I Got a Gallery in the Wild - Chapter 345

At first, I couldn’t understand it. Why go to all this trouble when she could just hurl the Holy Sword over and leave?

Besides, what on earth was Kadir doing that he wasn’t even providing proper fire support?

Seeing only Asella busting her ass wasn’t a great sight, but she had her own reasons.

[Don’t Abandon the Hero: Kadir-nim is busy dealing with the Liches! And I’m going in person to plant the Holy Sword so the strike lands accurately!]

[Wild Grylls: Can you actually make it back out?]

[Don’t Abandon the Hero: Easily! They’re undead anyway, so if I release even a little bit of holy power, they get blasted back on their own!]

She was clearly in the middle of a fierce battle, yet her messages were coming through just fine.

It almost made me wonder if she was really fighting, but I let it slide.

The bigger issue was whether Asella could safely escape.

Considering the firepower of a missile, just getting out of the immediate vicinity wouldn’t be enough.

Unless Kadir assisted her with Teleportation, but he was completely occupied dealing with Liches.

’Is this really going to be okay?’

Filled with concern, I turned my head.

Over where I turned, Cain’s face filled the screen.

Whether he had nothing to do or was multitasking, he had a blank expression on his face.

"What are you doing right now?"

[I was checking how many launchable missiles remain.]

"How many are there?"

[Only about three are intact. The rest have all been flagged as defective.]

Even after so much time had passed, three of them were still functional.

After letting out a dry chuckle, I waited for Asella’s message.

If Asella had been able to broadcast video, that would be one thing, but since she couldn’t, it felt a bit frustrating.

"Ah, right. Speaking of which, what was the missile’s name again? Teleport Missile?"

[Roughly something like that.]

"Then using that Teleport function, wouldn’t I be able to escape to the outside world as well?"

The more I chewed on the thought, the more plausible it felt. Couldn’t I reverse-engineer the missile’s function to escape?

Cain’s statue had been closer to a ballistic missile than teleportation, so I couldn’t even dream of it back then.

However, teleportation would be a different story. Or so I thought.

[This is Teleport in name only; it still breaches the atmosphere all the same.]

"Then why is ’Teleport’ in its name?"

[Because the Teleport function activates only after it breaks through the atmosphere. That is how it extends its strike range as much as possible.]

"..."

Thank you for the kind explanation. The hope that had just begun to bloom was completely shattered.

Still, it was too early to despair. Regardless, it proved that escaping to the outside was theoretically possible.

Moreover, there were bound to be many ancient ruins left in the Forest of the Four Seasons. A simpler method of escape had to exist.

"You don’t happen to know where other bunkers are located, do you?"

[All those records were deleted. They were classified, after all.]

"Yet you still have the authorization to launch missiles?"

[Is there a problem?]

"No. It’s just..."

There were more than a few questionable points, but since they weren’t crucial right now, I moved on.

What mattered right now was whether Asella had successfully placed the Holy Sword.

Since there was no message yet, she was likely still pushing forward through the enemy ranks.

’If I had known, should I have given her an Elixir?’

Just as that thought crossed my mind...

[Don’t Abandon the Hero: Im rhrooouggh!]

[Wild Grylls: What?]

[Don’t Abandon the Hero: Fire! Fire! Fiiiire it plainnsss!!!]

Just how rushed was she to produce so many typos?

Still, it meant her preparations were complete, so I double-checked.

[Wild Grylls: Launching now?]

[Don’t Abandon the Hero: Do iiiit!!!]

The moment I received her final ultimatum(?), I asked Cain.

On the screen, Cain nodded at my words and spoke.

[Do you see the green button over there? Pressing that should do it.]

"Are you really sure there’s no issue?"

[I have verified it dozens of times, so you need not worry. The Holy Sword’s coordinates are precisely in the direction of the Balkan Kingdom.]

"If you say so..."

Click—

Trusting Cain’s word, I pressed the green button.

At first, there was no reaction at all, but a moment later, a prompt popped up via Cain.

[A new update is available.]

"...What?"

Now? In this situation?

My eyes widened in utter panic. I wasn’t the only one caught off guard.

