ACT 2 Heroes Descendants

Oh my god!

T-that is ridiculous!

Who on earth made such a ridiculous thing?

The staff of the Planning Department watched the 120 inch screen with baffled faces. The same cry came from the screen showing Ark and the expedition members.

Kaaaaaaah!

The Rwigenberg flapped its huge wings as it was hit by the heat wave.And the shield wrapped around the Rwigenberg flickered.Thats right!Despite concentrating the firepower of the military expedition, the shield was still there. A groan emerged from Arks mouth as he stared at the protective film.

The shield didnt break despite all the firepower being concentrated on one point

Was it saying there was no way to break the shield?This meant they couldnt prevent the resurrection ceremony even if they destroyed all the demons.

.Despair!

Thats right. It meant despair.Despair was the conclusion he came to despite sacrificing all those soldiers.

Ark-nim, the demons are attacking by using the gap left by the destroyed shields!

The members have fallen into disorder. Please give a command!

Messengers shouted from every direction.

The soldiers

Ark said in a hoarse voice and shut his mouth.Many soldiers had died in order to penetrate the Rwigenbergs shield. They were also attacked by the demons or the flash bombs. There was even a cheat like shield. He thought that the expeditions concentrated firepower would destroy the shield but it didnt.This meant there was no way to attack the Rwigenberg and land.There was no way to prevent the Dark Lords resurrection. So what was the expedition fighting for?

..Endure. We have no choice but to endure it.

Ark murmured with a sigh after much contemplation.There was no way. Yet he still hadnt given up.

Ark!

Then Wormers voice came from Curio.

Come to Shangri-La quickly. I have something to show you!

Show me?

Arks forehead wrinkled and he turned towards Shangri-La.Ark had honestly thought there was no chance. Everyone else was the same as well.JusticeMan and the rehabilitation members who had been full of will, Shambala who wanted to crush everybody, Timosi who wanted to avenge Alan, Sid who wasnt thinking about anything and the other soldiers. Their motivation was lost after seeing Rwigenbergs cheat like shield.But now Wormers words were vivid in his mind.Wormer had converted Shangri-La along with the raccoons and the Magic Institute engineers. He sensed something in this desperate moment.

Did he perhaps figure out a way?

Ark had such expectations after hearing Wormers voice.

Burning Soul, head to Shangri-La!

Ark immediately turned Burning Soul and flew towards Shangri-La.He landed in front of the White Tower and entered the control room (central office of the White Tower.

Ark-nim!

Lariette and the prophet clan greeted him as he entered the control room.Lariette and the prophets had been riding on Shangri-La. This was the power source to move the huge land mass that was Shangri-La.As an aside, there were two reasons why the 7 heroes decided to hide the Ark of Creation in Shangri-La.One reason was to protect the Ark of Creation from the demons. Another reason was that the Ark of Creation was the power source for Shangri-Las defense ward.Thats right. The reason it was about to float hundreds of metres in the air and raise the defense ward was thanks to the Ark of Creation. After Lariette had removed the Ark of Creation, Shangri-Las defense ward was released which allowed Alan to slaughter the prophets.

.. Well, that wasnt important now.Ark exchanged nods and approached Wormer.

Wormer, what did you want to show me?

It is this.

Wormer pointed towards a huge crystal.To be exact, it was the modified Truth Crystal that linked to the Creators will. When Ark looked doubtfully at the truth crystal, Wormer operated something small at the bottom of the crystal.A video instantly appeared on the Truth Crystal.It was the image of when Shangri-La and the airships attacked Rwigenberg. Despite the huge shock and heat wave, Rwigenberg had just shaken off the attack.Watching it just made him feel despair again.

Why are you showing me this?

Ark asked with a frown.Wormer scratched his messy hair and muttered.

Do you see the output of the Ruin Gun mounted on Shangri-La?

The Ruin Gun was the huge gun turret that Wormer and the Magic Institute joined forces to engineer.But Ark didnt understand anything about the output of the Ruin Gun. Despite the name, it was just an extremely large magic gun.Ark shook his head and Wormer replied.

