[Warning: You can’t leave the area.]
[Remaining time (Odin’s Absolute Warzone): 23 hours 59 minutes 59 seconds]
“Do I just have to endure for one day? Does that mean I can complete the quest after one day?” Hephaestus asked while looking at the notification window.
[No way. You should make Doom Man run away or get rid of him.]
When you're just trying to make great content at .com.
The Guide clung to Hephaestus’s shoulder. It even pretended to hug him with its tiny arms, as if it could never fall. Hephaestus’s heart pounded faster, and sweat poured out from all over him.
The first thing he did was climb the watchtower, but he couldn’t locate Doom Man. All he could see was the chaos of the Awakened. The Absolute Warzone was vast. People were bustling around in his camp and other Corps. Fortunately, the Barba Corps wasn’t present on the battlefield.
A voice suddenly pierced his ears, and he was in terror. It came from his camps.
“We are all going to die! Odin is here!”
The name that he couldn't ignore was constantly being mentioned. Hephaestus threw himself and landed exactly in front of him.
The person stuttered, “Hephaestus…? O…Odin was alive. He came to punish us.”
“It’s not him,” he insisted.
The person wailed, “You are saying that because you don’t know much about it! I was in Indra’s group during the preparation period for Act Two, Stage Two. It was the same back then. If you resist, then we all die, Hephaestus…”
The guy knelt on the ground, but it wasn’t toward Hephaestus. When Hephaestus noticed that it was for the dead Odin, he was thinking of hitting the man’s neck. However, he changed his mind.
His gaze shifted to the Guide as he said, “This place is called ‘Odin’s Absolute Warzone.’ If you are hiding anything from me, you better tell me now.”
[ ( ･᷄д･᷅ ) What are you talking about? You didn’t even ask.]
Hephaestus was aware of the many eyes that were fixed on him. Time was of the essence, and he needed to solve this matter. He climbed back up to the watchtower after avoiding making eye contact with his subordinates. He was planning to ask the Guide if Doom Man was Odin.
However, he noticed something from the far left where the camp of the Lord of Heaven was situated. It was a streak of lightning. It didn’t fall straight down from the dark clouds pouring rain; instead, it spread out in all directions from the center.
Hephaestus focused his attention on it, then he could see the real thunderbolt that was giving off countless branches of lightning. The trajectory of the sparks was visible from the distance, as if someone was using them as weapons. He soon came to his senses. Odin was the Doom Man.
“Guide… you motherfucker!” he hissed.
[Excuse me?]
He angrily stated, “You knew about this, right? Don’t say that you didn’t know.”
[It wouldn’t be wrong to prepare a battlefield based on our sacrifices. Hurry up. Doom Man will be here soon.]
“It’s not Doom Man. You should call him with more respect. He used to rule all the Awakened.”
[Odin is Doom Man’s old name.]
He shook his head. “Look for another guy. I’m out of this.”
[Huh? You said you will prove why you deserve the immense power even if the dead Odin came back to life or if Doom Kaos entered this stage. I heard that humans are very fickle, and I guess that’s true. Well, that must be why Doom Man fell for Doom Kaos.]
“You are… a son of bitch. Get out of my head!” he shrieked.
[Hey, I was here from the beginning. Also, I don’t know if things will change even if you give up on the quest. Doom Man is pissed at you and the Awakened. Very much. Look at that. Can you feel his rage? Oh gosh.]
Hephaestus looked back to the distance, towards the thunderbolts that appeared to be moving as if they had a life of their own. From a distance it only looked like a natural disaster, but it was obvious that a great number of people were being reduced to ashes there. He had witnessed how one of the leaders who had come up to the Final Stage died.
[So things would have been better if you had already destroyed ~???~. You humans are the ones at fault that things have gotten to this point. If the will of the System had been carried out completely, then Doom Dejire would have died and Doom Man would never have existed. You guys have ruined the grand plan that the System had envisioned. It’s all your guys' faults! You idiot humans!]
Hephaestus stretched his hand out and tried to take the Guide off his shoulder. However, the spirit wasn’t a physical being that could be touched with a hand. Also, the Guide moved faster than his hand could.
The Guide was floating in front of his face now. Seeing its mischievous expression with its small tongue sticking out, Hephaestus had to suppress the anger that bubbled to the surface of his mind.
“What do those question marks mean?”
[I’m sick and tired of how stupid humans are. Your selfishness and greed are problematic too. But that must be your true ability, right? I’ll tolerate it this time. Hephaestus. Prove it to me if you want to know about ~???~. I’d like to see if you deserve to figure out what ~???~ is.]
“Asshole.”
[ (◔‸◔ )っ✄╰⋃╯]
Hephaestus’s fists trembled.
[It won’t just end with words next time. I will really cut your dick, hehe.]
***
Hephaestus decided not to mention the phrase ‘Doom Man.’ There was nothing much known about the Dooms, and they were unrealistic. However, the name ‘Odin’ was different. Everyone who heard that name felt the most extreme fear, and those gathered in the front were proof of that.
