SSG 229
by CristaeThud!
A spear pierced into the opponent’s abdomen. The enemy, whose HP was already hanging by a thread, couldn’t withstand the blow.
He glared at the one who’d stabbed him as if to kill, but his body collapsed to the ground against his will.
“Geez, you Cots bastards really are tenacious.”
Aiden muttered as he rested his spear on his shoulder.
But regardless of how stubborn they were, the outcome of this war belonged to Reckless.
Now, only one member of the C.O.T.S. force remained.
“You’re the last one.”
Planting his spear on the ground, Aiden stared coldly at Apollo.
Normally, he seemed so affable it was almost foolish, but now, facing an enemy guild master, it was instantly clear why this man was acknowledged as leader by such a uniquely individualistic group.
Of course, if you said this to his face, he’d probably just grumble that the other guild members dumped annoying jobs on him.
“…Aiden.”
“Yeah, how does it feel, Mr. Invader? All your people are dead.”
“Of course it feels fucking awful.”
Apollo ground his teeth.
“But it’s just one war. Don’t think it’s over just because you stopped our invasion. Anyway, Mordin’s coordinates are public, and we’re not the only ones with our eyes on this place.”
“Oh, how scary.”
Aiden pretended to shiver in terror, but his face was comically sarcastic.
“But you know, right? What you’re doing right now is the same sore loser’s curse that you were always mocking. Wasn’t there someone—we know who—who said to work on your skills instead of wasting time on that kind of nonsense?”
Apollo ground his teeth again.
“If you’re going to kill me, do it already. But remember this: I’ll pay back this humiliation, no matter what.”
“Of course, I’ll kill you. But before that, let me correct a misunderstanding.”
“What misunderstanding?”
“Why do you think the war ends just because you die?”
“What?”
“You know the saying? You can start a war whenever you want—but you can’t end it on your own terms.”
“What does that—!”
Whoosh!
Even before Apollo could finish, Aiden attacked.
But Apollo was one of the top-ranked players in Ark. There was no way he’d be flustered by a surprise attack from someone of Aiden’s physical caliber.
He dodged Aiden’s strike with ease and countered fluidly.
But Aiden wasn’t alone here.
Bang!
Thunk!
A bullet flew in and struck Apollo in the head.
Clang!
Western Gardener, who was beside him, blocked Apollo’s counterattack midway.
Whump!
A flaming arrow struck Apollo in the abdomen.
“Gah!”
Apollo staggered backward in a hurry. But he was already surrounded on all sides. He had nowhere left to run.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
Barbarian and Beauty Art’s Death Knights attacked from behind.
Apollo resisted desperately. But he couldn’t block the coordinated assault from the Reckless guild members.
“Shit!”
In the end, all Apollo could do was scream curses as his HP dropped to zero.
In contrast, with his guild members protecting him, Aiden didn’t lose a single point of HP, and even waved at Apollo with a calm smile.
“See you later.”
That was the last thing Apollo saw.
His vision went black.
Apollo’s sight returned when he arrived at the respawn point. He kicked at a nearby object irritably.
“Shit!”
But it wasn’t enough to vent his anger. He kept hurling curses, smashing things around him.
The guild members who had already respawned had long since moved away from the respawn point.
They all knew what Apollo would do upon reviving. Anyone near him now would be bombarded with verbal and physical abuse.
It didn’t exactly hurt in a game, but it was sure to ruin your mood.
Apollo’s outburst didn’t last long. He was, after all, the deputy guild master of one of Ark’s greatest guilds. You couldn’t reach that rank without being able to control your emotions.
He started thinking about cleaning up after the war.
But the more he thought, the worse his headache became.
‘The losses are too big.’
Just off the top of his head, every single one of the four cities under his command had been wiped out. With almost no way to rescue refugees, the loss of troops was a grave issue.
There would naturally be reckoning over responsibility.
‘They’ll rip me apart.’
Just thinking about the pressure that accursed Pyton would put on him made him boil already.
But there was no way around it.
‘First, I need an accurate idea of our losses.’
And he needed to find a way to recover even a little.
But he didn’t have the luxury of time.
[Delphoi has been declared war upon.]
“What?”
Apollo was startled by the sudden message. He hurried outside.
“Apollo, you’re out.”
“We were foolish in this battle, so…”
Guild members rushed to explain and apologize, trying to avoid Apollo’s wrath, but Apollo had no room for their trivial excuses right now.
“This city has been declared war upon!”
“W-what?”
“Delphoi, you mean?”
It was so unexpected that the guild members were shocked.
Their surprise didn’t last long. Their faces soon went pale.
“N-not now…”
“How much of the city’s forces remain?”
They had just lost almost all their troops in the Mordin invasion. Naturally, there were barely any troops left in the city. And of all times, this is when the enemy attacked.
“Who is it?”
“Reckless, right?”
“No, how would they know our coordinates?”
