Level Up Inquisitor [EN]: Chapter 146

146. The River Tyrant (2)

[A World Event has occurred!]

“…….”

The World Event, triggered by the deity Bahamut, was unfolding before everyone.

The targets were nine strongholds located at the far western edge of the continent.

These were remote areas bordering the desert, outside the main continental boundaries, and adjacent to the territories of the two major guilds, Apollion and Cerberus.

‘The Far West Zone.’

Nashua recalled the name as he checked the location on the map.

It was a collective term for about thirty small to medium-sized strongholds located on the western edge.

There was nothing particularly special nearby, and its geographical location was unfavorable due to difficult access.

As a result, neither the top 12 guilds nor the six major guilds, already established elsewhere, were willing to invest the resources to extend their reach there.

However, a Warlord’s territory was a symbol of immense wealth and power, and many other large guilds without territories fought fiercely to claim it.

The two guilds that overcame all others and secured territories were Blackburn and the Blood Alliance.

After fierce competition, they had seized multiple territories and divided the Far West Zone between themselves.

‘Certainly… it’s a perfect target for a World Event.’

Considering the number of believers mobilized and the number of strongholds targeted,

it was clear that this was a larger scale operation than when the Order of Light had moved.

However, they were an easier opponent than the top 12 guilds.

Unlike Ru, who moved the Order to punish lords who colluded with demons, Bahamut did not cling to such justifications.

With more options, Bahamut, having thought it through, targeted the territories of relatively weaker forces and moved the Order.

‘Moreover, the targeted locations are all Blackburn’s territories; they won’t be able to withstand it.’

The strongholds designated in this World Quest were exclusively owned by the Blackburn Guild.

The territories of the adjacent Blood Alliance Guild were all excluded from the targets.

Bahamut had cleverly planned to avoid having to face both guilds simultaneously.

From the Water Order’s perspective, it was the perfect situation to exploit the already conflicting relationship between the two guilds.

Thud!

Nashua slammed the head of the man he was holding in his left hand onto the floor.

The severed head rolled across the floor and soon collided with the cold, headless corpse, stopping it.

It was the torso to which the head had originally been attached.

‘To counter this move, fighting alone won’t be enough.’

Nashua had captured a priest from the Water Order and extracted information.

He sensed something from this harvest and felt the need to dig up more information.

[‘The Observer in the Dark’ watches you in silence.]

A message from the deity watching Nashua flashed by.

* * *

The Gate of the Hermit.

It was one of the small strongholds located in the Far West Zone of Warlord.

Located on the road to the Wanderers’ Village, it wasn’t a stronghold with high demand, but it was currently under heavy attack from enemy forces.

Kwa-kwa-kwa-kwang!

The forest shook incessantly as magic poured in from both sides.

“Defend it at all costs!”

“We must gain the upper hand here!”

Blackburn guild members shouted as they confronted Bahamut’s followers.

The stronghold’s defenses were minimal anyway, so they had ventured out into the forest to intercept the attack before the facilities within the stronghold could be damaged.

However, the guild’s situation, including this location, was not good.

They were barely holding on and were being pushed back by the Water Order, which had gathered numerous followers.

Considering that the battle had only just begun, the situation was quite bleak.

“Damn it, are we outnumbered here too?”

A Blackburn executive gritted his teeth as the situation gradually deteriorated.

Including him, there were about 80 Blackburn guild members defending the path leading to the gate.

In contrast, nearly 130 opponents had broken away from the main force to secure the path.

Unless other battlefields became more favorable, the situation would be the same elsewhere.

The overall decline was, in fact, inevitable.

The Earth Order, the Fire Order, and the Water Order.

Originally, these three orders were the major orders of Warlord.

It was only when the Order of Light surged that its position as the firmly established third-ranked order was shaken.

Even though it was now the fourth largest, the Water Order’s size hadn’t decreased; it was just that the Order of Light had rapidly expanded its power.

Bahamut’s followers, still boasting a large scale, had been summoned from more than two regions, and even NPCs were mobilized.

‘Moreover, the bonus from Favor is making a bigger difference than I thought.’

Basically, in battlefields where forces clash, a long-term fight inevitably ensued.

And the Water Order had very good characteristics when engaging in such battles.

Depending on the deity’s Favor [a measure of a believer’s dedication, granting divine boons], they received bonuses to healing and regeneration.

Unless Favor management was completely messed up, all followers were receiving bonuses, making them extremely resilient in combat.

In such chaotic large-scale wars, recovery was a significant advantage.

Even healing potions couldn’t match those of the Water Order, and the Water Order’s forces had a significant advantage as the battle dragged on.

