Chapter 302: War of Liberation (1)

Translator: Dreamscribe

FS Games began work in earnest on wrapping up Episode 6. The quest was revealed to the Heroes, planting the Great Gate in their minds as the objective. The setup was that reaching the place where the Great Gate stood required core materials gathered from each of the liberated dimensions. But the coordinates that would take them there still couldn't be pinpointed.

The Heroes, who had liberated more than five thousand dimensions, began returning to Arsilan. They had built villages in the dimensions they liberated and forged countless bonds, but the time to part had come.

Fighting through so many battles together, each of them had written down a precious story of their own. They had celebrated together, and they had wept together at funerals. The history the Heroes and the Dimensional People had made together would be recorded in the Dimensional Realm forever.

After receiving grand send-offs from the Dimensional People in each of their dimensions, the Heroes arrived in Alusion.

The ground before Alusion was packed with crowds. The people of Arsilan came out to greet them, scattering flower petals made of brilliant light, and the Heroes whooped and cheered.

The sight of the Heroes returning to Arsilan in triumph was something to behold. Ships and equipment seized from various dimensions came down one after another in front of Alusion, and among them were large vessels that had been upgraded through countless battles.

The Heroes could feel with certainty that Arsilan's strength had risen.

It was a return after a won campaign, but not one of them spoke the word "victory". That was because the final battle that would decide the fate of the southern region still lay ahead.

The moment they returned, they began preparing.

There were quite a few Heroes whose levels were still too low to cross into the Dimensional Realm, and Jinwoo, as if he had been waiting for exactly this, immediately launched an experience event.

Feeling that they had been pitted against nothing but the Kalsus Dimensional Empire for far too long, he brought out monsters connected to Erosion.

The remnants of Erosion drifting through the Dimensional Realm!

The setup was that those remnants had resonated with the traces of Erosion still lingering in Arsilan and surfaced there.

[Remnants of Erosion appear all across Arsilan!]

Blackened ground appeared throughout Arsilan, and anyone who approached it could join a level-tiered experience burning event. It took the form of a boss monster raid that a huge number of people could participate in, so even those a little short on level could ride along.

It drew the largest number of participants of any boss raid so far, not counting the Episode boss-class fights. The hundreds of millions of newbies in particular went absolutely wild over their first large-scale raid.

"Whoa! Guys! Hitting it gives EXP!"

"Sweet deal."

"Ooooh, it's a power-leveling event!"

The Heroes weren't the only ones going out of their minds.

[G-gaaaaaah! Kugh! P-please….]

The boss monsters had been made from the souls of Evil Persons he had farmed. They carried so much experience that hundreds of millions of newbies could split it and still level up. The Evil Persons turned into monsters thrashed and screamed, feeling an agony like being eaten alive by ants. Unfortunately for them, this was only a taste.

Jinwoo leaned back in a plush chair and checked Arsilan Worlds. Anticipation for the final battle of Episode 6 was rising.

'I ought to live up to it.'

The materials brought back from the liberated dimensions were being fed into Alusion's Dimension Gate, accumulating the energy for a leap to the Great Gate.

The southern region of the Dimensional Realm was now entirely Arsilan's territory.

"Peace really is a wonderful thing. Isn't it?"

"Ugh, uuugh!"

Jinwoo had his back sunk deep into the plush chair and his feet propped up on a desk made from the most expensive wood on Earth. The desktop was crowded with luxuries of every kind, premium cigars included. Every last one of them was something the owner of this room had taken as a bribe.

Jinwoo looked down at the dictator pressing his forehead to the floor in front of the desk. And beyond him, big shots whose names alone were enough to make people blanch were slapping each other's cheeks, shaking all the while. It made no difference how much power any of them held. In front of Jinwoo, they were all the same kind of insect.

Jinwoo crooked a finger, and blades formed in midair and drove into the insects' limbs.

"Gh, ghaaaaak!"

"Aaagh!"

That one in particular, the one grinding his skull into the floor and trembling, was a truly contemptible piece of work.

Jinwoo had run a private foundation supporting a number of African countries and distributing Soul Links, and because that bastard had started a war, all of it had been looted or destroyed. FS Games had made the stolen Soul Links unusable.

