Light of Arad: The First to Walk - Chapter 88



Only Noblemtl

088

Zeldin hesitated and barely opened his mouth.

“Of course… if the zodiac stabilizes – if the princess returns safely, I will sufficiently reward you, adventurer, and those who helped you… ”

What kind of compensation can be given at this point?

It is not Zeldin who does not know the position of the Heavenly Jiben Empire.

Moreover, now that the princess has been kidnapped, how can he, the captain of the garrison protecting the imperial capital Ghent, promise anything?

Jinseong said as if he knew all of her worries.

“No, it’s not something material. It’s something that even Captain Zeldin of the Ghent Garrison can do alone.”

“What, what is that? If it’s possible, right now-”

“But not right now… I’ll come back later and tell you, so please tell me then. Well, it’s not that difficult, so don’t be too scared.”

“-Oh, yes. Then… please tell me anytime.”

Zeldin nodded and accepted Jinseong’s offer, but his expression was still uneasy.

Vivi, who had come close to Jinseong without him noticing, poked him in the ribs.

“What is it? What do you want to ask for?”

“Yes. Oh, by the way, Vivi…? You dragged me in ‘carelessly’?”

Jinseong said with a sly smile.

“Huh?! How dare you! T-T That’s because Jinsang-nim is going to be with me anyway-”

“I’m busy. I don’t really have a reason to keep hanging out with Vivi….”

Vivi overreacted as if her feet were numb again, but Jinseong cut her off and shrugged his shoulders.

Now that we’re there, I guess we should say that Vivi is starting to get restless.

At least one thing was certain.

“Don’t-don’t be like that, lethally! And, hey, what’s that, Mr. Jinsang! Anyway, if I get something later, huh?! How do you know I can modify it again? Right? Oh, Zeldin-sama, Zeldin-sama! If I finish this job safely, will you arrange a time for me to talk to Melvin-sama?”

“Huh? Oh, that’s right… I’m sure Lord Melvin would express his gratitude to you, Adventurer, but I can’t do that on my own-”

“That’ll do. I’m sure Melvin wouldn’t be interested in me either. Okay, okay! See, Jinsang? Talking one-on-one with Seven Shaz, what else can I gain! What can I do! Aren’t you curious? You have a strong feeling that it’ll be something that’ll help you, Jinsang, no matter what?”

How much influence did the existence of Jinseong have on Vivi?

Even Ban and Hats, who were watching her trying to somehow hold on to Jinseong, could only blink blankly.

At least for them, the ‘adventurer’, the one who is currently single-handedly destroying the dangers of the heavens, is none other than Vivi.

“Hmm, I wonder if this will help… I’m more of a sword ner anyway, okay?”

It was absurd that Bibi was speaking in such a pleading manner, but Jinseong was the one who just snorted when the powerful man ran towards him begging…

Vivi hung on, grabbing Jinseong’s arm.

“W-You have a lot of machine swords, why! I’m a Nenma main character, but it’s not like I don’t know anything about demon weapons! Don’t be like that, let’s go together, Jinsang-sama! I promise, from now on, I’ll modify any weapons, armor, or anything else that I can. Is that okay?”

And that statement was exactly what Jinseong had been secretly waiting for.

It is not certain what the flow of the main scenario quest will be in the future.

‘If you think about the items you can get after clearing a couple of quests… … .”

I have all of the particularly memorable items I have acquired over the years of playing the game Dungeon & Fighter.

“Hehehe, you promised?”

As Vivi said earlier, there will be many opportunities to make full use of her skills.

Above all, the fact that there were no other users other than Vivi, an adventurer whose quest timeline was very similar to Jinseong’s own, was also a factor that supported Jinseong’s decision.

That means there’s no immediate pollution nearby.

“I’m not the kind of person who would say two things with one mouth!?”

“That seems to be the case. It feels more like a problem with some… ability rather than a personality issue.”

“……huh?”

Jinseong had decided that it would be okay to stay with Vivi at least until he finished the work in Ghent and the dungeon area: Antwerp Canyon.

“Mr. Zeldin! Then I’ll go and stir things up with Mr. Jinsang!”

