Gourmet Gaming

Chapter 733: God of Birth Gaerna

The Rothschilde Family was well-known for their enormous wealth. Experts had once said, ‘The total wealth of the current Rothschilde Family should probably be around five trillion, give or take.’ That was the truth. However, that was the family’s money, it did not belong solely to Calauhel.

Of course, it was also true that Calauhel was the one managing that huge amount of money. In a sense, he was the one with the financial power. Right now, Minhyuk was asking for a hundred times the amount that the other rankers had received.

“Two hundred billion…?” Calauhel mumbled, his expression turning ugly.

[Calauhel: It would be good if you stop from playing around with words. The situation is not good right now.]

If Minhyuk had asked for twenty billion, then Calauhel would have thought that he was being serious and giving it a deep consideration. After all, it was a more realistic asking price.

[Minhyuk: Do you think I’m someone that will want to play word games with you?]

“…!”

That was when Calauhel realized that Minhyuk was truly asking for two hundred billion cash in compensation.

[Calauhel: You must be nuts. Even if you’re the world’s top ranker, you dare to ask for two hundred billion, just for a few days of help? You better wake up and face reality.]

[Minhyuk: This is what I have judged to be a reasonable amount based on my calculations.]

[Calauhel: …]

Calauhel was speechless. Minhyuk was speaking sincerely with him but Calauhel did not want to understand. He just shook his head and refused the terms.

[Calauhel: I refuse these terms.]

[Minhyuk: Alright. By the way…]

Calauhel was still a businessman, his head spinning and working while discussing with Minhyuk. He had judged that Minhyuk was not worth the two hundred billion that he was asking for. Then, Minhyuk countered.

[Minhyuk: The next time you contact me, it will be 250 billion.]

[Calauhel: You’re crazy.]

Calauhel looked tense as he terminated the whisper. Alexander, who was by his side, could tell that the negotiations did not go smoothly. Even so, he still did not intervene with the negotiations between Calauhel and Minhyuk. In the first place, it was not something that he could insert himself in.

.

“Our 600,000 strong troops will stop Gaerna today,” Calauhel declared.

***

They began to give orders to the members of the Allied Army stationed on the walls.

“Try to keep the enemies in check while staying inside the walls as much as possible!!!”

“You must never come in contact with the enemies.”

“Players, once your HP falls below 20%, immediately use a Return Order!!!”

“Distribute bottles of oil and matches to the NPCs!”

“…What are we using these bottles of oil and matches for?”

“…?”

The NPC soldiers looked puzzled at the items handed over to them.

Then, the centurion said, “Pour the oil on your body and light yourself up with the match before you die.”

The centurion’s expression was filled with bitterness while the NPC soldiers were stained with fear and terror.

“…This is the only way. Would you rather turn into our enemy and cut your allies down?”

Those words were true. However, the thought of setting themselves on fire started to cause panic among the NPC soldiers.

The 200,000 strong Petro Army had been defeated.

The 150,000 strong troops from Lewatt Kingdom had been defeated.

The Brecht Territory had been swept away, resulting in more than 300,000 casualties.

News of defeat continued to ring in the ears of the NPC soldiers as they were handed a bottle of oil each.

‘May God Athenae’s blessings be with you.’

They would fight for the sake of this land.

“For our descendants that will continue to live here.”

“For my wife and daughter.”

“For my mother.”

“For my lover.”

Every one of them thought about those that were precious to them and chose to continue to fight.

Calauhel, who was watching this scene, felt his heart throb.

‘They are just NPCs.’

Calauhel was someone that did not particularly care about artificial intelligence. However, for some reason, he felt an unknown emotion arise in him as he watched the soldiers’ solemn expression while they prepared for their imminent deaths.

This was the connection and the feelings between a player and an NPC. Perhaps he was feeling this way because Calauhel was the king of the Rothschilde Kingdom, and they were his soldiers, who were going to sacrifice their lives for his kingdom.

Grit—

Calauhel gritted his teeth. “Don’t let them take away what is precious to you! Protect them! We will make history today!”

“Uwaaaaaaaaaaaaah!”

“Woaaaaaaaaaaaaah!”

Loud and passionate cries rang loudly and shook the battlefield. Sadly, the first troops to be deployed were the weakest soldiers. As for the high rankers and the top-ranking NPCs, all of them fell back. This was because they risked accelerating their downfall if these high rankers and outstanding NPCs turned into parasitic soldiers.

Soon, Gaerna and her army appeared right in front of them. The estimated number of their forces was around 1.3 million.

