Chapter 53
In the frozen land, within a city where time seemed to have stopped, the Lessers began their assault.
Blood-soaked streets, buildings ablaze and collapsing.
The sky was blanketed in smoke, and screams echoed throughout the city.
The historic city of Sulium was being destroyed.
“Stop them! We must defend the castle!”
“My Lord! You must go first!”
The stationed soldiers in Sulium rushed to the inner castle where the count resided.
“Warriors of Gallia!”
“They will devour us! If you want to survive, fight back!”
“Fight to the end. I won’t forgive anyone who retreats!”
From atop the thick, towering walls, soldiers unleashed a barrage of arrows at the swarming Lessers.
Zzzzt!
Some Lessers were hit and fell, but most quickly resumed their charge.
Civilians fled in terror, chased by the Lessers, but the gates to the inner castle, where the lord resided, remained tightly shut.
“Please, open the gate!”
“My Lord! At least let our children in!”
Despite their desperate pleas, the gates stayed closed.
Soldiers shot arrows indiscriminately, at both the citizens and the oncoming Lessers.
Corpses piled up.
Corpses, corpses, corpses…
They’re fighting fiercely…
From the altar of Trinity, Weed observed the city using Pale’s skill, Eagle’s Eye.
The Lessers, using sewers and tunnels, were appearing all over the city, eliminating soldiers and devouring them.
The sight reminded him vividly of his past experiences in Royal Road.
It reminds me of the time we stopped the Undead Legion alongside the Orcs and Dark Elves.
(There are still many videos online. Many people watch them even now.)
(It was a quest so difficult, the success rate was virtually zero. But you accomplished it, Master.)
The massive invasion by the Undead Legion led by Lich Shire.
Only the terrain of the Eurokina Mountains, the archery of the Dark Elves, and the bravery of the Orcs held them back.
No matter how many were destroyed, the undead came in waves: first, second, third assault…
(That quest created a fantasy among users for large-scale missions.)
Royal Road was known for its quest-oriented gameplay.
From simple delivery quests to hunting, mercenary work, crafting, regional development—there were countless quests.
From massive group quests requiring hundreds of players to personal quests that snowballed into massive-scale events.
(Roanoke also has many quests, based on analysis. They’re high-difficulty, life-threatening quests.)
Seems so. The Lessers can’t win one-on-one against the soldiers.
(In small battles or groups of ten or more, the Lessers are overwhelmingly dominant.)
Lessers were not individually strong, but they were fast, cunning, and adept at climbing walls or leaping from heights.
Their coordinated group tactics were exceptional. They moved through sewers, isolating and surrounding soldiers with surgical precision.
They’re quite a capable combat race, these Lessers.
In the narrow alleys and buildings of the vast city, tens of thousands of Lessers swarmed relentlessly.
They even poisoned wells or set fires—stopping them all seemed nearly impossible.
Time for me to get started.
Weed pulled out the Flame of Purification placed on Trinity’s altar.
The Flame of Purification, which protected Sulium from the cold, has been removed.
As if the previous warmth had been a lie, a brutal cold swept back into the city.
Weed spoke to Pale, Kallis, Roam, and two users from the Arpen Guild, Horay and Orhan.
“Let’s head to the central plaza.”
A portal to the Frozen Land has opened.
“Let’s go.”
Trinity, the God of Adventure, had given a quest.
Ashuram, from a major guild, had taken the role of the leader of the saboteurs.
Following him, the adventurers crossed the portal and arrived in Sulium.
They were hit by a cold far more severe than anything they imagined.
“It’s freezing.”
“They say the Distorted Rift isn’t livable, and they weren’t kidding.”
Even with all their thermal gear, they were still shivering too much to speak clearly.
Lessers ran rampant through the city—their goal: destroy the Flame of Purification.
The adventurer Caladrion used his target-tracking skill.
“It looks like the Flame is in the central plaza.”
“The central plaza?!”
Everyone instantly reacted in disbelief.
When the Lessers rebelled, the safest place was obviously the lord’s castle.
Even if Lessers dug tunnels or crawled through sewers, the castle walls could still be defended the longest.
“Instead of going to the castle, you’re heading to the central plaza? Why?”
“I was expecting more from whoever’s doing this Rift quest… this is disappointing.”
“I messaged several famous adventurers I know, and none of them are here. Whoever took this quest must’ve just gotten lucky.”
The saboteurs figured they were in for a free ride through an S-class quest.
“Trying to protect civilians in the central plaza? That’s foolish…”
“Clearly they want to save even one more person, but it’s stupid.”
