WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Irevi
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Alone Against the Tower ◈
Chapter 95: Raid Preparations
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Faction Quests that begin on the seventh floor can continue into the twenties, depending on how they unfold.
However, the floors where Faction Quests take center stage only extend to the ninth floor. After that, only occasional related quests appear.
In gaming terms, elves or human factions only show up in something like epilogues or fan service.
The common opinion among Challengers in the community was that the so-called worldbuilding did not strictly continue across floors.
But one look at that spectacle told a different story.
A massive serpent that had swallowed the World Tree and gave off the air of something that would literally destroy the world.
And the desolate settings of floors where the very few elf Non-Player Characters appeared.
The worldbuilding of this ninth floor probably continued into other floors. As a world that had been destroyed once because of that serpent.
“My God... How could this happen?”
After repeatedly using Shadow Magic to get far away from the serpent, we stared blankly at the collapsing castle.
Neither Eleanor nor I could speak in the face of the sudden disaster, but Mercedes was understandably the most shaken.
The prince she held dear had had his body stolen, and her homeland was being destroyed by a gigantic monster in real time.
“H-how? How could this... Why?”
The saddest part was that Mercedes had had a chance to stop this disaster.
Until she was banished, Mercedes had remained by the High Elf King's side and knew his changes well.
If she had possessed even a little more knowledge about the World Tree, she might have been able to resolve the situation before it came to this.
But Mercedes could do neither one thing nor the other. She struggled alone, was ultimately banished, and lost her chance.
“...”
Mercedes, who had been staring blankly at the collapsing castle, rose with a determined expression and picked up her sword.
“Hey, where are you going?”
She clearly wasn't in her right mind, so I immediately grabbed her.
“Though I have been banished, I am the First Knight of the High Elves. I cannot simply stand by and watch our city collapse.”
“And what are you going to do if you don't? Even you can see that place is already beyond saving.”
“Even so... It is something I must do. I have a duty I cannot abandon. I will not ask for your help.”
Normally, I wouldn't have cared. This time, though, I couldn't let her go.
The Labyrinth Area had disappeared, and I couldn't advance to the next floor unless I completed the Epic Quest.
And unless the Epic Quest had a separate apocalypse ending, I had to kill that serpent to complete it.
[Form a Raid Party. Challengers available to participate on the current server: 1]
The problem was that the serpent was a World Boss that required a Raid Party, and there was no one in this damned Tower except me.
I far surpassed the average stats of a ninth-floor Challenger, but I couldn't defeat something like that alone.
It was an enemy that required a Raid Party of at least fifty people. To bring it down by myself, I would need to be about a hundred times stronger than an ordinary Challenger.
I wasn't that strong. If I lost a powerful ally like Mercedes, I was finished.
“Is it your duty to run over there and die alone right now?”
I spoke to Mercedes. I wasn't sure whether I had any right to say something like that.
“If you're going because you want to save your people, I won't stop you. Hell, I might even help.”
“...In that condition?”
“My limbs aren't blown off. If I chug enough potions, I can manage some shredded guts. I'll be fully healed soon.”
The war wouldn't continue any longer anyway. From now on, we needed to increase the number of allies by even one, regardless of faction.
The fact that NPCs with Affinity 80 or higher could be added to a party was probably intended for situations like this.
“Eleanor, can you help?”
One more person wouldn't be enough, so I asked Eleanor as well. I thought Eleanor would gladly...
“...Yes, if that is what you wish.”
...help, but she nodded with an oddly sour expression. There was still no starlight in her eyes.
No, her expression didn't matter.
Wasn't this exactly what Eleanor wanted, an end to the war?
* * *
I gathered every scrap of information I could find about World Bosses from the community.
They were large-scale raids requiring Raid Parties of at least fifty members. Their difficulty varied according to the floor on which they appeared, but they were generally extremely difficult.
Clearing one guaranteed an Epic-grade reward drop, such as an item or an Epic-grade Class Change Book.
