Chapter 309: Our Arsilan (2)

Translator: Dreamscribe

After the Named Heroes descended below, the situation on the battlefield grew even more intense. All the Executioners had assembled, and the Kalsus Dimensional Empire's forces kept appearing endlessly, like waves continually rolling onto a shore.

Everyone in Arsilan had joined the all-out battle, but the situation continued to worsen. They barely managed to hold the center of the crystal as they waited for news of victory from the Heroes who had gone below.

The Named Heroes plummeted downward.

“Ugh!”

“It's fucking deep!”

They kept falling, driving their weapons into the walls of the passage to slow themselves as needed. It was so deep that there seemed to be no end to their descent.

-They're closing in from every direction!

-Looks like we're surrounded!

-What about air support?

-There are too many enemy warships!

Urgent voices continued pouring through the communication channel. The Named Heroes kept descending as they listened to the transmissions.

“I'll handle the landing! Pick up the pace!”

At Haebyul's words, the Heroes stopped slowing themselves and instead began using skills to accelerate. After descending for quite some time, they finally saw light far below.

Haebyul fired a Spirit Arrow toward the illuminated floor. The moment the Spirit Arrow struck, a massive gust of wind surged up through the passage and slowed every Hero's fall.

THOOM!

The Heroes landed on the floor, smashed through the door blocking their path, and immediately started running.

They were racing against time.

They had to seize control of the Great Gate while Arsilan was still holding out. They raced down the wide corridor.

There were soldiers guarding the area, but they were no match for the Heroes. People who looked like researchers panicked and began fleeing.

Unlike the soldiers, the researchers wore helmets and clothing made from lightweight materials. It was obvious at a glance that they were noncombat personnel.

LifeHunter snatched up one of the researchers and glared at him.

“Where's the control room?”

“I-I don't kno....”

CRUNCH!

When LifeHunter tightened his grip, his fingers dug into the helmet.

“Uwaaaagh! O-Over there! I-If you cut through the laboratory, y-you can get there f-faster.”

LifeHunter nodded and began dragging the researcher along as he took the lead.

Following the corridor brought them to an enormous laboratory. Transparent glass tubes were filled with Test Subjects created from beings captured throughout the Dimensional Realm.

Every one of their faces was twisted in agony. It looked as though they had been subjected to experiments of unimaginable suffering.

GRIND!

The Heroes' anger surged at the sight, but they barely managed to suppress it.

They wanted to smash those glass tubes apart and free them right then and there. The Heroes raised their weapons and stared at the tubes.

“Let's not touch them.”

HandGenius, who had appraised them, immediately stopped the others.

Every single one of those Test Subjects was a boss monster. If they woke up, there was no doubt they would waste precious time. Everyone nodded and hurried past them. Then they hesitated in front of one particularly large glass tube.

“An Executioner....”

“Ah, it's that guy from before.”

An Executioner was inside.

His shattered armor had been replaced with mechanical components, and his body was covered in gruesome traces of the experiments he had undergone.

His face was visible beneath the helmet, half of which was gone. Unlike the soldiers, he possessed a physical body. They could see his contorted face and hair that had turned completely white.

The being who had fought Haebyul and countless Heroes without giving an inch.

The spear-wielding Executioner.

They had thought he was utterly ruthless, yet he had honored his word because of something he called a promise. In the end, he had met his death at the hands of General Gord when Gord appeared before the Heroes. The scene had been so vivid that they could never forget it.

Haebyul approached the glass tube.

“Is he dead....”

“It's saying there are no signs of life.”

HandGenius examined the panel in front of the glass tube as he answered Haebyul. Haebyul stared into the tube for a moment, then drew her bowstring. He had been an enemy, but she still owed him a debt. At the very least, she wanted to lay him to rest properly.

When LifeHunter and NorthernGrandDuke nodded to her, Haebyul fired a Spirit Arrow.

The glass tube shattered and the Executioner's body collapsed. The Heroes laid him on the floor, then pulled off the researcher's lab coat and draped it over him.

It gave the Heroes a lot to think about.

“When people from Arsilan die, they become part of Arsilan. What happens to these guys?”

“Do they have their own afterlife over there?”

“Hmm....”

Hearing the Heroes, LifeHunter looked at the researcher.

“Th-They b-become part of the D-Dimensional Barrier and are used as d-dimensional energy.”

“That's what he says. What is this Dimensional Barrier?”