Vivi stuck to Jinseong’s side and spoke to Zeldin.

Despite being distracted by how things were going, Zeldin’s face hardened as soon as he heard Vivi’s words.

“We will also move as quickly as possible. Good luck.”

Then he added a word while looking at the two people leaving.

“What on earth are you… … who are you to be such an adventurer… … .”

“… … That son of a bitch.”

“yes?”

Ban frowned and said, Zeldin wanted to know what he meant, but Ban said no more.

At least one thing I noticed was that the existence of Jinseong was having a great influence on the ‘powerful people’ gathered here in various ways.

* * *

From then on, it wasn’t that complicated.

“While paying attention to the deal cycle! Right! Now that you’re feeling more used to it, try mixing in something like -.”

“No! I like better than that, so I’ll mix it with that!”

“-Uh… Okay. Anyway.”

The fighting ability that allowed her to utilize her own specialty, not just in the way that Jinseong had taught her.

Vivi’s skills have improved dramatically, and Jinseong is by her side, checking for contamination while also reliably suppressing his enemies.

The cartel members surrounding Ghent were unable to come to their senses due to the cooperative play that matched the two people’s synergy, and by the time Zeldin led the full-scale Ghent defense force and began to fight the enemies, the battle was practically over.

The moment Field Marshal Babylon, the person in charge of the invasion of Ghent, was pierced by Vivi’s bullet, it could be said that Ghent, the capital of the celestial empire of Jiben, was effectively protected.

Zeldin raised both arms in front of the fallen Babylon.

Her eyes were filled with tears, but her voice did not tremble.

“Listen up everyone! We’ve killed the enemy commander! This is our victory aaaaaaaaaaaaa-!”

“Whaaaaaaaaaaaaa-!”

“We won, we won!”

The defenders of the zodiac cheered like never before.

It is a roar of victory, a joy over what had been suppressed… … .

“Long live the Jiben Empire!”

“Long live adventurers! It’s all thanks to adventurers!”

“So what I’m saying is, long live the adventurers!”

It was also a moment of admiration and worship for the adventurer, as if he had come down to heaven to save them.

Some people might not have been able to hide their embarrassment, but Vivi was different.

What a temperament to climb up onto a flat rock and reveal yourself.

“Yeeeeee-! Thank you, everyone! Thank you! But!”

Vivi stopped her swaying movements for a moment, enjoying the even louder cheers.

The moment it became quiet as if on cue, she pointed at someone.

“That’s the guy!”

“Huh? Me?”

A man was leaning against a tree with his arms crossed, a little further away from Vivi.

Jinseong looked around in confusion.

He waved his hand as the bright eyes of the Ghent garrison were fixed on him… … .

“Wait, don’t do that. Don’t do that. You don’t have to do it to me-”

“I couldn’t have done it without you, Jinsang! Please cheer over there too!”

Bibi wasn’t one to sit still.

“Wowaaaaaaaaaah-!”

“The truth! The truth!”

“True! True!”

[Kukkeuk, Jin… … Sung, Jin… … Sung.]

“Gulp, gurgle.”

It was a night when the mixed year name of Jinsang and Jinseong was not enough, and the black goo and taco were also muttering, disturbing the Jinseong.

Until Van Balshteit of the Iron Wolf Knights, an official contingent of the De Los Empire who was nearby, spoke up.

“It’s fortunate that the fire has been put out, but what are we going to do now? We’ve eliminated the commander, but it seems that’s not all.”

It was a statement that poured cold water, but at the same time, it was a statement that made us face reality.

Isn’t it because he knew this trend that Jinseong didn’t like it easily?

‘Yes, the battle is not over. Starting with the circus troupe right now… … the most important enemy in this Antwerp Valley dungeon is still left.’

Things started to get tense again.

* * *

The operational outline was simple.

We discovered a valley where the enemy was hiding. The terrain of the valley makes it strong for defense, but it is also difficult to immediately grasp the external situation.

Considering that, it was only natural that a plan was made to immediately push forward like a wave to the valley where the enemy was hiding, after eliminating the field commander.

