Chapter 52: War Game (Ambush)
"WHAT EVEN IS THIS?!" Ibri screamed, grabbing his head in mock despair. "Apollo's defenses lasted shorter than a discount in Dian Cecht's store! First, Little Rookie obliterates the gate. Then Soma's suit-wearing Level 3 adventurer one-punches a wall into oblivion!"
He threw his arms wide as the crowd in front of the guild and others watching from taverns roared. "At the exact same moment, the southern wall gets blown sky-high by the Concurrent Chanting mystery adventurer, the hooded helper of the Hestia Familia—Leon!"
Ibri waved his arms dramatically, continuing without pause, "And just when you thought it couldn't get crazier—BOOM—the eastern wall is suddenly occupied by multiple Level 2 adventurers who arrived via… teleportation magic?!"
He suddenly whirled toward the elephant god, the mic trembling in his hand. "Ganesha, since when is THAT a thing? Have we ever seen magic like this before?"
"I! AM! GANESHA!" The god roared, striking a pose after each word.
"Exactly my point!" Ibri nodded vigorously, turning back to the crowd. "It seems the magic belongs to the Soma Familia captain Gandharva." He gestured at the screen to zoom in on Zanis, dropping from the wall into the castle with his hands in his jacket pocket.
"Ladies and gentlemen, I don't know about you—but I'm Lovin' It!"
———
Rex surveyed the destruction around him as he walked through the rubble of the destroyed wall, and though it looked severe, surprisingly no one had died from the attack. Even with adventurers standing atop the wall during its destruction, none of them had been killed—only a few suffered near-fatal injuries.
'Is this my luck development ability at work?' He had expected a few deaths from collateral damage, but it was a relief there were no casualties, especially since some of these adventurers would soon be joining his Familia.
'I would have been especially upset if any Level 2s had died,' he thought, glancing down at the elven mage who had used the fire magic spear against him.
Blood flowed heavily from her forehead, pouring from a deep, gaping wound that had split open across her forehead. Her robes were torn, revealing bloodied limbs twisted awkwardly, clearly indicating multiple broken bones. She looked alarmingly close to death, pale and barely conscious. Immediately, a Pallum supporter rushed to her side, quickly setting down his bags as he urgently applied a healing potion to stabilize her condition.
He had ordered that adventurers who were severely injured be healed enough to survive but not to return to battle, to avoid sudden deaths. Afterall, how could have his own 'Familia members' to die.
Just then, he glanced to the east as a firecracker flew into the sky, exploding after reaching its peak. It was the flare from Zanis' group, signaling that they had successfully taken control of it the western wall. This marked the end of the initial breach at Shreme Castle and the first phase of the war.
Now, Rex and Ryuu were supposed to circle around to assist the trio at the western gate, but...
'Not going.' Rex decided against it. 'Being around Bell was a surefire way to attract the attention of Freya, who was currently watching him closely through her divine mirror.'
Divine mirrors were essentially omniscient tools created by gods using their Arcanum, allowing them to view any location in the world. They required permission from the god Ouranos, and since permission had been granted for the War Game, nearly every deity in Orario was currently using one. Right now, four unknown gods were watching Rex, while Bell was being observed by twelve—with Freya among them.
'And right now, I need to win my parlays,' Rex thought as he started moving.
Indeed, he had placed a bet on himself—or rather, he had given the Miach Familia 10 million Valis to bet on his behalf. This was highly illegal and could land them in trouble, but he had promised them 30% of the winnings. One of the most popular bets was 'Rex vs. Hyakinthos,' ranking second only behind the primary wager on Apollo Familia versus Hestia and Soma Familia.
This bet would only count if he actually fought Hyakinthos, meaning he had to engage Hyakinthos directly before anyone else had a chance to defeat him. This meant ignoring everything else, bypassing everyone, and heading straight to the main tower.
Leaving the settling dust behind, Rex stepped onto the wide, open area separating the outer wall from the central keep, a clear expanse of about 200 meters. Some Level 1 adventurers from his side were already battling Apollo Familia members, pushing forward through the clearing toward the central keep.
Battle cries echoed through the air, mingling with the ringing of metal as blades clashed violently. Sparks flew, and magic swords unleashed vibrant elemental blasts, igniting fiery explosions and gusts of wind, kicking up clouds of dirt and debris. Members of his Familia surged forward, desperately pushing through the Apollo defenders, creating a chaotic battlefield rather than a mere War Game.
