Chapter 253: Counterattack Part I

Translator: HunterW

Editor: RED

“Victory is ours!”

“We did it!”

After clearing Center A, it took us seventeen hours to clear Centers B, C, and D before coming back to Center A. It took some time as we not only killed the enemy soldiers that were trying to stop us, but also any enemy soldiers that were hiding.

“The enemy’s casualties tally up to around 1.1 million soldiers,” Taniya said as she walked up to me.

“…That’s quite a bit,” I replied after a moment of silence.

“If we could have killed the soldiers who ran away, that number could surpass two million.”

“Let’s do a headcount first.”

“Yes sir. I’ll notify the guild officers right away.”

Soon, each guild started a headcount of their remaining soldiers. At the same time, I looked up at the sky to look at the leaderboard. In less than a day, the enemy had lost more than a million people. They would definitely notice now…

——

Section 115…

“Where was it?”

“It happened at Section 79, ma’am.”

A month ago, Claudia had noticed that Croot had lost tens of thousands of soldiers in a single day. It was a small amount compared to the two billion Croots still on the Continent, but Claudia knew what that that meant. Some idiot deity had gone against her wishes and taken fifty thousand soldiers to attack the enemy, only to be wiped out.

Claudia hadn’t thought much about it, and only sneered at whoever was foolish enough to throw away fifty thousand soldiers at the enemy. But this time, Claudia was the fool. She was the fool for losing more than a million soldiers to the enemy!

“Who’s the commander of Section 79?”

“It was Ashio, ma’am. He was assigned Simpson and Bayla to assist.”

“And what happened to them?”

“They’re dead, ma’am. All three of them.”

Claudia scoffed in bewilderment. “How is it that the enemy was allowed to reach all the way to Section 79 uncontested? Why didn’t anyone from Section 79 report that the enemy had invaded?”

“According to those who managed to flee, Ashio, Simpson, and Bayla were the first to fall. The rest of the soldiers were without orders from the beginning, so…” Coby trailed off. He didn’t need to say more.

“How many soldiers did the enemy have?”

“Well… we believe they had at most 150,000 soldiers.”

“Hah…that’s it? 150,000 soldiers killed a million of ours, and killed Ashio off first…” Ashio was one of the few people Claudia relied on. He was one of her strongest subordinates, with his ability to control sound waves. Losing him and two other deities was a huge blow!

“Where is the enemy now?”

“According to the report we received just ten minutes ago, it seems they are still at Section 79.”

“Prepare to move out.”

“Right now, ma’am?”

“Yes, now. They’ll pay for brandishing their blades at me first.”

“Understood, ma’am. I’ll ready the soldiers right away,” Coby said, before quickly leaving Claudia’s office.

He had no time to waste. Coby knew he could not underestimate the enemy. He hadn’t reported it to Claudia, but Coby had seen for himself how strong the enemy was. About a million soldiers had managed to flee Section 79 and many of them had filmed most of the battle. Coby had collected every single video.

“They’re more than elite soldiers, that’s for sure.” Claudia would want to completely destroy the enemy’s army. “I just need two to three days. Hopefully, the enemy will stay in one place for that long.” Coby was going to need time if he didn’t want Claudia to fight an evenly matched battle. The rest of Croot was going to find out soon enough that they had just lost a million soldiers in a single day.

—

Section 79…

“Have the men rest for now and call in the Warp Mages and their guards waiting outside Section 79. Once the guards arrive, have them set up defensive positions around Center A, in case the enemy comes to retaliate.”

“Yes sir!” my officers replied strongly, but I could hear a tint of sadness in their voices. We had our own share of casualties. We had lost exactly 18,184 soldiers. It was nothing compared to what the enemy had lost, but they were still our comrades who had left behind friends and family. The soldiers didn’t have the energy to celebrate for long, coupled with the fact that they had spent an entire day fighting.

Soon, the Warp Mages and their guards entered Section 79 through the western gate, allowing the remaining eighty thousand soldiers to finally rest. I and my officers, on the other hand, had no time to rest.

—

“I know we have incurred losses of our own, but today was no doubt a big victory for us.”

“I agree.”

“Many of our surviving soldiers have gained up to forty levels each, and earned at least 40 million golden rings. I’d have to agree as well.”

We had also lost one of our officers, but no one was emotional about it. It was a good trait to have as proper leaders.