"I built schools, provided medical support, gave technical assistance so people could actually farm, put in infrastructure. I did all of it, didn't I."

Everything that could be done, he had done.

The problem was the ones who took it all as theirs by right.

The moment life got a little easier, they tried to squeeze out more, going as far as staging coups or picking fights with the neighbors.

With nothing more than a Soul Link, he could give a proper education to anyone, no matter how harsh their surroundings.

A little electricity, somewhere to rest, and Nutrition Blocks were all it took to stay connected for long stretches at a time. Coursework all the way through high school could already be taken for free through the Soul Link app. On top of that, countless practical skill courses that helped people make a living were provided free of charge.

Jinwoo wanted everyone to bloom and become a Hero, no matter what circumstances they had been handed. That was why he had supported the third world for so long.

"I looked like an easy mark, didn't I?"

Before he became an Evil God, he had coaxed them gently and held out hope that things would improve. There had been a time when he believed sincerity would get through. But once he could see and feel Evil Karma, he knew for certain.

What was rotten had to be cut out as fast as possible.

Jinwoo traveled all over the world, cleaning up the places he had left alone until now. Because of the ones at the top, everything he had prepared for the Heroes wasn't reaching them, so he felt the need to deal with it.

The more Heroes there were, the better.

And when the Heroes were happy, Jinwoo's Authority grew stronger. Of course, setting that aside, Jinwoo simply enjoyed watching the Heroes be happy.

[Han Yong-seon: The Dimension Gate has been activated. Shall we release the video?]

A message came in from Han Yong-seon.

With the Dimension Gate active, enough energy had gathered for a long-distance leap. It was time to show the video FS Games had poured so much work into. It was the video that would announce the conclusion of Episode 6.

When Jinwoo gave the order to release it, light immediately poured from the Dimension Gate, and the symbol of Arsilan rose up before every Hero.

Jinwoo intended to watch along with them.

Jinwoo snapped his fingers, and the space around him darkened and then changed. He was standing before the Dimension Gate outside Alusion.

It had been rendered with Illusion Magic, and everyone except Jinwoo was petrified with fear. He had already given them a firsthand experience of what had become of the Evil Persons who came before them.

[The suffering of the Evil Persons is felt. The Evil God's Authority and influence increase.]

[The Vengeful Spirits feel rest.]

Punishing Evil Persons raised the Evil God's standing.

Until now he had been able to gain Sacred Power and Authority from the enjoyment of the Heroes, but now he could draw power from the suffering of Evil Persons as well. The category of Evil Person made no distinction between Erosion and citizens of the Kalsus Dimensional Empire. Any soul stained with Evil Karma was an Evil Person.

And the Vengeful Spirits, too, were laying down their rage and hatred and settling into Arsilan. Some of them even took pity on the Evil Persons. That pity became a single small drop of water falling upon them.

That was the only mercy the Evil Persons were allowed.

The moment the Heroes touched the symbol of Arsilan floating before their eyes, the symbol burst into flame and the emblem of the Kalsus Dimensional Empire rose in its place. The Heroes were thrown by the sight. They had never expected to see that emblem in Arsilan.

[An unidentified message has arrived.]

Red noise crawled across the Information Window, and the video began. At first it was barely visible, as though it had come from somewhere very far away.

The Heroes started piling into the chat. It was a bit odd, but seeing a video for the first time in ages had them brimming with anticipation.

-the heck is this

-something's different tho

-uh, huh?

The Information Window grew larger and larger until it swallowed the Heroes watching it.

When they came to, the Heroes were standing inside a dark ship.

"Huh? What's going on?"

"Where is this?"

"Doesn't look like Arsilan…."

The chat window was gone, and the Heroes could see each other's faces, as if they had been summoned into some other space.

There were barely twenty-odd Heroes in this space.

Hundreds of millions were watching at the same time, but countless spaces had been layered over one another, leaving only a handful in each. Party members and guild members were moved together, so the numbers varied, but most groups were under thirty.

That was a lot, in its way, but the space stretching out around the Heroes was so vast that they felt like a mere handful.

"Where do you suppose this is?"

"Doesn't seem like an experience-type video."

"Right? This is a whole new kind of video."

"This is a little scary, isn't it?"