Even Cain on the screen seemed caught unprepared, his eyes darting back and forth in confusion.

"An update? What update all of a sudden? Wait, why is there even an update in the first place?!"The source of this chapter is novelрing.com.

[T-That, I do not know either. However, it states that updating is required to fire the missile.]

"What kind of... No, putting that aside, how long will the update take?"

[Roughly...]

Cain knitted his brows in thought, then stole a cautious glance at my reaction.

[...About 30 minutes?]

"We’re screwed."

In reality, that was likely his lowest estimate.

Giving it a generous estimate, it would probably take an hour. The problem was the bunker’s equipment.

Anyone could tell it was completely dilapidated; update my ass, it’d be a miracle if it didn’t throw a Blue Screen of Death.

And the fact that an update even existed was incomprehensible to begin with.

’Wait, no. Maybe this is actually better.’

It bought time for Asella to escape, so it wasn’t a bad thing.

Still, I needed to inform her of the situation quickly. I immediately sent a message.

[Wild Grylls: Orange Badge-nim. I have good news and bad news. Which one do you want first?]

[Don’t Abandon the Hero: 22222222]

Looks like she wants the second one—the bad news—first.

Just how rushed was she that she couldn’t even type words and just spammed numbers?

[Wild Grylls: Because of a system update, the missile will launch in 30 minutes.]

[Don’t Abandon the Hero: Great! 11111]

[Wild Grylls: The good news is that it bought you time to escape, Orange Badge-nim.]

[Don’t Abandon the Hero: Even better!]

As expected, it turned out to be a better outcome. Still, just in case, I should provide some help.

Without her Holy Sword right now, her combat effectiveness must have plunged dramatically.

"Ludwig-ssi. Hand over the staff."

"Why this?"

"To give to Asella-ssi."

"Take it."

Even Ludwig, who held a deep affection for the staff, handed it over willingly.

One might wonder why I chose the staff—Mistilteinn—instead of the Mythricon sword.

’Undead are bones, so they should be vulnerable to blunt weapons, right?’

It was for a terribly simple reason. Furthermore, Mistilteinn was a divine artifact deeply intertwined with the World Tree.

Thus, there was a high chance it would react to holy power as well. I immediately sent a message.

[Wild Grylls: I’m sending you a weapon, hold out with this.]

[Don’t Abandon the Hero: THX!!!]

Her words seemed to be getting shorter and shorter, but I let it be.

After handing over Mistilteinn, I waited quietly for the update.

On the screen, a painfully familiar progress bar appeared, indicating the update progress.

Yet it didn’t seem to fill up at all. Was that thing even moving?

"Cain-ssi. Could you put your hand at the end of that progress bar?"

[I can, but may I ask why?]

"Just checking something."

As requested, Cain placed his fingertip at the end of the line.

Before long, the line slightly nudged past Cain’s fingertip. That meant the update was indeed progressing.

As you might have guessed, I had used Cain’s finger as a makeshift cursor.

"That’s good enough. The update is moving."

More than that, I had a lingering doubt. For an update to exist, there had to be a ’developer.’

This bunker was supposed to have been abandoned for ages, so for an update to appear meant...

’Someone in the Forest of the Four Seasons is acting as the developer.’

Nothing else made sense. And this developer was likely deeply connected to the Gallery.

Was that developer a human, or an AI like Cain? I felt myself sinking deeper into a maze of mystery.

’Whatever. I’ll just have to look for other ruins later.’

I leaned back in the chair and waited for the missile to launch.

If I helped Asella out here and there, things would be fine.

’Come to think of it, how strong is Asella anyway?’

I wished someone was filming her fight. That was a bit disappointing.

Kwajib! Kwajijik! Kwajib!

With a single swing of the club, skeletons didn’t just smash—they pulverized into dust.

It was the combined product of the wielder’s raw muscle power and the holy energy infused into the club.

It fully deserved to be called the natural enemy of the undead—especially skeletons.

’What an amazing weapon!’

The Hero, Asella, marvelled as she swung Mistilteinn.

