186. Portugal (2)
Late at night.
Belém Palace in Lisbon.
The president could not fall asleep.
‘Indeed.’
How is it going to turn out?!
In the south, helicopters are up and broadcasting in real time, but that is difficult in the central and northern regions.
There are simply too many monsters, making it dangerous in terms of safety.
Just as he was nervously wringing his hands and pacing in place.
“Senhor Presidente!”
The chief aide came running while calling out the title of “President”.
“It’s a call from Major Antonio Gomes!”
“Really? Is that true?”
He had told him in advance.
If circumstances allowed, to report on the situation every night. And if it seemed too difficult, not to force it and to take it slow.
‘No matter how much it’s Baek Jinwoo.’
There was no way that just two players could clean everything up neatly.
There were far too many monsters.
“Yes! What is the situation like!”
The president asked in a trembling voice as he picked up the receiver.
—I…. I can’t believe it.
That was the major’s first sentence.
“You can’t believe it?”
—Yes, sir. Haven’t we deployed countless mercenaries until now? It feels as though all of them were unnecessary. Jinwoo Baek is simply a god.
“What do you mean by that? Explain in detail.”
—There are no risk factors at all. And it’s unbelievably easy. All the Explosive Dragon Sorcerer has to do is send out a stream of fire, and every monster melts away without even managing a single scream. Whether they are A-grade or bosses, there are no exceptions. The dungeon clear speed is also incredible. Once they spot one and enter, I have never seen it take more than a minute. It still doesn’t feel real.
“H, huh........”
Antonio’s feelings were conveyed through his voice.
But does that even make sense?
That thought crossed his mind, yet the man who could make even that make sense was Baek Jinwoo.
“Then what are the chances of clearing the central region?”
—I’m not sure. However, they say they are taking care of everything one by one, starting from the outskirts. They are extremely thorough. It looks like they are trying not to miss even a single F-grade dungeon.
Ahh.
The president’s heart swelled at the news coming through the receiver.
That area was too expensive to call in the world’s five great powers, and ordinary mercenaries were nowhere near enough, yet they were cleaning it up this easily and this quickly?
“Major Antonio Gomes, thank you very much. You’ve worked hard day and night.”
—Not at all, Senhor Presidente. Rather, it is an honor for me to witness such an incredible scene in person.
“......”
The president fell silent for a moment.
When he placed a hand over his chest, it felt as though all the tension and burden that had built up until now were melting away.
The peace of his homeland.
It was drawing near because of the skills of that girl, Marisa.
“Major, our people must also be waiting for this news. Please work just a little harder.”
—Yes, sir!
The call ended.
There was no helping the envy.
If only our country had had a somewhat larger population....
And because of that, if only we had been given a player like Baek Jinwoo.
How comfortable would that have been?
But now, it was all right.
What they had now was enough to satisfy him.
Because Marisa Soares had become connected to SKY Guild. That alone became an enormous source of strength for Portugal.
* * *
Fwoooosh!
The monsters burned away splendidly.
Every single one of them became experience points for the summons, and stacks for Explosive Dragon.
—Whoaa.... We’re just moving around. Explosive Dragon is sweeping everything away by herself!
Now Lamba no longer even swung her staff.
If she just put it up for roughly 30 minutes, that was enough.
Anything more than that?
Meaningless.
It was like using an ox-cleaving blade to kill a chicken.
“You truly are amazing.”
Antonio Gomes never got tired of seeing it.
Fwoosh!
Whenever he saw the monsters burning, he felt a heavy exhilaration rising deep within his chest.
The bloodstained streets of Portugal, the faces of people crying out after losing their families and neighbors, came to mind.
The sight of those horrific bastards who had plunged the nation into despair writhing in the flames before vanishing gave him an incomparable sense of catharsis.
—My lord, how about doing it this way instead?
It was then that HunGyo, having grown slightly bored, approached.
“Hm?”
—While my lord circles the surrounding area, Aso and I will head to the center.
“The center?”
—Yes. Since I have to train Aso anyway, I plan to teach him Mugeuk Seonin’s new martial arts and Heaven-Breaking Divine Art there.
“Hmm, would that be better?”
It did not matter anyway.
Even if they died there, they would only be reverse-summoned, and it did not seem like they would die anyway.
Besides?
Once five hours passed, they would be starting from here again regardless.
“All right then. Go ahead.”
—Thank you, my lord.
—Dad, then I’ll go level up a bit!
“All right, all right.”
HunGyo and Aso left.
Baek Jinwoo knew why HunGyo was being impatient.
It was probably because he wanted to awaken his own abilities quickly.
He had opened Lamba’s latent ability, so now it was Gale Slayer and Aso’s turn.
Well.
Gale Slayer was one thing.
But Aso had to master martial arts to the utmost state, so she needed far more time.
Because none of the martial arts she was learning were ordinary.
That was probably why.
“Hwang Jiwoo.”
“Yes, Sir Jinwoo!”
Dash!
She, who had been nearby greedily sucking up experience points with first touch before Explosive Dragon could get to them, came running over.
“You and Antonio go about 200 meters ahead first. Go and freeze everything there.”
Experience is gained according to contribution to killing monsters.
It was a kind of bus.
But it was a win-win for both sides.
Explosive Dragon built stacks with the finishing blow, and Jormungard (A-grade) that Hwang Jiwoo had obtained this time had a mob-gathering skill.
It grouped the mobs together, making them much easier for Explosive Dragon to kill.
“Explosive Dragon and I will follow behind and clear everything as we go.”
