Kang Oh, Burkan, and Dion followed Valan, and safely made it out of Franco.
âDid you lose to Sraka?â Kang Oh asked.
âWhat?â Valanâs expression seemed to say, âWhat the hell are you talking about?â.
âThen why did we retreat?â
He couldnât understand it. Valan looked like the victor, so⌠Why did they retreat?
âI couldnât finish him off. My last attack was supposed to kill him, but he survived.â
âWhat do you mean âsoâ? If I wanted another chance at killing him, then Iâd need to fight him for a while. But you guys wouldnât last that long, now would you? Thatâs why I backed off,â Valan rebuked. âUgh, you worthless fools!â
Burkan and Dion looked away. After all, they had lost to Nemeth and Lubatchi.
âWhatâs our next step?â Kang Oh asked.
âWe wait until reinforcements arrive.â
A giant altar lay within Francoâs Marcione Square. Amak stood at the top of the altar, which stood more than 10 meters tall.
âGreat Jaila!â He opened his arms wide.
Then, Jailaâs three sacred treasures (Jailaâs Bronze Knife, Ilunatiâs Snake, and Nemethâs Skull) glowed.
The dark red light gathered at a single point, creating something akin to a black hole. It was still only about the size of a fist.
âBring the offerings!â Amak yelled sharply.
The Evil God Worshippers brought over the criminals thatâd been locked up in the Security Bureauâs underground prison.
âUgh, please let me liveâŚâ
A long procession of people walked up the stairs that led to the altar. They were walking to their death.
The first victim was a man that possessed a rough beard and sharp, bright eyes.
âYouâll pay for this!â
He was a daring man. Although death was all that awaited him, he stared at Amak and the Evil God Worshippers hatefully and said his piece.
âHmph. Think of it as an honor to be sacrificed to the Supreme One!â Amak raised the bronze knife.
âPtoo! You cult bastards!â
The bronze knife pierced the manâs heart.
The manâs body toppled over, and his pale soul popped out of his body. Then, the soul was sucked into the dark red black hole.
âDispose of the body, and bring me the next offering without delay!â Amak yelled.
Two Evil God Worshippers dragged the victimâs corpse away, and then threw him outside of the altar.
After that, more victims were brought before the altar.
How much time had passed?
More than 1,000 people were killed atop the altar. The fist-sized black hole had expanded to the size of a soccer ball.
Once the hole expanded, however, something Amak hadnât expected occurred. Jailaâs wicked energy flowed out of the hole. He was essentially bestowing his blessing upon his followers.
The nearby demons were empowered. Their claws and teeth sharpened and elongated, their abilities were increased, and their overall appearance became even more hideous than before.
The demons werenât the only ones affected.
âThis is Lord Jailaâs blessing!â
The Evil God Worshippers brimmed with energy.
A new disciple was born. His name was Umtara. Jaila had bestowed him the power to destroy everything, Annihilation.
His hands secreted dark blue energy, which left behind nothing in its path like a swarm of locusts.
âBrother!â Amak said.
âHigh Priest!â Umtara kneeled.
The Evil Godâs followers had become even stronger. The bigger problem was that they would continue to increase their strength from this point on.
The Protectors of the Continent Brigade was gathering manpower.
First, the churches gathered their forces and joined the brigade. The free cities sent their troops as well, fearing that theyâd meet the same fate as Franco. Soldiers and officers, aside from the absolute minimum required to keep peace within the cities, were sent to the brigade. The free cities also sent food and supplies.
The Tower sent their Battle Mages.
The Adventurer Guild put up a job to destroy the Evil God Worshippers. Countless players, assuming that this was a huge event, joined the Protectors of the Continent Brigade.
However, the large guilds didnât act hastily. They adopted a wait-and-see approach. First, they needed to ascertain how large the risk and return wasâŚ
So they decided to test the waters.
The Great Forest sent their bravest warriors. Although they didnât send that many, they made up for it in quality. Each and every one of them was extremely skilled.
Especially the Nedav Tribe, which was widely recognized as producing the Great Forestâs most warlike, yet bravest warriors. They were led by their chieftain, Aman.
The non-humans that lived in the western grasslands didnât like humans. No, it was more accurate to say that they hated them.
However, they were united by the belief that the Evil God Worshippers had to be stopped. Thus, Kasten sent their mercenaries. Of course, they werenât sent for free.
The problem was the eastern kingdoms. The Arabas Kingdom, which was taken over by the Empire Guild, made it clear that they couldnât send a single soldier.
Thus, the Dellas and Baiyan Kingdoms stated that they couldnât either, as the Arabas Kingdom might attack them while their troops were away.
Because they were still monarchies, the three kingdoms possessed the largest armies on the continent. Plus, their troops were powerful and experienced.
Unfortunately, the brigade had to wage war on the Evil God Worshippers without them, which really hurt their chances. They had lost one of their most powerful cards.
Mahakan tried to persuade them himself, but it was for naught.
The Protectors of the Continent had, aside from the three kingdomsâ forces, gathered all of the continentâs forces under one banner. They then headed for Franco in order to destroy the Evil God Worshippers.
Valan, Burkan, Kang Oh, and the 100 Fighters decided to act as a detached force. They also gained some reinforcements.
