Leveling Up through Eating

PR: MattForgenti

‘The First Coalition has collapsed……’ 

In the end, Caillan and Ares of the First Coalition failed to stop the invasion of the demons and the demonic beasts. And Genie, or Im Jihye, started watching the video again. It seemed like the battlefield was filled with endless frost. She could see Caillan raising his hands high up in the sky as he shouted while hundreds of hellhounds flocked to them.

“Everyone, fire!!!” 

At the frontline, the troops of mages and archers all prepared for the attack.

[Ah! That’s Paliar, he’s the third in the domestic mage rankings! He’s a mage whose specialty is fire magic!] 

[I can also see Regold, the fifth in the archer rankings!]

Along with those words, Paliar floated in the air.

[It’s Fly!]

[It’s the magic that could allow them to fly in the sky!!!]

Bright light shone from his wand as he waved it around.

“Fire Storm! Fire Wall!” 

A huge wall made out of fire started to cover their front as huge tornadoes made out of flames began to rampage towards the hellhounds. With his magic, countless other magic poured from all over the place. Even the archers’ arrows tore through the air as they attacked the hellhounds.

Fwoosh, fwoosh, fwoosh, fwoosh, fwoosh!

Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang!

Stab!

“Kiheeeeeck!”

Puhwaaaaaak!

“Kyaaaahack!”

Wide-area-of-effect magic and plenty of arrowheads flew all over the place. But it was only then that Ares felt that something was amiss.

“……Caillan-nim.”

“Yes?”

“How come those guys did not explode?”

According to Lev’s words, they were forced to log out when they encountered Alchemist Rufel’s hellhounds that caused abnormal states and explosions.

“I don’t know either. Maybe it was just their trick or gimmick when they hunted my guild members?”

Caillan tilted his head in thought after he said those words.

Why bother doing something so troublesome?

But at that moment……

Kiiiiiieeeeeeeeeck!

“……!!!”

Ares and Caillan’s faces were both distorted.

Don’t tell me?

Their eyes turned to look up at the sky. There they saw hundreds of wyverns flying above them. Their figures looked so black as they flocked together just like a figure of hundreds of migratory birds in the sky. Just like that, the wyverns quickly descended one by one.

“Kahaaaaaack!”

“Kiyeeeeeee!”

And riding on top of those wyverns were none other than the hellhounds.

[Th, they’re coming down!!!]

[The hellhounds are falling straight down in the heart of the city!]

[Hundreds of hellhounds are falling from the sky!]

Caillan hurriedly gave his orders.

“Mages, archers!!!”

Following his words, the mages and the archers quickly took position. And one arrow from an archer accurately pierced through one of the hellhounds. Then……

Puhaaaaaa!

Green smoke scattered and fell down on them. And starting with that hellhound……

Fwoosh, fwoosh, fwoosh, fwoosh, fwoosh, fwoosh!

Dozens of arrows and magical attacks also accurately hit the falling hellhounds. It was a momentary mistake. Caillan shouldn’t have given that order to the mages and the archers.

Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang!

The hellhounds that fell on the ground exploded.

Fwiiiish!

Fwiiiiiiiish!

And the gas that escaped from their bodies began to cover the entirety of the city.

“Goddamnit!” 

“This crazy shit!” 

The demons loved to fight. And for that reason, they believed that the demons would only engage in ruthless slaughter as they treated these things like a game. 

Meanwhile, the commentators kept on shouting.

[The Allied Guilds are in chaos!!!]

[The city will be devoured and left in ruins in just a single moment!!!]

[This is an unbelievable sight!!! The Coalition was lost with just the wide-area debuff!!!]

At that moment, they could see Rufel’s mouth almost tearing into two with how wide his grin was. Then, he raised his hand as he pointed his index finger forward. He finally started the real plot of his devious game. And with his movement, the three Slayers began to move.

