novelraw Chapter 167: Reverse (6)
Chapter 167: Reverse (6)
Translator: Dreamscribe
As the reversed Leon appeared, Arsilan Worlds spun out of control to the point it could no longer be properly managed, but the situation on the ground was even more dire.
The Heroes couldn’t come to their senses.
They simply couldn’t accept the horrific reality unfolding before their eyes. The morale of the Legion of Light plummeted rapidly, and they even lost their will to fight.
The reversed named Heroes, like the other Heroes, were filled with madness. From beneath their feet, dark flowers bloomed, looking as though they were rusted. Though there had been doppelgänger-type Quests before the Great War, the Legion of Erosion was on an entirely different level.
Not only their equipment, but their appearances had changed partially, and even their personalities seemed to have reversed. They freely pulled out distorted items using their inventories. Moreover, even their once beloved pets and proudly shown-off mounts appeared in reversed forms.
The expression "turned to darkness" might be the most fitting description.
“Kill them all!”
“For despair!”
The Legion of Erosion led by the reversed Leon approached. Unlike the Legion of Light, their morale was sky-high, and Leon stood at the center of it all.
“F-For now, fight!”
"Th-they are incredibly strong!"
“Shit...!”
The Legion of Erosion freely used the same magic, skills, and combat techniques that the Heroes used. The Heroes’ magic was now tainted dark. Even aura, which was difficult for Heroes who had undergone second class advancement to use, now surged black and wild.
Swoosh!
The Heroes killed the first reversed Hero that came charging at them, but it revived from the flower of erosion.
Leon’s demon sword revived them from the flower of erosion without any penalty. At this rate, it was only a matter of time before they were overwhelmed. Ella hastily emitted light and blessed the Legion of Light.
[Goddess Ella blesses the Legion of Light. Ella’s Blessing applied....]
As a brilliant light burst forth and the message window popped up,
The message window floating before the Heroes’ eyes was eaten away by erosion and melted, falling to the ground. Reflected in the now mirror-like ground, the message window turned into a curse harming the Legion of Light.
[The Curse of the Demon Sword desecrates the light.]
*Stat -10%
*Greatly increased resurrection wait time
The blessing had turned into a curse.
The front lines collapsed in an instant.
There was no choice but to retreat again and again.
Reversed Heina commanded the Legion of Erosion. She rode a skeletal horse breathing black flames and slashed through the Heroes.
“Fufufut.”
Heina smiled seductively, making the Heroes flinch and the Arsilans gasp in shock. Her makeup was heavier than the original Heina’s, and her outfit was considerably more revealing.
-Uh...
-Everyone stop!
-Ahem!
The situation was too grave for the Heroes to speak aloud, so they brought it up in the group chat instead.
The reversed named Heroes were overwhelmingly powerful.
NorthernGrandDuke was truly exceptional. Though her personality seemed unchanged, she cut down dozens of Heroes at once with a twisted two-handed axe.
“T-That’s...”
“RomanticBard?”
“F-Fuck! W-What do we do?”
The reversed RomanticBard appeared on the rooftop of a building.
Haebyul urgently conjured arrows and fired at the reversed RomanticBard. The reversed UruBear, now carrying a black shield, appeared and effortlessly deflected her arrows imbued with powerful magic.
The reversed UruBear looked quite impressive.
He seemed a bit more agile and had a serious aura about him.
“Oh.”
Next to Haebyul, UruBear admired the reversed version of himself.
They used ranged skills in a desperate attempt to eliminate the reversed RomanticBard, but the reversed UruBear blocked every single one of them again. Then, he grinned. As all the Heroes and those nearby looked at UruBear, he wore an aggrieved expression.
“T-That’s not me.”
They knew that, but they were still angry!
The Heroes and the Arsilans were all on edge. So were Heina, Ella, and Helby, who all knew the truth of this entire episode. The reversed RomanticBard began to play his instrument and sing.
Everyone braced themselves for pain, their bodies tensing.
“Huh?”
“Hmm?”
But unexpectedly, the song sounded really pleasant.
[A pleasant melody is heard.]
*All stats +10%
*All luck +10%
*All magic power and holy power +10%
The Heroes tilted their heads in confusion.
The reversed RomanticBard’s song wasn’t just heavenly to listen to, it even gave buffs to the Heroes.
“Khgh!”
“Aaaaah!”
It was the Legion of Erosion who instead clutched their heads in agony. RomanticBard, who was in the Legion of Light’s camp, clicked his tongue as he watched the scene.
“Tsk tsk, that’s a total troll move.”
“...I don’t think you’re the one who should be saying that.”
SockThief beside him voiced her honest opinion.
Even reversed, RomanticBard was still the same.
