CH 129

[Despair]

Pendragon.

Her golden eyes, reminiscent of a dragon’s, were filled with zest as ever.

“Well then, let’s get this show started, shall we?”

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・World news!

Yuri encountered ‘Pendragon, the Goddess of Dawn’!

She is the boss player that leads the assassins. You will earn experience points and items upon surviving for more than 20 minutes after encountering her or dealing a certain amount of damage to her.

The live broadcast of their battle against the boss player is starting!

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“Looks like you’re raring to have a go…!”

A huge window floated in the sky.

It was a telling sign that our battle was being streamed to all players.

“Oh, please, don’t get me wrong, Yuri-kun. Today I simply want to show you and your friends from the Demon King’s side the power of my new combatants. I have no intention of fighting personally,” Pendragon chuckled.

The white-clad people carrying ‘Beginner Bows’ took a step forward.

“All right, since the broadcast has started—Everyone! I hereby present to you, the the Goddess’ side’s, ‘Mass-Produced Yuri Corps’–!”

In the next moment, the white-clad people’s bows and arrows shone with dark light.

There was no doubt about it, they were possessed by Living Weapons…!

“Yo, original! We’ve had a hard time getting here, but we can finally fight like you too!”

“Undefeatable with extreme Luck and the weakest weapon is no longer your identity alone!”

“You’d better prepare yourself! ‘Cause we’re gonna take the ‘Demon King’ title from you!”

The army of ‘mes’ yelled loudly with grins just like mine.

The strange sight made my comrades look like they had swallowed bitter bugs.

“Hehehe… Yuri-kun, this is what happens in online games. People tend to copy the top players. These hard-working people look up to you who keep moving forward despite getting nerfed again and again. They’ve spent countless hours and put an unimaginable amount of effort to be like you,” Pendragon said, spreading her arms wide.

Copycats they may be, their willpower is real—she continued.

“They died again and again to tame Living Weapons, spent a lot of money to make broken equipment like yours, and kept on copying the path you took to rise to power in spite of knowing they would, in the end, would just be that, a copy.

“I took a liking to their perseverance… so, I extended an offer to them: Join me and I will support them to become even closer to you.”

…And that was how they had gained enough strength to overpower even high-level players, huh.

True. On the way here, reports kept on coming in regarding our casualties.

Apparently, the majority of them got taken down by groups of ‘Demon King Yuris’. Their strength was the real deal.

“H-how are we supposed to win now…?”

“Just one would be troublesome enough, and there’s a literal army of them…”

“Dammit, an army of Yuri-san? You’ve gotta be kidding me?!”

Looking at the army of mes firsthand, my comrades were consumed by fear.

Pendragon seemed pleased to see it. She laughed at them like a dragon roaring intimidatingly, “Hahahaha! Terrified, aren’t you?! The other players from the Demon King’s side who aren’t here now must have lost their fighting will as well!

“That is precisely why I’m showing them to you! Most of you have gathered under Yuri-kun’s banner because you worship Yuri-kun’s strength. With hundreds of Yuri-kun copycats as your enemy, you must be feeling like you’re a nightmare!” Pendragon raised her hand. With that signal, the army of mes readied their arrows.

The nightmare didn’t end there. The piles of snow around them were blown away with the sounds of sword slashes, revealing hundreds of white-clad samurais…!

White-clad archers and white-clad samurais. The sight of them was really intimidating.

“What do you think? Amazing, right?” Pendragon shouted like a child, “A large number of new players have joined our side. You know that, don’t you? We have power-leveled them and have them get the best job, ‘Samurai Master’!

“It has wide arrays of slashing arts. With them, even those with little to no gaming experience can be a formidable fighting force…!”

Zansword next to me was startled at the sight, “They have my copies as well?!”

–It had been one shocking revelation after another. With the way things were going, the war would be over before it even started.

My comrades’ fighting spirit was already in tatters. We were outnumbered, our comrades were massacred, and the reveal of the armies of mes and newbies that copied Zansword’s build.

The atmosphere couldn’t be worse. Many of them had their eyes clouded in despair and regret, muttering “I should have chosen the Goddess’ side…”

“It’s over, Yuri-kun. With this, you have lost in numbers, quality, morale, and momentum.

“Your financial strength is no longer a threat, either. With their extreme Luck, my army of Yuri-kuns can farm a mountain of rare items in no time. I’ll say it again, it’s over.”

Pendragon’s voice echoed sonorously. No one argued against her.

I was overwhelmed by the many hands she had thrown at me too…

“Sni… sniffle…!”

[?!]

Amid the large armies, I quietly cried…!

Tears flowed down my eyes unstoppably. Pendragon’s unforgiving plots brought me to tears…!

“Yuri-kun… you cry when you’re feeling cornered. It seems you are still human in the end.

“Don’t cry… I don’t have a hobby of cornering a broken-hearted kid. Resign from your position as the leader of the Demon King’s side and leave the battlefield, then I will not lay my hands on—”

“What the hell are you on about, you dumbass! Corner me further if you can!”

“?!”

I shouted to Pendragon for making some unfunny jokes!

These were tears of joy! I just couldn’t contain my happiness!

“Thanks, Pendragon! The other Goddess’ side players, too! I mean it! Thank you!!!” I spread my arms wide! I was so moved I could hug them all!

As everyone somehow froze, I bowed my head over and over while crying…!

“Thank you, thank you! I can’t express how grateful I am to you! It must have been a lot of trouble for you to corner me so mercilessly, right?! I’m sure you guys have given it your all! And you did all for me, I can’t stop my tears!”

I couldn’t be more excited by the hopeless situation.

Their cruelty made me feel good. Just the thought that tens of thousands of strangers had been trying their best to bully me made my body heat up, I couldn’t help but shiver from the excitement.

I couldn’t stop my overflowing emotions even when I desperately hugged my own body…!

“Ah, I’ve finally realized it—I love despair…!”

Facing the situation where I was cornered to the worst possible place, I gave the brightest smile I could to my enemies…!