[Translator: Dawn ]

[Proofreader: Alissa ]

Chapter 63: [STAGE 3]? A war fought with just the two of us (4)

The summoning materials required for the auto defense turret are R-rank or higher magic cores, and building materials such as stone and wood.

The magic core I had was SR rank, so that requirement was met, and for the building materials..

‘There’s plenty around here.’

The golems were kind enough to destroy this entire building. There were stones and wood everywhere.

I shouted as I threw the magic core into the villa.

“Summon!”

Rumble-!

Right after that, the fragments of the surrounding buildings rose all at once into the air.

Clunk! Clatter! Click!

The protruding stones and wood were split into small pieces and then dropped like Tetris under the open roof, forming a single structure.

Sensing the abnormality, the magic crystal golem started projecting magic missiles toward the turret under construction. ? Boom!

However, the auto defense turret was completed despite being attacked by the beams of light. The barrel of the turret was specially finished first.

Clunk!

The barrel like a giant naval gun was aimed at the magic crystal golem, and at the next moment,

Dudududu-!

The muzzle started to spit fire.

The magic crystal golem quickly twisted and evaded, but the pouring magic bullets severed its right arm and right leg.

Guoo, oo..!

With a driving noise that sounded like a scream, the magic crystal golem fell helplessly.

The auto defense turret then jerked its barrel. It was towards the golems approaching from the opposite direction.

Dudu! Dudududu!

Dozens of turquoise magic bullets rained down.

The golem approaching from the front became a beehive and exploded right after. Kaboom..!

The rest of the golems didn’t come any closer and stopped all at once, quickly retreating.

It seemed that they realized that they were all going to die if they rushed in.

‘I’ve been feeling this for a while, but why are these bastards so intelligent..?”

It must be the basic intelligence of these monsters to rush to the shortest path to kill humans.

But they were displaying this much intelligence despite the absence of a commanding unit.

Still, that’s a relief. After confirming that they were leaving, I let out a long breath.

“It looks like we’ve entered the state of lull.”

“You really have a bunch of strange plans, Sunbae.. ugh!”

Evangeline let out a groan in pain.

I quickly went next to her and took out a standard HP potion from my inventory and sprayed it on Evangeline’s injured area.

“I feel like I’m drinking a lifetime’s worth of potions all in one day..”

When I handed her the remaining potion, Evangeline drank it at once as she asked with a haggard face.

“So, what’s next?”

“We wait. Until the sun goes down.”

Looking at the sun still floating on the horizon, I murmured.

“I can use another one of my backup plans after the sun goes down.”

It was already late afternoon.

Because we were located at the southernmost point of the continent, the sun set late. However, the night will come soon.

We just have to wait until then. Then..

“Argh..!”

Evangeline grabbed the injury on her shoulder and screamed in pain.

That was the part that suffered the most during the previous attack. Even after pouring the potion, blood was still gushing out from the injury.

“I’ll see if there’s a bandage around. Wait here.”

I got up and looked around the inside of the building. It was destroyed all over, but there were some useful items.

This was the villa’s kitchen.

Closets and shelves were collapsed, with broken bottles rolling across the floor. The stench of alcohol wafted everywhere.

I retrieved a clean cotton cloth from the drawer and tied it to Evangeline’s forearm.

Evangeline frowned as she was struggling to breathe.

“Anyway, why is there so much alcohol in here..? The stench is something else.”

“Well, that’s because the Earl of the Frontier was an amazing alcohol addict.”

“What?”

Evangeline’s pointy eyes opened up wide. I looked at her as I blinked my eyes.

“You didn’t know? Your father was something else. He was very addicted to alcohol.”

“That can’t be.. The dad I remember was a person that had never even put alcohol close to his mouth in his life.”

Evangeline muttered reluctantly.

“He always said that he needed to be prepared for battle since nobody knows when the monsters would invade. That’s why he never even drank a sip..”

I laughed bitterly.

“Maybe, a lot of things changed in the 3 years that you weren’t here.”

“....”

