly picked them off at first, her disposition gradually changed into something as similar as a beast's. It was like she was never a human in the first place. The way she tore apart a medium-sized monster with her own hands made her look terrifying.

'She is strong…'

I knew how strong guys like Ito Souta were, but they were nothing compared to Hee-ra.

Seeing her laughing while covered in intestines definitely made her look insane.

'It's scary…'

It was then that Cha Hee-ra's gaze, whose eyes seemed to have lost all reason, moved onto the wall.

"Uh?"

It was not an illusion. Her gaze had rested on me while holding a monster's head in one hand.

Her expression soon turned into an eager one.

'No way…'

[Checking the unique characteristic of the player Cha Hee-ra.]

[A Lioness Faithful to Instinct.]

'No way…'

What I had only been imagining had come true.

Seeing Cha Hee-ra running to me suddenly, I had to admit that something was really wrong.

"Fuck… Sh*t!! Run!"

I didn't know why, but Cha Hee-ra was definitely following me.