“Well…”
“Don’t just stand there—go and find out who it is, now!”
“Y-yes!”
The guild members sprinted off to check the enemy. Only a handful remained near Apollo.
“You. And you.”
“Y-yes!”
“Yup!”
“Go check how much fighting strength we have left!”
Right now, it was more urgent to know their available strength than to calculate losses.
Those who got the order rushed away as well.
Now only Asclepius was left by Apollo’s side.
As Apollo started walking, Asclepius hurried after him.
“Who do you think it is?”
A sudden question. But Asclepius answered without hesitation. He’d served right by Apollo’s side for long enough to know he’d be asked.
“Most likely Reckless.”
“How would they know our coordinates?”
“That, I’m not sure, but there are only a few who know the coordinates of this city. No matter who the attackers are, they couldn’t have gotten the coordinates except in a few ways. So, I thought it best to focus on who would want to invade us right now.”
“Hmm.”
It was a fair point.
“It could be someone who already knows our coordinates.”
“Other than us guild members, there’s nobody like that. You’re not suspecting Pyton, are you?”
“No, of course not.”
No matter how bad things were between them, they were still in the same guild. An internal war would only be a last resort. If Pyton wanted to take over by leveraging this defeat, he’d do it by forced absorption, not force of arms.
“So, it has to be Reckless after all.”
But then the same question arose.
“How did they get the coordinates?”
“Unless they got hold of our Rainbow Crystals…”
Asclepius trailed off mid-sentence, clearly thinking of something. Apollo looked at him.
“Come to think of it, you were the one who collected all our Rainbow Crystals…”
When the invasion began, they handed one Rainbow Crystal per soldier. That was the only way to teleport. Those crystals, of course, contained the coordinates of the originating city.
And when they arrived at Mordin, Asclepius had collected them.
“Did you drop them?”
“Uh, well…”
“I’m asking if you dropped them!”
Asclepius squeezed his eyes shut.
“I-I think I did!”
“Goddammit! Did you go to war without even putting your junk items in your inventory?”
“I did, but there were so many Rainbow Crystals it must have been probability!”
Only now did they realize how the enemy had found the coordinates and launched their attack.
But that solved nothing. In fact, it only suggested an even worse future.
“Wait! Weren’t there Rainbow Crystals with more city coordinates?”
Since they’d mobilized from four cities, some troops started from cities other than Delphoi. That meant there were crystals out there with the coordinates of those cities, too.
“Y-yes!”
Just then, some guild members came running toward Apollo.
“M-my city’s been declared war upon!”
“M-me too…!”
“My city as well!”
Apollo ground his teeth.
Things were spiraling toward disaster. If he lost all his cities now, he really might be driven out of the guild.
“…Contact Pyton.”
“A-Apollo?”
Asclepius looked at him in disbelief. Asking Pyton for help? That wasn’t something anyone would have expected from Apollo.
But what choice did he have? He’d always butted heads with Pyton, even laughed at him by choosing the name “Apollo” just to poke fun at the guy.
But right now, there really was no answer.
‘Even if I have to bow to him for a while, there’s no choice. I have to save the cities first.’
But there’s always a trapdoor under the floor.
“A-Apollo!”
“Yeah, what did he say?”
“N-now…!”
“Now what? Don’t tell me he said he’s too busy to send reinforcements?”
“Pyton’s cities are being attacked right now!”
“What…?”
Apollo’s jaw dropped.
“By who…?”
“Reckless! Aiden himself appeared in the central city of Pyton’s forces! Because of that, Pyton’s people are on our case now! Asking what the hell we did to start all this…!”
So, at this stage, even Pyton’s side had figured out what was happening. Asclepius said it politely, but it was obvious the message was full of foul language.
Normally, Apollo would’ve snapped right back, but not now.
“How did they get those coordinates?”
“Probably one of our guild members dropped their Rainbow Crystal when they died. Unlike the ones our NPCs carried, which only had their own city and Mordin, the ones the guild members had would have all our cities’ coordinates.”
Asclepius had collected the NPCs’ crystals, but those from players…
“Shit!”
Apollo punched the wall in frustration.
“Come on, let’s get to the city gate.”
Apollo and the C.O.T.S. guild members ran for the gate.
The loud alarm bell warning of an enemy invasion was already ringing. Shouts echoed from beyond the walls. It was obviously the battle cries of an enormous enemy force.
Meanwhile, the city’s own fighting strength was pitiful.
Seeing the thin line of soldiers on the walls, Apollo couldn’t hide his devastation.
No matter how hard they tried—even if they gave everything—could they possibly hold out against this attack?
After seeing just how many enemies had massed outside the gates, Apollo only became more convinced.
“…Apollo.”
“…Call every player and every last bit of strength from any other city here.”
“W-what?”
“We hold this city no matter what.”
Even if they tried their very hardest, who knew whether they could win at all.