It is 200,000 MG. There were a total of 34 shots. The total output reached 6.8 million MG.

It was amazing. Everybody would understand how frightening that was.Yet even the terrifying power of the Ruin Guns didnt break Rwigenbergs shield? But why did Wormer call him here just to boast about the output from the Ruin Gun?

The Spear of Thor designed by the Magic Institute has an output of 70,000~100,000 MG. The normal magic guns on the airships have an output of 4,000 MG while the ones on the hot air balloons are roughly 2,500 MG. In other words, the total firepower is approximately 10 million MG.

So?

Ark asked with a dumb expression.Wormer shouted angrily.

You idiot, you still dont understand? 10 million MG, 10 million MG! Do you know how many zeroes are attached to that number? Seven. Seven! That is an astronomical amount of magic energy. That amount of MG is enough to evaporate a whole territory! In theory, that amount of magic energy should be enough to defeat any shield in New World.

Wormer explained frantically while spitting.Once again, New World was an online game.In other words, the laws could be different from reality. But no matter what happened here, one swing of a sword wouldnt be able to kill hundreds of enemies.This was the most fundamental law of New World. These laws existed to maintain New Worlds balance. If these laws collapsed then New World couldnt be called a game anymore.Wormer and the engineers from the Magic Institute were convinced that 10 million MG should be enough to penetrate Rwigenbergs shield. No material or magic existed in New World that could thwart a concentrated attack of 10 million MG.

But Rwigenbergs shield didnt break?

Thats right. It is strange.

Wormer nodded and replied to Arks question.

It goes against the fundamental laws of New World. Then the Rwigenberg is an existence where the laws of New World arent applied to it. But after thinking about it carefully, I realized that it was different.

Ark also agreed with the idea.Ark was one of the few people who knew most of the information related to this event.The Red Man was the alter ego of New Worlds creator, Park Woo-seong! The reason the Rwigenberg could withstand that attack was probably because of something Park Woo-seong did.Park Woo-seong was New Worlds creator so he would be able to make a cheat like shield.

But the Red Mans ability isnt limitless. If he had the ability to do whatever he wanted to the system then he wouldnt need to use this method to achieve his goals.

Thats right. If the Red Man was able to exert a tremendous power over New World then he wouldnt need to resurrect the Dark Lord.Couldnt he just ruin New World by connecting to the main server? Despite that, the Red Man had used the complicated method of resurrecting the demons and using Alan to distract the users as well as stealing the devils heart.He had carefully pushed forward his plan step by step.Then itwas obvious.

I dont know why but the Red Man doesnt have the ability of the Creator in New World!

In other words, if his information regarding New World was removed then the Red Man was just an ordinary user.Of course, there was no denying that he had a large advantage over general users. He also couldnt override the laws of New World. So how was it possible to have a shield that ignores New Worlds laws of creation?

.It is impossible.

This meant that the laws of New World also applied to the shield.Wormer smiled after Ark reached that conclusion and nodded.

Now youre starting to understand the situation.

But actually

It doesnt exist. Thats what I thought. Therefore I replayed the scene in the Truth Crystal over and over until I found the identity of that shield.

Have you ever figured out the reason?

I didnt understand the first few times I watched. But I slowed the video to 1/100th of a second and was able to discover the absurd secret.

Absurd secret?

Look.

Wormer manipulated the video before playing it again. This time it was played at 1/100th of a second so the video looked like a slide show.After a while, Ark started to see the hidden secret behind the shield.

T-this is..?

Yes, the shield doesnt have enormous defense like we thought. No amount of defense would be able to withstand 10 million MG. I barely noticed it after playing it at 1/100th of a second. Damn, I never imagined such a method until I saw this image. Now Ill replay the shield in real time.

