Those were the words that came out of the mouths of the experts and commentators as they watched more than five hundred million troops of the allied forces gather together.

It did not matter whether their relationship was good or bad before; mankind has united to fight against Helenia and Barbarian. Their presence was imposing and majestic. It looked like no enemy could stop them from going forward.

However, the more than five hundred million troops of the allied forces were swept away in just one day. Now? There were only fifty million of them left. It has to be known that a hundred million of the five hundred million troops were NPCs.

The empires, kingdoms, and nations from all over the world sent them to the battlefield with these words:

–

From young boys to old men, they gathered a lot of talents and sent them to war. Many of those NPCs were killed in action.

If they won, their kings and emperors, who were not even seen on the battlefield, would send most of their bodies back with firecrackers and loud cheers. However, behind the loud cheers and festivities, grieving families would hug and cry over bodies that they could no longer recognize.

Athenae was a virtual world created by the cooperation of humans and computers. The footage that they showed live showed scenes not just on the battlefield but all over the world.

The families of the troops were praying in their nation’s plaza without knowing that their sons and husbands had already walked a path of no return. And the prayers that they uttered? They were all the same.

“Please, I beg you. Let them come back home safely.”

They utter these prayers over and over again, not knowing that the bodies of their beloved had already grown cold.

Even now, Helenia and the Sky Knights were continuing their attacks and increasing the pile of corpses. Some even had lingering warmth from when they were alive.

The battlefield looked like a scene out of a movie.

There was someone who died while clutching the necklace that his wife had hung on his neck. There was someone who died with his eyes wide open yet unable to see his newborn child.

These scenes were being broadcast all over the world.

The people had long recognized Athenae as the second world. The people watching these scenes no longer viewed them as part of a “game” or a “movie.” It was far too real for them to dismiss it as such, and its closeness to reality made their hearts pound.

Every single one of them wished for the victory of the allied forces. The allied troops, fighting non-stop for a day, had to protect Athenae.

The reason why mankind was able to last this long was because of those who had been repeatedly dying and reviving themselves. However, everyone knew that even if they were called “heroes” now, they would still be forgotten in no time. Nevertheless, the Beyond the Heavens Empire’s executives continued to fight and bear the brunt of the enemies’ attacks.

“Haa… Haa…”

Sword Emperor Ellie, who had been cutting and slashing the magic pouring down on them like rain, showed clear signs of exhaustion as she tried to catch her breath.

At this point, most of the Eivelis Imperial Army had died. Of course, each nation had chosen to send the least troops to this battlefield. They had to be prepared should the enemies break through the allied forces.

“A- aaaaaaack!!!”

The people running away from the onslaught of magical attacks were eventually devoured by explosions. And their bodies? They shattered and exploded.

One of the knights of the Eivelis Empire was rolling on the ground after losing an entire arm. Ellie grabbed the man by the shoulder and helped him despite being in a difficult position.

“Just hang in there. I’ll take you to the priest…”

Unfortunately, the knight and Ellie were engulfed by another round of magical attacks. Ellie bit her lips when she saw the knight die with his eyes wide open and his lower half gone.

“A way?”

“Have you found a way to kill Barbarian completely?”

Despite the increasing casualties, some were still trying to find a way to prevent the Barbarian from attaching to the body of another monster and completely killing the old man.

“Ugh…” Ellie, who was trying to stand up, stumbled and fell back. Then, she looked around her.

Ben burned with a flash of light while trying to stab through Barbarian’s heart. His charred body fell to the ground.

“Regress.”

Ben reappears right away. He, who ran right after being resurrected, made eye contact with Brod.

The problem was the Sky Knights. They were very hard to deal with.

Indeed, they have destroyed one knight. Although it was just one, it was a tough battle. The callous and sturdy bastards had one weakness: the tube pipe on the back of their heads. The problem was that they needed a lot of reinforcements to reach that tube pipe. A lot had been sacrificed to protect the person who cut off that tube pipe! Hundreds of millions died just to find out that single detail.

“Haa… Haa…” Ellie breathed as she struggled to stand up once again.

She, struggling to get back on her feet, saw considerable magic falling from the sky above her. Millions of people disappeared without leaving any trace when the magic fell again.

