A Veteran in a Dead Game - Chapter 205



Only Krnovel

205. Civil War (6)

“I don’t feel very good.”

Sarah grumbled as she slid down against the wall. She was not in good shape. It seemed that the fight with Sneed had not been easy.

“…They were both uncles who had known each other since they were young.”

Sarah’s shoulders slumped as she spoke. She didn’t lose the fight because of her feelings, but she couldn’t help but feel heavy-hearted.

“He is a traitor.”

“I know. I know, but I can’t help it.”

Kyle stared up. The intense heat and light erupting from the flame bomb that had condensed into a conflagration was so intense that it temporarily brought daylight to the entire Ark City.

Even if you are a member of the Regeneration Society, you will not be safe from being hit head-on by that much heat and oppression.

‘Of course, if I had been in good health, I could have endured it.’

You could have avoided it, used a defensive skill or item you had, or even just held out for a step with your sturdy body.

However, Mars and Sneed had lost many of their defensive devices to Kyle and Sarah, respectively, and Kyle thought that they would not be able to withstand the flame bullets he fired.

but.

“It looks like Snead has escaped.”

In the meantime, Sneed had somehow managed to escape. The moment the flame grenade exploded, Sneed tore off his own neck with his own hands and threw the severed head far away.

2nd rank skill, Blessing of Immortality.

It was a skill that somehow saved one’s life when one suffered fatal damage, as long as one’s head was intact.

First, heal the internal organs to the point where they don’t die, then stop the bleeding. Then, slowly regenerate the body.

By now, Sneed must be somewhere in the dark, paralyzed and suffering.

Well, tracking down Sneed can be left to another member. Finding Sneed while he’s half-conscious shouldn’t be a difficult task.

So now there was only one thing for Kyle to do.

“Whew. Are you done reorganizing? Let’s get on with our journey.”

“Okay.”

There is only one path leading out of the dungeon from the Ark City. The only hill in the dungeon called the Ark is the entrance to the Ark Dungeon.

But conversely, this means that if you block that path, the dungeon will become a completely sealed room.

And so the regeneration party did just that.

The entrance to the dungeon that used to exist on top of the hill was now covered by a pyramid-shaped square structure. In order to punish the traitors.

“Is it orichalcon? It’s a material mixed with the needle hairs of a starfish.”

“It’s the result of adding the Supreme Wyvern’s bone powder, the Elder Colossus’s weapon, and the Hythia Stone.”

As Kyle placed his hand on the pyramid covering the dungeon’s entrance, Sarah added her explanation.

“What an incredibly luxurious brick.”

“It’s that sturdy.”

Certainly, it was an incredibly strong material. Nothing found in nature could compare in strength to it.

“It was originally intended to be used to seal the ark. The plan was to pile up the rocks prepared above it, cover it with dirt again, and create a kind of mountain. Then, if all the records were erased…”

“The descendants of the ark will never know the outside world.”

In other words, the wall was not a castle wall to block out enemies, but was more like a prison fence that prevented those inside from going out.

“I never thought that the thing I was planning to use for that purpose would end up being used in a fight between members.”

“It’s a shame.”

At that moment, Peña approached, leaning on a cane.

“Mr. Chairman!”

Before Kyle could say anything, Sarah ran over to Peña.

“Your complexion is so pale. Aren’t you overdoing it?”

“This is okay. I’m acting like I’m going to die soon.”

He looked like he might die soon, because even now, a black fog-like substance was flowing out of his empty left arm.

It’s amazing that someone can move around with that curse on them.

“but…”

“Beryl did all the hard work anyway, so don’t be so excited.”

Beryl, who had been standing behind Peña, stepped forward.

“We took down Mars and Snead. Thanks to that, we have some free time.”

“How many traitors are left?”

“eight.”

“There’s more than I thought.”

Beryl nodded.

“Two of the members we thought were our allies were actually on the other side. There is a possibility that there are still traitors within.”

“This is just too much!”

At Beryl’s words, Sarah suddenly became angry.

“How could you betray me like that! If you’re going to continue living like that, I’d rather die.”