Right now, the Holy Sword was thrust right in the middle of the Balkan Kingdom’s capital to establish the strike coordinates.

She had tried desperately to escape from that spot, but the undead numbers were simply overwhelming.This chapter was taken from novelpin⁠g.com without permission.

[Kyaaaaaak!]

[Kreaaaaaa!]

Calling the capital of the Balkan Kingdom an ’unearthly hellscape’ wouldn’t be an understatement.

There were far more skeletons here than in the undead host raiding the border.

Not just skeletons, but Death Knights, Liches, Ghouls, Mummies, and more.

It was a insane hellscape that could rightfully be called an undead paradise.

’Thankfully, Kadir-nim is taking care of the Liches...’

Kwaduk!

Asella smashed another skeleton into pieces and looked up.

Looking up, she saw Kadir using flight magic, raining down spells like a carpet-bombing run.

However, even for the Mage King, overwhelming numbers seemed difficult to handle completely alone.

He appeared to be nursing a headache as he fended off the relentless harassments from countless Liches swarming everywhere.

’30 minutes. In 30 minutes, all of this will be over.’

Until then, escaping the Balkan Kingdom’s capital was the top priority.

However, an unexpected problem arose here—namely, the sheer number of undead.

There were way too many. Even saying ’swarming underfoot’ fell short of describing it.

Asella bit her lip tightly and checked the time. About 5 minutes remained until the time Grylls mentioned.

Yet she still hadn’t managed to break out of the central capital area.

’Is there any way...?!’

Just as Asella was agonizing over her options, Kadir, who had been unleashing relentless attacks from the sky, swooped down beside her.

Kadir placed a hand on Asella’s shoulder.

"It is time to withdraw."

"Huh? What do you mean..."

Shuk!

Before Asella could even finish speaking, she felt her body pulled somewhere in a flash.

Asella recognized this sensation: Teleportation, a high-tier magic spell.

When she regained her senses, they were standing far away from the capital.

"Hahaha. I got so caught up loosening my muscles that I almost forgot our original objective."

"...Kadir-nim?"

"The Teleport spell was prepared long ago."

An utterly eccentric answer came back. Upon hearing it, Asella felt her tension melt away completely.

Now that the crisis had passed, all that remained was to watch the Balkan Kingdom’s capital.

Seeing a kingdom that once boasted a glorious history be vaporized was painful, but there was no choice.

"It is about time. That missile or whatever it is called should be arriving..."

Wuuuung!

Even before Kadir could finish speaking, a phenomenon occurred in the skies above the Balkan Kingdom capital.

Three holes tore open in the sky, as if the firmament itself had ruptured.

And from within those holes...

Chwaaaak!!!

Three massive, majestic missiles descended.

If they had merely fallen, that would be one thing, but these were no ordinary missiles.

Pibibing! Pibibing!

Countless submunitions detached and rained down from the missiles.

Asella and Kadir witnessed the spectacle clearly with their own eyes.

Kwagwagwang!!! Kwagwagwang!!!

Soon, the first batch of submunitions triggered a cascade of countless explosions.

Firepower reminiscent of falling meteors. Asella’s jaw dropped at the sight.

’That’s a weapon? A non-magical weapon?!’

Yet that was not the end. The main bodies were still falling.

Having shed all their submunitions, the primary missile warheads slammed into the earth—

Flash!

A blinding flash burst forth, and then—

Kukwaaaaang!!!

Three mushroom clouds bloomed elegantly into the sky.

Regardless of their elegant bloom, everything beneath them was utterly annihilated.

Even without scattering radioactive death, it was a phenomenon as though the God of Destruction himself had descended.

Kwaaaaaa!!!

The shockwave following the grand explosion swept over Asella and Kadir.

With a light gesture, Kadir erected a barrier to block the gusting shockwave.

"T-Thank you, Kadir-nim."

"..."

Despite Asella’s expression of gratitude, Kadir remained silent.

He merely stared with a completely frozen expression at the Balkan Kingdom’s capital, where not a single speck of dust remained.

’The weapon of the gods... was not something meant to be wielded.’

He realized the depth of his own arrogance.