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“Attack! It’s an attack!”

“Ahhh!”

“Everyone, retreat! If the alliance collapses, it’s all over!”

As time ticked by, nearly three months since the disaster had begun to unfold.

With a bizarre sound that shook heaven and earth, the little apocalypse was kicking off.

The army of the dead crashed in without any hesitation, as if the previous assaults were merely a joke.

Their numbers were significantly lower than before, yet each undead was far stronger than ever.

It was at a level where one user of level 80 to 90 was needed just to take down an average zombie.

Especially noteworthy was that no longer did only the ‘inferior’ undead move about.

Chwa ja ja jang!!

“C-C-Class S Zombie!”

“Wait, what kind of zombie has a sword…?”

“We need to call the rankers! We can’t take them on—”

“The person just taken down was a ranker!!”

“?!”

Class S zombie.

They were the loyal seven servants of the God of the Dead and had once been the prime targets for hunting.

Users had managed to slay five of them by uniting their powers, but ultimately failed to defeat the remaining two, leading to full-scale disaster.

In a time when many users had slowly forgotten about it due to the lack of news, the return of Lily had drawn everyone’s attention.

Kraaah…

“R-Retreat…”

Chwaak!!

The first of the Class S undead, Abid, wielded his sword and sliced through thousands of users.

Although their magic had been suppressed, they did their best with the help of angels.

‘What pathetic beings.’

But their opponent was a Class S undead that received endless magic from the ‘Demon Realm.’

If it were Yena or Leo, or even the likes of Knight or Black, it might have been different, but the typical rankers were no match for Abid.

Abid looked at the headquarters of the burning alliance and felt a mix of amusement and disdain.

The top users meant to protect the alliance were absent because the clown had lured them away.

The army of the dead was simultaneously attacking from ‘three’ locations, while the Challenger Alliance faced Abid.

And as for the ‘Empire,’ where living beings were said to gather the most? The clown was eyeing that too.

The clown initially attacked the Empire, extracting a considerable amount of their forces to his side.

Then Abid struck the alliance in a second wave, looting while the doors were open.

Thanks to that, confusion spread across the alliance’s structure, allowing him to crumble it in one fell swoop.

There were a few straggling undead headed there, but they would merely serve as bait to draw in light beings and angels, so there was no need to worry.

‘It’s evident they have been played.’

Abid smirked as he gazed at the broken angel statue scattered across the floor.

It wasn’t Abid who had broken it.

The other undead couldn’t even approach a statue emitting holy energy, so the culprit was undoubtedly one.

‘Light Being.’

She had turned her back on living beings and smashed all the angel statues.

Lily’s role was significant in the alliance’s downfall without even putting up a proper fight.

Khuhhhhh…

‘…?’

In the buildings of the flaming Challenger Alliance.

Someone was walking out in the distance.

Initially, Abid thought it to be a surviving Challenger and was ready to strike them down, but he soon lowered his sword.

‘A familiar energy.’

He felt magic emanating from them.

They held a bizarre staff with scalp resembling a skull, and undead creatures followed behind.

He wasn’t controlling them.

A user who had chosen to side with demons.

“Wow, you really took down the place quickly. Anyway, nice to meet you, ally.”

It was Deathron, the former leader of the now disbanded Death Guild.

As Deathron extended a friendly hand, Abid glared at him suspiciously.

‘Is he a Betrayer?’

“A Betrayer? I’ve been an enemy of that woman from the start!”

At Abid’s remark, Deathron shouted angrily.

In the early days after the disaster appeared one year ago.

Deathron had planned to create chaos on the continent using his guild and powers to cover the world with undead he could control.

However, he got caught by Lily while invading cities one by one and was literally crushed.

Then, he became infamous across the continent with everything dismantled…

“Damn it! That damn woman wiped out everything I built up! My guild, my land, my assets, all gone!”

‘…I’m not sure what you’re getting at.’

“What do you mean?! Since then, I’ve decided to side with the demons! I’ll smash Lily, the damned rankers of the alliance, and all the users who stood by!”

‘That’s a right thought, but—’

“Right? I actually wanted to destroy the alliance myself. If those demons hadn’t done it.”

‘With your power?’

“I’ve grown stronger! After a bone-crushing effort!”

Deathron gripped his skull staff and unleashed rough magic.

He truly seemed to possess considerable magic due to his status as a Challenger…

Khuh…

“What are you laughing at?”

‘Bone-crushing effort. Do you really think that’s believable?’

“Of course! I’d do anything to ruin Lily!”

Abid shook his head.

What a ridiculous claim.

According to the clown, challengers were said to receive protection of both soul and body from divine beings.

Yet, how dare he speak of bone-crushing effort?

In normal times, Abid would have effortlessly cut him down or turned him into a mindless undead, but this time was different.

With so many undead having vanished, having even a usable discard wouldn’t be bad.

‘Well… do as you please. But if you become a hindrance, I’ll make you pay immediately.’

“There’s no way I’ll get in your way.”

‘…But what are you doing?’

He had been drawing something on the ground with the staff for a while now.

It looked like a magic circle using blood and life…

But it surely wasn’t a magic circle that this moron should know regarding demons.

Maybe it was something he had naturally picked up while absorbing magic.

As Deathron plunged his skull staff into the center of the drawn magic circle, he cackled.

“Normally, it requires much more blood and the power of life, but thanks to you, most has been filled.”

‘So what?’

“This magic circle is a summoning circle for the great demon of the ‘Demon Realm’! Anyone who appears from this circle is obliged to fulfill my request.”

‘…?’

“I plan to take vengeance on Lily and the rankers of the alliance!”

‘A demon…’

This summoning circle might not unleash an evil god, but a reasonably strong demon ought to make its appearance.

‘They’re obliged to fulfill my request…’ He didn’t know if that was truly possible.

Abid didn’t have much experience with magic or power in his role as a swordsman turned undead.

He was about to ask the clown about it but shook his head.

Even at this moment, the clown was battling quite powerful challengers.

With the probability of angels intervening as well, there was really no need to inquire about such ‘trivial’ things.

If it failed, no harm done; if it succeeded, Abid would gain an additional force, so he wasn’t against it.

Abid poured his power into the staff as he watched Deathron.

The effort he was placing into it was nothing short of chaotic.

‘How long will it take?’

“It’ll take a while. About six hours? If you bleed more, it might get shorter.”

‘No time to spare.’

The challengers would start returning one by one to reclaim the alliance.

 

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