Chapter 107

A man surrounded by faint light—the special boss, Edward the Fanatic.

Grrr!

The elaborately adorned elephant carrying him menacingly growled at me. It was more fascinating than frightening.

Wait, can magic beasts be tamed like this? It’s as if he raised it from infancy.

Attempts to tame magic beasts had failed for thousands of years in Ardenia due to their insatiable appetite for humans. Previously, orcs tried domesticating wolf-type magic beasts…but it seems magic beasts perceive humans and monsters differently.

“A white drake… I see. You must be the legendary Bandit Baron. I’ve heard your influence has greatly expanded since the end times began.”

A handsome blond man dressed in pure white robes smiled amiably at me. I returned his smile with one of my own.

“We can communicate. You seem almost human.”

“Of course we are humans. We are all children of the great Heavenly God.”

Based on our conversation alone, he seemed perfectly normal. Beyond him, I spotted ten divine soldiers lined up neatly.

They truly are elite troops.

In any flower shop, the most numerous monsters were always high-rank ones. In the Ice Queen’s army, it was ice elementals (high rank), and currently, thunder elementals (high rank) were attacking through the west gate.

The only high-rank soldiers among the Holy Kingdom’s forces are transporters stationed far from the front lines.

What did it mean that there were no high-rank monsters despite their overwhelming numbers? As someone with military experience and considering how monsters regenerated, the answer was simple.

They’re using relatively weaker forces to defend each spawn point while gathering rare- or higher-ranked monsters for offensive purposes.

Deploying high-rank monsters defensively provided significant advantages despite having fewer troops overall.

Regeneration speed.

Unlike rare- or higher-ranked monsters, high-rank ones regenerated quickly. Even if they died, new soldiers would swiftly replace them as long as enough time passed! By fortifying defenses and enduring, capturing a spawn point would be challenging even against substantial opposing forces. And what if these forces included heavenly demons among their ranks?

‘They are dangerous…in a different sense from high-ranked mainland monsters.’

The capabilities of individuals were important but not sufficient when it came to forces. For example, the Bright Rebels, who only had Hero ranks, conquered the Legendary Spore Forest. While human-type monsters couldn’t know they were NPCs in a game, their complete intelligence set them apart from other monsters. Through experience, they realized that if they died, they would respawn and drop items when killed by humans. This meant they could utilize the game system.

”…Yes, why did those heavenly bastards invade my castle without any warning?”

At my question, Edward’s eyes curved like a crescent moon as he looked down at me. “This…this-this.” There was surprise mixed with joy on his face. “It seems this is truly Count Mountain Bandit himself. I never thought you would come alone, leaving behind your army and castle. You really are a great hero.”

Of course, it wasn’t praise. He meant that things were going easily due to my arrogance and stupidity.

“Is that your answer?” I stared at Edward again. Despite looking again, he still appeared only human.

Fanatic Awakened (Legendary)

Edward

Yes. Apart from the title and rating, there was no difference. If they wanted, living among humans might even be possible for them.

”…”

The kind smile on Edward’s face disappeared as he watched me silently.

“The thief comes only to steal, kill and destroy. I have come that they may have life, and have it more abundantly. We aren’t invaders but servants of the heavens, guardians of humanity. Hero of humans. Open the castle gates immediately and accept the army of light.”

Wooong!

There was momentum in his gaze, and his tone changed as well. The atmosphere became oppressive, yet instead of reacting, I asked:

“What benefits would we receive if we do as you say?”

My words caused Edward’s expression to darken. He stood up, raising his voice like he was delivering a sermon.

“Fools say there is no heavenly deity within their hearts. They are corrupt, abominable, with none doing good! I thought you were the hero of humans, not some selfish moron concerned only with personal gain! Foolish and greedy!”

“So you want us to just surrender without any compensation?”

“The devil belongs to sinners, and from the beginning he was a murderer. The Son of God appeared to destroy the works of the devil! In front of the glory that prostrates itself at the feet of Heaven, do you dare to speak of compensation? Then let me ask! How much is the price for your sins?” Any trace of his mild demeanor from just thirty seconds ago had vanished, replaced by an unmatched hostility.

Moreover…

Clank! Clank! Clank!

Heavenly soldiers clad in heavy armor began forming a circular encirclement around us. Beyond them, I could see rare acolytes chanting prayers.

“Hmm.”

Yet, I wasn’t afraid. There was no way I could be intimidated.

“Madman Edward.”

“H-How impudent!”

“Rude! To address His Holiness…!” The angry soldiers and priests exclaimed furiously.

I laughed incredulously. “He became Pope? Well…it is inevitable when you think about it.”

Edward, the fanatical believer, was the heretic investigator of the Holy Empire. Due to his extreme belief that only the heavenly gods were unique, he was nicknamed ‘Madman’ among priests.

‘Since the game has become reality…things have changed like this.’

Even as a special boss, Edward’s position within the game was a heretic investigator. However, now using the power of a special boss, he had taken over vast lands and become the Pope. This meant that monsters also possessed desires and politics.

