Ex-level Player With the Greatest Civilization of All Time - Chapter 65

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 65

The Electric Field spreads across the surroundings in a sickly green glow.
Beyond the current that prickles against the skin, something else is wrong.
This landscape.
The word “sanctuary” comes to mind.
If there were divine punishment for one who desecrates a holy place, it would look exactly like this chaos.
“Graaaah!”
“Shrieeeek—”
The monsters tear into one another, clawing and mauling without sense.

“It seems we arrived just in time, fortunately.”

Krail, who had vanished moments before.
The connection restores, and his face appears once more.

— We knew you’d come back!
— We believed in you! Really, truly…
— Just like reliable old Krail! So reassuring!

“My apologies. I was occupied with resurrecting Seizrunner, and circumstances were against me.”

“No, that was the best call you could’ve made.”
If you’d been even a moment later, I don’t want to think what would’ve happened.
Looking at it now, given the timing of the lost connection, you must’ve poured everything into resurrection the moment trouble struck. If you hadn’t, there’s no way you would’ve arrived at such a perfect moment.
I turned my gaze to Selin.
She seemed utterly unharmed even within the Electric Field.
A far different reaction from the monsters losing themselves, tearing into each other.
I’d likely adjusted the output because of her.
‘Or had I?’
Now that I think about it, even at full power, I doubt it would’ve mattered against her…
Selin speaks, clearly finding the sensation prickling across her skin unpleasant.
“It’s tingling and irritating. You’re responsible for this too, aren’t you?”

Krail, having confirmed Selin’s status, suddenly pleaded.

“Please, I beg you, survive this.”

“No, I mean it—you’ve helped tremendously.”
Didn’t that wave of monsters strangling us stop because of you?
If it were just her alone, we could manage somehow…
“Pluto, I’m asking you once more.”
“Yes!”
Pluto, who had been carving a path at the front, replied with visible exhaustion.
“Go! I’ll find a breakthrough no matter what—just buy us time!”
Pluto charges forward once more, slicing through Selin.
Slash—
But Selin resurrects without fail, as expected.
Pluto presses on regardless, driving her back repeatedly.
It seems he’s maintaining a safe distance so I can think clearly.
Rumble—
And yet Selin resurrects again and again, countless times over.
“Is she seriously invincible?”

“That is not the case, I’m afraid.”

I’d voiced a complaint, and Krail responded with those words.
“You know something about this?”

“I can’t go into detail right now, but yes, that’s correct.”

If he’d picked up some intelligence,
I would have preferred he lay it all out plainly.
But with Selin standing right there, wouldn’t that be exposing our strategy to the enemy?
I decided to trust Krail this once.
“What do I need to do?”
“Simply continue pressing her as you have been. That will suffice.”
Simple enough—the trouble was that even this straightforward approach felt impossible at the moment.
I finished the conversation with Krail and turned my attention back to Pluto.
Pluto was strong.
He kept dealing death to Selin, blow after blow.
Yet moments later, she regenerated flawlessly, her expression untroubled.
This was actually supposed to be working?
‘But Pluto… I have no idea how much longer he can keep this up.’
Two minutes had passed since Selin and he resumed their clash.
Even so, he looked visibly more drained than before.
A stark contrast to Selin’s serene composure.
‘There has to be something else… some other angle.’
We only had to hold out until Ar arrived.
But at this rate, it was clear Pluto would collapse before then.

— It’s finally time for Baek Chicken to step up!

A voice message cut through the comms—oddly crisp and clear.
I’d entertained the thought myself, truth be told.
Baek Jin-seong did have considerable specs after all.
His level was a solid thirty-four, well above the baseline for this tier,
and his trait granted him stat bonuses equal to what he’d gained across those levels.
Yet I’d hesitated to put such a dangerous responsibility on his shoulders—
I looked at Baek Jin-seong.
“Really? You’re sure?”
Frankly, this wasn’t the moment to be choosy.
He appeared genuinely taken aback.
A natural reaction.
Combat sense wasn’t something raw stats could buy.
Baek Jin-seong’s combat intuition was… not particularly sharp.
I was about to dismiss the idea entirely when—
“Understood. I’ll do it.”
An answer I hadn’t expected.
“It seems my moment has come. I suspected a day like this might arrive.”

— Oh, look at Scaredy-seong stepping up!
— He’s actually going through with it?
— What does that make all of us who’ve been teasing him?

“You’re certain about this?”
“Yes, but may I ask for one thing?”
There was no time to waste.
“What is it?”
Baek Jin-seong spoke.
“Lend me some gear.”

— Typical Scaredy-seong, already bailing after a minute!

* * *

The viewers had their complaints, naturally.
But that was only because they didn’t yet know what my new equipment could do.
I judged it to be a rather rational decision.
As a result, I promptly took off three pieces of equipment and lent them to her.