Leon’s face twisted into a grimace as his body floated into the air, then he swung his demon sword toward the reversed RomanticBard. The dark energy from the sword cleaved through both the reversed RomanticBard and the building he stood on. It didn’t stop there, it split apart everyone standing in front of it as well.
Leon stared at all beings of Arsilan with crimson eyes. The worst-case scenario they couldn’t even bear to imagine was unfolding right before everyone’s eyes.
Leon swung his demon sword toward the Legion of Light.
It felt as if the world froze for a moment.
A black line streaked through the forest of buildings, and they split and collapsed.
“Guh!”
“Huh?”
The same thing happened to thousands of Heroes and Arsilans. Their bodies were severed, disappearing as if melting into erosion. Leon’s body blurred, then descended into the middle of the Legion of Light.
“Huff!”
“Urgh!”
The Heroes raised their weapons in caution, but couldn’t bring themselves to attack. The Arsilans didn’t even consider raising a weapon.
How could they possibly attack their king? It felt like their hearts were being torn apart.
“Weaklings.”
But Leon dismissed those feelings without a second thought.
As he swung his sword, everyone nearby was cleaved apart and disappeared.
And it didn’t end there.
A powerful energy began to gather in Leon’s demon sword. That alone caused the surrounding buildings to crumble and collapse.
Leon slowly raised his demon sword. Explosive energy surged from the blade, growing larger and larger. The sword looked as if it might pierce the sky.
As a twisted smile crept onto Leon’s lips, he swung the sword downward. Though the sword moved slowly as if anyone could dodge it, the result was devastating.
Kwagagaga!
The clouds floating in the sky vanished, and the space itself rippled. Everything around the sword’s movement shattered and disappeared. It looked as if the world was being erased with an eraser.
Before it could reach the Legion of Light, Ella and Helby appeared, stretching out their hands.
KWAHHHH!
A barrier of golden light and starlight clashed with the dark current pouring from the demon sword.
“Uagh!”
“Urgh!”
“Kyah!”
A massive shockwave swept through the area. Windows in distant buildings all shattered, and the ground surged as if an earthquake had struck.
KWAHHH!
The energy of the demon sword rebounded and soared into the sky.
Ella and Helby were not in normal condition. They had already expended much of their strength holding back the Grand Rift for so long.
As Ella and Helby staggered and collapsed, Heina and the knights quickly rushed to their sides to support them. Tension was etched clearly into the knights’ expressions.
Leon looked at them, then smirked and stepped back. As he raised his hand, the Legion of Erosion halted their advance and quietly stood by.
LA was already filled with the influence of erosion. Leon raised his demon sword and thrust it forward. Space split open, and something began to reveal itself.
“T-That’s...”
“Seoul?”
The scenery of Seoul appeared.
Leon’s demon sword had sliced a rift that opened to it. But it didn’t stop there.
Ssssss!
Other spaces appeared.
London, Paris, several cities.
-Huh? A Grand Rift appeared in Paris.
-Holy shit...
-Was watching football and looked up at the sky, what the hell is that?
Grand Rifts appeared in the candidate cities where Gate of Souls had been sufficiently installed. Using the influence he held over LA, Leon pierced through space with his demon sword and generated the Grand Rifts.
The situation was far too hopeless to celebrate the success of hosting the Grand Rifts.
Leon extended his demon sword forward.
“This is an order. Destroy and occupy everything.”
The moment Leon gave the order, the Heroes saw a quest window tainted in darkness.
It wasn’t theirs.
It was a quest issued to the Legion of Erosion.
[Leon’s command has been given to the Legion of Erosion!]
[Erosion] Conquer all Reverse Worlds.
‘Follow your Emperor!’
Let us conquer all the Reverse Worlds and offer them to Leon.
Open the gate to Arsilan, dye it in darkness, and establish an Empire of Darkness for Leon.
The weak light is unworthy of existence.
Our darkness will erase the light, and even wipe out the world of erosion itself.
Conditions: Reversed Heroes, Arsilans
Reward: Massive EXP, Empire of Darkness
The Heroes could see the quest window, now tainted in darkness.
“W-What is this?”
“A quest?”
“Shit... he's even giving them quests now....”
-This really exceeds imagination.
-Lucky bastards.
-My quest.... Give it back....
Quests were no longer exclusive to Arsilan.
They were now given to none other than the Legion of Erosion. The Heroes were no longer special.
“Khahahaha!”
“A quest popped up!”
“Let’s go!”
“Guys, let’s kill them all!”
The reversed Heroes in the Legion of Erosion shouted with glee.
That’s supposed to be our line...!
The Heroes felt chills down their spines as they looked at them, as if staring into a mirror.
How could this possibly be scripted content?
A crushing sense of loss overwhelmed the Heroes, as if everything had been stolen from them. And it completely shattered the will of the Arsilans to fight.
Behind Leon, a throne of darkness formed.
