SWNOVELXO Chapter 159
Chapter
159 – Storm (9)
“Look, there’s Luke!”
“Stay calm. There are limits to what you can do alone!”
In the intense battlefield, the horrors of fighting against humans rather than bugs were hardly different. Barun, facing Luke who charged forward with a great sword as if it were a do-or-die situation, calmly unleashed the prepared offensive.
The first preparation was the magical bombardment from the druids and mages.
Even amidst the fierce exchange, some fighters who had been conserving their strength unleashed their strongest attacks on the rushing Luke and his guard.
‘That guy…?!’
Barun gritted his teeth as he witnessed the tainted mana being drawn up by Luke, who swung his sword to deflect the attacks. Others fell from their mounts, but Luke, with fierce eyes, charged forward, snorting as if he would never stop.
“Build a wall! We will hold them here!”
Next, Barun instructed the waiting soldiers to erect a barrier to halt the charge.
Judging that charging on horseback would surely lead to their defeat, Barun mobilized transporters to quickly create a barricade as per his pre-established plan.
“Hold the line!”
The Arin warriors and soldiers prepared to resist behind the barricade with their spears and bows. While arrows alone couldn’t pierce the mana emitted by Luke, securing a proper wall would inevitably halt even the most skilled warriors.
“Ugh!”
“What a monster!”
However, Luke effortlessly jumped from his running horse, soaring over the wall and landing right in the midst of the Arin formation.
The soldiers building the wall stood dumbfounded, staring at Luke flying above them. Barun gritted his teeth upon seeing this. No matter how it looked, it was arrogant and insane.
This was a statement of confidence, and it had to be broken. Otherwise, victory would slip away.
“Don’t lose your composure, hold the wall. The rest, take that guy down!”
Barun commanded the soldiers in front to guard the barricade while telling the warriors and mages to capture Luke.
Luke’s guard also dared not cross the barricade, and amidst the ensuing chaos, a battle unfolded between the few and the many.
Observing the opponents charging from all sides, it felt utterly unreasonable that Luke could win and change this situation.
“Ugh, ahhh!”
But at that moment, Luke cried out in pain, and something burst forth from his arm, squirming and writhing as it spilled out of his body.
Everyone’s eyes widened in shock. Particularly Barun, who had heard about “parasites” from Riena, was even more astounded.
“St-strong.”
“Get back!”
Luke’s power surged, beginning to unleash strength beyond limits. Warriors who had been clashing weapons with him were thrown back by his overwhelming might, and those shooting arrows or casting spells from afar were intercepted by the writhing parasites swinging like tentacles.
Screaming as he mercilessly chopped down people and horses alike, Luke resembled a monster the warriors had seen in the game.
‘If Riena were here…’
Barun instinctively realized that the rampaging Luke’s strength was beyond what could be handled without someone of Riena’s caliber.
“Chieftain! We can’t get close! If he tears through our formation from within, our side will be doomed!”
“Stall for time! The Guardian Deity will watch over us!”
Barun, unable to imagine that the enemy commander, who claimed to unify the grasslands as the king of the grasslands, had been infected by a parasite bug, concluded that after recognizing he had fallen into a trap, his best option was to stall. He would endure as much as possible, hoping someone watching from beyond the screen would come to their aid.
*
“Is this the end of the tutorial?”
After numerous short but intense battles with Eve, we arrived at our destination, just ahead of the rebel ships, and our ally’s helicopter was waiting for us.
As the pilot picked us up, the helicopter took off immediately. Eve, seemingly in disbelief that a helicopter could fly, scanned the surroundings with a stiff expression.
‘In the setting, slayers are special soldiers.’
During a brief loading time, I scoured the internet for the settings of the Hyper Field. Some things were as I had heard. The playable characters, slayers, were special soldiers.
Like the character I was controlling, Rogers, they could shoot while simultaneously using their own unique skills.
Only those with innate talent could become slayers, and the place where slayers were made was the headquarters of the alliance we were currently escaping to.
“Then how do we get guns and bullets?”
Scratching my head, I muttered blankly. According to the game system, characters with their unique skills would ‘purchase’ various types of firearms in-game.
They would defeat enemies and earn currency to buy higher-tier guns. The problem was how that game system would change when implemented in reality.
After pondering for a bit, I quickly gave up. I had experienced it several times already, and indeed, guessing without seeing it directly was pointless.
‘We’ve arrived.’
As the loading finished, a new landscape unfolded. I had no idea what had happened to Eve in the meantime, but she was still glued to my side, looking confused.
“That was quite an escape show.”
Just then, someone approached us. The researcher, dressed in a white coat, looked just like the face I had seen in the hologram.
