CH 274

[Aria City: Underground Sewer]

Splash! Splash! 

The Genesis Guild members fell down one by one after getting exposed to the radioactive energy.

‘I can’t stop…!’ Min-Woo dragged his legs despite being afflicted by the radioactive energy.

He had to catch them.

There were doubts circulating among the guild executives about Chae Hyung-Seok’s ability to lead the guild due to the exodus of guild members who had experienced losses from Siegfried’s actions. There had also been rumors circulating that the Genesis Guild was in danger of collapsing in recent days, which further fueled the doubts.

However, the biggest problem would be that the papacy was definitely going to reduce the promised rewards if they were to lose to Siegfried.

“Run! We have to catch him no matter what! Run!” Min-Woo shouted as his voice echoed in the underground sewer.

They had to catch Siegfried this time.

“Fuck this!”

“Damn it!”

“My character isn’t moving…”

The Genesis Guild members struggled to chase after Siegfried under the effects of Irradiate.

“Heal each other while running! Don’t forget to detoxify and cast barriers on each other! We have to catch them no matter what! We can’t let them escape!” Min-Woo shouted at his guild members.

However, he had no idea that this decision was going to prove fatal not only for him but for those following him as well.

‘Poison? Fuck off! Just you wait, Han Tae-Sung! Did you really think these kinds of cheap tricks will work on us?!’ Min-Woo confidently thought as he continued the chase.

Unfortunately, it didn’t take that long for him to change his mind.

Thud…!

Splash! Thud!

It was only after his guild members started falling one by one that he finally realized his mistake.

“W-What’s going on?! I said make sure you heal each other while running! Why are you dying?! Get a grip, you fuck—” Min-Woo was about to curse at his guild members when he was suddenly interrupted.

“Hey! Moron!”

A Genesis Guild member interrupted him.

“Heal? What are you talking about when we don’t even have mana anymore?! We keep getting poisoned while our skills are on cooldown, too!”

“…!”

“Mana? Can’t you see that our mana has already hit rock bottom? What more do you want? Go on! Keep talking, I dare you! I’m done with this shit!”

This was a classic case of a death spiral triggered by rolling debt. Someone with a loan would take out another loan with a higher interest to repay the first loan, and then the cycle would continue until things blew up out of their control.

That was the current situation of the Genesis Guild members. They were healing and casting barriers on each other while chasing after Siegfried, but the problem was that the poison persisted while their mana was drying up.

“Are we your slaves?! You better watch your mouth, you little fucker!”

“Why don’t you go catch him alone if you want him so badly? I’ve been putting up with your antiques for a while, but I’m done with this shit!”

“Ah… I quit. I’m sick and tired of being treated like shit in this guild.”

“Bye.”

“Ptooey!”

In the end, some of the guild members who reached their limits threw their guild badges into the sewer waters and left. Internal strife or mutiny was occurring within the ranks of the Genesis Guild, which had been steadfast like an army, and it was proof that there were cracks forming within the guild.

“…”

Min-Woo was left speechless. He was Chae Hyung-Seok’s loyal lapdog, but he wasn’t oblivious to the guild members’ feelings.

He bit his lips. He sounded defeated as he muttered, “Those who are still here… we have to give chase… Please hang in there, we really have to catch him this time…”

The chase continued, but the situation worsened.

Splash! Thud!

Thud…!

The Genesis Guild members continued falling one by one, and there were only twenty of them remaining by the time they were one hundred meters away from the exit.

“W-We can’t let them get away…!” Min-Woo said while gasping for air.

Siegfried suddenly appeared at the exit and shouted, “Hey! Didn’t your mommas teach you not to follow other people? Didn’t she say you’ll get in trouble for that~?”

He taunted them.

“Y-You bastard…!”

Min-Woo’s anger flared, but that was all he could do.

Whiiiiing… Clack!

Dozens of cannons suddenly appeared behind Siegfried and took aim at the remaining Genesis Guild members who had survived the poisonous fog.

Min-Woo finally realized. “We’re fucked…”

Boom! Boom! Boom!

***

Crumble…!

Siegfried smiled in satisfaction at the destruction.

Sseuu…!

Smoke rose from the cannons on the Iron Golems’ shoulders. The underground sewer’s collapse was inevitable when sixty cannons simultaneously bombarded it.

“Tsk, tsk…” Siegfried clicked his tongue at Min-Woo and the Genesis Guild members, and then he said with a smirk, “You should have listened to your mommas~”

He turned around and looked at the river dyed red. It was the river the Aria City’s sewage network was connecting with—the Hudson River. The Hudson River flowed from West Constantine all the way to East Constantine, and it was dyed red with the blood of the innocent civilians murdered by the papacy.

“Maintain order! Please get on one by one! We have a lot of ships! All of you can make it out alive, so please don’t push!”

“We will board the elderly and children first!”