He even saw a group of 7 level 1s apollo adventures ganging up on a single level 1 Boaz Female from the Soma Familia. They then glanced of Rex—who was planning on just walking past as it wasn't his concern—then looked at each other and nodded in a silent conversation.
"Get him!" One of them roared and all seven of them charged with him towards Rex, seven in total, each letting out fierce battle cries. Rex glanced at them casually, swinging his arm in a lazy swipe.
As if straight out of an anime, all seven adventurers flew dramatically into the air, their weapons spinning wildly from their grips. "AHHH—!" screamed one adventurer, and another cried out, "GAH!" as blood sprayed exaggeratedly from their noses while they spun in the air.
After a few seconds of flying, they crashed heavily into each other mid-air, tumbling into a tangled pile of limbs and weapons before collapsing onto the dirt in a pile, moaning weakly in exaggerated defeat.
"..." Rex stood still, looking at their exaggerated flights and dramatic falls. 'I didn't even put enough force into that to send you flying. Why did you guys do that?' He felt genuinely confused for a moment before realization hit him.
No—these guys did it intentionally! Clearly, they had no desire to seriously fight him, a level 3, and deliberately made themselves look foolish after his casual swipe. At least this way it wouldn't look like they were cowards and ran away from a level 3.
'...' Rex played along and placed his hands in his pocket and continued walking.
This time, other level 1s who saw what he did to the seven didn't dare attack him so he made it to the second wall around the central keep. It was even taller than the first at 15 meters, though not nearly as thick. Adventurers emerging from the central keep spotted Rex immediately.
"That's Soma's Level 3!" shouted a guard, brandishing a longsword. "Don't let him reach the keep!"
A group of around fifteen adventurers surged forward, weapons in hand—swords, spears, and axes—charging toward him with determination. One adventurer swung a great axe at Rex, but Rex casually caught the axe blade between his thumb and index finger, effortlessly stopping its momentum.
With a flick of his wrist, he sent the man spinning backward through the air with his axe, screaming as he crashed onto the ground. Another adventurer lunged at him with a spear, but Rex easily sidestepped the thrust, delivering a casual backhand that sent him spinning away unconscious without wasting any time.
One by one, adventurers rushed him only to be casually sent flying. Rex's playful smile widened. "Why are you guys forming a single file line?" They weren't actually lining up, but why would they surround him only to rush in one at a time?
They were even glancing at each other, deciding who would go next. 'The fuck is this?' Was this some kind of battle tactic he didn't know about?
Rex took care of the Level 1 adventurers after nearly a minute of standing still, letting them rush at him individually like fools. Then he entered the central keep. Immediately, multiple spells from three different mages and several powerful magic blasts from magic swordsmen slammed into him simultaneously, merging into an immense explosion of elemental energy.
Fire, lightning, and wind combined violently, releasing a deafening boom and sending a powerful shockwave outward. Spiderwebs cracks crawled through the stone walls around the entrance where the magic blasts landed, with dust, smoke, and debris filling the air, obscuring the view with swirling chaos.
The adventurers standing in a group atop one building in the central keep stared at the large plume of smoke rising upward. They were silent until a female mage mumbled nervously;
"Did we get him?"
"I think so." They all froze at this voice, heads slowly creaking sideways to see Rex standing with them, casually staring at the explosion, his right palm shading his eyes. "Wistle~Even a Level 4 would be hurt by that. Ain't no way whoever you guys aimed at survived."
"Shit—!" One adventurer was about to use his magic sword, but Rex cut him off.
"Coming through." He vanished and reappeared behind the group. They stood for a few seconds before collapsing, their eyes rolling to the back of their head, knocked out.
'I should just use Predator for this, right?' he thought, but decided against it. It would be too boring, even for him.
He continued through the keep, defeating Level 1s who employed strange fighting tactics, but he felt something was off. Despite the chaos, he had encountered no Level 2 adventurers.
'Are they all in the throne room?' he wondered while casually dispatching a few other Level 1s, but Scavenger rated the thought as low-quality. 'They're not in the throne room?'
He pressed forward, finally reaching the large double doors of the throne room. He kicked a struggling guard forward, sending the man crashing through the doors, then Rex stepped inside, scanning the vast, empty throne room.
His gaze settled on the empty throne at the far end, the central keep's flag standing beside the throne—the Apollo Familia banner hanging from a pole. Using seismic sense, he detected only the retreating Level 1 adventurers and the guard he'd kicked through the doors, now weakly gasping on the floor.