The Heroes glanced around and tilted their heads. They had no idea where this was.

That was when it happened.

A door opened behind them, and Elite Soldiers of the Kalsus Dimensional Empire army, insignia on their chests, marched in with knife-sharp precision.

FLINCH!

The Heroes flinched and took up combat stances, but the soldiers passed straight through their bodies and fell into formation.

"W-well, it is a video after all."

"Uh, um."

"Those are Elite Soldiers, right? Wow…."

"There's a ton of them."

Nobody knew how terrifying the Elite Soldiers were better than the Heroes. They were plastered head to toe with weapons of ridiculous power, and their tireless stamina had driven countless Heroes to their deaths.

Above all, their mobility made no sense.

Their armor released so much energy that they could fly through the air, if only for a moment. They weren't quite boss monsters, but they were treated as dangerous elite-tier monsters.

And Elite Soldiers like that filled this enormous space.

It was only a video, but it felt like they were truly standing right there, and the pressure was real. Even the Named Heroes swallowed hard as they looked around.

THOOM!

The Elite Soldiers stamped their feet, and someone came walking slowly toward them from far off. He was escorted by Executioners, the kind who wouldn't budge even if dozens of Elite Soldiers charged them.

Nobody knew the power of the Executioners better than the Heroes. They were game changers, the sort of beings who flipped the tide of a battlefield.

So who was it that such Executioners attended so reverently?

SHNK!

The Elite Soldiers stepped aside and raised their weapons as though synchronized with one another.

"T-that's him…."

"Ah…."

Black armor.

He wore a red sash and cloak, and his chest was crowded with countless medals. A sharp-edged helmet was tucked under one arm, and long hair fell to his shoulders. But his face lay in shadow and couldn't be made out.

The being who had crushed Named Heroes with a single finger.

It was General Gord, the one who had handed the Heroes their defeat.

General Gord looked at the Heroes.

Within the shadow over his face, eyes like burning fire could be seen.

[Vermin of the frontier Dimensional Realm.]

General Gord's voice rang out.

Who he was speaking to was all too obvious. This video message was one General Gord had sent to Arsilan.

[I have returned.]

General Gord had returned.

For whatever reason, General Gord's legion had not been seen anywhere in the southern region of the Dimensional Realm all this time. Thanks to that, the liberation had gone smoothly, but at the very end, he had come back.

General Gord reached out a hand, and a map of the Dimensional Realm rose into view.

The southern region was dyed in blue light.

General Gord extended a finger, and a searing red beam shot out. It carved straight down through the southern region of the Dimensional Realm in a single line.

The dimensions the red beam touched lost their light helplessly and became Bubble Dimensions.

The red beam split the southern region and struck the wall of the Abyss. Then it went further down still, reaching near Arsilan, the one thing shining within the Abyss.

[I have found you. Hide like insects. Crawl on the ground.]

The Heroes' eyes wavered.

General Gord had found Arsilan. Crossing the Abyss to reach it would likely take him a fair amount of time, but someday he would arrive.

The Executioner standing beside General Gord raised a hand, and the ceiling began to open.

This place was a large vessel.

Beyond the ceiling, dimensional rifts were visible, and far in the distance there was an enormous planet as well. Nothing about that was particularly strange so far. Sights like this were quite familiar to the Heroes.

But the faces of the Heroes staring up at the ceiling slowly hardened.

Something enormous had appeared above the large vessel. It was quite far away, and yet it was massive enough to blot out the entire vessel with no effort at all.

It was a satellite.

A satellite a little smaller than the moon.

It orbited beside the planet radiating that great light, announcing its presence. That planet was, in fact, the Great Gate connecting the southern region of the Dimensional Realm to the Kalsus Dimensional Empire.

GRRRRRK!

As the satellite, built out of intricate machinery, revealed itself, the Heroes could do nothing but fall silent. The emblem of the Kalsus Dimensional Empire was painted across its surface, which shimmered with countless lights.

General Gord slowly stretched a hand forward, and red light spilled from the front of the satellite as it began to split apart.

With violent tremors, as if an earthquake had struck, the surface opened and an enormous gun barrel came into view. Half of the satellite had opened. The folded barrel slowly extended until it took the shape of a pointed tower.