【Breath of the Stalwart Hero】
【Guardian’s Steel Boots】
【Spirit-Imbued Leather Armor】

“I didn’t expect you’d lend the armor as well.”
The armor was, in a way, the masterpiece of my survival set.
If I could withstand the first attack, the additional skills would also take effect afterward.
Yet despite that, I peeled off the spirit leather armor and handed it over to her.
How could I not show this kindness to someone heading to the front lines where she might very well die?
Besides, Aegis was waiting nearby, so there was no real danger for me.
“Take them quickly. We don’t have time.”
“Yes.”
I spoke to her as she rapidly equipped the gear.
“Listen carefully—all you need to do is help support Pluto.”
“That’s the fourth time you’ve said that now….”
I was still a bit worried, truth be told.
And with good reason.
Even weakened as Pluto was.
Selin could fight him to a standstill.
Meanwhile, no matter how many stat buffs she received, I wasn’t certain she could reach that level.
Of course, outfitted in hero-grade equipment, she’d overwhelm him in raw stats alone, but she lacked combat sense….
“Graaahhh—!”
Pluto charged forward with a roar, driving Selin once again toward death.
Barely managing to restrain his core before it spiraled into a rampage.
The sight of it was almost pitiful.
I realized there was no time to hesitate and spoke.
We had to trust in this.
“Go!”
“I’ll be back soon.”
Baek Jin-seong burst forth and threw a punch.
Whoosh—
He rushed in with impressive momentum, swinging his fist.
But as expected, he missed entirely.
It was almost baffling how confidently he’d committed to the strike.
And yet it wasn’t without effect.
“Ugh—”
The blow packed enough force to distract Selin, which was all that mattered.
When the weakened Pluto filled the opening, a remarkably solid combination formed.
Selin ground her teeth together.
‘And more than anything… those stats are far more brutal than I expected.’
The attributes from the hero-grade equipment, combined
With the stats she’d gained from the broadcast as well, she
Had proven to be a sufficiently valuable wildcard, however inexperienced.
Still, my unease remained unchanged.
“Open the Gate.”
I opened a Gate—I was planning to make a decisive move here.
The moment the Gate opened, Neia reconnected without even being summoned.
But her face bore an urgency I’d never seen from her before.
She scanned me, and only after confirming I was unharmed did she recover her usual composure.
I felt bad for worrying her, but there were more pressing matters now.
“Neia, use your Drones to cover that Baek Jin-seong.”
I wanted to handle it myself, if I could.
But I needed to find Selin’s weak points.

『Understood.』

I left the task to Neia and watched the battle unfold.
Now the battle was finally finding its footing.
And so began Selin’s death rush.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
The intervals between Selin’s deaths began to quicken.
And how many times had those deaths accumulated?
‘Wait—isn’t she slowing down?’
Her resurrection was growing slower.
It wasn’t just my imagination.
What is it? What exactly is…?
I surveyed the battlefield.
Then I saw it.
The monsters inside the Electric Field were already dead and gone, so at first I thought I’d been mistaken.
‘No, I was right.’
Outside the Electric Field.
A few monsters standing idle there had withered like mummies, and then…

—Squelch.

And then I saw Selin resurrect.
“Hah… you’re getting bold, aren’t you? Do you know who I am?!”
‘I see…’
With a moment to breathe, the mechanism of her resurrection became clear.
A sustainable resurrection achieved by sacrificing her minions.
But even so, something didn’t add up.
Why had Selin’s resurrection speed slowed?
There were still plenty of minions beyond the Electric Field.
Hundreds of them, easily.
If you counted the players as well.
The blood packs were simply overflowing.
And even the pain—she seemed to feel it more acutely than before.
Pop—
That’s when my thoughts reached that far.
Selin’s crimson blood solid came flying and detonated.
It was blocked by Aegis’s barrier, but that wasn’t the important part.
What mattered was that Selin, unlike before, had lost her composure and now openly directed naked hostility toward me.
“Ugh… I knew something was wrong—you dared conspire with my sister?!”
Selin fixed me with a vicious glare, her eyes sharp with malice, and began to glow an angry red as if seized by frenzy.
At the same time, the blood scattered across the battlefield swirled toward her and was drawn inward.
In the moment I didn’t understand what she meant, something flashed across my mind.
The being who had revealed itself right after I dealt with Gluttony just now.
I glanced at Krail, and he nodded.
So his slowed regeneration was connected to that.
Now that I thought about it, Selin had mentioned something about Authority before she betrayed us.
That explained why Krail didn’t volunteer the information.
If Selin had eavesdropped, it would have been harder to maneuver around her.
Either way, this was a good turn of events.
It meant we’d pushed her into a corner.
Pop—
Baek Jin-seong and Pluto were thrown backward by the force of her expanding aura and came flying toward me.
The two of them, who tumbled to the ground, struggled to push themselves up.
And in that moment, Selin, having regenerated her body, reinforced herself once more.
“Your plan was clever, but what will you do about this?”
She began greedily absorbing the vital essence of all those beyond the Electric Field.
Players too.
The auras of ogres, vampires, and the like.
All of them withered and collapsed.
“If I don’t die, if I don’t weaken, there’s no reason for my Authority to be taken from me again!”
Her confident and arrogant momentum was no bluff at all.
I merely swung my arm toward the drone’s beam coming at me—
Boom-crash—
And not only the beam, but three or four drones beyond that trajectory were torn apart in a chain reaction from that single strike.
“The Final Phase, then.”
There’s little room for luck here.
I need to hold out with everything I have, using every means at my disposal.
I quickly laid out the board in my mind.
My hand was fuller than I’d first calculated.
I could see the path to victory.
“Neia, where are Ar and Sermin?”

