SCT-Novel Chapter 262: Salvation (3)
Chapter 262: Salvation (3)
Translator: DreamscribeThe Salvation Fleet, having entered through the Dimensional Rift, successfully arrived in dimensions that needed their help. At last, the light and darkness of Arsilan had begun to spread toward the southern regions of the dimensional realm.
Jinwoo used the Magic Tower, which was linked to the Dimension Gate, to deploy forces sequentially, starting with the dimensions most urgently in need of aid.
The worlds unfolding before the Heroes were unlike anything they had experienced so far.
Arsilan Saga had always been under Jinwoo's control, a world crafted into content for the Heroes by blending fact with staged production. But those five thousand-plus dimensions were living worlds, vibrant and genuine, without any falsehood. They were also worlds Jinwoo could not fully control.
Though there would be some restrictions on their actions, the Heroes could move about freely.
A Hero's soul held infinite possibilities and grew endlessly through new experiences. At times, it almost felt as if an entire universe was contained within a soul. If their free will were controlled, those possibilities would lose their luster and fade away.
'Let's trust the Heroes.'
The narratives built up through Arsilan Saga were already etched deep into the Heroes' souls. He had no doubt they would save the dimensional realm just as they had saved Arsilan.
'Still, I should give them a bit of help.'
Supplementing that nail-biting thrill was Jinwoo's role.
Jinwoo connected the Magic Tower, upgraded through Authority Stones, to every dimension the Heroes had reached. The moment the Heroes' fleets entered a dimension, a Dimensional Flower would bloom and link to the Dimension Gate.
The Heroes who had entered the dimensions were busy marveling.
A world completely different from Arsilan or Luzen stretched out before them.
Adventure had always stirred the hearts of Heroes. Dimensions where everything, from one to ten, was utterly different delivered not just excitement but pure shock to them.
The broadcast drawing the largest audience was Haebyul's, followed by NorthernGrandDuke's and LifeHunter's. HoHoGamMan's broadcast, titled "The Affection Manipulation Squad", ranked surprisingly high.
Even the broadcasts of the lowest-ranked Constellations drew millions of viewers, so it was no exaggeration to say the entire world was watching attentively.
Beyond Constellations, countless others were broadcasting as well, and photos and videos were being posted on Arsilan Worlds.
Title: The scenery here is insane.
Our guild fleet got assigned to a C-rank danger level dimension and we just arrived, the scenery here is insane.
[Attached: scenery]
The land is floating in the sky?
The sun isn't in the sky, it's beneath the land. But the land absorbs the light or something, because it's not dark at all.
The people here can fly around easily because the air density is high, it looks sick. We saved the floating land from the Kalsus bastards who were trying to crash it, so now we're friends.
[Attached: the Chief.]
This guy is the Chief here apparently, and we got gifts too.
He gave me a headband and an arm tattoo, and now I can glide through the air like I'm swimming lol. If I use wind-element magic, I can even fly short distances.
Also, there are tons of wind-element gems lying around here.
The alchemist who came with us is losing his mind.
Anon1: The Chief looks badass. Kind of like a handsome eagle.
Anon2: Is the headband made of feathers? They look like they're glowing. Can you bring the feathers back to Luzen?
└MageItIs (OP): The Constellation is negotiating right now. Probably trade them for food?
└Anon2: I'll buy them all. Sending my SL ID.
Information from the various dimensions kept getting posted on the forum.
The Heroes' main objective was to annihilate the Kalsus Dimensional Empire Army and activate the Dimensional Blockade Device to completely sever the dimension from the Kalsus Dimensional Empire.
Once the Dimensional Blockade Device was activated, that dimension would automatically fall within Arsilan's sphere of influence. A Soul Gate could then be installed.
Jinwoo watched Haebyul's broadcast.
The Romance Ship, a large vessel, appeared above the Kalsus Dimensional Empire Army's fleet, which was scorching the earth below. Mage Heroes had bent light to cloak the ship, but once it reached the position directly above the enemy fleet, the cloaking dispersed.