“Click, click, click, click—“

“Kiriririririririiiik!”

“Kyakakakaka!”

People that used to be their friends, their lovers, their parents, came charging at them while emitting terrifying insect-like sounds from their mouths. It was like watching a herd of zombies charging at them relentlessly.

There was also Gaerna, who was flapping her butterfly wings above them. “I am… hungryyyyyyy…!”

The entire army turned tense and nervous when they heard her hoarse and creepy voice. All they could do was gulp dryly as they watched Gaerna approach with her army.

[From what I hear, Calauhel and Xu Jiaqi are fully prepared this time.]

[We know that they have a thousand dragon rubies, bombs that can blow away areas of an entire fifty meter radius, with them.]

[That’s not all. Calauhel also bought siege weapons using his enormous wealth and will be using them to fire at the enemies.]

Everyone waited with bated breath, preparing for the moment the enemies came close.

“Ughhhh…”

The soldiers behind the walls shivered in fright when they caught sight of the enemies’ creepy eyes. They looked like they had turned into insects, staring at them from afar while emitting strange cries.

Finally, when the enemies entered within thirty meters from the walls of the fortress, Calauhel took action.

“Fire!!!” He roared as blazing flames shot out from the walls of the fortress.

Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang!

The flames engulfed the parasitic soldiers. However, there were some stronger ones that were able to endure the blazing flames. In response, tens of thousands of mages appeared above the walls in unison and began chanting.

“Explosion.”

Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang!

A loud and powerful explosion bloomed amidst the ranks of the parasitic soldiers. As a thick cloud of dust rose from the ground, the archers moved with practised ease as they took aim and shot the brains of the parasitic soldiers.

Fwoosh, fwoosh, fwoosh, fwoosh, fwoosh!

[They are being swept away.]

[In just an instant, 30,000 of the parasitic soldiers had disappeared without leaving any trace.]

[Amazing. As expected of Calauhel and Xu Jiaqi.]

But it was not yet over. Wyverns, carrying knights that held dragon rubies in their hands, soared through the skies.

Flap—

The wyverns descended swiftly as the knights threw the dragon rubies at the spots that they had planned in advance.

Baaaaaaaaaaang—

Baaaaaaaaaaaaang—

Baaaaaaaaaang—

Tremendous explosions rocked the battlefield, devouring several areas of a fifty meter radius and causing the parasitic soldiers to disappear into nothingness. Almost 500 dragon rubies exploded and reaped the lives of around 70,000 parasitic soldiers. Of course, the archers made sure to swiftly end the lives of the few that survived, sniping their brains from the walls of the fortress with their arrows.

‘We have a chance at winning.’

The best mana potions were prepared for the mages. Also, even if the vanguard turned into parasitic soldiers, they were the weakest of the bunch and could be easily dealt with.

“More, more, more! Push them back harder!!!”

Crackle—

Perhaps it was because of the ridiculous damage that the dragon rubies unleashed, but the enemies, whose defenses had increased by 30%, were being swept away more easily than they anticipated.

Xu Jiaqi, who was next to Calauhel, shook her head. “There’s something strange…”

“What do you mean?”

“They’re too weak and are getting swept away easily. No matter how vulnerable they are to flames, that’s just…”

“…”

Not long after, the two took notice of Gaerna. No matter what they did, Gaerna was a god.

“It seems like she thought the same as us and has also placed the weakest of her army in the vanguard.”

“…”

Calauhel’s face turned ugly at that. Well, he had already expected it to some extent. However, he felt that Xu Jiaqi should not have voiced that fact. After all, it would definitely affect the morale of the soldiers.

“Gaerna is also hiding the parasitic soldiers composed of high rankers and continental legends at the rear of her army, just like we did with ours.”

It truly was just like what Xu Jiaqi had said.

“She’s currently waiting for our firepower to dwindle. If something else happens in this situation then…”

“Uweeeeeeeeeeeeeck!!!”

At that moment, Gaerna started to vomit once again.

[Parasitic Mosquitoes.]

[Gaerna has vomited parasitic mosquitoes that will give birth to knights. Those that are bitten by the parasitic mosquitoes will turn into parasitic knights after an hour!]

[The parasitic mosquitoes desire the blood of the strong!]

“…?!”

“Uweeeeeeeeeeeeeeck!!!”

Tens of thousands of mosquitoes poured out of Gaerna’s mouth each time she threw up.

“Uweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeck!!!”