'...What is going on?' He ignored the flag, walked to the door leading to the balcony. 'They hiding?' Scavenger said no.
He entered the balcony that encircled the entire central tower. With the tower being the tallest structure in the entire castle, standing about 20 meters tall, he was able to see the entire castle while walking around the balcony.
Ryuu, Bell, and the other two were moving in from the west. The north and south were doing good, and the east with Zanis and co...
"Ah." The dumb level one adventures that were fighting him like fools were stalling for time.
——A Few Minutes Earlier——
After jumping from the wall, Welf landed on one knee, grinning confidently as he looked up at the adventurers stationed behind the wall.
The Level 1 adventurers, distracted by the commotion from the other walls, turned toward Welf, confusion evident on their faces. Why was this boy—clearly not from their Familia—behind their wall? How did he get here? They shook off their confusion and charged him with their weapons raised deciding to beat up this random boy.
However, the group of level 2 easily dispatched them. Though he had recently become Level 2, the difference in strength between levels was enormous. He had finished dealing with most of the Level 1s before the others that stayed behind to handle the Level 1 adventurers on the wall came down.
Welf glanced back as the firecracker signal shot into the air. He turned to Mikoto, who was busy knocking out an adventurer with the butt of her katana's hilt. "Looks like things are going smoothly," he said calmly.
Mikoto nodded quietly in response. "But let's not let our guard down," she said calmly as she glanced at Welf.
He nodded and looked back as the remaining Level 2 adventurers jumped down from the wall—Chandra carefully carrying the small Liliruca who was sitting on his shoulder while another adventurer held her bag. Although they didn't think they'd need a supporter, it was best to be prepared, especially if they encountered strong opponents like Captain Hyakinthos.
"Let's get going," Zanis said, taking the lead as they charged through the area toward the central keep. Ahead, more adventurers were preparing to attack from on top the inner wall with arrows, but suddenly they all retreated.
"They're probably waiting for an ambush behind the gate," Mikoto said after noticing their movement.
The group quickly shifted formation, allowing Chandra and the Boaz Level 2 to lead the charge as they moved towards the door—
Suddenly, a shadow dashed out from the arch gate of the central keep with blinding speed, faster than any of them could react, instantly closing the distance to Chandra and punching him directly in the face. The massive dwarf flew backward, propelled with incredible force, his heavy body soaring overhead. Then he crashed heavily behind Liliruca at the rear of the group, hitting the ground with a thunderous impact and sliding several feet before finally coming to a stop.
Everyone froze, eyes turning to the attacker. Standing there was Hyakinthos, clad in a sharp black captain's uniform, his white cloak billowing dramatically in the wind behind him as he calmly adjusted the cuffs of his sleeves.
"It's good that four flag bearers are gathered together," Hyakinthos remarked coolly. From behind him, six Level 2 adventurers stepped forward: Daphne, Cassandra, Lissos, a Boaz, an Amazoness, and another elf. All seven flag bearers were here. "This will make things easier for us."
Liliruca immediately dropped to the dwarf's side, yanking a potion from her bag and forcing it into his mouth as everyone quickly got in combat ready stance.
"Who made the plan to put four flag bearers on one team?" He shrugged. "Well, that won't matter now." His eyes locked onto Zanis. "Why don't we make this easy? Hand over the flags."
Welf scoffed loudly. "What, scared for a fight?" he asked mockingly. "Why don't we duke it out for the flags—your seven or our four?"
Hyakinthos glanced at the boy with a cold stare. "You don't want that."
Welf chuckled, turning to the others and jerking his thumb toward Hyakinthos. "Get a load of this guy," he laughed. "Too scared to fight despite being Level 3—"
Hyakinthos didn't let him finish. He dashed forward in a blur, instantly appearing in front of Welf, his cloak streaming behind him. His eyes glinted sharply as he brought his fist upward with meteoric speed, slamming it into Daphne's abdomen with inhuman force.
The girl was instantly lifted several inches off the ground, her eyes turning white as all the air was knocked out of her lungs. She crashed to her knees, hugging her stomach tightly as she coughed out a mouthful of blood onto the ground.
"Daphne?" Hyakinthos muttered in confusion, looking down at the girl struggling to breathe. "Why are you here?"
Before he could react further, Welf—now standing where Daphne had been— swung his fist backwards, slamming it into Cassandra's nose, breaking it. She fell to her knees, her eyes wide as she held her nose, blood streaming from it.