“It's l-like a defensive wall protecting the S-Sanctuary.”

LifeHunter squeezed information out of the researcher. Little by little, their questions about the Kalsus Dimensional Empire were being answered. After running across the laboratory, they entered a vast chamber.

It was too dark to see properly, but they could make out a green light ahead. The source of that light was an authentication panel attached to the door leading to the control room.

“We're here!”

“That was faster than expected.”

“Now we just have to get inside...!”

Things were going perfectly.

But the Heroes felt uneasy. Whenever things went this smoothly, something always happened.

They had accumulated plenty of experience while playing Arsilan Saga. The instincts forged by that experience screamed at them not to let their guard down.

The Heroes remained alert to their surroundings as they reached the control room door.

[This is a Class 1 security facility. Verifying authentication code.]

When LifeHunter looked at the researcher, the researcher hurriedly completed the authentication. Just as the door was opening...

THOOM!

The control room door slammed shut again, and the lights suddenly blazed on.

“Uwaaaaaagh!”

Electricity burst from the researcher's body.

LifeHunter quickly threw the researcher aside. The researcher's body rolled across the floor, burst into flames, and melted away.

A hologram appeared in the center of the chamber.

The face of a man who looked every inch a mad scientist appeared and stared at the Heroes.

[Hahahaha! Welcome to my underground laboratory. There's plenty here for you to enjoy, so take your time, enjoy yourselves, and die.]

Haebyul destroyed the hologram projector, causing the mad scientist's hologram to disappear.

That was when it happened.

The sound of glass shattering came from the laboratory they had just passed through.

SHIVER!

A chill ran down the Heroes' spines. They slowly turned their heads and looked back to see the glass tubes shattering one after another as the Test Subjects inside emerged.

Every one of them was a boss monster in the mid-200s, and there were hundreds of them.

“Of course.”

“Knew things were going too smoothly.”

“Wouldn't be Arsilan Saga if it let us have it easy.”

The Test Subjects began surging toward the Heroes, tangling over one another as they advanced. HandGenius hurried to the authentication panel and tried to open the control room door.

“This is going to take a while!”

“How long?”

At NorthernGrandDuke's question, HandGenius swallowed hard. He had figured out most of the systems used by the Kalsus Dimensional Empire, but breaking through their security measures was difficult.

“A long while!”

“Hmm....”

That was a tall order.

The Heroes stared at the approaching Test Subjects. Even with the Named Heroes gathered here, it did not seem possible for them to defeat all of those creatures.

“Hold them off until the control room opens!”

NorthernGrandDuke shouted as she raised her two-handed axe, and the Heroes gritted their teeth.

THOOM! THOOM! RRRRUMBLE!

A fierce battle began.

The Heroes bombarded the Test Subjects with attacks and forced them back, but it steadily became harder to hold them off. Every Test Subject possessed regenerative abilities and resistance to multiple elements such as fire and electricity. Even when sliced apart with Aura, their wounds healed almost immediately.

-Ugh! We're at our limit!

-Fuck! Those goddamn Titans!

-More are coming!

-Holy shit! It's a supermassive warship!

The situation on the surface was no different from what was happening here.

Haebyul continuously loosed arrows while glancing behind her. HandGenius was rapidly working the panel, his face deathly pale and cold sweat pouring down his skin.

“Ugh! W-We're getting pushed back!”

UruBear and the other tankers, who had been holding off the Test Subjects with their shields, began getting driven sharply backward. Like a breached dam bursting, the Test Subjects shattered the defensive line and flooded forward.

“We have to hold somehow...!”

“I'm completely out of Mana! Ghh!”

“Block them with your bodies if you have to!”

“Screw it...!”

They could not hold out any longer.

Just as the Test Subjects reached the Heroes' noses...

KRAAAAASH!

The Test Subjects suddenly burst apart and began melting. A shockwave tore through them and hurled them to either side. The Heroes stared forward in shock.

“Huh?”

“That's....”

Someone stood there holding a warped spear.

SWISH!

He rushed forward so quickly that he left an afterimage, then planted himself in front of the Heroes.

SHIIING!

Energy surpassing even Aura flowed from the spear extended sideways.

“Executioner!”

Haebyul shouted as she stared at his back.

Every Hero looked stunned, even NorthernGrandDuke. The Executioner turned his head and looked at Haebyul and the Heroes. They could see the burning intensity in his eyes through the shattered helmet.