Unfortunately, no one sympathized with Sarah’s words. Instead, Peña smiled bitterly and said,

“Well, if Saladan had performed a little better, there would have been a lot more members joining them.”

“…….”

“There were many members who simply chose the rebirth club as a means of survival.”

The purpose of the rebirth was, in short, to preserve humanity by any means necessary.

If possible, he would conquer the disaster and preserve this world. If not, he would build an ark to preserve humanity.

However, not all members of the regeneration group would have sympathized with such intentions and participated. Most probably simply chose the regeneration group as a means of survival and a better life.

If all you want to do is survive, you can just build your own small dungeon. But wouldn’t it be better to live in a larger space, and be looked up to by more people?

The ark could be a space that could fulfill such desires.

And Saladan offered an alternative.

You can escape the clutches of the system and live forever… .

It’s possible that many users fell for such a suggestion. Rather than remaining in their small ark, many would have felt that becoming a ruling class in a wider world was more appealing.

“Arrived.”

“president.”

Meanwhile, several other members of the Regeneration Society arrived here. They had gathered to deal with the Saladan faction that was soon to arrive.

And soon.

Peña turned. Her gaze was cast down the hill. In the distance. She could see people emerging from the Ark City towards this hill.

The one who stands at the forefront among them is none other than-

“Saladan.”

He was the leader of the traitors.

“Mr. Chairman.”

Saladan stepped forward. The distance between them was still over a hundred meters, but there was no need to shout and talk. Everyone here was a superhuman. Even if they just spoke as if they were doing something everyday, no one would fail to hear.

“Please join us right now.”

As if he were performing a play, Saladan spread out both his arms.

“You’re still saying that after coming all the way here?”

“Mr. Chairman, you know this too. The ark is in dire straits.”

“Isn’t your method also dangerous?”

“But it’s a risk that can evolve, unlike the ark, which is best left stagnant.”

This time, Beryl, who had been standing quietly behind Peña, opened her mouth.

“Did you really want to become a calamity?”

“Isn’t life in this ark no different from that of livestock? Livestock that runs freely in the fields are better off than livestock that are confined in a barn.”

Peña shook his head.

“Yes, that’s an interesting point of view. But don’t you think it’s too late to try to persuade him? If you really wanted to persuade him, you should have talked to him before the betrayal.”

“Sometimes, actions speak louder than words.”

“But, Saladan, tell me. Was it really a situation where you couldn’t communicate? If you had suggested a new path as a mechanized werewolf, who would have opposed you?”

Saladan did not answer. Instead, Peña continued with a mocking laugh.

“No, that’s not true. Rather, I would have praised you for bringing about a new possibility, the mechanized werewolf. However, you abandoned that possibility and chose betrayal.”

“…….”

“I thought you’d say something plausible. In the end, you just sacrifice everything else for yourself.”

Peña announced, straightening his body from where he was leaning on his cane.

“Come. You who chose betrayal in order to live the longest, you will face death because of that decision.”

Saladan didn’t bother to answer. He had tacitly agreed with Peña’s words just now that they should have a go.

Thus, a great silence arose between the supporters of the traitor Saladan and the members of the Rebirth Society, led by Peña, and was soon broken.

It was the start of a fight.

*

Battles between users are basically a battle of wits. It is important to gauge the skills your opponent possesses and figure out how to deal with them.

So what happens if a group battle breaks out between users?

If the user who is the subject of the group battle has no experience, it will just be a mess. It will be a mess where they only distinguish between enemies and allies, and are busy pouring out their skills and defending against the skills that are flying in.

However, it is different when the user’s level increases.

Also, if users already know about the skills of their allies and have experience linking them up, even if there is not a big difference in skill between them –

Kkwarreung!

The basic strategy is to focus your skills on one person. This is commonly referred to as ‘one-shot’.

Simple skills like ice spears or fireballs can be blocked with similar attack skills. However, light rays or lightning bolts that fly at almost the speed of light cannot be blocked in that way.

Even Kyle’s debuff skills, such as the immersion skill, were not skills that could be avoided in the first place.

Since the system’s attack power almost always exceeds its defense power, the concentrated firepower was bound to be fatal to anyone.

Just like the situation right now.