Mikoto immediately dashed at the allied elf beside her, executing a swift horizontal slash with the back of her katana. In a blink, the female elf was replaced by Lissos from the Apollo Familia, who barely raised his sword in time to block.
Their blades collided with a sharp screech, pushing Lissos back a step, only for him to be elbowed fiercely in the face by the Boaz beside Mikoto. Blood spurted from Lissos's nose, followed by a punch to the jaw, knocking him unconscious.
Chaos erupted, and within moments only Hyakinthos remained standing, still beside Daphne, who struggled on the ground. He looked around, utterly confused. What had just happened? Why had Daphne taken his punch? If she wasn't tougher than Welf, she'd be out cold—no, close to death from that punch.
His confusion faded as he noticed Zanis drinking a potion. "Ah..." He turned toward him, realization dawning. "So you finally got a magic, Zanis—a quick-chant teleportation magic?"
"Who knows." Zanis replied, adjusting his glasses calmly. "But one thing is certain," he raised his head, his eyes meeting Hyakinthos, "Your team never stood a chance."
Hyakinthos sighed, running his hands through his hair. "You're right," he exhaled, slowly removing his cloak. Everyone instantly tensed. Though the seven felt confident in defeating him together, Hyakinthos was a powerful Level 3—they couldn't afford to underestimate him.
"I admit, I never stood—LOOK!" He suddenly threw his cloak aside, causing everyone to instinctively glance at it.
In that split second, Hyakinthos appeared in front of Zanis. The man couldn't react when a Hyakinthos delivered a simple backhand that sent Zanis flying. The man's glasses shattered midair, blood trailing from his broken nose as he spun in the air, the blood spiraling comically around him.
Zanis faceplanted into the dirt, ass in the air, fingers twitching before going still. Out cold. Without stopping, Hyakinthos appeared behind Liliruca, his cold blue eyes piercing down at the unsuspecting girl like a predator.
"Lili!" Mikoto shouted, lunging forward desperately.
"KAAA—!" Liliruca screamed in surprise as her bag was violently jerked behind her, pulling her backward sharply.
Hyakinthos behind her had ripped open her bag, and quickly rummaged through it, his fingers immediately closing around an elixir. In the next instant, he smoothly ducked beneath Mikoto's blade that flashed above his head at breakneck speed. Their eyes met, but he ignored her completely as he dashed past her.
He dashed straight to the bare fist level 2 Amazoness that charged towards him fiercely, appearing before her, his right leg extended straight up like an air split. Then, faster than anyone could follow, his raised leg sliced downward in a brutal axe kick, moving so swiftly that the motion itself was invisible. The Amazoness's face slammed violently into the ground, her lower body lifting into the air from the devastating impact.
Hyakinthos then casually dropped the elixir to Daphne beside him, who caught it shakily and quickly drank it. Adjusting his uniform, Hyakinthos looked around confidently.
"Now, what was it you said, Zanis?" He asked the man that was out cold. "That I never stood a chance?"
"!!!" Suddenly, they all felt magic coming from behind them and turned to the blue haired girl kneeling on the ground with a bloody nose and a busted upper lip. Everyone was so preoccupied they didn't notice Cassandra quietly finishing her chant.
"—may you beat back ruin! Soul Light!" With her shout, a radiant golden magic circle appeared above her, bathing the area in a 10 meter radius around her in healing light.
It didn't take long for all Apollo Familia adventurers who had fallen moments ago rose back to their feet, completely healed.
"What was that saying again?" Hyakinthos smirked at Welf, his eyes glowing dangerously. "Ah, right." Daphne stood up beside him, glaring angrily at Welf, "How the tables has turned."
[Author's Note: I apologize for no chapter 2 days in a row, but I had to rewrite the entire chapter because the Apollo Familia got the case of 'Dumb Antagonist Syndrome.' It was ass and I wasn't going to post that. I hope this chapter was not bad.
Also, I noticed that in the last chapter people thought that I turned 50 years old in real life. But no, I was actually talking about my 50th "Chapter" birthday, not real real 50. The wording was bad, so I understand how people mistook it, but I still have a long way to go before 50. But thanks for those who wished me well.
Speaking of bad wordings, the skill Jack Bird Dash. My bad wordings caused many to believe that the skill massively raises his agility at all times. But this huge boost in agility and slight boost in endurance only activate when he is actively being chased, along with him getting the DA Escape. I will try to be careful of my wordings from now on.
Anyway, thanks for reading and I wish you well \(￣︶￣*\))]