As he sat upon it with arrogant composure, the Legion of Erosion began their assault once more. This time, no one stopped them.
They would not stop until every Reverse World was conquered. And the Heroes knew this better than anyone. If they were in that position, they would have done the same.
The reversed NorthernGrandDuke stepped to the front, and NorthernGrandDuke moved to face her.
Their two-handed axes clashed.
NorthernGrandDuke fought with techniques learned from the orcs, but her reversed self was different.
She swung the two-handed axe freely, unconstrained by form or technique.
Whoosh!
The two-handed axe, filled with erosion, relentlessly pounded her at incredible speed. NorthernGrandDuke barely managed to block it but was heavily pushed back and glared at her opponent.
Her hand trembled.
Their stats should have been equal, but there was a significant gap.
“What kind of power...?”
“There’s a lot of EXP around, you see.”
The reversed NorthernGrandDuke smirked and answered her question.
She had leveled up by killing numerous Heroes.
She brushed back her white hair and effortlessly held the two-handed axe in one hand. Dark energy swirled around the axe, forming an incredibly clear aura.
NorthernGrandDuke could use aura too, but not that easily.
KWAHHH!
As the reversed NorthernGrandDuke swung her two-handed axe, a crescent-shaped aura shot out and swept the surroundings. NorthernGrandDuke generated aura to block it but was blown back and rolled across the ground.
“Fall back! Establish a defensive line at the Seoul field!”
There was no chance of victory right now.
At Heina’s command, the Legion of Light began a swift retreat.
Defeat.
It was Arsilan's complete defeat, unable to do anything from start to finish.
***
Arsilan suffered a devastating defeat!
As a result, LA was engulfed by erosion!
Arsilan Worlds exploded, and social media was flooded with the LA incident. Even now, when viewing LA through the Soul Gate, one could see a city dyed in ash.
Reversed Heroes roamed the streets of LA, and sometimes entered shops, tainting the interiors in darkness.
The Legion of Erosion crossed space and entered the Seoul Field. And not only that, they extended their reach to several other candidate cities. Arsilan focused its efforts on defending the Seoul Field first.
Ella and Helby had used up too much power and returned to Arsilan to concentrate on recovery. That was the official narrative.
Naturally, Arsilan Worlds couldn’t recover from the shock.
Title: I’m losing my mind.
Ella-nim and Helby-nim are both in recovery, and things are just so hopeless.
Leon-nim... is this really okay?
I’m holding back saying some bad things.
Our guild members cried all day... We never imagined Leon-nim would turn dark. I don’t think even Creator God-nim can be defended this time.
This is a one-time pass and it's over!
We can’t even retry...
At this rate, we’re heading straight into a sad ending....
We’re holding the defensive line in front of the rift in Seoul Field. These assholes are way too strong.
Heroes leveled up like crazy only to get swallowed by Erosion, so there's no answer. But I kept running into my reversed self.
Feels like... something is definitely connected.
Anonymous1 (KR): Give us back Leon-nim...
Anonymous2 (UK): Looks like the Holy Sword is completely gone too. Even the Holy Sword emblem is gone from Arsilan now.
ChickenMaster: I heard Paris and London have already been taken? We can’t even cross over right now.
Anonymous3 (US): Locals say it’s exactly like LA now. It’s all over the news. They said the California governor was taken to the hospital.
Anonymous4 (KR): But I heard Leon-nim’s fan club gained a ton of new members?
└LeonNim'sFootRest: Honestly, he does look badass. Even my sister had a mental breakdown. She says she wants to surrender to the Legion of Erosion.
└Anonymous4 (KR): That’s your story, huh? I kinda get how you feel, though.
The news kept talking about the LA incident.
‘Arsilan’s shocking defeat!’
‘Why did Arsilan lose? Who’s to blame?’
‘Dream of glory, crumbled into nothing.’
‘LA Merchants’ Association demands immediate resolution!’
‘Legion of Erosion completes occupation of London and Paris! What’s their next target?’
‘If Seoul Field falls, it’s over, what’s the future of Arsilan Saga?’
The Reverse Worlds taken by Erosion were visually stunning in their own way, but they brought no profit. SNS began filling with posts cursing the Erosion.
At FS Games, the atmosphere was somber.
They were heartbroken over Arsilan’s defeat, but more than that, the aftermath was immense. The main office was bombarded with calls, and reporters were staking out nearby. Employees hardly left the building and instead stayed at the company dorms.
“Boss, the front of HQ is packed.”
“Looks like it.”
“Feels like every truck in Korea showed up.”
“I see.”
“Oh! Large protest truck are coming to reinforce the crowd.”
“Amazing.”
“I have requested security support for now.”
“Alright.”
At Han Yong-seon’s words, Jinwoo nodded in response.
It was a lifeless answer.