The Slayer of Anguish was a woman of great strength. With just a flick of her fingers, the arrows that were embedded in the bodies of the hellhounds were pulled out as they disappeared without a trace. With just a wave of her hands, dozens of crazy and maddening spells floated around her.

Flash—

All of the magical attacks that were swirling and creating chaos in the area disappeared in a flash of black light. It was a large-scale Dispel! This showed that she was a high-ranking mage. 

After all the magic disappeared, the Slayer of Death moved. As soon as he moved his staff that was hidden underneath his ragged robe……

Chiiiiiiiiiiing—

The bodies of the hellhounds started to melt starting from their skin to their eyes, then their organs until their entire bodies melted away. After everything melted away, bone hellhounds started to rise from the remains of their bodies. 

“Grrrrrrrrr!”

“Keong! Keong! Keong!”

Hellhounds made out of their own bones rose from the ground and began to run amok.

“Tankers! Stop them!!”

The tankers who were able to drink the Elves’ Stamina Potion had their stamina boosted. As soon as they heard the order, they quickly formed a huge shield with their square shields. However, everything was already all a mess.

Baaang!

Baaaaaaaam!

[Abnormal State. You have inhaled the ‘Demonic Beast’s Gas’.]

[Your physical defense has dropped by 30%.]

[A terrible poison has started to melt your skin.]

“Hiiiiik!”

“Uwaaaaa!”

The tankers couldn’t help but lose their mind when an explosion happened above them and they were forced to inhale the poisonous gas.

Spurt!

Pop, pop!

“Grrrrrrrrr!”

“Keuaaaack!”

“Ugh, aaaaaargh!”

“Hiiiik! Sa, save me!”

It was just a virtual reality game but the demons, demonic beasts and the hellhounds all looked disgustingly ugly. Goosebumps raised from all over their bodies as fear started to encroach upon the users.

Slash!

“Stay in line!!!”

At that moment, the Golden Shield and the number 1 in the tanker rankings, Valdar, shouted loudly as he slammed his golden shield on the ground. The users quickly gathered around him as they formed a defense team.

Bang!

Valdar shouted once more after a hellhound smashed into his golden shield.

“Attack!”

It was a flashy shield art using his flashing shield! The users spears and swords stretched in the gaps between their shields!

[Golden Sun!]

[The mighty golden sun is shining brightly upon your forces.]

[Guild members within a 30-m radius will have an increase of 30% in their defenses!]

Sure enough, the number 1 in the tanker rankings was clearly a cut above the rest. At that moment……

Crackle, crackle, crackle—

A huge bolt of lightning struck down on Valdar’s shield accurately.

Bang!

Valdar tried to stop himself from being pushed back but……

Bang!

“Keoheok!”

A hellhound that snuck behind him suddenly exploded and caused him a huge amount of damage. Valdar was caught up in a chaotic mess but everything around him seemed to play in slow motion.

He saw Caillan and Ares stuck in a fierce battle against the three Slayers. But no matter what they did, their foes were still too strong.

Ares and Caillan were even brought to unconsciousness by the sudden bolt of lightning from the Slayer of Anguish. And along with that strike, the Slayer of Death brought the dead back to life as he pressed on them with great fanfare.

Then, a man suddenly appeared in front of Valdar. It was none other than Conir, the Slayer of Failure. Strangely enough, he was wearing full body armor with his body wrapped in bandages and his hand was holding a sword.

“Stop him!!”

“Protect Valdar-nim!!!”

The users all flocked towards him with their shields raised up high. However, at that moment, the sword in the demon’s hand moved.

Shwaaaaaaaa—

It was just a single slash but dozens of black sword lights flew out from it and pierced through their shields. The users’ bodies were all stabbed through by the sword lights. Their shields couldn’t even stop it one bit.

“……”

It was at that moment when Valdar realized it.

‘Allentian is finished……!’

Flop—

His head fell off of his body. And Conir’s intermittent voice passed through Valdar’s ears.

“Hung…… ry…… Has……”

Then, a black screen appeared in front of Valdar.