“I have yet to defeat you lot. Therefore, I cannot allow you to die here.”

CRACK!

Cracks spread across the Executioner's body as flames erupted from within.

“Are you okay?”

Countless emotions were contained in Haebyul's words, and the Executioner gave a low chuckle. Instead of answering, he adjusted his grip on his spear and charged at the Test Subjects. Flames surged as the Test Subjects melted away.

“He's strong!”

“Now that's reassuring.”

“Khh!”

Haebyul and the Heroes fought alongside the Executioner to hold back the Test Subjects.

It was practically a law of gaming that enemies got nerfed when they joined the player's side, but that did not apply to this Executioner. Perhaps because of the experiments, he had actually become even stronger.

HandGenius's eyes widened as the authentication panel turned green.

“Got it! It's open!”

The control room door opened!

LifeHunter pulled the Key Card from his inventory and threw it to HandGenius.

“We'll hold them off! Go!”

HandGenius caught the Key Card, nodded, and rushed inside the control room.

The control room was enormous and packed with complex machinery. Everything operated automatically without any personnel. For the Key Card imbued with Arsilan's power to work properly, it had to be brought into contact with the core of the control device.

HandGenius quickly swept the surrounding area with a scanning device.

“Th-There!”

The core device was deep inside.

HandGenius hurried over and looked into a narrow gap. There was barely enough room for one hand to fit through, so he gripped the Key Card and shoved his arm deep inside.

“Ugh!”

It did not reach.

The passage twisted and turned, making it impossible to force his arm any farther inside. He could not destroy the surrounding machinery either, since that risked sending the Great Gate itself out of control.

“Th-There has to be a way! Some way...!”

He had to hurry!

Think! Think!

If he used his head, a solution was bound to come.

He kept thinking and thinking, but no solution came to mind.

That was when it happened.

Light burst beside him, and someone appeared.

“I'm here!”

“How did you....”

“Ella-nim helped me!”

WingGenius, who had participated in the war while leading the Fairy Corps, had been summoned to HandGenius's side with Ella's help. WingGenius looked outside the control room and flinched in shock.

“Whoa..., brutal.”

“Take this to the device inside there!”

“Huh? Okay!”

WingGenius took the Key Card in both hands and flew into the gap.

“As fast as you can!”

“Got it! Hyaaaah!”

Light burst from WingGenius's wings as she accelerated rapidly. She flew through the winding passage and reached the core device. Holding the Key Card like a spear, WingGenius charged.

“Take this!”

CRUNCH!

The instant the Key Card embedded itself in the core device, the Great Gate vibrated once and its blue light went dark.

[Error, system error…, virus intrusion detected. Antivirus unavailable….]

[Uploading Light of Arsilan…, upload complete.]

[Beginning system reboot.]

An information window appeared before HandGenius.

[System reboot complete.]

[Welcome, Arsilanian. The Great Gate of Arsilan awaits your command.]

[Would you like to enter a command?]

The Great Gate was now under Arsilan's control!

HandGenius urgently entered a command.

*Command: Forcibly expel everyone affiliated with the Kalsus Dimensional Empire!

The moment he issued the command, the information window crackled once, and blue light began pouring from the Great Gate again.

[Executing command.]

[All entities identified as affiliated with the Kalsus Dimensional Empire will be forcibly expelled.]

The command was executed!

***

Jinwoo was satisfied with how things had gone overall.

Seeing this enormous battlefield made him feel as though all the effort he had put in until now was finally paying off. More than anything, what delighted him was the new arrivals who had joined them.

A homeland worth protecting.

That homeland was Arsilan.

Everyone suppressed their fear and fought desperately, for the Heroes, for their homeland, and for Arsilan. Beings from more than five thousand completely different dimensions had come to share a single conviction.

It would become a precious memory that bound them all together as Arsilan.

Playing the role of Leon, Jinwoo had staged all kinds of scenes with General Gord. This intense spectacle would likely be talked about for a long time to come.

-We can't hold out anymore!

-Ugh! We can't retreat!

-What about the Heroes who went below?

-Shit, more are coming!

Supermassive warships appeared, and ten more Titans joined the battle. Jinwoo worsened the battlefield situation even further. It reached the point where Arsilan looked completely overwhelmed by the sheer numbers of the Kalsus Dimensional Empire's forces.

The blue light of the Great Gate went dark, then moments later an even brighter blue light began rippling from it. The advancing forces of the Kalsus Dimensional Empire all froze as though time itself had stopped.