However, since the enemy was holed up in a place with a strong defense, it was necessary to disrupt their concentration so that they could not focus on defense, and in the end, the strategy of ‘a surprise attack/disruption by a small number of elite forces, followed by an attack by the Imperial Army and the De Los Empire Army’ was adopted.

Of course, such a role could only be taken on by someone who is currently regarded as a hero in heaven… … .

Rustle, rustle!

Vivi was moving with a skillful attitude, assessing the enemy’s location.

Jinseong smiled and asked, seeing her seemingly active appearance.

“I guess you’re not afraid of fighting anymore?”

“huh?”

Vivi, who was actually asked the question, hesitated as if she only then realized her attitude.

Jinseong tilted his head and asked again.

“That’s what Vivi said. Right after Bentinck, if even one enemy showed up, there wouldn’t be any chaos. But now, he’s even granting Zeldin’s request to break into the enemy lines and cause chaos.”

“Oh, when did I say that?”

Vivi mumbled in embarrassment.

But does she herself feel that she has changed?

“But… yeah, I feel like I’ve gotten used to it. It’s really strange, being human. It was something I hadn’t gotten used to for nearly three years before I ascended to heaven.”

She was someone who avoided combat as much as possible.

I expected that there would be some dramatic changes when I arrived in Heaven, but the battle that followed right after was the same.

Rather than the vicious-looking monsters of Arad, the cartel members who used firearms were enough to make Vivi feel a real threat to her life.

‘I thought that if I could just get new materials from the heavens and make new items, I would definitely be able to do well. But… … .’

I didn’t change any items specifically.

Isn’t the automatic pistol she’s holding still a cheap weapon of ‘uncommon grade’ that can be equipped at level 30?

Even though her level had gone up a few levels, she knew very well that there was only one reason why Vivi could fight with such an active and positive attitude, even though there were no other changes.

“Hehehe, that’s a good thing.”

“Good… That’s right. It’s a good thing. I won’t necessarily say who it’s thanks to, though.”

Vivi glanced at Jinseong and said.

In a small voice that even the true nature could not be heard.

“yes?”

“Nothing! Let’s go quickly! After we destroy this circus troupe, what’s next? What kind of supply route are we going to do?”

When Jinseong asked again, she was already in the middle of bringing up the topic of the upcoming main scenario quest that she had heard roughly from Jinseong.

Deal damage to the cartel that is besieging Ghent, find the hideout of the imperial invasion force hidden in the Antwerp Valley, raid their supply base, and obtain supplies, etc.

Furthermore, the flow of the dungeon area: Antwerp Valley is to ‘pursue and annihilate’ the cartel members who are trying to escape over Mount Halt and inflict a devastating blow, and this is the main scenario flow of the dungeon area you first experience after ascending to Heaven!

“That’s right. And now… something like a mutation comes out-.”

“There’s something like a generator that can create those mutations! Right?! Right?”

Jinseong gave Vivi a general overview of the flow while doing this quest, and Vivi was so happy to imagine that part.

Of course, there was only one reason for that.

“Uh… a generator. That’s right. This is when monsters that need to be continuously supplied with electricity to move really start appearing. Later on, it leads to Anton-.”

“I can finally use electricity. I can do whatever I want!”

The Seventh Apostle, whether or not it was a place where she could learn the structure of Anton’s fire-eating monsters in advance, the only thing that mattered to her was that she could use the generator and electricity.

“……That’s right. It’ll be like that again.”

Jinseong said with a sly smile, but this time Vivi’s expression was different.

She deftly scanned the surrounding area for any cartel members before pulling something out of her [Inventory].

“Of course. Even after I got this, I couldn’t use it because I didn’t have an environment where I could modify it properly. Now that means I can use it.”

The black, large, thick, and long lump of iron looked inhuman.

But Jinseong soon found out what it was.

“……This is……?”

Four barrels arranged within a cylinder.

The ammunition belts that come out tangled in a mess around the barrel of the gun.

“Yes. It’s the machine gun part ripped from the GT-9600. Hehe.”

Vivi didn’t say anything special.

Still, the truth could be known.

“You’re going to make this into a weapon? This?”

What will she do with this, how will she deal with it?