Immense energy began to gather at its tip.

The energy rippling with red light was nothing ordinary. Merely gathering it made space warp and pulled in every object nearby.

General Gord slowly stretched his hand forward.

In that instant, the concentrated energy detonated like a supernova, erasing everything in its path as it surged out.

An asteroid field evaporated, and the ships crammed with slaves disappeared as well. They were burned away like garbage tossed into an incinerator.

The colossal red beam bored through dimensional rifts and kept driving forward. It stretched out long and straight, exactly as General Gord had cleaved the map of the Dimensional Realm with a red beam.

At that overwhelming sight, the Heroes couldn't say a word.

General Gord lowered his hand, and the satellite's light died as its surface slowly began to close again. It seemed to be cooling at a tremendous rate; white vapor poured out, turned to snow, and began to fall across the satellite's surface.

General Gord slowly lifted his helmet and put it on.

His shadowed face vanished behind the helmet, and red light spilled out through its seams.

[We will erase everything that stands in our way, and we will arrive.]

General Gord's declaration rang out toward Arsilan.

In that instant the video ended, and the world around them returned to Arsilan. The Heroes looked up at the sky and froze where they stood.

BAAAROOOM! KRAAAAASH!

The sky of Arsilan was stained red.

The clouds were gone, leaving only an enormous red scar behind. That absurd attack had punched through the wall of the Abyss and reached all the way to Arsilan.

"Th-the dimensions are gone."

"Hurgh!"

"I can't reach anyone!"

The dimensions lying between General Gord and Arsilan had been wiped out. The Named Heroes' faces went blank. From every one of the five thousand-plus dimensions of the southern region, that red beam could be seen tearing its way through dimension after dimension.

It was an attack on an entirely different dimension of scale.

"Insane…."

"We're so screwed."

Those words came out of the Named Heroes' mouths without a thought.

It seemed this was going to be an extremely difficult fight.

[The coordinates of the Great Gate have been confirmed.]

[An enormous flow of dimensional energy is felt. 25 days remain until the next firing.]

The machinery attached to the Dimension Gate had provided the analysis. So it wasn't all bad news. This attack had let them pinpoint where the Great Gate was.

"This is...."

"We should hold a meeting or something, shouldn't we?"

"I-I'll get in touch with everyone!"

Twenty-five days left.

The Heroes got busy.

Jinwoo nodded and dispelled the Illusion Magic.

The dimensions that had been wiped out were nothing more than spaces Jinwoo had created for the purpose of wiping them out. Most of them were intermediate dimensions, not places where Dimensional People lived.

"Well? Was it any good?"

The Evil Persons serving out their punishment couldn't even answer, only shaking with terror. Jinwoo snapped his fingers, and all of them were stored away in his subspace.

And a short while later, FS Games announced an official launch in the countries where the service had not been available until now.

They were sprinting hard toward worldwide service!

'I should get ready myself.'

Jinwoo returned to the imperial palace in Alusion and settled into Leon.

This was the final stage of Episode 6, so it had to be done properly. A scene-stealing supporting role to enrich the narrative was essential.

'Never thought I'd be the one volunteering for a role like this….'

He felt like he had changed quite a lot on the way to Episode 6.

Jinwoo changed into the outfit he had prepared, then threw a white robe over it and put on a white mask.

The overall effect was like looking at a pure white bird.

When he checked the mirror, standing there boldly was a figure who was Leon by anyone's reckoning, and who clearly intended to pretend he wasn't Leon.

"Hmm, what should the name be?"

Peaceman?

Dove Mask? White?

Several names came to mind.

While he was at it, he tried striking a pose too. The cheesier it was, the more the character would come alive. Jinwoo went as far as a pose straight out of a sentai hero show.

"Uh…."

His eyes met Ella's as she stepped out of a parting in space.

Ella looked away and vanished again with another space transfer.

"……"

Jinwoo buried his face in his hands and sank to the floor.

His self-loathing was through the roof.

"…Coo…, mmm, it's fi…, I think it is not bad."

Helby appeared, gazed at Jinwoo crouched there, and patted him on the shoulder. Her painfully obvious lie stabbed straight into his chest.

Still….

If the Heroes were happy, that was enough.

*****

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