Online Game: I Started with Max Charisma and Caught the Goddess's Eye

At the very same moment that Nova’s Daskhollow Base was completely swallowed by darkness, the Imperial Capital was struck by a full-scale assault from the monster horde.

Its outer defenses collapsed almost instantly.

The Morning Star members stationed along those perimeters suffered devastating losses.

As soon as headquarters received the report, chaos erupted within Morning Star’s command center.

Every member was placed on emergency alert.

Morning Star’s highest commander, Logan, was even preparing to personally deploy to the front lines outside the Imperial Capital.

Naturally, the turmoil at headquarters also disturbed Luca.

In his sleep, he vaguely heard the sounds of shouting and movement from outside.

“This situation must be a disaster,” Luca murmured to himself with his eyes still closed.

“The last time the Imperial Capital came under attack from Zenobia, Morning Star HQ wasn’t nearly this chaotic. If I’m right, the outer perimeter has already fallen to the monster horde.”

By comparing the internal response of Morning Star during the two attacks, he quickly concluded that the current situation was dire.

“You’re right,” came Sophia’s voice. “While you were resting, I overheard the Morning Star members talking. The outer defenses of the Imperial Capital have been overrun. The city is in serious danger—Logan himself is preparing to head to the front.”

Though Sophia was still not in great shape herself, she didn’t require much rest.

To recover, all she needed was time.

This trait was both a strength and a limitation for Sophia.

The advantage was that no matter how badly injured she was, she could always remain conscious and functional.

The downside was that even with outside help, she couldn’t instantly return to peak condition.

As soon as she finished speaking, Luca’s eyes snapped open.

“I can’t just sit here doing nothing! I have to head to the outer perimeter of the Imperial Capital.”

As he spoke, he was already striding toward the door.

Just outside, a Morning Star member who had been standing guard looked at Luca with a confused expression.

“What are you doing? Have you fully recovered already?”

Facing the guard’s question, Luca replied with a calm smile,

“I’ve recovered enough. I’m ready to rejoin the fight and help.”

His words visibly lifted the man’s spirits.

“That’s fantastic news! Commander Drumph could really use your help right now!”

Although this Morning Star operative had remained stationed at headquarters, he had been kept well informed of the front-line situation.

He knew that the squad led by Drumph had long been locked in a fierce battle.

He had wanted to rush to their aid earlier, but had held back for one reason—Drumph had given him strict orders to stay behind and ensure Luca’s safety at all costs.

Now, seeing Luca in solid fighting condition—strong enough to protect himself—he no longer needed to stay behind.

He could finally go support Drumph directly.

“Lead the way,” Luca urged.

The two of them then took off at full speed, heading for the fortress zone on the outskirts of the Imperial Capital.

As they moved, Sophia kept speaking to Luca through their mental link.

She didn’t fully agree with his decision.

“I can tell your condition has improved significantly… but don’t you think it’s too soon to throw yourself into battle?

Even if Drumph is in serious trouble, he’s not someone who’ll go down that easily. Morning Star HQ is bound to send reinforcements.

There’s no need for you to push yourself like this.”

Sophia was hoping Luca would take his time recovering—ideally resting until he had returned to full strength before heading into combat.

Luca, of course, understood her concern.

So he responded gently, explaining his reasoning.

“I know I’m pushing myself,” he admitted, his voice tinged with helplessness.

“But I don’t have much of a choice.”

“This monster horde is completely different from the previous ones.

Not only is it far more powerful, but the chaotic energy it carries… feels strange. Off.

I can’t shake the feeling that there’s something deeper behind all this—some hidden agenda.”

“We need to gather enough intel to uncover what’s really going on.”

Only by understanding the situation can we respond appropriately. What if this entire scheme was orchestrated by our enemies in the Eternal World?

“If we don’t act quickly, they might seize this opportunity and completely crush us in one decisive blow!”

Luca laid out all of his reasoning.

After hearing it, even Sophia had to admit that his judgment was sound.

“You’re right. I didn’t think things through enough,” she said. “But I still don’t think you should jump straight into battle. You should focus on gathering intel about the monster horde first.”

Though she accepted his analysis, Sophia still didn’t want Luca risking himself in direct combat with monsters from such a powerful horde.