“Almost everyone was surprised. It’s the same for you, Rogers, but especially for the rookie here.”
Luna naturally shifted her gaze to Eve. The look in her eyes was unmistakably that of looking at a charming experiment. I wanted to question Luna about whether she couldn’t see Eve’s pointed ears, but such options didn’t exist. After all, androids also existed in this world.
“Normally, various verifications would be necessary, but the higher-ups want to modify her and send her straight into battle. You both have no complaints, right?”
“–, —?”
Luna suddenly grabbed Eve’s hand. Startled, Eve looked at me with unstable eyes, but I only nodded.
Everything stemmed from the reason this game was active. Eve, along with other seniors, would be reborn with new powers.
‘I’m sorry about this.’
Seeing Eve being dragged off excitedly by Luna made me feel uneasy. Thinking from her perspective, she had fallen into an unfamiliar place without knowing anything, relying only on me.
Of course, Eve and others were the same. The burden of having to live up to that trust always weighed heavily on my heart.
[Eve Modification: Remaining Time 05:05:52]
The remaining time appeared in the quest window. In about five hours, Elf Warrior Eve would be reborn as a Slayer of the Alliance’s special forces.
“—! –!”
‘What’s going on?’
However, a variable erupted in the west, where the war was ongoing, right as Eve’s modification was taking place.
Having used a machine gun to clean up the dangerous cannons, I expected Barun to handle Luke, who was summoning the last remnants of his forces, but it turned out Luke had a hidden ace.
“—!”
No, I began to question whether this could be considered a hidden ace at all. Luke’s rampaging form was clearly abnormal.
Moreover, the squirming black parasites bursting forth from his body were the very same creatures I had seen several times before.
Barun and the warriors he had brought seemed incapable of stopping Luke, who now appeared more brutal than the boss we had defeated in the game alongside Riena.
A stronger ally was needed.
‘R-Riena.’
Naturally, the first person that came to mind was Riena. But she was currently fighting a few bugs alongside the elves after building the fortress. It was impossible to just pluck her away right now. The same went for other paladins, including Shura.
The situation at the Northern Fortress was no different.
[Modification Complete]
And almost simultaneously, Eve’s modification came to an end. Though it was regrettable, my impatience began to grow; I had no choice but to bring Eve, who had just awakened in the laboratory, outside of the game.
‘It can’t be helped. I’m counting on you.’
I quickly grabbed the newly modified Eve from the game and brought her to the western screen. Though she seemed dazed while being brought over, her eyes widened at the sight of the battlefield.
Now, the remaining task depended on her.
*
‘This feels strange…’
The modification into a Slayer was light yet not so light.
It involved injecting nanomachines throughout her body. With no time to resist, she entered the experimental chamber and, with needles piercing her whole body, Eve fearfully watched the substance flowing into her.
“Uh?”
At that moment, the nanomachines injected into her body reacted more intensely than usual, surprising Luna, who was leading the experiment.
The nanomachines reacted to the clear mana of the World Tree contained within the elf and merged into one. Realizing something was happening to her body, Eve became a completely new existence that had never existed before, stepping outside the laboratory.
“This is insane. How can this be…!”
Even in a daze, I could hear Luna’s excited ramblings.
However, the burden placed on Eve, who was a chosen elf, wasn’t just that; she returned to the original world by a powerful force that no one could defy. Still somewhat intoxicated, she walked with blank eyes, staring down at the ground passing underneath her.
‘This is his will… A grace for me from him.’
As her mind gradually cleared, she landed on the ground and, witnessing the fierce battle unfolding before her, stood up with trembling legs like a newly born fawn.
She had no idea who was fighting whom. But she moved according to her heart’s command.
Contrary to his expectations, she didn’t harbor any resentment despite being thrown around like this. Instead, she felt gratitude towards him.
Watching her kin being torn apart by bugs, she finally grasped the power she had longed for. It was the result of being chosen by him. Therefore, she believed that it was her duty to repay him with the power she had been granted.
[Store Open]
Her eyes shone brightly as countless nanomachines within her began to activate. Light shone from her eyes, displaying a window in front of Eve.
[Primary Weapon Purchase]
Naturally, Eve took advantage of the store.
In her current state, she selected the only rifle she could use, watching as it materialized in her hands with a faint smile.
An extraordinarily unfamiliar weapon. But now it felt just as snug in her hands as the bow she had wielded for over a century.
“Ah, so that’s how it is.”
As he observed Eve with a worried gaze, he felt an amused grin emerge upon witnessing how she would harness her abilities from the game in reality.
Eve was already aiming at the oblivious enemies within her range.