Before the incident, he needed cooperation from the leaders of other groups to break through the bitch’s corps. However, the majority of them refused to even talk to him. Even if they were favorable to having a conversation, most of them wanted to receive too much compensation.
All groups only had a common purpose of snapping off the bitch’s head, but that didn’t mean they were unified.
The rewards on Mary’s neck were indeed great, but it wasn’t enough for everyone to share. Therefore, a union was never built as people carried out the quest separately. However, those people were gathering while the corps on the left was collapsing under the orders of Hephaestus.
During that period, his base was more active than ever. He dismantled the wooden fence that divided the areas of different corps. They were occupied with setting up magic traps, similar to those within the boundaries of the Light Pillar.
Moreover, loud shouts could be heard from everywhere as thousands of people from multiple corps were terrified.
“Hurry up!”
“Move!”
“Get ready for the battle!”
Hephaestus looked at the people in front of him. He had not even attempted to engage in dialogue with some of them previously. They were leaders from each corps, and they had gathered there after realizing that Odin was coming to kill them.
[See? You are their true ruler, Hephaestus.]
Hephaestus ignored the Guide’s words and opened his mouth.
“Everyone knows what Odin is like. He is powerful and ruthless. He will never forgive us. Even if you miraculously succeed in seeking Odin’s mercy, the bitch and the Plague Monster will never leave us alone…”
Then, he closed his mouth because the blue lights, which had been flashing steadily there, suddenly died out from afar. Those who were managing the battle lines and installing magic traps also stopped. They also directed their gaze towards the far-off area where only shadows remained.
Since there were more than one hundred thousand people crowded there, the silence felt like magic had descended.
A group of people emerged from the heavy rain. They were initially mistaken for Odin and his group, causing the people there to begin shrieking.
Boom! Boom!
Then, rock traps shot up from the ground and explosions occurred. The magical traps set by the camp were triggered. However, those rushing in from the left didn’t stop running. They paid no attention to stepping on the bodies of their deceased comrades and continued to scream.
“Odin is coming!”
Although there were more traps in their direction, they continued sprinting as if they didn’t matter. They were obviously being chased by a more frightening monster than the traps ahead.
Hephaestus threw himself forward and grabbed a man. Of course, he kept watch on the direction from which they came from, but he was unable to spot Odin. The heavy rain was still making it difficult to see.
“Odin? What about Odin?” he asked urgently.
The name triggered something from the guy. He looked back at Hephaestus with stiffened eyes to confirm that nothing was following him. The man breathed heavily and barely managed to speak while clutching Hephaestus’s body with trembling hands.
“You… you should run away.”
He interjected, “Calm down. I’m Hephaestus. Tell me what you saw.”
The man shook his head. “I don’t know. We… We just… fled right here.”
Hephaestus scowled as he watched the people running past him. There appeared to be over ten thousand individuals fleeing. The groups on the left needed to buy as much time as possible. However, the fact that ten thousand people had fled without taking any action meant that Hephaestus had little time left before encountering Odin.
He snarled, “Idiots.”
He returned to the spot where leaders were gathered. Even then, the rain was still pouring heavily. However, it had turned into a storm, accompanied by a strong scent of blood.
Hephaestus and the group leaders shuddered at the creepiness. This meant that there had been countless deaths on the left side. Considering the number of people who had been there, over fifty thousand would have died. Although he couldn’t calculate it accurately, it was a lot!
He cried in a hurry, “What should I do if I die either way? Should I sit still and stick my neck out for him?”
[Yes, that’s right, Hephaestus.]
“No, Odin is also human. Given that things have become so quiet, Odin might have also gotten killed. Even if he is alive, he wouldn’t have avoided getting injured. Look. All of us were able to gather while the corps on the left side sacrificed themselves. We are united, and things are different from them.”
“...Are you sure there is only Odin?” someone asked.
The guy wasn’t only referring to the Plague Monster, the Bitch, and the fanatics. He was also questioning whether the Tentacle Demon Orca and the King of Kciphos Gundrak were coming too. It would be terrible if Odin and all of them came together.
Hephaestus answered immediately, “It’s just Odin.”
It had not been confirmed whether Odin was being accompanied by them, but he knew that those who flocked below him would leave if he told them the truth. They would find their own way to survive.
“We survived this far as Odin did. There are thousands of us who have survived by overcoming a lot of adversity. We can definitely confront Odin!”
However, his speech wasn’t inspirational. The group leaders’ eyes were on those who were running away from the direction that Odin had appeared. Hephaestus suddenly remembered the phrase ‘Those who seek death shall live. Those who seek life shall die,’ but that didn’t help.
It was impossible to bring their attention back to him as the fugitives had ruined the atmosphere.
Right then, Hephaestus heard an angry voice.
- You made an alliance with the Guide, Hephaestus.
Hephaestus wanted to reply, but he realized that the owner of the voice was too far away for his telepathic abilities to reach.