“That person, he was in great pain. To the point that he’d not even last a day without alcohol.”

Evangeline’s pale lips were tightly pursed.

As I felt sorry for the kid, I asked cautiously.

“Do you still.. hate your father?”

“Yes.”

The answer came out immediately.

“I still can’t forgive him.”

“If your father decided to save your mother instead of the city 3 years ago, would you have forgiven your father?”

“..I wouldn’t have hated him as I do right now.”

“But you were in the city.”

Evangeline’s eyebrow twitched.

“If your father went to save your mother, then you would’ve been in danger instead.”

“....”

“With the troops of Crossroad at that time, only one side could be defended. Your father didn’t abandon your mother. He chose to save you. You know this too.”

“..Yes. I’m aware of that.”

Evangeline bit her lip as she muttered.

“I know that dad tried his best. He always did.. I know that. I know that, but—!”

Evangeline slowly lowered her head.

“Then who do I have to resent..?”

I opened my eyes wide.

What?

“Mom was torn to pieces by the monsters, I was so furious and sad that it was driving me crazy. But apparently, there’s no use in hating the monsters. Because that was an accident, a disaster.. So who can I resent?”

Evangeline covered her face with both her hands.

“I know it’s a cowardly act. Trying to find someone who I can resent instead of hating the monsters that killed my mom.. I’m such a coward.”

“....”

“But if I can’t resent someone.. It feels like my insides are going to burn down..!”

Instead of resenting the monsters who were considered natural disasters,

She resented a living human being right in front of her eyes who would take responsibility.

It was easier to hate someone than to forget your sorrow.

“My dad willingly accepted my resentment. He said it was his fault for not going to save mom, and that it was all his responsibility. So I hated him.”

“....”

“And now you tell me to forgive dad? Because in reality, he tried his best? It was all to save me?”

Evangeline’s small fist punched the ground.

“Then if it wasn’t dad’s fault, then just who, whose fault is all this..?!”

“It’s nobody’s fault.”

I said calmly.

“We all are.. just trying our best to survive.”

No one holds any malice.

Everyone just struggles to live to the best they can.

However, the monsters still invade, and people die.

Their families, friends, and colleagues die.

“It can’t be helped. Because people are weak.. So in order for them to continue living, they need someone specific to resent.”

Not because they want to hate, but because they want to live on.

People here need a target of resentment. We need someone to take responsibility for all this hell.

“So, now.”

I sat down on one knee in front of Evangeline and gently stroked her hair.

“Resent me.”

[Translator: Dawn]

[Proofreader: Alissa]

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Evangeline’s green eyes, which had been looking at the floor, looked up at me.

“..What?”

“I will inherit the resentment that your father was receiving. Because I am now the current lord of Crossroad.”

I tapped my chest with my right hand.

“Because I am in charge of this place.”

“Sunbae, you don’t need to do that..”

She’s right, I don’t.

However, if this too was the work that the Cross family had been carrying over all these years. As the new lord, I deserve to take over.

“I will be the target of your resentment. So please.. try to understand your father a little bit.”

“....”

“That person only wished for your happiness.”

I ruffled Evangeline’s hair. A smirk broke out as I met her bewildered face.

“And that is also why I’m here struggling to save you.”

“....”

Evangeline looked at me with teary eyes for a while and opened up her mouth to speak.

“I..”

It was at that moment.

Guoo-!

A driving noise was heard from the distance. Evangeline and I turned our heads in that direction quickly.

I could see the golems moving through the collapsed buildings.

They surrounded the villa completely. Evangeline hurriedly raised her body.

“They’re besieging us!”

“Tch, I was hoping that they would give us some more time..”

The auto defense turret had a fixed ammunition capacity. In addition, the directions it could fire in at one time were limited.

When surrounded and rushed at once, the auto defense turret will be neutralized by attacks from a blind spot.

Noticing that, the golems surrounded us.

These bastards really were pretty smart.

“If they rush toward us all at once, we will die.”

“Then what should we..”

“We have to attack them first.”