“They must not know Roanoke’s soldiers or nobles. When things get tough, they protect the lord first. Are they planning to fight alone?”
Clearly, Weed’s goal was to protect as many civilians as possible from the raging Lessers.
Ashuram smiled.
“Let’s just watch them get overwhelmed by the swarm of Lessers. They’ll be crushed by sheer numbers.”
To the adventurers, this was a perfect scenario.
Defending a place like the central plaza against Lessers? Impossible.
Yet an odd sense of unease lingered—because no one knew who they were really dealing with.
Frozen Land, huh… Who on earth is out here adventuring?
“Lessers!”
“They’re coming! We need to escape this city!”
Sulium’s residents were fleeing in all directions from the Lesser uprising.
In the central plaza, Kallis recalled the strategy he’d discussed with Weed.
“Let me explain what kind of battle we’re about to face.”
Weed scratched a rough map of the city onto the icy ground.
He drew circles and triangles to mark key locations—the castle, the nobles’ district, garrisons.
The crude drawing would normally destroy credibility, but this was Weed.
Even without remembering his days in Royal Road, he was still the one challenging Hell Difficulty Level 6.
The man who’d literally roasted his own fingers and toes during the Frozen Land expedition.
He held the reins of this adventure, so they listened.
“There are still many soldiers and knights alive in Sulium. But there are even more Lessers. Once Trinity’s protection is gone, it’ll become a street war.”
Gulp.
Roanoke often sees fierce battles with monsters, but none of the adventurers here had faced urban warfare against Lessers.
“From what I saw, there are three main defensible positions: the inner castle, noble district, and soldier garrisons.”
These were locations far from the sewers, or places where soldiers had gathered in strength.
Defending these would logically increase survival chances.
Weed started with this very rational analysis.
“But we’ll abandon all those advantages—and defend the central plaza.”
“What?”
“Why?”
“How does that make any sense?”
The central plaza was wide open, lacking any terrain benefits, and vulnerable to mass attacks.
But it was also the largest gathering spot for civilians.
“We’ll retrieve the Flame of Purification from Trinity’s altar and place it in the plaza.”
“Then Sulium will freeze again.”
Pale tilted his head.
Taking the Flame away would invite deadly cold into the city.
The Lessers might suffer, but ordinary civilians would suffer far worse.
“The cold will drive the residents to the plaza. That’s the plan.”
“What?”
“Many are still hiding in their homes or fleeing in panic. We’ll draw them all into the plaza.”
“That will be a disaster.”
Orhan immediately objected.
Pale, Kallis, and Roam thought there had to be more, but the paladin couldn’t understand.
“If civilians crowd into the plaza, how will we protect them? Soldiers won’t be able to form defensive lines. The Lessers will run wild. Most civilians and soldiers will die. Even those in the lord’s castle will have to come out due to the cold.”
In a wide-open space like the plaza, once you start losing, you’ll collapse instantly.
That Weed—known as the God of War in Royal Road—would plan such recklessness was unbelievable.
Weed smirked darkly.
“You’re right. That’s the point.”
“What?”
“The plaza will become the Lessers’ grave.”
The plan: a final battle in Sulium’s central plaza.
Pale could understand it—but couldn’t comprehend it.
“What defensive advantage does the plaza have?”
“None. Most of the civilians will die. That’s part of the plan.”
“And then?”
“I’ll cast Dark Rule.”
“…”
Veterans like Pale, Kallis, and Roam immediately understood.
One of Barkhan Demoph’s three great spells as leader of the Undead Legion:
Dark Rule – Declares the Law of Darkness. All corpses in the area are resurrected as undead.
Gather the city’s residents and soldiers in one place, let them die—and raise them all.
Most would become low-level undead like skeletons, zombies, or ghouls—but the numbers would be staggering.
Paladin Orhan’s eyes trembled.
“So many civilians will die…”
“This is the Frozen Land. And the Lessers are attacking. Most of them will die anyway.”
“…”
Only by gathering in the plaza did they even stand a chance.
They would die, be resurrected, and fight to protect the rest.
Roam realized something critical.
“Not just the civilians—the Lessers won’t have a choice either.”
The cold would drive the Lessers toward the plaza too, where the Flame of Purification was.
And when they died, they too would be raised as undead.
Even if hundreds of thousands of undead gathered in the plaza, the Lessers would have no choice but to attack to escape the cold.
Kallis and Roam both thought the same thing:
He’s insane.
Saving the city isn’t even the real goal. He’s grinding the Lessers for experience.
He’s a real demon. I should’ve known when he started roasting his own fingers and toes.