A famous British S-rank Hunter was said to possess an Epic class called [Dragon Knight], acquired through a World Boss Raid.
More importantly, after a World Boss appeared and its opening pattern ended, it entered a resting state for a while.
Right now, a timer counting down until the serpent became active again was displayed before my eyes.
This was probably time granted by the system to form a Raid Party. Naturally, I had to make effective use of it.
Shhk!
I cut down a thorn vine monster slithering near the massive coiled serpent, then headed toward a collapsed building.
I pushed aside a huge mass of stone with brute strength, helped up the elf trapped underneath, and gave them a potion.
The rescued elf was immediately sent to the Shadow Warp Point Eleanor had set up, then escorted to the village.
I had already repeated this for hours.
I felt like a firefighter dispatched to a disaster site. The only difference was that I used weapons.
“This is better. There's no end to them.”
I continued to race through the ruined city, cutting down the thorn vine monsters that kept spawning.
The fodder monsters that prevented anyone from approaching the dormant World Boss made excellent potions for me.
They originally possessed considerable combat strength, but before my stats, they were merely ordinary fodder monsters.
And with several skills and weapon options, I could recover HP and MP whenever I killed fodder monsters.
“This side is nearly finished.”
Mercedes, who had been conducting rescue work elsewhere, joined me as she spoke.
“The area around the royal castle suffered great damage. There were very few survivors... How was it here?”
“More or less the same.”
“I see. I expected as much, but... Should I be glad that we managed to save even those who remained?”
I wasn't good with words, so I had no proper answer for that. I silently handed her a potion instead.
I was the only one who could recover HP and MP without limit. Mercedes would eventually tire with time.
“...Thank you. Without you, we could not have saved this many people.”
Accepting the potion I gave her, Mercedes bowed her head.
Well, it was true that I had played a major role in the rescue.
But Eleanor and the Dark Elves had received the survivors, so compared to them, my contribution wasn't particularly significant.
Still, Mercedes probably felt differently. After all, I was the one who brought it up and made it happen.
For me, it had only been a way to gain even one more ally for the raid.
“Truly, thank you.”
It seemed to be enough to change the attitude of that high-handed elf.
* * *
The High Elf faction had completely collapsed with the sudden appearance of the World Boss, leaving only a small number of refugees.
But the High Elves weren't the only ones who suffered. The Kingdom Army faction, which had been preparing to attack the city, also suffered major losses.
Only the Dark Elf faction had escaped harm. But the serpent that had declared it would devour the world had an obvious next target.
It had wiped out the High Elves, so the Dark Elves would be next. Then it would wipe out the remaining human forces.
In any case, the Dark Elf faction, the only faction that had not suffered damage, was now a refugee camp.
“What a complete mess.”
A small number of rescued Kingdom Army soldiers gathered there, as battered as the rescued High Elves.
The High Elves were relatively less wary because they were fellow elves.
But the Kingdom Army soldiers, who had been swept up in the disaster and rescued without understanding the situation at all, were especially on edge.
And the Dark Elves, who liked humans, were showing tremendous interest in the human refugees who had suddenly arrived.
They no longer treated every human favorably because of their memories of the war, but their fundamental disposition had not changed.
To the Dark Elves, it was like someone had rescued a litter of grimy kittens from a fire and brought them here. They were showing remarkable restraint.
But I hadn't rescued these people to create this uncomfortable standoff.
The World Boss's inactive period wasn't very long. I had to gather them somehow and turn them into fighting strength before time ran out.
“I need Eleanor to handle this well.”
I had already sent a messenger to the Kingdom Army's main camp to request cooperation. Soon, a summit between the three factions would take place here.
Persuading them and making them allies was impossible for someone with as little gift for words as me.
The stage was set. Now, all I could do was hope for the best and focus on what I could do.
[Urgent) Need World Boss Raid Tips]
From now on, I would use the power of collective intelligence to devise a raid strategy.
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