Chapter 84

The desperate search for a new settlement by the six families over the past decade wasn’t purely driven by the noble and pure intention of preserving life.

If their intentions had truly been pure, they would have informed everyone of the truth and united all the city’s power and resources to proceed with the task, which would have been much faster and easier.

However, the six families didn’t do that and tried to find new land using only their own power.

The reason was simple.

It was to maintain their hegemony in the future as well.

The reason why the six families could reign as absolute beings in the Last City was because they held irreplaceable roles in manufacturing covenants, producing food, and maintaining the environment.

However, in the new world, the six families weren’t necessarily essential beings.

They could fall from ruling class to subjugated class if they failed to adapt to changes, or they might even disappear entirely.

“We must find new land without telling anyone. If we can secure the new land first, if we can claim more rights, we can continue to reign in the new world.”

When Oswald learned that the fragmented map and the flowers—evidence of uncontaminated land—had fallen into the hands of other forces, he thought everything was over.

The massive manpower and resources invested in the search over the past decade had become bubbles, and they had failed to secure a foothold to continue their eternal reign by claiming the new land first.

That’s when a miracle happened.

-Let’s not spread this fact to the public and form an expedition with the forces that have the map to find the new land.

“This is our chance!”

If rumors about the new land had spread among people, everything would have turned to nothing.

However, the forces with the map, just like the six families, proposed a secret collaboration, wanting more benefits and rights to the new land than others.

The six families saw this as an opportunity to eliminate all other forces and reclaim the rights and benefits of the new land that should have been theirs originally, and they set out on the expedition with the intention to betray from the start.

Fortunately, compared to other forces that only had the map, the six families had information and know-how about the outside world accumulated through decades of exploration, and based on that information, they succeeded in reaching the uncontaminated land while preserving more forces and without using their trump card.

And the moment they dealt with the mutation dragon, the final gateway, Oswald sent the promised signal to his subordinates.

‘Given the atmosphere, it wouldn’t be strange if traitors appeared at any moment. It’s a bit early, but better to betray first than be betrayed while being careless.’

People falling simultaneously as the incense was lit.

Joy filled the faces of Oswald and those belonging to the six families.

However, the joy didn’t last long.

“Why are there bastards still standing!”

* * *

“Antidote? Immunity? Don’t tell me the ingredients in the covenant went bad? No, it should still have some effect, but what in the world…”

A faint smile appeared on Yuseong’s face as he watched Oswald rambling incoherently.

It was a satisfying scene that made all the time, retry rights, elixirs, and effort spent on restarting the quest from the beginning feel worthwhile.

“How about it? I was right, wasn’t I?”

“…I apologize for doubting you. I formally apologize.”

“I’m disappointed, Oswald. Even if you were blinded by the new land, to think you’d use such a petty and dirty trick.”

“I knew this would happen. The more polished the surface, the more rotten the inside.”

‘What do you mean you knew.’

Tears welled up thinking about the reactions shown by the leaders of each force over the past few days.

It turned out to be an unexpectedly difficult task to convince people and make them believe his claims when he couldn’t say he had seen it directly in the future, and there was no clear evidence or witnesses to prove the facts.

Moreover, the difficulty increased since it was such an outlandish claim that the covenant supplied by the six families contained special ingredients that would exhibit powerful paralyzing effects when combined with certain incense.

He barely managed to convince them by betting his life on the condition that he would forfeit his neck immediately if his words proved wrong, but he might have faced the same result with eyes wide open if things had gone slightly differently.

“…Was this your doing again?”

Had he regained his senses?

Yuseong answered Oswald’s question with a smiling face.

“Your wording seems a bit off? It’s not what I did, but what you did. I simply revealed the truth to people.”

“Very few people knew about this plan. How did you find out?”

“I heard it directly from one of those very few people.”

“Who would that be?”

When Yuseong pointed his finger at Oswald, a small laugh burst out from somewhere.

That was the final blow.

Oswald’s face, which had been distorted with anger, instantly changed to an emotionless, cold expression.

“…I’ll kill you all.”

“Can you even kill?”

While some people were still down, presumably because the drug hadn’t completely worn off, even excluding them, the numerical difference between the six families and the remaining forces was more than double, and calculating the number of experts, the qualitative difference stretched to triple.

