Surviving The Game As A Barbarian Novel - Chapter 745
Chapter 745: Guide (2)
Unlike the comfort of the wardrobe, the ominous streets felt filled with death flags. Between those flags, I ran and ran.
Lilith Marrone.
A woman whose name I still didn’t know.
And a baby who didn’t cry and bravely endured even in this situation.
Carrying all three of them.
Thud-thud-thud-.
As I kept running, rather than emptying my mind, various thoughts filled it. Surprisingly, they were trivial and petty thoughts.
Running was uncomfortable since both of my hands were restricted.
My back felt stiff from staying in the wardrobe for too long.
I wanted to eat strawberries that had been chilled in a cold refrigerator.
Why doesn’t our goddess grant us any movement-related abilities?
‘…If only I had [Giantization].’
Then, I could have seated three people on my shoulders and run much more easily. There really are many fascinating abilities among the essences, aren’t there? I couldn’t help but feel envious, but there was nothing I could do. Much like Wizards, those who possess divine power cannot engrave essences onto their soul.
‘…What is the actual principle behind it?’
The church says our souls belong to the goddess, so the traces of other souls cannot be engraved on them. But who could believe such words—.
“…Everyone, be quiet.”
Sven Parav whispered, stopping his run. He quickly hid among the buildings. The situation was simple. Now, we were less than 5 minutes away from the burning eastern area.
“It seems the royal army and the Noark army are fighting.”
“How about finding another path? It might be safer to take a detour.”
“To reach the eastern branch, as the lady mentioned, the fastest way is to break through there.”
Taking a detour was expected to take more than three times as long, and there was also the concern of whether we could find a proper path amidst the flames surrounding us.
“It seems the battle hasn’t tilted in favor of either side yet, so why not take advantage of this and quickly slip through?”
After hearing Lilith Marrone’s suggestion, Sven Parav pondered for a moment before nodding.
“Yes. It might be a bit dangerous, but considering everything, that seems the safest option.”
Thus, the decision was made after the discussion.
“Hoo……”
Sven Parav took a long breath, then dashed out of the alley towards the place where the battle was raging. Both hands were already occupied with carrying them.
“Please take care of us…!”
Therefore, the defense was entirely left to Lilith Marrone. The fact that he had to entrust his fate to someone else made him feel extremely uneasy, but there was no other way. I thought about closing my eyes tightly and running, but……
‘No matter what, that’s a bit too much, right?’
In the end, Sven Parav ran towards the battlefield, where the hot, bloody wind was blowing, with his eyes wide open.
“…Who are they?”
“Are they enemies?”
At first, neither side could determine whether we were friends or foes, appearing so suddenly, and so they hesitated to attack. However, that moment didn’t last long.
“Lilith Marrone!”
“Sven Parav!”
“They’re Yandel’s comrades!”
“Kill them!”
Recognizing us, the Noark side began to attack, while the royal army side started to support us.
And very enthusiastically, at that.
“It’s Yandel’s comrades! The royal family must be up to something! We must kill them here!”
“…Seeing how fiercely they are attacking, there must be a good reason! All troops, protect them with all your might!”
This was an entirely unexpected situation for someone planning to slip through amidst the chaos.
But…..
‘In the end, plus and minus 0 is the same, right?’
Therefore, there’s no need to worry too deeply about it. Just focus on breaking through the path.
Boom-!
“Aaaaahhh!”
Slash!
A royal wizard intercepted incoming spells, and a soldier deflected a sword aimed at stabbing my stomach. Despite that, Lilith Marrone barely manages to block the attacks with a magical barrier. Several dangerous moments occurred in a short time.
But…..
Whoosh!
In the end, they successfully broke through the battlefield and arrived at the burning eastern area. Although even at that moment, there was a battle between those trying to kill and those trying to protect behind them… Well, they probably wouldn’t follow into the flames.
[Sven Parav has cast Prayer of Protection.]
Sven Parav cast the divine spell as planned. And seeing that all four of them, bound together by Marrone, were quickly covered with a thick layer of protection, they stepped into the flames.
