Chapter 44
I lifted the boy, who was staring at my hand blankly, hesitating, and asked him warmly.
He was such a fearful child that if I wasn’t gentle, he might run away.
It was a relief that Xenon wasn’t nearby.
If Xenon were here, the boy might have bolted at the sight of his intimidating face.
“Y-yes, the faction, um….”
Seeing his timid response made me even more certain that he was the one I was looking for.
“What’s your name?”
The boy hesitated, chewing his lips before speaking cautiously.
“Nia… um, Nia Jemillon….”
Nia Jemillon.
The boy who would one day be known as the “Bloodstorm” and become Agatha’s right hand.
I nodded, smiling brightly at this shy introduction from a future battle maniac.
“Welcome, Nia.”
Agatha, the henchman you intended to use and then discard is now mine.
[Nia Jemillon has joined the Black Faction.]
[Nia Jemillon]
[Constellation: The Wind That Benefits All]
[Stigma: Windwalker]
[Stigma: Flight]
[Stigma: Wind’s Command]
…….
‘Good.’
Now, all the preparations for the war are complete.
Moreover, I’d even gained an unexpected advantage.
‘When attacking the Wind base, it would be great to have someone like Nia with wind-related skills on our team, but….’
‘I never imagined he’d come to us on his own!’
Nia’s constellation, The Wind That Benefits All, is associated with the wind deity Pungbaek, known as the strongest wind deity among the Korean gods.
With this, we could conquer the Wind base with ease.
‘As long as no unexpected obstacles arise.’
Suppressing the urge to ruffle Nia’s fluffy-looking hair, I turned my head.
The pressing issue had been resolved.
I had been racking my brain over how to approach the Wind base, but it got sorted out like this.
It’s true—sometimes life rewards good deeds unexpectedly.
[The current number of members in the Black Faction is 318.]
I glanced around at my team members, feeling puzzled.
Considering that around a thousand people participated in the Black-White War, this was fewer than I had expected.
‘The rest must be either unaffiliated or have joined Agatha’s side?’
Having most of the participants on the other team certainly put us at a disadvantage.
But it was enough for attacking the bases.
Most of the key figures from the original story were on our side, giving us a qualitative edge.
In other words, if we strategized well, we could win the game even with fewer people!
The only problem was that our opponent’s commander was the unpredictable Agatha….
“You’re wearing that serious expression again.”
Xenon, who had approached without me noticing, patted my shoulder as he spoke.
“The sand will finish falling soon. It would be wise to divide the assault teams before that.”
Xenon was right.
The hourglass had about a third of its sand remaining.
‘Less than an hour left.’
Even though the time to choose team members was three hours, I had thought it was plenty of time. But that wasn’t the case.
Well, talking with various people took more time than expected.
“Understood.”
Nodding, I walked towards where our newly formed Black faction members were gathered.
The goal was to reach the center of the square where everyone was sitting in a circle.
“Ahem, ahem….”
After reaching my destination, I cleared my throat before speaking.
During the incident in the Forest of Spirits, I used a loudspeaker to gather attention due to the war situation.
Now, it was a time of rest.
Simply raising my voice would draw attention.
I straightened my shoulders and shouted loudly.
“Everyone, please focus for a moment!”
My voice echoed across the air, loud and clear.
And naturally, all those who had been chatting turned their attention to me at once.
‘This is intense….’
Even as someone naturally drawn to attention, facing the gaze of hundreds of people at once was overwhelming.
I took a deep breath to calm my racing heart and opened my mouth again.
“Thank you, everyone, for trusting me and joining our team. I am Wendy Porcelain, the leader of the Black Faction.”
From beyond my bowed head, I could hear the murmurs of the people.
“My word, I knew she was young, but I didn’t expect a kid that green to be the leader.”
“Is it really safe to entrust our lives to someone like her?”
There were those who doubted me due to my unexpectedly young appearance.
“Trust the leader!”
“I’ve been watching since the Forest of Spirits!”