First, Darion and the gladiators!
As soon as Darion had recovered, he left the Holiseum and led the rest of the gladiators here.
Next was the Small Sun, Saru! He led the Rakan Priests.
âIâm going to find my brother.â
He planned on fighting the Evil Godâs followers while searching for Nazaran. If he managed to find him, thenâŚ
âIâll settle things with him,â Saru said resolutely, and clenched his fist. He didnât want to do it, but it was his duty.
Finally, Sephiro, Bart, and Helena joined them too!
Kang Oh had called them. After all, they were the best of the best, whoâd do their part without supervision.
âWeâll make our move when the main force attacks,â Burkan said. âAs Iâm sure you know, our goal is to stop the ritual. We also need to take back the sacred treasures too.â
Darion and the gladiators replied immediately, while Kang Ohâs party listened attentively.
Only Waryong voiced its understanding.
Saru and his priests clasped their hands in prayer.
âLord Rakan, please lead us to victory!â
The main force, which was under Mahakanâs direct command, advanced on the city.
Luckily, Franco wasnât a city enclosed with walls, so the main force and the Evil God Worshippers engaged in a street battle.
Mahakan didnât lower his guard, but Barus, Odir, etc. believed their victory was guaranteed.
The Protectors of the Continent was made up of almost the entire continentâs forces, so its size and power was tremendous.
However, things didnât go as expected in their first battle.
âYou monstrous bastard!â
The demons were way too strong.
The vanguard was made up of the free citiesâ troops, but dozens of them couldnât even handle a single demon.
Plus, the ritual was still ongoing. Jailaâs power would sometimes seep through the black hole, empowering the demons, the Evil God Worshippers, and the disciples.
A giant-mouthed demon devoured two soldiers in a single bite. And whenever the four-armed demon swung its arms, three or four soldiers would fall.
Even the players, who fought alongside the troops, had difficulty fighting off the demons. If they werenât at least a middle ranker, that is.
The Evil God Worshippers were becoming stronger and stronger, almost unrecognizably so. Their whips rent flesh, and their curses and wicked magic induced madness in their targets.
âArise, raging flames!â
The churchesâ paladins and priests, as well as the Towerâs Battle Mages entered the fray. Only then was the balance of power somewhat evened out.
However, that didnât go on for very long.
All of a sudden, the earth shook, and the buildings broke into pieces. Demons rushed out of the thick dust.
They looked to be around 30 meters tall. They were basically four-armed King Kongs. However, their faces looked more like dinosaurs than monkeys.
They began going on a rampage. âRampageâ was definitely the right word for it. The demons randomly swung their fists and feet, killing dozens of troops at a time.
They spewed dark red flames from their mouths.
The Metamorphosis Pool, which spawned demons, had also been affected by Jailaâs seeping energy. As a result, it created five of these demons that boasted an unbelievable level of strength.
âDamn! What the hell are they!?â
âThereâs no way to run!â
The ordinary troops couldnât even faze them. Thus, the brigadeâs most powerful members stepped forth.
The Brilliant Paladin, Barus!
They worked together to fight off these âsuperâ demons. With their intervention, the ordinary troops and players were able to escape and fight enemies that were more suitable.
âRepel the Evil God!â
Fierce battles were scattered across Franco. However, Mahakan didnât look happy. It was only natural.
âThe disciples havenât even shown up, yet weâre only fighting them to a standstill.â
He was more worried about the disciples thatâd show up later.
Once the main force engaged the Evil God Worshippers, Kang Ohâs detached force made their move.
Contrary to the main force, which attacked the city from the south, they entered the city from the north.
The main force had drawn the Evil God Worshippersâ attention, so they didnât see a single person in the streets.
âThe altar is over there.â Valan pointed with his sole remaining arm.
They could see the top of the altar from beyond the buildings.
âLetâs go.â Burkan took the lead.
However, it wasnât long before they encountered resistance.
âHehehe, here you are, you rats.â
It was Umtara, the most recent addition to the Evil Godâs Disciples. The Master Monk, Nemeth, as well as countless demons, had accompanied him.
Umtara wanted to try out his newfound power as soon as possible. However, Nemeth remained calm.
âWeâre backing off.â
âValanâs over there.â
âValan⌠A Grandmaster!â
âThatâs right. We need Sraka.â
But they didnât need to retreat. All of a sudden, a portal appeared, and out came both Sora and Sraka.
Sora and Sraka had been on standby, ready to teleport to another location at a momentâs notice. They had been readying themselves for Valan!
What if Sraka were to fight on a battlefield without Valan? He would have slaughtered the enemy troops.
But in Srakaâs absence, Valan may be able to kill Amak or destroy the altar.
Thus, the best way of utilizing Sraka was having him fight Valan.
âLetâs finish this long fight of ours.â
Valan and Sraka fought once more.
The rest of the detached force engaged Umtara, Nemeth, and the demon army. The detached force consisted of powerhouses like Kang Oh, Burkan, Helena, and Bart.
In exchange, the demon army had way, way more numbers. Not only that, but they were empowered by Jailaâs energy, making them much more powerful than usual.
Umtara and Nemeth had been blessed by Jaila too.