“Of course,” Luca replied. “I’ll only intervene if Drumph’s life is in immediate danger. Otherwise, I’ll stay in a safe position and collect intelligence.”

His answer finally eased some of Sophia’s concern.

She fell silent after that.

Fifteen minutes later, Luca and his companion finally reached the outermost line of the Imperial Capital’s defenses.

And what he saw there left him absolutely stunned.

On the ground, an uncountable number of monsters surged toward the city’s outer walls like a massive tide.

In the skies above, swarms of flying monsters completely blocked out the sunlight. They clustered together in dark, writhing masses, like enormous storm clouds, hurling themselves against the Morning Star forces stationed on the perimeter.

The chaotic energy carried by this monster horde was so overwhelming that Luca couldn’t begin to comprehend it.

“This… this can’t be real! Has Zenobia already regained her divine rank? Only someone at divine rank could command chaotic energy of this magnitude!”

He gasped aloud in disbelief.

Just then, the Morning Star operative beside him—who had been scanning the battlefield for any sign of Drumph—suddenly spoke up.

“There! That’s the commander! He’s surrounded by monsters! We need to move now!”

He pointed to the 8 o’clock direction.

Luca followed his gesture and indeed spotted Drumph, encircled by hordes of monsters.

Every member of the squad around him was visibly wounded.

It was clear they had already been through a brutal fight.

Although Luca knew that charging in to rescue Drumph would be extremely dangerous for him in his current state, there was no way he could just stand by and watch.

Drumph had helped him countless times in the past.

And besides, Drumph was his most important ally right now.

After thinking it through carefully, Luca finally came up with a plan—one that could rescue Drumph without putting himself in excessive danger.

“We can’t charge in directly! There are way too many monsters surrounding them. Rushing in blindly would be suicide,” Luca said calmly.

“Then what should we do? Are we just supposed to stand here and watch them get slaughtered?” the Morning Star member asked anxiously.

“Of course not. We’re going to solve this in a smarter way.”

Without another word, Luca took off at high speed, heading toward a nearby fortress not far from Drumph’s location.

Just before reaching the structure, he suddenly stopped.

In that instant, he hurled Starseeker toward the fortress.

At the same time, he summoned thick clouds of Dreamweaving Mist around his body.

As soon as the mist appeared, it began spreading rapidly toward the target stronghold.

With everything in place, Luca quickly used the Dreamweaving Mist to establish a link between the real world and the dream world.

He then used this connection to disguise Starseeker as a powerful Morning Star warrior.

With the help of the mist, nearly every monster nearby became fixated on the illusion.

The monsters that had been relentlessly attacking Drumph and his team began turning away, heading instead toward the fortress where Starseeker now appeared to stand.

The pressure on Drumph’s unit dropped significantly.

Only then did Luca make his move toward their position.

After a relatively manageable skirmish, he succeeded in escorting Drumph and his team to a safer location.

Though “safe” was relative—it was still only a few kilometers from the monster horde’s advancing front lines.

The monsters’ snarls and roars could be heard clearly by everyone in the area.

Having just escaped death, Drumph immediately turned to Luca with heartfelt gratitude.

“Thank you for saving me again! If you hadn’t shown up, my squad and I would’ve been torn apart by those monsters.”

Luca gave a small nod.

He wasn’t interested in thanks. Instead, he got straight to the point.

“Are the defenses in the other sectors of the Imperial Capital as fragile as this one?”

At the mention of that question, Drumph’s face darkened with visible frustration.

“Yes… the other perimeter defenses around the Imperial Capital are just as weak as this one. If I had to guess, I’d say the outer line won’t last more than half a day.”

As soon as Drumph finished speaking, Luca let out a cold chuckle.

“I think you’re still being far too optimistic. From what I see, the outermost defenses of the Imperial Capital won’t last more than an hour.”

“We can’t stay here any longer. We need to fall back into the city itself—only there do we have fortifications strong enough to hold out for a bit longer.”

His words sent a wave of despair across the faces of every Morning Star member present.

A heavy silence fell over the group. The weight of the situation pressed down on each and every one of them.

Then, breaking the oppressive stillness, Drumph spoke.

“No matter what happens, we can’t give up this fight. As members of Morning Star, we are bound to fight to the very last moment!”

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