“About three minutes until they converge on your position.”

“Tell Ar to stop converging and prepare the Ultra-High Energy Particle Cannon. Neia, you’ll handle the targeting support.”

“Instructions relayed. Cannon prep in progress…”

I glanced at the two figures who were already drained to the bone.
“I’m going to need you both to push a little harder.”
Baek Jin-seong spoke in a spirited voice.
“Yes!”
Pluto answered in a meek, almost timid tone.
“U… understood…”
Selin smirked at them both as though finding them absurd.
These were the same two who’d held a narrow advantage mere moments ago.
But now that she’d grown overwhelmingly stronger, how insignificant they must appear to her.
Still, their mission was never to defeat Selin in the first place.
“Wring out every ounce of strength you have and push her as far from here as possible—for exactly one minute.”
“Have you lost your mind? Calling out strategy in front of the enemy. You must be desperate indeed—”
I ignored Selin and spoke directly to the two.
“Go!”
Pluto charged forward as Baek Jin-seong followed close behind.
Selin, about to counterattack, twisted her face in irritation.

[Soul Binding Chain activated.]
+ [Soul Binding Chain]
– Immobilizes the designated target’s movement for 3 seconds. (Cooldown: 2 hours)

It was an auxiliary skill from the Gloves I wore.
Purple chains coiled around her, binding her tight.
The duration was only three seconds, true enough.
But for two superhumans, it was ample time to seize the moment.
All I needed to do was tip the scales ever so slightly.

[Will you use Delegation?]

I activated Delegation on Baek Jin-seong.
Under his kick, she shot forward in a straight line like a cannon shell.
At the same time, the two became hunting dogs, chasing her down.
In that opening, I summoned Seizrunner.
Shrieee—whirrr—
Seizrunner answered the call, accompanied by harsh, grating noise.
“Neia, status on the Ultra-High Energy Particle Cannon?”

“Nearly ready. However, the coordinate calculations remain uncertain.”

Well, of course they are.
She’s being pummeled relentlessly by those two right now.
“Krail, you have a lock on Baek Jin-seong as well, don’t you?”

“Of course.”

“Tell her we’re done here—hold on and don’t let go.”
Baek Jin-seong grabs hold of her.
Pluto cuts down Selin as she lunges to attack Baek Jin-seong, intercepting her strike.
But even that had its limits.
A perfectly placed thrust through Pluto’s guard, exploiting the gap his speed couldn’t cover.
Thunk—
The blade seemed to pierce clean through Baek Jin-seong.
Yet contrary to expectation, he remained unharmed.

[Impact Absorption activates.]

The Spirit-Imbued Leather Armor shields him.

[Immovable Steps activates.]

The Guardian’s Steel Boots anchor him in place.

[Battlefield’s Deep Breath activates.]
[Fortitude activates.]

The Breath of the Stalwart Hero had shielded Baek Jin-seong perfectly, again and again.

“This… is infuriating…!”

As Baek Jin-seong’s reserves began to run dry, I activated the second skill from the Gloves.

[Soul Curse is activated.]
[Target’s movement will be slowed for 10 seconds.]

“Ultra-High Energy Particle Cannon standing by. Coordinates calculated. Awaiting authorization.”

“Baek Jin-seong, now! Fall back!”
My voice carries through the wireless link Krail established to Baek Jin-seong.
The man who had held his ground unflinchingly suddenly pivots with tremendous speed, sliding backward as though pulled by an invisible current.

[Swift Retreat activates.]
Like wind itself, he slips beyond the firing radius.
“Fire the Ultra-High Energy Particle Cannon.”

* * *

A moment ago, Baek Jin-seong had been within reach.
Now he was gone in a heartbeat.
In Selin’s peripheral vision, a flash of light suddenly bloomed.
She turned toward it, dread flooding through her, but her body refused to move.
A chilling cold seized her limbs, paralyzing her will to escape.
The flash descended upon her like lightning made manifest.
Her entire body ignited in searing flame.

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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