“…Huh?”
“Why are they going there…?”
As they stepped into the flames, both enemies and allies muttered in a somewhat confused manner.
Whoosh-!
He quickly dashed through the flames. Visibility was poor due to the flames and smoke, but since the path was a straight line, there was no major issue. How much time had passed like that?
“There it is!”
In the distance, the eastern branch of the Reatlas Church, their destination, could be seen. To Sven Parav’s eyes, the small temple with the familiar goddess statue installed at the entrance stood out. Despite the street burning and collapsing, the temple alone maintained its original form.
Whoosh!
The flames couldn’t even approach the building, blocked by a dimly glowing translucent barrier. As they entered the barrier, he pushed the large door at the entrance, which smoothly opened as it wasn’t locked.
But, surprisingly…
“…Who are you?”
There were people inside the temple. Quite a lot of people, in fact.
“How did they get through the flames……”
“They don’t seem to be Noark people……”
“…Just stick close behind me.”
The refugees moved back cautiously, eyeing him warily.
‘One, two, three, four, five, six……’
A total of 37 refugees. It wasn’t strange that people had fled here to escape the fire and war. They came here because it was considered safe. But the problem was…
“Mom……”
“It’s okay…… everything will be fine……”
Sven Parav instinctively felt it.
Thump-.
This place wasn’t safe either.
***
“Excuse me? Ah! If you’re looking for the chieftain, I saw him over there by the forest! He was smashing the heads of corpses, suspecting some might be pretending to be dead!”
“I see. But isn’t this whole area a forest……?”
“No, didn’t you hear what I said? Over there! By the forest!”
“Um… I’m quite busy. Could you go tell Yandel for me? Let him know we’ve exterminated all the enemies inside the holy land and he should come here.”
“Got it!”
With those words, the young warrior in his late twenties started sprinting back the way he came at full speed.
‘How can someone with such a fierce-looking face be so pure and simple……’
Versyl Gowland couldn’t help but chuckle as she watched the warrior’s back before quickly returning to clearing the battlefield. Though only one battle had been fought, there were still many tasks left. She had to climb the walls to maintain vigilance in case the enemy attempted to invade again, and the piles of corpses had to be dealt with. If left too long, they would start to rot and pose a sanitary risk.
“That one’s a Noark! Just toss him anywhere!”
“It’s hard to tell humans apart!”
“Hmph… We’ll identify the Noark corpses, you just handle the barbarians!”
“Oh, good idea!”
Even without detailed instructions, the process became more efficient as time went on. The treatment of the corpses varied greatly. The bodies of allies were respectfully collected and laid out, while the enemy’s corpses were carelessly thrown into heaps.
“Gowland… I mean, deputy commander. What should we do with the Noark corpses? We’ve set aside the loot as instructed, but…”
At Kaislan’s question, Versyl answered briefly.
“Burn them all. We’re not going to make graves for people whose names we don’t even know.”
“What about the keepsakes from the warriors and explorers? What should we do with those?”
“Organize them neatly beside the bodies. Once the cleanup is mostly done, we’ll cast preservation spells. After identifying the remains, we need to return them to their families, so make sure no one touches them.”
“…No one would dare, but I’ll make sure to emphasize it.”
Watching the cleanup from atop the wall, she couldn’t help but smile wryly. From up high, the contrast between the treatment of the corpses was even more apparent, reinforcing the necessity of victory in war. If Noark had won, the situation would have been the complete opposite.
“Behell–aaaaaa!!”
“Behell–aaaaaa!!”
Suddenly, a commotion arose below. It was obvious who had arrived.
“The mightiest warrior of the land!!!”
“The guardian of the holy land has arrived!!”
There was only one person these warriors would shout for with such reverence.
“The chieftain!! The chieftain is here!!!”
Leaving the wall’s vigilance to James Calla, who had the best eyesight, Versyl descended.
“Mister… Are you really uninjured? I was so worried…”
“I’m fine. And I was worried about you too.”
“…Really?”
“Huh? Of course, isn’t it obvious?”