‘The tea tastes good.’
Jinwoo sipped his tea and stared into the distance beyond the window. Han Yong-seon looked at Jinwoo’s back, then at the sleeping bags strewn around the area.
“Did you sleep here?”
At first, Jinwoo hadn’t thought it would go this far.
Even if Arsilan Saga was popular enough to be called a second life, it was still wrapped in the shell of a game.
Naturally...
“Yes. It’s... comfortable here.”
That was about it.
But Jinwoo knew the truth, the reactions were far more intense than he had anticipated.
‘Did I scale it up too much?’
Thanks to the soulstones, he’d been able to create various dramatic effects, so he went all in. And as a result, more and more kept getting added. Tia’s storyline was also upgraded to match the rising scale.
And the result was those protest trucks.
[Please bring Leon-nim back!]
[Bring back Leon-nim, but let him keep his current look, please!]
[Please save Leon-nim! I’m begging you!]
The area around HQ was now completely filled with protest trucks.
Moreover, there was a protest line stretching from the headquarters all the way to the main boulevard. Of course, it wasn’t an aggressive protest, more of a public expression of opinion. It was also a legally registered protest with the police.
Foreign journalists approached the quiet protestors for interviews.
‘Why are you protesting so quietly?’
‘Because Leon-nim wouldn’t like loud ones.’
‘I see. But isn’t Leon-nim a villain now?’
‘Do you want to die quietly?’
The foreign journalist who asked that question swallowed hard.
‘...Would Leon-nim forgive you for doing something like that?’
‘Didn’t you say he’s a villain? He’d probably forgive you now. No, actually, he’d probably encourage it.’
‘Th-Thank you for the interview!’
Everyone nearby stared at the journalist with eyes full of murderous intent. The foreign journalist had no choice but to flee in fear.
In any case, Jinwoo couldn’t return home.
His family stared at him in silence, unblinking. Even while eating, while picking up their utensils, their eyes were fixed solely on him. Their stares were filled with a powerful, unspoken will: "Bring back Leon quickly."
It was unbearably uncomfortable.
On top of that, the area around his research lab was already swarmed with reporters, persistently asking about the future story plans. Any tiny clue could become a massive scoop.
Half of South Korea was made up of Heroes.
If Jinwoo stepped outside, half the country might chase him down.
He had already turned off his smartphone.
Jinwoo gazed blankly out the window.
“The world really has changed.”
“Yes. Still, I think it’s changing for the better. Things will probably get even better once this situation is resolved. Haha.”
Han Yong-seon said that as he looked at Jinwoo.
“So what’s going to happen to Leon? There will be a happy ending, right?”
“If not, we’re in big trouble, aren’t we?”
Jinwoo had briefly considered retiring Leon with a sad ending.
Have him disappear while entrusting the future to the Heroes!
“The headquarters might explode.”
“Haha, no way.”
Jinwoo laughed it off as a joke, but Han Yong-seon looked at him.
His expression was deadly serious.
Jinwoo’s face stiffened.
It wasn’t a joke!
Jinwoo decisively abandoned the sad ending route.
It seemed best to proceed with Tia’s scenario after all. That route was emotional, and it allowed Jinwoo to hand over many things he had prepared to Arsilan.
‘I’ve already given them despair....’
Now it was time to proceed with the story he had prepared.
Emotion that blooms from despair would surely become the most beautiful flower in the world.
“Ahem....”
It’s definitely not because of public pressure!
Many Arsilans still believed Leon was the Archmage. It was the Archmage within Leon that had turned. Knowing that, it was no wonder they had lost their will to fight.
Of course, some among them had realized this was all scripted, but they kept their mouths shut for the sake of Arsilan.
Given the situation, Jinwoo couldn’t show his face in Arsilan either. He could appear under a different form, but he had to be mindful of the attention.
Jinwoo opened the Status Window and sent a message.
Jinwoo: Shall we start progressing the story now?
Tia: Not yet. Please hold out a bit longer. I’ll drop a hint in a few days.
Tiris: If we progress too quickly, the emotional payoff collapses.
Tia and Tiris opposed it.
[Ella-nim is away.]
[Helby-nim is away.]
The two were said to be recovering in Arsilan, but were actually enjoying themselves in Seoul.
Jinwoo stepped outside the CEO’s office.
“......”
The employees’ eyes were not normal either. Though they said nothing, countless emotions were written in their stares. Jinwoo had no choice but to return to the CEO’s office.
And as night fell, Jinwoo began to feel a little lonely.
Ssshh-
He slipped into his sleeping bag and closed his eyes amidst the loneliness.
*****
TL Note: Check out the new novels I've picked up!
https://woopread.com/series/the-idol-who-hides-her-military-service
https://woopread.com/series/i-got-an-omnipotent-brain
*****
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