“Please don’t push!”

The Head Crusher Guild members were helping the NPCs board the ships.

They could have used the airships to quickly evacuate all of the NPCs, but they chose not to do so since there was the risk of getting shot down by the papacy’s anti-air cannons or magicians.

Siegfried chose to deploy the Aqua Runners.

“It’s too dangerous to use the airships, Your Majesty.”

“Then?”

“I will deploy all of the Aqua Runners in our kingdom. Please take the Aqua Runners and go down the Hudson River.”

“Oh? That sounds like a great idea.”

“Pardon me?”

“If you look here, you will see that the underground sewer is connected to the Hudson River.”

“Oh!”

“If we go down the manhole near the main square and follow the sewer, then… we will be able to escape quite easily.”

“That is an excellent plan, Your Majesty!”

“I think so, too.”

“I will immediately deploy the Aqua Runners.”

“I’ll leave it to you.”

“Yes, Your Majesty!”

Michele immediately went into action by airlifting the Aqua Runners on the airship to the Hudson River, and the Proatine Kingdom Sailors drove the Aqua Runner up the river to meet with Siegfried and the others.

‘Phew… That was a close one…’ Siegfried thought while letting out a sigh of relief.

He hadn’t been able to relax for even a second since he entered Aria City, and it seemed that he was finally going to catch his breath after boarding an Aqua Runner.

Unfortunately…

“Neiiiigh!”

“Neiiiiiiigh!”

Clop! Clop! Clop!

The sound of hooves could be heard in the distance, along with the horses’ neighing.

“They’re escaping!”

“Archers, take aim!”

“Catch them!”

There were thousands of horseback archers rushing toward them in the distance, and they definitely belonged to the papal faction.

“Damn it! Why does it have to be horseback archers of all things!” Siegfried exclaimed in anger.

It would have been a different story if they were normal cavalry, but archers on horseback were the worst enemy that they could face right now.

“Depart now! Hurry up!” Siegfried rushed the Aqua Runners to zip downstream.

“Aim!”

The horseback archers had already reached the river banks and pulled their bowstrings.

“Fire!”

The archers let loose a volley at a holy knight’s command, and their arrows ferociously cut through the air toward the escaping Aqua Runners.

Shwaaaaa!

Thousands of arrows covered the sun above the bloody river.

The Aqua Runners were fast, but it was impossible for them to avoid all of the arrows in a river while there were dozens of them. Some of the passengers onboard the Aqua Runners would definitely turn into porcupines once the arrows came crashing down.

‘I won’t let you!’ Siegfried immediately sprung into action.

“Hamchi! Turn the boat around!”

“Kyu?! Are you insane, owner punk?! We’ll turn into porcupines if we turn around now!”

“Turn it!”

“Do you have a death wish?! Die alone if you want to, moron!”

“I said, turn it around!”

“A-Alright…! Kyu!”

Hamchi tightly gripped the Aqua Runner handle and turned it.

Vrooom!

The Aqua Runner turned sharply as if it was drifting on water.

It turned around before accelerating.

Chwaaak!

The Aqua Runner sped toward the river bank.

It was a suicidal move.

“N-No!”

“Your Majesty!”

“Kyak!”

Siegfried and everyone else in his Aqua Runner cried out in horror.

Chwaaaaa!

Siegfried stood at the helm of the Aqua Runner and faced the incoming arrows all alone.

‘I can do this…!’ he steeled his resolve and jumped into the air.

Then, a miracle occurred.

***

Meanwhile, the Head Crusher Guild members who had received a secret message from Siegfried were carrying out their clandestine operation at the supply storage of the papal faction.

Three… Two… One…

A guild member motioned with his fingers.

Puk! Pukeok!

The Head Crusher Guild members threw a dagger at the necks of the guards at the door of the storage. The sound of bodies hitting the ground couldn’t be heard as other guild members emerged from the shadows and caught the guards before they could hit the ground.

Rustle… Rustle… 

They stole the guards’ uniforms and disguised themselves.

It was the perfect disguise.

“Let’s go.”

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“Roger that.”

The guild members entered the grain storage that held most of the papal faction’s food supply.

“Halt! Where do you think you’re going?”

A holy knight called out to them and stopped them in their tracks.

‘Fuck!’

‘Did we get caught?’

Anxiety swept over the guild members, but one of them with a glib tongue turned around and replied to the holy knight. “Salute! We have received orders to patrol the grain store, sir! We will commence with our patrol to make sure everything is in order, sir!”

“Is that so? Oh, well, keep up the good work,” the holy knight replied.

“Yes, sir!”

“Go on.”

The gullible holy knight completely fell for the lie and even encouraged the guild members to keep up the good work.

However, exactly ten minutes later—

Fwaaaa! Fwaaaaa!

—the papal faction’s primary grain storage was set ablaze.