Moreover, this was on a wide plain with no environmental advantages.

Common sense dictated that the six families had no chance of victory.

However, the moment their eyes met, Yuseong realized something was going terribly wrong.

Eyes that were neither those of someone who had lost reason to anger nor those of someone who had given up everything, but rather eyes of perfect serenity.

“A hundred years ago, after the first head created the covenant that blocks contamination, our family has strived for generations to enhance the covenant’s effects. While most attempts failed, when many people put their heads together, some interesting ideas emerged.”

Oswald pulled out a small potion from his chest.

Unlike the pure white covenant, this potion somehow seemed murky.

“The idea was to block contamination by transforming its properties. The result was a half-success. While we could block mental contamination, we couldn’t block physical contamination. No, it actually became much worse.”

Flicking off the cap, Oswald brought the potion’s contents to his mouth.

“From now on…”

Bang!

A sharp gunshot and a violent stream of blood spurting from Oswald’s forehead.

Feeling the gaze of many people on him, Yuseong said with a composed expression.

“Why are you just watching when he’s trying to drink such a suspicious-looking potion?”

If it wasn’t a forced cutscene in the game, they should obviously stop it if they could.

“Ahem, there’s something called atmosphere, you know?”

“What atmosphere? You know what a flag is? If you leave something like that alone…”

Thud.

Everyone’s attention, including Yuseong’s, turned to the source of the sound.

“…”

Oswald’s body, which should have been a cold corpse, was moving.

Rising unsteadily, Oswald’s mouth was stained with murky liquid.

“…Let me show you its effects.”

The moment his words ended.

Oswald’s body began to swell rapidly.

A massive build rivaling a Gigant and a red, glistening exoskeleton.

Eyeballs appearing all over his body and eight arms protruding from his back.

While everyone was momentarily frozen at the horrific sight reminiscent of the dragon they had just defeated, Oswald took a step forward.

“Mutation? Was this pathetic thing your hidden trump card?”

Countless attacks began raining down on Oswald.

The Mercenary’s mercenaries sliced at his limbs with aura-imbued weapons, the Iron Giant’s Gigants crushed his shell, and the Nature’s Rest’s mages’ spells tore apart his flesh.

Attacks that would have dropped an ordinary mutation long ago.

However, what people were facing now wasn’t just a simple mutation but the Last City’s greatest alchemist.

“Kraaaaaah!”

The space rippled, and potions appeared in Oswald’s hands.

After shaking various potions with liquids swirling in red, blue, yellow, black, and other colors, Oswald began throwing them in all directions.

Boom!

Crack!

Bzzzzt!

The contents that contacted the air when the glass bottles shattered showed various reactions depending on their color.

Some caused violent explosions, some froze everything, and some created powerful electrical discharges.

While everyone was caught off guard by the unexpected attacks, Yuseong’s voice rang out.

“Stop him! He’s trying to drink a healing potion!”

“Heheheh, too late.”

When a healing potion was added to the mutation that already possessed powerful regenerative abilities, the effect was terrifying.

In the blink of an eye, Oswald regained his original form and, wearing a cruel smile, grabbed various colored potions.

People who thought they were attack potions like before either took defensive stances or retreated behind Gigants to prepare for the impact, but that was a fatal mistake.

Gulp gulp!

The contents of ten potions all disappeared into Oswald’s stomach.

At first, they thought there might be wounds he hadn’t healed, but it took less than a second to realize that thought was wrong.

“Hahahaha! Power! Power overflows!”

Crash!

A single punch turned a Gigant made of solid metal into a pile of scrap.

Attack power increased by two… no, more than three times compared to just before.

And it wasn’t just attack power that had increased.

Speed that left afterimages, defense that withstood aura head-on, concentration that perfectly caught knights’ attacks, insane reaction speed beyond just dodging bullets to actually catching them with fingers!

“Doping?”

“Enhancement potions, idiot!”

Oswald, who closed a distance of easily a hundred meters in a single step, threw a punch with a sinister smile.

‘Just a graze means death!’

The thought of dodging had long been abandoned.

In the time it would take for the brain to send the command to move to the legs, Oswald’s fist could turn him into mincemeat more than ten times over.

There was only one thing that could move faster than the body.

“Kuhak!”