Caught in one of the explosions, Ellie was sent rolling on the ground from the impact of the blast. Her ears were even ringing from the loud sound of the explosion. She tried to stand up again, but her feet would not cooperate.

At that moment, she recalled the words that Minhyuk told her before.

–

Minhyuk’s voice from her memories rang in her ears as she lost consciousness.

***

Song Min-Geun was perspiring profusely as he watched the scene on the TV. He was one of the Level 650 rankers who signed a contract with the Beyond the Heavens Empire.

According to the contract he signed, they had to log back into the game the moment the access penalty was lifted. But Song Min-Geun did not intend to do so from the very beginning.

He was sure most players who signed a contract with the Beyond the Heavens Empire thought the same. After all, they had already received a considerable advance. They did not need to suffer from the penalties for nothing. Looking at the situation, he could tell that mankind would never win this war.

Five minutes. That was the time left before his access penalty was lifted. During that time, Song Min-Geun was sitting in front of his TV and watching the members of the Beyond the Heavens Empire fighting over and over and again.

He could feel his heart throbbing from pain. Perhaps this was because the TV had shown the scene of the people from each empire and kingdom gathering together and praying for mankind’s victory and safety from war not long ago.

Yes, Song Min-Geun was walking toward his capsule.

***

Ellie finally woke up from her unconscious state, which lasted for a few minutes, and looked around. As she struggled to stand with her heavy body, the elegant and graceful Helenia appeared beside her. She held her hands behind her and watched mankind die one after another.

“Child, there’s one thing I can’t understand.”

“...”

“You have talent that far surpasses the Sword God, yet you chose your empire. Even the hundreds of millions of soldiers that followed you almost deified you. Isn’t the name Sword God Ellie better than Continental Emperor Ellie?” Helenia asked, her gaze filled with doubt as she looked at Ellie.

Ellie tried to grip her sword, though her hand lost strength.“Why?” Helenia asked dryly. “Do you think that protecting your empire and your continent is much more valuable than the title of the Sword God?”

Helenia, who had been laughing playfully earlier, was nowhere to be seen.

And Ellie? She squeezed all the strength that she could gather and attacked her. In response, Helenia only spun her feet to avoid the attack. And with a light wave of her fingers, she floated in the air.

“Well, I’m glad you did that.” Helenia grinned. “You see, I enjoy stepping on humans and making them feel despair. If you had not made that choice back then, you probably would have cut me down as the Sword God.”

Helenia clicked her tongue. “All of your soldiers are dead. Soon, the rest of mankind will die, too. The Continental Emperor is strong only when others are with her.”

Ellie remained silent. She was furious, yes.

Helenia cackled as she threw Ellie to the ground. Then, with graceful steps, she walked away.

Like Helenia said, Ellie was furious. She was furious that she could not be cut down as Continental Emperor Ellie.

Doubt unknowingly started to sprout in Ellie’s heart.

Helenia, who ignored Ellie, clicked her tongue while saying, Just then, she saw something flash in the sky.

It was a tiny light. The light emitted by a single human logging back in. This small light was just a little part of the rapidly rising notifications in the Allied Forces’ Chatroom.

Many of the humans had come back to life repeatedly. Helenia, who was used to the scene, walked past the light. She did not even pay any attention to it. Then, the light started to multiply. The single light turned into hundreds.

Thousands.

Then millions.

Like the stars filling the night sky, countless lights were floating in the sky above them. The light of a hundred and fifty million people logging back inside the game filled the sky.

And the Allied Forces’ Chatroom?

It was being flooded with notifications.

The allied forces had a large number of NPCs. However, the players mostly filled up their numbers.

In the sky above them, hundreds of millions of lights appeared and lit up the world, which was falling into despair. These hundreds of millions of lights represented the players. Some were only at Level 40, some at Level 100, and others at Level 300. Nevertheless, they crossed the passageway and became one of the lights in the sky.

When Ellie saw the players gathering behind her, she felt more convinced.

Of course, it has to be known that Sword Emperor Ellie was a very famous cider character in Athenae.

“It’s not yet over, you b*tch.”