[Ejection system activated! All Heroes, please stand by at the ejection ports!]
At HandGenius's announcement, the Heroes gathered toward the ejection ports located at the very bottom of the large vessel. The floor held hundreds of ejection ports, and the Heroes lined up in front of them.
Haebyul stepped onto an ejection port and activated the device attached to her chest, forming an elongated shield. It looked just like a capsule.
-Damn! Worth every coin.
-Who even thought that up?
-They developed it in Romance Territory. Originally used for storing kimchi.
-So right now she's basically sealed in a kimchi jar lmao
-That thing's pretty sturdy and it holds the temperature too.
Hundreds of Heroes climbed onto the ejection ports and activated their devices.
DING! DING!
The red lights flashed on, and the emergency bells rang.
[Commencing ejection procedure! Repeating! Commencing ejection procedure! Heroes of level 130 or below, please exit the ejection compartments immediately and move to the smaller vessels!]
At HandGenius's broadcast, the Heroes moved in perfect unison.
[All units, please carry out safety procedures!]
Many Heroes had boarded the Romance Ship. They had organized into units by level, like a proper military hierarchy.
Haebyul touched her head.
[Helmet!]
[Okay!]
She was wearing a helmet specially crafted from melted-down armor taken from the Kalsus Dimensional Empire Army. The rank wasn't particularly high, but it was sturdy and light.
[Armor!]
[Okay!]
[Weapon!]
[Oh-ho-kay!]
The many Heroes around her shouted in unison.
Haebyul grinned and gave a thumbs-up toward the sky.
[Romance Ship's 1st Drop Unit, ready to go!]
The large vessel shuddered violently once.
The Kalsus Dimensional Empire fleet had noticed the Romance Ship and begun its attack.
[Ejection in 10 seconds! 9, 7, 8....]
The countdown began, and the space around the ejection ports filled with wind. The wind compressed, but the Heroes endured. Anyone below level 130 would have taken serious damage from this alone.
-LET'S GOOO!
-I'm getting nervous just watching lmaoo
-Aerial drop! Romance is too cool.
-When did Arsilan's tech get this advanced?
[3, 2, 1! Eject!]
THUNK!
The ejection ports opened, and the compressed wind launched Haebyul and the Heroes at tremendous speed.
Calling them Hero missiles might have been the more apt term.
The Heroes who had been standing in line were automatically sucked into the ejection ports and shot downward like projectiles.
Thanks to the capsule-shaped protective barriers, their bodies were shielded to a degree. The barriers, glowing red-hot, revealed just how fast the Heroes were traveling.
FWOOOOOSH! KRAKOOM!
The Heroes, now red-hot missiles, slammed with pinpoint accuracy into the Kalsus Dimensional Empire's ships. The moment they struck, the thick armor caved in and punched straight through.
The Heroes who had breached the interior of the ships grinned and rose to their feet.
[Kill them all and loot everything!]
-How much is all this worth??
-This ship looks good, huh?
-JACKPOT!
At Haebyul's command, the Heroes began charging forward like mad.
KABOOM! BOOM!
Flames erupted continuously from the ships the Heroes had invaded. Troops were hastily dispatched to defend, but it was already too late. Most of the original forces had returned to the homeland, so no reinforcements could be expected.
The Heroes' exhilarating destruction and plunder had begun!
"Now then...."
Jinwoo took out several high-grade Authority Stones.
Among the skills he had extracted from the lower-ranked entities he now called Servants was one called "Clone". It granted a portion of the main body's stats and moved like a puppet.
Jinwoo could already do this through Bio-Golems and the Magic Tower, but he couldn't share core abilities such as connecting to the Soul Moon.
Jinwoo tried enhancing it with high-grade Authority Stones.
The high-grade Authority Stones melted down and settled into Jinwoo's soul.