Im Jihye couldn’t help but sigh after watching the video. The Iris and Ares Guild both faced a crushing defeat against the demons. Meanwhile, the demons and demonic beast legion were already preparing to push through.

***

The people that were walking on the street stopped as they looked at the electronic display. Through the screen, they could see what was left of the once glorious Allentian. It has now turned into a barren wasteland.

They knew that the three Slayers and the hellhounds that brought about a huge and terrible debuff had the greatest contribution in Allentian’s fall.

“The Slayers are too strong, right?”

“Shit…… How do you even kill them?”

“According to the information from the operators, there would be a huge reward for successfully hunting the three Slayers, right?”

“……But is it even possible? Right now, their next target is……”

The demons stopped for a while after they conquered Allentian. And the next target that was waiting for them was…….

“It’s Legend.” 

“Will Legend Guild be able to stop them?” 

“They can’t stop them. How can they even stop them? They’re less than 20 people.” 

“What guild did they ally with this time?” 

“No. They can stop them. All of the guilds located in A Area are in danger. And since Ares and Iris are not the only ones, they could still make another allied force. They should form a new coalition that is built around them. And since the Legend Guild is composed of the elite minority then they should be the one to kill the Slayers while the other guilds hunt the hellhounds and the swarm of demonic beasts.”

However, not long after, someone more sensible appeared.

“……Do you think the other guilds will do such a thing just for Legend Guild to outshine them?”

***

The largest guilds in the country were known as the Four Great Guilds. And right below them, those guilds that were ranked 5~10 were known as the ‘Sun Guilds’.

Currently, the guild masters of the guilds ranked 5th, 7th, 8th and 9th were gathered together.

“Miss Alicia said that she wouldn’t come.”

“She’s pretending to be nice all by herself.”

The story that they told was simple. While Legend Guild bought them time, they would attract other users and build a new defense that would become the third line of defense.

They believed that the first battle encounter failed because they did not expect aerial warfare. In addition, they also believed that Legend Guild would slaughter a lot of those demons before they died.

“It’s unfortunate but Legend Guild will fall here.” 

“……Well, it can’t be helped.” 

That was what they were saying but the reality was different. The reason why they did not form an alliance with Legend Guild in Philip Village was simple. Legend Guild was a guild that was packed with the best rankers. If they lose this war then they would all receive penalties. Then, once the breaking point was reached the guild rankings would naturally follow and fall.

Why would they want something like that? Simple. That was just how people were. If there was someone higher than them they would want to kick them on the stomach and step on them just because they were jealous.

Meanwhile, one man suddenly said……

“I don’t think Kaistra and User Minhyuk are currently with Legend Guild. I wonder how long they will last.” 

It was one of the guild masters who spoke. Just like he said, they believed that the people who exert the strongest strength were just Minhyuk and Kaistra. And since they weren’t present then they would eventually fall. Of course, Legend Guild was still made out of the best rankers but they knew that they did not stand a chance with just themselves.

***

Genie sighed deeply after logging in the game.

Just like she had expected, the Sun Guilds did not have any intention of helping them. She also got a call from Artheon that they wanted to help, however they said that they were sorry since they needed to put a lot of effort into their current defense.

Just then, Ascar approached her with a glow on her face.

“Ge, Genie……!” 

Ascar usually maintained a calm and composed expression on her face but right now, she couldn’t hide the surprise that she was experiencing.

“S, someone came to help us!” 

“How many people?” 

Genie tilted her head as Ascar hurriedly spoke to answer her question.

“No, not people. Just one……” 

“Huh?” 

Just one? Ascar is so surprised just because of one person?

Ascar led her to the person so she could check it out for herself. Then, she could see the members of Legend and Black Dragon and the Boys gathered around.

“What I’m going to draw for you is our token.” 

“Oh, what a cool token!” 

“What does this token mean?” 

And the man standing in the middle of them said……

“It means friendship.” 

The country’s, no, the best mage in Athenae, Black Mage Ali had appeared.

***