Everyone could not help but freeze at the sight of countless mosquitoes filling the sky above them.

“Uweeeeeck! Hack, ack!!!”

Finally, around 1.5 million red mosquitoes the size of a grain of rice began to fill the sky. Then, they began to fly in search of their prey.

“Shoot, shoot them!!! Mages, shoot that mosquito swarm right now!!!”

“Insecticide!!! Spray the insecticide that we have prepared!!!”

Knowing that they would deal with bugs, they had already prepared some insecticide. Large containers filled to the brim with insecticides shot to the skies.

Poof, poof, poof, poof, poof, poof—

Thousands of mosquitoes died as the insecticides exploded. The mages also sent a wave of fire magic, lighting up the insecticide and creating a path of flames in the sky. However, there were just far too many of them. The insecticide would either get swept away by the wind or the mosquitoes would scatter around to avoid the attacks.

“Kihyeeeeeeeeeeeck!”

[Gaerna’s Shriek.]

[The parasitic mosquitoes respond to Gaerna’s shriek. Their movement speed has tripled.]

[They quickly move to chase the strong!]

“…”

Calauhel’s face turned even uglier as he hurriedly cried out his orders. “Rankers! Quick, log out…!”

Thwack—

Unfortunately, before he could even finish his words, Alexander felt a sting on his neck, his palms automatically reaching out and slapping the area. When he looked down at his palms, he could see blood.

“What the hell is this…?”

Then, the veins in his body swelled and popped out, turning green to the naked eye.

[You have been infected by the parasitic mosquito.]

[If you can’t detoxify the infection with an excellent antidote, you will become a parasitic soldier in an hour.]

[Your HP is rapidly declining.]

[Heat has started to flow through your veins.]

Alexander’s eyes grew wide as a foreign and strange feeling engulfed his entire body.

“Haa… Haa…” Alexander sat down, gasping. When he looked around, he could see that the best players and the strongest NPCs in Faelbert Fortress’ walls were exhibiting the same symptoms as him.

“Antidote…”

Gulp, gulp, gulp—

People from all over the walls had started to gulp down antidotes. However, a set of notifications rang in their ears, bringing them further despair.

[You can’t detoxify the infection with a high-grade antidote!]

[You have to use top-grade antidotes!]

To make matters worse, the parasitic mosquitoes were insidious. They would hide and bite those that had taken the top-grade antidotes once again.

“…”

Top-grade antidotes were very hard to come by because their ingredients were rare. Besides, they would rarely carry something that precious, since it was unlikely for them to get infected by such a high-level poison.

At that moment, Alexander realized what was going to happen next. “Everyone here would become parasitic soldiers…?”

This was the epitome of a disaster.

***

Joy Co. Ltd.’s meeting room.

The expression of everyone in the room was stained with despair.

President Kang Taehoon sighed. “In an hour, they will start to attack their allies.”

“This will be the end of Faelbert Fortress.”

“The people gathered in Faelbert Fortress consist of global top rankers and outstanding NPCs. Unless their entire body is completely resistant to poison, they will be a threat not only to Faelbert Fortress, but also to the entire world.”

“We can expect the situation to calm down only after the Luvien Empire makes a move.”

“If that happens, the entire Athenae will be under the control of the Luvien Empire.”

Everyone sighed. Kang Taehoon closed his eyes, sinking deep into his thoughts.

‘What should we do to get out of this difficult situation?’

They also had to do something about those high rankers. If they became parasitic soldiers, then everything would be over.

Clack—

“Haa… Haaa…”

Then, at that moment, someone slammed the door open. It was none other than Employee Lee Minhwa.

Team Leader Park, who was sitting with the others inside the meeting room, looked at her in confusion. “What’s the matter?”

Ordinary employees could not recklessly barge into a meeting. However, Team Leader Park could tell that something was up when he saw Lee Minhwa’s expression.

“Player… Player Minhyuk has finished cooking.”

“Cooking?”

“What are you talking about?”

“You’re talking about cooking?”

Everyone was bewildered with her declaration. That was when something flashed in Park Minggyu’s head, making him jump to his feet.

“Don’t tell me…”

Lee Minhwa nodded as Team Leader Park hurriedly switched the video on the TV screen. There, they saw Player Minhyuk cooking with Brod by his side.

“President,” Team Leader Park called out to Kang Taehoon. He looked like he had managed to grasp onto a strand of hope.

“Hmm?”

Everyone turned to look at Minggyu, who looked back at them and said, “Souls can’t become parasitic soldiers, right?”