“In other words, maybe there isn’t necessarily a need to fight…”

Amidst tens of thousands of soldiers, I threw a card into the air.

“Seeing your twisted reasoning makes me worry unnecessarily.”

Yes. It was unnecessary worry.

It was humans fighting against humans, not monsters.

Grrrumble…

Dark clouds gathered overhead.

“He is doing something! Attack!”

“Cut off the necks of unbelievers! Hang them on crosses!”

“Those who aren’t recorded in the Book of Life will be thrown into the lake of fire!”

The holy knights recited prayers while wielding shining swords and charged forward. This was also strange.

‘There were no knight monsters before. Above all, they are hero-class.’

However, there was no time to think deeply about it as the holy knights and angels started swarming towards me. In the distance, priests began singing hymns. It was a coordinated and systematic attack but…

‘How pathetic.’

I looked at Edward sitting splendidly on his camel. Despite being the strongest force present, he remained unmoving like the pope.

Thanks to this, I completed the extraction before they could reach me.

[Let all of you praise it. The first Myth (Pet) has been born here.]

[Her name is Han Jae-yeon.]

[From now on, there will be a 100 percent buff for experience points in all hunting grounds for 24 hours.]

[Overlap occurred!]

[From now on, there will be a 300 percent buff for experience points in all hunting grounds for 24 hours.]

Grrr…

The earth shook. The soldiers rushing forward stopped and even the knights became confused.

“T-The ground!”

“What the hell…!”

“A-Ah! Below! Something is coming from below…!”

Everyone was astonished, and Edward’s expression changed as he observed the situation with arrogance. Then, the ground rose up.

Hooong!

The surrounding land rapidly moved away. There was a sudden sensation of ascent that couldn’t be felt in an elevator, causing screams to burst out from all directions. However, soon after, a loud noise covered up all other sounds.

[Wuuueeeee---!]

A sound akin to millions of times amplified wind passing through a tunnel shook the world.

-Something bigger than a mountain. Something deeper than the abyss.

-The disaster that will swallow the entire world.

The gathered heavenly gods were scattered everywhere. I looked down at Edward with amazement as I stood on scales that seemed three metres wide and long.

“Say hello.”

It was good that I didn’t release it inside the castle. The city might’ve been destroyed.

“This is your senior.”

As both a special boss and myth rank, they could indeed be considered seniors, perhaps.

Collection Achieved!

Disaster of Earth (Complete Landworm) - All Stats +10

Unlike the description saying it was bigger than a mountain, this giant worm wasn’t that large. Covered with metallic scales, its thickness was only equivalent to stacking sixteen subway trains(?). However, due to its immense length, it was difficult to gauge the full extent even though more than 100 meters were exposed above ground.

“Well, as you can see.”

When I arrived here on Kasim, I considered using Divine Roar for a grand entrance but decided against it. Pets share a cooldown period for their skills, meaning if one skill is used, others become unavailable until the cooldown expires.

‘Without such limitations, players could repeatedly summon over a hundred pets and exploit them endlessly.’

With these thoughts, I proudly stood atop the landworm’s head.

Then I gave the command:

“Land Worm. Rise up!”

The skill command word worked, but something unexpected happened.

[S…]

“S?”

I was startled by the voice ringing in my head. No way, did this creature possess language ability despite its appearance?

‘By the way, S? What is ‘S’? What does it mean?’

As I pondered, the myth rank monster, as huge as a mountain, slowly spoke:

[S…]

Its tone was so calm that it made me impatient.

[r…en…de…]

”…?”

For a moment, I couldn’t understand and wondered at its groans.

“What? You don’t want to?”

[Do I have…to do…what you…command…me?]

It was a perfectly reasonable question! Yes, there was no reason for the Land Worm to obey my commands just because I ordered them.

However, did it make sense for a pet with free will now? I gave up on using skill commands and turned on the system UI. Then I wildly touched the ‘Landworm: Great Destruction’ skill. However, no matter what, the landworm didn’t move at all.

“No, this is…”

Flash!

A dazzling light burst forth amidst my confusion. It was predicted but difficult to avoid due to its location, so I just took the hit.

“Demon! You summoned a demon! Filthy unbeliever! I will punish you with the mercy of the heavens!”

The Landworm seemed quite perceptive as it realized I couldn’t control it and launched a surprise attack. Of course, it was meaningless. With damage reduced by 90% from the Light attribute, it couldn’t inflict significant harm on me, even while wearing items with subpar luck stats.

Unexpectedly, the Landworm started speaking:

[Should I… help you…]

“Wow! Really?!”

[Somewhat… familiar… I like it… If you give me something light to nibble on…I will jump…]

Chomp chomp…

The childish expression was absurd, but I calmed down and asked, “Are you asking for food?! What should I give?”

As I watched the approaching heavenly soldiers, the Landworm replied:

[About… two tons of gold…]

”…What?” My incredulous response made the Landworm’s voice slightly less confident as it spoke again.

[If not enough, I’ll be satisfied with around one and a half tons…]

”…”

This newly hired myth-ranked pet had quite an expensive appetite.