He didn't feel as though his rank had risen. Unlike Ella and Helby, Jinwoo grew alongside the Soul Moon. It meant that his rank rose as every Hero tied to the Soul Moon grew, as everyone grew. Since Arsilan belonged to the Soul Moon, Arsilan's growth was directly linked to his own.
That was why he suited the role of Arsilan's chief deity best.
"Let's enhance it."
Jinwoo deliberately rendered a visual effect.
An image appeared before his eyes. The Clone Authority took the form of a jewel, and a hammer materialized above it. Tiris, who had approached from behind, tilted her head as she watched.
TANG!
He tried enhancing it with high-grade Authority Stones.
As he kept feeding in more high-grade Authority Stones, it was enhanced to the limit.
[Authority] Clone +10
An Authority that allows the user to create clones.
The appearance can be freely customized, but the clones are affected by the stats shared from the main body. Up to 5,000 clones can be created, and their egos can also be modified through the Soul Moon, the Magic Tower, and Authority Stones.
5,000 clones was the limit of this Authority.
The Servant who had used this Authority had barely managed to create two clones.
Jinwoo tried creating several clones.
The more clones he generated, the more the clones' stats dropped considerably, and their appearances shifted from adult form into that of young boys. Even with customization, the age range didn't change. He clearly understood what it meant that their appearance was affected by their stats.
All of them stood there with sullen expressions.
They looked listless, as if the energy had been drained out of them. It was like watching office workers showing up to work on a Monday.
"Loosen up."
The clones stared blankly at Jinwoo, then shook their heads and let out sighs. They were so utterly spiritless that watching them made even Jinwoo feel drained.
"Since they have access to the Soul Moon and the Magic Tower...."
Low stats didn't really matter.
Jinwoo had created the clones to help the dimensions the Heroes had gone to. Since everything was actually happening for real, there was a possibility of problems cropping up in various ways.
He had made helpers to guide them discreetly, GMs.
Jinwoo issued items to the GMs.
He crafted a hat loaded with various buffs, a robe of stealth tailored to their build, and a short staff capable of casting several spells.
"From now on, you're GMs. Gather any issues or improvements and transmit them to the Magic Tower."
Haah....
The clones let out sighs and nodded with reluctant expressions. Five thousand was the limit, but any leftover dimensions could be covered by the Magic Tower.
Their work efficiency would probably drop in that state, but regardless, the clones had to follow the main body's orders.
"Master."
"Hm?"
"May I take one?"
Tiris was holding one of the clones in her arms.
"In return, I'll handle the issues the clones report."
"I'd appreciate that."
Was she planning to use it as a helping hand?
The clones had passable abilities, so using one as a helper wasn't a bad idea. Tiris gazed quietly at the seemingly unmotivated clone and nodded. The clone shivered, seemingly feeling uneasy.
"Come on now, work hard."
Jinwoo opened a Dimensional Rift.
The clones lined up slowly, moving like sloths.
They would observe the Heroes and the dimensions, and report immediately whenever problems arose that needed solving. Jinwoo had intended to address the reported issues himself, but now that Tiris was taking that on, he had some breathing room.
'Hm, should I give them some kind of reward?'
Jinwoo was thinking this, watching the clones' attitude, when,
"Whoa! What's this?"
"Oh-ho?"
Ella and Helby looked at the clones with sparkling eyes. After seeing the clone in Tiris's arms, they started picking them up one by one. The clones squirmed to escape, but it was in vain.
"Give me one too."
"They'll do nicely."
In exchange for taking clones, the two offered to cross over into the dimensions where the Heroes had entered and personally resolve problems. That was a very good trade.
"Eek!"
"Eeeek?!"
The clones held by Ella and Helby thrashed in panic. Ella grinned as she gazed at the clone, and Helby held hers tight. The clones then went still.
'Something... feels off.'
Jinwoo got a strange feeling.
Regardless, a clone was just a clone. Even enhanced to +10, it couldn't affect the main body in any way.
SWISH!
Ella opened the info window first and began customizing the clone. After tinkering here and there, it transformed into a girl. Helby added horns and a tail.