There were only fourteen of them left. Actually, one of them died to the auto defense turret earlier, so that makes it thirteen.

Even if the villa was surrounded in a circle, the encirclement was inevitably thin. A breakthrough was possible enough.

I picked up the magic rifle, the Black Queen.

“We will attack them first on one side and escape their siege, then eliminate them one by one.”

I glanced west. The sun was setting now.

It will be night soon.

The long-awaited chance finally comes. A chance to use one of the two remaining backup plans.

Evangeline raised her empty hands to me.

“But I don’t.. have any weapons.”

The two sets of SSR equipment that I acquired back in the dungeon had just been broken.

They went to waste. Leaving this bitterness behind, I gestured to the outside of the villa.

“Well, you do have spare equipment.”

“What? I don’t carry spare equipment.”

“It’s not on you, it’s here.”

“Oh really? Did Dad keep his armor in this villa?”

“No, I’m not talking about that.”

I gestured toward the backyard of the orchard with a smirk.

“You buried it. A few days ago.”

Evangeline, who was blank for a moment, opened her mouth before long.

“Don’t tell me..!”

Clatter. Clunk.

There was the sound of a heavyweight stepping on shards of glass.

It was the sound of the golems slowly closing the besiege.

They carefully moved through the wreckage of the collapsed building and approached the villa.

Vwoong-

The auto defense turret standing in the center of the villa was rotating the battery with a menacing mechanical sound.

If an enemy enters its range, it will fire without hesitating even for a moment.

The golems’ siege became narrower and narrower, and the moment the auto defense turret’s range overlapped with the golems’ siege,

Dudududu-!

The auto defense turret spit fire from its barrel first.

The first golem in the lead was torn apart by the rain of magic bullets. However, there were still twelve more golems left.

Tududu- Tudududu-!

The golems rushed at once toward the auto defense turret that continuously poured magic bullets.

The auto defense turret hived two more golems at once, but that was it.

When I turned the turret sideways in search of the next enemy, the rest of the golems were already clinging to the body of the turret.

Crush! Crush! Crush!

The golems’ violent punches ripped off the armor in an instant, and the barrel of the turret was pulled out as it tried to spit out magic bullets to the end.

Boom..!

The magic core was shattered to pieces, and the auto defense turret exploded.

Killing one of the golems caught in the blast was the auto defense turret’s last shot.

That’s enough.

That will do.

“Run-!”

I cried out as I watched the golems tear through the auto defense turret to the end.

Whoosh!

Evangeline and I both escaped from the mansion.

Guoo?!The golems dismantling the automatic defense turrets all glanced at us. They ran after us without delay.

“Keep running, Evangeline! Don’t ever look back!”

I shouted at Evangeline running in front of me and pointed the muzzle of the gun backward.

The golems were chasing right behind me in an instant.

Boom-!

The Black Queen spit fire.

The golem got its upper body blown up and flew backward, then fell. Without delay, I fired the next shot.

Bang-!

My aim was sloppy, so this time I hit the golem’s lower body.

It was blown off the bottom of his thigh and landed ugly on the floor. It wasn’t intended, but the neutralization was successful anyway.

“We’re not too far from there! That’s where my last backup plan is!”

Bang! Bang! Bang-!

I didn’t spare any bullets and used them all.

I took down two more, but one shot missed. It didn’t matter. It was enough to earn us some time.

Before we knew it, we arrived at the backyard of the orchard. The tombstones of the Earl couple were there.

Evangeline, who ran ahead of me, knelt beside her father’s grave.

“..Ugh!”

Then, she started to dig into the ground with her hands.

Evangeline hastily dug out the space right next to the grave.

Soon a wooden box appeared in the dirt. Evangeline opened the box at once.

Inside the box were a worn-out cavalry spear and a shield.

Arms used by the head of the Cross family for generations.

On the day of her father’s funeral, at Evangeline’s request, the arms were buried beside the Earl’s grave.

“....”

With her hands dirty, Evangeline grabbed the old cavalry spear.

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