Some defended me, and then there were others who…
“What did she just say?”
“Wendy Pusillin?”
…seemed indifferent to the situation itself, showing a variety of reactions.
But the undeniable fact remained—they all chose me as their leader to whom they would entrust their lives.
And that meant I had to live up to their expectations.
“All of you will pass through this trial safely.”
Taking a deep breath, I began to speak cautiously.
“No one will die.”
To be honest, it wasn’t a statement made with absolute confidence.
A trial where no one dies?
Such a trial couldn’t exist, and there was no chance of one ever existing.
But it wasn’t a reckless promise either.
It was more like a resolution, a vow I made to myself that no one would die.
However, despite my inner determination, the crowd voiced their doubts one by one.
“How can we believe that?”
“Do you have some kind of plan?”
Their anxious eyes gathered on me, full of uncertainty.
And I understood their feelings.
After all, I wasn’t as mature as Agatha, nor as dependable as Xenon or Yeriel.
‘In that case, there’s nothing like this.’
I opened up Big Data and scanned through the list of skills.
[Big Data]
Imitates and mimics the skills of others.
<Currently Available Skills: 4>
- Sword Strike: Dull Sword (C)
- Incitement (D)
- Execution (D)
- Fireball (C)
‘Oh ho.’
Sword Strike upgraded from D to C, and Incitement went from E to D.
‘It wasn’t a lie that the abilities scale up to their maximum potential.’
Muttering to myself, I activated Incitement.
[Stigma: Incitement (D) is activated. The caster’s words become more persuasive.]
“Everyone, please calm down and listen. We plan to split into two groups.”
The Fire base will be conquered mainly by those with a high affinity for fire attributes.
If things go smoothly, we might be able to pass through without a fight.
After looking around at the gathered people, I pointed to my right.
“First, regardless of your stats, if you possess a fire-attribute constellation or abilities, please stand to my right.”
The key to conquering the Fire base was an affinity for fire.
All other elements were just supplementary.
Perhaps due to the power of the Incitement skill, everyone moved smoothly without complaint.
“Then I’ll go over here…”
“I have a fire-attribute skill too!”
Once a certain number of people had moved, I pointed to my left this time.
“And among the remaining people, those whose combined total stats exceed 100, please stand to my left.”
On the other hand, for conquering the Thunder base, the conqueror’s stats were crucial.
The Thunder base was known in the original story as one of the most challenging and dangerous to conquer.
Lightning-attribute abilities were rare.
“Lightning, you say?”
“If my total stats exceed 100, I guess I should go there.”
“I don’t have any fire abilities or good stats. Where should I go…?”
Seeing the people murmur and hesitate, I added further instructions.
“It doesn’t matter what attributes you have. If you have confidence in your abilities and strength, please head to the left.”
Unlike the Fire base, the Thunder base required high resistance against lightning.
In other words, it needed a powerful conqueror like Yeriel to overpower it.
In the original story, Caltain, the male protagonist, took the lead in this conquest.
He had the constellation Asura, which was known for its enmity with Indra, the god of lightning.
This time, the conquest should be even easier than in the original.
‘With Yeriel, Xenon, the original team members, Winfred, and Darwin, there’s nothing to worry about.’
Watching most of the strong members of our faction move to the left, I nodded slowly.
With a team like this, we should be able to conquer the base without much difficulty.
“Now, for those of you who remain, please let me know your attributes and stats individually so I can assign you to a team. And…”
“Wait.”
At that moment, Xenon interrupted me as I was considering how to allocate those who didn’t belong to either group.
“Why?”
Xenon stared at me with his dark eyes.
Why did he always have to stare so intensely?
“Which group do you plan to join?”
Yeriel and Lyria also turned their eyes towards me, curious.
“Well, of course…”
With everyone’s eyes on me, I felt a bit guilty about choosing one side over the other.
Though I had already made my decision.
Sighing, I looked at Xenon.
“Lyria’s team, of course.”
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