349 Fortunate Bra (1/2)

It was said that when Beyana self-destructed, divine golden light lit up the entire sky. Not only were the brilliant streaks seen by people in the Forest of Dreams and Nightrain City, but even those in the Mage Country across the sea were able catch the great spectacle.

If it weren't for the fact that Beyana had carefully controlled the radius of her self-destruction, she could have blown up the entire Oak Town together with her incarnation's death.

When the suddenly-evolved Mars displayed his potential, giving what remained of the Thunder Titan Giant actual danger, the Thunder Titan Giant's older brother was unable to simply sit by and watch his younger brother's incarnation perish. After all, the Titan Giants were still sealed in statues, and every bit of strength was valuable.

Yins ”The Thinker,” who had been holding back all this time, finally went all out. He proceeded to crush a part of Mars' undead army and save the other Titan Giant, Hatley, but when he did so none of the True Gods' incarnations moved to stop him.

If a Titan Giant was forced to the brink, their incarnations, too, were capable of self-destructing themselves. None of the True Gods were confident enough to claim that their incarnations could survive the self-destruction of that of a Titan Giant.

This was also why it was a terrible idea to use numbers to surround and attack a high-level existence's incarnation. Forcing it to the brink and making it self-destruct would end in nothing but losses for all sides—nobody, of course, wanted to have anything to do with such a prickly porcupine… It was like dealing with certain monsters in video games. Nobody would want to challenge a boss monster that was incredibly difficult to fight and wouldn't even give you any money, experience, or special items.

Since the main fighters—the True Gods' incarnations—didn't want to fight this to the end, none of us would be able to do anything to stop the Titan Giants that had decided to make their escape.

Although Mars wanted to continue fighting, he didn't possess the ability to travel at high speeds, so he was unable to catch them.

And so, this battle concluded.

”We've won!” ”We've finally survived…” Cheers resounded throughout Oak Town simultaneously with sighs exclaiming how lucky they were to survive. Powerful existences came out one after another, fighting with power that could casually shatter the body of any ordinary adventurer with a single touch. It was only natural for the adventurers to all feel chills run down their collective spines.

For these first-generation ”Contract Heroes,” today was a day destined to be one they'd never forget. Today's battles would have outstanding impact.

The Titan Giants, True Gods, Undead Emperors, and Undead Calamity. Not only did these mythical existences appear in real life, but they even fought against each other. This had long since surpassed the comprehension of the Contract Heroes.

The adventurers typically did their jobs to make a living or to obtain more resources to reach the next power level. But, today, the Titan Giants and True Gods seemed to step right out of the pages of history, giving them a chance to encounter top-level strength of the world. By now, they all realized that they had gotten involved in a huge incident. This was a revolution, one destined to occur as the generation changed. It was also a great opportunity for the courageous.

”…Perhaps one day we, too, will have the power to accomplish things on this type of battlefield instead of hiding in the corner and praying.”

For some things, one would only realize their importance upon coming into contact with them. Only by noticing the difference between them would one be motivated to work harder. Some things weren't actually impossible—it was just that people didn't dare to think about them. But once the fires of ambition ignited in people's minds, it would be near impossible to extinguish them.

This was exactly why the video games in my previous world would put out all sorts of cool and flashy opening videos as their advertisements. Perhaps you wouldn't be able to accomplish what's depicted in them right away, or maybe you might never reach the skill shown in the advertisement. Yet at least you would have hopes and expectations not only towards the game itself but also from what you would obtain from playing it.

”Perhaps many things now are different from before.” I did also believe that treading on the brink of life and death and witnessing a battle of such epic proportions would make many adventurers quit the job tomorrow. Still, there would be people who would become ever more passionate. This was a trial given to them by this generation, as well as an opportunity. They could reach the peak with this Contract Hero shortcut as no other method would give them this opportunity—the opportunity to reach the peak with such speed.

”Let's increase the number of Hero Armlets we hand out for the second batch of Contract Heroes. How about 300,000 for all of Eich—no—let's go with 500,000!”

This was my hope as well. After today, the second batch of Contract Heroes would become more popular with the signups. Unless people accepted this contract, they would never be able to even come into contact with such high-level battles.

I didn't need to care about the advertising channels for now. With their actions, the Ayer Faction's True Gods proved their full support for the Contract Heroes system—another reason the Goddess of Wealth chose to self-destruct her incarnation in the end.

Who stood to lose the most if the two Titan Giants were allowed to destroy Oak Town? While the wood spirits would fail in developing a new territory for the Forest of Dreams, they wouldn't actually have concrete losses. Most of the wood spirits would have been able to retreat, and it was always possible to simply try again. But if this first-ever batch of Contract Heroes met with an insurmountably powerful opponent and died off in droves on their very first major mission, the credibility rating of the entire Contract Heroes system would suffer a huge hit.

While losing people didn't count as much, losing believability in ”Justice Points” counted for much more.

Although the first batch of Contract Heroes was drawn to us by the rewards we offered, they also joined us because of the Ayer Faction's strength and credibility. Otherwise, no matter how many treasures we offered, none would be willing to join the crew of a sinking boat.

No idiot could obtain Godhood. Beyana knew these hidden factors full well.

”Failure is fine for the second or third times. Great risks are associated with great rewards, and most people can understand that. However, failure nor large-scale deaths absolutely can't be permitted for the first time. Otherwise, a serious credibility problem will arise.” That was why Beyana had secretly made preparations to prevent this first ever large-scale mission from failing. She, along with several other True Gods, had descended with their incarnations. She could have chosen to make her incarnation escape instead of self-destructing, leaving the Titan Giants up to others more powerful than her.