“shit!”

One of the traitors, Yorn, let out a sigh as he was hit with a debuff that several users were putting on him. His limbs had become very heavy. It was evidence that the battle situation was not very good.

“Ugh!”

Yorn now had to take some damage. Avoid lethal attacks and take non-lethal ones.

In an instant, Yorn’s body freezes, burns, and is shocked. Parts of his skin turn black and necrotic.

Meanwhile, Rumi, one of Saladan’s close associates, stepped forward and built a huge defensive wall. The bricks that Rumi had made in advance and stored in her storage items were used to create the wall in an instant.

Level 4 skill, Wall.

The wall they had created collapsed immediately, but it gave them enough time to grab hold of the injured body and throw it behind them to relative safety.

The traitors did something similar, but they did not target former comrades as their main targets.

Instead, they targeted none other than Kyle.

The members of the regeneration club have a certain degree of understanding of each other’s skills. This means that the possibility of changing the situation is relatively small.

But Kyle was a huge variable in and of himself. So the traitors wanted to deal with that unknown possibility first.

“Phew.”

Kyle tensed every muscle in his body and lifted his weapon. His body felt heavy. He was already under multiple debuffs.

In that state, Kyle calmly swung his arms.

Kuuung-

The waves of flames surge forward, splitting apart as they hit the heat ray, exploding fireballs and scattering blades of wind. Each bone stake flying in at supersonic speed is individually shoved into the ground with a magic bullet, and the wind gusts that approach with a sharp rotation like a drill are covered in chains of lightning before exploding.

By placing a shadow clone behind your back, you can receive skills that surround you, while predicting the trajectory of the attack and sending out a fractal illusion to block the enemy’s skill at the same time it is fired.

At the same time, gravity chains shot up from the floor, binding the golem someone had summoned, and causing the black lightning bolts flying towards the bound golem to take their toll.

Kwaaaaang!!

Crap!!

Kyle’s gaze lowers. The ground is being completely cut away, and his body is lowered. The firepower of multiple powerful people pouring out at the same time is enough to change the terrain locally.

‘Faster.’

Even though he was Kyle, he couldn’t take all the attacks.

puck.

The light pierced Kyle’s thigh, and the lightning bolt pierced through the gap and pierced his abdomen. But even through all this, Kyle did not lose his balance.

Extreme concentration is demonstrated. Both eyes look at different things, and judgments are made at a speed close to splitting consciousness into multiple parts.

“……!”

In the midst of all this, I discovered an attack coming from behind. One of the traitors who had yet to reveal his true colors was moving at this moment to eliminate Kyle.

He had just launched a sneak attack at a time when he thought there was no way to block it. It was actually sharp. Kyle didn’t have the luxury of taking it.

But the intense focus presented Kyle with a new path.

The decision and action happened simultaneously. Kyle put the blender down.

Charurk-

The chain caught the blender that was falling to the ground. The chain wrapped around the blender’s handle, then tilted the offering sword attached to the end and pressed the trigger.

Kaka kaka kang!

Astra then activated and intercepted the incoming projectile.

“Phew.”

The skills that were pouring in stopped. It was a defense that lasted only about 3 seconds, but Kyle felt a heavy fatigue.

‘It’s not like there was no damage.’

Even so, perfect defense was impossible. But there was no need to be disappointed.

Although it was only able to withstand some of the firepower fired from a distance, isn’t it true that it took the concentrated attacks of top users head-on?

“crazy.”

“This is ridiculous.”

In fact, users on the Saladan side were looking at Kyle with expressions of bewilderment.

They were trying to get rid of Kyle by wasting their own attack opportunities and exposing the traitor they had been hiding. But the look on their face was as if they had never expected him to be able to stand up to them head-on.

Just because you have a shield in your hand, it doesn’t mean you can block spears coming from all directions at the same time.

Even if there were a means to stop it, actually doing so would be a completely different story.

But Kyle had just done something ridiculous.

And the members of the regeneration group weren’t so clumsy that they could easily miss the gap that Kyle had created.

The distance between them narrowed as if it had never existed before, and in an instant, they became entangled with each other and began to engage in violence.