Wormer murmured with amazing as he modified the Truth Crystal again.Thats right. The Rwigenbergs cheat like shield had a hidden secret.It wasnt possible to see until seen through the modified Truth Crystal but more than half of the shield had melted the moment the firepower hit it. If there were continuous attacks then the defense shield wouldve probably broken.But he was able to examine the shield when it was played at 1/100th of the speed.The shield was growing back at an equal rate to the speed of the attack! When the offensive ended, the shield became thin like paper but it returned to its original form after some time passed.

Such a thing..?

My guess is that there are two possible reasons. An infinite amount of magic is currently being focused on the Rwigenberg. And the other reason is this.

Wormer once again manipulated the Truth Crystal.Then Rwigenberg expanded and was zoomed into a large area.There was a weird scene in the middle of the area.An old man wearing a hood was standing in front of an altar. When the shield shook from the attack, the old man instantly took out a strange looking dagger and chanted a spell.Then thousands of demons gathered in the square exploded and were sucked into the altar? Wormer stopped the video there and said.

At this point, the shield recovered extremely quickly. So I asked the Magic Institute and they said it was a black magic sacrifice ritual.

Black magic sacrifice ritual?

It changes the life energy into magic energy. That black magician is converting the demons lives into magic energy to heal the shield.

An engineer from the Magic Institute replied.Ark started to understand the secret behind Rwigenbergs shield.Thats right. The shield was invincible like Ark thought it was. The black magician sacrificed the lives of thousands to demons to instantly heal Rwigenbergs shield.

I see. Therefore the Dark Lords resurrection time will be slightly different from the clock on my warning message.

Ark managed to figure out one of his questions.The Dark Lord needed time to resurrect. Therefore Ark always checked the time remaining while fighting.But he noticed that time was progressing slightly more slowly that Arks clock. He couldnt understand why and thought it was just an error.

Thats because some of the concentrated magic was used to restore the shield. Therefore the magic used for the resurrection ceremony was dispersed and the time remaining slowed. In other words, attacking the shield will also slow down the resurrection ceremony. But it will still be the same in the end if I cant penetrate the shield.

Arks eyes flashed at the thought.

Based on the video just now, the speed that the attack destroys the shield is slightly faster than the recovery speed. If we rally the flying boat squadron to attack right afterwards then wouldnt we be able to penetrate the shield?

Thats impossible.

Wormer shook his head and answered.

Once again, the recovery speed is so fast that we were barely able to spot it when the playback speed was 1/100th of a second. Even if the flying boat squadron attacks right afterwards then several seconds would be consumed. More than half of the shield wouldve already recovered. The attacks of the flying boat squadron wont be able to catch up with the recovery speed.

Then there is no way?

Wormer sighed and scratched his head.

I calculated two possible methods. One is to deal continuous damage worth 1 million MG for 5 minutes. The other way is to increase the output to 11.5 million MG so that the shield doesnt have time to recover before it breaks.

A continuous output of 1 million MG for 5 minutes?

Yes.

Or an output of 11.5 million MG?

Thats what I thought of..

Is that possible?

If the 500 hot air balloons and 30 airships from the beginning of the battle were intact then it would barely reach 11.5 million MG when combined with Shangri-La.

Ark looked amazed at Wormers answer.Didnt that mean it was only possible to crack the shield if they had attacked it from the beginning of the battle? But now 200 hot air balloons and 10 airships had been shot down during the fight. Ark hurriedly looked at the engineers from the Magic Institute.

Does the Magic Institute have any extra airships or hot air balloons?

Yes. All airships were summoned by the Grandmaster but 300 hot air balloons had bene dispatched somewhere else on scouting missions. And we already sent a request to the Grandmaster for reinforcements after listening to Wormer but

The Magic Institute member trailed off with a dark expression.

The summoned air balloons will take at least 3 days to get here.

3 days for NPCs was 24 hours.Now there was only 15 hours left until the Dark Lord was resurrected. It meant the situation would already be over by the time the hot air balloons arrived.

In the end, is there no way to penetrate the shield before the Dark Lord was resurrected?

Ark sighed with a depressed expression.Despite all of Wormers calculations, in the end it was still hopeless.

Wait?

Then something popped into Arks head.