"Pretty. Hehe! Big sis is going to raise you beautifully."
"Heh. I think I'll raise you as my guardian. Starting today, special training."
The clones wouldn't actually grow, but Jinwoo didn't bother pointing that out.
The clones held in the arms of the two women glared at Jinwoo with eyes full of resentment.
Jinwoo quietly looked away.
"I wouldn't mind having another one."
"Right?"
The clones who overheard Ella and Helby flinched and hurried into the Dimensional Rift. The unmotivated expressions on the clones' faces were now dyed with urgency.
A powerful will radiated from them: they absolutely could not end up like that.
"GMs who don't do their jobs well...."
You know what will happen, right?
When Jinwoo applied that pressure, the clones nodded quickly and rushed toward the Dimensional Rift.
'Rather than rewards, it's punishment, huh?'
What a bitter reality.
Still, looking only at the results, wasn't it a good thing?
Jinwoo nodded as he watched the clones begin working diligently in each dimension.
* * *
The Heroes continued various activities, fighting against the Kalsus Dimensional Empire Army and helping people.
The battles that stretched between sky and land brought great enjoyment to the Heroes. They felt fulfilled assisting with reconstruction work, and their hearts swelled with pride at the praise and adoration of the people.
However, the Kalsus Dimensional Empire Army remaining in each dimension was strong. They even counterattacked using various underhanded tactics the Heroes hadn't anticipated.
Many Heroes tasted despair, and defeated Heroes kept cropping up. But each time, the Heroes rose again with a smile. They threw themselves into the fight with joy, as if facing a challenging quest. And in doing so, they were gradually growing into Heroes with the strength to save the dimensional realm.
A video of a Hero who had self-destructed to save people climbed to the number one spot on the Arsilan Worlds best-of list. The rescued people had held a funeral for the Hero, only for the self-destructed Hero to show up perfectly fine, leaving everyone dumbfounded.
Anon1: peak comedy
└Anon5: From those people's POV that must've been a crazy surprise lmao
Anon2: I gotta try this too.
Anon3: Any more of these?
Anon4: That's messed up lol. Those people were bawling their eyes out when you blew yourself up. They said goodbye like they'd never see you again and everything lol
There were small joys like this too.
'Still, thanks to the Erosion invasion, it's a manageable situation.'
If the full force of troops dispatched to each dimension had remained, they wouldn't have been able to deploy Heroes to so many dimensions simultaneously like this. The Kalsus Dimensional Empire still held a significant advantage, but the Heroes kept growing, and since they revived even when they died, the balance would eventually even out.
The interior of the Kalsus Dimensional Empire was also in chaos.
The Evil God Disease, the Erosion invasion, and the emergence of a third faction.
It was more than enough to crack a once-solid empire. Since he'd already set things in motion with the Erosion, it was time to go shake things up inside the Kalsus Dimensional Empire.
Jinwoo checked on Kalgul, who was in the Kalsus Dimensional Empire.
Kalgul had been detained for failing to repel the Erosion invasion, but the treatment itself was favorable. He was being investigated while confined to a mansion rather than a prison. With lavish meals and servants provided, it looked more like a vacation.
Even when a crime was committed, a noble was a noble.
Until his punishment was decided, he was thoroughly protected under the laws of the Kalsus Dimensional Empire. Upon receiving Jinwoo's signal, Kalgul quietly drew something from his breast pocket and placed it under his bed.
A transmitter.
Now free communication with Kalgul, and even dimensional travel, was possible.
Jinwoo opened a Dimensional Rift and crossed over.
The distance was considerable, so it took a bit of effort, but he arrived without issue. The moment Kalgul saw Jinwoo, he dropped to his knees and bowed his head low.
"Have you been well?"
"I have been spending my days happily, feeling infinite joy within the blessings bestowed by you, my Master. Please, give any command, and I am prepared to act upon it at once."
Jinwoo chuckled.
"Excellent."
An excellent answer indeed.
*****
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