Zeig slowly walked to the front of the crowd.
He said loudly:
"Everyone~! All this time, the Overworld has needed the Underworld to supply Geomarrow, and the Underworld has needed the Overworld to supply goods! If the Overworld falls now, no matter how much Geomarrow we dig, there won't be any supplies coming down!"
"Moreover, recently the Fragmentum expansion has become more and more ferocious. The monsters I shredded in Rivet Town the second time actually managed to dull my chainsaw!"
"You have to understand—when I first went to Rivet Town, I sawed all the way from the entrance to the orphanage without stopping once! You can imagine how serious the situation is!"
"..."
For a moment, everyone fell silent.
If the Overworld truly fell, it would be bad for Wildfire, the vagrants, and even Svarog.
Although the people of the Underworld really disliked the Overworld.
They had withdrawn all their troops and locked them down here to honestly mine.
But...
At least when Geomarrow was handed over, supplies really did come down.
Besides, the Fragmentum creatures becoming more violent wasn't just happening in the Overworld.
If Zeig hadn't gone to Rivet Town twice in a row to shred large numbers of them, by now the Fragmentum creatures would have reached Boulder Town.
Clara might even have died.
So, when the girl suggested that Svarog also go support the Overworld, the latter did not agree immediately.
The situation in the Underworld was not optimistic either.
Svarog looked at everyone and said solemnly:
"If Wildfire and the vagrants are all going to provide support, then my automatons will remain to guard the Underworld. We cannot deploy all combat forces upward, or the Underworld will be left undefended."
Hearing this, everyone suddenly came to their senses.
"That's right—not only is the Fragmentum expanding wildly in the Overworld, it's the same in the Underworld, isn't it?"
"If we all go up to support, what about down here!"
"But if the Overworld is gone, we'll be finished sooner or later anyway..."
"It's over—the heavens want us dead!"
Seeing both the vagrant camp and the Wildfire camp panicking, Svarog continued:
"My legion can conservatively protect one area. If all the people in the Underworld are gathered together for defense, there will be no problem."
The areas in the Underworld that hadn't fallen yet weren't many.
Boulder Town was one, along with the Great Mine and the Mechanical Settlement.
Svarog's legion could only protect one, meaning the other two would have to be temporarily abandoned.
"Of course we defend Boulder Town! If that turns into Fragmentum, what's the difference between the Underworld and being completely lost?!"
"The Great Mine is important too—there's still Geomarrow there!"
"What about the furnace core hub?"
For a moment, opinions flew everywhere.
Dan Heng stepped forward in front of everyone and analyzed:
"If we must hold one area, Boulder Town is undoubtedly the most important."
"If even the main residential area becomes Fragmentum, the Underworld's situation will become very dire."
"Even if the Mechanical Settlement and Great Mine fall, the vagrants can temporarily stay in Boulder Town. As for the furnace core hub and Geomarrow... if this operation goes smoothly, Belobog's blizzards will stop, and the cable car can resume operation. No matter the choice, I think guarding Boulder Town is the safer option."
Clara nodded, very much in agreement:
"Yes... the town is still more important."
After hearing Dan Heng's words, the Wildfire members were inwardly delighted, since they originally lived in Boulder Town.
But the vagrants hesitated.
If they lost the camps in the Great Mine and Mechanical Settlement, truly living in Boulder Town would undoubtedly mean living under someone else's roof.
Wait.
It seemed the Great Mine camp was yielded by the miners... and the Mechanical Settlement camp was cleared by Svarog.
Thinking about it that way, there didn't seem to be much difference.
At most, they'd be closer to Wildfire.
"Humph, then let's do that!" one vagrant said.
"Hey, Wildfire—don't make things difficult for us when the time comes!"
Hearing the vagrants' shouts, the Wildfire members weren't about to show weakness and shouted back.
"Forget it! As long as you don't do immoral things, who cares about you!"
"Yeah, yeah—every time, isn't it you who do bad things first?"
"Bullshit! If our homes weren't gone and we weren't starving every day, would we bother doing those things?!"
Hearing this, Pela stepped forward and said:
"Um, if Belobog can safely overcome this crisis, supplies won't be a problem. After all, the lockdown order has already been lifted, right?"
"Heh~ ptui!"
"How can we trust you? The Overworld locks us down whenever they want and unlocks whenever they feel like it! Besides, you say it's lifted, but right now the cable car can't even be used—is lifting the lockdown just lip service? No real action at all, just empty words?!"
Pela's gaze went blank. The anger of these vagrants was extraordinary.
But it was understandable—after all, their homes were gone, they lived wandering lives every day. It was normal to feel insecure.
"Holy crap, big bro... what do we do now? Internal strife and external threats!" Sampo came to Zeig's side, worried.
Zeig held a tablet in his hands, fully focused on the screen inside, completely ignoring the surrounding quarrel.
"Big bro? Big bro!"
Sampo looked at the tablet: "What are you watching?"
In the screen, there was a sea of red and blue, mixed with some yellow.
What was once a snowy plain was now packed with Fragmentum creatures, slowly moving like a flood.
The direction they were moving was unmistakably toward Belobog's defensive line.
Countless Silvermane Guards charged forward one after another, raising their weapons and fighting with all their might.
But the monsters were too numerous—the entire defensive line was still steadily pushing toward Belobog. In a short while, it might even reach the Administrative District.
Suddenly, the screen flashed.
Cocolia grabbed the flying drone with one hand. She looked at the screen and said coldly:
"...If you're not dead, hurry up and come up here."
This sudden event scared Zeig so much that his tablet went pia and fell to the ground.
"Damn it, have they finished discussing or not!" Sampo looked at the crowd around them, still chattering endlessly.
"Big bro, let's go persuade them too. We can't let them keep arguing like this..." Sampo said anxiously.
"Can't you see? Those vagrants don't even have a leader. As soon as someone stirs the rhythm, they immediately start venting their pent-up resentment one by one. The more you argue with them, the more energized they get."
"Then what do we do..."
"What do we do? We don't wait, that's what. It's like we absolutely have to wait for them. I was just checking the battle situation earlier, thinking about where to start fighting—who's waiting for them."
Snap—
Zeig snapped his fingers.
A gray-white light wall appeared behind him and expanded wildly!
"This... what is this?!"
"Am I seeing things? I saw a white wall—and it's still getting bigger!"
"My god, magic!"
Zeig said loudly: "Everyone——!! For the tribe——charge ah!! Awooo awooo awooo!!"
With that, Zeig took the lead and rushed into the light curtain.
…
On Belobog's city walls.
Cocolia's brows were tightly furrowed.
The cold wind howled.
Heavy snow flew.
Suddenly, the entire sky inexplicably darkened.
Then it abruptly lit up with golden light!
The clouds slowly gathered, condensing like a vortex.
In an instant, winds rose and clouds surged...
Even the blizzard that had plagued Belobog for years paused in this moment.
The Silvermane Guards behind her all looked up toward the distant sky.
"That's... the sun?"
"No, it's a sword! It's a sword ah——!"
A massive sword tip occupied the entire sky.
Carrying a piercing sound of breaking air.
It slowly emerged from the clouds!
…