“Keuh…!”

“Damn it!”

Nearly thirty Blackburn guild members guarding the gate had already fallen.

Just as the executive was about to issue a retreat order in a situation where victory seemed impossible,

Kwa-kwa-kwa-kwang!

A sudden large-scale magic swept through the center of the battlefield.

The fire-based attack magic, ‘Embers of Destruction,’ engulfed one side of the forest.

None of the Blackburn guild members on this gate defense mission should have learned such magic.

Swaack!

“Kuaaack!”

Two men who had burst onto the battlefield attacked and swept through Bahamut’s followers.

With concise movements and agile actions, spears and swords were wielded, causing bloodshed.

Surprised by the appearance of these newcomers, the executive stared at them.

Ail, the best-known player of the Order of Light.

And Roden, a former high-ranker from Armenia.

The two famous players quickly reversed the situation, and from the other side, another massive magic attack came flying in.

Kwa-kwa-kwang!

‘Meteor Shower’ fell from the sky.

The meteorites, crashing down in perfect locations, exploded, sweeping away all of Bahamut’s followers who couldn’t escape the range.

A large-scale attack magic of Unique rank.

Moreover, as it required an enormous amount of time to cast, the damage it inflicted upon impact was beyond words.

“What is this…”

The executive stood still, dumbfounded.

It was an unbelievable situation where large-scale magic spells, which were difficult to cast even once, were being fired in succession.

Moreover, she was an unidentified player whose face had never been revealed.

“D, damn it! Target that mage first!”

The followers, who had been thrown into chaos by the sudden intervention, regained their senses.

Bahamut’s assassin used a skill to conceal his appearance and rushed towards Lia’s position in an instant.

No matter how outstanding she was, a mage in the rear was bound to be vulnerable in close combat.

They had to stop her, who was like a bomber, at all costs.

But even that was impossible.

Whirlick!

Paak!

The assassin was knocked away by Alisa’s staff.

The Blackburn guild members, who had quickly grasped the situation, hurriedly approached and dealt with him.

“Protect that mage!”

“Wait, there in the back…!”

Puh-uck!

Another rogue, using stealth, rushed in from behind.

But this time, Alisa struck him in the jaw, sending him flying.

The Water Order tried to take down Lia at all costs, but Alisa, the healer next to her, easily subdued the rushing followers, protecting her.

“I can’t believe it…”

Reinforcements consisting of only four users in a single party unit.

But their skills were unbelievably amazing.

Ail and his teammates’ specs [character statistics and equipment], built up over time, were no longer inferior to those of other users who had started earlier.

Of course, they still had a long way to go compared to semi-rankers or top-tier users close to them.

However, considering their items and skills, they were at a level that wouldn’t be inferior even when averaging out the members of a large guild.

And above all, their ‘skill’ was beyond question.

Swish!

Roden, who simultaneously beheaded two warriors who were rushing in, spun his spear.

“Haha, it seems like there aren’t any tough opponents since it’s a side path. There are about forty left now.”

“Then…”

Kwaack!

Ail slashed down a martial artist approaching from behind in one strike.

“Let’s finish this quickly.”

* * *

The forest was filled with the corpses of followers.

The once fierce battle was quickly concluded after the group’s intervention.

‘I was lucky to be able to come together.’

Ail thought as he looked back at his party members, who were leisurely chatting.

Originally, after witnessing the World Event, he was going to head to the Far West Zone alone.

But his party members, who had just finished an instance dungeon, were able to join him and willingly came to the battlefield to help him.

In the case of such World Events, even users who had nothing to do with the Order or the opposing forces could join the opposing side.

As much as they contributed, they were given great rewards, so they could earn more rewards than most quests.

Of course, that was only the case when they could stop it.

‘But….’

Despite winning the battle, Ail’s expression didn’t look good.

After coming here, he was able to properly see the power of the followers mobilized by Bahamut.

‘There are too many of them….’

The followers, some of whom were even Water Order NPCs, had gathered in enormous numbers.

It was true that they had shown overwhelming power in the previous battle.

But this was just a small battlefield.

This Gate of the Hermit only served as a path, and it was an extremely small stronghold, not even comparable to Nightmare’s Calpea Gate that he had seen before.

It wasn’t properly targeted by a large number of troops, but only blocked one of the paths.

This World Event was on a scale that the Blackburn Guild couldn’t handle, and the entire front line was being pushed back.

Even if Ail and his party members intervened, it wouldn’t change much.

‘Simply joining the battle on the battlefield won’t turn the situation around. If there’s a way to solve this… it would be to take a somewhat risky move.’