“Yes, understood!”
Once again.
The hunt began.
* * *
A week passed.
If you said it was long, it was long. If you said it was short, it was short.
But the reported dungeon clear speed was tremendous.
“Already half of the south has been cleared!”
“The north is the same! The survivors living there are cheering like mad!”
And.
“The central region has also all been cleared except for Tomar.”
“That’s right! They are thoroughly cleaning everything up without leaving even a single monster nearby!”
H, hahaha!
At the news he was hearing, the president of Portugal did not know what to do with himself.
It was to the point where he wondered if it was all right to receive such grace.
Naturally, this news spread beyond Portugal to the entire world.
And because of that, of course, there were countries that grew jealous.
First, the Czech Republic.
—We’re struggling too! We’re inland, and there are many mountainous areas, so it’s difficult to kill all the monsters!
Then Hungary.
—Mountainous terrain? That’s easy for you to say! Do you think it’s easy just because there are lots of plains? In mountainous terrain, at least you can fight while defending here and there, but on the plains, there’s no answer at all!
The president of Belgium also stepped forward.
—Ahem! Our land is small, but our population is high, so we are even more vulnerable to monsters! Please send some support our way too!
And besides those.
Greece, the Netherlands, Sweden, Sri Lanka, Bolivia, Chile, and so on....
Numerous countries began pleading for them to please save their people.
Invitations were sent through SKY’s official homepage.
“CEO.”
Those official documents were compiled as paperwork and placed on Yoo Jia’s desk.
“Hmm.”
Yoo Jia pressed her fingers to her temples.
This is really.
A headache.
It’s not like we’re volunteers.
Why are they all demanding things so confidently?
Of course, the official documents did say they could offer anything possible in return.
‘First of all.’
Setting aside whether they wanted to help or not.
Baek Jinwoo was busy.
They had already set aside a whole month just for this Portugal trip, and now they were being asked to help another country too?
‘That’s a bit much.’
The current guild members also needed to return after just this one trip and resume training.
They would soon have to begin preparing in earnest for climbing the Tower of Trials.
For now.
‘Let’s respond with complete silence to all of them.’
If they said they would help, it would only raise expectations, and if they firmly said they would not, it could trigger backlash.
Slide.
Yoo Jia neatly organized the incoming official documents to one side.
* * *
Another two days passed.
The outskirts had all been cleared.
If anything appeared after they had already passed through, Portugal would have to manage that properly from now on.
They were also thinking of leaving behind a few B-grade summons that remained within the guild.
Because it was the country of Marisa, who belonged to the guild.
“We can at least give that much care.”
Fwoooosh!
And now they finally entered the central region, Tomar, in earnest.
The amount of monsters there was definitely on a completely different level from the outskirts.
But.
Explosive Dragon Sorcery, Secret Art - Transformation.
Thunk.
The dragon-head staff touched the ground.
And when streams of fire stretched out through the gaps, swaying and dancing in waves.
Kyaaaak!
Kkiieeeeeek!
For the monsters, it truly became a living hell of fire.
Now the damage just seemed downright absurd.
That Metal Bear (A-grade) over there was a rather troublesome tank-type monster.
But the moment it merely brushed against Explosive Dragon’s stream of fire, it melted away.
It did not get hit.
It brushed against it.
“That’s unbelievable.”
Even Baek Jinwoo clicked his tongue in amazement.
So how must Antonio Gomes have felt?
“I-is this really the power of a D-grade summon?”
Ah.
Only the guild members knew that Baek Jinwoo possessed the new concept rank of EX-grade.
Even back then, it had only been revealed because through HunGyo they had no choice but to clear the Tower of Trials, and ordinarily he wanted to keep it hidden.
That was why, outwardly, Explosive Dragon was D-grade.
However, by now even the general public knew that it was a summon so overpowered during Battle of Summoners that it had been deleted.
There were so many gamers.
It would have been stranger if rumors had not spread.
“It definitely looks like something that deserved a patch.”
“Well, yes. Tomar will probably be fully cleared in about three days.”
Tomar was a small city.
It was originally a beautiful city, with the Templar monastery, various churches and streets, and parks stretching along the Nabão River....
But now, well.
It was a ruin.
If they were to walk slowly and inspect everything thoroughly, would it not take about that long?
“Thank you. Thank you so much!”
Antonio Gomes kept expressing his gratitude.
Once they reclaimed this place, Portugal would become livable again.
Transportation would open up, and the economy would start moving again.
How much time had passed like that?
—My lord.
HunGyo approached from far away.
“Hm?”
—Over by the Knights Templar side.... There is a somewhat strange monster. I think we should head over there.
“Strange? What exactly do you mean by that?”
Did he mean it was strong?
—It does not look weak. But it is rather unusual. It does not seem to be the same kind of monster we have seen before.
“...Really?”
If HunGyo was saying it did not look weak... then for the people of Portugal, it was definitely quite a serious problem.
Had an S-grade dungeon really appeared?
“Could it be.”
It was then that Antonio Gomes, who had been listening, stepped in.
“Is it a monster holding a scythe?”
—That’s right. It was holding a golden scythe.
“That must be the monster! That damned bastard is the reason Tomar ended up like this!”
“You already knew about it?”
“Yes, it is probably the monster we presumed came from an S-grade dungeon break. In truth, we only heard about it from players who vaguely spotted it from a distance, so we do not have exact information.”
Hmm.
Was there really something there?
Nodding, Baek Jinwoo looked at HunGyo.
“Lead the way. Let’s head there first.”
—Yes, my lord.
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