B2 Ch 107 - Speeding Up the Apocalypse

The distant sound of explosions and violent clashes rolled through the air, followed by sudden splashes of light flashing from the direction of the forest. More bursts followed between the trees, briefly lighting up the darkness before fading again.

After watching the area for a moment, Vanessa beat her wings faster and flew forward, eventually landing on a high section of the cliff, close enough for them to see what was happening below while still far enough away to observe everything without being noticed.

Jester then jumped down from Vanessa's hand. The moment his feet touched the ground, his small body began to grow, his limbs stretching as his entire form changed. Within seconds, he had returned to his full size, standing there once again in his familiar evil clown form.

Shade's figure also slipped free from their shadows. The darkness beneath them shifted and gathered together before slowly taking shape, becoming solid once more until the girl was standing beside them again.

Across several parts of the battlefield, groups of knights were clashing with demons pouring in from different directions. Other battles were scattered farther across the area, but most of the knights remained in groups, attacking whenever they found an opening and holding their ground whenever the demons pushed back. They continued defending one another while slowly forcing the enemy away from their position.

“This battle should have been going on for quite some time already,” Jester said as he watched the fighting below. “But according to what Zorvaya and the others told me, there still shouldn’t be enough people here to reach the number of sacrifices they need.”

At that moment, Vanessa turned her head toward Jester, her expression becoming slightly more serious.

"Your Highness," she said.

"Yes?"

“I have a small question…” she said. “Not that I doubt what you are doing, but what exactly are you trying to achieve with all of this?”

Jester fell silent for a moment, then narrowed his eyes as he looked back toward the battlefield. “Sooner or later, those demons will gather enough sacrifices to summon their queen. Queen Belial, the Sixty-Ninth Ranked Demon. It’s only a matter of time before she comes.”

He paused again, his gaze remaining fixed on the fighting below.

“I am not sure why these demons are still being allowed to remain here, this deep within the kingdom’s territory. I am certain the kingdom is well aware of the threat they could become and what might happen if they are left alone for too long. Perhaps Queen Belial, despite being a Ranked Demon, simply is not dangerous enough for the kingdom to send its strongest forces here. Or perhaps there is another, much greater problem demanding their attention elsewhere.”

Jester seemed to think about it again before continuing. “I am only speeding up Belial’s arrival. Yeah, since I cannot stay here for very long, I would rather get this over with while I still can.”

Vanessa seemed satisfied enough with Jester’s answer, or at least that was what she showed on her face. She did not ask another question after that.

“They also said they still need around five thousand more sacrifices before the summoning can be completed.”

Vanessa turned toward Jester again.

“From what I understand, those five thousand sacrifices do not necessarily have to be native Yunateans. What matters is that their blood is spilled on the ground within this area,” he said, giving another small nod.

“If they really need that many, it should be easy enough once more players start coming here. With this much fighting going on, sooner or later, there will be more than enough deaths to meet the requirement.”

Vanessa looked as though she was about to say something when their attention was suddenly drawn toward another part of the battlefield, where a disturbance among the fighting immediately caught their eyes. Jester turned in the same direction, his expression shifting the moment he saw someone there.

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“Rania,” he said quietly.

Rania could be seen moving farther away from the other battles as she faced another figure on her own. It was a demon nearly three times her height, making her look incredibly small in comparison, barely reaching somewhere around the demon’s knees or thighs.

“That’s the Big Red Demon,” Jester said. “Can Rania really hold her own against a Demon Commander?”

What happened next answered part of his question. Despite how small Rania looked before the towering creature, she moved with incredible speed. She shot forward, leaped high into the air, and attacked from above. Even when the demon swung its massive war axe at her, Rania managed to block the strike, and the collision released a powerful burst of energy that spread violently in every direction.

“This Big Red Demon should already be somewhere around Level Two Hundred as well,” Jester said afterward.

Vanessa responded while keeping her eyes on the battle.

“Judging by how they are fighting, Princess Rania appears capable of keeping up with him. She is extremely agile and knows how to avoid his attacks. Although, if even one of those attacks lands cleanly, it could be fatal for her.”

Jester nodded again. “I have to give her credit for choosing to fight this Big Red Demon. Meanwhile, the other two Knight Commanders decided to face Zorvaya and the other two demons. From what I know, those fights are going to be extremely troublesome. Especially that frog. He looks harmless enough at first glance, but it turns out he uses poison. Ah, what a pain.”

Jester swallowed as another violent impact shook the battlefield below.

“Because if I went down there, or even got too close to that fight, the energy from a single clash between Rania’s weapon and that demon’s axe would probably be enough to kill me.”

Knowing that made the reality of his situation painfully clear. Jester knew he needed to start seriously focusing on leveling up. He could no longer afford to treat it as something he could deal with whenever he had the time, especially now that more and more responsibilities were beginning to fall onto his shoulders.

If Jester only wanted to reach Level One Hundred, or perhaps Level One Hundred and Fifty, he could probably do it by deliberately hunting high-level monsters. He could ask the forces under his command to help weaken those monsters, then step in at the end and deliver the finishing blow himself.

But even that would still take time, and there were already far too many other things he needed to deal with.

Levels were important, of course, but Jester also had another way to gain an instant increase in level through Perfect Assimilation with Lucia. The problem was that he could only maintain it for a short period of time. Still, that would be more than enough if he used it at exactly the right time and in the right situation.

So while increasing his actual level was something he absolutely needed to pursue, Jester also understood that he had to carefully divide his time and resources. There were too many goals he needed to accomplish, and focusing entirely on only one of them would simply cause the others to fall behind.

He would level up. He would become stronger. He simply needed to find the most efficient way to do it without neglecting everything else.

Meanwhile, the battle below continued to grow more intense, and it was becoming increasingly clear that Rania was struggling. The massive war axe struck her defenses and sent her crashing into the ground again and again, each impact throwing her body across the battlefield before she forced herself back up.

The Big Red Demon suddenly charged forward despite its enormous body, closing the distance with frightening speed before bringing its massive war axe crashing down toward the ground with tremendous force.

“If this continues, Princess Rania will be in serious danger,” Vanessa said.

“You think so?”

“Forgive me, Your Highness, but I do not believe Princess Rania can win this battle. She is clearly at a disadvantage in terms of raw strength and endurance. The longer this continues, the worse her situation will become.”

“You just said she looked capable of keeping up with him.”

Vanessa did not immediately answer. Jester said nothing more either, and the two of them fell silent once again.

Until the moment came when the demon swung its enormous axe at Rania once again. This time, she no longer seemed capable of properly holding it back. She raised her weapon and desperately blocked the strike, but the collision released a massive shockwave that burst outward in every direction.

“Are you going to let Princess Rania die here?” Vanessa asked once again.

At the final moment, Rania was still struggling beneath the tremendous force of the massive axe, and it was obvious that she could no longer hold it back. But before the attack could completely overwhelm her, another figure suddenly appeared and stood directly in front of her.

Jester narrowed his eyes, focusing on the unexpected figure. Shade was the first to identify what she was seeing.

“It is a woman,” Shade said. “A player. She has short purple hair tied back, and she appears to be a close-range fighter. There is some kind of purple spectral energy surrounding her that she seems able to control. It has formed into four large, ghostly hands that move around her as if they were part of her own body.”

“This player seems strong,” Vanessa said as she continued watching.

Jester slowly nodded in response. “Why do they always show up wherever I happen to be doing something?” he muttered. “Don’t tell me they’re actually doing this on purpose.”

His expression tightened slightly.

“Vesperion Guild.”