With the feeling of internal organs being shaken, blood streamed from his nose and mouth.

It was because the remnants of physical force too mighty for even a perfect Ying-yang Foresight Barrier to block had rattled his body.

Through blurred vision, he could see Oswald’s second fist coming.

Wham!

In that moment of crisis, it was Vulcan who saved Yuseong’s life by intervening at the perfect time.

Perhaps angered by the sight of the Tyrant easily blocking his punch.

Oswald made a demonic expression and began exchanging rapid blows with the Tyrant, wielding ten fists.

Wham! Wham! Wham!

“What brute force…”

Oswald, who took the first attack head-on thinking to test just how strong it was, had to desperately dodge all subsequent attacks after being terrified by the tremendous damage that destroyed nearly 30% of his body.

Even after dozens, hundreds of consecutive hits, only slight dents appeared in the outer armor.

Deciding there was no answer in a head-on battle, Oswald pulled out a new potion with green liquid swirling inside, threw it at the Tyrant, and backed away.

“Where are you run… Kheok!”

Thud!

The Tyrant fell.

Or more precisely, Vulcan fell.

Sensing he had no chance in a direct confrontation, Oswald recalled that a Gigant wasn’t completely sealed off from the outside and threw a potion that created poison gas.

No matter how invincible the Gigant might be, it was useless without its pilot.

After looking with satisfaction at the Tyrant lying motionless on the ground, Oswald began dealing with the Mercenary’s mercenaries who had arrived late.

‘…Is this really a quest meant to be cleared? Even for B-rank, isn’t this too much?’

Despair filled Yuseong’s eyes.

He had desperately racked his brain to devise strategies, increased the scale by bringing in various forces, traveled back in time to thwart the plot, thinking he could finally clear the quest this time, but reality proved impossible.

Oswald was a monster.

The Tyrant was just the beginning.

The Mercenary’s leader, who had been emitting house-sized aura, died to a bear hug, and Crow, who had been masterfully handling ten wires, died instantly unable to withstand a single punch.

Watching the leaders, executives, and skilled individuals of each force getting wiped out cleanly made him think all his efforts until now had been meaningless.

‘The only possible strategy seems to be having all forces preserve their strength, binding that guy’s feet, and having the Tyrant attack… but it’s too late now.’

The moment Vulcan fell, this mission was already as good as failed.

While contemplating whether to follow the same route in the fourth attempt for another shot at the Oswald raid or to aim for a clean basic clear, Yuseong’s eyes fell on the fallen Tyrant.

Unlike the somewhat unsightly main body, its mighty arms were without a single scratch.

At that moment, an inspiration flashed through Yuseong’s mind.

‘Whether it works or not…’

There was nothing to lose by trying.

Approaching the Tyrant with staggering steps, Yuseong wedged his plasma axe between the Tyrant’s joints and began cutting.

Fortunately, despite its outward size, there wasn’t much content inside, making it not too difficult to cut off the arm.

<Tyrant’s Left Arm>

-Grade: A+

-Type: Machine

-The left arm of Gigant Tyrant created by the eccentric dwarf craftsman Vulcan. By freely using all sorts of rare metals and cutting-edge technologies, he succeeded in achieving performance beyond the average Gigant’s limits and installing special functions. All that remains is solving the mass production issue.

-Extreme durability.

-Self-repair.

-Shock absorption 99%.

-Monster Arm mode can be activated to exert powerful strength depending on the grade of the installed magic stone.

-Intermediate Magic Stone: Strength +1,000

-High-grade Magic Stone: Strength +2,000

-Supreme Magic Stone: Strength +3,000

The first hurdle was cleared.

It had almost exactly the abilities he expected and could still function even when separated from the main body.

Of course, this arm alone couldn’t do anything.

He neither had the strength to lift and fight with an arm weighing several tons, nor could he properly fight even if he had such strength, given the arm’s ridiculous size many times his body frame.

However, if one item was added to this, the situation would change.

[Spending 1,000,000 karma points to take out Thousand Hands(B+).]

An artifact obtained from Kang Changseok that could store various weapons.

Yuseong equipped Thousand Hands and placed his trembling palm on the Tyrant’s arm.

And moments later, one of the decorations glowed and the Tyrant’s arm disappeared.

“…This works?”