Now, he was going to put it in order.According to Wormers calculations, maintaining an output of 1 million MG for 5 minutes or attacking with 11.5 million MG would melt the shield.But the air balloons from the Magic Institute required at least 24 hours to get here.If the armoured battleships attacked then a sufficient output could be reached but the Rwigenberg was floating hundreds of metres away from them.

If only the merchant ships had the scorch cannons. The range of the scorch cannon would allow it to attack the Rwigenberg. But the reality is that the ships would have to get pass thousands of sea monsters in order to reach Kwarian. Even if we the airships as support, the armoured ships wouldnt be able to reach the Kwarian in 15 hours. In the end it is impossible to break the shield. But.

Ark recalled a memory from 2 months ago. It was the scene Ark saw when he first approached Shangri-La on board Wormers Taekwon V.The defense tower on Shangri-La had attacked the demons the moment they passed the wards. There was a strong magnetic field between the defense tower and the defense ward that roasted any demons that tried to approach.He didnt understand Wormers figure of 10 million MG but how much energy was required to turn thousands of gargoyles to dust?Ark had a crazy idea and asked Wormer.Wormer nodded and replied.

Yes. If we use the defense ward then 1 million MG will easy come out. Like I said a while ago, the 24 Ruin Guns reached 6.8 million MG. If the burden on the source of power decreases then we can make the 1 million MG last for 5 minutes. However

However? Whats the problem?

You know, Shangri-Las previous defense ward was destroyed by Alans surprise attack. The Magic Institute engineers had restored it. But we dont know how to activate it.

Activate it? Didnt the prophet clan use it previously?

They did. But the equipment is slightly strange. Because it was broken and then restored. The circuit route which converts the magic coming from the Ark of Creation to power the ward has changed. And there is a strange lock in the middle of that circuit.

Lock?

This. Have a look.

Wormer operated a small number of buttons.Then there was a mechanical sound and something rose from the bottom of the Truth Crystal.It was a circular, crystal slab.However, there were various shapes carved into the slab such as a circle, triangle, knife, water drop etc.Wormer pointed to it and said.

Probably some devices fit in here in order to make it work. But even the prophet clan dont know what they are. So Ive been looking for ways to circumvent the power circuit but even my engineering skills cant decipher it.

Have you tried to look for information in the History Crystal?

Of course I tried. But the information on this crystal disc is contained inside the level 1 security area.

Ark frowned at Wormers answer.A level 1 security area meant a password was needed to access the information in the History Crystal.However, if they knew the password then there would be no reason to search for information in the History Crystal. If he knew what went into the holes then he could get a sense of that the password was.

Eh?

Ark suddenly blinked while he was looking at the circular slab.One hole cut in the slab had a surprisingly familiar size and shape.

Do I have something circular that will match with that hole? The size and shape is just like

Ark gazed at it for a while before eagerly pulling something out of his bag.It was a small disc. Ark was even surer after taking out the disc. When he compared it to the hole, the disc was roughly the same size and shape.Ark placed the disc into the hole.

Cheolkeok, ku ku ku ku.

The disc started spinning once it entered the hole. At the same time, an information window appeared in front of Ark.

-You have placed Hero Mabans Three Marvels into Shangri-Las defense device!

Shangri-Las powerful defense ward was made using the strong power of the 7 heroes.At that time, the 7 heroes thought of Shangri-La as the last bastion for humanity and combined their abilities to create a ward. But there was a chance that Shangri-Las defense ward could be broken by demons and then repaired.In order to stop the demons from using it, they created a safety device.That is the defense wards control device.

If the 7 heroes original device ward is destroyed then their descendants need to gather again in order to reactivate the device. Therefore the control device must be equipped with the symbols of the 7 heroes in order for the magic circuit of the defense ward to work. Once all the symbols are loaded then the magic left by the 7 heroes will be completely opened.

<Currently equipped symbol: Three Marvels (Hero Maban/Christin)>

The control device has started preparations to operate the defense ward.The navigation system of the defense ward has been triggered.