“Uuurgh!”

General Gord tried to move his body, but he could not. It looked as though the dimension itself were rejecting him.

FWOOOOSH!

A pillar of blue light erupted from the Great Gate, and a dimensional rift opened in the sky above it.

“Ghk!”

“Aaaaagh!”

“What is this?!”

The soldiers of the Kalsus Dimensional Empire screamed. Their bodies floated into the air and began getting sucked into the dimensional rift. It looked as though they were being pulled into a black hole.

The Titans and warships that had been holding their positions stretched out lengthwise before disappearing beyond the dimensional rift as well.

“How dare you...! You insects from the frontier...! I will annihilate every last one of you! Kraaaagh!”

General Gord, who held out until the very end, glared at the Heroes before being sucked into the dimensional rift.

Silence descended.

The battlefield, which moments before had been filled with nothing but explosions and flames, became eerily still.

Everyone in Arsilan stared blankly at the sight for a moment.

[We did it! The Great Gate is ours now!]

HandGenius's voice rang through the communication channel.

“Did we win?”

“We won!”

“Waaaaaaaah!”

Everyone embraced one another and cheered.

They all looked completely different, but none of that mattered. The walls that had once stood between them had already disappeared. United as one, everyone rejoiced and savored the joy of victory.

Ella and Helby approached Jinwoo.

Without a word, they watched the beautiful sight overflowing with joy.

They were all Arsilan.

And so, their vast empire would lose to no one.

‘There was still a lot to do from here on out....’

But for now, he decided to enjoy this moment.

***

After announcing their victory through the communication channel, HandGenius sank to the floor. WingGenius flew over and hugged his face.

“Eeeek! We won!”

“Haha....”

“Did you see? I totally carried!”

“You did great! You saved Arsilan!”

“Hehe!”

When HandGenius broke into a huge grin, WingGenius beamed and rubbed her face all over his cheeks as she laughed.

When he stepped outside the control room, he saw the Heroes celebrating. All the Test Subjects had smashed into the ceiling and died as pulpy messes. Since they had been so deep underground, they had been unable to escape through the dimensional rift and had practically fused with the ceiling.

THOOM!

The Executioner, who had been standing motionless, dropped to one knee.

Haebyul and the Heroes rushed over to him. He was in terrible condition. His armor continued crumbling away, and the body beneath it was turning to dust and scattering into the air.

“Once again, I have failed to keep my promise. I had wanted to settle our match.”

Haebyul's eyes trembled at the Executioner's words.

“Strong one, what happens when a person of Arsilan dies?”

“...They become part of Arsilan and are reborn as new life.”

Haebyul answered his question.

“How enviable. For us, even death merely turns us into a source of energy.”

When soldiers of the Kalsus Dimensional Empire died, they were sent to the Dimensional Barrier and became a source of energy. The researcher had clearly said so.

Haebyul felt sorry for him.

She did not know how many atrocities he had committed. But his final actions had saved countless people of Arsilan.

HandGenius approached him.

WingGenius saw the Executioner and jumped in fright, hiding inside HandGenius's pocket. She peeked her face out and stared at the Executioner.

HandGenius carefully spoke.

“I used the Great Gate to expel everyone from the Kalsus Dimensional Empire.”

He had definitely expelled everyone affiliated with the Kalsus Dimensional Empire.

Yet the Executioner remained here.

“The reason you weren't expelled must be because you're no longer affiliated with the Kalsus Dimensional Empire.”

“Ah! Then...!”

Haebyul's expression brightened at HandGenius's words.

“Our goddess will accept you into Arsilan.”

At Haebyul's words, the Executioner remained silent for a moment, then removed his helmet and looked at the Heroes.

“I believed that not even death could force me to submit. But that was merely my own foolish delusion. I have been defeated in every way. The victory is yours.”

With those words, he bowed his head respectfully.

At that moment, his body, which had been turning to dust, transformed into particles of light and soared upward. They passed through the ceiling and flew far into the distance.

The Heroes were left with a bittersweet feeling.

But they soon shook it off.

“All right! Let's head back!”

At Haebyul's words, everyone nodded.

Let's go back!

To our Arsilan!

*****

For more chapters, join my Patreon: https://patreon.com/dreamscribe

If you enjoy this novel, please review and rate it at Novelupdates. Thanks! 😊

To receive the latest update notifications or report mistakes, join our Discord server linked below.