I thought a little differently, however. “It was only possible because of our fallen comrade, who was not afraid of death and fought at the front before everyone else. I would like to hold a memorial tomorrow in our comrade’s honor.”

“…”

“That’s a fine idea. It’s the least we can do.”

“Now then, shall we discuss the message that appeared before all of us when we were still at Center D about the tower that appeared in the middle of Section 79?”

A message had appeared before all of us after we had cut down the last of the enemy soldiers at Center D.

==[World 1455 now has control over Section 79.

World 1455 will be granted a reward if it can maintain control for the next 24 hours.]==

“The system clearly stated that we now had control over Section 79, but we still can’t enter its Stores.”

“Does that mean they’ll be open to us in 24 hours?”

“It would seem so. The message didn’t mention anything about Stores, only that we would receive some sort of reward. We’ll have to at least wait 24 hours until we can get some sort of answer.”

“How much longer do we have?”

“We have eighteen hours left.”

“Very well. We’ll wait the eighteen hours.”

“Understood, sir.”

——

Section 79’s Center B…

“Gah!”

“You seem a bit different than the guys from earlier. Are you a fresh scout?”

“I don’t need to…”

“And I don’t need you to answer me, so don’t you worry,” I cut the man I had under my foot off and stabbed him, killing him instantly. “If they’ve sent this many scouts already, then I guess they’ll be counterattacking soon.”

It was obvious the enemy would react right away after losing an entire Section and a million soldiers, but with this many scouts, they weren’t just going to stop at intel gathering. They were getting ready to counterattack. I had a feeling that it wasn’t something I could easily brush off, either.

“We have about fifteen hours left, don’t we? I’ll have to do whatever I can for now. Blink 2.”

“Gah!” I spent that night clearing Centers B, C, and D of enemy scouts…

——

Fifteen hours later…

I and my entire army were gathered around the tower that had appeared at the center of Section 79. It was almost time.

==[Section 79 is now under full control of World 1455.

Those that had a hand in invading Section 79 will now be granted rewards.]==

==[World 1512 will receive a penalty for losing Section 79 to the enemy.

The Stores of World 1512’s remaining Sections will experience a 5% increase in prices.]==

“Ho ho. So that’s how it is.”

“A 5% increase may not be much to a single person, but the enemy has over two billion people. That’s going to add up,” Taniya murmured, and I nodded in agreement.

Soon, the entire Section 79 began to change. The ground began to rumble as all buildings and structures were sucked into the ground. The people were left alone, however. It took about a minute for everything around us to disappear, leaving us alone in a flat plain.

“That was quick and clean.”

That wasn’t the end of it. We still needed to get our rewards.

==[Calculating contribution points in the invasion of Section 79…]==

“Whoa. I got 770 thousand contribution points. I got…20 million golden rings and 320 Stat points!”

“I got 540 thousand points. I got the same amount of golden rings as you, but got 16 levels instead.”

“I also got 20 million golden rings, but got 1 skill point.”

“I got 20 million golden rings, and another 5 million golden rings.”

Everyone seemed to have received 20 million golden rings for taking part in the invasion and received bonuses according to their contribution points. It was a huge win for the Empire.

“What did you get, Commander?”

I felt many pairs of eyes turn to me, but I couldn’t answer right away. My contribution points were still being calculated.

“I received 20 million golden rings as well. My personal bonus was 1,000 Stat points,” I lied. I didn’t tell them that my points were still being calculated.

“What should we do now?” Taniya asked. The walls surrounding Section 79 that served as defensive structures were gone now, meaning we were out in the open. This was not the ideal place to meet the enemy, especially when we had no idea how many were on the way.

“Our soldiers have received tremendous rewards and we have killed more than a million enemy soldiers. It’s safe to say we’re in the lead, is it not?”

“It is, sir.”

“Then let’s return for now. The rest of the enemy’s Sections will be heavily guarded from now on, so we’ll need more time to prepare.”

“Agreed. If we’re lucky, the enemy might even come to our side, blinded by anger.”

“It’d be nice if that’s the case.”

I almost wanted to meet the enemy’s advance straight on, but Death’s Harrier was finally off its cooldown. I knew I wouldn’t get as many Stat points as before, but I was fully intent on using it until it stopped stealing Stat points for me.

I had the Warp Mages set up a Teleporter to move everyone back to base. It was only then that the system finally finished calculating my contribution points…

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