“Hehe… Well, it’s not necessarily that obvious… but maybe it kind of is”
Erwen, excited to see him after so long, clung to him almost like a cicada and chattered away… Yandel, on the other hand, looked tired.
“…You’ve been through a lot.”
“Ah, you’ve been through a lot too. It must have been a tough position to be in, in many ways.”
Though his words of encouragement were brief, they carried a weight that made her unable to respond. The phrase ‘tough position’ felt heavy. This wasn’t the first time she had served as the deputy commander of a clan, but it was completely different from before. Back then, there was no war, and the bonds between the members weren’t as strong.
‘So this is what he deals with every day.’
She suddenly felt a new respect for this seemingly simple-minded barbarian, understanding how much hardship he must have endured.
“I want to hear a full report on the current situation.”
“Oh, yes.”
Versyl calmly explained what had happened, though she couldn’t help but let her emotions slip into the explanation. At times, she found herself complaining without realizing it, and other times, her voice carried a tone of sadness, as if recounting bad experiences at school.
“I see.”
After hearing the situation, the barbarian took a moment to gather his thoughts, then gave his orders as if it was the most natural thing.
“Versyl, gather all the clans. I have something to say.”
Oddly, she felt a strong sense of relief at his command. Given her proactive nature, it was an unusual feeling. The idea of just following orders without bearing the responsibility felt surprisingly comforting.
“I’ll gather them right away.”
She assembled everyone without any fuss. Only after doing so did she ask about the reason.
“But what do you want to say to them……?”
“I’m just going to ask them to come and fight with us. I hear they’re pretty capable.”
“Capable, yes… but wouldn’t they prefer to stay safe here?”
She spoke as cautiously as possible, but the barbarian laughed as if there was nothing to worry about.
“Oh, that? Don’t worry about it.”
He patted her on the shoulder reassuringly and stepped forward to address the people.
“Greetings. I’ve heard you all stayed in our holy land under the deputy commander’s care while I was away, correct?”
“Yes? Ah, yes… thank you, Baron Yandel.”
“Yes, you should be grateful. As any decent person would.”
Ignoring the fact that they had risked their lives to defend the holy land, he focused on the favor they had received and continued speaking.
“The reason I’ve gathered you all is simple.”
“What is it?”
“Oh, nothing much. We’re going to head into battle and I want you all to help us.”
“…You mean us?”
Intimidated by his noble title of Baron and reputation as the Giant, they didn’t voice their reluctance directly but their eyes said, ‘Why should we?’. However, he was shrewd.
“Yes, or do you want to be kicked out of the holy land?”
A blunt threat, characteristic of a barbarian unbound by formalities.
“…Kicking us out for not following orders, what kind of threat is that?”
“Do you think it’s honorable for the citizens of Rafdonia to prioritize their safety when evil rebels have started a war?”
“……”
Invoking the name of the royal family left them speechless. What happened next was remarkable.
“Don’t worry too much. This is an opportunity to earn war achievements.”
“War… achievements……?”
As soon as he mentioned ‘profits,’ the explorers’ eyes lit up.
“While you’ve been holed up here, I’ve arranged for our forces to push into the District 7 at my request. The army is advancing from the north.”
“……”
“And on my way here, I set fires in the east, causing chaos. Now, we in the south will strike upward.”
“…So we’re forming a pincer attack?”
“Exactly. Why do you think Noark retreated despite having so many troops? Do you think they fell back just because you barely managed to breach the walls? No, they had to move to handle a bigger problem at the rear!”
“Oh……! That makes sense……!”
“I was wondering about that too, but now it makes sense!”
Having boldly whipped them with a stick, he now offered the carrot, and the explorers listened intently as if entranced. It didn’t take long for them to capitulate.
“Therefore, I intend to lead all available forces to District 7……”
Versyl Gowland was astonished. The scene before her was almost unbelievable.
‘…Is he the same person?’
When she was the deputy commander, she had to persuade people to stay and defend the holy land to survive, yet now those same people were eagerly stepping forward with shining eyes.
“Does anyone want to back out?”
As if they didn’t even consider failure.
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